Immediately after the tea plantation foray, we headed out towards another type of farm. There were many strawberry farms here. We selected one on the phone map but the horrible traffic jam pushed us towards another direction. The farm we stumbled across while navigating the twisting roads on the hillside was quite an impressive one. More than a strawberry farm, it was a full on orchard that sold everything from roses to herbs to unidentifiable (to me) local wild flowers. To pick the berries, we had to pay for plastic containers. Only with the containers were we allowed to pass through the inner gate, and climb up the stairs to a higher level where the strawberry greenhouses were. Check out the pictures below. Photo Gallery The fragrance of the greenhouses was unforgettable. We left with two containers of strawberries and three jars of strawberry jams. I never thought I would […]
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Year’s End Vacation 3: Tea Farm
The next day after breakfast at the hotel, we set out for one of the nearby tea plantations. Following the phone map, we headed south. Ain wanted to see the Boh plantation, but we shall see. Atok and Opah holed up at the visitors’ building of the plantation where there was a cafe while Irfan, Ain and I headed down to the plantation after purchasing tickets. One thing was certain: the view was spectacular. Here are some of the photos of our time there. Most of them can be clicked on for a larger view.
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Year’s End Vacation 2: Arrival
It was two days after we arrived at my hometown… The next day Atok lead the way towards Simpang Pulai with his car. After that, I took the lead en route to Cameron Highlands. Our handheld maps informed us that although it was only about 75 klicks from there to Brinchang, it would take us over three hours to get there. Surely the devices calculated wrongly. Perhaps, the data it had access to was in error. Unfortunately, the map was correct. When we turned into the junction towards Brinchang, a jam had begun. We also caught sight of the structure that Irfan photographed with my phone. I was at awe at the climate-controlled farm on the hillside. I thought it was the only one of its kind. Little did I know dozens and dozens of such farms pepper the landscape on either side of the jammed up road en route […]
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Year’s End Vacation 1: Sitiawan
After a couple of weeks planning for it and applying for leave, it was time to execute the end-of-year vacation plans. We exited the highway near Selama and proceeded towards Taiping using the Federal roads. There was a convenient new road from Taiping to Changkat Jering. We stopped for lunch at the food court at that town. There was a cat who asked for food at the restaurant. Later, we headed for Beruas. It was quite a long winding road to reach Beruas from Changkat Jering, but soon we found the turnpike into the new West Coast Expressway which would theoretically be a faster route to Sitiawan. The WCE Sitiawan exit was near the original (and once upon a time, the only) road to Ayer Tawar. We had dinner with Atok and Opah that evening. The next day we went to the Aeon Manjung mall. I could not locate a […]
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19th Anniversary Dinner
It has been 19 years since Ain and I were wed. Unlike last year when we had to go see a doctor during our anniversary, this year was fairly uneventful. However, it was the first time we celebrated our anniversary at a Middle Eastern restaurant. I had always wanted to fine in a such a restaurant with the family back when we lived at the 10th Floor. We never had the resources to do so back then. Here are some photos of the happenings of the evening. Next year, it would be our 20-year anniversary.
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A Seventeen-Year-Old Irfan
Many years have passed since we were blessed with Irfan. He came into our lives and made it much better than it could have been. He still gifts us with this. Today, this young man turned 17. Although we had an earlier birthday celebration with his grandparents the previous week, we had our own little commemoration at a restaurant nearby. Here are some photos from the evening. Happy birthday, Irfan. We love you very much and we will continue to be proud of you.
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Early Irfan Birthday Dinner
Atok and Opah came a week before Irfan’s 17th birthday to celebrate it early. For that purpose, we visited their favourite Thai restaurant in Padang Besar. As usual, Godzilla and the Rubik’s cube came along for the ride. Here are Irfan with his grandparents reviewing the menu beforehand. Here are Ain and I posing for a photo. This former infant will be 17 next week. Thanks to Irfan’s grandparents for the dinner.
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Exploring Lata Seri Perigi
After watching Angel Has Fallen at our usual cinema, we headed down south from Alor Setar. I looked up interesting picnic spots on the internet and discovered Lata Seri Perigi, which translates to Beautiful Well Waterfalls. We were not geared for any picnic, so this was just a scouting mission. Someday we will return with picnic gear. Here are some of the photos of the location:
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Meals for a Party Divided
And so it came to pass when Ain had to travel to KL to tend to Cikma’s surgery and recovery. (Spoilers: The surgery went well and she is recovering nicely.) Irfan and I were unable to come with her as we had work to do that we were unable to put off. Irfan had tuition classes to attend while he underwent the SPM trial examinations. I tried taking photos of Irfan and I having our meals and sent them to Ain while she was away. Ain began her journey at the train station. It would take her about five hours for her to reach KL Sentral. On to the first meal that evening: We ordered chicken chop and burger that first evening. Next day, we had breakfast at Cik Nah’s. I picked Irfan up for a late lunch in Jejawi. The next day we had breakfast further down the road […]
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A Two-Day KL Reconnoitre
After the visit to the Translation Institute, Bazli and I split up. He would return north later that evening after the benchmarking, while I had more than a week left to my vacation. First thing the next day, we headed back to Nia’s place from Aiman’s place. Since we were early, we explored the area near their house and chanced upon something called MesaMall. However, it was not built upon a mesa. When Nia returned from daycare, Irfan and I introduced her to the Lion King. She was saying Simba’s name in no time. The next day, we had breakfast and then later headed to a newly-opened 99 Speedmart along the Salak Tinggi highway. Nia tried driving but she gave up as could not reach weapon and shield consoles. One thing I noticed about Nia was that she liked to perform acrobatics on my back like Irfan once liked to […]
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Not Ain’s Food Truck
En route to Kuala Lumpur for a benchmarking assignment at ITBM, we stopped at the Ulu Bernam highway R&R stop where Ain discovered another eatery (closed, as it was already dark) with her name on it! As an aside, earlier in the day when we had stopped at the Gurun R&R for lunch, I discovered something unfortunate. I had forgotten to bring my wallet. So with Ain driving, we headed back home. It was three hours later when we passed the Gurun stop once again. What a waste of time. Oh, well…
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Ain’s Birthday Nasi Lemak
Earlier in the day, I had an idea and exclaimed, “Tonight, let’s celebrate your birthday somewhere amazing!” She asked, “Where?” I said with pleasure and pride, “The same place we had dinner yesterday!” So this year we celebrated Ain’s birthday at a nasi lemak stall in Kangar. We had dinner here yesterday. Ain had a nasi lemak paru but Irfan and I had roti telur. The sambal that came with the nasi lemak was excellent. Perhaps, it was too much on the sweet side. The moment went up to the stall to order a long line of patrons formed behind us. I was thankful we got there early. Soon it was over, because it was just a simple nasi lemak vendor which cost us RM13 including drinks. We will return to have more food there. Maybe tomorrow night. Maybe not. Happy birthday, my wife. You will always be nothing less […]
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New Glasses Pick Up
For the last year or so, Irfan was walking around with a pair of badly scratched glasses. Finally we had some money to blow on a new pair for him. We had decided to come to the neighbouring public university in the neighbouring state because I once spotted an optician’s office at the Varsity Mall there. It would appear we came to the right place as the cost of glasses here is less than half of what it cost in Kangar. Finally it was time to pick up the glasses. Unlike his old glasses, his new pair has ultraviolet filters. The shopkeeper even showed the filter working with a UV light source. Then we had dinner. It was not as crowded as when we were here before, presumably because it was examination season and a lot of students who completed them have headed back home. Then we headed home.
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Swinging Into The Spider-Verse
We went to the movies yesterday. Into The Spider-Verse was an amazing and spectacular effort in movie making. It has a well-sculpted story which juggles a lot of characters, giving each character (and not just any of the Spider-Men) a chance to shine. Also, the main characters are given a lot of set-up with entwining storylines which has big emotional payoffs. Some of the emotional payoffs also hit close to home. Although there have been many good animated comic book movies in the last three decades (Mask of the Phantasm is still a classic to me) this is the first one to integrate many physical idiosyncrasies of the comic book medium. Ang Lee’s live action Hulk featured comic book panels on screen, but it only served a simple purpose, i.e. show multiple viewpoints simultaneously. Into The Spider-Verse has comic book panels (with comic books in them), onomatopoeic text, thought panels, […]
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Not Ain’s Roti Canai Restaurant
We stopped at the restaurant in the photo above to get a teh ais ikat tepi on our way to my colleague Bazli’s wedding near Alor Setar.
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Cloudy Return from Padang Serai
Our return path from Padang Serai took us toward Butterworth, the primary population centre of Seberang Perai, the mainland part of Pulau Pinang. This was due to Ain’s love for Jeruk Madu Pak Ali which now faced the new Penang Sentral arcology. After acquiring the pickled fruits, we drove through the Pantai Bersih seaside highway. Dark rain clouds hung spectacularly over and across the waters towards the Island of Penang. They dared us to take a photo of them. So we did. Click on the images below to expand them.
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