Being A Tourist In Sungai Petani/Beautiful Sunsets/Angela’s Birthday/AIMST Sports Carnival/Meeting Justin Tiew

*Blings/crystal stickers are up on thestickermonster.blogspot.com!!

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When Chee Kiang came up to Kedah to see me, we finally decided to explore Sungai Petani. Yeap. After three years. Having a car definitely fueled the process but yeap, after three years. I should be ashamed of myself.

Our first stop was the Merbok waterfalls. I’ve heard that horny couples go there to fornicate as there are condoms strewn about. I don’t know, my friends tell me wan. When I went there I saw an old underwear though.

It’s almost like we’re driving up to some highlands.

I think it’s more of a water catchment plant than a waterfall. It’s too pathetic to be a waterfall. Not to mention gross.

That’s Lie Yuen walking down for a closer look. Very nice meh to bergolek-golek on the rocks? Sex on the rocks hahaha. I wouldn’t want fish spa where fishes don’t belong or get rock burns(you know, like carpet burns? Geditgedit? *forces joke on you*). Or make the headlines: “Naked couple found at the riverbank.”

Would you bathe in that, honestly? The water might look clear, but it’s not like it’s a gushing waterfall, more like a trickling pipe. Eurghh.

Chee Kiang seems to have no problem exploring a little bit more.

I went down anyway. I did try my best not to touch the water but I got soaked right up to my thighs.

Hahaha the guy looks like he is dead.

The water is actually quite beautiful despite where it comes from. What pissed us off were some kids and their parents nearby who were washing their hand with shampoo and washing their cars as well!

A little bit of fauna.

Ehehe, pembiasan cahaya. Lie Yuen and Cze-Yin look like they have elephantitis in this picture.

Urgh…;probably some vendors washing their chairs.

Chee Kiang said I should send this photo to The Star.

After that, we went to a place which was mentioned over and over in our history books : Lembah Bujang!

The day before our ‘big adventure’, Chee Kiang was googling about Merbok(the area where Sungai Petani is located in) and it actually has a very extensive history! It stretches back to the neolitic times!! This is why Lembah Bujang has all these ancient ruins of temples and it is also the home of many archaeological sites. The Merbok river was used for trading and it is the same river that I drive over every morning!

They are not exactly majestic ruins but just bits and pieces from the ancient times.

For all you know they snapped it off a pillar somewhere in Putrajaya.

I’m trying very hard to be impressed.

Nice. Bricks on bricks. This is apparently a temple(Candi) and a bronze Buddha statue was once placed in the middle.

Of all the temples, I think this was the nicest. But it looks like the people back then were pretty much midgets.

This is me getting sidetracked by some petai hanging from a tree.

Me and my boy with them temples.

We found some strange fruits on the floor. it reminds me of those sesame balls that are usually served during dimsum.

Chee Kiang tried squashing some.

Wahh…… pieces of ceramics. Wooo..

Okay I have to admit that this one is pretty impressive. I actually took a photo of one of the Batu Bersurats and the writing on it is damn cute. Like a giant face that is super ugly. I forgot to edit so yeah, moving on.

I don’t know if the sampans are able to be seen clearly but they are the ‘Perahu Sagor’ that traders used back in the ancient times. Many were found marooned at the sides of the Merbok river.

What trip of Sungai Petani would be complete without going up Gunung Jerai? I couldn’t possibly graduate and leave Sungai Petani without going up the mountain that I stare at wonder each and everyday. I’ve always loved how the clouds envelope the tip of the mountain and the lone yellow light that flickers at the top of the mountain at night.

I drove up, he drove down. It was actually quite cooling up there!

The place was under renovation. There is actually a holiday resort there which was said to be pretty shabby.

As you can see, with the new additions, we might even stay there for a night.

Ya whatever. We walked pass it.

Mist! Can you see it?

Shabby as it is, the view is really really awesome. Paddy fields stretch into the horizon and clouds form a fluffy layer above the greens.

That’s Pulau Bunting with its white elephant bridge. Satu lagi Projek Barisan Nasional..

=) Chee Kiang is currently in Romania now. Partying(according to him, the Pharmacy Student Conference that he is attending is 20% conference and 80% party) away with future pharmacists from all over the world. There was even one night where everybody traded alcohol beverages from their homeland. He had Korean Beer, Slovenian Beer, Spanish Beer, Finnish Beer, Denmark beer..etc.

Oh look, trying to be Cameron Highlands.

Imagine being stranded there at night.

The road is only wide enough for one car to pass. So, becareful if you drive up Gunung Jerai.

We’ve always agreed that the sunsets at Sungai Petani yield the most beautiful colours. Especially during April. Somehow the sunsets are prettier.

This was taken in Penang when I sent Chee Kiang back to his grandmother’s house. damn nice right? 😀

Right after our Cameron Highlands Trip, we celebrated Angela’s birthday at Old Town. Old Town is probably the best thing to ever happen to Sungai Petani. Here’s Chee Wen opening Angela’s cake at high speed.

My favourite kind of cake. Mmmm.

Jimmy showing us why he needs more cake.

I’m sure other girls will kill me if I pull this one on them, but Angela is probably the most patient and gentle person in our class. No prizes for guessing who is the most impatient and ganas person in class.

Happy Belated Birthday, Angela!

And this is the night where we thought that the North Zone Sports Carnival which was held our university would rake in like 900 students to watch the games and thus bought enough fruits to feed 900 people. Our of four events, the only event held at AIMST was the badminton game and even so, you think people would bother to turn up? 🙁 ARGH. We were our best customers.

We had Honeydew, watermelon, papaya and banana ice blended. Not all together lah, it’s a combination of any two fruits, with nata de coco and ice.

To cut a long story short, my ice shaver died half way and I officiated my mum’s juicer and it worked amazingly well!! A post about my attempt at making honeydew milk shake will be up soon!

SEE! Grrrrr. Had to give so many fruits away at the end of the carnival.

Xin Yi and Chee Wen were pleased to find that the Papaya has a starry-inside.

Even the tip of the papaya is star-shaped! Reminds me of Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction.

Xin Yi and I on the first day of the event. All the carrying and shifting is not fun at all. 🙁

That’s our beautiful signboard that Jimmy, Sett, Chee Wen, Ee Chia etc etc made. So creative right! The tooth is made by papier-marche on a wiremesh. They cleverly used a tub of soil to hold the stick which holds the toth.

l-r: Chee Wen, Sett and myself.

Jimmy was a real neat freak – in a good way of course. If we didn’t have him around we would definitely have a tough time with the whole arrangement and all our attempts at maintaining a hygienic environment(note the plastic gloves) would go out the window.

Friday morning’s shift!

Oooh! Ooh! I’m sure I have friends who know this guy up there, right next to me. He is Justin Tiew and we have plenty of mutual friends together. He is actually my step cousin – his step dad is my dad’s cousin. A few chinese new years ago (when his Step Dad was still alive, he passed away last year), I think it was back in 2004, his step dad told me that his step son, Justin is studying in Taylor’s College, A-Levels as well. So I was on this mission to find out who this step cousin of mine is.

I don’t know what made me do this, but once when my class and another class were crossing paths between classes along the corridor, I saw this guy and my instinct told me, “This is Justin”. I tilted my hip towards him, and with two hands doing the gun-shape thingie like some loserish wannabe western fellow trying to say, “Yo!” and said, “You’re Justin right?” (hip tilt, gun hands – all in one swift motion).

And the guy was like, “No?!” and hurried along. Damn shy man.

I gave up on my quest to search for Justin Tiew. I did hear his name here and there throughout college but have never met the fella. We even worked on the same editorial team but never met. He designed the cover for that year’s A-level yearbook.

No one would have guessed where we finally met.

On Kennysia’s tagboard. -__- (that was my first and last time tagging there okay. At least I don’t use it as a chatroom.)

And so during my first year in dentistry, he finally added me on MSN. After many clashing schedules throughout the years, we finally met recently in Sungai Petani where his father’s family resides.

So this is the story of my step cousin whom I met for the first time in my life.

I’ll wrap this post up with a photo of an over elated Ah Thong celebrating his 23rd birthday! 😀