Road Trip To Penang

Last Saturday, I went on a road trip to Penang with my closest girlfriends. It was a day trip which involved less than 24 hours. And I have to admit, it was a lot of fun.

It all started when Zuec was having a bit of a depression. She was working and staying in Penang. But she had wanted to move back to the Klang Valley since the day she got her baby. And her baby is now 8 months old. But yet, she still couldn’t get a job in the Klang Valley. She was upset. She was sad. She missed her parents, sister and us, her friends. So I threw in an idea to Pah and Yamm, “Why don’t we go and visit Zuec in Penang? We could go there for a weekend. Take leave on the Friday before and stay in a hotel in Penang”. But none of us could agree on a suitable date, what being busy with other personal commitments or so. And suddenly Pah came out with this brilliant idea, “This may sound crazy but I want to propose it anyway. I’ve done this many times and I think we should do it too. Why don’t we make it a day trip? We go early in the morning, and leave in the early evening. It’d be fun and we don’t have to wait for a few more weeks to do it. We could just do it this weekend”. The idea was so fun and tempting that we decided to go on with it.

I told Bie about it (I still needed to get my hubby’s consent. After all, I was going to have to leave them in KL. This road trip involves just us girls), and Alhamdulillah, Bie gave his consent (phhieeww..). I was all set and excited. So were Pah and Yamm. So last Friday, they came over and slept at my house. And at 4.15am on Saturday morning, we woke up, ever so excited, to get ready for the travel to Penang. At 5.15am, we left the house.

Though it was still very early in the morning, you’d be surprised at the number of cars on the road. And to make matters worse, just before we reached Batu Caves, we had to slow down a bit because an accident just happened, involving two cars. One was at the side of the road whereas the other one was overturned in the middle of the road. It was scary and I really hoped that there were no casualties. But that sight did give me a shudder. So we sort of reminded ourselves not to drive too fast or be reckless.

The road trip started well. The radio was faulty, but we didn’t mind. We were talking and talking, laughing and laughing, slapping at each other, giggling like school girls… it was fun. We talked about a lot of things. Things that are happening in our lives, talked about other dear friends who couldn’t make it to this trip, got ourselves worked up over some other friends, and we just talked about everything and anything and it was wonderful. I love these girls. Pah and Yamm.. we go a long way. We were doing our A-Levels in Shah Alam together, we went to the UK together (same course, same university), and we were neighbours during the first year there. And I was always over at their house. So yeah, we’re like sisters (I love saying that because I have none). And though we have aged a bit (just a bit, not a lot), we still felt like those silly girls 10 years ago. And Zuec shares this special bond. So that’s why when we heard the call for help, we dropped everything and tried to be there for Zuec.

We reached the Penang bridge at 9.30am. Pah couldn’t stop smiling. We were singing an Ella song which we listened from my phone, and laughing because we were excited to be on the bridge. As we made our way towards Jelutong, I caught the same smile on Pah’s face. God, this girl – was she like smiling all the way from the bridge? It was funny. We called Zuec’s husband to tell him that we were already there. And in the lift, whilst going to the 18th floor, Pah was still smiling! Imagine that.

I knocked on the window. No answer. I knocked again. Zuec’s husband opened the door. We were disappointed. We wanted Zuec to open the door. But as we tried to say something to Lan, Zuec rushed over to the door and slammed it in our faces. What the..?? Is this what we get for trying to give a surprise to her? Within less than a minute, Lan opened the door while holding baby Huda in his arms and said, “Zuec is getting dressed”, and opened the door for us to come in. A short while after that, Zuec walked out of her room, obviously surprised that we were actually there, sitting in her living room. She told us to sit down for a while, as she wanted to take a shower. And 10 minutes after that, she was sitting down with us still trying to understand how we got to be in her living room. It was hilarious. She thought we were going to stay overnight and when she learnt that we were not and that we were going to return to KL later that evening, she wasn’t very happy. Even Lan tried to coax us into staying the night. But we couldn’t. I couldn’t leave my kids and Bie. So we told her that we would keep her company and not be upset. We told her to just have fun and make the best of it.

We only left her house around noon. Lan took us to Line Clear Nasi Kandar. I was really worried about the guy that was going to get our rice for us. He was just using his hands. Luckily mine used a spoon (although he just grabbed a piece of chicken using his hands). Let’s just say that I love Penang. I love the food. After the rice, I had a cendol. Not as equally nice as the one in Kuala Pilah. But, it was alright.

Next Zuec took us to the market because I wanted to buy jeruk. I love the jeruk there. Especially these green seedless cherries. I bought quite a few jeruk. Even though I know that by the end of the day, I will be the only one eating them. But who cares. We were in Penang. It isn’t right to not buy any jeruk at the market there.

Then we went to Hard Rock Penang. Bie wanted a shot glass to add to his collections of Hard Rock and Planet Hollywood shot glasses. I love the hotel. And I vowed to return so that I can stay there. The pool was huge and I know that my children would love it.

Then we went for ABC at Batu Feringgi and returned to town to buy pasembor. We didn’t eat there. We brought it home with us because it was time to return to Kuala Lumpur. It was already past 5pm and we didn’t want to return too late. But Zuec had this plan to go to Green Bay for a drive and a laksa. We didn’t get any laksa, but had barbeque chicken wings instead. Gosh.. the foods I ate. I think I have to start fasting next week.

We went back to Zuec’s place, freshen up a bit so that it wouldn’t be so tiring to travel back and said our goodbyes. Zuec was clearly upset. We were upset. The day had ended. It was time to go back. So we hugged Zuec, kissed her baby Huda and waved goodbyes. It was 7pm.

The trip back wasn’t as cheerful as the trip going to Penang. And I suppose, with all the excitement reduced to something calmer, we noticed that the Penang bridge was actually longer. Well, we didn’t realize it when we entered Penang that morning. We talked about a lot of things still. Yeah, we talked a lot. Reminiscing about the past was something that we liked to do as well. Out came the names of past boyfriends and admirers. Those guys that gave you flowers during college, or those that sent you home after a dinner in town, the long distance relationship that didn’t work out, the love that some of us may or not may find, the things that we regretted but we know we can never go back to, and the list goes on and on. So yeah, the trip back was full of serious matters – involving love, hope and loss.

We reached Jalan Duta at 11pm. And get this, I have to salute Yamm because she drove all the way to Penang and back. About 700km.. her alone. We told her that we could drive if she was tired, but she wouldn’t hear of it. She insisted on driving and Alhamdulillah, we got back safely. I bet she was tired. Kudos, Yamm..!!

I got home at 11.30pm or so. The kids were asleep. Bie was still up. I missed him. I really did. He was nice enough to let me go away with my friends for the day and I am truly grateful for that. I changed my clothes into my night dress and went and sit on the sofa with him. He was watching TV. I sat next to him and hugged him, my lips at the back of his shirt. It was such a warm and familiar feeling. Though the trip to Penang was a good one, it was also good to be home.

I noticed that I received messages. I opened them. They were from Yamm and Pah. Both relaying words of love, hugs and kisses. I smiled. As I was about to reply to the messages, I fell asleep.