Holidays

I enjoy going on holidays. I enjoy seeing my country, hence why I’d always go on a holiday locally whenever I can. But being the average Malaysian income earner and having two children to feed, two cars and a house to pay for, not to mention the bills, study loans and the dreaded but necessary credit cards, my holidays are often tied to a strict budget - And at times very strict. Given that, I am often forced to compromise and by compromise I mean go cheap. So no such thing as five star lodging and dining for me.

Unless you were born with silver spoons, you’d know that compromise means make do, to be easily contented and to lower our standards. This is especially true when I go holidaying in places like Kuantan and Port Dickson. Lodging in these places are dead expensive even if you’re willing to compromise. I was in PD a few years back and had paid RM 150 for a nights lodging which got me a room that looked like a red indian tepee. Granted 150 isn’t that much but considering that the room was as big as… well a tepee, the toilet had no ceiling and only roofed by the adjacent tree branches and the pillows softer only to logs, it was ludicrous! I was doing my thing in the lavatory accompanied by birds chirping and all the while contemplating on the likelihood of being bombarded by bird droppings. And have I mentioned that RM 150 I didn’t even get me a window?  Don’t even get me started on the service. It was day light robbery I tell you.

Than comes the struggle of finding dinner. Most restaurants would be packed with fellow holiday makers. And when I eventually found one, It’ll take 15 minutes just to place my order and an hour just to get the food on the table and by than my boy would probably be jumping on the table mistaking it for a trampoline and my daughter shrieking her throat out at which point I’d lost my appetite and decide to bang my head on table, short of pointing a gun to my head or stab my self on the chest.   

Now, the problem with compromise is that I have to be settled with less and occasionally much lesser than I am willing too which in turns brings about discomfort. When discomfort kicks in, it creates anguish and when that happens I get fed up and tired. Now, being fed up and tired defeats the very purpose of going on a holiday. I’d probably be happier at home, lazing on my L-shaped sofa whist watching Asmara and having a glass of ice drink at a call of my wife’s name. And all the while saving myself a few hundreds.

There is a way to resolve this though, stretch the budget and go for the best. Instead of spending 150 on lodging, spend 300 and get a well appointed sea view room and instead of being stuck in a restaurant by the roadside under a coconut tree somewhere whilst picking my nose for an hour, I should spend a hundred or two whilst seating in the comfort of a five star restaurant treated like a king.

This leads me to draw the conclusion that I shouldn’t go on a holiday if I have to compromise. In fact nobody should. I would also go a step further by proposing that all budget hotels and resorts intended for holidaying be burnt down and the ashes thrown in the sea. And the operators of these budget hotels and resorts should be trialed for grand theft!

But the problem with stretching the budget is, upon return I’d probably have to skip breakfast and lunch everyday until the next pay day and only have ikan bilis with fried eggs for dinner, if I’m lucky enough.