One Local Destination A Month : A Revival

In 2017, I embarked upon an initiative to do a monthly travel stint to a local destination that I've not been to before. It was an idea that came from an old school friend who posted about it on her Facebook wall on the final day of 2016.

I used that travel experience to write blog postings as a way to document the visits. The first post was about a trip to the Galeri Darurat Bukit Kepong in Muar, Johor which I visited in January 2017. Following that first entry, I continued to update the series for the subsequent months but only up till October. Although I had traveled to Perak and Penang in the last two months of the year, I failed to write the final two posts to complete the collection.

I am now using this opportunity to summarise my travel articles for 2017 which includes a brief mention of the two missing destinations.

1. January 27 : Bukit Kepong, Johor
2. February 17 : Tanjung Kling, Melaka
3. March 24 : Lumut, Perak
4. April 30 : Taiping, Perak
5. May 24 : Jugra, Selangor
6. June 28 : Mersing, Johor
7. July 17 : Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan
8. August 25 : Pedas / Linggi, Negeri Sembilan
9. September 16 : Kuala Gandah & Temerloh, Pahang
10. October 10 : Ulu Rening, Selangor
11. November 30 : Ipoh, Perak
12. December 2 : Teluk Bahang, Penang

Part 11 : Labu Sayong Signature Restaurant, Ipoh, Perak

We were on our way to Penang at the end of November and had stopped for lunch at a restaurant in Meru, Ipoh. I felt that this place deserved a mention in my list because it is one of the few Malay restaurants serving authentic local cuisine in a fine dining setup.

Traditional Malay architecture

Interior setting. Note the `labu sayong' water pitcher that lends its name

Can't remember the name of this fish dish but the taste was exquisite

Part 12 : Entopia, Teluk Bahang, Penang

Many years ago, this place was simply called the Penang Butterfly Farm. Many constructive upgrades have been done and it is now re-branded as Entopia. Apart from butterflies, the exhibits also include other insects and reptiles. Truly a place worth visiting.

A rare pic of my better half

According to the information plaque, this variety is known as Leopard Lacewing

Tarantula

I plan to do another 1LD1M series this year, although I'll be a bit more flexible as to the places that I wish to write about. You can say that it is in the spirit of Visit Malaysia Year 2020. Again, I'm not sure if I can complete another 12-part chapter but we shall see. The first trip in January has already been done so the post shall be published soon, God-willing.

20/20 Vision...

As noted previously, the whole of 2019 has passed without me making any significant entry in this blog. Many things happened last year but somehow I could not push myself to put them down in writing. This disinterest in blogging has, of course, occurred before, so I shall refrain from making any excuses. Similarly, there is no promise that the new year 2020 would bring any improvement in the creative drive.

So we'll just get on with it. No need to express what my visions are for this year's blogging target.

Just to re-cap on two events of note that happened last year :

19 April 2019 (Friday) - My father, Hj Isma Yatim Bin Hj Ramli, passed away in early morning just before dawn. By the grace of the Almighty, the arrangement for burial went smoothly and the whole process was completed before mid-day. Innalillahi wainna ilaihi rojiun.

My mother, brothers and sister at my father's grave about a month after burial

2 November 2019 (Saturday) - Our second son, Harith Shahiran, tied the knot with a young lady from Kota Damansara in Selangor. The latest addition to our family is called Aisyah Bt Abdullah.

Harith & Aisyah

May good things happen this year that would be worth writing about...

Trivia : 20/20 Vision does not necessarily mean that you have perfect eyesight. It is a term used to express normal visual acuity (clarity and sharpness of vision) measured at a distance of 20 feet. If you have 20/20 vision, you can clearly see the eye chart placed 20 feet away from you, as what the average person would be able to see. If you have 20/30 vision, it means your eyesight is worse than average. At 20 feet away, you can only read letters that the average person can read at 30 feet distance.

Conversely, a person with 20/15 vision has sharper eyesight than most. At 20 feet, he is able to read a line on the eye chart the average person can see at 15 feet.

A quiet 2019...

Quiet... in terms of blog posting, that is.

I'm wondering myself, why the near total absence in writing. This is not good. Hopefully things will improve in 2020. 

Let's close this year with an update of my granddaughter. Maisarah was about a year old when this pic was taken. She's 15 months-old now and quite a handful.

Happy new year to all friends and readers. May the Almighty bless you with good health for all the 366 days of 2020. 

A new ride in the new year

In early December last year, my business partner decided that it was time to change the car that he had assigned to me. The Toyota Fortuner that I was using was more than 8 years old and was full paid-up. Actually, there wasn't much issue with the Fortuner. It had been regularly maintained, bodywork still in reasonable shape and drives well. Except that it had clocked a fairly huge mileage run and has a very thirsty engine.

The original idea was to trade it in for the latest Fortuner model but upon receiving feedback from friends who already own one, the new model petrol consumption figures aren't any much better. My business partner then asked me to suggest other alternative SUVs that are more suitable.

The first car that came to my mind was the Mitsubishi Outlander. It is not a very popular car... you hardly come across it as you drive along the highways. More likely for you to spot other mid-size SUVs like the Honda CRV or even the Mazda CX5.

I thought of the Outlander because of an advert I saw in a movie theatre. It showed an alien spaceship floating stationary over somewhere on Earth while facing a group of humans, presumably in telepathic negotiations. On being asked what the aliens wanted, a remote car key was lifted off the pocket of one of the humans by invisible forces. The man managed to grab the key before it floated out of reach. He then ran to his car and quickly drove it off. The said car was the Outlander.

Really good commercial. Talk about the influence of advertising. By the way, I tried searching for a video of that commercial but could not find it.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I went to a Mitsubishi dealer to check out the car and arrange for a test drive. Mitsubishi was offering an attractive rebate to the already competitive price. At the same time, I checked online for independent reviews from local motoring websites. Turns out that the Outlander was voted the best family SUV by the Cars of Malaysia for 2018.

I've been driving the car for a few weeks now and I truly like it. I hope it will continue to give me a good run.

A lovely start to the new year.

Mitsubishi Outlander 2.4L at Masjid Taman Impian Emas, Johor Bahru

My first grandfather-granddaughter moment

Two days ago, we went out for dinner to celebrate the birthday of this little lady's mother. I had finished my plate early so I took turn to care for her while the other family members enjoy their meal. I held her in my arms and we had a stroll outside the restaurant to savour the cool night air. At first, her eyes were wide open with awe, looking at the bright lights of passing cars. As I softly chatted with her in babyspeak, she comfortably drifted off to sleep. Indeed... I could've held her all night like this and not feel any hint of weariness.

My first grandfather - granddaughter moment. Looking forward to more moments like this...