Engagement of the year

My sister's daughter, Baraqah, got engaged yesterday to a Kajang guy.Biasalah anak2 muda hari ini, we only meet the guy and family on the engagement day (we didn't attend the merisik ceremony).

This is the sister who died early (car accident) and this is the niece who was only 2 when she lost her mother and was raised single-handedly by her dad who passed away about almost two years ago..a few days after her graduation.

I arrived 3 hours into the event.Sempat buat last min buys (her lawyer sister yang bayar..I tunjuk je.Haha.They joked about it..sampai lewat..then hysterical itu tak kena, ini tak kena.I know my aruah sister.She's so particular about how things should be done.Kalau dia ada, mmg dia menunjuk itu ini juga.My god..I never stop mourning over her.I went pun in memory of her.Budak2 tu jemput pakai Wassapp je..kalu ikut protocol..mmg reason to merajuk.But no..this is my sister's daughter.I must be there meraikan.I know that they have been independent since her death that they can take care of themselves but...).Mek merajuk. She didn't turn up.Orang tua, gitu le. :))

We ended up having loads of fun.But it was very brief cos' everyone left on Sat itself except me and Nik.Tertipu as always.Initially semua pakat to balik on Sunday but masing2 got hal.It was our Mom who glued us.If she were still around, ada hal takda hal, semua balik Sunday (if my mom decided... ).We were too tired to do a day trip so decided to rehat at Cherating..hopping from one plc to the other for a good beach.Found it in Holiday Villa.I love this place! Nak pi lagi nanti.

From ground zero to 70

Never this high (biasanya up to Level 41 at the skybridge) but alhamdullilah, we did Phase 1 presentation. Might go for Round 2 for the expert evaluation pulak.Here's praying.

Breakfast at Dome was delicious.Rasa macam kat Nuyork.Friends at al Liqa' said they were having a good time.Ya right!

But after the presentation, we were all making jokes about Dr. Fauziah's new toy.We told her if she could design a car that could go under water for Formula 1 and we'd add an event in which all cars had to go under water, sure Msian car ni menang.Then Prof Fau and Dr Amani were talking about his new car...I said nothing great cos' it would not be able to go under water! (nada jeles cos' I could not afford to buy kereta harga ratus2 ribu..well I can but won't) Saja nak usik diaorang.Then we started talking about South Koreans and Japanese who could not handle extreme emotions..terlalu sedih or terlalu gembira.A story I read a long time ago about how a young South Korean committed suicide over the death of his pet.He could not handle the extreme pain he felt because he never felt sad before.Then Dr Fauziah related the story her hubby (now in Japan)related to her over how crazy young Japs are over anything French..LVs,Paris etc.So many would travel to Paris for their vacation.Punya happy...balik ramai yang gila...
Tak terjangka oleh imaginasi saya tetapi orang Jepun mmg pelik

Sapa curi?

Rumaizah Abu Bakar was invited to speak to my MSL class on her latest book.Aishah brought in her students so it was really lively as students posed intelligent questions.I'm truly impressed with this sem's MSL batch. I pun terkezut dengar soalan mereka. Sapa ajar? Sapa ajar? :))

Rumaizah's travelogue is really interesting.As one student queried, where does fiction begin and non-fiction ends? Ko boleh tanya soalan macam tu? Haha.

Pendeknya, we had a fun session.Her book will be launched on Saturday at Silverfish but I would be away and would have to miss.

Belah petang: Two workshops.Dua2 penuh sampai ada yg terpaksa balik cos' no seats.Yikes! Ini satu petanda baik, alhamdulillah.Just maybe, we'll get that RU status after all.Here's hoping and not hoping.Kalau dpt RU, kepala mula botak.Sekarang pun tak lekat kain terkejar2 sana sini.

It's actually seronok when we get together like that.Our guests from UM were beautiful people.Colleagues I had met pun baik2 belaka and old ones are back in my radar.Will need to work on that dumb waiter lift.Semua pucat2 sampai level 3.No lift.

As we were packing to go home, my staff semua bising two of our laptops hilang frm the meeting rooms.Someone said she saw a young woman tutup pintu and she's not from one of us.Telefon sana sini if the people on level 2 took the laptops.They said nyet.I suggested a police report were lodged (sikit2 report police...sikit2 report ke pemata).My colleagues semua kata tunggu dulu as they made more calls to ensure.Then someone said she saw Ripin our techie took the laptops.So they rang him up.Ariffin said yes, the machines are with him.Phew!

Takda sapa curi.Just smart enough to keep them safe cos' we were all busy chatting away..kalau pencuri masuk, memang tak sedar (cos' the office is spacious, pintu exit always not locked)

This country of mine

This piece is dedicated to my friend whose name is Shafie.

This country of mine

In a country full of lies
and deceits
where we fake spring, winter
and place our rustic rural villages
at the centre of our malls
and burn fake lemangs and
hang ketupat made of colourful ribbons
we serve pricey, tasteless nasi lemak
without timun
on fake banana leaves

the cityfolks breathe in this air of make believe
the kampong folks suffocate in this pollution
a day spent is a day lost

" we rather live in reality
   even if, in poverty."

Full day

Since I was not good at organising my time, I ended up squeezing too many events in a day! (akibat being too dependent on my PA and RA who keep my diary and appointments.. Heh heh..manyak eksyen).

Lunch : Grand Bluewave, Shah Alam with Azah, Waza and Shiha - my NZ girlfriends since 1981.We went Japanese.The Japanese chef sepuluh kali sekejap came to our table.Akhirnya tanya: where are husbands? I said sleeping when I left him.Rupa2nya dia masih bujang so kita ambik gambar dgn dia nak matchkan dgn one of our friends yg belum kawin. :))

Late lunch: since I could not attend the evening do, I went to the lunch do at PENA house to attend Khaled Salleh's daughter's wedding. Don't know him personally tapi my friend said every jemputan kawin wajib dipenuhi.Bumped into three people I know cos' the writers' group datang malam gamaknya.

Dinner: tahlil at Lina's place.They are renting out for the next 6 months cos' their home is being renovated.The new place a bit further from ours so susah sikit nak kacau Nadra every weekend.The guards buat rounds pakai german shepherds in addition to strict guard checks.Byk sgt ke reta depa ni nak guard berlapis2 gitu?