Saturday, September 11, 2010

Lotus Project 2010



You may remember that a group of us was raising money to take some of the Lotus children on a short holiday. Well, this happened last month when Alice and Mary-Ann went to UB.


Uuganaa, sitting on the horse, is certainly growing up. Good to see him looking happy.


The lad 3 years ago. Talented dancer and horse man. A very bright lad.
For more pics follow link http://www.lotuschild2010.blogspot.com/.

Monday, September 06, 2010

Book - The Golden Chersonese.

Isabella Bird. What an extraordinary Victorian lady. This book is a very detailed account of her visit to the Malaysian Peninsular in 1879. At that time only the coastal areas were known to the Europeans. The book starts in Hong Kong and tracks her journey down the Chinese coast via Canton (today's Guangzhou) to Singapore, up through the Straits of Malacca via Malacca itself, Klang, Penang .....need to finish the book!!!!. Her description of the state of the goals in Canton makes harrowing reading. The Malaysia she describes does still exist, but boy, you have to look very hard for it. No more do tigers and black panthers terrorise the villages and towns. Even the mosquitoes are less in evidence.

Tg. Sutera Resort.

On the way to Penang this last trip, we spent a couple of days at the Tanjung Sutera Resort on the east coast of Johore State. With Anne and Betty, we were the only guests. Wonderfully quiet place, on a small cliff by the sea. Behind the resort it is a short walk to the river estuary. The ultimate in sleepy places.