Journey to Malacca

I feel so lucky that I am still alive.

10 June 2009, while I was still in my hometown, woke up early in the morning, just because that day was special. After breakfast, my father drove us using his 35-year-old Toyota to the Malacca city. I was in mixed feeling because tour with my family always was restricted by budget and time. But I still anticipated the journey as I seldom went to Malacca in these years.

This time, we visited almost all the Buddhist temples near the Jonker Street (鸡场街). Among them, the oldest temple (青云亭) already had 400 years history. Consequently, we went to Dataran Pahlawan Megamall to do window shopping. The megamall was built beside the historical tourist site, A’ Formosa fortress and Dataran Merdeka. The building of this new shopping mall was a fantastic idea as it linked between the histories to modern lifestyle.

After lunch, we started our journey home. We were stuck in the traffic caused by an old broken car. Then later, my father tried to overtake a towed car in the highway, but eventually discovered that his car breaking system had some problems! When this speeding car came to the junction, it simply could not be stopped! My father was alerted but unable to cope with the situation.

You may have watched how Jackie Chan controls a truck which could not stop in his action movie. But in reality, who dare to control such a crazy vehicle? The two incidents during my journey home were the premonition of something dangerous, but who knows?

Luckily, after some die or live situation, we came to a foreman who proved the break was still functioning but just needed a harder press. Terrified, we went home safely. Father promised to send the car for repair. I only can say that the car was old enough for transporting.