Saying Goodbye

We got up very early for our breakfast. We were among the first to arrive there. Quick check out, followed by a short drive avoiding the traffic jam back to TH Hotel to say goodbye to my Aunt and Uncle. We were lucky that we managed to spend another hour with them before an announcement was made asking them to return to their rooms.

Again, the process was really straight forward, although it rained early that morning causing a bit of an issue with the open car park. The meeting area floors were also wet, but those were really minor gripes.

My Uncle had never flew in an airplane before - my Aunt visited me in Manchester before - so, he was rather apprehensive and nervous - especially with the couple of incidents earlier in the year affecting MAS. Once they were finally in - their flight would be later in the afternoon - we set off back to Sungai Petani to pick up one of my cousins who would be following us to KL.

I decided to take a quick nap before Friday Prayers, and finally we left for KL at around 4 pm, reaching KL just after 9. Tiring couple of days indeed, but well worth the effort ....

While driving back, I had switched Flightradar24 on, tracking their flight. It around 5pm that the flight took off, and by the time I went to bed that evening, it was just about entering Saudi Arabia airspace.

Overnight at Equatorial

Located right at the top of Bukit Jambul, I heard of the hotel before, but never actually stayed there. Looked like one of those classic 80s hotels, it was much classier than I thought. And a lot bigger.

The hotel had a unique design. It was four wings spreading from a central roofed hollow area creating an atrium feel, nine story high. My room was at the end of one of the winged corridor, a nice little suite which I shared with my Mum. My Dad was planned to come along but decided against traveling at the last minute since he had a cold. I ordered an extra bed, sleeping at the living area.

The inner layout of the hotel was pretty unit, with a central hollow design.Looking down onto the main lobbyI could see the second bridge from the room's balconyAll we did there was sleep and had shower, plus the breakfast the next morning. I did not have the chance to sample any of the facilities, or room services.

The room was nice and comfortable. It felt new, which I was sure due to a recent upgrade. It had a balcony, which was not cleaned. It had no seating - which I thought could have been made into a feature. It came with free broadband - which I did not bother to sample as the LTE signal was pretty good in the room.

The room with my extra bed at the living area

It had all the sports and movie channels, plus 24 hour room service should you need some food. The gym and pool was located on the ground floor, and the hotel had a total of seven restaurant, including the famous Kampachi Japanese restaurant.

The breakfast the next morning was not included for standard room, which was part of the reason that I went for the suite. It was a pretty standard fare. Could have been better.

Would definitely call in again should I need a room near the airport area. Otherwise, Eastern and Oriental would still be our favourite ....

Up and Down

It was a hectic couple of days of driving. After sorting out my ward on Thursday, I drove up to Penang for my Aunt's send off. Straight to the airport as she had already embarked from her home, spending a night at the Tabung Haji Hotel in Bayan Lepas. That certainly cut down on her travel time as traveling after office hours from Sungai Petani could be a nightmare.

I arrived at around 5 pm, joining my Mum at the hotel. Next came my turn to find a place to stay for that night. It wasn't that hard since there were a fair few hotels near the airport. A quick net search got me a decent deal at Equatorial, about 15 minutes drive away.

I then took my Mum to the hotel for her to catch a rest as she had been with my Aunt for the past couple of weeks, helping her out with her packing and sorting out her house in Sungai Petani. She went to sleep until Maghrib, she was that tired.

Then we joined my Aunt and Uncle again at the TH Hotel while waiting for another Aunt and her family to come visit. Tabung Haji had prepared seating areas for families to say their goodbyes, complete with shades and fans, as well as stalls to buy food. Very comfortable, not like the old days .... more on that on another entry reminiscing on the time when I sent off my late Grandfather in the early 80s.

Pak Teh

That took us to around 10 pm. It was then that the real crowd built up. The car park was almost full and the resting area was filled to the brim. My Uncle asked if I could take him for dinner. Apparently about 20 years ago, he came across a seafood restaurant near Batu Maung, not far from Bayan Lepas.

The challenge was to get to the place place had changed a lot in the last few years. Luckily we saw a sign heading into Batu Maung town, pointing the way to Kampung Teluk Tempoyak.

The restaurant was about to close but when they saw my Uncle's Hajj tag, the owner quickly asked if we wanted anything. He then cooked some fresh ikan bakar and crab for us. It was the bomb!

It was almost midnight when we finally settled back into the hotels. Mum again hit the deck soon after. It was going to be another long day tomorrow ...