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On Monday, we had a free day with time to rest and explore ourselves and the city of Georgetown. Our hotel was conveniently located right in the middle of town, or in the words of our tour guide, Philip: “Wow, so central!!”. After a late rise and a leisurely breakfast, where Graham did his best to convince us of the beauty of old wooden piers (“I literally love Piers” – who precisely Piers is has yet to be confirmed), the choir formed into different groups to look around the various streets and markets nearby. Some people took a trip to Kek Lok Si Temple, whereas others attended a course of retailtherapy in the obscenely cheap shops and stalls. Someexplored the cuisine of Penang, Bea Santos even trying her first ever Indian, whilst others were even convinced by our Glorious Leader (pbuh) that Piers was in fact the place to be. Despite this initial enthusiasm, it was soon proclaimed to smell just like “eggy farts” and thus CCCCCCC beat a hasty retreat - this was obviously not the Piers our Director had in mind. The blazing sun proved a problem for some, but produced a field day for #sweatcam aficionados, with notable offenders being of the Booth-Clibborn, Payne and Riley variety. 

After a few hours in the town, most retreated back to the cool of the hotel’s lap pool, where Graham reigned supreme in the “cross your legs and just use your arms to swim backwards” race (of his own invention), despite sporting an impressive burn around his head (shaded by neither hat nor hair). This was followed by jumping, hopping, gliding and three-leggèdraces, as well as an underwater obstacle course formed of the rest of the choir! Unfortunately, it was a bad day for Jackson’s phone which accompanied him for a few lengths of the pool, and despite being encased swiftly in rice, is still unresponsive. We live in hope #Obi-Wan.

Refreshed after their dip, the choir were treated to a party courtesy of our incredibly generous and loving Chairman, featuring a kettle full of flowers (“I wanted to make it look nicer!”), a bento box of crisps, lychee vodka, Walton’s gin (advised for pre-evensong refreshments), a Chinese medicinal honey drink, and a Jacuzzi full of beer (for which tax was most definitely paid). He was rewarded for this effort by the introduction of some subtle anatomical sketches into his score of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, for which the culprits may yet have to pay a heavy price in the next available bar. After dinner, the choir went en masse to China House - a restaurant which encouraged crayon drawings on your table. This allowed budding young artistes to showcase some impressive art, whilst others produced scrawls on which even a toddler wouldn’t put their signature. Despite initially snubbing the restaurant’s Western food and desiring something more authentic, a splinter group were forced to return with harrowed faces and tails between their legs in order to take on sustenance after “definitely catching cholera”. The choir wound down afterwards with games of bridge and psychiatrist until the sun had set firmly on an enjoyable and relaxing day in Malaysia. Next up, Kuala Lumpur!