Langkawi

We sailed up the long, narrow channel into the marina, starting our new Langkawi adventure. The marina is part of Rebak Island Resort, a beautiful place on a small island 15 minutes away from Langkawi by ferry.
Michael and Sheila docked the boat with a precision based on long experience, while Barb and I watched. We checked into a room at the resort, and Michael and Sheila stayed aboard their boat in the marina. The room was lovely, and the grounds quite beautiful. The resort buildings were spread among the tropical forest, always within sight of the ocean. Hornbills, large birds with dramatic black and white plumage, and large bright yellow bills like a toucan, flew among the trees. Large lizards, mercifully shy of humans, could be seen in the undergrowth.
Michael and Sheila met several friends from other boats in the marina, as this yachties-friendly resort throws open its doors for them. People who arrive on yachts (us) get a reduced room rate. There is a special restaurant overlooking the marina for their use affectionately called "The Hard Dock Cafe". There are haul-out facilities if people need to repair or maintain their boats, as well as laundry and showers.
We rented a car and spent our first day in Langkawi driving around and reprovisioning the boat for Sheila and Michael's upcoming trip to Thailand. We went to a large Chinese grocery and a liquor warehouse (Langkawi is duty free), and, after much searching and debate, found a post office where we could mail some purchases back to Canada so we wouldn't have to carry them with us. We also toured Kuah Town, the main town on the island. We returned to the boat and had dinner that night at the Hard Dock with Michael and Sheila, and sampled some of the wine that we found at the warehouse, a lovely prosecco.
The next day we returned to Langkawi, this time to see the island. After a pastry and cappucino stop at Telaga Harbour, we drove to the highest peak, Mount Raya, literally among the clouds, and could see for miles in all directions, clouds permitting. (photo)

Next was the Craft and Culture Centre where we saw batiking and silk painting,lovely and creative work done by local artisans. We had a surprisingly good lunch at a concession in the parking lot. The next place we visited was the Laman Padi, or Rice Paddy Museum. Since I am the only one in the group who cares about museums, I was dropped off at the front gates and went in to see the 14 acre site on my own.
It was a strange experience. I went into the museum, looked at the exhibits in the Heritage Gallery, which had exhibits on rice growing from ancient times to the present. No-one was present besides myself, no ticket seller, guide or guard. When I had finished, I went back outside past the Artist Centre, where there was very little art and no artists or attendants of any kind. I went down to the rice paddy exhibits, where a variety of rice is grown, and saw the rice growing, but not one rice farmer. On my way out I passed two restaurants and a prayer room. I could hear prep noises from what I presumed to be the kitchen areas of the restaurants, but no staff appeared. The prayer room was equally empty. It seems that rice growing on Langkawi, although a widespread and common activity, is done anonymously.
The next morning we rose and had a large farewell breakfast with Michael and Sheila, as we were leaving on the 5:00 pm ferry to catch a flight to Kuala Lumpur, en route for Siem Reap.

Up the Strait of Malacca - February 24

We cast off with the morning tide and headed out of Georgetown harbour, in the company of a cruise ship and several freighters. These soon outpaced us, and we continued on our north by northwesterly course making for Langkawi, mostly motoring with the help of a sail. We spotted occasional freighters and fishing boats throughout the day, and our trip was a very pleasant new experience, sailing in open water.

As we had lots of free time I decided to do some cooking, so I set some ribs to slow-cook for dinner, and made barbecue sauce. A batch of shortbread to complement our tea, and an apple-rhubarb pie for dessert meant a good meal that night.
We moored for the night just before sunset at a small island, and just as we entered the bay, two marlins provided a show by jumping out of the water. We enjoyed our tender ribs, warm potato salad and pie.
A late-night swim off the stern revealed an unexpected thrill, as tiny single-celled dinoflagellates (plankton) began to luminesce when we moved in the water. A splash or simple movement of an arm through the water would generate hundreds of tiny points of light in its wake, an astounding sight. In the morning Sheila and I went snorkelling, and then we sailed northwest again, heading for Langkawi.
Later that afternoon we anchored in an extremely beautiful sheltered basin between two islands, a few miles from Langkawi's main island. Eagles soared above, and the idyllic, peaceful surroundings, green forest and rocky outcrops transported me back in time to hot summer days spent on northern Ontario lakes. The next morning snorkelling was excellent, we saw hundreds of fish including a clownfish of Finding Nemo fame. Sheila saw a baby shark.
We then sailed the last few miles to the marina and resort on Rebak Island, a short ferry ride from Langkawi. Barb and I took a room in the resort and Michael and Sheila stayed on board in the marina.

Touring Penang February 19-22

Our last few days in Penang were spent touring the island, on two-lane roads, and enjoying the capital city, Georgetown.
On the 19th we took our rented car around the island, stopping first at the war museum. This private museum is housed in a British fort that was built by the British to defend Penang against naval attack. It was captured by the Japanese when the British abandoned Penang ten days after Pearl Harbour, when the Japanese attacked Malaysia and bombed Georgetown for several days. After the war it was abandoned for many years until being purchased by the current owners. The fortifications and installations are somewhat intact, but need refurbishment, and the exhibits are incomplete, although they do show the cruel treatment of the Allied prisoners kept there during the war. Somewhat disturbingly, part of this property including some bunkers from the British period, are being used for paintball games.
Many large hotels are located on the northern side of this beautiful island, and more are being built, as mass tourism inevitably leads to this type of development. There are efforts to preserve the mixed Malay, Chinese, and Indian heritage that make up the ethnic blend of the island. This ethnic mix reflects historic trading patterns. Chinese shophouses (where the family runs a shop and lives at the back and upstairs) are still the main architechtural form found downtown, although larger, more modern buildings are found on many streets.

One place we visited was the famed Cheong Fatt Tze mansion, a 38-room, 5 courtyard house of a famous Chinese businessman. Carefully restored after a century, this is now a boutique hotel that offers tours during the day.
In the same neighbourhood is a Bhuddist temple,

ornate and lovely.
One Chinese restaurant we went to several times was right near the harbour, and had a tree growing in the middle of it. The kitchen, right at the front of the restaurant, was a wild scene at meal times as the several cooks scrambled to keep up with take away meals as well as eat-in diners. One could choose dinner from the tubs of fresh fish, sea food, several kinds of cooked chicken and all manner of vegetables on display. An order made at the front on the way in was already sizzling by the time we sat down, and served just minutes later. Their fresh prawns in garlic and butter were just fabulous.

Amelie - February 20

Barb and Sheila originally found this place while looking for beaded shoes. Âmelie is a beautiful tiny restaurant in Georgetown, run by a charming couple, Hung and Yen, who welcomed us into their place and fed us wonderful food. Their exquisite fruit drinks (orange lemon grass, or longan and lime, a lime drink with fresh whole lychees)were just what we needed in the heat, and their menu was mostly Italian pasta dishes, deftly seasoned with a Malaysian flair, but remaining true to their Italian roots. As one might expect, their coffee was excellent, according to my local expert, Barb.
We got to know Yen and Hung better and invited them to

the boat for a drink. They took us out to their favourise Cantonese restaurant, in a back street that we would never have found ourselves, where we had a great meal and talked with them into the night.

Back to Georgetown February 18

We took the scenic route back to Georgetown, driving through the mountains on winding roads. The mountain scenery was spectacular, and the road sometimes breathtaking. As we descended from the heights we stopped at Kellie's Castle (or Kellie's folly) a large brick mansion that was built by William Kellie Smith, a Scottish adventurer who made a fortune in rubber and tin. He could think of no better use for the fortune he had amassed than to import bricks from India to build this massive house, complete with indoor tennis court and rooftop garden. He died of pneumonia while in Portugal, apparently buying an elevator for the house. It was never finished after his death. His wife sold the property and returned to Scotland. It

is now a local tourist attraction.
We stopped for lunch at a small local restaurant in Batu Gajah, a town not far away. It was packed with local people and we ate what they were serving, chicken and several curries served on a banana leaf. The food was delicious, but when Michael tried to leave a tip, the waiter came out of the restaurant after him, concerned that money had been left on the the table. He insisted that Michael take the money back, maybe concerned that foreigners could be so careless with their cash. The bill for four of us was around $6.00.

We got back into the car, and continued the drive back to the boat through the interesting Malaysian countryside.

All the Tea in Malaysia - February 17

February 17th broke clear and sunny, a perfect day to tour around the highlands. After a quick breakfast, we set off for the highest point on the Malay peninsula, Gunung Irau. We drove through several towns and market areas selling local crafts and vegetables, then turned off onto a steep and extremely curvy one-lane road which climbed ever higher into the mountains. We drove by the Sungai Palas Boh Tea Estate, still going higher and the road getting more precipitous and windy. We finally reached the top and then climbed a steel viewing tower where we were able to gaze down on all Malaysia, or at least the mountainous part.
After satisfying ourselves with the wonderful view (photo), we headed back to tour the Sungai Palas Boh Tea Estate. Boh Tea is the most popular brand of tea in Malaysia, they claim, cultivated since 1929. We had it for lunch at their tea room , and it is quite delicious.
They harvest their tea every three weeks by trimming (plucking) all of the new growth from the top of the tea shrubs.(photo) It is then brought into their factory where it is "withered" for 12-20 hours, to reduce the moisture content and allow some natural chemical reactions to take place. It is then rolled to crush the leaf cells and process it into smaller particles. There are three types of machines used in this process, the CTC (Cut, tear, curl) machine, the rotovane and then simple rollers.
Next comes fermentation, or more properly oxidation, another natural process that exposes the rolled leaf cells to oxygen, in order for the leaf to develop the right flavour, colour and aroma. Timing and temperature are carefully controlled at this stage. The leaf emerges a coppery colour.
The tea is finally dried, to stop the fermentation process, by passing air through it that has been heated to 120 degrees C., for 10 minutes. The tea emerges as the crisp, black, curled form known as "made tea".
It is then sorted. First, fibres and stalks are removed, then the tea is divided into four grades: Leaf (whole leaves), Broken (part leaves), Fannings (small broken grades), and Dust (smallest particles). The dust and fannings are commonly mixed and made into tea bags. The tea is then tasted, graded and aged and, of course, marketed.
There is housing on the estate where the workers live, and a school for their children (photo).
We bought several kinds of tea in the estate shop, then got back into the car to go back to Tanah Rata. That night we went to the Rosedale Diner (yes, there is a Rosedale Diner in Tanah Rata) where we had a lovely meal of prawns, lemon chicken and vegetables with fried cashews and birthday cake in celebration of my birthday.

Malaysia Overland February 16

The 16th was our day to travel to the Cameron Highlands. We arose in sweltering heat and packed quickly, taking in yesterday's laundry (which had been rained on) and closing up the boat, then heading out in our rented car. The drive south from Penang was uneventful. We crossed the bridge to the mainland (longest in Asia), then drove along a modern 4-lane divided highway in air conditioned comfort. We soon left the fetid coastal plains and started climbing into the central highlands. Agricultural land gave way to jungle, and karst hills jutted dramatically and precipitously from the earth, characteristically Asian to my western mind. These later gave way in their turn to true mountains and we drove through more jungle now and then interspersed with tea estates and vegetable plantations. Michael did yeoman service driving on the switchback roads as we climbed ever higher into the lovely coolness of the afternoon.
We arrived in Tanah Rata by 5:00 pm, and checked in to a comfortable $40 (double) per night hotel, the Hillview Inn. Dinner was at Restaurant Kumar, where Barb had claypot chicken, and I had tandoori chicken with naan. Sheila outdid us with her several curries served on a banana leaf (photo). After a few Tiger beers we returned home for an early bed.