it was during the last hari raya haji (aidil adha) we visited taiping again. people might wonder why we have these frequent trips. the simple reason was - someone was obviously very emotionally entangled with the town of taiping, which was his birth town and thus lots of memories down the lane.
but that's okay, for someone who was KL born and raised, seeing how Kampung Sri Medan and Kg Konggo have been demolished (the former) and has been developed till you have no longer trace of the old kampung setinggan (current Bandar Tun Razak) i actually envy him, so i don't mind to 'bagi muka' a bit. plus i do think roots are very important to personality development... ergh?
since it was a long week end, taiping was abuzz with tourists, all hotels were fully booked. this included the Legend Inn, Sri Malaysia, Panorama Hotel, and other hotels. we fortunately managed to secure a booking for a family room at Hotel Furama, which was situated near the Taman Tasek Taiping. the room was big enough and could accommodate 2 queen-sized beds and a single bed, has a cable TV, mini bar facilities and hot water/air conditioning. the only complaint was, the room was on the 3rd floor. plus the internet access did not work! but for rm139.90, it was a good value for money.
having stayed in so many hotel accommodations and facilities, be it locally and internationally, i have observed that malaysian tourism operators at these hotels have very unsuitable attitude. with this kind of sour, arrogant and not hospitable attitude they should pick other carreers other than manning these front desks of our tourism operations. for example, when is used to shop in australia, the cashiers will greet you "Hello, how do you do" and will never fail to wish " thank you, come again" or "have a nice day". our cashiers at big shopping complexes frequently visited by international tourists are so stingy with phrases of the simplest "thank you". this happened right before my eyes and at the moment i really felt ashamed of being a malaysian, at the moment when the tourist caught my eye, with a very snide twist of her mouth.
the workers of the hotels were also seen frequently with long faces and no hospitable manners. the taxi drivers only cared to sneak a few ringgit more of our pockets, only complained a lot about our country and how sadly misfortuned they were to be malaysians. i mean, we know the problems we are facing, do you really need to air our dirty linen to our visitors.
the first thing that always keep our visitors away other than the attitude, is the cleanliness, or the lack of it. most of our facilities are dirty, foul smelly and disgusting. the peopla has the bad attitude of littering and leaving behind their waste, and hoping other people to be responsible for them. this third class mentality is our hindrance and it takes forever to be inculcated in our culture.
with the economic downturn, affluent visitors from singapore, thailand, indonesia and japan would try to look for nearer places with cheaper rates and malaysia should grab this opportunity to grab these visitors. but first we need a complete overhaul of our attractions and teach better manners to our people.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
'Ketegur' or 'ketegaq'
It's hard for me to believe in the mischiefs of the 'orang halus' that are around us. to say that they can actually cause you to be sick and suffer from an unexplained medical condition. do they really exist?
tell for yourself;
on 28th december 2008, at 6.30 pm aam and me, nur and aidid went to USM football field at the foot of the hilly terrains near VC rock. we climbed up the hill, picked up some bunga kemboja went through the small bush in front of the swimming pool to get to our car. upon going up the hill, mid-way i felt a sudden throb at the back of my head, behind my right ear. a spot which i can delineate around a 5 cm diameter of a circle.
right after and through 10 days, i suffered a very severe and annoying headache which did not get less with any pain killers that i took, this means paracetamol and ponstan. although i often suffer migrainous headaches before, i know this was very different from my usual pains. i suspected something to do with the 'disturbance' from orang halus as my mum used to say that these things do exist! am said this is mumbo jumbo and he refused to believe.
when we went to ipoh, am's uncle was refuted to be someone with the capability to 'jampi' and ubat. i was quite adamant in thinking that i'm not suffering from any simple illness, so i asked mak nun to request him to have a look at me and try to keep the headache away. with his jampi with a split shallot and some mantras, he asked me to salawat and spit on the split shallot and throw it away. i did as he asked, and know what, the next day the headache was completely gone! how do you explain that? it is possible they exist on another dimension?
tell for yourself;
on 28th december 2008, at 6.30 pm aam and me, nur and aidid went to USM football field at the foot of the hilly terrains near VC rock. we climbed up the hill, picked up some bunga kemboja went through the small bush in front of the swimming pool to get to our car. upon going up the hill, mid-way i felt a sudden throb at the back of my head, behind my right ear. a spot which i can delineate around a 5 cm diameter of a circle.
right after and through 10 days, i suffered a very severe and annoying headache which did not get less with any pain killers that i took, this means paracetamol and ponstan. although i often suffer migrainous headaches before, i know this was very different from my usual pains. i suspected something to do with the 'disturbance' from orang halus as my mum used to say that these things do exist! am said this is mumbo jumbo and he refused to believe.
when we went to ipoh, am's uncle was refuted to be someone with the capability to 'jampi' and ubat. i was quite adamant in thinking that i'm not suffering from any simple illness, so i asked mak nun to request him to have a look at me and try to keep the headache away. with his jampi with a split shallot and some mantras, he asked me to salawat and spit on the split shallot and throw it away. i did as he asked, and know what, the next day the headache was completely gone! how do you explain that? it is possible they exist on another dimension?
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Am's new obsession
Am's new obsession was on the old colonial buidings. read his web article here:
http://www.usm.my/comn/
http://www.usm.my/comn/
A near brush with an anti-government protest
Pagi 26 hb November, aku dah excited nak pergi Bangkok, ada annual Ophthalmology (Cataract) meeting. Ada ramai Malaysian ophthalmologists akan hadir sama. From USM, aku dan Dr Adil bersama 3 org staff nurses. Shat dan dr Zunaina akan join pada 28 hb bila depa balik dari Mumbai. itulah plan kami. duit Baht dah dalam tangan, konon nak pergi shopping sakan, nak round habih satu bangkok!! tapi plan sahaja, manusia punya plan. allah yang maha mengetahui.
pukul 9.00 pagi, adil text aku dari airport kata semua flight ke BKK pagi tu dah cancel sebab protesters dah take over the BKK airport. aku buat donno aje sebab masih tak dapat apa2 berita dari airlines. semangat lagi nak pergi conference. pergi airport bayan lepas, airlines kata flight aku masih tak cancel. buka email website conference kata program berjalan macam biasa. area Bangkok Convention Centre and the Grand Centara Bangkok very peaceful. ada text from some participants yang berada di conference, kata mereka everything is as usual. aku masih berkobar2 nak pergi. ternampak baju-baju yang aku nak shopping tu dalam kepala!!
Pukul 12.00 tengahari - pihak Alcon (sponsor) kata mereka akan call aku balik nak confirm masih 'on' atau tidak. kawan2 dari hospital kuantan dah cancel plan depa, tak jadi pergi. tengahari punya news tunjuk protesters nak betul2 closed down the airport. aku fikir dlm hati, kalau dapat masuk bangkok pun (inbound flights masih boleh masuk), camner aku nak balik? aku dok risau kat anak2. sekarang dalam hati dah fikir 100x - nak pergi ke tak?
akhirnya the decision was taken out of my hands - pukul 3.00 petang, dapat sms ALL FLIGHTS TO BANGKOK CANCELLED. malam tu aku tengok semua pelancong yang stranded kat airport - aku terimagine diri aku salah seorang daripada mereka, teringat kat anak2 aku, ternampak wajah mak ayah aku - aku bersyukur tak berada di sana!
pukul 9.00 pagi, adil text aku dari airport kata semua flight ke BKK pagi tu dah cancel sebab protesters dah take over the BKK airport. aku buat donno aje sebab masih tak dapat apa2 berita dari airlines. semangat lagi nak pergi conference. pergi airport bayan lepas, airlines kata flight aku masih tak cancel. buka email website conference kata program berjalan macam biasa. area Bangkok Convention Centre and the Grand Centara Bangkok very peaceful. ada text from some participants yang berada di conference, kata mereka everything is as usual. aku masih berkobar2 nak pergi. ternampak baju-baju yang aku nak shopping tu dalam kepala!!
Pukul 12.00 tengahari - pihak Alcon (sponsor) kata mereka akan call aku balik nak confirm masih 'on' atau tidak. kawan2 dari hospital kuantan dah cancel plan depa, tak jadi pergi. tengahari punya news tunjuk protesters nak betul2 closed down the airport. aku fikir dlm hati, kalau dapat masuk bangkok pun (inbound flights masih boleh masuk), camner aku nak balik? aku dok risau kat anak2. sekarang dalam hati dah fikir 100x - nak pergi ke tak?
akhirnya the decision was taken out of my hands - pukul 3.00 petang, dapat sms ALL FLIGHTS TO BANGKOK CANCELLED. malam tu aku tengok semua pelancong yang stranded kat airport - aku terimagine diri aku salah seorang daripada mereka, teringat kat anak2 aku, ternampak wajah mak ayah aku - aku bersyukur tak berada di sana!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Leaving PPSP
November 13, 2008... this would be the last day of being the staff of Ophthalmology Department, PPSP. to describe my feelings... i was sad, leaving what has been a familiar territory for me for almost 5 years. it was sad leaving a place which had nurtured me so much to be a lecturer, researcher, counselor and manager. the place has taught me to unearth so many hidden potentials within me to surface. it was a daunting experience at the beginning, when i had to teach and being a teacher was the furthest role i would ever envisage myself of being. i was a total novice at the important role too... that of being a researcher. i still remember the first proposal for the incentive grant "A study on demography and clinical features of corneal ulcers in HUSM". what a naive subject!! then i was also falling into the counselor's hat... that was even more daunting! as for the role of "Manager" there was a joke that i could almost put another title behind my name that of "BA in Management" or rather, event management. have been quite an expert on that!
of course for the most complicated reasons, leaving behind the unpleasant reasons, meaning that i left feeling quite relieved. things have changed and that i could not sustain it anymore lest it eats me up and left me hollow inside. i just cannot go through with it again... sorry!
but i was quite eager to start at a new place, working at new things and looking forward to the change.
The last picture as an examiner for the masters (Ophthamology) Exams. seen here with Dr Shatriah, Dr Zuraidah Mustari (HKT), Dr Raja Azmi, Dr Zulkifli Abd Ghani, Dr Zunaina, Dr Siti Raihan, Dr Cheong Min Tet, AP Mohtar Ibrahim. Sitiing in front - Dr Gangadhara (NUS), Dr Faridah (UKM) and AP Wan Hazabbah
The final picture... with all M.Med students - after the masters exams
Farewell party at Four Seasons Sri cemerlang
My tearful farewell speech
rasdi handing over his beautiful gift
of course for the most complicated reasons, leaving behind the unpleasant reasons, meaning that i left feeling quite relieved. things have changed and that i could not sustain it anymore lest it eats me up and left me hollow inside. i just cannot go through with it again... sorry!
but i was quite eager to start at a new place, working at new things and looking forward to the change.
The last picture as an examiner for the masters (Ophthamology) Exams. seen here with Dr Shatriah, Dr Zuraidah Mustari (HKT), Dr Raja Azmi, Dr Zulkifli Abd Ghani, Dr Zunaina, Dr Siti Raihan, Dr Cheong Min Tet, AP Mohtar Ibrahim. Sitiing in front - Dr Gangadhara (NUS), Dr Faridah (UKM) and AP Wan Hazabbah
The final picture... with all M.Med students - after the masters exams
Farewell party at Four Seasons Sri cemerlang
My tearful farewell speech
rasdi handing over his beautiful gift
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
More Raya pictures!
A photo of our family for the first time spending hari raya together
Abah and mak with Aiza and Aidid
Aiza and Aidid
Nur and Anis Khalilah
Aiza with Anas Suhaimi - what were they up to?
(pictures recently sent by OD)
Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri 2008
Bandar Tun Razak
Kuala Lumpur
Abah and mak with Aiza and Aidid
Aiza and Aidid
Nur and Anis Khalilah
Aiza with Anas Suhaimi - what were they up to?
(pictures recently sent by OD)
Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri 2008
Bandar Tun Razak
Kuala Lumpur
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Mak Uda pulang ke rahmatullah
Today is the 7th of Syawal 2008 Hijrah and it marks the demise of my Mak Uda hajjah Rahmah at 10.45 am this morning at UMMC. The late mak uda was the wife of my Pak Uda Mansur, the older brother of my father. she was admitted to UMMC for the last one month suffering from complications of her diabetes and liver failure.
For as far as i can remember the family of my pak uda and mak uda was the closest to me among my relatives who are strewn all over the places, of whom many are strange to me as any Tom, Dick or Harry. my father was of 7 brothers and he is the youngest. now he's all left from his family's legacy with the passing of my pak uda a few months ago. and now mak uda follows.
What i remember of her was on those raya trips that i always accompanied my father when we made the obligatory raya journeys back to the 'kampung'. you can't really call it kampung anymore, because 'kampung kuantan, kelang' is as bandar as it can get and to call it a kampung would be insulting to the population.
during those rides to kelang, we would always stay 2 or 3 days at their house, which used to be the old family house, 2-storey of beautifully crafted kampung style with attap made of nipah leaves. my pak uda was one very jolly cheerful kind of person despite his frequent wheezing due to his chronic asthma. he was an artsy and crafty type, quite famous for his bridal decorations, hand sewn and crocheted quilts and bridal bed sheets. he was so loyal to the customs of traditional malay weddings that he once mentioned if we, pak su's daughters refused to bersanding on the dais, he would not want to attend our wedding " what for? aku bukan boleh makan nasi minyak korang", blaming his asthma.
the old family house was full of creaks and steep stairs that i had to refrain myself walking too fast or i would feel small quakes each time! but fortunately when economic status of my cousins improved, they transformed the house into a new brick one-storey bungalow.
during those raya visits, i still remember my mak uda patiently tied my kain baju kurung which was usually sewn zip-free and to my frequent complaint of the mosquitoes, she would humbly admitted that fact, making me feel embarrassed for being a wet blanket.
my cousins are the girls -kak wook, kak lyn, kak yoi, kak ipah and ana while the boys are - baharom, rizal, faizal, yunus and ipai. my pak uda's family on the male side suffered from some mental subnomality which is also inherited to their grandsons. this, to my pak uda's horror, always made my mak uda sad because the genes probably came from her side of the family having siblings whom were also subnormal.
i will not forget my mak uda and her cooking. during hari raya theirs was one house which will be filled with sumptuous cooking and all the meals will occupy the whole table! never have i seen that much bulk of dishes on anyone's table! they not only have 2-3 cakes, 20 types of raya cookies, plus 2-3 other dishes of rendang, lodeh, laksa and many others.
i will always remember mak uda who was so kind and nice to me and anyone around her. below is a picture of her, attending our wedding in KL in february 2008.
Al Fatihah, God bless my Mak Uda hajjah Rahmah.
For as far as i can remember the family of my pak uda and mak uda was the closest to me among my relatives who are strewn all over the places, of whom many are strange to me as any Tom, Dick or Harry. my father was of 7 brothers and he is the youngest. now he's all left from his family's legacy with the passing of my pak uda a few months ago. and now mak uda follows.
What i remember of her was on those raya trips that i always accompanied my father when we made the obligatory raya journeys back to the 'kampung'. you can't really call it kampung anymore, because 'kampung kuantan, kelang' is as bandar as it can get and to call it a kampung would be insulting to the population.
during those rides to kelang, we would always stay 2 or 3 days at their house, which used to be the old family house, 2-storey of beautifully crafted kampung style with attap made of nipah leaves. my pak uda was one very jolly cheerful kind of person despite his frequent wheezing due to his chronic asthma. he was an artsy and crafty type, quite famous for his bridal decorations, hand sewn and crocheted quilts and bridal bed sheets. he was so loyal to the customs of traditional malay weddings that he once mentioned if we, pak su's daughters refused to bersanding on the dais, he would not want to attend our wedding " what for? aku bukan boleh makan nasi minyak korang", blaming his asthma.
the old family house was full of creaks and steep stairs that i had to refrain myself walking too fast or i would feel small quakes each time! but fortunately when economic status of my cousins improved, they transformed the house into a new brick one-storey bungalow.
during those raya visits, i still remember my mak uda patiently tied my kain baju kurung which was usually sewn zip-free and to my frequent complaint of the mosquitoes, she would humbly admitted that fact, making me feel embarrassed for being a wet blanket.
my cousins are the girls -kak wook, kak lyn, kak yoi, kak ipah and ana while the boys are - baharom, rizal, faizal, yunus and ipai. my pak uda's family on the male side suffered from some mental subnomality which is also inherited to their grandsons. this, to my pak uda's horror, always made my mak uda sad because the genes probably came from her side of the family having siblings whom were also subnormal.
i will not forget my mak uda and her cooking. during hari raya theirs was one house which will be filled with sumptuous cooking and all the meals will occupy the whole table! never have i seen that much bulk of dishes on anyone's table! they not only have 2-3 cakes, 20 types of raya cookies, plus 2-3 other dishes of rendang, lodeh, laksa and many others.
i will always remember mak uda who was so kind and nice to me and anyone around her. below is a picture of her, attending our wedding in KL in february 2008.
Al Fatihah, God bless my Mak Uda hajjah Rahmah.
Monday, October 06, 2008
Syawal 2008
Syawal 2008 was celebrated in a merry way. Syukur alhamdulillah kepada Allah yang maha esa.
1. Abah talking to Muaz, his eldest grandson now studying in US. at the time, he was preparing for Eid, which happens to fall on the next day. he got some few hours off so they can celebrate by going for Raya prayers and get together for a small do. they cooked nasi himpit and made some rendang.
2. I really enjoyed taking pictures of these 3 ultramen-wannabes: aiza, aidid and adam (dyla's son)
3. In the afternoon we went to Putrajaya to visit akak's house, where we managed to take a photo of all girls together: Odie, Akak, yours truly and Dyla.
akak is having conjunctivitis so i mostly tried not to come too near!
4. the four helpers were a great help too!
From left to right: Rudy, Lira, Ita and Yun
5. We went back to Ipoh on second day Raya: went to pak Ta's house
mak Nun with Rudy
Am with mak yang and baby Roselle
Mak Yang with Juana, Niesha and Baby Roselle
Pak Ta with mak yong
We went back to Kelantan driving our new Kia spectra5
seen here cohabited with the cat!
We also moved into our new rental house in sungai nibong. Some photos of the kids in the new house:
Selamat Hari Raya Eid Mubarak!
1. Abah talking to Muaz, his eldest grandson now studying in US. at the time, he was preparing for Eid, which happens to fall on the next day. he got some few hours off so they can celebrate by going for Raya prayers and get together for a small do. they cooked nasi himpit and made some rendang.2. I really enjoyed taking pictures of these 3 ultramen-wannabes: aiza, aidid and adam (dyla's son)
3. In the afternoon we went to Putrajaya to visit akak's house, where we managed to take a photo of all girls together: Odie, Akak, yours truly and Dyla.
akak is having conjunctivitis so i mostly tried not to come too near!4. the four helpers were a great help too!
From left to right: Rudy, Lira, Ita and Yun5. We went back to Ipoh on second day Raya: went to pak Ta's house
mak Nun with Rudy
Am with mak yang and baby Roselle
Mak Yang with Juana, Niesha and Baby Roselle
Pak Ta with mak yong
We went back to Kelantan driving our new Kia spectra5
seen here cohabited with the cat!
We also moved into our new rental house in sungai nibong. Some photos of the kids in the new house:
Selamat Hari Raya Eid Mubarak!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
State of political upheaval
I must say that i'm so depressed and angry with the state of affairs of my country right now. the political upheaval has reached a stage where there's no decency any more in the day-by-day administration of public affairs.
the recent arrest of three malaysian citizans, 2 chinese and 1 malay tops it. the defensive action by the government shows what a mediocre leader our prime minister is, almost laughable.
i'm angry they used the archaic and draconian law ISA, which can arrest a person indefinitely by not bringing them to be charged in court. they are truly desperate and desperation takes desperate measures.
we have strongly voiced ourselves against those Muslim detainees in the Guatanamao Bay, but we are still doing it, how better are we fromm therm? aint responsible leaders should be accountable, honest and trusworthy, not like the present leadership who are all the opposite!
i'm truly bursting at the seams!!!
the recent arrest of three malaysian citizans, 2 chinese and 1 malay tops it. the defensive action by the government shows what a mediocre leader our prime minister is, almost laughable.
i'm angry they used the archaic and draconian law ISA, which can arrest a person indefinitely by not bringing them to be charged in court. they are truly desperate and desperation takes desperate measures.
we have strongly voiced ourselves against those Muslim detainees in the Guatanamao Bay, but we are still doing it, how better are we fromm therm? aint responsible leaders should be accountable, honest and trusworthy, not like the present leadership who are all the opposite!
i'm truly bursting at the seams!!!
Monday, June 09, 2008
School holidays came again!
Always there would be some kind of anxiety on my part on how to 'perform' during the school holidays. this is because my children expect me to do a lot of 'entertaining' them. i felt a heavy sense of anxiety because i was expected to prepare a good itinerary to amuse them. Aam would comment this as my paranoid, obsessive streak. never mind...
so this time round we combined the holidays with my interview with the Director of Institut Perubatan dan Pergigian Termaju (IPPT) Dr Ramli Saad (this bears another topic).
we arrived in Sg Nibong by bus on 28th may. Aam picked us up and drove us back on that chilly morning to our house in Balik Pulau. the heavy smell of durian scented the morning air and through the misty morning we drove across the island to the small town.
after a short slumber aam and i walked to the small town to buy breakfast and NST. we were seriously looking out for the article that i sent in to the editor but still not published (still not, till now. that's another topic though!)
at 2.30 pm i met with dr ramli saad at Hotel bayview on Jalan farquhar. after the meeting we went shopping, i bought my slippers with 20% discount at the price of 39.90. also bought my phone covering. here's a picture of us at the shop, taken again with the sony PDA-phone
we went home, found that aam's daughter mastika has arrived to see the notebook that Aam bought. he bought her an RM 1600.00 lenovo notebook with Windows XP and duo core processor. but mastika was not very happy about it, because she wanted an acer or toshiba notebook. of course aam was also not happy, but he showed a brave front.
we planned to take the kids out but it was raining. so instead we went to have dinner at a seafood restaurant some 15 km away. it was a majestic affair of ikan siakap masak sweet and sour, lala masak sambal petai, sotong goreng tepung, tom yam campur and 2 jugs of apple and watermelon juice. we were so stuffed out and to top it all, it only cost us RM75.oo. real value for money! just for the sake of the marvellous seafood i'd have gladly moved to penang right there and then!
A picture of nur with mastika in front of the sumptious fair
this picture taken with the sony PDA-phone was not so clear.
we went back with full stomachs and watched a movie afterward. aam was complaining of the worsening of his metacarpal joint pain and i really sympathized with him. we totally forgot that the joyous seafood had only worsened the gouty arthritic pain. poor aam. he took a double dose of celebrex and glucosamine.
the next day was thursday and aam sat for his induction exam. 2 papers of MCQ and also an essay. he was as cool as cucumber not like when yours truly sat for her exams, a nervous wreck! i caught some time to do my work at his desk. barely 30 minutes passed and he came out already. then went in for another 45 minutes of essay. i hope you passed, darling.
we bought chicken and fish and in the afternoon aam drove us to find a good place for picnic at Titi Kerawang but when we reached the place it was raining, the place was desolate and quite dangerous for any recreational activities. we drove some km further and reached teluk bahang where we had our grilled chicken bbq, and grilled garlic-chicken sausages. the kids were happy they got to dip in the water although there were surprised at how salty the water was! actually they were not used to swimming in the sea.
on friday aam was supposed to be working. i said 'supposed' because his real job amounted to nothing compared to mine...! (Jgn mare bang!). actually he didnot have that much to do because his students have not registered yet for the new academic session.
we came out of the house early and aam took us to bukit jambul which was about 700metres tall but the track was so steep it reminded us a lot of Maxwell Hill. i was left breathless with the kids some 20 metres of climbing or so.
we had breakfast at Desa Bakti-fajar. this was the place that i used to frequent when i studied there back in 1988-89. then aam took us to USM museum. i didnt fancy the name 'museum' because i abhor anything to do with history. this goes way back when i was schooling at Seri Puteri and i had a nasty experience in the form of mental torture having one Puan Hazlin Karim as my history teacher! so i tried to distance myself way away from history so i dont get that panic anxiety attack (am i a severe case of a depressed-psycho or what?)
as it turned out the Museum was far away from what real 'museum' should be - thank god for small measures. i really don't want my children to turn to be an history-hater like me. it was actually a mixture of history-artifacts gallery on science and art. there was a showcase of children's art, planetarium, a nice group of scopes, hologram, human anatomy, culture, etc. the kids surprisingly enjoyed themselves there. wow! that was a revelation.
Nur trying to see through the telescope.
afterward we went to Tesco and Giant hypermarts to kill time. while aam went for friday prayers i had a reflexology session. it was terrible with the capital T. it was a literary painful experience which i did not care to repeat. the charge was also more expensive than what we were used, plus shorter duration but a lot of pain! a real botched job at reflexology. i think this people need some kind of certification before they can be allowed to practise.
in the afternoon we wanted to take the kids to the swimming pool but it only opens after 3.00 pm, so we let the kids playing games on aam's computer while we got a shut-eye. as it turned out the pool was closed due to the previous day tragic death of a Jordanian student found dead in the pool.
on saturday we were supposed to await for the arrival of mak nun from ipoh whom was not scheduled to arrive until late afternoon. so we really had lots of time to kill. in the morning the children were woken up early and we went to visit Rumah P.Ramlee which was under the authority of Arkib Negara. it was a small place and not quite i expected. i would have thought a big name like his should have more artifacts and collections. there would be hundreds of his memorabilia lying around as personal collectors' items and the arkib should make some incentives so owners would gladly loan these memorabilia to Arkib Negara.
Aam at the foot of the house that P.Ramlee was born in.
The kids with p.Ramlee's old bicycle. it was said that the brake system was often faulty because P.Ramlee usually had to brake suddenly each time he had an idea for a song lyrics or something.
at the foot of Galeri P.Ramlee
afterward we went to the nearby flea market near the perbandaran stadium. aidid as usual got himself his toys. it was the ultraman 'transformer' and the autobots. he also got himself the ultraman CD and we bought the pirated indiana jones and the crystal skull (Harrison Ford) and CJ7 (stephen chow's). we tried nasi lemak and rudi got herself treated to nasi lemuni.
we went to Queensbay Mall which was a very large shopping mall at the new queensbay area. before that we thought of taking the kids for a day trip on pulau jerejak, but it was so expensive so we decided to watch a movie. we saw the new release "superhero Movie" which was a bad choice as it turned out to be. a lot disgusting scenes and cheap jokes. it was a combination of superheroes Batman, spiderman, superman in one. but no ultraman, much to aidid's dismay. it was the kids' first experience at the cinema and they thoroughly enjoyed it, lest the fight to conquer the popcorn, which aidid ultimately won as the final conqueror, as always...
i went to the giant bookshop "Borders". OMG i could get lost in the book store and never wanted to be rescued. there were thousands of books and so many were my favourites! i had a tough time to choose what i wanted and finally settled with Nora Robert's Survivor in Death, in her series of "Death" mystery writing as J.D Robb and also another book by Sandra Brown about a pair of twins in "The Switch". i must say Sandra Brown is boring me, i could predict her plot after the first chapter and i think to swear off her books in the near future if she didnt buckle up!
we were so tired afterward we went to aam's office while waiting for mak nun to arrive. i had a nap and the kids went back to playing... what else, the computer games! i must say being kids nowadays are so boring and not enough challenge. they must disagree to this statement!
mak nun arrived later then expected and not until 6.45 pm. the kids were joyous to see her and amidst the excited chatter we took her to the house. that night we watched CJ7 although aidid wailed his displeasure, but later he joined in the laughter at the hilarious renditions of stephen chow's.
the next day we prepared for yet another picnic at the Forest Resort near Teluk Bahang about 20 km away from balik pulau. unfortunately after 30 minutes of arrival, there was a heavy downpour and we ended up BBQing at one of the wakafs. it was fun, though. by the time we reached the house it was already late and we were so tired.
that night we went to the pasar malam. got a taste of one of penang's pasar malam. not much difference.
the next day we drove to taiping, because we wanted the kids to have a proper dipping in a swimming pool plus a change in scene. we stayed overnight at Taiping Golf Resort and Jana Condotel. there was a room promo for a standard room hillview at RM95.00. the kids had their laps in the pool and we stuffed on mamak foods. the next day still more swim, more mamak foods and aam had to drive back to penang because he was supposed to be working that day. meanwhile we took a bus to ipoh because we couldnt get tickets to KB from taiping. pak nif waited for us at Medan Gopeng and took us out for lunch.
after a lunch of RM37.00 we went to their house for a short break while waiting until 8.15 pm at which time we drove to Medan Gopeng to get on the bus to KB. the bus arrived on time. it was cold and the trip seemed shorter, the driver actually didnot stop at Grik but drove directly to Tanah Merah, Pasir Mas and we finally arrived in KB at 4.00 am.
so, how was our performance? a perfect 10, i would say..
so this time round we combined the holidays with my interview with the Director of Institut Perubatan dan Pergigian Termaju (IPPT) Dr Ramli Saad (this bears another topic).
we arrived in Sg Nibong by bus on 28th may. Aam picked us up and drove us back on that chilly morning to our house in Balik Pulau. the heavy smell of durian scented the morning air and through the misty morning we drove across the island to the small town.
after a short slumber aam and i walked to the small town to buy breakfast and NST. we were seriously looking out for the article that i sent in to the editor but still not published (still not, till now. that's another topic though!)
at 2.30 pm i met with dr ramli saad at Hotel bayview on Jalan farquhar. after the meeting we went shopping, i bought my slippers with 20% discount at the price of 39.90. also bought my phone covering. here's a picture of us at the shop, taken again with the sony PDA-phone
we went home, found that aam's daughter mastika has arrived to see the notebook that Aam bought. he bought her an RM 1600.00 lenovo notebook with Windows XP and duo core processor. but mastika was not very happy about it, because she wanted an acer or toshiba notebook. of course aam was also not happy, but he showed a brave front.
we planned to take the kids out but it was raining. so instead we went to have dinner at a seafood restaurant some 15 km away. it was a majestic affair of ikan siakap masak sweet and sour, lala masak sambal petai, sotong goreng tepung, tom yam campur and 2 jugs of apple and watermelon juice. we were so stuffed out and to top it all, it only cost us RM75.oo. real value for money! just for the sake of the marvellous seafood i'd have gladly moved to penang right there and then!
A picture of nur with mastika in front of the sumptious fair
this picture taken with the sony PDA-phone was not so clear.we went back with full stomachs and watched a movie afterward. aam was complaining of the worsening of his metacarpal joint pain and i really sympathized with him. we totally forgot that the joyous seafood had only worsened the gouty arthritic pain. poor aam. he took a double dose of celebrex and glucosamine.
the next day was thursday and aam sat for his induction exam. 2 papers of MCQ and also an essay. he was as cool as cucumber not like when yours truly sat for her exams, a nervous wreck! i caught some time to do my work at his desk. barely 30 minutes passed and he came out already. then went in for another 45 minutes of essay. i hope you passed, darling.
we bought chicken and fish and in the afternoon aam drove us to find a good place for picnic at Titi Kerawang but when we reached the place it was raining, the place was desolate and quite dangerous for any recreational activities. we drove some km further and reached teluk bahang where we had our grilled chicken bbq, and grilled garlic-chicken sausages. the kids were happy they got to dip in the water although there were surprised at how salty the water was! actually they were not used to swimming in the sea.
on friday aam was supposed to be working. i said 'supposed' because his real job amounted to nothing compared to mine...! (Jgn mare bang!). actually he didnot have that much to do because his students have not registered yet for the new academic session.
we came out of the house early and aam took us to bukit jambul which was about 700metres tall but the track was so steep it reminded us a lot of Maxwell Hill. i was left breathless with the kids some 20 metres of climbing or so.
we had breakfast at Desa Bakti-fajar. this was the place that i used to frequent when i studied there back in 1988-89. then aam took us to USM museum. i didnt fancy the name 'museum' because i abhor anything to do with history. this goes way back when i was schooling at Seri Puteri and i had a nasty experience in the form of mental torture having one Puan Hazlin Karim as my history teacher! so i tried to distance myself way away from history so i dont get that panic anxiety attack (am i a severe case of a depressed-psycho or what?)
as it turned out the Museum was far away from what real 'museum' should be - thank god for small measures. i really don't want my children to turn to be an history-hater like me. it was actually a mixture of history-artifacts gallery on science and art. there was a showcase of children's art, planetarium, a nice group of scopes, hologram, human anatomy, culture, etc. the kids surprisingly enjoyed themselves there. wow! that was a revelation.
Nur trying to see through the telescope.afterward we went to Tesco and Giant hypermarts to kill time. while aam went for friday prayers i had a reflexology session. it was terrible with the capital T. it was a literary painful experience which i did not care to repeat. the charge was also more expensive than what we were used, plus shorter duration but a lot of pain! a real botched job at reflexology. i think this people need some kind of certification before they can be allowed to practise.
in the afternoon we wanted to take the kids to the swimming pool but it only opens after 3.00 pm, so we let the kids playing games on aam's computer while we got a shut-eye. as it turned out the pool was closed due to the previous day tragic death of a Jordanian student found dead in the pool.
on saturday we were supposed to await for the arrival of mak nun from ipoh whom was not scheduled to arrive until late afternoon. so we really had lots of time to kill. in the morning the children were woken up early and we went to visit Rumah P.Ramlee which was under the authority of Arkib Negara. it was a small place and not quite i expected. i would have thought a big name like his should have more artifacts and collections. there would be hundreds of his memorabilia lying around as personal collectors' items and the arkib should make some incentives so owners would gladly loan these memorabilia to Arkib Negara.
Aam at the foot of the house that P.Ramlee was born in.
The kids with p.Ramlee's old bicycle. it was said that the brake system was often faulty because P.Ramlee usually had to brake suddenly each time he had an idea for a song lyrics or something.
at the foot of Galeri P.Ramleeafterward we went to the nearby flea market near the perbandaran stadium. aidid as usual got himself his toys. it was the ultraman 'transformer' and the autobots. he also got himself the ultraman CD and we bought the pirated indiana jones and the crystal skull (Harrison Ford) and CJ7 (stephen chow's). we tried nasi lemak and rudi got herself treated to nasi lemuni.
we went to Queensbay Mall which was a very large shopping mall at the new queensbay area. before that we thought of taking the kids for a day trip on pulau jerejak, but it was so expensive so we decided to watch a movie. we saw the new release "superhero Movie" which was a bad choice as it turned out to be. a lot disgusting scenes and cheap jokes. it was a combination of superheroes Batman, spiderman, superman in one. but no ultraman, much to aidid's dismay. it was the kids' first experience at the cinema and they thoroughly enjoyed it, lest the fight to conquer the popcorn, which aidid ultimately won as the final conqueror, as always...
i went to the giant bookshop "Borders". OMG i could get lost in the book store and never wanted to be rescued. there were thousands of books and so many were my favourites! i had a tough time to choose what i wanted and finally settled with Nora Robert's Survivor in Death, in her series of "Death" mystery writing as J.D Robb and also another book by Sandra Brown about a pair of twins in "The Switch". i must say Sandra Brown is boring me, i could predict her plot after the first chapter and i think to swear off her books in the near future if she didnt buckle up!
we were so tired afterward we went to aam's office while waiting for mak nun to arrive. i had a nap and the kids went back to playing... what else, the computer games! i must say being kids nowadays are so boring and not enough challenge. they must disagree to this statement!
mak nun arrived later then expected and not until 6.45 pm. the kids were joyous to see her and amidst the excited chatter we took her to the house. that night we watched CJ7 although aidid wailed his displeasure, but later he joined in the laughter at the hilarious renditions of stephen chow's.
the next day we prepared for yet another picnic at the Forest Resort near Teluk Bahang about 20 km away from balik pulau. unfortunately after 30 minutes of arrival, there was a heavy downpour and we ended up BBQing at one of the wakafs. it was fun, though. by the time we reached the house it was already late and we were so tired.
that night we went to the pasar malam. got a taste of one of penang's pasar malam. not much difference.
the next day we drove to taiping, because we wanted the kids to have a proper dipping in a swimming pool plus a change in scene. we stayed overnight at Taiping Golf Resort and Jana Condotel. there was a room promo for a standard room hillview at RM95.00. the kids had their laps in the pool and we stuffed on mamak foods. the next day still more swim, more mamak foods and aam had to drive back to penang because he was supposed to be working that day. meanwhile we took a bus to ipoh because we couldnt get tickets to KB from taiping. pak nif waited for us at Medan Gopeng and took us out for lunch.
after a lunch of RM37.00 we went to their house for a short break while waiting until 8.15 pm at which time we drove to Medan Gopeng to get on the bus to KB. the bus arrived on time. it was cold and the trip seemed shorter, the driver actually didnot stop at Grik but drove directly to Tanah Merah, Pasir Mas and we finally arrived in KB at 4.00 am.
so, how was our performance? a perfect 10, i would say..
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
The Passing of my Nenek
My grandmother who was born in 1908 passed away last week, 14th may 2008. She was 101 years old, according to her I.C. All my life i had only known my grandmother, who was my mother's mother since both my father's parents had passed away long before i was born. my nenek was practically our surrogate parent since she lived close by, had always taken care of us when we were small and for the past 6 years had lived with us due to her illness.
my early memories of Puan Minah bt Hassan was her enterprising career as a businesswoman. she was an educated lady by her generation's standard because she could read and did her sums. she completed 3 years of school before quitting due to financial restrains. my father said she would have been a headmistress had she completed 2 more schooling years. this i took as a compliment to an old lady who was also my Quran teacher, not just mine but also other scores of children living in the squatters neighbourhood of Kg Konggo and later Bandar Tun Razak.
As far as businesses went, my grandmother had her finger in every pie, be it in the textile business, jewellery, electrical goods, furniture, cookwares and to the manufacturing and sales of of bedak sejuk. in the old days my mother and grandmother were involved in selling air batu campur, rojak, mee, tempe, cakar ayam, and many others. my nenek acted as the 'middle man' in most of her business. from her saving of early days, she started accumulated her wealth by buying the goods from a chinese man "Gemuk" at Taman Midah, and she paid Gemuk RM3,000.00 every month from her customers' installments. i was always astounded at how a good at the cost of RM100.00 can be doubled to RM200.00 because of 24 months installments! so my grandmother was my first exposure to trading.
of course my father always lifted his eyebrow at how my nenek conducted her business. my father always scared her off with the word 'riba' to which my nenek would just ignored. my nenek had a strained relationship with my father from the early days. her damaged relationship with my father had crossed a span of 30 or more years. they did not talk to each other amicably, as far as i could remember. there was a reason for this, a trivial one, which someone explained to me, but the existing gap between them was more habitual than reasonable. this of course took a twist for, to her last dying days when she stayed in our house, my father was the one who took care of her.
my siblings and i were her companions on her buying spree. i still remember the trips to Kuala Lumpur, that my grandmother took us by bus.. yeah, she wouldnt waste money on a taxi fare, we would go to jalan masjid India to get more stocks of kain batik, kain pelikat, kain pasang, pawned jewelleries, etc. my grandmother kept a detail account of her business which expanded to many volumes of buku hutang and she often would ask us if it was the time of the end of the month when she would start going around to her customers' houses to collect the installments. she walked by herself and entered the numbers diligently without fail. a remarkable and challenging job, which would make make most people surrender!
my grandmother had always had a strong mind of her own which translated into a strong streak of stubbornness. other than the fall out with my father, i couldn't recall any loving attention bestowed to her husband, my late grandfather and also to her own daughter, my mother. to her dying days my nenek was not on talking terms with my mother, in fact she vent her anger on my mother with vicious words and derogatory remarks because of some small mistakes.
my grandmother lived with us when she was diagnosed with hypertension, heart failure and had severe osteophorosis and sustained multiple bone problems and was unable to mobilise on her own. she occupied our living room with her things which she prohibited us to keep tidy, she refused cupboards or containers to keep her things, she just plain instructed us to leave her and her things alone.
my nenek adhered to a strict discipline of her own. every morning after her bath she would have her 'keepers' prepared her breakfast, read the newspapers and went to the market on her wheelchair, this was like her highlight of the day during which she would went around mixing with people, bought her food which she would later asked my parents to keep in the fridge. in the afternoon she would sleep and woke up only for meals, bath and prayers. she took all her medications on her own and she had never missed her doctors' appointments, not once! she had lost her hearing many years ago and for this reason, communication was almost non-existent with people around her. but she had stayed alert and still recognized all faces.
that was until 3 days later when she changed her habit, she did not sit up, did not move around, did not drink or eat. and after maghrib on 14th may i heard news from my sister saying that she passed away quietly in her sleep, no pain... just her last small breaths.... according to my father, she called out to my mother, may be showing her imminent departure from this world and she wanted her daughter closely by.
after a week nearly passed, when the newspaper man delivered our newspaper, we still remember the 'road block' for which we had to surrender the papers to my nenek first without fail. when we entered the house through the living room, we always saw her lying on her simple mattress either sleeping or seeing with her far off expression. i still could hear her arguments with my mum and my father. her litany of 'aku orang tua, dah nak mati, tak da sapa nak jaga... nak halau aku", etc and we took that as rumblings of an old stong minded stubborn woman.
quite frankly i miss my nenek.... one Minah bt Hassan, who finally joined her husband Mohd Latim bin Sulaiman and joined their early daughter Rohani in the hereafter. Al Fatihah...
my early memories of Puan Minah bt Hassan was her enterprising career as a businesswoman. she was an educated lady by her generation's standard because she could read and did her sums. she completed 3 years of school before quitting due to financial restrains. my father said she would have been a headmistress had she completed 2 more schooling years. this i took as a compliment to an old lady who was also my Quran teacher, not just mine but also other scores of children living in the squatters neighbourhood of Kg Konggo and later Bandar Tun Razak.
As far as businesses went, my grandmother had her finger in every pie, be it in the textile business, jewellery, electrical goods, furniture, cookwares and to the manufacturing and sales of of bedak sejuk. in the old days my mother and grandmother were involved in selling air batu campur, rojak, mee, tempe, cakar ayam, and many others. my nenek acted as the 'middle man' in most of her business. from her saving of early days, she started accumulated her wealth by buying the goods from a chinese man "Gemuk" at Taman Midah, and she paid Gemuk RM3,000.00 every month from her customers' installments. i was always astounded at how a good at the cost of RM100.00 can be doubled to RM200.00 because of 24 months installments! so my grandmother was my first exposure to trading.
of course my father always lifted his eyebrow at how my nenek conducted her business. my father always scared her off with the word 'riba' to which my nenek would just ignored. my nenek had a strained relationship with my father from the early days. her damaged relationship with my father had crossed a span of 30 or more years. they did not talk to each other amicably, as far as i could remember. there was a reason for this, a trivial one, which someone explained to me, but the existing gap between them was more habitual than reasonable. this of course took a twist for, to her last dying days when she stayed in our house, my father was the one who took care of her.
my siblings and i were her companions on her buying spree. i still remember the trips to Kuala Lumpur, that my grandmother took us by bus.. yeah, she wouldnt waste money on a taxi fare, we would go to jalan masjid India to get more stocks of kain batik, kain pelikat, kain pasang, pawned jewelleries, etc. my grandmother kept a detail account of her business which expanded to many volumes of buku hutang and she often would ask us if it was the time of the end of the month when she would start going around to her customers' houses to collect the installments. she walked by herself and entered the numbers diligently without fail. a remarkable and challenging job, which would make make most people surrender!
my grandmother had always had a strong mind of her own which translated into a strong streak of stubbornness. other than the fall out with my father, i couldn't recall any loving attention bestowed to her husband, my late grandfather and also to her own daughter, my mother. to her dying days my nenek was not on talking terms with my mother, in fact she vent her anger on my mother with vicious words and derogatory remarks because of some small mistakes.
my grandmother lived with us when she was diagnosed with hypertension, heart failure and had severe osteophorosis and sustained multiple bone problems and was unable to mobilise on her own. she occupied our living room with her things which she prohibited us to keep tidy, she refused cupboards or containers to keep her things, she just plain instructed us to leave her and her things alone.
my nenek adhered to a strict discipline of her own. every morning after her bath she would have her 'keepers' prepared her breakfast, read the newspapers and went to the market on her wheelchair, this was like her highlight of the day during which she would went around mixing with people, bought her food which she would later asked my parents to keep in the fridge. in the afternoon she would sleep and woke up only for meals, bath and prayers. she took all her medications on her own and she had never missed her doctors' appointments, not once! she had lost her hearing many years ago and for this reason, communication was almost non-existent with people around her. but she had stayed alert and still recognized all faces.
that was until 3 days later when she changed her habit, she did not sit up, did not move around, did not drink or eat. and after maghrib on 14th may i heard news from my sister saying that she passed away quietly in her sleep, no pain... just her last small breaths.... according to my father, she called out to my mother, may be showing her imminent departure from this world and she wanted her daughter closely by.
after a week nearly passed, when the newspaper man delivered our newspaper, we still remember the 'road block' for which we had to surrender the papers to my nenek first without fail. when we entered the house through the living room, we always saw her lying on her simple mattress either sleeping or seeing with her far off expression. i still could hear her arguments with my mum and my father. her litany of 'aku orang tua, dah nak mati, tak da sapa nak jaga... nak halau aku", etc and we took that as rumblings of an old stong minded stubborn woman.
quite frankly i miss my nenek.... one Minah bt Hassan, who finally joined her husband Mohd Latim bin Sulaiman and joined their early daughter Rohani in the hereafter. Al Fatihah...
Monday, May 05, 2008
Majlis Kesyukuran
Mak Nun and her friends, some of the guest turning up for the Yaasin recital.Mak Nun and relatives in Ipoh helped us organized a thanks giving party (Majlis kenduri kesyukuran) at her house in Ipoh. i witnessed the truest sense of a community 'gotong royong' affair with pot luck dishes on the tables. kak yati, a single mother who was also a good friend of the family's was the chef and she cooked a mean chicken curry !
about 200 guests turned up on that bright and sunny day. it started off with a Yaasin recital and followed by the salawat to the prophet Muhammad. it was so hot, we were sweating so much and i was feeling lightheaded because of the heat and the crowd.
among the dishes were chicken curry, deep fried steamed fish, fried cabbage (veggie), fried beef pergedil, boiled ulam and fresh ulam with belacan paste, for desserts we had - deep fried spring rolls with sauce, banana cakes, cocktail pudding and watermelon. the drinks were iced-cold orange and grape cordials. we experimented a cocktail of orange-grape combi and it worked out fine too!
i loved the cooked ulam best and kak yati's sambal belacan was so hot it made my head spin! i also loved her pergedil which had always been my favourite dish. i applauded their 'bravery' in preparing the pergedil because it was a difficult dish to mass-produce. they had difficulty as expected, judging from the broken pergedil balls seen on the side trays. the rich, salty, hot and sweet dishes were a good combination when you completed it off with sweet tasting and fresh watermelons.
the whole packs were there including pak ta, mak yong, mak yang, mak yam and pak bab, auntie shima and pak in and many otehr relatives i couldnt get their names straight. mak nun made made some souvenirs with recycled plastic/artificial flowers and sent guests away smiling with goody bags in their hands.
Auntie Shima and Mak Yam cutting the watermelons. we bought them at Pasar Jelapang at Rm1/per kg which was a very good deal indeed.the kids were behaving themselves... what more could i ask? my gratitude to Allah for the blessings in my life.
we caught a bus to KB from kuala kangsar and since it was the first time we were there, Aam took us around to the morning market (i bought ikan pekasam and the famous rendang tok) and also losyen kurus and a magnetic bracelet which he laughed his heart out at!
the 3 photos below are pictures taken with my new Sony Ericsson PDA phone P1i with 3.2 megapixel resolution camera. i didnt realize i was closing my eyes though.
Aam with aiza and aidid at the riverfront in Kuala Kangsar
Aam standing in front of the Kuala kangsar mosque. i was sorting out the buttons of my camera phone and missed the scenic pictures of Istana Bukit Chandan
i think the flash of the camera left a lot to be desired. it didnt help that Aam has a dark complexion. Tall, dark and handsome - my man!
Sunday, April 06, 2008
2nd Month Anniversary
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Today is our 2nd month marriage anniversary. i hope we will have a happy and blessed marriage for the rest of our lives. still no junior in the picture. i hope you're not too disappointed darling!
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the Saga of the Lovebirds
Tell a story of 2 lovebirds, a match in heaven.
Only love and patience could survive a rift between lovers, plus a lot of prayers and God's will will love perseveres
Now a wind of change comes their way. ... a third person in the picture causes turbulence in paradise
Only love and patience could survive a rift between lovers, plus a lot of prayers and God's will will love perseveres
Maxwell Hill - Bukit Larut experience
Since the weekend has got an extra 2 days because of the Sultan's birthday we hoarded the bus, spent a night in Ipoh and took mak nun along with us to Bukit Larut in Taiping. it was a 30 minutes hair-rising experience on the 4wheel drive and i arrived on top of the hill feeling tipsy headed. not helping was aiza's and my motion-sickness! aiza nearly vomitted but the Piriton helped a lot.
Honey, i really envy you! not a trace of giddiness....
At the foot of one of the chalets, near the tulip garden. in the background are the lavender bushes.
it was 5.30 in the afternoon and it was misty. we had hot chocolates at the cafe.
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