Derek Dobson
1968-1969, 1974-1976

 

Travel Diary
2001

Extract from travel diary:

"Well it's been 11 years since my last visit and 25 since I lived here.It's hard to accept a quarter of a century has passed - where have the years gone? The views from the airport were confusing, darkness never helps. New roads, new developments but mixed amongst the progress are glimpses of the old Penang. The hotel is at Tanjong Bungah, not Hillside as informed by the taxi driver. The geography is the same, street names bring back memories but then suddenly a huge monolith of concrete stretches skywards obliterating areas where I once played. Dawn brought confirmation of the scale of change. High rise units dot the landscape. The Paradise Hotel looks as if it has been built over where the O'Farrells house was. The road has been widened and there is no sign of the bridge over the creek. It was always a bridge that signified a long trudge was almost over. My, how things and distances shrink with time. I watch my daughter, Courtney, splash about in the pool. She has just turned four, the same age I was when the family moved to Penang in 1967. The locals have started with the touching and feeling of Courtney's hair and skin, confusing for the child as she is not equipped to deal with the unwelcome advances nor does she understand my explanations. I did laugh when she asked the lady "have you finished messing up my hair?" "

Views of Hillside from hotel.