Sweetness

Sweetness is made of these:

Fique shared her favourite snacks with Ayue, Fand, and I. The sorbet was an awesome alternative to the usual chocolate dip. Can you hear me imitating Bree's expression of utmost satisfaction?

Then, there is this Charles and Keith handbag from CK. I am still touched by CK's thoughtfulness. If only I could escape from the hectic DPA schedule to get a gift for dearest friends and relatives. Soon.

Kamal knows what I love best definitely, among tonnes of other things. Yes, dark chocolate. This can't beat having you back here though.

In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things, the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.
-Kahlil Gibran

Charming Chums

Kamal, no, sayang, no activity tonight.

☙

Until being told by a close chum, I did not realise how my recent entries inclined towards love, love, and more love, mainly dedicated to my husband, Kamal. She teased the fact that I am so much in love now when it used to be a distrust towards the mere idea of marriage just because of the five monkey brothers at home. Heh. Of course, such a notion was regurgitated yonks ago when everything around me was purely insensible with the exception of chums, chums, and more chums.

The insensibility aside, I have always treasured the beautiful relationship with my chums (particularly those from Seri Puteri years, Universiti Teknologi years, and even Sekolah Kebangsaan Bandar Tun Razak 2 years). The tight schedule during my Public Management Diploma program me meant less socialising with them though. Sigh. Yet, there are more friendships to be treasured, too, here. The Pegawai Tadbir Diplomatik colleagues. Smile.

For friendship is everywhere, anywhere you are. Then, there are friends whom I met when I entered Kamal's life.

The venue was Pyramid Towers, yet because of short notice, I had to go there in a pair of baju kurung worn for a religious occasion. I fidgeted, alright, but the so-called-issue of wearing baju kurung when I wanted to be in something more casual became minute with Kamal by my side.

For a borderline introvert-extrovert, meeting his friends for the first time was surprisingly a whizz as they were truly amiable. CK is one of them. I was granted opportunities to meet Kamal's lovely friends, namely Rose, Jalud, Noreez, and Nurul, among others, again, later. I only wish I would be able to meet the sweet CK and her family again one day.

On a different note, I long for a mega gathering with the girls from secondary school, a lively get-together with yet more pals of the university days, and a cosy chat over coffee with my close friends back in primary school.

For now, I am delirious enough just to think of the reunion tonight ;).

Reunited Today

Honey,

I had sup kambing last night near Orchard Road, and I was accompanied by F, CK, and Y.

They have a beautiful present for you, and I am sure you are going to love it. I now have an idea of what to give F, CK, and Y in return which I believe they would treasure.

My flight out of Changi would be at 5:25 p.m. and I should arrive in KL Sentral by 8:00 p.m. Do you have any activities tonite?

I will call you later definitely.

Miss u!
Mwahs!

Loving, Entirely

My colleagues and I thronged Dewan Sri Baiduri this morning to attend a talk by Dato' Kamaruddin bin Haji Zakaria, the Imam of Masjid Negara, on The Roles of a Wife Behind Rasulullah's Life. It was a refreshing change to the usual lectures we listened to for our academic modules. Inspiring.

There was this particular Saturday morning that Kamal and I attended such session as soon as the intercity train stopped in Tanah Merah. One of the distinguished speakers was a father figure within our family circle in Kelantan. I rarely talked to him although our family loves to listen to his advices. Nonetheless, when he touched on the roles of wife behind a husband's life in his talk, he looked at me, mentioned my name, and told me, as well as the audience, how a woman is a houri to the husband.

Kamal, being the loving soul he is, does not demand perfection in our household. What he wishes for is for me to be as loving. I love him, definitely. Yet, there were times when I succumbed to the challenges.

Kamal, being the loving soul he is, would patiently guide me back to where I belong: my true-self. That means loving myself, loving my universe. Here, I would like to remind myself (again) to stay true to my words, to appreciate the precious gifts bestowed on me. That includes Kamal. I love him, entirely.

Tapping the Connection - My Version

Telepathy, in my context, used to be exclusively for communicating with my mother. Especially, when I needed money during university years, yet was too broke to even phone her!

I know that Kamal will read this in Singapore. Nevertheless, I'll send more telepathic messages to get my intention across the strait.

MMMMMmmmmmMMMMMmmmmMMMMM *vibrating mantra*. Thank you for buying me the iPod, MMMMMmmmmmMMMMMmmmmmMMMMM. Heh.

I'm looking forward to his return. I did enjoy the Milo 'O' as I looked within and found him there, sipping his Milo 'O' too. But, there's another thing I'm missing. The comfort of broadband connection at our place, honey. Now, how do I tap the connection here in INTAN without you and primarily without the keys to the place? Ngee.

Dinner tonight will be strawberry milk and pau kacang. Yours?

I Have Safely Arrived

Hi honey,

I Just would like to let you know that I have safely arrived in Singapore and missing you tonnes!

I do not have SingTel prepaid or roaming service to send you text messages, but I should be able to check my mails.

Love you!

Mwahs!

Tapping the Connection

Waiting alone to board my flight at the airport gives me a chance to drop a few lines. Will be away in Singapore for a three-day sales conference.

Too bad my trip is not at the same time as any of Chech's outstation modules. Otherwise we could minimize the times we have to be apart.

This would be a good time for us to practise our telephathic connections. When we believe that, at the core of humanity, there is an internal connections between each and every one of us, tapping into that connection would free each other from loneliness and separation.

Spiritual connections are no different in concept than the internet connections which are currently connecting billions of humans. But the intensity would be beyond what our minds could ever imagine.

Lonely Milo 'O'

No breakfast of Milo 'O' and half-boiled eggs in INTAN Bukit Kiara canteen with him for three days. I will spend the dinners without him, too. In his place is my sketch pad.

Hopefully, by the time he returns, the next drawing would have been completed. Hopefully, nobody is victimised by extra limbs this time around.

I am already missing him.

:,)

He only has to bring back my favourite milk.

Chech and Hopes

Somewhere out there, two roommates and a friend are exchanging juicy gossips with television series as the background. All despite the rackoon eyes.

Somewhere out there, someone is blogging while dreaming of sipping cold Magnolia strawberry milk.

Been there, done that, want to be somewhere else. :)

Kisah Ini Ada Kaitan Dengan yang Hidup.

What is inefficient?

Inefficient is doing one's work in front of the television, particularly with Desperate Housewives on air.
Not to forget, witty advertisements. too.  How liberated I feel to be at home again. INTAN Bukit Kiara is a nice place, but, wireless connection is scarce.

To compensate for the little woe of Wi-Fi, I usually draw during my free time at the campus. Yes, draw. It was a passion.

I was one of the Science students in my school who took Art as SPM elective subject. While others burnt the midnight oil in the name of Physics and Additional Mathematics, I did the same minus the text books. In replacement were drawing pad and water colours. There were also Nini, Lat, and Asalama.

It is still a passion. Portrait, precisely. Passion sans practice. Sigh.

I was too occupied with new adventures for the past two years. When I started again yesterday, the pencil stopped just inches from the sketch pad as I noticed the silent period. Two years!

Chums, be warned that the sketch does not do justice to the real features.

A Random Weekend

Haris vomited on me twice. First, on my pants, and later, on my top. He is an angel nevertheless. Oh, I  miss him already. I miss Anis' cheekiness too. She took her late great grandmother's stick, and with it, turned the calm Chez Chembong into a lively concert hall.

Bakhtiar, the Jack of All Trades among us, took a leave from his business in Melaka just to paint our eldest brother's room as he is getting married next month. As soon as Faizul, the future groom, arrived from Rawang, he joined the fun. At 3:30 a.m., the next day, they were still catching up with each other, noisily. Cajib sneaked in often despite having to revise for his exam . Had Cimi and Cilan came back, the guys would paint Chembong red. As for me, there were Anis and Haris, remember?

Mak was delirious that almost all of us were there. I guessed Kak Ita and Kamal's presence made up for Cimi and Cilan's absence. As usual, she cooked scrumptious spread for the children to devour.

It is back to INTAN tomorrow. That means back to the four-letter (and above) word game. I had the luxury of Yus' dictionary for last Friday's game.

I must replace my lost dictionary ASAP!

Makeover Ambush

When I walked with Kamal last evening, we had fun distinguishing which shadow belonged to whom. I started teasing myself first about the new hairdo, which is very contrastive to my former hairstyle, which then reminds me of my schooling days when my mother preferred me to spot short hairdo. "It is neater" she would say. Afterward, Kamal jumped into the wagon and played along with my little game. I certainly love the new style although I must say that I was tempted to dye it as well.

Still in my adventurous mode, I asked Sai's favour to perform a cosmetic change on me, too. We were at a little room, waiting for the downpour to stop in order to walk to the multi-purpose hall for silat class. There were Fique, Ayue, Sai, Lola, Laili, Faraisha, and Kak Ina, among others. Amidst our conversation, my sight dropped on Sai's eyebrow, and the rest is history.

As it was only my fourth time of trimming the eyebrow, I anticipated pain, but Sai proved to be exceedingly good. She wanted to be a beauty consultant anyway. Wow, talking about what we were or wanted to be before becoming a PTD.

Meanwhile, Kamal has decided not to go to the Old Boys' Weekend as all my siblings, except for Cimi, will be in Rembau during the weekend. What a merry occasion. Thank you, saying, for the consideration. I wonder if Ayah would barbeque some lamb chops. Oh, I love anything lamb and mutton although I always prefer fish.

Oh, time for fish lunch. Tata.

Chech's Hair Cut

Chech is getting her hair cut real short at Cut-n-Go Bangsar Village for only RM15.

Mak is going to love Chech's new hair now as the former has been constantly complaining that it was long.

I absolutely love Chech's new look. Fresh and cute!

My Precious

When one urgently needs a haircut, such announcement is most welcomed:

Tonight's Executive Talk has been cancelled.

Not being tied up to a tight schedule is bliss. Quality time with Kamal on Maulidur Rasul has apparently energised my body and soul. We greeted the day with a morning walk and a scrumptious breakfast. After lounging about at home, we went to Sunway Pyramid as I had to scour for a black skirt for other Executive Talk sessions.

The evening was spent at Basil, Bangsar Village, where we had a perfect combo of tofu and vegetable. Later, we joined Zam for a dinner meeting with Abang Kamil.

As we hit the bed around eleven, I shared my thoughts of the day's little adventure with the wise Kamal. Particularly on loving the beings in our lives. Loving beings who ignore love. We concluded that perseverance yields positivity, that challenge yields strength.

☙

I woke up this morning with a surge of affection. Being my-atrue-self is realising the divinity within me. Only conscious mind can achieve this. Yet, I often relinquished to my pride, not believing the best in me. The affectionate me echoes Ayah, Mak, Ayoh, Mok, Ayah Soh, and Kamal's words, "jangan tinggal diri."

She also prays that consciousness becomes me. She further prays that the conscious me will further be enlightened with the wisdom of life. She ends her prayer with a wish for me to share and circulate the precious with other divine beings. And all beings are divine.

I Have Faith in Love

I dreamt of a breast cancer campaign. A mix of cast starred in it. Sharifah Amani, a familiar non-actor face, Harith Iskandar, a familiar non-actor face, so forth, and there was me. Each of us only had to use positive word or phrase to continue the tag "I want to".

Sharifah Amani said, "I want to feel sexy."
Harith Iskandar said, "I want to be serious, in battling breast cancer."
I said, "I want to smile.".

All that while, I was thinking of my mother. Her breast cancer is at the third stage now. Her doctors, albeit their usual optimistic attitude, did not want to extend false hope. My family and I think otherwise. Cherish your life. If God has decided that the next life is the best for you, we will cherish your cherished life here. In other words, you are always loved, mak. Here and there.

My day is commenced with love. Love for God. Love for every being. I suppose the latter is rather complicated. I thought, 'I can't love those who do not love me'. My mentor disagreed. "Surely you can."

Such faith. Being me, I fiddled with that notion. Being me, I tried, although it felt painful when I did so. Loving is ethereal though. As soon as I accepted to love those whom I thought do not love me, the pain vanished.

I will love more. And more, with your support, Kamal.

Love spreads love. Such faith. Surely you can.

Soar

Re-reading the unstructured sentences, I must be high on the pills when I wrote the previous entry.

Life is a School

I bumped into Tuan Ooi, the Assistant Project Coordinator for the Police Module, while waiting for my Senior Project Coordinator to sign my leave form. Tuan Ooi, whose calmness and sense of humour we like, shared with me his little secret:

Jog when you are down with flu

I am waiting for Kamal to be back from work, and then we will jog.

What difference does it make between attending the swimming session in INTAN and jogging with Kamal? As we walk, I will get to hold his hand and that is all I need to be well again. ;)

As I am now in Sidang B after this afternoon's reshuffle of sidang, I will soon be away from Kamal for one month, having to attend a week of Biro Tatanegara, a week of Fire Brigade Module, and two weeks of Penempatan Kampung, consecutively. The blessing being a date with him at the elegant Kuala Kangsar town for the Old Boys' Weekend throughout Saturday and Sunday as I do not have to prepare for any outdoor module. Then, we could meet the gu in Ipoh. I am looking forward to being there after experiencing great moments spent in Kuantan last weekend with other gu. Mainly because I got to listen to Ayah Soh's wisdom.

Learning is essential to my growth. In search of my true-self, I have faced challenges. They guided me if I chose to learn. They came again if my ego chose to ignore. In this sense, I am thankful for Kamal's presence in my life. He is the one who opens more learning spaces in me.

On a different note, I watched Suzana@60 last night with fellow PTD friends. On a similar note, it was a great experience.

What is to be learned next? (What is not to be ignored by the ego?)

Sang Saka Biru

Stern policewoman in uniform is so not me. I pitied the first person I summoned. I even prayed that every motorist had renewned their respective license and road tax.

Police Module was a mix of everything interesting, namely lectures, which were mostly filled with creative activities; practicuum, which served us the chance to have a taste of being police personnels for two nights; demonstrations, which put us in awe, particularly the one by Federal Reserve Unit (FRU); visits, which allowed us to probe like those in CSI: Miami; test, which made me remember Edmund Locard in particular; shooting, which all of us loved; and, of course, that night, which put us on our feet each ticking second, thanks to the latent talents and poco-poco.

Each moment is to be savoured and we did just that.

The Short Wait

It turned out that the bus driver who is taking Chech and her colleagues from Cheras to INTENGAH does not know his way. (Not INTAN bus, according to Chech).

Peeking into Kiyosaki's Fourth Quadrant

Yay! Chech is coming back today. She should be arriving in INTENGAH around 10 p.m. She is currently queing up to return her police uniform. Darn! ;)

In Chech's absence I have been spending time at Zam's place. Abang Hashim spent the night here, too.

There was an interesting talk by Abang Hashim last night about investing in the foreign exchange market. It is very much a calculated risk whereby automated controls are in place and one could only lose the maximum of 20 percent from the initial investment. However, the opportunity for high returns is very good.

We are going to let Abang Hashim to get his feet real wet in it first, and if it is really as good as it sounds, there is no reason why we should not venture into the investors' square of the cashflow quadrant Robert Kiyosaki talked about.

Abang Hashim would be joining us on the trip to Kuantan today to sleep over at Pak Lah's place in Felda Bukit Kuantan. There would be more discussions on forex trading in the car during the three-hour journey. Chech's parents would be there, too, so it is going to be a parents-and-daughter reunion after two weeks of not seeing them.

And, it is going to be husband-and-wife reunion for me in less than an hour. It has been a busy week, and by right, a productive and fulfilling one. Nevertheless, not having Chech around was pretty tough. Missing you so much, honey! Mwah!

Police Woman

Chech is in Royal Malaysian Police College, Kuala Lumpur, for a week of training as part of her Public Administrative Diploma programme.

Last night she was assigned to a road block at Jalan Sultan Ismail.

I wonder how many summons she wrote during the operation. Poor motorists. She said she was not going to let anybody pass by under her watch.

I only wish she could keep her police uniform when she comes back. By God, I now have some unfulfilled fantasies involving a stern woman in such uniform.

What a Rawa Tosai Masala Does to a Couple

A breakfast date tomorrow for Kamal and I is out of the question as we have to leave for INTENGAH at 6.30 a.m. Thus the supper date.

One of the best things of staying here is the vicinity of lively nightspots. Not that I am into clubbing. I prefer mamak. Mamak restaurant. Mamak restaurant that serves exceptional tosai.

So, we headed for Pelita, choosing the busy route. When I was teaching in Serting, Lin, Kak Sapiah, Kak Su, and I went around Kuala Lumpur, and Lin drove us to Bangsar after the midnight movie. What I beheld just now was exactly what I beheld then. With the exception of a group of energetic souls performing capoiera.

At Pelita, Kamal and I ordered the same thing.

Tosai is my favourite, but it is still new to Kamal. He loves it, too. An innocent indulgence, it was. We have savoured Tosai Telur, Tosai Bawang, Tosai Telur dan Bawang, and Tosai Pisang. Being the adventurous souls, we decided to try Rawa Tosai Malasa tonight. The verdict: it will be Kamal's staple lunch. Yay!

Walking home, we captured a moment that is seldom cherished for its customariness: us holding hands.