We left for Dumai on the 3rd around noon. The thought of having to go through the roads again was enough to make us feel tired even before the journey started… Banyak lobang dan lama dalam kereta….

Anyway, we stopped for lunch in Kandis, at a roadside restaurant called Bersama. They served nasi padang and some of the gulai were spicier than the nasi padang that we are used to but tasty enough for me.  I loved it. Maybe lapar punya pasal kot…

On the 4th, we left Dumai for Melaka. Nothing much about the ferry ride home but when I tried to start my car that was left at the jetty for 5 days, the battery just went flat.

I called up Etiqa Auto Assist and rescue came in less than 1 hour. That was the second time I used their services and so far they had been quick in coming to the rescue. I used to subscribe to AAM but not only I had to pay for the membership but also the time that they took to attend to my problems were always more than 1 hour.

Why should I pay for late service when I could get better service from Etiqa and it came free with the car insurance? Promosi sket…. No lah… saja lepas geram kat AAM… sombong…

Anyway, we got home safely and now looking forward for our next mini vacation… Bila ada budget la….

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Wednesday, August 20, 2008. I was driving home from attending a technical presentation in town. It was a late evening presentation and therefore, once done, all I wanted to do was to get home as fast as possible so that I can have dinner with my family.

As I was driving along a stretch near the Shah Alam stadium, which was about 10 minutes away from home, I heard a popping sound. A sound that a balloon would normally make when it exploded. I thought that I must have hit an empty drink box or something similar to that.

As I drove on, I started to hear some hissing sound coming from the rear left of the car. I didn’t like the sound as I knew exactly what that was. There was no balloon in my car and there was no other thing that could be leaking air inside the car. I knew that it must have been one of the tyres.

My guess was right as shortly after that the hissing sound stopped and I could no longer drive the car. I got out of the car to confirm my suspicion and yes, the left rear tyre was flat. It looked like the entire air that was once inside had been sucked out and left me with a piece of rubber stuck to the wheel. The car was totally crippled.

To make the story short, things did not get any better after that. I was stranded on the right side of the road and the flat tyre was on the left side of the car, which was on the way of oncoming traffics. There’s no way for me to change the tyre without the risk of being hit one of the oncoming vehicles racing to beat the traffic lights a few meters away.

I called up my brother but he was more than 1 hour away and since there was nothing else to do, I just waited for the traffic to clear and tried to jack up the car bit by bit but it was more difficult that I could have imagine. Therefore, I decided just to wait for my brother to arrive.

While waiting, lots of people glanced at car, the flat tyre and me and out of so many that passed by, only one stopped and asked. I just told him that I was waiting for help. He said ok and left. So, I have successfully satisfied his curiosity and I should fell good about it, right?

20 minutes went by and from the distance I saw a van from a fire department nearby. I was excited since I knew that they could probably at least direct the traffic away from me. As expected, they stopped. There were four off-duty firemen inside and I told them that I am waiting for help. They looked at the flat tyre, turned on the strobe lights, (the flashing red and blue lights that always make most kids and some adults excited) and got out. Wow! It looked something like a major accident scene.

Anyway, without asking, they took their own jack out and started to do the things that I was trying to do alone. About 15 minutes later, the spare tyre was put in place and everything was done. I offered them some money for their dinner as they were on the way to eat but all of them politely refused. One of them told me that they stopped and helped not for any reward but just to help another person in need. An act of kindness…

I was made speechless for a while… Finally, I said thank you, we shake hands and off we went on our own way…

To change a tyre by the road side: RM 0.00

To replace two tyres: RM 260.00

To being offered helping hands by strangers: Priceless!

*The above picture shows the bolt that killed my tyre.