Skip to main content

Update: Your Own Backyard

My parents and their siblings are sticking the landing as far as Cuti-Cuti Malaysia is concerned. In their twilight years and after going through some pretty tough life stuff, they’ve decided to embark on small little journeys and road trips to wherever their hearts desire once every fortnight.

The one ‘uns are usually invited but with our little families in tow and own personal commitments, it’s pretty hard to nail us down for their little sojourns. But we try.

It’s particularly hard when we either have little kids with us, work weekends, travel regularly for work as it is (a break from all that traveling is just the kind of break we need, huh?), or when we have no clear working hours.



But like I said, we try.

Their little outings depend on my Google-expert uncle who is the head of the family and mastermind behind these little road trips. So, we could be heading south one weekend, and then north east the next. We never know until a couple of days before the trip when my dad asks us if we’re interested in joining.

I’ve joined them on one of their fishing village trips before and I absolutely love the idea of getting out of this concrete jungle that we live in. And it’s actually quite sad that we, city folks, don’t really know the value of what life can be like on the outskirts of our metropolis.

The idea soon proliferated amongst my extended family and they’ve come to expect a small getaway once in a while. 

I like the thought of going ‘nowhere in particular’ and just hopping into the car with whoever is willing to come...and just go. Expecting nothing, I don’t even do a Google search before heading out. 


On this outing, my kids asked me where we were going and my answer was ‘Tanjong Sepat’, Like hell I know where that is and what's there. I’m just gonna follow this damn map’. 


But it was a very pleasant surprise, although there isn’t much to do in the coastal village. It’s nothing like seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time, or taking pictures of Tokyo Tower or the ancient Pyramids



The journey was relaxing and you know what’s really funny? It was when I turned off the highway and was led towards a long-forgotten inner coastal road where thin, ribbly cows still roam the side of the street. Chicken families were languidly lounging around in the blistering sun. Tattered wooden homes lined the streets along the way and it was such a striking difference that it holds transmogrifying power

It felt like Malaysia in the 1950s!

Because there isn’t much to do there, we were forced to slow down. And take loads of selfies.

Instead of inundating my friends and family with endless number of self-gratifying Facebook pictures and Instagram posts, I created a quick video slideshow instead. 


Well, there WILL be more of these little road trip adventures in the future because it’s so easy to get addicted to it! And you don’t even have to spend a fortune to get out of the country. 

Sure, overseas trips are fantastic but, like they say, you don’t know what you’re missing in your own backyard until you look. 

But more importantly, it's actually WHO you spend the time with that is more important than the WHERE.



Have a pleasant week ahead, folks. 

The year-end madness is careening straight into our orbit so, I hope you have it in yourself to keep things sane and joyful at the same time. 

Don't spend too much but just enough. And in the meantime, no matter how difficult things can be, the best thing you can do for yourself is to show up. 

Show up every day. 



XOXO,

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Stargazer - Stretch Those Sides

I have been doing this pose, part of Cosmic Dance (a type of yoga, I am assuming), called Stargazer pose without knowing it is called Stargazer's pose a lot in the past. You see, sometimes, I don't follow the rules and come up with my own stretches and poses. It is fun. I have on some music, nice, soothing music or just anything I can click on. Then I go with the flow, letting my hair down. Just moving to the music...and that is when I come up with the above Stargazer's pose. This pose really stretches your sides. Keep your eyes on the outstretched hand if you are keeping it pointed to the top, as if you are waving or connecting to a higher energy from the Universe. Your arms will ache a little but hey, toned arms, here you come! :-) For those who want a bigger stretch, it is safe to slowly and gently move the lifted hand towards your back...don't overdo it, listen to your body's complaints and respect it. You don't have to prove anything to anyone, reme

Maid Side-Kick

I was kind of a little sad when I read the news about this - there will be no live-in Indonesian maids in Malaysia anymore . There are pros and cons to having a live-in maid, as with everything else, but for us, we enjoyed more pros than cons. Back then, when my kids were little, we brought in a family of maids to help with...well, just about everything, and we were like two families merged into one. They ate what we ate, we sleep, they sleep, we shop, they shop, they joke, we laugh, we joke, they laugh...for me, the maid I hired was more like a sister and side-kick to me. For that few years, I was dependent on her to mind-read my schedule and when I need or don't need help. She picked things up quickly and we ended up having lots of moments whereby we were in sync. Today, two of them are on my Facebook and we were gleefully chatting over Facebook Messenger since they've just discovered the wonders of the Internet and Social Media. Since we were more like partners in crim

Project Wolf Hunting (2022) - Film Review

Less than 10 minutes into the movie, I was already wondering why am I watching this show, and in the dead of the night.  But I was thinking to myself, I've toughened up quite a bit when it comes to things like these... Happiness , Signal , Sweet Home , Alice in Borderland , Vagabond , City Hunter , Tunnel ...these crime and sci-fi dramas and films I endured just so that I can watch my favorite actors in action...they must have really built me some mental muscles.  Usually, I am the late kind because I want to see what everyone has to say about it...so that I am prepared.  I will just present you with reasons to watch and reasons NOT to. Here goes.  REASONS TO WATCH If you like Seo In Guk , Jung So Min , Jang Dong Yoon , Sung Dong Il , or maybe even Im Ju Hwan , you might want to endure this film.  Hint : If you're a fan of Jang Dong Yoon, maybe watch it.  It's interesting. I know we have a lot of post apocalyptic world films all over the place now but this is a little diffe