Merry Christmas!
Merry Xmas and Happy Holidays, everyone!
It was a good Xmas break but it was still 4 days too short. Too little time to do so many things. I left Sg on Friday night but not before some apprehension and stress. What happened was that I had decided to drive back to KL from JB. My relatives in JB kindly agreed to loan me their car to drive to KL. It was just a matter of me taking the shuttle bus from Sg into JB, getting my cousin (who also has kindly agreed) to pick me up; drive to her parents' (my mom's sister and her husband) home so that she can drop herself off, and then I can go on my own merry way back to KL. There was some apprehension and stress on my part was because I didn't think I would make it back to JB on time. My cousin had mentioned that she will wait for me at a certain spot in JB, (which is only a very short walk from the JB immigration) at 730pm. I had it in my mind that the timing would be such- arrive at JB by 730pm, then dinner by 815pm, before leaving JB around 930pm. Guess where I was at 730pm? Still in Sg!!! I left office a tad late, but I also realised that I forgot to take something from the apartment, something that I have kept so well hidden that it simply did not cross my mind to pack it into my luggage because I simply did not see it. It was Mrs Rabbit's Christmas present.
Went back to the apartment, took the present, stuffed it in my bag and waited for the shuttle bus at the bus stand situated directly across the apartment. I waited since 715pm, and at 745pm, the bus was still nowhere to be seen. And I started to feel spits of water hitting my face and forehead. Bad sign, I thought to myself, because I knew then that it would rain. Within seconds, I made my mind up to hail a taxi, and (obviously) pay for the taxi fare to take me to the Woodlands checkpoint because I was already so late. What is all the more apparent about life in Sg is the "time or money" aspect. If you want to spend less time, you need to pay more money. I calculated that even if the bus arrived at 745pm (which it hadn't, anyway), the bus driver would have had to follow his set route, pick up more passengers along the way at the various stops, which would have made me even later than I already was.
So, taxi then. No sooner than 3 minutes into the taxi ride, it began to really pour. Coupled with the fact that the taxi driver told me that Rochor Road (the bus terminal from which the particular shuttle bus begins its journey) was chock-a-block jammed up (hence their non-appearance) I was all the more convinced that I made the right decision.
Despite the rain, it took me less than 20 minutes to arrive at the Woodlands checkpoint. Past immigration and onto the bus into JB, the entire process took about 15 minutes. I managed to arrive in JB by 820pm, which was an amazing feat when you consider I was still waiting for the bus just an hour earlier, and I only began my "journey" to JB at 745pm.
I had dinner with my aunt, uncles, cousins and my parents. My parents happened to be in JB visiting, so it was one (not so big) happy family dinner. I took my leave at 10pm, and drove back to KL. I didn’t shotgun it back to KL, honestly- but I arrived in KL in about 3 hours flat. I kept to the speed limit all the way, but the roads were just so clear and I did not stop at all. I spent the night in my in-law's.
Saturday was spent with Mrs Rabbit. Headed to Uptown for tea and to do my banking, then Taman Megah to get my bicycle shorts, and then Bangsar for a foot reflex/massage spot. We then went to Lake Gardens, and jogged/walked through the usual Carcosa/Planetarium/MGS route. Caught up with an old friend from the legal fraternity later that night. Stayed up till 3am.
Sunday- church in the morning, followed by breakfast. Later, headed to Lake Gardens again, same route with Mrs Rabbit. Dinner with in-laws. Watched the Everton vs Man U game. It was a tense moment when Cristiano Ronaldo stood at the penalty spot. The score was 1-1 at that point (towards the end of the match) and Everton were playing very well and holding their own, but a goal to put Man U 2-1 up would probably have knocked the stuffing out of Everton's brave performance. It needed a cool, calm head to score the penalty. Even Sir Alex Ferguson was tense at that point. And to his credit, Cristiano Ronaldo despatched it with insouciant aplomb. It looked so casual, you'd think he was just doing practice penalties at the training ground.
Monday- Lake Gardens again, Carcosa route. Then lunch at the poolside of Lake Club. Every Monday, Indian food (buffet style) is served. Good stuff! Thereafter I had to rush back to Subang for an urgent legal matter- that took almost 3 hours, before visiting a good friend who stays in Ceylon Hill. Spent almost 4 hours there. My mistake, because I had a Xmas dinner at home to attend- it was a small do which my parents had organised, and they have invited some of my relatives and friends. My mistake was staying there longer than I should have, because it was raining at that point and traffic out of KL was horrendous. I spent almost 1.5 hours getting out of KL. I picked up Mrs Rabbit (who had another party to attend in Bandar Utama) and headed back to Subang, arriving close to 9pm. There were a few comments made about my physique, how I've put on weight and look good. As an endurance athlete, more specifically a runner, you know that you're not in shape when people tell you that…
On Christmas Day (12am), we exchanged hugs, kisses and gifts.
Tuesday- Christmas Day. Christmas Day mass at church. Met up with Der Dr for brunch at Taipan. Haven't seen him in 6 months! He passed me a DVD which I will watch in due time. Later, I picked up Mrs Rabbit and we headed back to Subang for some food before driving back to JB at around 615pm, repeating the process in the opposite. From JB, I picked up my cousin who drove me near the JB immigration. Once past the JB immigration, I boarded the shuttle bus into Sg. I was back home by 12am-ish.
Today- back in the office. Friday I'll be doing the same thing all over again. Hope to be back in KL by 1am Saturday. In the meantime, I will have some time to burn off the food I've gorged myself with over the festive period. I can't wait to test my new biking shorts! Already put in a 35 min lunch time run.
It was a good Xmas break but it was still 4 days too short. Too little time to do so many things. I left Sg on Friday night but not before some apprehension and stress. What happened was that I had decided to drive back to KL from JB. My relatives in JB kindly agreed to loan me their car to drive to KL. It was just a matter of me taking the shuttle bus from Sg into JB, getting my cousin (who also has kindly agreed) to pick me up; drive to her parents' (my mom's sister and her husband) home so that she can drop herself off, and then I can go on my own merry way back to KL. There was some apprehension and stress on my part was because I didn't think I would make it back to JB on time. My cousin had mentioned that she will wait for me at a certain spot in JB, (which is only a very short walk from the JB immigration) at 730pm. I had it in my mind that the timing would be such- arrive at JB by 730pm, then dinner by 815pm, before leaving JB around 930pm. Guess where I was at 730pm? Still in Sg!!! I left office a tad late, but I also realised that I forgot to take something from the apartment, something that I have kept so well hidden that it simply did not cross my mind to pack it into my luggage because I simply did not see it. It was Mrs Rabbit's Christmas present.
Went back to the apartment, took the present, stuffed it in my bag and waited for the shuttle bus at the bus stand situated directly across the apartment. I waited since 715pm, and at 745pm, the bus was still nowhere to be seen. And I started to feel spits of water hitting my face and forehead. Bad sign, I thought to myself, because I knew then that it would rain. Within seconds, I made my mind up to hail a taxi, and (obviously) pay for the taxi fare to take me to the Woodlands checkpoint because I was already so late. What is all the more apparent about life in Sg is the "time or money" aspect. If you want to spend less time, you need to pay more money. I calculated that even if the bus arrived at 745pm (which it hadn't, anyway), the bus driver would have had to follow his set route, pick up more passengers along the way at the various stops, which would have made me even later than I already was.
So, taxi then. No sooner than 3 minutes into the taxi ride, it began to really pour. Coupled with the fact that the taxi driver told me that Rochor Road (the bus terminal from which the particular shuttle bus begins its journey) was chock-a-block jammed up (hence their non-appearance) I was all the more convinced that I made the right decision.
Despite the rain, it took me less than 20 minutes to arrive at the Woodlands checkpoint. Past immigration and onto the bus into JB, the entire process took about 15 minutes. I managed to arrive in JB by 820pm, which was an amazing feat when you consider I was still waiting for the bus just an hour earlier, and I only began my "journey" to JB at 745pm.
I had dinner with my aunt, uncles, cousins and my parents. My parents happened to be in JB visiting, so it was one (not so big) happy family dinner. I took my leave at 10pm, and drove back to KL. I didn’t shotgun it back to KL, honestly- but I arrived in KL in about 3 hours flat. I kept to the speed limit all the way, but the roads were just so clear and I did not stop at all. I spent the night in my in-law's.
Saturday was spent with Mrs Rabbit. Headed to Uptown for tea and to do my banking, then Taman Megah to get my bicycle shorts, and then Bangsar for a foot reflex/massage spot. We then went to Lake Gardens, and jogged/walked through the usual Carcosa/Planetarium/MGS route. Caught up with an old friend from the legal fraternity later that night. Stayed up till 3am.
Sunday- church in the morning, followed by breakfast. Later, headed to Lake Gardens again, same route with Mrs Rabbit. Dinner with in-laws. Watched the Everton vs Man U game. It was a tense moment when Cristiano Ronaldo stood at the penalty spot. The score was 1-1 at that point (towards the end of the match) and Everton were playing very well and holding their own, but a goal to put Man U 2-1 up would probably have knocked the stuffing out of Everton's brave performance. It needed a cool, calm head to score the penalty. Even Sir Alex Ferguson was tense at that point. And to his credit, Cristiano Ronaldo despatched it with insouciant aplomb. It looked so casual, you'd think he was just doing practice penalties at the training ground.
Monday- Lake Gardens again, Carcosa route. Then lunch at the poolside of Lake Club. Every Monday, Indian food (buffet style) is served. Good stuff! Thereafter I had to rush back to Subang for an urgent legal matter- that took almost 3 hours, before visiting a good friend who stays in Ceylon Hill. Spent almost 4 hours there. My mistake, because I had a Xmas dinner at home to attend- it was a small do which my parents had organised, and they have invited some of my relatives and friends. My mistake was staying there longer than I should have, because it was raining at that point and traffic out of KL was horrendous. I spent almost 1.5 hours getting out of KL. I picked up Mrs Rabbit (who had another party to attend in Bandar Utama) and headed back to Subang, arriving close to 9pm. There were a few comments made about my physique, how I've put on weight and look good. As an endurance athlete, more specifically a runner, you know that you're not in shape when people tell you that…
On Christmas Day (12am), we exchanged hugs, kisses and gifts.
Tuesday- Christmas Day. Christmas Day mass at church. Met up with Der Dr for brunch at Taipan. Haven't seen him in 6 months! He passed me a DVD which I will watch in due time. Later, I picked up Mrs Rabbit and we headed back to Subang for some food before driving back to JB at around 615pm, repeating the process in the opposite. From JB, I picked up my cousin who drove me near the JB immigration. Once past the JB immigration, I boarded the shuttle bus into Sg. I was back home by 12am-ish.
Today- back in the office. Friday I'll be doing the same thing all over again. Hope to be back in KL by 1am Saturday. In the meantime, I will have some time to burn off the food I've gorged myself with over the festive period. I can't wait to test my new biking shorts! Already put in a 35 min lunch time run.
posted by pm19 at
8:59 pm
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