During my childhood, my family often went on vacations. One of our favorite places was Lanjut Golden Beach Resort, on the east coast near the Johor-Pahang border. I don't even remember when the place became our annual holiday destination. The only things I remember from that first trip was that my family went with my grandparents, and I got woken up super early to see the most beautiful sunrise I have ever seen.
That first trip gave way to a lot more. Sometimes we went with my uncles' families (I have a lot of uncles), sometimes with my dad's friends' families, and sometimes a mix of both. Once we even had a 20-car entourage. To prevent people from getting lost, all the cars were numbered from 1 to 20 and must line up according to their number. Imagine how that looked on the highway. But no matter who else came along, there was one family who always joined us. My eldest uncle (dad's side) and his family. Which means there were 4 noisy kids who ran around uncontrolled: my brother, 2 cousins (boys) and me. Baby sis came into the picture quite late.
Those Lanjut trips were the highlights of our school years. The night before the trip, my brother and I were often too excited to sleep. Which is good because we slept through most of the long journey the next day. The minute we reached the resort, the 4 of us will rush to the bicycle shack to rent our bikes, before our parents even checked in. Got to reserve the best bike mah.
Cycling was our main way of getting around. I think I cycled more than I walked. We cycled EVERYWHERE. We cycled to the restaurant to meet our parents during lunch and dinner. We cycled to the swimming pool in our swimsuits. We cycled to the golf course to see if we could spy our dads playing golf. We cycled to the roti canai shop for breakfast. We cycled on paved roads. On pedestrian walkways. On grass (with extreme difficulty). We even tried to cycle on sand, where we promptly fell down and scraped our knees.
When the resort built more walkways, it got confusing when describing where to meet up. We also wanted noone else to understand where we were going. So we drew a map of all the pedestrian walkways and named each 'road'. Our road names were illustrative, if not creative. There was Bumpy Road, Jungle Road, Hotel Road, and Sharp Turn Road.
As we grew up, the resort grew, too. Where there were only wooden chalets at first, the club added a hotel and several concrete bungalows (lovingly named honeymoon suites). A bigger swimming pool was built. People could go jetskiing or kayaking. But the addition that was the most fun was woodball! It's a Taiwanese game which is a bit like golf except you use a mallet and a wood ball (hence the name). We had no idea how to play, so as usual, made up our own rules. At first noone else played, so we could yell at each other across the course or hit the ball however we wanted without disturbing others.
Among all the holidays we had in Lanjut, one trip stands out from the rest. That time, my parents brought my brother, my sister, me and 4 of my cousins. SEVEN children! Kinda like the Von Trapp family in the Sound of Music. Everytime we went for lunch or dinner, someone will surely stare and then ask my mum if we were all her children. I think for fun my mum did say yes a few times. It was a riot. 3 boys, 4 girls and only 2 adults. Plus my sister was still a toddler so my mum had to take care of her and had less time checking on us.
On that trip, my cousin's slipper went missing. We searched for it high and low before the 3 boys finally admitted that they buried it. The best part was they couldn't remember where they buried it, so my parents had to drive us to town to get her a pair of slippers. All the kids (minus my sister) slept in the huge living room (we stayed in the honeymoon suite) with the girls' and boys' territories marked out. 2 of my cousins (one my dad's side one my mum's) apparently did not like each other at all. And yet when the rest of us woke up the next morning, one of them had somehow rolled/climbed over my brother and both were hugging each other in their sleep. We came up with nicknames too, using our initials. There was Yoyo Lion, Yoyo Mouse, Telur Jagung, Telur Langsat, and my favorite... Tok tok ah Q. I was Suzy Cat. :P
As the years went by, we visited Lanjut less and less. The last time I went back I was still in high school. Then I went to Singapore and to the States and somehow we stopped visiting. I wonder how it looks like now. Maybe everything's different from how it used to be when I was a child. Or maybe nothing's changed. But I think even if I visited today, it wouldn't feel the same. No matter how the place looks like now, at least I've changed. Some things I believe are better left as good old memories. Memories to share with my family and relatives. To be fondly remembered every once in a while. Untainted by any attempts to relive them.
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