Your Secret Getaway..

Friday, June 5, 2009

Friday 5/6/09 WEEKEND BEGINS!

The weekend begins wooohooo! Ok, so the next month will be sort of a continous weekend for me, but everyone gets that natural buzz knowing the first day of joblessness is begining! And because Kedah is an Islamic state, the weekends begin on a friday and end on Saturday

Still a tad fatigued from yesterdays heavy load of sightseeing, I decided to have a more relaxing day walking into the nooks and crannies of Kuah Town, trying my best to avoid another shopping centre or tourist spot.
11.46 a.m. - My day begun walking around Pekan Kuah (where I had that delicious cendol-shake the day before) to take in the sights and sounds of the area on a weekend. The open air market was packed with families doing their weekend shopping and road side vendors were busy screaming out for people to buy their goods. Today, I wasn't interested in checking out the fair at the market but was more keen on going deeper into the heart of Pekan Kuah where a village lied. I wasn't sure what the village's name was or whether the inhabitants would accept me intruding into their village unannounced, but i figured it was my day off so what the heck. (And I was really keen on getting a photog session in as well.)


The village was small, and empty at the time, probably with the villagers in the Pekan centre selling goods or maybe they were off to the beach since it was a weekend. After row upon row of wooden, traditional style houses and zinc make-shift huts, i found a tiny community restaurant where an indian family were serving banana leaf rice. Having pangs for home cooked food (home cooked food being the mamak, indian muslim cafe, down the street from my house in Kuala Lumpur) I walked into the establishment and picked the dishes of my choice which was to be served with my rice; chicken varavel and potato chutney. I will now refrain from elaborating on how good the food was as I've realised that all I've ever really been writing about is food, making me sound like a complete pig...

.. OK! But the curry was deliciously thick and had just the right amount of spices in it, and unlike the predictable tasting potato chutney in mamaks found in Kuala Lumpur, the chutney was sweet, and slightly sour. Maybe it was the fact that I was really hungry that made it taste so good, but I personally feel that the best meals are the ones made with care. Tiny cafes like these don't cater to 100 customers a day but to the families and passer bys like me, and because their food will only be tasted by their neighbours, they make sure their food is cooked with the care and love. Sort of like the lasagna Mom makes me on my birthday! Mmmm.


During lunch, I scimmed through my journal, checking on my ever growing To Do List. Ticking off all the completed activities, until I came to a very important item on the list; 'Call and schedual Datuk Rahman Interview! ***' (3 *s making it uber important mind you!) Datuk Rahman was a very close companion to my grandfather, the honourable Tun Hamid, and a loyal friend to our family. He was a jet setting ambassador for many years, and after retiring in Kuala Lumpur, he decided to settle down in Langkawi from a suggestion by my grandfather, and has been there ever since. I'm quite nervous about meeting him, but I'm very keen on listening to his stories and words of wisdom.
After making the call to set up the appointment and paying for lunch, I ventured deeper into the village where I came across an old abandoned colonial style building, covered in trees and moss. Something about this building captivated me. I wanted to learn where it came from, what it was doing in the middle of a village and what caused it's abandonment. While in the middle of my photography session, I had realised it was already 12ish and it was a Friday, meaning it was almost time for Friday Prayers!




Rushing out of the village and back onto the main road, I hurriedly opened my map to search for the nearest mosque only to find that there were no mosque indicators on my map! The next best thing to do was to follow the trail of men in sarongs and traditional clothing, which eventually did guide me to a mosque a few metres away from The Langkawi Fair Shopping Centre. The Masjid Al-Hana is a one storey, medium sized mosque with an Islamic Centre behind it where Hajj and wedding courses are available. Refraining from taking photos inside the mosque, I closed up my camera bag and carried on into the washroom to prepare myself for Friday Prayers.



It's now 8.04 p.m and I think I'm going to head out to Starbucks at Jetty Point to have a coffee and read my book. Hopefully Jetty Point won't be as packed at night as it is in the day time, and a little change of scenery will be good for me. Till the next post.
Harith The Coffee Craving Beach Bum
Kindly Sponsored by Rahsia Estates Sdn. Bhd.







5 comments:

  1. Aloha Harith!!! ^__^

    Wow...what an amazing journey you had so far.
    the very best things to describe, will always be on foods ^__^ and Malaysia has variety kind of it and it is cool to let the world know and we to be proud with...
    ...and...from your photog, it is wonderful to see what's there in Langkawi...
    the abandon place was a good shot tho'...n the blue sky very captivating and inspire ppl like me ^__^

    p/s: can't wait to see more wonderful picts

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  2. wow harith..the pictures of those house kinda spooky you know...luckily for you bcos you shot them in the morning i guess...if not,, haiya...ghostbuster nanti....hehehee....
    harith, if u ever go for island hopping, do take a lot of pictures ya...for our collection...so far the pics you've taken are splendid...keep up the good work...ciaoooooo....

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  3. hey harith,nice architectural shots on abandoned buildings!the food seems good in langkawi too..cendol shake and nasi goreng bombay-jepun?yummy!looking forward to reading future entries :)

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