on the road (again)

1.5 days, and I’m heading back to the frontline. Well, at least the short break was rejuvenating, especially being pampered with all the mouth-watering food back in my hometown. There’s so much to eat but only so little time, too bad I’ll have to make a choice. This sounds like the problem of scarcity in economics, a situation that arises when there is unlimited wants matched with limited resources (time!).

My 1.5day makan adventure started with supper which included buttered crab and prawn cooked with salted egg; something to die for! It was simply a perfect ‘appetizer’ to start the adventure. Lunch, which was ten hours later was at one of my all-time favourite chicken rice stall in pandan indah. I started patronising that stall eversince primary 3 when I was studying mental arithmetic nearby and I’ve been a loyal fan eversince then. Highlight of the menu: Japanese buffer dinner at Eyuzu, Eastin Hotel. It was a splendid dinner with high-quality seafood and freshly cooked portions of anything that you can categorise as japanese cuisine. They even served my favorite ‘wakame’, or pickled japanese seaweed. The oysters were also the freshest ever that I’ve tasted! There was also a piano that is being played by some electronic device – it is quite amazing to see those piano keys sinking in and out as though a pianist is playing it but actually there’s none! ‘dessert’ was Ampang Yong Tao Foo for brunch today. Although some of the menu and staff has changed, surpisingly the food tastes just as good.

Well, yummy/happy things aside. I’m really glad to see my parents and also my grandma again. She had a fall recently but is recoveing very fast…my grandma is such a strong woman!

This trip really helped me keep abreast with the local scene and also jolt me back to the reality of things in Malaysia. It pains me slightly to see those worn down street lamps whenever i crossover into johor from singapore. we boast to have the MSC and whatnot, but there is still a distinct gap of standard of living between the social classes. what's the point? on one hand, these small little 'imperfections' do remind me of home, the visual imagery of my country, but i also wonder why are public goods always subject to poor maintenance? it seems like it's just a one-off investment, sounds good at first, but wait few years down the road such things become an eye-sore.
there is still so much room for my country to mature, especially in the way we think. there are still weakpoints in our inter-racial relations that can be easily targeted by any potential extremist groups. for a long time, i feel that only a handful are living in acceptance of one another for who they are, but a great likelihood that many are merely tolerating each other. it's fine if whatever that needs tolerating is within our patience level but then, what happens beyond that? i sincerely hope my people can learn to be less selfish of their personal needs. my understanding leads me to believe that one necessarily needs to act selfish only if the other party is behaving the same way, for this is how we ensure our cheese stays and not get snatched away.
these may sound like it will take lightyears to come true but hey... dream like an idealist, live like a realist.

my return journey to the battleground today was a tiring one indeed. first, i almost missed my bus, so i had to dash from some 200m away from the bus terminal with my luggage. bus ride was ok, stopped at a new stopover in yong peng, but then there is the causeway jam which consumed extra travelling time. i got questioned by customs ( again! i should enroll with the dealers because i probably have the looks for the job) and was required to unveil my loot from home. the officer really did a thorough check this time, to the extent to make sure that there's no heroin in my Brand's Chicken essence bottles(hey, that's a new idea!). it was a new box, sealed/unopened..but he did the opening ceremonies for me. so much for saving it for myself. i find it sad though that he couldn't recognise what a laptop power cable was, and i was partially boiling because he ruined my keropok! ahhh.. but they're just doing their jobs well, it's better than not checking. you just have to put yourselves in their shoes to understand their job.
after that long arduous bus-ride, i thought i would be on my way back to hostel once i board the 170 bus. to my surprise, the ride terminated at kranji mrt! i felt so misled! uggh.. automatic brain response was to take the mrt to clementi followed by a bus 156 back to hostel. and there was also the strecth of road along namly to walk before reaching some form of temporary comfort.

time to call it a day and count some sheep.