Butterworth, Malaysia

Hi all!  

I thought I'd post a few photos from here.  Maz's new apartment is really nice, and the view is wonderful. This is last night's sunset, taken from her lounge-room.  She has a nice little balcony at the front as well.  At any time there are usually 3 or 4 large tankers lined up to go into the docks, so we're also planning on getting some binoculars. 

We are looking right out over the Penang island.  If we had this view coming the other way (from the island to the mainland) it would cost about $2000 a month, but because we are in scruffy Butterworth, it is a bit cheaper than that.  (Ok, it's about 80% cheaper than that.  It really is scruffy over here).

I am Maz's interior design consultant, because the apartment is very neutrally furnished at the moment. Being a design consultant means that I spend lots of time on Ebay buying cheap posters, so I'm not sure how long my career will last. 

This is Maz's new school over here.  I couldn't believe how big it was, I'm not sure how 1.5 teachers are going to fill the 3 floors of that school, but they are obviously aiming high.  The first weekend was really busy, with lots of prospective students coming in to do placement tests, so they're hoping to get more teachers soon. The inside of the school looks fantastic; very professional and very orange.  It's a pity they didn't ask me to do their interior design because I could have got a great deal on some Friends and Seinfeld posters.  But, their loss I suppose.

 We are definitely NOT in a tourist zone here, I haven't seen another 'westerner' since I've been here.  The locals are a mix of Malaysian, Indian-Malaysian and Chinese-Malaysian. 

I was going to say it's a melting pot, but actually, it's the opposite because the 3 groups are quite distinct and even after they've been here 3 or 4 generations they don't mix that much.  Intermarriage  isn't common, and they all speak different languages and are different religions, so the differences between the 3 groups are quite obvious. 

They all seem equally prejudiced against each other - a Chinese person told us to be careful to lock the apartment because there were hordes of Indian youth delinquents around, then an Indian person told Maz to lock up her bike because 'those naughty Malaysian boys' would steal it.  So, everyone seems to think that everyone else is out to get them - which explains why this apartment building is guarded like fort-Knox.  They have 24 hour security guards, and everyone has these hideous grills in front of their doors, so you can't even knock on anyone's door!!  

Hideous grills - apparently you just shake them if you want to 'knock'.

The apartment building - looks quite good from a distance...

..but not quite as classy close up!

The food here is AMAZING, and ridiculously cheap - I ate for the whole day yesterday for $2.50.  And, it's just so tasty, they use fresh spices in everything and it all tastes quite different.  Poor Maz has had a big stomach bug so she's been eating stewed apples and mashed potatoes for a week.

OK, here's Mazzy signing off, Malaysian-style. Peace out.