Since hubbs had to be in JB for work assignments last thursday..i told him to take my bam bam n his guardian along..coz i had a meeting friday morning, that i can't skip..we were planning to go back to JB even before hubbs mentioned he had work there...it was my cuzzies wedding..so perfect timing..paid trip..business plus pleasure..
nevertheless...because hubbs confirm quite late the flight price was on the unreasonable side..plus if i took Air asia i had to stay another nite..n someone had to send me to LCCT, if i took Firefly..flight was at 5.15pm..n i anticipated the meeting shud b adjourned before 12pm..plus the price quoted was quite ridiculous..MAS..oso the same problem ..expensive..have to go to KLIA....
thinking about it..traveling by plane to JB time wise is equivalent to time spent going there by bus..n its cheaper..(if its adhoc) well basically u have to get ur butt to the airport 45 mins before check in..going to the likes of KLIA n LCCT will take like another 30 to 45 mins..thats like 2 hrs gone easily...not to mention the cost of petrol n toll return for the person sending u..then from Senai..u have to get someone to fetch u...or u hail a cab which will cost u another RM30 plus it takes like 30 -45minutes to get to JB from Senai..n u have to incorporate the basic time spent waiting to unboard the plane..walking to get ur bags..that's another 20-30 minutes......KL-JB non stop bus 4 hrs tops...
But anyway...i guess u guys know i opted to go back by bus..its been years since i got on an express coach to JB..can't even remember my last time..i think 2006 or was it 2005...the price of the ticket had also increased within time..its now like RM31 one way... i reached PUDURAYA by 12.20pm..i looked around for buses that were to depart ASAP..(inside i couldn't wait to be reunited with my bam bam) i rang my brother before hand..asking which buses were non stop ones...so at the ticket counter..this guy came up and said.."JB 12.30pm"..i was like ye ke...
he guided me to the counter..which wasn't very far..i did asked..was the bus there..n the lady at the counter smiled n said yes..its at platform 20..she gave me the plate number n off i scooted..in fear that i wud be late..TRANS STAR waS the express bus name...i did asked the lady ..is this a non stop bus...she informed me it was..4 hrs to JB..
At the platform i texted hubbs n my parents saying that insyallah by 430pm id be in JB..I think i only got to board the bus at aorund 1240pm...long story short..did u guys know wat time the bus left PUDURAYA...2.20pm..i was turning blue n green..turns out that they wanted atleast 20 passengers for that trip..just to cover thier trip...i don't usually tell people off in thier face..but i couldn't stand it anymore..the guy who ushered me to his counter was on the bus..i just told him off..in front off everyone on the bus..(i didn't know where i had the courage..) but hey seriously he was a big fat liar... i can be reasonable if its just half an hour n if outside of PUDURAYA was congested..but no it wsn't..he was like..erm..ok...ok..we're gonna depart now...
N so we did...thank god!!!!..i was stupid..i shud have just got off the bus n requested a refund..silly me..so the journey started..we stopped at ESSO before Sg Besi Toll plaza for gas..the driver said
"sapa mau pegi toilet...sekarang ye..lepas ni takda stop-stop lagi..."(the driver was Chinese)
i thot alhamdulillah...i can reach JB by 6pm....but hell was i wrong...
Dahlah the bus bawak cam siput...I couldn't sleep althou i only had 4 hrs sleep the nite before...n suddenly the bus stopped again at Tangkak R&R area..for another toilet rendezvous...my heart was churning...the stop was like for 15 minutes....the we resumed our journey..just as i was talking to my bro on the phone..n he asked..
"is the bus going to stop again??..to which i replied i don't think so..
The bus made an exit to YOng Peng....i could not explain my how furious i was ...my heart almost stopped..WTF????? i thot this was supposed to be a non stop bus..at Yong Peng stop for like 25minutes..n upon everyone boarding back the bus..i overheard this makcik telling the driver she wanted to stop at KULAI.....I swore i could have killed both the driver n makcik at that time....I was screaming inside...
My brother was laughing in fits...told me off....like
" i told u..y lah u must take unreliable bus..u don't want transnasional coz it stops for half an hour..but now ur losing hours n hours...!!!"
But i had my own laugh..upon Kulai exit...the bus stopped..but we didn't enter Kulai..the bus stopped at the emergency lane besides the ext lane to Kulai toll..the driver said
Driver: "ok makcik Kulai.."I basically reached UDA at 6.45 pm my brothers rescued me there..coz i was having fits being angry..we drove strait to my Inlaws to be reunited back with bam..bam...
Makcik: "hah..berenti sini je?? igtkan masuk..."
Driver: "oo tak masuk..tak masuk..sini je..makcik jalan sikit (which looked to me like 500 metres) ..sampai toll Kulai"
Makcik:"%&^%(*6986)*)
Me: nak gelak pon ada..kesian pon ada..makcik tu taklah tua sgt still fit an all...but kesian gak lah..
My mum also called me during my BUS EXPEDITION..i was cursing like mad..she in between laughter told me to be patient...sekali skala je naik bus..dugaan lah..bla..bla..bla..lah..but she had me at one point..
"u just get one the taste of others hardship.. u complain like mad...(i even vowed not to take the bus anymore..next time flight all the way..) u get soo worked up because u have a choice..other people go thru it everytime.. however bad their experiences are.. its their only choice..if u didn't have a choice..u wud just go with the flow n not whine n complain..."
Which made me think...life's like that..we complain because we have choices..but if that was my only means of transportation..would i get so worked up?? sure i was late by almost 2hrs plus but i arrived safely..n i get to be reunited with bam..bam...(at that point of time..communications with hubbs had been put off..bcause he was soo caught up with work..n i was soooo into furious fits..= not a good time to b having a decent conversation..he joined us after work n i had cooled off from the incident...
Moral of the story: if u take the bus..buy form a reliable bus company..n stop complaining..others face these kinds of hardship everyday...
