One and only..

...running event for 2016!!

I started my 6-weeks training since last week: on Monday 17th I have a closed door z*mba for 1 hour. Rest on Tuesday; on Wednesday I went down to the gym after so long - maybe last one was n Feb/March? - only to find out that none of switches for both lights and fans were working. Talked to the guards and then called the maintenance guy - I demanded him to come pronto. Finally they managed to switch on the lights and fans but both treadmills were not in order. I said, better get it repaired ASAP! Oh, I managed to cycle for quite some time - half an hour perhaps..
Again, z*umba on Thursdays evening for 1 hour or so. Cycled again on Friday - after work for around 45 minutes.
Rest on Saturday - ironed my office attire for 2 weeks.
Today on Sunday, I go to the market - I bought kue teow, broccoli and cauliflower, carrot & muchroom - plan to eat cleaner, i.e. noodle soup instead of fried ones. Bought bananas, papaya & honeydew - on top of green apples & oranges I still have in stock. Don't forget, I need to drink lots of plain water too.
Bought myself a new exercise pants - I need more to alternate between z*mba & gym sessions.
Spend around 50 minutes at the gym- the treadmills are working - thank you message sent to the maintenance guy - I ran for 35 minutes, easy one. I was kind of disappointed with my slowness until I realized that the machine now uses miles per hour instead of km per hour hahaha... so I managed 2.2 miles! Then some time spend on the bike and weight & stretches.
Oh, last I weighted myself - O.M.G it is 63.4kg!! I'm totally overweight considering that my usual range last year was 58-60kg.

The ones that got away...

Same old, same old stories...

Earlier in late December last year or was it earlier January this year, when my mak was around with me for 5 weeks in Penang:

1. An ustaz through another married ustaz is looking for his candidate. Age late 40-s. Reason of being single due to taking care of his mother who recently passed away -  Innalillah.....

Location: in Kedah

The matchmaker is non-willing colleague who was approached by another middle person on behalf of the married ustaz - I suspected from their joined community projects which I was involved somehow - to a limited extent. She said, here is an unmarried person looking for a wife so please contact the married ustaz - she's not interested to continue the efforts of being a go-between.

Based on the hp number, I contacted the married ustaz saying I agreed to get to know the other party. Guess what? He was shocked!!!! It took him quite sometime to respond to my message - must be he is not used to a direct female.

Fast forward, it was during intensive weeks (Jan/Feb) at work when the other party wanted to come & meet - again, the matchmaker was reluctant anyway since she planned to be away immediately after for quite some time. That was the end of it.

2. Prof that I worked with and know a lot about my stories - don't worry, we're not having an affair as per dirty mind of my colleague - we work together along with another production assistant who know a lot about my stories too. I remember, around the time I told my mak about the ustaz, Prof called me around Maghrib and said he was having tea time with his wife and somehow conversation about me being not married came out and his wife knows of one teacher in her school whose wife passed away due to sickness and how he himself taking care of the small children who are really in need of a mom.

He's very kind but shy.

Location: Perai

I said ok and on the next day, Prof called me and asked when am I ready to meet the other party? I said, I'm ok - any time subject to the other party wants to meet of course. Then Prof said, his wife said better meet up soon (aka that week) since once school reopen in January (the following week) he'll be busy as a teacher and fathering his kids.

Cut short the story, no nothing came from his side - I understood that he is not interested lah..

Fast forward to yesterday, during phone conversation, Prof mentioned that he, the widower, already got married to a PAR at his school whose husband passed away too and have children who now even call him 'Cikgu' at home. Alhamdulillah syukur.. I am happy for him.

____

Fast forward to early to mid-September this year:

My sister #5 played matchmaker - she suggested for me to get to know her coworker-at-school's husband's colleague who used to work in Seremban  but now back in AS*tar.

I was reluctant... not because he is much older (54) but I'm tired of getting to know people and my heart broken to smithereens again and again. I have K*puteh now - he's my baby - my life is complete! Even mak accepted him and referred to him as my anak. I have my family esp mak, work to take care of my basic needs, career that is demanding (was appointed as Business Coordinator from mid March) and I don't even have time to slot in my running much more to sign up for events!

Against my wishes. since I asked him to answer 4,5 questions through the middle person, my sister gave my hp no to him. So, he messaged me late Thursday evening and I just responded accordingly. Conversations were stilted - stopped by Friday morning due to me having a seminar. He only came out for air on later Satuday evening - which I replied on late Sunday evening - eve of Eidul Adha. I thought - that was it!

4. Earlier on that same Friday, I talked to my matchmaker colleague who called me earlier on  Tuesday, "Rad!!!! Jodoh you dah sampai...Dat*k Rad!!!" She was excited - I was having no feeling at all - told her I wanted to think about it. So, on Friday noon, I told her - no, I'm not interested to know this guy - coz to my mind, not fair to get to know another guy while I'm in the process of getting to know 54. Oh, this Dat*k guy is 52. 52 is a divorcee which 3 adult kids, and an future alumni of my work place but not directly under me. It seemed that he simply called her & asked her to help him find a candidate. Should I be touched that my colleague think of no other person than me? Huh!

He planned to further his study - MA & PhD. Again, at my work place. 

She asked me to pray Istikharah which I did! So, while I was at my hometown, she acted as the go-between us with me asking lots of questions including the 4Qs above. I thought I was being clever enough to filter the seedy guy: 1) What is your plan w.r.t. hajj? 2) What is your opinion, as a hubby - hypothetically of course - on the roles of a career woman and as a wife, mother, daughter too? 3) What is your hobby? During free time? 4) Anything you would like to ask me? To be fair, again...

This 52 guy answered all questions. Wow!! I was quite happy with the answer...

By Monday, after so many Q&A, my matchmaker said there are certain things which ought to be amongst the two of us only and she's not interested to know. So, i gave her the permission to give my no to him. 

Here was the craziness started:

52 first messaged me on Tuesday noon. By the end of the day, we already had a long phone conversation. Continued on Wednesday - messages & long phone conversation - we clicked together!

On Thursday, I brought my mak to Seremban through KP. He knew of my plan to drive back on Friday morning. He offered to be my driver!!! He in Perai, take a bus (Hmm.. kata Dat*k??) to KL & I'm to pick him up with lots of rambutans, duku langsat, asam gelugor, belimbing buluh, and kedondong.

However by late Thursday evening, he said - changes of plan. It was ok with me - I'm used to drive alone anyway.

By Friday, when I reach Penang - he said he still wanted to meet up but not the 3 of us as discussed earlier - he's got something to tell me.

So, we met at 5pm. 

Here, again, the short story.

He got to know late Thursday evening thru a contact that his 3 stories semi-detached unit (show off with photos on Tuesday) is going to be auctioned off to pay his business debt from long ago - 2007/2008.

Since I kept telling him before that I don't like surprises! I don't like liar & cheater too! Or people trying to take advantage of me!

So, he's playing my cards...

I said, at the end of the so-called date (went ot the GH and ended up  he spent RM8.10 at cafetaria on campus for both of us - I wanted to think about it...

By Saturday, my matchmaker colleague got help of somebody to check his old Merc plate - road tax already expired since June and not belong to him! That explained the slow drive on the middle lane.

By following Monday, checked online to prove no dat*k (istiadat.gov.my - by states), no other vehicles under his name registered at J*J, he's blacklisted (forgot PD*M or J*J list), and best of all - he's registered bankrupt under E*N & Bank Isl*m! Around the same time, he updated his newly create Fb with getting the watikah - but where is the official photos?

I told my matchmaker, I told him that I wanted time to pray Istikharah which I did - for a week! By this time, he already went against my wish for privacy & changed his tunes a couple of time - wanting to be friend only now! 

I'm just grateful to Allah for putting me in his care, insya-Allah...save me from those who want to take advantage of me.  

5. Oh...that one from 5 years ago said, "You turn me down before, onwards, sorry la, I will always turn you down." That was on July 9th. I have loss count of how many times I reach out to him but this time, I get it - I really get it! How many times should I push myself to go through the same emotional roller coaster. We did met up once, surprisingly during Ramadhan for iftar - I guess, we have lost that feeling from inside us. I wish him the best & may he finds what he's really looking for so that I can really let go & move on..

Moral of the 5 stories: I can easily love again.. 

1st...10th year of blogging or not-

I first wrote in my earlier blog in July 2006.

I was in my 3rd year of P*D study and already moved out of on-campus accommodation with both 'diploma & degree', i.e. after a  FT  6 years stay.

I moved to a shop-lot unit shared with 2 other peoples who come and go until mid 2008.
Came to Penang on 30 January 2009.

So what's new for 2016?
I've done my 1st snorkeling in Kr*bi (14-17 February ladies' trip) and gone horribly sea-sick afterwards.

I can take care of mak for 5 continuous weeks from Dec 2015- Jan 2016, all by myself. It was a daily struggle to make sure breakfast and lunch were ready before I went to office and still maintain normal office hours and only going out on weekends - girls day out - no cooking!

Now that my mak is with my siblings in N9, I really struggle to wake up early for qiam, cooking tapau lunch and reach the office early. I'm becoming lazier day by day......

I have a adopted a stray cat as my 'anak bulu'. Even my mak said, 'Anak kau tu...' (Your son..) when talking about K*Puteh.

Now that I'm appealing to go for hajj for this coming hajj season, mak is already worried over who's taking care of him. I left him at the boarding for long Xmas break (Sunday to Sunday), out station workshop (Sunday to Thursday) and Kr*bi holiday (Saturday to Wednesday). Upon reaching home, he slept next to me at nights and even licked my hair and kneaded my back/neck and whatever upon his reach. With his long claws!!

Basically, I have all that I want in life and nothing more.. I'm happy indeed!

Oh, w.r.t. power struggle at the office - I was unofficially one of the deputies for only about 1 week. I was nominated & I kindly rejected through email but still called for meeting to discuss on Thursday. I said my reasons, like do appoint others more senior academics but none of the person approached by the dean were willing to accept the position and there were others who are more than interested but not approach at all for some reasons or others.

My mistakes were in going around asking opinion of others (selected people) on whether to accept or to reject. So, one person who wasn't in the know now came to know and told me why would you want to do this petty jobs who eventually  talked to the dean to appoint another person of his choice instead.

So, by the following Wednesday, I received an urgent call for meeting from the D*an's office. Knowing that there was already a scheduled meeting later in the afternoon, it was the signal to me of what was to come...

I am ok really, I didn't want the position and I only accepted it for reasons related to the school, not personal. However, it was kinda awkward to come to meeting and people congratulated me ...sorry, you're only 15 minutes too late! Hahaha

Now, I have received another appointment letter, this time around however, no money/allowance involved so I guess nobody wants it too. Let's see whether the following 22 months is enough to prove them wrong!

Post-40th birthday trip

On Tuesday, December 22nd, I had my long last dream of getting into the water in Pantai Cenang, from about 5pm until before 7pm - happiness overloaded! Basically I just stayed 'floating' by planting my feet on the seabed with seawater level up to my waist high only hahahaha... There were others too but it was not crowded at all..given the vast stretch of the beach - Mat Salleh's nenek in bikini with her adult cucu, 2 lovely Minah Salleh ladies also in bikini, they all stayed for short period in the water; groups of Malay families - couple with 2 boys and another chap with his son. He noticed that I stayed long in the water - initiated the conversation, sharing where he came from & even told me about his house in Seremban, next to the surau in white fence wall - after I told him that I'm from Penang but originally from N9. The wife was too tired after shopping at Kuah. Paraglide offer at only RM60 - normally RM80, with insurance coverage too! If you are scared, can go tandem with the instructor.
On the return flight, I sat next to one Bengali guy on my RHS - he reeked of alcohol and told me later he stayed late until 2am with 2 Spanish ladies but he didn't sleep with them even if they asked him to. We got to talk and he is a hotel manager (co-partners with Malays) in KT, Brickfield & the latest Pantai Cenang which has just open last week. He talked about his lost love, a Malay lady named Su/Zu something. He kinda regretted not marrying her. She got married 1st, then him. But she came back to him after that which led to her getting divorced. Eventually she got married again, he is separated/divorced from his wife and now found a new partner and they still keeping in touch with each other over the years. His reason of not marrying her - being an eldest son, the tradition of carrying the family's name and it would broke his parents' heart. He is so comfortable with Malay culture and Islam and everything. And he is comfortable talking to me too - being an open person. He told me  she took care of him whenever he came to Sabak Bernam, even her mak accepted him like an adopted son - on her passing away, it caused an uproar when he joined the burial ceremony at the graveside but her brother took his side by explaining to the neighbours - he's like a son to the mother! Every morning, she even prepared his milk drink as well as place for his prayer - just like a Muslim - I guess they co-habited early on...He told me, now that his son has a Chinese girlfriend  - he won't stand between their happiness. His eldest daughter already married with lavish ceremony - Samy V*llu is family friend, Sh*hrizat also came  and few others ministers. She is already a Director at such a young age at a private university college in KL.
He still keep in touch with the ex-wife and take good care of her. I asked - he also provided well for his current partner, not thinking of marriage but in case of anything happen, she is well provided for. She is now resigned to the fact - no kids for them. And his children are now accepting his partner too.
On Saturday, December 26th, I 'floated' on Mi*mi Beach, Bt Feringghi - I noticed the sand (more like small pebbles) wasn't as soft and fine as Cenang Beach, with murky water, and stronger waves. Given that only me and my nephew were in the water, it was just a short session indeed - the rest of the family were having a breakfast picnic under the tree shade.
Overall, 2 nights in Lkw, 1 night in CH and followed by trip back to Pen - it was tiring indeed but I would do it all over again for mak! She mentioned her last trip to Lkw was before I started secondary school - some 28 years ago! - and her last flight was for umrah back in 2004.

Shopping spree at Lkw in 3D/2N

1. Cost of Return Flights with Fir*fly =RM?
Going with 6kg & returning with 22kg. Luckily, we checked in groups of 5: thus out of 100kg, 50kg for us two - my roomate had 28kg (beg beranak plus 2 wrapped bundles - RM12 per wrapping - not for luggage bags since it might break under pressure)
Note: budget extra time before boarding due to long queue at luggage check-in. We depart at 1:59pm (on scheduled) and arrived before 2:30pm (no extra charge for car rental).

2. Accommodation= Gr*nd Cont*nental - an old one but ok lah since I'm not paying

3. Car rental (Saga -huge boot) =RM50 per day; RM100 until Sunday, 1pm

4. Day 1: Check-in & tea time (replacing lunch)

1st shopping tour 4-6:30pm: Ram-HIG-I.Suri (closed)
Basically similar prices for items like chocolates (Hersheys, Ritters, Whittakers, Daim etc. - i bought only imported ones), Corelle and Corningwares, Tefal etc. - coz according to the saleperson, from the same suppliers! The only differences might be in terms of available stocks and design and what's is on offer, or with discounts.
Take note, chocolates on offer - check out the expiry date, usually nor so far away!

Day 2:
K*lim Mangrove Tour including hotel transfer and boat-guide: RM350 (max. 12 pax), so for 8 of us, RM44 each
Ready to swim attire (with change of clothes), sandals, drink & snack, garbage bag for community service next time

2nd shopping tour 2:30-: I.Suri-HIG-L.Saga-HIG kecil-L.Parade
I.Suri is more for beddings (bedsheets, comforter sets, towels - huge selection & in-house brands); extensive selective of Tefals,

3rd shopping tour 8:30am-12:30pm: along stretch of P.Cenang-HIG kecil-L.Saga-stretch of batik/silk/etc @Pekan Kuah-Ram-L.Parade
More expensive at P.Cenang (cotton shop and most things are in white & summery flower prints), even after discount. At Kuah, you can get the same item (beach attires) for much cheaper.
Korean silks, cotton silks, 5 pieces for each design are brought in.

Tak puas hati

1. There are only 3 of us working for this particular publication: Chief, Deputy & Publication - in that order.
I was in KL for 3 days workshop from Mon-Wed, previous 3 days in Langkawi for the weekend workshop. The Chief messaged - asking about a urgent web conference meeting to be scheduled on Thursday. By the time I relayed both me & Production agreement to meet on Thursday, it was already late afternoon. I asked the Production to book the meeting venue. She said, "You should have ask earlier, now I'm outside to pick up my kid." She's in Penang & I was in KL, but I was the one who made the call for booking room and arranged for laptop set-up. I came in the morning today and make arrangement for the drinks and snacks - I was famished with no time for breakfast. And then, we were having problem with the web conferencing - sharing screen, video, the web cam, the set up & the cable etc. She just stayed seated - not doing anything much to help. Oh, she take down some notes (list of numbers) for the meeting - not minutes.

And then I asked her again to send to me the articles one by one. She said, no! She'll send/receive in bulk  - the way she sent them to Publisher. I told her, I don't want to delay in writing up the editorial since it is difficult when I have to read all 6, 7 full articles in one go. She said, "No, you can send to me one-by-one." I remember having this conversation some time ago, and now I wonder no more. There were talk of difficulty to work with her upstairs - among my other colleagues.

And she has the cheek to ask both of us to listen to her at the end - wanting to help us to go for umrah or hajj by signing up for a scheme which I already heard before and not interested in.

The Chief asked for any gossips w.r.t. my love life. I told them, I simply have no time to think about it nowadays. What will be, will be... He said I need companionship but then I am not willing to sacrifice my freedom for simply any husband  - he has to be the right one for me.
___

2. I love flying with the national carrier nowadays - especially for official trips. K.Shima advised to search for 1-way trip for cheaper tix. For KL bound, 12 & 14 is emergency exit, seat ABC then DEF from left to right/from tail side.

O.M.G!!! I heard the gossip just now from P2: they, I mean, she and him, P1, are getting married - weeeeeeeeeeee!

I said, "What about the 1st wife?" yes, she knows already - agree? Well, I have no idea... me & her have already stopped communicating on Fb. Reason being, I hinted at something might be going on between her hubby and my boarder. Someone catch sight of them (she was going to LKW) at the airport during the time the 1st wife's mother recently passed away.

Refuelling

Usually, I need to refuel somewhere along my journey North-South and vice versa. If I'm starting the journey with half-full tank, then RnR Sg P*rak will be the pit stop. Otherwise, with full tank, I can go as far as Ulu B*rnam. I did try to not-stopping with a full tank once, however upon getting into NKVE - you never know the traffic conditions - crawling at times and sometimes not moving queue - I had heart palpitations, need to switch off all radio & AC - to make sure I got to the next petrol station in time. Similarly, heading North, with half-tank I would need to refuel somewhere before Ipoh, usually Tapah, if need I to, then Rawang and with full tank, Sg P*rak again.

With my mak on board, a necessary pit stop cum toilet break at Taiping (heading north) to buy fruits and Bukit Gant*ng (heading south).

Last Wednesday, for Eid, I started my journey south at 6:50am - with less than 2 bars from full tank. I was thinking of refuelling in D*ngkil - I remember, there is a Samuri Sat* Restaurant! Given that I'm very particular (or you can say loyal) with certain brand of petrol, which is not there in Dengkil, I decided with 2 bars left to proceed to the next RnR i.e. Seremb*n at a mere 34km away. Upon exiting the RnR and joining the main highway again,  the two bars now dropped to only 1-bar and just a few km after that the indicator started blinking - O.M.G! Lucky, I remembered there is a P*tronas somewhere near KLIA/S*pang ...no time to check my GPS, Waze or Google map. Off my AC & radio again, and start praying. FYI, I always refuel by the time there is only 2 bars left so I have no idea how quickly or how far the car can go with 2 bars. BTW, my PKE is an older version, so no indicator of the distance I can go with the amount of fuel left.

So, exit KLIA, and stumbled upon a petrol signage before the roundabout heading to S*pang F1. Followed the trail and thank God, after a gamble (usually I turn left to go to Bandar Enst*k or go straight for the S*pang F1), a few km away, there it is on the opposite side of the road - what a relief!

Moral of the story, better be save than sorry, always remember that the indicator moves slower when it is a full tank and moves faster when it is half/almost empty!

Over the balcony..*zipped*

The gist of the conversation was that she wanted my mouth zipped - of course, not literally! - from talking about her.

We were sharing about the tribulations (oh!) in taking care of our respective parent (parents in her case), confusing office politic (no surprise at all!) and some how linked to the fact how surprise she was when a colleague in her section mentioned that if anything, she (the colleague) will get in touch with me since we (me and her) are neighbours! She don't like it at all, she said, " ..there is no need for colleagues to know where each other live, etc. etc. If anyone ask you about me, just say, you don't know anything!" I guess, that sort of answered my dilemma - to visit or not to visit when her parents are around.

The mother is having diabetes and the father has had a stroke - now recovering but with alzheimer's disease - not much on memory and no control of certain bodily functions. So, the mother is a bit anxious when people come for visits.

I don't like her one bit! Especially when she mentioned she knows better when it comes to publishing with a certain local publisher - not coz she has had her book published before! It is just the way she talked about it...and condescending to me. And I have no problem being put under a certain label like 'P*D and single' - for the book chapters. It hurted her -being labelled 'P*D, married and no kids'. But ti could have been worse, 'P*D, divorced with kids' or 'P*D, hubby passed away and there are kids'.

I dunno what got to me, I cooked my dendeng for coming Eid, large portion for Bro#1's house since mak will be there, smaller one for lunch at office today and another small ones for...maybe my sis#4's place! But then, I was thinking of her staying alone (hubby & parents had gone south for medical checkups) thus gave her a call to pass it over and somehow we got to chat for quite some time (my legs was killing me slowly since I was leaning on the railing with my feet on the sliding doors).

___

I sent my ride for routine servicing yesterday. I told the guy that during the last service, they called me up & said I need to have the brake fluid changed too. It costs around RM400.

So, while waiting for the service being done, I utilised the computer and internet to do some work plus catch up on my reading. Again, from the earlier estimated cost of service (RM400++ inclusive of discount for AC servicing currently on offer), the guy on the phone mentioned *surprise!* there is no need to change my brake fluid but (oh!) I do need to change my brake plate. And how much it cost? Another RM400+ on top of the current RM400+. Being clever (I hope not stupid this time around), I said no, then he said your windshield rubbers need changing too..still no coz I feel I had it changed quite recently. Then he said, your AC filter need to be changed too. All in all, I paid RM500++!

Even if I learn from last visit to schedule my appointment very early in the morning since the guys are fresher, I reached the parking at 7:46am only to be told those cars in front of me come much earlier (leave their car for servicing and go to work) and I was told to come before 8am when I asked for the first early slot!

And with no wash & vacuum this time around (it took forever - waiting till after 12pm last time - not enough staff I guess), I got the call - it is ready! -  before 10:30am and by 11am, I'm back in office!

Mak

Mak is 79 yo this year.
She is at that stage where she becomes like a kid again.. and I'm the adult who look after her needs and wants. Except that when I was a kid, she told me to do something and I will simply follow her advice/lead. Now, I say something and she will say something else..

I tried to fulfill whatever she wants whenever I can ..but there are times when I need make a strong stand and simply say a harsh no!

Case in point - on Saturday afternoon, we were driving from S'ban to S.A, along with my sis#3 and her youngest daughter. She kept on complaining about the  hot son biting her skin, the glare from the sun in her eyes (we were heading north, the sun is right ahead of us).. I did offer her my other sunglasses -  no, won't do! She does has her own clip-on but it was in another bag at home (next time, I need to include in my list of reminders for her: medicine, hp and charger, towel etc.). I want her to stay comfortable during the drive, with leg room and everything but all she wants is to stay seat-belt free at the back! And there was I driving with the hot son biting my skin, the glare from the sun in my eyes..

On Sunday morning, we went to visit my late dad's niece who stay in  healthcare service (convalescent - another long story) in KL. My SIL was driving us, as such mak got to sit at the back with me as the co-pilot. Upon reaching home and the many bumps typical in housing areas, we hitted one loudly! Lucky I don't get to see the underside of the PKE... I wished now her understand why I wanted her to sit  in front passenger seat.

On the way heading back to S'ban, again she wanted to sit at the back. This time, with an additional 32" LCD tv along side my sis#3 and niece, both smaller in size - simply no space!

Another point - on Saturday, our journey to S'ban was delayed since my BIL#2 came back to take the rambutan -in season now, both yellow rambutan gading and rambutan batu in red - to be served at the raya open house. He did invited mak to join the open house in S'ban at his mosque - as organizer. So, mak been saying we need to come back early from SA in order to visit the open house 10-12pm on Sunday.

Back to Sunday morning, after a short trip to KPJ KL, we reach SA and leave again about 10am. She already said, "Will we arrive in time? All the food will be gone if we arrive late..." - mind you, we already had a heavy breakfast - bihun goreng, karipap and roti jala. Somewhere along the journey, she said, ""It's ok if we didn't go to the open house, after all..." So, I drove fast and by about 10 minutes past 11am, we were already at the traffic light junction going into the housing area. She was asking, "Where are we going now?"
I guess, by now, I was lucky that I really understand that she wanted to attend the open house party even if she kept saying it's ok if we didn't go...

I drove straight to the mosque - mind you, this is not my area, I might have visited once or twice in the past 10 years or so (last Eidul Adha when ayah was still around and more recent during Ramadhan, at night). So I reach the mosque - in sight - but not the entrance. There were other tents around - I wasn't too sure which direction to go to. My sis#3 or mak weren't helping ..I was kinda lost, and after calling my sis#4, went to her house and asked them all to transfer to her car and went ahead to the party without me!

Why am I so mad at the situation?
If you read my previous post - lawak bimbo moment - I need to be everything: the planner, the driver, the navigator, the secretary, the communicator, the listener to all grouses, the ATM and everything.

During recent Eid, I already told my siblings to take mak along during raya visits - but of course, she wanted to stay home and waited for her nephews and nieces came visitings instead. By the the time everyone is gone on the third day, she had only been to a neighbour's house. I remember before Ramadhan, she said that she had no opportunity to visit her parents' graves last year - off we went before Penang trip in June and before Eid, I already brought her to visit ayah's. So, on the 4th day, I took her to visit her parents' graves again. By this time, I was already on my 3rd day of fasting (replacement) and her 1st day day (6 days of sunnah Syawal). I knew I needed to bring her around visiting her sisters in Asahan and Bukit Jalur. I targetted on Sunday, 10th Syawal - when she would be celebrating raya puasa 6 by then! But, no  - she didn't want to visit her sis in BJ due to (...long story here). Off we go to her sis in Asahan, after farmers' market on Sunday morning. First, she didn't like my attire -I was wearing t-shirt and pants and it was raya *gulp!!*! Second, why was I still fasting!!! I told her, it's ok  -I'm used to fasting and still making round, visitings during Eid like last time. But, but she said, you are not eating! I said, "Mak, not a problem lah... I can still drive and talk like normal..." She wanted me to follow her in fasting but I had a lot of things to consider myself - need to finish replacing those missing fasts before I was back in office - insert reasons here.

All in all, I am very happy to fulfill her wishes, she got to spend 2 weeks of Ramadhan in Penang with me, 1 week in S'ban staying with my sis#3, sis#4 and bro#1 and got to see sis#1 and sis#5. Visited bro#3 in between Pen-S'ban. Brought her shopping in Pen, S'ban (Fami.ly Store and Gi.ants a couple of time), Sepang for kerepeks and Nilai 3 for mats and also at hometown.

The recent weekend visit can be considered as a closure to Syawal  - met her future granddaughter-in-law *Ib.an!! Mak, she is a Muslim, her parents are Muslim!!* at my sis#3, then bro#3 in SA, backed to open house party with sis#4 and not forgetting sis#1's place for lunch. Now, she has those lovely memories to entertain her until I'm back again for Eidul Adha insya-Allah.

P/s: Another short, long story - during rinsing the rambutans (ants, lotsa them) on Saturday, mak lost her gold ring. She told me once we were on our way to S'ban. No wonder, she was getting in and out of her rooms before the journey. By Monday morning, after looking inside and outside drain, everywhere for it, she thought of searching the ground where we put all the dry leaves to rot. After only 1 poking around, there it was, shining yellow! She said, "Alhamdulillah... punca rezeki  yang halal mesti tak ke mana!" If tak jumpa, "Redha je lah, takde rezeki..." By the time I reach ukm office yesterday, I got the news that she lost her gigi palsu! Mak-mak... sabar je lah, she needs a caretaker now.

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Location: Petronas Jalan Seremban-Kuala Pilah

Normally, I would fill up my PKE tank early in the morning before I start any long journey. But then, I have been travelling quite a lot for the past 3 days.

So, a pit stop to refill the tank is really necessary on the afternoon that day. My tummy were full post-lunch (it as a good one) and I was getting sleepy under the hot glare of the sun. Just looking forward to reach home and lay down to take a nap.

I leave my mak remain seated inside the car with both passenger and driver's window down and I already pulled the lever to open the petrol tank.

I went inside to the counter to make payment. Then only I realized I do need to withdraw some cash at the corner ATM. Queue for quite some time.

Went outside and headed to the car. I noticed that the tank cover was close now.. hmmm.. Took the petrol pump head and start filling up - nothing happened! Try again .. put it back and then try one more time. Getting angry now. Marched to the counter, "Dik, why the pump meter is not running? Nothing came out. I already paid just now you know!!?" *muka tak puas hati*

The young guy went out and came along with me towards my parked car - mind you, it was a busy time and many people around and all the petrol pump were in used.

Halfway point with me bubbling mad, he pointed  to a foreign worker and then said, "He already fill up for you kak..."

I wished the ground open up and swallow me immediately - MALU! MALU!!

And I hope nobody noticed my bimbo moment huhuhu...

Got inside the car and only then  my mak said, "No wonder that Bang.la guy raised his hand and waved just now..."

Aiyaiyai mak!! Why didn't you tell me earlier...