DAY 84---PENANG, MALAYSIA

 

We are docked in Georgetown today which is on a small island just opposite of Penang, Malaysia. Another hot and humid day.  This and last two ports have been just north of the Equator.

Historical/Background Info:

        We were here in 2010, 2013 & 2017 also. We are docked today in Georgetown the capital for the state of Penang. It is located on the northwest Malaysian peninsula just south of the Thailand border. Penang is one of 13 states in Malaysia, most of which, lies on Penang Island. To get to Georgetown on Penang Island you can take a ferry or there is a 8.5 mile bridge to it. Penang is one of the most developed and economically important states in the country and has a thriving tourist industry. Because of its shape and location on the strategic trading route of the Strait of Malacca, it is often referred to as the “Pearl of the Orient”. Manufacturing leads the economy here but tourism, shipping, finance, and other services are also important. As far as agriculture, palm oil, rice, rubber, fruits, coconut, vegetables, cocoa, and spices are harvested. Penang state’s population is 1.6 million, of which, 600,000 live on Penang Island. 

LAST EVENING

What a wonderful evening we had with Harvey, Richard, and Marcia.

                                                      Budi was great serving our special champagne .

Our three special ladies that usually drink with us in the Mariner Lounge Bar sent this wine to our table.  Very nice California cabernet.

Crab cakes

                        Of course, the waiters and Dominic has to sing to us.  The cake was very good.

                        To the show room and this is Jimbo and Mary Ann, favorite friends.

                                                              INCREDIBLE SHOW

                                              Bessie and Effrin had decorated our suite.

TODAY

                                                       The sun coming up this morning.
        I was scheduled to go on a four hour "George Heritage" tour at 8:45 this morning.  I went down and got a bus ticket.  They said masks were required to be worn when indoors in Malaysia.  I mulled that over and decided not to go on the tour.  I am not wearing a mask!

        So back to the suite and got dressed for the treadmill.  After the treadmill I changed as decided to take a walk into town since it was just outside the cruise terminal.  First some photos from deck 12.

                                                A Malaysian naval ship was just docking.

                                         Small, old cruise ship I guess.  No one around.

Another small, old cruise ship had arrived after we did this morning and got a berth right in front of the cruise terminal.  It is the Aegean Paradise.

                                                  Two guys painting the bow this morning.

                                               Old warehouse that is not used these days.

                                                          Queen Elizabeth Clock Tower

Penang State government building--As you will note from the photos that the buildings were from the Colonial period when the British ruled Malaysia.  They are very well maintained.  In 1957 Malaysia became independent.

                                                      Chinese Chamber of Commerce

                                                                          Town Hall

City Hall--I asked the couple sitting here what the building was.  They were super nice and said it was the City Hall.  I was confused now as the Town Hall was just next to it.

                                                         The streets are clean here

I asked the guard what this building was.  He was very nice also and said it is the " City Court Building".  It is Saturday here so no activity in town.

                                                       This bird was making a lot of noise.

                                           Covenant Light Street School (secondary school)

                                                  Penang State Museum and Art Gallery

                                                                         Starbucks

                                                         Flowering tree was interesting.

                                              Church of the Assumption--Catholic church

Old "shop houses".  Called shop houses as their business was on street level and they lived above on second floor.

                                                                        Bike taxi

        The front of the cruise terminal.  I had to take an escalator up to second floor where there were shops and security check point to return to the ship.  It was very well air conditioned and the internet free and fast!!  So I got my photos uploaded in just a few minutes.

        I was off the ship for an hour and was soaking wet (shirt and shorts) from sweat when I got back to the suite.  No wonder as it is 92 degrees and 60% humidity today.  Probably be raining again late afternoon.

        We will be sailing again at 5pm and arriving in Phuket, Thailand, tomorrow morning by 8am.  There is a Captain's Welcome Reception at 6:00 this evening.  We have a new Captain now, Captain Abhi.  He is a fairly new captain at Regent.  His wife and two small kids are on with him until Dubai.

        Here is tonight's Compass Rose menu.  We will be going up to Sette Mari for dinner however.  We told Donald, the maitre'd, we would be coming up.  We also asked Chef Anees to prepare a veal parmesan for us to share.

        Tonight's show is featuring Steve Marshall again.  He is a does magic, card tricks, and mind reading.  We did not attend his first show.  May go tonight.

DAY 83---PORT KLANG (THE PORT FOR KUALA LUMPUR), MALAYSIA

 

Today we are docked in Port Klang, Malaysia, the port serving the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur.

Partly cloudy, very humid, and 90 degrees today.  Good day to stay home.

Yes, today is our 39th anniversary and this was on the tv today.  We shall be celebrating it this evening in Prime 7 with Marcia, Richard, and Harvey.  Photos tomorrow.

Historical/Background Info:

        “Apa Caba”!  This is “how are you” in Malaysian.  This is our 4^th visit to “KL” or Kuala Lumpur which is the capital and largest city in Malaysia with a population of nearly 2 million, but the entire metro area has over 7.5 million.  Malaysia has a population of over 30 million of which 55% are Muslim.  In the past Malaysia was known as a major exporter of tin and rubber but tin is no longer mined as such.  In addition, nowadays it manufactures electronic components, produces crude oil, is a financial and insurance center, produces a lot of palm oil (which has a myriad of uses), and has a good tourism industry.  Japanese car manufactures have several assembly plants here for cars, trucks, and buses.  Unemployment is only 4%.  I could tell how good the economy is by the number of cars on the roads.  Not many motor bikes as in the other Southeast Asian countries!  Our guide yesterday said the reason it they get so much rain in this part of the world so prefer cars to getting wet. 

        Probably the most famous landmark in the city is the 1453 foot high Petronas Twin Towers, headquarters for the national oil company.  When built, it beat out the Sears Tower in Chicago as the world’s tallest building but no longer holds this distinction.  Malaysia has large offshore oil and gas reserves.

        We are docked at Port Klang today which is a 90 minute drive from Kuala Lumpur.       

                                                The green shows the country of Malaysia.

LAST EVENING

 

We both enjoyed black mussels again.  I had a double order and here are the mussels that I had removed from the shells.

        Rebecca had the pasta with clam sauce and I had the veal piccata with polenta.  In the middle is the fish on the menu as we wanted to try the local black pomfret fish.  We did not care for it however as it was a meaty fish not flaky.

Chocolate Ice Cream

                                           This is Adam, a new bar waiter from Malaysia.

TODAY

        As I mentioned yesterday I am putting the link to our 2013 tour in "KL", Kuala Lumpur, which is basically the same as I was booked on and canceled today.  Again, you will have to "cut & paste" it on your browser.

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/5238249282069659538/5688057718635638374

This is not pictured in the 2013 blog post.  It is the world famous Petronas Twin Towers, 88 story towers mentioned earlier.

We got out treadmill time in this morning and Rebecca streamed her soaps before lunch in La Veranda.  Most folks out on tours today.  I had these shrimp and then some pasta.

                                              Lots of oil her in Malaysia to be exported.

Long way from the ship to cruise terminal so I decided not to talk in to take the shuttle in to a mall.

                                                                             Our pier

        We watched a movie this afternoon then started to get cleaned up for the evening.  Our friend and fellow bar fly in the Mariner Lounge, Pat, said she wants to have a anniversary drink with us this evening.  Then later will join Marcia, Richard, & Harvey for a pre-dinner drink.  I gave our bottle of good champagne to Budi at noon so he could have it chilled and waiting for us in Prime 7.  Our reservation is at 7pm.  Dominic is having the pastry chef make us a special cake.  We are looking forward to celebrating tonight.

        The Mariner is sailing at 6pm for our next port at Penang, Malaysia.  Short hop and docking by 8am tomorrow.

        We're looking forward to the headliner entertainers at 9:30 in the theater.  These four gentlemen will be singing, tap dancing, and adding in some comedy into their show.  They just got on the ship in Singapore and I got on the elevator with a younger man yesterday.  I said, "Welcome on board, are you an entertainer".  He replied yes.  I told him that he was too young to be a Regent passenger.

        As we were getting ready Ari, a waiter, delivered this from the General Manager, Massimo.