Ulog #21: Our Trip for the Brother's Graduation

So we drove up from Kuala Lumpur for about 4.5 hours to reach Sg. Petani, a small developing town of the state of Kedah, up north the Peninsular Malaysia. It is my 2nd trip up north consecutively for 2 weekends. I am amazed how I have made it so far too.

Seeing the family is so worth the long traveling journey. Hive account@littledrummerboy rarely gets to see my parents though he does sees my siblings once in a while and he is "friends" with them especially with my youngest sister.

My mom wasn't too well and had been coughing quite badly so she was wearing mask and stayed away from Hive account@littledrummerboy a bit to avoid spreading to him. He took quite a day to warm up to my parents because he really sees them occasionally. He was able to play and read books with them only at the first night right before bedtime.

This hotel we stayed is called the Big Banana Hotel. Hive account@littledrummerboy called it the Banana shop, haha. It is super affordable, RM 84 per night and it is situated at a new township area with cinema behind and also food shops everywhere. Hence, that was rather convenient. It has water dispenser and a common pantry area and also an ironing area. Pretty good, if you ask me for this price.

We went really slow for two days because the little boy missed his nap on our way there, yes he didn't nap at all along the 4.5 hours. I managed to meet my granduncle, my late grandma's younger brother who is 85 years old this year. They were anticipating my parents with 2 tables of relatives for this meet-up. I wanted very much to go but I decided not to, so I don't tire myself up before the long trip and Hive account@littledrummerboy was also rest-deprived in the beginning.

At night, the dinner was specially planned to celebrate my dad's 62nd birthday. It was just a great time because we could finally take a complete family photo together. I could tell my dad was very happy and pleased. I was blessing him to grow old with grace and joy too.

Then, we met at night for my brother's studio photoshoot at 10PM. Yeah it was at that odd hour because my second sister who resides in Singapore with her husband just arrived on that day and they have just got back from their trip from Europe and Dubai. The photography session was fun because the photographers were fun and very relaxing. We ourselves took some photos while waiting for my brother and his girlfriend to get ready with their graduation robes. They were having a super long day because of the Hippocratic oath ceremony and rehearsal for the convocation. They came back right before the birthday dinner. Hive account@littledrummerboy had so much fun with my brother-in-law who played ball with him the whole time, entertaining him. So, there is a new-found friend! Most of us were holding the roles of flower bearers for the graduates, as you can see.

Finally, it was the day we purposed ourselves here for - The Graduation! It was my first time paying a visit to this university called Aimst University which is a medical university. My youngest sister is studying there as a pharmacy student while my brother has graduated from dentistry after 6 years. I am so proud of him for enduring this long journey and able to make through it. There were sooooo many people but thank goodness for my youngest sister who knows the way around the campus to lead and guide us while the brother enjoyed his last time with his coursemates and friends too.

After that, I had to part with my family and our time together seemed to be so short. My parents were going to fly back to Kuching and start work on Monday while we headed off to Penang Island.

Nevertheless, I am thankful for a great time with them though short! Now that I am pregnant, it is harder for me to fly back so I am happy to be able to attend my brother's convocation to see them this round.

I will be writing and posting more about my Penang trip. That will be featured in next ulog, stay tuned!!! I haven't been writing much because I want to enjoy time with the family as much as I can though I have been taking photos to document the moments.

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