Menanam di pagi buta!

Woke up early and Puan Anita had already left for Pasar Tani. I took Idlan for a walk around kampong which he found fascinating. He noticed some houses lined up with plants and decided he wanted some as well. We got some lemongrass and terung belanda!

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Kuala Kangsar, Here I come!

It was a tiring journey straight from work to Kuala Kangsar last evening. In fact I slept most of the way, then straight to sleep again upon reaching here. Friday has always been busy for me, with the quick ward round before starting my clinic. The clinic usually run straight through lunch, when I sheepishly made my exit for the Jumaat Prayers. I also sometime needed to come back after prayers, or worst still had to create a fuss in order to go for prayers.

For yesterday, I had to something extra since Habibah had to leave early and Edmund still in Klang. I also had to give a tutorial to the Oncology Trainees after which I had to run back to perform some procedure in the ward. Luckily I did not have to do the driving. We had the family driver doing that.

Morning walkI had an early dinner on reaching home. We were stuck in the jam however getting into the PLUS toll plaza at Jalan Duta. Once that was done, we only did one toilet stop. By the time we reached Ipoh, both Idlan and Irfan were asleep. We finally reached Kuala Kangsar at 10.45. Unpacked, then I went straight to sleep, and only woke up during the Suboh athan this morning.

Breakfast timeFather-in-law and his morning newspaperPuan Anita had to do some business this mooring, so I was at the kampung home with my two boys and maid. Still planning what to do for the afternoon. I was keen to drive up to Penang but I was not sure if the boys can cope. We will see to that later. In the meantime, I had been reading the first few chapters of 'Superfreakonomics'. It was part economics, part satire, but very sharp observation on the things that happens in our life today and why certain things happened so. There was a part explaining that prostitutes are more likely to sleep with a policeman than to end up in jail, all pretty common sense stuff but interesting read none the less.

Time to chill with the bookIt's Superfreakonomics Time!Will keep everyone updated with our plans for later. Penang sounded a good idea ….

Heading to Kuala Kangsar for the Weekend

Since my father-in-law cannot make it for the recent doa selamat in Kuala Kangsar, he decided to spend the coming weekend over there. Personally speaking I was quite keen to go as well. Puan Anita was game with the idea but unfortunately Irfan was down with fever today with runny nose.

Anita sneakily took Irfan to see our family Doctor - who my boys refer to as Uncle Lim - to get him on antibiotics. After he was all drugged up, Irfan was running around. Now I am worried about Idlan, but fear not. Anita got the doses of antibiotics for Idlan as well on stand by! I am sure all doctors have their own opinion when it comes to antibiotics news. Some avoid them at all cost considering the potential harm they may cause. Me, I am never very keen. I tend to leave the fever on for at least 48 hours, or the colour of their sputum changes. Put it another way, I will let Anita ask me about antibiotics three times before I agree with her .... Yes! I am cruel at that!

So, we got ourselves all packed up tonight. I have a full day ahead tomorrow with the clinic in the morning, followed by a session with the Oncology Trainees right after Friday prayers. I might be too tired to drive alone tomorrow, therefore one of the driver will do it for us. I'll be tweeting all the way there.

The Daytripper

Picked up some pau for the nurses on the way backMy Father-in-law was feeling much better from the transfusion and currently there was no sign of any ongoing bleed. Puan Anita and the rest of the group left for Kuala Kangsar yesterday for today's doa selamat. After checking up on my father-in-law, I decided to surprise everyone by making my way up there. I set off at around 9.45. Managed to catch the tail end of the kenduri at around 12.15. The road was clear and the weather was fine.

Spot where the kampong house was located - Sg Chempias, Kuala KangsarEveryone was surprised when I turned up unannounced, especially Idlan. The boys spent the night at the kampong house and really enjoyed it. They did not even visit the resort. We just checked in and out. Everything went well until Idlan got freaked out by the number of people turning up for the kenduri. It was certainly more than expected. Luckily we did prepare extra food. Some of Anita's cousin's came up from Kuala Lumpur for the kenduri, so was plenty of the neighbors. Got to meet and introduce myself to them. Idlan was calmer when I turned up. Anita did some shopping and decorating on the house the day before. She also bought a TV and DVD player so that the boys can watch their cartoon. They already started asking about their Wii. May be next time we bring it up as well. I din't have time to snap away though. One of our cousin brought his dSLR and was given the picture detail.

After clearing the place, we had to rush back to KL as my mum-in-law wanted to take some of the kenduri food to my dad-in-law. Luckily he was only due to fast from tomorrow afternoon. I left the kenduri at around 2.30 and reached UMMC by 5.30. It was starting to rain by then, but the traffic was still light. I had some dinner earlier on and is now pretty knackered. Might as well call it the night! 'The Last of the Mohicans' was playing on the TV this very minute.

Exploring Kuala Kangsar

The Sultan Abdul Jalil Shah Bridge connecting the Kuala Kangsar town to the village of Sayong. Opened in 2002, it was located right across from our resort.After we finished settling the house, we decided to take the boys out for a bit of culture. Well, to the Istana at Bukit Chandan and while at it, across the bridge to Sayong to see some labu being made.

Kuala Kangsar used to be located on the main trunk road from Penang to Kuala Lumpur. Since PLUS highway was opened back in 1985, the town has suffered. There used to be thriving home enterprises making and selling pottery, and the most famous of them all was the 'labu sayong'. These are earthenwares that were quite tedious to make, needing to be baked in ovens after being shaped into a gourd. They have a distinctive shape and used to store drinking water at a cool temperature despite blazing heat. For this, we traveled across the modern Sultan Abdul Jalil Shah Bridge to the village of Sayong.

The look of a labu sayong. The traditional once were either painted black or coated to earthen shade.The vessel that Irfan picked up.Prior to PLUS highway being opened, plenty of traffic passed through these villages, and business was good. Nowadays, there were only a few shops left and many of the small works make the labu to be shipped to bigger towns for tourists to buy. We had the chance of visiting one such workshop that day and brought home a few jars. Irfan got himself a small little vessel for his plants. After lunch, we headed into Kuala Kangsar town.

We drove up the Bukit Chandan past the Ubudiyah Mosque towards Istana Iskandariah. The Istana was not opened for visitors. This is the official home of the Sultan of Perak. Around the main Istana, there were a couple smaller ones, the Istana Kenangan, now converted to the Royal Museum and Istana Ulu, now turned into Galeri Sultan Azlan Shah. The Royal Meseum was closed for renovation, so we went straight to the Gallery instead.

The main courtyard at the Gallery.Entering the main exhibition hall. Shoes off folks!

This gallery housed mainly the personal effects of Sultan Azlan Shah and his family. Entry cost RM4 for adults but free for my boys. The compound were divided into two main areas, the main building and the guardhouse which was converted into the Sultan's car exhibition room. In between was the main courtyard with series of fountains and water spreads. I was not allowed to take photographs inside the galleries. The main attraction for Puan Anita was Raja Nazrin's young family with the arrival of the heir, Raja Azlan Muzaffar. I was quite interested in the Sultan's career in the Judiciary before he was made King. I also noticed that there was a typo on one of the official picture. The current First Lady's name was misspelt …… Was it worth the RM4? If the gallery did not take any of government money for upkeep and was self-sustained, then it was. If it needed other source for maintenance, then they should consider lowering the prices. It may be too steep for local visitors, but for foreigners, RM4 is practically pocket change.

It does what it says on the wall. It exhibits cars!The boys were bored and started to burn sugar running in circles. Time to go!The car gallery came next before the boys got bored and started running in the courtyard. Unfortunately it started drizzling soon after, and we headed back to our hotel room for some well-earned rest.