not far as the bird flies
"You need to have lunch early and be at my place by 12 so I can take you to the Bird Park before we go to Petaling Street and then to the steamboat for dinner." So ordered Uncle!
We were concerned at the prospect of such a long day, especially for the little ones who had not been well (not to mention going to bed late and missing daytime naps as well), but we thought we’d make a start and see where the day took us.
First good decision was to pack a lunch to take to uncle’s. Sure enough, when we arrived he was nowhere near ready and so we enjoyed a lunchtime picnic while he finished his own lunch and made further arrangements.
Off we set in two vehicles, Uncle leading the way, an extremely long way in order to avoid the toll road…you see, it is better to pay an extra four ringgit on petrol if it saves you paying a one ringgit toll!
Suddenly Uncle slammed on his brakes, because he had almost missed the offramp. Due to lightning-quick-reflexes, Rob iumped on his brakes too in similar fashion, swerved violently and managed to just miss Uncle, but overshot the offramp. Cars behind did likewise and the cacophony of horns faded into the distance as we continued on to the next exit.
Uncle, meanwhile, continued to sit motionless on his offramp while a truck pulled up behind him. In later days we will discover that Uncle’s driving philosophy includes: don’t worry about what is behind you, it’s their job to worry about what’s in front (we will discover this when I cannot help, but call out to Uncle that a car trying to overtake us is a mere six inches away and we’re drawing steadily closer to him and he’s unlikely to let himself be forced off the cliff. Uncle, of course, was not worried about it as it was behind him, but to those of us who were sitting at the back, there was cause for concern!!!!)
So this truck behind Uncle is of no consequence, and Uncle begins to inch backwards in order to gain enough room to be able to drive back onto the main highway. Although we could still hear the horns honking, we did not see the moment at which he drove over the lane dividing barriers! We did, however, shudder at the thought of what he must have done to be reappearing in our rear view mirror. Grandpa filled in the details later!
Without further drama (although with the now-added advantage of getting a scenic drive past the famous old train station), we arrived at the bird park. Had we been on our own, we would have elected to walk through the nearby gardens instead of spending a gargantuan sum on some *birds*, but Uncle had brought us here specially, so we gulped and dug deeply into our pockets.
While the birds *were* pretty amazing, the afternoon was cut short by the heaviest downpour we have yet experienced here. (We’re really getting a feel for this "rainy season" thing – every afternoon or evening it pours and pours and pours, usually with dramatic lightning displays, but the mornings are perfectly fine. Lovely. Convenient.)
These particular lightning flashes were truly spectacular, the thunderclaps booming, the rain nothing short of drenching. End of expensive visit!!
Instead of calling Uncle to come and pick us up as planned, we piled into the one van and made our own (faster) way back to his place. Petaling Street was abandoned to the rain and replaced with a quiet sit to wait for Steamboat Dinner.
But even that did not come without a driving adventure! It was to be held across town and so we were instructed to follow Cousin WL. In rushhour traffic. And with one of the busiest roundabouts in KL to negotiate right at the beginning of the journey. On that roundabout was the first – and it was not to be the last – time we lost sight of our guide. You have to realise that cars do not go around a roundabout in an orderly fashion. Give way to the right is merely a suggestion. People just move, jostle, accelerate a little, look imposing, make their own space, take a bit of yours and go round. It is IMPOSSIBLE to follow the car in front of you. Physically IMPOSSIBLE. So I ended up hanging out the car window looking for the memorised numberplate! Noone batted an eyelid. Then to make matters worse, we got stuck in a traffic jam, meaning the journey which started in daylight, ended in darkness. Funnily enough, two other cars which left at the same time as us, arrived a full twenty minutes sooner! Not far as the crow flies.
Afterwards, WL took three of our children home for a night of new PS2 playing and a little sleeping. It was a strange feeling sending your children away in an equally strange city! Some of the other kids drove home with other cousins, leaving us with only a couple. In the bedlam of leaving the restaurant and getting everyone into their respective vehicles I must have performed the head count a dozen times!!!
Tags: food, postcard: Malaysia
rayres
what an interesting looking bird park
and how nice for you to just have a couple of kids for a little while
Oh wow, Rachel. That really is an adventure. I think my dh would do well driving there, but not me! I would be crazy in moments. And I would’ve done the head count a dozen times, too. Oh the joys of a big family! 🙂