I was away earlier this week and hardly had time to pen my thoughts. And when I finally had a moment, I found myself driving back from hubby’s hometown; as such, being at the wheel, how to pen my thoughts?
I kept the iPad in the boot, and for five hours, I did not play any games. Hahaha. The drive back was tiring because there was heavy traffic at several stretches on the Plus highway. But the build-up was of no reason – no accident or even roadworks. Sheesh, slow down for nothing.
Although it was tedious, sipping my green tea and listening to my music helped to collect my thoughts for the next entry. You could call it a good me-time.
Sometimes time management can be a bane, especially driving. Timing is essential to navigating through rush hour traffic when our appointment or golf tee-off clashes with the rush.
If we leave five minutes early, we will be half an hour early to arrive at our destination. However, if we leave five minutes late, we will end up half an hour late!
So this morning, I was late leaving and got caught in a horrendous snarl of traffic. Sigh. But a quick tweak of the plan, and all’s well, arriving on time. Phew.
Over the weekend, we visited hubby’s parents for a quick escape. The trip also became a discovery for new food along the way. Typically, we would stop over in Ipoh for lunch, but this time, we opted to stop in Taiping instead.
We went to a new restaurant as the one we had in mind was closed. It was a pleasant discovery – the lunch was very yummy even though they were simple choices!
Fried mullet and seafood porridge. Yummy
As for the drive, it was tedious because there were a lot of cars on the road. It’s strange, considering the weekend was just a normal one, not a long public holiday stretch.
Heavy traffic on the way up North!
And it was the same tedious drive on the return journey the next day, albeit a little longer. It was akin to driving during the festive holiday, clocking in six hours towards North and eight hours on the return. Nonetheless, the visit was good.
Return journey was worse! Flavorful dinner at Tapah.
We stopped at Tapah for dinner and discovered new dishes at our regular stop. The choices were very satisfying for the palate and easy on the wallet too! Before we knew it, the weekend was over, and here we are, back to another busy work week ahead.
It has been ages since we last participated in an away Interclub golf game organized by our Club. Over the last two years of living with the pandemic, strict SOPs made interstate travel and activities with large crowds difficult. All these are a thing of the past now.
If I remember correctly, interstate travel has been allowed since May this year, and golf tournaments are happening again. There are fewer restrictions, although we still need to mask up, especially in enclosed public areas. So it is nice to represent the Club for the away game, going for the trip via a chartered bus.
We are traveling to Penang first for a social game amongst ourselves. Then on Saturday, the entourage will leave Penang and travel to Ipoh for the Interclub game. Ipoh again – just last week, we were there for lunch!
Well, it is a nice change to play two rounds of golf outstation and not have to drive. I hope the trip will be a good and memorable one. Good outing, good company, good games, and good food!
The short excursion plan continued over the weekend, but this was a little more than a short drive outstation. We decided to visit hubby’s parents up North.
The weekend was yet another festive holiday, and with Monday being a replacement holiday, traffic would be heavy. So, we left on Friday instead of Saturday, which turned out well for traffic that morning was not too bad.
As always, we detoured to Ipoh for lunch. But this time, we opted for something else instead of the usual Chicken Rice and beansprouts that Ipoh is famed for, and it was a pleasant change. Although our Nasi Ganja portion was not excessive, it was just enough for us. I have to say the coffee was excellent.
Nasi Ganja and iced black coffeeCurry noodles and Nasi Lemak for breakfast
For once, we did not play golf and just savored food that was under our radar previously. We even drove to the north-most state, Perlis, which I have never been to in my whole life. But sadly, there was nothing much to see there.
My first time visiting Perlis A quick hello and goodbye
The weekend came and passed quickly. All too soon, it was time to return. The drive home was equally pleasant, without traffic jams on the highway. I’m glad we made the trip to see the folks who are well.
The power of advertising today, especially on social media, has changed advertising from what or how it used to be. It was from a Facebook posting that I found the cafe that served lovely strawberry cakes.
So I convinced hubby that we should drive to Hulu Yam to try the cake, and this was the beginning of our short weekend excursion plans. A nice change from the usual weekend golf game and window shopping at shopping malls.
Two weekends ago, we drove to the Kebun Cafe. The drive was long because traffic was heavy. But when we arrived, it was a pleasant discovery. There was an organic vegetable and fruit farm next to the cafe, and yes, we bought some fruits and vegetables.
The cafe had a small crowd, but we managed to get a table. There were only drinks and cakes on the menu. Luckily, we had lunch already before we drove here! We ordered the strawberry cake and the black sesame cake, and both were heavenly. I’d say it was worth the drive. But as there wasn’t much else to see and do, we left after the short coffee break and sinful cakes.
Doing such short excursions during half a day on the weekend can be therapeutic, and we are convinced to continue with this activity. Away from the hustle and bustle of work and city living or even the monotony of our daily life, this activity discovery is pleasant for our well-being and mental rejuvenation. I look forward to our next excursion!
The weekend routine has become so predictable that we decided to do something about it. Week in, week out, we were either playing golf or at shopping malls, and it wasn’t so exciting and monotonous.
So for the past two weekends, we went away on short excursions, driving out of town to discover new places and food to eat. The drives are not that long, within an hour or so. It only took longer when we were diverted from heavy traffic and traveled on the trunk roads.
And when unsure where to go and what to do, the internet is the best place to do some quick research before embarking on something new. Last weekend, we decided to drive to Janda Baik because I found that there are some nice cafes located there.
The drive was long and windy because the navigation app diverted us to take the toll-free road instead. Oh well, we were not in a hurry.
The Pineyard at Janda Baik
When we got to The Pineyard, our lunch stop, the place was packed and bustling with activities. We walked into a garden wedding being set up for probably a late afternoon wedding to take place, followed by dinner in the main dining area. The decor was pretty, and the surrounding made the ambiance very romantic.
The cafe was packed and had a long waiting line of patrons, either walk-in visitors like us or wedding guests. We had to change our lunch plans, for it would take forever before our turn for a table. Our tummies were protesting already when we saw the crowd.
Fresh figs were very goodA pleasant discovery
We drove off, intending to go to another place when we saw Figgy’s Cafe and decided to have lunch here instead. The local food was delicious, and the Fig Farm beside the cafe was a bonus discovery. Now I know how figs grow on trees! After lunch, we checked out another cafe for coffee before heading home.
Coffee at Pinto Coffee
We never realized a simple initiative to drive off to a nearby town to discover new things would give us such pleasure, and I think we may do this more often because it’s not that tiring a drive, and it’s delightful to see places and try new food.
The announcement caught us all by surprise. Hari Raya was assumed to be tomorrow, but last night, the news broke that the first day of Hari Raya is today. It is a long stretch of holiday for this festive occasion regardless of this. Given that May 1st is Labor Day, but as it fell on Sunday, the next day is the replacement holiday.
This year is a meaningful Hari Raya because Covid-19 SOPs are now relaxed, and people are traveling again. Due to the pandemic for the past two years, interstate travel was very restricted, so this is a welcome change.
As for us, we are staying put because we don’t want to get caught in the traffic snarl. To those celebrating the festive occasion, here’s wishing you Selamat Hari Raya and happy holidays! Have a joyous time together with your loved ones.
Forest City Golf Resort is a lovely golf resort. But I have to say there aren’t many choices within the resort as far as dining is concerned. Nonetheless, food is not the main highlight of this trip, as there is much to share of the two golf courses – the Legacy Course and Classic Course.
Each course has its characteristics, appeal, and challenge. Being there for the first time, we were unaware of the layout at times, as we did not have a caddy to guide us. But since buggies are allowed on the course, this predicament was not a big issue. We had all the time in the world, and at times, a short drive up to see the layout was necessary before hitting our shots.
Both courses had very pristine fairways, even the roughs along the way. The ball floats nicely on top, and it is not difficult to get out from the rough. The tee boxes were a joy as they were even and had carpet-like quality grass. As for the greens, it wasn’t as fast as touted. But all in all, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
There is hardly a blade of grass out of place on the fairways. The only thing messing up the perfect condition was an unexpected bird poop I spotted on our second day. It was indeed jarring to the overall greenery of the golf course. Even the wasteland features were immaculate.
The eye-sore bird poop on the fairway!
The only thing we did not enjoy was the annoying crows. They were very aggressive, following us throughout each game and coming in packs to hoover in our buggy, looking for food, which we did not have. I suspect they have honed their senses to zero in for grub. After all, the resort is four years old, and the crows have been around since its inception. I was glad for the sanitizer provided by the resort, and I used it on the buggy each time after shooing the crows away.
The golf course is as good, if not better, as some of the golf courses in Thailand without the price tag and long journeys that include flying and taxi rides. For us, it’s only a four-hour drive with allowance to detour for a meal and time to spare to settle down before the allotted afternoon tee-off slot on the first day.
We will make another trip down south again soon, very soon.
It is nice when we can have a getaway after staying put for so long. When M1 had to clear her work-leave days, we jumped at the opportunity. But the trip had to include golf for us.
So here we are, at Forest City Golf Resort in Johor, for our golfing fun and her, a relaxing escape from work stress to enjoy the other activities.
The lobby area of Forest City Golf Resort
The drive down south was pleasant, and we arrived at the resort ahead of schedule yesterday. The golf course was not busy at all, and being buggy-on-course, we thoroughly enjoyed this.
The fairways were in superb condition, likewise the greens. Even the tee boxes were excellent, level all the time, unlike our club where we find the ground not even to stand when we tee up.
Angieneering 
Remarks