The Scenic Route Revisited

Today 04 August 2008 which is a monday, I drove to Seremban very early accompanied by my son Haniff Azlan Shah who's back for his summer holiday. Since he's flying back this thursday 07 August 2008 via KLIA and transit at Heathrow on his way back to Cork, I brought him to Seremban to say goodbye to his Grandad. At first I wanted to take the scenic route once more, just to show to him that there's more to life than just a rat race. What's more, with the efficient methods applied by my Pest-Control provider, the elimination of home pests is becoming a lucrative business.The rats had almost been eliminated from my house, but one can never know when infestation will begin, because you cannot get to their breeding place. So when I arrived at the Makam Tuan Hj Said, I rang up Uncle Dol and told him my plan.I rang him up when I stopped at the R & R just about twenty minutes from Seremban southbound.When I neared the Makam, I saw a notice board that says no vehicles are allowed to go up to the Makam. How absurd! I had been using the funny road leading to the Makam from the main road going towards Sikamat. And upon exiting I had to be careful when entering the fast traffic flow on my right to make a turn to the inner lane to go towards Kuala Pilah. This time I took the road going to Jelebu and after about five minutes from the traffic light junction going to KP and Jelebu, I turned right to exit the KP road near Kg Dato' Dagang. I was told by my waris, the Kampong was previously called Kg Belacan coz there were many settlers who originated from Melaka. But on his initiative he got the name changed to Kg Dato' Dagang in memory of my late Grandfather who was the Dato' Dagang and he died in 1929. Our family holding company is called Syarikat DD Mohd Akil Sdn Bhd. That ""DD" stands for Dato' Dagang. I recalled my grandmother telling us that when he was holding the post, he was such a feared local leader who looked after the interests of the migrants, mostly Chinese tin-miners prospecting for tin in the Paroi area. After stopping by at my sister's house in Taman Seri Telawi near Paroi, on the way to Kuala Pilah, we stopped for a short rest. Then after twenty minutes proceeded on our way to Kuala Pilah. The winding road at Bulit Putus is for me a well travelled path. I remember when I was about five years old, I used to ride the motor cycle " Royal Enfield " with my father going back to Terachi, my mother's kampong. There's always this road block near the top of the pass, manned by British Fusiliers and Gurkha Rifles. They knew us by sight coz my father goes back and fro Seremban and Terachi often. I always enjoyed the ride, cruising down the valley road to Ulu Bendol and after the "Kedai Kurung" where the Chinese Resettlement area was located was my the Grandmother's house near the corner. It was the sixteenth and the quarter mile, where there was a bouginvella tree with it's red flowers always seen from far as the " Union" bus headed towards Kuala Pilah then. It was almost ten o'clock in the morning when I arrived at the former old road near the KP Hospital called Jalan Melang where Uncle Dol's wife house is situated. He was waiting for me, and I looked at him with satisfaction because I had always wanted to visit him, but there were too many commitments. He was alone in the house as Auntie Esah went to teach at the branch of a Nursing School nearby. I am greatly indebted to both, because when Mak was hospitalised I stayed at their Quarters a few steps from the ward of cluster Hospital which was then a new concept to the people of KP district. Mak passed away at the ward with Abah by her side, and I wanted to come that friday 13 june 1997 but I arrived too late. The road leading to Kuala Pilah from Seremban on any day is always teeming with traffic.People as far as Pahang travelled along the road when they exited the Keratong Highway to Bahau and then kolopilah and to KL. I was lucky because the peak hour had passed, and we saw a colony of monkeys frolicking on the grass verge at the blind corner, where they seemed to get their daily supply of food trown by passing lorries which ply that second scenic route. I could see at some points where the present road almost encroached the construction site of the new highway from Panchor to Ulu Bendol. By next year, we would be able to savour a new vista along the corridor towards Kuala Pilah or towards Seremban depending upon your destination. Uncle Dol is a generous person, who had the Rambutans plucked and mangosteens too. Several durians completed the whole bundle to travel back to PJ. I did not realise I spent almost one and a half hours talking to him. Then we took his leave. When we went back from my sister's house, I asked my Dad and sister how to get to the road to Labu.Last fortnite I took the down memory lane trip from LCC terminal towards Kg LBJ, Batu 9, Tiroi and exited near the junction with the traffic lights facing towards Seremban. But this time I took the different stoplights to go to Labu. For a while I was confused coz I did not recall seeing the Labu estate. But when I saw the milestone saying Labu is another 13 kilometer I knew I was in the right direction. I took the drive along memory lane once more and showed how pleasing a drive which could only be equalled when I first started to drive in 1968 along the lonely roads to Kg LBJ and Sendayan. We came out near the F1 site after an hour's drive and I went to the KLIA highway towards Shah Alam. But I decided to exit to Putrajaya coz I wanted to show how the Maju X-pressway is to Ippi (Haniff)and I was not happy to see the congestion at the Toll Plaza as one enters the Maju Xpressway. But cruising down towards KL was exhilariting, and I exited to Subang and Petaling Jaya on the NPE highway and straight home. It was partly a scenic route revisited and when I joined the traffic along the federal highway, it was back to the daily grind.