For those who are starting to feel sick and tired of the posts on our Cameron Highlands trip, believe me, i almost felt sick and tired writing them too.
Finally, this and the next posts will be the last about the trip. I'm gonna relate the unpleasant incident that i've been referring to in my previous posts and something that i would rather forget about. I needed to split the story into two parts because it was really long with every details having impact on the later development, just like a chain reaction. So here goes...
Recall that it had been drizzling the first day and there were two vagrants who came up to us for money in the parking lot. Even though it was only 5pm at that time, there was a thin fog surrounding the highlands and thus we turned on the head lights. And then when the vagrants were harassing me while i was getting the umbrellas from the car boot, Carol, Celia and 贝 came down from the car immediately. This was when one of the worst things that could have ever happened on a trip befell us -- we forgot to turn off the head lights and the car's battery was depleted.
It was already 8pm and a night with overcast sky, moon not shining through and street lights not turned on in the parking lot. We were totally caught off-guard on this unfortunate event as we didn't have any battery booster cable with us in either car. We didn't know our way around the small town and the only place we could think of to ask for help was a petrol station nearby. So we asked Joan and John to drive to the petrol station and see if there were any booster cables for sale or even better, a technician who could come and help us.
To our dismay, Joan and John came back with neither. The petrol station didn't have a workshop and didn't sell booster cables as well. However, some smart ass petrol station guy told them that we could remove the battery from John's car, fix it to our car to start the engine, and then change the dead battery back to recharge (while the engine is already running).
Both Carol and i were highly suspicious of the workability of this unorthodox method in starting a car engine. We were in doubt that whether or not it was safe to remove the battery from the car when the engine was running. We didn't agree to do it but John decided to try it out anyway, since it appeared that we didn't have any other choices at that moment. So John started to dismantle the battery from his car.
John removing the battery from his car
While he was trying hard to loosen the screws that secured the battery in the dark, 贝 remembered that there was a 24-7 hotline number provided by Toyota on the sticker pasted on our windshield. He asked me to call the hotline and request for help. I did just that and was greeted by a very helpful lady Muda. She asked for my particulars and then told me that it was late and all Toyota service centers were already closed. She asked me to wait while she looked for someone around Cameron Highlands area to come and help us.
We waited, while John continued working on removing the battery from his car. Just less than 15 minutes time, Muda called back and told me that she had found a technician called Ah Wah. She then transferred the call for me to talk to Ah Wah directly. I told Ah Wah that our battery was dead and we were stranded at the highest township Brinchang. He asked for my exact location and told me that he would be there with us in 30 minutes time since he was at the lowest township Tanah Rata.
After i ended the conversation with Ah Wah, Muda called back again and told me NOT to pay any fee to Ah Wah. She said that since our car was bought last December and it was still under warranty, Toyota would bear the service charges. Up to this point, i was very happy with the customer service provided by Toyota.
John had removed the battery from his car and was about to proceed to ours, and we immediately told him that a technician would be coming and we shouldn't do anything to the car except to wait for him to arrive. So John had to install back the battery to his car, and it was really a tough job in such darkness. What made it even tougher was that the vagrant kept coming back to harass us for more money.
Yes, that vagrant who had indirectly caused this trouble came up to us again and again during the entire time we were stranded in the parking lot. It was not long before we realized that this guy must have a screw loose or something, because he seemed to be unable to remember things well. He kept asking us for money even though we reminded him that we had already given him earlier when we arrived.
Carol and i were so pissed at his continuous harassment that we started shouting at him, thinking that it might intimidate him somehow. Just before we knew it, two more vagrants came up beside that crazy guy and warned us not to beat him. Our shouting had made them believe that we were attacking that guy. For a moment, i thought their whole gang were gonna beat us up. We immediately explained to them that we were not fighting them and we had already paid once and he should not ask for money again. Luckily these two guys appeared to be mentally sound and pulled that crazy guy away.
That was of no use because just a few minutes later, that crazy guy came back again, standing close to us, imitating our actions and what we said. He even wanna befriend 贝 by trying to shake his hand, and started singing and talking to us as if we were his friends. We just ignore him and stood in a row, waiting for Ah Wah to arrive.
While we were waiting in the parking lot accompanied by that crazy guy, there were many local people wandering around looking at us. Some even came up to ask us what happened and one pointed out to us that there was actually a battery shop just nearby. Since we've already called for help, we thanked that person and continued waiting.
We waited for an hour, and it was one of the longest hour in my life. I called Ah Wah several times to rush him and finally he told me that he had sent one of his workers named Ah
When Ah
Even though the car was started already, we were worried about the reliability of this once-depleted battery. So we asked Ah
I was doubtful of his words because driving around the block only required less than 5 minutes. I didn't think that such short time was sufficient to recharge the battery, if our battery could be recharged at all. But then, none of us there was expert in automobile and this guy was sent by Toyota. So we trusted the brand name.
We did as instructed and of course the car failed to start on its own after we turned off the engine. Then they jump-started our car the second time and asked us to drive back to the hotel. They would then change a new battery for us. We did as told again.
After we reached the hotel, he removed the battery from our car and made a casual comment about not having any experience in servicing our model of the car before. Then i asked him if he was the appointed technician for Toyata and he boasted that not only for Toyota but also Honda, Mercedes, and more. He then had a look at the removed battery and said that they didn't have such type of battery and he gotta look for it. It was already 10pm+ and most shops were already closed, but he said that he had his way of getting one for us tonight. Then he left.
We returned to our rooms and waited for Ah
Ah
After properly re-installing the battery, the car could no longer be started. It was then discovered that the fuse was burnt. Ah
It was almost 1am when his boss Ah Wah finally showed up. He checked out the engine and then told us that the fuse needed to be changed. He said it was already late and he didn't have the tools with him. He promised that he would return the next morning at around 9am to fix the fuse for us. 贝 told him that we had a full programs tomorrow and asked him if he would take a long time to fix it. He said it would just be a simple job that could be done within minutes.
So with his reassurance, we all called it a day, with our mood spoilt but keeping a hopeful mind. Since Ah Wah had said that it would be an easy job, our schedule wouldn't be delayed too much and we should still have ample time to catch up on our planned activities.
Or so we thought.
Updated: 3-Oct-2005, changed the name of the technician (i remembered wrongly and was corrected by 贝).
Labels: travel
