Kampung Retreat...

"Maybe we never really know how good we have it, until it's gone..."

(Save the best for last...)

(Harvest for the day...)

More than 10 years ago, when we bought the kebun Sungai Rambai, it was a jungle, literally. The previous owner who was a retired teacher sold off this property at a relatively cheap price as the family was not keen of staying far from civilization. The nearest house is a few miles away and the nearest town is the scarcely populated pekan Sungai Rambai. The kebun is isolated and mostly surrounded by fruit orchards and small-scale palm oil plantation. The kebun itself is a 3.5 acres durian orchard with some dokong, rambutan and cempedak planted here and there. When the kids were still schooling we built a small chalet, the design idea came from one of the chalet we saw along the beach of Trengganu.

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We use to spend weekends and holidays in the kebun, especially during the fruiting seasons.

Pahang - Sunset and sunrise...

“A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it..."

We slept late last night after cleaning up the mess in the living room.

Today we decided to drive to Mersing, Johor and drive along the coastal roads of Pahang and Terengganu. We stayed a few nights at the small chalets and admired the sunset and sunrise from the serene beaches.

(Beautiful sunset)

Like a Disaster Movie...

"Live with no excuses and love with no regrets..." 

(The remains of the decorative bricks)

We convoyed in 10 cars and visited relatives as far as Kundang Ulu and Felda Bukit Serampang. We also visited the graves of our nenek and moyang and listened to Atok Abah narrating stories of the famous and not so famous great, great grand-parents.

We reached our Putramas apartment late after midnight and got a shock of our lives! The whole wall in our living room collapsed, destroying my precious terrarium and the side table. Luckily the TV and TV table escaped unscathed.

It may take a while to get the wall repaired. We may want to leave the wall as it is.

Hik hik.. Menitik air mata…

Hari Raya Eidul-fitri...

"Sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you are down, will be the one who helps you get up..." 

(Gerbang Sri Minyak Chalet)

We went to Mesjid Wilayah for the solat eidul-fitri. I cooked the kuah lodeh after the prayer and packed some to be brought back to Melaka later. This year, hubby's family gathering was at Zin’s place and we brought satay for pot-luck. As usual we had photography sessions after the makan-makan. By the time we drove back to Melaka it was late evening and we were among the last to arrive.

After a heavy dinner with all of the siblings, nephews, nieces and grand-children, we went to the chalets and rested early. For tomorrow, we are going berhari-raya to our uncles and aunties houses in Melaka and Johor.

Covert Mission...

“People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world…” - Bill Watterson

(Police Escort cars ready to convoy)

I thought kidnappings and hijackings are only seen in movies...

It was raining very heavily earlier. The road at Bukit Tunku was blocked by a fallen tree and I was running late. When I reached office, the representatives from the Vessel company and TLDM were already in the vault counting the ransom money and packing them in water-proof bags. It didn’t take them long to pack as the money was counted earlier on Friday till late night, witnessed by their bank and my three custodians.

(Berbuka puasa @ Dinar Matahari)

The rescue operation was supposed to be a small quiet one but by berbuka time, the whole contingent including police escorts and our polis bantuan were 80 people in total. We had packed nasi beriani dinner and after solat magrib the consignment started off to Subang TUDM Airport for the 9 pm flight to deliver the money.

We pray for the operation to be successful and all involved will come home safely for the Hari Raya celebration…

After News:

The 79 crew members of two Malaysian vessels hijacked separately off the coast of Somalia in August were flown back safely to Malaysia in time to celebrate the Eid. Alhamdulillah...