Malaysia - Penang

So on Tuesday we flew to Penang - Air Asia must be the world's cheapest carrier, it cost around $25 for a 1 hour flight. Certainly no frills, but who really cares if they have a reserved seat or not? The dragon boat championships were held at a dam - which in all fairness wasn't completely adequate to the task of hosting 4000+ people in comfort, especially given the temperature and humidity - on the north cost, well inland a bit & up a hill, obviously. The problem with the venue was the dust - there wasn't really any grass coverage, so the feel of the regatta wasn't that comfortable. Having said that, I don't go to a lot of regattas, but I guess most of them involve sitting around all day doing not much except waiting for the next race in 35 degree heat. So probably for the paddlers themselves it was situation normal.

Paddling is like athletics - you spend 10 hours waiting for about 5 minutes of competition.

(Me reduced to taking pictures of myself). On the left behind me is the Chinese Taipei tent; on the right the Dubai.)

Anyway, I think Liz' team did well. No spectacular results but they did manage to win one of their minor finals - after being rammed by a competitor.


Penang itself - well Georgetown in particular was where we spent most of our time - is great.




It's a little hard to put the finger on why (I hope it's not just colonial nostalgia) but it seems like a very laidback and pleasant place.







A Hindu temple...about 100 meters from,,,












....a Chinese temple.







It has the same multicultural feel as KL; possible fewer Muslims and more Buddhists, but you still wake up in the morning to the sound of the adhan.


I like the adhan, partly because it seems like a very overt symbol of a community. True, it's not my community, but what are the public symbols of my community? I wouldn't have a clue. As an expat, there is one because you look different, but back home I couldn't even define a community that I felt strongly part of. Let alone one that reminds me of its existence five times a day. Still, following through from that, I'm not sure that I would want to be reminded of something five times a day. It might come to seem like nagging. Being inside something and viewing it from outside are really unrelated knowledges.

I also like the chant - I have always liked plainsong, and it's nice to hear a different scale now and then.