Camping stories

Somehow, the fact that the whole nation will be out yesterday (30 August 2013) to celebrate Merdeka totally escaped my mind. It was not until late afternoon that I realised that I will be heading to Midvalley in the throngs of people who will also be there.

Why ouh why? But I guess it was already too late and I had to pass money to my friend anyways. Put on the bulky bagpack (with Back To School sticker in it) and brave the sea of people.

‘ I will not (grabbed the poll in the train) let this (tried a balancing act in the bus)  ruin (gasped as the bus door tried to clamp my right hand) our date! (rushed into the entrance of Midvally; glad the torture is over).’

And I ran from one end to another to meet the friend; of course, avoiding the strollers being pushed here and there and fighting the uncontrollable urge to stop at look at adorable babies. You know, maybe footballers would like to have that kind of training for better dribbling skills.

Sorry, got sidetracked.

Anyways, we met and sat down. It was very hard for us not to be screaming ‘ 24 November, come faster! (Her)’ or ‘ At least 15 of November, quick!’ (Me, I am slightly less ambitious). We ordered food and tried very hard not to constantly think about our travelling plans and I knew we were trying to find a topic that will not kill our braincells.

I don’t know how it came about but then, we started talking about camping trips.

My earliest memory of sleeping in the jungle (for a few days only, of course) was when I was 12. I nearly had a row with my grandfather as I really wanted to go camping near Ulu Yam. The main reason why my proposal was rejected was ‘ you are too young’. Well, he still paid for my allowances, what can I say?

Come 13, there was no stopping me. I begged and plead to attend my very first camping trip with the rest of the Scouts. It must have been a bit of a blah since I have no recollection from the trip, not even the venue. So, nothing to tell.

The best trip would have to be the one when I was in Form 2. It was in Templer Park and there were less than 20 of us. We arrived quite late by our standard and it was raining heavily. I remembered walking, hunched in the rain as I carried our responsibility; a Weetamel biscuit wrapped in a filmsy plastic. We were supposed to protect the biscuit until the end of the trip and must bring the biscuit everywhere with us.

Our group’s biscuit broke into half before we even left the school compound. And they never did found out. Thi-hi-hi.

Anyways, soaked in the rain, we had difficulty in setting up the tent. Don’t ask me, I will not be able to set up one for my dear life. My task was usually to dig a small drain all around the tent. I was not even responsible to sprinkle sulphur all around the tent.

I end up helping the other members to find dry leaves (nada) or dry branches (null) for our campfire. Before we know it, it was dark and we had no food. We were extremely hungry and tired by then, including worried since we had no campfire. Only then did our teacher pull out army candles and Bunsen burner but by then, we were too hungry to get angry.

I had a can of tuna in my bag. Someone else had a loaf of bread. There were eight hungry faces hunched in the dark.

‘ I have tuna,’ I said and I swear I can see their ears perk up.

‘ Ok..’ someone answered almost conspiratorially.

‘ And I have bread,’ someone else whispered. We were elated. We looked left and right, just in case others in the area heard us. None.

Slowly, we made our way to our respective tents and took the tuna and bread before half-running towards our meeting place. Luckily, the tuna can did not require a can opener.

‘ Quick! On the bread.’

I hesitated.

‘ It’s oke. It’s emergency. We don’t have to cook it,’ said someone else without realising that was not my concern.

‘ Anyone has spoon?,’ I said at least. No one said anything.

Great. We had food but no utensils. Asking a spoon from the QC will only result in about ten over people coming over to our group and we had to share the already small amount of food.

‘ Can we use ruler?’ I asked, sensing that we had to find an alternative and fast.

‘ Yes!’ and again, I made the trip to my bag.

And that night, all eight of us slept well. Gross, I know but we were young, stupid and really hungry.

That particular camping trip will always be among the ones that I will look back fondly. When we did river tracking, we passed by a wild boar’s kubang (no idea what that is in English and received no help from Google Translate too). We actually walked in a tiger’s trail too!

Oke no need to be too excited.

My friend and I swapped stories for about an hour. Yes, it sounded crazy when I wanted to go camping but now, I was glad I did it. Although it might not be as grand as staying for a few weeks in the jungle, it was still an experience I can never buy. 

Memory: 2

The sun was shining a bit too bright on that day but for Tasnim, it was such a bliss. The office was too cold for her liking. It was not the first time that she exited the place puffing while rubbing both of her hands and trying to revive her almost dying, purplish nails. Tasnim just needed to defrost; yes, the office felt like a chiller.

Most of the people in the building have already went out to lunch. Tasnim purposely picked 1pm to go out just so she didn’t have to fight for space in the elevator. Maybe it was just her luck or the elevator was being super efficient but it took less than a minute for an elevator to carry her downstairs.

Tasnim walked against the stream of people coming back to their offices. She avoided faces, promptly putting on her sunglasses just to avoid familiar faces. Well, it would not make any difference anyways. No one will smile at her.

On top of the sunglasses, she walked with her head bowed down. All Tasnim could think was keep on walking, as if in a trance. Before she knew it, she already stood at the counter while looking at several coffee-based drinks. Not the franchise coffee chain but a normal kopitiam.

Everything felt like a blur. Almost on auto-pilot, Tasnim ordered cham, a combination of tea and coffee. It was only when she sat down, with a number in a hand that she realised where she was.

As Tasnim stirred the drink that arrived about two minutes after she sat down, all the memories came flooding back. It has been a little bit over a year.

                                    +                      +                      +

‘ I am seriously sorry,’ Tasnim stared at the blotches of coffee on the guy’s shirt. All she can hear was her voice saying ‘Merde’ in her head over and over again.

The guy who was standing in front of her didn’t even attempt to cover his fury.

‘ Seriously?’ the guy looked at Tasnim, a little bit red-faced. ‘ Seriously?’ this time, it was one notch higher.

Tasnim was shocked although deep down she knew that this might happen. Well, what was she expecting. She knocked the whole iced coffee on his white officewear.

‘ I am sorry. Seriously. I didn’t see you,’ Tasnim tried to apologise while looking at the wasted iced coffee on the floor.

‘ Well, of course you can’t. With that sunglasses in this mall,’ the guy rolled his eyes while walking to the nearest table for tissues. ‘ Stupid,’ the guy said without looking back.

Tasnim stood rooted at the spot, feeling the blood drain from her face.

‘ Hey! I said sorry,’ Tasnim marched towards the guy.

The guy stopped dabbing tissue on his shirt and looked at Tasnim’s face. ‘ So, does it change anything? Did the coffee stain vanish?’

‘ I am well aware it didn’t but that was not an excuse to call me stupid,’ Tasnim took off her sunglasses.

‘ Great. Should you have taken off that..’ the guy stopped mid sentence while still staring at her face. ‘ That…that sunglasses, this would not happen,’ the guy continued his sarcastic remark although it did sound a bit lame to Tasnim’s ears.

Tasnim did not have time to process the oddity. Instead, she did a mental calculation and fished her purse.

‘ Fine. Follow me,’ Tasnim turned around. ‘ I’ll buy you another shirt,’ she answered to an unvoiced question.

‘ What? But..’ the guy stopped cleaning his shirt and trailed behind Tasnim.

‘ Seriously, I’m sorry. Come on,’ Tasnim did not look back but she knew he was there. There was a whift of coffee from behind.

Without bothering to look at the guy, Tasnim walked towards one of the department stores despite the fact that she had no idea what guys usually wear to the office. As soon as she arrived at the front door, Tasnim stopped suddenly. She turned around and looked at the guy’s face.

The guy whose name Tasnim is yet to learn, raised an eyebrow.

‘ I..urmm.. I have no idea what brand guy’s wear,’ Tasnim said while unconsciously making her voice smaller.

No reply. Tasnim waited in agony before the guy burst into laughter.

‘ What?’ she asked. This guy can really change his mood faster than a female on PMS.

‘ It’s ok. It’s after work anyways.’

‘ But your shirt..’ Tasnim tried to reason.

‘ Nah. It’s ok. This will come off,’ the guy smiled. And Tasnim’s heart did a leap. A dimple on the right cheek.

‘ I’m sorry that I lost my cool,’ the guy brushed off his hair. Or fringe.

‘ Well, it was my fault anyways.’

Awkward silence.

‘ By the way, I’m Adam,’ the guy introduced himself.

‘ Tasnim.’ Tasnim struggled to smile as she could feel a blush coming.

‘ Wow. Such a beautiful name,’ this time, Tasnim really had no choice but to blush. ‘ I should not have called you stupid. It was totally uncalled for. Can we go for a drink as you lost yours and I haven’t had mine?’ Adam plead, his voice low.

Maybe it was guilt or maybe it was just fate. They sat at the same kopitiam a bit over a year ago and exchanged phone numbers over two cups of cham.

Tasnim could feel tears welling in her eyes. Adam….

Memory: 1

Tasnim sat staring at her bowl of breakfast cereal. The bowl was half filled with the rainbow-coloured processed food. Hanna; sensing that her beloved friend will not be moving any of her limbs anytime soon, poured milk into the bowl.

Unexpectedly, the milk stopped pouring before it can even fill half of the bowl.

On no. Here comes…

‘ Why?,’ here we go again. Yesterday, it was sugar. The day before that was doughnut.

‘ Is it too difficult to have the correct amount of milk added to my bowl? People don’t know what I’ve been through.’

Hanna was expecting the usual naughty Puss-In-Boots expression from Tasnim but today, something else happened. Her face crumpled before a steady stream of tears went down her cheek.

As quick and as efficient as lightning, Hanna fished her phone from her back pocket.

‘ Code Black. We have a situation here.’ It was a text sent to Khalid, another friend.

‘ Code Black? What’s that? Since when do we have a Code Black?’ that bloodyline from Tower Heist. Came the reply.

Feeling impatient, Hanna called Khalid instead while marching out of the kitchen, leaving a sobbing Tasnim at the table.

‘ She is crying, you dolt!’ Hanna hissed down the mouthpiece.

‘ Ouh no.’

Ouh no is right. Their friend might finally accept that it was the end of the road.

No more Tasnim-Adam. 

Chak!

ini bukan kucing parsi. ini kucing kampung, berbapakan kucing kacukan. kami tak pernah jumpa bapa dia tapi kami kagum dengan dia. kagum sebab comel sgt. yang banyak dalam rumah ni cuma kucing belang-belang atau tompok-tompok yang sebenarnya semua template. sama je semua. perangai pun sama; curi ikan, pecahkan pinggan. haish.

tapi yang ini lain. dia tak masuk rumah. bagus. yang kami risaukan kalau ada orang curi.

dilemma betul. ada kucing tak comel, rasa mcm nak pija. ada kucing comel, malas pula nak pegi kasi injection ke apa. takut orang curi. haish. mcm-mcm..

tunggu

sampai masa untuk giliran kita, ia pasti akan tiba.

apa? kau tanya? ah apa-apalah.

cinta contohnya. contoh sahaja.

pencari cinta, sabarlah. giliran kita akan tiba. tepat masa, ia akan sampai. dan kau takkan mampu menolak.

sampai saat itu, sabarlah. pujuk hatimu suruh sabar dan tenang.

ros idaman

terima kasih. tak sangkanya. memang dah lama nak bunga ros. ini perempuan cantik duduk depan saya yang kasi.

ah bahagia.

of saving someone

everyone wants to be a hero/ heroin. everybody wants to save a life. but what if in order to save someone, you have to save yourself first? before fixing someone, you need to be durable enough to endure all the obstacles that will come your way.

yes, superman has its own weakness. that man of steel (albeit that it is a fictional character); with a role to save the world, is easily crippled by a kryptonite.

so how can we, mere human, can assume that we can save anybody that we want too?

we can only do so much. we can save someone as long as that particular someone wants to be helped.

at least, that's what I think.

terang-terang

di suatu masa dulu

Whatsapp:
A: awak
A: :(

ah sudah. kenapa pula ni?

B: ye, saya.
A: dia (buah hatinya) tak mahu kasi pegang phone lagi.
A: selalu dia kasi je

mungkin sebenarnya dia tahu apa yang terjadi. tetapi dia takut untuk menghadapi kemungkinan. maklum, 'berkawan' bukan sehari dua. itulah lumrah manusia. kadang sudah tahu tapi masih mahu bertanya. bukan sebab apa, kita semua mahu approval.

sebab itu kawan kita kadang selalu bertanya: dah tahu kenapa nak tanya?

sebab kita mahu approval.

puas hati

A: ini gambar di mana?
B: rumahlah.
A: rumah? buat sendiri ye?

lebih mudah sebenarnya. memanglah nampak remeh tapi seronok. bukan senang nak bergotong-royong sama-sama buat kuih. tak perlu ceritalah gotong-royong di kampung kalau di rumah sendiri pun dah fail.

masa inilah mahu cuba bermesra dengan orang tua. selalu tu mood dah ke laut sebab penat. muka ketat kalau bercakap. sebab kita tiada pilihan lain selain daripada bermuka manis untuk juadah buka puasa, maka pura-pura gembiralah walaupun macam ada harimau dalam perut.

kalau buat sendiri, tahu dah apa yang kita mahu. setengah orang tak mahu sengkuang. yang lain tak mahu lobak (entah apalah yang mereka mahu sebagai inti popiah. jangan tanya). ini juga peluang untuk belajar buat popiah. selalu main tunjuk sahaja, kali ini ha tunggulah. lepas buat inti kene keringkan berapa jam. kemudian gulung. gulung mesti simetri walaupun untuk hidangan di rumah.

kemudian berebut siapa nak goreng. bukan mudah ya sebenarnya perihal makan-memakan ini.

B: aah. buat sendiri.

:)

Ghaya! Ghaya!

' rasalah ketupat ini..'

'dengan rendangnya sekali..'

 ' sudilah rasa kuihku..'

 ' pilihlah yang mana satu..'

*yang last sekali tu mmg mintak kene sekeh. 

anyways, selamat hari raya. maaf zahir batin :)

senyum

apa ada di sebalik senyum?
mungkin luka. mungkin betul bahagia.
ah apa kisah?
mengapa susah-susah mahu tafsir?

take it at face value.

(ini masa bersteam bot dgn rakan sama-sama 'crack')

fikir-fikir-fikir

(tentang hubungan. tidak kiralah tentang persabahatan atau apa)

A: kau..kenapa selalu senyap?
B yang sedang tunduk, meninjau di sebalik kaca mata. A membalas pandangan yang bisu, hanya mengulang pertanyaan melalui pandangan mata.

sela tanpa bunyi. yang sebetulnya memeningkan.

A: apa lagi yang kau fikir panjang-panjang ni? nanti mulalah tak mau keluar dengan aku, tak mau jawab telefon. semua pun nak sendiri.

B cuma tersenyum. apalah yang A faham dengan kehidupan yang berselirat.

A: kau sahaja yang buat benda jadi rumit. semua itu tidak perlu jadi rumit sebenarnya.

Tipikal A.

B cuma senyum.

B: kalau aku mahu sarapan pagi pun aku fikir panjang, apa membuatkan kau fikir aku mahu redah saja bila sampai pada perkara ini?

02:00

satu. hanya satu je kerja kau. itu je pun. 

ini kerja kami. bukan kerja kita. atau kerja kau seorang. kalau rasa tak boleh beri komitmen, tolonglah ckp. jangan rosakkan bisnes orang. yang paling penting, kepercayaan orang jangan buang. 

apa yang ada kalau sebagai seorang kawan sudah lousy, begitu juga rakan sekerja? apa lagi?