Swinging along the Highways

My goodness! Kuala Lumpur has really changed. This time it's the roads. They weave in and out, one on top of the other and it's absolutely a nightmare for someone like me, who can hardly recognise the city where I grew up.

I only know the old roads of my childhood when I used to walk home from school. My school, formerly known as the Methodist Girls' School, was located on a hillock near the railway station, the old iconic railway station. On the next little hill was the British Council which is no longer there and the hill is now occupied by the National Police Headquarters, Bukit Aman. My school now has a neighbour in the form of the National Mosque. It was not there when I was at school. Where there used to be just a simple road leading to the town padang (field) there is now a tunnel and a flyover. There is also an underpass so that pedestrians can cross the busy road safely

In fact this underpass was the scene of the murder of a schoolgirl who was walking to school in the morning. It was dark, then, I believe and she was attacked and killed.

The road system is totally alien to me now. I was given directions by my brother to return along one of the highways to Kuala Lumpur. We had had "bah kut teh" breakfast together in Klang and he then went on to do his errands. I was quite confident that I would be able to make my way back home to KL but oh boy! Was I wrong!

I got onto the KESAS Highway but with the number of cars zooming past me, I missed the exit where I should have left the highway to get onto another highway which would take me back to the area where we live.

So I found myself driving my significant other to Seremban, a town in the neighbouring state of Negri Sembilan. I kept reminding him, "Look for the signs that say Kuala Lumpur". We went through 4 tolls before we saw a small sign "Kuala Lumpur" pointing to the left. Wow! At least we did not have to go to Seremban!

So, dutifully I followed the signs and wonder of wonders, there was one saying "Bangsar" where we live. So eagerly I drove along, looking out for "Bangsar" signs when suddenly, there were no more signs and the road came to a fork.

Oh dear! Which should I take? Right or left? Mind you there were cars behind me, already honking because I had slowed down, not sure of where I will be headed to, since I was in unfamiliar territory. Then I took a gamble. I turned right!

So following my intuition, I drove along, cautiously, still on the lookout for any sign that would point me in the right direction. Then "Bangsar" magically appeared!

I found that we were on a new highway ( tolled of course) called the NPE. Our countrymen are very fond of such shortforms. What NPE stood for I didn't know but it didn't bother me so long as it will take me to where I wanted to go and that was home! I finally found myself along the familiar Jalan Bangsar and boy! Was it good to get home at last!

We had taken twice the time to get home. What should have been a 40 minute journey turned out to be more than an hour and we had to pay extra toll.

Of course during the Deepavali do at my sister's. I had to tell my brother what happened and he couldn't understand how I could have missed the exit which he had told me to head for.

Well, well, it was a good experience and we certainly saw a bit more of Kuala Lumpur and different skylines. I think a woman's intuition plays a part in negotiating the maze of roads in Kuala Lumpur. Just have to follow that gut feeling.