Monday, February 5, 2007

Cuti Cuti Malaysia 3: To The North Again, Melaka-Kulim-Alor Setar-Penang-Ipoh-Tapah Road, Dec 22 – 30, 2005

Dec 27, 2005 (Tuesday, Penang, Penanti, Kulim, Penang, Kulim

I was awakened by the timer and straight away took my bath and said my Suboh prayer. I yelled everyone up and made plan for the day. The plan was to go for breakfast first, entertain ourselves a bit and check out at noon. The night before my niece called and said to us that they were going to Penang and would want us to join them. Since I have an appointment to go to Tok Wan’s place at Penanti we could not just wait for them in Penang. So we took the ferry across and headed for Kulim. Just before the tol on the Kulim Grik highway I stopped to call Tok Wan to confirm that we were coming to his place. He guided us after the Penanti exit and he was there at the entrance to what we jokingly called Ladang Sukun Sri Bainun. Tok Wan was a good host and his wife was caught by surprise by us. It didn’t matter to us as the goal is to visit Tok Wan and his family. As long as I knew Tok Wan was staying there since my sis living in Kulim that was the first time we visited him. On numerous occasions he jokingly complaint that I should report my present before going to my sis’s. We did not stay long there but long enough for me to check my emails using his laptop and wireless network.

After just long enough for us to have a glass of water we left my sis’s place for Penang again. The objective was to take my mum and cousin for a short tour of Penang. I took the cue and followed my brother in law to where ever he went and only took the initiative when we stopped at Padang Kota. Instead of staying at the Padang playing tourist, together with my niece, we went to have a ‘snack’. Snack was actually a big plate of pasembor and few other major dishes. We stayed there enjoying our ‘snack’ until we received a call from my sis to join them. The plan was to find a masjid to pray, go for dinner (a dinner? After that ‘snack?’) and lastly the Pesta Penang. I was not sure where my brother-in-law was taking us for Maghrib we went around and suddenly ended up at one masjid in the town area. When we were there then I realized it was actually a masjid in the middle of ‘woman’s favourite friend’ shopping area. The masjid was surrounded by shops, could be bazaar, selling jewelry – gold and all. Just like the gold souqs in Dubai, well sort of. No wonder the masjid is well taken care off and quite beautiful. After maghrib we took the route to the airport and stop for dinner along the way near the waterfront. The food was just so so to me in fact I did not order anything just a bite or two from the others. W just had a big snack remember? While having dinner we debated whether we should go to the Pesta. My sis and her family was arguing not to and I was not that keen either. Even I have not been there I more or less knew what to expect. But my 17 year old cousin from kampong pleaded to go and for her sake we went. It was at the tail end of the Pesta but there still a big crowd and we instantly made a contribution to make it even worse. We just walked around trying to enjoy the place and most of the time I was a naysayer to Mar’s every requests. At least it was good exercise for me after that heavy meal and I could really felt that I was tired. In the end we depart for Kulim close to midnight. I that was it for the day but as we entered Kulim I felt I need a drink and stopped at the big nasi kandar outlet to have a late supper. Actually I enjoyed teasing and treating my favorite niece, Ain, more than anything else. We came home late and immediately went to sleep.

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