I was at my parents-in-law's house in Tanah Merah, Kelantan last weekend. Arrived at 10.15 pm Friday night, after more than 6-hour drive. We reached TM downtown around 9 pm, but didn't go straight to PIL's because we (I!) didn't want to trouble my MIL to prepare dinner for us and 5 kids. PIL puasa sunat Rejab. Dinner was kueytiow goreng for me and Dayana and full-course nasi for the Daddy, Sarah, Iman and I'zzah. I switched off my calorie-counter when the first plate of sate and nasi himpit arrived. I couldn't stand its alarming beep going off ever since our last meal at Gerik 3 hours before. I knew I should have left the counter at home with the treadmill. At least they can keep each other company while they mourn and miss me, right? Daddy wanted some colek perut to top the meal off but unfortunately (fortunately?), they are all gone.
On Saturday morning, breakfast was bought at the makcik's stall in front of the house. Nasi lemak, nasi belauk, nasi kerabu - all served with pieces of deep-fried chicken. On the side, there were kuih cek mek, apom kelapa, roti goreng, curry-puff, pulut pagi (brown pulut with white dessicated coconut) and pulut inti (white pulut with brown-sugared coconut). I devoured my breakfast, having totally forgotten about the 3 pieces of toasts, slathered with susu pekat manis, during sahur with my PIL just before azan Subuh. Both Daddy and I had home-made Nescaffe Tarik - gelas besar and with extra milk.
Whoever said eating pulut sapped your morning energy was right. I fell asleep as soon as I nursed Ryan his breakfast, and it was only 8.30 in the morning.
When I woke up, Daddy has already showered, dressed, and plucked two basketfuls of buah salak from the 10+ trees around PIL's compound. At least we had fresh fruits as morning snacks. My BIL, Juki and his family arrived from JB (after 12-hr drive) just in time to join us at the second basket. This had got to be my best Saturday morning in a long time.
At noon FIL, Ayah Tok, came home from his Jeli orchard with freshly-gathered durians. We couldn't crack them open just yet - out of respect for orang berpuasa. So we did the next best thing - drove out to TM down town for Nasi Biryani at Restoran Mama. But before that, I had to make several stops at the shops selling tudungs. I like buying tudungs, especially the tudungs made of lycra materials, here because they are generally 10-20% cheaper than those sold in Ipoh. And they have them in XXL size here. Abundantly. The only size that received the nod of approval from Daddy.
So armed with cups of Cendol in our hands, we went into one tudung shop after another. The Cendol here is somewhat special because they put the pink jelly stuff in the drink to add the extra umph.
At Maghrib, PIL break their fast and we had pulut with durian and santan. Only kids 14 and under had their dinner after Maghrib. Around 9:15 pm, after Ayah Tok came home from the mosque, we the adults had our dinner - rice with sup daging, daging goreng kunyit, rendang tok (bought at Pasar Tani, Ipoh), ikan kembung goreng, acar buah, sambal petai, ulam temangi, timun, kacang panjang with kuah pecal. The look of guilt must have registered on my face; Daddy said, "it's alright Ly, you are outside your Diet Zone, just chill and feast, k?". Guilt or no guilt, my diet was ruined hours ago. So of course I obliged Daddy.
On Sunday, PIL decided to take a break from the puasa sunat Rejab. Breakfast was Nasi lemak + sambal ikan bilis + sambal sotong kering + telur rebus + timun, nasi goreng + daging berkicap, pulut+ santan+ durian and serawa durian + Gardenia white bread. No outside kuih this time.
We left PIL's house around 10. Made a quick stop at BIL Juki's new house at Desa Impian. Juki and his wife Lin are renovating their house and are planning to move in there as soon as their transfer papers from JB Hospital to TM Hospital are approved. Lin looked tiny at their gorgious and spacious double-storey house.
After bidding goodbyes to them and their girls, Zulaikha and Zahira, we drove to TM market for more food. Dry and perfunctory items like keropok kering, ikan bilis, colek keropok, gula melaka (nisey) were uploaded to the box on top of our Citra. Easy-to-eat stuff like keropok lekor goreng, pisang goreng, keledek goreng, tapai goreng and apum balik went inside the car for easy access. Watery stuff like laksam, laksa, kuih katuh, lompat tikam (lopat tikei) and Nescaffee Tarik and cendol (for the kids) went straight to our tummies. The laksam and laksa gravy was so thick and creamy that it almost compensate the unhygienic and unconducive ambient at the market. The Nescaffee Tarik wasn't half as good as the one MIL made earlier. Kuih katuh and lompat tikam were sinisterly sweet - just the way I like them.
We didn't have proper lunch because at lunch time, I was fast asleep at the passenger seat and the kids were engrossed watching Mama Mia movie at the back seat. The Abba songs were my perfect lullaby and the kids loved the movie almost as much as they loved High School Musical movies. Almost.
We reached home at 5 pm. Threw the dirty laundry into the machine, weighed myself (hard habit to break), took quick shower and headed to Waritha Restaurant for dinner.
The end of an-almost perfect weekend, culinary-wise. Our regrets - Daddy didn't get his colek perut this time and I couldn't find kuih akok at the market. Luckily I found some chipsmore cookies while unpacking - they'll do for now.
I will probably switch the calorie-counter back on, on Monday morning. May be. May be not.
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