Odysseys of George

I was supposed to put this up last year. This was one of the main attractions in Kuala Lumpur in view of Visit Malaysia 2007.

I enjoyed the ride and also taking photos of it using my simple point and shoot Canon G7.

Enjoy.

The view from the top

And another

Enjoy.

Well, the next day saw excited faces waiting for their uncle to get up from bed. The moment I got myself ready for breakfast, the kids were salivating for an action day ahead! So this is what we did!

The main town - still looks the same.

Balai Nobat
This 18 metre-tall and 5 metre-wide three-tiered octagonal tower sole purpose is to keep all the royal musical instruments including the serunai (wooden flute), nafiri, gendang (drum) and gong, which is known as nobat. This nine-piece musical set is comprised of three drums, a gong, two flutes, two instruments called the cheng-cheng, and a trumpet-like instrument called the Nafiri, which produces the haunting strains of nobat music. The skills to play nobat music and these instruments are passed down from father to son, and the person who is incharged to play these instruments called Orang Nobat. Nobat are played for specific ceremonies such as royal installations, deaths and other official ceremonies.

Masjid Zahir
Officially opened in 1912, this state Mosque is an architectural landmark as it is one of the largest and grandest mosques in Malaysia, built in the tradition of the Moorish architecture.

Balai Rong Seri or Balai Besar (Grand Audience Hall)
Built in 1735 by the 19th Sultan of Kedah, Sultan Muhammad Jiwa Zainal Adilin Muazzam Shah, this was a lovely building with wood pillars, roofs and flooring. This is truly a beautiful building. I managed to get inside once when our first PM, Tunku Abdul Rahman died and his funeral service was conducted here.

The Silver Jubilee Fountain - built when our beloved King, HRH Tuanku Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah,celebrated the Silver Jubilee of his reign.

National Art Gallery

The State Museum - I must say I was impressed with this museum.

The Rice Museum - recently built

To complete this trip, we decided to go to Gunung Keriang. Gunung Keriang is a distinct outcrop in the middle of flat padi land.

It is here that they sell crystals from Gunung Keriang.

The cave opening/entrance at Gunung Keriang

The hike up Gunung Keriang to reach a platform almost atop the mountain, as shown below.

The view from the the top of Gunung Keriang

And the walk down ( My sister, Saji, her husband carrying Keisha, while she assist Pattrena down)

At the end of this day, I realized I was getting too old too fast! Was I tired! But that did not stop me from taking them to the playground with a dilapidated lake near the stadium.

Then it started to rain! Yahoo! Time to go home!

Thank God the next day was Christmas!

Wow, it has been years since I wondered around my hometown like this. This time, I was taking my niece and nephews to show them around the place I call home, the place that made me who I am, my beloved birthplace, Alor Setar.

They, were happy to see me arrive but angry that I arrived late. There were four of them, Ethan and Tristan, my second sister, Saji’s kids were in Alor Setar a week earlier. Now, they had Pattrena and Sherman,my third sister, Sherly’s kids to join them. ( Saji and Sherly are twins!)
The house suddenly became noisy and loud. My mom so used to peace and quiet was getting a little irritated. Solution to the matter - take the kids out of the house! It was great! I manage to savour my fond memories.

We did many things in two days. It started at our Menara Alor Setar, a mimic to the KL Towers.

Going up the lift and giving them a preview of what to expect from Alor Setar.

Tristan(Spidy T-shirt), Pattrena, Ethan and Sherman(standing in front)

Boys will be boys!

Then, I took them to a playground just before the Royal Golf Club, in the vicinity of Taman Lumba Kuda.

They played their hearts out and got thirsty, so we stopped at a nearby stall to have some drinks.

Before we head back home for a late lunch, (made sure they were extremely hungry), it was time to show of my Alma Mater, Sultan Abdul Hamid College , the college that breeds scholars, sportsman and gentleman, since 1908.

One of the many reasons why I love my College is for the many beautiful old large trees growing alongside the road as if cozily welcoming you in.

Our canteen area

Our Library named after one of our ex-headmasters which is also the name of my school sports team. There were other sports team but Stuart wore the red tee!

That afternoon, I took them for a swim at the public swimming pool beside the stadium.

That is Keisha standing at edge of the pool. The youngest in Ethans family.

I was beat by the end of that day! It is not easy entertaining a group of kids! I slept soundly and happy with those memories. Little did I realize that my special friend, was also going down memory lane as she journeyed her way back to her parents village in the depths of Sarawak!

It has been a while. My schedule was packed. After the dive, I was spending my time solving my personal issue - rather trying to solve. I manage to see my son, Ruban. He recognized me and we got along instantaneously despite not having seen him for so long. He reminds me of myself when I was his age maybe, I was a little smaller but I was definitely timid. He took his mom’s characteristics in his talk. He was talking so much and so well. I miss him so much but I have somehow found a way to mask it well, I suppose.

Well, I was happy to see him. However, the issues to settle could never be settled over a 3 day period but it cooled down many other issues too. Maybe one day, when I am ready I shall blog about that.

Perth, is a quiet town. The main city is bustling with activities but remains a city as usual.

Fremantle is even more quiet but I like it better than Perth. I managed to visit the Fremantle Prison and I personally recommend it for any visitors to Perth. The guide is good and clear and is able to make it very interesting and informative at the same time.

The guide with a child carrying her waste potty in the juvenile section of the prison.

This was done by one of the inmates and he had the 6th commandment modified.

There were a few notable inmates who were excellent artist as of this where he painted his cell wall.

The solitary confinement cell and its door!

The hanging room and the famous noose

The roll of honour.

With this, I end my Perth trip. I had three aims before coming and I must say that I manage to do them all almost all. I am satisfied.

Will I go there - for a visit - yes!
- for a dive at Rottnest island - nope!
- to settle down - not now and only if I am forced too. It is a nice place to retire.

Thanks for reading!

Dive 2: Crystal Palace, Rottnest Island

Well after a hearty lunch, we headed off to our second dive spot. We anchored and the sun was shining brightly. Again, the hearty skipper proceeded to tell us the depth and that Crystal Palace was a beautiful cavern like landscape situated towards the west. This time the temperature though still 18degrees Celcius but because of the sun, it felt better.

Th current was strong and the earth felt like it was moving because this sandy bottom only had weeds growing and thus when the weeds move it caused a relativity effect to your eyes.

We managed to find the place and I should say that this was better than the first dive. The cave like formation is made from a raised rock or coral and thus it was beautiful. One of them had their air run out so we had to surface earlier and upon ascending a large manta ray cruised at the surface ever so gentle and effortlessly despite its enormous size.

A nudibranch

This was something I had never seen. It is called a Baler snail and it is huge. Beautiful design on its body.

This chap the devil fish was irritating me when I was taking a shot of the Baler snail. So I decided to take its photo and see how nicely, this little Devil posed for me.

The three of my friends who dived with me.

Rob, John and Hayley

Thus ended my dive in Australia. The next time I come, I must go up to Ningaloo Reef.