A Day in Penang

Everyone got up earlier on the Saturday after having a nice rest at the hotel the night before. We were up in plenty of time for breakfast before joining my Mum and Aunt again at her place. Then came the plan to head to Penang Island to visit more relatives. My Aunt tagged along as well.

We arrived at my other Aunt's place well before lunch - there was hardly any traffic getting there. We decided to have lunch at one of the nasi kandar shop near my Aunt's apartment and it was a delight. Irfan especially felt sleepy after the curry and ended up on the sofa while we were waiting for Zohor prayers.

Irfan contemplating what to try next ...Then came the sotong kangkung ...Making acquaintance with the local wildlife ...Next stop .... Padang Kota. As per custom, we would order pasembor, laksa, sotong bakar, sotong kangkung and ais kacang; not necessarily in that order. It was gorgeous although the laksa could have been better - it didn't come with shrimp paste.

We just sat at the esplanade after the meal with the boys playing with bubbles and running around the place.

Nah! We stick to the bubbles ...That's Butterworth at the far end ...Let's start ...

Next stop was at another Aunt's place in Kepala Batas. They had recently moved there from Butterworth and this was the first time I came over to visit them at their new place. More food and by this time, the boys were already getting grumpy. When we finally dropped my Mum and Aunt, it was already past sunset. Another early for the long journey tomorrow ...

A Day In

We had to spend the Raya day quite literally recovering. We started the day off visiting one of our friend for a second breakfast. They happened to be in Sungai Petani at the time, and more importantly, they had food ....

We then went to my Aunts where my Mum stayed, had some more food before heading to the mosque for prayers. We then got stuck with nothing to do and after the ordeal driving up yesterday, we could do with just a day chilling in the hotel room.

And that was just what we did.

We didn't even bother to go to the pools, we ordered some afternoon snacks to the room before going to one of the hotel restaurant for early dinner before turning in early. And the dinner turned out to be a delight. The Japanese restaurant at the ground floor of the hotel was a great find ...

Everybody was happy and full by the time we were done, and I was asleep soon after ....

Back to KL

We were hoping that the journey back would be easier compared to the journey up North. We were partly right. Usually the journey would take around 4 hours. Going up was around 10. Coming home took us 7 and a half, with a couple of short stops en route.

They are yet to be really awakeChecking outStill it was tiring since I will be at work on Monday despite it being a public holiday. The boys would get an extra day off however.

Quick stop at Sungai Perak R&R

There were no major accident. It was just due to sheer number of cars on the road. So, of the 4 days break which I had, two of them were spent on the road. All in all, not a great break ...

Balik Kampung

It was a good opportunity. The boys just started school. It turned out that Monday would be off for them as well as announced after the great showing at the SEA Games. So, we left KL on the Merdeka Day for a three nights relaxing stay back North.

We didn't stay at the island this time as my Mum came along as well. The journey up however turned out to be a long one.

The long queue after IpohWe set off at 9 am after beakfast. Reached the toll at Jalan Duta without much hustle, but the moment we hit Sungai Buloh, the crawl started. It was slow moving all the way to Ipoh. But the big delay was just after. I was stuck before entering Terowong Menora for a good couple of hours. Apparently there was an accident before Sungai Perak stop and the lanes were blocked.

By the time we passed through, everything was already back to normal although there were plenty of JPJ vehicles still at the vicinity. It was smooth sailing after that, however I supposed the damage had already been done. It was almost sundown when we finally reached Sungai Petani and since my Mum was fasting, she ate in the car.

Enjoying a drink after checking into the hotelWe had a quick dinner at my Aunts while dropping my Mum. Next was the hotel about 10 minutes away. I was glad that the hotel was still as nice - if not better - than what it used to be. I slept like a baby and missed breakfast the next morning ....

Anniversary Lunch

I arranged for the dinner and Anita sorted out the lunch. That seemed fair. But I must say that the choice Anita made was better.

We enjoyed our 20th Anniversary this year and last Sunday we had lunch at Maison Franchaise, a French restaurant located at a bungalow nestled in the middle of Kuala Lumpur. The place was nice and the food was something else.

The front Really neat inside ...Started with some drinks

We got there early since we wanted to just chill out. The lunch option was mainly from a set. You could request a couple of changes from what was offered but that was just about it. Dinner was a la carte.

The restaurant a converted bungalow, with a hint of European architecture, now fully converted into a restaurant. There was a terrace on the ground floor where there was a pool, a perfect place for an evening candle-lit dinner.

What's on offer ...Waiting for the starters ...

The restaurant was empty for lunch and we got all the attentions to ourselves. Nice French music in the background and all the food were freshly prepared. Absolutely fantastic although I felt that the cod for the mains was rather out of place in the scheme of things.

The menu item for starters were oysters. We were not into it and got some lovely smoked salmon as replacement. Then came the entree, artichoke soup with season ducks. OMG!

The smoked salmon ...The gorgeous antichoke soup ....Sauteed shrimps. Asparagus. Scrambled eggs.Salted poached codSlow cooked lamb loin ....We had the cod and lamb for the mains. The lamb was alright, the cod was not great. The lunch was topped up some ice-cream, cherry and crumbles.

All in all a nice afternoon ..... Definitely worth a visit.