.....our previous post here, Funny Signs!.....
Until we arrived back in
Malaysia, I don't think we had realized how much we missed the place! As much as we loved the change in
Iran,
Armenia and
Georgia,
and enjoyed the varied and completely different experiences we had over
there, our hearts really do belong in the tropical, relaxed and comfortably
familiar environment of
South-east Asia.
We struggled to recover from the long flight back from
Tbilisi, rushed around in
KL catching up on numerous things, and eventually got ourselves to the small, untouristy, coastal village of
Cherating where
our poor bodies went into shock, and we spent a week and half trying to
get over flu-like symptoms that were probably a result of utter
exhaustion! The first day was great, catching up with our good friend,
Susan, and spending the day at a swish resort pool for Sal's birthday,
and although things went downhill from there, we were happy to at least
be in a quiet, hot, relaxing place to recover well, and let things get
back to normal.
For the next month, we began to unwind, and
get back into the slow pace of
SE Asia, and enjoyed our little bungalow
in the slightly scruffy village with it's laid back feel, less than
perfect beach, lovely tropical weather, and cheap and plentiful (and
delicious!) food options. Our bodies began to feel more like their old
selves after many walks along the beach, and a bit of colour returned to
our previously pasty bodies!
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| Chikka, little rescued monkey, Cherating |
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| Cherating Beach, Malaysia |
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| Cherating, Malaysia |
While in
Cherating,we met a lovely French couple who had been working on a British film in.
They suggested we might also get some work, so we contacted the
company, and were lucky enough to be accepted as extras! It was all very
rushed, as they needed us for fitting the next morning, and
Penang is on the opposite side of
Malaysia to
Cherating, but we made it in time, thanks to an overnight bus, and not a lot of sleep.
It was a period drama set in
India in 1932, but filmed on
Penang Hill, so every day we took a bus to the bottom of the hill, and then the very expensive new train to the top for filming (we didn't have to pay, being part of the cast). The setting was a gorgeous old colonial house, completely set up to resemble an Indian hill station, with great attention to detail. Our mornings consisted of arriving, eating a huge buffet breakfast, and having our wardrobe, hair and make up done- a lengthy procedure due to the large number of extras, small number of make up and wardrobe people, and, in Sal's case, having a wig fitted and set every day (her hair was a bit too radical for 1932 with red streaks!). It was great fun dressing up in old fashioned clothes, and it was the first time Sal had seen Rich in a suit, let alone a tux! The rest of the 12 hour day was usually spent sitting around for several hours chatting to the many other friendly fellow extras (mainly expats living in
Penang, but a few other travelers), before heading to the set for more lounging around, eating some amazing food for lunch/dinner, with a few hours of shooting scenes in between. Sal had the added dubious bonus of being asked to sing a song in a scene, which terrified her as she hadn't sung since her high school days! Although the days were long, and despite all the hanging about, quite tiring, we really enjoyed the experience, and would love to do it again someday.
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| Our costumes as extras |
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| Dawn view from Penang Hill |
While we were waiting for filming to start, and between getting fitted, we enjoyed being in
Penang-
one of our favourite cities. We had quite a long stint here two and a
half years ago, when we joined in the double cerebration of Chinese New
Year and Thaipusam (
here), so we'd seen a lot of the main sights. But a new attraction is the street art around the heritage part of
Georgetown.
Sal loved this, and took herself off on a little tour around, joining
the hordes of other tourists (all Asian and mostly on bicycles), to snap
some pictures and admire the original works.
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| Street art, Penang, Malaysia |
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| Street art, Penang, Malaysia |
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| Street art, Penang, Malaysia |
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| Street art, Penang, Malaysia |
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| Street art, Penang, Malaysia |
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| Street art, Penang, Malaysia |
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| Street art, Penang, Malaysia |
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| Lovely girls exploring Penang by bicycle |
.....next post is a Five Year Retrospective......
Thanks for the glimpse into the street art scene. Its as much, for me, about deconstruction of the formal gallery scene as it is about the limits of interpretation, akin to what could the images ostensibly be in reference given the surroundings (peeling walls) give little hint to what social circumstance inspired the artist to make the depiction. A great place to do a stint as an ethnographic (anthropological jargon) field study of the street art of Panang.
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