On Tuesday, not long before the office-hour supposed to end, my boss telephoned.
Boss: Ryn [actually my boss called me by my firstname and not by my short/nick name], can you attend a meeting on Friday.
Me: What is it about?
Boss: It's... bla... bla... bla... [I won't dwell about work here]... It's in Batu Gajah, Perak this Friday. Can you arrange for transportation?
Me: Err... Yes.
Boss: Okay, I'll forward you the e-mail.
Wednesday was a public holiday. Used the break to run some errants. In the evening, re-read the e-mail to reconfirm the meeting venue. Then saw the finer prints - a site-visit was also in the agenda. And the site visit is on Thursday! I frantically called the e-mail originator. His plan was to leave KL early Thursday's morning and reach the site around 10am. Since I live out side of KL, I had to leave extra early! Anyway, this morning, I managed to caught up with him at the highway. And we made our way to the site.
Googling [is there such word?] "Batu
Gajah Perak", you'll get URLs on Kelly's Castle. I had thought that it was located somewhere remote. It is actually located right next to a main road,
Jalan Gopeng. Unfortunately, we were rushing to meet another people, so we just zoomed passed the landmark. I made a mental note to myself to stop by the landmark on my way back to KL.
Completing our site visits, we were faced with a dilemma. We had not arranged for our
accomodation. We pondered.
Ipoh, the capital city was nearer (because there were less traffic light). But
Lumut and the sea was more inviting so we decided to head to
Lumut.
We drove to
Teluk Batik. A very nice secluded small bay. Other that us three, the place seemed to be deserted from any tourist. The beach was very clean. The breeze was very refreshing (sorry, I forgot to take photos of the beach). If I had come alone, I would have taken a room there and take the opportunity to clear my head. But it was not meant to be.
The guys, concern about food (or rather lack of place selling them), decided that we should try
Lumut Town. So, off we went. I once worked in
Lumut. It was years ago. Things have changed. Nevertheless, I managed to locate the hotel around the corner.
While travelling, I'm not particularly fussy about my room. I could have taken a cheaper room, but I felt like I was in need of open space, so
I opted for a room with a window. The room was spacious enough. There's a nice view from my window. The plumbing, air-
cond and television works. I was satisfied. My colleagues, as I found out later, had a few complaints.
When the sun was about to set, I went for a little walk in the small town.
The sun was warm. The town was very laid back. It was just nice for an evening stroll. I was strolling along the bay, taking some photos, when my colleagues telephoned. I joined them for break fast. Again, if I was alone, I would have done things differently. I would have eaten at one of those tables along the bay and watch the world pass-by.
Soon after dinner, we prepared some presentation slides, then retired to our rooms.
The next day, I woke up early for an early morning stroll in the park. I had wanted to watch the sun rise. At the jetty were boats ferrying people to and fro the islands. An old grandma had just parked her old bicycle laden with the day's newspaper.
I had to rush back to the hotel. Get a fresh set of battery. Unfortunately, like this old man (photo will be added later), the magic hour had passed. The jetty and the park was empty. Those people were commuters communiting to work. Nevertheless I continued walking, enjoying the soft morning breeze.
Before long a man stopped me for a chat. He wore a simple clothes. He had a little bag under his right arm. He had noticed me taking photos earlier. The park was a little deserted. I was a little alarmed. As I told him that I used to live here (trying to give the impression that I'm not exactly a tourist), I moved slowly so that I had my back to the more 'populated' part of the park. I was ready to flight should it was needed!
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