The world is a great book

Aurelius Augustinus [more commonly known as "St. Augustine of Hippo," and often simply "Augustine"] (354-430 C.E.): rhetor, Christian Neoplatonist, North African Bishop, Doctor of the Roman Catholic Church, once wrote, "The world is a great book; he who never stirs from home, reads only a page."

I decided to stir from home and read a chapter, if not an entire book, by travelling up north to Penang for a short break, a mini sabatical from work and my usual self. My vacation from Me, Myself and I, or Naliza, Nel and Liza.

I enjoyed both my journey and reaching my destination. Driving solo on the North South Highway from Kuala Lumpur to Butterworth was four hours of self discovery, thought exploratory and self reflections. I started off at noon yesterday and I managed to stop by several rest areas to check out on the facilities. I was glad the toilets at Sungai Buloh, Bukit Gantang, Sungai Perak and Tapah are relatively clean. Well, I'm such a stickler for clean toilets.

I managed to have Burger King lunch at Sungai Buloh Overhead Bridge Restaurants and buy some local fruits like pink guava and mangoes at Bukit Gantang and Sungai Perak. At Bukit Gantang, I parked next to an amry armored truck and chatted with a couple of the soldiers. Out of curiousity, I wanted to know if the interior of the armored vehicle is air-conditioned. One of them was laughing out loud, and the other giggled at my question. Well, I'm relieved to know it is air-conditioned, otherwise, you can fry eggs in there. It's like a sauna minus air-conditioning. Hehehe, when you ask a stupid question, you don't necessarily get a stupid answer. You might get invited to look inside :)



I was planning to hop on a ferry from Butterworth to Penang, but at the last minute I decided to take the Penang Bridge instead. The bridge is rather congested, so I definitely agree they need to either widen it or build a second link to the island. I managed to check into Sheraton Penang after an hour on the brigde, and another half hour getting lost in the city looking for the hotel! Penang streets can be very confusing if you miss a turning, because there too many one way streets.

After freshening up and taking a short nap, I called up Misai Kucing who lives in Kulim (on the mainland, about half hour's drive from Penang) and asked him to cross over and take me out for dinner. What are friends for, anyways? We had grilled cockles and cuttlefish, fried kuey teow and pasembor at Padang Kota, a popular hawker center in Penang. After that, we drove along Gurney Drive and around Penang.

Before we parted last night, Misai Kucing cooked up an interesting question to me. Would I consider being someone's second wife? I hesitated in my answer so he said being at this age and a divorcee, my options are pretty limited, because I'm in the same race with the old maids. He said there's nothing wrong with polygamy if the intention is good and all concerned parties understand and accept their respective roles in such a marriage institution. Wow, what a thought, but at least I know what men are thinking in general about divorcees my age. Malaysian men, at least.

I do realise that I'm in a tight race against my own biological clock if I want my own biological child, legitimately. I need a good candidate to become the legitimate father of my unborn children. Otherwise, I'll just have to adopt an orphan or two.

What a thought to ponder, thanks to Misai Kucing. Well, my priority of choice would still be single men who are available. That includes divorcee, with or without kids.

Come to think of it, what if the reason I haven't found Mr. Right is because he is already married, and I have to become a second wife to him? Shucks! That's certainly not something I'm fond to think about, I better pray harder to God that my Mr. Right is single and available. In fact, last night I literally prayed, and hard.