The Journey

A couple of weeks ago, we decided to drive to KL to send my brother-in-law off to a private college in PJ. We reached KL safely but as we were travelling from PJ to the college’s hostel in Puchong, the car experienced problems with the air-conditioning. First it was the aircond fan but just after we got that fixed, the compressor minute suddenly berjangkit and had to be fixed as well.

So as I was waiting for the mechanic to work his magic, I was suddenly reminded of a similar experience I had a few years ago… it was Merdeka Day of 2007 and one day before my engagement to Wahida. I decided to drive back to Terengganu with Zul and Huzaimi, in my sister’s car. We left KL at about 6.00 a.m. and everything was fine – I was driving, Huzaimi was sleeping and Zul, who had to prepare a submission the following week, was busy going through cases.

As we passed the Kuantan exit signboard, the car suddenly couldn’t accelerate. I stopped by the side of the road and switch off the engine. My first guess was that there must be something wrong with the batteries – but Huzaimi thought it was unlikely as there was no difficulty starting the engine again – the problem was that the car just wouldn’t move, not forward or in reverse.

Confidently, I called Sahabat EON to have the car towed to the nearest workshop – alas the operator informed me that my Sahabat EON membership had expired a few months before. Then we remembered seeing a highway phone a few hundred metres away and decided to call for the highway’s tow-truck. While waiting for the tow-truck, I was thinking of whether I should inform Wahida about the situation but decided not to so as not to worry her – it was after all, a day before our engagement.

It was almost 11.00 am at the time, it was getting hot and the R & R was too far for us to walk to – so we decided to sit inside a dry longkang, which offered us some shades from the scorching sun. Huzaimi, who probably noticed that I was feeling guilty that I had to drag him into the situation, jokingly said, “Tak apa Hazri, bila lagi kita nak ada pengalaman duduk dalam longkang tepi highway…?” – a joke which meant more than just a joke to me.

As we were waiting for the tow-truck, which has yet to arrive after an hour of waiting, a Proton Satria suddenly stopped in front of our car and the driver, a big-sized Indian guy asked whether we needed help with the car. Seeing that we were in the middle of a deserted highway (there was not a lot of cars around at the time), we were very skeptical and told him that we were waiting for the highway’s tow-truck instead, all the while praying that the guy is not some crazy highway mass murderer. After a few awkward minutes of silence, the tow-truck arrived and the Indian guy drove off.

As the tow-truck guy lifted the car, we asked him about the Indian guy. Apparently, the Indian guy also tows cars that break down on highways. We were also told that the guy works on commission for a particular workshop in Kuantan.

As we thought that our problem has finally ended, the tow-truck guy delivered yet another bad news – he could only tow us to the nearest R & R and we had to make our own arrangements for the car to be sent to a workshop. And to make things worse, that day was a public holiday and most workshops were closed for the holidays.

When we reached the Kuantan R & R, we noticed that the Indian guy was waiting for us and this time, he brought a friend driving another car with him. So after much deliberation, we had no choice but to take the risk with the Indian guy – even though there’s always the possibility of the guy would take away our car and leave us in the middle of the highway. As the Indian guy fixed some kind of towing metal between the cars, the guy asked Zul and I to get in his car and Huzaimi got into the other car. As terrified as we were to be separated, we obliged as we were too tired to argue – too tired that we all dozed off in a stranger's car.

We woke up as we reached a workshop in Gebeng – probably the only one opened that day. As the mechanic examined our car, he told us that the gearbox needed to be replaced but because of the holidays, he was unsure of whether he can get a new gearbox. So he lent us his car, asked us to have lunch (we were starving at the time as we skipped breakfast) and would call us when he gets confirmation about the spare part.

As we were having lunch at a nearby eatery, the mechanic called informing us that there is a recon gearbox available but the bad news is that it would cost about RM1,000.00.. cash. I had only half the amount in my bank account at the time (as most of my salary was already spent on the engagement's hantaran). Luckily, Zul who initially planned to deposit his rent in a bank in Terengganu, had a couple hundred Ringgit with him. So with the money borrowed from Zul and Huzaimi coupled with my own money, we had enough money to pay for the repairs.

Since installing a new gearbox is no easy task, we had to wait for quite some time. As there was not much to do at the workshop, we just hanged around, talking and drinking bottles after bottles of drinks bought at the minimart next to the workshop. Then Huzaimi saw something that would pass the time – he saw a guy getting ready to open his burger stall. Huzaimi (being Huzaimi) went up to the burger guy and ask him whether he can make his own burger – the guy, obviously stunned by the request, allowed all three of us to make our own burgers. Then Huzaimi reiterated his earlier point, “Tengok Hazri, kalau benda ni tak berlaku, mana kita ada peluang untuk buat burger sendiri di Gebeng”.

While enjoying our own-cooked burgers, I received a call from my sister who was feeling guilty because insisted us on driving back with her car. Learning from the optimistic attitudes from Huzaimi and Zul, I told my sister, “Takpe, baik benda ni berlaku kat kita daripada berlaku kat Kakliana masa bawak Eirfan” (my sister drives the car to work every morning with my then 1 year-old nephew). And as I was on the phone with my sister, Huzaimi called Fiji, who was at the time recently being posted in the Kuala Terengganu’s FRU.

After a few hours of waiting, our car was ready to go and as we were to continue our journey, Fiji surprised us - he was worried about us and decided to make a 2-hours journey, just to make sure that we were alright. So after paying the mechanic and thanking him for all his help, we proceeded to Kuala Terengganu – with Zul and I in one car and Huzaimi and Fiji in another.

We finally reached Kuala Terengganu around 9.00 pm that day. As I finally drove into my house’s driveway, I felt a deep appreciation towards my two friends whom I could always depend on whenever things get a little rough. The day also made me realize that regardless of what I had to endure for the past 13 hours that day, I was too excited about getting engaged to Wahida the following day, that I ‘forgot’ about all the exhaustion and stress.

I guess it’s true what they say… It’s not the destination that counts; it’s actually all about the journey…