Bantal

Today my dad was transferred to the normal ward from the CICU. The nurses have taken off the catheter and most of the IVs and he has less wires stuck to his chest. But as any other patient who has undergone a heart op, he has his little pillow that he holds close to his chest to make it less painful for him whenever he coughs to get the phlegm out.

During the elevator ride up to the normal surgery ward, my little niece looked at him and remarked, ''Eh eh Tok Ayah pun dah ada bantal busuk macam Aina.''

My dad in CICU

Last Thursday my dad went for an open heart surgery to repair a 1cm leak around his artificial mechanical valve. Syukur Alhamdulillah he made it through the 5 hour operation although he is still at present in the CICU until Monday. Every day we will go and visit him, or rather just wait by his bed and let him sleep. Tak sampai hati nak berborak panjang because he is still so tired from the whole ordeal and needs as much rest as possible to recuperate.

Yesterday during visiting hours when it was my turn to go see him (for the CICU patients they are only allowed one visitor per visit) I just let him rest and did nothing except hang around his bed looking at the beeping monitors and all the green and yellow lines. Macam lah faham kan what all the readings meant. Tapi buat-buat tengok je la. My dad had all the different colored wires stuck to him. One for his heart beat, one for his arterial pressure, another for something else. And at least three IVs as well. So it was best not to wake him up because he will then want to move about to find a more comfortable position. Try lying immobile on a bed for at least one day and you will see how hurtful your bum can be.

When he finally opened his eyes and saw me, he asked if I had been waiting there long. And asked how I was. I told him gently to just carry on sleeping and not mind me. He nodded.

Then he opened his eyes again and beckoned me near. He loosened his oxygen mouth cover and said something intelligible. I bent nearer. Bapak aku ni nak cakap benda apa yang penting sangat ni?

He said again, "Ambik la gambar Papa dalam CICU ni. Tapi Papa tak sempat sikat rambut.''

But the nurses wouldn't allow it. They were afraid the photos might be posted on FB.

Leceh betul lah misi-misi zaman sekarang ni. Semuanya celik IT.

Which floor are you going to?

My dad has been warded in HUKM since last Friday. He is going for a surgery this Thursday so the doctors are now preparing him for it and at the same time still trying to assess if he is fit enough to undergo the two surgeries that he needs to go through: the lung and heart surgery. So everyday I will go visit him during lunch break and after work.

Yesterday as usual after work I headed straight to HUKM. By the time I reached the hospital it was nearly 6pm so it was quite easy for me to look for a parking space. And lagipun tengah hujan lebat so kalau masa-masa hujan lebat ni orangramai tak berapa nak melawat hospital kot. I was even alone at the elevators.

I got into one and pressed the button to go to the 5th floor, where my dad is, in the surgery ward. But the thing is, the lift stopped at every floor and at each time it stopped, the lift doors would open and close and go up. By itself. And every time there would be no one outside who wanted to get into the lift.

So by the time I reached my floor and got out, I wondered how crowded that lift really was with "people". Brrrrr.

Do I know you?

In my bid to reignite my passion and interest for exercising (I have lately taken an extreme liking to lying horizontal with one hand holding the remote control while watching back-to-back series of NCIS and Criminal Minds, no thanks to ch 710) I finally took the final leap and stepped into the gym for the first time in many donkey years. A lot has changed: a complete turn-over of staff, a slight facelift in the decor and new instructors. But alas, less dance classes. Tapi tak apa lah. The fact that I have managed to drag myself into the gym after so long pun deserves a giant pat on the back *uhuk uhuk tersedak jangan la tepuk belakang aku kuat sangat*

After my work-out, at the towel counter to collect my gym card before leaving, I stood beside this cute Chinese looking guy (bermata sepet), waiting patiently to hand over my used towels. He was busy asking questions about his new membership and entah apa-apa lah lagi. I wasn't interested to know because I was quite annoyed with him for taking up too much time and there was only one boy manning the counter (notice the gender bias in the English language with the verb "to man"...is it proper to say a girl manning the counter?)

So I just looked at him with the hope that if he noticed me staring at him he'd shut up and leave.

But instead he looked at me and said, "Hai. Kenal saya?"

And I'm like whoa! ini sudah nak kena go into overdrive ni. 15 tahun punya student database nak kena retrieve bukan senang wo. But to save face I smiled back and say, "Apa khabar?"

He replied, "Khabar baik. Rajin pergi gym ya?"

"Tak rajin lah. Baru nak mula balik. How's work?"

"Good. Boleh la cari makan heheheh."

"Oh OK bagus lah. You dulu course apa ye? I can't seem to recall your face. I'm sorry. I teach so many students."

"Errr...no...you tak pernah ajar saya rasanya..."

"Habis tu kenapa tanya saya kenal awak ke tak?" *in full Cikgu mode*

"Saje la. OK lah saya balik dulu."

And he walked away. And I was left there wondering and confused.

I looked at the towel boy and shrugged my shoulders. He looked at me and laughed.

"Hai akak tak kenal ke? Dia tu kan pelakon drama kat Astro tu? Si polan tu la!"

I use the word polan because even when the boy told me the actor's name it didn't ring a bell and by the time I reached my car outside I'd totally forgotten about it.

Kepada aktor drama bersiri tersebut, saya meminta maaf kerana tidak mengenali anda ketika anda bertanya kepada saya soalan cepumas itu. Please understand. I am just a teacher living in my own little delusional world of teacherdom. If you are a young adult male aged 18-23, you fit right into my student category. You smile at me and I will automatically start thinking: Diploma? Bachelor? Welding? Metal Fabrication? Automotive? Air Conditioning?

I have to start accepting the fact that not every young man wears the green or blue MFI jacket and safety boots. Some are actors. Others work in the gym. The rest either jual VCD at the pasar malam or participate in lumba haram.

Such a bleak outlook towards the youth of today. Can I blame this bad mood on PMS?

My pudgy fingers need time to type

After two weeks of total wipe-out from the blogging world, I have finally resuscitated attempts to at least type out a line or two. But 14 days of intensive sugar/fat/carbo-loading has left my brain quite befuddled. Nak mengeja ''resuscitate'' tu pun aku kena check dengan abang Wiki. But nevertheless I have started to come out of this fuzziness and begin to think that maybe just maybe if I started moving around a bit my brains would actually follow suit and function in full action mode. Dan lagipun kawasan tompokan selulit semakin menular memenuhi seluruh peha dan jika dibiarkan tompokan-tompokan jahat ini akan mengambilalih setiap inci lapisan epidermis ku.

So as a big leap towards self-motivation for physical activities I accompanied my girlfriend to her Muayfit session. Ikut dulu, nanti minggu depan saya pun buatlah. Kumpul semangat ni! And maybe when classes begin next week I might have the courage to stay away from the evil fat and call leafy greens and veggies my best friends.

But as I told my girlfriend during our lunch at KLCC after her work-out session, it's hard to ignore your celullite cells calling out to you for help when you decide to eat sensibly and healthily and include more fibre in your diet.

''Feed me! Feed me! I'm starving here. I need more fat!''. Itulah kata-kata yang sering dilaungkan mereka kepada saya. All these little voices running around in my head, playing havoc with my fitness plans.

And thus I finish the last remaining Portobello mushroom filled rosemary ravioli on my plate and enthuse to my friend, ''Sedap betul dia punya garlic cream sauce kan?''

Salam Aidilfitri buat semua

Bila takbir raya bergema
Hari kemenangan umat berpuasa
Genangan airmata mengusik jiwa
Sepuluh jari saya hulurkan
Ampun maaf dipinta
Selamat hari raya

Andai Ramadan dapat ku tahan
Ingin sekali ku pohon lanjutan
Rasa tak cukup ampunan mu Tuhan
Buat diriku yang tandus amalan
Namun Syawal tanda kemenangan
Rahmat Ya Rabbi untuk setiap insan
Justeru ayuh kita raikan
Dengan doa dan kesyukuran

Turtle Power

Semalam, sempena mengambil kesempatan cuti Hari Kebangsaan, kami sekeluarga telah mengambil keputusan untuk "memerdekakan" Agus, kura-kura air kami yang sudah kami pelihara lebih dari setahun. Kami merasakan yang sudah tiba masanya Agus dilepaskan ke persekitaran yang lebih menyerupai habitat semulajadinya dan kolam di taman berhadapan kompleks membeli-belah One Utama telah dikenalpasti sebagai kawasan sasaran. Kami pun prihatin juga akan kehendak dan kemahuannya. Kalau dia bosan lepak dalam kolam, dia boleh melepak minum espresso doppio di Starbucks.

Ekspedisi ini telah dianggotai 6 orang: ibu saya, adik saya, kawan adik saya, adik ipar saya dan anak buah saya. Dan Agus juga jangan lupa. Misi berlangsung selepas berbuka puasa untuk meminimalisasikan faktor gangguan lain seperti orangramai yang lalu-lalang yang kepochi dan pegawai sekuriti yang mungkin akan mengesyakki yang kami cuba mencuri kura-kura yang sedia ada di dalam kolam 1U itu.

So, on to the real story (with all the info and statistical data provided by a trusted source, my mom)

At first they went to the 1U park to release Agus there but later found out that he wouldn't have a great social life there as all they could see was a baby land turtle hanging around by the the pond. So there was a change of plan and they headed to the Kiara Park where there was one pond that is filled with Agus' peeps. He'd surely be happy swimming around all the other male and female water turtles, and finally have the chance to sample different culinary delights other than the turtle pellets that we feed him every single day from the first day we brought him home. Sometimes the people who come to this park will feed them bread, kangkung, or if they are really lucky burger left-overs. Nah, just kidding. About the bread and kangkung.

So when they arrived there, my brother slowly released him into the pond. Oh I forgot to mention that to honour and remember Agus, we've painted a giant yellow A on his back. With hindsight I think we should've painted A|X instead. Baru nampak macam pakai designer combat t-shirt.

By this time my niece had started to cry. She had opposed this mission from the very beginning, citing ill-treatment and cruelty to domestic animals as the main reason.

Agus slowly waddled into the pond, berenang ke sana ke mari sambil high-five dengan semua yang ada di sekelilingnya. Then he swam back to them and put his head up to stare at my brother. Then he went back to the middle of the pool. But still came back to where my family was waiting. And looked up expectantly. Almost as if he was waiting for his food to be fed to him. Literally, I mean. My dad would patiently feed him the pellets every day. I think he is the "most overly fed and fat but hides it well under the shell" pet water turtle in Taman Tun.

And he kept waiting. His head above the water looking at them. By this time my niece was bawling her eyes out. My brother started crying. My mom jangan cerita la. Tengok iklan ibu dan anak pun boleh nangis. Pendek kata semua yang hadir sedih lah melihat kesayuan di mata Agus. Mungkin dia tahu kenapa dia di letakkan di situ dan mahu merayu meminta jangan dilepaskan. But they had to do what they had to do.

So they turned back and left.



One by one.



With Agus along with them.


I now seriously think that Agus is the fifth unknown Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle member. While the rest have great physical strength, Agus is the one with the mind-bending power. Dia telah berjaya mensaikokan empat orang dewasa dan seorang kanak-kanak untuk percaya yang tempat yang lebih elok untuknya adalah di dalam rumah dan teman-teman sepermainan yang dia perlukan adalah empat ekor kucing dan seekor ikan puyu dan bukan bersama rakan-rakan yang sama spesis dengannya di luar sana. Lagipun nanti kalau hujan boleh pening kepala. Jangan main-main dengan hujan asid ni.

Agus is now happily reunited with his good ole tub at home. When he gets bored, he stares out through the translucent plastic and watch the kittens play.

And from this moment on I shall call him Agustino, the fifth TNMT member alongside Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Rapahael et Donatello. Super A for short.