It's a new year... a new beginning of sorts... but I still feel the same.
No resolutions, no celebrations... in fact I celebrated 2008 on bed, sleeping. Woke up just after 2 am, because belum solat Isya. So much for celebrating, despite earlier plans...
[flashback to a few days back... if this can be visualised like on tv, it's the moment when things suddenly berasap and kabur2, hehe...]
Day: Sunday, 30 Dec 2007
Started the day like any other Sunday except that I was was awoken by ketukan chisel and hammer. Oh yes... the workers are here again. Mama asked when the basin, WC and tiles will be arriving. "Belum beli lagi laa" I told her. "Dah nak siap ketuk ni... nanti tak sampai apa Wak nak buat? Delay pulak" she started with her reminder (which was repeated over the next few days).
Can't do much today... the shops are closed. The best I could do was to browse online. I had earlier shortlisted some tiles from Guocera but nak tengok options lain. Discovered the MML website. Teruja!! They had the natural stone looking tiles.. just like at AAA's home. That's be interesting! Wonder how much that would cost...
After Zohor, Mymot called... "Babe, do you want to come with us tonight?" Yesterday we had planned to go to Hotel Istana sama2 for Marni's reception hosted by Mazran's side of the family. "Yup... what time?"... and we made arrangements for Mymot to come and pick me up around 6.30pm. I decided to wear a baby blue baju, pakai the new clutch bag I bought at Nose and wear my Cinderella slippers. Oh yes, wear that bracelet I bought yesterday too. Perfect!! Cuma nak kena minta tolong Mymot pakaikan the selendang...
I was ready by 6.20pm but by 6.45pm when Kancil tak muncul tiba, I sms Skinner "Are you girls nearby?" Mymot was supposed to pick Momz then Skinner up before kutip I. "No... she belum sampai lagi" was her reply. I called Mymot up and informed her that I'll drive straight to Istana so that I can solat first... she can do my tudung there.
Like any other weddings at hotels, it was a bit formal. Especially when there's royalty involved. I didn't know that Mazran is cucu YAM Tengku XXX... bila tanya Aunty Naimah who the guest of honour is, baru lah tahu. One wouldn't know from interactions with Mazran. He's so lepak... and I'm not one who really cares or tanya about the family background of people I know. I mean... he/she is my friend, not the family. So what if dia anak Raja ke anak tukang kebun ke... it's the person that I'm interested in.
Anyway... after the dinner, we stayed on. Berborak dengan her family, who were all dressed in lilac, while the newly weds bid farewell to their guests. The band played on sementara orang berangkat pulang... and sambil tu I noticed a lady asking the hotel staff to move some tables. Rupa2nya they were preparing a dance floor. Waa... menarik :) I've never attended a Malay wedding yang ada menari2.
To cut the story short, we stayed on not only to snap photos with Marni and Mazran, but also to boggie the night away. Boleh tahan the uncles and aunties ;) It was fun! Dalam hampir2 terkehel in my glittering slippers, I managed to do some dancing... including poco-poco. We all got excited with poco-poco and promised ourselves to take some dancing lessons before the next OGA dinner.
Dalam keseronokan tu tak sedar that the night dah jadi pagi. I finally went home at 1.30am and didn't sleep until around 4am. Who could after getting so worked out on the dance floor...
Day: Monday, 31 December 2007
Most people are on leave today but not moi. Despite barely getting any sleep, I forced myself up to go to the office... eyes all bleary. Didn't get much done kat office pun... it was barely 1/3 full.
Around 4pm got an email from one of the girls to meet up tonight... for more dancing to usher in the new year. I was all excited... even got hold of a cd for the occasion. The plan was to have some steamboat and then joget the night away.
Hajatnya nak balik awal to get ready, but I ended up having a discussion with NAMN on the project. It's such a messy problem... In the end, I got home around 8.15pm. Mama dah masak, so decided to have dinner first. That's when fatigue finally caught up with me... I could hardly open my eyes. I know the girls were waiting, but decided to take a nap first and go meet them around 11pm.
The nap turned into a deep sleep... and I didn't wake up until way past midnight. I recall sambil tengah tidur tu answering a call from one of them... apologised that I won't be coming after all and continued to tido.
And so that's how I said goodbye to 2007 and greeted 2008.
2007 has been a busy, busy year... I've never been this busy at work. I guess it comes with the territory. It was hard to adjust at first, but I'm getting the hang of it. However, I'm still struggling with remembering so many things and to keep on top of everything. I don't know how the others do it... they must have super memory cells.
I travelled a bit too this year...
In January it was to "below freezing point" Seoul. Celebrated my birthday alone for the first time in my life... that was lonely, especially when my handphone tak boleh guna kat sana. Made worse by losing my purse, with half of the money I had with me and all my credit cards plus IC, to an unassuming looking lady, whose images on the CCTV shall remain in my mind. 
But as soon as I touched down in KLIA and turned on my phone, the messages came in :) Made nicer by the gifts that were waiting at the office from friends who remembered... Gestures like that made me forget the harrowing experience of being in a foreign land with only a few hundred dollars to my name. So much for shopping in the haven for fake designer handbags...
In May, I made the trip back "home" to Melbourne after almost 10 years. It felt so good to be walking along the corridors of my alma mater again... taking in the sights and sounds. Going back made me realise how much I've come to love the lovely city that is Melbourne. Met up with NMS and had a good time chatting with her. I'd say that's when we shifted from being mere acquitances to friends.
Also met up with Tamar Lewitt, my favourite lecturer ever, for a nice long chat. Despite having left her class for almost 15 years now, we still had a lot to talk about. She's so amazing and warm. I credit her for having trained me on how to think critically and develop the ability express ideas in a cohesive manner... putting together pieces of information and fact to form an opinion and present a case to support it. History of Ideas has been and will always be my most favourite class. And how can I talk about Melbourne without mentioning about the glorious iced chocolate on Lygon St. Just thinking about the experience makes me want to go back there for more...
In June, it was the wonderful trip to Netherlands, Scotland and Belgium. I was purely on holiday for a change... a whole 2 1/2 weeks :D I never thought that I would appreciate nature so much as I did when I was in Scotland. It was simply breathtaking! I won't elaborate here since it's all documented in my travel blog (which is currently on hiatus... unfortunately, most of the beautiful Scottish scenery are not up yet... soon, I'll get on with it again)
In August, I took Mama for a holiday in Hanoi and Ha Long bay. Just the two of us... a driver and a guide. The serenity of Ha Long bay soothed my stress away and the shopping was just heavenly :) Mr Chien, our trusted guide, took good care of us.
And finally, to the USA in November... which turned out to be a "round the world" and shopping trip for me. Meeting and spending time with my dear friends Linda and Farisa again was wonderful, especially when I was feeling down... to take me away from all the troubles. Real friendships always survive the test of time and distance.
I did more things this year... spent the time to "live", especially the latter half of the year. I finally admitted to myself (and a few close friends) on how I felt... went through the giddiness as anyone in such a situation would be, but later succumb to the reality that it is not meant to be and experienced the accompanying sorrow and dejaction.
It was more fulfilling in many ways and yet at the same time, painful. The highs were exhilarating and the lows were gut renching. Too bad that I didn't end the year with a high note... was more on a recovering path. I'm out of the blue but it's not quite sunshine yet.
I look forward for a better year... filled with happiness, good health, great times with family and friends, dirahmati, diberkati and of course, many more travels :)
No resolutions, no celebrations... in fact I celebrated 2008 on bed, sleeping. Woke up just after 2 am, because belum solat Isya. So much for celebrating, despite earlier plans...
[flashback to a few days back... if this can be visualised like on tv, it's the moment when things suddenly berasap and kabur2, hehe...]
Day: Sunday, 30 Dec 2007
Started the day like any other Sunday except that I was was awoken by ketukan chisel and hammer. Oh yes... the workers are here again. Mama asked when the basin, WC and tiles will be arriving. "Belum beli lagi laa" I told her. "Dah nak siap ketuk ni... nanti tak sampai apa Wak nak buat? Delay pulak" she started with her reminder (which was repeated over the next few days).
Can't do much today... the shops are closed. The best I could do was to browse online. I had earlier shortlisted some tiles from Guocera but nak tengok options lain. Discovered the MML website. Teruja!! They had the natural stone looking tiles.. just like at AAA's home. That's be interesting! Wonder how much that would cost...
After Zohor, Mymot called... "Babe, do you want to come with us tonight?" Yesterday we had planned to go to Hotel Istana sama2 for Marni's reception hosted by Mazran's side of the family. "Yup... what time?"... and we made arrangements for Mymot to come and pick me up around 6.30pm. I decided to wear a baby blue baju, pakai the new clutch bag I bought at Nose and wear my Cinderella slippers. Oh yes, wear that bracelet I bought yesterday too. Perfect!! Cuma nak kena minta tolong Mymot pakaikan the selendang...I was ready by 6.20pm but by 6.45pm when Kancil tak muncul tiba, I sms Skinner "Are you girls nearby?" Mymot was supposed to pick Momz then Skinner up before kutip I. "No... she belum sampai lagi" was her reply. I called Mymot up and informed her that I'll drive straight to Istana so that I can solat first... she can do my tudung there.
Like any other weddings at hotels, it was a bit formal. Especially when there's royalty involved. I didn't know that Mazran is cucu YAM Tengku XXX... bila tanya Aunty Naimah who the guest of honour is, baru lah tahu. One wouldn't know from interactions with Mazran. He's so lepak... and I'm not one who really cares or tanya about the family background of people I know. I mean... he/she is my friend, not the family. So what if dia anak Raja ke anak tukang kebun ke... it's the person that I'm interested in.
Anyway... after the dinner, we stayed on. Berborak dengan her family, who were all dressed in lilac, while the newly weds bid farewell to their guests. The band played on sementara orang berangkat pulang... and sambil tu I noticed a lady asking the hotel staff to move some tables. Rupa2nya they were preparing a dance floor. Waa... menarik :) I've never attended a Malay wedding yang ada menari2.
To cut the story short, we stayed on not only to snap photos with Marni and Mazran, but also to boggie the night away. Boleh tahan the uncles and aunties ;) It was fun! Dalam hampir2 terkehel in my glittering slippers, I managed to do some dancing... including poco-poco. We all got excited with poco-poco and promised ourselves to take some dancing lessons before the next OGA dinner.
Dalam keseronokan tu tak sedar that the night dah jadi pagi. I finally went home at 1.30am and didn't sleep until around 4am. Who could after getting so worked out on the dance floor...
Day: Monday, 31 December 2007
Most people are on leave today but not moi. Despite barely getting any sleep, I forced myself up to go to the office... eyes all bleary. Didn't get much done kat office pun... it was barely 1/3 full.
Around 4pm got an email from one of the girls to meet up tonight... for more dancing to usher in the new year. I was all excited... even got hold of a cd for the occasion. The plan was to have some steamboat and then joget the night away.
Hajatnya nak balik awal to get ready, but I ended up having a discussion with NAMN on the project. It's such a messy problem... In the end, I got home around 8.15pm. Mama dah masak, so decided to have dinner first. That's when fatigue finally caught up with me... I could hardly open my eyes. I know the girls were waiting, but decided to take a nap first and go meet them around 11pm.
The nap turned into a deep sleep... and I didn't wake up until way past midnight. I recall sambil tengah tidur tu answering a call from one of them... apologised that I won't be coming after all and continued to tido.
And so that's how I said goodbye to 2007 and greeted 2008.
2007 has been a busy, busy year... I've never been this busy at work. I guess it comes with the territory. It was hard to adjust at first, but I'm getting the hang of it. However, I'm still struggling with remembering so many things and to keep on top of everything. I don't know how the others do it... they must have super memory cells.
I travelled a bit too this year...
In January it was to "below freezing point" Seoul. Celebrated my birthday alone for the first time in my life... that was lonely, especially when my handphone tak boleh guna kat sana. Made worse by losing my purse, with half of the money I had with me and all my credit cards plus IC, to an unassuming looking lady, whose images on the CCTV shall remain in my mind. 
But as soon as I touched down in KLIA and turned on my phone, the messages came in :) Made nicer by the gifts that were waiting at the office from friends who remembered... Gestures like that made me forget the harrowing experience of being in a foreign land with only a few hundred dollars to my name. So much for shopping in the haven for fake designer handbags...
In May, I made the trip back "home" to Melbourne after almost 10 years. It felt so good to be walking along the corridors of my alma mater again... taking in the sights and sounds. Going back made me realise how much I've come to love the lovely city that is Melbourne. Met up with NMS and had a good time chatting with her. I'd say that's when we shifted from being mere acquitances to friends.
Also met up with Tamar Lewitt, my favourite lecturer ever, for a nice long chat. Despite having left her class for almost 15 years now, we still had a lot to talk about. She's so amazing and warm. I credit her for having trained me on how to think critically and develop the ability express ideas in a cohesive manner... putting together pieces of information and fact to form an opinion and present a case to support it. History of Ideas has been and will always be my most favourite class. And how can I talk about Melbourne without mentioning about the glorious iced chocolate on Lygon St. Just thinking about the experience makes me want to go back there for more...
In June, it was the wonderful trip to Netherlands, Scotland and Belgium. I was purely on holiday for a change... a whole 2 1/2 weeks :D I never thought that I would appreciate nature so much as I did when I was in Scotland. It was simply breathtaking! I won't elaborate here since it's all documented in my travel blog (which is currently on hiatus... unfortunately, most of the beautiful Scottish scenery are not up yet... soon, I'll get on with it again)
In August, I took Mama for a holiday in Hanoi and Ha Long bay. Just the two of us... a driver and a guide. The serenity of Ha Long bay soothed my stress away and the shopping was just heavenly :) Mr Chien, our trusted guide, took good care of us.And finally, to the USA in November... which turned out to be a "round the world" and shopping trip for me. Meeting and spending time with my dear friends Linda and Farisa again was wonderful, especially when I was feeling down... to take me away from all the troubles. Real friendships always survive the test of time and distance.
I did more things this year... spent the time to "live", especially the latter half of the year. I finally admitted to myself (and a few close friends) on how I felt... went through the giddiness as anyone in such a situation would be, but later succumb to the reality that it is not meant to be and experienced the accompanying sorrow and dejaction.
It was more fulfilling in many ways and yet at the same time, painful. The highs were exhilarating and the lows were gut renching. Too bad that I didn't end the year with a high note... was more on a recovering path. I'm out of the blue but it's not quite sunshine yet.
I look forward for a better year... filled with happiness, good health, great times with family and friends, dirahmati, diberkati and of course, many more travels :)
1 comment:
Happiness is a state of mind, and you obviously have chosen to be happy. You've experienced and achieved so much more than people twice your age have. Here is to more of the same - joy, success, good health and the strength to weather what bumps come your way. Love from the Yusufs!
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