All Together Now

I meant to write this post a few days ago, but it's always about finding the mood to write nowadays. But I just finished an episode of Friends, from Season 1 where Rachel is still new to the group and realising her life will be OK despite her leaving Barry at the altar and getting by as a waitress. Because she's got her friends. And I got sentimental for a moment remembering something I said a few weeks back ...

When I was a teenager in secondary school, I'd watch Friends and think, gosh wouldn't it be awesome to have what they have? A group of people who have your back, people you can spend all night and day hanging out with? I really felt blessed when I met this group in Taylor's. Getting to spend a year with them in Adelaide just cemented our bond.

Last Saturday was the first time most of us have been together in a very long time (exception of Lynn who couldn't make it ;__;). It was the first time Nick and I climbed with Fyra, her sisters, and Syakir, followed by dinner with the Adelaide/Taylor's family. 

We may not get to see each other every day anymore, but I find happiness in how we can meet up from time to time and still have a great time together. I love these people.

December Flashback: Hello, Georgetown

Day two of our family vacation dawned damp and gloomy. Ipoh was still as empty as the day before, but the hotel itself was packed to the brim. The breakfast buffet was crowded with people looking for a place to sit, and even going up and down on the elevators took a while with the high volume of passengers.

Finally, we were on the road again. Winding through the mountains, into the tunnel and out again; a drive flanked by misty greenery, guided by Waze. I was the navigator of the journey while Mama drove. We decided against taking our usual route through the Penang Bridge or ferry, instead opting for the newly constructed second bridge, or the Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah Bridge. The highway here was near empty, and the weather set a dramatic entry into Penang Island. It was definitely a beautiful drive. 

We met Papa at Hotel Penaga, which is becoming our usual Georgetown destination. You can read about my experience there last year here at WeekendNotes. The hotel hasn't changed, and we enjoyed the stay as much as we did the year before. While waiting to check in, we had lunch first at the mamak shop across the street. The maggi goreng there was superb! It has to be one of the best I have ever tasted anywhere. Even better when you order it with the ayam goreng - they chop it up and mix it together with the noodles. The mee goreng mamak here is delicious as well.

We spent the afternoon wandering through the busy Georgetown streets. The main roads were pretty busy, and when we walked past the Pasar Chowrasta, there was a cendol stall there singing out to us. I have a weakness for cendol pulut, and this really hit the spot. I even ate some of the red beans, even though I don't like red beans.

Even though we have been visiting Penang every year for half a decade, we've never actually explored Georgetown. Our previous visits were always to Batu Ferringhi, for the sun and sand. So this year's trip was really something else. Papa led us through the streets and old shoplots until we got to Lebuh Armenian, known for being the town's arts hub. I 

I found this down an alley. This city is ridiculously photogenic, and I thoroughly enjoyed snapping photos throughout the holiday. Helps that I had just gotten my new phone a few weeks back (Motorola Moto G2 whoo!). However, it started to rain while we were on Armenian, so we ended up buying umbrellas from some street vendors. Seriously laku for them, man! I was particularly fascinated by one girl who was manning stall - when we asked her for the price of a brolly, she turned to her grandfather sitting in the shade and asked him in Mandarin. He replied in Hokkien. This went on for a minute or so, her in Mandarin and him in Hokkien, before we got the price. So we trudged back to the hotel while huddling under the three umbrellas we managed to buy.

Later in the evening, the sisters and I went out to explore some more. We ended up in a mall called First Avenue, where we spent the rest of the evening eating sushi and wandering around. By the time we got back to the hotel, the parents and Nazim had already eaten dinner. So we walked down a block to find food at a Thai restaurant. I ordered the cantonese kuey teow, which was AMAZING. The kuey teow was wrapped in a fluffy egg, sitting pretty in a pool of delicious sauce. I feel hungry just thinking about it.

Ah, Penang! Land of food galore!

December Flashback: Bermalam di Ipoh

I've decided to revisit my adventures in December last month! Yes, I haven't been blogging often, but after reading through some of my old posts, I really want to document things that happen in my life for the benefit of Future!Me and her sentimental side. 

December was a very busy month, work-wise. I won't go into details about work, but it was nice to have the holiday to look forward to while I was in the thick of things. I took a half day on the Friday before Christmas week to do something I've wanted to for years: Watch Mamma Mia! the musical. The rest of the family had their chance for this ages ago when I first left for NS. To have my ticket burnt because of bad timing! I remember how disappointed I was then. So when I heard that they would be showing again this year, I jumped at the chance.

It was a good show, though Mama and the sisters agreed that the one they saw before was much better. As I have nothing to compare to, I thought it was alright. What bothered me was the crowd of families around me with kids in tow, saying things like, "This musical isn't meant for children!" 

Well ... it's no surprise? Who told you to bring your kids along to a show about a girl whose father could be any one of three people? :/ 

The next day, Mama, the kids and I piled into the car for a road trip to Ipoh. Mama was having her high school reunion at a hotel called Tower Regency, so we decided to stay the night before heading to Penang to meet Papa (who was there to see a bike race). The journey was uneventful, and we arrived at the hotel with time to spare. 

As a first-timer in Ipoh town, all I can say is that it feels remarkably laid back. Granted, it was a Saturday ... but the streets were kind of empty, and there was a sleepy, wispy quality to the air. Hanna and I went exploring around the hotel, but all efforts to get to the rooftop proved futile. We got a great view from the top floor though; Ipoh is a strangely flat town, surrounded by mountains and rock formations. The view was beautiful. I would love to go hiking in those mountains one day.

While Mama was at her reunion, the kids and I met Mira's friend BK. We ended up having lunch at New Hollywood, which is one of those corner lot hawker-restaurants just a few minutes drive away from the hotel. BK was our official tour guide for the day.

Each of us ordered a plate of char kuey teow each, and I have to say that it was one of the best I've ever tasted. The lovely charred flavour, accompanied by juicy prawns; heaven in my mouth.

I even made a little friend while we were there. This pretty kitty plopped herself down underneath my chair and shared my shoe by placing her paw in it. She seemed healthy and well-fed. She didn't even ask for any food, I think she was just looking for company.

After lunch, we went out looking for desserts. Apparently, one of Ipoh's oldest ice cream shops is just a short walk away from the hotel. Crazy Ice Cream & Salad House has been around since the 90s, serving ... exactly what they advertise. Haha. They also have Western food on the menu, but we were only there for their homemade ice creams. The one pictured above is a banana split. I love how they included a few spoonfuls of cereal at the bottom of the dish - a nice surprise while you're digging in.

Nothing much happened afterwards. We couldn't swim in the pool because it was too crowded, and dinner at Maria's Steak House was nice though not very memorable. Mira and I were in a separate room so we spent the night watching the Suzuki Cup finals. Such a close game! Pity we didn't win, but good effort from everyone on the team. So that was the end of Day One. For the next post, I'll go into our Georgetown adventure - definitely a fun trip!

Double Birthday

The not-so-little ones!

For years, Hanna's birthday party has been a constant annual occasion. We would go all out: Party packs, decorations, desserts, party games and so on. I even made a pinata for last year's party! Even though Nazim's and Hanna's birthdays are just a day apart (plus four years), it was always Hanna's party, as Nazim decided that they were a bit too childish for him after a while. And now the time has come where Hanna has also declared that a party in the vein of her previous ones would be a bit too much for celebrating her first year of teenagehood.

So this year's event was a smaller affair.

Instead of inviting a legion of guests as was the norm, we limited it to just close friends. Gone were the party packs and carefully planned children's games. The only thing we had planned was to have a water balloon battle sometime during the party. 

I think in the end, you are never too old for a water balloon fight! Amazingly, I managed to escape without getting too drenched. Credits to Nick for the awesome video!

Everyone had a lot of fun, and even without planning things out for the party like we usually do, the kids (and I use this term loosely now, haha!) really did have a great time. For one thing, they were so busy having a good time that it allowed us 'older kids' to hog the food table. Yum.

Mama's delicious fruit-topped chocolate pavlova.

Nazim is now old enough to drive, while Hanna has officially begun secondary school. Happy birthday my adiks! 

Team Trip to the Cove

It's hard to believe that two years ago this month, I first started working life. Graduation was more than two years ago, can you believe it? I'm amazed at how much time has gone by, and how it has managed to feel brief as well as incredibly long. 

The past couple of months have been particularly busy, and I've definitely had my fair share of challenges during that time frame. But 2015 has arrived with a host of changes in tow. Insya'allah it will be a good year. The month started out quite packed. Lots of things to do at work, among which was planning for our annual team retreat.

Our team is slightly bigger this year, and the fact that the rain stopped on Day 2 prior to our outdoor team building made this trip 100% more fun than last year's! I'm quite proud of how it went. We spent a night at Avillion Admiral Cove, which is a relatively comfortable hotel nestled beside a marina club. 

We got a nice and spacious meeting room until 10pm - amazing, considering other hotels usually only offer their meeting rooms for office hours. The actual hotel rooms were clean and spacious, though many of us had issues with changing the channel of the TV while we were there. It's like the hotel wants us to only watch the news channel all day. Haha!

Food was good as well. This was the first time that I've ever found crabs served in a buffet. And I loved their creamy soups and buns. Delicious.

I kinda wish that we could have spent an extra night. This felt really short, though I did enjoy it immensely. It also helps that I've got a great team to work with. The 'Tough Nation' team building course we joined for Day 2 was really fun, reminding me of my days back in prefect's camp. I'm blessed to have had the opportunity to experience this kind of thing so many times in my life, from prefect's camp to national service and team offsites. Hope to be able to plan another great retreat for next year!