Sunday 31 July 2005

to Ateh with love

A few weeks ago, Ateh finally got his motorcycle licence. He is 38 this year. You may have read about him being mentally challenged. Actually, he is not that bad. He just takes longer time to understand some written stuffs that a normal person could do in 2 minutes.

He was reluctant to go for a driving class in the first place because I think he was embarrassed due to his age. Another reason was because of me. I started riding a motorbike when I was 11. By the time I was 12, I was already driving Bapak’s Opel to the local store, for practise. A year later, I told Ateh to jump onto the driver’s seat and I would teach him how to drive a car.

Me? Teaching my bro? Isk..iskk

After a few minutes of explaining to him the stick, gears and clutch etc, I told him to reverse the car. Instead of releasing the clutch slowly, he shocked us both and within seconds, he pressed the accelerator in panic. The car zoomed backward into a hutan kangkung in front of our house. The front part of the car was on the ground but the back was slowly going into the water. It was nearly Maghrib and Bapak took a couple of hours to get it out. Mak tak sudah sudah scolded me!Hehe. It was kinda funny when I think about it now, but it gave the shock of our lives and left a big impact on him. I knew I had to redeem this.

After a few years of nagging on my side, especially last year when I was at home, he finally agreed to go for a driving class and take the test. I had to provide attractive incentives for him; all the fees would be paid for, plus a brand new Honda EX5, if he passed the test.

It took a little while to persuade and convince him that having a licence will help improve his life, but, I guess it was the incentive that did it for him. Well, whatever works, at least he won’t be too dependent on others for mobility. He used to take a bus whenever he wanted to come back to our family home or to his parents-in-laws’. Or sometimes, his sis-in law would take them to places.

If it was one of us, we did it out of love for him, but I don’t think it was the same for them.

I don’t like their family. I hate it when I heard from Aci that they look down on him for his disadvantages. Like their daughters tu bagus sangat! At least Mak had taught him well; to be independent and know how to manage himself. If he was alone, he would know how to cook, unlike their daughters tu. Haram tak tau mende! Ateh actually taught his wife to cook some dishes. Unbelievable.

That is the main reason why I pushed him for this. I don’t want them to keep on bullying him.Initially, Aci heard that there is an exemption for people with disability or matured students (I haven’t got a clue) so she decided to ask around. After calling this department and that department, unfortunately, luck wasn’t on our side.

Acik, then, enrolled Ateh in a sekolah memandu and became his chauffeur every time he had to go to classes. The first few times, Acik waited at the training ground and he said that Ateh was doing quite well, except that he didn’t manage to finish the written test within the allocated time.

Another thing that Acik noticed was that Ateh actually knew the right answers to most questions, but because his mind processed the questions in a reversed way, he gave the wrong answers. Anyhow, I don’t really how to explain the situation. I understand what the problem is with Ateh, I just don’t know what to do to help him.

I know sometimes Acik got annoyed with Ateh when he tested him at home. A lot of times, he lost patience trying to explain simple things to Ateh because he had to repeat himself over and over again until Ateh understood. Somehow, Aci managed to cool Acik down. Ateh is, after all, our flesh and blood. And who else would stand by him, if not us? Even though we are already in the middle stage of life, we are still anak yatim piatu. Apatah lagi Ateh tu. With him, we have to have maximum patience.

He failed the written test twice. We were told that if he failed for the third time, he would be exempted from taking the written test, but he had to pass the riding test. Of course he would, I have no doubt.

It was Tuesday morning, 5 weeks ago, when I heard the beep.

‘Pak Teh pass both tests, bila nak beli motor?’ A text message from my nephew.

With a big smile on my face, I was glad that he took the chance. It was a big step for him and one step closer to being fully independent. I am happy.

‘Ask Mummy to survey price. Cash’.

I can picture him cruising on his kapchai already.

Friday 29 July 2005

what's the point of having a dream if you're not gonna make it happen?

(tajuk panjang giler courtesy of Honda ads)


PS wrote something about dreams and living a different life, if you could change it. Or you would rather stick to the current life.Is there any point of re-living my life? I dunno. Maybe if I had been given a time tunnel (today I drove into Tyne Tunnel, hence the subject), I might want to go back and change a few things here and there, but I don’t think I want to live a different life altogether.

It’s not perfect, mind you, but I like it the way it is.

Basically, I can’t say I want to change the few things either. I just want to move forward some of the decisions I made. Like when I decided to leave Malaysia, instead of in 2002, I should have done that in, say, 1999 maybe.

I am out of this world.You know, I have this thing that has been nagging me for a little while. I spoke to dz and kakteh about it, but seems like it's still lingering around. So, I guess I have to blog about it.

Most people in our society, in my humble opinion, cannot run away from this narrow minded perception. Malay(sian)s seem to set a certain kind of status or standard to our own people.

People with tertiary education are expected to have a certain kind of jobs with certain kind of perks and make certain amount of money and drive a certain kind of cars. Why? Because you have a BSc, MS or Phd?

Why put a label or status?

You see, I don’t understand that.

When hiring staff, Malaysians are obsessed with degrees and whatnot. If you don’t own one, no matter how good you are, please walk thru that door and don’t come back again.

On the other hand, a lot of students with degrees also perasan that because they have one, they should get a desk job in an office and good salary. Duh! Ok maybe that’s not the case anymore, but hey, do they ever think of doing something else instead of just doing this scheme and that scheme? Semua kerajaan nak kena tolong ke? You think that's your right ke? Hessh!

Ok, this may not come out the way I want it to.

Let’s try again. Let’s take my life, for example.

Disclaimer: AA, this is not intended for you, ok hon. Saja tak de benda lain nak tulis.

Listen, I know some of you were thinking what I actually do here. Tak dak keje lain ke nak buat? Makcik kat kat kampong sure tercengang kalau depa tau and sure kena kutuk lah ‘belajaq tinggi tinggi, keja juai aiskrim saja?' Apa guna belajaq obersi?

Hessh. Banyak gunanya makcik oi.

I may not be a hotshot executive in some big corp. I may not be a financial controller or businessperson. I have tried that route before. I also have tasted what it was like to be a civil servant. I am not cut to be sitting at a desk all day. To some, it may sound like I lead a low scrapping life selling ice cream. Please, when you read this, don’t pity me, because I don’t really need it.

I like my job. I have the most flexible time in the world, except in summer la. My director, The Mentor, protects me from The Boss from breathing down my neck. She also doesn’t care how I do my job as long as I get them done. I can take time off (skive la) during the day to go for a haircut or do a little shopping, and she won’t mind. I decide how to do it and when to do it. (Yesterday, I was at Orange shop for 2 hours, tukar telefon baru and she knows about it) Also, she will wait until after noon before calling me up, if she knows I had a long day the night before (she'd let me sleep in).

I could take my friends with me for a little weekend getaway when I go up and down the country. I can start work late or early depending on my mood. My mobile bills are paid by the company (yes baby!) I don’t have a 9-5 punch card since my home is my office. My van and fuel all paid for by the company. I wear jeans and sneakers all the time (this reminds me I have to buy a new Nike). I can help myself to a whole loads of ice cream in the warehouse, like proven to Kakteh (mau lagi ka?) I also get to go to the backstage of west end theatres when I was doing my round and see rehearsals if I wish.

Do I sound smug? Hehehe... at least I don't think I was, just glad I got this job. Gary actually said it was intended for PS, really, but she decided not to come back to the UK. So, I told Gaz I wanted the job.

With a job like this, what else do I want, kan? When I feel down and tired with the work, I’d somehow think that there are people in jobs worst than mine. And because The Mentor treated me well and trusted my ability, I had to give back 120%. I’m not complaining.

So, yes people, I could have had good job that bore me to death, but instead, I am just a plain ice cream seller. Eh? Halal apa. I mean the ice cream is halal, hahahaa.

I tak main office politics, I don't stab behind someone's back, I don't berebut jawatan for promotion and I don't think I ever misuse my well connected networks of ice cream sellers :)Smell the lillies? I did.

But, you haven’t heard the stories of my two brothers, Na and Acik. Tu lagi terer! Both were former engineers but now they are doing something totally different.

Na decided to repair computers instead cos that’s his interest. Acik, he used to earn a living by jadi tukang urut reflexology (this was way when it wasn’t a trend yet) and now he’s just a farmer.

You see, we (me and my immediate family) are very sempoi. I think Mak would have been proud of us.The question is, do I want to live a different life? The grass always looks greener on the other side, but I know the greener the grass is, mesti lagi banyak slugs!

Tuesday 26 July 2005

uninvited visitor

Oh my god!

What's happening at home now? I was just surfing the net when suddenly a policeman came into the living room. He took one look around and said 'it looks normal,' and he saw the aquarium and commented how nice it looks.

My flat was invaded by 4 police officers. With recent development in London, I get nervous when I see the police everywhere. I know they're patrolling the areas to ensure safety but heck! Look what happened to that Brazillian guy. We are not safe, not even from the police. And now they're inside my flat!

One of them said that they received a phone call from my address reporting some incident. Huh? We were clueless. As I remember, Maury and I were dancing to VH1 Classics and didn't hear anything at all. Marc was in his room doing whatever and Luca was with his fish.

After a while, they went out and we followed suit. All of us were lingering outside and saw 2 police cars with their lights on, brightening the whole stretch of the street. One of the officers, the most hensem of them all, started lecturing us about playing with phone. Bloody hell! Who did that anyway? Excuse me, we pleaded not guilty.

My eyes became blurry after seeing the bright lights so I came back inside and left them all. This was the third time I had police invading my flat.

First time. Back in MO, after the shooting incident at nearby old folks home. All residents at UP were advised to either go down to the basement or stay low in their own flats. It was 3 am, me and Che Lin were sobbing out hearts off watching Ghost, when suddenly there was a loud knock. With my red eyes, I opened the door and in front of me stood this macho muscled policeman. He was a gorgeous species! I felt like an idiot in my pjs, swollen eyes and dishevelled hair.

Second time. I just came back from work, feeling really tired and hungry after a long day at the aquatic center in STL. Didie came back a few minutes later after I started cooking, but she went straight to the phone to gayut with her then bf.

Chopped onions and threw everything in the pots when suddenly I heard the knock. With a senduk in my hand, I opened the door and saw 3 policemen. I was interrogated as if my senduk was my weapon. Esshh... They claimed they received a phone call from our home number and they responded within 5 minutes.

Man! They were real fast. But how could they trace our number when Didie was in fact glued to the phone unless she accidently punched 911?

I dunno what made me look out through the window but what I saw amazed me. There were 4 police cars and 1 sherrif car. All the people in the neighborhood came out to look. We girls were sure knocked for six.

But let me tell you this, the British police doesn't look as good as their American counterpart. The ones in STL were absolutely delicious looking fine specimen. Hahaha. I felt like pinching their arms and feel how strong they are. Mmmmmm.....

Monday 25 July 2005

all flaws and in front of you

Sunday 11:07 am

This is utterly unbelievable. I’m here at a site, in a van, ready for business, but instead I’m writing an entry for blog. The weather is so horrible that I finally decided I should switch on my computer and do something before I die out of boredom.

Normally, I don’t have anywhere to connect for electricity, however, at this site, lucky me, they have an external socket. So, I can sit in here writing or watching dvd. For all I know, I probably won’t have any customers at all. The weird thing about the Brits is that be it freezing weather, they somehow will still enjoy their cold desserts. Mmm… I could never understand it.

Yesterday, Messed Up Girl did offer to come work with me at the site, but due to unforeseen circumstances, she couldn’t make it. It’s good that she didn’t come or else, she too, would die of boredom.

You know, it’s kinda funny when I say to some people (bloggers) that we should meet some times. I dunno whether I actually have the gut to go see them. So far, I’ve only met Kakteh, Min and Azuradec.

Min, for example, had been asking me out constantly, for few weeks until I finally had the courage to say yes for a drink. I met Kakteh for two reasons. One, she’s basically a family. Two, because I had Ahui with me, I didn’t really feel the anxiety. Meeting Azuradec was purely because I was just trying to be a good human being to another, and because I had the mean to help. I

tell you, before meeting them, I dread about it all week and I tried to delay as long as possible. It was actually scary. You read the stories of my life, know the demons I had to banish and learn what's inside my head, and I think it should stay that way. I don't think I have the energy to meet the other bloggers.

If you don’t know me, let me tell you that I am a shy person. I like keeping things to myself and do my own things alone. My blog life doesn’t reflect my real life. I maybe vocal, write rubbish things and swear a lot in blog, but I don’t talk that much, especially with strangers. If I find that your thoughts and mine are not on the same wavelength, I will start daydream and be lost in my own world. If I was mad or frustrated about something, you wouldn’t know it because I always hide them behind my smile.

When you read about my life here, you thought oh how brave she is when in fact I am scared shit. I do what I have to do because I want to be different and because I had to create my own destiny.I am not a social butterfly, and I am sure PS can vouch on this. The last time I was home, I hardly went out to meet people and I think she resented the fact that I was hibernating in my nest.

Every time she invited me to some parties with her fabulous friends, I declined and made a lot of excuses that she finally gave up on me. I am a true Cancer; always homely and a tad too sensitive. I know I disappointed you, PS and for that I am sorry.

The fact is I don’t know how to connect with these people. My life is mundane and too ordinary compared to them. My adventures are not as exciting and I am not as cultured.

Only when I am with good friends who know me inside out that I took off my mask. I laugh and joke a lot. I can be ridiculously funny, talk rubbish and be silly. I can be the brave Ewok, or Doraemon, Martha Stewart, Nigella Lawson, Henry VIII or sometimes Shakespeare when the occasion suits me, and they still would not think differently. They will still tell me straight to my face if what I was doing is not good for me. They are honest, sincere and critical. And I know it’s all because they love me.

I’ve been through a lot of stages where I was sad, mad and angry with my family. I distanced myself and I refused to go home. During this time, my friends were my family. Without them, I would have drifted away and never be found again. They keep me sane.

PS, I know I hurt you some times ago when you were here with me. Remember Agata and Agy? I am ashamed of myself for that. For a long time, I feel bad about it but I dunno how to tell you. I want you to know that I am very very sorry for treating you that way. Even after that incident, you never stopped being my friend. You never hesitated to tell me where I stand or where I do wrong. I can discuss with you everything and you won't be judgmental of my silliness and outrageousness. You can be the most messy cook ever but I know you would never let me mess up my life. I can always count on you to keep my feet on the ground.

Ju, I can never thank you enough for being the pillar in my life. You and your family welcomed me into your circle and given me love. You may be naïve sometimes but it is comforting to know that you will always be there when I needed someone to talk to. When I was in a deep shit, you’re the one who came to the rescue and pulled me out of it. You’re the rational and practical one. You are a great friend with big heart and with what little you have, you would share with me. You know, all those years ago, I let you bully me into doing pesky little things because I care for you.

To my best friends, I value your friendships more than ever. You may be far from me, but you never left my heart. I miss you so much, and that explains why you keep getting my phone calls all the time.

Love you lots.

Btw PS, you'd be glad to know that I finally finished To Kill A Mockingbird, a year too late. Normally, the bird mocks me when I was trying to read it before going to bed. No more baby, no more. It's really a fantastic book but I had to speed up because I want to start HP.

Wednesday 13 July 2005

Almost a week after the bombings, today, I drove past King's Cross and Edgware Road stations. Life goes on as usual. The areas were busy as usual and traffic jam was as bad.

Everything on telly is talking about issues being British Muslims and the backlash. I had an heated discussion with Luca over the topic, and I found myself raising my voice as we got into the sensitive matter. I finally cooled down after I realized there was no point in sweating out over this thing. However much we try to reason things out, ignorants will always be ignorants. I shall keep away from them.

Of the number of people dead, 52 is a small number compared to the 911 or the Madrid incident or the thousands killed in Middle East. I know some of you probably will be horrified at what you're going to read so let me tell you, I abhor the attack on innocent lives but this is where I contradict myself. I say... only 4 explosions? They should have planned more, you know, at Victoria St., Finchley Rd., Embankment and Earl's Court. That should teach Blair something. Double standards kiss ass bastard!

Sorry guys. I had to let this out cos I'm frustrated with the argument I had just now and with the news on telly.

July is making me physically drained and diary for Aug is already full. The thing is I'm too tired that I can't think of anything witty or stupid to write.

Late afternoon, I received a phone call that one of my staff's mum passed away from heart attack, so he and his girlfriend are flying back home tonight. With more events but not enough staff, work is taking up so much of my time. I need sleep more than anything else.

Sidney Sloane, you know how it was, right? Maybe I should consider taking time off blogging. I'll be around, but am not gonna blog as often as before. Not too worry, Lil Ms D will be around too, I think. Well, only if she's ok with playing host cos I know she's bz too.

On a lighter note, I managed to put up songs on my blog. See Radio Ewok at the bottom of the sidebar. I've been jealous with atenah cos she got music on hers but I didn't want something that play automatically, so I created a playlist where I (you) can choose the songs I (you) like to listen to. Enjoy the music.So, I guess I see you when I see you.

Friday 8 July 2005

Revenge of the Sin

It was just a matter of time. We all knew London is high on the list and they were going to bomb her, we just didn't know when. It was inevitable and now we see it happened.

All fingers are now pointing to Al-Qaeda. They sure know how to choose the busiest parts of the city at the busiest hour. Thousands of Londoners were trapped underground screaming for help and in a panic state. It was horrendous pictures, carriages blasted with glasses flying everywhere in the confined space.

Until now at least 38 were dead and over 700 were treated for casualties from the blasts.On the radio, one woman said the carriage next to hers, packed with commuters, exploded right in front of her eyes. As she ducked, she felt the glasses hit her from front and behind, and then everything blackened. When she finally moved, she saw blood dripping from her face and many fellow commuters were wounded.

People were crying and shaking, shocked and scared at the most horrible incident ever. Some were screaming 'Help us! Help us!' Some who were a little bit lucky managed to carry others to find a way out, while many more suffered cuts, broken bones and burns. A few had to be amputated due to the injuries they acquired.

The scenes where the bus exploded were bloodied, and eerie. Witnesses claimed they saw bodies flying from the top deck as everyone was running for their life. The building behind the bus was splattered with blood. Cars abandoned in the aftermath.

A man, who survived this, said he saw a woman trying to console her little girl who couldn't seem to stop crying. Imagine the trauma she'd have for the rest of her life.Nothing could have prepared us for this. It was so surreal.

The TfL (Transport for London) is totally crippled. All transportation coming in and out from London were suspended. Hundreds of thousands of people were had nowhere to go and some were wondering how to get home.

I was on the phone all day trying to get in touch with everyone. The Mentor was unreachable until after 3pm. Maury and Luca were home and they were trying to call me almost every hour. Was trying to reach Min but all phone networks were overloaded. Thank goodness Kakteh was still at home when I spoke to her.

As I was driving back into the city, the motorways were jam packed with people trying to leave the city. Many walked home. No one was coming in except weirdos like me who choose to live here. As I passed the M4, going towards Heathrow, I could see people walking and some were running on the kerb along the motorway with their baggages. Probably trying very hard not to miss their planes.

I was lucky. God spared me my life. Last night, I was contemplating whether I should go visiting the West End Theatres or go out to West country instead. I chose the latter. For this, I am grateful. Dunno what would have happened to me if I took the tube to the city. Thank you for asking about my wellbeing. I am ok, just shocked at the sheer madness of this event.

To the people who lost their family members in the explosions, all my condolences to you. To the people who are doing heroic efforts in providing emergency services and making sure London is back on her feet, I say thank you.

To the bombers, you make our life here miserable. Damn you bastards!

Tuesday 5 July 2005

I had coffee, she had water

After long time planning to meet her, I finally able to find a day off on one weekend to go for coffee. We arranged to meet at 2pm in Leicester Square, and when I got there I was surprised to see so many people in front of Empire.

Oh! Premiere of Madagascar rupanya. Banyak betul penguins and lions berkeliaran sana sini, terlepas from their cages. While waiting for DrMyn to come, I managed to squeeze in between loads of people to catch a glimpse of David Swimmer aka Ross Gellar or even Ben Stiller. But kalau dah pendek tu pendek jugaklah, I couldn't see a thing except the bums of the paparazzi and the top of lion's head.

Min came 20 minutes later, ahem ahem... hehehe. Poor girl, she had to layan mamat nak beli rumah who kept asking her like she's a real estate lady.

We were supposed to have coffee but she doesn't drink coffee. Why oh why?Never mind. We sat in starbucks and talked and talked. Or she talked and I listened more. Or was it the other way around? heh... topics of conversation are blog, bloggers, school, work, ice cream, blog, bloggers, relationship, books, blog... hahahaha almost everything was related to blogs.

Sitting there from 2:30pm to almost 8pm, we only had one Frapuccino Mocha and a bottle of still water, but we sure laughed a lot. It was grand, until my tummy breakdanced and screamed for food.

Senang betul jalan ngan cik mek ni, dia cakap makan apa apa jelah. So hati pun kata nak makan yang simple je, nachos cukuplah. Tapi kena lak tunggu 15 minutes, tak tahan siot. I hauled her with me, we go eat mee kari kat belakang tu je. Sedap lagi this mee from the one I bought kat pasar malam di Oriental City tu. Next time I nak try the one she had, besar betul udang dia. Esshh.. lapar lah pulak bila cakap pasal food ni.

All the while, we had fun talking (I can't say the same for her la), but after speaking and listening to broken English by Italians, Poles and Africans, damn was I glad to hear familiar accent.

It was passed 9 when we decided to leave, and disebabkan tak puas bersembang, we walked to Marble Arch for me to catch a bus back. Tu pun tak abis sembang. Uissh!It was a fun day. Thank you for the great company.

Monday 4 July 2005

warkah biru

Ke hadapan kekandaku Dina Zaman,

Pertama kali, saya ingin meminta maaf kalau cerita panas saya tu menggempurkan semua org termasuk lah diri awak sendiri.

Sebenarnya saya tak sengaja. Pada hari Sabtu hari tu, saya telah dapat email dari si dia. Dia kata hati dia tengah berbunga-bunga semenjak awak membalas warkah-warkah dia. Essh... tak sangka saya, saya ingatkan awak bukan minah bunga.

Disebabkan saya ni orang tengah, dan selepas berbulan-bulan dah kering air liur saya memujuk, saya menjadi terlebih teruja oleh perkembangan kisah saudari dan tak dapat menahan kegembiraan. Satu hari saya tersengih macam kerang busuk.

Saya harap saudari dapat melihat sendiri dari bingkisan yang diterima kesucian dan kebaikan hati dia tu. Percayalah (cue - sesapa tolong nyanyi lagu Siti sat) Dia tu tak serupa lelaki-lelaki durjana yang awak kenali selama ini yang ada bini dan anak 4-5 orang di rumah tetapi berpoya-poya dengan kekasih sesuka hati. Mereka ini tidak ada hati perut dan tidak reti menghargai hati seorang perempuan yang tulus dan suci.

Memandangkan keluarga si dia berasal dari utara, dan telah bermastautin di negeri orang, adinda begitu yakin bahawa kami tidak tergolong dalam kumpulan-kumpulan keluarga elit di Kola Lumpor. Kalau ada pun, kitaorang tak mengaku sedara. Apatah lagi dengan mamat ni yg dibesarkan di Amerika, dia tak kenal dan memang tak ada konco-konco kat KL pun.

Kekandaku, saya rasakan kekanda sungguh sesuai untuk digandingkan dengan dia tu. Saya nampak hati budi dan keikhlasan naluri insani saudari. Disebabkan faktor-faktor inilah saya berusaha bertungkus lumus untuk menyatukan dua hati. (Majikan saya kata kat saya 'awak tu pandai lah pulak nak satukan hati org, hati awak tah ke mana') Takpe takpe, berkat.

Di sini saya ingin memberitahu jugaklah, bahawasanya dia sekarang menggunakan akaun MK saya untuk membaca karya-karya awak. Tak pe kan?

Saya harap dengan penjelasan saya ini, awak tak ler marah saya lagi sebab saya blog kisah awak tu. Mintak maaf ya. Saaaaayaang awak!

Kalau boleh, rajin-rajinlah saudari tulis email mengenai perkembangan yang tengah berputik tu. Tapi saya cuba berjanji saya tak bising-bising kat blog lagi dah (Cuba je tau)

Sekian.
Yang amat merinduimu,
Ewok


Note: Cikgu BM saya kata saya fail, dpt D+ je. Huuuhuhu. Tapi takpe asalkan dia tak paham apa saya tulis :)

Saturday 2 July 2005

cerita panaasss!

Yes, I got your email.

Ahem ahem…Now I know what you’ve been doing behind my back, huh? So, you want to korek rahsia aah? *wink wink*

I thought you have taken a step further? These days, everytime I tried calling you and him, both phones were busy sokmo. Now, don’t go telling me you haven’t got anyone to date anymore.

Ok. Let me tell you, the readers, a different story, other than her clumsiness with ice cream.The intro.

When I was in the States a few years back, I got a huge crush on a cousin of mine. He used to live in Houston, Texas. His mom is anak to my mom’s pakcik punya anak sedara (essh betul lah kot.. hentam saja lah, janji sedara) Long long time ago, his mom jauh hati with her brothers and family because of harta peninggalan pusaka.

She was a teacher, and she met my uncle Charles when he came to Msia for foreign exchange program at her school. To make the story short, they got married and moved to Texas. I never met her, but I heard lotsa stories bout them. So, in Fall 1996, I went to meet the whole family.

The aunt was so happy to meet me that she hugged me nonstop, and uncle was so unlike abrasive american men I saw on telly. My jaw dropped when I first saw my cousin. Manyak hensem ooohh. Gentleman somemore, and everytime I talked to him my heart would go thump thump thunmp… but after a few months, I forgot about him and moved on to Tom Cruise (that was when he was charming with ‘You complete me’ bullshit).

But there was no way I was gonna lose contact with Bard Lawrence, that’s what we called him. Nama penuh rahsia ya :) Over the years, after a few heartbreaks and career change, we managed to keep in touch and update each other with the tales of our life.

He’s been back to Msia a few times to visit his mom’s kampong, and being the kind soul that he is (eh eh… match made in heaven no?), he patches things up with the families.

Background
Mmm... Let’s see. He’s 5’11, lives in NYC and he has nice beard trimmed to perfection. Kalau tengok his face lama lama, cair ooh. As I remember, his bulu mata are long and very lentik one. Now, at 39 and a successful banker, he’s still single and to his mother’s horror, he seemed to avoid real relationship.

From his stories, I noticed there are always some faults with his previous gfs. Too American, too demure, too aggressive, too nice, too loud, and too quiet and the list go on and on and on. Sampai mak dia pening.

Current Affairs
This is where I came in. Hahahaa… makcik nak play matchmaker kan, so I got this brilliant idea like few months ago. Nyeeh..nyeeh nyeh.. I wanted to get one recently single ‘not so nice Malay girl’ (oii, jgn marah yek, that’s your own words what :) to get together with Bard.

She said tak ready. He said tak kuasa.

She said too far. He said giler ke apa.

She said ask Bah. He said talk to Ma!

Ak eleh! Main tarik tali pulak.

After much cajoling and pleading and sweet-talking (penat tau!), he emailed her and it seems like she responded well. Woohooo.. suka nye hati saya! After that, of course I faded into the background, as they took off in a jumbo jet.

Heehe.. kasi chan lah kan, mana tau nanti kita jadi sedara, kan kan kan? But don’t worry, people may know you but they don’t know him. Unless they kidnap me and ask him to pay ransom.

So, that’s how it started. These days, if you called her, and she’s not answering, paham paham sendiri laa… She might be under her duvet, talking to someone in NYC.Heheh... kak, how deep have you fallen?