Ido Firadyanie
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Monday, November 9, 2020
Wednesday, February 5, 2020
Bush Craft 3: Is Not Phuket a City of Sins?
Bush Craft 3: 2300 KMs of Biking Adventure
By 8th of January, I left KL to Bukit Minyak,
Simpang Ampat, Penang.
Not sure of my own dwindling health, unjustifiably, I had this
severe muscle pain. It was hard to stand up after long hours of sitting, riding
bike or even lying down. Positively, I thought it was because of recklessly
consuming Calcium Lactate pills,
bought at RM2.50 from a local pharmacy. Earlier, my intention in consuming
those white pills was to ease the recurring pain on my backbone and both knees.
But was it true about over-consumption of Calcium pills could drive to Muscular Dystrophy? Or less so Myalgia? Negatively, I suspected a
notorious spell of black magic. Old folklore calls it ‘jampi’ or ‘sihir’. The
rise of that negative assumption, came after taking absolute consideration that
there were no food poisoning, no extreme exercise, and not even wild attempts
to drink alcohol, drugs or even cigarettes. So, the assumption of being in a
spell, was halfway accurate. And along the way biking, I bore the pain.
It was about 5:30PM cruising in the lancing rain through suburb
roads that began in Bestari Jaya. I like to choose the route from Kuala
Selangor to Penang, because according to mileage, it is much shorter than the
North-South Expressway. The sceneries of villages, paddy fields, jumpy and
holey roads heightened the sensation of riding motorcycle. Especially of a
moped size bike like mine. Yamaha Lagenda 110Z. Very hard to get, no approval
from anybody, and pricey to maintain. And this bike is just like a legend for
me, a genius peasant. And the long ride carried on; Parit Buntar, Teluk Intan,
Gopeng, Ipoh, Kuala Kangsar until… up to Taiping. A royal town of northern
Perak. A cool, obscure, distinct town. I ended up at the Taiping’s Hospital.
For a ‘Green’ Emergency Treatment.
Especially that related to my Myalgia.
The hospital staff were all friendly and helpful. That is why I love government
hospital. Otherwise, a genius peasant could not afford any treatment,
especially from private hospital, because the cost of treating even a simple
headache could reach RM150. After taking antibiotics and paracetamol, I
continued my journey to Bukit Minyak.
***
It was an open interview for a line operator in a factory
that manufactures and assembles PC’s hard disk. The waiting was long about half
day since 9:00AM in the twitchy morning. This was because there were a lot of
young candidates applying for the same job. After making new friends right on
the spot, their petty jokes, frivolous questionnaires and answers filled the
whole waiting hours. Just about half past 4PM, at Lincoln Backpackers, about
32.8 KM, via Jalan Baru/Route 1, Pulau Pinang
Bridge/E36 and Tun Dr. Lim Chong Eu Highway/Route 3113, I got an upsetting WhatsApp
message that: ‘I am not a suitable candidate’ – for the job. But as for me, who
had prophesied earlier, that the outcome might be negative, had not been overly
surprised.
Because many Asian countries do not create
ordinary jobs that are tailored for workers above forties, travelers or even needy
rags. Meanwhile, jobs in Malaysia are shrunken from time to time, especially
during the reign of this new government. If there are jobs available, it would
be prioritized to expatriates or even illegal immigrants like China, India,
Nepal and Bangladesh. The Malays or Bumiputras are day by day being – out-casts.
However, there should actually be jobs that are suitable for workers above
forties, pensioners, handicaps of whom are frail to undertake heavy tasks. Like
4 – 5 hours work’s schedule a day, less heavy and stressful duties, even though
the outcome may result in lesser pays. And contractual work that are calculated
by weekly basis instead of monthly. So it can benefit travelers and homeless
people too. But because of greed, political inequality, and also who acts like
cats that lick from the front but clawing from behind, this matter might always
be left aside, unnoticed.
***
The journey of once earlier intended to
search for temporary jobs at different states, had transformed to an adventure.
And this was the 7th time I had passed the Malaysia-Thailand border.
My ultimate drive was to travel all Asia, Middle East and lasted in Europe. 7,334.89
KMs (Malaysia-Dubai) with maximum hours of 47 days 10 hours if walking at 3mph.
And another 6,275 KMs from Dubai to Frankfurt. If biking at the speed of 40mph,
it might take 219 hours 46 minutes to complete the journey.
With a month of road insurance, costing RM29
plus visitor’s pass, I travelled at a slow pace in between 40-60mph. Danok,
Sadao, Hatyai. The border, or Danok, was about 36 KMs from Hatyai. I rested and
had my dinner at a TESCO Lotus outlet
in Hatyai. By 5:45PM (Thai time), I continued riding all the way up to
Patthalung, Nakhon Si Thammarat until to Surat Thani. At about 2:00AM after
reaching the town of Surat Thani, I felt dizzy and the Mylgia recurred. I thought of having a night or two in Phuket,
where I had miscalculated that Phangnga or Phuket was just about 30-50 KMs from
Surat Thani. Originally, via route 4118, it really took 3.5 hours ride,
covering 249 KMs in distance. So it was quite terrible.
As the cock’s crows calling dawn, I rested
for 1.5 hours at a roadside hut. Because there was no available hotel or hostel
to check in during that wee hours, I had to switch my plan southward to Ko
Lanta. Seriously a beautiful island, like Langkawi in Kedah (Malaysia). Only
that Ko Lanta was bigger like Penang (Malaysia). About 7AM, I had stumbled with
Rattana Resort, situated about 5 KMs from the Samakkhi Matsayit Mosque or 10
KMs from Hua Hin Pier. I had just thought that the scenic resort was expensive.
Like above RM150. But to my astonishment, it was only around RM80 per night.
Thereon, about 4PM, after heavy sleeping, I circled around Ko Lanta Island. Weekend
Market, Crepes by Mina, Chai Hat Lang Sot, Koh Lanta Old Town and its pier.
The great thing about being in Ko Lanta was that
I got this 3 hours job as a tour guide to 2 Indian guys from Bombay. Another
unprecedented luck of the day. Because they were not accustomed to Ko Lanta’s
surroundings, I had to guide them all the way to few scenic places. They ended
their nights at Holiday Villa (close to Klong Dao Stadium), west side of Ko
Lanta. Meanwhile, I got my 2000 Baht remuneration! About RM266.90 income!
***
I discovered Phuket after an amazing day in
Ko Lanta. It was about 232 KMs from Hua Hin Pier. Nuea Khlong, Hula Hula Golf
Club, Big C, Krabi Town, Mueang, Exciting Krabi Forest, Khao Khram Cockfighting
arcade, Ao-Phangnga National Park, Sirinat National Park were all passed
through Phet Kassem Road and Route 1002. It took me about 5 hours starting at
11AM (Thai time) and ended at 6:30PM in the evening. Got a pre-booked hostel,
named 12 Month Hostel, I stayed there for 4 days.
The first night at Phuket was drastic and
full of entertainment. It was just like the E.J. Entertainment in the film ‘The
Wolf of Wall Street’. Starred by Leonardo DiCaprio. Tiger Shows were wild at
Bangla Walking Street, of which was close to Patong Beach. Especially with the
accompaniment of this one Indian guy named Shuvam from West Bengal, India. But
I did not focus much at the ‘Tiger Shows’ because the clubs that hosted them were
demanding high fees. And they had not bothered me much because perhaps I was
not an European or even wealthy. In one point of view, hosts, men, bodyguards
or even women in Thailand knew how to measure their customers. They had these
intuitions that could differentiate between the middle class, high class,
social class, sex-oriented class, fighter’s or warrior’s class. So because I was
unspotted, I enjoyed my night – shooting; with the income I got earlier at Ko
Lanta. Guns and pistols with real life bullets were amongst the amazing
attractions in Thailand. Luger, Smith & Wesson, Beretta, Colt are life and
excitingly dangerous. Here, I got a trial of 15 rounds of ammo. The another 15
ammos were paid at 800 Bahts. So altogether 30 rounds. Another shooting arcade
that resembled the real guns were the CO2 air pistols and rifles. The bullets
were made from aluminium balls. I got 300 rounds for 6 sessions. And it was
only 300 Bahts!
The next 2 days I wandered around Phuket. I
swam 3 beaches including Rawai, Surin and Kamala. European ladies in bikinis
were the wildest spots I had encountered. And the clear wavy sea was excitedly
swum. In between those beaches there were tourist’s spots like the Wat Chalong,
Kathu Waterfall, Phuket Mining Museum of which had enthralled me.
A review for Wat Chalong or The
Chaitararam Buddhist Temple: “I’m in it
now, a holy place, where the Thai people love to exist.” The deep meaning
was truly felt by me, myself. I had once thought that the holy place was just an
exotic museum or an unusual place of worship. But it seemed otherwise. The
Buddha statues were like guarded by spirits or elves. Not by just supernatural
spirits but, the so called ‘The Guardian of The Fruit of The Spirit: Peace’. Like
the ancient quote: “Peace comes
from within. Do not seek it without. Those who are free of resentful thoughts
surely find peace.” “There has to be evil so that good can prove
its purity above it.” And further elongated by Miyamoto
Musashi as:
“There is nothing
Outside of yourself
That can ever enable you
To get better, stronger, richer,
Quicker, or smarter.
Everything is within.
Everything exists.
Seek nothing
Outside of yourself.”
So the peacefulness of the Wat Chalong was
just like infusing the feeling of being a sage warrior. That was why Tomoi (or Kick
Boxing) and the film Ong Bak could be established just by this type of
spiritual infusion. The calmness regained makes one to be more active,
resilient, focused and powerful. So that was what I interpreted from Wat
Chalong.
So, Phuket was not as sinful
as people might normally talk about. One or two spots would not denigrate
Phuket as a despicable place. The way that we mingle with the crowds is by our
own choice either to sinfully fraternize or socializing positively. Not the
place and its attractions that provides us the ways for committing sins.
***
I tried to move on, but the budget was too
small. So I retreated to Kuala Lumpur 8 days later. Concluding the journey, it
was a great adventure. Instead of bush-crafting in the jungle, I city-crafted
all the way 941 KMs road from Phuket to Kuala Lumpur. But the world exploration
did not over yet. Might be if there could be chances again awaiting in the
future. Especially through my Musical World Tour.
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