Another good day at work. I also discovered a new shortcut to Bundar Penawar, which is one of the clusters of schools where we hold training for teachers. I bravely set out from my own base school to see how I could get to this other school without having to return to the highway, pass Kota Tinggi, and then travel another 50 km to the destination. I had seen a sign on my backroads that indicated hey 99 gets me there in 52 km. So off I went. I thought I was in a rural community. My God, this was in the middle of nowhere, and nothing to stop at to ask for directions (which is useless anyway, because the locals, if they can speak English do not know the difference between left and right, back or forward, or any of those directions. Halfway along this journey that indicated I was on hey 99, 90, 93, & 95 all at different segments, I noticed my gas gauge was at only one bar. Oops. Being half way I decided I might as well move ahead and hope for the best. When I was getting a bit concerned, there like an oasis was a BHP gas bar. There had been no sign of life from the beginning of this trip nor after the BHP. I was right. It did lead me to the town, and with a considerable saving in kms to boot. And really kind of peaceful too, seeing only plantations on either side of the road until suddenly I was joining the highway just 10 km from my destination. So, there I have mastered another fear. Taking a chance in the middle of nowhere with the GPS broad who clearly didn’t know where the heck she was. She was silent the whole journey and just let me lead the way.
Now for a funny story. John, the Greek, our new team member has taken a hotel room in Pangerang. He will stay there until he finds suitable accommodations or maybe even just stay there. He is a very minimalist guy, does tai chi, yoga, meditation and is a gifted teacher too. Talks a bit too much, but we can control him in that. Anyway, the room, which he avoids sending a photo to us, is across the street from his base school, which is on the water that crosses to Singapore. Nice view apparently. He got the room for RM100 for 12 days, (until he either stays for the next month or moves into a house). If he continues to rent, he said he will only have to pay RM450 a month. No secured parking for his car, but he can leave it at the school which is secured with a guard. And then he figured out he can eat at the two schools which are side by side (that is free) and not even have to use the hotel dining room. His schools are also in a very concentrated area, so he won’t burning up the gas like I do. He was hilarious telling this plan of living on next to nothing and actually making money on the accommodation allowance we get. Not bad huh? He has also put me onto a dobi. What is that you say? It is a Chinese laundry. He said that I just need to go into a Chinese store and ask about a dobi, and if there is not one right now, there will be one before I know it. I really don’t want to invest in the goofy washing machines they sell here. They are more work than doing it by hand, which I am still doing. But this weekend I can see myself finding a dobi for the duration. John the Greek found a dobi in the ‘sticks’ where he lives, so I know there is one in Kota Tinggi.
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