Perihal tidur

Perihal tidur

Aku bukan susah sangat nak lelapkan mata. Kalau siang, bila-bila boleh. Yang anehnya, aku cukup culas untuk tidur malam.

Sepatutnya, aku tidur paling lewat jam 11.30. Sudah kerja begini, memang itulah waktu tidurnya. Jangan cerita waktu belajar dulu. Siang dengan malam dah tak berapa pandai nak beza.

Minggu ini, susah betul nak tidur. Guling-guling main game, belum tentu mata akan mengantuk. Akhirnya, dekat jam satu baru tidur ( itulah sebab emosi jadi cacamerba).

Tetapi aku lebih bersedia kini. Satu jam loceng di telefon, satu lagi alarm di alat MP3. Yang di telefon bunyinya bingit. Satu lagi, sedap sedikit. Konon-kononnya, banyak alat nak kejutkan aku, makin senang nak bangun.

Harapan. Boleh siap layan lagu baru terhegeh-hegeh nak bangun. Kalau sepuluh minit, boleh faham. Tapi...

P/s: saya bertuah ada kawan semacam kamu, wahai peminat casey abrams. Terima kasih :)

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aku ke yang berimaginasi atau mmg panas ouh-tidak-cair-semua-mekap.

cuma...aku tak pakai mekap.

adeh. tak boleh sambung duduk depan pc. mesti baring. tak sihat lagi pinggang ini rupanya :).

Cuti-cuti Sabah

Going out of our comfort zones might be the best way to know ourselves. I mean, of course I know myself well but maybe there are other things that I might want to learn about me.

Well, actually, I was just trying to create excuses so I would not feel so bad spending more than a week abroad.

OK not really abroad but considering that I never crossed the sea to West Malaysia, it is some kind of a big deal. For me of course.

It was an eight-day trip to Sabah with a very good friend. I've never shared a room that long with anyone since...let me see, 2005. So this will actually test the strength of our ten-year old friendship. Can we do this? Can we look at each others' faces for the one week or so? Can we agree on decisions made during the trip without getting at each others' throat? Will I burden her (I get dehydrated very easily)?

We started off from KLIA, heading to Kota Kinabalu (KK) on a two-hour flight. I have to say that I might do some exercise but I can never label myself as fit. Well, since my type of exercise is mostly walking in the shopping malls, with the cool down session involving either a) frappuccino b) iced lemon tea c) both. So it is safe to say that our journey from the boarding gate to Gate A (can't remember which gate) felt veery much like a training session to become a sherpa (since my bag weigh about 10kg (don't judge me. I am yet to master the art of travelling light)).

Our journey with Firefly was pretty smooth. We arrived in KK at about 10pm and it was a bit of a drizzle. I was craving for coffee but I missed the outlet in KK so we just took the taxi straightaway to our hotel, A & J Budget Hotel. It was situated very near to the Filipino market, the town, craft market with the grocery store right beneath our room. How cool is that?

Well, not really that cool considering our room was on the third floor. So, it was another sherpa training session for me.

For those who are looking for budget accommodation in KK, I suggest you consider A&J Budget Hotel. The room was pretty clean (IMHO) and for a room that cost less than RM 80, it was a good deal.

We had no specific itinerary. We knew (actually my friend arranged it) where we should headn o but there was no specific thing to do a day. Since we went in January 2011 and the weather was undecided (it rained and suddenly it stopped and then it rained again), we just looked out of the window and made a split decision where we should go. So, on the next morning, we decided that we should go to Gunung Kinabalu. Ouh no, we are not going to climb the mountain (as stated before, I am very unfit). We actually took the Poring-Kundasang-Ranau-Gunung Kinabalu-KK route for RM 200++ for the whole trip.

We started out pretty early and head to Poring as it was the farthest point. We stopped at Pekan Nabalu first, a place with a cold weather (the mineral water sold were not put into the fridge but left the bottles on the table to cool). We took nice pictures of the majestic Mount Kinabalu. There were a few tourists there at the time. They looked a bit Korean and some of them look very much like white people.

We didn't stop long as we were not too keen on the pineapples (I mean, I am sure the pineapples in Nabalu taste good. It was just that I'm not big on pineapples). Next destination was Poring, which is famous for hot water springs. Before that, we hiked up to titi gantung (what do we call titi gantung in English? My England is not good). It was a good 800-m track going upwards and nearly halfway, I was clutching my chest, worried that my heart leaped out of the ribcage. I was so unfit that it took all my pride not to back off the challenge and claim defeat. Want to know why? Some elderly women were behind us and we can clearly hear their voices behind us. Imagine the shame if we gave up.

Reaching the titi gantung, I tried to call Emak to tell her how much I love her because I suddenly had a case of afraid of heights. At one time, the bridge can only carry certain amount of weight so watch out for the signs.

The way down was very much nicer. I was tempted to go to the butterfly park but my bladder decided that was not going to happen. After the 'business', I decided to try the hot water springs. But nay, my skin couldn't stand it.

I do not know whether it was good luck or some other thing but on the day that we arrived in Poring, it was the first day Rafflesia bloomed. It takes 18 months to do so and only blooms for seven days. The only thing was the fee was RM 20 per person T___T. So no, we didn't go see it.

From Poring, we took the road to Kundasang. I really like looking at the stores selling vegetables. The vegetables were wrapped in plastic and since it was cold, it looked really nice. Make sure you stop and take pictures because it was so beautiful. The lack of picture on the subject means that we forgot to do just that.

 kundasang war memorial

Kundasang was apparently famous for bananas (as we were told by the taxi driver). This was the place that made me realise that I still have things to learn about my country. There was a war memorial in Kundasang for British and Australian soldiers. This was the place that I learnt about the death march from Sandakan-KK that took the lives of 2,000 soldiers. Immediately, there were dust in my eyes and it watered (OK fine. i cried a bit). It was very touching really to learn about it although I cannot imagine what they have to endure, beng forced to walk for one month, in the rain. And what a coincidence, we are heading to Sandakan next and I would very much like to see the Prisoner of War (POW) route in Sandakan.

Next, we went to Mount Kinabalu and it rained. Imagine seeing fog at 2pm. It was crazy cold but beautiful at the same time. We didn't go to see the trail or anything but went to the museum instead.

We were dead tired when we reached KK (at around 4pm). We ate something, rested our body and had dinner in front of our hotel.

 what else to expect but seafood? 

The next morning, I woke up with a slight pain in the leg (but on the bright side, felt that I can fit better into my jeans yey) and we decided to go to the islands. It was actually not something that I expected but I very much liked the idea of snorkelling at the islands. We had breakfast and then head to Jesselton Point, which should take us about ten minutes. I said should because we were very lucky as some people approached us and offered a trip to Mamutik, Taman Peringatan Tunku Abdul Rahman (Manukan) and Sapi for Rm 90 for two people with safety jacket and other apparatus. It was a good deal for me, at least.

at sapi. we were stranded for an hour

We went to Mamutik but I didn't see any fishes while snorkeling. Manukan had too many people on the beaches (I only saw people's feet) so Sapi was the only good place to snorkel. IMHO, Terengganu offers better snorkeling experience.

We head back to the hotel at 4 something. On that night, we ventured into town just to see things around town. It nice to walking in KK because the places are not that far apart. There are many eateries and I discovered the food there are quite cheap.

The next day, luck was still on our side. It was a clear day and we went to the Green Connection (RM 25 per entry for adults). We arrived at 10am when the place was just about to open. We met a biologist named Eric and he showed us the place. We got to know a lot of things like what kind of frogs, crabs and tortoises that were actually putting the other local species in danger. Wow, I thought they were all the same.

We looked at the fishes and the corals. We spent time longer at the coral parts and we also get to see pin-cushion starfish. I feel like bringing them home and hugging them or something. There were also belangkas oke sumpah ni tak tau panggil apa dlm English. This animal has blue blood, making it a royalty (to us there and then). It is actually very interesting to know that he male ones clung to the females. There were records of male-male relationship (the males just clung to the females, doing nothing) but not female-female relationship. Sounds familiar?

michael. michael kan name die?

The place is like the KLCC version but not the cramped version and is a bit more green. The Green Connection manages to give us a lot more information because the staffs there are ready to answer our questions. I absolutely love the feeding show because the feeding session felt a bit closer to the audience compared to the other one in Aquria (I only make the comparison wih Aquatia because I work near there and went there about three times).

We didn't manage to say thanks to Hazel For givin us a lift back to KK (we went to the GreennConnection via the taxi). To be honest, I was feeling pretty dizzy at that time. Must be dehydration.

From KK, we flew to Sandakan on the next day. It takes about five hours if we were to drive to Sandakan but took only 45 minutes to Sandakan via AirAsia. This time, the flight was during the day and looking down (when we just about to leave KK), I absolutely longed to visit Gaya Island. But according to the pilot of the chartered boat we were on, we can only circle the island. Nothing else.

On arrival in Sandakan, I was actually smitten, to be honest. The airport looked quaint and I was transported back the the time when I was a kid. We were greeted by a taxi driver outside the airport before heading to Central Sandakan Hotel. Something about the trip towards our hotel reminded me of the 80's. Well, except for the heat. Of course, we stayed very near the sea.

Central Sandakan Hotel is another hotel that I would really recommend. The price was around RM 60-70 per night with a proper elevator and all. What you would be interested to know is (drumrolls)... Every Sunday, hey have tamu or market in front of the hotel. It starts as early as 5am (but then again the sun comes up pretty early in that side of the world).

We arrived mid-day, I think and we had KFC near the sea. I never had one near the sea. As in restaurant located beside the sea. After that, we went to Agnes Keith house on the hill.

Agnes Keith was actually the author of the book 'Land Below The Wind', which I didn't buy because my bag already weigh about 10kg. The house have been refurbished a few times and according to the history, it was also famous for haunting. She came to Sandakan with her husband who was a conservator of Borneo (if I'm not mistaken but then I'm easily mistaken).

There were old dolls tha belonged to her children. The dolls were used to send messages when they were being kept in prison. The house was big, with French doors and all but we are not allowed to take pictures inside it).

For the next 2 hours or so, we walked around Sandakan just to get to know the quaint town. We walked from the heart of the city towards the sea. We also managed to see the point of the POW route.

 something like the port

The next morning, we woke up pretty late. Not really so late, about 6am when actually, we were supposed to eake up earlier than that for Tamu. Sadly, it was raining cats and dogs and we had to get raincoats before heading to Sepilok. There were buses to Sepilok, the orang utan sanctuary. It was exciting to actually see the place. For the whole stretch of the road, there were several places like Crocodile farm. We were also told that there was a sanctuary for Prosbosis monkey or more famously called as the Dutchman.

Upon arrival, we need to leave our bags behind because you know, they might want to borrow it from us. Insect repellant usage is prohibited and I'm pretty sure handphone usage is not recommended. Things might fall ontomour heads, including but not limted to, sticks and snakes. Yes, snakes. I was actually terrified but for the sake of watching the orang utan at a (slightly) close range, I decided to go for it.

When we arrived, there were just about to feed the orang utan. Those orang utan that are being fed were actually those that are being treated. As part of the conservation programme, they will be fed at the platform and as time goes, they will be fed further intonthe junglembefore being released back to the wild.

Of course, it was very exciting to watch the orang utan. Some were exhibitionists while others just don't care about us on the platform (who are mostly foreigners. My friend and I were the minority there).

Community service message: save our orang utan. Ouh and you can adopt one for just 100 pound per year or something. Me? I'm adopting myself right now and I have tons of needs. So, I'm not ready for it yet.

For those who love bird watching, there is a park beside Sepilok that offers you just that. We couldn't appreciate it that much (but of course, the trees we like) but there were a few people with their camera and all, watching birds. It was actually a park with herbs and flowers too.

 90 degrees. 

boiler for electricity at the POW camp (pardon the orientation hihi)

Next stop is Sandakan War Memorial (yeay!). This is the start of the Death March and there were still a few things left from that incident. There were Japanese boilers and also barracks from the olden days. I have the feelin that the soldiers tried to make life as bearable because there were concert tickets. Imagine that, stuck in the prison, listening to the Japanese officials saying that the war will go on for another 100 years must be really terrible. I cannot help but feel a bit sad.

And that was the last stop to our sightseeing spree. we arrived at our hotel when the tamu ended (around 1pm). So, I cannot give much review on this part.

Sandakan is a quaint little town located beside the sea. It was humid and to me, it looked like Tampin when I was still a teenager. According to my friend, it looked like Kota Bharu back in the 80's. I can see myself living in KK but maybe not Sandakan. And one thing I noticed about Sandakan was soto is really popular there. We can almost see it anywhere.

After that, we retire back to our room. Actually only me because my friend wanted to go see the market and as I was really tired, she went alone. I have histories of fainting and also extreme dehydration so I decidee it will be best for me to just stay in the room.

From this point onwards, there were not much to tell. We were about to leave Sandakan and our stay in KK was only for just one night. But here's something from Jesselton Point in KK.

Towards the end of the trip, I was truly glad that we got along well and we didn't have a huge fight during the trip. I imagine it will be really disastrous if that happened. There were several hiccups like flight delays but overall, it was an enjoyable trip.

The food is good and cheap. The people in Sabah are really friendly. Some men may look fierce but don't be surprised to see them holding the babies or waiting patiently for their wives. And another interesting thing to see was regardless of the race, we can see quite a number of people speak Chinese, Malay and English. Frankly speaking, I think they are more united that we who live in Peninsular Malaysia.

I hope this will be of benefit to those who are looking to go to Sabah because I see a lot of searches on Sabah.

God will, I might go there again. But in the very near future, I might be land on an island.

‘ Aku nampak apa yang ada di dalam mata kau,’ kata lelaki tua yang duduk di sebelah Husnan.

  Husnan sedikit terperanjat kerana dia tidak sedar bila lelaki itu duduk menemannya di bangku stesen bas Kuala Selangor. Mahu tergelak pun ada. Sesiapa pun pasti lihat iris di dalam bola mata Husnan.

  ‘ Kau rindu dia kan?’ lelaki tua yang memakai singlet putih di sebelah Husnan bertanya. Serta-merta Husnan memeluk beg kanvas berwarna hijau yang setia digalas ke mana sahaja. Beg itu pemberian Robiah, si pencuri hati Husnan.

   Lelaki tua berjambang di sebelah Husnan tertawa. Husnan, seorang pemuda berusia 25 tahun, mula kaget. Waktu sekarang baru jam dua petang, tidak mungkin lelaki ini hantu. Husnan cuba mengintai kaki si lelaki tua. Ada, kedua-duanya tersarung ke dalam sepasang selipar yang kelihatan sudah buruk.

  ‘ Rindu…bila rasa rindu, hati sudah jadi tidak ubah seperti permainan teka-teki susun suai gambar. Kau pernah main susun suai gambar?’

  Husnan mengangguk. Lagaknya seperti orang yang terkena ilmu pukau. Sebenarnya, Husnan sendiri bingung. Perlukah dia melarikan diri daripada lelaki ini? Atau biarkan sahaja asalkan dia tidak dipengapakan? Sementara otaknya masih keras berfikir, Husnan duduk sahaja di situ.

  Sebagai langkah berjaga-jaga, Husnan cuba mengesot sedikit menjauhi si pemikir.

  ‘ Kau rasa, bila kau rindu, hati kau tidak lengkap. Kau rasa bila kau dekat dengan dia atau cuba untuk mendekatkan diri pada si dia, rindu kau akan hilang dan kekosongan dalam hati kau terisi.’

  Lelaki tua, ataupun dipanggil si pemikir oleh Husnan, memandang jauh ke depan. Entah apalah yang nampak dek mata si pemikir, Husnan tidak pasti. Nampak seperti si pemikir sedang melayan tayangan memori di dalam kepala sendiri.

  Melihatkan si pemikir yang leka di dalam lamunan sendiri, Husnan mencuri pandang akan pakaian lelaki itu. Si pemikir berkain pelikat, berselipar buruk dan bersinglet putih. Jambangnya tidak seperti milik Sasterawan Negara, A Samad Said, pendek sedikit. Husnan teringat akan kisahnya berbual dengan orang gila di Pasar Budaya. Tolonglah, dia tidak sanggup menghadapi keadaan seperti itu lagi. Cukup perit bila diejek ‘kawan orang gila’ selepas kejadian itu.

  ‘ Bila…ehem.’ Tersentak Husnan dibuatnya. Si pemikir tersedak agaknya. 

  ‘ Ye?’ Husnan cuba berlagak sopan, tidak mahu kegiatannya diketahui si pemikir.

  ‘ Ada suara rupanya. Aku ingatkan kau bisu. Haha..’ meledak tawa daripada mulut sang pemikir. Husnan turut ketawa sama.

  ‘ Bila kau dah sayangkan seseorang, kau sudah hilang hak milik atas sebahagian daripada hati kau.’

  Wow, bisik hati Husnan.

  ‘ Kau akan rasa tidak lengkap dan kau akan rasa rindu. Bila kau bersama dengan si dia, kau rasa semuanya lengkap. Bila berjauhan, gambar yang lengkap sudah jadi rompong. Ada lubang di sana-sini. Kan?’ kali ini, si pemikir memusingkan badannya menghadap Husnan.

  Husnan telan air liur. Hebat falsafah si pemikir ini.

  ‘ Kau pandang gambar dia untuk cipta semula gambar yang sempurna, seperti dalam permainan yang aku sebut tadi. Ataupun, kau telefon dia.’

  ‘ Atau baca surat-surat dia,’ laju sahaja kata-kata itu menjengah keluar dari mulut Husnan.

  Si pemikir cuma senyum.

  ‘ Tetapi ia sudah tidak sama. Bila hati kau sudah dicuri seseorang, ia sudah jadi semacam permainan susun suai gambar yang sudah tidak cukup.’

  Si pemikir mengakhiri kata-katanya dengan senyuman. Kemudian, dikalihkan badan ke arah deretan kedai di sebelah stesen bas.

  Susun suai gambar. Wah! Hebat si pemikir ini. Dia seperti dapat membaca setiap apa yang difikirkan oleh Husnan. .

  ‘ Assalamualaikum…’ muncul pula satu suara lain. Husnan mengalih pandang kea rah si pemikir.

  Seorang lelaki muda berkemeja biru sedang memegang tangan si pemikir.

  ‘ Waalaikumussalam,’ Husnan menyahut salam antara dengar dengan tidak.

  ‘ Maaf saudara. Ayah saya mengganggu saudarakah?’ lelaki muda itu pula bertanya.

  Ayah? ‘ Eh, tidaklah saudara!’ Husnan menggelengkan kepala sedikit.

  ‘ Ah, lega saya mendengarnya! Maaf saudara, kami minta diri dulu, ya? Kami mahu ke hospital’ lelaki muda itu memimpin tangan si pemikir.

  ‘ Ya, baiklah,’ Husnan mengangguk.

    Husnan yang masih lagi kagum dengan kata-kata si pemikir, terus memandang kepada kedua-dua lelaki itu. Mereka berjalan menuju ke arah sebuah van.

 Yang berwarna putih.

 Yang kelihatan seperti ambulan.

 Yang kelihatan seperti kenderaan kepunyaan pihak hospital.

   ‘ Tampoi…’ Husnan mebaca tulisan di atas van itu.

  " Pak Jalil nampaknya masih tidak sihat. Nasib kau baik, semalam dia mengamuk terbalikkan meja di restoran depan itu,' muncul satu suara di belakang Husnan. 

  Terkena lagi Husnan nampaknya. 

tidak. ini memang tidak sepatutnya berlaku. tetapi hari ini, saya telah mendownload permainan angry birds rio. HD. seperti yang dia atas. 

sungguh, sungguh addictive. kalau tidak addictive, tidaklah sampai dua jam bermain game sampai lupa sarapan. 

saya tidak pernah lupa sarapan untuk pengetahuan anda. ataupun melambatkan. 

ye lihatlah, ia kelihatan sungguh cantik kerana ini versi HD. dan ia sungguh comel dengan bentuk-bentuk sebegitu.

apa yang kita perlu lakukan adalah membebaskan burung-burung ataupun di dalam gambar ini, monyet-monyet.

apa yang menarik adalah permainan ini memerlukan strategi . tidak boleh main tembak sahaja. bak kata sepupu saya, perlu menggunakan ilmu fizik. berapa kuat nak tembak selain daripada mana nak tembak.

adalah tricks lain tetapi kalau pandai bajet momentum dia, tak lah sakit hati kene gelak bila level tak complete. sumpah sakit hati kene gelak. dan itulah yang menjadi motivasi untuk bermain dengan lebih gigih.

what....kalau bab yang itu memang semangat gila. cis.

ya inilah. inilah game yang buat saya gila.

Angry Bird Rio HD is available for free download on your iPad for a limited period.

antara menu-menu yang sesuai utk esok.

baked sand (under the sun)
lalang tiga rasa
lalang masak kicap
batu kerikil sweet and sour
lalang batu kerikil

iaitu menu orang yang muflis.

itulah orang dah cakap, berdoa tu hati-hati. nanti kalau dah dapat, takut tak tertanggung.

aku mengeluh gaji masuk awal. konon-konon takut habis gaji awal. maka aku tunaikan cek melalui mesin, bukan ke cawangan terus. akibatnya, hari ini two-day float. esok, ia akan terapung lagi.

padan muka. nak sangat.

Tanda-tanda

Tanda-tanda

Tidur tak cukup:

Masuk farmasi, beli koyok. Pinggang masih belum berapa betul. Sekarang pun menaip sambil berbaring atas katil. Mujur boleh menaip begini.

Keluar kedai, terasa terlebih baik maka tersenyum meleret pada perempuan berkot putih, bersanggul kemas berdiri di depan Guardian. Perempuan itu sudah sedia tersenyum pun.

Dem. Life-sized woman letak depan farmasi rupanya.

Sugar high:

Masuk lif. Selalunya masuk lif, orang tak mahu sambung borak. Tapi dalam surau takpe, peduli apa dgn org yg sedang solat.

Makan aiskrim. Aku kalau makan aiskrim, akan jadi sugar high. Maka, sambung cakap tak berhenti.

Aku: yesterday, my friend accompanied me to buy these shoes (tunjuk kasut navy blue di kaki, pengganti wedges yang mungkin 2 inci tingginya. Yang ini rendah)
Kawan tersenyum. Lelaki kulit putih berdiri di depan aku juga tersenyum. Eleh, macam aku tak nampak. Aku sambung cakap:

Aku: she also bought shoes for herself. We are so bad for each other.

Teman aku, seorang lelaki dan lelaki kulit putih di depan aku tertawa.

Aku: women and shoes, it's an addiction.

Mereka berdua tertawa. Aku suap aiskrim ke dalam mulut. Dan aku bertanya lelaki kulit putih itu: Right?

Dia jawab: yeah. Totally. And so is ice-cream.

Kadang-kadang, aku memang peramah tak tentu hala. Dan aku sebenarnya selalu nampak lelaki kulit putih itu di tingkat 14, berlainan tingkat. Sepatutnya aku lebih mesra dengan jiran-jiran.

Sent from my iPad

kita boleh cari kesangsian dalam sesame street. itu mungkin cerita dulu kala maka berhenti di situ.
kita boleh cipta keraguan untuk karakter-karakter spongebob squarepants. kau boleh bandingkan wajah-wajah mereka dengan sesuatu.

itu semua kerja orang yang tiada kerja.

jangan lupa, itu semua adalah watak-watak di dalam cerita fantasi.

tetapi, yang lebih memalukan adalah membaca cerita-cerita tentang manusia di dalam almari dan rakaman CCTV.

tahniah kerana anda baru sahaja memberi idea bernas kepada generasi akan datang akan cara-cara main jahat (open to interpretation).

Tentang pinggang dan perselisihan faham

Tentang pinggang dan perselisihan faham

Pinggang aku sedang diperbaiki. Maksud aku, aku biarkan dia memperbaiki keadaannya sendiri. Setakat ini, nampak mcm semakin oke. Syukur.

Aku tidak tahu berapa ramai yang mengalami perkara ini tetapi dalam apa-apa perhubungan, aku merasakan perselisihan faham itu penting. Bukanlah bergaduh berperang bagai nak rak tetapi cukup untuk mengenali diri sendiri, bagaimana kau akan memberikan reaksi dalam sesuatu hal. Bila aku ckp tentang perhubungan, bukanlah terhad kepada sepasang kekasih (come on, life is much more than). Ia tentang perhhubungan dengan ibubapa, sepupu, malah kawan-kawan (sekadar memetik beberapa jenis). Ia penting sebenarnya. Jika pergaduhan itu boleh dileraikan, ia memberikan tanda yang bagus. Dileraikan tidak bermaksud ia akan kembali kepada keadaan asal.

Keadaan asal; ini merupakan suatu keadaan yang rumit. Contohnya, kau berselisih faham dgn seseorang yang bermulut longkang. Adakah kau pasti selepas semuanya jadi baik, kau ingin semuanya kembali kepada keadaan asal?

Aku cuma terfikir topik ini bila seseorang tweet apa yang penting di dalam sebuah perhubungan. Ini yang paling penting sebenarnya.

P/S: I wonder if it is too much to ask to get a morning wish? Maybe it is. Nevermind.

Sent from my iPad

When God wills something to be, it will be. Simplest way to convey this is of course ‘ kun fayakun’.

The disc on my back slipped a bit since yesterday. I’m talking about the spinal disc, not the compact disc or some storage disks for that matter. There’s a funny story behind it.

I always take car about not bending when I pick something up. I always make sure that I squat down because for women, the late twenties bring lots of changes to the body. I started drinking milk back (except that I changed from Dutch Lady to other brands because my tummy cannot tolerate it) and try to exercise regularly.

But we can only plan; we cannot decide what will happen ultimately. I sneezed yesterday morning and I feel something snapped. And starting from there, sitting down was a painful experience, up until now.

I have slip disc and it was because of something very normal, very common; because of a sneeze. And thank goodness it is not serious since I can still walk from my office to the Putra station, which takes about 15 minutes, and go on board a bus. If it is any serious, the doctor would have sent me to MRI straightaway.

And I would like to thank you those who are asking. I’m fine; still alive and kicking. But kicking metaphorically right now since I cannot really move swiftly. 

sambungan cuti-cuti sabah: dengan sediki-sebanyak gambar (kredit to NS. dia pesan jangan songlap) 

ini adalah pemandangan daripada jesselton point, tidak jauh daripada tempat tinggal kami. oke kami mmg suka jalan kaki maka kami jalan sahaja, tiada naik teksi semua. cuti-cuti sabah yang sangat menyihatkan kerana perlu pakai kaki ke semua tempat. semput juga la tapi tgklah pemandangannya *lap air mata yang tumpah atas keyboard.

konsep gerai-gerai di sini adalah seperti pasar malam. betul-betul di depan hotel bajet kami (A&J Budget Hotel) maka sangatlah mudah untuk makan. nasib baik tingkat tiga kalau tidak mahu makin 'sihat' bila balik kampung halaman. 

di sini ada hampir semuanya; nasi ayam, murtabak, air laici, kulit kerang...ah memang mudahlah makanan untuk edisi cuti-cuti sabah kali ini. oke yang ini gambar saya sedang beli murtabak rasanya. 

dalam perjalanan ke kota kinabalu. saya ada nombor telefon incik ramli ini. tinggalkan komen kalau anda mahu nombor dia. 

eh kejap check ade lagi ke nombor dia, oke ade. kalau mahu, boleh komen ye. 

pekan nabalu. pekan ini kecil tetapi sgt damai. ini pemandangan jam 10 pagi. perjalanan dari KK ke Gunung Kinabalu ambil masa lebih kurang 2 jam. 

tempat ini sejuk, seronok sgt. banyak nenas di sini dan sgt cantik ambil gambar gunung dr sini. perhatikan gambar di bawah. 

*air liur meleleh di papan kekunci mengenangkan pemandangan yang indah ini. rasa mahu packing back dan sambung cuti-cuti sabah sekali lagi. 

boleh juga ambil gambar di sini. semput tau panjat tower ni. 

ambil secara berjemaah begini pun boleh. 

inilah poring yang dikatakan tersebut. ini dah habis bab kene panjat bukit belakang tu. memang minta nyawa. 

nampak lawa semacam sebab photo editinglah. tak mahu tipu anda. 

rafflesia buka pada hari kami sampai tapi Rm 20 sekali tgk T__T. 18 bulan lagi baru terbuka. 

kundasang war memorial. di tepi-tepi dinding terdapat nama-nama askar yang terkorban. 

alihbahasa: the plaques on the sides bear the name of soldiers who died during the death march Sandakan-Kota Kinabalu. 

lain sungguh alihbahasanya but i'm doing it as a gesture for Australian soldiers who died during the era as well as locals (I believe they play a huge part during these times). and of course, British soldiers. 

The oldest soldier (based on the plaques) was a gentleman aged 56 (plus minus). I know that none of the soldiers are from my family but can you imagine walking in the rain for 30 days, at the threat of bayonet? It was cold at these places now but I imagine when the Death March took place, it must be freezing. At least i have sweater ouh dear, the tears are coming. must stop. 

ini di pulau sapi. kalau nak pergi snorkelling, sapi paling oke (antara mamutik, manukan dan sapi) TETAPI tidaklah sehebat terengganu. air tidak jernih, ikan pun tidak nampak. anemone tak nampak, itu boleh cari di Green Connection KK. 

ini gambar semasa kami stranded di sapi selama sejam. boleh ke dia terlupa ambil tapi takpelah boleh buat-buat lawak amek gambar kat sini. 

ye, sekian dulu. penceritaan bergambar lebih senang rupanya. 

seperti biasa, aku sedang baca buku terry pratchett. kali ini, The Fifth Elephant.

aku pasti aku sudah baca buku ini. tetapi aku tamak, tak mahu berikan atau tukar dengan pengumpul yang lain. kejamkah?

Hi! kami di kapasitor sedang mengadakan kempen ini

Random Act of Kindness.

It is actually for sharing of uplifting stories, help that all of us receive from sources that we never expect.

So, here's an example of something that I wrote. RAK#1: The Taxi Ride.

Come, let's share your stories with us at kapasitor.

Seluar dan skirt pendek

Seluar dan skirt pendek

Hari ini aku berjalan dari Klang ke KL Sentral. Syukur aku dapat duduk di koc untuk wanita, abaikan beberapa orang lelaki yang masuk ke dalam koc tersebut. Mungkin mereka terlalu letih untuk berlari ke koc sebelah-menyebelah.

Dari Klang, kebanyakan penumpang adalah keluarga dengan anak-anak mereka. Tetapi aku tak begitu pasti berapa ramai kerana bapa-bapa segan masuk ke koc wanita. Jadi, memang luas dan lapang koc tersebut. Nasib aku memang baik hari ini.

Tidak lama selepas itu, ada beberapa orang budak perempuan menaiki tren. Kulit sawo matang, bangsanya aku tidak tahu. Aku enggan pandang muka mereka lama-lama, takut digelar stalker. Aku hanya online stalker. Tolong jangan salah faham.

Malaysia ini panas, aku faham. Kerana itu memakai baju diperbuat daripada kain kapas adalah penting, ini bagi akulah. Untuk kedua-dua budak muda ini (yang nyata masih belum cecah 22 tahun. Bila sampai satu tahap, kau akan dapat agak siapa lagi muda, siapa yang tua melalui gerak tubuh), mereka memilih skirt pendek dan seluar pendek.

Memang fitrah seorang perempuan adalah untuk berhias. Ramai yang berhias dengan menambahkan lagi keistimewaan mereka. Yang mempunyai tulang pipi yang tinggi, pasti mahu menyerlahkan tulang pipi mereka. Yang bermata cantik, akan memberikan solekan yang lebih pada bahagian mata. Jadi, yang aku tidak faham sekarang, mengapa budak-budak ini mempamerkan kesan kudis dan parut yang entah daripada apa pada kaki dan lutut mereka? Adakah mereka beranggapan parut itu adalah aset.

Somebody please enlighten me.

Sampai di KL Sentral, si gadis berbaju putih (atau sebenarnya camisole untuk dipakai ke sekolah) memaut tangan rakannya yang berbaju hitam. Di sebelah mereka seorang lelaki berpangkat bapa yang sedang bermain mata dengan mereka.

Fikir baik: pakcik itu akan bawa mereka makan lantas membantu mereka memajukan diri dalam pelajaran. Mungkin dia hanya ingin menasihatkan mereka berdua.

Kalau ada yang fetish dengan parut di kaki, maafkan aku.

Sent from my iPad

random

satu

tahun lepas, aku selalu lihat budak sekolah menengah menggalas beg, naik bas jam 7.45 pagi. setahu aku, sekolah yang dekat dengan rumah aku ini, hanya satu sesi dan pintu pagar akan tutup jam 7.20 pagi. aku tahu bukan hanya sebab aku bersekolah di situ tetapi kerana sepupu aku yang paling kecil (dalam rumah ini) bersekolah di situ.

fikir baik: mungkin aku silap pandang lencana sekolah mereka. mereka sekolah jauh dari sini dan bertolak awal untuk mengulangkaji.

dua

ada dua tiga orang budak lelaki yang belum pecah suara naik bas. berbual kuat-kuat macam tak ingat orang sekeliling. yang seorang mengaku dengan jujur dia tidak mahu ke sekolah. katanya, mahu lepak dengan awek.

fikir baik: mungkin dia buat lawak sahaja nak ponteng sekolah. dia nak jumpa awek dia sebab nak hangout di mekdi untuk belajar.

yang seorang lagi buat lawak bersifat perkauman.

fikir baik: mungkin dia sedang berlatih pantomin. kalau dia berjaya buat penumpangh marah, itu tandanya lakonannya menjadi.

tiga

aku pulang awal. cuti setengah hari, mahu tonton wayang. aku tunggu di stesen bangsar, tunggu bas mahu ke midvalley. aku malas hendak naik komuter.
datang dua orang budak, berbaju sekolah, badannya kecil sahaja. dia terus terpa seorang lelaki yang berdiri tidak jauh daripada aku, rupanya tidak macam orang malaysia, lalu minta rokok. lelaki india atau bangladesh itu minta maaf, kata tiada.

elok aku tengok bahasa lelaki itu.

budak-budak lelaki itu biarkan lelaki itu, buat tak tahu. aku fikir, cerita itu habis di situ.

tiba-tiba, penutup bakul sampah melayang, kena pada kaki lelaki berbangsa india yang berdiri di sebelah aku. budak lelaki berbaju sekolah tadi yang punya angkara. lelaki berbangsa india itu diam sahaja. aku sendiri tergamam. kalau aku jerit, senang sahaja budak-budak itu bantai aku; mereka semua sama tinggi dengan aku.

seorang lelaki warga tempatan mengangkat penutup bakul sampah yang jatuh di tengah jalan. aku faham kenapa lelaki berbangsa india itu tidak mengangkat penutup tersebut. kalau dia tunduk, entah apalah yang budak-budak itu akan lakukan pada dia.

bila bas datang, lelaki berbangsa india itu cepat-cepat naik bas. budak-budak hingusan tadi buat-buat kejar dia.

fikir baik: mereka kawan. mereka bergurau kasar.

ini cerita sepupu saya. beliau juga seperti saya; anak tengah daripada tiga adik beradik dan juga satu-satunya perempuan.

waktu kecil-kecil dahulu, beliau cengeng orangnya. pantang kena buli sedikit, menangis. waktu kecil dahulu, beliau suka pakai skirt. oke mungkin bukan suka tetapi terpaksa. kini, beliau sedikit tomboyish.

gelang? apa? rantai? apa? takpe beb, emas kita buat pelaburan, bukan barang kemas. itu adalah cool.

disebabkan  beliau satu-satunya anak perempuan, dibuli itu mesti. character building tahu? maka sewaktu kecil, memang boleh tahan jugalah penderaan yang dilakukan ke atas dia. bukan hanya adik-beradik beliau, malah sepupu-sepupu yang lain.

saya masih ingat lagi, waktu itu beliau masih kecil. ketika itu, ruang tamu kami masih lagi satu (sekarang dua). saya, adik-beradik saya serta emak dan makcik kami sedang menonton drama swasta melayu. beliau pula sedang duduk di tepi, samada membaca buku atau menonton tv sama, saya kurang pasti.

tiba-tiba, telefon berbunyi (telefon kami letakkan di tepi tv). beliau berlari ke arah telefon sambil menjerit 'kita punya! kita punya!'. bila sahaja dia mengangkat gagang, terdengar:
' Hello' daripada peti tv. tanpa membuang masa, kami adik-beradik (tidak termasuk adik-beradik beliau), telah mentertawakan beliau tanpa kompromi. beliau meletakkan telefon, berlari dengan air mata berjuraian di pipi keluar rumah.

character building, oke? kalau kami tak buat begitu, kamu tidak akan segagah ini sepupu.

bila adik beliau sudah besar sedikit, ada satu episod yang saya kira memang lucu tapi mesti sepupu saya yang perempuan ini cukup hangin kalau ingat-ingatkan (saya kurang ingat umur sepupu saya yang perempuan ini waktu itu, mungkin darjah 6). adik-beradik beliau memanggil beliau:
SITI SATE. waktu ini, lagu cinta sakti mmg begitu popular. begitu juga cinta sate dari senario. setiap kali dipanggil dengan panggilan itu, mesti dia menangis. kerana saya seorang oportunis, pastilah saya turut serta. jangan lepaskan peluang untuk bergembira walaupun sekali.

semasa beliau di tingkatan 4, emak beliau menyuruh saya nasihatkan beliau kerana beliau menangis mengatakan Matematik Tambahan itu susah. nak balik rumah, tak mahu belajar di teknik KL.

aku dulu boleh kira sebelah tangan berapa kali lulus Matematik Tambahan. apa nangis? makan nasi lagi best.

dan beliau yang sejak azali mmg bijak, berjaya mengatasi masalah Matematik Tambahan yang membawa mimpi buruk kepada ramai orang.

kini, beliau sudah dewasa. beliau sedang belajar di UTM dalam bidang yang ada la sikit-sikit bau bacang dengan apa yg saya belajar dulu (tetapi terang-terangan sepupu saya lebih hebat daripada saya. itu sudah pasti).

beliau sudah ada mata air (tak perlu nafikan) dan kamu sudah upgrade usikan kami kepada 'bila nak kahwin?'. beliau hangin tapi tak boleh nak buat apa. itu gurau sesama keluarga.

dah besar rupanya kau ni catthmd. happy belated birthday :)

'marking our territory'. aku ingat ini hanya berlaku dalam alam haiwan.

kalau kau selalu bercakap tentang seseorang, apa yang kamu bualkan, hangout di mana, si dia suka minum air apa, percayalah; aku tahu apa yang kau buat. aku bukan 17 tahun. aku tahu apa maksud kau. malah, kita bukan 27 tahun. aku tahu sangat apa yang kau sedang buat, apa yang kau cuba lakukan

pissing all over him/ her. marking your territory.

tetapi ketahuilah, bila kau berbuat begitu, aku tahu keyakinan kau rapuh, sangat rapuh hingga kau jadi paranoid. takut hilang si dia pada kawan lain.

lagi-lagi kalau heboh letak di blog, Facebook, Twitter bla bla bla. kekacauan jiwa sangat terserlah di situ.

maka, tolong jangan salahkan aku. aku rasa takut dengan tahap obses kamu.

kau pernah pergi sawah? aku pernah. banyak agas. malam tak lena tidur. 

padan muka. 

sebab itu orang tua pesan jaga-jaga. usah terlalu ghairah. 

Today, Emak had a little episode with ‘unstable angina’ and I took her to the hospital. She said she was feeling ok but no, no Emak. Off to the hospital we go, thanks to a very dear friend (you know who you are).

We were very lucky that we arrived quite early because soon after that, people filled up the emergency section pretty fast.

To be in the health service sector, I imagine it can be very hectic. No one can give a specific number on how many people that a doctor or a nurse can attend in a day. I imagine some days there will be fewer people while at other days, there might be more people. Unlike me, I have a specific quota to fulfil in a day (as of now) and working on weekends is sometimes an option.

Looking at the health personnel working in the particular government hospital (name withheld), I’m instantly amazed. Today, on the day that I can choose to wake up late, these people have been working for only God knows how long. They have to attend to those who are already in the hospital, going to the ward as well as those who are leaving the hospital. Looking at the make-shift beds, I can imagine that there are a lot of people to attend to.

I admire all of them, seriously. The doctor, the nurses, the guards, the surgeons, the attendants, those at the counter, pharmacists, dietician, the cleaners (sorry if I miss out any of those who work in the healthline). We were at the hospital for nearly four hours and they can still attend us although I am sure they were exhausted.

One of the doctors went into a convenience store looking at a magazine. I admire him truly. You know why? Because he was willing to go into a shop with lots of customers, patients and visitors alike, without scowling. Honestly, I hate school holidays because KLCC will be so packed, it will be like mashed tuna in a smashed up can. But not this doctor. He can walk into the store and still read the magazine. I don’t know how long his shift was for today but I can be sure very long and I admire him for not screaming or scowling because I’d honestly do that.

It is a no brainer why I’m not a doctor.

And then there were nurses. They have to attend to their personal matters while at the same time they have to attend patients. I know, it is part of their job description but can we all imagine how hard it is to be pregnant while still attending to patients? I mean, yes, the nurse did sit at the counter but still? I imagine it can be tiring.

The cleaners; that was another WOW. Changing the sheets, mopping the floor, throw the garbage, make sure the hospital is not contaminated…. I mean, WOW. I think those are really great achievement.

I wish I can go on but my interaction was limited to just a few health personnel only. But I want to thank all of them for attending us nicely although I know it can be very tiring. We can be patients number 5,000, who knows.

I know I’m repeating myself but I truly admire health personnel. I believe there has been chronic shortage of health personnel for years now. I can’t imagine having to work in an industry that is constantly short-staffed.

With this, I would like to say thanks to doctors, nurses, pharmacists, support staff and other health personnel who I didn’t name (pardon my lack of knowledge). To all those who plan to enter the healthcare service sector, I thank you in advance. You are going to make a difference to the patients directly.

Well, I’m not saying others in other industries are not making any impact. I’m just focusing on those in the health sector now.