Penang and its durians

It seems that everywhere in Malaysia local people will claim that their place of state or district produces the best durians.....In Perak, you have many such claims and places where durians are supposed to be the best in Malaysia, these areas are Batu Kurau, Padang Rengas and Tapah....In Selangor, it is Semenyih or even Ulu Langat....In Negeri Sembilan...you have Bahau and in Johore, Muar, Batu Pahat and Segamat....

I have to admit that i had tried durians in these places and they are good....excellent and very good indeed......but being a Penangite (prejudiced) I still think nothing beats the durians in Penang...if not for anything for the sheer variety of the wierd names of the clones.....Red Prawn.....Ku Leng Hoo, Hor Lor.....etc....etc etc.

Penang and its durians

Permatang Pauh, Province Wellesly

I remember Permatang Pauh as a place of pontoon bridges....which you have to pass on your way to BM and Nibong Tebal in the late fifties and early sixties....As the bridges only allow a single file of traffic to cross it, most of the time you have to wait for your turn. During the peak season (Fridays or Saturdays & Public holidays), the queue can be quite long and the wait always take ages before you can cross the the river.

During those long waits, I remember looking around the surroundings along the river. The nipah palms and mangroves would often conjure up images of crocodiles half-submerged in the river ready to pounce on any straying mischevous boy like myself.

I would also fantasize going along the river like Tom Sawyer on a raft..what an adventure catching fish and looking for treasure...

But today, Permatang Pauh means something all together different...it is D PLACE.....the beginning of the END for BN, or any pause, a comma, and then a discreet turn for the nation...who knows?

Olympic Opening Ceremony & me

Indeed the opening ceremony of the Beijing is truly spectacular and amazing and awesome...it exceeds superlatives...

Amidst the story telling and enacting of China's 5,000 year old history...the story of Zheng He and the brave seamen of Fujian for me epitomises my history...my ancestors...opening the south seas and coming to south east china....to malaya...