Cuti Cuti Malaysia 3: To The North Again, Melaka-Kulim-Alor Setar-Penang-Ipoh-Tapah Road, Dec 22 – 30, 2005

Dec 23, 2005 (Friday). Melaka – BSP - Kulim

I went down for breakfast alone at 0630 as my wife decided to have a late breakfast somewhere later. Immediately after that we checked out and on our way to Air Keroh in no time. The representative from MARDI kept calling afraid that I won’t make it. Even going to MITC was a first for me and the place was not that difficult to locate and in no time we were there. Since we were a bit early I took my wife and Mar for breakfast near the complex. As I was drinking my coffee I received another call and I decided to just walk across to the conference hall at the MITC main building. As usual I delivered my talk had refreshment and around 1130 pushed hard for home. We arrived home at about 1230 did our last minute packing, loaded the truck and off we went on the Elite Highway. The destination Kulim and the objective to get there as soon as possible. I calculated, without stopping, we could be at the Tapah R&R area around 1500 and I sped carefully. We arrived at Tapah R&R as predicted and stop for a late lunch and prayer. As we were a bit early we took our time enjoying our lunch. The rest area was swarmed with holiday makers either on the way home or, like us, just on their way for their holidays. Around 4 pm we hit the road again and we targeted to arrive at Kulim before 1800 hrs.

Anticipating that my sis place would be crowded with her relatives I had booked via the Net two rooms at Seri Malaysia Kulim for us to stay. However, along the way my niece SMSed me to persuade us to stay at her house as she predicted that there would be ‘rooms’ for us. Not trying to disappoint her I quietly agreed but I decided not to cancel the booking for buffer. We arrived at my sis amidst the chaos of people arriving, putting up the tents and cooking. We just blended immediately with the crowd and find our way through a comfort area to rest the tired body, mine at least. My sis informed us that the house next door was available for us to crash as the owner has gone somewhere and would not be coming back anytime soon. So just before maghrib we unloaded our things and made a base camp in my sis neighbor’s home. That night there weren’t many activities except for the kenduri selamat. Immediately after that I felt really tired and decided to call the day. I wondered for a while as to why I was tired and realized that I had been driving that day since morning from Melaka.