The day the cars stood still

Was there something special I missed about today?

It seemed like everyone else in Kota Kinabalu knew about it except me and my wife. What am I talking about? I'm talking about the JAM! It was ridiculous! It seemed like every household in KK decided to go to town today and so, jammed the whole city up. I wanted to go to the post office to pick up a package (which was delivered when I wasn't home, btw. Why do they always come when no one's at home?), but all my running to the post office from my parked car (it was almost five) was in vain. Upon reaching the counter, the lady said that that section was closed already. Apparently, they close at 4.30 pm (why?). The worst thing was, she also said that I could only collect my package on Monday. Aarrrrgh!

After that fiasco, we headed to Wawasan Plaza because my wife wanted to go to Parkson to exchange her member points for some items. So, we were approaching the place, and we faced a jam into the entry of the complex. Knowing another entry point, I drove round and was enjoying a smoother ride until I faced another standstill. And we stayed in the queue for half an hour, just to get to the parking. Aarrgghh!

So, when we finally got to the parking, we went to Parkson. Wife got her items, and we decided to go to Giant (yes, that same leading low-price leader I talked about before) to get some diapers for Adelle since it was on offer. So, wife took one pack and we proceeded to the counter. And the cashier scanned it, and the price was not the one on offer. Wife told her about the offer price we saw in the newspaper advert (the offer price was RM39.99, usual was RM51.99), but she didn't seem to know anything about it. So, without saying another word she left her counter, and went somewhere (to see her superior, we hoped).

And so, we waited. And waited some more. It was a good 15 minutes I think by the time she came back, and she told us that the offer was for a different range of the same brand. But we insisted that it wasn't. Anyway, wife mumbled about cutting out the advertisement to show her the next time and that ended our rather unpleasant affair at that place again (I never learn, do I?). Right after that, we left, got into the car...

and faced another jam!

AAAAAARRRGGHHHH!

Foul-mood-inducing outing today. Sheesh!

Something happened on the way to work...

Is there something about today? This morning on the way to work, I almost met with an accident. The traffic light was green, and I was happily driving along in my lane going towards the traffic light when all of a sudden, this grey Proton Saga attempted to cut into my lane. The driver had the courtesy to turn on her (yes, the driver was a woman) blinker but she might as well didn't do it as it only started blinking for like for 2 seconds before she made the maneuver to come into my lane. It wouldn't have been a big deal if I was some distance behind her, but she did this stunt when I was just there beside her!

I know, I know. I'm probably being harsh. she probably didn't see me in her side view mirror because of I was probably in her blind spot. And she probably got the shock of her life as well when I blared my car horn for all it's worth when she started her move. But, that's just it, isn't it? Failing to check properly if the roads are really clear before you change lanes can be hazardous - to yourself and other people. Not only that, how are you side view mirrors positioned? Do you see the sides of your car?

I read some years ago how that is the wrong way to position your side view mirrors. You can google how your side view mirrors should be adjusted for a more detailed description but here's the gist of it: your side view mirrors shouldn't duplicate what your rear view mirror shows you. They should show you what's on the lanes on either side of you. So, if you haven't done it already, push your side view mirrors out so that you can see the next lane. While this does not completely clear all the blindspots while you're driving, it gives a much greater coverage of what you'll be able to see around you without having to turn your head. Of course, the other way is to buy those small rounded mirrors and stick them to your side view mirror. But I find them quite distracting, so I don't use them.

That's my story of my near-miss. But at work, I got news of a colleague of mine who was not so lucky. He was riding his motorbike on the way work, and he met with an accident. I'm not too sure about the exact details of how the accident happened, but apparently whoever hit him didn't stop to help him and send him to the hospital (sad thing to hear isn't it? Aren't Malaysians supposed to be warm and friendly? Helpful even?). It took another person to help and send him to Queen Elizabeth Hospital (that's our main hospital here in Kota Kinabalu). And from what I hear, my colleagues hurt pretty badly. One of his legs is broken in three places (ouch!). He's got other injuries as well, I'm sure.

So, there was just something about today...but, whatever it is. Be safe on the road people. Drive responsibly and carefully!

Here we go again...

Decided to settle our credit card bills today, thinking we’d beat the rush of people when payday comes. But, we ran into another kind of rush today. The rush for petrol…again! In case you haven’t heard, word is that all petrol stations will go on strike for 3 days starting tomorrow. The reason? From what I gathered, it is because the government refuses to allow the owners of petrol kiosks to push the 4% credit charges to customers. Too bad I didn’t bring along my camera to get some pic of the whole affair.

So, there we were as a family, thinking what a breeze it’d be doing our errands when we saw a long, a very long queue right as we coming out of the access road from our taman. It was 5 pm then, and it was too late for Tshung Tsin to have finished school, and too early afternoon session schools to have finished. So we took the Tuaran road to head to KK. And we saw another queue! This time from Kian Kok right up till Sunny Garden! Luckily that was in the opposite direction towards Tuaran.

So that got us wondering….what’s the cause? My wife’s car is the family car, and she was almost running on empty. The light was blinking incessantly, a reminder that we needed to pump petrol soon, very soon. There was an Esso station at Sunny Garden, but it was closed for some kind of renovation or repairs. So, we decided to just head on to KK as there was also an Esso station near where we were heading, the one near Maybank. Along the way, we saw Jalan Kolam also backlogged with cars…

It was pretty smooth sailing apart from the usual traffic snarl at that time. But upon hitting Jalan Pantai, there was another jam. And it was long! So we took the back way of the shophouses right up till Maybank, and then we stopped dead in our tracks. It was a gridlock. No one was moving. The cause: the queue at the Esso station, our destination. My face fell. The light never stopped blinking. Fen ran out to find out what was going on and that’s how we knew about the supposed strike.

Rather than keep the engine running and run the risk of running out of petrol, we somehow managed to manoeuvre and go the other way to find a parking. We found one soon enough, parked and walked to the three banks to pay our bills. Stopped by Tong Hing and Home and Garden as well. And when we walked back to the car to put some things in, we saw a car we had seen earlier in the queue in the exact position before. It hadn’t moved! And easily 30 minutes had passed by then.

So, rather than being stuck in the jam, we decided to walk around for a bit. Went for dinner, walked around Wisma Merdeka and then walked back to the car. Jam was still there for that Esso station. But driving home wasn’t a problem. Jalan Kolam was already clear, and so we figured we’d just go ahead and pump. We waited in line for about 15 minutes, pumped to the max and drove home. At that time, two pumps were already out of petrol.

While filling up the car, I asked the attendant whether the news was true. He confirmed my suspicions. There were only rumours. His boss told him that they’d be open for tomorrow; there were no plans for a strike.

I don’t understand why people would spread hearsay without first confirming it with a reliable source. I suspect the cause for today’s mess was spread through sms. And this will not be the first time such a thing has happened, nor will it be the last, I think. SMS is a good thing, but responsible use of it is better.

Oh well…

And did you know that a full tank for a Proton Iswara 1.3 now costs RM112? Yikes! That’s RM50 more than previously. Ouch!

Read here and here for other bloggers' view on the event.

p.s. Is it just me, or am I facing a jam of some kind as well with blogspot. My pages seem to load very slowly…