Day 1: Waking up early has always been a big task for me. Working wee hours in the morning has always been my thing as it is quiet and there are almost zero distractions. But knowing that I am waking up for a ground breaking event makes everything worthwhile. I have made arrangements with the GTR Club Malaysia organizers to pick me up as I wanted to cover some rolling shots of the convoy and it would be rather interesting to be the passenger for once. Lo and behold at 7am in the morning I heard a low rumbling coming from a far. A GTR R35 came to fetch me. Now I truly understand the feeling of a girl being picked up for a date in a super car. We went for a quick breakfast and set off to the meeting point at Karak BHP petrol Station.
The sight of high-powered cars like Porsches, Lamborghinis, McLarens, Audi R8s, Ferraris and not forgetting GTRs gathered in the morning with a little hazed up sky was truly an amazing sight. All of the participants were split into groups of 10 cars each. Overall there are 10 teams, from Group C1 to C10 made out of 208 people. In a flash, the groups began departing to Kuantan Swiss Garden Resort. As for my Group we stayed back to wait for the Singapore team to arrive, which did not take long as their convoy arrived with a line up pretty similar with the Malaysians.
Not wasting any time, we and the remainder group set off to Kuantan Swiss Garden. At midpoint we had a refuelling stop at Temerloh R&R Shell station and you could imagine how the gas station was at that time. It was packed to the brim with super cars lining up to replenish their thirsty cars.
It was not long after that we reached our destination and lunch was served. At 6pm all of the participants were gathered and we then set off to Restaurant Mexica. Travelling with a convoy of 100pax cars in Kuantan was not an easy task at all, but the discipline showed by the participants whom abided to the convoy rules made the tricky journey a breeze.
As the sun sets, the participants were gathered in front of the restaurant for a group shot. Not long after that we were ushered up for dinner. Honestly I thought it was going to be a formal type of Gala dinner, but it turns out to be more like a big family feast.
The participants moved around from table to table, proposing a toast to the word ‘HUAT’ (prosperity) and at the same time celebrating their friendship.
As the night goes on, appreciation plaques were presented to the generous sponsors like Formula MB, SP Scaffolding, Beer Factory, The Rabbit Hole, Kemaman Restaurant, Restaurant Mexica, Motorsport Playground, Best Autowheel, Dynotechica, 8 Korea BBQ, Sportsway, Yah Motor, Wheel Power, Car Laboratories, Optima Werkz, Aero Parts Motorsport, Car Lingual, MPA, Ou Yang Sheue Kae, Chong Chow Hoo, JCWC Automobile, Lawrence Seow, and Darren She. But the most important item of the day was presented to Yayasan Sin Chew in the form of a Nissan Grand Livina worth more than RM 80,000 was donated to them.
Day 2: I was woken up to the sounds of super cars starting up for a morning drive to Kemaman for lunch. The rest of the day was free and easy. I and Chris took the opportunity to have some shots of the amazing rides there. After that we had a beach football session with the Autospot Haus and Group C1.
Day 3: As the birds chirp, the sun rises and the sea breeze flowing through the hotel lobby, waves of hands bidding good bye, hugs of appreciation and friendships were exchanged. Some participants set off to their journey back home while others stayed back to have a swim and strolled along the beach trying to catch as much memories as they can before heading back. As for us, it has been a good and fruitful journey with the Malaysia GTR Club, Singapore GTR Club, Singapore Porsche Club and the others that had made this charity drive a success. Big congratulations to the organising committee and participants of the Singapore Malaysia Charity Drive!
Photos by Merl & Chris
Write up by Merl
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