Over 70 Toyota cars participated in this year's driveaway to a private hotel, surrounded by 425 acresof lush tropical rainforest. Located on the quiet peninsular of the Northern Straits of Malacca, is SwissGarden Resort Damai Laut, this Toyota Driveaway destination.

The early hours of dawn did not hold back the anticipation amongst our Toyota owners asthey gathered at Raffles Marina for a briefing sessionbefore embarking on their road trip to Damai Laut.

Upon reaching the first pit-stop, breakfast was served, along with an interesting dessert - Termite queens. It was a sceneyou thought you would only seeon television, where the host dared everyone to eat the Termite queen. Somewatched while the few courageous and daring participants savoured the taste of protein, fear-factor style.

After a hearty breakfast, the convoy drove further up North to the next destination - Sungai Klah Hot Spring Park. This stop was one of the more rewarding segments at this point of the road trip, especially for the drivers. What could be more rejuvenating for them, than to have their feet soak in the warm therapeutic waters of a hot spring?

Other than that, our participants also boiled some eggs at a separate hot spring.

After lunch, the journey continued to the ultimate destination, SwissGarden Resort Damai Laut. It could not have been a more perfect timing to reach the resort just asthe sun set. Like a shy child, the skies were blushing red as the sun hid into the horizon. So beautiful was it that many captured that moment on their cameras.

In our driveaway tradition, we had a theme dinner party that night, and this year's was fashionably Hawaiian. Our participants sportingly dressed up in their Hawaiian best to contest for the Best Dressed Family title. The night was filled with tonnes of good food and games. Prizes were given out to winners and goodie bags for all the kids who were such good sports. For the many attractive prizes, we thank our generous sponsors.

After a night of sumptuous food and fun games, the June babies were called out to light up the "Kong Ming" lantern, which symbolizes hope and a bright future. Together with the help of their families, they lighted up and released the bright lanterns into the sky.After this meaningful activity, many soon retired for the night.

Day 2 was filled with exciting activities. We visited the Charcoal Factory aswell as nearby Kuala Kangsar.An educational tour was given to learn how charcoal is created aswell as its wide use even in modern times. After a long day of driving and touring, the participants were treated to a seafood dinner feast. Many took the opportunity to buy the ever-popular Perak Mee Suaand Chilli Sauce.

All good things must come to an end. The last destination on the itinerary was a visit to a pomelo plantation. It was certainly an eye-opener for the kids, many of whom had only seenthe fruit itself in stalls. The sight of all the big juicy citrusfilled pomelos that hung off the branches of the trees had many tempted to pluck them. And to put a sweet ending to this memorable road trip, all of us partook in some fruit tasting.

The 3-day-2-night event seemedto have passedin the blink of an eye, but what was clearly going to last a lifetime, were the memories that this driveaway had brought.

Many had an enjoyable and unforgettable time at Damai Laut and are already looking forward to the next driveaway!