Russian Film Festival Trauma

Oh, the film was great - I wrote about it here. As I had promised Bee Ree that I will not write nasty / negative stuff on her blog, I would have to keep this here. If you had read the post I wrote on Bee Ree's blog (or if you hadn't, just try to keep up), Miss M and I expected the movie to last till perhaps, 9.30pm - or 10pm at most. How foolish! How presumptious!

It began more than half an hour late, and lasted nearly 3 hours. It was past 11pm when we got out of the hall. Panic striked, and pretty hard too, because I had to catch a KTM train back home, and there could be NO MORE trains at the hour! Yes, LRT has trips all the way till midnight, but I vaguely remember that KTM's service lasted till 10+pm only.

Well, don't think so much yet, Miss M said, just get ourselves to the LRT station first! Boy, did we rush. I never knew the KL Convention Center was that far from Suria KLCC, and the LRT station inside was so far from the entrance! I ran half the time; in my 3.5" heels! By the time we got the to station, there was a burning sensation in my chest! GAH!

To be sure if I should head on to KL Sentral to take the connecting KTM train from there, I called a friend, who then confirmed that the last KTM train would had already left the terminal. @#$%#! It was almost 11.30pm, and I was effectively stranded! There were several things I could do:

1. Follow Miss M back to her place, and get her to send me home - but she was afraid to have to drive back all the way alone, post-midnight, after sending me :(

2. Follow Miss M back to her place and spend the night there - but I didn't have anything with me! And I don't want to leave my car parked at the KTM station overnight :(

3. Follow Miss M back to her place, make her pack a few things, make her drive me back home, and then make her spend the night at my place - possible, but it had to be the last, LAST resort :(

4. Get off at the LRT stop nearest to home and catch a cab - robbers, kidnappers, rapists, murderers.... :(

5. Get off the train at a strategic location, and call someone to fetch me home - my mind went blank, there was no one I could call! :(

There was no one I could call! That first thought haunts me till this moment. It was a moment of desperate need - an emergency, and I could not think of anyone I could call for help. After calming myself down, I thought of ST, my big-eyed girl friend. The deterrent - it was almost midnight, and she would had to drive out all the way, alone, to get to me. I had to call a guy friend.

I could not think of any guy friends I could call! Oh woe! Miss M and I were forced to decide on either option 2 or 3. We didn't like both. I considerd option 5 again - but who was I to call?!

"Think... think!!!" Miss M said.
"I have no boyfriend..." I wailed.
"I have no boyfriend too....." she wailed, almost as loud, if not louder than I did.

Argh! We were already in the train, and the train was running along. I needed a destination! OK, calm down. In my mind, I ran through the list of single male friends I have. (I figured the single ought to be considered before the married - but especially the married who have screaming babies to mind.) None seem suitable enough to summon in the middle of the night. Then I thought of a person - I wasn't confident that he'd be willing, but I should try anyhow. I searched for the number, then made the call. It went straight to voice mail without ringing. I tried again, with the same response. I was about to give up and resort to the other options which I didn't favour, when all of a sudden, I thought of my coffee-loving friend, Mr Kopi.

"Eh, can wor!" Miss M said. "Try calling him now. Try!"

I did. The call got through, and he answered on the 3rd tone or so. I asked him if he was free (duh... it was >11.30pm, of course he'd be free - to go to sleep!). He said yes - why? I told him, and he said OK. HE SAID OK! He'd pick me up from the LRT stop most convenient to him, and he'd send me home! Thank heaven, thank earth for Mr Kopi! Miss M and I almost cheered in the eeriely empty LRT train compartment. Then, we realised, in our hurry and panic, we had boarded the wrong train, which would shortly be going in the wrong direction for us.

Ah, pettiness! Compared to what I'd just gone through - getting off at the next station and waiting a while to catch the right train was less than a piece of cake. And thanks to Mr Kopi, who went all out of his way in the middle of the night to get me, I got home safely in 1 piece. He is sooo going to get a BIG lunch treat from Miss M and I next week!

Now, I am seriously thinking about founding a For neil Emergency Response Team, so that the next time I land myself in similar (similar - NOT same - for I am never going to rely on public transport for late-evening movies, ever again!) predicament, I'd know there'd be friends who I can call, and who wouldn't say NO to my request for help, unless it couldn't be helped. Would anyone be willing to join this team?