last nite, at this hour, was in limau kasturi, mat chok’s coffeeshop to be precise, savoring the teh separuh, which can only be found in limau kasturi..
yesterday morning at 9, went on a lone ranger trip to south Kelantan on my rastaman. the weather was erratic; hot in the early part of the ride, and cloudy with slight rain later in the late afternoon.
by noon, was at ku’s. kak pah was there with bad and kak nik. I always enjoyed going over to ku’s, since this was the place I used to hang out when I stayed in perasu in the early nineties. ku’s place is in a felda settlement, but being the last house in the area, his plot is way bigger than the usual plots meant for the settlers. there’s a pond to rear fish, a stream behind the house, abundance of durian, rambutan, dokong, petai trees, (but not a fruit in sight this time around!) and the best part of al is the meal provided by kak pah. it will always be so appetizing, sometimes I wonder what’s her secret. like yesterday afternoon, we had simple dishes: ikan pekasam, petai jeruk, budu, and mixed vege, but I just couldn’t resist the temptation of having a second and third helping. if not for the trip to krai a little later after that, most probably I would have a fourth helping. it was always like that at ku’s. sometimes we would have exotic dishes such as grasshopper and porcupine. not to your liking? well, you should try them out first instead of making assumption.
after lunch, had a chat with ku about a lot of things, but eventually it led to ketuhanan. as usual lah.. was engrossed but because I had made a promise to go to krai, left ku and family reluctantly though he did invite me to stay the nite next time available.
by 4.40pm reached krai and met cikgu noor’s family after a gap of almost 18 years. how time flies.. all the siblings, eleven of them, were there. how they have grown up; most of them were married with children. we had a wonderful time recollecting on memories gone by. I was there because of zool’s wedding. I got there a day earlier actually with the idea I would be able to spend time with the family. they insisted that I stay the night, but I had to decline since I’d promised mat chok I would go to limau, and maybe the nostalgia of seeing cikgu noor’s children was too much to bear.
so at quarter past six left for limau. it ws drizzling along the way, and the day was getting dark, and I was already weary. by nightfall, reached limau. thank god. after bath, had dinner consisting of ikan lampam masak gulai asam with the standard: petai and budu. thought of retiring early because of my weariness but instead slept after midnite after chatting with nordin.
the next morning, was at the station waiting for the train to pass. since it was still early, met a lot of the kampong folks who were on the way to their offices, kebun getah, at mat chok’s. cikgu fnd, mat pok sar, abe sekoni, ayahanda, and many more whose names just slipped my mind. at ten, left for home. the sky was cloudy, and I was anticipating rain along the way. I just wished that it would not rain until after I had passed Blue Valley at Cameron Highlands since it would be so cold if I were to be drenched. and the worst possible scenario happened: it rained as soon as I was ascending Tanah Tinggi lojing right up till Blue Valley for a good 7 km ride. Peh! talking about timing.. it was so cold, and I was shivering, and I swear I could hear my bones creaking.. anyway, thank god I was able to continue the journey home without any mishap. finally, reached home sweet home at 2pm. tired but satisfied.
another trip to treasure.
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