Alor Setar

This morning I woke up feeling miserable.

Why? I dreamed of Alor Setar. Sigh.

What happened in the dream wasn't the important part, as by now, I've forgotten the content of the dream. It was the place that prompted me to think more.

Alor Setar, my father's hometown. My paternal grandparents used to live there until last year. They're now residing in Klang, as they rationalized that it's time to stay closer to their children and grandchildren. Flying to and fro frequently from Alor Setar to KL isn't a fun thing to do, consider the fact that KLIA is 40 minutes drive from the Klang Valley. So, they sold the house already. That was a tough, and sad decision to make, as my grandpa loves Alor Setar so much. After living in A.S. for so many years, needless to say, he is so attached to it. He has so many great friends there, ppl who jogged with him, go yum-cha with him, practise xiang-gong with him, etc. Although it was a correct decision to make, we all can't help but to feel sad. I know, none of us will feel the pain (of leaving A.S. permanently) as intense as my grandpa. The house my grandpa used to have is a great big house. Over the past few decades, all my family members have generated so many great memories in that place, like relatives weddings, festive seasons celebration, CNY gathering dinner, etc. My grandparents love gardening. Over the years they had planted mango trees, ciku tree, all sorts of bon-sai, lady's fingers (known as okra in North America), pandan leaves, lemongrass, and other plants that I am not familiar with.

My grandparents used to live across the street from Lee Xin Jie's (李心洁）place.　Cool, huh? In fact, the big boss of the tissue company 'Premier' lives next next door.

I've tried to google Alor Setar, but nothing much showed up. I was hoping I could find the pictures of the specialty hawker food that belongs solely to Alor Setar from the internet. No such luck. Ahhh, maybe gluton rabbit from Pearl of the Orient. can help me. Haha.

If I happened to be in Alor Setar with my family, there would be a few 'must-have' visits. We would definitely go to a kopitiam located right next to the emporium 'City-Point' to have loh-mee. During the night, we could either go to Hai Tao Kee, or Prince Street for supper. Food that would appear on our table would be Yin Yong ala Alor Setar　（鸳鸯）, shredded chicken noodles (鸡丝面，kei see mee, in Hokkien pronunciation), si-guo-teng (四果汤） as dessert. The price of the food were normally 50% cheaper than food in the Klang Valley, so it was so fun to dine out in A.S. Bah!

I miss the big house my grandpa used to own. I wonder how the house is now. I was told by my mum that my grandpa sold the house to a physician. May the new owner and his family love the house as much as we do, and would have many many more great memories, like we do.