'Tis the Season to be Jolly!

It may be raining cats and dogs but who cares, it's the school holidays and it's also Christmas, well almost. Yes, despite the rain, holidaymakers are determined to be jolly and enjoy themselves!

Mum and I spent last weekend at Batu Ferringhi and we encountered a good number of tourists, families and schoolchildren at our hotel and in the food courts.

Fortunately for us, we had good weather on our first night and were able to eat at one of the open air food courts. After dinner, we strolled down the road, looking at the night stalls which seem to have decreased in number since my last visit some four years ago. I wanted to get some cushion covers but could not find the stall from which I bought them last time. We then decided to head back to our hotel for an early night. Not unexpectedly, it rained in the middle of the night and the rain continued to the next morning, though only in light drizzles.

As mentioned elsewhere in my blog, I have a thing for Christmas trees, so after our arrival and on the following day, we made a "tour" of the neighbouring hotels and I ended up with a small collection of Christmas tree pictures, a few of which you see on this page.

I liked best the charity tree at the Rasa Sayang. You buy a Christmas tag for RM10, RM20 or RM50 and you get to hang it on the tree. Proceeds from the sale of these tags go to the Association of Resource and Education for Autistic Children and the Penang Turtle Sanctuary Centre. Both worthy causes, I'm sure.

We decided to try the lunch at the Lone Pine Hotel, an old hotel which was recently renovated and refurbished. I was quite impressed by its new look - glass panels, lovely lawns, beautiful red Poinsettia.

We ordered spring rolls, Inche Kebin and Foo Yong Crab. The spring rolls were alright though there were only four miserable pieces and the keropok was missing from the Inche Kebin. Just as we finished eating, a strong wind accompanied by lashings of rain descended on us and we had to run to the lounge to take refuge!

We decided to play safe later that evening and had dinner at our hotel. Guess how much a plate of chicken rice cost? Nearly ten times what we pay at the market coffee shop! Next time I shall go for something more exotic for the same price!

We left on Sunday morning and it was raining again. Not too bad a holiday but will choose a better time to come next time around!

It's raining as I write this. Have a blessed Christmas albeit a wet one!