Message Stick

Georgetown, on the Malaysian island of Penang, was an old Straits settlement and so is crammed full of British  colonial style buildings and character. Chilling out here was meant to be a welcome relief from our recent  outdoor pursuits. Our flight was delayed so when we arrived on a Saturday night during the school holidays the town  looked like Ibiza, packed with young holidaymakers out drinking booze sold at London prices.   Consequently we struggled to find any decent accommodation and what we did settle for would have been great had it  not been for the adjacent nightclub.

In the morning I woke to the realisation that something was not quite  right with my face when I looked in the mirror and didn’t recognise the person staring back at me. A trip to  the doctor and £50 later I was told I had some sort of allergy and was given injections, creams and pills to be  getting on with. I spent the rest of the day exploring behind my sunnies and thankfully it had cleared a lot by the time we took high-tea at the Eastern & Oriental hotel; an English tradition that we feel must be reintroduced into normal life. Seeing all the Christmas decorations there got us really excited about the forthcoming festivities so we listened to carols in our new and greatly improved hotel room at a grand old Chinese mansion. In the evening Mark re-lived a much missed treat from our last trip with a shave from a barber in Little India.