My train ride - Part 16

Salam…hi all…

I'm back! Pheeww…finally I can log-in to my blog account. It has been 2 days I was like a mad man trying many ways to access to my account but to no avail. And today, the blog account loves me dearly… :-)

I left the house pretty early this morning to ensure myself on getting a parking spot. Dead wrong again! I was going circle and circle for 20 minutes to find a spot and luckily I managed to find one and it’s all the way back in basement 2. It’s pretty quiet there and its lack of lightings too. I started to wonder; is it safe to park here? There are no humans around….spooky…. :-)

I boarded the train at 0915hrs local KL time. It’s fairly full. But as expected and as usual; it’s very sombre mood on board. Everyone seems lost in their own world. And so I started to play my cell phone just like the rest.

I disembark at Dang Wangi Station. It’s only less than 7 minutes ride from Damai Station. Pulled out my Rapid KL card, swiped the card at the exit and off I went.

At the escalator to go up to the main entrance of the station, I was stop by a middle age couple…probably mid to late 50’s…well dress…

Man: Maaf Pak…mau nanya, kalo dari sini mau jalan kaki ke stasiun monorail lewat mana yah? (Excuse me sir, need to ask a question. How do we get to monorail station if we walk from here?)

Me: (Oh…the couple is Indonesian) Ya Pak..kalo dari sini gak jauh. Kurang lebih 10 - 15 minit kalo jalan kaki. (Yes sir, if you walk from here it’s only about 10 to 15 minutes)

It’s common for an Indonesian to address a person as Bapak or Pak; meaning “Mister or Sir” or some will address you as Mas; meaning “Brother or someone older…”

Man: Oh..Bapak bisa bicara bahasa Indonesia yah. Lancar yah…nama saya Hendra. Ini istri saya… Surti (Oh, you can speak Indonesian and fluent too…My name is Hendra and this is my wife, Surti) and he smile…

Me: Nama saya Shamsul….yah…lumayan lah Pak…dulu saya sering bolak balik Jakarta..Bali…karyawan, cari makan pak...(My name is Shamsul…yes I can speak Indonesian quite fluently. I used to go back and forth Jakarta…Bali…as an employee making an honest living)

Me: Emang nya saya mau ke arah yang sama. Yuk kita jalan bareng yah…bisa ngobrol ngobrol (I’m walking towards the same direction. Come, let’s walk together and we can continue our chat)

Man: Wah…makasih banget Pak…yuk…(Thank you very much sir…let’s go)

While we were walking towards the monorail station….being the usual “me”, I started a conversation….

Me: Bapak ama Ibu asli mana? Di KL berdua aja? Anak-anak gak ikut? (You and your wife originally from which part of Indonesia? Only the two of you? Where are your kids?)

Man: Oh…kalo saya asli Jakarta…istri saya asli Surabaya. Anak-anak saya gede gede semua nya pak..1 di Australi yang satu lagi di London…masih kuliah…dua cowok  (oh..I’m from Jakarta and my wife is from Surabaya. My kids are grown. One is in Australia and another one in London..both still studying and both are boys)

Me: Jakarta di daerah mana Pak…? (Which part of Jakarta…sir?)

Man: Saya di Tanggerang…pak…Kalo bapak ke Jakarta telpon saya dong pak…bisa saya jemput bapak di hotel kita makan sate! Saya ama keluarga sering makan di resto…kalau malam minggu. (I’m from Tanggerang district. And if you are in Jakarta, call me so I can pick you up from the hotel and we can have “satay”. My family and I always go out for dinner during the weekend)

Me: Wah…saya kalo ke Jakarta, yang saya suka makan di daerah Kebun Sireh..pak…nasi goreng nya! Mantap! (If I go to Jakarta, I love to eat at Kebun Sireh area…the fried rice! Excellent!)

Man: Nasi Goreng Kambing! (Fried rice with mutton meat !)

And we both laugh…..

Man: Bapak tau juga yah..nasi goreng kambing di Kebun Sireh? (You also know the Mutton Fried Rice in Kebun Sireh?)

Me: Ya  iya lah pak…saya suka makan pak…kalo di Jakarta saya sering ke Medan Baru, Sup Kondro di Kelapa Gading, Coto Makasar di daerah Tanah Abang, Restoran Garuda di Hayam Wuruk…ayam goreng nya…enak banget! Panas..panas! Pecel lele yang di samping Sarinah…sambel nya tuh…waduh..mantap pak…tenda biru tuh pak…di pinggir jalan…tapi enak sih…gak peduli ah…(Yes.. I love food. I like to eat. If in Jakarta, I always go to Medan Baru, Soup Kondro in Kelapa Gading, Coto Makasar in Tanah Abang district, Garuda Restaurant in Hayam Wuruk…the fried chicken is very delicious! And they serve it hot! Pecel Lele near Sarinah. The “sambal” (chilli paste) is so delicious. It’s a shop by the road side. But I don’t care)

Man: Ya ampuuuun….bapak tau semua nih…gak perlu saya nih…(Oh goodness…you know everything…you wouldn’t need me) and we laugh…..

Man: Pak, ini kartu saya…telpon saya yah kalo ke Jakarta. Kita makan makan…(This is my card, call me if you are in Jakarta so we can go out for dinner)

Me: Insyallah…pasti pak…ini nomor hp saya…(Insyallah..God willing…I’ll call you. This is my hp number)

At this point, I showed him the entrance to the station and assist him to buy the train tickets…

Man: Makasih pak yah…sampai ketemu lagi…(Thank you…till we meet again..)

Me: Sama-sama pak…Kalo saya ke Jakarta saya pasti telpon bapak yah…(You are welcome…if I'm in Jakarta, I’ll call you)

I walked away…crossed the road to Concorde Hotel…and I was thinking to myself; people seems comfortable to approach me. Is there a sign on top of head saying; “if you need help, I'm your best option”? 

Weird but funny thou…

But I always enjoyed it. It gives me an opportunity to get to know new people.

My father used to tell me; if you are nice to people, they will be nicer to you and you lose nothing to help others…

Moral of the story: Being a Good Samaritan is not something you can learn from a book…