Merdeka weekend yang dramatic

We planned to balik Raub to berbuka puasa with my mother.Then at around 9 pm, my mom in law rang to say Mak Yang in Alor Star had passed away and could Nik drive up to visit (Nik belum balik surau from teraweh.I do mine at home sebab malas duduk dlm air con in the surau with doors shut.Kalau org bersin, takut berjangkit).I said he would not want to sebab masih penat baru balik from umrah and suggest that we all fly the following morning.So Z helped book 4 tickets online.We were supposed to leave at 10 am hari Ahad tu.

As we were all set to go, at around 8 am, my mother in law rang to say Mak Su's condition got worse (Mak Su was hospitalised for over a week and we saw her yesterday and she was still talking, although looked very weak).Nik said she'd be OK and thought that his mom should proceed to attend Mak Yang's funeral.Masa pi pasar, I told Nik perhaps Mama should stay back ..just in case Mak Su got worse and that it would be sufficient for us (Nik, me and his sister Rose) to attend the funeral on behalf of Mama. Nik rang his mother to tell her this but I heard Mama nangis on the phone, saying Maksu dah takda!

Gosh! So we cancelled our journey upnorth (tickets tak leh pulang balik) and started to help with Mak Su's funeral pulak.Nik tolong carikan tanah perkuburan, I helped with urusan mandi jenazah (masjid dah ada orang2 dia but I tolong nengok2lah if they needed anything else.The 4 kids were all there to mandikan their mom.Quite touching actually.I tolong tengok orang potong kain kapan je...and did tolong basuh rambut Mak Su with her 4 kids.That's how far I'd go...pandang sekali lagi dah lesap). Sebelum tu we helped call all the cousins, another aunty in Rembau (Nik's uncles kawin org bukan Kelantan).So masa kat kubur, we got to reunite.Macam Raya la pulak (sebab lama dah tak jumpa).They dropped by our place to tompang solat (Kak Ani drove all the way from Kerteh with Abg Rosli..they did it in 3 and 1/2 hours!).Kak Ani is Nik's cousin from the Rembau's side.

Masa kat hospital, Noni (the youngest daughter) was the most badly hit.Yalah, dia tinggal with Mak Su after Pak Su died (Pak Su was one of the earliest Malays to study Pharmacy in Singapore but like Mak Su, dia jenis tak cakap byk.When he died, orang yang mandikan jenazah Pak Su kata dia tak pernah bau mulut yang seharum mulut Pak Su!) Mak Su's like that too.Tak pernah cakap banyak and never sakitkan hati orang.She and Mak Yang very close according to Nik.Can you imagine jenazah mereka turun waktu yang sama although Mak Yang died a day earlier (tak sampai 24 hours though).Mak Yang also tanam after zohor.We all felt humbled by this "coincidence".

Anyway, I tengok Noni and her siblings tenang sikit after they got the chance to mandikan jenazah their mom.I think they got to say their final goodbye in that sense.One way to cope with bereavement.Isn't God great?

We got to balik Raub berbuka with my mom as true to our first plan (cos' we left after semua dah siap) Lewat sikit (berbuka tengah jalan) but my mom was still at the dining table when we arrived, 10 mins after berbuka, so kita pun joined lah makan sama-sama.

Rezeki, ajal maut memang hak Allah.Buat lah plan macam mana pun!

Happy Merdeka Weekend!

a long weekend this week.Me and family would be away but am teaching this morning so before I forget, folks....

Happy Merdeka weekend.For better or worse, this is our country, folks. Kibarkan bendera anda! (walaupun di dalam hati)

Semalam di Kuala Lumpur

Sharida, if you read this, thank you so much for your ikan terubok masin and belacan Miri.I am so touched by your kind gesture (sanggup bawak belacan naik plane for her childhood friend all the way from Sarawak! May Allah bless your generosity).And mak oiii..banyaknya ikan terubok! I ingat sekor je.Mahal ke? Thank-ko, thank-ko.

I goreng mcm you kata.Usually I masak asam pedas with daun kesom byk2 and bunga kantan.Takda pulak kantan and takkan nak makan pedas waktu sahor, kan?

It was good digoreng saja macam tu!

Anyway folks, me and my gal were in KL after Maghrib (teraweh kita buat lewat sikit semalam.We do it at home.Siap bertazkirah, you.Kita gilir2 baca.Kadang2 anak I.Kadang2 I.Audiencenya 2 orang je.Kelakar gila sebab tazkirah kita personalised! Isu remaja kena pakai tudung...isu orang tua jgn banyak mengata orang!) to collect these stuffs from Sharida kat Bukit Bintang area.Takut juga I jalan malam2 gitu kat BB area.Nik belum balik (insyaAllah besok) but we got to see Sharida and memang kalau jumpa, berbual macam tak cukup masa. I don't think Sharida will ever return to Semenanjung.Suaminya orang Sarawak.But who is to know, kan?

Semalam kad Raya I dah sampai.Very da nice.Zunar yang buat (atau budak2 dia) and I sempat tanya apa halnya Gedung Kartun kena rampas komik sulungnya.Apa pasal buat kerja takda permit? Budak ni kata permit dah dapat tapi they said permit palsu pulak. Aik? Got ah? You tau lah adat kita kan? Mcm buku Shit.Lagi dilarang lagi org nak beli.I pun sempat tengok.

As an academic, I think kartun ni tak leh straightforward sgt.Hilang le seninya.Dia mesti macam literature..tersirat.Baru la syok baca. The wit must be there. Tapi ada juga part yang buat I ketawa terbahak2.

My makcik kuih

Nenek's lagi softer rupanya

...is dead.On July 7, 2009.

Imagine being told this by her maid when I went to collect my fav kuih bakar.

"Nenek mana?"

"Nenek?"

"Yah, nenek."

"Dia sudah meninggal," said the maid indifferently.

And she told me when.Sakit tua.I asked if the kuih were ever going to be the same again.Maid said it was her all this time.Nenek just counted the money, she said.I asked how long she had been with Nenek.She said 3 years (but I swear it was a different maid before)

When I buka puasa with my kuih bakar...it tasted not of Nenek's! Tepongnya terlebih (I remember Nenek said the trick was to put more santan and more telor so the texture would be softer)And how dare the gal said Nenek had no role in baking the kuih!(the truth is folks, Nenek reminded me of my own maternal grandma I lost when I was 15.Yah...the one who would bake bahulu dgn pemukul spring every Ramadan.Her kuih koci pun best in the world)

Al fatihah to both Neneks.Ramadan is getting younger as the old ones pass on.

I love Jason Mraz!

my gal's influence. :)

Ramadan Kareem

We should be grateful that we are still here for this year's Ramadan.Let's do it better this year.Be mindful what you eat and more importantly HOW you eat.I have decided not to have any high protein at berbuka and to have more fruits and fresh veges/salads. Walaupun I have lost 2-3 inches (baju raya kena alter balik) I have started to gain back sebab dah mula nak makan sedap.Bob advised me to go on another round of detox (kali ni lagi lama dan sudah tentu lagi intense).I kata lepas Raya, insyaAllah (so no open houses for me for the first 2 weeks of Syawal...it'll be hard).

No bazaar Ramadan sebab takut virus H1N1.Kena masak sendiri (bibik pulak will habis her contract 2nd week of Ramadan.The new one tak tau lagu apa pulak...entah ada ke tak.Cik Nik kata balik dari Makkah, he'd start looking...haiyo..while he looks, I'd be in charge..pengsan gue!)

Kpd pembaca2 blog ini, saya ucapkan Ramadan Kareem (kpd mana-mana Karim yang membaca ini,kalau ada, janganlah perasan.Hahaha).Ingat, bulan ini bulan mendidik jiwa (kita ride our nafs bukan nafs rides us, bak kata Rumi), memantapkan fizikal jadi berhati2lah bila berbuka.Fruits, fresh veges, lots of liquid and some rice.Cuba buat, badan rasa ringan utk teraweh.

No news should be good news

Selamat Menyambut Ramadan Yang Mulia

I have been slow in updating my blog.I have no news to share.All my events are hambar.I don't find any joy in them anymore.Last nite I was at an annual dinner of some organisation. Hambar.They had nice performances and all especially flown from NZ (but Frankie Stevens was excellent singing Sinatra's jazzy numbers.It felt like Xmas!) but all I could think of was an early night.Badan masih tak sihatlah.

Kad Raya dah hampir siap but I suruh buat balik.Zafirah said she had to sit on the floor sebab Nik and I gemok sangat.Hahaha.

Inilah kuasa Tuhan

I was really surprised to be told that we made a decent profit out of ICC09.Takbir!
However, we will need to double/triple count so that we do not embarass ourselves.I would be happy just to break even.

According to Dr A many of our clients were happy cos' they had quality candidates as potential employees.They did not mind the small crowd (in comparison to bigger carnivals with bigger budget and longer air time/bigger space in all newspapers) cos' larger crowds would not determine quality.Well, let Dato Khaled know this. :))

Akhirnya Z and Nik pun tumbang (got flu from me). I remember the evening I self-quarantined myself in the 3rd room tapi tengah malam rushed to sleep with Nik cos' I had a nightmare (my dead aunt came back as a ghost). Terrible nightmare! The second nite lagi terok. I dreamt I was sold off to a millionaire (by my own husband.Hahaha) If this is what this virus babi does to us,memang terok betul.

3 days quarantine

I took leave for 2 days post ICC09.On the second day, I started to have chills and muscle ache.Pi doctor dia kata tak demam (guna alat mcm nak check demam budak kecik) walhal I felt hot on the forehead and body.Doctors hari ni....

On 3rd day, I decided to check for H1N1 (selsema babi).They say only UH and Hosp Sg Buloh can do the examining.I rang up Sg Buloh tanya queue panjang ke.Gal who answered the ph said they usually attend to serious cases je and suggested I go to Klinik Sg Buloh.Wough..queue panjang beratus2.When I get to see the doctor, bukan je dia tak check I demam ke tak, dia tak mau kasi I mc.Her reason: I tak demam (mana dia tau? Tak periksa pun.She percaya bulat2 when I told her I was at another klinik the day before and the doc kata I tak demam).Terok betul doktor hari ni!

So I went to my panel dekat rumah (by now I am very2 weak already).Dr Eka is a very thorough doctor.Sekali tengok dia dah tau kita sakit apa.I was happy to see her on duty.She checked me (guna film tu) and confirmed I demam.Terus she put me on a 3-day quarantine sebab I have all the symptoms of H1N1 (except my sore throat tak terok sgt). This morning I woke up with a wheezy chest walhal I bukan asthmatic.Mengikut panduan Doc Koh, I minum dua gelas air halia campur gula merah (cara buat: tumbuk halia and rebus in air lebihkurang 2 gelas.Add in brown sugar sikit).By the time I went to the Sg Buloh doc and my panel doc, there was no sign of a wheezy chest. :))

Koh baru ni la nak cakap I kena ambik Vit C and Vit B to enhance my immunity.

Pls pray I'd recover soon.This year byk kali I get ill.I jarang get ill.Not even a flu.

Moving on

Dr A and I were shaking hands at the closure of ICC09 and I told her this: people can criticise, condemn, belittle, humiliate us but I think we made it (knowing how susah it was to see the project to its finishing line). I told her I could not have done without her perseverance and she told me the same thing.Kalau tak terlalu penat, we could have hugged and cried as Kingsmen's men dismantled the booths past Asr.And I thanked every one of my colleagues and participants (mana yang sempat).

And now I want to reclaim my life.Budak2 volunteers (nyata so happy with the experience we gave them via the project) eagerly asked when the next big project was going to be.I said I wasn't thinking and I don't want to think.So soon. One of my legs is already thinking of going back to my Kull to teach fulltime and quit admin post.

I finished reviewing 4 articles for a Pakistani journal today and somehow ahead of theses advising and examining (I thought of taking leave today but have to go back to work sebab I had said yes to give a short speech and bagi hadiah to women debaters..they have their grand finale today.Syok juga nak dengar). I'll see Dr Lau for my acupuncture treatment after work, kalau sempat.Dr Wan was saying he tried to chase me for something but I walked so fast that he was not able to catch up with me.This is indeed good news.Maknanya the leg is getting better.

Next is to work on an interview with Ben Anderson.Yang ini I tak sabar nak buat.This is my REAL love.

p/s my car of 6 years was driven away last nite (I am emotionally attached to my Proton Wira.It had served me well, witness to many things in my life).Nik bought me a new car for being a good wife of 22 years.Heh.Thank you, darling! May God tambah lagi rezeki.