…my cuppa iced coffee…

Started the day with ‘nasi kerabu’ for breakfast, a Kelantanese dish my family has never tried before. My father actually mispronounced the name when he first saw it on a food stall’s promotional banner yesterday. He read it as “nasi kerabau’. That set all of us laughing when my niece corrected him. “Kerabau” is how we Bruneians pronounce the word “kerbau”, which means buffalo in English.

I bought the ‘nasi kerabu’ from Kak Mah, undoubtedly the best ‘nasi kerabu’ maker in town. Hehehehe.. That’s my personal opinion, of course. But you can verify that yourself. She has a shop in Kampung Pandan, at the food court near Angsana Hilir condominium.

While good, the ‘nasi kerabu’ was a bit too hot for my family. They’re not used to hot food, especially my dad.

Around noon, we went to Bukit Antarabangsa (again) for the official wedding reception of my cousin’s. We didn’t wait for the married couple to appear, though, since it was already late. So after lunch (good food), we went to KLCC. We didn’t stay there long, though, since, according to my parents, the stuff sold are just too expensive. So I took them to Sungei Wang Plaza in Bukit Bintang. We didn’t do any shopping there as well, except for my niece who bought this funny-looking pants which seems to be the fad nowadays among the teenagers.

Then I took them to Jalan Masjid India to the weekly ‘pasar malam’, and left them there to do my own window shopping at Sogo. Hehehehe… And shopping they did. Apparently my mom is a great haggler. She managed to get really really low prices for the stuff she bought, especially at the cloth arcade. My dad said that she spent about an hour haggling. But in the end, she got some really good bargains.

They finished shopping around 9:30 pm. Man, I don’t know where they got the energy. I would’ve surrendered a long time before that.

We went to dinner at Tharaya’s, a food place in Taman Maluri, after a recommendation by Eina. Good food. I quite like the ‘daging bakar’ and the ’siakap stim’, even if they were a bit too hot for us. But I do recommend that place. You will need to bear with the service, though, because they are a bit slow in serving.

So that was the end of day two.

One day down, two to go.

Picked up my parents and the rest last night at the LCCT. We got there a bit late because Fid couldn’t get away from his department’s dinner early. And also because, while driving there, I missed the exit to the LCCT so we had to make a detour at KLIA. Hehehe… Hey, it was dark and I couldn’t see the signboards. Can’t really blame me for that now, can you? Besides, the flight was delayed a bit, so we actually got there on time. Hehehehehe…

Everybody was starving, so I brought them to our usual eating port – this food place in Ampang Jaya near Ampang Puteri Hospital. When I told my mother my plan to lodge them at Eina’s place during their stay here, she refused, saying that it’s just not proper. She’d rather stay at my cramped apartment than imposing on somebody she does not know, even though that somebody is my good friend. Ah well… I can’t refuse my mother, being the good son that I am. After supper, I sent my cousin to the hotel where her parents were staying and took my mom, aunt and niece to my humble abode. My dad and brother followed Fid in the other car.

When I woke up the next morning, breakfast was ready. Quite an enterprising fellow, is my dad. He bought some ‘kuih’ and ‘nasi lemak’ from this stall near the LRT. We don’t have any food in this house. Hehehehe…

Then around noon, we went to my cousin’s in-law’s place at Bukit Antarabangsa. The plan was to go to the mosque where the ‘akad nikah’ ceremony will be performed together. The mosque is in Sentul, though. Which is quite far from Bukit Antarabangsa.

Okay, I don’t quite understand the reason for selecting a mosque in Sentul rather than somewhere nearer like Setiawangsa or Keramat for the ceremony. The mother said that it’s because the address on her daughter’s identity card is of their old house in Sentul. Right. I don’t judge the intelligence of the choice, but wouldn’t it be more practical to choose a mosque closer to where they’re staying now? Women!

Anyway, my cousin is now safely married with the lady of his choice. There was also another couple doing the ‘akad nikah’ thingy at the same time.

From left to right: Cousin’s sister, cousin’s father, the wife, my cousin, his mother, the mother’s older sister, my mother (also the mother’s sister), my niece and my father

We went home after the ceremony. My parents wanted to go to Jalan Masjid India area for some shopping, so we went there by the LRT instead of driving. It was Friday, and traffic jams on Fridays are normally worse than other days. So it made more sense to use the LRT. Anyway, it was a first LRT ride for my mom, aunt and niece. We had a good laugh when my aunt had a rather… mmm… memorable… experience with the ticket machine

By the time we got there, most of the shops were already closed, so we only walked around and had a look at some of the still-open shops. Couldn’t really spend too much time there since we still had to go to the wedding ‘kenduri’ at the cousin’s in-law’s house that night. So we took the LRT back home and after everybody freshened up, we went to Bukit Antarabangsa.

After the ‘kenduri’, I took them to KL Downtown near the velodrome in Bandar Tun Razak. It’s one of the more happening nightspots in KL where you can buy just about everything. I think they’re open every night until 3 am, although I can’t really confirm that. While the rest went shopping, my dad and I got our feet massaged. Half an hour for RM20, good bargain that. The masseurs were a group of blind or near-blind people and the guy who massaged me was actually quite good. My feet felt so light after that.

I walked around after that, looking at the items on sale (and also at the people ), not really wanting to buy anything. But in the end, I got myself a magnetic titanium bracelet even though I already bought one a few days ago and a fake Adidas t-shirt. Quite nice, I must say. The bracelet costed me RM28 (a lot cheaper than the old one) and the t-shirt RM30.

The new bracelet

The old one

My mom bought some really cute soccer jerseys for my nephews. I can’t remember which team was the jerseys for but they have blue and red stripes. Come to think of it, though, I have never seen my nephews play soccer.

So those were basically the activities for the first day. By the time we got home, it was late at night and everybody was bushed.

I was reading the comments on a post by Donncha O Caoimh titled A Simply Silly WordPress URL when I came across one by Stephane Daury that really got me laughing, much to the amusement of my colleague. So I shared the joke with him:

re: domain typos
Sometimes they don’t even need a typo to be the pun of the joke:
Pen Island Resort: PenisLand.com
Experts Exchange: ExpertSexChange.com

Very cheeky. I just had to laugh

I feel so tired today. 3 days (or nights, rather) in a row of netball training and volleyball friendly game… *sigh* I’m not that young anymore. My whole body is sore. I really wish I didn’t have to get out of bed this morning… but work is work, so back to the office even though I don’t have the urge to anymore

This coming weekend will be rather busy for me. My parents, plus my aunt, my younger brother and my niece, are coming over for my cousin’s wedding over the weekend. I’m picking them up at the LCCT tonight around 9 pm. Thanks to Fauzi and Fid for helping me with the transports. And special thanks to Eina for the accommodation. My apartment is not big enough to house them all, so I really really appreciate the offer.

Now comes the hard part: Where am I going to take them?

Except for my brother, this is their first time in Kuala Lumpur. Well, my dad was here several times before but not on social visits. I think their plans are just to attend the wedding, visit some landmarks in KL and then shopping. Okay, that sounds easy. Let’s see the plan so far.

Friday 23/11/2007
Morning: No plan as yet.
Afternoon: My cousin will have the ‘nikah’ ceremony at a mosque in Sentul.
Evening: There will be a ‘kenduri’ at the wife’s house at Bukit Antarabangsa.

Saturday 24/11/2007
Morning: Probably prepare the not-quite-’hantaran’ to be given to the wife.
Afternoon: Another ‘kenduri’. I don’t think we’ll be staying there long. Most probably I’ll take them to KLCC after lunch.
Evening: No plan as yet. Maybe dinner with Eina, Fid and some friends. Eina wants to taste my mother’s cookings.

Sunday 25/11/2007
I’m in a bit of a dilemma here. I have a netball tournament which will likely take the whole day. But I can’t really leave my family without any guide, even though I know I can rely on my brother to take them around. Hmmm… I will have to think some more on this. My plan is to set them loose at Jalan Masjid India and let them shop there the whole day. Then I will meet them in the evening for the next activities.

Monday 26/11/2007
Morning: No plan as yet.
Afternoon: I will take them to Putrajaya. The problem is, I don’t know how to get there. Hehehehe…
Evening: Fly back to Kota Kinabalu.

Truth to tell, I don’t really know where to take them. My dad wants to go up the KL Tower and visit the temple at Batu Caves. Eina suggested to take them to Aquaria at KLCC. Good idea but it’s school holiday now. That place will surely be packed to the roof with kids. Yuck!

I think I’ll just ask them tonight.

I’ve added another function to my blog: SUBSCRIPTION VIA EMAIL.

Heh, as if I have a lot of readers already but let’s pray that one day I’ll get a decent number. Hear ye! Hear ye! Hehehehe… Thank you in advance for your support, though. Really appreciate it. I hope that my ramblings so far have not put any of you to sleep.

Anyway… right on top of my picture is a box where you can put your email address and subscribe to be included in my privileged friends list who will be receiving my ramblings directly in their mailboxes. Of course, I’d prefer it if you visit my blog but since some of you are just too busy, I thought I’d bring them to you instead.

Oh, did I hear you say thank you? You’re very much welcome. Love youuuu…

Hahahahaha…