December 2017

I was not going to write a December blog as some of the month was already covered in the 2017 summary blog. Enough has happened not to have a gap in the records.

Nikki duly completed her 6 weeks medical stint here and by all accounts enjoyed it. She said the staff were really getting to know her when her time finished. Her mentor is perhaps the only foreign surgeon in Malaysia….certainly Penang……. so a white woman with the same ambition is indeed a rarity. Neal arrived and he and Nikki with Helen’s guidance saw a bit of Penang they hadn’t seen before. We went out for several memorable meals and each member of the household had several nights of preparing food for the others. Nikki and especially Neal put in a great shift preparing the Christmas dinner…of course with Helen highly involved. John and Baby and Mike joined us for Christmas dinner. On another night, we enjoyed dinner and different beers at a pop-up restaurant in George Town that was held in and old saw-mill. You can see from the picture the Mike gets highly involved in the tasting process. On Christmas morning we had, what has now become a tradition…. Pesto Pancakes with cream cheese and smoked salmon. ….with Prosecco…the current trendy drink. A nice trend too.

Coincidently Nikki enjoyed "The Long White Cloud'......hops from New Zealand and blended in Scotland.

Nikki and Neal are now in Los Angeles, staying with Neal’s relatives while Nikki prepares for another 6 week medical stint. It was great having Nikki home for so long and they are booked to return on their way back to New Zealand and Okinawa.

The weather has been a bit better over the last month….I even got out for a couple of shoots. My favourite Penanti seems to be only a shadow of its former self. The motocross riders have abandoned it. I did have a bit more luck at Byram in the lee of the state rubbish dump.

Black-capped Kingfisher

Pied Stilt

Sunda Woodpecker (very small)

Blue-tailed Bee-eater.... leaning into the wind

Courting Dollarbirds

White-throated Kingfisher

Greater Coucal

On the photo competition front it was the month for the entries to the BBC Wildlife Competition and the ANZANG one also. The latter being confined subject wise to pics taken in NZ, Oz and PNG. My best shot in both competitions would be the Brolga displaying. I have included the smoking Kingfisher is an applied section in the BBC.

I did not figure in the major prize list in the Comedy Wildlife competition. I have no issues with the winner but the organization was indeed very poor. The following images are the top 3 and my favourite.....if sex is a comedy act.

The crow is getting more independent. Some days I do not see it until nearly 2pm. I do see him at least once per day. I read where imprinted crows are not very successful in adapting to the ‘wild’. I would dispute this as my boy has twice beaten off larger crows in defending his food. I get the odd bite and boy he packs a punch. Raising him has been a novel experience and I have enjoyed it…even when he removes pegs from the washing and raids the kitchen. We hired a Uber car to go the pop-up restaurant and we left with a crow standing on the roof of the car…..but not for long. I now feed him cubes of pork (which is cheap) and I leave raisins out for him, which he enjoys.

The lawn had to be semi-replanted and it seems to be OK for now albeit a bit patchy where the old meets the new. I also append another shot of our orchid…..taken with a video camera.

We are about to dump our cable company after upgrading the internet speed. I have been spending some time this week looking for on-line providers of rugby, lawn bowling and sometimes cricket. We are enjoying some shows on Netflix….especially ‘The Crown”.

Helen and I with you all...a happy and healthy 2018

2017

As usual on Penang Island the year got off to a spectacular start with a firework display on our estate.

The weather this year though has been unusually wet, even through the dry season in January and February. Twice later in the year the island has suffered from bad floods. We are pretty well safe where our house is located but others suffered twice in quick succession in October and November.

Helen has enjoyed a busy year and celebrated her 60^th birthday in May. Her sister Ann and her husband Gerry came to visit as did daughter Dani and her boyfriend Greg. 
We had a few days together in Phuket to celebrate. Dani continues to do very well with her sports and activities promotions in Cambridge, UK.
Helen's activities during the year include' Book group, boot-camp, yoga, working for several charities and teaching her private English classes....as well many household necessities.

Nikki completed her penultimate year of medical school and as part of her final year she has spent 6 weeks with us in while she gets experience in a local hospital. Helen and I have really enjoyed having her stay with us and get to realize the dedication the career needs. Nikki has spent 2 weeks with a general surgeon, 2 weeks with a neuro-surgeon and two weeks with a plastic surgeon. All three have been great mentors. Her boyfriend Neal arrives from Japan next week and they will go to the USA together where Nikki will spend another 6 weeks in Los Angeles where Nikki will work with a Cosmetic Plastic Surgeon.

\We also had visits from David and Lyn and John and Carolyn Gray.....John is a friend from Pharmacy School days.

We continue to enjoy our house here and have paved the backyard and re-laid the lawn (twice) this year. Our resident orchid has excelled itself for Christmas with 6 flowers. We continue to run the house as a B & B via AirBnB.

The star of most of the comments from guests is Coco who has been as loving as always.  She particularly enjoys the Saturday Pearl Hill walk with a sausage or bacon waiting for her at the end. She also has the insight to know who is family and who is a guest.

We also seemed to have acquired another pet. We rescued two small House Crow chicks several months back. One passed away on the first night but the other one survived. It was fed chopped chicken liver and thrived. It learnt to fly and became somewhat independent but calls in regularly for food. He is the naughtiest of the pets having stolen some steak cubes from the kitchen last week. He comes by before going to bed for a little head-scratch.  He has been time-consuming but educational.

As usual Penang has its share of colourful festivals. Each year we visit Thaipusan with its colour and activity. You could go 20 years and see something different each time. There is also the full-on Chinese New Year celebrations and Hindu festivals like Matu Ponggol where the cows that provide money and food are celebrated.

The wet weather has made 2017 a difficult year for nature photography. I was entertained a lot by a pair of White-throated Kingfishers going through a breeding cycle and had a good trip to Fraser’s Hill in April. The local Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters deserted one nesting site but were found to be using man-made drains in the grounds of a large Chinese temple.

I made two trips to Fraser’s Hill with one being rather wet and the second one producing images of some of the endemic colourful wildlife.

In late October I spent two weeks in Darwin and Kakadu with friends from Singapore and Adelaide. We flirted with the oncoming wet season but loved Kakadu.

On the major photographic competition front I was short-listed for the BBC wildlife exhibition and the Comedy Wildlife International but alas was not a major winner in either. I did however top the scores in the salons approved by the Photographic Society of America.

I was also mentioned in dispatches in an 0n-line NZ newspaper for a tourist image

Shortlisted for BBC wildlife

Shortlisted for Comedy Wildlife

With the wet weather and off-season, I had a bit more time to make some produce. Bread and Kefir are now routine and various fruit-flavoured Kombuchas have been added to the list. The sausages produced are now skinless and healthier with less fat and more herbs.

On the local scene the Monday evening Pub Quiz at Healy Mac’s has been as popular as ever   and for a number of times the highlight of the week. The Stratocasters team has done well with 26 wins during the year and accumulating enough funds from the bonus round to go out for dinner.

My brother David will not rest if I don’t mention the rugby. The Crusaders won the Super Rugby competition while the All Blacks ran hot and cold. The men in black lost two games, which is seemingly unforgivable. They drew the series with the Lions…thanks in large part to eccentric French refereeing and Sonny Bill forgetting which sport he was participating in.

2017 was a year of electronic gadget failures. I lost a desktop computer, a laptop, a watch and a bread-maker. I have been putting my camera very carefully to bed each night. We have however upgraded our internet by getting fibre-optic cable installed which is attached to a super-duper router..

I did get to photograph the secret life of some local animals who relax when they don't have to pretend to be cute (only 1 was photoshopped)

Lastly we salute some good friends who have left us and wish several others who have some pending health battles all the best for 2018. We are with you all the way.

Merry Christmas to all and all the best for 2018