Ouch..!

.................................



Aduh laa... Kenapalah jadi macam ni. Terhenjut-henjut kaki Mak Lijah dibuatnya.





Punyalah dramatik kejadiannya. Haritu we all saja ja nak bawa Mak Tok and Pak Tok melihat rumah yang kami baru beli nun di sana tu dengan perancangan untuk terus saja lunch satay di K@j@ng. So kami bertolak dari Selayang pada kira-kira pukul 11.30 pagi dan menyusur lebuhraya yang jam-less haritu . Alangkah bestnya kalau tiap-tiap hari bekerja pun macam tu.





Kami sampai kat kawasan 'rumah baru' kami pada kira-kira pukul 12.10 pm dalam cuaca yang agak mendung. Waaahh... banyak kedai dah dibuka rupanya. Ada 3-4 buah restoran, kedai dobi, kedai tayar, mini market dan yang paling best... ada KLINIK KUCING..! So sweet.... Selalunya hanya klinik haiwan where we have to be extra careful when dogs were brought in (am still confused over dog-touching after Yasmin's movie).





Dah banyak progress dibuat over the house and dah dikunci pun oleh developer. So we couldn't get into our own house. Tapi ada satu rumah lain yang designnya exactly macam rumah Mak Lijah yang tak dikunci sebab ada sorang pekerja Bangla tengah mengecat rumah tu. So dapatlah kami masuk dan buat tour untuk Mak Tok and Pak Tok.





Kakak and Danisy sangat excited sebab playground hanyalah five metres away from our front gate. Dan otak Mak Lijah pun berligar-ligar mencari idea nak buat kitchen, garden, wardrobe dan macam-macam lagilah. Cuma kurang puas hati sikit pasal our bathroom is a bit too small for a master bedroom. Bilik Abang kat 'penthouse' di tingkat paling atas pulak ada bigger bathroom than ours.





Dah puas pusing-pusing kat situ perutpun mula terasa lapar dan Danisy pulak dah mengadu dahaga. Lalu Mak Tok, Pak Tok and the children pun got on to the MPV and proceedlah to the famous satay which is like only 15 minutes drive away from the house.





Sampai saja kat kawasan parking tu, ada la this grey Pr@t@n aeroback yang park betul-betul kat corner nak masuk ke kawasan letak kereta. Apa punya driver lah.. Tak pikir langsung pasal orang lain. So Mak Lijahpun voluteered lah untuk jadi parking attendant sekejap sebab tak nak kereta kami kemek/bercalar dek kejahilan manusia tak bertimbang rasa tu. Alang-alang dah keluar kereta tu, Mak Lijah pun suruhlah Pak Lijah terus ke lot parking yang terletak betul-betul di hadapan restoran tu while I just walked there.





Ramai betul orang harini. Maklumlah hari minggu dan Mak Lijah tengok macam ada family day jer kat situ sebab ada beberapa kereta company sebuah syarikat media tabloid yang femes parked kat situ. Sambil dok cat walk menuju ke restoran tu, Mak Lijah tengok-tengok juga meja mana bakal dituju sebab rasa macam penuh sesak jer. Makin ramai pulak orang yang masuk at about the same time.





Tiba-tiba...













Adoilaa.... Adoi..... !!!






Eh.. kenapa aku terduduk ni.... Eh... Sakitnya kaki .... Ya Allah.... Kaki aku termasuk lobang rupanya... Adoi... !!!





Adoi....!!! Sakit lagi hati Mak Lijah sebab terjatuh betol-betol depan restoran tu dengan bersaksikan mereka semua tu.... Arrrggghhh.... glamer nyer... !!!




Nak bangun tak boleh sebab sakit sangat....Adoilaaa... Macamana boleh terjadi kejadian tu...? By then, Pak Lijah arrived dengan kereta and diapun turunkan cermin. Dari jauh dia tanya kenapa Mak Lijah duduk. Tak terkeluar dah suara ni, hanya mulut jer yang terkumat-kamit menyebut "jatuh" dengan lemah-gemalai dan muka yang herot petot menahan sakit....













"Oh... ingatkan letih tunggu kami, sampai kena duduk..."

No. 1

Big Baby Danish presented us with a wonderful surprise this week. The second good news in two weeks. Lucky number two.

A lot of good things are falling on to us lately, actually. Alhamdulillah...

Danish announced on Wednesday that dia dapat nombor satu di tadikanya, on the same day I was informed of my promotion. Wah.. not bad, eh, Danish? Dengan mulutnya tak henti-henti pot-pet pot-pet bercerita gitu gini dan tak sudah-sudah asyik mengunyah makanan jer, sambil jari-jemarinya menekan-nekan button PS2 lah, PS3 lah... berjaya juga dia dalam pelajaran. Berbaloi juga Mak Lijah pot-pet kan dia setiap malam masa minggu exam haritu.

Bukanlah Mak Lijah desperate sangat nakkan Danish ni jadi super duper brillant student whatsoever, memadailah dia tidak gagal dalam matapelajaran. Tak sangka pula dia terus dapat cemerlang. Tahniah, Danish.. semoga boleh maintain di alam sebenar persekolahan yang lebih mencabar di tahun 2009 nanti.

Good luck to you (and to me too...!!!!)

Moving on

Sometimes women are discriminated against in workplace. Is that still true in Malaysia?




One of the primary rights of every employee is the right to be treated fairly, and women are not exception of this one. This discrimination has various forms such as wage-gap and preventing to gain key position.

Another aspect of discriminating is preventing women from further job promotion, for many instances, the governmental Assistant Director, Director etc. Is this true?

But I think employees are highly discriminated based on the "I-know-you" factor while the gender issue is only relevant to male-chauvinistic bosses who to me remain a minor in our society.

Where I work, the "I-know-you" factor prevails above and over any so-called merit policy. Don't talk about the quality of work, the sacrifices or the commitments. If they don't know you because you don't 'see' them or they don't 'hear' you, then that's it! They don't see your work or see you working, so you are being discriminated whether you like it or not. So strategy is an important tool here.

People like me would have to work triple hard because the "I-know-you" factor just do not work with me. The formula is way out of my principle, so I deserved this treatment.

Nevertheless, after having to suffer one miserable year with one moronic person, I have to say congratulations to myself and syukur Alhamdulillah for all the good things bestowed onto me, recently. I am now moving on to another quite-familiar field within a very welcoming environment.

As Pak Lijah had said, there would always be good things waiting for you after whatever bad things that you have gone through. Thank you Pak Lijah for all your support and kind words.

Again, I thank Allah for all this. Semua yang baik hanyalah dari Dia.

Dah lama rupanya tak update. Tak payahlah nak bagi alasan, kan? Sebab alasan tu boleh di copy paste jer dari postings yang lalu. Standard je alasan tu.


Selepas "dilepaskan" untuk pergi berkursus di Langkawi, Mak Lijah pergi pulak ke Pulau Temasik seisi keluarga. Tak sangka boleh "island hop" within seven days. Seronok juga.


Flying back to KL from Langkawi was calmer sebab tak hujan. Kalau tak... nak minum pun susah. Alhamdulillah... Dengan cuaca yang tak menentu, hujan lebat dan ribut petir hari-hari, gusar juga setiap kali nak take-off, akhirnya selamat juga landing...


Sampai-sampai saja di KLIA, ada kezutan. Jeng...jeng..jeng... I don't know whether I liked it or not but it actually spoilt my anxiety.


Sampai kat rumah, mandi, solat, dinner, terus jer packing baju anak-anak.


Tidur dalam keletihan dan rasa kurang sedap badan.


Esoknya, tepat pukul 7.30 pagi.. berderumlah MPV kami menuju ke PLUS. Trafik tak sibuk. Perjalanan atas highway sangat lancar. Budak-budak sempat jugalah breakfast sikit-sikit tadi tapi by 9.00, diorang dah complain lapar. He..he..he...


So we stopped at one of the R&Rs (tak ingat kat mana). Puuu...nyalah ramai orang.. sampai tak ada tempat duduk. So we decided to go to one of the cafes yang hanya ada sandwiches saja. Tak apalah, asalkan perut beralas.


By 11.20, kami dah sampai tol Sedenak. Budak-budak dah excited sebab nak tinggalkan Malaysia, macamlah nak pergi to another planet. We had a wonderful lunch kat one Indonesian restaurant in JB before we went off accross the tambak. Proses imigresen pun tak lama and the journey took only about 40 minutes, all in, from JB to the hotel. Not bad, eh? Sebenarnya masa orang imigresen to nak check kami tadi tu, Mak Lijah tertidur with the sunglasses on. And this guy didnt know that. He thought I was being stubborn or something. Mak Lijah sedar bila Kakak kejutkan, "Mama, buka spek lah.." Oh, termalu sekejap.

By 2.00 pm we checked in-to Hyatt Singapore kat Scotts Road. Letaknya 20 meter dari Stamford Road. Hmm... Ring a bell, anyone?


Walaupun it looked cloudy dan ada potensi untuk hujan, Mak Lijah ajak juga budak-budak tu pergi ke Zoo sebab it would not be too hot since it was a bit cloudy that day. Sampai jer di Zoo, bought the tickets dan bermulalah our adventure. It was really interesting. Malas nak buat comparison. Rasa sangat tidak adil. The white 'cats' looked so healthy unlike...aahh.. malas nak cakap.


We hopped-onto the zoo car and moved around very comfortably. Seronok tengok budak-budak tu seronok. Kebetulan masa tu, ada marine show pulak. Walaupun we considered ourselves sampai early kat amphiteater tu, orang dah penuh yang amat. We had to actually sit kat tangga je but we had a nice view. Danisy was extremely excited watching the sea lion putting up the show.


Aduh laaa... Letih sungguh.


So the outdoor activity of the day habis di situ. We went back to the hotel, showered and had this marvellous dinner kat restaurant dia. FYI, Hyatt Singapore has a majority shareholder of one rich Islamic country in ASEAN, so the food is halal. Mak Lijah makan mee udang, nasi ayam, pohpiah while kakak had tandoori, Danisy had roti canai and Abang had almost everything, including satay. They even have teh-tarik. Pak Lijah pula 'attacked' the seafood. Risaulah pulak kut-kut kena attack dengan gout. Habislah program kita..


End of day one and here are some of the pics:

Abang and the white 'cat'




Senyum...senyum...




Kakak and Carlos





Everyone of us was impressed with the healthy-looking white cat

Bad days aint good...

...................
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

These past few days have not treated me well. I have been and is still going through a series of tremendously bad mood days complimented by unwise decisions and unrespectful individuals.


It started with the end of a bad, stressful, dissapointing and frustrating Wednesday at the office. Walaupun it may sound like it's just a small thing to others, it is a big matter to me as I have been deprived of this particular opportunity (and missed other opportunities as well) for the past two years while watching other people enjoying what they do not deserve.


Having no mood to work, I brought back some reading materials home, hoping I could recuperate by then. I had to read some documents for me to prepare a paper, as directed, to which I am so not sure of the content. Knowing me, I would be reading the document letter by letter and digesting the meaning until I could really understand the whole thing for me to formulate my own understanding. By then it was already 11.30 pm and Kakak and Danisy were already asleep. Desperate Housewives pun dah habis.



My mind was so fresh and alert and yet it was already 1.00 am. Dah puas tukar channel nak cari cerita menarik but unfortunately semuanya amat membosankan and yet tak cukup untuk membuatkan Mak Lijah mengantuk. Then I started communicating accross the globe, still hoping I would get bored and sleepy eventually. But nooo...


I finished my paper, finally, at 4.30 am, stil feeling fresh. But by then, I decided that I have to stop my brain from overworking or there'll be a short circuit somewhere, soon. As soon I closed my eyes, I had a dream which I could not remember now and at 5.45 am sharp, I just woke up even before the alarm clock started to scream. And I was still fresh!


The next few days were not any better. Felt like kicking people.


And today just topped it all because Abang broke his promise. He promised that he would be back early at 7.30 pm in return for my consent to allow him to go to his friend's open house. I must have been insane to allow him to spend this evening away from home when he would be sitting for his PMR tomorrow morning.


It is five to ten pm now and he is still not back at home. Every other night, he would have been in his room either playing on his PC or the least, studying (much to my yelling). How can I trust him anymore? I have given my all to see that he would get the best education, the best of his time, and what not just to get worries in return. What kind of a mother am I to allow him enjoy his life?


All the best to you, Abang. I cannot possibly talk to you now without feeling the anger brewing in me, much to my dislike. This is not what I have in my mind on the eve of his PMR. I would have thought it would have been a peaceful, calm eve with words of wisdom to wish him the best. Good luck to you.

Datuk Shah??

Oh puhleeeezzzz.....!!!!

Malacca State would be more 'famous' now than the receiver for obvious reason!

Lagu dan Kisah Raya

Walau dah banyak lagu Raya versi baru sekarang ni, Mak Lijah masih lagi prefer lagu lama-lama zaman 60-an dan 70-an dolu-dolu. Tak kiralah kalau dibuat remix dan dinyanyikan semula oleh penyanyi-penyanyi millenium ni, telinga ni lebih serasi dengan suara Ahmad Jais, Saloma dan Sanisah Huri jer. Tak lupa yang kemudian sedikit macam lagu oleh DJ Dave, Sharifah Aini, Hail Amir dan Uji Rashid. Pehtu ada plak lagu Anuar dan Elina. (Mak Lijah tak reti nak letak lagu-lagu tu kat sini.  Ada tak sesiapa bole ajar Mak Lijah macamana nak pasang lagu kat sini?)

Pun begitu, Mak Lijah menghargai gubahan era 90-an dan awal 2000 yang juga sedap dan tak sakit telinga mendengarnya macam lagu Suatu Hari Di Hari Raya oleh M. Nasir, dan Pulanglah oleh Aishah.

Cerita Raya pulak.

Tahun ni, buat kali pertamanya sejak 15 tahun lalu, Mak Lijah tak berada di atas PLUS pada Hari Raya ke dua. Tahun ni, buat pertama kalinya Hari Raya ke dua, ke tiga dan ke empat kami sekeluarga berada di Santan, Perlis. Aduh.. best nyer... Terima kasih Pak Lijah...

Tahun ni, hanya keluarga Mak Lijah dan keluarga Abang Adik sahaja yang beraya pertama di Santan, while Abang Jam and Teh sekeluarga beraya pertama di rumah mertua masing-masing di Perak dan Kelantan.

Sehari sebelum Raya tu, Mak Lijah dah terpacak di pasar Kangar beratur kerana nak beli santan. Masa tu kira-kira pukul 6.55 pagi. Walaupun ada tiga tempat yang menjual santan, queue tetap juga berlapis-lapis. Betapa pentingnya santan dalam menu Raya... Akhirnya, dari masih gelap, sehinggalah cerah, Mak Lijah pun dapatlah santan 3 kilo untuk buat rendang ayam, rendang daging dan gulai daging. Kuah laksa dah siap malam tadi lagi.

Pagi-pagi Raya tu, selepas sembahyang subuh, bergegas Mak Lijah ke dapur untuk "memproses" segala bagai. Nak siap cepat sebab kejap lagi nak ke masjid. Sampai je di mesjid Santan, jumpalah sanak-saudara dan sahabat-handai yang hanya kami jumpa setahun sekali. Lepas sembahyang, Mak Lijah dan Kakak berjalan balik sebab saja nak menyesakkan Jalan Santan yang dah tak berapa sempit tu.

Pada Hari Raya ke dua, finally, everybody was back in the small, newly renovated house filled with new furnitures. And now the photo shoot ...

SELAMAT HARI RAYA SEMUA...!

Gambar Raya

Lengkap semua...

macam-macam hal...

Tadi Mak Lijah nyaris kena saman. Chiss... Tak pernah-pernah Mak Lijah kena tahan polis. Tapi, nak dijadikan cerita, mujur pulak ditahan polis sebab kalau tidak, Mak Lijah tak akan sedar yang lesen memandu Mak Lijah dah mati tiga haribulan hari tu..

Macam-macam hal berlaku lately ni kat negara kita. What a state we are in, now. Tolonglah... nak Raya ni. Just stop the whole comical act, puhleeeezzz...!!!! Let's live in peace... and have a wonderful Raya this year like every other year.

And talk about Raya.. Mak Lijah dah siap dua jenis kuih. Cuma yang satu tu, macam kuih trial jer sebab RUPA TIADA, RASA ADA. He..he..he.. Cobaan yang ke entah berapa kalinya nak wat kuih semperit. Nampak gayanya jadi hidangan berbuka je lah. Mau tak nya, jenuh dok bersilat dengan Kakak dan Danisy yang tompang sama nak buat kuih. Itupun Kakak komplen sebab buat waktu siang, dia tak boleh nak rasa. Sebenarnya memang strategi Mak Lijah buat siang supaya kuih tu boleh tahan sampai ke rumah Mak Tok Raya nanti.

Been quite busy since early this month. Jumpa the Kiwis (again) at the request of a colleague who had to take over the role for a while. Masa ni lah news bertalu-talu keluar pasal ISA lah.. pasal kickdefellalah.. Aduiii... apa nak jadi ni? I happen to know this guy. Tak sangka dia active (too) in this way.

And now I am confused with this film Gubra. Dalam satu babak tu, ustad tu mengusap kepala anjing yang dok melepak tengah jalan. Will somebody please enlighten me of this thing? Kita orang Islam tak haram ke pegang anjing? Bukan ke kita kena samak? Does that mean that ustad tu akan samak tangan dia selepas itu when he could have just avoided touching the dog? Confused...confused...

Tahun ni Raya turn balik kampung Mak Lijah di Santan, Perlis... yahooo.... !!!

Diari Ramadhan

Dah masuk tujuh hari kita berpuasa. Semalam Mak Lijah berjaya buat agar-agar laici. Yummy.. Puas hati sebab sedap juga jadinya. Resepi pun mudah sangat. Dah lama nak buat tapi tak pernah ada masa. Dulu pun pernah juga try test buat, tapi tak menjadi. Kurang rasa laicinya.

Semalam juga Mak Lijah berjaya membuat ayam percik. Rancangan nak buat home made ayam percik dah ada sejak hari Selasa lagi, tapi tak dapat juga nak buatnya. Tapi jangan haraplah ayam percik tu dipercik di atas arang, yer? Ayam percik berjumpa dengan Cik Oven jer.

Pendek kata, semalam Mak Lijah dapat masak 90% hidangan berbuka. Puas hati. Tapi oleh kerana dah memang tebiat suka membeli, ada juga lauk paru dan kepak ayam bermadu yang dibeli di Pasar Ramadhan dekat dengan Stadium Selayang tu. Penuh meja dengan lauk pauk dan kuih-muih.

Hari ni? Kami berkunjung ke rumah Kak Mah, biras Mak Lijah yang tinggal di Semenyih, sempena lawatan kami ke Bangi. Kak Mah berniaga juadah berbuka manakala pada hari-hari lain bukan bulan Ramadhan, Kak Mah berniaga lauk-pauk di hadapan rumah dia. Lauk-pauk dia memang lazat-lazat belaka. Kiranya Mak Lijah "memasak" di Semenyih lah hari ni. Dapat ler ayam masak merah, gulai ayam, keli berlada, pajeri nenas, gulai nangka.. nyam..nyam...sedapnya. Masa kami baru sampai, Kak Mah sedang menggentel tepung untuk dibuat buah melaka. Budak-budak tu pun apa lagi, terus jer bersila sebelah Mak Long diorang sebab diorang memang suka sungguh melihat orang masak. Buah melaka tu pun jadi mangsa tapau juga.

On the way balik ke rumah, singgah di Hyper Bintang untuk membeli kerang dan koay teow untuk meneruskan plan nak buat char koay teow. Oleh kerana Kakak sibuk nak tolong, Mak Lijah pun suruh dia bersihkan koay teow, kupas kulit udang dll. Bila nak menumis bawang, diapun sibuk juga nak kacau. Akhirnya, dengan rasa kurang pasti, siap juga lah char koay teow ala Mak Lijah... Jangan tak tau.. Mak Lijah buat juga buah melaka walaupun dah ada. Saja suka-suka sebab Kakak nak menolong.

And again meja penuh dengan lauk-pauk...

Diari 10 Hari - Chapter 2

Burrpp... Alhamdulillahh... Sedapnya makan kat Sri Pumpong. Lauk semua habis licin di"selesai"kan oleh anak-anak Mak Lijah. Lagipun diorang memang tengah lapar. Tapi... nak dapat menikmati hidangan tu bukannya mudah.. Mula-mula tak ada meja kosong sebab ramai sangat orang, lepas tu, queuenya bukan main panjang lagi.. Tak sempat nak betol-betol tengok semua hidangan. Apa-apapun, janji dapat ikan keli dan sayur cendawan. Yummy...

Dah selesai makan dan semua bagai ular sawa tersadai, kami sambung balik perjalanan dan Danisy pun rewind balik soklan dia:

Sekarang pukul berapa?

Nak sampai pukul berapa?

Lagi berapa kilometer?


Akhirnya, selepas membeli pisang goreng RM5 (dapat satu beg plastik penuh), 2 kilo buah dokong dan 10 tongkol jagung di simpang Gunung Keriang, kami pun sampai di Kampung Santan pada kira-kira pukul 3.30 petang dalam gerimis. By then, Teh and family dah pun sampai (they flew in the day before). Danisy sangat excited tengok "rumah baru" Mak Tok sambil terlompat-lompat dan berlari-lari exploring the renovated part of the house. Mak Lijah pun excited juga sebab I got the color I wanted for our new, large bedroom (walaupun Pak Lijah kata warnanya suram. Hey, it's lilac, you know.. warna romantik!) and we had a much bigger family area. Problem is.. filling them up!

Abang Jam and Abang Adik arrived later with their family dan rumahpun jadi riuh-rendah.

And so everybody got themselves busy catching up with each other. Macam tak jumpa lima tahun. Bila dikira-kira, ada 20 manusia dalam rumah kecil itu. Yang absent hanyalah Feera, my anak sedara yang ada kelas on Monday, so tak dapat nak join us in Santan. Malam tu dinner macam kenduri, padahal bukanlah ramai sangat pun. Obviously we now need a much bigger dining table.

Yang peningnya, although we have more rooms now, budak-budak tu (all six of them) still insisted that they want to sleep depan tv kat family area tu beramai-ramai. Adoilaa.. bukannya apa, Mak Lijah juga lah yang kena angkat tilam nanti....

Finally the house was quiet at about midnite... Fuuuhh... lega...

Diari 10 Hari

Wah...wah...wah... Cuti sakan Mak Lijah kali ni. Padan muka depa. Ingat Mak Lijah ni robot ka? He..he...he... Dah balik dari cuti ni, rasa berat betol kaki ni nak menekan minyak dan brek dalam traffic jam pepagi buta tadi. Itupun mujur masih ingat lagi cara-cara nak start enjen dan memandu.

Mak Lijah applied and diapproved cuti selama lima hari minggu lepas. Pecah rekod tahun ni. Nak Raya nanti, tak taulah pulak, kan? Pagi-pagi Sabtu tu, kami started off dari Selayang pada kira-kira pukul 9.00 am to the over-excitement of the children. Dah lebih sebulan Danisy dok sebut pasal nak balik rumah Mak Tok dia sebab dia excited nak tengok "rumah baru" Mak Tok (read : renovated).

Sampai saja kat tol Rawang, Danisy pun tanya :

"Sekarang pukul berapa?"

Jawab : Sembilan setengah

"Pukul berapa nak sampai?"

(Errk...)

Dan Danisy pun akhirnya tertidur sebab bosan sangat duduk sorang-sorang kat seat belakang sekali. Tak ada siapa untuk bergaduh sebab Kakak dan Abang sat in the middle row.

Kami tak singgah mana-mana R&R (yang ternyata sesak) untuk makan but we only stopped untuk meluruskan urat sebentar dan menyahut panggilan nature.

Tol di Jelapang dah ada new structure. Dah lebih besar, tapi jalan masih lagi dua lorong while they were still working on the third and fourth lane. Hopefully by end of Ramadhan, all three or four lanes would be ready. Pray hard.

By the time we reached Bukit Merah, biola rosak pun mulalah berbunyi. Dan Pak Lijah pun buat announcement that we were going to lunch at Pumpong. Yeay....!!! My favourite eating place...! Macam tau-tau je Mak Lijah teringin nak makan kat situ.

Haa... Tau tak kat mana restoran Pumpong yang menghidangkan menu yang lazat tu?

Menu :

Kari kepala ikan
Ikan keli panggang
Ayam masak lemak
Sayur cendawan
Sambal tumis udang
Ulam dan sambal

(Kalau ikutkan hati, nak juga sup tulang, sotong, telur ikan dll)

Tu dia...

(Note : Ini baru diari hari pertama cuti)

WFV3184

To the driver of this vehicle:



YOU should die alone. Do not kill other people at the cost of your dangerous driving. YOU do not deserve to live to take other people's life.

Dia datang lagi

Dia akan datang juga, setiap tahun. Tak perlulah Mak Lijah bersusah-payah. Tak perlulah Mak Lijah berfikir panjang. Tak perlulah Mak Lijah risau. Kerana dia tetap akan datang juga.

Sorrylah.. tapi Mak Lijah memang crazy over this crazy, smelly, thorny fruit. Cuma kena berhati-hati sikit pasal intake sejak akhir-akhir ni. Maklumlah, level of tolerance dah semakin merosot.

Mak Lijah teringat suatu kisah yang berlaku kira-kira dua tahun lalu. Masa tu Malaysia menjadi tuan rumah kepada suatu mesyuarat antarabangsa. Semasa majlis perasmian, VVIP telah mempelawa para tetamu untuk menikmati the thorny fruit memandangkan ianya in season pada ketika itu. Mak Lijah mendengar saja ucapan tersebut sambil tersenyum sinis dan berkata to myself, "yeah... right.."

And so majlis perasmian pun tamat dan mesyuarat pun bermula. Sedang Mak Lijah sibuk ke hulu ke hilir mengendalikan segala bagai, tiba-tiba Mak Lijah mendapat sms ni:

Please get the best durian in town..bla...bla...bla...

WHAT...? You've got to be kidding me... !!
Oh my...oh my...

And so off I went to this Authority in Selayang with Zukri and lots of money to buy the best durian. Ha...ha...ha... Padan muka Mak Lijah. Jadi kerja pulak membeli dua bakul besar durian. Kami diberitahu, that the two "species" they are giving us are D24 and 101. We were given the privilege to taste the fruit and they were just gorgeous...!!! Superb giler.. Sayangnya 101 agak susah untuk diperolehi di sini kerana ianya untuk dieksport sahaja.

So that was one fruity story that remained fresh in my memory every time dia datang lagi.

Diari Seorang Perempuan (yang baru tukar digit pertama pada umurnya)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
******************************
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Friday, 25 July 2008, 2130 hrs.

Sampai je kat KLSentral, Danisy dan Kakak menyambut Mak Lijah dengan senyuman sampai ke telinga while Abang maintained cool berbaju kemeja lengan panjang. Buang tebiat ke apa anak-anak Mak Lijah ni. While I can guess the two younger ones were dying to keep the secret of where my birthday dinner was going to be, I just could not guess why Abang was "over dressed". And so we cruised along Jalan Duta and got onto the highway as I was guessing really hard where we were going. The kids were just too excited of my coming home they just could not stop "reporting", not knowing that their Mama was in real great pain. Well, they don't need to know.

Alas, when Pak Lijah turned into Hartamas from the highway and drove straight ahead, I kinda got the feeling that we were heading to the "station". Kakak and Danisy, as usual would order food that is "made of chicken" while Abang tried a new menu, Pak Lijah and his fish and I asked for the lamb. After having our meal, one of the waiter came and asked Pak Lijah...

"Abang, nak letak berapa candle?"

...and my head just turned 180 degrees at a rate of 60 miles per hour to look at Pak Lijah who looked so stunned and annoyed obviously.

No..No candles, no singing...Just bring in the cake q*u*i*e*t*l*y, please..

I so do not need to have this (anymore).


HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

Yep.. they just had to do it coz they were paid to sing.
Yep.. and the other table who also celebrated birthday, clapped along..
Yep.. I blew the (ONE-WHAT-IS-THAT-SUPPOSED-TO-MEAN) candle to the clappings of Danisy and Kakak..

Ah well... they enjoyed it. The cake was brilliantly super duper delicious.. What more can I ask for having to really celebrate my birthday with my family after all...

We reached home at nearly 11.00 pm and again, Kakak and Danisy were smiling sampai ke telinga because they were just so excited about the present they bought for me.. Adoi lah.. kelakar sungguh anak-anak Mak Lijah ni. They even have several cards for me. How sweet of them. Nothing could replace that special moment with them.

Aaahh...HOME SWEET HOME on my birthday, finally..

NUMB3RS

Adding one more to my age at negotiating table past midnite is way out of my idea of celebration. Having peanuts, a glass of c#ke, time-o*t, etc..? What is this man...?? I'd rather be in my bed at home with my family..

But noooooooo.........................



Demi negara
Yang tercinta
Ku curahkan bakti penuh setia
Demi Raja yang disanjung tinggi
Kesetiaan tak berbelah bahgi


OK, now on a positive note.





Pukul 8 malam, Mak Lijah berjalan balik ke hotel sebab nak mandi dan solat. Masa yang diberi hanyalah 45 minit untuk segala urusan sebelum perlu kembali ke meja rundingan.

Seperti biasa, bilik amatlah sejuk sebab pendingin hawa yang sengaja dibuka oleh chamber maid selepas mengemas bilik. Namun begitu, ada bauan yang sungguh semerbak wanginya menyambut Mak Lijah apabila pintu dibuka. Bilik masih lagi gelap. Hmmm...Sejuk...gelap...wangi... Kombinasi yang menarik..


Ohh.... Tadaaaa.... ada sejambak bunga rupanya sedang menanti di atas meja... Aduh.. pasti Pak Lijah dan anak-anak punya kerja... Terharunya.. Seberang tambakpun boleh dapat bunga.... He..he..he.. Terima kasih (daun keladi) Pak Lijah...





Pukul 4.15 pagi, berjalan balik ke hotel sambil ternguap-nguap. Adoi lah... Buka pintu, another sweet smell greeted me. Now what...

Tadaa.... A chocolate cake with candles! How nice...!!! It was from the hotel... Agaknya pukul berapalah diorang datang tadi...

Apa-apapun... Selamat Hari Jadi untuk Mak Lijah...

Hebat...hebat...

Hari ni terbaca satu artikel pasal Datuk Ahmad Nawab kat Berita Harian. There was a concert in Istana Budaya last Friday, a tribute to him.

While the memory is still there...

Being a person who respects time all the time, Mak Lijah and Pak Lijah sengaja sampai awal di IB so that we could dinner there and not be late to enter Panggung Sari (concert was supposed to start at 8.30). But noooo.... they have to wait for the VIP and by 8.55 pm, there were still people who just came in and were looking for their seats. UNBELIEVABLE MALAYSIANS....Malaysia Boleh!

But alas...

Latiff Ibrahim (Pilihlah Aku, Nora) sigh....

Siti Fairuz (Bila Rindu..., Usah Bertanya Lagi)

JAMAL ABDILLAH (Tidurlah Permaisuri, Perpisahan Tanpa Relamu, Nasib Diriku, Sepi Seorang Perindu, Keluhan Perantau, Seniman Menangis) big sigh....

Khaty Ibrahim (Ku Sangka Siang Kiranya Malam, Ku Gembira Di Sampingmu, Potret Kasih)

and last but not least

Datuk Ahmad Nawab himself with Angin Senja, Sabar Menanti and Assalamualaikum.

To end it all, there was SEIRING DAN SEJALAN.

If not for Abang Jamal (again), I might not have taken up Dina's offer of two tickets. Latif and Khaty were just stupendous! A class of their own. HEBAT...HEBAT...!

Teringat zaman dolu-dolu when their songs were on air lots of time. Enjoyed listening.

Wish there will be more concerts of such in the future. Please...please..please....

Hari ni Kakak tambah satu lagi digit kepada umurnya, that would turn her into a 10-year-old teenager. Wow.. dah jadi anak dara dah dia..

Rasa macam baru semalam Mak Lijah masuk bilik bersalin di Kedah Medical Centre untuk melahirkan dia. She was only 2.83 kg when she made her grand entrance into the world.

Dari kecil lagi Kakak dah menonjolkan kemanjaan dia. Maklumlah, girl... And now, dia diapit oleh two boys, an abang and an adik lelaki and still thinks and acts like she's the youngest. Alahai anak daraku...

Selamat Hari Jadi Kakak

Semoga menjadi anak yang solehah, rajin, menghormati orang tua, sopan-santun, bijak dan sihat senantiasa...

Hot Hanoi

..................

Yeay... dah balik... Seronoknya dapat balik Mesia. 12 hari di Hanoi, aduss... letih sungguh... Tak healthy langsung. Sempat pergi gym sekali jer.. Swimming pool langsung tak dan. Lepas makan, duduk balik di meja rundingan and talk, and listen, and sigh, and sleep at 2 a.m.

Balik jer Malaysia, belasah nasi lemak daun pisang duluuuu......




Masa mula-mula landing kat airport Hanoi tu dah terasa gigitan suhunya yang tinggi. Selepas mengutip beg, terkejut badak sekejap dengan panggilan-panggilan untuk menaiki teksi mereka. USD16... Hmm...
Maka cepat-cepatlah Mak Lijah melompat masuk ke dalam MPV yang terpilih sebab tak tahan rasa bahang yang mengejutkan kulit Mak Lijah ni.

As usual, Mak Lijah cuba berbual dengan pemandu teksi untuk find out about the city, the people, Ha Long Bay... bla..bla..bla.. but I ended up frustrated sebab dia tak reti cakap omputih. Hampeh..

About 15 minutes in the taxi, tiba-tiba tak rasa dah dingin air-cond tu. Rasa angin panas jer.. Eh, apa dah jadi ni? Rupa-rupanya air-cond dah tak berfungsi. Kebetulan ke apa ni? So Mak Lijahpun dengan susah payahnya minta dia turunkan cermin kereta sebab dah rasa meruap yang melampau. Malangnya samada dia tak faham atau cikgu dia pesan, cermin tingkap tidak mahu dia turunkan. Lama-kelamaan Mak Lijah dah tak tahan sebab berpeluh-peluh yang amat dan kerana melihat kegelisahan Mak Lijah yang sengaja dibuat-buat, akhirnya pemandu teksi itupun menurunkan cerminnya. Which did not make much difference sebab udara di luar ibarat wap yang keluar dari cerek yang airnya sedang mendidih.

Sampai saja di Sofitel Plaza Hotel dan apabila pintu dibuka oleh pekerja hotel, Mak Lijah melompat keluar sebab nak bergegas masuk dalam hotel dengan harapan dapat menikmati kedinginan hotel. Dalam masa menanti beg itu pun, sempat lagi suhu menggigit-gigit kulit ini.

Tak sangka Hanoi sepanas ini...

Dek kerana suhu yang panas ni, Mak Lijah decided to only go out to survey Hanoi after 6 pm, hoping that it would have cooled down by then. Tapi hampa sebab suhu tak turun-turun dan berjalanlah Mak Lijah di Hang Gai dalam kepanasan 37 darjah celcius.

Dinner di sebuah restoran Melayu tak jauh dari situ.

Baru first day dan Mak Lijah tak akan sambung cerita Hanoi sebab tiada yang terlampau menarik untuk dinotakan. Pun begitu, Mak Lijah kagumi jugalah creativity orang-orang Viet Nam meng'interesting'kan the look of helmetnya...

Selain daripada itu, keindahan landscape Hanoi hanya dapat Mak Lijah nikmati sejam setengah yang terakhir di kota Hanoi apabila sempat melihat bangunan-bangunan lamanya hasil peninggalan penjajah yang hanya mengaut keuntungan tanpa meninggalkan kesan-kesan kemajuan dan kemodenan di negara itu.



Hai..hai.. Bye..bye.. Hanoi...

Pics in Hanoi

Creative, aren't they?





Got to try it on...

En route to Hanoi

Yes, I am flying (again) and this time is to complete my odyssey of ASEAN 10. Going to Hanoi means I would finally complete my visit to all ten of them.

Tapi sebelum fly tu, makan nasi kerabu puas-puas dulu kat Golden Lounge ni. Sampai sana takut susah nak cari makanan halal pula walaupun masa surf kat ZABIHAH tadi, dah jumpa dua Malaysian halal restaurant, Nisa and Warung Sri Belango.

Tadi naik satu train dengan angkasawan kita from KL Sentral. Hensem lah. Tapi Mak Lijah control macho... maintain cool... Buat-buat malu konon...

OK lah. Got to go. Lagi setengah jam nak berlepas, nak jalan slow-slow to Gate 02.

See u in Hanoi...

Sophie

Molly

Kat rumah Cathie with her adorable girls.

This is my super-extended Australian family. Photo taken after dinner at a lovely seafood restaurant.

Hello, Sydney...

Visiting Sydney again after two decades was yet the best thing for me this year. Not only did I get to meet my foster-exchange-student-sister, Cathie, and her family, I also got to honeymoon with Pak Lijah (wish it would be an annual event ;) ).

And so I booked my Qantas ticket from Sydney to Brisbane online in order for me to arrive at about the same time as Pak Lijah would arrive from KL on that Sunday morning. I was impressed with Qantas's online services (bagi Mak Lijah yang perak ni, lah). Booking online was normal, but what surprises me was the fact that you can request your meal preference, choose or change your seat as you wish depending on the availability, and the best part... produce the boarding pass well in advance, ALL ONLINE. Senang, kan? So why didn't we think of that back here? Oh.. terlupa, nanti orang tak ada kerja pulak.

.
.

Mak Lijah landed in Sydney and met Pak Lijah kat international terminal. Tunggu punya tunggu, telefon punya telefon, akhirnya kamipun naiklah kereta menuju ke hotel di The Rocks tu. Nak dijadikan cerita, drebar kereta tu was an Indonesian who migrated some 20 years ago.

We got to the beautiful hotel about half an hour later just to find out that we could not check-in yet walaupun nama kat reservation dah ada and that we didnt get the room we asked for. That's a bit weird sebab masa buat booking dulu, diorang responded that as member of the group of hotels, we got the priveleges of early check-in, late check-out, free internet access, breakfast at the club, bla..bla...bla... Dipendekkan cerita, we were referred to at another floor. Di situ, tengah dok sibuk-sibuk explain sana-sini and Mak Lijah already had this in mind that it was not a good start for me at that moment, the Manager on Duty, Baron, asked if we were from Singapore [WHY MUST IT BE SINGAPORE?]. Half disappointed, I guess, he responded that he's from Singapore.

"Ayah saya Chinese Singaporean, mak saya orang putih."
(Erkk... Yikes...! Nasib baik tak ngutuk lebih-lebih. Patutlah rambut dia hitam tapi still look like mat salleh)

"Laa... Ye ke? Lama dah kerja sini?
(Kononnya nak cover kutuk tadi)

"Lama dah. Dah migrate pun"

"So Baron, I tell you what, we let you settle this confusion about our room first, while we go and kill the time at Darling Harbour. OK tak?"

...dan dipendekkan cerita juga... we just walked down to the quay to look for the ferry to Darling Harbour. It was a warm, sunny day and we were happy to make that decision. The ferry ride cost only about AUS$5 each and worth every single moment of the time. We managed to capture a photo (pictured here) of our hotel while on the ferry. Sampai jer kat Darling Habour, Mak Lijah pun called rumah Cathie and spoke to Andrew, Cathie's husband, to confirm our dinner that night.

We strolled along the harbour taking our own sweet time, took lots of pictures, had Indian lunch, took a ride on the 'train' to go around Darling Harbour and ended the tour at Paddy's Market at nearly 3 pm.

Bila sampai hotel, Baron told us that the room for us was not booked as what we had requested for but he was kind enough to give us free internet access. Now.. is not that nice? Brotherly ASEAN...(walaupun half mat sal, kan?).

That night we met Cathie and the extended family at a lovely seafood restaurant. We had a great time going down memory lane. And that moment was one 'accomplishment' that I have always wanted to do for the past two decades.

Yes, it was 4 degrees celcius as we were driving up Blue Mountain on a Cherokee, Monday, 28 April 2008.

Bye bye Brisbane

And so my days in Brisbane were over. Tak dapat nak snap banyak foto while we were here sebab masa sangatlah mampat. Letih betul this time around, melebihi keletihan di Jakarta dulu.

At one of the sessions, we finished at 0015. Yes, it was past midnite. Kalau Mak Lijah ni Cinderella, harus kasut kaca tu dari Nine West. Tapi it's not just about past midnite..it's about Mak Lijah being LOCKED-OUT OF THE HOTEL (de-ja-vu pulak). It was all because the meeting habis after 12 lah..and one of the hotel's rule is that the side entrance will be locked at midnite.

Habislah... And so Mak Lijah yang jahil ni terpaksalah mencari jalan lain untuk masuk ke hotel sampai terpaksa pergi dekat train station. By then it was nearly 0030 and I still could not get into the hotel. Pintu kaca banyak, but they were all locked.

Berjalanlah lagi Mak Lijah di kedinginan seawal pagi dan kesunyian tu.. Rasa suspens tak payah nak ceritalah. Manalah kita nak tahu apa nak jadi kat kita di negeri orang... Akhirnya Mak Lijah sampai jugalah ke pintu utama hotel pada pukul 0100 dan terus ke bilik dengan fikiran yang kosong.

Kalau dah macam tu punya meeting, bila masa nak amik gambar? Anyway, gambar kiri tu, was taken at the pancake restaurant which was actually a church dulu. Interesting, eh? Gambar kanan, obviously was where we had the meeting. It was a very big place, rasanya macam kena jalan dua batu baru sampai hujung... Dan pengalaman Mak Lijah di Brisbane pun dah sampai ke penghujungnya....

G'day, mate...!

It was nearly 23 years ago since I last step my foot here. Tapi masa tu Mak Lijah pergi Sydney saja dengan status masih student lagi. This time around Mak Lijah berada di Brisbane pulak, since 18 April 2008, for another series of negotiations.

Sepanjang tujuh hari lepas Mak Lijah berada di sini, saban hari Mak Lijah hanya melihat bilik hotel, bilik mesyuarat, fish and chips dan lauk kambeng di restoran Ahmet. Semalam sempat juga pergi makan nasi ayam di Litttle Malaysia kat Boundary Street. Pergi berjalan kaki saja, sebab it was not that far away from our hotel. About 15 minutes of really, slow walk.

Dengan angin sepoi-sepoi bahasa, jalan yang tak sibuk dan udara yang nyaman, it was quite a nice evening. It would have been a completely boring trip here if we had not tried to walk beyond the boundaries of our meeting venue.

Two nights ago, we went a little bit further to Charlotte Street untuk makan pancake, reason being, that's the only restaurant yang buka 24 jam. We had no choice sebab meeting habis pukul 9 malam and all the 'normal' restaurants would close at 9 or 9.30 pm. Not a bad place, tapi kami bertembung pula dengan Aussies dan NZs yang kami 'perangi' saban hari.

Mak Lijah peratikan di kawasan South Bank dan West End ini, terdapat banyak sekali restoran Asia dan dikunjungi pula oleh Mat Salleh. Restoran Vietnamlah yang paling banyak, diikuti oleh restoran makanan India. Restoran Cina, tak yah cakaplah, manakala restoran yang serves makanan berasaskan Arab seperti kebab memang banyak sekali. The nicest part is the fact that ada jugalah 3-4 restoran Malaysia di Brisbane ni.

Tomorrow would be our last day of meeting and Mak Lijah would be flying to Sydney on Sunday morning. Di sana Mak Lijah akan bertemu dengan adik angkat omputih Mak Lijah yang pernah tinggal dengan kami di Pulau Pinang selama setahun kira-kira 20 tahun lalu. Looking forward to see her and her extended family.

Nanti Mak Lijah update lagi, ok?

Alhamdulillah....

Remember this photo?

....................................

...................................

Suatu lewat petang, sambil memandu, membawa Kakak pulang dari mengaji.

..............

Kakak : Mama... masa Mama tingkatan satu sampai enam, Mama tak pakai tudung, ek?

..............

Mak Lijah : Erk... (sambil menelan air liur)

.

Kakak : Mama pakai tak?

.

Mak Lijah : Errmm... Kenapa Kakak tanya? (Malaikat lalu kejap. Sambil dapat mengagak what's coming after this...)

Kalau Kakak nak pakai tudung, pakailah. Mama suka. Baguslah kalau Kakak nak pakai tudung. Memang perempuan Islam kena pakai tudung. Tutup aurat.

.

Kakak : (Pause. Thinking, I guess) Nanti masa Kakak tingkatan satu, Kakak nak pakai tudunglah.

.

Mak Lijah : (Sekali lagi menelan air liur) Alhamdulillah...Kenapa nak tunggu sampai tingkatan satu baru nak pakai?

.

Kakak : Errm... Sebab sekarang Kakak malu lagi. Malu kat Aunty N.

(Aunty N takes her back from school every day and she is a Hindu)

.

Mak Lijah : Betul ke Kakak nak pakai tudung? Tapi kalau Kakak nak pakai tudung pergi sekolah, Kakak kena juga pakai tudung pergi mana-manapun, macam Kak Farah (our neighbour). Janganlah pakai tudung sebab nak pergi sekolah saja.

.

Kakak : Ye lah... Memanglah pakai tudung pergi mana-manapun. Takkan nak pergi sekolah jer... Apalah Mama ni...

.

Mak Lijah : Baguslah. Kenapa Kakak tak cakap awal-awal. Boleh Mama belikan Kakak tudung cantik banyak-banyak masa Mama pergi Jakarta hari tu.

.

Kakak : (Tersengih) Heh... Lambat lagilah, Mama... Masa tingkatan satu nanti.

.

Mak Lijah : (Harap-harap tak lupalah masa di tingkatan satu nanti). Tak apalah... Bila-bila pun nak pakai.

//

...

By then, kami dah sampai rumah. Alahai anak daraku... Agaknya dapat inspirasi selepas Mak Lijah belikan dia telekung comel bercorak butterfly di Tanah Abang haritu. Sembahyangpun dah tak payah suruh. Masuk time jer, dia dah kat sejadah.

jj

Alhamdulillah...

Home Sweet Home

It really feels good to be back home.

No matter where you have been around the globe, kita akan merasa lega dan puas bila dapat berjumpa kembali dengan ahli keluarga dan kucing (yes, we have adopted a cat, Felix) yang dirindui. I really missed them all. I missed the clamor in the house.

I am finally back home in KL after ten-tough-days of negotiations. I don't know if we could conclude in the next round!

Nevertheless, berjuta-juta rupiah duit Mak Lijah terlabur di kota Jakarta. Aduh... rasa macam jutawan pulak bila sebut juta-juta ni. Kenyang perut menjamu macam-macam menu di macam-macam restoran yang namanya sangat pekuliar bagi lidah perempuan Melayu Malaya ni. Yang paling Mak Lijah puas hati ialah dapat buat cream bath (bukan mandi, ya, tuan-tuan dan puan-puan) dan potong rambut untuk dua orang = Rp150,000 aja dengan hasil yang stupendous. Hah...tuan-tuan dan puan-puan, hitunglah sendiri berapa reganya dan bandingkan dengan reganya di Kota KL ini. Ingat, untuk dua orang dan jenis perkhidmatan dia.

Apa-apapun, I welcome myself back to my house in the state of the opposition party, now. I missed my right to vote but nevertheless was regularly updated in advance of the shocking result via ym and sms from Pak Lijah and Dai. So much so, I could not pay attention to the meeting (we were still negotiating at 2130 hrs Indonesian time, 2230 Malaysian time, on SATURDAY..!).

Ah well... let's see what's in store lah then...! Let's see the changes... Let's see....Let's see...

What Wat?

Lama gak tak update kat sini. Heavy office workload is to be blamed. By the time I reach home, dah sibuk nak menyibuk dengan homework anak-anak dan macam-macam lagilah dll nyer. Ye lah.. ye lah... kena lah blame it on something kan?

Anyway, supaya Mak Lijah tak terlupa about my trip in December 2007, I need to upload the photos and story here.



When I was told that I had to go to Cambodia for this meeting, I was like WHAT? But then, ok, it's in Seam Reap. And yet, this question came about --> Why have it in Seam Reap and not the capital itself? I have always think that the capital of any developing country would be more advanced with all the modern facilities and tall buildings (with decent shopping complex) and a lot cleaner than other cities/town in the country.





I have never been there and never in my dream that I would actually get the chance to visit the famous Angkor Wat. And Angkor Wat is in Seam Reap, not in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. It was an amazing experience dan patutlah ia cuba disenaraikan sebagai one of the THE SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD, malangnya ia tidak berlaku.

Sebelum pergi situ, we were made to wear this boring white-colored-T shirt sebab katanya senang nak identify group. Tak per lah, since the trip was sponsored (harga tiket di quote in USD) dan dapat free Tshirt lagi, belasah jer lah...

It was really hot and the sun was burning my skin. Nasib baik ingat pesanan kawan to put on the sunblock. Nevertheless Mak Lijah berpeluh bagai masuk marathon. We had to walk on oneven blocks on the causeway. It was a long walk, believe me.

Once we were inside the complex, it was really cooling. Maybe the stones that made up the building berusia terlampau lama, maka suhu agak dingin di dalamnya.

The interior was so incredible. Ukiran-ukiran halus atas batu-batu yang amat keras. Namun bila dapat melihat the Jungle Temple, I rest my case lah. Imagine how old the Wat is. Akar-akar kayu melingkari struktur bangunan. Patutlah Kak Jolie datang sini dulu.

For those yang ada hati nak tengok Angkor Wat, we do fly directly to Seam Reap but only on selected days. I suggest that you bring your own food walaupun ada sebuah restoran halal Melayu, D'Wau, dan beberapa lagi restoran yang halal, tapi travelling in the tuk-tuk to and fro would not be a good idea. Nevertheless, there are plenty of hotels there yang almost all (3-4 star rated) bernama ANGKOR.

http://www.angkorwat.org/

Angkor Wat has a long history. Daripada the Kingdom of Funan to the Spanish invasion dan from agama Hindu to Budha, it captured a lot of historical events yang sangat amazing. It is believed that it was built during AD616 - AD635. However, by the 18th century, Angkor Wat dah ditelan hutan rimba dan tidak lagi dapat ditembusi hinggalah Kak Jolie menemuinya semula. Are you kidding? It was Henri Mouhot, a French botanist who discovered the Angkor ruins. This led to an intensive research and restoration program throughout the later half of the 19th and 20th century. Some details of Angkor Wat:


The temples at Angkor are spread out over some 40 miles around the village of Siem Reap. They were built between the eighth and 13th centuries and range from single towers made of bricks to vast stone temple complexes. There are two main sites where the Khmer temples are located. The first is at Roluos which is about 10 miles south east of today's village of Siem Reap, where only a few of the earlier temples were built. This was the first Khmer capital in the Angkor area. In the late ninth century, Yasovarman I moved the capital to the immediate vicinity of Siem Reap. It is officially known as the City of Angkor. There are other temples located in the area, some up to 20 miles away from Siem Reap. Khmer temples can also be found in many other parts of Cambodia, as well as China, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.

Wat Album

Peristiwa M*din - Revisit

Scroll down to revisit


Danisy panggil dia May-Den. Dia memang suka ke situ. Ada-ada saja nak dibeli. Selalunya barang yang tak masuk dalam senarai. Co*kies cri*p lah, vitag*n lah, yogurt lah, fresh milk lah bla bla bla. Kebanyakannya yang berkaitan dengan makanan sebab Danisy suka makan. Dia juga suka ke situ sebab May-Den is just a 5-minutes walk away from our home.

Tapi apa yang nak Mak Lijah nak citer di sini is not about what we buy in M*din.

...However, sebelum Mak Lijah buka cerita, Mak Lijah nak minta maaf banyak-banyak dulu dari Pak Lijah sebab menyebabkan dia tensen pada skala richter di tahap optimum (rasanyalah) gara-gara dua peristiwa yang berlaku di M*din.




Suatu lewat petang tu, Mak Lijah rasa nak singgah sekejap kat M*din on the way back from office sebab Kakak ada pesan macam-macam barang sekolah plus nak beli barang-barang dapur sekali. Pusing punya pusing, akhirnya dapat lah parking agak jauh sikit, depan stesen minyak M*bil.


By then dah pukul 6.30 petang dan awan dah mula berkumpul plus setitik dua titik air dah jatuh
atas kepala Mak Lijah. Tapi Mak Lijah dah determined to buy barang-barang Kakak hari tu juga sebab she needed them for the next day. Lagipun Mak Lijah estimated that the most I would spend my time there would be only half an hour including the queueing.


So Mak Lijah grabbed all the needed things within 20 minutes which include sotong, ayam, sayur and a few more perishable items... and mula berjalan ke arah kaunter...Sambil mulut terlopong... Dah hujan rupanya. Hujan yang amat lebat pulak tu. Oh...oh... Macamana ni? Kejap lagi nak Maghrib dah. Tak per lah. Tunggulah 15 minit lagi.


Selepas 25 minit.


Hujan masih lebat. Tiada langsung tanda-tanda nak reda apatah lagi nak berenti. Jam dah pukul 7.30 malam.


Kring...kring...(bunyi standard telefon, walaupun handphone tak bunyi lagu tu)


Mak Lijah : Pak Lijah... Dah sampai rumah?

Pak Lijah : Dah.

Mak Lijah : Mak Lijah terperangkap ni, kat M*din. Hujan lebat sangat. Parking keter jauh plak tu. Harus basah kuyup kalau berjalan ke keter (hint..hint...). Bla...bla...bla... Tak bawa payung. Bla...bla...bla... Depan M*bil...

Pak Lijah : bla...bla...bla...

Mak Lijah : Sigh.....



Kring...kring.. (hujan masih lebat)


Pak Lijah : Mak Lijah ada kat mana ni?

Mak Lijah : Depan pintu M*din.

Dipendekkan cerita, Pak Lijah datang dengan kereta, hulurkan payung sambil Mak Lijah hulurkan balik barang-barang yang dibeli tadi. Maka berjalanlah Mak Lijah ke keter dalam hujan yang lebat itu, berpayung, dalam kegelapan malam. Mujur tak kena dinner di kedai mamak kat situ.


Terima kasih Pak Lijah...






*Sambungan* - A Revisit


After that peristiwa, I went back to M*din about a week later sebab nak buy some stuff since Mak and Ayah were coming over from Teh's house. This time around, I decided earlier that I would be spending just a little bit longer in M*din sebab ada banyak barang dapur yang nak dibeli. Lagipun the weather looked clear and tak ada tandapun nak hujan.

Alhamdulillah, kali ni dapat parking betul-betul depan pintu keluar M*din.

Among others, Mak Lijah beli ikan, sayur, cili, ulam, bihun, roti, calci-y*m, dan macam-macam lagi benda yang berat-berat lah, and tak lupa juga susu pekat sebab Ayah takes tea like five times a day, an old habit which he cannot give up since as long as I can remember. He is addicted to having tea every single day.

So when I was satisfied with everything that I needed, Mak Lijah pun berjalanlah ke kaunter untuk membayar. Sambil cashier dok scan barang-barang tu, Mak Lijah menyeluk-nyeluk my Co*ch handbag to look for my car keys. Senang... pegang siap-siap kunci, tak payah nak tercari-cari masa nak ke kereta nanti. That critical time could be the time when a peragut would grab the opportunity to start work.

After paying, sangkut handbag kat bahu, cop resit (I don't know why they have to do that), Mak Lijah pun pergilah ke kereta carrying all the heavyloads with both my hands, with much difficulties. Oleh kerana beratnya itu, lima langkah dari pintu keluar M*din pun rasa macam berjalan 5 kilometer... Mujurlah kunci keter Mak Lijah ni yang jenis boleh buka boot kereta dari jauh.

Sampai jer kat kereta, cepat-cepat Mak Lijah push-opened the boot dengan siku, lifted all the stuff dengan saki-baki kudrat yang ada (lepas ni sure dah build-up muscle) dan GEDEBUM... Mak Lijah lepaskan semua barang dan terus SLAM...! Fuuhh.... Lega....








Kring...kring....

Mak Lijah : Pak Lijah ada kat mana?

Pak Lijah : Dah nak sampai. Kenapa?

Mak Lijah : Erk... I think I am locked-out of the car.

Pak Lijah : Huh? Laa.... Macamana... bla...bla..bla...

Mak Lijah : Entah... Lepas tutup boot tadi, cari kunci dah tak ada.

Pak Lijah : Mak Lijah kat mana ni? Dah cari dekat-dekat situ?

Mak Lijah : Baru habis shopping kat M*din. Rasanya kunci termasuk sekali dalam boot masa (GEDEBUM...) masukkan barang-barang tadi. Bla...bla..bla.. (excuse....excuse...)

Pak Lijah : Ingat tak kunci spare ada kat mana?


Dipendekkan cerita, Pak Lijah came to pick me up kat M*din so that we could go home and look for the keys together although the custodian of any keys is solely Pak Lijah.

Half an hour later we finally found the keys somewhere and we drove back to M*din together. Nasib baik Pak Lijah insisted to park and help me with the keys, walaupun Mak Lijah dah kata that I would be fine because... the keys couldn't work! Puas tekan sana sini, ketuk-ketuk dan macam-macam kaedah lagi... sampai Pak Lijah dah almost run out of patience and decided to call his mechanic-friend from the service centre that we visit frequently.

While he was busy dialling, Mak Lijah grabbed the keys and decided to do it my way. Masa tu, we were at the side of the car, dekat pintu drebar and as I was walking towards the boot, La illa ha illa anta sub-haka inni kuntum minnazzolimin... tekan-tekan the button of the keys and.........

...the lights flashed twice...

And since then, Mak Lijah dah fobia about going to M*din. But then again, that's the best place to stop after work sebab sangat convenient.

How lah, then?