Less Than 48 Hours In Georgetown

I was in desperate need of a short break and the unexpected public holiday on Monday, 24 April 2017, to celebrate the installation of Sultan Muhammad V as the new King provided me with the opportunity. I had already made reservation for a dim sum lunch on Saturday and thought of taking a bus to Penang on the same afternoon (this was before I read that it would be better to take bus to Butterworth and take the ferry across as you would avoid the traffic jam on the island). However, I would arrive too late to have mee sotong for dinner (to think I schedule my trip around meal times and the operating hours of a stall operator!). I even explored taking the ETS but I would still arrive too late. Finally, I decided to reschedule the dim sum lunch to Monday and fly out on Saturday afternoon.

I arrived at KL Sentral just before 12 noon and thought of having pulled noodles/lamian at Food Loft; however, the Food Loft had closed and there was a banner stating the stalls have relocated to Bukit Bintang monorail station. What the -? I don’t think there’s enough space at Bukit Bintang monorail station to house the stalls. And I was so looking forward to having some lamian too (the Food Loft was still there when I checked it out in February or so). Disappointed, I decided to take the train to the airport (sometimes the KLIA Express and Transit services are combined on weekends or public holidays as they want to carry out maintenance) but lucked out again as the screen showed the next train was in 16 minutes meaning I just missed the earlier train by a few minutes. It was then I saw the email and text message from MAS informing that the flight had been rescheduled to depart half an hour later, which meant I would arrive into Georgetown later. Strewth!

I went to the gate and read while waiting to board. The flight had only arrived as there were still people disembarking so that explained the delay.

We landed at 15:15 and I was at the bus stand ten minutes later. It was a hot bright sunny afternoon in Penang. I didn’t have to wait too long, the bus 401E came along within 5 minutes. We reached KOMTAR almost an hour later and too late for me to have a late lunch at Bee Hwa Café (I did go there but was told they were closing). Dejected, I continued on to Muntri Grove, my hotel for the first night.

Check-in was quick and I was shown to my room within 5 minutes of arriving. I rested a bit enjoying the longan drink a staff brought me before venturing out to the Esplanade. Finally I got lucky, the queue for the mee sotong wasn’t too bad. I ended up queuing for 37 minutes *only* this time. As my last meal was breakfast, I had both mee sotong and mee rebus before returning to the hotel, stopping en route at Purrfect Cat Café (bought a couple of bookmarks there). I spent the rest of the evening reading and only a bit of TV.

On Sunday morning, I ventured out to the market at Jalan Chowrasta/Jalan Kuala Kangsar then to the few stalls at Lebuh Carnarvon before returning to Jalan Kuala Kangsar. The crowd was already building when I returned and there was a long queue for the vegetarian wan tan noodles so I left after buying some dried mushrooms. On a whim, I decided to go to Lorong Macalister for chee cheong fun (arrived too late on my previous visit) and got lucky this time. The chee cheong fun tasted so much better than when I first had it back in end-August 2015.

I returned to the hotel and rested before hitting the shower. Breakfast was had after 10 and after breakfast, I went and spent an hour reading before checking out. I mentioned to the lady at the reception that I didn’t want to venture out and would just wait out in the lobby until I could check in at Muntri Mews. She offered to call to find out when my room would be ready. At 13:30, she came to inform the room was ready and offered me a brolly. She said it was raining in some parts of the island and true enough, there were dark clouds overhead although you wouldn’t believe it then as it was so dang hot and humid.

I must say I was disappointed with Muntri Mews. I had expected it to be better but Muntri Grove is so much better. I wished I had stayed there on the first night and then only at Muntri Grove on my second night but there was no vacancy at Muntri Mews on Saturday hence why I booked the hotels in the order that I did. Both hotels did not provide any bedroom slippers, body lotion, bath robe or even a robe to lounge in. For the rate they charge, you’d expect and entitled to more surely.

I ventured out to find lunch and decided to have laksa instead when the vegetarian stall that I went to was closed. There was a ridiculously long queue outside Joo Hooi Café and the cendul shop so I went to the small restaurant I had my laksa on my previous trip instead. This time around, it was disappointingly tasteless and I couldn’t remember if the portion before was as small. I left feeling let down.

I headed back to the hotel after buying some snacks at Mydin and stayed in reading. I was determined to finish my book and even skipped siesta. So I was not happy when a hotel staff knocked on my door and I had to get dressed to open the door. He wanted to know if there was anything left in the fridge and I said no, not unless you count mineral water as something left behind. He apologised for disturbing me and left. Not five minutes later, there was another knock. I was getting seriously irritated because I was interrupted and had to get dressed again. This time, another man was with the hotel staff. He claimed he was the previous guest and he was sure he left his water container (I think) behind. I told him there wasn’t any such thing and he looked disbelievingly at me, asking me the same thing again and again. Finally, I said he was letting in all the mosquitoes and said he was welcomed to come in and have a look. As if I wanted to have your precious water container, mister! He repeated again and again that he was sure he left it in the room (oh yeah, then where did it go? Have you tried asking Housekeeping? Or are you accusing me of taking it?).

I was finally left to my own devices again and as it still hadn’t rained, decided to venture out to find dinner. Well, the menu at the Mews Café looked scant so I walked around a bit before returning to my room. And no, nothing appealed to me. I wanted to have some char kuay teow but wasn’t keen to walk.

I stayed in my room for the rest of the evening. There were only about six TV channels and none showing footie so I had to follow it on Twitter.

On Sunday, I woke up early and checked out at 08:00. I had breakfast at Mews Café (again, limited choices) before walking to Jalan Penang. I was lucky to catch the CAT bus within a couple of minutes and even though it looked like I just missed a bus to the airport, another one came within 5 minutes and the journey took only 30 minutes.

I was at KL Sentral just after 13:00 and was tucking in to dim sum lunch an hour later.

So that was my short trip to Penang (17 hours in each hotel!) and I must say that it was a bit of a disappointing trip. Still, I’m sure I’ll be contemplating another trip there although it may take me some time to get over the disappointment of this recent visit.

Barely Coping

My dad fell down early last month while he was about to sit down at a restaurant. His back/spine has been hurting since and he has visited the clinic twice, even a Chinese medical practitioner, taken various medications, tried a few ointments and pain relief cream and whatnot but his condition is improving only slightly. It hurts me to see him suffer and it’s not been an easy time for me either. I don’t want to come across as complaining, suffice to say that I’ve been shouldering a lot more of household chores on top of my previous share and like I said, it hasn’t been easy especially as I’m nursing tennis elbow syndrome for some time myself too. I’ve been performing special prayers on a daily basis but the relief has been slow. It isn’t time yet for us to heal. Soon, insyaAllah, please, for I don’t know how much longer I can stand to watch him suffer.

The worse thing is feeling like my brothers don’t even care. Sure, I know they’re in Johor and have their families but surely they can take some time to visit and care for dad? Surely they have their filial duty to play; they’re the sons after all. Just because I’m single and seemingly don’t have responsibilities (read: my own family) doesn’t mean they can wash their hands off their duty. Like they, I have my own life to live too. I don’t mind taking care of dad and the house but I do wish my brothers will understand that I have my own life to live too. They don’t call often to ask how dad is and never ever asked how I’m doing or coping (they hardly wonder if I’m bearing up but when I go on trips, I feel this unspoken disapproval for leaving dad behind). Yes, I do feel like I’m being taken for granted. For now, I just grit my teeth and try to multi-task as much as possible so that I can tackle all chores without taking too much extra time which is not at all easy when you live with a messy person. Sometimes I feel like I’m all alone in this but I refuse to indulge in this thinking often because there’s just so much to do around the house. Thankfully Akak is around to help out occasionally.

All these made me wonder how it would be when I’m old myself too. I don’t have any spouse or child(ren) to help care for me (presuming that one’s spouse and children will care for one when one is ill) and I always pray that I won’t be infected with some disease like dengue or H1N1 or anything worse that requires medium-term hospitalisation or frequent visits to the doctor because if that happens, what would happen to my dad then? Who would care for him then? Akak has offered him to stay with her but he doesn’t want to.

Dad has talked about death a few times. I hate it when he does that. Yes, I know we are supposed to think about death because we must prepare for the afterlife, that life in this world is fleeting and is never meant to be permanent, but I just don’t like it when he talks about it. I know death is a natural occurrence and that dad is blessed with a relatively long life so far but I just can’t bear the thought of him gone. I know I didn’t think I could live if either or both of my parents passed and even after 6.5 years, I still miss Mummy badly. I’m not naïve to think that I will have my parents with me all my life, I know death is inevitable and that I will lose them one day, I know death is natural but somehow I can’t accept or bear the idea of living without them (and yet Mummy has passed and I’m still here).

When it comes to grieving, I don’t think anyone understands what someone else is going through. You can sympathise and empathise but because you don’t know the deceased as well or the relationship between someone and the deceased, you can only at best guess what is going on in the person’s mind. There is no time limit for grief although society demands it because after all, life still goes on and the dead would want the living to continue on living. The thing is, the living does somehow continue to go on living but it’s a different life now. And while I know people mean good when they say things like the dead has had a good life, that at least the dead is no longer suffering, they don’t know how much the world has changed for those left behind who now have to deal with the loss and living without the deceased.

Time doesn’t really heal, it just dulls the pain and lets you live with your sadness and grief. There will always be good days but there will also be bad, difficult, hard, shitty days. I still cry occasionally, even at work.

I can’t imagine how I would cope if/when dad goes too.

Mad World

It has been six years and counting since the Syrian civil war started (truly, it’s a shame that it is still continuing on and that we keep on failing the Syrians). But on it goes and there was the chemical attack on 4 April – which Assad denied, but of course – and explosion last Saturday, 15 April. It doesn’t make sense that a power-mad crazy dictator who doesn’t think twice about mass murdering his own people is still allowed to stay in power and it’s shocking that the United Nations have not managed to do anything about it.

People say that Hitler was a crazy evil heartless sick bastard so I don’t see why Assad isn’t one either. How low can one get for forcing the evacuation of people from their homes and let them wait 40 hours without food, water and use of facilities, but instead got themselves bombed? Have we forgotten the Srenrenica massacre/genocide already? How we failed the Bosniaks and let more than 8,000 of them perish? I’m not belittling the attacks in Saint Petersburg, London, Stockholm and Dortmund at all but why isn’t more shock and anger and action poured into the situation in Syria?

@SiegeWatch project contact in Madaya struggled to describe his feelings as he faced the reality of being forced to leave his home forever

~~~~~~~~

A little update: the Cat Man of Aleppo has opened a new cat sanctuary in Aleppo (yes, life goes on even in war-torn areas). He has also been asked to save what’s left of an Aleppo zoo, i.e., care for two tigers and two bears (there was a gazelle but it had died of starvation, poor creature). The owner is however refusing to allow the poor animals to be moved to Turkey where they would have a higher chance of survival. As long as the animals are in Aleppo, the only one who can care for them, and help them is Alaa. It would be great if we could all help him out too because the food for the bears and tigers cost at least €100 a day:

PayPal: ilgattarodialeppo@libero.it

Subject zoo (NO Aleppo or Syria as subject please)

Bank Account - Iban: IT 49 P 07601 11400 001035 493376 - Bic: BPPIITRRXXX - Name: Il Gattaro d’Aleppo - Country: Italy
NOTE: some Banks do not allow you to use the account Il Gattaro d’Aleppo to transfer funds. PLEASE, if your Bank has difficulty with using this account, use the following one:

ALTERNATIVE Bank Account: Iban: IT 32 i 07601 05138 284479 884481 - Bic: BPPIITRRXXX – Name: Alessandra Abidin

By the way, Alaa was near the explosion on Saturday. He was distributing sweets to the children (the children died with the sweets still in their hands) and the cat-ambulance used by the sanctuary has been destroyed. There was food for tigers and bears and some dogs he is also helping to feed and the food had all burnt. Alhamdulillah, Alaa himself was not injured although he was mere metres away from where it happened. Only the keys to the ambulance remain... my heart was breaking when I found out about this.

Do support his efforts with sharing this information, prayers and donations if you can.

I’ll end this post with a message from Khaled Salama. We have a lot to learn about the meaning of humanity, loyalty and peace, love and hope from the Syrians.

The Beauty Of It All

I went to watch Beauty and the Beast on April Fool’s Day and was not disappointed. I watched the animation one back in 1992 (I’m still only in my late 20s by the way) four times at the theatres (yes, four!). Even then and now, I was not offended by the character LeFou, Gaston’s sidekick, who is supposedly gay. I viewed him as someone who admires and is besotted by Gaston (yeah, I’m not sure why either) and to me, that is not unusual among men and even women then and now. Why, we had the five Malay warriors (Hang Lekiu, Hang Tuah, Hang Jebat, Hang Lekir and Hang Kasturi) who were close but were not sexually interested in each other. I’m not sure why director Bill Condon decided to make the LeFou character gay but it’s not as if we don’t have previous movies featuring gay characters before. Note that in no way am I condoning this; after all, I am first and foremost a Muslim. I went to the movie without thinking of the character’s sexuality as I just wanted to enjoy it and before long, I was singing along to it. There are some additional scenes (and songs) in this version of the story which I don’t know the lyrics for.

Then as now, I left the theatres reinforced with the following life lessons:

i.   Internal beauty is greater than external beauty. Beast learnt the hard way that true beauty comes from within, about being kind, considerate and thoughtful of others and not being selfish.

ii.  Learning is a continuous lifelong process. Never ever stop learning and always be curious. Have passion in learning, discovering and exploring new things!

iii. Be yourself and dare to be different. Don’t ever compromise your personality and interests just to fit in, even if the whole village thinks you’re strange and peculiar or have gone cuckoo. Don’t limit yourself and don’t other people stop you from achieving. Embrace your individuality.

iv.  Believe in miracles and the power of prayer. Because falling in love is magic in itself.

v.   Perfection isn’t everything. We have Chip, who is a chipped cup in his enchanted life, but he’s among the important characters in the movie. Will the movie work without his character? Possibly. But it doesn’t hurt to have him and he shows that even though he’s not perfect, he can still have fun.

I may be imperfect but I’m still beautiful

vi.  Look beyond what you can see because, yes, beauty is just skin deep. Overcome your fear and prejudice towards another and you might just find the other person appealing and interesting. On the other hand, a good-looking, strong and popular person may actually have evil plans for you. You just never know.

vii. Love will conquer hatred any day. It’s his hatred and fear of Beast that led Gaston down the evil path and he even managed to influence the whole village with his idea and beliefs. But despite the attack which took the castle inhabitants by surprise and the number of villagers who supported Gaston, he still lost.

viii. Don’t let fear paralyse you and hold you back from experiencing life. Don’t let fear get in the way. Push yourself out of the comfort zone, be open-minded and don’t be afraid of making friends no matter how different they may be to us.

ix.  No one knows what tomorrow brings. One day you might be in a small provincial village, the next day, imprisoned in a tower. And another day, you might discover new friends, a library, a new friend, a new feeling and who knows, a totally unexpected happy ending.

x.      Have dreams, hopes and ambitions for a better life. Above all, have faith.

xi.     Don’t settle for second best. Even Gaston knows he deserves the best.

xii.  Every rose has its share of thorns. A pretty face is not free of imperfections as Gaston demonstrates.

xiii. Wealth isn’t everything. You may be rich and live in a castle but you may still lead an empty existence.

xiv. A cup of tea never hurts. The English believe a cuppa can help make any situation better. Yes, even though the movie’s setting is in a village in France.

Tea, anyone?

Oh, and I must say that I can totally relate to the songs especially this part from Madame Gaston:

I want so much more than this provincial life

I want adventure in the great wide somewhere

I want it more than I can tell

And for once it might be grand, to have someone understand

I want so much more than they’ve got planned

This part really spoke to me when I first heard it and it still does now. I’m from the suburbs of Kuala Lumpur, a mere 6.4 km or 4 miles from KLCC so I’m hardly from a provincial town but, like Belle, I want so much more and I want adventure in the great wide somewhere. And insyaAllah, I will continue to work hard so I can go on adventures. In the meantime, I’ll dream and hope and plan of course.

(By the way, I also like the song A Whole New World from Aladdin. I always sing it when I’m on a trip.)

It may seem funny to some to draw inspiration from a movie based on fairy tales but I always believe we can always learn something from what we see and experience. And I’d rather do that than focus on something that I can just ignore like whether or not LeFou is really a gay character and whether he should be portrayed as one.

Liberated And Emancipated

The month of March pays tribute to women with the International Women’s Day on 8 March and Mother’s Day (yes, some countries do celebrate Mother’s Day in March) to commemorate women’s rights and honour the mothers of the world. These two designated days started in early 20th century (in the UK, Mother’s Day evolved from the 16th century Mothering Sunday practice of visiting one’s mother church which resulted in family reunions).

Since there is always a negative stereotype and perception of how Islam views women, I’m going to touch on the religion’s views of women and mothers in this post. There are verses in the Quran that acknowledges the mother, emphasising the difficulties of pregnancy, labour, breastfeeding and the need to respect one’s mother. These verses many times mention parents in general but go into detail in regard to the mother because she faces challenges that the father does not. Verse 15 from chapter 46 illustrates this point:

And We have enjoined upon man, to his parents, good treatment. His mother carried him with hardship and gave birth to him with hardship, and his gestation and weaning [period] is thirty months. [He grows] until, when he reaches maturity and reaches [the age of] forty years, he says, ‘My Lord, enable me to be grateful for Your favour which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents and to work righteousness of which You will approve and make righteous for me my offspring. Indeed, I have repented to You, and indeed, I am of the Muslims.’

This verse begins with a command for both parents, but goes into detail in regards to the mother and the difficulties she endures. There are also instances where Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) commanded us to respect their mothers:

A man came to the Prophet and said, ‘O Messenger of God! Who among the people is the most worthy of my good companionship? The Prophet (PBUH) said: Your mother. The man said, ‘Then who?’ The Prophet said: Then your mother. The man further asked, ‘Then who?’ The Prophet said: Then your mother. The man asked again, ‘Then who?’ The Prophet said: Then your father. (Bukhari, Muslim)

A man once consulted the Prophet Muhammad about taking part in a military campaign. The Prophet asked the man if his mother was still living. When told that she was alive, the Prophet said: ‘(Then) stay with her, for Paradise is at her feet.’ (Al-Tirmidhi)

On another occasion, the Prophet said: ‘God has forbidden for you to be undutiful to your mothers.’ (Sahih Al-Bukhari) 

OK, now about Islam’s view of women. Women are regarded highly in Islam. In pre-Islamic Arabia, women had no rights whatsoever. They were not considered equal to men, were viewed as objects and were constantly humiliated. Female babies were considered a disgrace and female infanticide was common. Islam abolished that barbaric practice and elevated the women’s status. Why, there is an entire surah in the Quran – the fourth one too - titled an-Nisa or women and there are numerous references to women in that surah. Women have rights to education, to be employed (remember, Siti Khadijah, Prophet Muhammad’s first wife, was a very wealthy and successful merchant), to marry and divorce (Siti Khadijah was the one who asked for the Prophet to marry her, how modern was she?!), to have assets and properties.

From the earliest days, greater financial security is assured for women. Women are entitled to receive marital gifts, and to keep properties and income for their own security. A single woman is not required to spend a penny on the household. She is entitled to full financial support during marriage and during the waiting period (‘iddah) in case of divorce. Whether she is a wife or mother, a sister or daughter, she is allowed to receive a certain share of a deceased kin’s property, and no one can disinherit her.

While both men and women are entitled to inherit property of relations, their portions vary. The man usually receives more because the man by law is solely responsible for the complete maintenance of his family. It is also his duty to contribute financially to all good causes in his society. The woman, in contrast, has no obligatory financial responsibilities. She is provided for, whether by her husband, son, father, brother, or other male relative. If she has no relation on whom she can depend, and she has no inheritance, in Islam, she is the responsibility of the society. She may be given aid or a job to earn her living, and whatsoever money she makes will be hers. So, in the hardest situation her financial responsibility is limited, while the man’s is unlimited.

Islam also recognises the women’s individuality. They are granted the freedom of choice and expression, and are encouraged to contribute opinions and ideas. Women would pose questions to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and offer their opinions concerning religion, economics and social matters. The right to vote was already given to women 1,400 years ago: when women came to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and swore their allegiance to him and he accepted their oath, this established the right of women to publicly participate in selecting their leader. Islam does not forbid a woman from holding important positions in the government.

Post-Islam women also participated in public life, accompanying Muslim armies into the battlefield to nurse the wounded, prepare supplies and serve the warriors. They were not shut behind iron bars or considered worthless helpless creatures as we see in some so-called Muslim societies.

So whatever negative perception over women in Islam, that we are not liberated, have no say, have no rights, must be submissive and under the thumb of the men is all because in some misguided age-old cultures, this is how women are still treated despite Islam’s teachings and rulings and nothing whatsoever to do with the religion at all. Islam has long recognised the importance and status of women, more than a millenium before the idea for the International Women’s Day or Mother’s Day was even conceived.

Carry On At Your Convenience

One of my favourite departments at Isetan is the luggage department and I used to spend time happily browsing bags. I have spent less time there of late though with the proliferation of spinner bags (four-wheeled trolley bags). I may be in the minority here but I haven’t taken to the spinner bags. I’ve talked to the sales assistants and while they did try to promote the spinner bags, they also shared that the wheels of a spinner bag are not as durable as that of a two-wheel suitcase. Anyway, let’s look at this further, shall we.

A spinner bag allows you to navigate around airports and busy places (train stations) easily. It is easy to manoeuver and swivels smoothly down airplane aisles. It also has added mobility and makes the trip strain-free as the bag glides along with you. So it’s really good for your arms and back (I still have tennis elbow syndrome from hauling my suitcase in Dubai and Oman!). However, the wheels are exposed and take up space so if you’re planning to carry one on board, do bear this in mind (also, the wheels are more susceptible to being damaged from the bag being thrown all around if you check it in). They are also a nightmare to use on the cobbled streets in Europe (I practically wince every time I have to lug my two-wheel bag on those cobbled streets; I think I will develop a premature heart attack if I have to manoeuver a spinner bag there). I do have a very small spinner bag that I sometimes use for very short 3D 2N trips and it doesn’t stay still on the bus/train at all! If you’re on a tram/train/bus/airport shuttle or going up and down a hill, the bag will slide off if you’re not careful. Still, they are supposed to be ergonomically better for your body.

 Spinners

Meanwhile, besides being good on the cobbled streets of Europe, the wheels of the two-wheeled bags are more durable. The wheels are bigger compared to their spinner counterparts and do not stick out, and are hence more durable as they are not as vulnerable to displacement. However, the two-wheeled bags would need to be dragged/hauled and if the bag is heavy (as it was when I packed about six bottles of mineral water in it in my last trip!), it was a burden. That said, this was the first time I had this tennis elbow syndrome. So while the two-wheeled bags are not as ‘modern’ or new as the spinner (having entered the market since the dark ages), I’ll stick to them for now, thank you very much. But hey, never say never. Maybe I’ll totally switch to spinner bags later on. Whatever it is, invest in what you like. Listen to both sides of argument and read up on it. At the end of the day, it’s your decision to invest in whichever bag you like. After all, it’s you who will be forking out the money and it’s you who’ll be travelling and pulling your bag (don’t we all wish we all have our own personal porters!).

Two-wheeled suitcase

Next question: to check in or not? If I travel light enough, I probably won’t check in. This wouldn’t be a problem if I travel locally as I can easily hand wash my clothes and not have to pack too many clothes. I also won’t have to declare my toiletries. However, if I travel abroad, I’ll likely check in my bag as my trip duration is likely to be longer, I’ll likely not be able to hand wash my clothes daily, and I don’t have to declare my toiletries. Unless of course I fly any of the budget airlines in Europe where I refuse to pay to check in my bag and if so, I’ll carry travel-size toiletries.

Photos of Tanjong Jara Resort: II

 The sea the next morning

 The sea as seen from the bus on the morning of departure. Still very rough. Goodbye Dungun!