More shoes!!

Who can resist a bargain??

While wandering around Chinatown we noticed this.......So guess what, for twenty five South African Rands I have a pair of sandals.

Eish what fun!

Batik painting.

From this ....

All this beautiful work takes place in rather humble surrounds. Everyone is friendly and at the end of the tour a gift shop has a huge display of all the finished items. Other Malaysian crafts are sold here as well.
Looking through the window at the person cutting the fabrics up to make garments I watched how all the scraps are thrown into a huge pile.
My very brave husband went into the area and asked the cutters if he could have a selection of the off cuts for his wife. Voila! To this.....

Batik factory in Penang.

Malaysia is well known for it's beautiful batiks. It was so exciting to find this little gem along the Penang coast. Both block printing and hand painting methods are used. We were welcome to wander around and go from step to step watching the artists at work. It is a simple process using molten wax as the resist. But it is the artists who produce the beautiful cloth.

In Chinatown we came across a beautiful little temple which was a haven from the heat. The interior was so peaceful and interesting.

The swimming pool at the condo!!

The Beach.

After driving through Georgetown we headed straight for the beaches and ended up finding a pleasant condo in "Batu Feringghi". The word Feringghi is the Portuguese word for foreigner and while there we saw lots of "foreigners both holidaymakers and permanents.



Penang is listed as one of the top ten islands to explore, by Yahoo travel.





It is easy to get into town by bus and we spent a few hours walking around Chinatown, but oh dear the HEAT!! the old part had some beautiful mosaic floors which would make up into lovely quilts.

Pearl of the Orient.

Two weeks ago we decided to go a little exploring and set off for Penang Island which is to the northwest of K.L. The highways in Malaysia are fantastic and there are NO potholes!! The drive took a few hours. It was lovely to get out of the city and into the countryside. The building and development that is taking place wherever you go in Malaysia is amazing. The Government offers a great progamme to encourage ex-pats to invest and live here called" My Second Home" and Penang is a favourite destination.
Georgetown is the capital and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It has a rich history and has been used as an important trade centre. To get to the island you have to cross a 13.5 kilometre long bridge.

New shoes,new shoes, red, pink and GREEN shoes.

So yesterday being my special day, we went off to the local mall to get new shoes. The deal is if you go to the Croc shop on your birthday you can have thirty percent off two pairs of shoes. So on the showing of my passport we bought two pairs of shoes, one pair for me and one for my hubby. Hows that for a deal!! Aren't they the cutest shoes ever??

The neighbourhood!

This is our next door neighbour's home. The houses here are mostly double storey semis or bungalows as they are called.

A sign at the back of our house on the walkway!

Life is a journey!

Yesterday it was my 65th birthday! I need to get that bucket list out and start ticking of all the things I would like to achieve before I really am too old and decrepid! Top of the list is Blogging. I have blogged before but I am determined to start again and to keep it going. I have just read through my two previous blogs and it really is fun looking back on our travels, adventures, quilts I have made and fabrics I have collected. If you look very carefully you may find a picture of you somewhere in there too!
You are invited to join me on this new journey and hopefully the photies I add, will make it really interesting for you to spend a few moments now and then reading my blog.

Warren and I are in Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia staying in Nick and Moira's beautiful home. We have been coming to K.L. for the past eight years and really love this city. Having this home as a base is such a bonus and from here we have and will be traveling around Asia for the next six months.