Day 7: Karak Highway, then Gombak…

Hase mentioned the fact that the day is Sunday, and it is the last day of school vacation (ala Spring break). Karak highway is usually packed during heavy travel days like this. I was least excited for the stop and go traffic at the insanely hilly and curvy Karak highway in the 5-spd green Satria that we're borrowing.

We left Temerloh ASAP for Gombak (at about 4:30 pm). Took the backroads to Karak town, and entered Karak highway…

PHEW, no traffic jam. Other than several 5 minutes session of terrential pouring of rain, road wasn't bad. Maybe there was a slight traffic jam, but nothing worth crying about. I think we got a good head start as people might be waiting until after Asar or even Maghrib to travel back home.



At Gombak (after exiting Karak) there was HUGE traffic jam going the other way - and thanks to the GPS it lead us through the innards of Pak Aa's neighborhood - bypassing all the traffic jam.

Random thoughts: GPS was invaluable. Anyone traveling needs one, the number of time it will save you is priceless. Just sometimes don't trust it too much as road signs are more often more correct than the GPS, but with the GPS you'll never get lost. We got Aishah's mom one… and Chineh ordered one.


We reached Pak Aa's place at 7:30 pm. Pak Aa and Mak Wan was out grocery shopping (and probably stuck in the traffic jam) - but the kids recognized us and let us in. Thanks! I gave the last matchbox car to Towfiq (sp?). When Pak Aa got back, we ate some good satay (again, sorry no pics) - and hooked up wifi on his Streamyx internet. This way, my laptop can connect wirelessly - and so can our phones.

Picture taken the next day when the others are at school


Blog Pak Aa and I created. http://gombaknews.blogspot.com/


After Isyaa, we logged in online and had a brief video session with ayah back in Indiana, PA. The kids had fun with exchanging teka teki with their Pak Long. My favorite…

"Kenapa anak babi tunduk bila jalan…?"
"…"
"Sebab dia malu mak dia babi…"

Lol, I thought this joke was a little too drastic myself… but they enjoyed it. Good grief, Pak Long…

Hase's house in Temerloh...

2 carport (covered)

Master bedroom

Living Room

2nd bedroom

Hallway/2nd bathroom

3rd bedroom

Newly tiled kitchen/dining/3rd bathroom addition

View from the 3rd bedroom window

This is what RM100k will get you in Temerloh. Add RM15k for some renovation and you'll have a house good forever… It is located right beside a surau (small mosque) in a Melayu neighborhood… I'm jealous bro!

Day 7: Temerloh is the place to be…

After breakfast we went back to the hotel to shower and pack our belongings for our trip to Temerloh. We left Kuantan at abt. 12:30 pm to Temerloh. This time Hase took the backroads to avoid toll - and surprisingly it wasn't that bad at all. We reached Temerloh about 2 hours later.

Hase promised to take me to a place that served ikan patin masak lemak tempoyak. We went straight to an 'a la carte' eatery right away when we reached Temerloh that served that dish. The good ones are closed on a Sunday - so he said this is the 4th best one. It was pretty good, I can't imagine how good the 'best' one tastes... We'll leave that 'till next time, ok! Included are the dishes that we end up getting… It was awesome. Thanks yet again, Hase!


Ikan patin masak lemak tempoyak (Ayah's recommendation)

Paru-paru goreng masak pedas (Aishah's favorite)

Eggplant goreng

Ikan keli goreng and some ulam (Hase's pick)

Udang galah masak gulai lemak (tak beli, gambar je)

Ikan bakar (tak beli, gambar je)

Hase and Aatikah - and see the petai on my plate?

After lunch we went to the bus station to get Aatikah an earlier ticket to JB (4 pm). Hase dropped us off at his home and proceeded to send Aatikah to the bus station. Very good of Aatikah to travel to Temerloh every weekend - best of luck to both of them newlyweds! Hopefully her request to transfer to Temerloh goes through quicker!

Hase came back, we took some farewell pictures and left for Gombak.

PS: I left my watch after solat at Hase's house, but he was kind enough to ship it to me @ Kota Damansara - thanks again!

Day 7: Breakfast in Kuantan with Bro Zainal and family…

We (me, Aishah, Hase and Aatikah) woke up at about 9 am in the Tembeling Resort hotel. Abg. Zainal wants us all to have breakfast at Teluk Cempedak. We had some good Roti Canai, kuih2 and Nasi Dagang...

No pictures. We were too busy getting acquainted with Abg. Zainal, Kak Wati and the kids - that we forgot to take pictures! But here are the views from the hotel, ocean view, and the golf course that Abg. Zainal loves to play in (Kelab Golf Diraja).

The kids looked to be a lot bigger and older than what we remembered. They looked very well, too… We were so happy to finally see them again since the days at Penn State. After all they were the ones that hosted our 'Wedding Banquet' at Penn State back in 2006. Thank you for the great times then, and this time yet again…

Wish them all good luck and hopefully we see them again next time we're back in Malaysia.

Lucky cat...

This is the lucky cat that I got John - person I work with. He has a cat at home, and likes cat jokes in general. He was the one that showed me the cat piano youtube video. The Chinese writing on the cat writes "Millions and millions of moolah...". Haha. May it bring endless happiness to him.

My Pokemon Pics

I like to make photoshoped pictures so this is one:

This is my first blog entry too. Do you like it?

Back to work... what?

Back to work after shower and lunch, and this is what I got in return? Thanks guys.

On the flight to KCMO (finally)!

Yay! Oh and word has it that it is 2 Celsius there... Brr...

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Arrived at Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport

Trip from San Francisco went well.  There was a sick passenger that had to board off before departure but otherwise it was smooth.  Managed to squeeze in a couple hours of sleep...

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

5 long hours at SFO...

San Francisco International Airport is OK. No wifi though... Waiting 2 more hours to go 'till our flight to DFW...

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Boarding flight to San Francisco!

Wish us well.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Day 6: The Unexpected Detour Edition

While we were well on our way to Kuala Terengganu, Hase received a call from Abg. Zainal. He and his family is in Kuantan, Pahang for the week and wanted us to come there. Yeng had already booked 2 rooms at Hotel Primola - one of the best hotels in Kuala Terengganu (complete with nasi dagang for breakfast!). Bro Zainal called again and told us that he got us a room at Kuantan Tembeling Resort near Kelab Golf Diraja Pahang.

We cancelled Yeng's reservation and left for Kuantan after an hour of quick shopping at Pasar Payang and Losong (for Keropok Sira and Lekor).

At about 7:30pm we left Kuala Terengganu for Kuantan. GPS was good for the most part, except for parts in Kuantan where it lead us to a dead end. Sometimes using road sign is better when possible, lol.

At around 11:30pm we arrived at the Tembeling Resort, Abg. Zainal greeted us - we talked for 1/2 hour or so while eating a pack of boiled keropok lekor (courtesy of Aatikah).

They left soon after and we hit the hay... we both share the house with our own bedrooms. Abg Zainal says its his present for the newlyweds (and us) - haha.

At KLIA... Waiting to check-in...

Will update when possible, today is the final day in Malaysia. Aishah's family along with Auntie and El was there. Thank you everyone for making this trip possible and memorable...

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Day 6: Yeng & Amnah's big day

Had breakfast at Hotel Jelai in Temerloh. Hase and Aatikah joined us, too.

The Hotel was good, the service was awesome for the price. Breakfast however wasn't that good...which was a letdown. Next time we will still stay there but eat somewhere else. Hase swore that there wasn't a lipas there but we saw one. Small one...

Trip took about 4 hours which was abt right. We arrived at Yeng's house at 4:15pm. It was rather late to my liking but at least we made it safely!

To my surprise few other Penn Staters was there also. Dlo (U Pitt), Bajak, Keyries, Awie... It was like a small reunion!

Yeng, congrats. Wish you two many happy days ahead... Take things 1 step at a time and you'll be just fine...

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Day 5: Arrived in Temerloh, and Hase!

We arrived in Temerloh at around 5:45 pm.  Hase greeted us at Hotel Jelai.  Hase is now a married man! 1 week ago he got married in Kelantan to another Kelantanese, Aatikah.  Aatikah lives and works as a dentist in JB until she gets to relocate to Temerloh.  Aatikah arrives in the morning the next day, so Hase was alone at this time.

Hase looked real steady. After an hour of catching up, Hase left for Maghrib.  He came back after an hour or so and took us to a nice seafood dinner. We had tom yam, ikan kerapu masak tiga rasa, telur dadar, sayur kailan ikan masin. It was GOOD!

Thanks Hase! The next day we're going to Yeng's wedding together in Hase's new car (Ford Lynx RS).

-- Sent from my Palm Prē