Another day at Sg Buloh

I have been spending yesterday and today at Hospital Sungai Buloh examining and teaching the MRCP candidate. The course was organised by the ever energetic Chris Lee and his team of bulldogs. Can trust him to run everything by clockwork.

A day of visits

Get up boys!After a long day of travel, a good night sleep can really do wonders. We got up pretty late the next morning, managing to head to the breakfast room just in time. The place was crowded and we had to sit out in the lobby, and the food was almost gone. We gobbled what we could as we planned to head out to Penang that day.

At the old mosque at the front of my Grandmother's houseFirst of all, we stopped by at one of my Uncles’ in Sungai Petani itself where we were joined by my parents. We then carpooled to the island, first stopping at my eldest uncle’s house at Pantai Jerjak. My cousin - his daughter - just had a baby girl. She was barely a week old. Well behaved. Slept the whole time we were there. It has been a couple of years since I stopped by my this particular Uncle’s house. After some drinks, we then headed out for some nasi kandar. To be perfectly honest, we were not really sure where to head. Some of the restaurants may be better avoided due to the holiday crowd. We settled at one o Penang Road. Not particularly good - Craven’s at Bukit Antarabangsa was much better - but enough to get by. Idlan refused to eat as expected but Irfan was really digging the pappadoms.

I don't like this restaurantI like this restaurantAfter lunch was done, we went next to my Grandmother’s at Pahang Road. It was the third day of Aidilfitri and most of my family has been around to visit. One of my Aunt was there, so was the Uncle from Sungai Petani. After a couple of hours, it was time to go. We wanted to stop by at another Uncle’s place in Seberang Jaya, but he did not pick up the phone. We were not sure if he was in. We headed straight back to Sungai Petani, got changed and went out again for dinner at another Uncle’s house in Kepala Batas - there were 8 of them from my father’s side, plus 3 Aunties. 

The boys playing with their cousinsMy grandmother's house is the one by the corner. Surrounded by high-rise apartments.The dinner was particularly good. Anita really liked the Raya cookies there. Apparently, my Aunt ordered them all the way from Johor. We hang around there for around a couple of hours before everyone getting tired. The day was done.

Off to Sungai Petani

Idlan helping with the unpackingAn early start for Puan Anita and me before the mayhem started at around 8.30 when the boys woke up. Breakfast. Shower. Shouting about which toys to bring an which clothes to wear. We finally got our act together and left just before 11am.

This time around we decided to stay in the mainland rather than on the island. It turned out to be a brilliant plan. The Penang Bridge had a fire on the island-bound lanes causing a tailback close to 10 kms. A couple of my uncles were caught up in the jam and it took them over three hours to cross the bridge. Imagine, after a four hour drive up to Seberang Perai and having to endure a few more hours caught in the car with the grumpy boys?

View of Gunung Jerai from our floorWe stopped over at Tapah for lunch. A simple KFC affair where Puan Anita did the ordering and the waitress messed up the order completely! But since it was Hari Raya, we kept our feelings to ourselves ….. The journey went very smoothly. There was a couple of crawls just before Ipoh, but otherwise fine. We reached Sungai Petani just after 4, checked in, and the kids was already jumping on the bed soon after. We stayed at Park Avenue Hotel, just by the Sungai Petani (South) exit along the PLUS highway. Very convenient actually!

One of the drawback of the hotel was there was no Astro Sports channel. I had dinner at my auntie’s place while watching United given away a two-goal lead to Everton. My Toffee-mad friends must have exploded that evening!

I thought my boys would have been tired after the journey and the dinner, but how wrong was I. They were still bubbly and energetic close to midnight when we finally went to sleep. Another long day looming tomorrow.

Selamat Hari Raya

Raya this year was kinda subdued. Maybe because because it was on a Friday. After the Aidilfitri prayers finishing just before ten, I was already thinking about not over eating because of the Friday prayers coming soon. That did not stop me from finishing the rendang and ketupat and the in-laws, before joining my Mum and Dad for more food. My sister had to travel to her husband’s hometown in Melaka soon after the morning prayers, so I rushed through for the obligatory family photos that morning.

Puan Anita putting the finishing touches on the bolognese

Then, I was back to Gombak, waiting for friends and relatives to come over. More TV and grumpy boys before Anita’s cousin came over later in the evening for dinner. What did I watch on TV? Well, I could not really remember since I spent most of the afternoon munching over the Red Velvet I picked up the day before at Bangsar! Super delicious!

We spent the evening packing since we were leaving for Sungai Petani the next morning. More about that later.

Iftar at Nikko

Finally, the family decided to have berbuka outside. This would have been the only second time we had berbuka outside as a group, the last being at Flamingo. This time around, it was for Puan Anita’s birthday. It was also the final iftar for this year’s Ramadhan. So it would be Aidilfitri the next day. Anita’s brother was also back from Turkmenistan for the Eid, so it was a nice occasion for the family.

Nice serene surroundingThe grills at the balcony areaSince it was a day before Eid, I got the usual flowers and cards for Anita, but she wanted to delay her presents until after the Eid break. Not really sure what she wanted, but she did hint on an iPad. I’ll leave her to make her mind up. So back to the berbuka vanue this time, Hotel Nikko, in Jalan Ampang.

The main entrance to the hotelHotel Nikko was infamous for its Ramadhan buffet, mainly because it was damn expensive and it was notoriously crowded and popular among the corporate types. I remember a couple of years ago, people were making a fuss about it. It cost more than RM100 per head to get in. I didn’t how much it cost this time around as it was not me who footed the bill. Since it was the final evening of Ramadhan, there were only a handful of people at the restaurant. We were left to our selves to enjoy the food.

Puan Anita and his brother, RazakI will talk about the iftar in three parts, first, the venue. It was located on the ground floor and as my parents-in-law were also there, access was not an issue. We dropped them off at the main entrance, and went to park our cars at the basement. There were no stairs for them. 50m later and they were already on their seats. The venue was I think their main restaurant. Nice seating area, spacious area for food display and efficient waiters.

The second would be the spread for the buffet. It was a varied selection. We have the grilled section on the balcony, with the smoking area. They had roast lamb, satay, chicken kebab, biryani and other Indian selections. Coming inside, the main spread consisted of sweets for breaking fast, rice and curries, mini pizza, dim sum, spaghetti, some sushi and salads. There was also chicken rice and other main dishes. Next, by the entrance were a few stalls doing apom balik, rojak, yong tau foo and sweets. There was also the obligatory chocolate fountains - a hit with the boys.

More stalls on the sidesA rather lame attempt at apom balik actually - the dough did not set properlyPart three - ambiance. Since the eatery was the main food outlet for the hotel - I was sure the breakfast were served there everyday - transforming the whole place would be impossible. What the management did was to put in elements of Ramadhan here and there. That being the final evening, and Eid was the next day, the decor was almost complete. At the balcony, there were torches. The staffs were dressed in traditional costumes already. 

Finally, was it worth the asking price when we talk about the quality of food. A resounding NO! That did not mean the food was bad. There were just nothing special. According to my brother-in-law who was there a couple of evening previously with his friends, the food selection was different. That meant that the menu was rotated, which is good. Less chance of left-overs slipping through. But considering the stature of this establishment, I would not expect this to be so.

The roast was overdone. The biryani was so and so. Rojak was a disaster. Sweets were nothing special. Basically, it was just above average. A safe bet if you were bringing a business associate to impress but if you took a girl for a date, there was no guarantee that you would have wooed her. It was not exactly Harrod, although you were paying for a similar price.

Since the place was only half filled on the evening, getting a seat and parking spot was never a hassle. Would I go there again next year? Not unless somebody drove me there, book a table and pay for the tab. Would I recommend it to somebody else? If you were paying on a corporate account, then why not? I would have preferred my Mum’s cooking.