Interested In Me? Perasan..

I was in JB yesterday. The company arranged a raya gathering for its staff and guests. The delicious Fahrin Ahmad was the emcee (I think he is very good looking, and I like him – I don’t normally drool over Malay actors, but Fahrin is an exception), while the performer was Ziana Zain. She was alright. But she looks really good though. Body and all.

Anyway, I met a few of my Johor colleagues whom I don’t usually meet because we only talk on the phone. One of them was Mr A. He’s into one of those young executive schemes. I have met him once before, and talked for quite a number of times on the phone. He was alright. Quite big in size and seems pleasant enough. But he is definitely not my type. Anyway, I saw him yesterday and we talked. I wasn’t that close to him, so when I received a text message from him while heading back towards KL, I was a little surprised.

Mr A : Hi Mel. Mr A here. Sorry for the event. Apa-apa jer kan. By the way, thanks for coming. Send my regards to FSR as well and safe journey. Take care.

Me : The event was ok. I quite liked it. Perhaps we’ll do better next year. Thanks for the wish.

Mr A : If you don’t mind, how old are you? Myself, 25. 2nd November ni my convocation. Baru nak convo.. silly.

Me : [smiling]… how old do you think I am?

Mr A : Eerrmm.. girls are always like that. Rasa macam sebaya dengan I, tapi nampak macam experienced. Eerrrmm.. 27? No.., 25? Yes, 25.

…and I haven’t even replied to his last text message coz I was still beaming with pride as he thought I was 27 or 25, I received another text message from him. Seriously.., you have got to be kidding me. What’s up with this kid? Is he interested in me? I don’t know. But it’s kind of nice seeing that someone much younger than me thought I was his age. I LIKE [smiling from ear to ear].

Mr A : I salah cakap ke. Sorry.

Me : No. Thank you. I’m flattered. But I am actually older than that.

Mr A : Ok, ok. I won’t disturb you. I pun nak mandi. Tidurlah. Bye.

And that was that. I didn’t reply to his last text message. I don’t think I ought to encourage him. But my friends were making a fuss saying that the kid’s got a crush on me. I mean, for real?? I don’t think so. I think he was just being nice. He looked nice yesterday.

So on the way back home, I told Bie about the text messages.

Me : Do you think he’s interested in me, or was I being perasan?

Bie : [smiling..] No comment.

Me : You’re a guy. You should know.

Bie : Well, maybe sebab you banyak cakap. And most guys suka perempuan yang banyak cakap. Including me lah kot. I suka perempuan banyak cakap.

Me : [looking at him from the side with a look that said, oh my God.. you’re cute when you say that. He rarely says that sort of thing, so when he does, I just want to treasure them in my head – shows how rare it is.. hahahaha] Oh yeah [..questioningly].. Doesn’t that annoy you? Some guys hate it when girls talk too much.

Bie : Tengok dia cakap apa lah. Bukan simply cakap.

Me : You mean, not like yapping or anything and talk nonsense? You mean, intelligent stuff?

Bie : Yeah.. well, something like that lah kot. Tengok Lorq. Dia pun suka perempuan banyak cakap. Tengok Nizza.

Me : Itu sebab dia dulu pernah suka kat I. That’s why he tries to find someone that’s like me [lawak, but sometimes I felt that Lorq pernah at one time, liked me. I know Gurls.. don’t laugh. I’m being perasan. Sajer jer.. the feeling got stuck in my head the day he preached to me about wearing a head scarf after he got back from one of those perhimpunan musim luruh in the UK… and when we got back to Malaysia, I always hang out with him. We went to Coffee Bean, buka puasa at Restoren Nelayan… hahahaha..!! That’s me lah, being perasan.. JOKING only lorr.. kalau Lorq tau pun I know he’s going to laugh his head off].

Bie : [smiling..] Agaknya lah kot..

And that was that. Funny ain’t it.

32 Here I Come

For the first time ever, I am proud to announce that I turned 32 on 19th October 2008. I have always been sensitive whenever someone asks me my age. And my favourite reply would be, “How old do you think I am?” which was a classic really coz some of my friends knew that, that would be the response. Previously, I dislike hearing the responses. Most of them guessed numbers that were beyond my actual age. That kind a make me a little upset. Not upset in a sensitive kind of way, but upset like, “What? Do I look older than that? Alaaaahhh..” Call it silly if you want, but I just didn’t like people to think that I am actually older than my age. I guess it’s the looks. Or is it the body. I don’t know. I mean, wouldn’t you be upset if you’re actually 26 and people thought you were 29? Of course I despised that. Good-naturedly of course.

But lately, that has begun to change. Some of my colleagues thought I was in my late 20s [smiling happily], and another thought I was 30 [smiling yet again… gleefully]. Long story cut short, I don’t get anymore replies saying that I look older than my actual age [except for that one time]. I like it. And I want to remain looking late 20s, or just 30 for a few more years to come. Hopefully.. [wishful thinking… hahahahaha].

My birthday fell on a weekend. A Sunday, to be exact. My parents were in town because Ayah wanted to buy a camera for my brother. They were also in town because they wanted to celebrate my birthday. They wanted to buy a cake, and have a short prayer accompanied by our close family members (consisting of my parents, in-laws, and my brother). And that could only mean one thing. I have to cook [sigh.. I knew it. I knew that I would have to do the planning, and the cooking yet again. It is just so tiring. But for Ayah’s sake – not so much for me, I agreed]. So I decided to cook Nasi Tomato, with Ayam Masak Merah and Dalca.

So on the Sunday, after breakfast, we went to Carrefour. This was the first time that I went shopping for grocery at that time of the day, and I find it rather pleasant. Not many people in Carrefour. There were many free counters. I liked it. So I bought whichever items listed in my shopping list [and also some items not listed there], went to Secret Recipe and bought the Classic Cheesecake [I prefer Capuccino but there were kids around, and I don’t think I’d want them to be eating Cappucino], then we rushed back to the house to cook. Alhamdulillah by 1pm, everything was on the cooker, waiting to be fully cooked. I went inside my room coz my boy wanted to have his midday napping while the maid fried spring rolls, curry puffs and tempura nugget [instant ones; I don’t have the talent to be making any kuih]. By 1.30pm, my brother-in-law and his family came. And at 2pm, my parents-in-laws arrived. And that was the whole family. So we recited some prayers, and after that, we ate.

By 6pm, I was so tired. But I fought the tiredness because my parents-in-laws were around. I need to entertain them, after all I am a good daughter-in-law [snigger.. ]. Then after Maghrib, Lin dropped by with her husband. She hated that my Dalca turned out alright. Hers didn’t [but her biryani rice was nice]. They left at 9.30pm. I was very tired at that time, but resorted to follow Bie to make his credit card payment at Citibank. And I took the kids with me. Why? Well, ONE: they hadn’t gone anywhere that day, and TWO: I want them to fall asleep so that when we reach home, I can just put them to bed.

We reached home at 11.30pm. The kids were both asleep. I cleaned up, said good night to Bie who was watching TV outside, and went to bed. It was a good sleep. And that was how I spent the day. Tired, but fulfilling. I must say, it’s been a while since I celebrated a birthday like that. And on top of that, so many people wished me happy birthday. It’s just so nice. Let’s see, it began at 12.04am, where I received a text message from Bie wishing me a happy birthday [he acted so cool about it on the day before my birthday that I wondered whether he actually remembered it], then the next day, quite a number of text messages and phone calls. It was nice.

Gift? Well.. I didn’t receive any, except for the birthday cake courtesy of Ayah. Yes one would think that my dearest Bie should give me something, but I don’t want to impose. I know that financially he’s not quite stable. The fact that he pays the house installments and relevant bills are good enough for me. But I can’t quite ask him for a present. Well, ONE: I want to be surpised, and TWO: I don’t want to impose. He needs whatever monies he has for other purposes, more important than my birthday gift.

Like I said, I like to be surpised. I don’t really mind if it is the least expensive gift, but the feeling I get for being surpised is most wonderful. I have to admit that after a while of marriage, there are no more surprises like that. Whenever he buys me gifts, it’s always, “So you nak apa?” And we would go together to buy it. Not really a surpise I guess, but it’s nice also. But I do remember the birthdays I had before I got married to him. I guess he did try his best to surprise me. The relevant ones I remember before we were married was one time when he fetched me from work. It was one of those working Saturdays. I opened the car door, and there was a teddy bear [which later I called Teddy-Bie] sitting on the passenger seat holding a birthday card. It was so cute. I liked it. Teddy-Bie is still around. It sleeps with Marsya now, as she claims that Teddy-Bie is hers. And then the Chanel Allure perfume he bought for me [my favourite fragrance, something I’d like to call, my signature], where he kept it in the dashboard of the car and he asked me to open the dashboard. I did. And there was the perfume. It was funny. He did try his best.

After we got married, we sort of went shopping for birthday gifts together because his birthday also fell in October [end of the month]. So it was like, “What do you want for your birthday?” thing. But these days, I just don’t feel like imposing for a gift. I don’t remember getting anything last year (it was the fasting month anyway) and I don’t think I’m getting anything this year. Takperlah.. one needs to sacrifice right? Insya Allah, when there’s rezeki, I’ll get what I want. He knows what I want, but tulah. It is not the right time to impose. I just hope that he’ll “strike gold soon”, then I can start showing him my wish list. But I do hope for a surpise. It’s nice to be surprised once in a while.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME..

How Was Your Eid?

I celebrated Eid in KL this year i.e. with Bie’s family. It was alright. Tired is part and parcel of celebrating Eid, especially if you’ve got small children to deal with. I have to admit, celebrating Eid when you have kids, is actually enjoyable. Especially if your kid is at that age who likes to talk a lot, and not shy to speak to strangers and make new friends. Ayah bought 2 sets of baju kurung for Marsya and 1 set of baju melayu for Raqib. Acik bought Raqib the other set of baju melayu. Biased that I am, I thought they looked adorable. Ayah certainly has taste in selecting nice clothes.

The first day was spent visiting close relatives’ houses. The second day, people came to the house. I made curry mee. My parents came to my in-laws’ house as they went to Bentong to visit their new grandson. So on their way back to Seremban, they made a stop in KL. It was good to see them.

The next day, we went back to Seremban. The whole family. Even my in-laws came back with us because they wanted to visit their cousins in Ampangan. Their cousins are descendants of Dato’ Shahbandar or something (don’t ask me, coz I don’t know much) and they live in this big beautiful old house with nice lawns fronting the main road near the traffic light. I have always wanted to know how the house looks like. When I was in school, I would pass by the house everytime going and coming back from school. I thought it was such a unique and beautiful house and I always wondered how it looked like from the inside. And God answered my prayers. I married someone who is related to the family living in that house. The first time I stepped foot in the house, I was excited. I wanted to see everything. Though it is an old house, it has been renovated for quite a number of times. As wooden as it may seem from the outside, the inside of it is all stones and cement. There are little doorways which I was curious about (but I can’t simply open the doors and push them, it wouldn’t be appropriate) and steep wooden stairs leading to the kitchen on the ground floor. I like the house. It’s beautiful. And I have been looking forward to go to that house ever since, whenever there is a chance. My children tak payah tanyalah. They LOVE the house. I think it’s because of the huge lawn. They were running here and there making the most of the short, beautiful green grass and the swing.

Anyway, after the Ampangan house, we went back to my parents. My school friends came over after 3pm. They brought food, cakes and chicken. Some of them I haven’t met for quite a number of years. It was good.

The next day was spent at my grandmother’s pusara, and then we went back to Kuala Pilah to visit Uwan Teh and Pak Ngah.

So basically that was how I spent my Eid.

I came back to work on Wednesday. But on Tuesday, I took the opportunity to take my kids out to KLCC. First we had breakfast at McDonald, then we took the LRT (Marsya was excited. She didn’t want to sit down, insisting on wanting to look outside even when we were in the tunnel). It is honestly a wonderful experience going on the LRT and KLCC with your kids. I absolutely enjoyed it. Even Raqib was being very quiet in the pushchair as if absorbing all the things he saw. At first we wanted to go on the skybridge. But by the time we got there, the tickets have all been issued i.e. finished. Too bad. Marsya would have loved to have gone up there. Maybe next time. Because of that, we went to Petrosains instead. This proved successful, because Marsya enjoyed herself in there. I myself was surprised because from the outside, it didn’t look like it had much. But once inside, Bie and I were a little surprised to discover that there were many exhibitions and galleries inside. In fact, we spent three hours in there. Talk about being science freaks, which we’re not. But we enjoyed the exhibitions. I especially enjoy looking at my daughter enjoying herself. The feeling was nice and warm. I love them all SO much. Hehehehe.. (that’s me.. being an overbearing Umi).

Next time, we’ll go to Aquamarine and perhaps a picnic in the park. I know my children will truly enjoy themselves there.