PERFORMING FRIDAY PRAYER AT KAPITAN KELING MOSQUE

23rd MARCH 2018 ~ It was time to perform the duty the Almighty Allah on Friday afternoon. This time it was done at Kapitan Keling Mosque in Georgetown. The sermon was delivered in Tamil or Urdu when I was there.

Why is this mosque significant? This is the oldest mosque in Penang. It should be about 217 years old to date. The building is old but it is well taken care of.

Read the history here

alms giver and receivers

Located at a strategic location at the heart of the tourists' hub, this mosque is also one the attractions in Georgetown. There were foreign tourists seen taking photos here after the Friday prayer.

MY PENANG GASTRONOMIC ADVENTURE - "HAVING BREAKFAST AT ORIGINAL PENANG KAYU NASI KANDAR"

23rd MARCH 2018 ~ I arrived at Penang International Airport quite early, at 9:30 a.m. As planned by the moderator of the gathering, I first met Pn. Sharon Taty Mokhtar at the airport before the moderator herself, Pn. Aishah Aboo Bakar, picked us up in her red Beetle.

We went straight to this restaurant called Original Penang Kayu Nasi Kandar (there must be pirated version of this restaurant)for breakfast while waiting for other members of UPM TESL Class of 1993 of the northern part of the Peninsula to arrive. Therefore, my gastronomic adventure officially started.

First, I had roti canai (paratha), followed by a piece of tosei.

Then there was this vadeh.

Two more members safely secured their seats at the restaurant Puan Fauziah Abdul Rahim and Puan Zur'aiza Abdul Hamid, both from Kedah.

Finally I was forced to try puri, but I was not complaining.

Those were all the varieties of Indian food I had to try before Puan Suhana Abdul Jamal (from Kedah too) and Puan Rozana Sani Abdullah Sani (taking the flight from KL), both accompanied by their sons.

Luckily the boys and I had to be sent to a mosque for our Friday prayer, or else these people would not leave the restaurant, like until forever.

This was just the beginning - there were more people coming to join us later, and to continue eating and roaming the streets of Georgetown.

A PHOTO ALBUM FOR 30+ YEARS OF FRIENDSHIP

What is one of the things I would treasure the most in my life? The friends I made while studying in Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (now known as Universiti Putra Malaysia), especially from the TESL class of 1993.

A mini reunion was organized on 23rd March 2018 and this time, people of northern part of the Peninsular gathered in Georgetown, Pulau Pinang a.k.a Penang. Only Puan Rozana Sani and I came from the southern part, all the way from Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru respectively, but the rest are residing either in Penang or Kedah.

I was glad that we managed to see each other again, some had not done so for almost 25 years after graduating from college.

The meeting was very short indeed but it was one of the memorable and significant trips I have ever had. I am still browsing through the folder containing the photos of the get together.

Thank you everybody, from the bottom of my heart, for the time and company. We really have to do this again soon.

"It is one of the blessings of old friends is that you can afford to be stupid with them."

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~

S[E]OUL SEARCHING SESSION JUST NEVER ENDS

"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold,

it would be a merrier world."

~ J.R.R. Tolkien ~

This was a short plan to meet up for dinner. The members of the gossip girls were Ms. Khaulah, Ms. Nashuha and a new member, Ms. Liyana - the ex-students of SMK Taman Universiti from SPM batch 2006.

Everybody was extremely hungry as they came right after work. As there was too much focus on eating but very little gossip so we would have to meet again one more time before the fasting month.

You should all start thinking of the next venue now.

ANGKLUNG PERFORMANCE AT GBW HOTEL - PART TWO

[CONTINUATION OF PART ONE]

22nd MARCH 2018 ~ The welcoming performance was started at the entrance of the hall. I tried to turn around (while conducting)once in a while so I could see whether there were people watching us or not. This was just a short presentation, before we had to do the show for the bigger crowd on stage.

However, before that, the moment we all had been waiting there - dinner time. We shared the same food with the other party goers, and the boys were exhilarated for that.

We were then invited on stage for the main performance of the night. There was this super excited lady deejay who hosted the event. I believe we stole the spotlight when the crowd sang along to the songs we played on angklung. And the lady deejay was singing the last two songs on microphone and even danced to "Sway". She announced to the audience something like: "I just could not control".

We were happy that the audience were entertained.

And we were happier as we could wear our new "Baju Melayu Cekak Musang" attire, that pink set of costume, for the first time.

There will be one more performance this coming fortnight. We have to work harder for that.

I will have to personally thank Mr. Mohd. Zaheerman bin Sulaiman from GBW Hotel for giving us the opportunity to perform for the dinner. Hopefully we may see each other again after this.