A Quick Trip to Penang

Traditionally, I would make a trip up to Penang each year before Ramadhan. To visit relatives or at least sample the food. This year I had another excuse, as one of my cousins was getting married.

We only stayed one night, with only Anita and I travelling. We stayed in Seberang Perai where the wedding was held. I only left KL after work, managing to reach the hotel before 10 pm.

I had a relaxing evening, enjoying a long breakfast the next morning as the wedding started only at noon. My Mum, sister and Aunt came to join us at the wedding hall soon after as they were staying in Sungai Petani and travelled separately.

My Mum coming with my brother-in-lawThe pelaminBunga telurThe wedding was nice and I got to meat plenty of my relatives. The topic of conversation was definitely politics. In fact, one of the local candidate turned up as he was a friend of my Uncle. After lunch and the bersanding, we decided to cross to Penang for some laksa and “sotong kangkung”.

Traffic was surprisingly light. Enjoued the food, brought some for my mother-in-law in KL as we would be leaving straight from Penang. We stayed at Padang Kota for the food, before setting of, reaching KL at around 9 pm.

One of my AuntExchanging contactsThe happy coupleWe decided to take the small Perodua instead as the MPV’s battery went dead before we left. The car was surprisingly light and relaxing to drive and despite taking our time and making a few stops, we still got back to KL in plenty of time.

We planned to spend Hari Raya in Penang, so staying just a single night was not a big deal. We got to meet everybody at the wedding anyway.

Engagement

One of my cousin got engaged last Sunday and I was asked to tag along during the trip to visit the girls’ house in Cheras. I started my rounds early that morning so that I could make it in time as the event started at 10.30 in the morning. I drove to Ampang first to pick up my parents before turning around to join the rest of my relatives.

It was then followed by an early lunch and by noon, I was already at my Mum’s place at Bukit Antarabangsa ready to get on with the rest of the Sunday. I had an Uncle coming from Muar as well as Penang. And with he ceremony finishing early, they were able to take a relaxing drive home.

The wedding would be in April, in Kuala Terengganu and Anita was keen to go. It would be likely that we would be taking the van there along with my parents. We would then spent a couple of nights there since the boys would still be on their Easter break. Earlier today, I managed to sort out my leaves as well. Looked like at system go at this point ....

A New Addition

On the way back from the kenduri in Penang, I stopped by at Kepala Batas to visit my cousin who had just had a baby girl. Her first.

That gave me an excuse to stop by my hometown. Again, the rain spoilt the trip, but visiting her and her baby made it worthwhile.

The old kampung house I was born in remained in disarray. Nothing much I could do as my Uncle inherited it after my Grandfather passed away, and they lived right next door. Sigh!

Muar and Back

It went according to plan. My parents joined me at the apartment before we drive down to Muar in glorious sunshine to attend my cousin's wedding. But unfortunately I couldn't make it any earlier and by the time we reached Kesang Laut, one of the famous ritual was done. It was called the toll.

Basically, when the party from the groom arrived at the bride's house, they had to pass trough a series of toll, members of the bride's family would actually stop then from passing through unless some amount of money - or gift - were passed. They may also have to sing or reply verses of pantun, and only then they were allowed to proceed.

And usually there was never a single toll. Yesterday, there four of them. Done in good spirit, it was a sight to behold. A real tongue twister at times, perfected into an art.

We missed all that though.

The other thing I noticed about weddings in Johor, was this lot loved their singing. There was always live bands. And oh boy, they really could carry a tune.

We could stay for too long due to the combination of having to return to KL before its dark and my nieces were getting restless. My boys and Anita didn't come along as they were attending a wedding and a birthday party in KL. Not to mention that they had their swimming lessons as well that afternoon.

We left Muar just before 4, a quick stop for Solat and reached KL by 6.30. The traffic was light as clearly the balik kampung crowd were still chilling back home. The road was empty and the weather was great. I then joined Anita and the boys at the Club, taking them to dinner before home. A nice productive day indeed.

Wedding at Nilai

The first order of the day was to Nilai. My cousin, Shari, finally got hitched and we attended the reception there. We left as scheduled, at around 10.30 after my morning rounds, and reached the venue about an hour earlier, relatively early. After mingling around, and enjoying a splendid lunch - the food was actually very good - the happy couple arrived, in white. Quite rare these days to have Malay wedding with a white theme. But white it was.

Most of the family members from Penang made their way down here. My Dad was due to sit on the high table, but when the couple arrived, all hell broke lose, and Dad ended up having dinner at hour table instead. An hour after we finished eating. To accompany him, I went for seconds .....

After we were done with the food and met all the extended family members, it was time to go. As I mentioned, we would be spending the night at A Famosa, before driving further down to Muar tomorrow.