Blog drama by: Ellie a.k.a Cleffairy
Title: The Last Paper Star
Wardrobe sponsor: Kose Serani
Starring: Are Bern, Fiona, Koz, Fifah, Yard Yazlil, Sherry Go, Elly RL
Photos: Courtesy of Yard Yazlil

I was chilling out with my friends. And then out of the sudden, the hateful topic came up again.

My friends asked me again and again why is that I don’t have a boyfriend, and getting tired and fed up of this question being directed to me over and over again during gatherings and chilling out sessions, I jokingly said, “I don’t want a boyfriend. I just want to get married. If there is a man who could make me a thousand paper stars in three days, I would marry him the moment when I received the thousandth paper star.”

My friends did not believe a single bit of what I said, but I assured them that is what I really will do if I get a thousand paper stars. All who were present bursts out laughing at my declaration.

Little did I know that I will soon regret what I have said that very day. I shouldn’t have made a joke of my own happiness and future. I should not have made promises I did not intend to keep.

3 days later, I received a package. Curious, I quickly tore away the wrapping paper and lifted the lid of the box.

Paper stars filled the box. A thousand of them I bet. That was probably the most heart-stopping and the most embarrassing moment in my life! I looked into the box and found a beautifully written letter among the paper stars:

“I am very sorry but I heard what you said the other day, so I made these paper stars for you. I hope you will like it. I would like to meet you next week, Sunday, 7.00pm, at the same restaurant you made the promise. I’ll be wearing Tripda wristband on both of my wrist.”

The letter has no signature on it, but the words were simple and beautifully written.

Enclosed in the envelope, there was Tripda wristbands. They’re funky and cute. Under ordinary circumstances I would appreciate the accessories but
I was so stressed and depressed the following days. I was barely functional. The once cheerful me was there no more.

Sunday came and when I reached our meeting place, I saw him there. Wearing flashy Tripda’s wristbands on both of his wrist. Identical to the ones he enclosed with the letter.He was smiling at me.

But I did not smile back. I walked towards him, lifting my eyes to his. Loathe. I feel loathe when I first saw him. I did not know who he is although he looks terribly familiar.

After a considerably long time, he gave me his contact and introduced himself to me. I discovered that he’s actually a Tripda’s user, and has apparently carpooled with me once as a driver, but I never did pay attention to him although we have exchanged business card while we were carpooling as my girlfriends were there too and we were busy gossiping during the trip.

“Those paper stars took me 3 days to make, and my hand is still burning now.”he said, snapping me out of my reverie.

“But you also got what you want.” I retorted coldly. If looks could kill, I have no doubt that he would have died on the spot. I was practically staring daggers.

“I just want to be friend with you.” was his solemn respond.

“Why not other way but this? Why did you eavesdrop the other day and sent me the paper stars?” was my response.

I was very emotional at the moment, I was so angry, and I feel like hitting him on the spot.

“I am sorry, I won’t make you promise me anything.” he tried to soothe my anger, but that made me even more mad.

“You, what do you mean? Did you mean to trick me or insult me?” I turned and ran away from him, with tears clouding my eyes. It was too much. I decided that enough is enough.

“Wait! I’m sorry, but believe me, I didn’t mean anything. I just want to be your friend since we carpooled together. Please count your paper stars, please?” he shouted from afar and what he said echoed in my head.

I couldn’t forget what he said, and so, when I went back, I grabbed the box through my tears and I started to count those paper stars. I did not know why I counted them in the first place, nor did I know why I am doing a meaningless task, but by the time I finished counting, there was only nine hundred and ninety-nine. I thought I must have made a mistake. I must have counted wrongly. Again, again, nine hundred and ninety-nine. I counted the third and fourth time, nine hundred and ninety-nine, the same result. Relief washed over me.

A few days later, I decided to apologize for being rude to him. And so I requested to meet up with him to apologize.

“I just happened to be there and caught your joke with your friends. I only wanted to make a joke out of it, but I didn’t know you would take it that seriously. But trust me, I just want to be your friend. I’ve noticed you hanging out at the restaurant a couple of times now, but I did not know how to approach you.”

“How-how is your hand?” was the only thing I could managed that time. He merely shrugged in response.

We looked up, both smiling and looking at each other the same time. At that moment, I suddenly realised that he is actually a very handsome young man, broad shoulder, tall feature, jet black hair and mysterious pair of eyes hidden behind sunglasses.

Despite a dramatic start, he made my heart beat faster. Soon enough, our relationship developed further and further, we and both fell in love.

But we live quite far apart. And neither of us likes to drive much, so whenever we go on dates, we used Tripda to get to each other.

Money was quite an issue for us, and carpooling via Tripda is the best way for us to commute to each other.

You must be wondering what Tripda is by now, as I have been mentioning about it plenty of times by now.

So here’s sharing with you what it is. Tripda is an online carpooling platform  that connects drivers commuting with empty seats in their cars and passengers heading the same way.

Tripda aims to transform carpooling into a viable transportation alternative, so both driver and passenger(s) can share the cost of the trip, while meeting like-minded friends along the way, reducing traffic congestion and preserving the environment. As long as the car still have empty seats available, you will be able to go with about with the drivers who are offering the ride without taking public transport and even your own transport. Wonderful, isn’t it? You pay less for the extra miles that you are going.

Unlike other form of transportation, Tripda is strictly cost-sharing. Which means, you only pay for the cost of the ride with the people you carpooled with.

Tripda focuses on long distance journeys and operates on the premise of cost sharing rather than the profit making basis. Besides the cost savings, users of Tripda benefit from the opportunity to make new friendships that will last far beyond the duration of the trip itself. In my case…my romantic relationship start with Tripda.

Tripda is fairly easy to use. All you have to do is go to the website www.tripda.com.my or the mobile app (Android or iOS), login with your Facebook account and choose if you are looking for a ride or if you like to offer a ride.

You then can type in your destination and when you would like to travel, or if you are ‘hitching’ a ride, check when those offering rides are travelling.

Find a ride to your preferred destination.

Check for drivers offering the ride to your preferred location and personal preferences.

You can pick your travel buddy on Tripda base on things like how much you want to pay, whether they like to talk or not, car comfort level, their taste in music and so on.

Once you have checked out your potential driver and is all right with their terms and pricing, simply click ‘Book Now’. Don’t worry about having to pay extra for your ride. There is a limitation on the pricing limit. Drivers cannot make profit out of rides.

Your application for the ride will be submitted to the driver for approval.

You will be notified via apps/email/SMS once the driver approved your request for a ride.

And you will be able to see the trip’s detail at the ‘My Trip’ tab once your request for a ride have been approved.

Tripda apps also have a build in messaging system that you can use to communicate with the driver before the ride, so if you are worried, you can always communicate with your driver or passenger before your trip.

Basically, this is step by step guide on how to use Tripda:

1. Register by using your Facebook account.
2. Choose whether you are offering a ride or looking for a ride.
3. Select your trip detail or select a trip that is most convenient for you.
4. Once you have done all the steps above, Tripda will connect you with your ride buddies and you are good to go for your trips.
5. Rate your ride buddies after the trip and you will both earn reputation points.

There is plenty of advantages of using Tripda, among them are:

*Greatly reduces traveling cost.
*Greatly reduces fuel expenses and save on toll, especially during long journeys.
*Reduces the stress of driving everyday and greatly increases the ease of commuting.
*You have company while driving and Tripda verifies the identity of  drivers and passengers in several ways and runs a variety of checks to ensure your privacy and security, although, in my case I did not really pay attention during the first time.
*You can choose who you want to ride with or not.
*You can communicate via a messaging system with the person you are carpooling with before the trip.
* You can share your rides with friends on Facebook to let you know where you are going as a security measure, or keep your trip completely private if you don’t want yourselves to be traced while you are riding with another Tripda user.

Tripda also have a Ladies Only ride feature. This option allows ladies to travel only with other ladies. This way, a greater sense of trust and security can be achieved among ladies who travel alone or with company, making Tripda a trustworthy apps to use.

Below is a guide on how it works for both lady passengers and drivers:

Lady Drivers
If you’re a female driver and want to offer a ride to other females only, you will find the option “Ladies Only” when you create a trip. When you select this option, only ladies can request for a ride with you.

Lady Passengers
If you’re a female passenger looking for a trip only with females in the car, you can select the “Ladies Only” filter in order to see all the rides that will strictly have only ladies.

Men cannot book a Ladies Only ride as Tripda have gender filter.

Now, ever since I’m no longer available for romantic relationship and is not interested in having men with me while I carpool, I only opt for a Ladies-only ride for women who prefer to carpool with other women where I don’t have to be apprehensive about riding with strange men.

Ladies Only Ride 🙂

The love of my life can be quite possessive at times…so yes…ladies only Tripda trip for me whenever it is my turn to make a trip to meet him.

Regardless of my gender preference, the carpool sessions with Tripda drivers of my choice allowed me to make friends, and I ended up keeping in touch and being good friends with the drivers I took my trip with.

Check out the video of ‘carpoolfie’during trips by carpooling. 🙂

For more information on carpooling with Tripda, hop over to Tripda’s website at https://www.tripda.com.my or check out their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/TripdaMalaysia.

You can download the Tripda’s iPhone and Android apps at the link below.

For iPhone User : https://itunes.apple.com/my/app/tripda/id912558450?mt=8

For Android User : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tripda.droid&hl=en

Tripda instagram   + twitter handle : @TripdaMY for both.

Anyway… back to my story…I didn’t realized when, I started to long for the last paper star. On every special dates, every special holiday trips that we took together, I started hoping that what he held in his hands was not beautiful roses, or chocolates, or gifts, but one last paper star, the thousandth paper star.

Finally the day that I waited came. He gave me the last paper star…the paper star that I have been longing for.

Now, thinking back, he had the power and ability to make that last paper star any time he wanted and made me fulfil my promise there and then, but he didn’t. He took the advantage of the thousandth paper star and win my heart in time with his love and patience.

I may received the last paper star a few years late, but I kept the promise I made regardless, not because I have to, but because I’ve fallen in love with him.

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Author’s note& disclaimer: The photos are for illustration purposes only. The blog drama is strictly fiction although the trips and carpooling with Tripda was real.