Christmas at the Canning Garden Baptist Church, Ipoh – Merry Christmas Everyone! OK, Christmas is over, but yesterday was the Orthodox Christmas celebrated by Russians and Egyptian Coptic Christians! So, it’s not too late!
Hello everyone! It’s 2018! Here’re some photos of family and friends from our recent trip home.
Ya, I was back home, on another whirlwind trip! 2 nights in JB, 1 night in KL, 1 night in Ipoh, 3 nights in Butterworth / Penang, and 4 nights in Thailand (yeah, we have family in Bangkok, don’t you know that?)
Have promised the missus I’ll never do another "touch n go" trip again, but somehow it happened! Now she’s promised never to go on another trip with yours truly! Shucks! But what do you do when your family’s all over the place???
Originally planned this trip for only Malaysia, and mainly to renew my passport (renewing it in Dubai takes 3 friggin months, according to the embassy!) Then the wife suggested that I take Justin (our elder son) to Legoland Malaysia as a birthday treat for him. Happily I agreed (I’m a kid at heart after all, haha). So, added Johor Bahru (JB). There, we’ll also get to meet Jason (my brother) and his family, who’re in Singapore, just across the border from JB.
Then my dad suggested that we give our aunt (Ah Mm), who has been in and out of the ICU, a visit. She lives in Bangkok. So, added Bangkok, Thailand.
Then, I discovered that one of the cheapest way to fly was with Gulf Air, with a long transit in Bahrain. Perfect, we’ve never entered Bahrain (transited before, but never entered). This was our chance. Added Manama, Bahrain.
And that’s the reason why out of our 2 weeks’ holiday, our stay in Malaysia became only 7 friggin days, in 4 friggin places! And of that, we spent 1 day in the airports (3 different airports to be precise), 1 friggin day (7.5 hours) in an “express” bus (express, my foot) from JB to KL (it was the 23rd of Dec, Saturday, friggin long weekend rush northwards), 1 friggin day in the passport office (holiday season, long queues, sigh…), 2-3 hours in an express train from KL to Ipoh, and half a day on banking errands in 3 different banks. Of the 3 remaining days, one day was in Legoland, and another day was Christmas Day that we spent in church in the morning, took our uncle (Ji-Pek) from the old folk’s home for lunch, visited my 93 year old grandma in hospital (not serious), visited the Bangkok aunt in another old folk’s home in Ipoh (yeah, she wanted to be back in her home town so much, that my cousins managed to get her discharged from the Bangkok hospital a day after we visited in Bangkok and had her shifted back to Ipoh), and visited a friend’s house in Ipoh. That left only one meagre day to gel with the family!
Here’re the photos!
With Jason’s family in Legoland Malaysia, Johor Bahru
Also met up with cousin Mandy Boo and daughter Riley in JB – at Yi Jia Seafood Restaurant, Bukit Indah, JB
And what a small world! Bumped into an old friend and colleague from our Emirates Road Project days, Michelle Lee, in, of all places, Legoland! And she ain’t even from JB! Her family came all the way from KL. Here’s she with her 2 kids. Her husband’s the photographer!
Next stop KL – Here with favourite aunt, Helen in her house in Abadi Villa, Taman Desa, and Tua-Pek, all the way from Bangkok! (The pic was taken not long after Tua-Pek arrived by long distance cab from Ipoh).
Hey, that’s Mark Ho! Long time no see, nephew!
The kids with their cousin sis, Jamie Ho and aunt Jane, the amazing! Just hear the story of how she turned the tables on her ex!
Also met with me good ol’ cousin bro, Jack, but didn’t take any photos, unfortunately.
Next stop, Ipoh, for Christmas – Here with Ji-Pek, just after lunch at Ipoh Garden
And here’s where Ah Mm stays in Ipoh, the Yayasan Lotus nursing home. We met her in Bangkok Nakornthorn Hospital, the day before she was discharged. She was longing to go back to Ipoh, so cousins Emily, Alan and Alan’s wife, together with Tua-Pek brought her back to Ipoh. When we met her here, cousin sis Emily (who resides in the UK) was staying with her, in the old folk’s home, the youngest resident of the home! Forgot to snap any photos of Ah Mm, Emily, Alan or Alan’s wife. What a waste?!
At friend Ajit and Manjit’s house in Ipoh. Ajit’s away in Australia, and their two older kids are studying outstation. See how big their youngest daughter, Ravneet has grown! The older lady is Manjit’s sister
We also met Tua Kor, cousin brother Kok Leong and his two grown up kids at our Ipoh house, and visited my 93 year granny in the Ipoh General Hospital. Met my uncle there also.
Finally, Butterworth, dad’s house. This was where I did my passport renewal, and banking errands. We had 2.5 days here before we headed back to Bangkok to catch our return flight to Dubai.
Dinner with members of mom’s family – Ah Chong Seafood Restaurant (Malaysia’s all about seafood restaurant by the way hehe), Pantai Bersih, Butterworth
A dim-sum breakfast with mom's eldest sister and husband at Sweet Paradise (Chew Chuen) Restaurant, near dad’s house, Butterworth
And here’re some photos of our time in Thailand with dad and Hazel.
At the restaurant of our hotel, Riverfront Residence, SV City, Bangkok – We purposely chose this place to be near where cousin Alan and family stays, but as circumstances would have it, Alan’s family spent most of their time in Nakornthorn Hospital, 20 km away, where our aunt, Ah Mm (Alan’s mom) was hospitalized. By the time we got to Bangkok, Alan and sis Emily (who’s sorta uprooted her life from the UK to be with her mom) had already decided to transfer their mom back to our home town of Ipoh, Malaysia. We managed to meet all of them (including Tua-Pek and Jib, Alan’s wife) in the hospital the day before aunt was discharged and scheduled to fly back to Malaysia.
We spent the remainder 3 days in Thailand sightseeing and travelling (didn’t know Pattaya was that far from Bangkok!?)
Family pic with dad and Hazel, Sanctuary of Truth, Pattaya
The kids and their grandpa, Million Years Stone Park, Pattaya
That’s all for now folks. I’ve decided to slow down on blogging for the time being, because I’ve just been made the supremo of this friggin Abu Dhabi project! (My boss had to move to Canada for his PR process). Awww… just imagine the responsibilities!!!
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