On Malaysian lock down Day Two the first thing you notice when you go outside is how clean the air is. Then that there are few businesses open. And then how few cars are on the road – similar to an early Sunday morning. I went for a walk at first – and there were few people out walking, too. My blog on Day 1.
Cold Storage, the supermarket, is no more in Gurney Plaza. Now it is Mercato. The same employees, but the store has been renovated.
Progress in Penang, at last! Up until the middle of last year any progress in Penang that required finance was difficult. The government in KL was held by a different party than the party that held power in Penang. But after the election last year where now both the Penang state and federal government are the same party we thought that the improvement projects that had been on hold for so many years would at last be implemented. It has taken a while, but now things are happening.
Work should have already started on the Ayer Itam -to the coastal road bypass. It is scheduled to finish in three years.
There is also a proposal to build a cable car from the Penang Botanical Gardens to Penang Hill, and on to Teluk Bahang. This would be partly funded by the federal government. This is currently being studied.
Progress in Penang is being held back by traffic congestion. There is an article about a proposal to build an underpass in Pulau Tikus.
On October 7th, I just learnt, the first eight acres of the 131-acre reclamation project land was handed over to the Penang government. From now every one or two weeks further small sections will be received by the government, with the handover completed by mid-September next year. The Chief Minister of Penang estimates that it will take about 18 months for the first phase to be ready and open to the public. It was unclear to me when that 18 month preparation period would start.
Last night (Friday) there was a storm in Penang. Despite raining early on Friday morning by lunch it was hazy in Penang. The storm took care of that!
So, anyway, there was a big storm in Penang last night. It started around 10.30 PM. in our area. And it died down about an hour later. This time we didn’t lose the Internet. Once it was over I went out to survey the damage. But it was more obvious this morning.
It ripped branches off trees, falling mangoes from trees caused vehicle damage, tore tiles and gutters off roofs, a local condo dropped tile(s) on the footpath from above… Two years ago we suffered much worse damage, though. Here are some photos taken this morning.
This week Tesco thoughtfully described many of the mango varieties they are selling this week. This follows on from my last mango post… But there’s nothing like trying them yourself!
And in case you need advice on ripening mangoes.
Here we go:
Tropical Expat 