It’s been awhile. But it is all good.
We set sail from Phuket on 2 May 2017 and slowly made our way south in the Andaman Sea toward Malaysia, stopping at Ko Ha Yai, Ko Rok Noi, and Ko Lipe along our way.
We motor-sailed incident free, experiencing only a temporary glitch in our dinghy outboard motor due to some bad fuel. After lengthy refits for Amandla and The Captain, it felt great to have some time to relax in beautiful surroundings.
But the time for R&R was brief as we needed to arrive in Penang mid-month to replace the instruments we’d lost in an electromagnetic surge in February. While The Captain worked diligently with William Quah, our Raymarine Dealer in Penang (+60 19 408 2288) to install the new instruments, I was given shore-leave to further explore Penang’s colorful living heritage and enjoy its culinary delights.
At the end of May, it was onward to Pangkor Marina to put Amandla on ‘the hard’ (in dry-dock storage) until November. Once again, we decided to take our time rather than stress ourselves scrambling to close the boat. We worked a bit each day and spent our evenings in the company of good friends.
Given the expertise of the team at Pangkor Marina, the haul out during the last week of June was seamless.
Image Courtesy The Captain
We completed the predominance of close down tasks and headed back to Penang for The Captain’s semi-annual scans. We expected the worst…..
…but once again, our luck held out, our prayers were answered, the scans were clear, 15 months cancer free! Unfortunately, exams uncovered an unrelated issue that required further testing, keeping us in Penang for an additional week. (Spoiler alert …the tests were negative and the symptoms treatable with antibiotics).
Fortunately, Penang with its affordable, quality medical care and endless inspiration for the lens is a great place to be delayed for tests if one must be.
George Town Heritage Festival
I love when we spend extended periods in the places we visit. When a strange land turns into ‘old stomping ground. When the unusual starts to become usual. When a travel destination turns into a home. Now on our fourth visit, Penang has definitely started to feel like home to us. Not only did we enjoy visits with old friends (the crews of SY Mahiti and SY Mersoliel) while traveling here, we started to befriend some locals.
I photographed Joseph on our second visit to Penang, and we continued to run into him on the streets time and again. On our fourth visit, he suggested we have lunch together. He invited us to one of his favorite restaurants and generously picked up the tab! We had such an enjoyable time in his company that we met again for a dinner …this time The Captain paid the bill before Joseph could make his move.
Hock Teik Cheng Sin Temple
Obsessed with watching their game of Sepak Takraw, I had photographed Tan Teik Leong and his friends on our multiple visits to Penang. As I was walking past his bicycle/curio shop, Chin Seng Leong, early one morning on this visit, he called out to me and invited me in for a cup of coffee to share stories.
And then there is Pete DeMarco.
Mesmerized by his travel, landscape and cityscape imagery, I started following Pete DeMarco on Instagram in January 2016. But it wasn’t until I wanted to learn more about a photography tour that he is offering at Angkor Wat in October that I found my way to his blog and learned that he is living and teaching in Penang.
My friend Leah and I met up with Pete for a coffee and later joined his ‘Penang Lightstalkers Photography Community for a photo walk at Tanjung Tokong where I learned how to take aerial images with a drone and shoot long-exposures.
Tanjung Tokong
I look forward to further leveraging Pete’s knowledge online and again in person as I continue to develop my voice.
In addition to Pete, I’ve also added Eric Kim to my stable of photography mentors.
I’ve enrolled in his free, virtual classroom ‘Street Club’ in July and am really pleased with the way his assignments have stretched me.
Of course, Penang provides an excellent stage for street photography. But we are moving on with plans to travel together by land (trains, buses, riverboats, and tuk-tuks) back to Thailand and onward to Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.
The Captain will return to Italy in mid-September for a tour to launch his new book ‘AMANDLA LA VITA, LA QUASI MORTE E I MIRACOLI DEL CAPITANO’ and I will continue traveling in SE Asia, possibly with friends and/or family should they decide to make the trip.
We will put Amandla back in the water in November and set sail across the Indian Ocean in early 2018. Life is good!
Submitted for Cardinal Guzmans ‘The Changing Seasons: July‘ and for ‘The Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge: Unusual‘
Amazing places Lisa! Good to hear all is well! Be safe in future travels! 🙂
Ahoy from Bangkok Teresa! Thank you for the love ?
Wonderful to read your updates Lisa. Although we connected via IG I will say again how happy I am to hear of the good news for the Captain! Fantastic! We now have a deposit on a trip in Asia for Jan 2018. Maybe our paths will cross?
OMG I so hope our paths cross again in SE Asia! Our current plans should have us in Thailand and Malaysia at that time …with a sail to the Sri Lanka via the Andamans at the end of the month. Thank you as always for your love and support ??✨
Lisa it may work! We plan to fly into Bangkok around Jan 8th. Our current plan is to spend some time in Krabi prior to starting our cycling tour in the 14th. Let’s keep in touch. We value your ongoing encouragement and loving wishes. What a true pleasure it has been to connect.
That sounds like a great plan with a high likelihood that our paths will cross AGAIN! Looking forward to the possibility. Hugs
awesome
Thank you ?
It’s always interesting to see your updates. Enjoy life!
? Big hug from Bangkok Max! Thailand always makes me think of you. Overwhelming but awesome ?
The beach at Ko Rok Nai is just magical ! Lovely to read your updates Lisa! Your photos are just amazing, thanks for sharing!
We were blessed to have Ko Rok Nai to ourselves for the predominance of our stay there Aletta. It does get some local tour boats mid-day, but otherwise, it was just us and our three sailing friends in the anchorage. Thank you as always for sailing along with us ⛵️
Another fabulous photo excursion, Lisa. And excellent to hear the good-news updates. I felt a pang of regret at the thought of the Amandla going into dry dock – the end of one great journey. But then on with the next! Happy travels, and thank you for welcoming me into Penang. I can well see why such a place with its kind people might begin to feel like home.
Ahoy from Bangkok Tish! Thank you for your well-wishes and very generous compliments! Always a pleasure to travel with you virtually. Heading to Angkor Wat today. I do miss our home on the water but am enjoying our land adventure. I hope you can make it to Penang someday. It really was magical. I look forward to returning again (and again).
It is so amazing to hear that life is going well for you, The Captain and Amandla, and all is well 🙂 These street photography photos are amazing, and that first long exposure is simply stunning. I want to take photos like these. You really are very versatile with your photography and the quality of shots from you from every place you pass through is amazing. Congrats on The Captain’s new book – maybe you got a bit of a role in the book? 😀 I’ve heard of Peter DeMarco, and wow, you got to meet him and your shot of him is amazing. He looks so content. Also, so happy to hear that there are further travel and sailing plans for you next year. Onwards and forwards. Mr Wobbles and clan wish you well and if you come by Australia again, he will be welcoming you with open arms and bananas 🙂
I totally thought of you and your magnificent long-exposure photography when I was training with Pete (who is a very content guy indeed). I aspire to do what you have done along the Yarra River. You are lovely to say that my long-exposure is stunning but it pales in comparison. Still, I am happy for the first shot out. I look forward to taking more. And I love shooting the streets of Penang. It is truly a special place. A bit more difficult to get my arms/lens around Bangkok :-). The Captain’s book is about his pre-Lisa travels through 2012 although he was kind enough to dedicate it to me and use a photo of mine on the cover. I will be the star of Book 2. ✌️❤️??
[…] (Un)usual […]
Loved all the photos but especially the ones of Joseph and the man reading the newspaper. I bet Joseph has had an amazing life, and someone could work with him to produce an amazing memoir. Just read Born a Crime by Trevor Noah who was born in South Africa. Very good story. Glad the captain’s scans are clear. A book – wow!
Ahoy from Siem Reap Diane.
Gosh what a wonderful idea to work with Joseph on a memoir! He has had an amazing life even though he has barely left Penang; one adored wife, two occupiers before Malaysian Independence (Britain and Japan), and three successful children (not to mention the 10 grandchildren that have followed). Penang itself has transitioned during his lifetime from a bustling shipping port to a major high-tech center (the ‘Silicon Valley of SE Asia). And through it all, Joseph seems to have remained incredibly centered, always living in the present moment with an incredibly positive outlook. Perhaps next time I am in Penang, I will suggest the idea to him. And I will also give ‘Born a Crime’ a read the next time we are under sail. Thank you as always for your visit and kind words.
You do seem to spread and attract warmth around you, Lisa, and so industrious! You are definitely making the best of the opportunities life has to offer. Your photos are fantastic, but best of all, you’re leading a full and happy life. 🙂 🙂 Hugs bobbing across the ocean!
? I am a lucky girl Jo. Thanks for the hugs and the love ?
What an extraordinary beautiful post! I love the title too. You are right…spend enough time in an unusual place and before long what was foreign or strange becomes the norm.
Bamboo noodles? I never heard of that before. I eonder what they taste like? Great shot. I love the photo of Amandla and the long exposure shot! Terrific!
So lovely to read you agsin Lisa.
Peta
You are definitely one who understands how to turn the ‘foreign’ into ‘the familiar’ Peta. I do look forward to experiencing your latest doorstep when we visit Sri Lanka next year. Bamboo noodles are awesome. I’ve only had them fresh in Penang, but I will see if they also package them so I can bring some along for you to try when we visit. Thanks for hanging out with me here and for thinking that my post was extraordinarily beautiful ?
So lovely to hear such a positive, adventurous, and beautiful photography-filled update from you, Lisa. Best of luck as you continue with your travels.
Ahoy from Siem Reap Britta. Arrived here from Bangkok and headed to Chiang Mai next. Think of you every time we visit Thailand. Thanks for traveling with me virtually…maybe I will get lucky and we can travel together for a bit in person someday. Hugs.
Now how did you synthesize all those months into one perfectly-formed and beautifully-illustrated post?! I could feel your affection for Penang shining through your words and photos, and that attachment to a place that was once so foreign and unknown has got to be one of my favorite parts of traveling. The words “old stomping ground” capture that feeling exactly! One of my favorite things is when visitors ask me for directions in a city that is not my own … and I can direct them block by block!
I can’t believe your luck with finding Pete DeMarco there! Did you end up booking the Cambodia tour with him? In an unrelated comment, what on earth are those bamboo noodles? (I have to say that the photo pose (accidentally) reminds me of some of my teenage boys’ attempts at humor …)
Hope the overland travel is as rewarding as the sailing and that I can magically appear somewhere in SE Asia in October!
Ahoy from Siem Reap Lexie! We finally pulled ourselves out of our latest comfort zone in Penang and made our way safely here via Thailand. Will head back to Thailand (Chiang Mai) on 31 July and then proceed to either Laos or Myanmar (the plan keeps changing). I still hope to return here the first week in October for Pete’s photo workshop, but a delay in a visit from family may preclude that.
Thank you for your compliments on the post. It was not easy to cover so much time succinctly, so I am delighted that you liked the result. I hope less time will pass before my next post, but full-time travel might make that a challenge.
Bamboo noodles are simply thin noodles crafted using a man-propelled bamboo log to knead the dough. The teenage boy humor in their creation was not lost on me I considered taking the shot from a more suggestive angle but thought the better of it in the end ;-).
Hugely hopeful to see you here in the second, third and/or fourth week(s) of October. Fingers crossed. Hope all is well in Houston.
All fingers duly crossed!! Keep me posted on your whereabouts!
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Great photos Lisa! I’m looking forward to my time in SE Asia in a couple of years.
? Ahoy from Siem Reap Marty! Wonderful to hear from you. Would love to see your travels bring you to SE Asia. Endless wonders are waiting for you here!
Stunning photos as always Lisa! I am happy to hear that the Captain’s scans were good, that must be an incredible relief. I thought I would read his book, until I realized it is in Italian! I guess I will wait for YOUR book! It seems as if you are putting your time on shore to good use, meeting people and soaking up inspiration. Enjoy it all!
Big hug from Siem Reap Michele! The scan results were a huge relief and we are thoroughly enjoying our lands travels so far. Currently touring the temples here with plans to head on to Chiang Mai and then onward to Myanmar. At least that is the plan this hour. I would LOVE to write a book someday if only I could sit still long enough to put pen to paper. So pleased that you found the photos to be stunning ?.
Dearest Lisa, What a thrill to share your journey. Thank you!
Thank you for traveling with me Joyce. Just signed up to receive updates on your upcoming memoir. Cannot wait to read it!
Wow…what an adventure you guys are on. Great blog post!
We are lucky ducks …but then so are you! Ahoy from Siem Reap ✨
“When a strange land turns into ‘old stomping ground. When the unusual starts to become usual. When a travel destination turns into a home.” Just beautiful!
I’m always so happy to see a post from you in my inbox, and this one was so special. Gorgeous photos as usual, but also full of love and light. So glad to read of The Captain’s latest scan results.
Thanks for the links to the photographers sites, and I’ll definitely check out the online course.
I hope to see you in my inbox a bit more often now that you are “home” for a while.
How grateful am I to receive so much love from you! I hope not to let another three months go by before my next update, but our travel plans may make that challenging. We have made our way to see the temples at Siem Reap, Cambodia via Koh Phangan and Bangkok Thailand and are overwhelmed by all the awesome! The plan is to head to Myanmar next via Chang Mai, Thailand, and then, who knows. Thank you again for the light in my inbox.
So good to see you my friend!! What adventures you are having! So glad to hear the Captain is cancer free, what a blessing to all! Love your photos as always…your photo class sounds amazing, I’m sure we all can’t wait to see what you’ve learned! Followed Pete on instagram, too!
Thank you for your endless love and support Terri. So psyched that you’ve followed Pete … a truly inspired teacher ?
My pleasure, Lisa!!
Wow. Just wow. I love following your journey and living vicariously through your adventures. Stories well told with amazing illustrations. If you ever make it home to LB, I want to hear your stories live! Very inspiring!
My dream has been to finish my circumnavigation in Chicago (although I would be happy to make it as far as South Africa….or really, I guess I am already happy to have made it this far…but I am rambling) but how cool would it be to finish my circumnavigation in LB! A life’s circumnavigation. Even if I don’t arrive under sail, I will definitely make my way back there someday and look forward to seeing you again. With love from Cambodia.
Hey Lisa, thanks for the shout out in your post. I had a great time during our photowalk and am really glad we got to meet in person. Also, your images and words really flow here. Rather than sounding like a forced travel log, it reads like a natural letter from a friend. That’s your voice! Keep creating, sharing, and exploring.
Thank you for helping me to hone my voice Pete. Looking forward to more inspiration and wisdom from you!
Glad to hear all is well with you and the Captain. Though that zombie photo had me worried for a bit….
We took that photo of The Captain with the cancer zombies the day before we got the good news. I was hoping that his luck would hold out…and it did. Big hug from Siem Reap.
It’s been a while since I visited your blog, Lisa. Looks like I missed quite a bit of your sailing adventures. Each capture is beautiful, serene and offers a unique insight into the natural wonders and cultural practices. I particularly liked the shot of ‘The Beach At Ko Rok Nai’. Can’t quiet get enough of those soothing blues and greens! 🙂
Thank you for your visit and very generous compliments Cheryl. Thank you as well for your wonderful postings from Vietnam …I hope to follow you there before we leave SE Asia.
I look forward to your posts on Vietnam, Lisa. 🙂 I’ve always enjoyed your journeys across Asia. I remember your trip to Indonesia last year (we were planning a trip there back then and couldn’t make it!). Have a great trip! Safe travels! 🙂
??
As always, I enjoy reading your post and great images! Sounds like you have great time in Penang. Are you going to travel inland next? The long exposure image is amazing!!
Ahoy from Cambodia Indah! Always a pleasure to hear from you. We have started our land travel so far visiting Koh Phangan, Bangkok, and Siem Reap. Next up Myanmar via Chiang Mai, then, who knows. It is a wonderful but overwhelming adventure as there is so much awesome to see. Delighted that you enjoyed the images.
Love your photo of “Amandla In Ko Ha Yai.” What a thrill to be making local friends in Penang!
Thank you! Ko Ha Yai was our favorite anchorage in Thailand and we look forward to returning there later this year. We have pulled ourselves out of our Penang comfort zone and are now traveling in Siem Reap. I feel I need a month here just to get my arms/lens around the place.
I understand! I loved my time in Siem Reap, not only getting a surfeit of the vast temple ruins but also enjoying the daily market life. Enjoy!
Selamat pagi Lisa. By the time you read this it should be morning in Penang. Great news about the Captain. I am jealous about Penang. I had half in mind of jumping over there this summer from Paris, but unforeseen health issues made me come back earlier to Mexico. Nothing serious but it was a bore.
Tell Joseph we really are all pink inside. 🙂
The ball game is odd: the Maya (before 11th century AD had a similar game, kicking the ball only with shoulders elbows, hips and knees into a stone carved hole… Weird…
Your long-exposure shot is fab.
Alora: “la vità la quasi morte e i miracoli…”? E Italiano il Capitano?
Arrivederci.
Brian
Apa Kabar Brian! I am sorry to hear that you’ve been experiencing health issues and had to leave Mexico. Are you feeling better now? Will you be returning to Mexico any time soon?
We are on the road now having traveled from Penang to Siem Reap via Koh Phangan and Bangkok. We will be back in Penang in November if you fancy a visit. I’ll certainly let Joseph know that ‘we are all pink’ on the inside next time I see him ;-).
Sì, il capitano è italiano. Nato a Milano ??
Delighted you liked the long exposure! Big hug.
And all along I thought you were just over in Hamble on a summer sabbatical. You are ridiculous. For god sake come back to Europe at some point so I can express my amazement and offer you a well earned apology. Love from your fellow yachtmaster, albeit envious far from sea.
? No apology needed but I’d let you buy me a glass anytime ?. How lucky am I that you were (a HUGE) part of my sailing journey. I still chuckle when recalling our time together in yachtmaster school. And without support from you, Jean and Ray, who knows what would have become of me. I am definitely making my way back to the UK for a visit, hopefully, before Arthur starts Uni. Big hug to your parents, Liz and Arthur.
OMG I would love that! (Traveling together one day). Who knows what the future will bring!
Enjoy Siem Reap! I cannot wait for you to experience Chiang Mai. If you have the chance, check out Imm Aim Vegetarian cafe. It’s a bit off the beaten path, but we’ll worth it. There’s a cool, biker cafe atmosphere, good food, delicious smoothies, and the owner is super sweet. I spent far too much baht there when I lived in Chiang Mai during my TESOL course. ?
Thanks for the tip on Imm Aim Vegetarian. I will check it out!
[…] http://lisadorenfest.com/2017/07/21/unusual/ […]
Such a beautiful post. Informative, entertaining and exciting. Look forward to more posts from you. Best 🙂
Lovely to meet you here Mahesh! Thank you for your visit and kind compliments.
This is quite the post, full of exciting opportunities, good news and amazing imaginary. Where do I start? Lots of Ko’s in Thailand, and beautiful surroundings, indeed. Your photos are fantastic, Lisa! Some of them bring memories and the others lots of envy. So happy about the Captain’s news – we were keeping our fingers crossed from afar. You guys are killing it with book and photo publications. I”m so glad you are enjoying your land travels (Are you meeting up with Pete in Angkor Wat?) and that you get to explore by yourself or with friends/family in September. I’m also excited that the Indian Ocean plans are coming together. Life is irie! 🙂
? Feeling the love Liesbet. Gosh, how I would love to travel with you and Mark again. You are welcome on board Amandla anytime (how about a sail from Sri Lanka to Madagascar :-). I do hope to return to Angkor Wat with Pete in October but a delayed visit from family may preclude that from happening. I’ve really enjoyed our time in Siem Reap and think that my photography of the temples would improve with Pete’s tutelage. Life is irie indeed.
I’m sure we will meet up again in one or another exotic location, Lisa! Sorry to say that getting on a sailboat again right now – or within six months – is not so high on our list. 🙂 I hope you get to visit or meet up with Peta when you are in Sri Lanka!! Missing you and the Captain!
Yeah! So glad to hear all the good news and see all the happy faces. A bit of hard is good for a change. 🙂 Greetings from the Adriatic sea.
Ahoy from Chiang Mai, Thailand Manja! Here for a week then onward to Myanmar!! You are totally right that a bit of hard is good for a change. We are enjoying our land travels immensely. Wishing you lots of sunshine ☀️
As I do to you. Sunshine is a given though. We’re “enjoying” an immense heatwave. My sister was in Chiang Mai recently, her first time in Asia (she went to Laos too).
I hope to get to Laos in September ?
I hope to go to Laos in September
I am so happy everything is going well for you and are surrounded with wonderful people. Love your photos.
WOW!, how beautifully amazing. What was the setting for ‘My First Long-Exposure
Tanjung Tokong’?
Ahoy from Chiang Mai, Thailand Eva! Always a pleasure to hear from you. The setting for the first long exposure was the beautiful north-east corner of Penang. Thank you for the love. Hope all is well with you and the family ?
The natural beauty of these places is just incredible!
Incredible indeed Allan. I am blessed to be able to visit theses places ?
Your pics get better with every post! Glad everything is going well in your life. Your are looking much more lively. May your good luck continue.I am hanging up my travelling shoes on August 27th–so I will now travel vicariously through you. I will be in Toronto for the next two years if you ever want to stop by.
Well Toronto just happens to be one of my favorite cities on earth so I just may take you up on that offer. Great to hear from you. You put a smile on my face this morning with your kind compliments. Ahoy from Myanmar ??
Stunning pictures, Lisa! I would love to spend some time on the beach in Ko Rok Nai! How many days would you recommend there?
Apologies for the late reply Agness! This and one other comment ended up in my spam queue. Comments from you are most certainly not spam and I am glad to have found them in the end. I hope you can find your way to Ko Rok Nai. We spent two days there which allowed us to fully soak it in and enjoy the great snorkeling and secluded beaches before continuing onward. We plan to head back there in December as we island hop our way back through Thailand aboard Amandla. If you don’t have your own boat, you can book one of the Bungalows on the Island through the park service. Find out more on TRAVELFISH.ORG
I really enjoyed reading this blog post and I must say the pictures are just fabulous!
I’m trying to choose just one, but really, it is impossible.
? You are lovely to say! Thank you for visiting with me here. I am happy to report that I am back in Penang (just sailed in yesterday) and loving it. I never tire of the place.
I cannot wait to make it out to SE asia!! I have never been anywhere but North America. Until then, your blog is the place to go for me to live vicariously through your beautiful photography and great stories about these very remote places. 😀
? I can’t wait to see you visit SE Asia. If I wasn’t so committed to this goal of circumnavigating, I’d stay here for a couple of years! So much AWESOMENESS here. I’m a bit behind on blogging my travels here but hope to get a few posts out shortly. Thanks for hanging out with me ⛵️
Sounds like you’ve been busy. Some lovely photos. More importantly, glad to hear the Captain is in good health.
??? The Captain has been in remission for 24 months now and is in great shape to sail across The Indian Ocean this year #blessed.
Great long exposure shot. I have a camera with a manual setting on it, but have never taken the time to figure out how to get the best out of it. Instead I grab my camera and take a quick snap. Just need some time to master the manual setting!
Koh Lipe is on my list … we made it as far as Koh Lanta a couple of years ago, but have vowed to return to explore more of those islands.
Thank you so much for your lovely feedback on the long exposure.I really want to do more of those but I alwyas seem to be rushin around. If you ever want to get out of manual mode, I highly recommend Pete DeMarco’s course. Thailand is breathtaking!