I’d planned for this trip months ago and it finally
materialised last Saturday. I took the MRT to Sungai Buloh - I managed to reach
the platform with a couple of minutes to spare, any later and I’d have to wait
another 15 minutes for the next train and would only have five minutes to exit
the train, get down from the platform, exit the station and make my way to KTM
Komuter station. That was cutting it pretty close so I was thankful to have
made the train when I did. If I had missed the 10:25 Komuter train to Kuala Kubu
Bharu, I’d have to wait for the next one at 11:40.
I was surprised to find the Komuter train different
from the usual Komuter train. Passengers sit across each other in the few cars.
As it turned out, not many people were travelling anyway so it wasn’t a problem.
We left on time, what a pleasant surprise! The train stopped at a few stations
and at one of them, three cyclists boarded the train, wheeling their bikes.
We reached Kuala Kubu Bharu station at 11:13 –
another surprise as the train actually arrived on time. I went to use the
facilities before I set out.
Now, I had studied the maps and knew that there
were two buses that I could take into town but none passed by in the 20 minutes
I took to walk into town. There was cloud cover so it wasn’t too bad to start
with.
I stopped at the town’s public garden to attend to some
work queries (yeah, I know. The pits of working during the pandemic include working
over weekends) before walking up Jalan Bukit Kerajaan. It was a shady road and
quite deserted. I walked up to the Clock Tower which was built to commemorate
the coronation of King George VI and the Hulu Selangor Traffic Police Station
which building used to be the Church of Ascension. Then I realised I had walked
past the Hulu Selangor Land and District Office so I turned back (it was just metres
away anyway). I asked the lady guard if I could take pictures of the Hulu
Selangor Land and District Office, a 90-old building. She asked why and I was
perplexed. I replied because it was a heritage building, all the while
wondering if she didn’t know it. She thought about it and nodded ok.
After that, I walked down the hill to the Post
Office at the corner of Jalan Dato Tabal and then along the road until I came
upon the Old Fire Station (another 90-year old building). I then turned into
Jalan Kamarudin and walked around, stopping every now and then to take pictures
of the pre-war buildings. I love buildings (old buildings, heritage and
colonial)and ruins.
While wandering around, I decided to take the 14:55
train instead of the 16:50 train back to Sungai Buloh. As Zul Mee Kari restaurant
was closed, I decided to have lunch at Yogi Café. I stood and waited to be
seated and was not happy when a family came up after me and demanded to be
seated. Like hello, I came first, you shameless queue jumper. And the waitress seemed
oblivious to me too. I told her that I came first and only then she acknowledged
me. I decided to have assam laksa for lunch and asked for a pair of chopsticks
when my food came and while the same waitress said she would get me a pair, neither
she nor the chopsticks appeared after five minutes so I went to ask the busy
girl behind the counter. What a lousy waitress!
I walked back to the station. I and was telling
myself that it’d be a long wait if a bus ever showed up when a bus drove past
just as I had walked a few metres away from a bus stop. Strewth! I continued
walking and arrived at the station 30 minutes before the train was due to
arrive. Plenty of time for me to perform prayers although I wasn’t too happy
with the prayer room. Oh well.
The train arrived on time (I couldn’t get over my
surprise but far be it for me to complain about that). I changed for the MRT train
and rode back to my station. And that was how I spent part of my Saturday.
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