Me: Nani, Kak Ina nak tgk Lion King!!!
Nani: Dierang taknak datang sini ke ah? Nani tgk yang Frenchnye version, best gile!
Me: Cube try carik on the internet, maybe dierang akan tour sini bila-bila...? I don't care, we are sooo going..
Few secs later...
Nani: Kak Ina! They're showing NOW in Singapore!
Me: What?! JOMMM!!! Book ticket skarang!
Nani: Mak, Mak, jom pegi Singapore tengok Lion King?
Mak: Oh ok.. use my credit card la...
Me & Nani: - YESSSSSSSS!!
Me: Kita nak duduk mane, balik bila, camna?
Mak&Nani: Alaah... kita pegi je dulu, balik tu nanti2la kite pikir, kite gi tgk show tu dulu and see how it goes...
Nani proceeds to purchase our ticket online for the show and the train tickets from KL Sentral to Singapore for 28th April 11pm (night train) so we could catch the Saturday, 29th April 2pm show.
28 April 2011, KTM train platform to Singapore, 11pm (few seconds before train departure)
Eh, why are these people on our beds? Excuse me, may we see your ticket? Because I think this are our bunks....
Stranger: No, these are ours... See? *showing tickets*
I scanned through the ticket, everything was the same except for one thing, THE DATE. Ours showed 29th March 2011. That was a month ago. OMG. My heart pounded. This was our error. Mak screamed to Nani and me, "Get off the train NOW!!!'
We saw the platform attendant, rushed to him, begged him to let us on the train. But the train was full to the brim. Nani went into 'shut down' mode. Mak was almost crying. My heart was gone. It was the last train tonight. We wouldn't make it in time.
The attendant suggested we could take a bus from Bandar Tasik Selatan. But that is so far away! Mak remembered there was a coach bus we could take that was nearer, at the KL KTM station, but we have no way of knowing whether there would be any tickets left. We took a chance, took a cab to KTM KL.
12 midnight. NICE EXPRESS Bus Counter, Old Railway Station, KL.
"Bang, ade tiket tak ke Singapore?"
Nice Staff : Ada, bas bertolak pukul 12.30 nanti, untuk berapa orang ye?
With relief in our hearts we answered "3 orang".
Nice Staff: Oh sorry, kite ade tempat untuk 2 orang je.
Our hearts stopped again. Nani was still in 'shut down' mode, not saying a word. Mak was literally crying this time. Me? I seriously don't know. We begged again for them to let us on the bus, it was the last one, we would share the seats, it didn't matter, as long as we get to Singapore before the show starts, that was it. But they wouldn't let us, it was against regulations. The Nice staff who was very nice suggested we go to Bandar Tasik Selatan. He even contacted the station for us but they didn't pick up.
We rushed down to get a cab to Bandar Tasik Selatan. In the mad rush, my mom tripped on the stairs and fell at the exit door. She fell hard on her knee. Her bad knees. I was stunned. But Mak got up quickly, "Mak ok! I'm ok! Go!". Thank God.
While waiting for a cab, we all stood in silence. Each one of us thinking of the same thing.
Mak to Nani: Why don't just the 2 of you go? Mak baliklah... (hmm.. I wonder how she plans to do that?)
Nani ~ Mak ngan Kak Ina je la pegi. Nani dah tengok dah Lion King... ~ (thinks in her head, still in shut down mode)
Me to Nani: Maybe you and Mak should go, maybe I'm not supposed to go on this trip. (Maybe Izham wasn't really ikhlas in letting me go?)
Then a cab came, we took it. We might not make it in time. There might not be any tickets. But it was worth a try.
12.20 am Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS)
Like a scene from Amazing Race, Nani and I ran up the escalator leaving Mak behind, hoping to catch the 12.30 train. (I got semput half of the way). There was only one counter open. At the counter, some nice Malaysians who were buying tickets for future let us pass through. We got our tickets, the bus leaves at 1.30am. Newfound fact, at TBS, they have buses up to 3am.
Taking the lift to find the waiting area, Mak asked me, "What's the name of the bus company?".
I looked at the tickets "Starmart Express" I replied.
"Tak pernah dengar pun?," Mak said.
Suddenly the only other person in the lift turned around to my Mom and said, "Macam mana boleh tak penah dengar, kita ada lebih 60 buah bas dalam rangkaian kita..... " and he went on explaining about the company to my mom's shocked+amused face. Apparently the only other person with us in the lift works for StarMart, haha, ironic isn't it? But StarMart Express saved our lives and we are indebted to them.
We sat at the chairs, waiting, contemplating what we just went through. Alhamdulillah.
When faced with difficulties, remember Allah, be patient, try our best to find solutions, exhaust all resources then Tawakkal. If we were meant to go, then we will. If we have tried everything and yet still fail, then it just wasn't meant to be.
We boarded the bus at 2am, we're on our way to Singapore!
 |
| At the Terminal Bersepadu Selatan |
1 comment:
my heart kind of bumping, you had explained it well..such an adventurous experience...glad you made it...but the precious part was sharing those feeling with your sister and mom...how many time we were trapped in the situation and could understand each other reaction? Truly Amazing....amazing race:)
Post a Comment