29th November - Pangkor Marina Day

Friday 29^th November

Today's Singapore Orchid

On Wednesday night Pete and I had a visit from James Khoo, the handsome and dynamic manager marina/owner, closely followed by Sazli, our Malaysian Rally Organiser par excellence. 

Pete, James Khoo, Sazli

We all sat happily enough in the dark; lights only heat up the area, and attract mosquitoes, after all.  They both very kindly said they read this blog, and that they approve of it.  I had to leave the cockpit and go downstairs to do a little happydance… Some blogs, apparently, are rather more gloomy than mine…no I won’t go into details but trust me.  Gloomy is not a good look.

The view from 2XS at night

Yesterday morning was a very happy time, once again, for me.  Well not immediately happy… First of all I had to haul buckets full of bilge water up from the bilge area under the starboard aft bunk (yes I am learning; I still do think of it as the back right bunk but…correct terminology makes Captain Pete pleased and proud!) while Pete strained away pumping up aforementioned bilgewater, with many a groan of deep misery.  The bilge pump has stopped working… Yet another thing to be fixed.  He has a bit of a sniffy coughy cold and this was not a good start to his day.

Pangkor Marina by day - 2XS is visible but only if you know where to look

After many MANY buckets had been hauled from the bilge (Pete),  lugged and tipped into the sea (me), I set to on my happy task of making cushion covers for the formerly horrid festy cushions.  They are transformed!  Chantal’s ex-sewing machine is now my shiny new toy!  I mended a few ripped items of clothing and am, as we speak, looking for more sewing projects on board.

At 10.30 I reluctantly left the machine and Pete disconsolately studying broken bits of boat and went to the next arm of the marina, where I had an appointment with kindly Gail, on SV Kularoo (Australia.)  She had offered to cut my hair, which had grown like a weed, as usual, in this hot weather.

Next adventure – an excursion with James Khoo, who was on a mission to find all of the items Pete needs to fix all of the broken things on 2XS.  I got back from Kularoo just in time to hop into the back of the car; I do like an excursion.  Even if it involves lots of this:

We went to more little shops of this type than I can remember, all around the streets of Sitiawan, and Lumut.  James was great company.  He was born on Pangkor Island and knows the area very well.  He is also a most accomplished raconteur and kept Pete and me amused, entertained and informed for many hours. 

At lunchtime he took us to a local Chinese place, cheap and cheerful, where he selected three most delicious dishes, served with big glasses of warm Chinese tea.  The very nicest thing was Chinese cabbage, steamed, with lots of garlic.  We don’t seem to need to eat dinner at all, after these large, delicious local lunches.

Pete and I were totally fascinated by what goes on in the top stories of these buildings:

Apparently until recently most of the buildings in this little town were single storey.  They now rise two, three, four storeys high, and…the windows are all sealed up, there are holes for ventilation, and small, inviting tunnels so that the most lucrative tenants of all can move in…swallows!  No worries with complaints re maintenance, or arrears in rent!

LegoLand wolves - why not??

These dear little birds fly in and industriously build their nests.  The building owners have automatic sprinklers in case it gets too dry, and fans to reduce the heat.  And all the birds have to do is build their nests, lay their eggs and look after their fledglings.  As soon as they have flown off, the nests are collected, dusted off*, and sold for a LOT of money, for birds nest soup.  Even the big imposing bank buildings only have offices on the ground floor.  All of the rest of the space is devoted to the nest enterprise.

Pete had never heard of this delicacy.  He was fascinated and appalled!

The view from my hammock on Pangkor Island...

* Bonus – the poo which is dusted off is then swept off the floor, mixed with sawdust, and sold as fertiliser.