Gong Hei Fard Choy， 恭喜发财

Happy New Year.

This message has dominated our last

 4 weeks of traveling through Hong Kong, Singapore and sailing up the Malaysia coast especially in Penang.

Red lanterns decorating ,mandarin oranges being handed out in the streets with dancing dragons and music ,also numerous food preparations everywhere in anticipation of  celebrating the year of the snake (2013 from feb 9th for up to 15 days)!

We have been extremely busy using the metro systems and public buses in all the above cities ,so that we could take in as many of the sights as possible. All the transport systems have been extremely efficient ,easy to use ,with friendly helpers when we seem a little lost. They are also very inexpensive ,the captain has enjoyed his senior status,so his bus fares for example were about 30 cents per journey in Penang!

We have enjoyed the food especially eating with the locals in the hawkers markets,(so many vegetarian options also )just as Anthony Bourdain would do. Indian still being our favorite .

Penang was inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site validating its outstanding cultural heritage. We spent an entire day on a religious trail, from Protestant, Catholic,Hindu ,Buddhist ( various different kinds), And Muslim  temples.Too many photos to display!

Returning from our visit in Sun Valley and England where it was dark and very cold the heat has taken a while to get used to, 90-95  F, with high humidity plus 12 hours of daylight which was a nice surprise .We were lucky enough to get our visas for Thailand whilst in Penang,just before they closed for some New Year holidays.

We had 9 sailing days and 8 nights at anchor from Puteri Harbour to Rebak, Langawi . I was able to sail without medication due to flat seas which was a lovely change from other journeys. 

We have a data chip in our mobile modem ,so we are able to pick up our Internet whenever we spot a red and white cell tower off the coast!

So far the malaysian waters have been very murky,with a lot of rubbish floating by, especially styrofoam packaging and water bottles always with lids on ,it seems strange to me that someone has taken the time to screw the lids back on the bottles ,but can't take the time to dispose of them properly!

The water is supposed to become clear and clean once we get to Thailand :)

We have only sailed in the day due to the fact that we have to dodge all the very small unmarked ,not lit fishing boats with their precarious floats ,that resemble the trash floating ,large fishing boats dragging their  long nets behind them plus tugs towing barges and enormous container ships.

We will spend some time here in Langawi having Callisto painted and routine maintenance taken care of.