After almost thirty six hours keeping myself dead (aka ignoring JyoLyn's miscall, not replying on the CBox and ShoutMix, didn't even visited other people's blog especially those with traffic trackers, not forwarding or reply mails), I am just DYING to tell you what happened. Now I know how hard is it to be a spy or to keep a secret...
Just hang on there first (I just love cliffhangers, don't you Mabel? haha), bigger story ahead. Well, I just hope that my previous post, the one you all ter-shocked sungguh one... did bring out the message. Anyway, I do hope you all won't take it as Aesop Fables - the one where the boy lied about the wolf one. It's been great learning to me. I somehow learnt the art of ghostwriting (an art of writing in the person of someone), eventhough I had no idea why Elena think it's not what my dad would write, James of course will be exception after so many years living so close. But one thing I realise is that I have people who really care, but wouldn't express it till I die. It's rather true that when someone dies only he is appreciated, I wonder why. Love and care without expression is simply not loving and caring. I HOPE IT'S NOT YOU ALL. No, it's not you all of course, I know many of you personally that you really care. I can feel it. Thanks.
Now, the long awaited story of cheating death in a kancil car...
Mr Who-Celebrated-His-Birthday-Two-Days-Ago arrived on time exactly 1100 hours with his modified Kancil, the smallest car you can ever possibly get, smaller than Mr Bean’s one. So I greeted an excited Good Morning and then stuff myself into that Malaysian product.
“Ok, ini apa?”
“Clutch.”
“Ini pulak?”
“Brek.”
“Yang ini?”
“Minyak.”
Phew, at least I answered those without stammering! I was trying to be confident, as usual, no need to exaggerate thoughts as in my blog. I was still seated in the front seat and Mr Instructor had to answer a call and he continued driving. It’s rather not that practical what they taught in the classes.
Then, the moments of terror came. For those who know where my house is, just outside my housing estate lies the road with the fastest drivers on earth, speeding up to 200 km/h and there’s where he dumped me. He asked me to come out of the car just opposite of the majestic frontgate of the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). Just as I stepped into the driver seat and close that small door, a Schumacher flew past me. Thank God there is a medical faculty in that university perhaps who can save my fragile bones wrapped in thin layers of dermis and epidermis.
So I HAD to drive. I thought he would bring me to at least a no car place to practice first. Anyway, gotta brace myself for the worst, but so happened the worst happened in that claustrophobic car. It so small that I hardly managed to get into the driver seat. And that miserable Kancil seat can move that few inches only, providing 0.1% of relieve to my long legs. Ok, the rear mirror now. I looked up to the roof of the car and it was just above my hair. I tried to adjust that rear mirror but my eye level just don’t fit with it. I can’t see the traffic behind me, great, heaven is getting nearer. Back to the legs, yeah those long legs I had. Who says people with long legs drive faster?!! Because of them, I couldn’t exert maximum pressure on the clutch… Still then never mind, think of the life beyond the pearly gates, no cars no driving no clutches…
When everything was “perfect”, it is the most crucial moment… turn the key and start the engine. I bet you had the thought I mati enjin, but it was such excitement to turn it on and there goes my first success with a car after many failures. No cars behind and this excited urchin of yours went into the main road on driver’s seat for the first time in seventeen years and ten months. Not so scary actually, no cars and I was happily changing gear one to gear four though I had problem with the clutch at first. Passed the first traffic light in such excitement for the first time. Off I head off to the practice area in Taman Pertanian which was located near the Kuantan bypass which I said I got a tragic accident.
Then the boring moments came. Turn and turn the stereng, cos tan and cos tan balik (not trigonometry I can assure you. It means reversing). Quite an accomplishment I can say actually. At least the “Ger de bum, explosion, sending someone who just passed two days after his birthday over the curtain and yours truly long-legged-clumsy-hit-accelerator-when-supposed-to-brake...” did not happen. I mati-ed engine for twice when reverse because I accidentally stepped the accelerator. However, these were the best moments I had, thanks to this patient driving instructor who smiled and say “Never mind, can start again.”. Although he dumped me in a busy road to drive when it was first time learning, he’s really a nice guy, not pampering yet caring. He held me steering when I went slightly off track. He gave all the direction I ever needed and all I had to do was to follow his instructions. The best of all, he’s really a sincere person who teach with the heart and not for monetary purposes. This always smiling guy is actually my dad’s driving instructor too…
All this good thoughts of him got blurred when he asked me to drive into the most treacherous road in Kuantan at the most treacherous hour at the most treacherous traffic conditions. And worst still, he wanted me to take the long route instead of just going to the opposite lane. Mr Sentiasa Smiling, you better keep on smiling…
I passed my old beloved primary school SJK(C) Semambu but I barely noticed it. My hand were fixed on the steering and my eyes never ran off from the road. Cold perspiration flowed on the forehead with no one wiping it or evaporating. And then I had to turn down into that Bunga Cengkih junction (the super complex cross junction with flyovers) and then turn back up into the opposite direction. And that smiling guy hurried me to add more oil while going uphill. Woah, brummmm up the hill then reached the upper road finally. The worst part was still to come. A few, not one, trailers were behind me, like big giants ready to stamp on this first time driver. IT’S MORE SCARY THAN MY PREVIOUS POST!!!
Then, it was Mr Sentiasa Smiling again who said calmly… “Jangan takut, jalan terus saje, biar dia potong, focus” [Translation: Don’t freak out, just head on straight, let him bypass, focus on the road ahead.] Then, slowly all the trailers passed and there was great relieve. Thank God I survived and it was me who wrote the previous post. And by the way, for Kuantan folks, if you are very skeptical of my death, you would spot the mistake I made in describing the accident. The Kuantan bypass way have road dividers, so chances are close to zero a trailer from the opposite direction hit me. So don’t be overly skeptical and focusing on the minor mistakes when you read a story, you can easily lose the main message it brings.
There were still trailers trailing behind me, but I was no longer scared, thanks to a Sentiasa Smiling driving instructor. I reached home safely and enjoyed my lunch.
My next lesson was due Saturday 2-3 pm, so first of all don’t ever call me like what JyoLyn did when I was driving. And yeah, pray for safety. You wouldn’t want to read another scary yet real post.
And for Christians, here’s a short encouraging thing I learnt from this experience. Being a Christian is tough just like first time driving. Christ our sentiasa smiling driving instructor, driving and guiding us through life. You can’t expect a pampered life where he asks you to stay and learn in a comfort zone. Be prepared to get out of your comfort and live for him. He has a purpose for putting you through some seeming impossible situations. He wants you to be a mature Christian, unafraid of the one in the world and all the storms life bring. Know for sure that He’ll always be there to guide you and hold your steering. He will hit the emergency break if you are going over a cliff, but most of the times he’s not going to stop you from having temporary failures. He wants you to learn and be courageous. And if you threatening trailers following closely to you, just remember you have a sentiasa smiling Guide beside you. All you need is to obey Him and focus on the purpose of your life. Look ahead.
