I’d thought of a visit to one of the beaches around Batu Ferrenghi on Penang’s North coast today but when I got up this morning the weather was overcast and the threat of rain was very much in the air. So, plan B it was then which meant having a far more chilled time and not subjecting my healing back/bum to the hard plastic seats on the local buses. Instead, I spent much of the morning editing and captioning some of the backlog of travel pictures I have in order to get them onto my picture website. You can find them here.

There’s a lot more to add but I’ve always got to balance the time taking them to the time editing them, especially as the former can only be done in one place and the latter anywhere. Tomorrow’s my last full day in Georgetown before catching the train back South to KL (Kuala Lumpur). I’ve mixed feelings about that as I’m very happy here. I’ve always loved this place, but I know I can’t stay here forever. I’ve spent hours and walked miles exploring the streets which has been fabulous – as have the people because the overwhelming majority (from whatever original nationality) are so friendly. Make eye-contact and smile and you’ll get a smile back – or even a wave and ‘hello mister’. Do that in the UK and many people will think you’re some kind of nutter. It’s the same with photography. Most people on motorcycles will wave and grin if they see you’re taking a photograph. Here’s an example from the food fair I went to a couple of days ago.

This picture was entirely unforced. I just happened to be walking past their stall and they saw my camera pointing towards them so responded positively. That’s one of the things I like about this part of the world.

Tonight I’d nipped out for some local street food. Char Kway Teow (stir-fry noodles) and ended up sharing a table with a young Indian guy. Whilst be waited for our food to arrive we struck up a conversation. It turned out he lives in Mumbai. He’s in his early twenties and works on the Indian oil and gas rigs as an engineer. They do 28 days on, 28 days off and as he’s young, footloose and fancy-free he spends much of his time travelling. He’s in Georgetown for a few days before heading up to Bangkok and then Vietnam. As I’ve done the same route we swapped travel tips and talked about places we both know in India. It’s yet another example of why I really enjoy this cultural melting pot and international crossroads. We were so busy talking that I forgot to take a picture of this signature Malaysian meal, but I’m sure I’ll have it again before I leave.

Now it’s time to have a quiet night in, my penultimate one in Georgetown (on this trip, anyway) before heading South. Still, you can see some more of the pictures I’ve been busy adding to my Zenfolio site by following this link.

There’s so much that I could write about and pictures that I could show you but times limited. It would be so very easy to write a book about this place. In the interim, I’m going to leave you with another bit of street art that references world war 2 but also a cartoon strip in the iconic 1960s ‘Mad’ magazine which I used to read second-hand thanks to my brother, Dave. Plus, it’s about photography, so it scores full points with me.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

Tonight’s blog won’t be a long one as I’ve other things to do, such as continue to wade through editing loads more pictures to get onto my Zenfolio website. It’s a bit like painting the Forth Bridge, as soon as you’ve finished one batch it’s time to start on the new ones you’ve just taken. The latest batch of Malaysian travel pictures can be found here.

Today’s been a relatively easy one here in Georgetown, apart from the fact I’ve picked up an injury which is quite literally a pain in the arse (stop sniggering at the back!). It happened just before I left Thailand. My camera backpack isn’t exactly light, anything but, it’s in double figures when it comes to kilos and when temperatures are in the very high 30’s you don’t fancy wearing it over both shoulders and with a belly-strap. That may well have been my undoing – in more ways than one. I suspect I’ve bruised my gluteus maximus or medius (the muscles in your backside) which I did over 25 years ago with my old Billingham camera bags. It’s why I switched to backpacks. The problem is the pain makes it uncomfortable to sit or bend forwards – hardly the ideal thing when you’re travelling. Actually, the sitting isn’t a problem. It’s getting up afterwards! Typically, it would happen when I’ve left Thailand, a country chock-a-block with people offering massages!

I’m hoping a several days where I’m not carrying the camera bag – just individual bits of kit – will allow it to rest, but these things can take time and I’m not getting any younger. Still, it was always my intention to settle here for a while in one of my ‘happy places’, it just might be for a bit longer than I thought! It’s not an issue as I had no plans after here other than nipping back into Thailand for a while. My main ambition was to meet up with my niece and her husband and that’s been achieved. They’re both loving Georgetown and will be here until Sunday, so no problem.

Today I moved hotels and returned to another old haunt, the Star Lodge in Jalan Muntri. Many of the old backpacker establishments have closed as the gentrification of the area continues and travellers go more upmarket. Covid’s had a huge impact of course, but so’s the fact many younger people are more ‘flashpackers’ than backpackers. The Star’s clientele is almost exclusively older travellers like me who’ve been doing this stuff for years. Folk who don’t mind simple accommodation but quite enjoy a common area where you can sit together and talk rather than just stare at your smartphone.

In the next few days I’ll write an entire blog about the changes I’m seeing in Georgetown and the travelling scene in the 30-odd years I’ve been coming here. One of today’s projects was to look at old photos I’ve taken of buildings and street-scenes and try to capture the same shot in 2023 to show the difference.

Right now it’s time to leave you with a couple of pictures for your delectation.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!