The entire party

A Send Off to Mekah

For the first time ever, Tok Bah and Tok Ma in Pasir Mas got the opportunity to go on an Umrah pilgrimage in Mecca. We drove to Kelantan to see them off. En route, we got to see a herd of elephants, pale and monolithic, at about three a.m. along the Grik-Jeli highway over the mountains. They must have just […]

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His new hoodie

Ain and Irfan Go To KL

It came to pass that Ain and Irfan went for vacation back in KL but I was not able to join them because of work. A side effect of given a new position at work after one has planned one’s year end vacation and bought travel tickets. So while I held the fort during exam season, the anak beranak spent […]

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The home team at work

16th Anniversary Dinner

Tonight is our sixteenth year together as husband and wife, so we took it upon ourselves to go celebrate with a dinner at a restaurant known as MaiCafe. As far as anniversaries were concerned it quite an enjoyable dinner and our second here in Perlis. I have said it once and I will say it again: I am blessed to […]

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See ya later sun

Another Rainy Dinner by the Sea

In the past I have posted an blog article of us having an early dinner along the road by the sea at dusk in Kuala Perlis before. Again, it was raining but this time there was a spectacular sunset on display for us to view. The sun was about to set, although at first thick clouds over Langkawi Island blocked […]

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Cake cutter of doom

And Then It Was His 14th Birthday

Irfan’s fourteenth birthday came and went. So did Irfan’s grandparents from Perak. It would be easy to say “I can’t believe how tall and how far he’d come” but the truth is that I am not surprised. With the opportunities and facilities available to him here – as opposed to the Klang Valley where he would have to fight with […]

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Early bird gets to jump on the still-sleeping cousin

Aidiladha Games

The second Eid of the year has come and gone. For Hari Raya Haji, we took the bus back to Pasir Mas. But for this Aidiladha post, we focus on games played by Irfan, Aiman and Zara when the cousins rendezvous at their grandparents house in Pondok Lubok Tapah. The bus arrived two hours late at the new Pasir Mas […]

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The ambassador is my friend

A Coup Then Hari Raya

On the day of our arrival in Sitiawan, we played some Coup. By the end of the session, we were quite evenly matched. It’s Tyrion. The ambassador is Tyrion. The morning of Aidilfitri, Ain had her galaxy-famous nasi dagang prepared for eating and stuff. Yada, yada, yada… Maaf Zahir Batin. Atok and Opah pose for a photograph with their plants. […]

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Jeli mist

Misty Drives To and From Pasir Mas

Early Saturday morning we got into the car and headed out into the darkness towards Kelantan to avoid the festive season interstate traffic jam. As usual when even when the sun began to rise we were thick in the middle of mountain mist. The roads after Baling had pockets of very thick water particles which we had to dive into. […]

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There's even a coffee table

Finally, Furniture and then Ice Cream

After eighteen months of sitting on the floor watching television, we finally got enough cash this month to purchase a sofa set! Atok and Opah were visiting, so we thought it was great that they could have something soft to sit on in the living room. There’s also a bookshelf. As you can see the Star Wars RPG books have […]

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Where is Irfan's eyeline headed, anyway

Nasi Kerabu: A Bus Ride Follow Up

During our bus trip over the mountains the other week, Ain made friends with a fellow traveller, a Kelantanese who lived in Perlis. She had a nasi kerabu restaurant in Kangar. That only meant one thing: we had to check it out. They only open in the mornings. When we were in Kelantan we were disappointed were unable to visit […]

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Rania with uncle

The New Cousin Celebration

I haven’t met Baby Rania since she was born, so after that bus trip over the spine of Malaysia we finally arrived in Pasir Mas for her aqiqah ceremony where I finally got to meet her. She is quite a photogenic lady, she is. See, she did not mind me telling her about Yog-Sothoth at all. Her cousins were all […]

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We're in the bus

Bus Ride to Pasir Mas

We had an inaugural journey from here to Pasir Mas by bus. This meant I did not have to focus on driving over a long distance for the first time in a thousand years. This also meant I was free to take photos out the window as we trundled along the roads. It was a great experience. I have never […]

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Meanwhile...

Splitting the Party

The evening after the Spell-It-Right competition, we travelled to Alor Setar where Ain and Cik Su who came visiting would be heading to Kuala Lumpur to reunite with Tok Bah and Tok Ma, and also to see little Rania. It was sad when Irfan and I were the only two occupants in the car heading home. Perhaps I thought we […]

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The lobby crowd

Boy Spells More Words

It has been more than a month since it last rained. The skies have been blue all day for weeks. I would gladly enjoy the view of the blue sky if it were not for the soaring heat. And it came to pass Irfan was selected to attend another Spell-It-Right competition in Kangar. He was apprehensive in joining company of […]

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Now that as an experience

Like Flying Polyps But Not Really

THEN It was back in early October after Raya Haji vacation when I began to fall ill with fever, coughs and sniffles. I blew my nose at work and sprayed the toilet at the office with a bowl full of blood. That never happened before. I thought that such amount of blood should not be outside of any human body. […]

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Under the tarp

Rainy Dinner by the Sea

We cannot afford a lot. Most of our resources are currently being used to our debts collected while living in Kuala Lumpur below the poverty line. I even think twice refuelling the car. But one of my responsibilities is to ensure the family have fun. For many years, even when we were living back at the Tenth Floor, we all […]

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