Strange Foreign Beauty

After 16 hours of unwarranted travelling, I finally got to my grandfather's old newspaper shop Saturday night at 9.30pm [local time], with an empty stomach after almost 12 hours without food.



The rather classy Sydney Airport Duty-Free Stores



Oh, how different things feel here, compared to the Australian city of Sydney that I have grown so used to in merely 9 months. First off, the weather is HUMID. Got off the plane and my hands already got sweaty. Second off, the traffic JAMS. If someone had the statistics to show, Malaysia would probably be in a top candidate for the country with the most car/motorbike-ownership to population ratio. Third off, people seem to look at me weirdly, and I usually eye them back warily and tense my muscles, just in case. If you have been checking out Malaysian news in the past couple of years, you will probably do the same. I'm not sure how safe it is anymore.

The lifestyle does have its beauty though. The FOOD... what more can I say? Even my grandma's simple homecooked food taste amazingly appetizing. Not that IH food back in Sydney is terrible, but the food over here is simply ... incomparable. Nasi lemak, chicken rice, curry chicken, roti canai ... all at cheap prices! Oh, and Papa Roti coffee bun is only RM2 [equivalent to around A$0.60].



A small sweet desert -- Tau fu fah

Just my lunch, sweet and sour pork, curry chicken with rice



Yum!

Cheap Papa Roti!



Homecooked food after 9 months is always welcoming

Though it has only been 9 months since I was last here, things have changed at home. My Indonesian maid who had been with us for 12 years -- ever since I was 7 -- has finally left home for good. I was surprised, as I didn't know of her leaving until I got back and found her room empty. Not only was she a great housemaid, more importantly, she was a great companion to all of us, especially my grandma. After all those years working and living under the same roof, she felt like family. But now she has left, to take care of her real family. One day, I will definitely go to Indonesia to visit her.

Now that our Indonesia maid has left, it's just my grandpa and grandma here at home now. My grandma has had to take care of the house all by herself -- with the help of another friend of hers -- and it shows: greyer hair, more prominent wrinkles, weaker voice. In addition to her added burden of chores, she still has to cope with degenerating eyes and persistent dizziness. Fortunately, my grandpa still looks pretty strong and fit.

Not sure what she was selling but there are plenty of portable stalls around my area

A developing area

tau

Tau Fu Fah dude with his bike

Driving again! Glad that I didn't forget how to drive!

Visited The Chinese Embassy to get my Chinese visa

Though this photo doesn't show it well, KL's full of skyscrapers!

While KL city is modern and beautiful, Kepong can sometimes feel like a ransacked town

Random two kids who kept looking at my camera while I was waiting in a bank. Asked their grandfather if I could take a photo, and he said sure.

Chinese herbal shop

Chnese herbal stuff...

My aunt's [formerly paternal grandparents'] house. I took the family photo on the left.

Nikon's D100, one of their first DSLRs

Makcik who sells Nasi Lemak almost every morning

Mixing up Chinese herbs

Grandfather's old shop

While home has been rather welcoming with its great food, I miss Sydney. A lot. It hasn't even been a week yet I already miss everything there is to miss about Sydney. The weather, the freedom, the spontaneity, and most of all, the people, my friends -- especially those who I won't be seeing in 3 months' time...