The Second Crossing

Shame as it was raining heavily when we arrives at the intersection onto the new bridge connecting the mainland to Penang. Dubbed the Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah Bridge, it stood nearly 25 km long, easily surpassing the first Penang Bridge some 20 minutes away along the PLUS highway.

Heavy rain, but luckily no strong crosswind to bother the driving, it was actually a pleasant drive. Although it spanned only a couple of lanes each way, it had a separate cycle lane, ample room for the hard shoulder and a much wider lane. The driving experience was completely different from the original bridge. You hardly felt that you were suspended over water at all.

Toll was marginally more expensive than the original bridge at RM8.50, but I wouldn't complain about that. It took us about 25 minutes to get from end to end, and since we landed further south on the island, there would be an extra journey time to Georgetown. As the road feeding into the bridge were not yet complete, expect heavy jam. Luckily it was Sunday afternoon, and the roads were practically empty.

Just before you reach the island, there was a rise on the bridge for water vessels to pass underneath. Here, two pairs of guilded towers were built with cables suspending the bridge, paying homage to the original bridge.

The new bridge cut my journey time and would definitely cut the congestion on the main bridge considerably but I felt that the bridge was rushed through its opening. It was a crime to open it while they were still building the feeding highways. But then again, this is Malaysia ....

On the Road Again

I had to travel to Penang as today would be the last kenduri at my late Grandmother - Dadi's - house in Penang. The lot would be sold later this year and would be developed. This would be a goodbye kenduri for us lot and I just had to be there.

I decided against taking a flight. Traveling by road allowed me to take my parents along. And when I arrived at Bukit Antarabangsa to pick them up this morning, my sister was there and I offered her to come along. It looks like it would be a full house. Luckily I brought the van, and a driver! No need for driving again.

But, I had to stop at Subang first for my Sunday Morning round. That should give some time for my Dad to catch some breakfast.

Kenduri at Colleague's

It was great to see plenty of my colleagues turning up to attend a wedding hosted by another colleague who is on a long leave due to an assault.

She appeared to be in great spirits welcoming us all, who took an unceremonious route as a short cut from the hospital, through people's backyards.

I also bumped into an old housemate from Cornfield, meeting his year and a half-year-old son for the first time. Not to mention a familiar face behind the cameras on official duty for the occasion.

And food was great as well, with satay and some nice ais kacang on the side. We left before the crowd - and clouds - descended....

Post Kenduri

The havoc has passed, and everyone had left. We had just dismantled the awning and moved the furniture back in place. The boys were still paying and Irfan especially had been asking when we would be back to Gombak. He wanted to watch Frozen the movie. Not tonight. Manchester United playing at 8 tonight.

Great that the maids helped us out with the washing and cleaning. We did the lifting and transporting the tables to surau and back.

I have selected the leftover to bring back home. That would be our dinner tonight. Too tired to go out to buy tandoori for the match, so you could blame me if United didn't win tonight.

Julia and her family just returned from their trip to Legoland and Sentosa. Looked like they had a great time. Don't think I could convince Anita to go since it involved rollercoaster rides.

Kenduri Done

The kenduri went very well. The weather held up even though it was drizzling just before Zohor. The main thing was, we ran out of food, and plenty of people turned up. Everybody was happy.

I started the day early leaving for Subang for my Sunday morning round. Then a quick stop at Park City before rushing back to Bukit Antarabangsa. I arrived back with plenty of time before the guest started arriving for the doa. That started at 11.

The ceremony started on time. It was for Idlan and his cousin Adam who would be having khatan - circumcision - next Wednesday. We recited Yasin and doa before lunch. And lunch was great. Most of the food were catered for, butyl cooked her famous gulai ikan kering. We also had extra laksa and cendol. Those addition were really nice.

We invited mostly relatives and neighbour. Plus a few of Idlan's schoolmates. Idlan didn't look worried about the whole affair so far. Hopefully he won't create a scene when the morning come.