I will be driving up north early tomorrow morning. You may be asking how early is early. To me, early is really, literally early (very much to the disgust of my children, including bea). I don't care. I'm an early bird and I like to wake up before the sun rises. I like to start the journey before Subuh, therefore morning prayers will be at one of the RnR along the way.
There are a number of reasons why I like travelling in the morning. The first is, I don't have to sweat for almost half the journey. Secondly, the kids can also have a restful sleep - which they normally do - on the vehicle. Besides that, you also get the luxury of having breakfast in a strange new land. Now, this can either work to the advantage or against me. It all depends on luck actually. Thankfuly, I'm able to say that I've had more hits than misses. The next reason why I like to travel early is because I can drive in a relaxed manner. I don't have to rush and I won't feel guilty to stop at the roadside stalls to buy the wares offered. One such place is Bidor where there are fresh guavas. It's such a joy to be munching away on the juicy fruit with their "cholek".
The other thing is that I get to arrive early at my destination. And that is always a good thing. Just like drroza and ikelah who managed to get an early ride to Redang recently ;) It's good to reach destinations like Langkawi early, for there are still things to be settled like getting a car for hire.
I still haven't decided whether to take the ferry or speedboat at Kuala Perlis or Kuala Kedah. But most probably it'll be Kuala Perlis. The number of times I've been to Langkawi, it has always been Kuala Perlis. And remember, I'm an old faithful (now I'm starting to feel guilty about abandoning my Xanga blog. Just to make myself feel better, I'll try to post up an entry about the trip on my previous blog)...InsyaAllah.
Things that I like to do whilst driving: I like to sing to my favourite tunes over Light and Easy (itulah Ayumi, I want you to include me in your karaoke list. I sure can put you to shame with my karaoke skills!) Other than that, I also like to reminisce about the past. Somehow or rather, bea and I will always end up talking about the times we were all snuggling together in the living room of our basement apartment with our small children in Edinburgh. Can you imagine; in Edinburgh, in Autumn and Winter? So you can imagine about the many things I'll be talking with Bea during the long journey. Looking into the rear view mirror, I can't help but think about how the kids have grown up right before my eyes.
So, on long journeys like this, although I don't like driving for hours at end, these are the small redeeming qualities that make up for the torture of being behind the wheel.
Okay, I've got to start packing now. Care to remind me of the things that I shouldn't forget to bring along on this trip? (I have ways of enticing people to come and leave comments here) But make sure that the suggestions come quick for I have less than 24 hours before I'm off to Langkawi. So Hiyoshi, shopping areas would be the best place to meet me. Feel free to sms me. You still have my number don't you? I really hope to see you there. Tell me what you want for lunch or dinner and I'll belanja you makan. A promise is a promise :)))
p.s. I have to share this with you. We had breakfast outside this morning. On our way back, my two children from boarding school were teasing the youngest one about their place of birth. Below is a recollection of the dialogue (after translation):
Youngest: Eventhough you two were born overseas, I speak better English than you two!
The Girl: Eleh, tapi kitorang boleh cakap Arab. Bahasa Quran, bahasa di syurga.
Youngest: Ala...Tau jugak Bahasa Arab! Klau pandai, apa anta? Haa....Apa ana?
The Girl: Hahaha...Pandainya dia cakap Arab! Takutnya!!
The Boy (his elder brother): Ala...Klau pandai sangat, apa babi?
Youngest: Anta la!
I know I should have scolded him for that, but we all couldn't help but laugh out loud at his witty remark.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
18 comments:
ROTFLOLWBLUANTSDC!!
"Apa babi?" "Anta la"
Aduh pecah perot ketawa. Elvis wannabe ke yg witty sangat tu? He's quick with that witty remark!
We have had several early morning trips before fajr and perform subuh prayers at available mosques along the way. We have to be careful if we travel this early especially at traffic lights as some drivers tend to ignore the red lights.
Yes Pycno, both of us also find quality time to make meaningful conversations during those long rides. In fact that's the time I bring out things which I have forgotten to discuss before. But a word of caution, make sure dont discuss heavy stressful matter. Nanti kang tak pasal masam muka, senyap sunyi jadi nya, huhuhu
Have a safe and meaningful trip. Salam to Bea, and the rest. I msg Bea this morning but no reply.
I like your style of travelling! Must copy that. (but have to teach someone to get up early first! hmmm) (My children detest long journeys!)
the 'anta' 'babi'. aduhaiii kids do say the funniest thing!
p/s: Amar is fine, alhamdulillah
ya allah, i tergelak terGOLEK baca that last part. kelakar lah! bravo youngest son! kelakarnyaaaa.
btw pycno, cantik lah your layout & colour scheme. minimalistic, and the colours doesnt burn the eyes ... so unlike mine;(
Salaam..
Funny kid :) I laughed to tears :D
My dad is an early traveller too.. Unfortunately, to HIS disgust, my siblings (two of them) are not able to fulfill his early schedule.. so we'll end up going late anyway.
I'll include you in the karaoke list.. oldies songs are always good for group singing!
LOL~ Kelakarnya ur youngest kid tu!!!..
btw, have a safe and happy journey!!..Do post something about the trip..can't waait to read it!
Another blogspot convert! Great! =p
Hahaha, youngest son sure is funny. In fact, all kids are ;)
:D
nasib baik orng tak nampak kita gelak sorang2 kat komputer..
Moral of the story: If The Youngest insists that he knows Arabic better than you, take his word for it!
Hey hey.. welcome to the neighbourhood! I believe there's some kind of moving synchronization between the three of us, hiyoshi moved to blogspot on the 24th, you on the 25th and me into my new house on the 26th =)
yes!!! welcome to the club, pycno. more blogspot converts. i think started lobbying ikelah, and then sofi, dith, kkl,.. cant remember the sequence. told them, if they want comments on their blogs, convert to blogspot.
if you guys can recall bill cosby's "kids say the darnest things", yeah.. it can be outrageously funny what comes out of a kid's mouth nowadays. i can still recall when i was a kid, the younger 3 of us were left at our late grandmother's house during the day (no maid nor sitters). our aunt subscribes to majalah keluarga and jelita which those days contained very nice short stories a.k.a. cerpen. so one fine morning, one of my aunt was praying in the hall and the other was watching tv when our younger sister, with a magazine in hand, came out of a bedroom and nonchalantly (and loudly) asked, "mak teh, buah dada tu apa dia?"
mak teh almost choked, laughing with tears in her eyes and mak itam... obviously she could not continue her prayers... hehehehe...
a few years ago, my son, upon seeing his newborn baby girl cousin, asked, "macamana nurin kencing? dia tak ada bird!"
pycno, tumpang lalu sikit lagi.
kelakarlah P5!!!! saya nak citer jugak boleh ke. (macam berlaga pulak) tapi nak cerita jugak!
masa saya adik beradik kecik dulu pernah kita main scrabble satu family (of 5).
tiba giliran adik saya yang berumur 4-5 tahun. Dia letak "S E X"
pastu siap tanya ayah lagi "Sex tu apa ayah?"
alamak, saya dah tertunduk2 malu dan wondering apa jawapan ayah saya. kemudian ayah jawab; Sex tu jantina: lelaki atau perempuan.
Ya tak ya kan?
Hehe...tuan rumah tak dek, puas tetamu dok cerita. Tak per lah mari kita sembang sambil tunggu Pycno balik dari Langkawi!
Pang5- I can imagine muka mak teh tersedak ketawa and mak Itam bursting into fits of laugher unable to continue with her prayer. She must have rolled on the floor with her telekung on, eh? And what was arwah tok's response? Being her cool old self, she must have just tersengih, :p
But Pang5, my interest would be: what was YOUR response????
Mama- your dad managed to save the day, huh? hehe. If not habis you all dapat lecture free about the birds and the bees! hehe
yes Dr Roza,
my ayah to the rescue!
tuan rumah tak balik lagi ke? sekarang cuti sekolah ke kat malaysia?
besar mana dah sekarang agaknya your 'younger sister' tu P5?
Mama Sarah - I've read a similar story about a mother "saving the day" as well.. though I can't remember where I read it. Any chance your dad submit the story to some magazines or something?
its always nice to hear kids argueing baout their intelligence. however we should obeerve them so that they wont over do it.
so how was your trip north? managed to meet mr hiyoshi? does he look japanese?
we just got back from out tripe to, lest kuantan at 7am. they picked me up at the hospital after finishing my 24 hrs shift. yes its nice to travel early. hope to hear more about your trip.
DITH - When I read your comment to my youngest (yes, he's the Elvis wnnabe), he asked me to explain ROTFLOLWBLUANTSDC. Having explained to him, he quipped: "Can we add APITP"
He even lie on the floor to demonstrate your ROTFLOLWBLUATSDC. Luckily, he didnt end the session with APITP !!
Thanks for the reminder, so I ensure there was no stressful matters raised on our journey to and from the island. So, it was "senyuman dan hilaian ketawa memanjaaaang..."
BTW, my youngest is down with a high fever semalam. Took him to the clinic dah.
Mama Sarah - I like my style of travelling too. ;) After some time, the rest of the family will start to appreciate why you need to start your journey early, especially long ones.
Glad to hear that your Amar is now fine.
Mynn - Kalau terGOLEK pun, jangan tepi tangga, parah jadi nya.. ;)
As for the colour scheme, green has always been my favourite. Glad you like it.
Ayumi - I have this strange feeling that your dad and I can be great pals. I can already imagine both of us karaoke-ing together. He likes Engelbert Humperdinck? ;)
Cassablancha - Masih menghitung hari? I know of someone in Malaysia who's also counting the days.
iFos - Now that I have converted, you have to teach me how to have music link at my site. The silence is deafening. You know that I like to have some 'light and easy' music to accompany my entries.
Kenakelayan - Penyakit gelak sorang2 kat komputer ni, sememang nya penyakit yang telah lama dihidapi oleh para 'blogger'
Skye - Another moral of the story is: You dont have to have too many Arabic words in your vocab to "mengenakan orang. Anta dan Ana pun dah cukup. Tu lah, istimewa dan berkatnya Bahasa Al-Quran ni.
24, 25, 26 - Ni boleh celebrate naik rumah baru ni...;)
Enjoy your Cameron trip?
Pang5 - And welcome to you too. Pycno dah lama nak berkenalan ngan P5 ni. Amira Sofia sihat? You just wait for your lil girl to start talking, or will she start to ask you funny and witty questions even before she start to even talk??? BEST OF LUCK P5!!
Mama Sarah - Amboi...seksa nya nak jawab soalan SEX ni. Anyway, that was smart of Ayah to come up with that explanation.
DrRoza - Rumah Pycno, rumah terbuka. Tuan rumah tak ada pun, tetamu boleh datang bertandang dan berbual-bual. Teh kena buat sendiri laa. ;)
As for Mak Itam, ketawa, ketawa juga. Tapi kalau masih pakai telekung tu, jangan sampai APITP pula!!!!
Mama sarah - Alhamdulillah, tuan rumah dah selamat balik. Di Malaysia, cuti sekolah sekarang...tinggal satu minggu lagi.
APITP??? Now Elvis wannabe must act it out for me!
Ikelah - Indeed, we have to always observe and monitor the kids.
Looking forward to reading about your 'trip after your 24 hrs shift'. Can you still drive after that shift, or were you in your snooze mode?
DITH - APITP stands for: "And Peeing In The Pants." - That would of course be the ULTIMATE ending to the ROTFLOLWBLUANTSDC session kan?
So now you know why I cannot have my Elvis wannabe act it out on the floor!!!
Post a Comment