We also witnessed a Thaipusan (Hindu) procession en route to the Batu caves. Men with extraordinary spears slicing through their cheeks and out the other side followed exotically dressed women.
Linda, Kate and Alex decided they needed a spruce up prior to the anticipated beach holiday and went for pedicures and nail extravanganzas - the former preceded by dipping feet in a fish tank whose occupants removed all unwanted skin - not for the squeamish, I can tell you. While this was going on Colin lost his unbeaten record on the squash courts to Tim, another PE teacher who was both charming and too talented.
Penang is reached by a 40 minute Air Asia hop. Once the getaway for Malaysia ex-pats it is now very built up but retains plenty of charming and historic Chinese enclaves. The capital Georgetown, where we stayed in the Bay View hotel, is a bustling city with a large Indian population too. We sampled dim sum and curries as we navigated our way round Fort Cornwallis, named after a former Governor General (in India), and other landmarks. Incidentally Cornwallis's statue was missing its sword which had apparently been melted down by the invading Japanese for their war efforts in 1942!
We visited the Khoo Kongsi house, a famous Chinese clan house, partly a temple and partly a meeting house still very much in use. The original 1896 version was burned down (probably arson by a rival clan). This building was recreated in 1906 and is thought to be the finest in south east Asia. There is a family tree of the Khoo clan set amid dragons, carved columns and lanterns. Awesome.
While Colin used the Bay View swimming pool Kate and Linda took a "walking tour" (by rickshaw as it was sooo hot) to Dr Sun Yat Sen's Penang house (he established the modern Republic of China in 1911 from his Penang base following the Cantonese uprising). There will be a conference there to mark the centenary in 2011.
To Langkawi.
Penang was very interesting but after 48 hours we were ready to be beach bums on the lovely island of Langkawi, a two and a half hour ferry trip north of Penang. This is Malaysia's answer to Phuket but without the crowds or the influx of beer-sodden Brits. It has gorgeous, sandy, white beaches with plenty of cover from the sun (around 35 degrees most days). We stayed in Holiday Villas which was experiencing the German towel syndrome to a small extent. In fact we witnessed a very funny scene in which some Germans had laid their towels on sun loungers only to return two hours after breakfast to find them occupied by a Chinese family. You didn't need to be a linguist to discern the tension (the Chinese held their ground, possession being nine tenths of the law).
Alex and her fiance Craig joined us two days later to look at potential wedding venues for their nuptials in April next year. They had researched the Tanjung Rhu beach resort in the north of the island and this gorgeous hotel did not disappoint. The bridal suites alone (there was a choice of three) were bigger than most London flats. The beach and the views were picture postcard perfect - their other options on Ko Lipe and Ko Lanta (two Thai islands) will have to go some to better this choice.
Daughter Helen and her boyfriend Simon (plus curly, uncut hair which elevated him to 6ft 7ins)
joined us for the start of their four week holiday which takes in Lipe, Laos, Vietnam and KL. They took us to a reggae bar they had visited the year before. Noisy, redolent of ganja and thoroughly entertaining! 
Holiday Villas food and beverage manager Aslan advised us he was Langkawi's answer to Rafael Nadal so a tennis match with Colin was arranged. Well - he was left handed with a fair serve but Ealing's finest beat him 6-0, 6-0. A return was arranged for Monday but poor Aslan pulled a muscle and had to bow out at 0-2! Just when Colin was feeling big-headed he had a return squash match with Tim in KL and was roundly thrashed again.
Langkawi was great fun and we returned to KL fit and tanned. But Alex decided it was time to play it cool and arranged a visit to the Cameron Highlands, a two and a half hour car drive north of KL, 5,000 ft above sea level. After the humidity and heat of KL this was 23 degree bliss and cool at night. We stayed in an old schoolhouse just outside the main town of Tanah Rata. It was called Bala's holiday chalets, a Tudor style guesthouse with English-style gardens of great charm.
This area is named after William Cameron who mapped the area in 1885 and the area is perfect for the growing of tea, strawberries and vegetables. There are forest trails, many waterfalls and even a village of former headhunters. When one of them appeared driving a locally manufactured Proton car it did somewhat destroy our image of the village!
Alex was up for tea and scones at the Smokehouse- all very English and very twee. The major tea plantation is called Boh but is owned by an English family called Russell who set it up in 1929. We paid a visit and were granted an interesting tour of the facility. How the workers harvest the tea from bushes which are perched on steep hillsides only they can relate. It is now partly mechanised with mini hovercraft skimming the fresh leaves from the top of the bushes every three weeks or so. Extraordinary!
We also visited a strawberry farm only to learn and witness the fact that they are grown three feet above ground in watered compost. No chance for birds or insects to have their wicked way with them. We felt honour bound to purchase some samples - not to mention the delicious jam.
Our jungle trek lasted little more than a hour and a half as part of the advised pathway had been cut off by a landslide of falling trees - not uncommon in these parts. We saw the enchanting Parrit Falls and the occasional monkey and butterfly.
On the return journey 5,000ft down a single, windy road in Alex's brand new (four days old) Myvi (Malay version of a Ford Escort) we encountered an upturned lorry as we navigated a sharp turn. If we had been there 30 seconds earlier Alex's pride and joy might have been history - not to mention this blog!
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