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

Miniature HCMC

Tilt shift and time lapse makes a toytown out of Ho Chi Minh City. This has been posted on a few other blogs prior to me finding it but I liked it so much I wanted one of my own,



I don't know who jnvdub is, only that they used a Canon A540 camera and presumably the tilt-shift function in Photoshop that changes the perspective creating this miniature effect. Well done Evil Penquin Productions, I'm in awe.

Mobile Shop

From bicycle to fully stocked snacks, drinks and smokes stall in less than 10 minutes.

unloading...

fully stocked and waiting for the ice delivery to arrive.

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.

Fish Spa

I often wondered what these things were like, the theory is that they remove the dry skin from your feet. It felt like cats sucking at my feet, that is if cats were able to suck. Not unpleasant after the initial shock wore off. This one used bigger fish than I've seen elsewhere and was in Melaka, Malaysia, they serve cups of tea while you get fished.

Waiting

A building worker takes a break while the wedding workers in the background wait for the guests to arrive.

Hammocks get hung up wherever there are convenient things to tie them to and many people have "bridesmaids" provided by the wedding venue to greet arrivals.

Peripheral traders

Outside Nguyen Kim electrical store, a semi permanent group of hawkers offer all you could possibly want to enhance your electrical shopping experience.

Of course, it's better at night when the giant, pink dancing bunny comes out to play.

Extra long load

One of the longest loads yet, I can't help but think that he's cheating a little with that extra wheel on his motorbike offering additional stability.

New look Fanny

Fanny Ice Cream, the ever popular Saigon photo opportunity has undergone a bit of sprucing up. The ochre and yellow colouring is gone.

Fanny's had the painters in and got a chocolate, strawberry and vanilla makeover.

I was very fond of the old colours but it's still the same old Fanny at heart.

Annam Gourmet

Phu My Hung; variously branded as “The Saigon of the Future”, “Saigapore” and “Little Seoul” is home to many expats and upwardly mobile Vietnamese. It’s very family friendly and clean but lacks in atmosphere. For those reasons I wouldn’t want to live there but crucially my price range would only reach to apartments and I’ve been spoiled by living in a house. I do use Phu My Hung regularly though especially since Co-op Citymart is the best supermarket in town.

And now, identifying Phu My Hung as indeed a place to be Annam Gourmet have moved in with their polished wood, fancy lighting, imported goods and natty sales assistant. Coffee pavilion coming soon.

So overwhelmed was I by the shopping experience that I bought: my second choice of butter, bread I don’t like, jam in a flavour I wouldn’t normally entertain and a bottle of rose wine because it was in a chiller cabinet. I’ll be more selective next time. The wine was nice though.