The Eastern&Oriental, known for its luxurious accommodation and restaurants, is a beautiful colonial-style hotel, 134 years old and founded by the Sarkies Brothers. It started out as the Eastern Hotel in 1884 and, following its prosperity, the brothers established another hotel, the Oriental a year later, ultimately resulting in the merger of both hotels into the Eastern&Oriental in 1889. In 1901, the two sister hotels, Raffles in Singapore and the Strand in Burma were established.
Unfortunately, the hotel underwent several decades of decline after World War II and, in 1996, it was temporarily closed for major reconstruction. Although the front wing of the hotel received restoration work, now referred to as the "Heritage Wing", the rest of the hotel was either gutted and refurbished or completely reconstructed. In 2013 the old Victory Annex was demolished and replaced by a new, 132-room tower.
Throughout its long history, the hotel has played host to numerous famous people including Charlie Chaplin, Rita Hayworth, Rudyard Kipling and Orson Welles to name but a few. As you wonder around the hotel, it’s an antics treasure trove of various artefacts, paintings, photographs and furniture. Even the original manually operated Otis lift is on display, but it’s only on a tropical island where you can take a photograph of a beautifully decorated Christmas tree sitting right next to a Palm tree.
Regardless, this is a very special place for us to create wonderful memories during these troubling times. Our day ended with an absolutely delicious Christmas dinner; roasted chestnut soup for starters, a main course of roast turkey and baked turkey ham with sage and onion stuffing, glazed chestnut puree, cranberry compote and port wine jus, accompanied by seasonal vegetables, followed by a chocolate yule log for Elaine and a Christmas pudding with a brandy créme anglaise for Roy, together with some petit fours for dessert, all topped off with a nice cuppa. We were definitely bursting at the seams by the time we rolled out of the restaurant, but counting our blessings, nonetheless, especially for the health and safety of our loved ones all around the world. May God keep you all in the palm of His hands until we can be together again.
Roy, however, also had to ensure he didn’t photo-bomb any of the photographs being taken as a number of officials visited Sam’s Groceria, the grocery store a few metres from where Paw Paw is berthed. The purpose of their visit was to ensure adherence of the store to the ceiling prices set for 14 items that have been placed under the Price Control Scheme until 31 December or face enforcement action by the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs. The items included chicken, imported turkey, imported lamb, local mutton, eggs, tomatoes, green chillies, cabbage, carrots and imported potatoes. Besides conducting a price check, they were also there for the launch of the supermarket’s online shopping platform with a local delivery service, Delivereat. This is expected to be a step towards the “new normal”, given that many people are still wary of shopping for groceries due to COVID-19 and, with the majority of people not being able to travel or deciding not to return to their hometowns for Christmas this year, Sam’s Groceria executive director, Azmin Saduruddin, said there had been a significant increase in sales in the weeks leading up to Christmas, particularly, in the sale of turkeys. It seems everyone in Malaysia enjoys a turkey dinner and wearing a Christmas hat! So refreshing and delightful to see such tolerance and acceptance for different religious persuasions amongst the Malaysians; everyone’s holidays and special events are celebrated unconditionally!
Elaine received a Christmas treat of a slightly different nature, something Roy kept a secret right up until our Grab driver pulled into the hotel entrance; our Christmas getaway at the 5-star Eastern&Oriental hotel on Penang Island. What a lovely surprise it turned out to be. Our ground floor suite in the recently relaunched Heritage section, has access to a “private” pool that is only accessible by seven other suites; perfect for social distancing. We even have a Bulter Call bell, although we’re not entirely sure who would respond if we pressed it!
Our day started, though, with a Christmas Eve breakfast onboard, complements of Elaine, before making our way to our Christmas getaway in the early afternoon, which was so close, we could have simply dinghied across the bay, and ended with a few more lovely surprises as Santa and his two helpers made their rounds while we were enjoying dinner and then a freshly baked mince pie, beautifully wrapped, left in our room next to our Christmas presents, when the staff turned down the beds.
Merry Christmas everyone!
While news swirled around us of, not only COVID-19 infections surging in the US, Europe, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and South Africa, but also the news of the new, more infectious, strain of the coronavirus circulating around parts of the UK and that has already made its way to Belgium, Australia, the Netherlands and the US, resulting in countries around the world banning travellers, flights, freight, except medical freight, and / or mail from the UK, including France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Ireland, Belgium, Israel, Canada, Jordan, India, Poland, Switzerland, Russia, Hong Kong, Latvia, Iran, Singapore, Taiwan and Bulgaria, as well as Sweden banning foreign travellers from Denmark, along with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman shutting their borders completely to international passengers and countries now looking at South Africa as well, given that a completely different variant has surfaced there, we tried to focus on the more joyous events of the season.
Santa had arrived at the Cadman Jr household and stood towering in the front garden, Keenan’s lovely new car had arrived just in time for Christmas, we received a beautiful Christmas card from the staff of the Straits Quay marina, we cast our eyes to the night sky to try and see Jupiter and Saturn cross paths, which was supposed to appear as a very bright star / "double planet", the timing of which has caused some to suggest it may have been the source of “the bright light in the sky” 2,000 years ago, that became known as the “Star of Bethlehem”, we read of a Malaysian couple who had dreamed of a large wedding and still wanted to welcome the 10,000 guests to their nuptials, all in a COVID-secure manner, albeit dodging restrictions which would have limited the guest list to 20, by arranging a very clever and unique drive-through event, where car windows had to remain rolled up as guests slowly drove passed the newly-weds, receiving a socially distant wave from the wedding party, followed by a takeaway meal and, finally, enjoying a good laugh when we received word, which we never expected to hear in a million years, that our grandson, William, was whining because he hadn’t got a Caesar salad with his chicken nuggets; he’s definitely set aside his “picky eating” habits and gone all healthy on us!
Today started with our respective walks and Elaine’s stretch exercises on deck, although our outings were accompanied by a very stiff breeze. All in all, though, we’re winding down to our Christmas break and the only events of the day included a visit from the chief mechanic to collect payment and a nice long chat to Keenan, who had arrived in Atlanta for his recurrent training.
Our re-certified liferaft was returned without a hitch around midday, afterwards deciding another baking episode would take our minds off any remaining yacht projects, for a spell anyway; raisin bread for Roy, cranberry muffins for Elaine.
After coffee and our baked delights, we sanitised the liferaft and returned it to its locker. Next up was collating the measurements for an awning, but the heavens opened, bringing rain well into the night.
Our day ended with another movie night, but not before we had to sort out an issue with a medical insurance claim. Always something!
Yesterday was another busy day, starting with Roy’s early morning trek to the laundromat, primarily to use the dryers, since the mechanics were expected back and having laundry hanging everywhere was just not going to work. Once that was all folded and stowed, Elaine started packing, Roy arranged another propane bottle and, after a chat to Keenan to break up the day, we sorted out the Grab Bags; removing and replacing expired items like the batteries, over-the-counter medications, copies of passports and yacht registration, flares, food rations, etc, as well as recharging all the electronic items and testing our portable solar panel simultaneously. We also took the opportunity to reassess what we had in the Grab Bag and removed a number of superfluous items, as well as add items we didn’t have in it; for some inexplicable reason we had three torches and a cheque book, but no copies of yacht ownership or insurance papers!
Of course, it was all go out on deck too, with mechanics everywhere and by late afternoon there was great excitement amongst them as the generator and engines were started up one at a time. We’re happy to report everything was purring as expected, bringing the last of the major To Dos for this year to a close, but it had been a long, busy day and we were simply delighted to have our home back to ourselves.
Rain set in overnight which continued well into the morning, providing some help from Mother Nature as we washed the decks and sanitised Paw Paw, again. Once the rain stopped and everything dried out, we returned the items to the port forward locker, filled the water tanks and a semblance of normal retuned to our home and our lives.
It was late afternoon by then, but all Elaine wanted was a nice hot shower before returning to her bed; clearly the last few months had caught up with her too.
Roy, in the interim, took all the nearly expired flares, medical kit, food rations and various other bits and bobs that had either been replaced in the liferaft or removed from the Grab Bag, to the marina office to be passed onto the fishermen, before we settled down to dinner and another movie night. By this stage, though, we can definitely say we’ve exhausted most of our movies and need to look at a fresh supply.
While this has been a trying year for all of us, our lives remain in limbo as we await an announcement from the Malaysian government on whether or not the Movement Control Order and our visa amnesty will be extended beyond 31 December. Nonetheless, we would like to wish all our family, friends and followers around the world a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Although these words may seem superfluous at this time, we hope you all find peace and joy within your hearts. To all the frontliners, thank you for everything you have done and continue to do. For those of you who have lost loved ones this past year, our thoughts and prayers are with you.
What we weren’t expecting was a team of three mechanics arriving to service the engines and generator, but they worked in the heat and humidity all day, then one mechanic remained in the port engine compartment with the locker lid partially closed while the thunder, lightening and pouring rain associated with the usual afternoon thunderstorm raged around him. It was well after dark before he left, but not before we were shown the pitiful state of our fuel injectors by the senior mechanic, who was surprised we even had power at all.
Given all the commotion onboard and the variety of fumes permeating into the saloon from the various solvents being used, we decided the marina office was going to be more comfortable and safer, which allowed Elaine to continue work on our latest video. A late afternoon lunch on the patio of the Nomiya Japanese restaurant followed. We had barely returned to Paw Paw when the heavens unleashed the wrath.
We wrapped up the day with phone calls to Elaine’s sister then to her folks in Ireland.
After Roy’s exercise walk yesterday, we both got stuck into cleaning and sanitising Paw Paw’s exterior as the mechanics weren’t expected back again until today. It was a mission wiping down every area of the yacht where hands could possibly be placed, never mind removing all the grease and footprints off the deck. What a pain, which wouldn’t have been nearly the task it was if we didn’t have to consider a threat of a COVID-19 transmission, especially since the suburb where Straits Quay marina is located, Tanjung Tokong, turned “yellow” for the first time since our arrival on Penang Island back in June. Until the beginning of December we had enjoyed a “green” status, which, somehow, reduced the stress levels around the pandemic. The cleaning efforts were the price we had to pay for our safety and peace of mind!
The rest of the day was spent completing some online shopping, updating the software on all our devices and continuing work on the video.
Today we were able to enjoy a very lazy morning before the mechanics returned. Roy even went back to bed after breakfast which is unheard of. Clearly all the projects of the past few months had caught up with him. We were, however, “gassed” out of our home again later in the day, so we decided an afternoon tea on the patio of Winter Warmers, listening to Christmas carols, was the perfect spot to while away the afternoon. We were pleased, though, to get our video, “A Glimpse into Life in Straits Quay Marina under the Movement Control Order”, completed and uploaded before we had to make this hasty departure from Paw Paw.
This evening, once the mechanics left, we were back out on deck sanitising our home again.
Then, while Elaine eventually completed our latest website article, “Hello Sydney”, only three years late, Roy pottered around and cooked a Basque country chicken dish, using a recipe Elaine had acquired from a dear friend, Ruth, who passed away a number of years ago; it was as delicious as she remembers when Elaine and her girlfriends used to gathered around to share a meal once a month in each other’s homes on a rotating basis. This was a meal Elaine cooked on one of those occasions and eating it again brought back wonderful memories of friendship and laughter.
Yesterday was another lazy day for Roy as he filled the water tanks, tried to recharge our winch buddy, sorted out the delivery of a few more parcels from the US and took delivery of his new sandals; something that had become a somewhat desperate situation when the last of his sandals and his supply of flip flops from Australia broke. No matter where we have shopped in Malaysia or Singapore, finding anything that would fit Roy was impossible. Fortunately he was able to secure two pairs of very nice leather sandals online, thankfully. His search for a new toilet seat hasn’t been that successful, though, an exercise that’s starting to feel a bit like “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”; the first one was too flimsy and the second one too big. However, apparently changing his search criteria and entering: “heavy duty toilet cover”, brought up a vastly greater selection of seats, so, hopefully, this minor issue will be resolved soon too.
Elaine busied herself with preparing our favourite breakfast yesterday morning; freshly baked crumpets, crispy bacon, bananas and honey. We’re also working our way through the different flavours of St Dalfour jams from France; amazing what can occupy one and add a tinge of variety as we continue to sit out the COVID-19 pandemic on Penang Island. She then started the preparation work for our latest video.
Roy’s selection for dinner last night, his first attempt at making chicken fried rice, sparked off some research that bore some fascinating results; the biggest consumer of eggs per capita in the world is actually Malaysia, although Japan consumes more eggs in number and Malaysia, not only exports eggs to Singapore, which would be expected, but to Angola too, of all places.
Today we had a busy start to the day unpacking the port forward locker, lifting sunscreens and clearing areas of the cockpit, all in preparation for the diesel mechanic coming to service the engines and generator; a little disconcerting as we’ve never had anyone else, other than Roy, work on these to perform maintenance tasks or repairs, but, unfortunately, there is a limit to his capabilities, in particular, cleaning the fuel injectors and adjusting the valve clearances, which require the necessary expertise and equipment, all maintenance tasks that have to be done now, though.
Having unpacked the locker, he also took the opportunity to re-secure the house batteries on their dedicated shelves, now that we’re comfortable all is working as intended in that department. Soon thereafter we received a call from Ocean Success, who were now in a position to collect our liferaft to re-certify it, given their area of Penang Island was out of the Enhanced MCO (Movement Control Order) and their staff were back from Klang and Langkawi. With that, it was a mad dash to haul out the liferaft, find the booklet and get everything positioned for collection. The only remaining task was to un-bag the propellers and saildrives, again, so that the engines could be run in saltwater, although we’d only recently replaced the bags; a slight mishap of timing on our part. Regardless, Roy was exhausted by then and decided that task could wait until tomorrow morning. In the interim, he also completed his investigations into acquiring new lithium batteries for our winch buddy in the hopes of resurrecting this rather expensive piece of equipment that makes raising the mainsail much easier than manually cranking the winch.
Elaine, on the other hand, although gofer to Roy much of the day, found some time to commence the creation our latest video and also enjoyed a brief chat to Keenan.
The day was over before we knew it and the usual “conflab”on what to have for dinner ensued; something that seems to have us wrecking our brains every day in our efforts to choose something simple, but different. Out of inspiration this evening, lamb chops on the barbecue had to suffice.
Afterwards, it was a little difficult to get back to life in our world as the “family chat line” erupted on the news of what had happened, but Elaine eventually settled down to complete the photograph selection for our latest website article and Roy got busy with his task for the day; sorting out and cleaning the starboard forepeak cabin where the watermaker is located.
Today, with most of the travel restrictions having been lifted this week across Malaysia, the influx of local tourists was expected, but, unfortunately, it came with a few irresponsible millennia not wearing masks, forcing Elaine to cut short her late morning walk and stay onboard for the remainder of the day. Roy also curtailed his plans to pop into the local mall and, instead, baked Elaine some bread, resulting in our first successful gluten-free soft white loaf. Elaine was in heaven sampling it with some Nutella spread. Yummy!!! Thank you Captain Roy!
Elaine’s regular Friday morning chat to Anne off Time Bandit, revealed that Langkawi Island was experiencing crowds not seen in months, with the beaches sporting deck chairs, jet skis and banana boats gracing the waters and cafés full of patrons. Particularly worrying was hearing about a table of twelve people sitting adjacent to where Anne and Stuart were, all maskless and all perfectly legal under the revised Conditional and Recovery MCOs (Movement Control Orders) as they were enjoying refreshments on the outdoor patio of the café. Regardless, all a tad disconcerting, given that cases are still on the increase in Malaysia, although news reports indicate the case numbers are expected to increase even further as all foreign workers in the dormitories are being tested to weed out the asymptomatic individuals. Thus far Malaysia can only be commended for their handling of the pandemic, so we have to simply continue to do our part to stay safe, while the country balances “lockdowns” against economic recovery, as well as providing everyone with some respite from a very trying and difficult year.
Our yacht project for the day was all about fans; yes, those tiny revolving blades that provide relief from the heat by circulating the cooled air throughout our saloon and, particularly, our cabins at night. However, since we don’t have any spare fans which have been difficult to acquire or have been astronomically priced and most of ours are now either making a racket as they spin or only work on a certain speed setting or had simply given up the ghost and stopped working altogether, it was time to salvage, mix and match parts and / or replace motors, as deemed necessary, as well as give them all a good wash before reinstalling them. Thankfully it was another successful undertaking and Elaine has a working fan in her cabin once again!
