Visiting my brother: Kedah and Taiping

Kedah..

Negeri Jelapang Padi…

No doubt about it.

Me and my Dad actually wanted to visit my younger but very tall brother. ‘Hafiz’. As you can see in this picture. look how tall is he compared to me. He is studying in UITM Kedah at Semeling. Just a couple of miles away from Sungai Petani.

He is the first from the right.. I am the photographer here.. so don’t bother finding me in this picture.

We went there by using the scooter that my father just bought. A very big, bulky and black but really smooth to ride on. Well, at least you get a comfortable ride for hundreds of kilometres compared with riding a Kapcai. It was surprisingly fast too… I wondered at that time if it can endure a long trip up to Kedah from Lumut. Scooters have small tires. We will later know of that on the trip back.

We ride through the Kampung, across the bridge and through small towns.. The great things about riding a bike for a long trip is that you can really see and feel the atmosphere of every places that we passed through. The scenery is much more clearer than through a closed window of a car. It was also clear that we are going to be soaking wet if the rain comes which is going to happen later...

The bridge view just near Lumut port..

Trees are magnific..

As we rode on, then a subtle but unfamiliar sweet scent we smell. It was the paddy fields.. So vast… though.. we just arrived in Penang.. The paddy fields is getting more vast and broader as we continued on the journey to Kedah. it was so refreshing. It made me wanted to sleep which I can not do while on a bike.. hahaha

open paddy field

It took about two hours for us to reach the destination. We arrived at UITM and greeted by my brother. I really hope he is going to do well in his studies. I am a little worried. He is always clumsy and always depended on us. May Allah give him the best.

My brother

After a couple of hours chatting with my brother. We left and started our journey back to Lumut. This is the time which I like and dislike. If we are going anywhere with my dad. He always does it unplanned. We might found ourselves staying in Penang the next day. Luckily it was not the deal as i don’t bring any extra clothes with me. Always be prepared for extra stuff because we might ended up staying the night somewhere. I should always remember this. Which i forgotten on the next time we visit kedah. I will not tell that story here.

We continued and ramp it (REMPIT) up to the highway. I know… highway is boring.. It will be really dangerous to fall to sleep especially here. It was later that I knew that my Dad was heading to Taiping. Luckily it was not far off from the route. There is a lot of Taiping that we can see, they have the zoo, the safari, beautiful scenery and a lot more. This is the place where my family once lived. It was hard living that time. Kind of sad to hear it. if i were a novelist I could make a sad story out of it. The picture here is the house which my family once lived when my father was stationed here. They said that there is a lot of Jin living here. And yes that is true.. my mother always told me stories about them when they lived in this house. but my mother didn’t care. She’s not scared of anything even snake. Well there is one though.. she hates RAT…

My family once lived here

We made out way to Changkat Jering and settle down a bit. There was a weekly market at that time. Like a common ‘Pasar Minggu’, there is a lot of stuffs to see. From herbs, parangs, kuih and a lot of stuff that i did not dare to buy. It was dark and crowded. They should put more lights in here. I wonder why people came to such places. Well, that was until I tasted the satay there. The chunk of meat is hinted with unhealthy fat which makes it very DELICIOUS!! i bet the fat makes the whole thing sweet. Don’t underestimate such places just because it looks old. It is in such places where we can find a heap of gold. For me, I just found myself a nice satay..

Changkat Jering

Satay…

We continued on entering the highway again. As my father speeds away. Comes a convoy of choppers and superbikes overtaking us. Harley Davidson's, Honda Ninja, Virago… you name it. At that time, the rain pours down onto us. Quickly we find a shelter at the nearby Petrol Station. The convoy of big motors were there also. I really don’t mind about the convoy. however I found it really funny that me and my father geared just like them. You know, the black leather jacket, the head scarf and all. We can be mistaken to be with one of them but without a a chopper that is.

After the rain was gone, we continued our journey. As we were nearer to home. Just about three miles away that is. An unfortunate event occurs. The scooter is getting wobbly. The small back tire was PANCIT… Alhamdulillah it was not serious. The motor can still move but slowly.. We got home with laugh and cheers even with an almost disastrous ending.