Singapore and Malaysia

At the end of November I took a holiday in South East Asia. One of my best friends from Warwick, Ingrid, had invited me along to join her friends from Geneva on the trip. It coincided with the week straight after the election, which is usually pretty quiet at the Ministry, so I thought what the hey.


I flew into Singapore to meet up with the group. It was a one night visit that was a World away from the last time I was in there nearly 10 years ago at the start of my backpacking trip around SE Asia. We stayed in a stunning hotel, met up with some friends who've recently moved to Singapore and went for a drink at rooftop bar 64 stories above the city.

Our hotel is the colonial building the foreground

Rooftop drinks

Singapore at night

The next day we flew on to Langkawi, which is a collection of islands off the West Coast of Malaysia. The main attractions are beaches, resorts and the scenery. We had all agreed that we wanted a relaxing time and our trip didn't disappoint.


We stayed in a nice resort called Berjaya. Everything was set up to make life easy - the oversized golf carts that would drive you too and from your cabin in the rainforest, the private beach and the choice of restaurants all within the resort. We got so settled in that we had to make a concious effort to leave and see anything else on the islands!

Pool at the resort

The food was good!

We did manage to drag ourselves away from the comforts of the resort a few times over the week. The first trip was to take a cable car up to the highest point on our island. It was probably the hottest day of the trip and we sweltered in the queue to get on the cable car. At the top the air was fresher and the views were definitely worth it.

Cool curvy hanging bridge

We also took a couple of boat trips to other islands. One was to go snorkelling for the day. The other took in several different sights, including a freshwater lake in the middle of one island and a flock of eagles.

Snorkelling site

Reef sharks were swimming around where we were snorkelling. Up to 1.5-2m
long and really impressive in the water

 

 

 

Euphemism...literally

The Christmas edition of the Economist has an article on euphemisms that I was reading this morning.


"The British are probably the world champions of euphemism...British newspaper obituaries are a rich seam: nobody likes to speak ill of the dead, yet many enjoy a hint of the truth about the person who has "passed away". A drunkard will be described as "convivial" or "cheery". Unbearably garrulous is "sociable" or the dread "ebullient"; "lively wit" means a penchant for telling cruel and unfunny stories. "Austere" and "reserved" mean joyless and depressed. Someone with a foul temper "did not suffer fools gladly". The priapic will have "enjoyed female company"; nymphomania is "notable vivacity". Uncontrollable appetites of all sorts may earn the ultimate accolade: "he lived life to the full".


I never knew any of this.


The article makes a brief mention of the affinity that civil servants have with euphemism before ending with this interesting challenge:


"...scrub your conversation of euphemism for a day. The results will startle you."

Christmas eve on the beach

'nuf said