Pigging in Penang

As I was busy recording my nephew Bruno's historic first meeting with his grand aunt Maggie, and then printing the photo straightaway after the reunion dinner on Feb 17th, I left the camera on my dining table and forgot to put in in my back pack in my early morning rush to the airport.
Well, here I am in Penang. I guess I'm celebrating "my" year. Though I was born in year of the mouse, I appeared before the lunar new year, so that makes me share the same zodiac sign with Dad (who was at any rate, not sure of his birth year!). As mum says, why should we, created perfect by God, look for our characters in animals???!
I'm staying at the Bayview Hotel on Batu Ferringhi. I believe my last visit to Penang was 1998 (not sure). I stayed at the Mutiara then...far superior to this hotel. I had thought that I paid for a full frontal view of the Straits of Malacca, but I got a full frontal of the decrepit Casuarina Beach Hotel. Well, I must admit that, from the 9th floor,I am high up enough to see the water.
I rushed down to the beach yesterday after settling myself in the room. The beach in front of the hotel seems to have been gouged out, and there is any unsightly pit which one has to descend into before gaining access to the water's edge...strange. Walking towards the Rasa Sayang hotel, some 20 mins away, there are 3 streams that one needs to cross. They are vilely polluted, emiting almost black water. Fortunately 2 of them can be crossed by bridges, but to ford the last one, one has to descend into the mire...ugh!
The beach was busy with Chinese New Year holiday crowds. Indian men cornered the para-sailing trade, which was quite colorfully successful. It seemed so easy to get airborne for 10mins or so, "sail" over the water, way out to sea, and then return to land, encourage by shouts from everyone on the ground to "tarik"! "pull!" There were also boats that take you out for a ride, water scooters, 4-wheeled motor bikes to ride on the sand, handsome horses who patiently carried their burdens of adults and children up and down the beach, a long float that could carry 4 people, towed by a motor boat...it was a colorful scene.
Rasa Sayang was a sight to behold. It was affected by the Tsunami and had only opened for business in Dec 2006. It had taken over the adjacent Palm Beach Hotel and built a new wing and added extensive, beautifully landscaped gardens.
Sitting on a deck , under a rain tree facing the sea, I had lunch amidst the hotel guests lounging by the poolside and in the garden, the Chinese in their new year finery taking a break from visiting their relatives, and the myriad birds and bees in the garden...it was delightful.
I then walked back to Bayview on Batu Ferringhi Road, the landward side now polluted by shops of all shapes and sizes, which catered to tourists' needs: restaurants, swimming paraphernalia, tailors, communications...it was (sadly)an eyesore.
Today I visited the Spice Garden. Now THAT is a sight for sore eyes! I soaked in the humidity of the natural garden setting, so skilfully divided into 3 trails: ornamental plants, jungle plants, and spice plants. Jamal, a freelance oil industry technician had driven me to the garden. He also freelances as a tourist car driver in his "off" periods. He's from Clapham and has lived in SEAsia for 20 years.
I had lunch today at the Golden Sands, also a Shangri-La Hotels property. It was quite crowded by the pool, but it didn't seem busy in the coffee house.