What Is There To Say

 After Hulu Selangor, Kuala Selangor and Tanjong Malim, I decided to take the train to Pulau Sebang/Tampin on Saturday, 6 November. I rode the MRT to Kajang then changed for the Komuter train. The train was late by only a few minutes. There are only two train services daily that go all the way to Pulau Sebang so there were a lot of people on the train although most of them went down at stations before Pulau Sebang. We arrived around 11:30 and I walked into town.

 

For some strange reason, I found myself humming ‘Apo Nak Dikato’ when I was there. Never mind that I could barely recall the lyrics.

 

Sawah leba, kobau banyak (sawah leba, kobau banyak)

Air pigi sojuk sekali (air pigi)

Sunyi sapo takdo oghang

Apo nak dikato

Kalau boleh nak bising-bising

Macam pokan Tampin

 

I didn’t quite find much that caught my eye and after barely half an hour, decided to find the first bus out. Yes, bus, because the next train out was the last service of the day and would only depart at 17:25. I saw some buses and made my way to the bus terminal. It was deserted at first but when I sighted another bus, I returned to the bus station and there were two buses to Seremban there.

 

I found out that the first bus would leave at 12:30 and so I hopped on it. The fare was RM6 and the bus took us into the heart of Negeri Sembilan to Kota, Rembau, Pedas, then Senawang. We reached Seremban Terminal 1 at 13:55 and I quickly went to find if there were any 14:00 bus back to KL. The first bus was bound for TBS (no thanks) and the next bus to Central Market was departing at 14:30 with no sign of the bus. So I turned back and walked like mad to the train station. I had to follow a circuitous route to check my temperature, scan the QR code and of course the train would have to be at another platform. The train arrived just as I was panting my way and I hurried as fast as my legs could take me, taking the stairs two at a time. I couldn’t run so I tried to walk faster and I was on the bridge, across it and then down the stairs and dare I hope it? Yes, I made it somehow and almost collapsed onto the first vacant seat I found. After catching my breath, I saw another vacant seat in the next coach and changed seats. I rode the train all the way to Mad Valley.

 

It was an all too brief visit to Pulau Sebang and Tampin but I didn’t regret making the trip. And no, Tampin wasn’t a noisy town at all. The usual traffic noise and hustle and bustle of a town but that was it.

A Very Short Trip To Tanjung Malim

To continue on the geographical theme I had unconsciously set, from Kuala Kubu Bharu and Kuala Selangor, I decided to take the train up to Tanjung Malim. I missed the MRT train by a minute and arrived at Sungai Buloh station at 10:23. I couldn’t see the commuter train at the platform (you could see the platform when you get down from the feeder bus) and when I checked the screen, thought I saw the train leaving at 10:40. However, the next train that came was the ETS train so I had to wait for the 11:40 train instead. Strewth!

 

The train finally arrived and I boarded it. It reached Tanjung Malim 63 minutes later. I was surprised at the condition of the station. We had to walk up the stairs to cross the tracks – I think I saw the lift but it didn’t appear to be working so what if one was disabled or a senior citizen needing help to climb those stairs?!). There appeared to be some minor construction work but no one was there and I didn’t know if the construction work was abandoned or the workers didn’t work on Saturdays. I then went to find the bathroom but it was closed. When I walked out, I saw sign for another bathroom and was not amused to find it was also closed. What a discouraging start already, I thought.

 

The town seemed deserted and didn’t seem like a university town at all. I walked towards Sultan Idris Education University less than a km away. The main gate was closed so I had to make do from taking photos from outside the gates. I didn’t spend a long time there because there wasn’t much to do besides taking pictures and it was also starting to drizzle.

 

I turned back and dropped by Masjid Jamek to perform prayers. After prayers, I went to the old town. I was conscious that I had little time left if I wanted to catch the 14:40 train back to Sungai Buloh. I could take the train after that but it would only depart at 16:35 and I couldn’t imagine what else to do in those two additional hours (if only the National Education Museum wasn’t closed!). Anyway, as it turned out, I needn’t have worried as the old town was pretty compact anyway.

 

I bree

zed through the old town (the old and new towns are divided by the train track), walked past Kampung Kubu which is the birthplace of the town. Then I walked to Jalan Besar (main road) with its two rows of shophouses built in the early 20^th century by Hokkien immigrants.

 

I then stopped for a quick lunch at Restoran Ghani before walking back to the station. And yes, passengers needed to climb up the stairs to cross the tracks to the platform. The train left on time.

 

I may visit the town again, probably some time next year when the Sultan Idris Education University celebrates its 100^th year. Hopefully the museum will also be open on my next visit. My dad had also expressed his wish to visit his alma mater when I mentioned my trip to him. InsyaAllah.

Day Trip To Kuala Selangor

 

So, after a trip to Hulu Selangor, I decided to head to Kuala Selangor last Saturday which also happened to be exactly seven years after my first visit (Saturday, 11 October 2014). I had planned to ride the MRT to Sungai Buloh and changed for the Selangor bus no. 100 there. I left micasa at 06:50 and was at the platform about ten minutes later. I was surprised to find that the final destination of the train was Kwasa Sentral and not Sungai Buloh. I went down to ask and was told there was a problem with the announcement board but went down at Phileo Damansara to ask again. It turned out that three MRT stations after Kwasa Sentral would be closed from last Saturday until the Putrajaya MRT route is completed (yup, of course the station closure would have to happen that day). I waited for the next train and at Kwasa Sentral went to find the complimentary feeder bus to Sungai Buloh.

 

I went up the Sungai Buloh station and walked past the Komuter entrance and took the pedestrian overhead bridge to cross the road. I was relieved to see a few people already at the bus stop as it meant I didn’t miss the bus. I ended up waiting for half an hour, getting panicky by the minute. You see, I’d already booked and paid for a trip from Sky Mirror WorldTour for my friend and her three young kids and myself and we had to reach the assembly area by 10:00.

 

The bus finally arrived at 08:40 much to my relief and we arrived at Bandar Malawati bus terminal less than an hour later. Which meant Google Maps info that the bus frequency is every half an hour and that the journey time from Sungai Buloh KTM station is 90 minutes is out. The bus fare was RM5 and you have to pay in cash.

 

My friend and her kids were already waiting at the bus terminal and we drove to the assembly place near the Monkey God Temple. The girl at first couldn’t locate our names until we told her we made our booking online. Anyway, we finally boarded and were off at 10:22. All of us needed to don a life jacket. The ride started off as uneventful but quickly turned bumpy that it felt like we were on a rollercoaster.

 

We finally arrived at our destination, Sasaran Beach, after 20 minutes. We got down and waded to the ‘beach’ which is actually a vast sandbar that appears above th sea surface during low tide, allowing visitors to indulge in unparalleled views of the sky and sea. We had to wait while the tour rep who accompanied us set up his ‘studio’. The tour reps dug in and built a ‘fort’ and after a while it became apparent what they were doing heh.

 

We were the first to have our photos taken and he gave instructions how we should stand and pose. It was a fine day, pretty hot and bright and sunny. I had slathered on some sunblock before leaving the boat but I still wore my hat and used my umbrella. After we were done, we walked around and played at the water’s edge while waiting for the others to finish having their photos taken.

 

We finally left at 12:20 and rode the boat back to the jetty. They somehow forgot to serve us the promised refreshment (alas we didn’t see anyone at the jetty we could ask) so we drove off to find a place to have lunch. We stopped at Mee Udang Banjir Kuala Selangor (near to Warong Soto Pasir Penambang) for lunch. There were so many people there and we had to wait a long while for our kuay teow prawn noodles. I wouldn’t have minded waiting if it tasted good but it was disappointing. It didn’t taste as how I envisaged prawn noodles should taste like at all.

 

It took a while to queue to pay too and by the time we arrived at the bus terminal, I was told that the bus for KL had just left %^#)*()+!~ The next bus was due at 15:30 so I decided to wait. It was a hot and humid wait and while the bus did arrive at 15:30, the driver and conductor went off to have their lunch first. I didn’t blame them but didn’t expect the same driver and conductor to immediately drive back to KL. As it turned out, I boarded the same bus I came in (I noticed the empty hand sanitiser in the bus), same driver and same conductor. I asked the conductor to alert me when we reached Sungai Buloh KTM station as I wasn’t familiar with the landmarks. This time, it took an hour to reach Sungai Buloh KTM station.

 

I wouldn’t mind visiting Kuala Selangor again. If only the wait for the red Selangor bus number 100 wasn’t a long nightmare.

Short Trip To Kuala Kubu Bharu

 

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.

Cool Kids

There’s a FB group ‘Nostalgia di SBP’ (or Nostalgia at Boarding School) and I read some of the posts out of curiosity (I’m hardly on FB as it is, I spend 15 minutes a day on it tops). A mate of mine had written some posts to the group too. The few posts I read made me think back of my life at boarding school.

I wasn’t a brilliant student, I found out very quickly that there were some seriously clever and brilliant girls in my class and within our batch. And I could’ve scored good marks but some subjects like Arabic, Art and Domestic Science were the bane of my lower secondary life (funnily enough, I scored an A1 in Domestic Science even though I did somehow manage to sleep during the trial exam until my friend woke me up because there was a correction to the question paper). I was never a sportsgirl and never an athlete (I could barely run to save my life, I just didn’t and still don’t have the stamina), in fact I didn’t enjoy any of the games or sport (I could cheer loudly though). I was never in any drama (be it English or Malay) competition (I have stage fright) or dancing competition either (I have two left feet). I wasn’t in either the band or cadet, wasn’t in the choir group. In short, I was just an average girl trying to fit in, at times in awe (but not envious) of other girls from more privileged background. My dad was approaching retirement and we didn’t have much to spend on branded goods then. So I was donning boring unfashionable clothes and I had a simple haircut. Then again, back then, in those days, not many things were fashionable anyway.

I was not any one of the cool kids. I wasn’t popular, I wasn’t in any clique (thank God!), I wasn’t at all cool. I never had any correspondent with a boy from another boarding school except for one very brief exchange of letters which I didn’t pursue. I was not a prefect. I did enjoy my lessons in upper secondary (I did have to bear with Arabic for another year though) and really loved Modern and Additional Maths subjects. I chose Social Science class as I was definitely not going to be in a pure Science class.

I broke some rules when I was in upper secondary. I was a latecomer many times and had to pay the fine when I was in Form 5 because I slept through the alarm and all the noise and racket around me (maybe someone did try to wake me up but I slept too deeply and soundly through it all). I skipped some physical education classes and hid in the drama props room with some mates. I forged Mummy’s signature so that I could join others and follow my friend back to her aunt’s place. So I wasn’t exactly an angel but apart from PE, I never skipped any other class (even Arabic).

I had fun at boarding school; I didn’t dread either going back home or returning to school after school holidays ended. I had friends, I enjoyed my classes especially in upper secondary. I was neither a goodie, nor was I a baddie.

Like I said, I wasn’t one of the cool kids then but I still fit in somehow. And anyway, people shouldn’t be too fixated about wanting to fit in (or trying to at least for some people). We may not know it when we were adolescents but I should hope we’re all comfortable and secure in our skin by now. And in our own way, we’re actually cool now precisely because we develop self-confidence, gain life experience and overcome life challenges as we grow.

500+ Days of Sameness

 

In case you’re wondering, it has been 523 days today since 18 March 2020 when the movement control order was imposed. It has been a long boring ride with nowhere in sight and seemingly no light at the end of it. You’re forgiven for losing track of time/day/week/month. It’s the same thing every day: wear a mask when you’re out and about, wash or sanitise your hands, observe distancing, travel restriction, and at the same time having to bear the ridiculousness of the Malaysian politics and different standards.

 

August hasn’t been an august month after all what with the political drama, escalating Covid cases, police intimidation and brutality, and poor Arsenal pre-season and opening two matches. Ugh!

 

I had my second dose of vaccination on Friday the 13^th and was happy to take it easy the following day. I had a mild headache which could be due to many factors: I didn’t manage to eat much before my vaccination; it was a hot, hot Friday the 13^th; the vaccine itself; or what I thought was PMS. I felt sufficiently better on Sunday to go for a 5.1km walk. I set off with two plastic bags and picked up rubbish along the highway. It’s disgusting how irresponsible and thoughtless Malaysians are when it comes to disposing their rubbish. Rubbish to the core!

 

Anyway, alhamdulillah, everyone in my close family (that’s me and dad, and my sister and her family) has been vaccinated. Munchkin nephew finally got his first dose by walk-in at Movenpick Hotel in Sepang (yesterday was the last day the vaccine centre operated at Movenpick before it moves to Multimedia University). Turned out that nephew was afraid of being jabbed. He had earlier got an appointment for AstraZeneca at PWTC (which he didn’t apply for) but he was having his exam then and had to decline it. And somehow MySejahtera never updated and rescheduled his appointment.

 

It’s hard to see when this nightmare will end when the Delta variant is spreading so quickly. Let’s hope it won’t take another 500 days before we’re rid of this menace!

It's A Struggle

A lot of people find it a struggle trying to survive these days.

Some people lost hope and decided to end their lives.

Some have to resort to begging, while others to stealing. Previously, shoplifters and thieves stole high-value items but now people shoplift fish, vegetables, and bread to name a few.

Some struggle with office work, housework and caring for their children, spouse or elderly parents.

Some struggle to stay sane.

Some struggle to survive staying locked up at home with an abuser.

Some struggle to learn, gain knowledge or educate themselves either due to lack of devices or poor network coverage.

Some have to go to work and expose themselves to risk of contracting Covid.

Some are burnt out and overworked.

Hospitals are full and operating beyond capacity. The doctors and nurses have to choose who to save first.

And yet, and yet.

We still have world class idiots in power.

51 weeks ago, my family and I were lucky enough to be able to go to Port Dickson (not even Paris!) and 51 weeks later, we’re stuck in limbo.

It’s a struggle trying to be optimistic in the face of all these and the never-ending lockdown with the end nowhere in sight. Ya Allah, please have mercy on us and help us remove all these incompetent Covidiots from office, ameen.

~~~~~~~

I was surprised but happy when I saw on IG last Friday that Isetan had reopened its stores (not just the Foodmarket). I headed to Isetan KLCC during lunch on the same day and happily browsed the deserted store (I was the only customer at the first floor). There were fewer sales assistants as some stay in lockdown areas and were unable to travel to work. I got to chatting with the friendly Floor Manager and she told me they were happy to reopen the stores as they missed meeting and interacting with customers too. She also said that even her elderly mother also felt it stifling to stay home all the time. We are only humans, we crave and starve for human contact and interaction. I told her this is the best time to shop for anything as the shopping malls are empty. Alas, on Saturday evening, I saw the IG story that the other Isetan departments have been temporarily closed again. Sigh. That sure didn’t last long. I guess browsing at groceries will be the extent of my retail therapy for now.