LONG DRIVE WITH THE NISSAN GIRL

Golf Digest Malaysia Editor, Patrick Ho, reflects on a memorable road trip to Manjung, Perak in a vehicle that served its purpose well.


May 1st, 2014... The alarm clock wakes me up at 8.00 am, on a public holiday.

It was time to get ready for the long drive to Swiss-Garden Golf & Spa Resort for the Swiss-Garden Cup.

Some may call it a working holiday but after nearly 10 years of covering this event, it has become more of an annual pilgrimage for me.

I can’t explain it but there’s something about the route to the resort that brings many of us golf journos back.

Obviously, the great friendship that we share with the folks at Swiss-Garden is the key factor.

The plan this year was to car pool with Brian Alexis of Fairways. Whilst we may be great rivals in business, we are also great friends who have known each other for many years.

The best part about this year’s road trip was that I had the privilege of testing the first hybrid MPV launched in Malaysia – the Nissan Serena S-Hybrid Highway Star 2.0L.

I was excited because I could pack in more stuff with the golf bags. Especially, if we were going to buy dried seafood from Lumut or Pantai Remis.

A typical Malaysian trait of course - can’t return empty handed.

Mind you, the Serena can seat eight passengers and boasts 14 seat configurations that have even children in mind.

“Bring as much luggage as you want,” I quipped to Brian before the scheduled pick-up time at 10.00 am in Petaling Jaya.

The MPV was white in colour and I observed that the design is much more stylish compared to previous Serena generations. Even the lights gave the vehicle a sportier charm.

We stopped for breakfast in Damansara Jaya on the way to the highway, with the plan to exit at Sungkai later.

Brian’s phone rang in between my wantan noodles.

“What? We come over to pick you up?” a perplexed Brian responded to the caller. It was none other than our host Linda Evelyn Wong, the corporate communications manager of Swiss-Garden International Hotels, Resorts & Inns.

Apparently, they had goodie bags and boxes that missed a delivery schedule the day before. We became their unexpected saviours, what with the extra space of the Nissan Serena.

Thankfully it was a public holiday and we had time to pick Linda and her colleague Yuri from Pudu and load the goods. In fact, we were extremely lucky to be able to escape a city lockdown caused by the GST protest rally held by the opposition parties at Dataran Merdeka.

Leaving the city for the northbound highway, the four of us were revelling in the interior comfort of the Nissan Serena. There were separate air-condition vents at the back for the girls and the Automatic Climate Control performed well enough to keep everyone cool in the heat.

They did turn the fan speed up that created “gusts” of wind that altered some hairstyles!

More ROFL moments.

The multimedia entertainment centre with a full colour screen was perfect with auxiliary and USB ports. We could even play a DVD movie but I had not expected passengers at the back and did not bring my library.

The monitor was designed as a safety feature as well, the reverse camera switches off the music and gives the driver a full view of what’s behind the vehicle when ‘Reverse’ is engaged. No blind spots directly behind the tall MPV.

Cruising on the highway, we discovered why they named it ‘Highway Star’, as the Serena could easily reach speeds of up to 170 km/h. The sound proofing passed with flying colours as traffic and tire noise was barely audible.

The 4-cylinder 16-valve DOHC with twin CVTC and Direct Injection 2.0-litre engine was so silent and smooth. However, it was surprisingly powerful for overtaking purposes on windy stretches of road.

The handling too was stable and for an MPV, did not feel heavy or sluggish at all.

My guess is that the Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC) and Traction Control System (TCS) plays a big role in this.

Reaching Sungkai after nearly an hour and a half, we were treated to a special introduction by Linda to one of the town’s finest Chinese coffee shops. There was no signboard but blue paint on the walls of this 10-table wooden restaurant shop lot was the only identification that she needed.

It was 1.30pm and we were starving. The special dishes of this place were the sweet-savoury pork trotters with noodles, steamed fish balls, siew mai and various pao.

There was no talk as we dug in to the delicious food, prepared by a Chinese family, learnt from past generations.

“Burp!!!”… After lunch, it was time to open those automatic sliding passenger doors to get the gals aboard again to resume our journey.

The driver can activate the doors via buttons on the dashboard, while passengers can gain access by pushing the square button on the door handles.

The drive through windy roads from Sungkai to Sitiawan was pleasantly comfortable and I must applaud the designers for ensuring that the driver has a wide view through the large windscreen.

After nearly two hours, and two stops (one for the toilet and smokes), we finally reached our destination.

After unloading the luggage and boxes, we headed for the Damai Club Lounge to soak in the sunset over a cool beer before hooking up with the rest of the guests.

7.00 pm… After freshening up it was time to head for dinner in Pantai Remis town to what Damai Laut club manager, Lee Boon Seong calls, the "Mangkaka" restaurant. Eight people, including one child, had no problems fitting into the Serena for the 20-minute drive to enjoy crabs, glass noodles, mantis prawns and much more.

Next day, it was time for our practice round on a Friday at the Ronald Fream-designed Damai Laut Golf & Country Club.

Four golf bags could be loaded in the back after I played around with the seat configuration.

It was so easy even a 13-year-old could do it.

After the Saturday tournament for the media, the Sunday was spent heading to Pantai Remis again for the famous nasi lemak bungkus with sardines and the otak-otak for a late breakfast.

After the Swiss-Garden Cup winners were crowned (Congrats to Gross champion Azmi Mahmud and the first woman Nett champion in the event’s history, Ms. Harminder Kaur), it was time to head back to Kuala Lumpur again.

    

Being a hybrid, fuel savings for the more than 500 kilometre journey, the Serena was impressive to say the least. I just had the Eco Mode on to let the Eco motor and second battery do its thing.

This meant that the engine turns off whenever we came to a stop and starts up again in 0.3 seconds when I release the brake. Certainly helps reduce emissions and saves a lot of fuel.

All cars should be having this feature for a greener world.

And being priced from RM149,515, no wonder I am noticing more of the Serena on the road.