ALOR STAR.....many FOND memories.....

Alhamdulillah! that is all I could say... Ever so thankful for such a MEMORABLE trip to Alor Star, a trip in the Holy Month of Ramadhan. Main objective is to interview candidates for the next intake in December. Well, I might write about it..or not? So many things rushing to into my head now..mrasalah PAST TENSE katanya entry ni kan?? hehehe...

Saturday 15th Oct 2005

Went to KL Sentral by cab at 10 AM...flight is at 1345hrs... So I had ample time and so that I would not rush. Checked in my luggage at KL SENTRAL...mudah dan senang u ols... then, went to MPH, and guess what! REMAJA 15 Okt dahKELUAR! mrasalah melihat collection baju melayu we ols...heheh *havesla promosi diri sendiri yang dipakai oleh model yang JESZT u ols! hehehe... I also bought a set of 4 butterflies for Lea... hmmm u ols bile nak snappy2 butterflies itiew u ols? hehe.. And so, by 1445 kapal terbang itu selamatlah mendarat di Lapangan Terbang Sultan Abdul Halim (ke Hamid ah?) heheh.. dan..sedang menati kemunculan bagasi baju we ols, terlihatlah kelibat manusia berbaju KEBATART merah ala2 persis baju terbalik katanya, bercermin mata hitam menanti bak RATU di luar balai ketibaan itiew...WAH!! Laurielle!!! mek teruja u olss... anyway, belum sempat beg we ols terbit muncul di Baggage Belt, we ols dah peluks2 cium2 pipi dah...heheh.... dan setelah mendapatkan bagasi kiews, terus lah kami menuju kereta Che Lea kita yang di parkir di luar airport itiew.... Dan menuju lah we ols ke bandaq AS.. Nak CHECK IN di Hotel Regent yang telah di book oleh Lea itiew... Sesampai di hotel itiew dan setelah mrasa meletakkan beg hems yang persis lari dari rumah untuk setahun itiew.... dgn seronoknya we ols menuju ke WEDNESDAY Hamlet u ols... WAH!! my favourite place to source for traditional food stuff and sweeties... dan..mrasalah we ols terpesona dengan kepelbagaian barangan dan hidangan sekitar PARAM dan BARAM di Aloq Staq itiew.... Untuk IFTAR pertama we ols di AS... Lea telah membooking seat untuk 4 di City One Cafe. Mrasalah I ols berbuka dgn Badarsila (BS - that reminds me, I stil owe u a few RM for theIFTAR! nanti I ols pass thru CA nah!) and Najib CSI_x.... (mrasalah click sini untuk mendapatkan kisah IFTAR itiew yer) Sebelum pi IFTAR tu, Lea habaq dia ada SURPRISE untuk we ols... aiyoh... I was really blurry about the Surprise.. apakah surprise itiew??!! mrasalah click pada link tadi juga u ols... heheh..but, this is my part I WRITE U OLS BACA NAH! So.... selesai Iftar di City One itiew, Lea bawak we ols and BS ke JC dan lepak2 sitiew for a bit sebelum proceed untuk surprise we ols tuh..now I WAS REALLY GETTING NERVOUS! ape laaa dalam kepala si Lea ni nak surprise kan we ols...hmmm...isks...excited ade, nervous ada... So, manakala dari JC itu menuju lah Cik Ndot Rider Lea menuju ke mana2 ntah.. tapi tup2 arah Shahab Perdana, iaitu Stesen Bas Aloq Staq itiew! ehhhhhhhh seswatuh! katanya Lea nak serahkan we ols untuk menjadi bahan @#$%^& . Erk.... MOTIF? anyways... I ols dapat rasa diorang TAREK2 KAKI we ols jer... hehehe... And so, the car pulled depan stesen bas itiew... dan..MRASALAH SURPRISE UNTUK WE OLS... yang membuat diri ini terdiam, speechless, terkesima, terpaku dan hanya mampu diri ini untuk tersenyum.... it was Chef Aduka. Subhanallah! HE WAS ONLY SUPPOSED T BE IN AS THE FOLLOWING NIGHT! BUKAN MALAM NI! isk... anyway, terubat gak hati jumpe CA malam tu... Lepas tu terus Lea bawak I ols pi kedai DVD... dan mrasalah we ols menDVDkan diri... Malam tu Aloq Staq dilimpahi hujan rahmat dariNYA.... and so, we ols dihantaq balik ke hotel oleh Lea setelah menghantar CA pulang ke rumahnya.... Malam tu I ols sahurina MURTABAK kedai ROSE...just a few yards dari hotel penginapan we ols..... dan we old tertido dalam keadaan TERTANYA2 kenapa CA balik awal... dan semuanya terjawab dalam sms2 dari CA sendiri...mrasalah we ols TIDO terus lepas sahurina awal....

SUNDAY 16th Oct 2005

Mrasalah bangun jam 9 lebih... hmmm ALHAMDULILLAH dapat see another day. As I had planned, hari ni is HARI SHOPPING AND WINDOW SHOPPING SEKEDAH RASA 5thE.... hari untuk mengusha apakah barang yang akan dibeli... so, after man-mands at around 1130 itiew.. Mrasalah we ols keluar dan menuju ke...yes... WEDNESDAY HAMLET itiew...hehehe *mati la mak kene carot ngan orang Kedah! :P erk! So, mrasalah we ols membrong HALWA MASKAT dan AGAR2 KERING untuk Eid tak lama lagi.. WAH SO TRADISI! Also got kain sembahyang yang my mom kirim... Lega dapat fulfill hajat my mom tu. Memandangkan tersangatlah heavy dutynya berat Halwa Maskat dan Agaq2 Kering tu, so telah I ols bnalik ke biliks dan OFFLOADkan barangan.... dan terus menuju kembali ke Bandar Alor Star dan cruisy2 kedai2 area BARAM depan Grand Con dan also kedai2 jual laboochies bagai, dapat la spesis2 lama laboochies yang sudah dinch ada di KL... mrasalah borong laboochies..hehehe...

At about 3 pm plus, my colleague pun sampai dan check in kat hotel Regent itu. Lepas dia settle down sat, dia kol I ols... so we decided to keluaq to town lah katanya... IFTAR kali ni plak dah janji dengan kawan we ols, Aireen yang dok kat Jalan Langgar... Aireen ni kawan baik I ols time di ITM dulu. Dosi kawin dan sudah ada 3 cahaya mata, 1 gurgurl and 2 boboys... hehe.. So sebelum we ols jumpe Aireen yang telah kami setkan janji untuk dijemput kami di tangga titi di WEDNESDAY HAMLET itiew, sempat lah PM Raja and me senyopping kueh mueh Eid di WEDNESDAY HAMLET itiew... And as expected, I telah memeranjatkan Aireen dan hubbynya yang menanti dalam kerets mereka dengan membawa SEBUAH KOTAK BESAQ berisi KUIH MUIH TRADISI pesanan kawan2 dari KL...isks...hehehe...biasalah I ols, u ols...hehehe

We then adjourned to rumah Aireen di Jalan Langgar itu sementara menanti waktu untuk Iftar. Kat umah Aireen yang sangat spacious dan luas itiew, telah terungkaplah kisah2 past tense dan present tense kawan2 sepembelajaran dulu.... heheh...*haves la PUASA-O-METER we ols, hiks! I also telah memperkenalkan blog kawan2 pada Aireen yang dahagakan hiboran tat kala di Alor Star itiew *Havesla mak kene carot ngan Aireen..hehehe....

As the clock clicked on to 6 pm, kami decided to go out for Iftar, and pot pet pot pet, decided to have Nasi Kandar... And so we headed to this Nasi Kandar outlet called DEEJAYS (god knows where la kan...) The nasi briani was delicious! Ada satu insiden yang agak kelakor... Maklumlah, tgh puasarinas kan.... so ala2 menunggu lah Azan itiew, manakala di kedai itiew hanya kedengaran lagu2 Bollywood kaedahnya... jam terus berdetik, and I SWORE IT WAS PAST 7.06pm... and we were obviously looking at other eople to see if anyone had started eating..and behold! this Pak Cik next to our table pun mula lah berdoa dan mula makan..... Kami pun ape lagi, follow suit sahaj... only to notice that orang lain ala2 menten lagi..dan..setelah 2 suap nasi maka..BERKUMANDANGLAH AZAN YER!!! aiyoooo...hiks! well, I bet the Bilal would have to buka first before he laungkan the Azan right? hehehe... mrasalah kami tersipu2 ajer dan maintain composure kami...hehehe... Well, sedang2 berborak setelah selesai makan-makan tadi, Lea called me.. asking me where I was sebab dia nak join...but again, she called...only to inform us that.. TAYAR KETER DIE PECAH U OLS!!!! aiyoooooo.... manakala... terngiang2 lagi kata2nya... " I COULD USE SOME HELP U KNOW..." hehehe... so, to the rescuelah Aireen, Hubby, moi and PM Raja..... hehehe... Ke Jalan Sultanah la kami mencari kereta Lady yang tersadai.... hehehe... Nasibbaik la hubby Aireen ade, dia la the only lelaki...heheh.. so he changed the tire... and Aireen being Aireen... tetapp menten reti technical stuff about changing tyres..sekals dgn hubby dia.. I, Lady n PM Raja just looked on...hehehe...

After berjaya menukar tayar itiew, me and PM Raja and Lea went pusing-pusing, on the Cik Endot Rider.... went to Rendezvous De La Jayzeez and here there and everywhere...he he, had FUN! And before retiring for the night, me and PM Raja lepaked at STAR WALK katanya...makan bubur pulut hitam sambil memerhatikan gelagat anak-anak muda di Utara Semenanjung ni... and before balik hotel, mrasalah singgah Restoran Rose sekals lags...dan membeli Murtabak famous itiew untuk sahur.... hmm the next day nak pi interview anak orang la pulak kan... hmm..so tiduran la we ol...

MONDAY 17 Oct 2005

Started the day at about 430 a.m for sahur, tido-tido ayam till about 6 when the hotel made the wake up call got ready and by 8 am, me and PM Raja were off to Merbok Campus for the interview session. Upon our arrival @ Merbok, we were directed to the Art and Design Fac, where it was said that th einterview is being held there. Got to AD only to find out that our interview room was not being prepared..aiyah! CHOI! did some phone calls and in 1/2 an hour, we got our interview rooms. Thank goodness somehow my tutor when I was in foundation year was teaching there now, and so is one of my juniors, Thanks Kak Mumtaz and Azmi for all the kind help!

Interviewees

Aiyoh.... I had only 6/15 candidates for the Acting course and about 10/17 candidates for arts management course who attended the interview. *havesla aku tak buat analysis laghiks...hiks..

Well, most of them came prepared and in general were ok, but only the best would proceed. Perluke cerita u ols? nanti lah later2 we ol buat entry, insya ALLAH...

Got back to Alor Star at about 6-ish and we stopped by Nasi Lemak Ali to TAPAU our Iftar... Ni hajat PM Raja u ols, kalau mai Alor Star, kalau tak pi makan Nasi Lemak Ali ni...tak SAH u ols. So manakala hem lupe nak snappy2 nasi lemak tu dari dekat sebab tunggu dalam teksi itiew, so takdelah pixies yang menarik, but tetap akan buat review..a mini one lah...

NASI LEMAK ALI

Location: Somewhere in Alor Star, it is SO famous, everyone knows where it is, mrasalah tanya2 aje kalau nak tahu kat mane kedai itiew...

FOOD: The nasi lemak is different from the nasi lemak one would find else where in Malaysia, the NASI itself is different, nakkata nasi minyak, tapi bukan, nak kata nasi lemak biasa pun bukan, it is very rich. Lauk pauk also very vast u ols... I had Ayam Goreng Rempah with my nasi lemak, and they have different types of kuah to go with it, something like nasi kandar, but its not. Ayam dia tak kering ya, but very moist. Ada special sambal katanya, something similar to the coconut chutney one would have with Tosai. Memang sedap.

I highly reccomend sesiapa yang melawat Alor Star kan, to singgah kat Nasi Lemak Ali yang dah sekian lama bertapak itiew ya, dan mrasalah keunikan NAsi Lemak Ali ni. Its one of its own kind, maklumlah, dengar kata, been passed down for 2 generations already...

OK, Enuff...heheh lapor lak rase puasa2 ni...hhehe

After Iftar malam itiew, memandangkan malam terakhir we ols di Aloq Staq, Lea telah membawa kami menaiki Cik Endot Rider nyer putar-putar Jayzeez dan Bandaq Alor Staq...

DAN

Malam tu jugak la I ols kene ABDUCT dek Chef Aduka yang nak balik ke KL. I was actually already in bed, nak tidurans dah, and of all the sudden, the phone rang, "Hang siap sekarang, dalam masa 10 minit, hang turun bawah" - katanya.... erk..sepantas kilat la I ols memakai baju dan bersiap dan tunggu di lobby hotel itiew. And CA arrived with Abang Saleh and took me to Jayzeez and there I was introduced to Mie... CA's friend, at about a quarter to midnight, we sent CA to Shahab Perdana Bus Station for him to take his bus back to KL. I was then asked by CA (Via SMS) to accompany Abang Saleh for the night... so I did accompany Abang Saleh for drinks at the stadium.. at this stall called KENARI where people really do Karaoke till the wee hours in the morning... Abang Saleh crooned Dendang Perantau and Ikan Kaloi.. what vocal strength he had! anyway, he sent me back to the hotel at about 1.30 in the morning. I had Alor Star's famous Kueh Teow goreng for sahur... Actually woke up at 5 AM to have sahur :P

TUESDAY 18th Oct 2005

I woke up with a phone call from the faculty, saying that we have (PM Raja actually) has a candidate that wants to be interviewed at MERBOK. Half asleep, I told my AO to get in touch with PM Raja, and I went straight back to sleep..*ClAssIc* I really woke up at about 9 45 am, got ready and by 1030, me and PM Raja went out to PEKAN RABU (yep.. Wednesday Hamlet...hehe) to do our last minute shopping, well, before that, I and PM Raja walked around Alor Star's Tourist Attraction sites... Well, PM Raja grew up in Alor Star, so he knows his way around.. So i snapped pixies of : Abang Asks...hehe, Masjid Zahir and the famous Balai Nobat, not forgetting Menara Alor Star.

After walking around Alor Star in the month of Ramadhan, we then proceeded to the BARAM and PEKAN RABU to do our last minute shopping, and after that, back to the hotel to pack up. Lea came later on to clear the hotel bills and then we decided to have our final Iftar in Alor Star at MENARA ALOR STAR...

well, the three of us surely had SO MUCH FUN Iftar hari tu. I really enjoyed that IFTAR and it's one of my best Iftar outing so far this year. Thanks Prof treat we ols kat Seri Angkasa itiew. Well, i pun tak nak stretch lagi entry i nih (mrasalah ke link ataih nu ha)... so lastly...

Nak say thanks to:

ALLAH for letting everything happen and possible

Lea, for being a great host and friend

Aireen , for our friendship since July '95

PM Raja, for being a great colleague and travel companion

Chef Aduka, for the great surprise and friendship

BS, Najib and Abang Saleh (not to 4get whoever i met on this trip)for getting to know you guys...

Insya ALLAH, akan sampai lagi ke Alor Star....

Subhanallah Alhamdulillah

Lailahailallah Allahuakbar