Sauteed onions

Visitors to Burger Republik

When the visitors formerly from the tenth floor visited, we thought we would take them to some place fancy, namely Burger Republik. For the occasion, two tables were joined together to form the robot lion. The day the sign was made, they told us that anyone who pointed out the spelling mistake of “oren” got a free orange juice. So anyway… this is Ciksu’s burger. It has all the onions, which makes it more awesome than awesome. Many ordered the chicken chop, including Ain, which as usual had a great flavour to its gravy. Cikma ordered the salmon. I thought I would just enjoy the burritos. Because it should be a burrito day everyday.

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It's green

Visitors Formerly From the Tenth Floor

Over the Merdeka Day Weekend, we received some visitors, two of which lived back at the Tenth Floor with us back in the day Cikma, Ayah Cik the Younger and Ciksu travelled to the north all the way from Kuala Lumpur to spend time with us. Also, Irfan had some questions about Steam to ask Ayah Cik. After an afternoon at Padang Besar where no padang besars could be found, we had dinner at the beach in Kuala Perlis, which for some reason I keep calling “Kuala Selangor” by mistake for no good reason. Maghrib prayers were performed at Masjid Kuala Perlis which was built over water off the town promenade. It was the first time I visited this mosque. Unfortunately it was low tide. The next day, despite all odds Ain succeeded in organising an excursion to Gua Kelam. It was a great morning with clear skies. Unfortunately, some […]

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Yay! Sun in the water!

Weekend at Sitiawan

Last weekend, we balik kampung to Sitiawan. Coincidentally, we got to attend my cousin’s wedding in Ipoh on Saturday. All except Opah Irfan went to the community hall where the wedding took place. She was unwell. As a bonus, we discovered some nifty new roads heading into the capital city of Perak by way of Batu Gajah. Yong Neni and her newborn with Yong Ain together again. We invited them to visit us in Perlis if time permits. It would be great to have them as house guests and show them the sights. Later that night, Atok and Opah took us to dinner at a restaurant of Atok’s old acquaintance. We drove past the restaurant many a time in the past, but failed to notice it. The ambience was good. The food was great. When Vin and Sila return, we should totally come here for dinner at some point. Irfan […]

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Sik, dude

Homeward Bound Over the Hills

Aidilfitri vacation was coming to an end. We left for home from Pasir Mas at 0430 hours and arrived at the eastern end of the mountain roads just in time for Subuh prayers. By the time we reached the Titiwangsa rest stop an hour later, this was what we saw while the cold winds buffeted us: We got one amazing view from the top of the hills as the sun peeked over the horizon. If only we could stay up there and enjoy the view forever. The photos here could not do justice to the view because of the low light conditions, as well as the sun coming up right before us. It was like the top of the world, with the layer of clouds were like a carpet of whiteness in the valley far below us and the only explanation I can find… We stopped for breakfast at Baling, […]

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Irfan with Mom, redux

Boy Spells Words

Irfan told informed us that he was invited by a teacher to attend some spelling bee. Later he told us the event was to be held at a local hotel: the biggest hotel in town. He didn’t even tell is it was this prestigious contest: You can read about the contest here. We arrived and I took some photos before Irfan joined his school contingent for registration. There were 150 attendees from his school. After registration, the teacher in charge briefed his contingent. It looks like there were representatives from every Form. Irfan and the other First Formers take a photo together. He was the only one from his class. This appeared to be the qualifying round. There was only a preliminary written test for the attendees. If Irfan makes it past the preliminaries, the next event would be the State Challenge which according to the website would be held […]

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At Pandan Capital

A Return To the Tenth Floor

It’s the Labour Day/Wesak Day long weekend. We were unsure if we were able to travel 500 klicks plus change to the old house back on the Tenth Floor in Kuala Lumpur. We had planned on departing at 3AM, but because we were exhausted we awoke at six, and after gearing up were only able to push off from Kangar at seven. Twitter warned us of slow traffic on the highway ahead of us, which forced us off and into the state roads near Selama toward Taiping. Soon we decided to stop at Atok and Opah’s in Sitiawan for a brief rest and Friday prayers. We resumed our journey at 3PM and reached Kuala Lumpur by nightfall. It was a strange feeling, returning there after five months away from the city. I don’t believe we were ever away from the city anywhere near this amount of time. The strangeness was […]

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Republik Burger

A Return to Burger Republik

Because we sent some freelance proofreading work in the direction of the proprietor of Burger Republik, they invited us over for dinner on the house. I had the chicken kebab which was perfect and juicy. Especially the onions. Because onions! Ain had ordered a new item on their menu, the salmon. I thought the bean sprouts gave the fish a great taste and texture. Although I loved my kebab, I quickly wished I had ordered the salmon instead. But all is good, because we all share our food with each other anyway. Irfan had a “Broadway Burger”. But there was no photo of it, just this photo of Irfan devouring said burger. Because we found the selection of Burger Republik’s menu quite appetising, we shall return there!

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Atok and Opah’s April Visit

Atok and Opah visited us in Perlis once more, this time to help ensure all went well during the my last ever semester final examinations. If I make it through this, then I would have a Bachelor of English Studies degree. And in a position to do something with it. [[image:2015-atok-opah-april01.jpg::center:0]] We planned for a picnic at Gua Kelam, but rainfall overnight caused a change in plans so we went to Tasik Melati which appeared to be overrun by ants and water lettuce, although the lily pads were pretty neat. [[image:2015-atok-opah-april02.jpg::center:0]] However, after breakfast at Tasik Melati we found ourselves at Gua Kelam anyway because we travelled quite a bit past Sungai Batu Pahat northbound toward Kaki Bukit. [[image:2015-atok-opah-april03.jpg::center:0]] We enjoyed the greenery at the Gua Kelam Secret Garden on the other side of the cave tunnel where we finished off the leftover of our Tasik Melati breakfast. [[image:2015-atok-opah-april04.jpg::center:0]] There […]

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Wedding at Lunas

One day we had to leave Betty kitty at home for the weekend. [[image:lunas-wedding01.jpg:What IS up with the many-angled ones?:center:0]] We travelled south to Lunas, Kedah about three hours south where Ain’s cousin Zariff was getting married. [[image:lunas-wedding02.jpg:Lunas is near Kulim which is a spitting distance from Pulau Pinang:center:0]] Ain had found a homestay online and booked by phone. It was quite a comfortable pace to stay, we discovered upon checking in. [[image:lunas-wedding03.jpg:This is the same place we rendezvoused with them a couple of years ago:center:0]] Then we rendezvoused with Tok Bah and Tok Ma in Kulim who had driven in from Pasir Mas, and had some nasi ayam for lunch. We also took a drive to Butterworth to buy some pickles at the pickle store. [[image:lunas-wedding04.jpg:Soon Irfan will be taller than me:center:0]] The next day, we took the opportunity of having family members around us to take a photo […]

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He would get better with the necktie

First Weekend of the Year

Our first weekend of the year was an eventful one. Irfan registered at his new secondary school, which was not far from the house. He would be able to ride a bicycle to it, once we buy one for him. He might be the tallest one in his class, but I might yet be surprised. He was not the only tall one in his class last year, and neither was I at his age, despite both our above average heights at our respective ages. Here, Irfan and his Ummi pose for a photo before we all drive out to school. The is quite nice. It looks very well kept. We shall soon discover how he would fare in this school. After the registration, we all went upstairs to get exercise books, badges, ties, school t-shirts and other such items. After trying out the tie for the first time which I […]

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Sabine was here!

Star Wars Rebels Experience

Mid Valley Megamall held a Star Wars Rebels Experience exhibition last Sunday, commemorating the debut of the series on local TV. I didn’t think I was going to make the exhibition because college assignments had to be submitted by midnight. I had one more to complete and submit. But when it was announced that the deadline was pushed back 2 days, we headed for Mid Valley at Point Five beyond lightspeed. I saw the big helmet at the South Court all the way from the Centre Court. Irfan posed before it for posterity’s sake. The Five-Oh-First was on site to ensure no rebel agents disrupt the proceedings. The Pau’an Inquisitor was also around being all Lucius Malfoy-ish. He has quite a nice profile, but he’s no Inquisitor Tremayne. I hope Tremayne shows up in the series at some point and they both go out for coffee or something. Inquisitors first […]

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76 Months

76 months of Yaya! [[image:2014-yaya76month-01.jpg:Bloooooooooooood:center:0]]  * Mouse over the pictures for captions OK since it is almost January as I sit to write this entry, I feel like I can barely remember what November was like. It was busy. We spent two weeks in Tampa, Florida (including another quick Clearwater Beach getaway), then it was Thanksgiving and we had a houseguest and went to Elkhart, Indiana. So it was a busy busy month. Reading status: no change. Still the same. We are still trying to gently encourage her. She does like it when we read to her. It will come together for her, inshallah. Food status: Yaya tried a few more things in November. This includes:* croissants (she’d tried this before but for breakfast at the Hilton Clearwater Beach, she ate them like crazy, dipped in butter)* fresh juiced orange juice (Becky has a juicer and Yaya helped prepare the […]

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On the platform

Cave of Dramatic Lighting

We visited Gua Kelam yesterday. Gua Kelam is officially translated as “Cave of Darkness” at the plaques we saw at the site. The cave is a tunnel that runs through a limestone hill for about 350 metres. Here are is photojournal of our visit. It had been a wet weekend with rainfall every day, aptly putting the “rain” in rainforest. Water was dripping from the leaves and roots and vines of the foliage above the entrance to the cave. In the 19th and early 20th century, Gua Kelam used to be a passage for tin miners to transport their ore from the mines to their staging area. According to the plaque, many miners perished during heavy rains when the river flooded the cave. The walkway that traversed the entire length of the cave began at the entrance. At first Irfan hesitated at the thought of travelling on a wooden walkway […]

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Circus!

So we took the kids to the Ringing Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus at the Nutter Center! [[image:2014_circus20.jpg:Tickets:center:0]] As it turned out it was also Vin’s first time at the circus. I remember when Hisham and I went when we were children – it was an Indian circus I think, and they would camp at that big field that is now a supermarket of some sort. Or perhaps houses. It was close enough that we could even walk there and avoid the hassle of finding parking, etc. from our house. I remember our Tok and Opah Pasir Panjang (paternal grandparents from Pasir Panjang) also went with us. It was the first time I rode an elephant, at the circus back then. Anyways, I absolutely enjoyed it as a child and was very glad to be able to take Yaya and Adik to the circus too! One of the highlights […]

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Food consumption

Iftar at Irfan’s School

Irfan’s school raised enough money to build a dedicated surau not just for the students and staff, but is open for the public. We attended its opening ceremony which also had Maghrib, Isha’ and Tarawikh prayers. The school principle was on hand with the PTA president to commemorate the event with a plaque. There was a tazkirah by an uztadh from Al Hijrah TV station. For iftar, we broke fast with some dates, then we performed Maghrib prayers before having a meal. After that it was time for Isha’, Tarawikh and Witr prayers. The surau is a comfortable sanctuary, which Irfan has used for Zuhur prayers before coming home after school during Ramadhan. Hope he uses it a lot more before the end of the school year.

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Irfan enjoys the water

We Keep Going Back To Sungai Congkak

…probably because it’s the picnic spot in the woods that’s closest to us. Still we needed to drive over the hills to reach it. It was Irfan’s school holidays, so Atok and Opah came over for a visit. Sunday morning we went for a picnic. Instead of more pictures of us dipping in the river or having nasi lemak, here follows photos of the surrounding environment. Here are some trees and a gazebo. Someone stat the gazebo. Here are some trees and running water. More water runs through here. Then a challenger appears! We had a great time under the cooling trees and in the even more cooling river. Atok took lots of photos and Opah scored some wild orchids for her garden which she found growing on trees. We’re sure Alya and Rafe would enjoy dipping in Sungai Congkak when they visit in the future.

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