Penang

After work on Sunday Sally and I caught a taxi to the airport to meet up with the rest of the group heading to Penang for the weekend. As well as being earmarked on the MAE calendar for a weekend away it also happened to be Eric and Kathy's birthday on Monday. Unfortunately the Air Asia gremlins were at work again and our flight was delayed an hour and a half so by the time we arrived at our Penang hotel it was around 2am!
Monday morning was not an early start but Helen and I joined Libby and Eric for a roti breakfast at a nearby restaurant they knew of. I followed this with a wander to Sam's batik, a shop in which Libby has been a regular customer. There were so many choices it was all rather overwhelming. After Libby had made a couple of purchases we felt it was time for lunch across the road at the Kashmir, coincidentally the same restaurant Michael, Kathy, Helen and I had lunched at last year. 

After lunch we meandered back to the hotel and spent a leisurely hour cooling off in the pool before some of the group gathered in our room for some pre-dinner drinks and a catch up on the days doings. Then we headed off to De Happy Restaurant to begin the birthday celebrations. The restaurant was very accommodating and seemed genuinely happy to have such a large group of westerners celebrating at their establishment. They provided us with bowls of birthday noodles gratis, as well as chips and a fresh fruit platter to round off the meal. Added to what we had actually ordered, by the time we had finished eating I felt like I wouldnt need to eat for a week!'
A pleasant surprise was the unexpected appearance of Peter at dinner. Poor Libby had been trying to keep his attendance under wraps a process not made any easier by him being on the same floor as them in the hotel. He did his usual heartfelt poem for the birthday people which I am sure was greatly appreciated by them both.

After such a feast it was time to retire to our room so we could make a dint in the duty free alcohol we had purchased and which could not be taken back in to Singapore. Bob Marley made a special guest appearance and the evening deteriorated from there...there are stories which go with the adage...'what happens on holidays, stays on holidays!'

The hotel blackout curtains did a great job so it was not easy to drag myself out of bed to meet Libby in the lobby at 8 for a planned trip in to a National Park for some birdwatching. It wasn't till I got down stairs that I realized it was rather overcast, so after a trip round the corner for a Maccas pick-me-up, which didn't really do its job, we decided the conditions weren't right so we retired to our rooms. I slept in a bit longer before take a wander back up to Sam's where I made some purchases. Other members of the group wandered in with the same idea and I hooked up with Kathy and Bev for a wander round the lanes and byways finally sitting down for a delicious salmon salad in the place we had stayed last year.
Penang has developed a reputation for its quirky wall art, some of it paintings and more recently wrought iron work.

Cat wall art

Kathy and I meandered a bit more, exploring one of the clan jetties and an interesting shop Kathy had visited the previous day. Above the 100 year old shop, up a rather perilous staircase was a display chronicling the life of a Chinese man who had migrated to Penang last century. He had given his grandson a suitcase full of documents which the grandson had ignored for many years, but through his work he became interested in the history contained in the suitcase and has created a time line of his grandfathers life. It makes us appear pretty soft by comparison!

Clan Jetty

Helen had arranged an afternoon tea gathering at The China House where the birthday people received a free party pack and choice of cake... and the choice was mind boggling. By this time my stomach was saying no more, so I settled for a refreshing juice.

Feeling rather bloated after all that eating we wandered back to the hotel via the Hong Kong Bar, an old haunt of the Smith's in their days teacher at Butterworth. It has been owned and run by the same family since 1955 and has always been a popular haunt for servicemen from the RAF/RAAF Butterworth days and visiting sailors and soldiers. Despite a fire in 2004 there is still a lot of memorabilia adorning the walls and Libby and Eric were able to find a photo of themselves celebrating Eric's 30th birthday...exactly 29 years ago...and they don't look any different!!!

As we approached the hotel Kathy and I decided that after all the walking we had done a nice leg massage was in order. Despite the pain it was very relaxing and floated over to our rooms to find a contingent ready for pre-dinner drinks, after all the alcohol had to be finished off. It didn't take too long, then it was a short walk up to dinner at The Bridge Restaurant a beautifully restored building where they served authentic Malaysian style food. This also meant no alcohol, which was probably not a bad thing! 

Wednesday morning came round very quickly and after an on-time flight we all headed off to our respective workplaces for a new working week...thank goodness it was test week!