Up to Kuala Kangsar

Yup! Made to Kuala Kangsar. Was hoping for nice sunny weather, but unfortunately it has been raining heavily all afternoon. Time to scoff some laksa and cendol, while waiting for the rain to break. Back to Ipoh next, and maybe I will be looking for a certain coffee chain with free wifi to do some surfing.

I have some articles to download in preparation for this weekend's talk in Melaka. More traveling this weekend but at least it was only the Friday evening away. I should be back in KL by Saturday afternoon. I need this Sunday with my boys, but unfortunately Idlan have got an exam next week. A quiet Sunday at home I guess.

Journeying forward

The journey up from KL to Ipoh took me around 3 hours. It was raining all the way, not to mention a couple of accidents. But getting there in under 3 hours was not bad actually considering the rain and low visibility. Arriving there, I was too tired to go out for dinner. Even at the lounge. I had shower and ordered in.

By the time I finished with the food and unpacking, I was already half asleep. The TV showed some football, but with the combination of the rain outside and fatigue, dozing off was really easy.

I woke up this morning at around 6. Got ready to head to the college. This would be the third year running that I went to the Royal Medical College of Perak. The first time, I brought the boys and Anita around. Now that Idlan was in school, taking them along was never a plan.

This year also, there was only 26 students to invigilate. It was almost a hundred last year. Apparently they scaled down for that particular intake. The number will definitely be different next year. But I don't think I would be coming again then. The students will then travel down to KL to complete the rest of their Final MBBS exams at UM. Last year it was a convoy of three buses. It looked like it would be just a single one this time.

Since the exams were only in the morning, I have the afternoon off - there will be another paper tomorrow morning, following which I will be returning with some documents to UM. Finally I get to sleep at home. It would have been give straight nights. So what should I do this afternoon?

Afternoon free

I have a free afternoon after invigilating this morning. It was too early to make the trip up to Kuala Kangsar for some laksa. For a quick lunch, I dropped by Kinta City Mall. Hmm! There is a cinema here. I might just catch a movie here later then.

Flying home

After a long four days, it was finally time to leave. I will then be driving straight up to Ipoh. It looks like it would be 5 straight nights in a hotel, although I would imagine the Impiana in Ipoh may not exactly be the Shangri-La. Another early night tonight .....

More jalan-jalan

I was taken to dinner again tonight after another long day. This time it we went to Arab Street for some Peranakan food. The venue was authentic enough but the food wasn't. It was more South Thai and Indonesian than Straits Chinese. But it was still very nice food. Can't really complaint.

The restaurant was located by Kandahar Street, where the Indian Moslem community congregate. I performed the Maghrib Solat by the Mosque there, while enjoying the bright moon. Apparently, that was the nearest the Moon going to be to Earth for the last 20 years it certainly was very bright.

The old Malay Istana. Now a museum.After the wholesome dinner, we took a stroll by Bugis Street some 10 minutes away. There was a lively night market there, and the place was packed even though it was past 9pm. Our host wanted us to try dome reflexology, but according to others, it was not a good idea to do so right after a meal.

Apart from the family-friendly stalls along the walk, there were also sex toy shops and other fun stuffs can be seen there. The nearby shopping complexes were still opened. At that hour, I did not really fancy doing any shopping.

On the way back to the hotel, we were driven by the Marina, where the Singapore Flyer and Marina Bay Sands were located. We did not stop however, but I managed to snap a couple of frames of the landmark. We reached the hotel by 10.30, just in time to pack, hit the shower and get ready to snuggle in bed to watch the ManYoo match for the week. We would be playing Bolton. A bit of a bogey team actually.