It’s been quite awhile since we had any touge session and I was quite reluctant to join when I was informed of the route the day before by another fellow touge enthusiast. Reason being I had a really late night out with my high school friends which some of ‘em I haven’t met for the last 15 years. I managed to catch some sleep at 5am only to be waken by my dad at 6am to move my ride as he needs to get his early fix of golf and my ride was blocking his car… as usual. As I was trying my best to sleep again, I received SMSes from ‘em ‘bean sprouters’ regarding the rendezvous point and all.

I forced myself to wake up and took a bath before cranking up my ride while contemplating to go for the touge session since I was dead tired, lack of sleep and my ride was not in the best condition to take on hundreds of corners of harsh tarmacs along with thousands of holes of various sizes. Still, once my girlfriend arrived… we hopped in my ride and headed to the rendezvous point, Taman Melati’s Petronas Station.

Rushing there not to miss the touge session despite the fatigue and lack of sleep, we’re greeted by… no one. I was baffled and yet relieved as I thought it was cancelled. Instead, I was told there were another two rendezvous points and those who were supposed to rendezvous at this particular place was on their way. Damn! I thought to myself.

After a hearty breakfast at Mc’Donalds… three cars headed to another rendezvous point by the lakeside of Ulu Yam while waiting for Ariel who had a change of semi slick tyres to arrive. In fact there were a number of cars on semi slicks while others on softies except for my car on intermediates. Again, I was relieved despite getting groggier as it was slow drive all the way. Thanks to the scorching hot weather, my girlfriend and the faulty air conditioner… I managed to keep myself awake throughout the day.

From there on, the convoy of mostly Toyota makes made their way towards Kuala Kubu Baru. About 15 minutes before reaching the Splash dam in Kuala Kubu Baru, we were joined by another three touge enthusiasts who lead us thru the curves of Kuala Kubu Baru and Fraser Hills. By now, there were 15 cars consist of Glanzas, Starlets, Corollas, my ride, a Swift and a turbocharged Kancil. After a brief stop at the Splash dam, the ride  was getting faster as it would be a complete waste if we’re not ‘bean sprouting’ at all. After all, it’s a touge session. Despite being fast, each drivers were extremely alert and aware of the surrounding in order to ensure the safety of other road users.

We battled each other out all the way to Bentong and it was satisfying to say the least. Being one of the slowest among the majority of turbo-charged cars… it was hard to keep up especially during the short straights. As we’re about to reached Bentong, disaster strikes and one of the Starlet suffered a shattered wind screen due to flexed chassis. Once we managed to clear the shattered wind screen… we continue the journey and a feast of ‘ikan patin’ was more than fulfilling.

All bloated with late lunch at 3pm, we went through a short jam in the town of Bentong before we continue with the touge session towards home. By now, it was getting cloudy and half way through towards Genting Sempah via Janda Baik, it was drizzling and the wet tarmacs had most of us slightly sliding losing traction every when we took the corners a way bit too fast. As for those on semi slicks, they were smiling all the way. A brief stop at Genting Sempah proved to be a wise decision as it was raining cats and dogs about ten minutes after we arrived there. I was not going to risk myself going through the final route of the touge session and used the Karak Highway while the rest of the guys took the route towards Gombak.

text: Hage’  pix: Syafril Ismail