My Journey To Work

This is the tenth month of me working at Butterworth and I can say I’ve settled down pretty much in terms of adapting to new sleeping pattern, different culture in the work place, the distance and time to travel form home to office and last but not least, a less stressful work environment.

I used to wake up as early as 6.30am to get ready for work because the punctuality of the ferry is very subjective. It’s like not knowing when the last day of earth is. It is so unpredictable and inconsistent, that you may call it ‘woman’. Dad told me if you wanna take control of time, take the bridge instead. Since I’m staying at my parent’s apt now, it’s more convenient for me to use the bridge too. So now I can leave the house by 7.35am. I save almost 1hour!

Every day without fail, there will be at least one idiot smoking in the ferry despite a big sigh board showing “DILARANG MEROKOK. DENDA RMxxxxxx.”  The staff on board wouldn’t bother to givethem any verbal warning or whatsoever. If that’s the case, why bother putting up the sigh board? I’m sick of inhaling those toxic after burned smoke. It is getting on my nerves when one does such in public without considering the feelings of others. Is there anything that can be done? Will a written complain be sufficient?

Idiot of the day

Once I brought a friend to commute the ferry, she asked why is the ferry moving at a snail pace speed and would visitors really enjoy the ride because you don’t really get scenic views compared to others. I didn’t know what to answer, I kept quiet and smile. A colleague of mine probably in his fifties told me that last time the ferry had to move ‘zig zag’ to avoid collision with many foreign tankers and cargo ships. That was how congested in sea was in the 70s and 80s. He shared some history but I can’t remember most of them.

Now I have the best of both worlds, I go to work via bridge and return via ferry. Taking the ferry has it’s pros as well. You can rest, you can read, you can take pictures of big tankers and the best thing is, you don’t have to do anything. I’ve crossed the bridge many times and the view is always the same. But today, it’s a little different. If you wanna see the world differently, plug in thy earphones and play Enya (or whatever music you like). As I cruise on my humble purple scooter, I could feel the morning sun heat on my face and the arch of the bridge looks gold from a distance, sea water was glittering as it reflects the sun rise. As I reach the end of the bridge, I saw 4 fishermen bringing their nets in, this is not an unfamiliar scene but with the angelic music playing in the background, the actions of the fisherman looks really graceful and beautiful as if I was no longer in a busy city surrounded by crazy drivers on the bridge. It felt like I was in a water village, the one I experienced when I was in Kapalai.

Before reaching my office I would pass another flyover, a mini Penang Bridge, without fail the aroma of sugar would fill that section of the bridge. I would take a deep breath and inhale all the sweetness into my nostril. The smell comes from a sugar factory not far away. It may sound weird, but every morning I can’t wait to pass the sugary air.

And suddenly I could feel my face getting wet, was it raining? The sky looks clear to me. I tried to wipe it away, but it got wetter. I close and open my eyes again. I was still on my bed with Shadow licking my face. Checked the time, holy crap 7.30am d! I’ll be late for work. But I made my dream a reality this morning. =)

Shadow against the strong wind =P