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Siew Yen's solo venture
3:54 PM
Siew Yen's solo venture

Today I was supposed to go with my dad to the workshop so he could collect his car. I was happily assuming the workshop concerned was the one near his office, when he suddenly tells me, its at the Rothman's roundabout.

I'm like, "Damn, I don't know that area very well and I do not like roundabouts. Especially not at peak hours."

Anyway, the car wasn't ready so he went back to the office and I was supposed to drive home. The normal route which I'm familiar with was congested as the traffic lights were out and it was a real mess. Everyone was forcing their way through and it was an excellent recipe for an accident. So my dad told me to take a different route past Ikea and onto the LDP.

And this is where my solo venture begins...

Upon turning out of the Ikea area, I decided to play safe and keep right cause I didn't wanna end up being stuck on the flyover and have to take a longer route. Unfortunately, I ended up playing too safe and I coudn't cut into the left lane in time as there was a whole stream of cars and I definitely didn't want to stop in the middle of the road or cause an accident. So I was like, "Shit, I missed that stupid turning. Nevermind lah, I'll go up to the Toll Plaza and make a u-turn there."

So off I went, and after a while, I was wondering where the heck was the damn u-turn and how far up was it. I mean, I was there about 3 weeks ago, and the u-turn was still there, so it couldn't have disappeared, right? I recalled that the u-turn was on the right, so I kept to the extreme right. I also noticed that I was on a lane that was going up but I didn't think much about it because I was busy looking for the u-turn.


Then, it occurred to me, how come I don't seem to remember Kah Yang going on a flyover when he drove us to Sarah's house?
Just as I decided that I was on the wrong lane and wanted to switch lanes, I saw the divider coming up. Shit!! I instantly tried to switch lanes, but traffic was heavy and I had to stick to my lane.

I was hoping very badly that I didn't make a mistake. Sadly, I looked down a few minutes later and saw a whole stream of cars that looked like they came out from a u-turn.

Uh-oh...
I went *tootxxx*
Suffice to say there was a lot of curses and swears involved.
Because, I seriously had no idea where I was going.


I haven't been on the MRR2 Kepong, as far as I recall. I contemplated calling my dad and telling him, "Hey dad, I made 2 mistakes in a row and somehow ended up on the MRR2 Kepong and have no bloody idea how to get out of there!"

Haha.

I eventually decided against calling him because :
1. He couldn't have done anything except try to figure out where I am from my directions and try to direct me home.

2. My phone battery was really low. And if he got cut off and only heard the part about I am lost, he might get really worried.
3. I got myself into this mess, therefore its only fair that I get myself out of it. I thought it was going to be pretty simple cause there's bound to be a u-turn somewhere along.

So I decided to explore and find my way home alone.


I contemplated turning into Bandar Sri Damansara, but decided that it would only complicate things because I've never been in there before. I mean, logically if you were travelling in a straight line and now you want to return to your starting point, all you have to do is look for u-turn and drive in the opposite direction in a straight line. Or so I thought.

15 minutes later, I started to get a lil worried when I saw signs like 'Ampang', 'Ipoh', 'Seremban', 'Batu Caves' and no signs like 'LDP' or 'Petaling Jaya'. Decided to do the smart thing and stopped at a petrol station for directions. Good thing a guy there told me there was a roundabout coming up.


As I drove up to the roundabout, I went. "Oh, shit!"

It was those disorderly ones with loads of gigantic lorries and motorcycles with everyone trying to force their way through and nobody sticks to their own lane. I had to inch my way slowly and carefully because I didn't want to cause an accident. Not to mention, my mum would have killed me if her car had to go back to the workshop again within a space of 1 week.

I was overjoyed to see the Toll Plaza after 15 minutes.

After the Toll Plaza, I thought all I had to do was follow the road. Suddenly, I saw a "Petaling Jaya & Puchong" sign pop up. Before I had a chance to think for too long and miss another turn-off, I immediately turned left and prayed very hard that I didn't screw up. After all, I already missed 2 turn-offs so surely I can't be that "suey" to make the 3rd turn-off and find that its the wrong turn-off, right?

Before long, I saw the "Casino Royale" billboard and dear old 1 Utama and I knew that I didn't screw up. Coming back on the LDP was jam-packed, but for once, I was happy to be crawling along the LDP!

Managed to reach home safely without any incidents. Phew!

My mum asked what took me so long to get home and I told her the whole story. She ended up laughing at me.

As for my dad, he couldn't stop laughing for quite a bit.
Hmmph! And I was doing him a favour somemore.
And he commented that in the 1 hour I took to get home, he could have drove to Malacca.
He did mention that I could have turned-off along the expressway, but it would have been a little tricky to go through unfamiliar areas. He also said if you take the wrong road, just keep going straight if you're totally unfamiliar with the area because you're bound to reach a u-turn/roundabout/ somewhere and make sure there's enough petrol in the car.

The drive home cost 1/8 of my mum's petrol tank and RM2 from the SmartTag.

But I consider it a fair price when I realised that I learnt that I am actually capable of getting myself out of something that I got myself into without depending on others and that I brought myself and the car home safely.

Hopefully, this experience will help me not to panic if I ever get seriously lost next time.

Now that I've gotten lost and survived it, going through the Rothman roundabout's area doesn't seem that difficult anymore. I shall never ever forget how to go home from Ikea after today. Hehe.

Thinking back, some parts of the drive was actually quite fun as the MRR2 roads were clear and you could speed for a long stretch without parental nagging. ;)

Today, I truly realise why my dad is reluctant to part with my mum's car. Driving her car was a sheer delight. The way it picks-up when you accelerate and the tip-top instant braking was simply wonderful. But I must say, its not so much fun when you're the passenger. =p

Now that I think about it, I'm also a little surprised at who was the 2nd person I thought of calling for help and directions.

Resolution : I shall pay more attention to roads when I'm in the car so that I won't be so ignorant and end up getting lost.








Written on Thursday, November 09, 2006; 3:54 PM


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Siew Yen
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