Hanya Rasa

Non-fiction: The Train Story

Note: This piece is taken from my blog, written in 2007. ;)

Have you watched the TV3 Raya Advert that stars Adibah Noor? Try to catch it at TV3 tonight! It's just so hilarious. With minimal dialogue but full of expressions; you can surely feel the emotions. Man, I was laughing my head off. For me, it's brilliant.

The advert somehow reminded me of the days when I had to take 'Keretapi Mel' from JB to Triang when I was schooling in STF. This is Keretapi Mel I'm talking about, not express sinaran pagi or senandung malam which the KL girls would usually take then.

If you can't imagine it, it's like Kelas Tiga of the normal train. It's free seating (if you managed to find a seat) and the seats are worse than those we used to have in our super-famous KL Mini Buses. They have a small canteen on the train, which was always full. Off course lah, those people who couldn't get seat will have an 8-hour teh tarik session there. Even if there were available seats, believe me you won't have the heart to enjoy a decent meal there. The greasy tables alone were enough to turn my appetite off.

I'm not going to describe the toilets because they were grosser than 8 series of Fear Factor challenges combined. Imagine this, if I felt the need to pee after Gemas Station, I'd rather hold it until I reached home. That's about 2 hours train journey.

When it came to long holidays, especially festive seasons, we had to stand up throughout the journey. Mind you, my train journey usually took about 7 hours.The train usually departed from JB at 9 pm ++ and arrived at Triang at around 4.30 am. Yeah, I had to stand up while holding on to the seats or the slimy poles. If you're familiar with the Putra LRT during rush hours, that's how it was in Keretapi Mel.

If there were space, we would arrange our bags and sat on them. When it's really packed, we could only stand and sometimes we couldn't even turn our bodies because it was worse than sardine in a can. That was when I learned to master the sleep standing skill. So now, sleep sitting (usually in boring meetings) is like 'kacang putih' to me, lah. Hahaha. Squatting in the 'gerabak barang' was so normal and many considered that luckier than having to sit or stand by the doors. Thank god they're not bullet trains, otherwise today, most of us are history.

It sends shivers down my spine whenever I think of those Keretapi Mel days. I was only 13 then. When I imagine a 13 years old girl standing by the train door braving the cold night wind as the train chugged away - swaying her body, I couldn't believe that once upon a time that was me.

I haven't been on a Keretapi Mel since 1992. I hope there have been a lot of improvements.

These days, whenever it's time for Balik Kampung I'd feel really glad the journey would only take me about 2 – 3 hours depending on the traffic at Karak highway. Never mind the congestion at MRR2, Gombak or having to drive at 40km/h from Genting Sempah to Karak town, at least I know I'll have a proper seat in an air conditioned vehicle. Then, whenever nature calls, I can always stop at the R&R along the highway.

Adventurous teenage days really taught us to be thankful for what we have now, huh?

Side story

Pagi-pagi tadi ada sorang manager datang jumpa aku dengan penuh gabra.

'Dayang, you free tak around 10 o'clock today?'

Akupun gelenglah, cakap takde. Pastu dia mintak aku attend satu meeting regarding ada satu proposal yang kitorang baru revise.

'The meeting's in KL. The meeting is at Chase Manhattan.'

Aku terkedu gak masa tu, cuba nak ingat kat mana ada bangunan nama Chase Manhattan nih? Nama tu memangle familiar, seperti pernah aku dengar.... tapi di mana yea? Memang dekat nak pecah kepala jugaklah aku pikir kat mana lah Chase Manhattan ni. Bukan nama bank ke tu? Pastu, aku pikir pulak, customer aku ni Oil and Gas industry, apahal nak buat meeting kat bank nih?

Nasib baik aku telefon sorang Solution Architect yang handle proposal tu.

'Woi, dekat Chase Perdana lah.....' hahahaha. Nasib baik minah tu tengah good mood. Kalau tak sure dah masak dah aku kena kutuk pagi ni.

Iye, tuan-tuan dan puan-puan.... itulah aku punya occupational hazard. Selalu dapat wrong instruction yang menyebabkan aku selalu ter pergi ke tempat yang salah.