The heat of disappointment

I have many reasons to be grouchy about in this el nino heat.Gawd, so panas. My research team and I found solace in the hills of Templer Rainforest. We finished up our module the days we were in the jungle, surrounded by monkeys and the mystery of a rainforest.We loved the place (I found it and it's so famous with tourists from Europe, Australia, China, Spore.Just over a year old).Mr Saw and wife are the most patient couple I'd met.I complained psl kita semua terpijak kaca halus in my room pun Mr Saw did wht I requested..tht Yuni their maid mop the floor, vacuum it and lap lagi dgn kain basah (this bit si Yuni tak kuasa nak buat.I hasut Mr Saw..my maid does that..baru bersih.Evil tak? The plc is very clean but Yuni ni ngaku tak sempat mop..just vac.Someone broke a glass before we moved in).

We drove to a nearby waterfall to do earthing.Monkey bergayut on my bag. Mula2 I rasa my bag tiba2  jadi berat. I didn't even turn to look takut terkejut so I campak my bag and screamed sekuat hati I.A monkey came to ransack my paperbag..my ph tercampak dia rampas.Tht was too much so I halau guna my towel.Lucky the beast went.I cepat2 ambik my harta karun.Phew..traumatised! The water was really good for a hot day.We went back with renewed energy and worked non-stop.

We would come again with our family (maybe not to the waterfall)

The new Rebong

My good old friends from NZ are in town so we took them out to dine at the new Rebong now at Tasik Botani Perdana. It's too bad that I'd be away while they are here.

But we caught up quickly.Ibrahim didn't look too well but Sharifah tak tua2! Rambut pun tak payah dye. Haiyo.

My fav dodol

Wargamas

This was earlier- before Rebong dinner
(we had him for close to 4 hours)

Earth Hour

March 19 at Kota Dsara Reserved Forest with the PPRT kids .In an earlier meeting, the kids voted to pray Maghrib in the open space.It was lovely till waktu sujud...the boys infront of me (aged 13-14) who obviously were not familiar with solat berjumaah started making funny noise cos' they didn't know wht to recite.They went klok klok klok.Mcm bunyi ayam.I was struggling not to laugh aloud but a few in the front row were snickering.I think I had to qada' my Maghrib cos' rakaat kedua berbunyi lagi..I had to cover my mouth frm a loud laugh! Maybe byk syaitan frm the nearby jungle!

Then we had pertandingan azan.The first prize went to this tiny little boy about 12 or 13 years old.Dia azan je kita pun naik bulu roma sebab sedap sgt.So merdu and melancholic.I asked him belajar kat mana.He said belajar sendiri.But I later found out from someone that his dad tukang azan kat flat tu.Mungkin le dia belajar sendiri after listening to his dad.Tak silap I..dia le yg bunyi klok klok depan my saf. :D I also heard them talking to one another masa sujud.Hadoi.

Then we had a picnic on the grass di bawah cahaya lilin.While observing Earth Hour, we also listened to the sound of the jungle for a minute.It was not easy to calm the kids but anti haze activist Animah managed to get everyone quiet for a minute and wht we heard frm the jungle was amazing and beautiful.

My family and students I brought frm IIUM (3) had a good time and new learning experience.Alhamdulillah.

Farewell Sheena

Bibik tried to tell me of the bad accident but I was too occupied with work.Tak perasan she meant yg accident tu anak my jiran, Sheena.Kecik2 sama2 sambut bday with Z altho Z is years older.

She died today.I found out at around 2 pm.
Went to visit when the parents came bck frm the hospital.Shashi (who kindly cooked me dhal dish when I had Indian guests for dinner some time ago - she came to my house and cooked!) said soon I too will follow her.We hugged for a long time.I said don't talk like that..you still have Muniandy to care for and he, you.Please look after each other, don't give up on life.We are all going to die.Talk is free.Yang memikul lagi teruk remuk perasaannya. We will never say the right thing in situations like this.I read somewhere grieving people just want to be heard.Do not deny that right.Perhaps I should have just said I understand it is painful when Shashi said she would go next.

Muniandy ni baik so people came round the clock sampai the whole neighbourhood takda tempat nak park.The canopy looked like a wedding's which 19 years old Sheena tak sempat and we tak sempat tengok dia kawin. Such a beautiful child. And such is life.

I had promised to meet my PPRT new friends to discuss Earth Hour besok so I went.Enna and Mia were there.Nice ladies.Then the kids slowly came in.Older ones takda.Yg dtg 12 years -15. Maybe it's better to train them young so we discussed what we wanted to do.

Watch this space as I document Earth Hour 2016 with my new young friends.

Friends visiting

We went to have breakfast at the new Raju's with Shanta and Peter on Saturday.The new place is a lot spacious, airy and clean.Parking is easy too. We loved it! The curries...so authentic and it's amazing they didn't spill once on the banana leaves. Between 4 of us, we had 6 coconut juice, lime juice, kopi and teh tarek. Roti canai 6. Shanta said she had not had roti canai for ages. She had not been back in KL for 8 years.Peter 13 years (I think).Shanta visited my plc 8 years ago and was telling Peter about my small garden (both are ardent gardeners.I love their garden in Staines) so we took them over to see the 'new' garden.I restructured it and it's better looking than that 8 years ago.Kata Peter, you've got your sanctuary here. My Little Bali. I showed them my sun flowers rentung after being sprayed by pepper and cili water (my natural pesticides kononnya) cos' I was trying to deter the garden snails from eating my sunflower leaves (sedap gamaknya..hari2 habis kena kunyah!).Peter said bagi je racun.I said I didn't want to destroy the eco-system.He said get copper wire and tie around the pots.I went to the hardware.Cina tu looked up puzzled..He showed me electric wire and said kasi potong and take the copper out. Tak kerja aku jadi mat pik!

We rushed to TS's daughter's wedding held at Sri Perdana (di luarnya) but I went in the house to see once again where Najib, Nazir, Nazim, Johari and Nizam grew up.Second visit but this time I ambik gambar. Very simple home for the 70s.Tun Razak refused to build a swimming pool cos' it would encroach on duit rakyat, he said.Al fatihah.

Sunday..my friends of 27 years dropped by.Zah lives in Tganu and loves me so much.Haha.I pun love her..a great friend.Her daughter has just found a job near the Curve so I helped her look for an apt.Found a studio for RM1.4k a month but Zah told me she solat hajat for kemudahan...as they were coming down from viewing a place, they bumped into a studio owner who comes on and off je and was looking for someone to look after her studio and she had wanted penyewa yg solat dan baik.Ma syaAllah, Zah's daughter had only to pay RM300 per month for wht is RM1,400 a month.Begitulah bila Allah dah redho dengan kita.When Zah called me to help find, I told Nik..ohh..she'll be OK..org baik2 mcm tu Allah permudahkan. Betul pun.Alhamdulillah.

Zah ni very loving..as they were leaving, she said I love you.Haha.I ni mana biasa nak berlap you lap you begitu.But I responded back I love you too. Semoga persahabatan ini terus dirahmati Allah.Her sister and I satu research team. And now Z and Zah's daughter will be friends.Same age.