My Favourite Bus Company + Romance Novels

Well, you might not see the connection between bus companies and romantic novels...that's because...they don't have anything to do with each other =D

Last Thursday, for the first time in my life, I tried riding a bus Konsortium Transport Berhad from Kuala Lumpur to Penang. Once I got down at the Sungai Nibong terminal, I swore never to ride any bus except for those from Plusliner or Nice any more. There are a few valid reasons for this.

Firstly, I went to the bus station with Diyana, from the French course. At the station, there are a lot of bus companies available, each with different departure times. We arrived there at 1.30, expecting to catch a bus immediately. However, the only bus available was destined at Butterworth, not Penang =( Kind Diyana agreed to wait for another bus which goes to both Penang AND Butterworth, which the ticket-seller promised will arrive at 2.45pm. We went to the nearest stall, grabbed something to eat and drink, and waited patiently. Once we saw a bus arriving at the terminal, we were quite ready to hop onto it, but nobody called for the passengers to Penang. At last, the guy came to me and said, 'Get on this bus, it's to Penang.' and we asked him, 'Isn't there a bus to both Penang and Butterworth?' and he just gave the negative >_>

That was just before we boarded the bus o_O Though I have to agree that the seats are really comfortable, the bus being a three-seater, and the air-conditioner is cold enough too. However, the bus went reeeeaaaally fast on the highway - I'm betting somewhere between 130 to 150 km/h. I'm normally not a paranoid person, but I found myself praying that the bus driver is sane and conscious about his surroundings when he's driving O_O What the ticket-seller didn't tell me was that the bus will also drop passengers in Ipoh, Butterworth and goodness knows how many places along the way. So, in Perak, the bus navigated out of the highway, wasting a lot of time. Worse still, the bus driver might have lost his way, because he went almost around the whole of Butterworth and Perai without stopping to drop any passengers >_> That was also why a journey which would have taken 4 1/2 hours with Plusliner became 5 1/4 hours with Konsortium.

Yeah, enough with the negative stuff ^_^" Now, I'm going to blog about romance novels. In case you are a *ahem* scientific person who does not believe in love and has never come near a five-mile radius of a romance novel before, I shall tell you that romance novels might be a huge turn-off for you, since the hero and the heroine invariably end up together through a series of complicated events =)

So far, I have identified a few authors whose novels I lap up like hungry dogs lapping up leftovers.

1) Nora Roberts: Until now, I cannot count how many novels I have read of hers. Usually, her novels are not that sugary-sweet romantic that you have indigestion reading it, but they depict hard-headed, strong heroines with an equally macho, stubborn man for the hero. And they take time to get together, but of course, you know that they will get together in the end. And I just love the 'In Death' series she wrote for Eve and Roarke, the former being an abused-orphan-turned-cop, and the latter being a pickpocket-cum-hacker-turned-multi-billionaire ^>^ Since they are married, there's nothing that resembles a frustrating love triangle in the books, and the plot is really good. (Actually, 'In Death' is more about solving mysteries, but the romance between Eve and Roarke is a nice touch)

Nora Roberts is good at writing fantasy-type romance too, especially when it has something to do with curses, legends, magic and stuff from Ireland. Just lovely.

2) Judith McNaught: People might complain her novels being a little too sweet and cliche, but she's quite a good read all the same. She deals well with stories from the 17th century in my opinion, with all the dukes, marquesses, barons and kings. I won't seek to buy her books, but I won't turn down the offer to read them either ^_^ I recommend 'Perfect', which is set in contemporary times, but not so honeyfied, and it might contain some tear-jerkers too~

3) Jude Deveraux: Now, she's another favourite author of mine, having a distinct style of writing. Like McNaught, she is good at writing about ancient romance, though she is equally good at contemporary romance too. Among the books that left a strong impression on me were Legend, The Taming, A Knight in Shining Armour and many more. Some of her books are so poignant that I felt really sad when the hero/heroine lost something dear to him/her.

Last but not least, I present Sidney Sheldon as a magnificent writer of all times. Of course, there's romance in his novels, *note the word his*, but they also deal with a mixture of genres such as mystery, thriller, revenge and all those stuff you see in America. Not only the types of characters are varied (i.e.: you don't see only handsome, macho men and beautiful, gentle women who faints over the sight of blood), but you see a complicated plot weaving all the characters together, normally in a web of deceit and manipulation. Also, not all his endings are happy endings, as opposed to the female writers mentioned above. In conclusion, Sheldon keeps his novel close to realism, focusing more on humans' true nature, while the other three usually concentrate on the good side of human nature, creating an illusion that love always prevails over evil, desires and all those along this line ^_^

Still, between a Nora Roberts book and a Sidney Sheldon one, it's kinda hard to decide =) Probably it depends on my mood - whether I'm looking at the world through rose-tinted glasses or I feel sceptical and cynical towards everyone and everything around me.

Oh, I forgot to mention that anything by Nora Roberts involving Ireland is a must-read, and after you read it, you will feel a strong urge to go to the country and experience all the bliss, beauty and peace there ^_^