Posted in Nostalgia, tagged Driving on March 23, 2010| Leave a Comment »
.
It was the best kiss I have ever had in my life.
.
I was blessedly kissed by the most beautiful sunset.
Driving to Manjung, in the late afternoon rain.
A wet kiss it was.
.
And I will be longing for this kiss again comes May.
Come what may.
..
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The picture was taken with my RAZR2V9. It is a far cry from the best quality in soft copy. But I have a hard copy with higher resolution printed in my mind.
.
.
Posted in Sense, tagged Driving on January 28, 2010| Leave a Comment »
…down to Gorky Park
listening to the wind of change.
A friend’s Facebook status about Malaysian drivers made me think of how much I have to ramble about driving and drivers now that I have driven in a few countries in this block and the block next to it. So much so that my thoughts on driving have been driving me up the wall, down the drain, in Athens and now driving me out of my mind, yours and Miss Daisy’s!
Yes I drive here in Moskva, despite warnings and all cerita seram (horror stories) I heard from expats – white, brown, colored and color-blind alike. While I may not ever come to the Daily-Gallivanting State of Enjoyment during my stay in Russia, I would do anything to keep my freedom of driving around in my own time. Having a driver is a ‘limited freedom’. And to me, limited freedom is no freedom. (How do I know I can trust my driver to keep his mouth shut about Putin and I and that fishy affair broiling in the oven?)
I have no opinion on expats who do not drive, are too scared to drive or those who have two cars and five drivers (or five cars and two drivers, whichever or whoever tickle their fancy). It’s a mere matter of choice. I, myself, like driving myself with myself by myself when my other self is away or whenever I feel like driving myself. I don’t put myself in a class higher than anybody else just because I have the courage to drive in Russia. After all, like I once said to Katya Sprague, “You can only go as far as your courage.”
The consistently terrorizing stories I hear, nonetheless, are pretty much about how terrifying Russian drivers are. Them and their terrible driving attitudes. And my response to every story I hear would usually be, “Oh yeah? Come visit Malaysia and see how we can drive you.” At this rate, I should really be considered for the highest post at Tourism Malaysia here in Moscow. Not. But of course I never finished my sentence.
People are people, I believe. You don’t drive like Malaysians just because you’re Malaysian. Russians, Italians, Greeks and Kuwaitis don’t drive like Russians, Italians, Greeks and Kuwaitis because they are Russians, Italians, Greeks and Kuwaitis. I use the indicator when I turn, change lanes and when I intent to pull over, regardless of where I drive. One may call it pemanduan berhemah, defensive driving, or considerate driving. But one’s nationality does not determine the way one drives. It is another mere matter of choice.
Yet, regardless of the language barrier, Russians generally communicate better than many Malaysians I have seen. On the road, I don’t have to know Russian to understand when they are turning right or left. They use sign language with me. They signal.
But then, how do I know if the driver of the car in front of me is Russian? For all I know he could be Joe Penny driving along Tverskaya Ulitsa looking for a parking spot nearest to Mi Piace.
Ciao bebe!
Posted in Travel, tagged Driving, Monchies on June 24, 2009| Leave a Comment »
We had enough of our house-arrest lifestyle for 3 days. All of us! So today, my vote for driving 300km southbound went unchallenged. Me Monchies’ face just lit up, oh brighter than the mid-morning sun! And even after completing the 300++km challenge and even when the Tuesday’s sun was no longer hanging on the Danga Bay’s horizon… Kitreena and Edrick were still spinning around jumping up and down like the Ever Ready Heavy Duty batteries that they are. I must have conserved enough energy those 3 days – these kids look like they will not need to be plugged in for another month! Hoy!
Driving 300km south of Kuala Lumpur seemed to be the best idea today because:
So when the sun woke my son up, and my son woke me up… I assigned myself a Jalan-Jalan Cari Pasal mission. Johor Bharu, here we come!
I wanted it to be an easy-going day. An easy-going day it was, an easy-going day indeed. Well, at least in the beginning. Armed and equipped with all the munchies & nibblies, we took a leisure shopping and lunch stop at KLCC. Shopped at MotherCare, had lunch at Dome, reloaded Touch-n-Go at Maybank, bought kuehs at La Cucur, plus 3 washroom visits in between. Yes, three! (Boy, these kids were leaking!) By the time we hit the SMART Tunnel, it was quarter to 1600hrs!
With the half tank on my rented City, I knew I could go quite far. So I passed on filling up in KL to beat the rush hour – which was against my long-distant driving policy. But I hushed myself with two words: easy going. It was only 300km. The first quick stop was right in front of my mak angkat Chan Yoke Lin’s fruit stall Hentian Serdang – to set my GPS pointing me to Mount Austin. The second stop: Nilai Utara – to shift Edrick to the front seat so Kitreena can lay down in the back seat. Total stop time: 6 minutes 22 seconds accumulative. I could feel my easy-going mission ‘going south’ very easily.
I was, nonetheless, making a good time doing my Autobahn-style speed whenever the GPS went quiet and doing 119km per hour on the stretches that are ‘Police Ambush Area’ and ‘Speed Trap Zone’. And that was despite Edrick’s frantic attempt to scare me with what he misheard as ‘This Dragon Zone’! He kept on repeating the GPS’s instructions as though I was going left on all the right turns. Arrghh! I was busy driving and he was busy driving me nuts, bolts and screws!
Our little City on four wheels eventually became quiet when me Monchies dozed off, which gave me some quiet time to reflect on my life. Chewah! Well, I was truly reflecting on my life until…
Questa è Enida 