Some Haagen-Dasz is always nice

Some Haagen-Dasz is always nice, originally uploaded by Haris Abdul Rahman.

After Berbuka last night, I had to drive Anita and Irfan to Bangsar Vllage. She had to return Idlan's baju Melayu. It was too big. We managed to exchange for a smaller one. But boy, was Bangsar crowded. It was Friday night after all.

The packed foyerWe reached there close to 9, and the shops will be closed in an hour. In the foyer of Village 1, there is an open market. There are stalls selling Raya clothes and hampers and the likes. The hampers were particularly nice, though they are not cheap. I suppose you get what you paid for. The acid test was whether the Raya cookies in there was as nice as it looked. Therefore, we insisted on trying some. Surprisingly they were good. Enough reason for Anita to splash on one. I'm not sure who she plans to give it too.

A cousin of ours used to do hampers and deliveries in the last few years. I am not sure if she is doing it again this year. She said that the return is good, but it was hard work, especially the delivery part. She was still making deliveries on the evening of Raya.

I have taken both Tuesday and Wednesday off. Coupled with Monday being 'Merdeka Day', I will have 5 straight days off work which is nice. Initially we wanted to travel to Penang, but in the last minute we decided otherwise. We will be heading for Port Dickson instead later today. A couple of days holidays for the boys. That would be nice. Planning to do a bit of street photography while I am there. Shame that I can't go for my Assam Laksa and Teh Tarik in the town because of Ramadhan. The stall might be opened at night though.

Pasar Malam and Me

The Pasar Malam in Kepala Batas, every Saturday Night in the the middle of the town centreI remember since I wan a child growing up in Kepala Batas that weekends mean 'Pasar Malam' or night market. In my kampung, the market is on every Saturday night. Often on Saturday afternoon, I go out to play football in the late afternoon, then rush back for a quick shower, then off we went for Maghrib prayers.

Malaysian delicacy the satay. It cost much cheaper here than in KL, and it tastes better as well.This pics shows my Pak Teh looking at some cakes. I don't think he bought any.

Straight after it is time for pasar malam. It usually jam-packed. Me and my friends will start off for some some food, usually the famous 'laksa buying', with plenty of 'otak udang' - shrimp paste. Then some sugarcane juice and then the walk-about. It is a big thrill if you were to bump into your classmates - that surely will be the topic of conversation when we return to school on Monday.

My Mum saying hi to an old acquaintance. Kepala Batas is still small enough that every one still know each other.Despite the sticky humid weather walking around was a lot of fun. There will be colourful traditional remedy seller (penjual ubat) whose herbs can cure all diseases, from toothache to diabetes to cancer, all in a single concoction. Now, I should have listened closely or better still, steal his secret recipe. Then I wouldn't have to use chemotherapy to treat my leukaemic patients, would I?

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 ......

Northbound

I am Northbound today. My cousin is getting married tomorrow. Well he is married today. His akad nikah is today, and the wedding kenduri on the wife side. Tomorrow will be on his side. I drove with my parents. My kids are just too tired to make the journey as we will be heading back tomorrow.

Malay wedding can be rather tedious. There are minimum 3 ceremonies. The akad nokah, when the groom says I do. Then the wedding ceremony on the wife side followed later, usually on a separate day on the husband side. To safe cost, we tend to have the akad nikah and brides' wedding on the same day. For me, we held a reception as well at a hotel, inviting friends and extended family. The akad nikah tends to be for the immediate family and the ceremony temded to be more intimate.

We plan to travel home tomorrow after the wedding as Monday will be the MMed exams.

Back in KL

They don't appear keen to go home. Do they?

The 'Problem Solving' paper this morning seems rather more reasonable compared to the CPC yesterday. After the exams, there were some confusion about what to bring back with me to KL. I was rather anxious to get going because I don't want to be stuck with exam papers in my hands overnight. Anything can happen!

Idlan playing Wii in the hotel suite while Irfan and Mum surfing the Net

The counting of the scripts after the exam also took longer than expected. There were a few scripts without the seat number filled, making life complicated for us. We tallied everything in the end. The list for short and long cases next week has been announced. The students now have a clear idea of what is ahead. The RCMP boys and girls will be traveling in a couple of buses to UM this afternoon, hoping to reach there before the traffic build up. They will be spending the next 10 days or so in UniKL campuses, being shipped into UM daily for the exams. The OSCE will start tomorrow running for a couple of days. They will then have the rest of the week off before the long cases Monday to Wednesday, the short cases Thursday onwards. They will be praying for good news come Monday to hopefully attend the mini convocation on the 7th. I might take my leave that day and see off my Final year students. Have to start calling them doctors by then!

The Racecourse from our suite window

Since there were no rush, we had lunch at Casuarina before leaving. We left just before three. On the way to Tambun yesterday, Anita was struck by a sign board just off Casuarina pointing the way to 'Impiana Bougainvillea'. She thought it is a hotel or a rest house. It turned to be a new housing development. Disappointed, we made our way to KL, reaching the Jalan Duta toll house just before 5. There was no traffic jam back to Gombak. Had the time to clean the car right after before settling in. Back to work tomorrow. I have already have a couple of text messages this morning from patients asking if I will be in tomorrow.