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| Penawar looking a little sad |
After another day spent in KL, we were able to hire a vehicle and headed South out of a somewhat surreal maze of intercity highways. First stop was Putrajaya, a new and remarkable city-scape. Its planned boulevards, spacious views and designer buildings loomed large out of surrounding rubber plantations; feature pages in a designer home magazine perhaps but where were all the people?
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| Malacca Straits |
We took the old road to Port Dickson at Seremban, now a major centre. The road, yet another toll, had changed a great deal - now modern and part of an interconnected highway system across the country. Have the drivers' abilities changed however?? I recognised the nursery where I bought my chinese egg pots - none in stock today! A chinese cemetery entrance had been cut away, the hill now gone, and a new development, once the tiny village of Lubak, now spread almost down to PD.
The old town looked familiar but many of the shops were new - even the Colonel has invaded. The old market building was still standing but in a state of disrepair (could that have been possible?). PD seemed less prosperous despite the many grand apartment buildings.
Our search for Penawar was realised with a little local help. A shopkeeper who had lived in the area for many years was able to guide us around the government buildings to the house. A shadow of its former self, the house seemed smaller than I remembered; it used to be one of the most modern houses in PD (indeed, with european toilets).
The Port Dickson Club was next on our list. We were happily allowed to see the grounds, visit the Yacht Club and take lunch. After chatting with a long-time member/resident expat we drove on to find the Ming Court Hotel, now disappointingly derelict and dwarfed by endless monster-sized beach resorts strung along the calm, warm waters of Malacca Straits.
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| Port Dickson Yacht Club |
After a final tour of the town (where had our Oceanic Supermarket gone?) we headed back towards KLIA and our stay at a more upmarket over-nighter where the "group" was to gather. The road trip was exceedingly memorable; not only for me - lunch at the club came back with an appalling vengeance !
Let me tell you however, the toilet stops along the way were immaculate. On to our last overnight stop in Malaysia before joining our fellow travellers for the next stage of our journey of memories - Vietnam.
