Sail a boat when it rains

When I was living in York, I walked to work daily. The only problem I had on rainy days was that the strong wind might break my umbrella. I still remember a funny incident where it snowed, rained, and was sunny in York, all on the same day. It was the 26th of February 2010.

I never knew of York being a city of 4 seasons, unlike Edinburgh. I learnt that the best way to predict the weather in Edinburgh in the next few minutes was to observe the direction the clouds were moving in, then look at the sky where the clouds were moving from and if it was sunny there, it would be sunny where you were in the next few minutes. If it was cloudy there, then you better enjoy your last few minutes in the sunshine. My prediction method rarely failed me.

So, on that evenful day in York, I was crossing the road and there was a sudden strong blast of wind and my umbrella broke! The top part flew onto the road and there I was, holding onto the handle and walking across the road. I did not notice that the piece of umbrella which fell onto the ground was obstructing traffic. Thank you, kind lady, for picking up that piece and putting it aside. It started raining as I was waiting for the bus and when I got off the bus, it started snowing. I was wet in 0 degrees Celsius and since it was my first day in York, I was lost! Lost, wet and frozen! When I finally found the house, I couldn't feel my fingers to hold the key and open the door. Aah, good times. I really miss snow now.

Now, I am in Malaysia. When it rains in Malaysia, it is not like we don't have enough trouble with the heavy rain, we actually have to deal with avoiding pits in the road which have collected water. I fail to understand why roads can't be built to not collect water when it rains. It is not rocket science people! Just the other day, I had to go out when it was raining. I was all like, "It's just rain. It's not going to kill you to walk in the rain." Two minutes later, I saw where I was wrong. There was no way I could have walked past the guard house to get to the main road without stepping in water. The whole area was flooded with water! And when walking on the road, some cars speed in the water and splash water on you! My shoes were completely soaked when I reached the shopping mall and I was shivering in the cold.

I really miss my days in United Kingdom. One of these days, I am getting myself a sailing boat. When you are in Malaysia and it rains and you spot a sailing boat among cars on the road, you are welcome to hitch a ride!