Lovely Bunch of Coconuts!

I was at Malacca last weekend for an SPCA meeting. Everything went well. Got to meet lots of new people who were into animal welfare, seen a new place, had some great food! Left the state on Sunday in a 10.00pm Transnasional bus. I was due to arrive in Penang at about 6.00am Monday, 5.30am earliest.

The bus left on time; 10 sharp. It had just rained so all was foggy outside. The AC was on full blast so the coach was freezing. I settled down, turned on my iPod and managed to get some shut eye till about 1.45am. When I woke up, nature called just in time! The bus only made a pit stop for toilet break at 2.45am!!! You could hear most of the passengers hissing…ready to unload ANYTIME! I was one of them!

Everyone had done their business within 10 minutes. The bus continued its journey and I was prepared to go back to sleep when only after a few minutes of moving away from the station, I felt all nauseous. I held it in till about 3.55am and I could’nt hold it in much longer. I made my way to the driver up front and had him make another stop for me to get out for some fresh air. The driver reluctantly stopped at a rest house about 5 minutes away. As I got down, he drove off. It was 4.00am on a dark highway, somewhere in Perak.

I freshened up and began to think of alternatives…HOW AM I GOING TO MAKE MY WAY BACK TO PENANG???!!! There was no one around. So i walked. If I’m not mistaken i think it was the E1 highway. I walked for about 40 minutes. Then I reached a sign which read "Welcome to Kedah Darul Aman". I was at the Perak-Kedah border and as I crossed it, i knew this was going to be one heck of a long journey. And so, I walked.

About an hour and a half later, a signboard read Pulau Pinang. But it was too dark to see what the distance was. Every step i took i came closer and closer. Cars, Oil trucks and lorries occassionaly passed me at a ridiculous speed. The green signboard was right in front of me. PULAU PINANG……..46km

I still walked but as I began to slow down, i turned on my iPod and had it’s lights on at all times. I flashed the official SOS distress signal; 3 quick flashes and 3 slow flashes. But not a single vehicle stopped.

After about a 2 hour journey by foot, I came across and SOS phone booth. I decieded to give it a try. I flicked the metal switch and waited. Then, i heard some static and came a very friendly "HELLO".

I explained everything to the voice in the box. I was asked to stay put and a highway patrol car was on its way. 20 minutes later, it showed up. I was "rescued" by two very friend auxiliary police officers. They took me all the way to the toll at Jawi and I had to find my own way from there.

At the toll plaza, the public phones were out of service and my cellphone was also unfortunately, had insufficient credit. It was 7am.
Toll workers began to arrive. I made my way to a large Malay lady. She was very helpful and told me that an express bus is on the way at anytime. That bus would take all the way to the Butterworth jetty for RM 3 only, rather then calling for a cab.

In just under 2 minutes, the bus did arrive and at last i felt safe as i was getting closer to home. It was a 1/2 hour bus ride, 10 minutes on board the ferry and a 15 minute cab ride all the way to my apartment in Sg.2.

I was in the comfort of my own home before 8.30am.

Though it had not been a very convenient morning, it certainly was a fantastic experience. The only frightening thing about walking alone on a dark highway was the fear of bumping into an angry cow or worse, another person travelling alone.