Sorry, Dear Dhildren

It is nearing the end of the school holiday and we haven't been to anywhere this time.  Zoey kept asking when our next trip will be. I don't know.

Nina's preparing for her exam this year.  I planned to use this weekend for a short holiday somewhere near here but I have to attend a course :p

Let's hope we still have time on Sunday to do something or go somewhere.  I didn't apply for any leave because Monday is the start of the new school term.  So, it's a waste of time to use up my annual holiday because we won't be going anywhere.  Am saving the holiday for the end of the year.

Meanwhile, enjoy your holiday at home.

Scary Trip From Gua Musang-Kuala Lipis-Jerantut-Maran

We've been planning this route for quite a while but never got the chance to realize it until the end of January of this year, on our way back from Kedah to Kuantan.

We started our trip a bit late due to Pak Jan's demise.  So, the 8am trip was postponed  to about 11.30am.  Papa and I did the calculation on the time we expected to arrive in Kuantan including some stops along the way.  We're pretty confident with the length of time.

 This was in Jeniang.  The trees were beautiful with so many bright colors.

 

 The colors were a bit of an eyesore actually despite the beautiful hues they have.

The trip was uneventful. You guys were mostly sleeping.  Syok la tak yah bawa keta.  Well, I napped for a while too, hihihi...  We stopped at a rest area for lunch - I don't remember the name of the place.  After lunch we had a chat with one of the sellers there.  He was selling some Tongkat Ali seedlings and his primary-school son was selling some book marks.  Zoey wanted one and I bought it for her for RM2 which she threw away somewhere now. 

So Papa was chatting with him and I was listening.  He could arrange a small group tour if we wanted to check out the Rafflesia flowers in his kampung, about 5-10 minutes away.  But we refused because we needed to continue our trip.  He informed us to be careful driving between Jeli to Gua Musang because of the many potholes.

 

We're always excited with new uncharted (at least to us) routes because there'll be many new things to see.  And the view here... beautiful!

 To keep Papa company, I chatted with him and suddenly we found ourselves in a kampung. Both of us were confused how we ended in the kampung but Papa continued driving. and we came upon a gravel road. The road led us down to a very small clearing a few feet from a river and Papa drove passed (underneath) the railway track.. It was weird. But Papa continued despite the confusion.  

Then we found another gravel road in another kampung.  The villagers were staring.  Then we came upon a bigger road and decided to just continue driving. A blue proton wira overtook us and we decided to follow the car since there's no intersection on this road. It was driving very fast and left us behind.  On the left and right were only trees, forests and hills.

And after a while we saw the car again and many people ahead.  Aiyooo... ni gangster ka apa ka ni?  The car stopped.  It's actually the end of the road and we had to stop.  A lady came out of the car and another lady rushed to her and they started crying. Pulak!

So, Papa got out of the car and asked around. He came back and told us there's an accident.  A car plunged into a river and someone died.  So, ada jalan nak keluaq dak ni? Yes. Lega.  There's actually a very narrow path just enough for 1 car to pass through and covered with weeds.  Papa had to drive slowly.  It was almost or more than 20km away from the main road - the Gua Musang-Kuala Lipis stretch.

Yah! We're diverted by some unforeseen forces.  We just didn't see that coming though.

 

This was the road we're supposed to use.   What a relief to be back in civilization.  Both Papa and I were very very very nervous back there.  But of course you guys weren't aware because you slept all the way, which was good especially for Zoey.

Then we continued to Kuala Lipis.  We stopped for a while for dinner.  We left after maghrib. It started to become dark. There were many vehicles on the road towards Jerantut.  Papa was driving again. Luckily (again!) you guys fell asleep right after we started the next stretch of our journey.  Memang Allah pelihara bab ni.  Zoey was quiet when she's asleep.

 

 The very dark road between Kuala Lipis and Jerantut where there were still cars.

After a while, we stopped at a 7-11 store.  Tareeq asked them the way to Jerantut and they said the road we're using was rarely used but accessible to Jerantut.  So we continued the journey again.  The road was winding!  No cars or houses along the way.  Then, we started seeing the streetlights of the Jerantut town in some sort of a valley - because we're looking down at the town.  So we followed the road, to what seemed to Papa and I, down towards the town.  After a while, we lost sight of the town.  I actually panicked. I asked Papa if we could stay the night in Jerantut instead of continuing the journey but he said it's only a few more hours to Kuantan.  

We came upon an intersection and Papa turned right to what he felt was towards Jerantut.And we found a midnight stall and stopped there.  Papa ate some fried rice and I ordered coffee.  You guys were still sleeping in the car.  

About 10.30pm I started driving towards Maran.  The map showed a road around the Jengka Plantation which was okay with me because I didn't want to have to drive through the palm plantations.  It turned out that the Jerantut-Maran stretch that we used was the scariest part of our journey.  

I drove like crazy.  The road was winding and winding and winding and I was driving faster and faster and faster.  I started reciting ayatul Qursi and asked Papa to do the same.  At one point Papa asked me to slow down because I was driving very recklessly.  

There's nothing on the left or right.  Only trees and trees and trees.  And two or three midnight and jungle animals with bright red eyes staring back at us.  Something was knocking the door on my side, of which Papa didn't hear after I asked him the next day.  I turned my head to check whether Asha was the one doing the knocking but she was sleeping.  Scary! The ordeal lasted until about 1.00am when we finally reached Maran.

Upon checking with friends I found out the no-one uses that stretch at night because it's dangerous, not only the winding road but bad people always stop cars using that stretch and rob them.  Alhamdulillah we were spared.  Allah indeed loves us.

It was a traumatic journey for me because it kept playing in my mind for a few days. So many things people told me of that road after that and they're as shocked as I was because we came out safe. Again, alhamdulillah.

So, we were detoured during the daylight and we detoured ourselves at night!  What a journey that was.

MH370

It's a sad sad day for everyone.
All nations mourn those on board.
Families and friends are devastated.
The authorities are working hard.

It's a sad sad day indeed.

Crazy Anique

A friend of mine bought a guitar after she started taking guitar lessons a few weeks ago. So, we decided to check it out.

 

We arrived unannounced and we had to wait for her to get ready - taking a bath, hahaha - first.

 

 

That's her - fresh from the shower. Hahaha...

Her name is Ann and she's a lawyer.

She's actually a fun but clumsy person, I don't think she's clumsy regarding her work - I've seen her getting pretty serious when it comes to her work.

 

And because she didn't expect any company that weekend, she's a bit chaotic that day.

But I like her house all the same.  There's always something to look at.

 

 

That's her new guitar - an Ibanez - and Asha's strumming away

 

 

Ann is always happy and always makes people smile.

 

 

So Papa was showing something to Asha.  Everybody was excited with her new guitar.

 

 

After a few weeks, she's now able to play the C and A chords. Hahaha pretty slow! And she's blaming her teacher for that.

 

These are some of her favourites.  Can you count how many pairs of Doc Mart boots she owns? She's crazy, yah?

  

More Doc Mart boots which after a while I realized they're just the same - same colors, same patterns. And I know for sure that she's one cool but crazy lady lawyer.  It's difficult not to love her.

A special request from Papa and so I took his picture.

We stayed for not more than 30 minutes as we needed to make a move to another pit stop.

To ann, if you ever come across my blog, You Go Girl!  

Preparing for the next season

These are normal sceneries a few times each year in Kedah.  The land was arid and dry after the harvest.  The farmers are getting a little rest and many have started preparing the land for the upcoming season.

We passed this area on our way to Pak Chaq's house. The house with the red roof was Aunty Sri's mom's house.

This picture was taken from the car on our way back to Kuantan.

The dry paddy stumps were put on fire because: 

1)there's no way anyone can clear everything up with thousands of acres of paddy fields around,

2)the charred paddy stumps act as natural fertilizers.

It's everywhere, here and there.

I just love the view.  Maybe when we visit Tok Ngah's house the next time, I'll bring you guys to his paddy fields, just behind his house.

The colors were a combination of green, orange, yellow, brown and red.

It's not haze. It's hazy because of the smoke.

I used to go to the paddy field after the harvesting season when I was small. My cousin took me there. There were patches of uncut paddy stumps in the field.  And my cousin showed me how to make rice crispies on the field!  It was fun!

Tokwan Belanja Makan 31jan - 2 feb 2014

End of January and early February we went back to Kedah. As usual, Tok Wan was very excited to treat us and this time around I relented so as not to disappoint him.

 Breakfast at one of his favourite places. As usual too, he introduced us to a few of the hawkers there (chuckle!).

 

Mami and Nabil joined us too.  We ate whatever Tok Wan suggested to make him happy. :)

And he ordered quite a lot

Too many food to eat that morning.

Dinner. Cucur Udang Pak Mad - one of his favourites in Taman PKNK.

Late lunch. Mi Abu and Laicikang at Restoran Zefee. (super yumm)

 

Dinner on another day. 

Zoey went to ask why she hadn't received her drinks. Erk!

 

 

Being cheeky! 

 

Only us and Tok Wan and Maktok because Papa went to Jitra to meet Uncle George.

 

Zoey would always sit either next to Mak Tok or Tok Wan.

 

 

 

Listening to their stories. 

  

 Another shot at Cucur Udang Pak Mat. Depa suka sungguh makan cucur udang kat situ!

 

Duck face.

It's always a treat going back. Next trip may be in May. Lambat lagi tuuuu....

 

Kellie's Castle 30 jan 2014

Woooootttt!!!! At last! We arrived here! It's been on the tourism map all these years. It turned out that looking for the castle was fairly easy. The excitement was high, the tummy was grumbling, the children were sleeping :p

This was the first picture taken right after I got out of the car and they were still tenyehing their eyes. 

They were really not interested in the castle.  They headed towards the food kiosks. I had to dragged Zoey here to take her picture and she seemed indifferent.

Yeah! Selepas dipaksa.

Just before the bridge, at the entrance.

After watching and looking at the castle in magazines, newspapers and TV, it's now in front of us.

Yah! It's majestic all right!

The entrance is on the side of the castle.

The old and ruined Kellas House.  It was ruined during the Japanese occupation.

The first room (wine cellar) we encountered upon entering the castle.

The steps going down the cellar. But we didn't dare to go down there - even Tareeq,  It had a nice sweet smell, though.

The living room - actually an enactment of the living room based on old pictures sent/given by Kellie Smith's daughter.

The view of the tower from a little room just off the living room.

Yup!

The balcony on the ground level.  Zoey was standing outside the living room.

At the end of the balcony and Nina was partly inside the dining room.

The steps right outside the dining room and leading towards the horse stables.

The safe/panic room - a basement which was a bit spooky and we didn't dare to go down there.

Again, outside the dining room.

One of the narrow steps going up to the next floor.

I was standing next to the master bedroom.

From the balcony (next to the master bedroom) overlooking the ruined Kellas House.  His original house before he started building the castle.

One for Tareeq's profile picture.

The stairs from the first floor up to the second floor.

And out to this level.  Behind Asha was the guestroom on the second floor

A view of the third floor (the tower) - another guestroom.

An open air balcony on the second floor.

Rooftop tennis court.  Cool huh!

So many areas to snap pictures.

An epic pose from a ballet dancer wannabe.

This was inside the guestroom on the second floor.

The highest point - on top of the guestroom on the third level, also the roof of the tower.

And we came down again. Tareeq was trying to go down to the wine cellar but he chickened out.

At the ruined Kellas House.

It looked like a Hindustani castle with moorish design and architecture.

A corridor in front of the servants' living quarters while Nina was standing near the new dining room of the castle.

The view of the master bedroom on the first floor.

The haunted stables. The frangipani tree and flowers made it spookier.

Beautiful!

Getting ready to leave.

One last picture of the castle before leaving the compound.

And they were famished again!

Papa's picture with the castle because he didn't join us in. He preferred to relax and eat something.

The bestest adventure ever!

Next time, it'll be another castle and another adventure.