The East Coast Trip, Genting and A Day Called Valentine's

Lahanat punye Tomok. I’d say this is the first time my blog got spammed. I never knew the thing even existed. Blog-spam, that is.

Anyway, good news. It’s the 14th of February and that means it’s Valentine’s Day. Bad news is I have no one to share it with. Haha~ doesn’t really matter actually. I’m feeling a bit malas myself. Imagine if I had a girlfriend, then I would have to come up with some sort of surprise to mark this special occasion. Oh man, that’ll be some hassle. The one person I could think of who would have some problems this Valentine’s is Gambit. Goodness me, he would have forgotten about if I hadn’t accidentally mentioned about it two weeks ago. His first reaction was to utter the words “Oh shit” with eyes wide open and a burning ciggie casually placed between his index and middle finger of his right hand. Oh well, I just hope he has conjured up something for Mawar. She can be one unpleasant lass once upset.

So what are my plans ferr today? Well, at first I tried to persuade Zalina to belanje me dinner at Avanti at Sunway Lagoon Resort. A special Valentine’s 6 course dinner which includes a live 45-minute performance by Malaysian Idol Jaclyn Victor. How awesome is that!? But, like I said, I tried to persuade Zalina but all I got was a “Haaaa!?”. You know, those high pitched ones every time she receives surprising news. But then again, this thing cost 400 bucks so I understand the rejection. What? You think this thing cheap aa? How can maa. Indulgence is always expensive. That's why not everybody gets to enjoy it. So in the end, I just have to resign to babysit my brother who is on sick leave. Just in case he needs medical attention, I’ll be right at home.

Apart from that, I’d say things look promising ahead. I just came back from the sacred land of Kelantan which included a fascinating trip along the East Coast. I get to taste the new highway to Kuantan (well, not really new. Just new to me because it’s my first time on it since its completion). Journey was quick and far more pleasant which, in turn allowed me to make a brief stop at Cherating. It was the same beach where I came with Aritha, Zalina, Ity and Sasa to last time around. Aaah~good times. It turns out a friend of my brother had opened a place there called Cherating Cottage. A Swiss-Malay guy known during the Sauber days. Michael is the name and I learnt the equivalent of ‘bon appetite’ in French is ‘an guata’ in Swiss. Then I moved on to Kuala Terengganu just for the sake of buying kain sampin songket. But I must say we weren’t left disappointed. It has lived up to its reputation of having the finest makers in the business are trading their goods here. All at Pasar Payang. Kota Bharu was finally reached (after 13 long hours) and what better way to celebrate our arrival than stopping by Medan Selera Buluh Kubu for a nice dinner. The food was, as always, a pleasure to the taste buds. And the cheap fare is a definite welcome. The true purpose of the trip was to attend my mother’s cousin’s wedding. Sadly though, the groom to be doesn’t not bode well with the bride’s family, especially the mother (whom is my mother’s aunt). But, nothing much can be done so, mengikut kehendak anak, everybody were to accept the fate. Even if it involves a fake smile or two. But that didn’t really sadden me. What bothered me the most was the fact that my PCB was in danger. In danger of unprofessional development. Since years now the beach of PCB is being “killed” by erosion. They finally decide to take action and that was to put boulders the size of cars all along the beach. It looks hideous! Not just that it made the beach no longer a pleasant sight but it also made it un-mandi-able. It looks more like a port more than anything else. But still, that didn’t stop from people thronging the place during the Lunar New Year. It was jam packed. Reminiscent of Jalan Telawi 3 on Saturday nights. As for me, well, it is a 3 minute walk to the beach from home, how can I say no to that? I chilled there every single day. Huge cranes may be present tearing up coconut trees from the ground but there’s always time for sotong goreng and air nyior. Finally, I get to visit my grandfather’s final resting place. It was quite nice. While everybody else’ was made from cement, his was covered in marble. Adequately decorated. Well, it the least the children could do. Placed only a few steps from his eldest son. The uncle I never got to knew.

Being back home I must say I really missed Astro,especially the EPL. Not to mention the Net. I received a nice invitation from Ity for a balik-hari trip to Genting. That should be fun. I have yet to fully enjoy Genting lately. It was always brief trips. Kalau cakap Melayu, org kata ‘tak puas’. But then, late last night I received an intriguing phone call from Wawan and he too is planning a trip to Genting. But this involves the real deal of spending the night there. Two nights even. The whole weekend getaway. This should be awesome. But it’s happening this coming Friday. That would coincide with my plans of taking Ara out for a date. And possibly jeopardize my sembang-sembang session with Aida also to be on this Friday. Haih~ all seems so menarik. So how? Or as we say in Kelantan, guano? It seems I have to postpone the Ara date. A Genting escapade is too much fun to be turned down. Then, few days later, join Ity’s pack. Whoa~ a few years without a single trip to the Highlands then suddenly I’m doing back to back trips.

Oh man, I have to ditch plans with Ara? Under normal circumstances that would be categorized as crazy by any man’s standards. Haih~ I still have to work out the 4 dates I planned for this week. That should keep me occupied at least. But nothing for today. Nothing for this brisk February 14. Nevertheless, Happy Valentine’s Day to all. Good day and arrivederci (I guess the same goes to Avanti and memorable night with Jaclyn).