Golf Trip to JB

It is never a trip of complete pleasure when going on a golf trip during the weekday across the Causeway. It is always pleasure mixed with pressure. The thought of getting caught in a traffic jam that last as long as your golf game is never far from the mind. Pressure also come in the form of client calling in to remind you that he need that report by this Christmas, or worse, he need it yesterday. The bad press on the violent crime in Johor recently didn’t help either… All these added up, I actually feel guilty resting a productive day chasing a little white ball in the middle of nowhere. Isn’t it ironical that I go through all this troubles, just because I wanted a day off to escape the mundane of daily grind?!! The fact remain that a few stolen moments in a backdrop of great landscape and greenery and the company of a few good buddies do wonder for the mind. It is also a good opportunity to renew our bonds with friends that we don’t meet socially or professionally. Today game is one such moment. Cheeze was my buddy from university. He was and still a guy with big personality and love for the Arts. He used to buy tickets in advance and invite his friends to art performances. Art performances were cheap then and a typical Hong Kong gig like Alan Tam can be had for $10. At one Singapore Symphony Orchestra concert he actually bought 20 tickets in advance for his friends. I didn’t go for that one as I was in Malaysia. He ended up in the good company of 17 ladies for the evening and sold away the 2 unused tickets at the concert venue. What I admired about him is that he had no ulterior motive in his action as he dated and fancied none of them. Pure friendship. Period. It was a good trip today as we managed to come back in one piece and on time. The only blot on a good day was some silly marketing company calling up asking for a few seconds of my time as I was lining up for a killer putt. Some good holes earlier had put me in a good mood, so I generously gave him 3 seconds as that’s all I needed to say “Not interested” and hang up. I missed my putt!! @#$%^!! JB is literally littered with hundred of eateries that serves good food at affordable prices. It is almost like an unwritten rule that a golf outing will end, not at the 18th hole but at a good makan (eating) place in JB. Dinner was a surprise experience today. It was not at the usual town eateries but at a kelong restaurant by the seaside at Tanjung Kabung. It does not have the commercial trapping nor the romantic ambience of “The Sampan” in Melaka. The seafood could not get any fresher than here as the fish were actually kept in pents in the sea. Dinner was a mix of veggie, steamed fish, fried egg and mussel downed with fresh coconut juice and chrysanthemum tea. For RM80, it was an experience that everyone and anyone can afford. The only catch is, the place is rather out of the way and not that easy to find. It was tucked away at an ulu corner of Pasir Gudang in JB behind the Tanjung Puteri Golf Course. All in all it was a good “holiday” in the hospitality of our northern neighbour. Good food, good company, affordable golf… great combination that will relax the most tired of mind. Did I talk about pressure? Not a hint of it around after we had finished our dinner. That’s the reasons we are coming back again and again despite the incidental inconvenience with a golfing outing in JB.