Pangkor Laut Resort

Alhamdullilah, three beautiful days and nights with the family (sans Zayd though πŸ˜”) for our year-end break at Pangkor Laut. Rest, relax, sea, sun, sunsets, jungle, animal life, makan. Syukur. πŸŒ΄β£οΈβ›±οΈ

 

31 December 2020

Kuala Kangsar, Bandar Diraja, Perak

Of course. Rukun visit anywhere reasonably north, must stop at Kuala and kunjung hormat the old school ! Mas is already immune, we even spent a night at KK Rest House on our honeymoon 29 years ago, en route to Penang and from Cameron Highlands πŸ˜…

Another obligatory stop is of course the Yat Lai coffee shop or Yut Loy in Hainanese. Twin brothers Ah Hwa and Ah Yok, made sure we got our full supply of chicken chop, pau, and kacang bulat. No bichitek (that’s beef steak in Yut Loy speak!), apparently not related to the current illegal non halal beef scandal that’s unfolding.

Alhamdullilah, a lovely afternoon in Kuala, immersing the family into my home away from home. #cuticutiperak πŸ™πŸΌπŸ“šβ€οΈ

 

30 December 2020

Victoria Bridge Malaysia

It’s taken more than 47 years from when I first saw it as a 12-year old on a train to school, but finally visited the Victoria Bridge today! Crossing the Sungai Perak at the little town of Karai, near Kuala Kangsar, the railway bridge was a marvel of late Victoria era colonial engineering. No doubt, much motivated by the booming tin industry in the Kinta Valley and Taiping up north. British Malaya, with Perak as one of the FMS – Federated Malay States – was at the heart of the imperial economy. We now know that while British India may have been the largest jewel in their colonial crown, British Malaya shone the brightest, the highest ROI colony and its cash literally flowed on this bridge.

Building started in 1897 and completing in 1900, it remained in use for more than a 100 years until 2002. The late DYMM Sultan Idris officially opened it in March 1900, the same Al Mahrum Sultan Idris who bequeathed the land and founded MCKK in 1905. And the same Sultan Idris that gave the name of one of the four houses of MCKK and the house that I proudly belong to 😁πŸ’ͺ🏻βšͺ.

There is something retro industrial chic in those iconic spans, the red bricks and the romance of the old trains that crossed it. In my five and a half years at MCKK, I must have crossed this bridge in 3rd class train more than 30 times, typically sitting on the stairs in between carriages, one arm holding onto the carriage rails. Dreaming of a future ahead and lands far away. Am pretty sure the seeds of a lifetime love for trains was planted somewhere on this bridge! Alhamdullilah, finally able to visit it, and made the crossing today, with the family (sans Zayd πŸ˜” though). One of the hidden blessings of this year of lockdown… Able to cuti cuti Perak. Tqvm to Bro Hishe, as always the good Sherpa! πŸ™πŸΌβ€οΈπŸ›€οΈ #kretapikir #cuticutiperak

 

30 December 2020

Ipoh Old Town

Happy New Year everyone…. β£οΈπŸ™πŸΌπŸ˜

From Ipoh Old Town today. Salam tahun baru, may we learn the many lessons, obvious and less obvious, from 2020 and do better individually and collectively next year InsyaAllah πŸ€²πŸΌβš–οΈπŸ§¬ #cuticutiperak

 

31 December 2020