After that it was winding road all the way to Mersing and Lyana decided to regurgitate her breakfast in the car right in the middle of the palm estate. We finally reached Mersing at 10.20am and went to collect our speed ferry tickets. Next we popped into Masjid Jamek Mersing to bathe the children (lupa pulak nak sedekah sebab guna air).
By 11.45 am we were in the ferry to Tioman Island. The ride took 2 hours but it was quite comfortable since the weather was fair and the air-conditioning was working well. I did my best to keep my 'nasal noise' down - penat.
In the ferry.
The jetty.
We finally checked-in at Berjaya Resort after we had lunch upon arrival at the nearby gerai. Oh, by the way, this vacation is courtesy of Talisman - the 3rd prize lucky draw. :)
As most people would naturally do at a beach resort, we bathe and swam in the sea and pool, enjoyed the easy going pace, chalet and food too.
The pool - hantam saja dengan baju sekali masuk... nasib tak pakai selipar sekali. Hehe.
Our chalet, No. 829. (Look at Aneesa, she is fascinated with leaves... I wonder why? She eats them too. Must be the mother's fault, this.)
Both Aneesa and Lyana enjoyed bathing in the sea. Lyana suddenly developed a fear for sand. (Hmm.. I wonder why too? Must be the mother, again. Hehe.)
SMILE!
After a dip in the sea.
After dinner.
We were satisfied with the place, the sea, but not so much the food. There were many tourist, especially Singaporean, and during meal times, the restaurant could get pretty crowded... and buffet spread ran out quickly too. So we usually get leftovers (hating to rush/que for food) unless we wait longer for the next round of serving.
Come Sunday, we checked out at 10am and had our 'Welcome Drink' (purposedly had it last) before heading for the jetty to board our ferry. At 12pm, it was bye-bye Tioman. Along the way, the weather turned sore with rain and swells in the sea. As predicted, Lyana who is susceptible to motion sickness, vomitted again. Almost 3 hours later, we berthed in Mersing.
After a quick lunch and KFC for the kids, we left for KL. Right after getting into the highway from the Kluang exit, I made one of the stupidest mistake in my life - I sped to 180km/h. That's recipe for disaster, I can assure you.
I totally forgot that the Peugeot's front right mudguard was lose. Reflecting back, when I sent the car for service a week prior to this trip, I should have asked them to fix the minor problem and it could've cost me less than RM10. In fact, I presume it would have been done for free - just tightening some lose screws. That was another mistake - ignoring to fix problems.
Back to my driving... while driving at 180km/h (this is BIG mistake, I repeat) I suddenly heard a loud bang and hisss sound from the lower right side of my car and I immediately slowed the car down and stopped. Initially, I thought I had burst my tire but I didn't lose control of the car.
After checking, I realised that the lose mudguard had came off and went under the car's carriage and struck the fuel line and filter. Fuel was dripping onto the road. Sensing danger of explosion or fire, I quickly got my family out of the car and away onto the grass area. It was about 5.30pm when that happened.
After calling Plus Helpline, we waited. Allah was very kind to us... He immediately sent a truck to our aid within 15 minutes and after some negotiation, for a RM550 fee, my family and car get to ride on a truck for the first time in their life - not that I'm proud of it.
This is the greatest lesson for me. I will never neglect any problems with anything again, no matter how minor or trivial it may seem to be. And the most important, NEVER speed again. I promised Yanti that I will never drive faster than 120km/h when I'm with my family, and no faster than 140km/h if I'm alone.
My Peugeot when we reached Shah Alam.
Unloading the car at the workshop - 11.00pm
Alhamdulillah, syukur my family is alright and no mishap happened to us. I have only myself to blame for this incident.
Hope you can take heed from my experience.
