Chinese New Year with the Grinchskies..

The Grinchskies at their boarding house in Tg Bungah

At the Goh's residence in Air Itam

The highway journey

Doggie pee break at a highway layby

Getting ready to hit the road..

This is a very special year for us and the dogs. Been nearly four years since we brought back Sir Clifford McNaughty, our first Siberian Husky.

Usually, we leave him at home during Chinese New Year for our excursions. This time, it was different. 

Instead of just me and Mrs Samo, we brought along our dogs, Sir Naughty and Dame Queenie.

Both are a handful, and the challenge is to keep them well-behaved during the long drive. Our destination was Penang and the journey there took us nearly five hours. 

Here's the lowdown: 

Day 1

Woke up at 6:00am, hit the shower and organised the dogs. We had a roof rack and box system installed for this trip. This meant more luggage space without sacrificing some essential human and doggie gear.

We hit the road at about 7:30am, stopped to top up fuel and pack breakfast from McDonald's at the nearest highway layby.

Naughty and Queenie were a bit edgy and about 45-minutes into the journey, we took a break with the dogs. We chose a secluded spot so that they could pee and poop.

Our dogs were not used to the long journey and this was the first time they were travelling out of town. 

We chose Penang because there were boarding facilities and found one in Tanjung Bungah. I sensed that the pricing was right (RM30 for a dog, additional RM15 for the second pooch per night).

The plan was to drop them off in the later part of the day and proceed with our plans in Penang.

Our agenda was to visit Mrs Samo's best friend and her God Daughter. We arrived in Penang at 2:00pm. Checked in at the hotel first before proceeding to Air Itam for the Goh's residence.

The kidz were well-behaved and I sensed that they too had felt that they've travelled far from home. 

In Penang, the weather was unusually hot and humid. Unbelievable because Subang Jaya was hit with rain and flash floods.

At the Goh's residence, we settled in pretty well, had a late lunch and caught up with the rest of the clan.

Later in the day, we took the dogs to their boarding place. I was pleasantly surprised with the clean setup.

Their doggy pen was also air-conditioned with an air ioniser. I felt pretty good about leaving my dogs in the hands of a complete stranger. Hard to explain the vibes, but everything felt just right. 

The plan for the evening was dinner at the Goh's residence. Home cooked food was part of the agenda along with some after dinner conversations.

By the time we got back to the hotel, it was already late. Michelle and I decided to head down to the streets and check out some coffeeshop food. 

When the clock struck midnite, we hit the sack...