Those if you that know me will be surprised to hear that I'm sitting in a pub watching the Royal Wedding. This is partly because I'm curious to see how the pomp & circumstance of the british monarchy is seen overseas, but more because they have free wi-fi and a 2 for 1 deal on Strongbow in celebration of the occasion. Yeah I know - Strongbow. But this is the pub with supposedly the largest range of draft beers in Malaysia and that totals 7 (Tiger, Heinekin, Guiness, Kilkenny, Strongbow, Carlsberg & Carlsberg Export). So when in Rome.....
Watching the wedding has been interesting - good to see 'the old country' in so much detail. But what strikes me is how the newsreaders, the journalists and even the people on the street are happy to call themselves 'commoners'. One of the things I love about Australia is how class is generally not an issue and you're judged on the person you are, not the people who beget you. Watching my 'pommie' brethren deliberately abase themselves to a lineage blessed only by luck and aggression still makes me angry. Viva la republic!
Anyway, on the way in I passed an amusing traffic jam, where a bunch of flash cars were travelling (presumably) a wedding party. They had a police escort and there were lots of flashing lights, blowing of whistles, sounding of horns and suchlike. But they were still stuck.
and even parking presented difficulties
I think it's human nature to hope that someone gets it badly wrong. Either that or I'm a very bad person.
So - Georgetown, Penang. What a crazy place.
A mix of colonial & chinese architecture, a melting pot of cultures, a place that is intensely visceral in its sights, its sounds and its smells. And of course its tastes. It rained today, intensely, and certain parts flooded in shades of Brisbane.
But hopefully the weather will pick up over the next few days because I'm looking forward to wandering around a lot more.
Today I looked around Fort Cornwallis, designed to fend off attacks from sea in around 1800 and extended over time but never used in anger
The etching on the cannon says it was cast in 1798. I like the arrow on the cannon, maybe added in for particularly dumb bombardiers. 'Point it this way.'
I also visited the forts gaol, a picture that was hard to self-take because I had at least two offers to take it for me. Which is lovely and very typical of what it's like over here, but I enjoy the challenge of the self-shot. And that is very hard to explain in Malay or Japanese.
The only thing that puzzles me is why they put the guns in the fort in the first place. My hotel room has a much better field of fire
The national anthem has just played as part of the wedding, and I had a bizarre urge to stand. My Grandma, who sadly passed away 10 years ago, used to insist on watching the queens speech on Christmas day and it's nice to think about how excited she'd be about this event and how strange and yet natural that it is that I'm watching it here.
Watching the wedding has been interesting - good to see 'the old country' in so much detail. But what strikes me is how the newsreaders, the journalists and even the people on the street are happy to call themselves 'commoners'. One of the things I love about Australia is how class is generally not an issue and you're judged on the person you are, not the people who beget you. Watching my 'pommie' brethren deliberately abase themselves to a lineage blessed only by luck and aggression still makes me angry. Viva la republic!
Anyway, on the way in I passed an amusing traffic jam, where a bunch of flash cars were travelling (presumably) a wedding party. They had a police escort and there were lots of flashing lights, blowing of whistles, sounding of horns and suchlike. But they were still stuck.
and even parking presented difficultiesI think it's human nature to hope that someone gets it badly wrong. Either that or I'm a very bad person.So - Georgetown, Penang. What a crazy place.
A mix of colonial & chinese architecture, a melting pot of cultures, a place that is intensely visceral in its sights, its sounds and its smells. And of course its tastes. It rained today, intensely, and certain parts flooded in shades of Brisbane.But hopefully the weather will pick up over the next few days because I'm looking forward to wandering around a lot more.Today I looked around Fort Cornwallis, designed to fend off attacks from sea in around 1800 and extended over time but never used in anger
The etching on the cannon says it was cast in 1798. I like the arrow on the cannon, maybe added in for particularly dumb bombardiers. 'Point it this way.'I also visited the forts gaol, a picture that was hard to self-take because I had at least two offers to take it for me. Which is lovely and very typical of what it's like over here, but I enjoy the challenge of the self-shot. And that is very hard to explain in Malay or Japanese.The only thing that puzzles me is why they put the guns in the fort in the first place. My hotel room has a much better field of fire
The national anthem has just played as part of the wedding, and I had a bizarre urge to stand. My Grandma, who sadly passed away 10 years ago, used to insist on watching the queens speech on Christmas day and it's nice to think about how excited she'd be about this event and how strange and yet natural that it is that I'm watching it here.
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