Goodbye Penang

We have just finished our three night stay in the Blue Mansion, Cheong Fatt Tze, in Penang. Sadly I have to admit to being very dissapointed by our time here. Penang itself was wonderful, but the accomodation was less so.
The building lived up to expectations but we were unprepared for the general noise and bustle of the hotel.




It seems that the owners are trying to accomplish too many different things in their quest to make a profit. During our three night stay there were three different, noisy functions and twice daily tours of the mansion. Each function involved lengthy set up time, meaning hoards of people carrying tables, moving chairs and occupying guest spaces. While theoretically there were two rooms put aside for guests to watch movies, play games or quietly read, these were taken over by catering staff.




But isn't it beautiful?




The indigo blue gives it a faded beauty, soft, yet striking at the same time.






Stunning, but we should have just contented ourselves with a tour.









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Too much food

Today we went out separate ways, Ben hiring a bike for a few hours, and me on Penang Hawker food tour.

Perhaps having breakfast before had been a bad idea. Or perhaps just sampling so many dishes was bound to end in tears anyway.
Here I am, three hours later, so stuffed I can barely move. While I did manage to photograph everything, I didn't think to take a single shot with the iPhone. Oh well, you'll just have to use your imagination.

First stop was Sister's Cafe for a serve of Char Kway Teow. This version featured prawns and was topped with crabmeat (4MYR).
Next stop was the Lye Lye Foodcourt for Loh Bak, I chose the prawn fritter and pork sausage version (2.5MYR) and washed it down with a local Chinese tea (1MYR). The tea was a real highlight. Sweet, with a hint of licorice flavour, lifting the lid revealed chrysanthemum flowers and lots of other things I couldn't identify. Very nice, and apparently very medicinal.

Off to Kedai Manakin Food Plaza for Claypot Bak Kut Teh, a rich broth with tofu and pork rib (10 MYR). This was by far my favourite dish of the day. Also touted as a medicinal food, you could literally feel the health giving properties with each mouthful. It had an elusive flavour that I couldn't quite identify, but so, so good.

And as no visit to Malaysia us complete without a serve of that bizarre drink/dessert Chendel (2.80MYR), we stopped off for a quick pick me up. A strange mix of green noodles, coconut, ice, syrup and redbeans, it's flavour is hard to describe. Very sweet and rich, and the thing that finally made me think I might burst!

The tour took three hours and we went to many other food courts, hawker stalls and roadside stands.

Now it's time for a quick nap, before heading out into the hustle and bustle again.

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Templed Out

Today was day three of temple tours and we are officially worn out. We have climbed so many stones and heard so much history and can not possibly process any more.
We were up at 4.30am this morning to see the sunrise over Angkor Watt. Words cannot describe how spectacular the temple is. Not too crowded, not too hot, it really was perfect timing today.




The photo above doesn't really show much, but better shots were taken with our other cameras, and of course, the billion or so postcards we have bought from local children outside the temples.

After wandering around Angkor Watt, we headed for a small fishing village to see some traditional Khmer stilt housing and to see how shrimp and fish paste is made. Lunch was in a stilt house/restaurant, and was the local speciality if fried fish and shrimp. The shrimp was wok tossed in fish paste, garlic, kaffir lime leaves and chilli. Delicious but messy, they are eaten shell and all. For three of us it was $8 which included our drinks!
The boat ride out to the village was noisy, as only a outboard motor in very bad repair can be.



Kampong Phluk is a very poor village, but full of smiling happy children. Having visited floating villages in both Thailand and Vietnam, it was nice to see one so devoid of tourists. A traditional village with no souveniers or market stalls trying to flog postcards. Quiet and completely undeveloped.
The nearest land based village was a half hour boat ride away, and only marginally more developed. Oxen and wooden cart are still the norm.




We are headed back to our hotel for a well deserved nap before our last dinner here tonight. Tomorrow sees us flying to Kuala Lumper, then on to Penang.

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Heidi hair

Ever since we arrived, I have been plagued by seriously weird hair. Despite my efforts to control the frizz, I can't win.
Today seems to be the hottest, stickiest day yet.

Drastic action was required in the form of Heidi Hair.
About 10 metres up the road was my destination. Modern Hair. For the princely sum of $2, with me miming how I wanted my hair (Heidi braid, not backpacker Thai island beady hair), I came away 30 minutes later, cool and defrizzed.
I started out with five hairdressers dancing attendence, and finished with three. Obviously not so interesting.







Ta Da.

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Lilly White

That's me. In this land of berry brown people, I stand out. That and my red lipstick of course.

It wasn't always that way. I too spent a significant amount of years trying to maintain that golden glow that comes from hours spent in the sun.
Now I can't think of anything more boring than lying on a sunlounger, waiting for that toasty shade of brown to appear.

As I write this, I can see that I am the rarity here in the hotel cafe. Most of the westerners here are wearing not too much, I on the other hand will be the one out and about wearing the longer sleeves, longer skirt, big floppy hat and carrying a sun brolly. My spot by the pool is invariably that one with the big umbrella (cooling cocktail in hand).








Yesterday I even bought a Kramer (Cambodian scarfy thing), so I can make sure my neck doesn't get burned. As we head for Siem Reap and all those magnificent temples, it will be Factor 30+ all the way.








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The wheels on the bus

Go round and round and round. Another long bus trip today, and thank goodness for that. Five hours on the Mekong Express "Limousine" bus was five hours too many. And as boring as the bus trip was, I figured I would write about it anyway.




The whole Asian kitchy bus thing amuses me no end. Hello Kitty buses in Bangkok, frilly doily covered buses in Vietnam and tasseled, curtained buses in Cambodia.
Today's bus was pretty special though. We had a hostess. A pretty hostess handing out Cinnamon scrolls and chilled water.





And a lovely commentary as we trundled along, of which I couldn't understand a word of.





We were also treated to a Cambodian martial arts movie that had (I kid you not), a background soundtrack that was actually the theme from Days of our Lives. Very dramatic.

No more buses for the moment, we leave for Siem Reap tomorrow after one last night in Phnom Penh, and one last swim in the pool.
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Beach Beauty

Picture this. It's late afternoon and the beach is full. You are in a comfy chair, drink in hand, waiting for the sun to set. Relaxed?
Okay, let's add to the picture. How about a manicure while you wait? Perhaps a foot massage?
Still relaxed?
Here's how it actually happened.

Yes it was late afternoon, and yes I did indeed have drink in hand. We were SWARMED by ladies and children from the second our toes hit the sand. Followed up the beach until we found a bar to sit outside. Yes I did have a manicure and yes I did have my legs massaged. By four people at the same time.
Sounding slightly less relaxing? Okay. Did I mention that the leg massaging ladies who now numbered two decided that my previously waxed legs (done by myself as you may recall) were very hairy. I dispute this, but nonethless by mutual consensus it was decided (by them) that this needed to be dealt with. With wound cotton. Sound odd? Yes it was.
Anyway there I was legs akimbo, fingers splayed and along come more ladies. "You say yesterday you no want manicure? Why you have manicure now? Why you not like me?"
Along come a band, yes a band of kids. "You remember me? I saw you yesterday. Why you not buy bracelet from me?" because yes, I was sporting by this stage four of them.
Shall we then go on to describe the scene? Nine people surrounded the three ring circus that was me. I couldn't move and couldn't understand anything that was being said, because lazy ass me failed to learn even the most basic Cambodian phrases before I went away. All I knew was that all was not so happy. Scuffles were involved and just a tiny bit of shouting. And I hadn't really wanted any of it to start with (although how can you say no to a manicure once the polish has been removed from two fingers before you realise what is going on?).







Because I am, gasp, 38, and not 13, I declined the offer of flowers on my nails, but am happy with my now pretty fingers!

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One cocktail too many

We finally arrived at Sihanoukville after a bumpy five hour bus ride from Phnom Penh.
While I do have a lot to tell, for now I will sum it up like this:






• $3 cocktails
• Sunsets
• Super fresh, unbelievably
cheap seafood





You can only imagine the silly state we got ourselves in.
Thank heavens, no hangover, but I think I probably deserved one.
The lobster was $5 for 10 skewers, and the squid was $2 for 10. Cooked in front of us, and served with the most amazing chilli, garlic sauce. Later we had some fresh,grilled fish, also $5, and filleted in front of us.
Can't wait for lunch....


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Hello Cambodia

Awake again early, in a different timezone, and without a doubt, a different country.





We arrived late yesterday in time for out first Cambodian downpour. I say downpour, but the truth is it didn't end.
Waking this morning though, the rain has gone, and everything is bright and sparkly (maybe not bright, it is only 530am).

Instead of the call to prayer waking me, this morning it has been roosters. Very much the sounds of Asia.
Arriving late, we didn't get to see too much before the sunset, but we have arranged for a local tuktuk driver to meet us later so we can see a few things, and buy our all important bus ticket for our next leg, sihanoukville.

For the moment though, a nice relax by the pool, OUR pool. We have a private plunge pool and garden courtyard all to ourselves. Bliss.

Early Awakenings

It's just gone 6am, and I'm wide awake. Bright eyed and bushy tailed unlike other people who shall remain nameless.

In fact, truth be told, I've been awake for ages, listening to the soothing sounds of the Islamic call to prayer, reaching us all the way up on the 21 st floor.

KL is full of beautiful mosques, with fantasic domed roof's and minaretes.
Despite never having been a religious person, I find it moving nonetheless and can appreciate the rituals and traditions that go hand in hand with the belief.

Despite knowing Malaysia had a large islamic community, I was quite surpised to see so many scarves women.
Not to sound trite, or disrespectful, but I do have scarf envy. Humidity does cruel things to my hair and I wouldn't mind a head covering myself!

We are headed to Pnnom Pehn this afternoon, but this morning we plan to see a little more of KL, starting with the Petronas Towers this morning. I've been gazing at them ever since we arrived and can't wait to get inside. Truly amazing buildings, and wanting to see them up close was a big part of wanting to visit Mslaysia. Iconic stuff.


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Relax

We finally arrived after a hellishly long night flight, desperately tired and in need of refuelling.
After transferring to our hotel, we gorged ourselves silly before tiredly making our way upstairs for brief nap.




We are staying at Traders Hotel in KL and it is just amazing. After our cheap and nasty AirAsia flight we really needed this to live up to our expectations. I'm not even embarressed to admit that I had THREE helpings at breakfast (although as I write it I do kind of cringe). Our room is lovely, and the staff are very friendly, but the real highlight is the rooftop pool and bar. How can you help but relax while watching a storm roll in, cocktail in hand, and husband at your side?

Later in the day we visited Menara KL, the worlds fourth highest telecommunications tower for a panoramic city view. Such amazing architecture all around. Tonight we are headed to the Petaling Street night markets for a bite to eat and maybe for a spot of retail therapy.




I have been given a list the length of my arm by the kids for DVD's they can't live without. So off to market we go.

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Waiting, waiting, waiting.....

We are both dreadfully tired, it's nearing midnight and we are not due to depart for another couple of hours. One can only look at so many bottles of Duty Free alcohol and perfume. To top it all, I now smell like a mishmash of Gwen Stefani scents.
Despite my best efforts to dress in comfortable clothes, I've been bettered. I've just seen someone in pyjamas!
BonVoyage Me!


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Note to self

Never again be fooled into thinking that you can save time by waxing your own legs. A VERY bad idea.

Birthday Preparations #1

This morning has been spent on a chore I have been putting off. Getting the seed packets ready for Poppy's birthday. Every year on their birthday, the kids take something little into the class for their friends to help celebrate. Given that the kids are in composite classes and their Unit usually numbers around fifty kids, this is no easy task.

In previous years I have made and decorated cupcakes, but honestly, I am so over making that many, not to mention the stress of transporting decorated cakes to another location.

And now, with two kids at school, having birthdays only ten days apart, the thought of 100 decorated cakes makes me shudder.

My alternative, at least for Poppy, has been packaging up seeds from our garden, and what we have in abundance at the moment is, appropriately, Poppies.

Flanders Poppies,

Iceland Poppies,

and Paeony Poppies, which are the ones that I will use.

Having finished the packets, I hope that the seed heads will be dried out in time to use, but with a month to go, I'm sure they will be fine.

The rest of the morning will be spent finishing the little cupcake toppers I am making for the party and for the birdhouse favour boxes.

At this point in time, it occurs to me that I was obviously DRUNK when I thought this would be a good idea. Thirty six handsewn birds is time consuming, even if they are teensy.

I have three left to do, and simply cannot bring myself to do them. To make it worse, every time I walk past the, they seem to fix their beady eyes on me in reproach. Cheeping loudly in a mocking way.

Cute, but now I kind of hate them.

All in the family

Today was Mother Daughter day. I was the daughter this time though.

We had originally planned to see a matinee session of Julie and Julia, but the other daughter, my daughter, was poorly. A nasty cold, meaning school was not happening, and therefore movie was not happening.

Luckily a change in work hours for husband meant that we could still make the late morning session in time, knowing Poppy was being cuddled and cosseted by her Dad.

A fun movie, definitely more cheery than last weeks' Balibo, and made all the better by the company.

My Mum is the best cook I know, and my passion for food and cooking come from her. I grew up cooking from a fairly young age, and can remember tackling dinner party type meals for our family from about 12 or so. Easier stuff to start with from the Women's Weekly cookbooks, but progressing to more challenging things like nougat and turkish delight quickly.

I am still learning things about cooking every day. Mum continues to be the superior cook, but it gives me something to aim for. It's nice to have a common interest, one that can and is being passed on to my own kids.

On another note, my darling boy has decided to blog as well, to keep us up to date while we are away on our holiday. Spelling mistakes and all, I love it!

Guilt Food

With only a few days until we embark on our kid-free holiday, my guilt is becoming super sized. So much so, that I have resorted to a week of kid friendly food and activities to try to make myself feel better.

It's been a week of classic kid food in our house, and everybody's happy. Lasagne, schnitzel, sausages and mash, pizzas and roasts. Not a stir fry, salad or curry in sight.

To counter all that stodge I made these cute little bees this afternoon.

They are made using a melon baller. Rockmelon balls, with blueberry noses, and wings made with a small bit of rind. I had tried to stick the noses on with cream cheese but it just wouldn't work. The original recipe suggested using cumquats instead of the rockmelon I used, but try as I might, I just couldn't seem to find any. As I only made them for my kids, I chose to cheat and use a toothpick, which the kids knew to watch for.

The beehive is made with pineapple rings (out of a tin because I didn't think I would manage to get through a whole pineapple before we went away and didn't want to find it in the fridge in a few weeks time!). Next time I think a fresh pineapple is the way to go because tinned is just not firm enough to properly shape.

Next time I come across cumquats in the market I will retry this, hopefully with better results.

And to replenish our biscuit jar - that great Aussie classic, Monte Carlos.

These are so good. Much, much nicer than those out of the packet. Made using the last of our homemade raspberry jam. I used this recipe.

We've just finished planting out our snapdragons and the approaching storm will hopefully give everything a decent soak. Poppy specially requested a trip to the garden store as Snapdragons are apparently Fairy Favourites. Very important plants then.

As we listen to the rumbling thunder, it's time to pop on the kettle, and treat myself to a well earned biscuit.

Cheery

1. Birthday invitations, 2. Grazing Food, 3. Sunflower care, 4. Sunflower planting

Sad

As a treat for me to make up for the spring cleaning, I took myself off to the movies to see Balibo.

I had originally planned on seeing $9.99, a little stop-motion animation film that inexplicably had stopped showing, despite killer reviews.

Balibo was profoundly moving and very disturbing. Perhaps not the best movie to see on your own, I cried all the way home in the car.

BALIBO Official Film Trailer from Footprint Films on Vimeo.

So upsetting, that I think I might stay quiet for a few days, while I try to cheer myself up. Feeling very glum and overprivileged. Will stop now in case I cry again.

End of the holidays

Take a deep breath. School holidays are officially over. Back to school tomorrow. And boy, do I NEED a holiday.

Daylight savings began this weekend, and while the longer evenings are wonderful, it does take the kids a while to come to grips with the whole going to bed while it's still light thing.

Needless to say I have felt slightly behind in everything today, losing that hour has definitely thrown me out of whack temporarily.

Last ditch entertainment was needed to get us through one more afternoon, and out came the new Ed Emberley books, Make a World and Animals.

And our trusty Spirograph set purchased off Ebay last year.

Here's Poppy's friendly lion.

A batch of chocolate and orange pinwheels were made.

And gardens were enjoyed.

Late dinner for us tonight to help ease us into the time difference. It's been in the oven, gently cooking all day. Slow cooked roast lamb, crispy potatoes and a rocket salad.

And to banish the last of the cold weather, a Sago Plum Pudding for dessert.

Tomorrow will be the real crunch time. Getting used to those early morning routines again and rush, rush, rushing everywhere.

Only 13 more sleeps then its our turn. Relaxing just thinking of it really....

Garden tour

Having finally finished the nasty Spring Cleaning, I was free to enjoy our beautiful spring weather. Or so I thought.

One look inside our tiny garden shed confirmed my worst thoughts. No gardening for me until some order was brought to my mess of tools, potting mix, seeds, jars and preserves.

Tidying left not much of the afternoon to bask in the sun, but here's a quick tour of the garden.

Starting at the front, a small box hedge in the making, with ranunculus, cineraria, Austin roses just coming back to life, and reshooting grasses.

Down the side, outside my kitchen door, a lavender hedge, just finished daffodils, a lemon tree, and a peek into the rear garden.

Looking back to the house, the beautiful sweet peas, bright marigolds that have self sown everywhere and a glimpse of my almond that was so covered in blossom I am hopeful that we will get a sizeable crop of nuts from.

In another month this will be where my fledgling tomato seedlings will be planted out.

Near the back corner, a spot to enjoy a quiet cup of tea, admire the lambs ears and marigolds and wait for the trees to grow.

And in the pots? Radishes!

And right at the very back? A nice tidy, spring cleaned, shed. With any luck by the end of summer my Rosemary hedges will be more substantial, the rhubarb will be lush, and the weeds will be no more!

Up with the Birds

Every morning this week I have been woken at at 5 am by this bird. A Red Wattlebird.

With its raucous yac a yac call, its pretty hard to sleep through.

Not that I mind really, for me its a nostalgic sound that reminds me of a whole lot of things.

Of the many places I have lived, it seems that a wattlebird has been there too. Early in the morning, yac a yaccing. Kind of nice, perhaps not right outside my window, but it could be worse. In Brisbane we were persecuted by crows from about 4:30 am onwards.

It is actually one of those sounds that makes you smile, reminding me that right in the heart of

the city, nature can flourish. Makes me want to plant a tree or two and rethink my whole longing for a cat.

Almost.

Anyway, now I am up, sleepless at 5 am, time to make a cup of tea and enjoy the relative peace and quiet that only seems to happen when everyone is still asleep. I am right in the middle of my annual spring clean, even though it is school holidays here and possibly the worst time to be doing it. Everything has been getting a proper sort through and tidy up, even those nasty places, like under the kitchen sink. All rather yuck, but necessary.

In my basket of tricks is lavender oil (to get rid of musty smells in our laundry), beeswax (to polish our furniture), fresh lemons (sprinkled on a cobweb broom is meant to deter spiders) and brasso for our lovely door knocker.

Today is oven cleaning day, and I suspect that basket won't be quite so pretty, or leave smells quite so fresh. New gloves and a heavy duty caustic cleaner are called for, but I might watch Funny Face as I scrub to help me imagine a far more glamorous life.