This is my first visit to Cherating. That night, after checking in the hotel, we had a short rest before we head out for dinner. Having read from a forum that there is a famous seafood restaurant in Cherating, dinner was definitely decided. It was a 20 minutes drive to Pak Su. We had stuffed crabs, ong Pou?prawns, fried vegetables, steamed tofu with spring onion and black sauce. We also order fried clams with spicy sauce but the waiter must have took the order wrongly because we were served sweet and sour clam instead. Overall, the food was a let down. Though the seafood was fresh and food came out quite ok, it still lacked the omph?we were expecting. Probably we have heard so much about this shop, we were expecting more. Having said that, I think the stuffed crabs are worth mentioning since the meat was generous and fresh.

After dinner, we drove all the way to Kuantan for a stroll. We were planning to shop in one of the mall and by chance, we found a pasar malam near Berjaya Mall. The pasar malam stretched for a distance of merely a few hundred meters. The stalls are mainly selling second hand clothing at a bargain. Believe it or not, you can actually get a decent shirt at only RM1. Yup, only RM1! Of course bear in mind that these are second hand clothing, but if you look hard enough you can find some decent clothes, some of which still looks new. We had the time of our live shopping!

Sunrise from my bedroom window

Next morning, after a light breakfast at the hotel (breakfast was bad), we head back to Beserah village. We stopped by at the batik village and browsed around the shops. Other than batiks, there were also creatively tailored dresses, shirts, pants and skirts. They also sell songket at only RM99. I have no use for these materials so we left empty handed. We strolled around village in hope of getting Satar ?a local delicacy made of fermented fish. To no avail, the stalls are either closed or the proprietors are only starting up the fire. I guess it a Sunday and they were not expecting much business today? Again we left empty handed.

We head back to Kuantan looking for better brunch. We went to the market and by chance found a decent Curry Mee. Nothing to boast about the curry but the dish came with generous fish balls and yong tau foo. At only RM3.00, it more than worth the value. Before heading back to KL, we also did some shopping to get the famous salted fish and other tidbits.

In a nutshell, the trip has been rather uneventful. The best yield is probably the new friendship I reaped. It is definitely a comfort especially for the change in environment.

Comes and goes when it is least expected

Hangs around when you least wanted to

Annoying most of the time

New to you but totally unavoidable

Gasp for air as you accustom to it

Entirely ordinary throughout your life

The letters says it all. So since it is unavoidable, how well can you handle change? It a question with no absolute question.

The biggest change this year is probably my decision to quit my job and to join another company. Switching job itself is not a huge transformation. However, my current office is situated in Westport ?approximately 60km and 1 hour drive from my house. Hence, the traveling part has become a challenge especially when I used to work in an environment, which champion flexibility to a certain extent.

The working hours for the new job start from 8.30am. Thus every morning, by 7.00am (or latest by 7.30am), I MUST leave the house. For a person who used to wake up and commute to work around 8.00 to 8.30am, this change requires a lot of discipline and commitment. Trust me, it is very tough. However, thank god for the highway, there is no more traffic jams, but it only meant that the holes in my pockets are burning at a faster rate. I guess this is what you call a fair trade-off.

So everyday, it took me another hour to drive back home. On normal days, it would be a smooth journey home, except a few busy spots/ bottlenecks where I am trapped in slow traffic. Nevertheless, on days when my energy is drained from the day work, I dreaded the drive. There have been a couple of occasions when I nearly dozed off while driving. Consciously, I know it dangerous to drive when you are tired but it seems that I have no other choice.

Recently I found a solution to curb my sleepiness. There is a rest stop near Kinrara, which housed a number of restaurants. Nowadays on my way home, I will stop by and have dinner. Though there is nothing great about the food, it still good enough to help reduce my drowsiness and to help slow down my journey while I wait for the traffic near Sri Petaling to ease a little.

Bottom line, there is always a silver lining in every cloud and changes may not always be the worse.

Waiting for the train to get out of the way and the usual crawl in Sri Petaling