Women can't read map, men won't ask for direction

As I am not really that savvy with the island that I went for a trip to last weekend, I used GPS to find my way. It was through a program in my Blackberry which I have set from the start of the week as I rarely use the GPS application in it and I was curious on how it works. So, the whole week before, I used the Google Map application and another one which comes with the Blackberry as practice to get from my office to my house. 

When the day came, I already set both maps to get to the Vistana hotel in Penang in which the organiser of the event in which I was to moderate was staying too. We shot off from my brother's house in Subang Jaya around 8pm after picking up my mother who was there and stopped at the Guthrie Expressway to eat some satay. We only hit the North South Highway around 9pm. By 11.30pm (yes, I was driving quite fast), we were already crossing the Penang bridge going into the island. That is when trouble started.

I asked my wife to look at my Blackberry and read out what is the direction that the application has given. We were doing okay until we reached an area which looked pretty much very far from where we wanted to go. The map suddenly don't want to load and as we were very near the place, I decided we can find it by ourselves. I am quite apt when I need to get to Batu Ferringhi in Penang, which is a very popular tourist spot and we have driven there a few times. This hotel is very much on the other side of the island and we never even heard of its existence if not for its location which is very near the university ground where the forum I was going to moderate took place.

We got lost. I was still determined to find it using the Google Map and when we came to the same place for the umptenth times, my wife started to make those noises wives all over the world reserves for their husbands who are stubborn enough to be close to being lock out of the house if they did not do something to stop the foolishness. I gave up. I gave her the phone number of the hotel and she asked for directions which she let me hear through the loud speaker of her handphone.

We were still lost at 12.15am when I decided to ask a guy who was closing up his shop. Being barechested, he answered us from behind a tree (when he saw my wife and my mother) and pointed to the hotel which is just around the corner. We heaved a sigh of relief, parked our car and checked-in.

It shows that both though technology is good but good old fashion asking for direction can sometimes be as effective. Hey, I did try to be as stubborn as any man would be enough to still make sure I got lost first before I found my way.