Raya 2013

Or  1434Hijrah.
A bit of difference in Raya experience this year. We went home on the Raya morning with a stop at Taman Melawati. But the stop turned out to be lengthy and we only departed for Ipoh a couple minutes past 4pm. We were hoping for a less busy road but we were wrong, traffic was slow from Slim River all the way to Ipoh. It was dark when we were near Gopeng so decided to skip the intended stopover at GP proceeded straight to Man's at Ipoh. After dinner and meeting some relatives we eventually reached Beruas at almost midnight.
The house was in a mess in some parts so the other half wasted no time in tidying things up and it didn't stop until....6.30am!! A total of about a dozen black plastic bags were collected and placed by the roadside for collection by the dumpster. Later I watched they were being thrown into the dumpster by staff of the local council a about 9am - it was a relief to see unwanted stuffs taken away.
On the Friday 2nd Raya the crowds (all relatives) came in strength as expected. Many children have grown up big and tall with many small children I'm not familiar with. The elderly got even more older which is kind of sad and reminds us of our own unavoidable destiny.

Dome of Sultan Mizan Mosque a.k.a. steel mosque

Sultan Mizan Mosque: prioe to isyak and tarawih prayers

Sunset at Putra Mosque

Waiting for sundown at Putra Mosque

Night View from Putra Mosque Square looking at PM's office

Islamic Concert in front of POJ

Home made kueh gelang

Home made kueh bom

Putra Mosque front yard

Sultan Mizan Mosque :Hari Raya

Bromptons arrived in Beruas

Clear waters of Ulu Licin

Block of belacan!

"Freeze!!"

This time I brought along the Brompton. That gave me an opportunity to do something I long want to do - cycling the rolling roads around the area. Called up a friend from Ipoh to join me and we were off to explore on our Bs. Had durian courtesy of a friendly father n son we met along a kampong road. We rode a total of 53km along undulating Gelung Pepuyu-Titi Gantung stretch of road with little traffic and back to Beruas and to a cool stream at Ulu Licin. The dip in the cool water after 50km ride under the hot sun was very satisfying. At almost 2 weeks, this was the longest Raya break that I've taken.

Houses we used to live in England

Reminiscence of old times. Thanks to Google street view now I can see the places where I used to live in the late 70's and early 80's. They look very much the same even though 30 years has passed.

64 Hazeldene Rd, Goodmayes, Ilford.
Our first accommodation - stayed here with a friend together with the landlord. He's a Malaysian immigrant and was a British Rail retiree.

343 Cranbrook Rd, Ilford.
Malaysian students lived here year-in year out and became a sort of refuge for new Malaysian students before a permanent place was found. This large semi-d was owned by an Indian Doctor of South African origin.

49 Grafton Way, London
This was student house owned by the University. Shared a smallish room with a colleague. A big common kitchen was situated in the basement. 

Lecester Gardens, Seven Kings, Ilford.
We (3 of us) rented the whole house though we don't get to use the main living room.

Prankerd House, North Gower Street, London.
Another student house owned by the University within walking distance. Common room was large with a TV, common kitchen was also large in the basement. A very fierce lady-keeper was memorable.