Take The Wheel And Drive

I love my mother a lot. I don't love her to death, but sometimes I wish I could.
(knowhatimean?)

This one's not about her, though. It's about me and my grossly limited ability to drive anywhere new.
I had to go to Kelana Jaya today and since I am notoriously horrible with navigation and finding my way to places, I asked her for directions.

She was in the kitchen that morning when I went to find her.

“Are you going out today?” I asked.

“I'm going to Malacca, right?” she asked me back. I guess she knows I'm training to be a psychic.

“No, it's just that I have to go to Kelana Jaya by 11 today.”

“Right,” she said. Continuing to chop up some onions.

“I was thinking of either taking the UKM komuter and switching to LRT at sentral..”

“Mm-hm.”

“..or driving there somehow. Should I park at sentral, or.. I mean what's the best way to go here?”

“You can just park at Kerinchi.”

“I know the Kerinchi Link, but.. you mean I should park at Kerinchi station?”

“No no, don't do that. Not that Kerinchi, the other Kerinchi.”

“Um.. I'm not.. I don't..”

“Get a pencil and paper.”

Whenever my mother asks me to go get a pencil and paper I always think of grocery lists. Somehow she doesn't believe that I can remember a list of 3 items. All 3 of which are different kinds of bread. “Remember to check the expiry date,” she would say. I only do that occasionally. But only because I once dug through the fridge and pantry and found (and have eaten) products that are so far past their date, the brand doesn't even exist anymore.

“Here you go,” I handed her a pen and paper on the table and turned on the light.

“Okay.”

The scene of me sitting on a table with my mother in front of a piece of paper and a pen on her hand brings back memories of when I was in primary school and she was teaching me.. something. I can't remember. Always listen to your mother, kids.

She started drawing from the edge of the paper.

“You know the Kerinchi Link, right?”

“Right,” I said, trying to remember if I'd seen a street sign that bears the name before.

“The one on your left when you enter the federal highway?”

“Yeah,” I said. Okay, on the left. I have to remember this.

“Do you know which one I'm talking about?” she asked again, drawing on the map the arrows and roads and circling ‘Kerinchi Link’.

“Yes, yes, I know how to take it,” I said. Keep left after entering the federal highway. Got it.

“Don't take it. That takes you to Damansara.”

“I'm not supposed to take it,” I said, trying to forget the mnemonic device I just made up to help me remember to take it.

“You go to Kampung Kerinchi, which is after that. There'll be an LRT station there, Universiti.”

“Ah. Alright then.”

“Remember: The ‘Universiti’ LRT takes you to Kerinchi, while the ‘Kerinchi’ LRT gets you to Bangsar.”

“Huh.”

“I know, it's very misleading.”

“But isn't there a 'Bangsar' LRT station? Where does that one take me?”

“You don't have to worry about that. You won't be taking it anyway.”

So I took the paper and went up to my room. My mother never gets lost (as far as I remember), so I should be fine with this. Just ignore the emphasis she put on Kerinchi Link and the map makes much more sense.

I can't help but think that maybe I should ask my father as well. He's asleep though. But I think I can figure out what he'll say.

“You have to be there at 11, right? Hmm.. What time is it?”

“730. Why?”

“Fill up your gas tank and finish your breakfast quick then. You will get lost, so best get a head start.”

So now I'm online, cross referencing the map my mother gave me with wikimapia, streetdirectory, and google maps on multiple tabs.

It's 745 now. I should probably start the car.