A feast in Phetchaburi, last days in Bangkok and alas the sojourn ends

April 14, 2017

We are in the midst of song kran, the Thai New Year and water festival. This festival was originally intended for Thai families to splash water on family members and elders as a way of seeking good fortune and paying homage to Buddha. Yesterday we were invited to the big house on the property to participate in the family ritual. Fifteen of us gathered around Pa Cha An’s bed and took turns pouring water over her hands and wishing her happy new year. The water was scented with roses and another flower I cannot identify but it has a lovely strong fragrance like gardenias. Afterwards the family honored Ron and me in the same way. It was quite lovely and very touching.

Earlier in the day we went out with the intention of exploring an area east of here near the coast but encountered horrible traffic and drivers who seemed to be crazed. It is such a big holiday that the streets are lined with people with super squirters, hoses or barrels of water and buckets to throw on people passing by. So if you are on your motorcycle you will get wet multiple times. We stayed dry but the car got wet. It is a happy holiday but some folks seemed out of control with the holiday spirit or spirits of another kind. Consequently it did not feel safe to be on the road. We saw people running red lights, motorcyclists on the wrong side of the road, etc. We returned home and to the bedroom with AC.

Tonight there will be a big dinner party with 22 present to celebrate. Ron and I have filled the refrigerator with sodas and will go out in a bit for beer. Most prefer the sweet drinks here and I will stick with water: no calories and no hangover! HA!

Here are some pix of the event:

Some of the wonder fare

Lek BBQs pork and beef

Fat dog Milo

Ron & Tricia with Tui

Hope - sone of Ae who is Linn's daughter

Timm's family (Tui's Sister): Pair, Tum's mother, Timm, Pon, and Tum

Linn with Moui (Pa Cha-on;s care taker and Pon;s caretaker

Lek with wife Ai (Linn;s daughter)

Since last night was our last on our own so we went to one of our favorite restaurants and had pork ravioli at the Swiss restaurant. It was divine and then we came home and after watching the news we had sticky rice with mango and coconut milk. It is our favorite dessert. Timm brings it to us on occasion.

We are all packed except what we need to put in the bags after our morning shower. We have started to close up the house by doing things like stacking the trash cans and covering them with plastic bags, putting any items on the kitchen counter under the counter in the cabinets, storing knick knacks, and cleaning out the refrigerator. We want to leave no later than 9:00 in the morning so a quick get away is essential.

April 16

We left Phetchaburi at 8:40 after saying goodbye to everyone. We caught Pa Cha An awake so went in to say a goodbye to her and she cried. Well that unleashed a torrent for me. She is such an incredible woman. We reminded her we are taking our photo of her with us that will be in our bedroom where we will greet her daily. 

We are enjoying Bangkok, Because of the holiday we were surprised by that lack of people and traffic when we went out yesterday to the tailor’s to get some pants made for Ron. Because this is a holiday like Thanksgiving or Christmas or Chanukah at home, it is a time for family gatherings so I think lots of folks left town and frankly it is kind of wonderful to not have the usual throngs of people on the sidewalks and roads.

Leslie’s friend Oke literally arrived when we did. We were unloading the car at the condo and his taxi drove up behind us so we loaded our luggage on the cart together and went up to the 14^th floor . We spent the time visiting and doing a little grocery shopping before heading out then came back to learn the Leslie and Oke had tied at Scrabble. Leslie is a serious Scrabble player. That evening we went to a neighborhood Thai restaurant and dined al fresco, my fave. Leslie ordered us a delightful Thai meal in Thai. She was a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand in her 30’s and can still speak Thai. We had green papaya salad, morning glory vine sautéed with garlic, stir fried mixed veggies and lemon and spicy steamed sea bass.

Afterwards Oke talked us into watching a documentary called The Whites of West Virginia about a family of hillbillies that were drug addicts, thieves, murderers…you get the picture. It was hard to watch but it was also an insight to a class of people that the four of us rarely if ever have a chance to know.. This last presidential election was a wake up call for those of us who are isolated and unaware of how many people live and think in the US. Needless to say I don’t think the White family are anywhere close to mainstream but it was interesting to think how different their lives and views are from mine. I knew there was an opioid epidemic but I didn’t know people snorted opiates like the Whites did in the film. That was just one of the many drugs they abused and appeared to use constantly.

Today is Easter Sunday and we will go to lunch at Issaya, a cooking studio to have Easter lunch. The setting is a 100 year old Thai villa in central Bangkok and from the website it looks lovely.

April 18

Our dining experience at Issaya was superb. We ordered the short set menu that went on for about two hours. Literally every bite was a culinary delight. We oohed and ahhed throughout the entire meal.

No one had dinner that night but I ate a small rocket salad with a bite of salmon to hold me over until breakfast.

On Monday we got pedicures and then we went to have lunch with the mom of a former exchange student (Nuun) who is Thai and came to high school in the Portland area about six or seven years ago. Nuch, the student’s mom, owns a restaurant, hotel and nail spa. We arrived before her and went ahead and ate because she was going to give us a blouse to give to our friend Nattawan in the US.  I called Nuch in advance to tell her when we would be there and called again when we arrived. She said she would arrive in 10 minutes. We had a good visit and called Nuun for a face time call. Nuun just got married about a month ago and lives in southern CA.

Ron & Tricia with Nuun's mom Nutt

We relaxed in the afternoon and in the evening we went to dinner with Auem’s parents and her brother. Auem is in London getting her PhD and was the other exchange student we befriended at the same time Nuun was in Portland.

For three days we have had incredible weather. Sunny with a light breeze but not particularly hot, most unusual for BKK. Today is a different story: Hot. And BKK is back, meaning all those folks who left town are back along with crowded roads and sidewalks and more noise. We are lucky to have had the three pleasant days with good weather and few people in this city of 14 million.

And the end of the sojourn 

Alas the sojourn ends. We got up at 4:15 on the 20^th and left for the airport at 5:00. Twenty four hours later we landed in Dallas and I looked at my watch and it was 4:15 p.m. We were too tired to go out to eat and made do with some almonds and crackers that we carry with us on long plane rides. We promptly crashed around 9:00. We caught our flight to Portland at 9:00 a.m. and were picked up by Jim and Barbara, our dear neighbors who live across the hall. We were bleary eyed rankly but we persisted and unpacked all our bags. At one point we walked to our neighborhood grocery and got some salads for lunch and brought them home. Ron called to have AAA jump start our car and drove it around for 20 minutes to charge the battery. We went to our other nearby grocer for our dinner meal as we were too tired to sit in a restaurant. I went to bed with a scratchy throat.

I woke up and got ready for my first appointment which was at 9:00. Oops, dead battery. Canceled my appointments and I realized I didn’t feel well at all so went back to bed. I stayed in bed for the next four days. By 5:00 today I finally felt better. Today I changed the medication I was using so perhaps that made the difference. Not sure but I feel like I am back among the living.

Ron and I have a ton of things to get done in order to get settled but we work on our lists daily: change of address for credit cards, getting new debit cards, restart magazine subscriptions that were placed on hold, grocery shopping, oh my goodness there is laundry from when we came home in August, and on and on it goes. But we are working together and so happy to be home at last. Both of us are patient with the process. Thus another adventure ends with no regrets and we are thankful that we had the opportunity to live and travel in India as the experience was much different that being a tourist. We are grateful because we made some wonderful friends there, a real bonus to the adventure.

Pa Cha-on takes a cruise, and the roof leak gets repaired, but not fixed.

April 4, 2017

On April 1 a year ago we arrived in India. We got to the immigration station in the airport and were asked what our address in India was. We said we didn’t know. The university that hired Ron had not given us that information. We didn’t know the name of the hotel or the address. We were asked to step out of the line so others could be processed. We were told we could not go any further without this information. What a horrible welcome to India. Then I asked Ron if Meghal had given Ron the telephone number of driver who was to meet us at the airport. We pulled out his computer and asked the immigration agent to call the driver ( we did not have an Indian SIM card for our phones yet) and get the needed information. Whew! It worked. Then the driver took us to the hotel and drove away. We discovered he had taken us to the wrong hotel. We had the night clerk call him back to the hotel. He then took us to the correct hotel a few blocks away. WEIRD!!!! It was 4:00 or 5:a.m. by then. We crashed. Ron told me we were meeting Meghal at 1:00. Around 11:00 I went to the front desk for something and someone in the lobby called my name. It was Scot and Meghal the folks we were to meet at 1:00 except they were expecting us at 11:00. I ran upstairs to wake Ron and tell him. In retrospect I wonder if this was a preview of what was ahead….

Well it is all behind us now. In about ten days we head to Bangkok to visit Leslie then on the 20^th we fly home by way of Hong Kong then Dallas where we will spend the night before flying to Portland the next morning. I fear that if we went straight through I would be a screaming banshee and be asked to get off the plane mid flight. Somehow a 37 hr trip is no longer an option for this old girl.

As our departure nears I am so very ready to be home. I miss Portland and our life there. It is an urban life and quite comfortable. For almost 13 months we have been making do. I am ready for a change. We are both a bit bored here as we aren’t traveling and have no house projects. Ron is desperately trying to line up a contractor to repair roof damage from a rainstorm we had over a week ago. There was a leak and part of the eave cover collapsed, leaving a large hole. Several pieces of wall board need to be replaced, a roof gutter needs to be redesigned and a new gutter needs to be installed along the roof line.

Ron has gotten one quote and that guy has refused to come and do the job because of a miscommunication. After he gave Ron the quote Ron said he had another person coming to give a quote at 10:00  The contractor didn’t speak English and we do not speak Thai so the contractor sent his crew here at 10:00 with a truck loaded with scaffolding and materials. We had to turn him away and he apparently is angry and refuses to do the work. Yesterday two different contractors came over and one didn’t follow through giving us his quote and another one recommended that we not use his services because he was a foam spray contractor and he didn’t think it was the right solution. Good thing because it cost $3,000.

April 5, 2017

We are waiting for another contractor to show up and he is late. We really want to complete this job before leaving so Ron can make sure it is done to his specs but we are running out of time. Another no show.

April 9, 2017

Pa Cha An takes a little cruise:  This afternoon I stepped out on the porch to hang a wet rag on the rack and saw Tui and Noi rolling Pa Cha An in her hospital bed down the drive away towards our house. I joined them for this great event. Pa Cha An loves to get outside and I think Tui is the only one who makes the effort to roll her hospital bed out of the house and into fresh air. Today she had on her shades so I think the sunlight must hurt her eyes. Not only was she cruising down the drive Tui had Pa Cha An’s evening meal balanced on the bed.  They stopped the bed near our house and Pa Cha An continued her meal. Tui is a pediatric nurse and was very delft at feeding Pa Cha AN and not spilling a single drop. Impressive!  We will miss this wonderful fun family. As hard as tui and Timm work they always have a smile and laughter. It is inspiring.

Yesterday the contractor, the fourth or fifth one, showed up while we were away for the day. We had gone to Hua Hin to say goodbye to Kay and Bill who are leaving for Eugene OR on Monday where they spend half the year.

The contractor was scheduled for today but he had forgotten that he had another commitment, his son’s football game, so he came on Saturday. Ron had wanted to be here to ensure that the job was done well. When the contractor came over on Thursday, Timm, Tumm and Noi were here. Timm and Tumm speak a little English and the contractor spoke none. So after Ron explained how he wanted the roof fixed and repaired, Timm called Pair, her daughter, in Bangkok to clarify. The phone was passed back and forth between Ron, Tumm and the contractor multiple times. After they understood what Ron wanted they said ‘no’. Ron was persistent but after about 30 minutes he gave up. It is just too hard when we don’t speak the language The roof is now repaired but no gutters yet.

This is our week to pack up. We will endeavor to do what we call ’eating down’ the pantry and refrigerator. We try to create meals from what is on hand so we are not wasting food. Some items the family here will use and some they won’t. The heat builds up so badly in the house and it is worse when it is closed up. Consequently we do not like to leave food here when we leave. I have taken to putting unopened food like olives in the refrigerator when we leave. Today by 9:20 it was 84 degrees inside with four fans running in the living and dining area. By 10:20 it was 86 and now at 11:00 it is approaching 90. We woke up at 6:30 to the sound of Noi raking outside not to mention the birds and roosters. I could tell it was going to be a hot and humid day today. I am not wrong. I am sitting in front of two fans and dripping sweat. At 5:50 in the afternoon the inside of the house was 91 degrees. OY! Soon I can complain about the cold, damp weather in Portland

In addition to dealing with food, I will go through all the closets and drawers to pull out anything we are taking home as we have spread out over the months we have been here. I am leaving some items like my garlic press, micro plane and special knife for cooks with arthritis in their hands. I will buy new ones when I get home. On Thursday we will do most of the packing and some of the final house cleaning. Friday there will be a big family celebration with about 22 of us to send Ron and me off so we will complete any tasks for departure before dinner. We will need to take off early Saturday for Hua Hin to return the rental car and meet our hired car/driver to take us to Bangkok at 10:30. So the more we can wrap up Friday night the better. At some point after our departure Linn comes and cleans the house and covers the furniture with sheets that we bought specifically for that purpose when we lived in Sri Lanka. There was a store in Colombo that sold sheets by the kilo. They were odd sizes, odd colors and there were no pillow cases. We got 16 of those sheets.

Life in Phetchaburi

March 22, 2017

Today we went to Hua Hin to see Immigration regarding our visas. It turned out that we have to go to the office in our province. But the staff member was so helpful and filled out our paperwork and smiled often. Not your typical bureaucrat. We picked up an outdoor light we are having repaired and we decided to have another one made just like it. Then we did our grocery shopping at the high end market that caters to ‘farang’, foreigners.

It is getting hotter every day. This afternoon at 4:00 I was washing lettuce and the kitchen was 92. We ate dinner at 7:00 and it was 90. Now it is 8:30 and it is 88 degrees. April is the hottest month. I may have to start serving dinner in the bedroom! The humidity is at 77 % and is climbing. It makes 86 feel like 95. No wonder I was hot today!

March 24, 2017

We now spend each afternoon in our bedroom in front of the fan and the AC. We read, do emails, work on the blog. Do crosswords and occasionally nap. Today we were blessed with a cloud cover so it wasn’t as brutal but now at 2:30 the sun is out and it is again 92 inside the house. I long for the NW but they have had a horrible winter and still are having a lot of rain.

Yesterday we drove to Tha Yang and got our visa extension so we will be legal when we leave Thailand on the 20^th. It took an hour of our time not counting the drive there and back. We had miscalculated our departure date and were two days past our visa date. We could pay a fine at the airport but we wanted to avoid any hassles then or in the future as everything is in a file in the immigration computers. Might as well play by the rules to avoid future hassles. It was a problem time and money fixed.

Because it is so hot we are eating simple meals. Last night we had cowboy caviar (black eyed peas, black beans, corn, chopped purple onions and yellow and red peppers with cilantro) and a tossed green salad with lots of veggies and Parmesan toast on crusty bread. Today we got up early and made marinara sauce for spaghetti tonight. The less time in the kitchen in the evening the better.

Yesterday we found a woman who sews in our village so took her our mattress pad to replace the elastic that holds it in place. Today I decided to have her alter a pair of pants I bought at Barefoot in SL. I realized they were men’s pants and they are too big. I gave her the new pants and a pair of old pants to use for size since she didn’t have a place for me to change and for her to pin them. All this was done in English which she doesn’t speak. HA! Wish me luck. Today I got a Thai massage in the village to help with neck and back pain I have had since the last train trip. I already feel better.

March 28, 2017

On Sunday we were tired of hanging out at the house so we drove to the coast and headed south to Cha Am. Close to Cha AM is a restaurant that specializes in seafood. Our two favorite dishes are crab curry and fried fish with garlic. When we drove up there were five or so HUGE tourist buses. We had never experienced this before. But we took a chance and went over from the parking lot. The first dining area was packed and so was the second but a staff member approached us and showed us to a table next to the pond. There was a pleasant breeze and a cover so we were out of the blistering sun. Neither of us eats big meals here due to the heat so we ordered one fish with garlic and a fried rice dish with crab because once before we ordered the curry and couldn’t eat it because it was too much food and too rich to eat with the fish. After eating the crab and rice we decided next time to just order two fish. After eating Dungeness crab from the Pacific NW you are never the same! We were amazed at how quickly we got our meal given the crowds.

Afterwards we drove south of Cha Am to look at a new mega housing development called BLU. We looked at a two bedroom, two bath condo on the 11^th  floor. There were 21 floors. It was 63 square meters, around 650 sq ft. We asked to see a non furnished model. The space was pretty efficient given the size but after looking at it we realized the development will appeal to folks who live in Bangkok about 2 hrs north of Cha Am and wish to escape on the weekends. There are 14 million residents in BKK.. The kitchen had two electric burners and little counter space. It was ideal for heating your take away meals. I would go nuts trying to manage living in a place with a kitchen like that. I loved the view: in one direction we looked out on the ocean and the other direction we looked at the mountains. It was a corner unit and had great cross ventilation to catch the sea breezes. We have no intention of buying but were curious to see the building which was part of a much larger development with another tower of condos, and an area of four story condos closer to the beach. The cost for the curious was about $142,000.

We started back to Phetchaburi and were surprised at the traffic heading north to Bangkok at 3:00. We had heard about how bad is was but this was our first Sunday experience with it. I can only imagine how bad it gets the closer you get to BKK. Pair said the other afternoon mid week she left Phetchaburi around 3:00 and got to BKK at 9:00!!! Without traffic it is a 90 minute trip. We chose to drive on the access road once we got close to Phetchaburi because there was much less traffic on it.  We went out to eat at our Swiss restaurant that serves great pasta dishes. I loved my tomato sauce with bacon and chilies. I topped it off with their mango sorbet, one of the two sorbets they have among a nice array of gelato favors.

Yesterday I woke up at 1:00 a.m. to the sound of RAIN! I love the rain here. It reminds me of the South where I grew up, where you get great rain storms with thunder, lightening and a true down pour. I got up to make sure the rain wasn’t coming in the open French doors or the even larger bay of windows in the living room which go from the floor to the ceiling. No problem. I went back to bed and listened to the rain.  It started to get real serious with thunder, lightening and a deluge. I got up again and had to go outside to get the French doors closed and to close the bay of accordion windows in the living room. I did a little mop up with a towel because we have high gloss tile floors in the house that turn into a potentially deadly surface when wet. I stayed awake a long time listening to the rain, thunder and lightening. Delightful.

Today is cooler but not cool. The air got cleared with the rain so the sky is bluer than usual. We started our day with me mopping the floor which I do once a week or every ten days. Then we headed out for massages down the street. Next came lunch at a nearby place and I then got a mani/pedicure for $3.00. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t the best either. I was glad to have my nails cut because I was starting to feel like I was growing talons.

We retreated to the AC/fan in our bedroom for the remainder of the day. The high inside the house today was 86, not bad.

March 29

Today we took Hope, our ten year old on the property and his grandmother, Linn, to shop for art supplies for Hope. He often has nothing to do here as he is the only child on the property and I have never seen him have playmates over other than cousins who come to town occasionally. Hope spends a lot of his time on either his phone screen or the computer screen. He loves to kick the soccer ball around with Ron but Ron has been having a knee problem for weeks and kicking the ball aggravates the problem.

I asked Hope earlier this week if he liked to draw and he said yes. I then asked him if we would like to go shopping with us to get some art supplies and it got lost in translation and he said no. So I asked his cousin who speaks English to inquire as to whether he understood. My hunch was right and he had not understood what I was asking. Once clarified, we set up a shopping date for today. Hope is a smart, sweet and polite kid. His mom moved out a few months ago to go live with her boyfriend and left Hope behind. We went to a nice stationery store Ron and I had visited before. They had color pencil sets, paints, pastels, etc. We let him pick out what he wanted. It was interesting to us that he needed encouragement. I picked up a large set of colored pencils and he agreed, but when I offered good quality paper for drawing he declined initially. He didn’t want paints or markers but wanted a mechanical pencil. I also threw in some plastic boxes to hold the pencils and another one to hold the erasers, pencil sharpener, ruler, etc. I found a case to hold the paper and/or finished drawings. He seemed very pleased. And we all had fun.

On the way back to the car Linn stopped at a food cart that was grinding up cooked chicken parts. She was getting a treat for the three dogs on the property but I was intrigued how nothing gets wasted here. It was gross to see cooked chicken heads going into the machine. We invited them out to lunch but they had already eaten. We dropped them back at the house and we headed out for a quick bite. Back home to the bedroom for our afternoon heat retreat.

Last day in Melaka, a trip to KL and finally home (Thai style)

March 18 2017

Breakfast was a zoo with scads of tour groups in the large dining room. There were few choices that appealed to westerners but certainly enough to fill oneself adequately. But there were literally dozens of Asian dishes. The coffee was so bad we ordered espresso at $3. a cup which is outrageous for here. It wasn’t any better than the urn coffee.

We walked to old town and made a group decision to not sight see but just repeat last night by walking along both sides of the river to take in the local scenery. We are so enjoying traveling with Kay and Bill as they are so easy to be with and have similar preferences on travel style. Once we had walked one side of the river, we went to a 100 year old hotel and had a cool drink as the day was getting hot.

 We saw some beautiful plants and flowers along the way. The entire walk had blooming plants like potted bougainvillea, some weeping willows etc. The path had pavers and it was beautifully done with no dangerous gaps, broken tiles or uplifted tiles to stumble on. Because tourism is big here and because they are a World Heritage site, they have really done a great job of making the place have broad appeal. There were pedestrian bridges across the river as well as vehicular bridges.

 

During the night cruise I spied a boutique hotel with a restaurant and thought it looked promising. We passed it on our walk so we popped in and checked out the menu and made a reservation. We briefly walked on Jonker St which is famous for its night market. It was thronged with tourists so we made a quick left turn to get away from the noise and incessant selfie crowd who made walking difficult. We happened across a traditional restaurant and had a delicious chicken noodle curry for lunch. Back to the hotel to shower (three a day here due to the heat) and read.

We dined at the boutique hotel on the river. We were outside in a garden that offered complete privacy from the walkway and river. Although it was outside it had a glass roof which was great because we got a heavy evening shower which I love. We decided to hire a taxi to KL tomorrow rather than going on a bus. It would save time and be much easier. Given the price, it was an easy decision.

March 19

We had a quick breakfast and met our taxi at 9:00. He drove like a madman but got us safely to KL in 1.75 hrs. When he got up to 140 kph Ron asked him to slow down. I almost laughed because I am forever asking Ron to slow down! Fortunately I could not see the speedometer.

We were pleasantly surprised at our accommodations. We had a suite: kitchen with washer /dryer, dining area, living room with large flat screen TV, lovely bath with shower AND a tub and a large bedroom with a walk in closet, another large TV and iron and ironing board. It had it all. Nothing makes me happier than getting to take a bath at night before going to bed. Tubs are so rare in Asia so I was doubly happy. We were blessed with a good view and could see the rain storm coming from across the valley. We ate lunch next door and stayed in for the afternoon. 

That night Ron and I were picked up by Koat and his seven year old daughter Joy. We met the family on a overnight boat trip in Vietnam in 2014 and have stayed in touch ever since. Wen Li, Koat’s lovely wife,  was in Spain on business so we didn’t get to see her. We promised we would make it happen next trip. In Vietnam Joy totally entertained us with singing all the songs from the movie Frozen. She was four at the time and we were enthralled. She lives up to her name. She is incredibly bright, speaks two languages and can hold her own in a conversation. Did I mention that she is as cute as can be and is quite charming? We had a fabulous Hakka Chinese meal with pork and tofu, shrimp, twice baked pork, greens, steamed bread and rice. 

After dinner Koat took us to a high end glitzy mall like we have never seen. One floor is a gourmet food court. Unbelievable! After walking around a while we got ice cream for Joy and Ron then drove by the famous Petronas Towers. Joy wanted to see our room at the hotel so we invited them in. She carefully inspected our digs and gave us her approval before heading home. It was a delightful evening but we were sorry Wen Li had to miss it.

March 20

It took one hour to get to the airport with relatively light traffic. Good to know for future trips. We flew to Surat Thani in southern Thailand then took a cab to the train station where Bill and Kay had left their car. They headed home and we waited around for four hours to catch our train back to Phetchaburi. We hung out at a funky restaurant where I could freeze a small bottle of water for my mini cooler that I carry my eye medicine in. It cannot be exposed to the hot weather so I keep it in a cooler when I have to be outside for long periods like this. The restaurant didn’t have ice but let me stick the bottle in their ice cream freezer. We worked crosswords and read for a couple of hours then headed back to the train station.

We kind of stand out in small non tourist towns and two different station employees came over to help us know which platform to stand on and where to stand since we were assigned a sleeper car with AC. It was really hot here and the station had no AC. We boarded the train around 5:00 and got home at 1:50 a.m. It was a much older car than the one we had going south so it came complete with roaches in the toilet room but I never saw any in the sleeping area. The bed was smaller and not as comfortable and the car itself seemed to sway, bump and rock much more than the newer car. The point is neither of us got much sleep. At 1:00 we opened the curtain to discover we both were awake. So I sat up in bed and looked out the window so I would know when we were approaching Phetchaburi since they do not announce stations at night. We were so lucky as there was one taxi at the station, an old guy in an old pick up. Hey, he must have been our age! ‘Taxis’ here are small pick up trucks with facing bench seats in the bed of the truck. We thought if no taxis were available we could walk home 30 minutes. I was glad we weren’t doing that at 2:00 in the morning! We showered and jumped into bed at 2:30.

All in all a GREAT trip with like minded travelers.

Penang Hill and on to Melaka

March 16 2017

After breakfast when it was pouring tropical rain we took a taxi to Penang Hill, 821 meters above George Town. The clouds were heavy but we still were able to get some good views of George Town and the mainland. It is 5 degrees cooler up there due to the attitude. 

It wasn’t hot since we had a cloud cover. We took a funicular up the hill and it was the steepest one I had ever ridden on. I enjoyed seeing some of the infrastructure on the way up that helps to carry water down the hill during a rain storm helping to prevent erosion or worse landslides due to the steep terrain. There were various activities available up top but nothing that interested us. We enjoyed just walking around, looking at the beautiful plant life and watching some dusky leaf monkeys (spectacular langur) making flying leaps around in the trees. The plantings were quite beautiful and Ron took lots of photos. After an hour we came back down to town.

Our friends became native

Bill stayed at the hotel as he likes to skip lunch and the rest of us headed to a restaurant that is popular with locals. It was crowded. They had tablecloths and plastic stools. They changed the tablecloths after each group finished…we were always amazed when we lived in Sri Lanka how many places washed the tablecloths infrequently making dining rather unpleasant. This place is laughing all the way to the bank. It is large and was packed. We ordered twice baked pork and an asparagus dish with shrimp and chilies. Rice is a standard part of a meal in this part of the world. The pork reminded us of PokPok in Portland that has the best chicken wings you have EVER eaten. Ron headed back to the hotel and Kay and I headed to old town for shopping. All I found of interest were some arty greeting cards and a tee shirt. I did see a gorgeous piece of silk but could not imagine what I would do with four meters so passed. One shop had some of Barefoot’s products and it made me happy to see them this far away from Sri Lanka. It is my favorite store with lots of colorful textiles.

Back to the hotel and Ron and I left for a foot massage. It was a treat after being on concrete all day. We met Kay and Bill for happy hour before heading out to dinner OMG what a meal. We returned to China House and tried another recommended restaurant there. Ron and I had the sea bass and it was out of this world. I also had a salad of green mangoes, tomatoes, candied cashews, slivers of ginger blossom, and cukes. The meal also included a spicy lemony roasted cauliflower. We ordered two fine desserts to finish the meal: tiramisu and pavola. It was a wonderful way to end our time in George Town.

March 17

We had a 90 minute flight to Melaka which is south of Kuala Lumpur. From the airport we took a taxi to or hotel. Although our accommodations were fine none of us liked our hotel. It caters to large tour groups. There were numerous tour buses parked out front. The hallways were frequently noisy with people visiting or standing outside some one’s room and talking loudly to the person in the room.

We ate a quick unremarkable lunch and planned the afternoon. We took a cab to the World Heritage site and we were really disappointed at some of the sights like an old church that was plain and rather ugly. We walked up a hill and viewed the ruins of St Paul’s church from the 1600’s which was my favorite. There were huge stone grave markers with quaint language like ‘she fell asleep to the Lord on May 2 1678.

The town square was a zoo with tourists and touts. There are many bicycle rickshaws here and they are phenomenally tacky with stuffed toys attached. They play loud electronic music and at night they have garnish lights to add to their inherent ugliness. We actually rode on one at night because we couldn’t find a cab home. Ron said he felt like he was in Seaside, Oregon, a tacky beach town. I agreed, it did feel like a beach town.

We felt fried from the heat so went back to the hotel cool off and rest.  We are 2 degrees north of the equator here so the heat and humidity are brutal, taking their toll on us. We went to a fish restaurant for dinner and it was good. We then took a cab to old town and went on a 45 minute river cruise which was lovely because we got to see so much of the town: quaint homes, shops and what looked like fine restaurants. It reminded me of San Antonio Texas. By taking the rickshaw home we discovered we were quite close to old town.

Mansions and Museums

March 14

We met for breakfast at 8:00 and had a terrific meal at the hotel buffet. We decided to take in a free Old Town guided tour .We had an excellent guide, a retired teacher who infused the tour with some time honored values like ‘there is only one race, the human race, make money quickly and spend it slowly (the Chinese way he said).  

We took the free bus back to the hotel and headed down the street for pho, Vietnamese beef noodle soup and washed it down with some really good ice cold lemon tea. We rested briefly (it’s hot here and humid) and then took a free bus to see the Blue Mansion, a 38 room gorgeous house built in the late 1800’s. It was bought in 1989 and lovingly restored over an almost seven year period. It won awards for the authentic restoration completed with high standards. Part of the mansion is now a B and B and high end restaurant. Our tour guide was quite enthusiastic.

Kay and Bill

On the way to catch the free bus we passed a chocolate shop. Scored 70% and gave Bill and Kay one of the three boxed we bought. Rushed back to the hotel to keep it from melting in the heat. We rested until Happy Hour on the roof top then headed out to a fabulous dinner at a restaurant off Armenian that was housed in a building that was three shop houses that had been combined and that housed two restaurants, shops, a wine and an espresso bar. The bakery there makes 50 desserts a day!! We shared a piece of Louise cake which had meringue, coconut and raspberry filling. OMG. YUM.

March 15

 After breakfast we went to Starbucks for a coffee then caught a bus to Dr Sun Yat Sen’s Penang base. He was the father of the Chinese Revolution of 1911. This was his home during that time. Many of the houses here have an interior courtyard that is open with no roof to allow light in and rain which is collected by way of a depressed floor and that channel the water into a well beneath the courtyard floor. Ingenious. 

The guide there showed us a great photo trick and took our picture through an antique mirror.  We then did it for Bill and Kay.

Antique toothbrush holder

Afterwards we stopped by two shops Kay and I had spied. I tired on a jacket but I didn’t like the fit although I loved the fabric. Kay got a couple of items and our husbands had a place to sit in the foyer of a hotel that was part of the complex.

We walked to the Penang State Museum, a small but lovely museum. We were leaving just as the school children were entering. We made a fast get away. The entrance fee was 24 cents! We grabbed lunch at a traditional eatery that served Nonya (Peranakan) food, a flavorful cuisine that married Chinese with local herbs, spices and ingredients. We had fired chicken, curried chicken, wing beans and eggplant with rice of course. All quite tasty and inexpensive ($25 for four people).

Next we visited another mansion, the Pinang Peranakan. The Peranakans, also known as Babas and Nonyas, are a community of acculturated Chinese. They are also known as the Straits Chinese, having settled along the British Straits of Penang and Singapore. They adopted Malay ways and British colonial lifestyle. This mansion was a typical home of an affluent Baba a century ago and was recreated to allow visitors to glimpse the opulent lifestyle, customs and traditions in those days. It was more ostentatious than the Blue Mansion so there was a lot to see and take in. There are over a 1000 pieces of antiques and collectibles of this era on display.

I loved the women’s clothes and the myriad of batik prints. The textiles blew us away, embroidery with real gold thread for example with the tiniest, finest stitches. I would have loved to be able to buy some but nothing like that was for sale. We had a great free guide who added humorous comments. The tour took about an hour and there were just six of us in our group. It ended with the Straits Chinese Jewelry Museum. Good lord, what opulence. The bead work on shoes, purses and wall hangings was the finest I have seen with the tiniest beads imaginable. There were many items from England (furniture, fine glassware and china) and Scotland (iron columns, tiles) and China (china, textiles, furniture). We saw jewelry made with feathers from the Australian Kingfisher that was just brilliant with color.

We came back to the hotel for high tea delights, rested before happy hour and then went out to dinner at a Muslim restaurant and had another fine meal of lamb biryani. It sounds as though we are eating our way through George Town!