We finally reached home close to midnight last night, all the way from Padang Besar, Perlis, on Saturday, and after the wedding reception in Jitra, Kedah, Sunday. The first 1,000 km on the MPV was supposed to take a week, and get first service in Seremban. Instead it was notched in one day, and got that service in Penang. And the new upholstery got tested by the 3 monkeys in less time! But it passed muster, and my old S Class steering somehow felt heavy in comparison.
Dekna had a court appearance in Penang Friday, and her colleague's belated wedding in Jitra, Sunday. That's how the MPV came in the picture, and Padang Besar got included. Haniff drove, so I just enjoyed the ride.
The last time I drove up to Padang Besar was 20 years ago, when No.2 Son was in UiTM Arau. I used to go to Chuping 1982-85, when my job covered the sugar plantation there. It's under rubber now. And Aman Shah, the ex GM of the factory, is retired in Arau. The place, like other towns I've recently revisited after decades, has changed.
We spent the first night in Penang, and the other two in Alor Star. I always look forward to the breakfast spread when staying in hotels. Penang, as expected, was ok. I got up early, but was beaten to it by a couple of guys. Alor Star wasn't as good, and was also beaten to it by some early risers.
The road up to Padang Besar and back to Seremban was jammed, as expected, these being the school holidays now. Penang was jammed. Alor Star was jammed. Padang Besar was jammed. And all the R & R's were so jammed, cars couldn't enter and were parked along the highway. People are complaining of the price of petrol and the cost of living, but they don't seem to show it. Padang Besar stalls charged rm 5 for a young coconut, on "normal" days only rm 3, I'm told. But there was no shortage of customers, all weighed down with bulging plastic bags of purchases. And the last night in Alor Star, I went to a nearby shopping mall at 9 p.m. and there was a crowd in all the outlets, and they were buying, not simply window shopping.
Dekna's Kedah colleagues told her to try the "Laksa ikan seqok". I thought it's a variety of fish. Actually it's laksa with one whole fish on top. This Kedah dialect ! We tried it, together with satay. Excellent ! Maybe being hungry helped. I love the piece of fat on the beef satay. Later we also tried the kweitiau kerang; also good. In both places, we somehow managed to grab the last available table.
The Jitra wedding was in an air-conned hall. The setting was nice. We were early, so the food que was still ok. But because we also left early, Dekna learned later that we missed the "coffee table". She met many friends from Putrajaya, and missed a few who came later.
Dekna has still to get behind the wheel of her brand new MPV. Her recent eye-operation has kept her from it. She could try it in a few days time. Then maybe we can go South.
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