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station. And joy of joys, we were staying
in the recently refurbishedMajestic Hotel
opposite –where I remember stopping for
fresh lime juice all those years ago. Even
more emotional for me was rediscovering
two of the houses where I had lived in as
a child and the swimming pool where I
had learnt to swim.
Perhaps the icing on the cake was our
few days on Pangkor Laut Island. In the
50s and 60s, we had stayed at the only
accommodation available, the rest-house
on Pangkor Island. A short boat ride
took us across to the smaller island of
Pangkor Laut and Emerald Bay where
we would swim and snorkel. Back then,
Pangkor Laut was uninhabited. Now it
is a luxury resort, but done in such a
tasteful way with natural materials that
it does not feel as if it has been imposed
on the landscape. The hill villa where we
stayed was right up against the jungle
vegetation and we were treated to a visit
by a hornbill, and a not-so-welcome visit
from a monkey who made off with our
tub of cashew nuts!
Our last night was spent near Ipoh,
ready to take the plane back to Singapore,
where our amazing ‘trip of a lifetime’
had started – and then home to England.
I will never forget this amazing holiday
and I hope it will not be another 50 years
before I visit again – there is still Penang
and the East coast to rediscover!
Little India in
Singapore merges the
past and present
A kampung
house in Malacca
brought back many
memories
Icing On The Cake
Driving up the Malaysian peninsula
towards Malacca it was noticeable that
palm trees had overtaken rubber, but
the landscape of kampungs and distant
hills was still the same. Re-discovering
Malacca was fun as I compared my old
black and white photos of those historic
sites with our recently snapped pictures.
Travelling on to Kuala Lumpur was
even more exciting as it felt like I was
returning home. There was the padang,
still edged by the familiar governmental
buildings and, just down the road, the
beautiful lines of the former railway