decided to drive my car this morning. went for breakfast, and then to my mum's place, and then to the pool for a swim, and then to parkway for my chiropractic treatment, and then home. well, sounds pretty routine ala tai tai rite? yup. it was. that was until my phone batt went flat on me.
it happened on my way to the pool. that means i will not be able to check time (i use my phone as a watch) and of cos, would not be able to commincate with people. so... well, not an issue. really. perhaps it is better cos i could then swim and tan without being concerned about calls. things went well. and on my way back home after my treatment, as i happily exited ecp and while i was approaching the filter lane at the junction of xilin ave and upper changi road east, my car died. just like that. it died. no warning. no stutter. nothing. just beside the expo. i tried to turn my car key. nothing happened. and i tried again. and again. it did not work. and next thing i knew, i saw smoke coming out of my bonnet. darn! of all places to die, it had to die at this junction. for those who didn't know, this junction is one helluva big and it had witnessed many accidents over the years.
so, i thought - i shall call the tow truck and should be on my way home soon. easy peesy. and it was then that i also realized. my phone went kapoot earlier! so, i tried to force start my phone. pressed the on button. nothing happened. and i pressed it again. nothing happened. aiyoh. of all time to die too! bloody hell! so, i sat in the dead car, holding my dead phone. in the middle of the afternoon sun's heat and weighed the choice of either stopping a car and asking a stranger for his phone or run to expo to find a public phone to call the tow company. i walked out of my car, looked around. one car zoomed by. another too... one more... and another one. hmm, looked like i was not gonna get anyone to stop to lent me his/ her phone. so i went back into my car and decided on the latter option. given the afternoon heat, i reckoned if i chose to stay in the car and wait for a passing stranger, i too would have died! so i placed the triangle breakdown sign, turned on the breakdown lights, took my cash card, memorize the tow truck number, locked my car, and off i ran. damned public phone was impossible to find when you needed it most. in the end, i ended up at the expo concierge. the encik there was very nice. after verifying that i would be making a local call, he whipped out his personal handphone for me to call. couldn't thank him enough.
things were very efficient after that. was told the truck would be there in less than an hour. so i walked to the junction and wondered what to do in this one hour! and i decided to look around me. there was absolutely nothing around my immediate surrounding except for a bus stop, a drying up drain and a huge canal. so i decided to check them out... and that was where i found little miracles around me. if not for the car break down, i wouldn't have been able to observe the big `choot choot' feeding on algae in the canal, egret stealthily picking their food from the mud, pigeons resting under the shade of rain trees, little water-skaters in the small puddles of water that has yet to evaporate in the almost dried up drain, etc... wild life in the midst of our urban forest! and in the end, i chose a shaded area under the mrt track and sat there. and from there, i observed the traffic flow, looked at my car, enjoyed the afternoon cool breeze and in less than half hour, the tow truck arrived. the guy who towed my car was so very nice. he suggested a place for me instead of sending to my agent workshop cos it would be a lot more expensive. i said ok and soon enough, my car was on the way to the car hospital.
such an exciting afternoon right!?!
:-)
ps: i could have bitched about it but thought it would be futile. so, why not enjoy the experience instead!
it happened on my way to the pool. that means i will not be able to check time (i use my phone as a watch) and of cos, would not be able to commincate with people. so... well, not an issue. really. perhaps it is better cos i could then swim and tan without being concerned about calls. things went well. and on my way back home after my treatment, as i happily exited ecp and while i was approaching the filter lane at the junction of xilin ave and upper changi road east, my car died. just like that. it died. no warning. no stutter. nothing. just beside the expo. i tried to turn my car key. nothing happened. and i tried again. and again. it did not work. and next thing i knew, i saw smoke coming out of my bonnet. darn! of all places to die, it had to die at this junction. for those who didn't know, this junction is one helluva big and it had witnessed many accidents over the years.
so, i thought - i shall call the tow truck and should be on my way home soon. easy peesy. and it was then that i also realized. my phone went kapoot earlier! so, i tried to force start my phone. pressed the on button. nothing happened. and i pressed it again. nothing happened. aiyoh. of all time to die too! bloody hell! so, i sat in the dead car, holding my dead phone. in the middle of the afternoon sun's heat and weighed the choice of either stopping a car and asking a stranger for his phone or run to expo to find a public phone to call the tow company. i walked out of my car, looked around. one car zoomed by. another too... one more... and another one. hmm, looked like i was not gonna get anyone to stop to lent me his/ her phone. so i went back into my car and decided on the latter option. given the afternoon heat, i reckoned if i chose to stay in the car and wait for a passing stranger, i too would have died! so i placed the triangle breakdown sign, turned on the breakdown lights, took my cash card, memorize the tow truck number, locked my car, and off i ran. damned public phone was impossible to find when you needed it most. in the end, i ended up at the expo concierge. the encik there was very nice. after verifying that i would be making a local call, he whipped out his personal handphone for me to call. couldn't thank him enough.
things were very efficient after that. was told the truck would be there in less than an hour. so i walked to the junction and wondered what to do in this one hour! and i decided to look around me. there was absolutely nothing around my immediate surrounding except for a bus stop, a drying up drain and a huge canal. so i decided to check them out... and that was where i found little miracles around me. if not for the car break down, i wouldn't have been able to observe the big `choot choot' feeding on algae in the canal, egret stealthily picking their food from the mud, pigeons resting under the shade of rain trees, little water-skaters in the small puddles of water that has yet to evaporate in the almost dried up drain, etc... wild life in the midst of our urban forest! and in the end, i chose a shaded area under the mrt track and sat there. and from there, i observed the traffic flow, looked at my car, enjoyed the afternoon cool breeze and in less than half hour, the tow truck arrived. the guy who towed my car was so very nice. he suggested a place for me instead of sending to my agent workshop cos it would be a lot more expensive. i said ok and soon enough, my car was on the way to the car hospital.
such an exciting afternoon right!?!
:-)
ps: i could have bitched about it but thought it would be futile. so, why not enjoy the experience instead!
2 comments:
I always admire how u can turn a seemingly unpleasant siuation into a moment of marvel.
Everything died, except your heart.
Sam
my heart died many times over. and now, it is hard to kill. i guess when you have died often enough, it becomes hardened to dying. it lives strong. heh heh...
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