In City-A-One and Back to KayEl in 12 hours

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I was in Sitiawan today an it was a good trip. Drove past the kampungs and the trunk road kept going on and on which reminded me of Donkey in Shrek "are we there yet?!"

I was contemplating to either take the Bidor exit or the Ipoh exit because Bidor distance wise is much nearer but the trunk road is annoying to drive on because it is only one lane to go and one lane to come. Whereas Ipoh, you get to drive faster on the highway and then take the road to Sitiawan which would take about 45 minutes from Ipoh. I however was forced to take Bidor because I wad told that Ipoh would be jammed up. Bidor, Teluk Intan, Langkap and all the towns around that area were jammed up anyway due to the holidays.

Finally reached Sitiawan after 4 hours. Did what I had to do, visited one of my relatives as well and headed back and that is when the "adventure" started. Before I move on, I seem to remember the roads on Sitiawan better than the roads in KL where I have been living for the past 8 years and I have only been to Sitiawan like maybe 4 times or so. Well, one reason could be that there are no new buildings in Sitiawan every 2 seconds which changes the landmarks. :)

Anyway, back to the story of heading back. So once again, I was thrown the choice of using the highway to go back or using the trunk road all the way from Sitiawan to Klang. Now, this is a tricky situation. It is indeed nearer to take the trunk road because these two towns are coastal towns however, the trunk roads aren't that great at least until Sabak Bernam which is about 40 odd KMs from Sitiawan. But, using the highway would mean backtracking all the way back from Sitiawan to Teluk Intan to Bidor and hop on the highway back. I decided to take the trunk road because I have never used it before and I wanted an adventure which I would regret anyway.

So the journey started of fine, I saw some weird signboards and road names for example "Menjual benih tanaman dan haiwan" I was baffled; didn't know you could grow animals from seeds and the super hilarious road name I saw was "Jalan Mat Rojak". I tell you, these are only things you can see in small towns.

Then, the nightmare started, there was a jam that begun somewhere in between Sabak Bernam and Tanjung Karang that lasted until Kuala Selangor! All because of a traffic light which was not programmed for heavy volumes of vehicles. It was bot pleasant as well because my son was not feeling comfortable started to cry for the same distance!

A journey that should have taken 2 1/2 hours top, took 4 1/2 hours which translates to KL to Alor Star at an average speed of 120 KM/H on PLUS.

So there you have it. If you plan to use the trunk road, not on festive seasons please. However, the trunk road from Sabak Bernam to Klang is pretty decent. Advisable to drive in the day time for two reasons, one is the scenery, two is the safety as only some parts are lit. I by the way travelled at night; someone kick me please!


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I will be in Sitiawan tomorrow

Folks, I will be in Sitiawan tomorrow for some personal event and it is going to be a long drive from KL. on the highway is not too bad but once you have to take the trunk road is when the excitement takes place.

I usually like taking the trunk roads because it is more picturesque and you get to see all the kampungs on the way which is becoming rather scarce due to urbanization.

Sitiawan is indeed a unique place especially when at least one of my friends calls it CT-A-One/CT-A-1. The story behind how Sitiawan got its name is even more unique.

So the story goes on to explain that there were once these 2 elephants in the area who were bosom buddies. One unfortunate day, one of the elephants got stuck in quick sand and was fast drowning. Not being able to see its friend suffer, the other elephant stretched out its trunk to try and pull the other elephant. However neither made it and the elephant that was trying to help did not want to let go of its friend hence the name "setia kawan" or now over time, "Setiawan". This story may not be true but it serves a strong lesson in life such as trust and loyalty. These are some qualities that are fading and people have become more impersonal.

I hope I have entertained you thus far or maybe put you to sleep but either way, you benefit ;)

Will post something if anything interesting happens in CT-A-One.


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