Cuti Cuti Malaysia (1/3): Kampar & Almost Penang

(In the car)
Kim: We are lost!
Normie: No we're not. Take a left here.
Kim: Where is this?
Normie: Oh yeah, we're definitely lost.
Kim: &*%$#@

We spent an hour and a half trying to find our way to the PLUS toll from Serdang. It was mainly because we were all so engulfed in our silly conversations that we kept overshooting and missing turns. It was after Normie got tired and fell asleep that we were able to find our way out. We never finish our group assignments on time either. By the time we reached Kampar, we were all tired, hungry and sleepy. We immediately crashed right after having our late supper.

We woke up at 9am the next morning to get ready for our journey further up north to Penang. The day started off like any other day, with a pun:

(In the car while heating up the engine)
Kim: There's a lizard crap on the windscreen.
Ben: Get it off. Use the windscreen wiper.

(Wipe)

Kim: Oh shit, now it's everywhere!

And we're off. As we were exiting CK's house, we saw an accident by the roadside. The body of the deceased motorcyclist was already covered with a few layers of newspaper and we could see parts of his brains scattered about. It was one of the most gruesome sight I've ever encountered. It didn't help that we were on our way to have Char Kuey Teow.

On a brighter note, Kampar is known for this thing called Chicken Biscuits where the locals here have so aptly nicknamed it CB. Evidently, they are pretty proud of their biscuit what with the billboards, posters promotion and all. But can you imagine going through a small quaint, conservative town where you have:

"Have you tasted the goodness of CB?"
"Enjoy the goodness of CB now!"

literally plastered all over the place? We asked CK to make a short stop at a local CB confectionary outlet to get a taste of this biscuit thing. It was awesome! I immediately bought 9 packs of them and so did everyone else. I LOVE CB! Oh yeah, and I love chicken biscuits too.



After that, we continued on with our trip to Penang. Everything was smooth sailing when suddenly, Kim's car overheated and we were forced to pull over in the middle of the highway. No big deal. We waited a few minutes for the engine to cool off, refilled the radiator water and took off. Arriving at the Penang bridge, there was a massive traffic jam. Scores of cars had to pull over because of overheating due to the hot weather and bumper to bumper traffic.

Our car also overheated but we forced it up till the bridge. That's when it hit the red bar and we HAD to pull over IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BRIDGE. This was worse than the first pull over because since the traffic was so slow, every single passerby actually had time to point and laugh at us. Kim naturally got impatient, got down the car and loosened the radiator cover. So I'm sure you all could guess what happened next:



Picture a huge fountain of radiator coolant in the middle of the Penang bridge. At this point, the passersby started looking around for a film crew because it all looked like one really screwed up sitcom. I was so embarrassed I wanted to jump off the bridge. But then I backed away thinking, "So what? Nobody knows me in Penang anyways." So I took a picture and started hoping around the bridge while uuuh-ing and aaah-ing at everything like a jakun tourist.

(A minute later, my cell rang)
Ben: Hello?
Dad: What are you doing stuck in the middle of the Penang bridge?
Ben: How did you know?!
Dad: 5 of your sister's hometown friends saw you and immediately called her. What are you doing dancing in the middle of the bridge anyways?

Aaaw come on! Is Malaysia that small?! So after picking up every piece of dignity I have left, we refilled the radiator with water again but this time it wasn't enough even after we gave up our drinking water. So as expected, the car overheated again right after we crossed the bridge but this time we pulled over to get the radiator fully refilled.

Wanyean took the car to the nearest mechanic and found out that the gasket burnt. Apparently it was because we didn't wait long enough before refilling the radiator water. So the car had to be kept in the workshop for 2-3 days meaning that the Ipoh trip had to be canceled. Remember when I said that our trip would surely have some sort of glitch? Right here folks.

Other photos of part 1 right here.