The final countdown - Part 1

The return of Elk's Street to S.P. was on Christmas Eve, Jia-Jun's birthday, and the start of the last part of the visit to Malaysia. Below a few photos.

Jia-Qi in the kitchen getting the food ready.

The birthday boy admiring the celebration meal.

As can be seen from the photo above and the one below, there were lots of Christmas elves around.

Elf Kuan, Elf Henry, Elf Thomas, Elf Jia-Qi

The following day Elk's Street and the S.P. crowd went for a short trip to The Tree Top Walk at Sungai Sedim.

Finding it is not completely straightforward but for Malaysian standards it is surprisingly well signposted; the trick is to turn off the highway at the Kulim Hi-Tech Park, after which the signs are quite clear. Tropical jungles are not like European forests, where visitors can walk freely picking berries and mushrooms as they go (if the season is right). The undergrowth is so dense that visitors would need a machete to walk through a jungle. Oh, and not to mention all the snakes, leeches, and other creepy crawlies.

Jia-Yen and Thomas on the tree-top walk.


Some of the group on the jungle walk. But what are they looking at?


Malaysian jungle.

The following day, it was off to Georgetown, Penang to visit relatives. First stop was to visit H-M's Aunt Doris, who had just moved into a new apartment at Villa Emas, not far from the new shopping centre, Queensbay Mall.

The apartment block. Extra points if you can spot Henry!

The huge building boom and dramatic increase in high-rise buildings has been one of the changes I've seen in Penang. On my first visit, Komtar dominated the skyline of central Georgetown, and the Rifle Range flats stood out.

The way the island has been covered in concrete is not necessarily for the best - there are serious infrasture problems. This is seen most obviously in the constant traffic jams, difficulties with water - both flooding as water runs off the hills and supply of clean water - building quality problems, and issues with landslides. With Penang having been chosen as a U.N. Heritage site, I hope that more attention will be paid to sustainable development of the island.

Some of the gang in Doris's flat - Theng-Theng, Jo-Vi (boyfriend), Po-Po, Kuan, Aunt Doris.

Doris and H-M.

Jie, Doris's grandson. Jie's parents are working in Scotland and Jie is living with his grandmother.

From Bayan Lepas we then moved towards Tanjun Bungah to see the next set of relatives.