Away from Bukit Mertajam

By Chong Joan-Lynn

Keeping track of what's going on back in Bukit Mertajam through either my sister's blog or five-minute phone calls with her are equally useless. She never really blog about what's going on in her life, which is a good thing. I can relate to that, because I don't usually. Well, I do, with much ambiguity. I don't go on about how "Oh I went to Secret Recipe today!" or other things that are lacking a certain amount of depth. Unless of course, it is just sheer idiocy, then I put that up, but mainly for entertainment value … my own, usually.

I am digressing a little too much. Getting back to my point. I have been reading my sister's blog quite religiously every time I get the chance to, in Evo – this extremely costly cyber cafe in Tanah Rata, Cameron Highlands – which charges as high as RM3.50 per hour. It is at these times that I miss my home's Streamyx connection and NetZero the most. Back in Bukit Mertajam, NetZero charges only RM1.50 per hour and only RM1 if you are a member there.

But looking at my sister's blog entries, especially the one about our friends throwing her a surprise birthday party, and all the good Bukit Mertajam food they had, brings back that emo-wave once again.

Talking to my brother on MSN and having him tell me that the family just came back from dinner at our usual spot – Medan Selera Taman Sentosa — made me feel just a little jealous of them, if not tremendously jealous.

Everyone had nice, yummy, cheap hawker food! I want nice, yummy, cheap hawker food!

Although Bukit Mertajam is really just the mainland side of Penang, and it isn't as big, or famous, or city-like, or touristy as Penang Island, it still provides the good food Penang is famous for ... just much cheaper!

Everyone ate in Medan Selera Taman Sentosa!

I have always wanted to eat at the "Penang Laksa" or "Penang Famous Char Kuey Teow" stalls here, but one part of me keeps telling me how it probably wouldn't taste half as good as the “real” one back in Bukit Mertajam. Living in Tanah Rata, Subang Jaya, Puchong and Petaling Jaya over the past five weeks has really caused me to miss Bukit Mertajam a lot. The food here doesn't taste as nice as the ones back home. And the price is sometimes more than double!

Just reading through my sister's overly exaggerated exploits during the party made me feel, well, really left out. Even the extremely fast-paced lifestyle here doesn't suit me. I jumped up in shock when walking across the pedestrian crossing the other day. Only then did I find out that over here, unless there aren't any cars driving through, you are not allowed to walk across the pedestrian crossing. In Bukit Mertajam, at every pedestrian crossing, cars are supposed to slow down and stop if there are people walking through.

A few nights back, I was about to go to bed. I couldn't help but stare out of the window. The sky was light grey. And it was probably the brightest colour of night sky I have ever seen. It was almost … glaring. The light pollution was so horrible it didn't seem like any normal night sky — not to mention how there wasn't even a single star. It was then I missed Bukit Mertajam again. The pitch black sky, with the twinkling of stars scattered all over the sky.

For now, what I really want is to go home. I really miss everything back in Bukit Mertajam. The food, the laid back and relaxed lifestyle, the lower cost of living, and of course, family.

Sigh. I want to go home.