The haze has worsened this week and is posing health issues for me throughout the day. I did not fully recover from my nasal congestion after the Bandung trip, as a tiny bit of phlegm seems to have taken up permanent residence at the back of my throat.
I blame the haze for giving the phlegm microscopic ammo to do me in, as the itty bitty sucker is bothering the heck out of me daily. At least I haven’t had a sore throat while trying to cough it out—thank goodness for that!
Then my eyes are the next target. They are constantly dry, blurry, or irritated, just like my mood. Ugh. This is another level of double-whammy compared to last week’s environmental double-whammy.
As such, I have decided to take a two-week break from writing because these health challenges are making me unable to think properly! The haze has gotten to my brain. Double ugh!
I seem to have lost track of time! Suddenly, September is here, but I am still in August, reminiscing about my recent golf heroics in Bandung. We have an impromptu public holiday today (in the state of Selangor and not the whole country), on top of yesterday’s Merdeka public holiday, resulting in an extended weekend; that’s why I have lost track of time.
Monday was a significant day for us too as it’s our wedding anniversary; I feel like a dinosaur many times over. Typically, every year, we would go away, just the two of us. However, this year, the Bandung golf trip with friends—not just the two of us—counts as our annual going-away anniversary celebration. It was a fun time except for the nasal congestion.
We decided to mark our anniversary with a hearty dinner at Hard Rock Cafe in the city centre, and had a good time listening to the live band. The evening culminated with us driving around the city to enjoy the sights of landmark buildings lit up to mark the Merdeka celebration.
Happy anniversary to us, and a toast to good health, more golf trips, and playing better golf! Cheers.
This time last week, hubby and I flew to Bandung, Indonesia, with our golf buddies for a 5-day, 4-night golf trip. How time flies; a week has passed already, and we are back home!
Unfortunately, during the trip, I felt a little under the weather with terrible nasal congestion. I was so out of sorts that I didn’t have the energy to write on the blog for the whole trip until now. Each day, I slept early after returning to the hotel, passing up the opportunity to explore Bandung.
When we arrived in Jakarta, our little group took the Whoosh high-speed train to Bandung. The train ride reduced a typical two-and-a-half-hour road journey to 40 minutes, saving us time to do and see much more upon arrival in Bandung.
The speed peaked at 333km to Bandung; the return trip to Jakarta was faster at 348km.
I played three rounds of golf with my nose stuffed, ears blocked, and a slight throbbing headache that came bundled with the discomfort. Despite the health setback, I played better golf during all three rounds than ever before! I thought the congestion would derail my golf ability and enjoyment. Perhaps the cool weather helped, and I was not sweating too much. However, I didn’t want to incur a further setback, and I drank almost three liters of water for the first game and two liters thereafter for the next two games.
It was so dry in Bandung that the ponds dried up and posed no threat for the Par 3 (top left photo, at Jatinagor).
Our first round was at Jatinagor National Golf & Resort, the second round at Mountain View Golf Club, and the third round at Parahyangan Golf Bandung. Mountain View was the most challenging course, being very narrow and tight, and I lost three balls there. However, I played my best round on record, nearly breaking 90!
The three golf courses.
Typically, whenever I am overseas for three games, I expect to have one good game, one decent game, and one terrible game. This time, all three were good! Funny how things can work out. My golf buddy laughed at me and lamented that the handicapped one played the best golf! Hahaha.
After the second game, we agreed to experience the Saung Angklung Udjo performance. It was quite enjoyable, and everyone in the crowd participated with their angklung to perform when prompted. Good fun!
As always, my breakfast meals at the hotel are predictable and the same. I guess I am a creature of habit. But I refrained from drinking coffee or having fruits the whole time, as I tried to manage the nasal congestion.
Same same but different everyday for breakfast.
All in all, it was a fun trip because the weather played a big part in easing my discomfort. Weather aside, the group was fun to be with, and the food choices were delicious, but sadly, I did not have much of an appetite to savor it all. Would I return to Bandung? Definitely, I would say.
Batik Air was on time, and flying out from Subang Airport was a delight because the airport is so small and convenient, unlike KLIA, which is much bigger and further away. I’m taking a break from golf now to recover from my nasal congestion and look forward to my next golf escapade!
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