Tuesday, January 11, 2011

cross country - merentas desa


Eh, lama tak nampak, bang?” said the friendly brader behind the stall. His nasi lemak kukus is the best in town, always completely sold out by 10.00 am. His rendang ayam is the signature dish that complements nicely with the long-grained, smooth-textured and very fragrant nasi lemak.
As I was making my way to his stall earlier, I saw a lot of primary school children running along the roadside. Then I realised that the school’s merentas desa course passes through my neighbourhood. There were plenty of cones scattered around town, teachers manning checkpoints bearing red and green traffic flags and of course, a plethora of school children. Most were walking, some doing a light jog, a few actually running the course. My favourites are the kids who sat at the bus stop chatting away as the other kids pass by.
I remember when I used to take part in my school’s merentas desa event. Back in Kedah, merentas desa was definitely something to look forward to. For one thing, cross country really meant crossing a very nice countryside. Blessed Kedah was a land of paddy fields, with the fields stretching as far as the eye can see, some places the background is filled with majestic silhouette of Mount Jerai and the Titiwangsa Range.
Our running course would first take us through a kampung neighbourhood, where we’d run past chickens, ducks, housewives hanging out the laundry and toddlers playing hopscotch or skiprope. Some of the local boys would cheer and run with us for a bit before getting scolded by their parents.
We emerged out of the kampung into an orchard that grew a number of different fruits. We passed through a watermelon farm, mango grove and out through a banana grove. If the fruits were in season, I think the orchard would’ve been left empty by the time the event was over.
Out of the orchard, we came to a big stretch of paddy fields. We ran on the bendang, or the embankment of the sawah. At the time, it was post-harvest so all the paddy was gone and the land was being re-tilled for the next planting. That being said, the fields were all filled with thick and clay-ish mud. Firm enough to stand on, but soft enough to get your feet stuck in them.
The first 5-10 minutes we ran on the bendang, but upon the sight of a herd of goats grazing on the paddy stumps, yours truly and friends went on an idiot’s chase for the poor beasts. Naturally most of us got our feet stuck in the mud, one guy completely popped his foot out of the mud – the suction from the mud was strong enough to hold his shoes in for quite some time. The goats, well, their hooves took them to flight with rather amazing speed.
Few things are as satisfying as hearing a bunch of goats bleat away in sheer terror.The paddy fields was the longest leg of the course, took us about 20 minutes to jog through it before we came out to a road running next to a rubber estate. Apparently there were reports of venomous snakes in the area, so we weren’t allowed to go there. The road was the last stretch as we passed by a modern scenery.
We ran past a nice suburban neighbourhood, and some of the housewives in the corner houses were generous to prepare several buckets of ice-cold sirap pandan for us, handing out plastic cups to the thirsty and sweaty kids running across the countryside.
I kinda forgot how the event ended, but there was one thing I do remember. The first 400 to complete the course would get a minimum of 10 points for their House. My friends and I were too busy loafing around while running and naturally we got zilch. As punishment, our seniors told us to do some awfully ridiculous nonsense.
One senior came up with this crazy idea. He sat down under a ceiling fan, and told one friend of mine to take a pole, and turn the fan by hand – until he feels cool enough and satisfied to let him go. I was served a different, but equally crazy punishment. I was made to stand on a chair under a fluorescent light bulb. My task?
“Tiup lampu tu sampai padam.”



Nostalgia is a file that removes the rough
edges from the good old days. 

                                                                                                                Doug LarsoN
[Question: What is your opinion on cross country and 
what is your sweetest memory, if you have one?]

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