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.

Padang Kota

Puan Anita enjoying her lee chee kangI remembered when I was young, I looked forward to have laksa at Padang Kota Lama every time I visit Penang. Laksa, followed by ais kacang. The ais kacang must have a scoop of ice-cream on top! Sometimes we also had some kerang (cockle) or cuttlefish with spinach. A real local delicacy. A must have. Over the years, the beachfront stalls were moved into a more organised food bazaar and to a certain extend, the charm was lost.

Kerang .....For instance, take laksa. The moment you reach the stalls, there will be throng of vendors coming towards you asking what you want. A quick look, you will see at east 4 laksa stalls. You will never know where your order will come from, or more importantly, will in come from the best stall on offer. It can be really intimidating if you were unfamiliar with the place. The second issue was the number of child beggars around. I was sure they were organised in syndicate. The problem was, they kept on coming and pretended that they did not know each other. After giving money to a couple of children, we soon got fed up and ignored the rest. The sad thing was, none of the vendors minded them, much to the annoyance of the visitors.

What to choose?And more ....The squid and cuttlefish I had was really nice, but shame about the laksa. The ais kacang was OK.I guess if I were to go there again, I should bring one of my uncles to take me around. He should know where to order from. Dropping by just like that may not be a good idea after all. If you really wanted to sample good food, get a local fella to come along!

Suffice to say that Idlan did not enjoy the visit since as soon as he arrived, he was swamped by the vendors, and the beggars. We had to finish up fast before the boys kick up an even bigger fuss. After a quick walk along the esplanade, we headed home. The main Padang Kota was transformed into a giant football hall. There was a massive screen beaming the World Cup game live later in the evening, filled with locals. There were also a small fanfare there. Unfortunately, lingering around was a bit too much for the boys.

Gurney Hotel, Penang

World Cup Dude!I had to leave early, and had breakfast at the main restaurant as my transport to G was at about 8.30 am. The boys were still fast asleep then - they had only slept after midnight. I later found out that after breakfast, Puan Anita and the boys spent a couple of hours in the pool! As the lunch break for my talks were a couple of hours, I walked back to Gurney Hotel to surprise the boys. They have just returned from the pool, Idlan was enjoying his ice-cream, while Puan Anita was getting ready to take them down for lunch.

I decided to take my camera out while walking back to G. The weather was really sunny on the afternoon, but the cool sea breeze kept things comfortable. I soon realised that the sea front along Gurney Drive had at least seven Bak Kut Teh restaurant - even more than the whole of Klang I thought! While waiting for the afternoon session to start, I had the chance to have a look around G. It certainly was very chic. The main lobby was expansive and open from one end to the next, giving the impression that it was more of a long corridor rather than a hotel lobby. Right next door was Gurney Plaza, an upscale mall by Penang standard, complete with multiplex cinemas. The banquet and conference service there were definitely state-of-the-art. It was a popular venue for weddings amongst the local upper middle-class.

The main lobby at Gurney HotelThe boys enjoying Shaun the Sheep! My favourite as well.Time for the pool. Nice slides but believe it or not, there was no wading pool.The infinity pool for adultsGym next to the pool, with beach sand of courseHmm! Let's work this one outThe session I had after lunch was quite long. I only arrived back to my room around 7 pm. After a quick wash, we headed for a drive around Georgetown, stopping for dinner at Padang Kota - more about that in the next entry. After dinner, me and the boys had another jacuzzi session before putting them to bed. The next morning, I woke up early in the hope of a quick photowalk around the Masjid Kapitan Keling area. Unfortunately the weather was gloomy. I skipped that instead.

After breakfast, they boys insisted on a session at the pool. Another quick dip, then it was time to pack up and check out. On the way back to KL, we stopped at KFC for lunch, then stopped by at Pahang Road to visit my grandmother. We finally reached Gombak just before 6 in the afternoon.

Cuti Raya Day 8 - Penang and Permatang Bertam

Permatang Bertam 4, originally uploaded by Haris Abdul Rahman.

Irfan's fever is better. He started to eat and oh boy, was he energetic. Julia has also settled in. We decided to cross over to Penang to visit my Grandmother. She lives with my auntie at the old family house right in the middle of the city, in Jalan Pahang. She suffered a number of strokes in her old age, and as a result, she is paralysed on her right side and was not able to speak.

We went there straight after breakfast at the resort. We arrived at Pahang Road around noon. Two of my uncles were also there, plus a couple of my cousins who also came over for visit. We hang around for a bt until the children got restless. We then headed out for lunch. It would not be a visit to Penang if we do not have nasi kandar.

Hameeeeeeed!Apparently this shop that we went to was run by a guy who used to cook at my father's favourite curry house in Kuala Lumpur. The curry was OK, but the one in Kuala Lumpur, at the shop we frequent was better. We should've gone to our regular near Chowrasta. It was however nice to try a new one from time to time.

We then headed back to the mainland and stopped over at Kepala Batas. I was born there. However the old house was empty since my grandfather passed away in 2006. There are three houses on that piece of land, one occupied by my uncle. The rest was however empty and the old house has turned derelict. It's a sad sight. Unfortunately as the land is not mine, I was not able to invest in it. I am sure those who were involved with 'harta pusaka' in the past understand the situation. I then visited one of my Mum's cousin at another kampong before heading back to Sungai Petani.

The pool at the ResortWe finally reached SP after 5, and both the boys wanted to try the resort pool. We spend an hour there before heading back to Kepala Batas to visit another uncle of mine. We had dinner there and finally settled in back at the resort before midnight. Tomorrow we will be travelling back to KL, so better rest up.

Southbound

The reason for travel up to Penang this time is to attend my cousins' wedding. My father has a total of 12 siblings, including my uncle who passed away last year. My grandmother has more than 50 grandchildren and 20+ great grandkids now. I happen to be the eldest among the grandchildren. The wedding ceremony is for one of my father's sister's son.

After a big feast last night at the pasar malam, we woke up this morning to sample a selection of nasi lemak near Kelab Cinta Sayang here in Sungai Petani. It is roadside stalls which specialises is nasi lemak. There were tons of selection when it comes to the sambal and gravy. I tasted it before and was well impressed.

My auntie then had a visitor from Kelantan. That means that we can't leave early for the wedding. We finally arrived there at almost 2.30, well after the bersanding. We stopped over en route to buy some noodles. This stall serve the best noodle, and we actually packed it back to KL.

After meals and meeting relatives we had to rush back to KL. y grandmother was there, and she appeared to have lost weight. Apparently she caught a virus last months and was off food. Only recently she got her appetite back. She suffered multiple stroke in the past and she is not able to speak. It is a times difficult to make sense of what she is trying to say. She has what in the medical field termed as expressive dysphasia. She knows what she is trying to say but cannot muster the muscles to actually articulate it. It frustrates her at times. She is almost at tears when we can't make out what she is trying to say.

The drive back to KL took just over 4 hours plus the stop in Bukit Merah for a quick tea. We got to KL at around 8, then after dropping my parents, I rushed back to Gombak. It's the Manchester Derby tonight ......