Malaysian Jaunt

miserable and bad tempered monkey at the Penang Botanic Gardens

I've only now uploaded my holiday pictures from camera number two and know the world is just desperate for me to share them. Malaysia was the venue, Melaka, Langkawi, Penang and KL the specifics. Food was the highlight but the rest of the experience was good too.

Bollywood beach at the Garden Beach resort Langkawi. They took over for a few days of filming madness.

possibly the world's biggest mullet on an actor filming outside the toilets

Firefly, the world's most orange airlines offer short and cheap flights throughout Malaysia. This one was from Langkawi to Penang

Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, Georgetown, Penang. It has interesting crockery cut and paste decoration and one of the most irritating, condescending and boring guides in the world. Nice building though.

Continuing on the filming theme, a crew cling pecariously to a becak in Georgetown, Penang.

Cycling on sand, every bit as difficult as it looks

A more pleasant monkey but that's probably because it hasn't had time to learn how to be a curmudgeonly wee bugger yet.

As always there are more, many more on Flickr

Hoi An yearly visit

The annual trip to Hoi An to get some work clothes made is just over. I was fairly restrained this year and unlike previous trips didn't have to buy a new bag to haul the stuff back to Saigon.

As always I took far too many photographs but they're easy to transport.

Girls working on shirts and stuff into the night. The clothes are generally made off the premises but some finishing touches are made in house.

Beer by the river watching the world drift by is always welcome.

The pictures above were taken at Son Cafe, a slightly ramshackle place on the beach road. It's been a regular stopping off point for me since my first visit to Hoi An.

The Japanese Bridge is still standing and still a prime and picturesque site for hawkers.

I hadn't noticed this nicely distressed red bust before, I have no idea who it is because it doesn't look anything like the usual Uncle Ho statues seen around.

Not much has changed since my last visit, the market is in a new building and the international tourists seem to be fewer in numbers but internal tourists are growing in numbers. All seems well and the sea was toasty warm.