Journey to Swiss Garden

Lumut. The last time I was there, it was during Oreetians' Barbecue Day. It was held at the end of our 4th year 1st semester, just for fun and friendship, before leaving for internship.

This week, I had a work assignment together with a colleague at Kencana HL yard in Lumut Port. I drove alone, since it was hard for us to meet up and car pool. But no issues. I love driving alone, especially on long distance and with no traffic lights, and of course, with good music accompanying.

My colleague confirmed that he would be staying at Swiss Garden Damai Laut. Since I did not frequent Lumut that often when I was in UTP, I had no idea where this hotel was located. My dad always reminded me to stick to the signboard in case I didn't know the way. Well, I would take it from the expert.

I arrived at Lumut township around 6 p.m. I could not find any signboard that could lead me to Swiss Garden, though I was sure that I saw a signboard before the Lumut junction saying that Swiss Garden was 21 kilometres away. I dropped by a pump station, and there was a kind lady who told me to follow the directions to Lumut Port. So okay, I got on the main road again, and took that junction: To Pantai Remis/ Pelabuhan/ Taiping.

"Yerp, this was the road that got Nadi and I to venture off until Changkat Jering tollgate at 10.30 p.m.!" I murmured.

The road wasn't good. And the junction to Swiss Garden, it felt like ages to reach there. My heart was boiling, and the feeling of fear seeped in at the same time. It was then 6.20 p.m.

The road to Swiss Garden led to a palm plantation, with a signboard at the beginning of the junction saying "7 km to Swiss Garden". Driving into that kind of area at that time, it didn't feel good. Then there was another junction, that led to a narrow, winding road. No cars were in sight.

Not too far after that junction, I could see a plantation of dragon fruit plants on both sides of the road. Well, not to say it was a pleasant sight, since the 'leaves' looked like the hair of the aliens from the movie "The Predators".

"Ishhh.. time2 macam ni laa nak teringat rambut alien tu.." and the bumps on the road made it hard to push the accelerator further.

Greeting me along the way were the swallows, flying high, and then drooped towards my car, as if they were teasing me to knock them down, and when my car was drawing near them, they fly away, which was quite enlightening really. Kinda fun to watch them teasing. At least they got my head off the predator. Oh yes, should I mention too that the monkeys lying on the road were so affectionate towards each other, ha ha.

And then I saw a signboard "1 km to resort".

Oh great. I had been driving for too long, man. I wished that there won't be another following sign that said "Oopss.. sorry.. another 10 km for you to drive, wahahaa.." Wuu, that would be really scary.

After the long, narrow, winding road (as if I were on my way to Fraser's Hill!) I arrived to a guardhouse. Lowering down my window, I was greeted by a security personnel.

"Nak ke mana Cik?"

I was beginning to feel puzzled.

"Hmm.. Swiss Garden?"

"Nak buat apa Cik..?"

"Eesshh banyak tanya lak encik ni. Kang cakap nak main golf kang, dia rasa kita berlagak pulak.." my heart murmured again.

"Nak tidur. Boleh kan?" with my eyes bawling out.

"Cik ada buat reservation?"

I supposed he didn't really get the 'eyes bawling out' signal.

"Dah call, tapi reception kata boleh walk in. Boleh saya masuk tak ni? Ke register sini je?" I wasn't sure if he understood that sarcasm.

"Tak, register kat reception.." Then he lifted the iron bar gate, and I quickly drove in. To reach the hotel, I had to drive further, surpassing the resort golf course and apartments. Thinking that I only had some leftovers of Nescafe and Bytes, I regretted of not buying anything for dinner, as I would not want to traverse the same road at night just to fill in my grumbling stomach. It was 7 p.m.

As I parked my car, I saw a Mazda3. I called up my colleague to ask if it was his car. Yep, it was his. Nice to look at definitely.

I quickly headed for the reception and got my room. The staffs there were nice and welcoming. The ambiance and setting were something like Hyatt Kuantan. Hahhh.. selamat pun sampai..

P/S: It was good that I didn't rush in to get a Mazda3.