Early risers in Auntie May, Mr.Bernard and Mr. Indran woke me up that morning. It was already Sunday, 24th April, 2022. I must admit I am an early riser as the vibrations from the floor due to walking would have woken me up anyway that morning. After a quick washup, I was up to join the veterans at their morning walkabout at our homestay. What a lovely morning! The early morning breeze was good ; fresh and invigorating. The rest were still sleeping and it was time to wake them up as we had a breakfast date with Suresh and Jini that morning at their home. It wasn’t easy waking up these groggy men or roused them from their slumber. However, the mention of meeting up for breakfast did roused them up a bit. Afterall, food to the stomach will wake anyone up for the matter.
Soon, we proceeded to Suresh & Jini place for breakfast. Amidst the background of oldies songs blaring from a reproduction of gramophone set, the atmosphere was set for a lovely morning. We then ushered Mr & Mrs Indran, Mr. Bernard and Auntie May together with the rest of the guys to have their breakfast first. It was a good breakfast spread of nasi lemak, kuih lompang, kuih koci and a variety of local kuihs. Suresh was out to pack wan tan mee, chee cheong fun and bee hoon soup together with a whole load of goodness. Jini was busy at the kitchen preparing tea and coffee for all of us. I am very thankful to Suresh & Jini for taking the effort and trouble to get us a really good spread of breakfast goodness. Our fellowship and laughter continued while some of our friends were ready to go back home to their respective places. Suresh shared some of his motorcycle paraphernalia, jackets and boots. We had a good chit chat, photography session and bade our farewells to each other. We were off back to our homestay; doing our clean-up of the place before we bid farewell to our ex-lecturers and their wives. It had been a wonderful time together and catching up. I believed everyone was blessed and touched by the gathering. We couldn’t thank Suresh & Jini enough for booking the homestay for us and keeping us full with meals and the necessity.
After everyone had gone back to their respective places, Ragu, Santokh and I proceeded towards Padang Serai for our next part of our journey. This time, Santokh and I wanted to spend some time with Ragu’s family and fellowship with them. Throughout the journey there, Ragu spoke to us and kept us alive with his jokes and spontaneous re-collection of the yesteryears events. Ragu is such a lovely person. Sure, he had a hard time waking up in the morning and he is definitely not an early morning riser but he is such a fine individual. He is kind, loving and a happy go lucky guy indeed. Perhaps one sees him that way but underneath all that, he is such a responsible person, sensitive and a very lovely person. I find it a real joy to see the real him and the level of caring he does for his family and friends. I guess, we can easily single him out for all his antics and crazy ways but beneath that this is one firm fella with a lot of guts. Guts of steel, I would say. If there was anyone with balls of steel, it would be Ragu. He is very likeable ; both socially and intellectually plus he has that friendship aura about him. Get to know him and you will get a true gentleman with a real heart of gold. That’s the best compliment I could give to a great guy like him. He reminds me of that round rubber ball that would bounce back every time you hit on him. My portrayal of him like a round rubber balls signifies his warm heart, bouncing back from difficulties he has to face and the tenacity of survival. He is such a survivalist and truly a person of joy to be with. He is honest, bold and a good cheer to the heart! That’s Ragu!
Anyway, we arrived in his home in Padang Serai and there to meet us was his lovely wife Villasini. A bubbly, smiley and really lovable wife of Ragu. I really love her infectious enthusiastic and bubbly personality. She is so cheerful and alive indeed. She had prepared some tea and biscuits for us and it was lovely. The masala tea was really good. I believe that everyone seemed to have a different way of preparing them but it tasted good when done with great love and care. After finishing our tea, we proceeded to the homestay and got ourselves some rest as Ragu was also tired and needed some rest. Ragu informed us that he would pick us up for dinner at about 7.30pm. We rested for a while and catch up with our families via Whatsapp calls and video calls. At about 7.30pm, Ragu came by together with his wife and daughter and took us to a nearby Chinese restaurant for dinner. It was a fantastic dinner with BBQ chili stingray ( ikan pari ), fried rice, vegetables and wan tan hor kueh teow. It was a good dinner indeed. The ikan pari sambal and accompanying sauce was very good in taste. Love the taste, actually. Along the way, we got to know ragu’s daughter and such a lovely person with equivalent lovely smile and great personality. She is bold, vibrant, strong and a cheerful person just like her dad. Her smiles are like her mother and I guess, if one were to meet her and see her smiles when in deepest rut or swimming in a bad day, it would bring a lot of calmness and comfort in our hearts. Bless you , Ragu for having wonderful and sweet smiling daughters and a very good wife.
After sending his wife and daughter home, we were off to Bukit Mertajam to visit our friend, Haja Mohideen. We had made plans earlier to meet him after terawih prayers and we would not want to miss the opportunity to meet Haja and his wife. Our appointment to meet up was at 10.00pm that night . However, we had arrived earlier at his house and we waited for him to arrive. When Haja and his wife came by at about 10.00pm, it was such a great feeling to see him. For me, Santokh and I have not met with Haja for 33 years too while Ragu had met up with him some time back. It was good to see and talk to Haja as his wife prepared some simple supper for us. It turned out that supper was actually a handsome amount of chappati with chicken curry and an Indian sweet cake, kesari which was heavenly in taste. We talked and keep abreast about our lives and how we had been all this while. It was really good to see our friend, Haja. We also had some chappati, curry chicken and kesari while Haja’s wife packed a container of kesari which was rich with ghee and so lovingly smooth for Ragu and his family. As we had a ferry to catch the next morning to get to Langkawi via Kuala Kedah, we bid farewell to Haja and his wife. We are touched by the kind gesture and hospitality shown to us by Haja and his wife. Truly appreciate their kindness to us. My heart is overwhelmed with joy and comfort that despite our different religion and culture, we are friends (sahabat) in every way. Thank you , Haja for that love, hospitality and great kindness shown to this old heart of mine.
On the way back to Padang Serai from Bukit Mertajam, I must admit that it was indeed an adrenaline filled journey which I will not forget in my entire life. The journey back was a journey of great terror whereby my spleen and my heart together with my stomach made amazing swap and somersaults during the drive. I could have sworn that the swimming chapatti and curry chicken together with the kesari made flips and turns in my stomach much to the delight of stomach juices. Ragu’s magnificent handling of the car was superb and I could have easily mistaken him for a Grand Prix driver! I wouldn’t know if he was tired or super pumped up but I must suspect that Haja’s food fare of the sweet and ghee filled kesari could have something to do with his amazing driving skills that night! Hahahahahahahaaaaaaaaa………I could have sworn that I would have kissed the ground of the homestay for arriving safely that night but I prided myself not to do so in front of the neighbours and some dogs on the street! Santokh and I laughed our way into the homestay that night. What a wonderful friend we have in our buddy, Ragu!
Sleep come easy that night as we were tired after a long day of driving and getting some things sorted out. Our homestay, courtesy of Ragu, was exceptionally good and clean. I slept good that night. I am dreaming of better times and fun already. Langkawi, you are next!
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