Faint Cry For Help

This morning, I woke up at 6.20 am to go to the loo when I heard a commotion, likely outside the house. I stood still to listen. It sounded like a man scuffling and screaming but it was not very loud, yet disturbing. At first, I thought it was my sister’s annoying alarm clock which rings like someone is slaughtering a chicken.

Then there was no more noise. So, I thought it was my imagination. I went about my business and went back to bed. Then, I heard again, someone talking in desperate voices. I ran to the master bedroom and looked outside my porch. It was still pitch dark, with dim lights from the street. I looked to left and right , there was no movement. So, I ran to the back balcony and looked outside, there was nobody. Yet, again, I heard a man’s faint voice, saying, "Tolong! Tolong!" But, I simply couldn’t pinpoint where the voice came from.

At that time, both my mom and sister had woken up too. So I told them to listen if they could hear anything but they couldn’t.

I hope it’s merely my imagination.

Road Rage

19th May 2013, Sunday
Near Kepong, going towards Mandy Villa

We were in the car at approximately 7.35 pm going to Mandy Villa to pick up Sasha from her house. When we turned into the junction from Jalan Kepong after Fajar, there was a sudden motorbike coming out from a junction to our left. We got a little shocked but then, luckily we weren’t driving very fast. Some people simply want to gamble away with their lives.

Then suddenly, we heard people honking behind us. We were looking at the back but didn’t see which car is honking us. Did our tail light malfunctioned? Someone was trying to notify us? We kept looking at the back and thought of what we have done wrong? We didn’t suddenly overtake anybody without a signal. We were driving at a normal speed and minding our own business in our own lane. We didn’t honk at people unnecessarily, etc. The honking got a little incessant and we got more worried.

As we slowly going to a stop when the traffic lights turned red, the honking kept going on. Since we were at the far left, which has a turning to the left, we simply couldn’t inch anymore closer to the front because there were many cars in front of us. So we were thinking, which asshole is that, who kept honking and honking even if all cars were blocking the front and not only our car.

Suddenly, a black brand new Hilux rammed over the pavement and pulled beside the Silver Vios behind ours. The driver in the black Hilux was gesturing angrily at the driver of the Vios. I think he shouted at him to ask him to pull over. We were already shitting in our pants and it wasn’t even us who had wronged the angry guy! And there was a child in our car! My sister told her husband to pull over to the side and don’t block the way of the two cars which were in dispute!

As soon as the traffic light turned green, the Vios behind ours overtook our car and dashed straight ahead! My brother in law immediately pulled the car slightly to the left to let the black Hilux overtake us. He said, if we didn’t move, probably he has rammed into us instead!

We witnessed a high speed chase in front of us. All along, our hearts were racing as these two cars weaving in and out of the cars in between them and the black Hilux tailgating the silver Vios. We went slow and in less than probably 15 seconds, these two cars were already out of our sight.

I wonder if the black Hilux caught up with the silver Vios. Seriously, if someone hit you, I think it’s best to take down their registration number and report to the police.. and not pulling a stunt like this, which not only endanger your own life.. but also other road users! It’s a totally irresponsible act!

And for people out there, please drive courteously and give way if you can. If you see a car coming really fast from far, it’s best to just let them past you, rather than trying to challenge them to a race. I know some guys really like such challenges and would not hesitate to try to race but think of other people on the road. If you win or managed to beat the other person – so what? Will you win a bloody medal? You are very lucky to stay alive and didn’t hurt anyone in the process to massage your big ego.

Drive using your brain and heart, not your ego.

A Quaint Town Called Sokcho

26th April 2013, Friday
Jeju-Seoul-Sokcho

We woke up early to have our last breakfast at Tae Gong Gak. We are definitely going to miss this place! It’s good to stay here because, the bus station on the compound of New Kyeongnam Hotel, which is just some 5 minutes walk away from our inn. We packed our things the night before and set off after a hearty breakfast at the pantry.

We took a bus earlier to the airport, waited a little, walk about Jeju airport. I like the airport compared to LCCT. They have water cooler almost at every spot, nice eateries, shops, etc and even a warm seat for the toilet! In fact, most toilets everywhere in the world, even a third world country like Cambodia has really clean toilets. I am not sure why in Malaysia, we simply couldn’t have a clean public toilet??

Again, it’s going to be another round of traveling far.. we took the subway direct to Seoul Express Bus Station and take a 3-hour bus ride to Sokcho, where we will spend a night. The journey took about 3 hours.The road towards Sokcho is flanked by budding cherry blossoms trees, small little houses and mountains of brown, withered trees. I heard the winter this time went on longer than usual, hence the spring has yet to return.

I was simply too tired so, I sort of slept throughout the journey and woke up intermittently to enjoy the scenery. We got to Sokcho and found out that, we got into the wrong bus terminal. LOL. After asking the ticketing counter, we were told to get on a cab to go to the bus station, which is supposed to be nearer to the guesthouse. So, we took a cab to a nearby bus station to the hostel. Should have asked the cabbie to take us direct to the hostel but.. communication is quite a problem here. Anyway, we just need to walk about 5 minutes to the hostel.

We stayed at this small hostel, called the House Hostel in Sokcho. Once we got there, we were received by Mr Yoo. He gave us a short briefing on the facilities in the hostel, as well as some makan tips. I think he knew by looking at our sizes, we are here for food! LOL! He also guided us on how to get to Mount Seorak, which is rather convenient.It was just a short walk to the bus stop, take bus no. 7 or 7-1 and pay only 1,100 won per person. The journey would take about 30 minutes to the foothill of Mount Seorak, which is the last stop for the bus.

Thinly sliced pork – yum!!

Ongoing BBQ

Since we arrived closed to dinner time, say about 6 pm, we decided to go for a feast! We took Mr Yoo’s advice to go try local Korean BBQ – pay only 10,000 won each person and eat to our hearts’ contend. Haha. It was a really nice little BBQ shop.

After makan, we took a stroll around Sokcho area. Since it’s a fishing town, there’s plenty of seafood around. We could have eaten the big crabs with long legs there but, we just had dinner so we didn’t.

The temple above the hill

Quiet Sokcho town, glittering in lights

Went a little crazy over this big orange moon!

One thing we didn’t like about House Hostel is the bathroom. I think it’s an old building, hence the piping is not working very well. The water pressure seemed to be too low that the water trickling out from the tablet is so small it made taking a bath difficult. I think my piss has more volume than that! Other than that, it’s pretty a comfortable inn.

Joke of the Day

I was pretty happy when my office is FINALLY going paperless for meetings. However, today, I received an e-mail on the deadline for all reports to be submitted. It said:-

Please submit to us the reports and other relevant papers (black & white – double-sided with page numbering) in PDF Format on or before [date].

Some people just want to watch the world burn.

Have a good weekend!

Seogwipo, Jeju

25th April 2013, Thursday
Seogwipo, Jeju-do

We stayed in Tae Gong Gak Inn & Guesthouse at Seogwipo, Jeju. The hostess is really helpful, albeit a little on the OCD side. Haha. Sylvia is a an excellent hostess and made sure our stay is as comfortable as it can be.

What I really like about this guesthouse is the breakfast spread! We are in for a good treat! There are bagels, wheat bread, white bread, cup noodles, fruits, coffee machines, tea, home made tangerine jam, etc! We enjoyed the breakfast session very much. You may wear the sandals from your room to the pantry if you plan to go back to your room after breakfast to pack your things before going out. There’s a door towards the backyard, with a small wooden patio with chairs, overlooking a small orchard of tangerine trees. It’s really a quaint guesthouse.

From the guesthouse, you can actually walk to the nearest waterfall – I think some 20 minutes walk. I didn’t want to go because I was too tired the first night itself. Then we sort of procrastinated over going there during the 3 nights stay so we sort of miss it altogether. Haha.

I think Seogwipo is a rather nice town, with small cafe outlets sprouting sparsely, but there are plenty of restaurants surrounding the area. We were rather perplexed that the place is somewhat empty – most restaurants have only one table or perhaps, 2 tables filled with people the most. I wonder how these people stay afloat in their businesses with so few people around? Even the market – or perhaps, we went to the nearby market rather late, so there were fewer people around.

We didn’t try the black pork here Not sure why. Haha. During this trip, my brain sort of malfunctioned… perhaps of the too much walking. Haha. So here goes, some photos of Seogwipo. I love this place!

Tae Gong Gak Inn & Guesthouse

Many murals along the way as we walk about Seogwipo

Going to the market, a fruit stall

I simply love this shot!

Scooter.. is the way to go!