Fire!

This morning we were returning from a leisurely trip to the Saturday market and the shops (and with all our frozen goods and stuff in the boot), we noticed the traffic was very heavy as we approached our street - in fact the police were turning people around and there were big red vehicles and lots of flashing lights ...

... (that's our little grey Proton Saga just past the fire truck - we wanted to go into the driveway where all the people are.)

This is the front of the building - our apartment is around the back, facing the ocean.

It looked a bit smokey up the street that way - we thought maybe the grotty-looking building next door was on fire.

But there it is on the fifth floor of our building, just above the 'belly-band'. At this stage it is just very smoky, but an hour later while the alarm bell still jangled and the crowds had started to wander off, we could see that the window frame was all twisted and glass-less, and the surrounding outside wall of the building blackened.

Time for Teh!

We heard an announcement over a loudspeaker - thought it was the mosque at first but it was less sing-song - the police were telling people to get out of the building as some had started to wander back in (after all, only a very small section was affected, and it was not like the whole thing would explode.)

Seeing others wander off down the street we decided to go and sit in a nearby restaurant. We ordered drinks:

Peter has 'teh tarik' - or pulled tea. That's how they get it all frothy, pouring it from one jug to another over a distance. It's yummy, but very sweet ... So I asked for 'kopi' (coffee) which is really another way of saying 'surprise me'. So this looks like thick, black coffee ... the white bit on the bottom? - "sweetened creamer", or condensed milk! Also very very sweet, so best not to stir it too much!

And of course with that - 'roti canai'. Sort of pancakey things (not sweet) with a curry-ish sauce to dip bits in - quite delish.

After our snack we wandered back out to the street. The alarm bell was still ringing, and people were sitting around in tired-looking groups. We waited near the entrance to our building, and saw some people nipping in and coming out with iPads and other small items. Then we saw some sooty firemen come tramping out. The bell was still ringing but people started driving their cars in, so we did too.

We grabbed our shopping bags and - feeling relieved that we hadn't done a big shop - started tramping up the stairs, being careful not to slip with the water trickling down. We pushed our way past another fireman on his way down.

The building has a slightly funny smell, but back in our apartment we couldn't smell it. And soon after we came back in, the alarm finally stopped ringing.

Talking of restaurants



When we were down at the shops we noticed this little establishment. Hmmm.

Camping IN

Camping OUT can be so much fun especially somewhere like Kapas Island. Over the Chinese New Year holiday week the monsoon seemed to disappear and the days and nights were balmy and beautiful. But the islands are still closed (yes, the monsoon will come back again yet, they assured us), so we relaxed and went for lots of walks on the Kuala Terengganu beach instead - no swimming though!

About 9pm on the Friday evening, with one more day of freedom before going back to work, we were relaxing in front of a good movie ... and it came back (the Monsoon!). There was a loud 'bang' that reverberated through the building, as the wind blew in through our bedroom window, caught the door (somehow shifting the rubber wedge out of the way) and slamming it shut.

No big deal - we hear doors slam in other people's apartments all the time, ay? But somehow it LOCKED itself. We never close that door (even when Bea stayed with us), have never locked it, and had no idea where the key was. We sorted through all the keys we had - 2 for each of the other two bedrooms and front door, but nothing for that room.

Peter drove into the main street to our (non-English-speaking) landlord's shop in the vain hope that he would still be there. Not. He found a general shop open and bought a chisel ...

In the movies it's always so easy!

We thought we would be able to remove that little bit of wood from the door-jamb, and then poke something through to push the tongue back. Well, first of all, the door frame and door jamb were not separate pieces of wood - it was all one piece of hard, hard timber. But with drilling and hammering and chiseling Peter did manage to remove the appropriate section of wood, and we could peer through and see that 'tongue' poking into the door frame.

A neighbour dropped by to complain about the noise (10pm), but he didn't speak English and I couldn't manage enough of his language so he wandered off muttering but without helping.

All that stuff with just poking a credit card in to open a lock - rubbish! We tried knives, we tried the chisel, all sorts, but nothing would persuade that door to unlock.

So, tired and frustrated, we realised we would have to camp in in one of the spare rooms. We chose the least mouldy-smelling one, and grabbed a couple of the less mouldy-smelling pillows, and tried to imagine we were sleeping on Kapas Island on the sproingy-springed mattress. Fortunately we also have a second bathroom, although there is only a cold shower.

The wind howled some more, and then it poured with rain all night. Remembering the open window that had caused the problem, we had visions of a flooded bedroom and all my clothes on their rack near the window being soaked too.

In the morning about 9am Peter went down to our landlord's shop again ... but of course the shop didn't open until 10am. However, once he did arrive, and one of his young shop assistants translated for us, he came around straight away with a spare key and let us into our bedroom.

What a relief! The window was still open - but no water had come in. It was lovely to get back to our pillow-top mattress, and our warm shower. The little things can give so much pleasure!