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My Mom Returns from Mecca

My mom arrived from the airport very early in the morning but decided to return to her late mother's house, some 10 km away from our home. That's my aunt's putty-hued car and my sinister coloured vehicle next to it. (All pictures taken around 6.00 pm)

Kiki on the back of my aunt's car. This is her second visit to the house, traveling inside the new pet carrier I got her. On her first visit, she actually vomited in the older carrier, and I had to bathe her twice to remove the odour.
Kiki yet again. She's so photogenic :) My late grandmother was one traditionalist-style gardener. She just let plants and flowers grow as they like. This would create a wildlife-reservation-like surrounding the old house. My mom seems to share the genes; you would not believe the chaotic plantlife we have around our house. She said it makes her feel just at  home (she means her mother's house - see pic).
See what I mean? The old house got quite a huge grassy lawn and these fruit and coconut trees around it. There used to be huge old trees when I was little, even a small rubber plantation right in front of Granny's house. But those were all gone, cleared away for the wider road construction.
And these are what my mom and brother are up to at Granny's house. My mom, bro, auntie and her husband have their very own goat pen /stable / bungalow / residence (pick your fav) behind the old house. Originally there were four nanny-goats and a huge billy-goat. All Boers, the very huge imported variety. Now there an addition of two kids @ small baby-goats, which were born when my Mom and bro were still in Mecca. My mom and bro are so proud of these smelly animals (they do all the work of getting the grass and food). I have no truck whatsoever with this project, mainly because I hate smelly places. My bro thinks goats are cute. :)

So my Mom got the usual souvenirs for all of us children. Vests, robes, head covers, praying mattreses, dates, water of Zamzam etc etc. And she got me a thing I asked of her a long long time ago - a translation of the Koran in English. Ermmm, because I rarely read in my own language these days other than for the newspapers. 

Repent, o son of mine. :)

Just glad she is back home.   

9 comments:

Tenchi said...

speaking of quran...i don't notice that you have one in your hostel during uni time...

ya...goat are smelly...cause they don't like to take bath...

your grandma house is like my old kampung house before i move to big city Ipoh last time...green everywhere...

kiki is so cute...its fur color seem dull...do you give enough vitamins and minerals?

Unknown said...

dammit tuck wai! don't you talk about my cat that way. that's her actual colour and she's a big and healthy cat. what u expect me to do? spray-paint her to my heart desire?

kiki said don't hate her cause she's gorgeous.

Aizan Suhaira said...

Cool! Your family is in posession of a traditional Malaccan house.

I love traditional Malaccan houses. There's just something really special about them.

I've never been inside one though.

:P

Vyazz said...

Wow....ur house really looks beautiful. Really lush green.
Back where I live it costs a small fortune to maintain a green garden due to the water inadequacy
(live in a really dry part of western India)

drNO said...

hahhah..very traditional. my mum is like that too...she would plant almost every edible things around her house, in every space she could dig. u name it, she has them, even the rare kacip fatimah or bakawali, etc. if not enough space, she'll buys 'hanging pots'. what make it an eyesore is that she would plant everything everywhere...no pattern or beautiful landscape.

yeay...mum is home...

Unknown said...

Aizan; One day you will. Knock on their door and ask for a tour. And then pay them handsomely. :)

Vyazz; these are pictures of my late Granny's house. My house pics will come so very soon. Wait for it. :)

drNO; landscaping is not in their mind, coming to gardening. I have to kill the rampant ulam raja plants growing around our bungalow with herbicide just the other day! mum MIGHT be furious if she knew. :)

SSQuo said...

Welcome back mommy!

I would love to visit a Malaccan house, although Im not sure what it really means, Can you elaborate?

Its pretty though, and serene feeling. Its nice to have animals around, but smell must be a a con for sure.

So will you get down to reading the Koran now?

Inkpot said...

I'm glad your mother had a nice trip. :)

Wow, Kiki is such a beautiful cat. I can see why you took so many photos of her, she is a star.

Unknown said...

SSQuo; Malacca is a state in Malaysia and in every state, the culture is a bit different. A traditional Malaccan house is made out of wood with the usual bit of wood carving. What made our old houses different were; Malaccan houses usually have a decorated staircases at the front door; usually with coloured mosaic. Once upon a time when Malacca was a world reknowned international port (read your world history, under the topic 'Venice of the East') many houses were said to decorate their front stair with tiles from China and even plated gold!

Now it is quite rare to find these houses with decorated staircase. Oh, and Malaccan houses are also considered cleaner by national standards. Ha ha ha!

Thanks Inkpot. :)

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