For the Love of Alor Star

Yesterday I just came back from Alor Setar. We ie my husband, son Zed, youngest daughter and I made the trip to the north on Sunday morning at 4.30 am from Shah Alam. We arrived in Sungai Petani at 11.30 feeling very hungry. We had planned to stop for lunch at a gerai ikan bakar there, unfortunately it was closed! We then proceeded to brother in law's place but he was away in KL. So Zed who was driving, drove as fast as possible to Alor Star so we could have lunch at Mama's shop in jalan Sultanah. No need to rell you how we tucked in the food! Reached my mother's house to find that she had gone out shopping for orchid plants to add to her collection! That was a very good sign indeed! For my mother to go outing means that she is as well as can be. Mother is well in her 80's, has not been in good shape as far back as some 7 years ago. We all love going back to Alor Star other than visiting my mother, we love the place for several reasons. Of course one of the reason is the abudance of delicious cheap food. We can buy all sorts of food, kueh,noodles , bubur of all sorts for rm 10 and 4 persons could not finish that. The other reason is Pekan Rabu, where I could get all that I want to stock up my larder for my special nothern cooking recipes, eg asam jawa, belacan tanjung dawai, ikan pekasam, ikan sepat ronggeng, beras pulut hitam for bubur, beras pulut putih for ketupat palas, and all the fruit preserves for my Acar buah. I also usually buy kuih baulu, kuih loyang, kuih karas, dodol, emping and minyak gamat etc.
We all love Alor Star very much that we nearly settled there for good few years back. When I retired from active business, we went back to Alor Star and stayed in a relative's house which had been abandoned for 15 years. Few people love the house but our family could settle well in the house and loved it's ambience and surrounding atmosphere which suited us very well. For two years we lived in the house, made some repairs and mantained the grounds beautifully, that when we invited friends over for a visit and for Hari Raya functions, they all liked the house and commented that we fitted into the house very well. We wanted to buy the house and settled in Alor Star but fate had it differently. The owners wanted to sell at a price 3 times the market rate, making it impossible for us to buy. We then moved back to Shah Alam and found that we really missed Shah Alam too. It has infact become the childrens' kampung as we have resided there for 30 years now! So we were happy to have moved back to Shah Alam 4 years ago and all the children who came back from overseas were happy to be back in Shah Alam. However everytime when we were in Alor Star, as we were a few days ago, when we passed the House, ( there was a big sign board 'FOR SALE' which has been there for past 4 years) I could not even turn to look at the House! Not to mention all the banana trees my husband had planted around the house and all along the canal beside the house, the leaves waving as if calling us to come back there! Well House (near the canal next to the bendang) we really loved you but you are not destined to be ours! And the sad thing is that we know very well that very few people could love you as we do because of your aura and the mysteries surrounding you!