Heritage House?

The Pahang Road house in Penang had formally changed ownership as of last month. It felt kind of weird not be able to visit the house this Raya. It seemed to be our usual congregation point.

One of my cousins alerted me that the house was being renovated and would be changed into some sort of heritage house. I had to go and check it out if that was for real. And it was.

The old verandahStill, I was not really sure about what the new owner had in mind. But they seemed to be putting a lot of effort and money into the project. And the signs on the wall - quite literally on the wall - was pretty interesting. The sign said "Rumah Kampung Mohamed Hj Md Ariff", which was my late Grandfather.

Should be interesting to find out what would come out of this ....

Back to KL

It was a great idea to drive on Monday instead of during the weekend. Traffic was smooth, and we managed to get back to KL before the rush hour started. Now unpacked and about to hit the showers. Anita had made the orders for deliveries. That would be dinner for tonight.

Will be back to clinic tomorrow morning, and the usual mad first day back. Expect some aggravation. And I have a few meetings already lined up ....

For tonight, I would have to get the photographs I took in Penang and my blog in order. Early night of course and going through the emails.

Padang Kota

A trip to Penang for me won't be complete without a stop at Padang Kota for laksa, sotong kangkung (squid and spinach) or sotong bakar (grilled squid). But most of the time it would be all three - like today.

After an afternoon nap, we set off for a ten minutes drive up the street to Padang Kota. Still early, we managed to get a spot to park without much hassle. Sat down, ordered the stuff and enjoyed the food. The boys only stared at us at the beginning although later Irfan joined us for laksa.

We tended to order from the same stall every time we came here. It was located at a corner, away from the sea front where most of the customers usually sat. It was good again today, although the squid was rather overcooked. The laksa was still the bomb though.

Sotong kangkungSome proper laksaOf course, some sotong bakarNext came the walk along the beach front. There were many vendors selling toys, and my boys went for the bubble guns. Before long, it was mayhem!

It was still an overcast day, with not much wind, making the weather rather muggy. A strong breeze would have been better. Once the bubbles dried up, we took a drive towards Batu Feringghi. It was almost Maghrib when we reached there, and Anita decided against getting off. There was a night market near the main intersection and the traffic was already starting to build up.

Time to head back to the hotel then ...

An Evening Stroll

After a long day at Gurney Plaza, the boys were hungry by the time we touched down. We decided against ordering in since the menu was pretty limited. We went for dinner buffet at Sarkies instead.

The boys were charged at half price and on the whole considering the quality of the food on the spread, it was well worth it.

It had the usual Malaysian food, plus roast, salad, seafood including oyster - which I was not into, sashimi - my favourite, and some local delicacies including some flaming char kuey teow, which was the bomb!

The previous evening, there was roast lamb on the skewer, but not tonight. They had satay instead and it was really nice as well. The hidden gem was the chicken curry. Almost as good as the nasi kandar outlet to be honest. They really knew how to cook here, that was for certain!

Since both Anita and I overindulged, we had to take a walk. In the sea breeze towards the room, it was a really nice walk. The air was fresh. Shame that Irfan couldn't wait to get into the room. We could have done with another hour or so at the sofa by the lobby .....

At the Movies

After breakfast, Anita hatched an idea that we should go out to watch a movie. The vote was 3 against 1. Irfan wasn't keen. For him, the whole idea of the holiday was to stay at the hotel and never having to go out ...

After much persuasion and bribe, he agreed and we went to watch Guardians of the Galaxy. It turned out to be much better than we thought, although the dialogue may not be really suitable for young children. Some ample use of swearword and sexual innuendos were about ....

We left the theatre rooting for Groot, the plant character in the movie.

The theatre was located at a shopping mall along Gurney Drive. Anita went to do some shopping afterwards, while Irfan demanded his bribe .... We ended up staying until about 6 pm, back in time for dinner.