From Bangkok to Kuala Lipis

Just as we were leaving Bangkok for KL, my sister texted to say another sister masuk hospital kena dengue. Wow, my Kak De tak pernah masuk hospital. She selalu sembunyi her illness so hearing this made me sad.

We sampai rumah malam. Besoknya planned to travel ke Raub but by noon were told she was rushed to hospital in Kuala Lipis where the doktor2 pakar were. We rushed ke Kuala Lipis with a pending Xmas dinner at Medan Dsara with my two American friends leaving besoknya. I fikir tak payah cancel, sempat balik ke KL by 8.30 pm.

What a long journey. Org Xmas, jam berjam2.We got to the hospital almost visiting time (the hosp is very strict with visiting hours esp with ICU patients). 4.30 I masuk. My sister antara sedar and tidak. She started nak bangun buat minum petang for me and Nik. I sedih tengok. But that is her. Always menghidang makanan to her siblings every time we visit.So proud of us and our achievements. Antara sedar and tak tu, she sempat flaunt me to her misi: ini adik saya yang pi Bangkok tu.Walhal she tengah memengsan demam. That's her. Ever since I was young, my mom put her and my eldest sister in charge looking after adik2 di bawah mereka.All her life. Even when I was about to get married, yang paling sibuk beli itu ini, cat rumah etc was her (by then my dad dah meninggal). It was her hubby who became my guarantor when I went to NZ. She paksa. I pray to God that she will survive this ordeal. At 60 something, she just need to be strong. I pray to God, that time is on her side although semalam she told me aruah2 family members visited her and smiling down on her.My mom and aruah Mek all told me the same thing weeks or days before they passed on.

Please doa. 

Bangkok

So we took time off to bond with Z. We thought Bangkok would be a good city to unwind. Unwind la sgt, trapped in traffic jam for hours.Dah le berjerebu. Never ever bercuti ke Bangkok unless you are crazy on shopping Sg Wang style. Haiyo. Staying in the city isn't cheap also. Over RM1K per night, OK? Next time we won't think twice paying for RM700 or RM800 per night room in KL. Cheh.

But the hotel we were at had a good station of fruit juices at breakfast. I always looked forward to doing my own mix: ginger + apple + carrot juice. Syok. Boleh ambik banyak kali. Every time I would try new mix. Haha. But that was about it. Porridge dia pun tak mcm Chinese porridge in Msia. Yang lain tak halal except seafood dim sums dan yang seangkatan (vegetarian).

Taxi pun suka tipu. Dah terpampang kat meter 97 baht. Bila tanya, berapa (kita pun satu..bayar je le..buat apa nak tanya2 lagi), taxi driver said 200 baht. Nik ckp meter says 97. oh okay okay 97. Lawak, dak?

Then when hotel booked us a taxi for 200 baht to go to Asiatique..dlm taxi, driver minta 400 baht. Takda nak layan, OK? Kau ngomel le sorang2. But we gave him 50 baht extra sebab mmg jam terok.

Then susah nak dapat Grab ke Grub ke. We went looking for kedai Usman halal naik Tuk Tuk which pecut mcm Ferari. Jauh pulak tu. Our TukTuk seemed to be the only TukTuk on the highway. Balik we took a taxi. Tak berani balik naik TukTuk dah. Gila lajunya.

We think KL ni banyak sangat mallsnya. Try Bangkok. Bersepah2 malls. You want low end, high end..semua ada.Boring, OK? Orang2 kedai dia rude sbb kita Muslim. Dia ingat kita southern Thai ke? But towkay jual emas yang Poh Kong dok beli from them tu baik pulak, He biasa dpt clients from Malaysia. They sold Thai silk also. They knew cantik untuk buat baju kurung. Haha. I pun beli le.

Of cos' Thai trip means spa and massage. Weii..hari2 we went foot massage, body massage OK?
But that was about it. Don't expect clean riverfront or nature in the city. Pokok pun tak banyak.

I suka hotel we were at je. It felt like a holiday inside. :D

 lobster at Asiatique (tak sedap)

 hotel lama that still goes strong

 bigger than KL definitely (from our room)

 walking is faster

 naik TukTuk

 We think Bangkok overdid its Xmas celebration

the pool

end of year

Makin nak tutup tahun, makin busy. 2 nights ago Afif brought in 2 friends to learn English from me.Afif is like that. If he has something, he will share. So we stayed all night to go through their EPT English tests: speaking, writing and reading. I dah lama tak ngajar language proficiency macam ni but I shared what I had from bridging course at Waikato in the 80s. Mrs Burn taught us many things. I gave them those. Budak2 tu mcm improved la pulak. If technique betul, semua mudah. I guess.

Z is back and we would talk endlessly about Nazir Idris. He is now so funny. Macam2 helah nak ambik phone from the parents. Very clever now.Cheeky.

At work: non-stop meeting.We took time out to meet Z when she arrived in Spore for her meeting. Nik dah tak sabar nak jumpa anak dia. Then we went back a day early from her. Bukan jumpa lama sgt pun cos she was busy meeting all day, balik nak tidur je. So we spent time pi shopping kat Mustafa and Arab Street beli baju raya. Haha. Nmpk sgt takda hala tuju.

Today I feel good talking to international student leaders who appreciated the leadership series I organised for them a few weeks ago (but I had to go to Tganu) and looks like we are going to have a busy year together, InshaAllah.

As we close the year, I nak rakam my rasa sedih over Adib's death as the whole nation mourns too. There must be a lot of wrong if manusia behaved like animals sampai ada orang mati macam tu. May we learn from the tragedy and that aruah ditempatkan di syurga firdaus.

Death

I was still on AKEPT's leadership programme in Kuala Trengganu on Sunday when Prof Amir texted me about a young Chinese girl's death at Mahallah Halimah. I found out later that she came in Sept only to die in early Dec in Malaysia (buried di perkuburan Islam near IIUM sama dgn Tan Sri Ahmad Ibrahim and lain2 scholars Islam UIA. MashaAllah Tabarakallah!)

When I returned back to work on Wedn, Prof Dawood and I had an appointment to meet Duta Kuwait (we are doing our duta rounds. We did Saudi last week), Kaossar rang to say jenazah masih di hospital Selayang so off we went to vist and meet the family yang baru sampai from China.

The mother terus peluk I and nangis. It was very sad for us all. Anak dia tu the eldest of two. Not knowing how to express how we felt, we just hugged there in tears for a long time. I need to pass my strength to her and try to comfort her in her grieving. Memang sedihlah.

Then we spoke to the pegawai penyiasat who I wish could have been kinder but I could see how stressful his job was, stationed at rumah mayat.

Kawan2 from kull international unit were kind enough to attend the solat jenazah at the mosque around Maghrib time. May Allah reward them accordingly (I dah balik awal not knowing bila siap proses pelepasan jenazah cos' the Kedutaan wasn't that helpful initially but in the end, facilitated).

rezeki

Today Uri gave me a tupperware of durian. I think mrk panggil cina jual durian from Raub and they bought ramai-ramai. She gave me a pack.

Then rombongan from US came with Ermin (originally from Bosnia but kawin Dr Bani from Msia) and I ajak "merasa"sedikit. Tak tau Ermin hantu durian. Haha. Memang rezeki dia gamaknya.

Then petang I had 2 sessions with a few international students (both ugrads and pgrads). Ada lagi peminat durian (also from Bosnia and bdk French tu pun suka). Takda rezeki Nik nmpk gayanya.

Itulah namanya rezeki dan bukan rezeki.
I'm humbled by this.

I had time to show the Provost of Shenandoah Uni Batu Caves.Adrienne panjat tangga tu in 20 mins je pi balik (biasa org buat 2 hours).

Amazing.

Still trying to settle in

I am still trying to settle in the new job.I hardly have time to reflect, let alone write.So, this is what it is like sitting in the front seat. We work hard to be the no. 1 or the no. 2. When you actually arrive, it's not as rosy as you think. guys. We lose sleep. Travel is no longer a delight. Cuti is scarce (but I knew this much earlier esp when at RMC). There are perks but perks come with work.And more work. I guess the only way to cope is to think positive..that you are here to serve a purpose.To lead the young ones, to put the org. in its rightful place so we can move forward with a sense of purpose.And pride.

Nov is a wee bit busy than usual.I get 3-4 visitors per day which is good because they bring rezeki and opportunities.

I hope it will not take me too long to feel settled in.

IIUM Convo

My second day convo at IIUM.I just wish they would ban the ayah dan ibu song.Hari bahagia tapi buat ramai orang menangis. I told Prof Isarji. He said nangis sekali sekala. Masalahnya we all attend almost every session, front seat some more.Tissues not provided.Hadoi.

I saw one pakcik nangis teresak2. The ladies tak payah cerita. Semua lap2 airmata.Tak baik buat orang macam tu, kan? Let them be happy on a happy occasion.

Convo at uum

This week, the UMC members are everywhere attending uni convos on behalf of Tan Sri Rector.I got UUM.Flew in late last night.My attending officer is such a kind lady.She did everything for me.A to Z.Baik sungguh budi pekertinya.May Allah shower her with blessings.I was under the weather.At breakfast, I muntah bersembur at my bfast table.Then melambak on the floor.Org nengok but none came to ask if I were OK.Kalu in the West, berkejar org nak tolong but the girl at the counter said takpa whn I told her saya muntah...She said it's ok, we will clean up and showed me the nearest rest room.Nasib tak kena baju kurung.I washed part of my tudung and whn Nura saw me and hug2..i hope i didnt smell muntah.haha.

Pulak tu ramai la pulak in the queue nak tanya itu ini.I  prayed hard I would not throw up again cos i was sitting right behind Mufti Kedah and nxt to him was wife of Raja Muda.

Alhamdulillah Rozana who looked after me dah bekalkan asam, sweets, minyak geliga to hidu if I felt funny again.Nasib the whole event was not boring..6 bands playing all sorts of music then at santapan tengahari with the royalists...we were sung to by Jay Jay and Farhan.And I met new friends sebaya and we joked abt how well chosen the songs were...mmg lagu2 utk org2 tua mcm kami. :))

Then Nura took me to Pekan Rabu.Shopping sakan.She gave me a box of stuffs.Rozana pun bagi i mcm2.Alhamdulillah.On the way to the airport, I saw bendang with lots of bangau.What a sight!

Two weeks in Konya

Diam tak diam, it's coming to an end. One of the Deputy Rectors kata rata I covered in 2 weeks. Orang dia juga yang bawak I pi sana sini. What can I say? We went to Cappadocia for  2 nights. Ekin and I. Nasib ada Ekin who can speak fluent Turkish. Cappadocia was fun. My gfs tengok gambar2 lelaki Turki di Cappadocia semua naik angau. Haha. Thr was an alert a few years ago not to allow gfs or wives pi Turkey sorang2. Takut tak balik. Haha. The women pun lawa2. Kacukan Greek, Persian, Italian. Yang rupa orang putih, rupa orang putih.

Yang nyata the Turks are very friendly.

From Istanbul to Konya to Ankara and back to Istanbul

Flashback.

I touched down in Istanbul from KL on Saturday morning.Rabia picked me from the airport to her apt where I had breakfast before going out to meet Dr Fatimah and Prof Malik Badri now at Zaim Uni.Kat sini biasa rumah takda lift walaupun 4 tingkat. Pastu toilet masih toilet cangkung.

Nasib Rabia's apt modern but malam tu she took me to her other home by the sea. Lagi besar and I had my own toilet (toilet biasa yang ada seat). Besoknya her sister's family came and we had lunch in the garden.Best sangat. Then she sent me to the airport for my flight to Konya.

No one waited in Konya. Nasib taxi drivers kat Turkey ni baik2. So mlm buta tu I travelled to my hostel on campus. Nama pulak takda. Hadoi. Then ada. Bilik tu macam I sorang satu floor.Seram juga.

Then I had my first class the day after. Over 100 students. Good questions. Bdk2 Turki ni cerdik2 dan suka bertanya.

By Wedn, Yusuf put me on fast train to Ankara and waited for me at the station. Fed me perde then sent me off to my hotel. Besoknya terus bawak pi jumpa orang 4-5 meetings back to back. I appreciate the kind gesture tapi mrk lupa kederat I kederat semut. Tak larat walk miles, climb staircases, etc. Lunyai rasa badan.

I love going to the women's cafe. They also treated me well. Beri I mcm2..dari woolen shawl to keep me warm to cardigan to socks..hee..if takda dia org ni I dah beku. Ankara was so cold. Angin pun kuat. Malam2 tu le juga mereka bawak I pi jumpa makam orang alim mereka. Dlm angin sejuk tu.But the feeling of sisterhood was so strong.

Bsknya I naik flight ke Istanbul dgn Yusuf. They put me at Radisson Blu. Soon besoknya a few of my IIUM colleagues pun tiba from KL. So pagi2 we would breakfast together although on 2 days I got locked in in my room. Entah mengapa.

Then I was invited to dinner by the Marmara by Dr Totonji and his wife. Baik dia nak layan saya. Makan ikan dan Turkish cuisine yang lain. Then he gave me IIIT books. Very precious books.Alhamdulillah.

Besoknya 2-3 meetings lagi but different towkay. By now Yusuf dah terlalu busy nak layan me (dia jadi translator at the conference). Nasib I ada networks lain. Haha. So angkat phone suruh dtg ambik je. Dua2 tempat tu jauh...dekat topkapi. Syrian academic centre. Bagus juga prog mrk ni. Maybe IIUM boleh tompang kursus bahasa arab dia tu.Mantap gitu.

Then I went to Fateh Mehmet. Sedar was nice. I mohon rehat in their beautiful waiting room while waiting for deputy rector dia habis meeting.By the time Deputy Rector dia dah habis meeting, I punya next meeting time pun dah hampir so we had some time to update each other je.

Mlm tu Hattice came to invite me to dinner so we went out to somewhere close to my hotel. Nice place. Can see part of Istanbul from the 14th floor.

Lepas tu I dah tak sabar nak balik Konya. Yusuf ajak pi Sparta dgn the rest of the group but I have classes to teach. So saya pun terbang balik. Rasa mcm balik ke rumah.

Hari Senin public holiday. Geng mula2 ckp nak pi beach but the day was so cold so they just took me around Konya areas...the many hills, the gardens and parks. Butterfly park dia gorgeous.Orang Msia frm Penang yang buat.Mmg cantik betul.

Then Umar took us home to have dinner at his place. Met his wife and parents in law.Sedap home cooked meals ni.
Pastu I pi shopping sebab tak byk bawa baju (bags penuh bwk brochures UIA/books).

Tak besar mana pun malls dia org ni but byk baju sesuai utk org Islam.
Hari ni dpt lagi jemputan pi Sparta but I tak larat. Lagipun Nik tak kasi jalan sorang2. I biasa dgn Yusuf je. If dia takda, rasa susah pulak nanti sbb dia je fluent English.

Mevlana Prog in Konya

I'm in my 2nd week on Mevlana Exchange prog at Selcuk Uni in Konya. Selcuk Uni is the largest uni in Turkey in terms of student population (around 80K) and the campus is also sprawling. Konya was the capital city of the Seljuk Empire and Rumi lived and died here.

I went to visit his tomb (which was closed under renovation) so tak nampak sgt le but the rest were open. The sufi settlement/quarters were nicely reconstructed and we had an insight of what it was like living in the sufi commune - dok berzikir for 1001 days. Yang rajin bawak I jalan2 were a group of Msian-Sporean-Turkish students/staff. Rata mrk bawak - Sille, hills and gardens around Konya. The butterfly park was something I enjoyed most. It was constructed by Msian architects and engineers.

By Wedns (I arrived Konya on Sunday), Yusuf bawak I ke Ankara to meet a few Rectors, Deputy Rectors and people from the Education Ministry. SubhanaAllah, God made my job easy via Yusuf's network. I naik fast train from Konya to Ankara..about 1.5 hours.Sampai sana dah ada org ambik.Tidur hotel Taj Mahal. Bagus network mrk ni.After a hectic day in Ankara, we flew to Istanbul for the conference on Islam and Science. I spoke twice. First as a welcoming note rep IIUM/Msia, then as one of the keynotes.

Byk lagi.Sambung later.

A trust, an amanah

I was voted in by ASA voters for one of the 3 Deputy Rector posts. I was shortlisted and the names were submitted to Board of Governors and 2 from the 9 were chosen: me and Prof Hafiz from our medical school.

It is an amanah. I hope I will not betray my voters. Mcm pilihanraya la pulak ya.
I thank Allah for the opportunity to serve a great uni.May this be my amal ibadah yang diterima Allah.

https://kampusuols.com/article/422800/U-In-News/SEL-KL/Dr-Maszlee-umum-pelantikan-tiga-Timbalan-Rektor-UIAM-yang-baharu

Postings I missed posting

A lot had happened before my most recent entry.

I attended Dr. Amani's wedding in Penang. Best gila pi Penang. We flew. Went for a few body and foot massages. Heavenly! And as a result, I felt like a bionic woman with my new legs. Alhamdulillah, kenduri syukur OK? The traditional Indian foot massage at Penang Hill was unbelievable. We spent some time up there, watched sunset and all. Cantik gila.

Went for swimming in that deep pool at Vistana. But very relaxing.We should get away more often mcm ni. Weekend trips within the region ke.

Then the Fulbright gang came over to discuss future events. We lunched at my plc.Dah lama tak entertain orang. Best juga.

Then a few people came to test drive Z's car. I buat cupcakes. But today we found out, tuanpunya badan has to be present at JPJ before she can sell the car. Hadoi.Tuanpunya badan dah seronok duduk di Europe pi sana sini. Balik dari Norway, boss hantar pi Mexico and Houston. Suruh balik Xmas, tak nak. What can we say to this anak muda berjiwa muda?

And we got a new Rector.And a new President. ASA supports Dr Maszlee and GERAK organised a talk on governance and academic leadership hosted by IIUM ASA amidst all this. I jadi bidan terjun and I thought we really had a good discussion on the need to have a fully independent body to appoint our own academic leaders.I hope there will be  a followup to this motion.

Post-Truth, Post-Normal Times

The long weekend saw me going to this special talk by two British Muslims on post-Truth and post-normal times. I thought just another variant of post-modernity or post post-modernity with more alarms of current changing times: climatic change, digital revolution in its 5th gear, artificial intelligence yada yada but it was good listening to seasoned scholars and thinkers like Ziauddin Sardar. I must get hold of his autobiography.That caught my interest more than his post-normal times. Haha.

And I saw Crazy Rich Asians.Kelakar gila. Henry Golding is so talented and so charming. He left school at 15..became a cook for a while then a hair dresser before going big with broadcasting. Pandai and down to earth and a proud Msian..just like Michelle Yeoh. Loved them both in the film.Pergi, jangan tak pergi. I don't care if people say it wasn't representatively Asian or if the film worships riches.Pendek kata, film tu fun and will make you laugh and cry at the same time.And it has got values and wonderful characters. Each is so different from the other.

Back at work..I am all stressed out so early in the semester (due to so many overdue deadlines and new ones) so I went down to get some Kit Kats. Malangnya Kit Kat buatan Thailand. How on earth did they get here? So I looked for those made in Msia.Found one. The girl who stood near me was so chatty asking why Kit Kat. I said I had a craving for sugar cos' I lost a lot through too much thinking. She said keep cool. I said I don't like made in Thailand products cos' of the presevatives they may have. She said I'm from Thailand. Opps...wough, she's not your typical Thailand gal. Good English, confident and overly friendly. Then she introduced the guy she's baby-sitting..an exchanged student from Turkey who spoke very little English. And we spoke a bit. Then Miss Thailand started giving me a marker pen (new one) as a gift. I just wentt why are you so kind? She said I am kind to everybody. Haha.

Walking back to my office, I wonder why I was so surprised with a friendly gesture of a total stranger on campus. Miss Thailand was not my student. We had never met.Why was I surprised by her generosity? Is it because even at IIUM this is something rare as it is outside there? Wow..such faith we have in humanity!

As though to reciprocate that kindness I offered her my Kit Kat (one of my Kit Kats) which to my delight, she said no to. Haha. I need all the sugar, you understand? :))

It's good to be back.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidul Adha

We took 2 days off KL to be in Raub for the qurban. Mcm biasa, masjid buat makan but this year, breakfast pun was provided for, not only lunch. Our lembu was so garang.Tahun ni lembu kurus-kurus but bila dilapah, banyak pulak isinya. Alhamdulillah and we got more sebab orang masjid agih-agihkan lagi daging2 orang lain tu. Sepatutnya tak payah. I ended up distributing to a few houses (sedara mara) bila balik KL cos' we are trying to cut down red meat also.Semoga ibadah qurban semua diterima Allah.

The best part about raya is of cos' family get together. I have not seen most of them for almost a year.Tau2 dah masuk uni. Tau2 dah nak kawin. Ijat and Afif dah masuk uni. Like oh wow..mcm semalam je baru kenduri berkhatan. Big boys already.

I got to know the smaller ones. New toy : Seth. My god, he's so funny! We must make it a point to see them more. We went for a family picnic at the newly open river picnic spot Jeram Bangking. Air tak dalam, tak byk batu. And air sejuk gila. My nephews and cucu sedara took good care of me going down the river slopes. Bagus mereka ni..hormat orang tua. :)

Went to visit my parents' and sisters' pusara. Waktu afdal is after asar Khamis till sebelum asar Sabtu but I can only go Khamis pagi. I hope my mom and dad were "home" and heard my salam.Miss them a lot waktu2 macam ni. And we pi kutip buah durian which my mom dok tanam "for anak cucu makan". Akhirnya hajatnya dimakbulkan Allah..memang anak cucu makan di Jeram Bangking (the kebun is now given to Eishah but she has kindly allowed the buah to be eaten by all).

Then we called two tukang urut to Long's house. One for me (lady), one (man) for Nik. Ni yang best bila balik Raub. It's like a holiday. :) At this age, it's important to look after ourselves.Jgan dok sibuk mengejar duit sehingga health diabaikan. The body needs servicing ..mcm kereta so put aside some money for that.And do it on a regular basis.

And be very careful with that daging qurban intake these next few days. Selamat Hari Raya. Bak kata Ustaz on the radio tadi, it is not about sup daging/sup ekor. It's a day to remind us that that lembu could have been us. So say thank you Allah for Your mercy and kindness.

Pelombongan emas di Raub

I'm picking up bits and pieces on this subject. Very interesting. If only Persatuan Sejarah Pahang dan Kuala Kubu ni mengangkat telefon like they are really thinking sejarah 24/7, rasa I hidup I lagi bahagia dari menunggu mcm buah tak gugur. I wish we are all serious about doing our job well. Cuba you call jabatan kerajaan..BN ke PH ke sama je..sebab yang bekerja tu tak bertukar! Haha.

Jawaban paling mudah saya tak tau..tiada dalam simpanan kami...bukan extension ini..saya tak tau..telefon tak berjawab. Yada yada.

But that guy who took the trouble to call me back after finding the info I needed must be applauded. Suka hati dia nak menyampaikan maklumat. Semoga berjaya dalam dunia akhirat, dik, :)

So I want to compare info cicit pelombong emas yang terawal di Raub ni dgn local naratif. Iya ke tidak Tok Gajah humbankan mesin pelombong Australia tu ke dalam Sungai Bilut? (dah lah nak bawak mesin2 berat tu sikit punya susah ke dalam hutan belantara tu semua..senang2 je Tok Gajah humban?). Dan siapa yang sampai dulu dan ambik emas yang banyak kat padang Raub tu (dulu tobek) sampai apabila disedut dgn pam oleh pelombong Australia, tidak ada barang setitik emas yang tinggal? Tapi mereka pergi pulak ke Bukit Koman melombong di situ. Byk dapatnya sampai nama Raub meniti di hujung bibir dunia.

Memang interesting so ingat ni, Raub was not built by the English but Australian miners (ya betul they were born in England sebelum berhijrah ke Australia but most of them considered Australia their home.Hugh Clifford tu datang apabila kerja-kerja melombong dah lama bermula. Kat Penjom it was a British mining company based in Hong Kong tapi Penjom tak banyak mengeluarkan emas like Raub).

Pulang the movie

Since everyone is talking about it, Nik and I decided to check it out.Both of us think it's overrated. The making of it we loved (not being technical people, we thought it was well done.I read a review that it's full of technical shortcomings.We didn't see them. Heh heh)

I was not convinced it's love that kept Othman away from pulang. But how do you criticise a film based on a real story and Othman is long gone? tak sopan kan? But my gfs and I had a nice discussion on this. They loved the film but I told them why I wasn't sympathetic of Othman. I was over his wife and son. Plot dia tak masuk akal. There were too many gaps before we could fully appreciate the plight of Othman or claim it's true love or epic love. Cik Thom's love was true love. Omar's love for his dad was true love but I doubt Othman's sincerity in loving his wife and son.

Bak kata Pakcik Mat Nor (one of the surviving Malay sailors in Liverpool who I know so well.He knew Othman who died in 1966) sailors are full of adventures..they only think of their parents (read home) when they encounter bad storms (the turning point in Othman's life too). We will never know why Othman didn't pulang or sent money (although the film said he thought Cik Thom had married another). Takkan tak singgah tanya? Main lari je ke?

I also find it annoying Puteri Aishah tu dok sebut Ot-man for Othman instead of Osman. 'th' biasanya bunyi 's'.

If you have not seen it, go.It's not too bad if you have nothing to do on a weekend.

Reward or punishment?

Sometimes kerja masuk bertubi-tubi.Rasa macam punishment la pulak although in the end it's rewarding.

Prof Amir Zikrgoo invited me to introduce his book at his book launch 2 weeks before the event.I was reluctant cos' time factor but he said simple introduction of him and his co translator and the book. I thought oh well, okay.

Then the official invitation listed me as a panelist! say what?To speak on Hamzah Fansuri.Saya pun ingat dia ni orang Iran! Dia sebenarnya orang Melayu.Orang Melayu pertama yang tulis melayu jawi tentang Islam dan pelopor sastera melayu, sastera sufi di nusantara.

I texted Amir tanya apa hal ni? Dia pun terkejut.Dia pun tak tau dia kena jadi panelist.Ingat key speaker ke.
So I had to work extra hours in the library..baca itu ini.The Istac librarian is fabulous.He emailed me stuffs yang berkaitan. You need to be a fast reader to absorb. Nasib no class la ni.Boleh le I spend pagi ke petang membaca.

Tiba harinya I negotiated. Syed Munawar who was supposed to moderate was kind enough to let me do the job.So off we went happily and I thought we had a great discussion.Tan Sri Aziz, Dato Kamala all said it was good and they enjoyed the session. Alhamdulillah.I learned much too.What an amazing mind this Hamzah Fansuri was.Sayang sekali karya dlm jawi dia tidak diterbitkan dalam rumi.Orang Iran dulu beat us to it: they translated Fansuri to Persian.

I hope those reading this and can read jawi faster than me will find ways to translate Fansuri dlm rumi.Setakat ni orang putih je buat and according to Naguib Al Attas, banyak salah dari segi vocabulary, tanda baca dll.

The heat is on

Hari ni I geram banyak benda. Hari ni people from Kementerian Alam Sekitar came with a big rombongan with all government agencies that you can think of to investigage masalah sungai and our alam sekitar. I won't go into details but macam it's tuan tanah punya problem so tuan tanah settle it lah but air, udara, hutan tu semua  SEMUA orang kena jaga bersama, kan? But I think Puan S understands my sentiment.Once I get her laporan, maybe can get the new uni management to look at it. I would just request for a park so bila stress2..ada tempat nak lari. And apparently they can korek the tasik yang dah mati tu jika je kita buat permohonan. If it were that simple...tak payah le kami bersusah payah buat itu ini nak selamatkan tasik, sungai bagai.

Pas tu kes orang pulled out from journal I'm editing. Gamaknya depa ni ingat journal ni boleh publish hari ni hantar, besok keluar? Bukan bdk millenials je rasa entitled ni. Orang tua pun!

Pas tu a writer wrote to thank me for evaluating and editing her manuscript.It's now launched in Spore. Publisher bkn saja tak bayar kerja saya..dia juga tak beritau status buku itu. Oh my! Dan ini dah dekat 2 tahun.Bila call, pass2..or tak call back.Bukan saya nak duit tu sgt tapi tak suka cara tak professional mcm gini. In future, I will say no.

The heat is on.

RALAT: upon checking, I got the wrong paymaster! I had been paid long time ago..I was too busy to notice.Itu le padahnya..ambik job tak catit sapa dah bayar sapa belum.Or worse, catit sapa yang memberi job! (silap tuan)

Jetlag

No joke aging.I used to adapt easily to jetlags. Now dah dekat  seminggu, I still have problem sleeping when I should. Apparently sleeping prob ni berleluasa di kalangan our friends living a stressful life (im not referring to my academic friends).

Anyway, I had a busy schedule tak sampai 24 hours I got home late Tuesday night.But I survived. Then semalam we had wedding invitation and makan durian/manggis dll in Nilai.Nak pengsan trying to stay awake (but bila time tidur mlm tak mau pulak dia tidur.Hadoi)

Nadra's bday today. She said she broke up with her bf. Amboi, baru 7 tahun! We all were surprised by her. Dapat no. 1! Apparently she has a big heart..would give her money to needy friends (because of their "puberty" when she meant poverty. Haha)

Another full day besok. We visited Dr Selva's family in Rawang today. His wife was telling us how the nurse cucuk antibiotics without checking his pressure.Anak dia suspect he died of cardiac arrest sebab low pressure and responding to the antibiotic. Kesiannya. He was on the verge of doing a liver transplant and keadaan dia tidak lah teruk sgt.

We will definitely miss him.

Frankfurt to Den Haag

Faraha saw me off at the station this morning. Yazri was going back to Croatia but F said she's all charged up to work on her thesis. Nice to know.

I dah macam lembik by now. 45 mins to Utretcht, I decided to brave myself and use the public toilet in the train (selalu getik). Nampak button hijau je tekan. Apa lagi, pintu toilet automatically terbuka..ada lelaki tua tengah membuang air kecil.Oi mak oi. I said oh oh sorry and pressed byk kali button hijau tu if the door would shut again. It would not so I just tinggalkan pintu tu ternganga dgn muka terkejut seorang lelaki tua.Nasib toilet tu agak tersorok so not that public.I lari sejauh mungkin so the man would not cross my path but dia pi cari I...just to say the room is now available to use.I nganggok2 je without making eye contact.

When Z picked me up at the Den Haag station, she was not over the fact I missed my train on the way to Frankfurt.I said wait! I have not told you everything yet.She said oh no..should I know.Are you giving me probs to solve again? Is it solved or not yet? Z mmg takut mcm kwn dia Ganesh ckp I takut when I see your mom's tel no. on my phone. Haha.

I just have this to say: I'm glad I am home. Den Haag ni dah mcm home dah.First thing I did was to have cendol kat restoran Indonesia kat apt Z. Then makan nasi and gado2. Z had ABC.

Home.

Den Haag ke Frankfurt

I decided to travel to meet Faraha in Frankfurt naik train frm Den Haag melalui Utretcht (tukar train di sini).I tersilap naik train..tapi sempat patah balik ke Utretcht but train ke Frankfurt dah terlepas.Diberitau kena beli tiket lain rege 130 euro.Was prepared to pay but lelaki asian-dutch di counter tu byk pulak songelnya so i beritau dia tht he was being unkind to me with his cynical remarks (bila i tanya tak leh bagi discount ke..he said no sbb salah i.I said fine..byr..byrlah.Then dia ckp kayanya.Time ni i sergah balik: ada pilihan ke? Dia tak bagi option lain pas tu byk songel I said.But akhirnya he wrote a report psl org silap bagi tau i platform mana tht i termiss my train..so i tak perlu byr extra.Syukur alhamdulillah).

I was delayed 2 hours so sampai je Faraha ajak i pi dinner kat rumah bapak and ibu Bustami yg dah 40 tahun duduk di Germany.Very inspiring couple.

Pas tu F and I bincang psl thesis dia.Besoknya we went to her uni and she introduced me to her supervisor.Sbb mmg tak plan to meet up..kami tak sempat berbual pjg but promised to keep in touch.

Before tht we lunched at the uni cafe..Faraha, me and Makario bdk Filipina.Interesting talking to research students.Makario works on rebels.Faraha on Msian lit.

It's a day of meeting new people, new contacts.We met Linda downtown to celebrate her bday.Petah ckp Melayu.Suaminya org Nicaragua.We took a train to Hanau but takda apa yg menarik sbb gallery Grimm Brothers pun dah tutup.
I dah tak larat menapak.So decided to skip going to nearby castles and balik to rest.

A short trip which I think was meant to help others (there was a grieving mom whose son died in a war and she just poured out her life stories to me whn F and i dok melepak tepi fountain uni tu...before we left she said she was so grateful to bump into us sbb she never told anyone kisah anak dia dan divorce dia.Kesiannya.We hugged).

Ni mcm doa Dina shared with me: i go whr Allah wants me to go, I be who Allah wants me to be.

Berjalan ikut gerak hati.Mcm2lah you jumpa nanti.Pokoknya..apakah iktibar yg dipelajari? Apakah sifat syukur yg perlu?

Treatment Day

The only thing I look forward to daily/weekly in this long break is my treatment appointment be it with my chiropractor or my homeopath or today, my acupuncturist (baru jumpa and female.Cina kat rumah Z ni jantan.Bilik dia kat tingkat atas and he works alone.The last time, Nik was around to accompany me.Takut aih nak pi sorang2.)

Today was my 4th and last appointment with George. My legs are getting stronger but maybe he's right..it's my walking shoes (although those are meant for walking..they don't really support me, kata George).Today was busy.Lepas G, I balik kejap, put everything in the washing machine (baju2 balik dari Vienna over the weekend, melambak), bought my brunch and ate a little then got on Tram no. 9.Z gave me the wrong stop so hampir 30 minit I menapak but I loved the suburb.Very Bangsar like.On the way back, I lunched at restaurant Indonesia nama Anak. Sini senang makan.Restoran Indonesia melambak. If I migrate, I think it's going to be Holland.Orang2 dia pun baik (what a contrast to Vienna..kasar.And so many beggars in Vienna).

The only thing I loved about Vienna was the museum.Well, OK, the cafes too. Two days tak cukup.Lucky we had done Salzburg some years ago.Much more beautiful than Vienna of cos'.We went to meet up with Nik who came for his one week course. Initially I was supposed to stay longer.Nasib tak cos' Vienna is so boring. Mano's brother is the Msian Ambassador in Vienna.Baik juga dia nak call (mesti kena paksa dgn kakak dia..haha) but my stay is too short to meet up. I pun sibuk nak ke sana sini, mengukur museum. :) If you happen to be in Vienna, jangan pergi illusion museum dia.Mahal tak bertempat.Sekali pusing je dah habis for 12 euro.I think Langkawi punya lagi byk ilusinya.Cafes to spoil you rotten Central Cafe and Demel and there's another one I tak reti nak eja. Gila sedapnya.

Then we took a bus to Laxenburg tempat Nik punya course.mmg nasib baik la I changed my plan not to stay longer.Tempat jin bertendang although we loved the 13th century park yang byk castles tu.But that is about all.Holland lagi happening.But had I stayed longer, I would have gone to Hallstatt and lepak lama2 kat situ.Next time lah in sha Allah.

https://youtu.be/vjENnBWOSfc

Bonding time

Nik left home semalam. We saw him off at the airport at Schiphol. I felt so sad sebab it would mean when Z pi kerja, I tinggal sorang. Nak jalan, malas. Nak shopping, takda apa nak shop dah.But when we returned to The Hague, it was the year's shopping night. Tahun ni theme dia Paris so shops would be open till 12 midnight with more than 70% sales in many shops. Larat ke queue panjang nak test baju but I bought a few Mango pants.Mmg murah gila. Then we went to dine at the Plein. I had tomato soup and bread je sbb masih kenyang.

Besoknya after seeing Miriam, we went to have a drink at Jamie Oliver's again. I really loved the mango ginger ale cocktail dia tu.Memang rasa terangkat ke langit ke 7 bila minumnya but Z found a nicer mix (at my prompt to try it). His peach drinks. Ya Allah, mana datang recipe Jamie ni? Nanti I nak try balik Msia nanti.We also had sotong goreng bertepong.Rasa macam kat Tganu la pulak makan macam tu.

Then we went shopping for today's event (open house for kawan Z yang tak balik raya. She went beraya tepi pantai d Barcelona and is feeling so homesick). I pun dah penat nak masak macam raya..lemang ketupat kuah satay but said I'd do a nasi ayam and Z would do her famous bread pudding.

Iza came to lunch and was happy to have some taste of home.I pun motivated juga le ada manusia lain nak berborak selain Z. Now I know how my mom felt!

Then Z and I would spend time watching netflix movies.Haha.I enjoy time with her tapi kalu hari2 mcm ni tak guna otak, rasa naik biol juga. So I try work on my Rawa research in between cooking, watching TV and shopping.

Semalam was also Veteran Day Parade. It was interesting cos' we met locals who had been to Msia.Mrk boleh cakap Melayu sikit2.

Maastricht and Roermond

We came back and rested a day before travelling to Maastricht bordering Germany and Belgium.It's a city of history and culture where Andre Rieu lives. Harap2 satu hari saya dapat tengok concert dia.

We slept over a night.Shopping sini bagus. Sbb dia bordering Belgium and Germany so sophisticated sikit la.Orang Dutch ni serba sederhana which I also like.

Pas tu kita pi designer outlet kat Roermond.Weii..besar dan byk choices.We went early so tak berebut2 la.I lepas 2 hours dah malas nak shop.Like the only things that excited me were barang2 dapor and I could not take them home. But Z and dad sakan.Sampai 5 jam! I sat watching the crowds went mad with desire. And I wrote poems.And drank coffee.

But by the time we headed home, I felt so relieved. Dah penat lah on the move.I told Nik that I would not join him in Vienna when he went for work next week.Nak duduk rumah buat kerja sikit.

 Maastricht

 Roermond

Maastricht

 another park in the city, The Hague

Back at The Hague, lunch with Nani 

and family

 weekend market at Maastricht

 comel

ni kat kedai Turki in Maastricht

Icelandic horses

I must have a special blog entry about them.Love them so much sampai Z and I pledged nak ambik horse riding when we return to Msia.

Kuda Iceland ni bukan je cantik dipandang but they are also the gentlest creatures on earth. Cara jalan pun very regal.Gait dia macam catwalk.Haha.

We were told we must always get to know our horses.Jgn terus nak ride.Selalu mrk suka dibelai bahagian leher dan you borak2 sikit dgn dia.If telinga dia tegak, dia suka you dan mendengar. We were taught how to groom it.Usap2 muka dia. Dia boleh tidur berdiri but kalau tidur baring lagi lena.

 a park in the city

 suhu 6 celsius

 Shopping street kat sini is better than the mall we went to

Wild rabbits (if you have not watched Peter Rabbit
the movie, go!)

 Kuda ni seronok diberus macam ni

 setting betul2 mcm movie Peter Rabbit

masa ni takut2 berani.haha

Iceland

It's Nik's dream country. Z and I ikutkan sahaja cos' usually it's always about us.Kasi chan le. Then we have the satisfaction of saying "pilihan siapa?" when he complains sejuknya. Heh heh.

Mula-mula memang saya tak enjoy holiday ni.My bones could not handle the cold. Maghrib jam 10 pm. Isyak 12 midnight (yang masih cerah terang benderang).Subuh around 2 am.Hadoi..once I tidur lepas subuh around 2 am and bangun dah 6.I thought 6 pm.Rupa2nya 6 am.Not only the day felt longer..time sometimes stood still.I rasa I tidur dah lama sangat!

 We arrived on Iceland's national day

 Iceland is an island, OK?

 Atas lagi dari Scotland OK?

 The biggest church in Iceland

 They are very creative with foods and drinks

 Summer, OK?

 Rasa overrated

 Semua kena pakai baju macam ni sebab sejuk

 Macam Captain Ahab looking for Moby Dick

 Sini asyik lapar

 Fish dia sedap dan fresh

Waktu ni 1.39 am waktu Isyak.Cerah macam petang

 

 Mmg pandai memasak ikan depa ni

 Roti pun sedap bila sejuk2 gini

 Cod

 Ni after pi whale watching.Nik and Italian

pizza

 Iceland tulips pun kuat sejuk

 Tulips dlm suhu 8 celcius

 In the neighbourhood

 One of our Golden Circle stops

Sini dulu perkampungan orang Viking.They just pushed 

wrongdoers ke dlm sungai ni.Mostly women.

 Nak nunggu geyser ni meletus bukan senang.

 My rapper boy

 Waterfall ni powerful gila..more powerful than

Niagara Falls

 I was too tired to walk closer to it.Ni pemandangan dari atas

 You'll get scenes like this even in the city

                                                                   Kuda Iceland

 Geothermal spa (Blue Lagoon) is a must if 

you go to Iceland

 Memang dalam takat leher. Lepas tu dapat free mask

 volcanic area

First the Vikings, then me.

the farms around the Golden Circle route

Besoknya we went whale watching pi deep sea yang bergelora. Z muntah walaupun dah makan 2 anti sickness pills. I tak makan but almost nak muntah juga. Whale tu susah nak timbul.Only after 3 hours baru nampak kelibat dia. Tak berbaloi le duduk atas boat tu dlm kesejukan. But it was an experience you need to do if in Iceland. The next must do is berendam in the geothermal spa at The Blue Lagoon.Now barulah rasa holiday sikit lepas pening pi cari whale tadi.Very relaxing time here,

Then the following day, we did the Golden Circle.Nik drove left hand.Torture sbb tak biasa.Nasib kereta tak banyak. Mcm NZ in many parts..craters, geysers, mountains, lakes, sungai..memang natural.Banyak kuda kat sini.Nak beli around USD1K.Murah lorr but a student tengah bercuti di Mongolia told me sana lagi murah ..around USD300. Haha..kalau dekat dan boleh hidup kat Msia, nak juga beli. Pi UIA naik kuda. Haha.

Yang paling we enjoyed was the horse riding and it was a good day after many days hujan dan suhu was 6 celsius walaupun summer. Then we walked in the park pi kejar wild rabbits and tengok locals mandi dlm sungai dlm suhu 6 celsius tu. That's the beauty of Reykjavik..the city is built in nature bukan nature built after you have built your concrete jungle so lakes, mountains, wild life are all in the city.Syok macam tu sebab tak payah pi jauh nak picnic or unwind.Right there in the city.I think orang Iceland ni pandai.Kawah gunung berapi pun dia boleh jual walhal the country ni jual ikan je.Minyak pun takda but tourists dtg tak kira sejuk ke apa..tak kira siang tu malam malam tu siang. Time winter pun ramai tourists sebab nak tengok northern lights tu.

Very creative people.Msia could do a lot more actually.