


[The happening last Wednesday]. Yes, it is a traffic of an unprecedented scale. Where else but in my city of Kuala lumpur. Well it just happened and I thought that I should write about this happening while it is fresh in my memory. I have live in this city for some thirty four years and never had I seen and got stuck in a traffic jam of this magnitude. It happen at after six this evening. I was resting at home, for normally I do not got out at this time of the day unless there is an invitation to a dinner or something like that. But today as I was about to take my evening bath, our daughter call and said that she is caught in a traffic jam somewhere in Cheras. She is on her way back from the University where she work and was planning to pick up her daughter at the Glaneagle Hospital. Her daughter, our granddaughter is seeing the dentist today. I sent her there at four and that her mother would fetch her at five thirty. But the phone call from her changed everything, she say that she would not be able to pick up her daughter since she is caught up in a massive traffic jam and ask me to do that instead, since our house to the hospital is just five minutes away. My spouse told her it is OK and that I would pick her daughter. I then finished taking my shower and dress up. My spouse say that she might as well follow me to pick our granddaughter.
Without thinking much I took the Honda and drove on and as we got to the road leading to the Ulu Kelang road near Ampang Point I saw there were so many cars leading to the Ulu Kelang Road, so I divert into Ampang Point hoping to do a short cut and get into Jalan Ampang and from there in mere minutes I would get to the Gleneagle Hospital and pick our granddaughter and back home is less then fifteen minutes. Well, I thought wrong, here the traffic is the same, cars were bumper to bumper and hardly move. I move on following the traffic and time passes by fast and in about an hour I am still stuck in the vicinity of Ampang Point. I call our daughter on the cell phone and she say that she is also crawling. I told here that we also got stuck here and that not to worry, I would pick up her daughter. We move on like snail, and eventually got into Jalan Ampang near the Ampang Point. I thought it would be just OK from here onward but I was wrong again. The traffic jam continue to get worst, cars were bumper to bumper again and continue to move like snail, actually hardly moving at all. Then I saw that it is not only at this part of Jalan Ampang but the MRR 2 on both ways are also jam with traffics. I inch forward and listen to the Radio, the Lite FM station and eventually the programme were interrupted with news of a massive jam all over the city. Well I thought that it only at this part of the city but it seem that the other parts of the city is going through this as well. Hey!! what has happen to our city, with all the new roads, the elevated Highways and the Smart tunnel, we still get jam like this!!. I hear a caller to the station requesting for song to be dedicated to her friends who go stuck in traffic somewhere near the Mid Valley Mall. That is on the other side of the city. So it look like we are not alone in this crazy traffic jam on the 25th day of July 2007.
We left home just now at 6.30 pm and now it is almost at 8pm and I am still no where near the Gleneagle Hospital. Our granddaughter call and I told her to hold on and that we are near but not sure when we would get there. While driving I though of how do I get home faster after fetching her, so I told my spouse that I would drive back using the Elevated Highway instead. With that in mind I ease on and eventually reach the Hospital at 8.35pm. It took more then two hours to get to this destination, which usually I would take just five minutes. What a drive!!. I pick our granddaughter and got back into Jalan Ampang but this time did not turn left but instead turn right. Great, there are yellow lines on the road and incoming cars are usually caution when approaching such box of yellow lines. I took the opportunity to use this area of the road and move on slowly. Eventually the other cars which were part of the jam on the other side of the road give way. I cross over and took the road leading toward the city, the opposite direction from our home. From here I took the right lane and slowly moving toward Jalan Jelatek. From the Hospital to the junction of Jalan Jelateh again it is the same things, cars were still crawling both ways. I move on slowly following the slow flow of traffic and eventually got to the junction of the road and wait for the traffic light to turn green. Twice the light changes but I still could not get into Jalan Jelatek. I just took it easy for I know somehow that by taking this road and eventually getting onto the Elevated Highway I would get home faster than using Jalan Ampang, the other way. With the traffic light turn green again I move on and this time got onto Jalan Jelatek. I move on taking the left lane and again here got stuck in the traffic moving toward Setia Wangsa, Melawati and onward. I kept my cool while chatting with my spouse. Up in front I saw the exit toward the Elevated Highway. I am happy and knew that once on the Elevated Highway by going both ways and paying tolls twice we would get home fast.
After almost forty minutes on the return journey I got into the Elevated Highway. Drove on toward the KLCC, went through the Smart Tag lane of the toll and got out of it without stopping. Friends that's the beauty of using the Smart Tag. You do not have to stop to pay the toll, the Smart Tag do it automatically. I drove on and after the exit toward the KLCC parking bay, proceed on and made a U turn and back on the other side of the Elevated Highway toward Ampang. The end of this Highway is Ampang with one exit toward Ampang Jaya and the other toward Jalan Ampang, toward outer Ampang. I move on, at all the exits I saw cars bumper to bumper and for those going forward it has no effect. I drove on with ease but driving slowly following the other cars and eventually I got to the exit for Ampang Jaya. Well, on this side of the road there were hardly any traffic but on the other side it is still bumper to bumper inching toward Jalan Ulu Kelang and other outlet to the city. The third image above shows the traffic at this section of the road. I drove on and got to our daughter's house and this time it just take one hour. On normal day it just take to and fro to the Hospital and back just less then fifteen minutes. Today it takes me three hours. What a day on the road!!. Three hours wasted on that road. Our daughter quipped that, with that numbers of hours driving we would be in Batu Pahat in Johor by now. Batu Pahat is our Son-in-Law hometown. Well that is life, the unexpected happened and that had been my day. In a traffic Jam. In my city of Kuala Lumpur. A day in history as far as I am concern. It is one of those day, for life is like that. We actually would never know what would happen next. That had indeed been a Traffic Day!!!. Have a nice day.