As we approached Port Dickson, the familiar over-bright glare of the sun was there to greet us. I think the reflection of  the sun hitting the sea of the Malacca Straits, then bouncing back to the sun and coming back down onto P.D., causes the extra glare. Hence, it requires hat shades and sunglasses for comfort.

We, that is, Jeannie, The Batik Influencer and my wife; and I, wanted a short break from the hustle and hustle of city life. Did I type hustle and hustle? Yes, I did. We needed a break.It shows.

Jeannie got our daughter, Laura; to book us into a hotel. It was a long weekend holiday. After much thought and discussion on how to avoid the traffic jams to and from P.D., we avoided going down (since P.D. is southwest of us [South is “down /  bottom of maps so it would not be too correct to say “going up south” ]) on Saturday or Sunday and planned to go on Monday and be back on Tuesday.

Getting to Port Dickson or P.D. was a breeze. Jams almost seemed like a myth and worrying about them was unnecessary. Since, we were fairly early, we stopped by at the Scottish eating place for lunch. Notice words like breeze, myth, fairly... all somehow related to the weather. Pun?

Anyway, the Scottish eating (no, we do not eat Scottish people) place was serving a samurai (because it had teriyaki sauce) burger (I know what you are thinking… Scottish and Japanese are poles apart). It was quite good. The burger patty size was what it used to be back in the good old days – big.

We checked in to our room slightly early. The hotel and the beach were crowded with people. Everyone was enjoying themselves on the long weekend holiday. Jeannie and I, we just wanted to relax and enjoy the seaside.

We went down to the beach at about 5pm, when the weather was slightly cooler. We walked the length of the beach which was about 500 meters in length. It was a slow walk as we had to maneuver between adults, children and tents (lots of tents were out, up. Most of them were set up further up the shore). There definitely was no shortage of enjoyment. It was fun…for these adventurers I guess. I’d opt for the less travelled part – air-conditioned rooms with comfortable beds. Not to forget clean toilets, too.

Jeannie had prepared sandwiches from home, which we had for dinner…the sandwiches, that is. We had coffee flowing throughout the evening (for me), while I figured some work out, including upcoming articles and what’s next for the next three months leading to the end of the year. Lots of ideas…our goals are quite on track. The fun part is to explore new ideas.

Breakfast was early for us. We sat on the terrace of the dining hall, to enjoy the cool breeze that came in with each wave of the sea that was washed onto the beach. We weren’t the only ones enjoying breakfast on the terrace. So too; were the crows. The minute food was left on the table unattended, these black birds came swooping in to have a go at the food. When we saw this, we moved to a table inside the dining hall. So much for eating on the terrace to enjoy the breeze and wide open spaces.

After breakfast, Jeannie went to the beach again to spend some time with the water; while I went back to the room to get more work done.

We checked out of our hotel at half 12, to our next destination – a sort of adventure to locate the house(s) my parents, my late sister, Jennifer; and I, stayed over 60 years ago when my father was in the army. My parents were very young at that time. Jennifer; was about 2 or 3 years old and I, a year 4 days younger than Jennifer at that time. The story in the next essay.

Jeannie and I wish all Malaysians, around the world, HAPPY MALAYSIA DAY.

PS: The location of our house is in the army camp. And another thing, no traffic jams on our way back home.