on the road

Half of the holiday has gone by and what have I done? I've spent half of the time on the road!! First...it was up north; sent ma home to Sitiawan. Then back here again. On the way back we stopped at KLCC to visit the Book Fair. This time, I didn't even get a book for myself as I read ebooks now. The kids bought 11 books altogether and Lyn wanted to buy another one at Kinokuniya....I had to put a stop to it.

The next day, it was down south to JB. KC had a meeting to attend the following day so we kept him company as it's holiday. We stayed at Grand Paragon; upgraded to a junior suite and were pleasantly surprised by the size of the rooms. Lovely view from the 25th floor....could see the Straits of Tebrau and Singapore. Visited Danga City Mall and it was a big big disappointment. The place is half dead.

The next morning, I had got up early and watched the city awaken and the sky changed colours. It was really beautiful as the whole wall is made of glass panelling. So the view was really large.

We visited City Square before heading north again. We stopped in Melaka; hoping to get some local food at Jonkers' but unfortunately Jonker's Street is not open during weekdays. We ended up in a hawker center opposite Dataran Pahlawan. The cendol was lousy....not enough santan. The oyster egg was nice but Lyn prefers Sitiawan style (crispier). We wanted to walk around A Famosa and up to St Paul's Hill to the ruins. But it was dark; definitely not advisable especially as I am so fond of telling my students to imagine walking around the old ruins with Sultan Mahmud or Alfonso d Albuqueque (?) and all the people of the ancient days around us. I frighten myself.

Today, we decided to go up Broga Hill (which we have planned a long time ago). It was raining when we left. The rain got heavier as we go further into the hills and interior of NS. The road was narrow and winding. It was really interior. We passed Lenggeng, Ulu Baranang and finally reached Broga. The road up the hill was muddy and need to hike through the palm oil estate. Not a good idea to do it in the rain. We decided to drive further to Kajang; passing Nottingham University and Semenyih. Made a U turn as it was too early for dinner and returned home using the Lekas Highway. That was two hours on the road!!!

We decided to have dinner at Era Walk. There is Old Town Kopitiam and New Town Modern Coffee. We have always been to Old Town; so we thought it would be nice to give New Town a try. LOUSY and poor service. The toast was just toasted Gardenia bread which I can toast on my own. When I eat toast outside, I am very very particular that I am not served Gardenia bread...it must be the old fashioned bread or whatever bread that is different from a normal bread which can be easily obtained from the grocery store.

That is half of the holiday. Will be travelling up north again soon to bring ma back here. Kind of sick of sitting in the car. Would have love to upload some pictures but unfortunately my camera has gone to Korea for a holiday without me. Miss it a lot. Three things that I can't do without now, my phone, ipod and camera. I was having withdrawal syndrome just now while waiting for dinner because I didn't bring my ipod; so couldn't read my book.