An unexpected public holiday -ahh!! The King's Installation Day. What perfect excuse for a drive. Many have never been to Putrajaya so an ideal venue for this drive.

9.00am Sg Besi toll plaza. Ghaffur, Doc, Sri, Sly & Nora, Benny & Lynette, Uncle Foo and Phillip were the first to arrive. Julian & Jess, Chin & Candice and Kevin & Sue came by shortly after. Rose overshot the meeting point and had to wait a further 500 metres down the road while Gan completely lost it by taking a wrong turn.

Ghaffur led the convoy and set off with a quick stopover at the petrol kiosk for Sly to load up with some beverage. Rose joined shortly down the line as we hit the NSE briefly and turn off to UPM interchange. Thereafter it was really, really supreme driving with excellent roads. We entered Putrajaya within less than 30 minutes and Gan managed to locate us and joined in the fray.

Ghaffur led the mostly confused and lost convoy to the Mosque esplanade overlooking the PM's office. The line-up was impressive. Impressive enough to attract tourists there to crowd around our babies for picture opportunity and such!

Cameras were clicking away and it was a great chance to get to know Phillip, Chin and Doc (and their family). It was their first time. It was also good to finally catch up with Ghaffur and Rose again after the last drive they briefly participated. The weather was kind (enough) for us to stand around for quite a while just chatting away and admire the development of Putrajaya.

Doc had to leave us just before we took off to the Wetlands. It was somewhat of a disappointment there with nothing much to do. Due to overzealous security guards, we couldn't even park our cars at the same spot there!

After a quick visit up the tower (where some decided to give it a miss) tummies started growling and a quick look at the time, it was 12.30pm - Lunchtime! Uncle Foo bade us all goodbye and went about his business for the day.

Ghaffur again led the way to Dengkil for lunch at a R&R stopover on the route to Port Dickson. Bad luck struck car number 8 during the convoy. Sly & Nora had engine trouble and had to carry on without power steering and air-conditioning!! Their belt snapped and there was nothing any of us could do. Ghaffur and Phillip gave them the thumbs-up to carry on driving though.

During lunch, Sly & Nora decided it was impossible to carry on to PD with their less than perfect Miata. What more with the winding roads ahead and the heat was getting worse. Since we have already "lost" Doc and Uncle Foo; and Ghaffur and Rose had to leave too, the rest of us decided we could do PD another day. Poor Chin & Candice carried on alone though as they had promised their kids a splashing good time by the sea.

After lunch, Kevin & Sue led the party back to KL cutting short the Putrajaya / Port Dickson drive. Sly & Nora volunteered to play host for the remaining cars and the other cars were only too eager to see them home safely. The drive back was uneventful as Sri & Kevin decided to have some fun leaving everyone behind by some distance until the Sg Buluh toll plaza. Sly & Nora took over to lead as Sri veered to make sure there was enough supply of beer and wine at the local sundry shop nearby.

At Sly's we were treated to his videos of Singaporean sitcom (where Sly is a leading character!!) while the kids (Zachary, Kieron and little Dragon) had a whale of a time in Sly's outdoor Jacuzzi. Everyone started leaving by 5.00pm leaving Sly & Nora in peace.

Next Drive : Fraser's Hill (One Nighter)

Cars Running were :

1. Ghaffur, Mazda Miata MX5 (Leader)

2. Julian & Jess, Fiat Coupe

3. Sri, Hyundai Coupe (Medic)

4. Rose, Mazda Miata MX5

5. Gan, Mazda MX3 (In-Car Cooler)

6. Phillip, BMW (Breakdown)

7. Doc, Mazda MX3 (Medic)

8. Uncle Foo, Mazda Miata MX5

9. Chin & Candice, Mazda MX3

10. Sly & Nora, Mazda Miata MX5

11. Lynette & Benny, Mazda Miata MX5

12. Kevin & Sue, Mazda MX3 (Photo)