Doodles on the boat

This is going to have to be a very quick post today as the hotel we are staying in doesn't have internet so we're sitting in a bakery using theirs! (I could think of worse places to blog from!)

We had a bit of a disappointing start to the day today. We visited a longhouse which are traditional communal houses in Malaysia and can accommodate hundreds of residents. Bet you can guess why they're called longhouses! Anyway, there are some that tourists can visit, usually at a price. We weren't expecting to pay quite so much though for a visit, which was somewhat hurried due to the fact we felt so unwelcome! We were doing our best to smile at people and be respectful, but nobody smiled back, in fact one woman actually spat at Sam. Needless to say, we didn't hang around!

Longhouses, Pagodas and Haircuts

Despite the bad experience, I could appreciate the architecture of the longhouse which is made entirely from wood, weathered over the years giving it a soft, rustic appearance.

There is a long, inside communal area, rather like a huge porch. 

Communal area inside.

And there's a walkway along the whole length outside which is used to dry food such as peppercorns and leaves.

Sam outside the longhouse

Peppercorns drying

The rest of the day was a lot better though, we enjoyed walking around Sibu. There's not much here, but the pagoda on the waterfront is very striking with its vibrant colours. I can feel a sketch coming on!

Pagoda, Sibu

Pagoda, Sibu

On the boat I decided to do my '10 minute warm up'. Here's the result, a Zentangle illuminated letter (which took a touch longer than 10 minutes, I must admit!).

Zentangle

I also wanted to contribute to 'every day in May' from Wendy Shortland's blog, so here's my 'something which belongs to someone else'. I've also uploaded it to Flickr.

So, that's about it today! Bye :)