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.

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!

Thank God for Heated Floors!

Sorry for lack of updates. After spending 9 days in South Korea and almost didn’t want to come back.. I was back for work, then the much talked about mother of all election. Sigh. I guess my spirit is still dampened by the results. Also, being rather occupied at work and also at home, hence, the lack of update.

Well, am going to write about Seoul, I guess. I think I try my best to recall everything as the great trip was organized by our buddy, Lilian and I felt so comfortable and at ease that I left my planning brains at home. Haha!

23rd April 2013, Tuesday

Kuala Lumpur – Seoul – Jeju

We took the midnight flight to Seoul at 0105. It was a packed flight. I guess if I were to travel to some place more than 5 hours, I would go for other airline. The seats on AirAsia is really too tight. Anyway, I guess I couldn’t blame them if I can’t even control my own weight right??? Haha.

It was not-so-eventful flight. I was trying to catch up with some sleep since there’s nothing much to do.. unfortunately, the lady sitting next to me – so peacefully asleep and yet, don’t know why she kept kicking my leg and the best part was, she seemed to know her timing to kick whenever I was about to slip into sleeping realm… sigh. I have a massive heavy head when we reached Incheon International Airport, Seoul sharp on time. After sorting out with the tourist information centre, we took a bus to Gimpo Airport to catch the next flight to Jeju.

Better pay attention when you are on the bus to Gimpo airport from Incheon. I was the one with heavy head but the rest went down when we reach “International Gimpo airport”. I thought I heard wrongly so I went down with them as well. We should have gotten down at “Domestic Gimpo airport” instead. It was a lucky thing that there’s a free shuttle bus from international airport to the domestic airport! If not, it won’t be very nice to be paying another fee! Also, we almost attempted to walk there ourselves.. it’s actually quite a distance from the international airport to domestic!! Haha. As a note – well, the domestic airport is probably the last stop on the bus route from Incheon to Gimpo.

Since we have too much time to kill – we booked a later flight, in case there’s a delay in the flight earlier and also give some “time” for us to “get lost”, we had our early brunch at the airport.

We took JejuAir to Jeju. It’s a flight to furthest down south. The trip was filled with plenty of local people, students as well as ahjummas in their colorful attire.

The moment I got onto the plane for the flight, I fell into a deep sleep. I definitely hope I didn’t snore. Even if I did, I thank God nobody knew me on the plane.. but I hope I don’t appear anywhere on YouTube lah. God forbid! Tagline: Grotesque woman snoring her lungs out on public flight! It would be super embarrassing.

When we got to the Jeju airport, I was somehow disoriented. I got a little impatient and wanting to get out from the airport immediately. I asked the rest, “What are we waiting for? Let’s go!” then proceeded to walk towards the gate.

“Your luggage leh?” asked one of my friends.

“Aiyoh.. oh shit. I really forgotten about it!”

I was so tired and brain dead that I totally forgotten about the luggage. We got onto another bus to get to our guest house. It was somewhat more than an hour journey there. I tried not to sleep because of the earlier incident of getting onto the wrong station. At the same time, enjoying the scenery and smelling fresh Jeju air, which is sort of permeated with a tinge of citrus. Yes, Jeju is well known for its tangerines.

When we almost arrive at the station near our guesthouse, the drizzling rain suddenly became heavier. I shook my head in disbelief. I hope we are not that “bad luck” throughout the trip. I brought an umbrella but I kept it in the luggage stored in the bus compartment below. Just what I need! Pffffff!!!

So, the moment we got to our station, we ran down and trying to get our luggage out from the compartment. It was so damn cold, could feel the chill seeping into my bones! Luckily, the guys gestured me to run to the opposite of the road to get shelter from the fruit stall. Wah lao! It was an experience! Luckily my luggage was not that heavy! Pre-shopping! So people, please keep your shopping till the end of your trip!

Lilian asked around how to get to Tae Gong Gak Inn & Guesthouse from the station – which is just a 5 minute walk downhill from the station. Thank goodness, it’s downhill and we don’t have to suffer more than rain!

The moment we got into the guesthouse, I heaved a sigh of relief. I couldn’t wait to get to the room to change into slippers because I don’t want my walking shoes to be wet as I only brought a pair!

After getting some information on where to eat, we were led to a shop selling local Korean dishes. Since we were famished after the long travel, we quickly eat whatever that were served. It was still raining when we walked to the restaurant. I didn’t bring my jacket too as I only have ONE jacket, so I wrapped myself in a shawl. Luckily the weather was not too cold, otherwise, it’s not wise to catch a cold or falling sick on the first day of the trip!

The dinner spread!

We ended the day by having some coffee at this place, Take Out. Well, I think it’s a chain store of coffee but the sweet potato coffee was really nice. It was also very nice to drink something hot on a cold, rainy night. Ah, wishing such night would never end.

We got back to the hostel and I really thank God for the heated floor! We could actually dry our clothes and bags on the heated floor! My backpack is not even waterproof so most contents inside were all wet, so I laid everything on the floor, crank up the temperature and leave them till morning… but please remember if you have sweets or chocolates inside your bag.. please take them out… my Sneakers bar was reduced to a packet of hot cocoa.. so I had to put the Sneakers bar back into the fridge to harden it. Haha! Since it was such a long day… we decided to call it a night earlier and be prepared for the next day.

Bang! Bang!

The trip to Seoul is a great one! Totally delicios food (first time in my traveling history, I DON’T MISS nasi lemak!), a lot of walking which probably shaved 2 inches off my waist, great scenery, impressive culture, totally efficient transportation. security, going all “Spartan” on shopping and to top it up, a great group of traveling friends which can tolerate your nonsense. Haha.

Just as I think the trip couldn’t get any better, the last night in Seoul, after meeting a friend for dinner of fried chicken with beer (simply heavenly!), we took a train back to our hostel in Hongdae. We changed train line to 2, to go to our destination. When the train stopped at Euljiro 4, there was a relatively loud explosion at the back of the train and it went all pitch black for a mere 2 seconds. There were women shouting and gasping. Then, the generator automatically kicked in, with a man talking on the PA system in a calm voice. Of course we don’t understand what he was saying, I just hear plenty of apologies and thank yous.

I thought to try to ask the other passengers what was going on but they went on sleeping, fiddling with their phones and chatting as if that “bang” didn’t happen. I was already in jitters, fretting that if in the event the train died half way through the tunnel, we probably have to trek the railway track and how to even get up the platform.. someone might have to push my big ass up.

The train generator kicked in rather well and the train kept moving on till it reached another station, Euljiro 3. Then, another bang was heard, again, black out. And the generator kicked back. We decided to get off the train and seek alternative mode of transport to get back.

When we got out from the train, I could smell burning. My friend said, she saw smoke. But I didn’t. We just huddle together, walked swiftly together with the rest towards the staircase. Everyone was panicked but somehow, they just managed to keep it together and walked upstairs in orderly manner. There were people refusing to pay and hopped over the barricade. I saw a few ladies complaining to the ticketing booth officer.

We walked out from the train station and hailed a cab. Unfortunately, it was Labour’s Day eve. And since it was almost 11.15 pm, the cabbies are all switching off their cab lights and waiting to make a kill by charging double prices after midnight.

It was a lucky thing that, we had the MRT map with us. So, one of the guys looked at it and found an alternative route of subway to get back to our station. I believe, it’s truly important to find a guest house which has a few lines intersecting to avoid such problems in future!

I wanted to whatsapp my friend working in Korea to check on the bus route to go back to our hostel but suddenly, our portable wifi died. Talk about coincidence or Murphy’s law!

Miraculously, I didn’t feel any pain in my legs anymore from the whole day of walking and hiking (we went to Namsan Tower earlier!) and ran aimlessly to the Seoul Metro Station. Must be the adrenaline. We were supposed to run to the Korail line but, somehow all of us got lost at the KTX line. It was really hilarious. We laughed and cursed throughout the running. When we got to our station, a friend pulled a prank and said, we got into the wrong station. I could feel blood drained from my face. It doesn’t pay to be totally ignorant or simply following the crowd when you travel. It’s best to use your brains a little, even if you are on holiday!

Despite the mishap, I suspect the engine of the train blew twice – this is how we ended the trip to Seoul with a big bang! 2 bangs! It was really an incident to be remembered for life!

Matchmaking

When my friend from Penang came visiting, my mom already started to have funny ideas. She asked me if this girlfriend of mine is still single and available? I said yes. She wanted to introduce her to our long distance cousin brother. Well, this cousin brother is a quiet guy, nerdy and balding. I think he totally has no social skill, as far as I could recall. I remember meeting him during college, and I walked over with another friend to have a meal with him. Throughout the whole dinner, he was smiling lecherously at my friend – which I hope she didn’t notice and didn’t say much. I am not sure if he’s shy or he’s just socially awkward. We quickly finished dinner and left.

So, I was against the idea. I think he’s a nice guy but maybe not somebody for my friend, who is a high flyer and has illustrious lifestyle. Further, she’s based in Penang and he’s in KL. At his age.. I think he’s probably 40 now, I am sure he would have found someone by now if he’s not that choosy. I heard his parents tried match making him with a few ladies and he turned them all down.

I remember once, my sister was too subject to matchmaking. Some “pat por” (busy body) aunt of ours was in the market when she met this wine maker family. The family has a son whom the mother is anxious for him to get married. So she asked the par por aunt if she has any nieces to introduce. Pat Por Aunt thought of my family – with the most girls and none are taken. So, she told the wine maker aunty to come to my house. Pat Por Aunt was thinking of my cousin sister – who is born in the year of Monkey. The wine maker aunty is very traditional and adhere to feng shui and calculation of horoscopes. So my cousin sister found out and refused to even come down to see the guy. So, ended my sister is the one who got pushed into meeting the guy. He’s not a very tall person and he looked the least interested in what’s going on. I guess he’s being forced into this by the mother like my sister. That night itself, the mother forced her son and my sister to go on a date. They don’t even know where to go, so I told them to go to Hartamas or Mont Kiara and drink coffee. Haha. That time, in Selayang, there’s no proper coffee shop.

Both of them went on a date. It was really awkward at first. But then, my sister was relieved that the guy is rather friendly and both of them agreed that this is too ridiculous and laughed about it. So they were just merely meeting for the sake of the mother. They only went on date once – that one forced date. Haha.

A few years ago, we were attending a friend’s wedding when my friend’s boyfriend had too much to drink. He suddenly became this very chatty person. He’s usually rather quiet and would mind his own business. But that night, suddenly, alcohol just took over his body and he started to talk too much. He asked me if I am interested to meet his Taiwanese friend – who is also his business partner. He said, his Taiwanese friend is looking for a wife and I would fit the bill. I was like, WTF??? He said his Taiwanese friend loves food very much and would like to have a girlfriend/wife who can share the same passion as him. I said if I were to become his girlfriend, he would double his size in no time, since I like to eat too. He said, he’s already a very big man himself and doesn’t mind if he’s bigger! I have a friend who has a Taiwanese husband and boy, that man could drink a lot.. a lot as in.. he spent Rm10k on drinking bills alone per month. So, I said to my friend’s bf. Does he drink a lot? He said yes. Taiwanese generally drinks alot. He doesn’t gamble, he never womanized, but he drinks and smokes alot. That’s the deal breaker lah. I cannot tolerate smokers and worse, drinkers as well? So I told him to forget it. Haha. There goes my chance to become a Taiwanese businessman’s wife. LOL! Actually, come to think of it – Taiwanese has so many pretty women and they are all very polite. He should go get his wife among Taiwanese who would know how to appreciate such lifestyle of drinking.

I am never good at matchmaking, according to my mom. None of the couples I tried to match make works. Even when my sister is going out with the wine maker son, my mom prohibited me from going with her because I am a “bad luck” she said. Sigh. But it didn’t work out for both of them even when I was not there – so I supposed I am not THAT bad? Haha.