That expresses what I am feeling now. After the Raya trip, the Kuantan trip and the Shah Alam/Klang trip last weekend ... I am so tired. It's just a gap of two weeks each. I have been travelling every alternate weekend for the past 6 weeks. It is not good for my back and I hate to depend on my pain killers for some relief.
Tha past weekend, we decided to take the bus. I could hardly recall the last time I took the express bus to anywhere. Every time we drove, we would be so sleepy and so tired that a five hour journey would take six hours or more due to more pit stops. So, to go down that weekend for the function of aqiqah/pergi haji of his cousins ... we discussed public transportation. Firstly, we discussed the ETS or the electric train. It takes only four and a half hours from Alor Setar to KL Sentral. When I checked out the schedule, it was not convenient. There were only four trips to KL Sentral and the last trip was at 8:34pm and would arrive KL Sentral at 1:05pm. It was not convenient as we had to take the komuter to Shah Alam. We did not expect to trouble his sister to come to KL Sentral just to pick us up at that hour. The second last trip was at 5:35pm and arriving at KL Sentral at 11:05pm. The last train to Shah Alam would be at 11:00pm. Thus, that suggestion was put aside.
Next suggestion was to take the flight. There was Firefly and Malindo Air which would land at Subang Airport. Same scenario. The problem was the schedule. My partner could only leave after 10:00pm. There was no flight after that hour. KLIA was too far to trouble others to pick us up. Hence, we finally decided to take the 11:15pm bus which would take us directly to Shah Alam.
There was no problem getting tickets for that Friday night. We had a pleasant and smooth trip. The bus was comfortable and I opted to buy single seats instead of double. Thus, we sat in front of each other with space and privacy. I could not sleep well as I could not sleep in a moving vehicle whether it was a car or whatever. That was the problem why I always ended up tired upon arrival. Anyway, it was quite near his sister to pick us up at Seksyen 13, Shah Alam at 5:15am. The bus was going very fast that I could only pray that no untoward incident would occur. Just last month there was another accident neat the Menora tunnel.
Our return ticket was another story. North-bound tickets were sold out for that Sunday night. His sister managed to get tickets for us on a Hat Yai bound bus. Well, anything is better than nothing as my partner had to work on Monday. The Shah Alam temporary bus station was very disappointing for such a renowned place. It was unkempt, dirty, miserably small to handle such a large crowd of passengers. The toilets were reasonably acceptable as it charged thirty sen per entrance. As it only had two cubicles, I wondered how it coped with peak hour passengers. When I went to buy some drinks at the only makeshift convenience store there, the staff told me (as usual I asked) they had been there for almost two and a half years. The authorities said it would only be for a year but till now, there were no news when the renovation and extension at the old bus terminal would be ready. The least the authorities could do was to make the place more acceptable and clean. I hoped the respective authorities would make this place more conducive and comfortable like other bus terminals as some passengers came much earlier due to distance and had to spend hours here.
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| There were limited number of seats and some of them were broken and stained. The floor was littered with rubbish which partly was the passengers' irresponsible attitude. |
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| There were only four such tables and all were fully littered with rubbish. I collected all the rubbish from on the tables and wiped it clean with tissue to be able to put our bags and sat while waiting for our bus. |
Although it was convenient in a sense that if we were to drive, we would be so tired and sleepy due to our tight schedule that weekend. But the drivers were very fast and I supposed they were just adhering to their own tight schedule too. I guessed experience too made them confident drivers. Besides, they had faith in their buses. All in all, a nostalgic experience but one I do not think I will repeat in the near future .... unless I really have to. Since both of us are light travellers - we always take just a back pack - and we always see the positive side of things, thus, it was easier even though my partner knows what kind of person I am. Well, adapt and adopt and make the best of the situation. Alhamdulillah .. for we learn to appreciate and be grateful.
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