After a decade away, I finally made it back to Pangkor. And this time, I got to share the experience with Vin, Allie and Jenn, Vin’s cousin who is teaching English in Jakarta. Jenn hopped over to visit us for a few days in Sitiawan, arriving after Hisham and his family returned to Kuala Lumpur and the Tenth Floor. Abah helped me book two chalets at the Puteri Bayu Resort on Pangkor. Unfortunately, Abah and Mak had other commitments and could not come with us. [[image:2010-sept-pangkor18.jpg:Pantai Pasir Bogak:center:0]] We left on Friday afternoon, September 17th. Abah dropped us off at Lumut, and it was pouring rain. We bought our tickets, waited a little, before we got on the ferry. [[image:2010-sept-pangkor01.jpg:Ferry looks like a train, no?:center:0]] The ferry to Pangkor has certainly come a long way! It used to be more open air, less organized, and certainly not air-conditioned. Plus instead […]
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On top of spaghetti all covered with cheese
A list of our family’s adventures through this simulated universe. Strangely, this is represented by several methods. Firstly, my thoughts in words and then a host of two-dimensional images configured for the human visible spectrum. Finally the blog itself as a medium of information. Also, sometimes there is cake.
Journey to Taiping and Ipoh
The journey began on the morning of the 12th of September. The planned route would have taken us from Sitiawan, up north toward Taiping to two houses, Opah Teh and Tok Teh’s in Matang and Pak Unggai and Mak Unggai’s in Taiping. Then, we’d drive south-east using the North-South Highway toward state capital of Ipoh, to Wan Cu’s new abode. Just three houses to visit for the day. By normal reckoning, it would take us an hour to get to Taiping, then another hour to get to Ipoh, and finally another hour to get back to Sitiawan. If we spent 30 minutes per house visit, we would be back before it was late afternoon. Little did we know… Before we began our journey, we stopped for supplies at the local Giant hypermarket. It’s still weird to think of having a Giant hypermarket in little Sitiwan. Of course, Sitiawan is no […]
Continue readingYati Comes a-Calling
On the fifth day of Aidilfitri (September 14th), my old friend Yati stopped by for a quick Hari Raya visit: [[image:2010-sept-yati04.jpg:Onyang Yati:center:0]] It had been a while since I last saw Yati, and it was really good to see her again, and also to see her husband Zukry, and to meet their beautiful daughter Fatihah: [[image:2010-sept-yati01.jpg:Zukry and Fatihah:center:0]] Yati brought some mini-cheesecakes (or cheese-tarts) for all to enjoy. Does this make her the Queen of Hearts? [[image:2010-sept-yati02.jpg:Irfan, Yati and Opah checking out the tarts:center:0]] The kids got along famously: [[image:2010-sept-yati03.jpg:Hands up, Irfan!:center:0]] [[image:2010-sept-yati05.jpg:Yaya plays congkak:center:0]] Yati was obsessed with trying to fix Yaya’s hair. After about thirty minutes and about a million tries, Yaya finally acquiesces and allows her hair to be ponytailed (for all of about 3-4 minutes, but that’s ok). Yati was so involved in fixing Yaya’s hair that Fatihah, that sweet little daughter of Yati’s actually told […]
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Eid 2010 Group Photo
Strangely enough, thanks to jet lag and other stuff we only got a family photo taken on the fifth night after Eid. We had to leave for Kuala Lumpur the following day. We were all pretty much exhausted when this picture was taken.
Continue readingGuess Hoos Coming to Raya?
On the second day of Aidilfitri (September 11th), the Meis and their family came for a visit. By family we mean Mei Lin, Mei Chin, their husbands, their daughters, their parents, and their little brother Colin-boy. Hoo did you expect? 😉 [[image:2010-sept-hoos01.jpg:Me and Yaya, and Mei and Immie:center:0]] Hisham and I had to decide which of us would actually write this entry (since Mei Lin was his classmate and Mei Chin was mine). But here’s my take on the day! * Mouse over the pictures for captions Mak had made chicken curry to eat with roti jala for the guests (mmm mmmmmm!) since we had basically polished off the rendang from the first day of Aidilfitri. What can I say, I haven’t seen my mother’s rendang in a while, and coupled with ketupat and lemang, I just could not resist. Nor did I. Not to mention Yong’s righteous nasi dagang! […]
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Young Book Readers during Eid
The most awesome thing which was agreed upon by everyone was that Irfan and Alya were friends almost from the get go. Even when Alya was grumpy, badly affected by jet lag, she will more often than not smile or even laugh whenever Irfan came around to cheer her up. Once she even climbed onto Irfan’s bed to wake him up in the morning: Later that day, they both did something which was not planned at all. Irfan started reading for his little cousin as they sat together on their grandparents’ couch. At first, they both flipped through a Reader’s Digest magazine and a book Ayah Cik was reading at the time: Alya was fascinated with photos of cats in the Reader’s Digest. Irfan also checked out the pictures sitting at her side: Then Irfan remembered the children’s books Cik Dik bought for him as presents, so he rushed to […]
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Eid Mubarak from the Cousins
Alya and Irfan send their Eid greetings from Sitiawan! Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Maaf Zahir Batin, from the whole family!
Continue readingThe one with the two-day party (and more cake)
I know – it’s been over a month and I still haven’t finished Allie’s 2-year birthday blogs. She’s already 25 months old and I’m late posting that blog entry too! At any rate, here is the next installation of the birthday celebrations. This one takes us to Indiana where Vin’s cousin Becky had what was basically a two-day party for both Allie and Vin, and to celebrate Jo being here, as well. We drove to Indiana the day after Allie’s birthday (Friday July 23rd). This is pretty much what Allie did with her cousins for the next two days: [[image:allie753a.jpg:Dancing Machines:center:0]] * Mouse over the pictures for additional captions We arrived at Becky’s and Allie immediately went to her pile of presents: [[image:allie725a.jpg:Mary, Gabby and Grace help Yaya with her presents:center:0]] Then we swam in the lake: [[image:allie726a.jpg:Gabby and Yaya are ready in their lifejackets:center:0]] [[image:allie727a.jpg:Let’s go swimming!:center:0]] [[image:allie728a.jpg:Yaya swims […]
Continue readingThe one with more birthday cakes
Finally, on August 1, we had what is becoming our annual backyard cookout and Allie birthday bash right here at home. We timed it so like last year, Vin’s baseball team played at the local high school so they were able to come and eat and hang out for a while. Our wonderful neighbors and some friends also came to liven up the party. Unfortunately, Yaya’s Auntie Jo had to go back home to Leeds. But we had a wonderful time with Auntie Jo and miss her terribly! [[image:allie756a.jpg:Let them eat yet another cake!:center:0]] * Mouse over the pictures for captions Vin rushed back from his game and fired up the coals. In the meantime the guests have arrived and Allie mingles: [[image:allie754a.jpg:Talking baseball:center:0]] [[image:allie755a.jpg:Allie mingles like a good host:center:0]] Then it was time for cake! Again! [[image:allie757a.jpg:Smiling while everyone sings Happy Birthday:center:0]] [[image:allie758a.jpg:Yaya blows out the candle!:center:0]] [[image:allie759a.jpg:And proceeds […]
Continue readingAllie’s 25 Month Birthday
And since I was so late with the last two 2-year birthday blogs, here we are, on August 29th. Allie is now 25 months and 1 week old! July and August have just flown by! Ramadhan Mubarak to everyone! Courtney had been in town for a conference and so spent the weekend with us (yayyyyyy!!!). [[image:allie765a.jpg:I’m pink and rowdy!:center:0]] * Mouse over the pictures for captions Before we get started, I have to apologize. You can see in the first picture above that there is a pinkish tinge to it? Well, the reason why is because we had to resurrect our older camera, the one that we had to replace because it was taking pink pictures – remember that one? Well, the reason we had to use the old camera is because “somebody” “dropped” the camera and it no longer works. The fatal “lens error” appeared and the camera will […]
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Breaking of Fast With Atok and Opah
Most of our breaking of fast at sundown during Ramadhan – known as iftar – were done at home at the dinner table. But once in a while we do go out to dinner, but only after Maghrib. Last weekend, Irfan’s grandparents were also in town a-visiting, so Sunday night we decided to eat out. We tried out Pak Ya’s place at Taman Cempaka, which is to the north of and right next to Pandan Indah. When the food arrived, we came to two conclusions. One, we have to take photos of our orders. Two, we will have to take Ayah Cik, Cik Dik and Yaya to dinner here when they next visit. We didn’t take photos of all the dishes, unfortunately.
Continue readingBreaking of Fast, Ramadhan 1431
Ramadhan mubarak to everyone! Another year, another fasting month. Ain spent an hour preparing this meal for our first breaking of fast this year. [[image:first-break-fast-2010.jpg:Delicious spicy stuff!:center:0]] We broke fast with dates, before digging in, dining on rice, with some chicken and fish, and spinach. No fruits, no kuih-muih. We are grateful for the delicious stuff bestowed onto our dinner table!
Continue readingAllie’s 24 Month (aka Second) Birthday
It happened! Allie’s big day arrived – she turned 2 (years!!) on July 22nd! We were home from Maryland by then. Here she is, the birthday girl! [[image:allie690a.jpg:Hello! It’s my birthday today!:center:0]] * Mouse over the pictures for captions Another month and more developments! She now has eleven teeth (about as many teeth as a one year old!) but this is apparently normal for kids in Vin’s family (slow to teeth). Cousin Max (from the Maryland party) is 13 months old and does not have any teeth yet. Everyone’s been saying that she looks tall for her age but since we haven’t yet had her 24-month appointment, we don’t know yet. She went around saying “Hi Baby” for a while but has recently stopped saying that. She is definitely telling us long and convoluted stories (not using any words) and mostly getting her message across. She understands fairly complex sentences […]
Continue readingThe one with the surprise birthday cake
We had a crazy busy month of July! I know it is way into August now, and I haven’t even done any entries on Allie’s big day. That’s because we have been running around like crazy people! First we had an active 4th of July weekend in La Porte (Vin’s hometown) and then to Becky’s at Elkhart. And then off to New Jersey for work for a week. Then back home, and Vin’s sister Jo came to visit! Yaya got to meet her Auntie Jo for the first time! It was the funnest time! So we hung out at home for a few days before driving everyone out to the Baltimore area for a family gathering. Unbeknownst to us, Vin’s Aunt Joan and his cousins had organized a surprise early birthday party for Allie. So on Sunday July 18th, we went to cousin Kathy’s place for a cookout and had […]
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Avian Visitor at Night
And so it came to pass that as I was relaxing in the living room as the last glow of the setting sun disappeared, a bird flew into the house. At first it just rested on the carpet looking forlornly at me, perhaps wondering into what parallel universe it had travelled to. I called Irfan to approach slowly, but as I edged for a closer look, it flew. Because the top of the doors and windows were a couple of feet lower than the ceiling, the bird had difficulty trying to leave the house. It flew here and there, catching a breather on the floor, at the top of the cupboard and clinging onto curtains. As we tried to help it leave the house, Irfan called up his grandparents to let them know what’s happening. It even flew within an inch of Irfan’s head – causing him to shriek – […]
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Visit to Putrajaya
A few weeks ago before the school break ended, Irfan followed his tuition centre group on a visit to Putrajaya where they visited the botanical gardens, among other places. This was the first time he went on a trip with the group. Although he came back tired, he said he had fun. Irfan recently obtained the photos they took during the excursion. One of the first thing I thought of telling Irfan was that I played in the rubber plantations which was ubiquitous in Sitiawan when I grew up there. Then, I remembered that they’ve all been mostly replaced by houses, rows of shophouses or palm oil instead. Guess I have to show him photos of it instead.
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