I was released from captivity today by S, a local bass player and all-round nice guy who, with his friends K and J, had invited me out to lunch.

We drove to a sea-food restaurant down by the water’s edge, at the end of a dusty little road full of ramshackle, shack-like little bungalows (a typical Penang residence, I’m finding) - and right next to a temple. In front of which there were enormous, pink incense sticks burning:

The restaurant itself looked like this:

And this:

And we ate this:

(Alongside clams in their shells, some sort of egg dish, baby pak choi, rice and spring rolls).

To avoid acting like Darryl Hannah in Splash, I took advice from the guys on how to eat the giant prawns. Those of you who know me will know that I have embraced fish-eating again after an 18-year hiatus; and so I’m a bit of a newbie when it comes to the art - nay, skill - of sea-food consumption. I learned that basically, with giant prawns, you pull their head off, remove their ’shell’, and eat the rest. I tried not to look as I pulled the heads off. It’s one thing to start eating fish again - it’s quite another to embrace decapitating an animal. Small steps.

(Incidentally, I’ll blog properly about the food in Malaysia when I’ve experienced more of it - ie. not just the buffets in the hotel restaurant. Marvellous as they are.)

I think today marked a turning point. I’ve felt slightly guilty for not exploring much beyond the hotel in the first 10 days or so that I’ve been here; but I think it’s been due to a combination of jetlag, rehearsals, getting used to the climate (trust me: it’s too hot to ‘just pop out for a walk’), getting used to this rather bizarre lifestyle, having those down days, and knowing that I’ve got two months to explore this place. I think also that it’s taken me a full week of work - tonight will be our sixth straight night of performing - to get used to the true musician’s lifestyle: namely, doing other stuff in the daytime and not going to work until 9 or 10pm. At first, I was clock-watching during the day, and would find myself sitting in my hotel room in my Little Black Dress, twiddling my thumbs, far too early. Now I’ve got used to it; and plan to go out exploring during the daytime, go take photographs, go on day trips, and not return to my hotel room until it’s time to put on that Little Black Dress and head down to the bar. Just like the pros do with their residencies, I’m sure. (I’m thinking Celine Dion, Tony Bennett and Jane MacDonald, here).

Today also marks a turning point because I spent time, erm, socialising. Like, erm, properly. And I’m going out tomorrow too, with another group of people. Short of that first supper out on my first night performing - and any chatting to people in the bar after my gigs - all my downtime has been spent alone. Which is fine in many ways - as I said before, I’m used to being alone, and often love and crave it - but now that I’m starting to go out with people, I feel like I’ll be getting a new, happier balance between social time and solitude. And of course, it will be great to start getting to know the people I’m meeting better, as I did today with S and his friends. Otherwise, as I told someone the other day, being out here risks feeling like one long party: full of introductions and smalltalk.

It’s quite a nice venue for a party, though. Here was the view at lunch today:

Not too shabby, eh?

Well, except for the bits that look like this:

Still, that’s the charm of the place.

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 9th, 2008 at 6.21pm and is filed under Penang, Photography, The people. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.