"Sorry, we're already closed"
"But the website says you close at 9pm." I said under my breath. Thanks for the wrong info, random blog owner. (The time has been changed to 5.30pm last admission FYI). I was disappointed that I drove all the way along the winding coastline of Penang, until the end just to visit the Toy Museum and it was already closed.
The owner was cleaning the lawn when I drove in with Yat the co-pilot. He looked confused and I understood too little too late.
Fine. Time to head home.
I remembered dad once drove "the other way" back to the Georgetown part of the island when I was a kid, instead of all the way back where we came from. It was nearly nightfall, and a drive along the coastline just to see the sun set sounded like a good idea. In my head. Since I drove all the way here, I decided to take matter into my own hands, and have a new adventure. I decided to take... the road less traveled. Literally.
We passed by the Penang Escape Theme Park, a few kampung houses, and down the winding road just a little... too much. The further we went, the darker it became, and the deeper into the hills we ventured, until there was no signs of civilization other than the mortar roads we drove on. It was as though we drove into a different world as night crawled in.
The winding road went from 2 lanes to just 1 lane at a few hairpin curves. There were a few times we had to honk before taking the curve because we couldn't see what was coming at us. That was how bent the road was. After too many ghost stories, honking in the woods is a very good idea if you want to attract "attention". But it had to be done, or else it would be too dangerous.
It didn't take long before everything went completely dark, and the only light to shine us towards a peace of mind was the headlights of my baby car. The radio which was playing songs one moment ago just had sputters of music and voices, and then there was just that static noise left. Kshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I switched it off.
Having Yat by my side made this whole thing less scary, but scary nonetheless. The entire way we saw less than 5 cars in total behind us or from the opposite lane. The longer I drove, the creepier it felt. I don't remember dad taking so long to reach the other side. But there was only one road, so I'm not lost......?
We turned to our trusted phones for affirmation. Both our phone batteries were dying, and like all those horror movies where the girl makes a stupid decision and drags the guy right into the arms of serial killers, or worse, ghosts, there was no signal on either phones. So cliche. There was only one road, so all I can do was to drive on
and see if we die in the hills after being hacked to death by a maniac.
As we were heading downwards on the hill, Yat suggested that I changed to second gear so that I didn't have to abuse the breaks. I took his advice and moved my gear, but instead of moving it 2 times down, I moved it upwards, throwing the gears into reverse, and BAM, the engine died. The second the engine died, the breaks followed.
Imagine going down hill on a very curvy road, with no breaks) P.A.N.I.C! Yat took hold of my steering wheel from his side. He turned it to avoid plunging down the crevice in the hills to our deaths, but of course the steering wheel didn't respond. I hit the breaks as hard as I can, but it was as if the hydraulics were gone. I kept stepping on the break pedal and eventually, the car stopped. I tried to restart my car. It gave a very weak whirrrrrr-rrrr. I turned the key to give it a rest. Another try, and the whirrrr was louder, but still no. It wasn't alive. One more try, holding on longer this time, it whirrrrred a little, and the engine was alive again!!!
After letting it warm up a little, I continued driving. This time, more cautious, and MY way. It still took a long, long drive to finally see some kampung houses, and then a mosque, and finally motorbikes. It was such a relief. I continued driving at a steady pace and everything was fine. We finally got signals on our phones and navigated our way towards the Penang Bridge. Half way there I realize that both my car and I were running on fumes. The further we drove on, the more houses we saw, and the more cars appeared too. I missed a turning even with the help of WAZE (story of my driving life), and eventually found a petrol station with McD. All 3 of us were refilled. And finally, I made it out. Thus, a chance to read this story.
I made a mental note to write this down, but procrastinated so much, you're reading about it half a year later. =X The mind played a very big role. It reminded me of all the horror stories and movies that I've read and heard and watched while we were "stuck" in the hills. It was seriously like a very cliched horror movie without any ghosts or serial killers. But #truestory bro.
That's what J_fish has to say~ Au Revoir~
p.s. Sorry for the anti-climax. If there was a climax, you wouldn't get to read this. =X
