Relative matters... I survived!

I LIVE TO TELL THE TALE... What a dramatic opening. Yes, I managed to survive in Melaka. Admittedly, it was quite awkward at the beginning but thanks to the hospitality of my Pak Wa and Mak Wa as well as the friendliness of my other uncles, aunts and cousins, everything was fine. At least, that's what I think. I don't know what they think of my sister and myself (The youngest did not follow us) especially if they saw me 'wrestled' the lamb chop with my yellow teeth before I mashed my extremely hot baked potato with a piece of the lamb's bone. The potato just got of the grill so of course it was untouchable. I was only being practical when I used the bone. What do you want me to do? Sit around while I wait for it to cool off like what our Kemahiran Hidup text book says? Remember the book? I'm not sure it was for which form but according to the book, or rather the author of the book...

'One should starve one's self less he look like an idiot by blowing his

food'

(No offense what so ever to the author. This is a mere intepretation by an unqualified loony)

But then again, I do see the rationale behind the 'no-blowing-your-food' rule. Imagine you're having a meal and you decided that you're food, say Nasi Lemak for instance, was hot. You took a spoonful of rice with the sambal, anchovies etc and brought it close to your lips. In the midst of you cooling it by the act of blowing, your saliva flies out of your mouth and... good heavens.. landed on the face of the person sitting across you! What a waste of enzyme! But it's a different story if that person is your evil mother -in- law. God, I hope I don't get an evil one.

Moving on, contrary to what I thought, not many turned up for the engagement. I suppose it was because the reception was held on a Sunday. Kids gotta go to school the next day ya know. It was a blessing actually because that means that I have time to get to now more about my cousins who were there. Imgine if all of them turned up (I have about 90 cousins). I wouldn't be able to remember who's kids they are let alone their names! The ones that I'd met are mostly pursuing their tertiary education doing law, business, physics and mechanical engineering. Look at what I'm doing - Professional Communication. A stark contrast no? Haha.

Most of my relatives on my father's side are successful people who come from you know those typical yet rewarding background i.e. medical, engineering, law, education etc. Of course that is not to say that what I'm doing wouldn't be rewarding. I'm sure it will. I hope.Haha. My sisters and I are probably the only ones who are into the art stuff like writing, drawing, music etc and it is most likely that we will make them as a career. If this is so, we will bloody hell stand out! Wow. Dahla anak Pak Long... stand out habis... Ini sesuatu yang membanggakan! This calls for a celebration! Pardon my looniness di pagi hari. Al maklumlah, first day of puasa. Tak cukup nutrien.

Anyway, I enjoyed myself and I especially loved the guest house where me and my other relatives stayed. My uncle works for the state government so he and his family stays at this quite pretty government complex. Told ya they were successful. Sigh, pressure, pressure. Haha. Here are some of the pics that I took. I took quite a few pics but as usual they have nothing to do with the engagement so I shall not post them here as they are considered irrelevant.

The Guest House

This was where my sis and I slept

Love the bed sheet

That's a pillow

Entourage from both sides

My father was the 'wakil sebelah pihak perempuan'

Seronok dia buat pantun

Hantaran from pihak perempuan

The 'inedible' cake

Tepak sirih

Bunga rampai

A very tense Kak Wani.

She hated those fake camel eye lashes

A friend in need is a friend indeed

Family matters!

Relatives - I hardly knew mine, especially on my father's side. I know most of my mother's who are actually not related to us. They are my grandmother's close friends and cousins. My grandmother was an only child so it is these people whom she regards as family. My father on the other hand comes from a huge family. There are 15 of them altogether and my father is the eldest. Which means he is very old. Haha. Out of his 14 siblings, I think I probably only know half of them. I can identify the other half as the product of Hj Johari(my late grandfather) and erm his wives'(he has 2 or 3 wives..I'm not so sure myself) but I have no idea what their names are. What's even worst is that since we are Malays, I need to address them according to their appropriate panggilan which can be quite mind boggling actually because I don't know who shot out from my late grandma's..I mean..granmas' uterus first! Mak Su, Mak Lang, Pak Lang, Pak Ngah ... Sigh... It's an uphill task I tell you, to remember their names and such especially for someone like me who often becomes blur at times when I shouldn't. Oh and let's not forget that they have children! Aiyo... I do not know the exact number of cousins that I have but I can tell you that they are many!

So, in the spirit of bringing the family closer, my father had decided to surprised my sisters and I by telling us that he would want to bring all 3 of us to Melaka tomorrow for one of our cousin's engagement ceremony. He broke the news to me first. We were on our back home from my hostel when he asked the amount of assignments that I have. I said I have a lot to do eventhough it wasn't that much really. Just a few essay drafts but it involves cracking your brain for ideas and it usually takes quite some time for my brain to get cracking. Which is why I have some side activities lined up while waiting for inspiration. Among them are scratching my head, doodling, looking around, jumping around...eh no. That's Tee Song Yan. Haha. And a few others la... So I was not lying to my father when I said that I INDEED have a lot of things to do eventhough they are not assignment related. :)

The function is on Sunday but we're leaving tomorrow afternoon and will be spending the night there. I have yet to know where exactly we will lay our heads tomorrow night but it doesn't matter really. As long as it's comfortable enough. Although I'm not to keen on the idea of spending the night at my uncle or aunty's place. The thing about family gatherings is that it's like a socialite's party. Absolutely every single thing about you will be scrutinized by them. Your manners, the way you dress, the way you speak...Everything! And I'm no socialite! Heck, I don't even socialise that much. I would really love to say that I don't give a fcuk about what people think about me but I can't because I do care. Not that much. Just a tiny bit. And IF I somehow messed up, it is not only me who will face the clucking tongues of my mak ciks but my parents as well! Great! Just great! I don't want to think too much about tomorow because it's just poitless. Why burden your head with unnecessary thoughts. And besides I'm quite an optimist so here's hoping that me and my sisters dont messed up tomorrow and the day after. May the force be with us.

Dengue Dilemma

People have been asking me to update my blog. Eh, no. Only Ikin. Haha. I'm actually too lazy to type anything. Not in the mood for writing. Sigh. Well, since I have nothing to do now (my class is at 1pm which is another 2 hours...seronoknya 2 jam of boredom)why don't I just blab something over here.

I didn't go for classes last week due. Nope I did not ponteng. I'm a good student. Missing classes makes me feel uneasy. Haha. Anyway, I had a fever last Tuesday and I immediately the subject of dengue popped up in my head and guess what I was right! My 2 sisters was also down with dengue but they have long recovered so I suppose it's just a matter of time before a bloody mosquito decides to bite me and bring down my platlet level.

Thank God I did not have classes the next day although I was feeling much better. But you see, the thing about dengue is that it makes you feel highly uncomfortable. At times you'll feel very sick (that's when you have fever) and at other times you'll feel perfectly fine! Ape bengong sangat penyakit ni? But of course, I didn't know that at that time so I thought since I'm already okay why not I just join the merpati dua sejoli for the movie. We were going to watch Batman and Josh had bought the tickets so I didn't want my ticket to go to waste. And so I went to IOI with them on that lovely Wednesday.

It didn't turned out quite so lovely actually. I was feeling nausea and my head was spinning. What's weird is that I was fine throughout the movie. Ngade-ngade betul. Hehe. I guess it was because I was sitting the whole time.

I was feeling very sick while waiting for the Rapid bus which is not so rapid. When I've reached my hostel I just flunked myself on the bed and tried to sleep. Of course I couldn't. My temperature shot up again. My father finally fetched me after I unsuccessfully called him a few times and we went straight to Ampang Hospital.

When I finally got the chance to see the doctor he said that they couldn't take my blood sample at that time. I need to have fever for at least 3 days before they can take my blood sample and check whether it's dengue or some other crap.

So, for the past..8 days I think, I ulang-alik to the hospital, getting poked by needles until both my hands bruised which is very normal actually. I never knew that poking needles into your skin can cause bruises. Nampak macam mangsa penderaan.Haha.

Finally on the 10th day..I'm not sure actually...I lost count... I was finally okay. My platlet level was normal. It was around 253000 or so I think. Before that it was around 80 000-100 000. The normal human being's platlet level is around 150 000 if I heard the doctor correctly. Go and google it yourself. And the next day I went to Tioman. Hahah...

New but not necessarily improved hair

I went to the salon yesterday and promptly showed this pic to the stylist and he said "Oh macam ni, ade banyak layer-layer kan... Tapi untuk awak kite buat panjang sikit sebab kalau pendek tak sesuai". "Okay" I said as I thought well, he's the expert... he knows what he's doing.

1 hour and 3o minutes later...

Yup, pretty different no? Sigh... Not that I'm upset or anything.

I don't get upset easily. Hehe. Hair grows anyway. No biggy.

My grandma could only laugh when I told her that I look lagi cina.

Haha. My sister, ever the experimenter (is there even such a word)

decided to play around with my new hair and so...

TADA!

I hope I look younger now :p

I might attempt that at college if I'm not lazy.

Ah, but I'll need a hairdryer.

Lece betul.

And the fact that I wear glasses just ruins the look.

This is how I look today after I washed all that hairspray.

Both of my sisters said that I looked like a guy.

Haha. Great.

I love how guys' look anyway.

Thier clothes, their hair and their oh so gorgeous urat-urat di tangan.

My hair reminds me of Joe Dirt's hair.

Puffy at the top. Long and thin at the bottom.

Mine is no that puffy though. I'll need hairspray.

Oh, and side burns too.

Gonna post some more crazy pics on myspace, friendster and maybe facebook.

Tidak Kesepian

Hari ni tidak jauh bezanya dari hari-hari yang lain. Aku lakukan tugas-tugasku seperti hari-hari cuti yang lain. Apa yang membuatkan hari ni best adalah sebab hari ni hujan. Syok je aku layan katil. 2 jam aku tidur. Giler layan. Hehe. Siap mimpi tu. Ape ntah yang aku mimpi. Mengarut betul. Mula-mula mimpi pasal monyet 'attack' kepala adik aku. Pas tu mimpi... hmm... ntah. Tak ingat. Tapi pelik gak ar. Bangun-bangun, mak aku bawak balik goreng pisang ngan teh tarik. Chantek... Memang diriku selalu kebuluran tatkala bangkit dari tidur. Ape lagi... Kami 5 branak balun goreng pisang ngan teh tarik.

Bile perut dah kenyang, mak ku mengeluarkan statement berikut... 'Jom gi tgk sepi'. So aku, mak ngan adik pon gi la ke Galaxy Ampang, port wayang kami. Haih... tapi sayang... Aku berasa tidak puas hati dengan filem tersebut. Aku pergi dengan harapan yang tinggi menggunung tapi apa yang aku dapat? Kedukaan yang melampau! Sekali lagi aku tertipu oleh trailer!
Haha. X sepi langsung filem tu... Ok la..adela rase sedih. Hatiku seperti hati manusia-manusia lain juga... Bukan diperbuat daripada batu. Tapi tak de la sedih sangat cerita nya. Cuma yang aku suka part Afdlin Shauki sebab part dia lawak. Hehe. Selain itu, cinematography dia pon agak cun. Scene kegemaranku time Vanidah Imran ngan Afdlin main balin-baling bende kat dapur. Memang cute scene tu.

Secara keseluruhan ceritanya boleh tahan la.Ramai yang berpendapat bahawa filem ini amat menyentuh jiwa dan tidak kurang juga yang menganggap bahawa filem ini adalah antara filem yang terbaik yang terdapat di Malaysia. Entahlah, aku lebih suka filem Khabir Bhatia yang dulu, 'Cinta'. Aku rase filem tu lagi menusuk kalbu. Haih...xpe2..lain orang lain lidahnya ye dak? Yang penting jangan biarkan diri anda diselubungi sepi...

I hope this is a STRAIGHT to the point post.

One of the few tv ads that have caught my attention was the New Straits Times ad about secondary school boys who belittled their friend who was reading an English newspaper(NST of course) on the bus. After watching it, I couldn't help feeling a bit flabbergasted. Lol. Pardon the choice of words. Do people (us,Malaysians to be precise) in this modern era still view the English language negatively? Looking at the ad, I suppose there are still a few of us who feel that way. My guess is that they have yet to realize how important the language is. People need to understand that being proficient in both writen and spoken English is no longer a mark of 'how far up you are in the social class' but a NECESSITY if one wishes to survive in this ever competitive world of ours. Where would 'You straight... you don't belok-belok' lead you? Certainly not to the path of riches and glory. LOL.

So, back to the ad. The ad reminded me of myself approximately 10 years ago whe I was in primary school. I first received my primary education at a private primary school in KL. Naturally, I could speak in English fairly well as everyone used it. This is not to say that I am absolutely useless when it comes to BM because I do speak in Bahasa Malaysia at home especially to my grandma. She speakes in loghat utara some more! So, hampa jangan kuang ajaq na...sat ni aku bubuh cabai dalam mulut baru hampa tau! Lol.

One fine day in the month of May, my parents(I suspect my grandma was also involved in this) decided to transfer me to a sekolah kebangsaan. I was in standard two at that time. I'm not quite sure what made them do it but I think it was because of the longer school hours at the private school. And so I went there. The school was also much closer to my home. I guess I adapted pretty well for a new kid because I don't remember getting into trouble with the other kids in my class. Either that or my memory has indeed gone faulty. I think I prefer the afforementioned statement. Hehe.

Everything when well until I decided to talk in English. Immediately, a few of the girls in my class hissed at me and my other friend. Both of us were merely doing what we were told to by our English teacher (whose name I've forgotten) which was to practise speaking in English. 'Eleh... speaking konon'. I don't remember if I had actually reacted to their statement but given my shy and non-agressive nature, I suppose I didn't. Yup, I'm not much of a fighter. But the weird thing is, none of these girls (may I call them bitches?lol) have any problems coming up to me whenever they have problems with their English homework. Haih...humans..

So thanks to you girls my English has deteriorated! Lol. Joking. Joking. I fully hold myself accountable because unlike you people, I am an angel. LOL. No matter, all is not lost. I will continue to improve my grasp of the language for as long as my memory is intact.

*Rumput is ashamed to admit that she has never been to the National Monument. She has also yet to reach rumah Cik Maimon.

(Car)efree Soul

The coffee drinker is proud of herself. Up to this hour she has driven the Viva for almost 4 hours. It woudn't mean anything to anyone else but to the coffee drinker, this was something great, an accomplishment. She has managed to conquer or rather hid her fear of manouvring a 4-wheel vehicle. The roads looked less terrying to the bespectacled coffee drinker.

However, anxiety always manages to seize the coffee drinker's mind, body and even soul whenever her mother and her mother's mother asked the coffee drinker to venture on to the roads. As the coffee drinker was determined to put a stop to all this 'anxiety' nonsense, she recalled a very usefull advice from a woman who has gone through a great deal of things in life, Janice Dickinson. She recalled an episode where Abby, Janice's Liverpoolian protege, was in a state of panic when Janice said...

' You're not scared. It's adrenaline.'

The words are not entirely accurate but that was the important message. And so, the coffee drinker always tell herself that it is adrenaline and not fear that was seeping into her mind about 1 or 2 hours before she trades the comfort and safety of her home for the vehicle that is almost never parked in an approprite fashion.

But today was different. Today, the coffee drinker has a reason to smile for she had managed to stay calm and collected as she drove to Ampang Point where her sister goes for Violin lessons.
The coffee drinker even managed to find a parking lot without almost crashing herself into other cars and parked the Viva. The parking was not excellent but for a timid young adult such as herself, it was more than enough. At least that was what the coffee drinker thought.

The coffee drinker made 2 stops before heading home. One, was at the supermarket and the other at the clinic. The coffee drinker and her family had ran out eggs yesterday, depriving them of making cucur udang so that was where she went. The clinic was where the coffee drinker went next for her grandmother was in need of some medication and since the pharmacy was closed (The coffee drinker actually had the nerve to forget that it was a Sunday), the clinic was the next best thing.