• Big Rambling Ride
    Christmas twig tree!
    We'd booked ourselves into a beautiful heritage hotel for Christmas and Boxing Day.We spent Christmas Day wandering the old town...... and drifting into eclectic shops full of interesting curios, clothing, books, and gifts.We loved George Town's antiquey arty vibe.Shops are often long and thin.Inside shops, there are often beautiful things to buy, but also beautiful things on the walls!Also the tourist trimmings!And brilliant street art we have come to love discovering so much.Stopping for a Christmas coffee is this lovely cafePacking up Christmas dog's skateboard - I just missed a photo of him on the board!No Christmas tunes here! He was rocking 'Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini'More kids on bikes please.Plants tumbling into the streetPitcher plants thrive in a shopfront gardenThere were a few nods to Christmas.Indigo walls of The Blue Mansion...... where we had Afternoon Tea as our Christmas dinnerInside it melds Chinese tradition with European style.Cast iron balustrades made in Scotland. Cantonese timber lattices. Lovely Lilz made in Wigan.The Blue MansionThe Blue Mansion

    Malaysia - George Town (Christmas day)

    25. december 2025, Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    We’d been looking forward to Christmas in George Town and it didn’t disappoint.

    It was a strange old Christmas in that it didn’t feel Christmassy at all. None of the normal things were here - we were far from family and friends, there were no presents, no big meal, no cosy wintery feel … Also no crazy two-month build up, no relentless consumerism, no over-played Christmas songs at every turn, no stress. Plenty silver linings.

    We used Christmas as an excuse to take a cycling break and treat ourselves. Seeing as we were in beautiful George Town, recognised by UNESCO as a World Heritage site, we’d booked ourselves into a beautiful heritage hotel for Christmas and Boxing Day. A restored Anglo Indian mansion, it was wonderful to wake up in a pocket of luxury, under high ceilings, surrounded by wood lattices, plantation shutters, and Muslim and Indian design features.

    We spent Christmas Day wandering the old town. Beautiful streets with rows of colourful Chinese shophouses, street art, and eclectic shops full of interesting curios, clothing and gifts.

    For our Christmas meal we had Afternoon Tea at The Blue Mansion, on Leith Street. The restored former home of 19th century tycoon Cheong Fatt Tze (his is a rags-to-riches story) the mansion is now a luxury hotel and it is beautiful. It has a deep indigo wash on the outer walls which gives it its name. Inside it melds Chinese tradition with European style. It is one of the most photographed buildings in George Town and has served as a location in several films, most recently ‘Crazy Rich Asians’.

    We sit at the edge of one of the elegant courtyards, looking up through tropical palms to the delicate cast iron balustrades above made in Scotland. English Art Nouveau stained glass colours the windows blue, green and yellow. Cantonese timber lattices frame the square of sky above us. Chinese calligraphy and fine embroidery
    decorate the walls, whilst the building’s strict feng shui surrounds us in calm. When our Tea arrives, we pop the tiny delicious morsels one by one into our happy mouths.

    The most different Christmas we’ve both had, but also one of the best!    Læs mere

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