The balik kampong drive

As I had expected, my drive to KL yesterday wasn’t much of a problem – traffic wise. However, as I was heading towards the Damansara exit, there were so many lorries on the road.

As planned, immediately after my mother’s appointment at Putrajaya Hospital this morning, we didn’t stop anywhere else; we headed straight to the expressway to balik kampong.

Considering it was a Friday, there were considerably more cars using the expressway, but the drive was smooth nevertheless. I managed to drive at an average of 110 km/h almost throughout the journey. With the exception of one or two Alonso-wannabes, the other drivers on the road were quite disciplined.

Ahhh… lega… no jam even at the Ipoh toll. My balik kampong trip was smooth after all (but if we had waited until later to make a move, we could have been involved in the jam at roads leading out of KL).

Then, we got to the Ipoh Selatan exit.

Alamak… IPOH DAH MULA JAM!!!

To those who have not started their balik kampong journey… drive carefully and stay out of trouble ya!

My office is closed for the whole of next week. I will be pretty busy these next few days but one raya posting coming up on Monday… so look out for my SELOKA HARI RAYA… ;)

Balik kampong... o-o-o... balik kampong...

Ever since end of 1992 when I came back to Ipoh to stay with my mother, I never had to go through the trouble of having to balik kampong when Hari Raya or any other festive seasons approaches. I am already here in my kampong so where is there to balik to?

So, why am I bringing up the topic of balik kampong this time?

Because this year I get to balik kampong!

Huh? Does that mean I have moved elsewhere? Not at all! Actually my mother’s appointment at Putrajaya Hospital is this Friday morning. Yes, Friday – when school and university Raya holidays start. Chances are we too have to be involved in the balik kampong rush after that. To avoid the possibly madder rush, we’re making sure we’re heading straight home immediately after the appointment – which I hope will finish early.

Anyway, speaking of balik kampong, I remember the balik kampong rush I had to endure during my younger days (Oh, I’m still young now… those days I was just much youngER!).

My balik kampong experience began since I was 13 when I got into a boarding school. Most of my trips home then were by train although there were a few times when we took the bus home. Mind you, the train services back then were not at all like what we have now although I have to admit it has been ages since I took a train ride – I stopped taking the train (keretapi) ever since I got myself a car (kereta Pi)…

Back then tickets were simply sold and it was on free seating basis. No numbered seats! During the Raya balik kampong and balik sekolah/kerja rush, we were considered lucky if we could get a space to stand inside the train coaches. People standing at the door steps of a moving train were a normal sight and sometimes to get into the coaches, some had to do so through the windows. During raya season, some would even stand in the toilet throughout the journey.

I remember once when we needed to go back to school after Raya. By the time the train reached the Ipoh railway station, there was no way we could get in. You wouldn’t expect our parents to push us through the windows, would you? Especially us girls wearing pinafore/baju kurung! Since we students just had to go back no matter what, the station master told us to wait for a while as he’d arrange an additional coach for us once the other passengers made their way inside the coaches. Waaah… so manja like that…

So we waited for a while and the additional coach finally came… it was actually a cargo coach smelling of anchovies. Ahh, at least we got space to sit down. It didn’t matter that we had to sit on the floor (gerabak barang where got seat lah!) as long as we didn’t have to stand/sit under anyone’s armpits! I prefer the smell of anchovies anytime!

Then during my university days, I remember one particular trip home by train. By then there were numbered seats and so I didn’t have to worry about rushing to grab a seat. But as I sat there at my seat not bothering anybody, I noticed 2 ladies sitting across the aisle; who kept staring at me and whispered to each other. Needless to say, I became so conscious of myself. I didn’t know why they stared and what they were whispering. Nasib baik pakai sunglasses…

I finally found out why they stared when one of the ladies opened up her mouth to ask, “Adik, adik, tumpang tanya sikit…” (Ahhh, those were the days when I got to be called adik. Nowadays it’s either kakak or makcik!)

Then a totally unexpected question came from the lady… “Adik ni pelakon drama kan?”

HUH??!! Pelakon drama???! Biar betul… ada tokoh jadi pelakon ke muka macam ni??

When I told them I was not and that I was never ever involved in acting, not even as an extra, they had that “I think you’re lying” looks on their faces. They probably thought I was trying to hide behind those sunglasses so that people wouldn’t notice who I was. (The sun was glaring lah, which was why I wore sunglasses meh!).

Until now I still don’t know which actress they were thinking of. I wonder who they had in mind. (Before you too start wondering, this was in the 80’s mind you… so forget Fasha Sanda and those yang sewaktu dengannya… MUAHAHA!!!)

Ah, those were the days…

Anyway, those of you who are driving to balik kampong this coming Raya, drive carefully ya?