those hitch-hiking days of yore (i)

when i was in my twenties, i caught the hitch-hiking bug from my then colleagues in balestier hill secondary school - kok weng, rahman and mc wong.

my first attempt was a solo effort. i was all on my own. got a lift at the causeway from an european lady, driving a mini, who was going to bahau in negri sembilan. the rest of the journey was a blur. but i remember i made my way to ipoh where i met up with kok weng who had gone there earlier. stayed with his sister's family.

from ipoh, we hitched rides to penang, crossing over to the island in a car ferry. i think it was my first visit to penang. we stayed in an unoccupied - not abandoned - bungalow along batu ferringhi.

on the southward bound journey, we hitched a ride to the cameron highlands. the fumes from the vegetable lorry made me feel like vomiting. wanted to sleep at a sikh temple and were laughed at by some fellow hitch-hikers. finally paid rm$5 to bed down in a hotel at brinchang. met one of my students, catherine wong, holidaying with her family.

picked up many things from hitch-hiking, apart from widening my knowledge in geography, politics and social studies.