A Call From An Old Friend

I was fast asleep when suddenly I heard the phone ringing. I thought it was my alarm clock, so I ignored it because my dearest Bie would switch it off for me, as usual. But then Bie gave the phone to me saying that it was my friend. Now, who would want to call me at 3.30 in the morning? Sleepy as I was, I picked up the phone.

Fancy my surprise when I heard a man speaking in a German accent on the other line.

“Achim..!!” I screamed. I heard him laugh on the other line.

“Hi Masleena. It’s been a long time”.

“Yes it has. I haven’t heard from you for a quite a while”.

“I have been busy and my life has been a bit off track, but that’s another time. Maybe I will write you a long email later. I am with Jesus and Susana here. And he has news to share with you. He’s getting married next Saturday with Susana”.

I was no longer sleepy. “Wow.. congratulations”.

“I’ll pass the phone to him”.

So I spoke with Jesus. He is getting married this coming Saturday and is very happy about it. He told me that he is going for his honeymoon in Vietnam. I protested and told him to come to Malaysia again because I can arrange for some really nice accommodations. But he said that he couldn’t promise to drop by Kuala Lumpur. However, he invited me to Spain instead. After talking for a few more minutes with Jesus, and then Achim, we hung up.

That was nice. I haven’t been in contact with Achim for quite a while now. The last email that I received from him was late last year when he told me that he had broken up with his girlfriend and was working in Vienna. He does call once in a while, but it has been ages as well since we spoke on the phone. But, he never fails to call me to say hi, which is very nice of him.

I know Achim back in Newcastle. We had an elective class together. I can’t remember which subject though. But thereon we became good friends. We would meet up for coffee at the Student Union or walk together to Eldon Square where later he would walk me to my bus stop so that I could catch the bus home. Sometimes we would meet up at the library and discussed about the subject we took. We even talked about life, philosophy and religion. He was doing his degree at that time. But older than me as he was one of those students who took up tertiary education at a later age.

I invited him over for a nasi ayam when I was in Dilston Road and he loved it. He tried eating with his bare hands (coz he saw that some of the Girls who were there at the time, were eating with their hands). Of course it was funny to see him eat with his hands, but he didn’t mind. Because we were quite close, Bie didn’t feel very comfortable with it. He didn’t like the fact that Achim would say hi to me when he saw me but ignored him.

When I returned to Malaysia whereas he returned to Germany, we kept in contact. We would exchange emails and he would sometimes call me. In October 2001, he visited me in Malaysia. He brought his Spanish friend with him, Jesus Gonzales. It was nice. Coz I had just started working, I couldn’t take much of leave. So, I let him stay with my parents to experience the Malaysian family way of life and my parents took them out on day trips to PD, Malacca, etc. Trust me, I had stupid arguments with Bie along the way because he didn’t seem to like the idea that Achim was staying with me and my parents under the same roof for two weeks. Not until he helped Achim and Jesus during their visit to Pangkor that Bie then approved wholeheartedly of my friendship with Achim. And Achim also finally acknowledged Bie. It was funny. I don’t know why he ignored Bie before.

We promised to visit him in Germany in 2006 for the World Cup. But alas, it was not to be. Achim was excited though and promised that he would arrange accommodations and buy us the game tickets. Unfortunately, due to no excess of funds, we couldn’t go to Germany this year. Oh well. Maybe later. Hopefully.

His phone call last night brought back good memories. I so hope that I can see him soon. I told him to come back to Malaysia for a visit, but due to work commitments, he couldn’t come. Oh well, I just hope that Jesus will find time and drop by in Kuala Lumpur during his visit to Vietnam.

The First Of Everything

Have you ever reminisce about the past where you smile to yourself and say, “That’s the first time I did that”. Well, I too am sometimes drawn back to my past just thinking about the first time I did that, or did this; went there or went here, have that or have this, and the list of the first for everything goes on and on. Here I’d like to share with you on ten of my first time of everything.

First favourite book
Honestly, I don’t remember the first book I owned, however I do remember liking a certain book when I was little. A book that I would read over and over again without feeling tired. It’s an old Malay folk tale called Batu Belah Batu Bertangkup. I used to cry (nearly all the time) when I read the part where the mother ran in search of the batu belah batu bertangkup because she was disappointed that her son Pekan ate the last telur ikan tembakul. It was heart wrenching.

First soft toy
Gosh.. this is something that is difficult for me to recall because I do not own any soft toy when I was small. In fact, I was afraid of dolls and puppets. So when girls my age played with soft toys, I would be climbing trees and swim in rivers with the boys. But, let’s see… I guess it would have to be the panda soft toy, about the size of a pillow. Ayah bought it for me when we were in the UK (when Ayah did his PhD). I hugged it when I went to sleep at night. I remember bringing the panda back with us to Malaysia, but somehow I don’t know where it is now.

First jewellery
Has to be my gold baby bangles that my grandmother gave me when I was a baby. In fact, I still have them. I think I will be passing them to my daughter.

First Tadika
Tadika Kemas near the simpang of Kampung Tanjung Petai. I went to the tadika for two years i.e. when I was 5 and 6. I remember my grandfather used to send us (my brother and I) to the tadika every morning on his motorcycle and fetch us around noon. Those were good times.

First fight
My grandmother (arwah) used to laugh whenever she remembered this. I think I was 5 years old. It was a squabble between Ateh, Jain both boys mind you, and myself. We were in front of my grandmother’s house but I don’t remember what the fight was about. Jain took a swing at me but I ducked so his hand kena the mata kucing tree. Then Ateh took a swing at him, whereas I was shouting at the top of my voice telling them to stop fighting. I shouldn’t have opened my mouth coz I kena also. All of us ended up with bruises and small cuts. It was funny.

First best friend
Definitely Haslinda when I was in standard 1 to standard 3. We were the exact opposite of each other. She was fair whereas I was dark, she was lemah-lembut whereas I was a tomboy, the boys seemed to like her in a girly fashion, whereas boys liked me coz we were satu geng. But we somehow lost contact when I followed Ayah to the UK.

First boyfriend
Believe it or not, but I have never had a boyfriend before I met up with my dearest Bie. Yeah I had admirers (surprisingly quite a few, considering I wasn’t that pretty – looks fade, personality flourishes – that’s what I believe in, and that’s how I got the admirers… I think.. hehehehe). And yes, I go out with them. But never anyone that I can call as my boyfriend. So I would have to say that my first boyfriend is Bie. And that was back in February 1998.

First Job
As a temporary teacher teaching standard 2 and 6 at a primary school in Seremban while waiting for the A-Level results to come out. That was the first time that I had ever received a salary.

First car
Silver Wira eroback 1.3. In fact, I still drive it. And it’s been five years now.

First devastating death
It has to be my grandfather whom I called Tok Yah. He was Ibu’s father. I grew up surrounded by Tok Yah and Uwan (my grandmother). They took care of us when we were little up until the day Ayah whisked us away to the UK. We missed them like mad. Tok Yah died of an unknown illness. The doctor himself didn’t know what his illness was thus did not know how to cure him. I was in PPP/ITM when it happened, all ready to manage an event at the Siswi college. I was Block 4’s president. As usual, I called home to ask how Tok Yah was because the last time I saw him that weekend he was in the hospital. I didn’t kiss him as usual coz I didn’t want to disturb him sleeping. No one seemed to be home. Maksu wasn’t home, my parents weren’t home and Pak Ngah was also not home. His daughter was home though and when I asked her on Tok Yah’s conditions, she said she didn’t know. I was mad at her. How could she not know how Tok Yah was. I called Wanteh’s house and her daughter picked up the phone. She cried even before I could ask her anything. My heart was thumping like crazy. The only house, which I didn’t call, was my grandparents’ house (it was weird as to why I didn’t call the house first). So I dialed the number and Ibu picked up the phone. She passed the phone to Ayah. Ayah told me to get a grip on myself and that Tok Yah had passed away. I couldn’t hear him anymore. Tears were rushing down my face. Without I realize it, I was wailing like mad at the public phone booth. Apparently Tok Yah had passed away for 3 days. My parents didn’t tell me because I was having my A-Level trial exam. Up till this day, I remember the event that happened surrounding his death like as if it was yesterday. I still cry whenever I remember it.

I think that’s just about it. There are a lot more, but I think I better stop it at that.

Now… whom do I wish to tag into doing this. I think it would have to be:
1. Yamm
2. Pah
3. Murni
4. Zha
5. Maie
6. Liny

As for the others tu, rasa diorang malas kot. BUT, if you want to, why not. I would truly appreciate it. If you don’t have a blog, just list your first of everything in the comment box. That’d be cool.

Those who have been tagged, hope to see your respond soon.

Kari Kepala Ikan at Kampung Attap

Zam treated us to kari kepala ikan today for lunch. It was HUGE! Besar giler..!! I wonder how big the fish was. And the dish itself was RM60. I mean, for a fish head that hasn’t got much of meat, apart from certain areas, it sure does costs a lot. Oh well, since I didn’t pay, who cares..!!

We lapah the fish head like no one else. The eyes menjadi rebutan antara Zam and Rub. Well, since the fish had two eyes; Zam took the left one while Rub took the right one. Not long, the fish head tinggal tulang. I think there were still some leftovers stuck in between the bones, but I wasn’t bothered to pick them. Zam said if he was at home, he would lapah the fish bone head even further. I looked at the remaining of the fish head. “Apa jer lagi yang tinggal yang boleh dimakan? Macam dah takder meat jer lagi”. To which Zam replied that the juice from the bones are to die for. At home, he would suck the juice out from every corner of the fish head that are edible. Well, since I’m not really a fish head eating person, I wouldn’t know. But it’s nice to eat with someone who appreciates fish head to that extent.

It was already 2.15pm when we finished eating. Our office hours begin at 2pm every day. Since my boss is in today, I don’t think it would look good if he was to look for me and I wasn’t there. So, we hurriedly left the kari kepala ikan place and drove back to the office.

Though it’s already 5.30pm, I’m still full. And I’ve got volleyball practice this evening as our sports carnival is this Saturday. I don’t know whether I can cope playing with a full stomach like this. And to make matters worse, my hands still smelt of curry (while sniffing my hands to my nose…) and I hate it. [Sigh]… the smell is going to stick there for a few days yet. I know. Experienced it before.

What’s Happening?

I read the paper this morning and was shocked to find out that a boy who got kidnapped last Thursday from his home in Subang Jaya was murdered and dumped in the Sitiawan River with both his legs sticking out of a suitcase among the mangroves. He was only seven years old. And to make matters worse, he was killed because he knew who his kidnapper was. It was his uncle.

What is the world coming to? I scorn anybody for killing anyone, but to be at the mercy of your own relative? It’s just something that I can’t accept. I curse the man for killing his own nephew. I hope he burns in hell. This kidnapping case is one of the many criminal cases involving young children and toddlers these days. It’s just so depressing to hear about babies being abused by their own parents (if it’s a maid, yes.. I can tolerate that. But I still CANNOT condone the act of abusing – I curse whoever abuses ANYONE for that matter, especially babies and young ones who cannot fend for themselves).

There any many cases whereby parents brought their babies to the hospital after their babies vomited blood and the doctor who did the medical check up found out that the babies were abused. Some of the abused babies even died due to internal injuries or blood clot in the head. It depressed me to read such things on the paper. What makes me even sad is the thought that the babies’ OWN PARENTS can actually do such things to them.

Don’t let me start on the abuses. They are just beyond description; something which I would not like to be reminded of. Your babies are the gift from God. Why abuse them? They’re young and helpless. You are there to protect them and to nurture them into becoming good people. You’re not there to kick them or swing their heads onto doors and walls… [sigh]. It’s so distressing to see what parents are capable of these days. And we’re only touching on abused children.

What about fathers raping their own children? There are many of that around as well. I’m sure you’ve read in the news recently about a bogus ‘religious’ man who raped nearly all his daughters at the coax of his wives as he reasoned that if he didn’t do that, his daughters would commit such ‘relationship’ with other men and him, the father, wanted to prevent that from happening. So he did the girls first. How sick and nauseous is that? And the most unbelievable thing was that, his wives were duped into being his pimp. They actually asked their daughters to perform this ‘ritual of preventing sex with other men’ with their husband??!! How intolerable is that?

And that’s just one of the MANY cases that was highlighted. What about those that were not highlighted? I read in the Sunday Mail many months ago that in Malaysia, 9 out of 10 rape cases were unreported. Statistics showed that only about 20% of rape cases happened in public places while nearly 70% of them happened in the ‘safety of homes’. And get this, nearly 80% of the rapists are people known by the victims. In 2004, a 43-year old ex-soldier was found guilty of raping his own daughter at his Tanah Merah, Kelantan house. And in 2003, the nation was shocked over the report of a 10-year-old girl, Nurul Huda was her name, was raped by three men at a Gelang Patah TNB sub-station. She was only about a hundred meters from her house. Thinking about it today makes me fear the safety of my own little daughter. I think rapists should die a slow and painful death.

What is happening? Malaysia is no longer safe to live in. And imagine this; I only touched upon abuses, rape and murder cases. There is in fact MANY MORE of criminal cases out there in Malaysia today that are not highlighted here. Murder cases seem to happen nearly everyday these days (so are rape cases). Be it the murder of our own locals or immigrants. Even a snatch thief can kill its victims….and snatch cases used to be ‘victim-friendly’.

We must be very cautious these days. Sometimes, the comfort ness of your own home may no longer be safe too. Remember the recent case where the husband stabbed his own wife to death while she was breastfeeding her six-month old baby? How could he do that? To his own wife? His own children? What would people tell the baby when he/she grows up? That your dad killed your mom while you were breastfeeding? Imagine the trauma that the children faced and experienced. One minute your mom was alive and well and the next minute she was dead. It was lucky that the baby wasn’t killed as well in the process.

[sigh]… I feel sad for the world. Armageddon is truly befalling on us.

Weird Feeling

Previously I posted an entry about having a stupid argument with a friend at the Putrajaya Mosque. Well, due to recent events where I feel that I ought to reflect on myself, (not to mention a continuous persistence from a friend), I sent him a text message apologizing for the event that took place. I know I was at fault and that I was too egoistic to admit otherwise.

Me : Hi. Still mad at me? Sorry for any hurt that I caused. It was truly my fault. I understand if you’re still angry but I hope we can start all over.

Him : I was mad? Bila?

Me : Please lah. Back in March dulu. Mad and maybe more to disappointment. Whatever it is, I am sorry ok.

Him : I wasn’t mad at you… no, not at all.

Me : Whatever you felt back then is highly regretted. But I hope we’re ok.

Him : I can’t stay mad at you dear, I love you too much…

Me : [Hah? Is this guy for real…?] Are you saying that to make me feel even more guilty? You’re not playing with me? I’m thankful that you can’t stay mad at me for long though. Thank you so much…

He didn’t reply to my last text message.

I sat on the edge of the bed and looked at the last text message he sent me. I love you too much..?? What’s that supposed to mean? I have known him for more than 10 years now and never throughout the entire friendship has he ever uttered a single word reflecting love, sayang or care towards me. He always makes remarks that sometimes make me want to tear his eyes out. Well, metaphorically. Even another friend thought that he’s too macho to say such words to anyone.

But yes, I have to admit that over the years, he has grown mature so I never feel like tearing his eyes out anymore, but he always has this smug on his face whenever we talked about something. It’s like as if he’s saying, “I know you too well, Ija”. Well why shouldn’t he. He has known me for 12 years now. But then, I’m an open book. Everybody knows me too well for my liking.

It made me think back on the past relationship I had with him. We were never a couple. Never. I was always his close friend. Should he have feelings for me in the past, I don’t know, as he had never made it clear on whether he had feelings for me or not. I do know that he was romantically involved with a girl called S. He introduced me to S and when S ditched him, he tried to win her back. But to no avail. S is married now, so I’ve heard. So there was never a moment that he could have had affections for me unless of course as a friend. He better have affections for me as his friend. Yes he asked me to go to trips with him and explored Europe at his expense, and then there were the occasional gifts. But I always take it that he did that coz I’m his close friend. I mean, he never said anything about loving me be it before I got to know my dearest Bie or before I got married.

But I do remember him being upset when I got engaged to Bie. He didn’t call me for about three months. I merely thought that he was upset coz I didn’t tell him first that I was getting engaged. I mean, I had a lot of other friends as well, especially my girlfriends so it’s only natural that I tell them first.

And he also has given me vibes in the past that he thought I was somewhat special, but they were only vibes. I don’t take hints. You want me, you tell me upfront. Even if you give a million hints, I wouldn’t bother as they’re only hints. Bie went straight to the point. He liked me back then, he went ahead and told me.

[Sigh] I guess he loves me because we’re such close friends. In fact, looking at it now, it’s probably nothing. Maybe I am being perasan only. Oh well… but it’s nice to know that somewhere out there, a friend loves me.

Who Said PD's Not Fun

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to gather with a group of small friends, mainly those I went to school with. These are my close ex-school mates; those who studied form 4 elsewhere because most of them obtained glorious results. In fact, out of yesterday’s group, I was the only one who didn’t study somewhere else after SRP. But, I am happy that we’re still good friends.

Maie’s husband works with FAMA so she managed to obtain cheap accommodations at the Institut Latihan FAMA in PD. I thought the place was really going to be creepy considering that it was a government body’s resort, but the surprise was on me.

We left my parents’ at 1.30pm. The rest of the girls were either on their way or still traveling from KL to Seremban, contrary to what was arranged earlier on (yes Lin, that means you :P). So, when we already passed Telok Kemang, we were skeptical. I mean, where on earth is this FAMA’s resort. We kept on looking for signboards to the place but there were none.

After the army camp, I think about a few kilometers more, we saw the signboard. To get to the resort, we had to pass by ‘kampungs’ and orchards. It was a change from the bustle of the city. Then we saw it. It was white with blue roofs. Niza was already there with her family. I got out of the car and went to the lobby. It was quiet. Either its visitors were busy taking naps or they weren’t anyone else there. The sight of Niza greeting me at the lobby was somewhat pleasing. Apparently she had all the keys with her. She showed me the apartments and we finally resolved to stay in the one near the pool.

I opened the apartment, expecting a strange and stuffy smell coming out from it. But I was wrong. The apartment smelt fresh (courtesy of the citrus air freshener). It was clean. The bedsheets were also clean. The bathroom was clean. The balcony was clean. We could actually walk barefooted without having to worry about our feet being dirtied by dust.

Not long after that, the girls came, one by one. Liny was the last to arrive. She joined us straight at the pool, carrying a plastic bag of warm pisang goreng. So there we were at the pool, watching the kids play and talking. It wasn’t long before I joined in the pool with the kids (and their mothers and fathers). It was also the first time that Marsya got her body wet in a swimming pool. She was excited. She kept on splashing the water. At one time, she fell while walking in the pool and drowned sekejap. She didn’t want to be held. Bie picked her up. She was coughing and scoffing water out. Her eyes were puffy and she was also vomiting. When I took her to the adult pool and placed her in the baby’s float, she was terrified. She held on to me really tight. But when she got the hang of it, she was soon having fun. She even moved her legs in the water as if swimming. It was fun to see her. Her screams could be heard all around the pool. She was having a blast time. When we wanted to get her out of the pool, she was also screaming. Screaming not to be taken out of the pool.

That night Marsya slept at 7.30pm up until 8.30am the next day. Luckily for Bie and I. We could enjoy laughing with our friends without any disturbance from Marsya.

After dinner, we watched Lin’s wedding on dvd. We also ‘kutuk’ her ‘kaw-kaw nyer’. She couldn’t do anything to defend herself. It was funny. After that, we watched Elizabethtown but as most were already sleepy, I didn’t finish the dvd. I think I only stopped at the part where Orlando Bloom got back to the hotel with his father’s cremated body in the urn.

The next morning, we hung out, had breakfast and chit chatted. Lin went to PD’s market to buy fresh flowers for her mother as it was Mother’s Day.

We left the resort at about 2pm.

It was fun. It has been a long time since we gathered like that. In fact, it was the first time that we went somewhere to hang out rather than have short gatherings at any of our houses. I wouldn’t mind doing it again. Cuma we didn’t have much time to gossip. Maybe next time.

Will post pictures soon.

Tupai-Tupai

I had quite a nice lunch yesterday. About 17 of us went to Tupai-Tupai for lunch. Most of the bosses weren’t in. So the prospect of going out for lunch seemed like a tremendous idea.

There were four cars. When we reached Tupai-Tupai, our tables were already booked and the foods have all been pre-ordered. So, about a minute of sitting down, the foods arrived. There was about six dishes altogether. There was Tom Yam, toufu, siakap masak masam-masam manis, telur bungkus, vegetables ikan masin and lemon chicken. They were all good. The Tom Yam however could have been better. I don’t meant to brag but I have eaten a Tom Yam, which tastes so much better. We finished the main course with desert; trifle with ice cream on top.

Our tables were noisy. Apart from the sounds of people munching food, there were a lot of banters and chitchat. Kutuk-mengutuk, catch up on latest gossips, etc, etc. It was a good lunch. And it has been a while since we actually had lunch like that. The last time we did lunch was when we ordered A LOT of pizzas to the office about two months ago. That was good as well.

I love my colleagues. I can’t have enough of them. We are so close. I think I have mentioned this before in my previous post. I will definitely miss them if I leave the company. No doubt that the pay is measly, but the people have never failed to bore me. Even if I come to the office with a mood that makes people cringe, by the end of the day, I would have been better. I have never been in such good company before. I know that I have only worked for two companies since I graduated, but I don’t know whether I’ll find a good company as this at other places. Yeah I know that different places offer different benefits, what with different surroundings and all, but my current environment with these people that I work closely with every day, is just something that I find very hard to let go. Heck, I even shared my desert with a male colleague..!! Something which I don’t normally practice… before you people (whoever’s reading) get the wrong idea.

So yeah, Tupai-Tupai is quite a nice place to hang out if you have a large crowd of friends with you. And it is good to eat out with your colleagues once in a while. I don’t mean eat out at the usual place or tapau bawak naik atas. What I mean is REALLY hang out and have lunch… and of course pay a little extra while you’re at it.

Not So Good Monday Morning

I am in a foul mood this morning. I think it all began last night when I couldn’t find my blue pants. It’s uniform day and I’m supposed to be wearing my blue pants. But as I couldn’t find it, I had to wear my grey pants. And last night, Marsya couldn’t sleep, so she was crying, sort of ‘mengigau’. My dearest Bie (not that dearest last night) didn’t want to wake up. He asked me to pick Marsya from the baby cot, while he continued to sleep. I had to go to the bathroom, but no… he asked ME to pick Marsya up. So we had a few minutes of ‘eye-glaring and non-talking’ argument, and I picked Marsya from her baby cot, hugged her and brought her to sleep with me on the bed.

This morning, on the way to work, I nearly collided with a motorcycle on the traffic light at PJ Hilton… and of course got cursed by the motorcyclist in the process. I didn’t mean to. I was trying to kejar the green light because the cars next to me wouldn’t let me pass by, walhal they were going straight; I wanted to go right. So by the time I got to the traffic light, it was red again and I thought since the police was there, he’d let me pass by. But NO.. not did I only got cursed, the policeman prohibited me from going right. I told him that I wanted to go right into Federal Highway, but he showed his angry face and told me to go straight. I had no choice. I went straight. I guess he saw me nearly langgar the motorcyclist. He could have allowed me to go right, as the traffic from the other side wasn’t using the road yet, but he made me miserable by not allowing me to go right and forcing me to go straight.

I was very upset. The u-turn junction was far ahead and traffic was building up on the federal highway. I didn’t want to be late.

But I went ahead to look for the u-turn and made my way back to the federal highway, my face all squirmy and upset.

As I reached the parking space this morning, I nearly knocked against a fence. Luckily it only ‘kissed’ my car bumper by a mere millimeters distance.

As I didn’t want to be late, I didn’t buy breakfast.

I swiped my card at exactly 8.28 am.

And because of all that have happened, I am not exactly in a very good mood. Let’s hope that by lunch, my mood would have been restored.

Trip To JB

When Bie told me that we HAD to go down south for the weekend to attend a wedding, I felt bored already. I don’t really like going to JB. It’s just so tiring. Sitting in the car for over four hours with Marsya who these days tak boleh duduk diam, is certainly not something I look forward to. Besides Bie would definitely be the only one driving, AND we would definitely have to bring Bak’s kancil. Malasnya…

So Bie decided that we ought to bring our car. It would be more spacious and Marsya can walk from one end of the car to the other. Though my heart still didn’t want to go, I went ahead with the plan anyway. Tak best lah kan if I don’t go (that’s me, trying to be positive about the whole thing). Besides, biler lagi nak kenal dengan my husband’s relatives. So with a very slightly heavy heart, I tried to look forward to the trip to JB.

On Saturday, Bie picked me up from my parents’ place and I was surprised to see my brother-in-law joining us. He NEVER joins in any of the family trips or affairs. He always had something going on. I wondered how Mak got him to join us. I also sighed heavily. That would mean that the car would be very cramped and we would end back to square one. It’s like driving a kancil BUT with five passengers now instead of four… Marsya excluded. But the trip had to go on, so there we were, all five of us cramped in a wira heading towards JB.

We reached JB at 11.00 pm. On the way there, we stopped by the Restoren Jejantas coz Bie and his brother wanted to see the football match between Manchester United and Chelsea. I was a bit irritated because that would mean that we would reach JB quite late. But if the EPL’s on TV, Bie would always find ways to watch it, especially if it involves his MU team. So there we were, for about 45 minutes. We continued our journey to JB before the second half of the game began. Thank goodness for that. By the way, MU lost to Chelsea 3-0. Too bad.

We slept at a relative’s house. Marsya couldn’t sleep that night. She was cranky and didn’t want to sleep. It was past 2.00 am and I was sleepy. My parents-in-laws had long gone to sleep. Bie wanted to watch James Bond. And he asked me to tidurkan Marsya. I got furious. So in the end, we both went upstairs and tried to tidurkan Marsya. My daughter only slept at 2.30 am.

The next day was quite all right. The nasi beriani gam at the wedding was quite nice. And Bie’s relatives were nice people. Their children were very helpful. Ashraf, the son, was quite attentive with Marsya. Ira, his sister, was very accommodating. So I felt ok.

Later that day before we head back to KL, we went to Mak’s friend’s place. She was hosting a Maulidur Rasul at her place and her daughter cooked nasi beriani also. So, I ate more rice (I tell you, I felt totally fat on Sunday). Her daughter is a wonderful cook. She’s a chef at Concorde Shah Alam. After she packed us some of the beriani rice to bring with us back home, we made our way back to KL. Of course we stopped at my parents’ first for more food (see, what did I tell you about me being VERY fat on Sunday).

We only reached KL at 12 midnight. As it was quite late, Mak persuaded me to sleep over at her house. Which I did (it brought back many old memories as I stayed with her after I got married, after all, I slept in my old bedroom. The familiarity of the room was kind of nice, although my personal belongings are no longer there).

After lunch the next day, we went back home. There it was, a tiring but not TOO bad, trip down south. However, I don’t think I want to go down to JB again in the near future. Letihlah. Maybe later though…, much later.