7 March 2008

I woke up at 4:30 this morning having slept around 11:00 PM the previous evening. Linda's brother, Pak Tam arrived earlier this morning and will be joining us for the trip back home. We departed around 5:15 AM, stopped at a petrol station in SK and heads toward Gombak through MRR2.

At 5 in the morning traffic was blissfully clear. We deliberately chose to go at around this time of the morning in anticipation of traffic jam during the usual morning rush hour. Last time when we go back for Raya, we were caught in a massive traffic jam from Sungai Besi to Gombak. Nothing is worse than having to crawl through traffic at the start of your journey. By the time I got out of the city, I'll be tired already.

An hour later we arrived in Bentong just in time for Subuh prayers there. My mom wanted to buy us breakfast at McDonald's but we couldn't find any there. So I drove ahead to Raub and still no McD there also. Both got KFC though but no McD. I don't know maybe McDonald's think kampung people don't eat McD or something. In the end we stopped for a late breakfast at a roadside restaurant just outside Kuala Lipis. That was around 10:30 AM. After a hearty breakfast, I started to feel really-really sleepy. Some more, everybody else in the car decided to take their beauty nap all at the same time. I forced myself very hard to stay awake and focus on my driving. We arrived in Gua Musang an hour later as it started to rain. It rained all the way to Kuala Krai later. Around 1 o'clock we finally arrived safe and sound in Tanah Merah. Alhamdulillah.

Linda's sister also returned to vote along with her hubby. They arrived here from Manjung last night. We had lunch at Linda's place before continuing to Pasir Mas sans Adam. Linda will be voting in Tanah Merah while my mom and I in Pasir Mas.

One thing I noticed, unlike in Selangor, the poster war here is really intense. From Gua Musang all the way to Pasir Mas I can see posters, banners and party flags everywhere. You can really feel the election atmosphere round here. In Kelantan, the election battle is basically two way between PAS and BN. And judging by the campaign and posters I can tell the competition is really huge. After all Kelantan is the last remaining stronghold for the Opposition in this country. This is the only state that eludes BN grasp for 18 years now. The stake is high.

After I got to Pasir Mas I immediately went to my room and sleep. So tired. And there's no Adam Farihin to bug me for one whole day! What bliss.