A Sense of Urgency

My aunt from UK came down with her husband Peregrine and her two children son, jonie and daughter, steff. I was given the responsibility of taking them around last sunday. First to the KL Tower for lunch. That took 3 hours. Then a short driving tour of KL. That took 1 hour. The jams around KL due to the silly police road blocks did not help much. Then to Putrajaya. That took another 2 1/2 hours. Then rushed them to Bandar Utama for a japanese dinner with the whole family at Shogun (didn't know that existed). I excused myself as i had to work on a case the next day. The day before on saturday, it was lunch, shopping, dinner at at Itallianis and then a drinking session at a pub at the Curve (a place i abhor but had to give in for the sake of my cousins and brother). I had not been at a pub for a long time. The music was LOUD. The lyrics obscene. The air was filled with cigarrete smoke and so many young people around. If you want noise pollution, air pollution, and drink pollution, go to a pub. Go ahead and enjoy but when you get to forty, you'd probably be diagnosed with a few kinds of chronic diseases. No wonder so many die young these days.

The long and short of it was that it was very hectic for me. This was definitely not my normal kind of weekend. My aunt and family had one agenda after another.. one place to visit after another, one relative to visit after another. They are now in Langkawi. Every minute counts. Only 7 days in Malaysia. They had been to Hong Kong and Singapore, Thailand next on the agenda. Make every day count. Make every day an action packed one. Its like this when we go to a foreign country. So much experience to gain. So much places to see and so many people to meet. Time was of the essence. It's like when one has to leave and won't come back. Like dying in some ways. If we know we are going to die tomorrow, or soon, i think we might behave like tourists.

When i was the 'tourist guide' for the day in KL, so many questions were posed to me by Mr. Peregrine while we were at the KL Tower at the revolving restaurant. You get a bird's eye view of the whole of KL and it is an awesome sight. I was asked - 'What is that place?' 'And that'? 'Is that an air strip?' 'And that vast green field over there?' 'What is that triangle shaped building over there?' 'What is that building over there?' etc. etc. The same questions while we were on the road. I made a poor tourist guide. All i could say to most of the questions was 'i don't know' - it then dawned upon me that i was a stranger in my own city. These people come from overseas and there is a great sense of urgency to know and experience everything they see, while i, who am here everyday, take everything for granted. That was a 'buddha' moment for me. Well maybe it helps to have foreigners, teenagers and children around. They ask a lot of questions about everything - from places to politics to economics, to philosophy. No end of questions- keeps one awake all the time. It was a wake up call for me. Time to visit more buildings and places around the city and become a good tourist guide next time.