37 years

Married for 37 years ...

...and still adventuring together!

Yeah! Lots and LOTS of happy memories.

And plenty more to come. :D

We're Ba-a-ack!

When it comes to travel, boring can be very good! Who needs adventures at a time like that? No lost luggage, no missed planes, no spilt coffee, just a normal flight that goes to plan.

We had two flights booked out of Kuala Lumpur on Monday 12th. One was back to Kuala Terengganu - the one we took in the end - and the other was booked to Langkawi where we were to meet up with our colleagues from IPG who were going there by bus at that time. But the bus trip was postponed - maybe because of the weather forecast (?), so we ended up coming back to Kuala Terengganu as per our original plan.

A few more days of holiday

But we are not back at work yet. So we went down to the Noor Arfa arts and crafts place just south of Kuala Terengganu - I wanted to buy some nice batik material.



Back in the day (in the '70s) when I was at teachers' college, I did Batik printing as an option, so it was fascinating to see this Batik demonstration at Noor Arfa. We never painted our fabrics, only added wax and then dyed them. This young lady was doing a remarkable job despite the monsoon wind that was sneaking past her defenses and trying to rip the material away.



And then of course the little man figured he needed to show us the other crafts on display. This gentleman is making some pretty little glass things - doesn't seem very Malaysian, though.

Upgrading

We felt it was time to upgrade our lifestyle a little, with a bigger TV.



The men came and set it all up for us ... but we are still waiting for our Astro package to be activated so we can have some worthwhile stuff to watch on it.

Let's go fly a kite

The beach at Kuala Terengganu - called Batu Burok - is a popular place. We sometimes go for a walk there in the evening, and join the madding throng.



Well, OK, it's not quite Bondi beach ...

In the weeks before the arrival of the monsoon, the wind blowing off the ocean was hot. You expect that with a wind off a desert, but when the wind over the sea is hot, well, it's a bit like ... dragon's breath ... or something. Moist and weird.



Occasionally, despite dire warnings from the locals (but no warning signs ...) and the obvious lack of lifeguards and the like, few mad young people go surfing in the waves on Batu Burok.

But generally, apart from staring at the ocean and taking photos of your loved ones, the only activity here is flying kites.




There are often kites for sale, and some of them are delightful and bird-like ...

Flying a kite Oz-ztyle

And then we went on holiday back in Waikiki, Western Australia - truly one of the windiest places on the face of the earth! Obviously a great place to fly kites ...



I hadn't realised until we were standing nearby and were startled by a loud "psshht!" noise, that these kites are strengthened with air-filled struts.




On a windy Waikiki day there are dozens of kite enthusiasts zooming back and forth on boards hauled by kites in this section of fairly shallow water.



I would say it's not as easy as it looks - but it really doesn't look easy.



Exhilarating, though, ay?



And fun to watch, as long as you keep an eye open for low-flying kites with horizontal ropes that could take your head off ... not that it's ever happened!

Would Malaysian youth like this kind of kite flying? They are generally intimidated by water too deep to stand in, and go swimming or snorkeling with life-vests on. But motor-bikes are popular, so I guess - given the right conditions - this would be popular.