A Much Waited Friday

Last entry before I scoot off to KT...I think. With KP's meeting scheduled tonight and it, normally ending late, I don't know whether I can get on-line later. And woe me...I can't even join the Pemuda PR's march tomorrow. Been a very long while since I put on webtv8 hat, and I would really love to cover the event. But my priority is with emak. InsyAllah on 12 July though, come smoke and water, I'll be there. And I hope my friends will join too.

InsyAllah, by 9am tomorrow morning, emak and I will be going to Gombak to her sister's house, and perhaps by 10 only we'll be making our way. With emak and her sister sitting at the back, it sure would be nice to have someone else sitting up front with me. Don't get me wrong though. I don't mind the sitting arrangement, just that...well, I think my friends understand.

I do so love long distance driving especially along scenic highways. Unfortunately Malaysian authorities being what they are, they just don't seem to understand what natural beauty is. One of my most favoured spot was just before the climb up the Mantin Hill, along the old KL-Seremban road. It had small rolling hills which was sparsely decorated with trees, making it look more like the Swiss Alps, which off course, I have only seen pictures off, especially in the movie 'The Sound of Music'.

Another, is the East-West Highway which though not as scenic, is still beautiful nonetheless simply because it cuts through virgin jungle. Though once wild animals do cross the road, such scenes maybe rare now - I don't know as I have not been that way for more than 10 years now. And as much as I love the natural beauty of the jungle and hills, the drive along Terengganu coastal road should be rewarding enough, simply for vastness of the ocean scene of the South China Sea. Looking at the ocean alone, is simply breathtaking and takes the weight from one's mind, which incidentally, I was told by a pious man to do so to ease the mind. I believe he quoted it from a hadith about the sky actually, but one which I cannot recall for now.

But if ever I were to rate a highway which is scenic and eerily beautiful, then it must be the Santa Barbara Highway. Recovering from a personal trauma, I had butterflies in my stomach driving through it. The highway snakes through high cliffs almost all the way along the coast, which gives one the feeling of a dangerous romance with death. At times, thick fog would cover the landscape, giving one the thought of reaching the ends of the earth. Though it was a much welcome relief to reach the end of the highway, the memories of it lingers deep in my mind, and my stomach still churns at just the thought of driving through. Still, there is a longing to return. Perhaps when I do so, it will not be as striking; traveling a life, one should always come out the better.

ps. would have prefered Albert Hammond, but the audio was not satisfactory. But, ain't that life?