A Full Day

Since I was only in Penang overnight, I had to cram as many visits as I could today. And I did just that.

I went straight to my Grandmother's house in Georgetown. My parents and sister soon joined me. Before long, my eldest Uncle and his daughters and grandchildren also arrived. We hang around for a bit, before leaving for lunch.

As usual, it had to be nasi kandar. We went to Kassim, right opposite Komtar. It was only half open from the looks of things. But, it was still authentic stuff. Two servings of rice and a few scoops of fish curry later, we were ready to hit Seberang.

My Grandmother in the middle, with her two eldest sons, my Dad on the left most, and my Uncle, second from the right.

First stop, my Auntie's place in Seberang Jaya. One of their daughters - my cousin - will be getting married in October and they were busy making preparations. It looked like it would be another trip up North next month. Then we went to Kepala Batas, and stopped at a couple of houses - both were my Uncles - and was joined by another Auntie. And tonight, I would be spending the evening at another Auntie's house in Sungai Petani. Now that was a full day if you asked me.

Lunch was almost served.The damage in the endOne of my handsome nephews.My sister, Julia.My Uncle, Basir, at my late Grandfather's house.

It was nice catching up with the family although most of them were asking where Anita and my boys were. Had to leave them behind, for efficiency you see.

We just had a hefty dinner and would sure be having coffee and a chat after that. I was sure I would be sleeping like a baby. Had to start the journey early tomorrow. I was sure the traffic would be heavy if we left late. Here are the photos from the trip.

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.