Monday, January 23, 2006

MY VERY OWN AUTOBAHN! (PLUS THE 'SPIRITS' TOO!)


I should have known better than to stir the bee's hive. Having initiated a mini furor at Pycnogenol's blog, I realized that I had better stick to writing on mundane things only, lest I'll end up swimming in hot-soup for possibly making people more confused or irritated with my parochial knowledge regarding certain issues, :) Thus I have randomly (when I said random, it means that I just hit the keyboards on anything that pops in my mind on the spur of moment!) decided to blog on my most favorite highway! Yes, you got it right! Highway!

Since the advent of the new KL-Kuantan highway, my trip down to KL to visit my parents has never been easier and faster. From the MEC toll entrance to the Temerloh toll, our record time was 1 hour 15 minutes! This highway may be nothing compared to Germany's Autobahn but I am grateful for it has shortened my KL trip down to only 2 1/2 hours maximum with minimal traffic stress. I must be one of them who couldn't wait for it to be completed and kept on asking those in-the-know, 'when can it be used?' or 'Will it be in time for raya?'You see, the old road wasn't my cup of tea. The whole thought of having to endure the 4 hours car journey of overtakings with cars on-coming the opposite direction, endless rear-tagging behind huge, heavy and crawling lorries and not to mention the many gut-knotting tight bends we had to negotiate (some are almost acute, you could almost smell the tires smoking on hard-braking friction!) would just leave me in utter dreadfulness! If it were not for my parents I would for sure forgo those trips!

So, two Fridays ago the Kuantan-KL highway saw us again on yet another of our family rides to KL, this time within a brief span of mere 2 weeks. Although devoid of spectacular breath-taking sceneries, yet heavily-laden with freak accident stories and spooky incidents, I will forever be thankful for its availibity because it has tremendously lightened my traveling perils. However, many would still opt for the old 'more challenging' road as the highway may prove to be too monotonous for some, inducing drowsiness at times especially during a hot afternoon spell. Others simply avoid it for not wanting to pay a relatively hefty RM19.60 of toll fee.

I can surely bet that all of you have heard of the many weird and mind-boggling happenings along the highwy at the very beginning of its service? These paranormal incidents (if I may call them as such!) sounded so similar to those associated with other highways in Malaysia, that I was beginning to doubt their authenticity until it happened to someone we personally know! A friend's car suddenly went beserk and fell into a small ravine only a few kilometers from the Gambang-MEC exit. It was a dry afternoon and they were not speeding at all. Alhamdulillah, the whole family survived the ordeal unscathed but the car, needless to say, was a total wreck!

A neighbor's brother was driving his BMW alone from KL, late one night. Made a stop to ease himself. Was doing his usual speed (deemed apt for a BMW, I suppose, :) of 150km/hr probably! The distant from Gambang stop to Bkt Goh's toll would have meant a short 10 minutes drive at the most. But this guy suddenly sensed an eerie feeling when he realized the whole surrounding was in total darkness and that his usual 10 minutes distant was taking too long this time and seemed endless. Peering out of the side window he realized that the engine was revving and the tires rotating but only that the car was not moving!! He could well be in twilight zone for that apparently infinite span of period. What else could he do but close his eyes and shouted 'Allahuakbar' repeatedly till he felt that his car was back on the road? On hind-sight, he believed that some 'supernatural spirits' must have entered his car for a free-ride when he went out to pee. After that heart-stopping experience, he vowed that he would never ever travel late at night alone again!

And what about the hair-raising story of a man stopping at one of the newly-built R&R for dinner? Upon reaching Kuantan, he related to his friend of the delicious mee-mamak he had there, only to be told that the particular R&R was still not opened for business yet!! WHat?? Not believeing, he ventured back to the exact spot and found the 60 cents change he left for tip!! Masyllah!! I am having goose-bumps as I narrate this!

Many had claimed to have experienced a certain phenomenon and some were so identical that it was hard to just dismiss as spurious. For instance, there were incidences of cars on the move, suddenly stopped, went into reverse gear and travelled backwards! Subhanallah!

And there are ridiculous stories of (brace yourself!) yellow Kancils (AJ, sorry to disappoint you but this Kancil has no 'kepak' nor does it have skirting that 'mencecah lantai' that 'starred' in your Mak Jah satire) that suddenly emerged upfront out of nowhere, confronting in break-neck speed , causing the poor victim to swerve in the nick of time, inadvertantly land in a ravine or ditch. I am sure there are other spine-chilling tales of this highway that can be furnished by those who frequent it in the course of their weekly or monthly travels to and fro.

Whatever you may have heard, I can assure you that this highway is relatively safe, as long as you adhere to all the safety cautions and speed limits and not to mention invoking Allah to bless you with a safe journey each time, insyallah! Subhanallazi sakhorolana haza wama kunnalahu mukriniina innaila robbina lamunqolibun !
.

38 comments:

Anonymous said...

Even in the broad daylight, this makes my hair stand up on end, especially that part about the mee mamak! eeee!

my father once told us about the one time he was on the road alone (it wasn't a highway though), on the way back after repairing some power lines that broke down at 2am - he suddenly saw a figure that looked like a young woman standing in the middle of the road. trusting his instincts and repeating some ayahs, he just drove on and went towards the woman. Went through her actually. Alhamdulillah, nothing bad happened and he got home safely.

HCI said...

he he pandai cerita, mee mamak tuh buat kembang satu kepala.

Ku Keng said...

In my younger days, yes younger days, before I had a car, used to come back to KL from Kuantan on Friday evenings by cab. Old Road then. As the cab, a junk, was climbing the range, I had the biggest shock of my life. Saw three women standing by the roadside with their sarongs lifted up to reveal their parts. Swear, I thought I saw ghosts until I realised the driver and the rest of the passengers giggling. "Kenapa?" I asked innocently. "Ah, Sakai cari makan!" he replied selamba.

anedra said...

We like to travel down that hi-way now to Temerloh to find hubby's favourite fish, "ikan baung". Now that you mention it...lambat lagilah I top up my supply of fresh baung from temerloh! And I'll be thinking twice about my CNY trip to Kuantan!! Takut!!!

But actually, isn't it super duper fast now to get to Kuantan with that hi-way? Best kan?

anedra said...

hehehe..sorrylah, terbanyak pulak keluar! pressed the "publish" key too many times! ingat ke my computer hang! sorry! :)

Bergen said...

There's a curve bend going towards Kuantan Port if you approach Kuantan from Kemaman, right after a long stretch of straight drive from Sungai Ular. Ten, maybe fifteen years ago, there was a road block set up almost daily by the police about two hundred metres from the curve. Something must have happened. A car or a truck, must have rammed the road block killing one or two officers on duty the night, or day, it happened. This is my pure guess because one night going to Kuantan, I got sleepy while driving just about a hundred metres from the curve. For a split second, my mind went blank, and almost in a flash, it came back fully alert that I hit the brake to stop the car because I saw a young police officer, rather plump, fair with a moustache, manning the road block. He was right in front of the car. I saw him clearly, my headling trained on him. The late Roustabout, who had been sleeping on the passenger seat, woke up to ask, why are you stopping? Right about then, I realised there was no road block, no police officer. No one. Good thing no truck came from behind in full speed to crush the three of us on the first night onshore.

Anonymous said...

I have yet to try the KL-Kuantan highway, and now you have to come up with THIS fairytale. Haiyo...susah la nak pergi Kuantan macam ni...

BTW, you stirring the bee hive at my blog was most welcomed. The site has been pretty quiet and boring of late. I am not like you. You can turn that drowsy, monotonous highway into an episode of the Twilight Zone....!!!!

Nusayba said...

felt the hair at the back of my neck stand on ends when reading this. and its only 1033 am.

i know my cousin once saw a figure laying on a signboard once. she was in the car with us, but everyone else was sleeping, cept for my dad (driver) and co-driver (mum), and herself. she went on reading ayatul kursi and then closed her eyes till we reached destination. :)

Boogey said...

That`s a beautiful photo.

Suriya said...

Tak berani nak kata saya tak pernah jumpa sebab takut nanti dia datang!

Anonymous said...

wei..kita nok balik kontanni.. hang dok cita benda gini pulok..
Co-pilot tok leh tidoq lah ni all the way.. he..he..he..

Anonymous said...

e tu easylady ye kak roza..

Jo Kontan said...

We travel often to Kuantan.

We hear many hairaising, chilling stories 'bout the hiway, yet, we never experience it ourselves.

Without sounding too cocky,
(Kopek-ky Ghost)
that's the one I would like to see.

:-)

Anonymous said...

Thank goodness I do not own a car yet.

Count Byron said...

DITH You are sending shivers here.. grrr..

But I would love to look at it from other perspectives too..

a. Mee mamak is Allah's way of giving food to hungry travellers.. so PLUS or whichever concessionaire.. don't lag behind the ghosts in providing services

b. The stationary journey, like jogging on the spot, is Allah's way of keeping the BMW owner from any mishaps should he had gone off normally.. ganti bala dgn loss of revving energy

c. Falling off the small ravine.. again.. ditto #b

I count my 2 cents' worth

Count Byron said...

DITH...

My other afterthought conclusions:

1. Ghosts do not take tips.

2. 60 cents tip is paltry for a ghost

3. Ghosts do take cash.. the RM 10 note was not there... see? only 60 cents remained

and a few more side dishes..

*smile* Jangan mare

Anonymous said...

dah lama tak lalu LPT tuh. my fren's father is a bus driver for KT-KL route. so, a lot of the likes story i heard from him. there was once a bus driver encounter a colorful rain. seriously colorful water drops on the windshield. well... me myself never encounter anything yet. but sure, the trip is shorter. my record time from gambang to karak is 1hr25min. :)

HH said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
dith said...

Crimson- cerita hantu Sabah and Sarawak lebih kurang sama ek? :))

Has- Nasi tumpe tu best nampak!

Keng-When was that? 30 years ago? :))

Anedra- Wow he must be an ikan baung freak to go all the way to Temerloh! Yes, you betcha! The highway is godsend! Tapi kalau lebar mcm AUtobahn lagi best and kalau Karak highway after the terowong, I wish they'd improve it more!

Bergen- that's one spine-chilling tale. So Roustabout has been with you all the way huh?

Pycno- insyalah kalau nak ke Kuantan drive siang, never malam

NB- apalah! Bila takut baru nak bukak Quran! :))

23- pernah dengar cerita hantu helicopter?? ehehe- It's so funny and yet scary, I can both laugh and feel scared the same time!

Boogey- I took that pic!

Nurelhuda- best tak jadi grandma?

Easylady- baguslah, copilot mesti alert sokmo! Ahad ni kol 9! Nanti I lukis plan hantar kat email

Jo- hantu apa tu?

Hiyoshi- doesnt make any difference does it?

Count- you just love my mee-mamak ghosts' stories and revving BMWs huh? correction: the BMW driver usually floors his car to 200 max!
But it's good that you're looking into the positive side of everything (even on the 60 cents tip!)

Atok- wow colorful rain! That'll be the day! It sure is an auspicous sign for me if I get to encounter the same thing!

Ailin- kat aalborg tak dak hantu ke? :))

Anonymous said...

Can I tag along with you to Kuantan the next time you are here in K.L? Dah takut lah pula nak drive to Kuantan.

Drroza, am missing you la..

Mama Pongkey said...

Record time 1 hr 15 mins???!!!!

Oooo Temerloh rupanye... *phew* BTW have you ever 'singgahed' at gerai Ayah Teh?

Shameless plug: Gerai Ayah Teh near Hentian Temerloh has one of the BEST Malay food ever!!!

And no- this is not phantom gerai one but real life one-lah!

Now I am the one waiting for certain parts of the country to have improved highways... also for personal convenience *wink*

*Cepatlah, cepatlah cepatlah jalan baru tu siappp...*

anggerik merah said...

Three days ago, came and place my comment. Tengok2 tak ade. Isshhh...Tipah tertipu dengan broadband rupanya... Anyway, the picture really attract me. Blue sky with thick white cloud..

Ikelah said...

kenakelayan: tak jadi nak sambung ke ...., stopshort kat gebeng je. ;(


... mana i tulis yek pasal gambar dith ambil guna 3 filters: 1. polarizing, 2. hyundai glass, 3. vcool... itu yang dapat efek mcm tu ;)

Queen Of The House said...

I am like Nurelhuda ... takut nak kata tak pernah, takut nanti nampak H-A-N-T-U ((( ))))

But kalau kita nak compile stories, I can relate e few told to me ..... first-hand or passed from mulut to mulut ....

Anonymous said...

Assalamualaikum..

Entahlah.. tak tau nak komen ape.. :P

Ikelah said...

ada satu cerita hantu... bukan di h/way tapid di hospital. ada apek ni ada UGIH(muntah darah) berlambak n non stop. so he needs blood, urgent bllod transfusion. drip line pun dah dua, ada central line lagi. ni about 1.30 am. so this attendent had to rush to the blad bank at kuantan hosp. n even urgent x-matching it will take about 1 1/2 hrs the earliest. ni yang 2 orang doc sibuk resus apek ni, sampai dia collapsed, cpr, nak maintain bp yang dropping dengan fluids... air garam je sebab blood tak sampai... the blood was so diluted n mencurah keluar dai NG tube(tube dari stomach melalui hidung). about 3 am attendent sampai, dia beri blood, kita tukar air garam dengan blood, heart apek ni strong, steady je walaupun dia comatose.
the nxt day, attendent tu beritahu, orang yang mati kat icu u, saya jumpa dia dok relaks kat sofa sebelah lift masa dia nak naik bawa bld ke icu. saya tanye dia tak tido lagi? dia tengok blank je. masa dah beri blood ke nurse, baru saya perasan orang yang dok kat sofa muka dia sama dengan apek yang terbaring kat icu.
it happened mid last year.

sori... panjang pulak cerita.

Ir. Hanafi Ali said...

Apa ni highway baru siap baru bukak dah cerita macam-macam???? Tak elok laaaa.

Saya baru drove that highway on 30 November 2005, from Kerteh, passing by Kuantan. Alhamdulillah okay. Harap-harap okaylah seterusnya sebab saya akan bermastautin di Kerteh for the next 3 years or more!!!!

Takutttt!!!!

maklang said...

Dah pukul 11.30mlm ni. Takut nak baca panjang2. But it happened to us once kat KL-Kuantan highway, but it was during the day. Cik Abang was driving and we were just having small talks. Suddenly he saw a few cars yang broke down and said,'Banyaknye kereta rosak'. I was about to say,' Jangan tegur2'. And just in a split second we had a flat tyre. Could it be coincidence or was it something else? A few friends told me not to tegur2 if passing by that road.

Another incidence was when we were on out way back from my MIL's funeral. It was about 12:00am when we left Kuantan going back to Kerteh. We were talking in order to avoid Cik Abang from falling asleep. Suddenly he smelled like ikan busuk from the back of the car. He quickly looked at the mirror but did not tell me anything and told me to recite Yassin loudly. All the way I recited Yassin and Alhamdulillah we arrived home safely. (Late MIL coincidently made some singgang the day before she passed away and Cik Abang told me that the smell was the same....)

dith said...

Inositol- no problem boleh saja :))

Kenakelayan- each time kalau gi KL, memang sengaja lapatkan perut supaya dapat makan kat gerai AyahTeh. Dapat discount lagi! Murah rezeki ayahteh!

Ailin- takkan teruk sangat org AAlborg koot? :))

AM- tapi mana leh calen gambar english castle you yg majestic tu!

QOTH- dulu nak compile recipes sekarang cerita hantu pulak, heheh

R. Scribler- bila nak turun Kuantan lagi? Ajak mak ayah dtg rumah

Ayumi- :))Waalaikumsalam

iKelah- nanti kita suruh Pipoh cerita hantu helicopter dia...best

Trust- Insyallah, baca doa jalan tiap kali dan bawak kereta molek2, selamat

Maklang- sebenornya apa yang Cik Abang nampak?

HCI said...

ha ha ha, DITH, your comment kat Mr. Keng. I am seeing him t'ru your eyes. Adala cam tu gaknya, keh, keh, keh.

NATO said...

Kak Dr., selama ni membaca blog kakak, tapi tak buat komen. Sekarang saya dah linkkan blog kakak dalam blog saya. Boleh kan? Seronok membaca pengalaman kakak.

Yeop-Harley said...

Kak, lain kali bila saya berpreh-preh akan saya bawa kamera dan ambil gambar macam kakak ambik ni. Tapi kak, jangan berhenti kereta tengah hiway, tu salah besar.

Anonymous said...

Selain dari malaysiakini, I rasa blog berita ni ok:

www.sariberita.blogspot.com

terbangkelangit7 said...

cantiknya awan...

buat model lukisan yeh?
=)

Adib Noh said...

I am glad to know that you like the highway,but the ghost stories scared me too.

Keep writing.I enjoy reading your stories.

Boogey said...

I think theres this story about the mak bidan yang each time ada bersalin dia volunteer to take away the placenta. If i`m not mistaken that was di hospital lama kuantan kan?

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