Service / Directions.

Tuesday, November 29th, 2005.

Miss Day and I sent her Getz to Eddie ìn Taman Tan Yew Lai in Puchong, Kuala Lumpur this morning at 10:30hrs. It wasn't the fuel injector, but the spark plugs. Odometer reading was nøw more than 13,000 kilometers...but the Spark Plugs Had Never Been Replaced!!_Apparently, Hyundai dealers and their authorised $ervice Centers in Màlaysia do NOT change spark plugs at the appointed "free servicing", for the FIRST 5,000km on a brand new vehicle.

\ And this is what every new owner must know: Never Mis-Use The Word "SERVICING" And Never EVER Assume That Mechanics Will Replace Something- Or Do Something To Your Car, Unless YOU As The Owner, Instruct Them On Exactly What To Do!

ßut Eddie did Very Well, indeed. Good mechanic. (In future, ít will be better to send her Getz to him instead of the Hyundai dealers, where the idiots can't speak a word of English.) I told him to drain and replace all the water from the Radiator and replace the Coolant ín the Expansion Tank. He did. And he checked up on many other things too- Power Steering fluid level, Belts & Hoses, topped up water for front & rear washers and filled One and a half liters (three bottles) of Coolant. / Total bill for spark plugs and everything else, was 70 Ringgit.

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From Puchong, we went to collect her MyKad at the National Resgistration Department in Kota Damansara...an adventure which turned out to be WORSE than searching for à needle in a haystack. Not a single signboard for JPN.

The first place we stopped to ask for directions, was at some factory in Section 3, Kota Damansara, where øne of the women workers pointed and said: "JPN?...Simpang? pergi sana" (Junction? go there) Go Where??? Left or Right?? `sheesh. [No one gives better directions than Celestino.] / After driving around for what seemed like an eternity, we pulled into some open air Car Park next to some shops & restaurants. I lowered the window and asked another woman. Thís woman spoke Bahasa Malaysia with an Indonesian accent. She said JPN was in Section 8 and then...began pointing us towards all directions. L.O.L. / Ohhh...brother! L.O.L. \

Next, I drove out of that Car Park -and straight into the entrance of the Kota Damansara Police Station, where a helpful plainclothes officer pointed at the front gate, saying:

"Belok kiri..belok kiri..pergi terruuuss...sampai bangunan besar sebelah kanan. Tanya sana" (Turn left..turn left..go straigghhhtt...until large building on the right. Ask there") I smiled, thanked him and we did just that. Several minutes later, we found ourselves on the SAME road, in front of the SAME Police Station again! l.o.l.

So, we tried the "next left turning" too, thinking that was what he meant. But soon, we were facing some wide jungle area. There was no sign øf Tarzan, Jane nor buildings, so we turned back.

Then, I called Usha on the phone, who told me to find "the third traffic light after the second Surian tunnel", which leads to Sungai Buloh...then turn LEFT._ Well guess whàt?_There was no left turning on the third traffic light because...there was NO ROAD on the left, only trees! Perhaps she wanted us to drive into the trees. Hurray!

Next, we føund ourselves in Kepong heading towards The LDP! Needless to say, we were NOWHERE near Kota Damansara any longer. $o, I pulled over to the side of Jalan Kepong ànd called her again. She said we had gone too far away in the wrong direction. Start all over again! Well, we did just that.

This time, we paid the 1 Ringgit toll øn The LDP and after the second Surian tunnel near IKEA, I pulled over to the side of the road àfter passing a Petronas Gas Station and called her, for the third time. She suggested we go back and ask those at Petronas. Uh huh. How nice.

Anyway, I thanked her, ended the call, and told Miss Day I won't call Usha again for directions. We were in the middle of nowhere. Where's the 15 grand? Just imagine, there was a directional signboard for a school. Directional signboards pointing the way to the Police Station, even. But not a single damn signboard for JPN!

Finally, After TWO Hours of this "wonderful" adventure which helped us increase our mileage and waste gasoline under the hot blazing afternoon sun, I sent my aunt back to her home in Subang Jaya and returned home ìn her Getz, at 15:35hrs.

Well, I gave it my best shot.

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The worst directions anyone can ever give is: Go straight, turn right, turn left, turn left again, then turn right, go straight, turn left, Go to the moon, etc.

>>>`We must always remember that drivers MUST be given proper directions using Visual Clues and Landmarks.
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