Penyakit

Lately I have received news about my friends suffering from several illnesses. One lady friend who I have known for 20 years, who's now an American citizen, my age but looks young for her age and has 3 grown up children now has a kidney problem. Her kidneys are functioning at only 26%. She does not need to be hooked up to a dialysis machine yet, but is hoping for a donor. It could either be from her children, her siblings or from a stranger. The problem is her children are just too young, her siblings are living in Malaysia and I believe the waiting list for a kidney is long in America. Any how I hope there's a solution soon.

Another friend, a person who I used to work 'for' and currently working 'with', who's only 30 years old has lymphoma. He's now on a two-year paid leave to cure his cancer. Saw his picture on facebook and he's really skinny. For him it all started with a constant coughing which lasted for months.

When I was in my 30s I used to joke with my same age friends that in a few years all of us will be talking about illnesses that we have and the medicine that we're taking. And further years down the road when all of us would get together I would jokingly say that in the midst of having conversations we'll be falling asleep. Now it seems that the time when we will be comparing illnesses and medicine is going to happen soon. Alhamdulillah, I believe I'm healthy except for the osteoarthritis I'm suffering from on my knees. Luckily, I only need to take medicine when my knees start to hurt.

On a different note, I just discovered a good friend of mine has separated from her husband. Somehow, I saw that coming. Though separation or divorces are not uncommon nowadays what is strange about this friend's situation is that she followed her husband (a Caucasian) who has been posted to a country in Africa. She and the child is living in a different place and the husband and his girlfriend is living in another place. How do you handle that? The thing everyone would say that she should do is to return to Malaysia. The problem is there'll be complication since the child is not at all registered in Malaysia, thus, the child does not and cannot have a Malaysian passport. It is a lesson to learn for any Malaysian woman (or even man) who plans to marry a foreigner and to give birth overseas to register the baby at the Malaysian Consulate when the child is born.

Walimatul Urus

Just got back from a cousin's wedding in Penang. Like his other siblings' weddings, throngs of friends and relatives came. My Uncle and Untie are very very very nice people. Therefore, they are liked by many and have many friends.

Several things I've noticed about weddings nowadays compared to the olden days:

Buffet lunch is the way to do it now. I have not been to a wedding for a very long time where the dishes are laid out for 4 people . Even one wedding I attended deep inside a jungle in Selama, Perak served the meal buffet style. I assume it easier and less costly to do it that way. Definitely less plates to wash and less food wasted. Another thing, 'kuih-muih' are served with teh tarik. Not too long ago orange or pineapple was the only dessert. If I were ever to get married I would like to serve something light and cooling like Ceasar's Salad especially if the reception is held under the tent.

Long time ago a majority of the quests would bring presents for the bride and groom. Now a majority of them would give money instead. I personally prefer giving money since I hate shopping for gifts that people might not like. Giving money is the best solution and it helps the parents, the bride and the groom with the cost of the wedding.

I don't know about other weddings, but several weddings I attended recently give out gifts instead of 'bunga telur'. I'm not sure what's the story behind giving out 'bunga telur' at weddings but now people give out bags with goodies inside like picture frame, pencil, chocolates etc. My uncle and auntie gave out ceramic napkin holder. Very practical. People use to give hardboil eggs in ceramic basket shaped into swans, plastic basket, copper wire shaped into a basket, paper boxes etc. At one wedding I attended the egg was wrapped in a cheap waxy red napkin. If I were ever to get married, (I think not) I would give my male guests a drill set each and the females a hair dryer each. For the kids I'll give them cheap toys.

I found out the story behind 'bunga telur' from wikipedia versi Melayu.

Back to normal

I have only about 10 days to two weeks away before I go back to the routine which I left about 4 years ago. Frankly I'm not looking forward to return to that kind of life but I think after a few weeks it would feel like I have never left. Hope things are not as bad as people what have been telling me.

New Cooking Area

Dapur extend aku dah siap 90% sejak Sabtu ari tu. Yang tinggal cuma grill dan kitchen cabinet. Kitchen cabinet insyaallah akan dipasang minggu depan. 10 tahun aku guna dapur lama (wet kitchen). Dulu ada tembok 5 kaki, tiles dengan awning. Awning dia pun dah bocor. So kitchen lama aku ni memang betul-betul wet bila hujan. Kiri kanan jiran aku dah extend masa dia orang pindah masuk mula-mula dulu. So aku kira save jugak lah.

Bukan dapur aku

So ari ni aku dah masak kari ikan kat dapur baru aku menggunakan stove yang baru jugak. Sehingga Sabtu ari tu kontraktor ambik masa dalam 51 hari untuk siapkan dapur tu. Dia janji 2 bulan gerenti siap. So kira dia tepati jugak lah janji dia.

Bukan kari ikan aku

Bercerita pasal kontraktor ni aku tanya 5 orang pekerja dia pasal boss dia orang. Semua kata dia ni memang orang baik. Kalau minta advance tu dapat aje tanpa banyak soal. Aku tengok raut wajah dia memang orang nya baik. Semua pekerja dia cakap dia ni takkan lari dan akan habiskan kerja tapi janji dia dibayar bila dia mintak duit. Bila dapat duit, memang dia suruh orang dia jaga betul tempat kerja tu. Kontraktor aku ni tinggal tak jauh dari rumah aku, so memang aku pilih dia sebab senang kalau apa-apa. Dia ni berbangsa Cina. Aku kalau bab-bab buat rumah, pasang apa-apa kat rumah, repair ke apa ke, aku memang prefer orang Cina. Melayu ni aku kurang sikit walaupun orang tanya kenapa tak ambik Melayu, tolong bangsa. Macam-macam aku dengar pasal kontraktor Melayu ni, suka lari, dan paling benar kerja buat tak kemas. Tapi tak semua macam tu.

Bukan mesin fotostat yang dia orang guna

Cakap pasal tolong bangsa ni kedai fotostat yang aku selalu pergi tu dah tutup. Kedai tu milik dua orang adik-beradik Cina. Aku baik dengan dia orang, selalu bergurau bila jumpa dia orang. Ada satu hari tu dia orang tanya aku 'belakang ada main ka?' Ceh...aku jawab. Pastu ada hari lain adik dia kata badan dia gatal2, dia kata kat bawah pun gatal. Pastu dia kata kat aku, nak tengok ka?. Aku kata aiya talak mau woh. Aku suka pegi kedai ni sebab dia orang buat kerja memang cepat dan bagus. Tak macam kedai Melayu kat bawah jalan sikit. Satu buku tebal aku hantar fotostat ambik masa 5 hari untuk siap. Kat kedai Cina ni 4 buku tebal ambik masa 4 jam jer, siap binding lagi. Dia orang terpaksa tutup kedai sebab customer dah kurang. Dia orang bagi tau kat aku dia orang rasa since kawasan rumah aku ni banyak Melayu, maka dia orang akan pergi ke kedai Melayu, tolong bangsa sendiri. So dia orang tak boleh survive. Aku rasa kalau Melayu buka kedai kat kawasan Cina benda yang sama akan terjadi.
Bukan pekerja2 Bangla itu

Cakap pasal pekerja2 kontraktor aku ni, aku perasan yang Bangla ni ada malas sikit. Dia orang ni suka berehat panjang sikit dan isap rokok. Skill pun kurang. Kalau bab mengecat baru bagi kat dia orang. Bangla ni most of the time jandi pembantu pekerja Indon yang memang ada skill. Sebab tu dia ni banyak artisan. Tengok je kat panji Borodubur, batik dia orang dan furniture yang Indonesians buat.

Bukan aku

Apapun aku happy dapur nak dekat nak complete.

Movie

I don't go to watch a movie at the cinemas that often. I can't even remember the last time I went to the cinemas and the last movie I watch. Even the movies on Astro I don't normally watch. I don't know why. Nevertheless, I will make an effort to watch Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I've seen the other three Indiana Jones movies in the cinema, back in the 80's, in the States. I have to say the Americans are the best movie audience. I remember watching Return of the Jedi. The minute they started projecting the movie on the screen everyone clapped thunderously. When they showed a baby Ewok, everyone went 'aaaauw'. It's really an added fun and a worthwhile experience when the audience are engrossed and respond to a movie well.

Unlike Malaysian movie goers they don't react that much to a movie. Worst still if there are stupid Mat Rempits with their rotten-pussied girlfriends in the audience. They are there for no other reasons other than sticking their fingers up their girlfriend's you-know-what or stroking their idiotic boyfriends' prick. Once I went to watch 'Evita'. They should have known that Evita is a musical. One stupid Malay man remarked, 'Nanyi lagi'. It's a musical you moron, of course there's a lot of singing.

On a slightly different note, I rarely watch a Malay movie in the cinema. The last one I saw was about 14 years ago and it was a friend's treat. He wanted to see that movie because Ziela Jalil was in it. One thing I can't stand about Malay movies is the the quality of the dubbing or ADR. I don't understand why they have to re-record the lines spoken. Old Malay movies don't seem to have this problem.

M.A.H.A.T.H.I.R

A friend send me this text:

M - Must
A - always
H -hentam
A -Abdullah
T -till
H - he
I - is
R - removed

Vesak

Today is Vesak day. We (or probably me alone) do not know the meaning of certain celebrations - like Vesak which has been made into a public holiday here - that other races and religions celebrate. If someone were to ask me what does Vesak mean and why is it celebrated I would have turned purple (not red since I'm dark) with embarrassment because I wouldn't be able to answer even though this is the 40+ time I've enjoyed the leave given. Probably I have been told about it in primary but since I do not celebrate it I probably have forgotten about its significance. Living in a multicultural, multiracial and multi-religion nation I think I should at least know why it means.