Batu Pahat 13

I decided I'd recovered today. Packed my bags and left by 8:40. If last week I was at the nothern end of the country, today I am aiming the southern tip, by tomorrow. Batu Pahat first..Hit the road...and the tunnelsHairy out there..Negeri Sembilan border, and a few more hours to go..Reached BP at about 3:30 pm. Dindn't miss a single turn to the house...
That nite, Che Mahat and Kak Cah's mom took me out to a restaurant and then Carrefour.. My mee rebus at the 24-hr restaurant..
The parking at Carrefour..10:00 pm and time to leave...


-------------------

Knocked Out on 12

I woke up sick and very tired. Not going to KL today...Opah and the rest had a kenduri in Ipoh. I stayed home all day. Decided to shift rooms to get better ventilation, therefore better rest.
-------------------

Part Two of Eleven

Bomba treat for the Aát family..

Sateh!!
Me and Pak Aát enjoying our dessert
Maybe the satay wasn't enough??
-------------------

11th Day Penang Rendezvous

Warming up the rm7.00 bridgetoll vehicle (Van costs rm5.00 more)...
I wanted to meet up with some folks at the old place there but the weather was drippy wet all the way and all the time. So my main contact, Dr. Kharul A., was the only one I could meet. Left Taiping at 8:30am and reahed USM at 20 till. Tollway to the bridge and GelugorInto the island storm..
USM was so crowded; i've never remembered it to be as such, but I managed to find a parking spot at the far end of Kajian Dasar. A bit to the right, the scene from Chanselori Hill, the Penang Bridge..
Right in front of where I parked, down hill, the USM Swimming Pool...
I was going to PBT before meeting Khairul, but I remembered my wallet on the front passenger's seat and rushed back to retrieve it. Call it divine intervention, but I had left my lights on, also! By the time I got to the car headlights switch and wallet, it was already 10:00 am and Khairul and Gee were already there behind my car.

Khairul dropped Gee off at her office before getting out of the USM campus to stop at the nearby Restoran Nasi Kandar. Really nice nasi lemak and teh tarik, but we talked and exchanged personal fairytales..

By 11:10 am, we'd talked enough. Me and Dr. Khairul. Me look fat!
Khairul had a prior arrangement to be at Bukit Kayu Hitam by two, so I told him we should be done. After he took me to my car, we both drove off. I made my way back to the bridge, and reached home, in the rain, at 12:30 pm. It was a quickie!!------------------

Found Pics..

Found these two on the floor in the storage house. Top half: The first class I ever taught in Malaysia, Section 13, circa 1986...
Bottom half: My Debating team, circa 1991..We were the North Malaysian runners-up then..

Since the scanner worked, I rummaged my own shoebox and found two I liked.
Left pix: Aát and Dir at Cik Adah's school. See AL797 in the background..
Right: Me on my chopperbike. I was 18. Check out those locks... From my shoebox:
Top, a pose in front of the MCOBA Building, 1979. I was attending the interview held by MARA for potential English teachers to teach at their Junior colleges. I was one of the 50-plus chosen :)
Bottom: First taste of freedom (day after SPM's last paper!). This scene taken at the JB train-station. We got there first, and waited for those of us who actually took the train to arrive. I was putting up at Halim Hussein's place; those were the days, my friend.
My own scan of the 7377 Group Photo found partially crumpled in a bookcase at Opah's house...
-------------------

Ten Days Old

Today's Thursday. Finally the weather was agreeable enough for us to go to the storage in the old house. It had been ransacked before about 4 months earlier. Mak said I lost my tools, compressor, much of the cookware and dinnerware. Our cabinets drawers were opened and emptied. Even Amin's little secret seat was emptied. No Tabung SangKancil to be found....

Tok Ayah getting the van ready for the collectibles..

Wasil's Bears (with bantal busyuk in the bag)
Books, mags on my home made racksSaved clutter; the pile near the green fridge is for recyling
Opah has deep interest in these dinnerware pieces..
More books..I washed the chinaware thoroughly..
Set of Sahih Bukhary with Vol 2 missing!Mr Bupit...

-------------------

Day 9 In Taiping

I woke up this morning sneezy and tight in the neck. The four mosquitoes were squished. I went out with ayah to fix the new steering wheel onto the proton at Azmi's workshop at Batu 4 Kamunting. Proton looking good!While there, it poured.Rain and wind..

OPah's Papaya tree after the storm..

Closeup of gone papayas..
Ha, I also saw this cat...
Cat after sapelem..
Ajis Desa came later to ask for panadol. Mak gave him some cherries, rambuatn and langsat. We talked a few minutes..
Adah came back from KL on Transnational at 5:00, picked her up. She has a sore throat. Later at 9:00, I went out with Fuad to get some koaytiow. We talked about things that happened today, and the years before today...

-------------------

Day 8 is Taiping Mali Day...

Rempeyek Masuk Angin, a new brand..
Rusa in the morning, the 8th day, taken as I was having dokong for breakfast..

So I left SP after lunch after seeing not much else there was to be achieved, at about 3:00. Idah was delayed due to some ceramah. She had wanted to send Zakwan to join Syam's kids going to the Water Park..

The ride to Taiping was uneventful. The was no bike accident like I saw the nite before near Gurun...

Reached home at about five; ayah was at the masjid, went in and took a shower after cooling down. No picts. ThaT nite, i was attacked by four captivated mosquitoes. Mak and Ayah woke up in the middle of the nite for some prayers and that kept me up, too. Needless to say, I was not well-rested...

Durian and pULUT fEAST in SP

sTRANGE nAME FOR an eatery...Is the a hidden message?? Saw this on the way back to SP near ChangLoon..
I ate only 5 pcs..thanks Idah!! She went all the way for this occassion...
-------------------

Day 7's After Noon

Rusa getting her ac done (and her lights outed)
Met Ching, an RTM officer on break at Sengs..
Ambushed by Salmina, Pah's younger sister, and her eldest, FIRDAUS! Here we are at the Catfish Restaurant at Behor PulaiSalmina and I outside the catfishy restaurant.. It offers everything catfish!You remember those you leave behind. Bye PakLOng!!
Parting gift for them, rambut fruits...
So I left at abt 6, since Fauzi had an issue with his windshield and was rather late coming back. The ac worked fine, but when darkness came, I coudn't the lights to work. Ni mesti Seng punya kerja! So I had my blinkers on, exited the next exit (Pendang), asked the toll lady where the enarest gas station was. She said the nearest was 4 km after the turn ahead, if i took the left. By then it was pitch dark! So when I saw Petronas, I refuelled and parked by the wall, and checked the fuses. Saw the wires Seng added, took them off the fuses, and replaced the fuses. The second fuse did the trick!! I got lights! So, relieved, I left to find the NS Hiway and SP....