As Unlucky As It Gets

We had planned to go back to Ipoh on Monday 29th Dec (1 Muharram 1430H). Chik was also going back to Jengka that day.

But as fate would have it, the car broke down about 12km into the Kelantan-Perak border - about 2 km from that Puncak Titiwangsa (well, Ayoh always refers it by that name). It wasn't a total shock or anything for me at least as the car has not been in good shape during the holiday. Thankfully the kids were calm and didn't panic. They probably felt like they're in some kind of adventure :-P

Allah itu Maha Pengasih dan Penyayang. Ayoh flagged down a car coming from the opposite side and he turned out to be a very nice man, Encik Jusoh, who was on his way back from Ipoh to Kusial (Tanah Merah). He was driving a white Proton Saga (WEY 8321) that belonged to his company. Have no idea what he actually does, btw. But it turned out that our unlucky experience hadn't ended yet. The Proton hit a rock by the roadside when we stopped to make Ahnaf's bottle and it also broke down jut in front of a 'kedai runcit' near Simpang 3 Kuala Long. I do feel guilty - if only we hadn't stopped for the milk ...

Again Allah mengasihi umatNya. The owner of the 'kedai runcit' did mention that it's rather difficult to get a 'kereta sewa' at that area but syukur kepadaMu, a 'kereta sewa' passed by after we had been there for about 20 minutes ('Ainul managed to finish his ice-cream!). Again, we met another nice man (his vest had the name "Zakaria" but not sure whether it's actually his). He said that he's going up to Tanah Merah only and would help to get another 'kereta sewa' to go to Pasir Mas but if there's no one going there, he'd be willing to go all the way to send us back (me and the kids). Syukur Ya Allah. And he only took RM35 when the actual fare was RM40. Semoga Allah murahkan rezekinya. Aamin.

Turned out that we were blessed with no trouble at all. Just as we arrived in Tanah Merah, Encik Zakaria (?) got us a 'kereta sewa' going to Pasir Mas. There were already 3 passengers inside - 2 girls probably in late teens and a little one about 3+ years old (?). And this time, the driver was talkative! During that 1/2 hour journey, I found out that he used to be a Polis Hutan and went for training in Ulu Kinta. Part of the training involved walking from UK to Tambun and back - how far is that ? He also mentioned about wanting to join Komando (whoah!) but got into Semboyan instead. And he talked a bit about going for assignments at communist-infested areas like Klian Intan etc. He managed to stay in the force for about 5 years before quitting - saying that his heart was not into it anymore. Came back to Kelantan and started driving 'kereta sewa' since 1984 (24 years now!). And I, in turn, started grumbling about not being able to transfer back to Kelantan after so many years bla bla ...

He's got 10 (!) children - and he said something which Ayoh would've totally agreed with ... anak ramai bagus! He went on to say that we as Muslims should go for as many kids as possible even though some people might think that having many kids could be a burden financially to which I replied "Ye lah, rezeki ada di mana-mana tak ?" He also said that he lived in Meranti, near Ustaz Nasaruddin's (the DUN speaker) house. So I asked about Ustaz's wife who got stabbed during a robbery some time ago. Apparently she's okay now although she's not completely back to 100%. Btw, she was stabbed somewhere in her abdomen, I think.

Yep - we talked and talked until we almost missed the turn to AbahUmi's place - hehe ... can you imagine that :-P Hajar was like, "Apa la Ibu ni ...". Maafkan Ibu, sayang . Anyway, Encik Fauzi (that's his name) asked for RM10 only but since Ayoh Chik (the first taxi driver) told me to pay RM12, that's what I did. Oh yeah, Encik Fauzi informed the name of the first taxi driver, btw.

We safely arrived at about 5.45 pm - and it turned out Lina's gewe was there! Heh-heh, I betcha she didn't really want me to know about it yet but as fate had it, tak boleh dah nak sorok! He came for "sesi berkenalan dengan keluarga" - not that I went out and greet him ... not yet. anyway. I have other things to worry about.

Ayoh came back with the car at about 10 pm. Syukur, Ya Allah.