KL, Pangkor, Penang beaches and the origin of seagoats.

This is a food court in KL. Chinese food is mainly available but I noticed this Bangladeshi stall on the right:







KL street vendor offering a range of sickly sweet sugary drinks. Hugely popular with the locals:


Stonehenge at KL's Lake Gardens:









Pangkor Island

Armin and I decided to escape KL. We got to KL's Pudu Raya bus station and were surprised to find you're not allowed to piss there.


We found a bus going to Lumut where we could take a ferry to Pangkor Island. We steamed past Malaysia's Naval base which brought back memories of my days in the Royal Navy.


Armin is addicted to Teh Tarik. It's a sweet milky tea commonly drunk in Malay cafes. Here he's on his 5th cup!


We only spent one night on Pangkor because it was fully booked for Chinese New year. However, we were there long enough to play with these horn bill birds.



Penang

After a night in a wooden A-frame hut on the jungle fringe, we caught a bus to Penang. I love Penang. So much better than KL. The food is terrific. This is me about to devour a tandoori chicken naan set with ghee rice, teh tarik and chilli chicken. It is far too much, far too delicious and costs a disgraceful £3.


After the meal I got this dusk shot of a small mosque leading to the crazy streets of Little India. Photographs do not do this place justice. The sights, sounds and smells that overwhelm your senses are amazing. The waiters may be daft but there can be no argument about their food being the World's number one!


Here's another pic with a crazy sky.


This Chinese temple at night came out quite well.







Chinese street butchery. Oink oink. Every Muslim's nightmare.


This is a typical Asian squat toilet. This is a clean example. Note the lack of toilet roll. You use the hose to blast the left-over shite from your crack. A kinda of portable bidet. I haven't used bog-roll in ages!


Next day we hit Batu Ferrenghi beach a short bus ride from Penang.


The UK's skinniest man.








Batu Ferrengi beach.






A future so bright you gotta wear shades. And a hat. And sun screen. Bloody hot for January.




Armin's great. His sense of humour is same-same mine. I was explaining how, on submarines, we used to insult our mates by suggesting that they blow goats as a hobby. He creased up at this. Anyway, days later I was explaining how I had an undersea tow from a turtle. As I assumed the towing position, demonstrating how I held the turtle's shell, he accused me of beastiality. My favourite quote of his is:

To insiders, they're known as sea-goats

Do you know that Door's song 'Riders on the storm'? We sing 'Sea-goats on the rise'.

Armin reminds me of Jim Bratton, an old friend from Faslane.


Jobs

The Chinese job hunt has had the usual ups and downs. Of the three likely positions (Linfen, Jinzhong and Guangzhou Universities), I'm now down to one.

Jinzhong University claimed the medical report I sent them was not good enough. They wanted the same info re-sent on their in-house form. Pointless duplication. Bollicks to paying for another medical for that!

Today Guanzhou University informed me they have changed their minds and now require a teacher with a MA in English! This sounds like a bullshit excuse to me. Maybe they think I'm too ugly from my pics.

I have had some good news from Shanxi Normal University in Linfen. They have received the work permit from the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs. They emailed a scanned copy. They will send it by post together with a letter after the Chinese new year holiday. I'll take these documents to the Chinese embassy along with photos, cash and other forms in order to obtain a z class working visa.

I'm currently in Penang at the 75 hostel. Next week I go back to KL to catch a flight to the Philippines. I'll stay at the Koala Hotel in Angeles for a while. I'm undecided on my Filipino destinations. I'm too pre-occupied with Chinese employment just now.

I have a cold from the AC on the buses. I'm popping Panadol pills like Taff from Ko Samui pops valium. It's strange having flu in hot conditions!

Wo shi ganmao - I have a cold