Full Day

In all honesty, we had only one full day to spend at Penang and Sungai Petani, and Puan Anita started the day off with some kuih raya shopping kampung style. And she went bananas. Not only that the prices were reasonable, the quality was very good. In fact, she had already started to eat them already and she bought with her one whole box of cookies with her.

She did that while I was with the boys in the hotel room. When she was done, it wartime to travel to Kepala Batas. It was for lunch there and the usual trip to the spice shop. She needs all of them spices for the coming Ramadhan. Lunch was next, and we went to an old neighbor's stall in Permatang Bertam for some home-cooked goodness.

After that was all done, it was almost 2 pm. Time to travel to the island.

First stop, as requested by the boys was to visit my Grandmother's grave. It looked like the gravestones had been made, and I noticed that he stones for my Grandfather were also changed. Then it was to Pahang Road, to visit my auntie. After Zohor prayers, we decided to take a drive to Batu Feringghi. Unfortunately it started raining. So, no beach for the boys ......

Spice from Kepala Batas

I made it no secret that when it comes to cooking, I was no Masterchef. Every time I went back to Kepala Batas - my kampung - my parents and Anita would visit this spice shop run by an Indian Moslem family. The business been going on for a number of years and my Mum swears by them.

They had recently moved into this new shop. Previously, they had a small workshop at the back of their house in Kampung Kovil, in the back street of town, where the Indians stay in my kampung.

They had spices for everything, and everything was mixed to your taste when you order them. All you had to do was tell them what kind of cooking you liked, and how spicy or hot your want it to be, and he would suggest the rest. The owner - previously his Dad - also gave away recipes. Anita got some of them here in Gombak.

All the spices and all the coloursYou tell him what you wantAnd he would mix it for youThe spices he carried include sauces and paste from India, as well as some exotic leafs and nuts. All packaged into the kind o cooking you wanted to do. Say, if you want to cook a chicken biryani, he would ask you for how many guests, and he would tell you how much rice, chicken and spices you would need. Ace!

Listen carefullyAll packed up, and labelled of course

When we returned to Kepala Batas last weekend, we gave it another visit, and he was nice enough to let me snap some photos. He was running the shop with his brother now, and eve week they would do shipment to KL. Some of the 'kedai mamak' in KL bought the spices from him, in bulk.

Pasar Malam Kepala Batas

Given half a chance, I would definitely prefer a free Saturday evening at my kampung, Kepala Batas. The reason, the Saturday evening market, or pasar malam.

I would definitely stop at the laksa buyung stalls, ais kacang and apom balik. I was not expecting much from today, being the fifth day of Aidilfitri. But I was lucky this evening. I managed to catch all three.

The famous laksa buyung. This was the third generation in the family selling it.It was the special claypot where the broth were cooked that gave the name to "buyung".We were early, plus it was only a few days after Aidilfitri.

I remember coming to the Pasar Malam since I was in Primary School. Back then, it was an evening pit with my classmates. We would congregate at one of my friends' houses, go to the mosque for Maghrib Prayers, before going over to the Pasar Malam.

Before Aidilfitri, I got in touch with one of these friends but he would be away during the weekend at his in-laws. Would love to hook up with these lot again and catch up on old times.

For the time being, time to enjoy my laksa.

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.

Lunch at Kepala Batas

We had our obligatory lunch at one of our old neighbors stall in Kepala Bataih earlier this afternoon. Anita had three plates of rice. It was gorgeous. Even Irfan said so. As for Idlan? He preferred his iPad.

The food was pretty basic but it was gorgeous. You can't get this kind of food in KL I'm afraid. Even if you do, they would probably charge you a bomb.

The old town of Kepala Batas. Things has certainly changed since one of the resident became the Prime Minister.

The stall was just a few houses away from the house where I was born. The house has been unkept since my Grandfather passed away in 2006. One of my Uncle and his family lived in the house next door to it just to make sure the area around it is tidy, but that was about it. I wished I could spend some time and money renovating the house as what we did with Anita's old house in Kuala Kangsar. Better not dwell on that too much though as I'm not really sure who the land actually belong to.

I went to have a look none the less while the rest was still having their lunch. My Uncle was away and the house was empty. After going around for a bit, it was time to was put again to Sungai Petani for another stop at my Auntie's.