September
9, 2002
from tea plantations to paddy fields
Listening to: the radio
Reading: Emperor Of Ocean Park by
Stephen L
Carter
Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper
cup...
We’re cruising down the highway. I haven’t checked the road signs since I woke
up from my nap, so I can’t say where we are exactly. I love road-trips on the
highway. The green scenery is definitely not as luxuriant as Cameron, since this road of
progress kind of interrupts it all, but there definitely is a view. Even as we leave the
foresty areas and drive through small towns. I always look out the window to see the
people, and most people look in at our car, and all the other cars passing through.
She’s seen her share of devils in this angel town...
Ma and Za were arguing about the radio tuner when I woke up, they were considering waking
me up anyway. So we’re channel surfing. We forgot all the stations we loved, the
numbers (frequencies?) change in each state. I’m pressing the forward search,
occasionally stopping when we catch a good song or an old song or even to smile at an
interesting blurb of unfathomable Hindi talk-show.
I’ve been doing this for so long now I think we’ve all given up actually finding a specific station, and instead contented ourselves with a mix-and-match collage of songs off many radio playlists. Mostly old songs. I don’t know why, but when the three of us are on a road trip channel surfing, we always end up hearing a lot of old songs, some two or three years back and some decades old. And some songs that aren't really that old, but in the music scene today, it's too easy to be a thing of the past.
You got your momma’s smile but you’re
yesterday’s child to me…
“I feel like puking…” my sister groans. “My tummy’s dancing
without me.”
My mum is driving in a perfectly straight line and the RV eliminates roadbumps. Hmm.
Thanks to Cameron Highlands, it feels
absolutely scathing now, 34 Celsius. The days there were 21 C and I’m positive at
night it bottomed out at 15. It was even chillier because of winds with a terrific bite.
I don’t really feel it though, because the car’s air-conditioning more than
neutralises the heat.
All we need is a fast machine and we’re gonna make
it alright…
My mum’s finally using her CRV. No longer on tiny rides around the
city, but uphill and down and all the way around, driving the beeline to north then back
to KL. Our current destination: Kedah, another state in Malaysia where my mum was born and
where my grandparents live.
I played a quick game of chess with the salt and pepper shaker…
Okay, I cheated. I’ve put in my Mayer CD. My family can deal with it.