Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Sunset In Port Dickson, MALAYSIA

October 25 - 27, 2008
We spent the Deepavali weekend holidays in Port Dickson. I was chasing for sunsets for the first 2 days. The weather had been kind to us. It had been raining almost everyday before our arrival. These are the sunsets that I managed to catch.


Day 1

Day 2





During the day time, I went fishing with my friend, Mohd Noor. We did not catch any fish but we had a relaxed weekend.

Sunset and beaches, two of my favourite subjects

Bandung, INDONESIA

October 15 – 17, 2008

John, a close friend wanted to take a break from his busy schedule. He suggested that we visited Bandung. I was reluctant as I had been to Bandung 4 times. It is a nice place to visit but even a nice destination also has its limit. Anyway, John really insisted on going to Bandung. I obliged. We managed to rope in another friend, Elvis, to come along.


We caught this sunrise on the way to the airport

The Air Asia flight was full despite the fact that it was mid week. Upon arrival, Bandung airport officials began to show their true colors. They asked for money from Elvis. I had always had high regard for the officials in Bali and Bandung for not being corrupt like other Indonesian airports. This trip changed my perception.

Nasi Padang Lunch (John & Elvis)

We were met on arrival by a driver assigned by an agent. Din Din would be our driver and guide for the duration of our stay. He was quiet and a bit reserved.

Rumah Mode

We checked into our hotel, Grand Aquila, advertised as the hotel for entertainment lovers. It was our first mistake. This 4-star hotel looked quiet and it was far from being the entertainment center. After dropping our bags, we went to have lunch. It was nasi padang. After lunch, we went to Rumah Mode, Bandung’s most famous factory outlet. There was nothing much for guys like us. We visited a few other outlets. They failed to impress Bandung first time visitors. We decided to go to a spa and spent 3 hours getting our bodies massaged, scrubbed and cleansed. For dinner, it was Sundanese affair.

The next day we dropped by Mountain View Golf Club for me to get logo golf ball for my collection. The course is relatively the latest addition to Bandung’s golf courses. Then we proceeded to Bukit Dago Golf Club for the same reason. We stopped for a drink at the club house.
View from the top

We had enough disappointment with factory outlets; we decided to go to Bandung’s biggest shopping mall. We were not much of shoppers and spent most time browsing and window shopping. Then, it was Sundanese lunch again. After lunch, it was factory outlets again to look for my wife’s headscarf and Zaki’s handphone pouch. After a few places, we gave up.
We took a rest at the hotel before having a late dinner, Sundanese again.

We did not bring our clubs.... Just look only

Monday, October 20, 2008

Arau, Perlis, MALAYSIA


Arau used to be a one street town, too small for most people to pay any visit. This was the place where I grew up. This is also the place where I go back now and then to visit my root. It has not changed much except most of the people I knew either died or no longer stayed here anymore. Still, Arau remains very close to me. I had my primary education here before moving to Seremban and later to the United States.


The Train Station was the main transportation hub for Arau

The Old Mosque now abandoned, looks so small

It was along this corridor of the old mosque where we learned to recite Quran

My late mother and most of my relatives were buried here

Arau has its own attraction, in its own way. Being the royal town, there is the palace. The state mosque is in Arau. The Royal Mausoleum is also there. I guess, it is still too small to really be a tourist destination.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Kampong Bakong, Arau, Perlis

My kampong had changed a lot since my childhood days. We now have paved road. In the old days, we used only a small dirt path in between the rice fields, good for only bicycles and pedestrians. We did not have electricity. Our kampong used to be the joke of the local town folks as a backward community. There was no piped water supply. Every house relied on wells with murky water for daily water needs. Telephone was a luxury. We needed to go to somebody’s house in town to make a call. We did not even have a postal address. We collected our letters from a shop in town.

The long road to my kampong

Father's House

Dad's Rice Field

Younger brother Zaki back from work

This is a rice farming country


Dad's turkeys

Planting bamboo for its shoot (rebung madu) seemed to be the new craze in Perlis


In the old days, we used buffaloes
Anas taking a ride in the front yard


Trading Forex in the kampong
Hari Raya

Now, everybody lives in relative luxury. We can drive cars to our front porch. The roads may be a bit small but good. The pace in the village had changed, for better or worse. I still miss my old backward kampong.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Hari Raya 2008, Bagan Serai, Perak

We left KL on Saturday, 27 September for Bagan Serai. It was my birthday.

There was nothing much to do. Anas and I decided to spend time fishing along the irrigation canal in front of my in-laws’ house. Earlier I went to buy 2 fishing rods, the ones like the bamboo type, retraceable to shorter length.

Anas Caught His First Fish


The Pro at work

For the first time in our fishing attempts, we caught quite a lot of fishes, mostly “puyu” (similar to blue gills). I caught some haruan (snakeheads) too. Anas was so excited of catching real live fish for the first time. Between the 2 of us, we caught about 20 fishes in 2 days of 1 hour fishing each.

The Irrigation Canal

The Other Side of the Canal

I wanted to have the fishes cooked but Anas insisted on bringing them back to KL.