The Drive Home

I was dreading the drive home for the past few days. When the day finally arrived, I decided the route to take with the help of one of my cousins. It would be through the new Lebuhraya Pantai Timur via Kuala Terengganu.

The drive was smooth once we entered the highway, but getting to the highway entrance was another story all together. We set off from Kota Bharu after dropping my father-in-law at the airport. We left at around 11, but only entered the highway just before 4 pm. The drive was horrendous. It seemed that there was traffic lights every half a kilometer and getting though the lights easily took 20 minutes each.

The powerbank was charged!We stopped for lunch at Jerteh as we were starving. Traffic was heavy both ways but luckily the boys were behaving themselves. It was just the sheer number of cars, there were no accidents and to be honest, they could do with less traffic lights.

Once we entered the highway, it was smooth going until we entered the Karak toll just after Bentong. The traffic piled up again and we decided to take the Janda Baik road, again reentering the highway at Genting Sempah. We finally arrived at Gombak at 8.30 pm.

I slept as soon as I unpacked at the apartment. It was blissful sleep until I woke up thie morning to send Idlan to school.

A Day of Rest

I had a good night sleep last night, dozing off despite the TV blaring away. The 7 hour drive up to Kota Bharu certainly contributed. We set off just after noon and everything was moving swimmingly all the way to Gua Musang.

In fact it took us only 3 hours to get there. But the drive from then on was a completely different proposition. Kuala Kerai to KB took almost 3 hours. So many cars ... and too many roadworks. The initial estimate of getting to the hotel by 6 pm was certainly an optimistic one. But a 45 minutes delay was. To too bad.

The day then kicked off with a visit or two ...We soon got settled in, went for an early dinner with one of Anita’s Aunt joining us. Not long after, we were back to our room, hitting the shower and soon enough, I was already in the bed. But not after getting some family Raya photos from the morning sorted out.

Woke up this morning fresh, got the boys sorted out and we down for breakfast at the cafe. Unfortunately, the place was already packed, and we ended up in the smoking section.

Irfan had something to tell ...The rest of the day went by pretty swiftly. I went to the airport to pick up my father-in-law who caught the flight from KL in the morning. Then we went straight to one of my Anita’s Uncle’s place for lunch.

I spent the afternoon having a walk into town but it turned out to be a boring one.

Not much else happening in town ...Most of the markets were still closed and the shops were deserted. The malls were opened but it was nothing special. I turned back to the hotel empty handed, with only 10 shots on the camera. Next stop would be taking the boys for a swim at the hotel pool, before another family dinner later tonight. Hopefully another early night as I got a long day tomorrow.

Raya came Calling

It was not going to be the same compared to the previous year. Ba was no longer with us. We spent the evening before at my Mum’s place at Bukit Antarabangsa welcoming some neighbours dropping by for takbir after the Isya’ prayers.

I woke up early on the Raya morning, and it was raining heavily outside, cancelling my plans to visit Ba’s grave. The prayers came after that, also at Bukit Antarabangsa. Ba usually manned the Zakat desk. Since he was no longer around, the Imam was there in his place. I took some time talking to him and everybody mentioned that they missed Ba especially during Ramadan when Ba helped to manage some of the Surau events.

Prayers and then a short tahlil. We were off after that.

More food at Mum’s followed by the obligatory photos. I then set off to Gombak to join Anita’s parents before setting off for my long drive to Kota Bharu after noon.

Postcards from the South

During my first visit to Urbanscapes this year, I looked around for the program they had in store. This one certainly caught my eyes. A talk on the railway in Johor, how it transformed the landscape of the state as it opened up the interior. Johor was populated mainly at the shores and with the railway system connecting Gemas and Singapore at the time, the Sultan did the state good by snaking the rails through Labos, Pagoh, Kluang, Sedenak and the rest as they said was history.

But the telling of the story also needed passion and commitment. And in Mahen Bala, who’s family originally came from Gemas, the tale was given the delivery it deserved.

All mapped upMahen and his team spent many months documenting the story of how the railway not only opened up this town, but became the central nervous system of these new settlements. A century later, they still played a role for these towns although with the passing of time, these township were connected by the road system. The railway had since played second fiddle.

You can buy some of them ....In the next year or so, the landscape would be transformed again. The rails roads would be upgraded into the new double track system. With the upgrades, the old stations - which used to be the centre of these initially small settlements - would be left abandoned, and some won’t even be a stop any longer on the train schedule.

Mahen told the stories of the people of these towns who grew up by the tracks, and the railway workers of the past who dedicated their live to Keretapi Tanah Melayu. A fascinating hour of storytelling and I couldn’t wait to read the book telling the stories to be published later this year ...

Afternoon Exhibit

The third floor of Ruang hosted another photo exhibit during Urbanscapes. It featured local street photographers with KL being the theme. Six photographers were featured and I knew two of them personally. However another photographer, Azwan Mahzan which caught my eyes.

This way up ...A table-less, round table discussionHis captures were simple but his caption were great, perfectly summing up the photos and what he had in his mind.

Wide open areaBrowsing throughStill quietThe one which caught my eyes ....Great set of photographs all around and the curation was among the better ones I came across. Well done to the organisers.