Intermediatary 2006-2007 & Crazy Thaipusam Holiday

Well, 2006 was really an extreme year for me, good things come at their best and best things come at their worst... What a very ironic introduction to my adult life... OH NO!!! I'm no longer a youth... gosh... I couldn't believe that my 21st birhtday is spent in AIMST... =.=" I dare say that I really regret coming to AIMST! Living hell! I hate this place! 2006 had passed by and now 2007 has come. I hoped that 2007 would be a better year than 2006! Well, at least I got a very crazy Thaipusam holiday.

On the 1st of February 2007, I had no plans to go anywhere. I was supposed to go to Aman Jaya campus to meet Khim Yik to explain some Chemistry to him. However, he cancelled it as there might not be a bus to Aman Jaya as it was Thaipusam. So I woke up relatively later that I used to - 10:00 a.m.. After bathing and having burger for breakfast, I turned on my computer, and I went online.

My aunt asked me whether I would like to have Maggi Mee for lunch, and I told her I did. Suddenly, I saw a familiar name came online, it was Pei Ling! How glad was I to see her online until I called her by her full name, Neo Pei Ling! Then she felt awkward why I called her her full name. She prefered me to call her 'nini'. XD yeah, nice joke, Nini...

I asked her where she was that time and she told me she was in a very 'ulu' area - Nibong Tebal. I was more than delighted to hear that and I asked whether it was convenient for me to visit her and my other ex-schoolmates there, and she replied: "why not? We can have lunch together, with Ai Ling too. You serious of coming?"

I told her I was serious of going, and that time was 11 a.m., so I still could cancel my Maggi Mee lunch. Pei Ling gave me directions to their USM engineering campus in Nibong Tebal, and I left for it around 11:22 a.m. and reached there within one hour. Along the way, I saw a signboard showing the way to a recreational park and a forest reserve. Upon reaching USM, I had to pass the guardhouse. Two guards in blue were there. I slowed down my car. They watched me pass by, still. So I ignored them.

Next, was to find Ai Ling and Pei Ling. Took me a while before I could get to their hostel. Then as usual, Inn Cheq was there also, with a Johorean girl, from Pontian. I later found out that she knew Pei Wee, from Pontian also. They took me to Parit Buntar to have lunch, and I had Maggi Mee also but Bak Kut Teh version. Not bad. A group of other girls were there also, led by Lee Ting. I spoke little that time as I was the only guy there with about ten girls. I overheard Ai Ling mentioned about her eagerness to go to Ipoh.

After lunch, we went to the supermarket there. Very 'BIG'... =.=" Well, they were there for some Chinese New Year decorations. After that, I asked my friends to accompany me to go to the forest reserve, which signboard I saw earlier. Pei Ling was reluctant to go at first but in the end, because Inn Cheq came along, she came too. For long we searched the place but we could not find the forest reserve, thanks to the very misleading signboards.

Four of us, Ai Ling, Inn Cheq, Pei Ling, and I, journeyed to look for the forest reserve but failed. Nibong Tebal is a very unique location. It is a boundary between three states, namely Kedah, Penang and Perak. Nibong Tebal is of Penang, Parit Buntar is of Perak, and I am not sure of the Kedah's town but it was somewhat next to Serdang, a place famous for its fried porridge.

Parit Buntar is separated from Kedah by a river. It was the place they took me to have lunch earlier. Earlier, when we were having lunch, they looked across to the other side of the river and wondered where it was. After long searching for the 'hutan lipur' (forest reserve), we ended up at the other side of the river. Oh how excited they were to have discovered it that day.

Where to next? Serdang to have friend porridge? No way, it was too early, 4:00 p.m., and they didn't think the shop would sell on public holidays, so the plan was cancelled. I drove along a road and saw the signboard pointing to the highway. It was written there: Pulau Pinang (Penang), Ipoh. Then I asked them, "Wanna go Setiawan? Ipoh?" They answered, "Sure!!!"

Off we went, to Ipoh!!! OMG, spontaneous events are the best. No planning, no nothing. We had a great talk along the way about our lives and nonsenses. Well, the way to Ipoh really brought back memories to me. I used to travel that route frequently, Penang-KL and KL-Penang. The landscape changed from flatlands to hilly contours. Looking down the beautiful greenish valley from the high highway was breathtaking.

Not long later, we reached the Northern toll of Ipoh. The very first spot we spotted was Perak Cave. It looked interesting, so we entered the compound, only to learn that it was already passed 5 p.m. and it was already closed. We took pictures just outside the cave. We convinced ourselves that we should leave this visit for our next trip, where we would come down to Ipoh, then 'spontaneously' go further down to KL.

Well, we got lost in Ipoh, as I've been there only twice, and I could not really remember the routes there. We searched for the famous spot for beansprout chicken, for rounds and rounds and rounds, only to find that it was actually very near to us. After the beansprout chicken dinner, we got ourselves some famous Ipoh biscuts. I got some for my parents and a good friend of mine.

Then it was time to go back. 7:30 p.m. we started our journey and reached Nibong Tebal around 9:05 p.m.. We said goodbyes to each other and I thanked them for accompanying me. I went up the guys' hostel to look for Boon Peng, Han Yang and Wee Keat but they were not there. Only Han Yang was there, I spoke to him for an hour before heading back to Sungai Petani. Thus, ends my Thaipusam holiday this year...