Paka, Terengganu

We decided to make a short and brief trip to Paka. The reason? Well, let's keep it as a secret till everything is settled. We had a hectic and chaotic holiday (idiosyncratic, isn't it) But suffice to say, we had a blast of time. It has been quite some time since Ayang and I get to go off on our own. So, this trip has been a blessing in disguise.

The beach was awesome. The waves were quite humongous. It may not be suitable to take a dip there as one might be swept away by the waves. As a place where one contemplates life, this is where one should be. It wasn't thronged by the obvious tourists and the locals who might be immune to such beauty and grandeur of the beach. Thereby, it was quite empty.


So, the next time if you have a hankering to go somewhere beachy, come over here. You could enjoy a hassle-free holiday as this resort is not quite the 'it' place like Cherating and the like. But, it is an awesome place.

Loss

A colleague of mine passed away a few weeks ago leaving a grieving widow and children. His youngest is only around 3++. And today a friend told me how her friend passed away due to meningitis. She suffered for a week before succumbing to the disease. She had two kids, one of which is only a year plus. Imagine losing your loved ones at such tender ages. Some might say, oh they won't remember the loved ones but I know the impact is there. Another friend called to say that her mother had a mild stroke. My heart skipped a beat.
Therefore, for those of us who still have the luxury of having their mothers anf fathers around, please spare some moments to connect to them. Make that long forgotten phone call that you never came round to. They don't need much, you don't even have to say you love them. They will know that you care, that you love with that one phone call.
(Al-Fatihah to Allahyarham En. Bakri & Sya's friend)

Homebound Journey

We left KL in the wee hour or what some might say the witching hour. At 3 a.m. sharp we went southwardbound. As usual, I was light out as soon as I entered the car and left Ayang to drive on his own. I was so sleepy that every time I woke up, I just adjusted to my most comfortable position and the snores would be resounding in the small, confined space. After nearly ten years of marriage, you don't sweat the samll stuff like snoring and farting - he he he but I do take care not to pass gas in front of him intentionally, unless if I am sleeping...

When we reached Yong Peng, Ayang had to wake me up as he was feeling drowsy. I was totally geared up to drive but after some time, my two peeps started to have their own fireworks - there were some starbursts, some swirlings and some whiteout. Afraid of unwanted incident in this festive season, I breathed a sigh of relief as I sighted the Machap R&R. Luckily, Suboh prayer was due and Ayang went for his prayer.

We resumed our journey and finally arrived around 7 a.m. Alhamdulillah, we arrived safely.

Eid Mubarak

Islamic Greeting Cards by Alhabib

Home Sweet Home

Went back to my hometown last Saturday. As usual, whenever we came back, Mak will spread an array of delicious food on the table. And Saturday's iftar was not excluded - we had awesome chicken curry, mussel rendang and some other dishes. As for Sunday's iftar we were served my all-time favourite - soto ayam.

But please excuse the lack of pictures, everybody was like the hoover vacuum, but to be honest I wasn't inclined to take pictures, dah lapar sangat!!!!

Today's iftar will be steamed assam siakap, kerabu mangga and some additional dishes. Yours truly will be the invited chef for the day. Hopefully, the dishes would turn up fine as I have the tendency to make errors and mistakes cooking at home. Ye la, cooking in front of the master is quite daunting. Furthermore, the critics and reviewers are a bunch of hard to please people. He he, jangan marah, Abah.

Will update the pictures soon, hopefully.

As I've written before, the dishes weren't as excellent as when I cooked in KD. But, still got rave reviews from the family. Aaaaawwwhhhh.....

My "Hometown"

The day was a hectic one. Promised Abang (my younger brother) to start the journey to Kota Singa earrrly in the morning. When he came at 7.30 am, we were still lounging in dreamland and slumberland. Ha ha ha. If I didn't do that, the trip will start at a much later time.

The journey wasn't long and not as congested as we used second link at Gelang Patah. But what made it tedious was the fact that there were so many stops o be made due to strict regulation by the Kota Singa govt.

Just imagine, the first stop is to hand over our passports and identity cards for first time user of the passports (i.e. Ayang, Adik and I). We were interrogated as where we were headed and so forth. The funny thing was nobody knew where we were headed as my eldest brother will be waiting for us at the other side. What a laugh. Finally, Ikin remembered to mention Jurong.

The second stop was to acquire the passcard which will be used as touch'n'go when we exit Kota Singa later on. After being checked twice for the car registration, we managed to get one.

After that we need to pass through custom, even after choosing the green lane (nothing to declare) we were still stopped and ordered to open the trunk and so on. After handing the receipt for god knows what, we were still detained as the date stamped on the receipt were on 24th instead of 29th. Again, we were asked to wait as they sort out the mess. Just imagine waiting with some Nepalese soldiers who were equipped with weapons and all. Finally we were let go to continue with our journey.

Whaaaa....tak suka.....tak suka!!!!!!! It felt like going to a high security place. Haaaa, if I don't think about all my uncles and aunties and cousins and a brother, I won't want to step a foot on that soil again.

On the way home, the trffic was a bit congested and had to queue up for quite some time. After handing up our passports to the officer on duty we were on our way and had to stop at the custom to again declare if we brought in any contrabands. As if....

Finallly, we arrived at Gelang Patah, our Johor side. Alas, Home Sweet Home....

EXODUS 2