Sunday, July 02, 2006

Road trip!

I love making travelling plans.

In fourth year med school, when we had the choice of doing electives anywhere in the world, I knew I had to go to India. The whole year before the trip, I was researching, reading up, asking ppl who had gone the year before, so that I could be fully prepared. I bought the guide book to India, which by the time of the trip, was full of Post-Its with tips and reminders on what to do or avoid.

I figured since it was gonna be a once in a lifetime experience, I'd want to utilise every single minute of it, taking up everything. So I planned travelling during the night so we could go sightseeing during the day and didn't have to book hotels. I alternated trips out of state with local ones during the weekends so that we wouldn't be too tired. I even had lists of restaurants that we should go to. What can I say, I'm a control freak..! Hehehe. Nasib baik my travel companions were more than happy to let me do all that.

I guess it gave me a sense of having something to look forward to.

The past 2+ years, my trips have been confined to going back to KL to see the parents. There was once when we travelled to Penang and then Langkawi for sister-in-law's graduation ceremony. That was fun. I guess Abang had noticed how easily his wife has been getting grumpy lately so he suggested that we go for a road trip before Yanti's wedding. Yeay!!!

Abang wanted to have a taste of the famous roti bakar and coffee at the Kluang Railway Station. He also said we should have dinner at Umbai, Melaka (ikan bakar galore). I wanted to see what Tangkak was all about, if their reputation is worth all the hype. Melaka has been somewhere that I've been wanting to go too.

So since about two weeks ago, I have been surfing the Net, googling Melaka and Johor for places to stay. A map of Malaysia has been bought. Calls have been made, inquiring room rates and making reservations. All this with the all familiar shiver of anticipation that I usually get when I'm in my planning mode.

The itinerary's quite relaxed and laid back. The only things fixed are the places that we've to spend the night at. Other than that, apa-apa pun boleh.

Next, should be a similar trip to the northern part of the peninsula, followed by Sabah and Sarawak.

I've made Abang promise that we should get passports by the end of this year so that we could make use of the cheap flights Air Asia are offering, and I know that I want to go back to India.

So here's to more travelling plans and the world...! :)

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