Work, Work, Work - The Trip

Work last week had me traveling all the way to Sedeli, Johor. I was in Felda Air Tawar 5, in DUN Penawar from Thursday till Saturday. Actually I was hesitant to leave folks at home, especially after Farah’s H1N1 scare. But this was one assignment I could not just delegate to my staff as it required establishing protocols with VIPs and some top ranks from client’s organization. So…H1N1 or no H1N1, I have to turun padang lah…sigh.

The program that we were doing was in conjunction with the AKOK event in Tanjung Sedeli, Johor. My team had gone down a couple of days earlier to conduct the “…bersama komuniti” program and activities. The closing ceremony was a combined community event and the YB ADUN Penawar had agreed to be the our VIP guest of honour.

The drive there took us almost 5 hours. Nasib baik I wasn’t driving. We had a driver booked for the trip, but still, sitting in the car for a two to three hours stretch was still somewhat an agony. Sakit sagala sendi-sendi di dalam badan, almaklum lah…di usia yang sebegini....errr “muda”.

As there were no nearby hotels, we put up at a homestay place in the Felda scheme. I was very, very skeptical with this arrangement in the beginning. I never like sleeping at other people’s house, well other than Mom’s of course. Even at MIL’s pun, I’d make all sorts of excuses to not do so. So this homestay adventure was going to be my first “sleep-over-at-another-person’s” home stint after the last one which I could no longer recall when. Takpe lah I told myself, if others could go through it, I was pretty sure I could too (sambil keeping my fingers crossed all the time)

Program participants practising the theme song - Our Children Our Future

That evening after we rejoined with the team which was already in Felda Air Tawar 5, we went over to Pantai Telok Mahkota in Tanjung Sedeli. Apparently this place was known as Jesson Bay last time, and this was going to be the AKOK site. Nothing much was seen at the site. Well the program wasn’t going to start till Saturday anyway. Unlike in the city, folks in the kampong area was very calm, no rush, no harsh sounds from motor vehicles of what sort. I asked myself if I could survive in such an environment. Well, my guess is, max I’d give myself a week. After that I was sure I’d be terlenting-lenting wanting to return to the concrete jungle.

Jesson Bay @ Tanjung Sedeli

That night we drove all the way to Tanjung Kapal for dinner. The restaurant offered us a spectacular view of cargo ships waiting in queue to unload at Pasir Gudang Port. Service was slow but he food was good at the restaurant – de Kapal, located a few km after the Sungai Rengit fisherman village.

The home where we stayed...all in all there were 7 rooms in the house

Spacious and well kept garden

We headed back to our homestay after that. This was it, my moment of truth was getting closer. When we got to the place….ahhhhh…all my worries flew out the window. The house which belong to Mak Sam and Pak Mail was beautiful, and it offered such a comfort. There was even a hot water heater in the bathroom. Ohhh thank you..thank you!!! Dalam kepala dah fikir dah, if tak de, hai terpaksa lah mintak permission nak boil water in the morning in order to have my bath. Urrgggg…tak ke mengundang soalan-soalan cupumas nanti.

Fruits from the garden - pulasan

the purple mangosteen

We were served dinner again when we arrived at Mak Sam’s house. Hai..dah kenyang but terpaksa makan jugak. Kena lah jaga hati tuan rumah kan. As we sat having dinner, we heard the soft ”boom” sound. One of my girls said, “Haa…itu durian gugur!!!” Ayoooo…got durian dusun lagi at the homestay!!! No wonder lah when we entered the house, I detected the “pleasant” aroma. Musim buah rupanya and the couple had all sorts of fruit trees planted in their backyard. Mak Sam said they have mangosteen, pulasan, rambutans and not forgetting the durians.

Hah..kopek..kopek..

That night after our second dinner, the team dijamu with durians. Me?? I had to politely excuse myself, saying that I don’t eat durians. With that declaration, I received weird stares from everyone else.

Zapin pembuka acara

YB giving a speech

At tea, kueh abok (if I heard the name well) and Kopi-O...fuhh terangkat

My team and I were busy the following day preparing for the closing event. Come what may, the show had to go on. I was happy that everything went well that day. There were dark clouds indicating that it was going to pour. Fortunately, those clouds moved away and it remained dry till the event ended.

The loving couple..Mak Sam & Pak Mail... (she calls him "yang" adussss.....)

I must pen down my appreciation for the southern hospitality we received from folks in Felda Air Tawar 5 during our stay there. The food was great and so was everything else. Mak Sam and Pak Mail the ever so loving couple now becomes such great inspiration to us all.

Thank you…thank you from the bottom of our hearts.