Television: Please, Can We Make It Back Home Before 9 PM?

Hi. I'm Ajie. And I'm a TV addict.


Case 1:

It was an evening at Sunway Pyamid, KL. I and another friend was there to meet with some girl friends, one of them someone I had a secret crush on (yes, you, my dear wife :p ). I remember waiting for them for quite some time, and it was getting late. My favorite TV show at that time, a Chinese serial called the Great General (I don’t know how many would remember this… Yong Man Kwong, rings a bell to anybody?) would start at 9 pm in a few hours time, and I need at least 3 hours to take the bus and train back home.

When the girls arrived, I remember fidgeting and secretly keeping track of time to try to make it back home before the show started, and I remember the meeting was cut short, even though the girl I liked just got there after enduring 3 hours of public transportation from her hometown.

Yup, I chose a TV show, over a potential girlfriend, and I went back in a hurry, but I no longer remember whether I was in time for the show.


Case 2:

It was one of the days when I was at home instead of outside, and my mom received a call from a relative. Somebody in the extended family died, and the place was at Jelebu, about 2 hours drive. The road to Jelebu had to go through Bukit Tangga, which was (and still) winding ala Akina of Initial D. Mama asked me to drive her. Alas, at 9 pm there was Foong Sai Yuk on TV, another of my favorite Chinese TV shows. What choice did I have? Being the ever obedient son, I agreed and off we went.

I remember it was a hot afternoon, and I expected that everything would settle down before nighttime. But something went wrong somewhere, and it was almost 7 pm when we actually pushed off from Jelebu. On top of that, we had a passenger who was a second cousin, and we had to send her home on the way.

She was no older than 17 at that time, and I made her cry and barf in the car when I drove at 100km/h down the hill slope to rush back. I remember Mama was so furious (or was it fear?) that she spewed out some pretty vulgar curses along the way. But I no longer remember now.

That time I made it just in time and caught the show, even after dropping that cousin off. I think Fujiwara Takumi would be proud. If you remember this, Ma, I’m so sorry. I hope we’ll never have to go through such incident again. He he he...


Case 3:

It was 9 pm. I was having a bad day, can’t remember why, but somehow we (read: wife) needed to pay a visit to our second home (read: Tesco) for some groceries, else my son would have nothing to eat the next day. Not only I was notified so late, but House M.D. will air at 10 pm! Again, I got into crazy mode. To cut it short, we made it in one hour’s time and I did not miss my show. However I pitied my wife who had to bear the brunt of my fury along the way. (So next time please plan ahead, dear wife!)


Case 4:

Jaya Jusco was having a club member’s day or something like that. Wife and I already went during lunch time, but we were in a rush so she wanted to go again after work, so at 7 pm off we went with our eldest son. I originally didn’t want to go, because Knight Rider was featuring my most anticipated episode: KITT vs KARR and after would be the latest episode of Heroes which I absolutely MUST NOT miss.

Woman being a woman, the trip took longer than I thought. And as the time went past 9 pm, anxiety hit, and the rest of the trip turned sour. I missed Knight Rider and had to watch it on crappy You Tube, and I missed 15 minutes of Heroes. That’s it, no more outing on Thursday nights!


Case 5:

AXN had a new show called Leverage, which I took to liking since watching the first episode. Aaaah…again, somehow Tesco trip cannot be avoided. By 8 pm I already got impatient, and my wife who originally wanted tomyam Pak Ismail had to settle for tomyam Juara Sulung instead; the latter perceived as the lesser choice for her but I personally did not care either way.

This was yesterday night, and it suddenly made me think about how attached I was to TV shows throughout my entire life. I recalled these events to my wife yesterday night over that tomyam and I realized that a lot of things I like in my life (other than geeky techie stuffs) involves fiction in the form of books and motion pictures. Perhaps unconsciously I sought them as a form of escapism away from day-to-day realities of life. More so in my working age now where life barely leaves me with enough personal space. TV time is about the only time in a day where it is truly my own, where I do not have to think about work, or family, or friends… at least until I have to fight my son for the remote control… sighs…

So please, everyone, you can bother me anytime you want during the day, but please, do not disturb my TV TIME!