Car Accident

After 18 years of driving, I finally broke the record of being accident-free. And it happened in Malacca. 

It was a sunny day.  The weather has been extremely warm lately.  I was ironing clothes since I didn’t do so the night before.  Monitoring the time, I estimated mom’s arrival around 11:30am.  The spare room has been tidied up.  So, I have another one hour or so to cook lunch.  A slight relief in me as this would be my last meal before I step into the kitchen again.  Mom does all the cooking whenever she visits me.

All of the sudden, Mom called and she would be arriving soon.  Caught surprised, I quickly put away my ironing chores and drove to the bus station.  The timing was perfect.  We met at the entrance and headed back home with my little Kancil.

Fourteen years ago I bought this car.  It has served me faithfully since then.  Believe it or not, it has never broken down before.  There was only once the radiator was over heated and I had to stop the car by the roadside for it to cold down.  That was also due to man’s negligence.  The mechanic who serviced my car prior to this incident didn’t fix the hose properly.  It was my late father-in-law who discovered the cause as Andrew was in Teluk Intan.

Back to the story, Mom and I were on our way back home.  There were a few traffic lights (okay, quite a few actually.  Malacca is famous not only with their local food, but traffic lights as well) from the bus station back to my house.  I stopped at the traffic light next to Jusco.   Mom and I were exchanging stories.  Out of the blue, suddenly, I felt a knock on my car and the force pushed my car forward hitting the car in front of me.  What happened?  For a split moment I was speechless, ‘Oh no’!  I came down from my car and checked the damage.  Since we were blocking the main road, we drove to the road shoulder and parked there. 

I have heard of many stories of drivers who were at fault trying to find excuses to cover their crime.  However, this was not so with this driver.  This man, in his 40s’, was very apologetic.  He admitted his wrong but politely asking us not to report to the police.  He is willing to pay for the damages.  We exchanged our phone numbers and discussed the issue at hand.   Just then, my hero came to my rescue.  He took over the matter and I happily retreated to be a bystander. 

It wasn’t long before we parted ways.  With the help of Mr Wee, a church member, hubby sent my poor Kancil to the workshop.  To my surprise, the driver apologized to me again via whatsapp.  We notified him on the repair cost and he agreed to pay the sum right away.  Hubby arranged for a meeting point and went over to collect the money from him. 

So, after 18 years of driving, I finally broke the record of being accident-free. 

Well, I did encounter a few minor accidents.  The first one happened soon after I passed my driving test.  I was driving around my neighbourhood with my mom.  It was a cross junction and I didn’t stop to look, but simply slowed down.  Then came a motorcycle and I knocked into him.  He fell down from his bike.   We checked on him but he looked fine.  Instead of asking us for compensation, he said everything is ok, so no need to make any reports to the police.  He fled the scene as fast as he could.  It was as though he had committed a crime.  I felt pretty bad though. 

The second incident occurred at a T-junction.  I was following behind my former assistant pastor to visit a person.  It was a busy road when I saw my chance of turning out, I pressed the accelerator without realizing my assistant pastor have yet to move an inch.  Knocked on his bumper but there was no damage at all.  He just stared at me speechless!

Early this year, it was at a T-junction again, a lady knocked onto my car instead.  Just a soft nudge.  No scratches whatsoever.  But what’s more hilarious was, instead of me complaining to her, she said she had a shocked of her life.

That’s all the car accidents I experienced as far as I can remember.  I doubt I am a skilful nor a careful driver.  In fact, I am much more reckless than hubby yet he has met more accidents than me (though none of it was his fault).  I am just thankful that none of us were injured and that hubby was around to see to every details.  It’s good to have the man of the house around.  After all, he is more experienced in this area. 

Gunung Ledang waterfall

The idea came about when one of the churches Andrew is serving wanted to have fellowship among the members, so they thought of going to Gunung Ledang waterfall for a picnic cum service.  However, it didn’t materialize in the end.

Andrew knew that I love nature.  So he suggested for both of us to pay a visit to this place.  During one of his off day, after sending our kids to school, we headed to Gunung Ledang.  It took us around one hour and 20 minutes’ drive to reach our destination due to the heavy traffic.  But the park was rather quiet as there weren’t many visitors on a weekday.

A small fee was charged as we drove through the ranger’s booth.  After that, we took a stroll around the area, climbing up the staircase and followed the pathway, exploring this place with curiosity. 

Many years ago, my former church used to come to another site nearby to conduct the baptism.  It was a fun outing as a church unit.  There would be a convoy of cars and church van driving all the way here.  We were excited to witness the members of the church being baptized one after another.  After the baptism of each candidate, a song chosen by the candidate would be sung to celebrate this joyous occasion.  Yes, it took a long time.  But what’s the rush?  In fact, I was baptized in that place.  

Hubby and I didn’t linger for long as we needed to rush back to fetch the kids back from school.  It was a pity we didn’t climb all the way to the top.  But I enjoyed the scenery, the melody of the nature, and the sun (Wait a minute, not the direct sunlight but a good weather).  I was so upset when I woke up that morning and found out that it was drizzling.  Thank God it stopped.

Will I go back again?  Oh yes, why not?  Would you like to join me to indulge in God’s masterpiece?