Sea horse

A couple of nights ago I was chilling with my niece on the bed, doing nothing. Well actually she was reading her story book and I was doing nothing. Then she looked at me and asked me a riddle.

-Mak Long why is a sea horse not in the ocean?
-I don't know. Why not?
-Because it lives in the sea. Hahahahahah. Isn't that funny?
-Aina why do you say it's funny when nobody else is laughing?
-Ohhhh...hmmmm...

(in pensive mode...reflecting...thinking...but only for a few seconds)

-You know what Mak Long?
-What?
-I'm not the one who's not funny...you're the one who cannot laugh...heheheh...kan Mak Long kan? Kuchi kuchi!

In the real adult world, we can see this in two ways:
1) We always see things in our own perspective. Try putting yourself in someone else's shoes.
2) Dalam dunia ni engkau je ke yang betul? Orang lain semuanya salah? (I wonder if my niece thinks so of me.....)

Have a good weekend everyone! :)

Sotong

On my way to work this morning I was driving along the road where you have the TTDI Plaza on the left (I'm terrible with road names) when I saw through my rear view mirror a familiar looking car. The driver seemed to be waving at me frantically. He was also sneezing.

I looked through the mirror again. He was still waving at me. As if he's telling me to pull over. Saya dah mula risau. Apa lagi yang dah kena kopak dari kereta aku ni? Hari tu boot kereta. Entah-entah I've been driving around without my car bumper without me even realizing it. Which is something that is not entirely impossible as I have been known to be very "lost" at times. Orang Perancis kata "être dans la lune" or "berada di atas bulan". Bulan apa pun entahlah. Bulan mengambang tak jadi kot.

But this time it was the other driver who was acting strange. Waving around. Seperti seekor sotong kurita yang sedang melambai-lambaikan tentakelnya ke kiri dan ke kanan, meminta tolong dilepaskan dari akuariumnya. Dan saya pun melambai-lambai kembali kepadanya.

I pulled to the side, and so did he. He came out of his car and walked towards mine.

-Are you okay Yati?
-Yeah. I'm okay. I saw you waving at me so I pulled to the side.
-Well I saw YOU waving at me. So I thought you were having car problems.

So as you can see, the blur sotong situation has reached critical stage.

-Yang you panggil-panggil I tu kenapa?
-Oi Cik Kak. I was trying to halau nyamuk dalam kereta. Lepas tu bersin sebab banyak habuk.

OH.

Aisey. Ingatkan kau lambai kat aku.

All the other cars slowed down to watch this mini argument.

Urgh. I hate sotongs. Except when they are cooked in sambal for my nasi lemak kukus.

Comparative and superlative

When I first started working in MFI, I taught English because the first batch of students didn't start learning French until the second semester. At that time the syllabus was more centered around basic grammar before brushing up on their writing and speaking skills.

One day we did a lesson on forming comparative and superlative adjectives. We discussed the different ways of constructing them, by adding -er/-est, ier/iest or more/most. Then after that naturally came the drilling exercises.

As I went around the class to check their work, two students (I shall call them X and Y) put up their hands to ask me something. They were having an argument and wanted to verify with me.

-Yes, gentlemen, how can I help you?
-Ni ha, madam, si X ni, dia tanya kalau untuk popular kita tambah apa. Saya cakap tambah -er. Jadi popularer. Dia kata salah.
-Ohh...ok. Well that is the wrong answer.

Student X was happy to hear my reply.
-See? I tell you? I tell you what?

Then student Y turned to me and asked:
-Habis tu madam apa yang betulnya?

Before I could say anything, student X quickly added:
-Ek elehh...apalah bongok ko ni. Bukan popularer. Popularier. Tambah -ier.

-Kan madam kan?

Cute. My cute little students. :)

R&R

Last weekend was spent having the much needed R&R (yang kalau boleh mahu dilakukan sentiasa).

A good friend treated herself and I both to a night's stay in Mariott Putrajaya (thanks babe) . On Saturday after class we drove there with one simple thought in mind: to become an amoeba and do nothing else! Just plonk ourselves onto the heavenly mattress and vegetate in front of the giant telly. Yang penat cuma ibu jari akibat menekan butang alat kawalan jauh dalam usaha untuk cuba mencari stesyen TV yang menyiarkan rancangan menarik. Vision Four mostly showed B-grade movies. It was either about a serial rapist, a dangerous but paranoid stalker, or a killer on a rampage.

The next day was body pampering day. It started off with a full body aromatherapy massage at the Martha Tilaar Dewi Sri Spa. Again, I have to thank another good friend for this treat. The therapist asked me which blend of essential oils I prefer: Love? Relaxing? Pain-relief? Anti-cellulite?

Of course I chose the Love blend! Aku perlu mencari semula cinta yang hilang! Heheheh.

Well anyway after that it was off to Mid Valley, then to PJ for some threading and we finally ended the day with a good foot reflexology massage. Sampai rumah terus rasa nak tidur.

I feel blessed and lucky to have friends and family who shower me with love and support. I thank God for every minute that they are around with me. At times of sadness, when you're feeling down, nothing is a better pick-me-up than sharing good moments with the ones you know will always be there for you.

You have two options: either to keep moping around feeling like it's the end of the world, or do something about it and turn the negative energy into something worthwhile.

Yup. Move on. You have your family, your friends, your independence, your faith in the knowledge that everything happens for a reason. There is so much to look forward to. Don't get yourself pulled into the dark world of pessimism. Think happy thoughts! Learn to trust and love again.

Jangan jadi seperti stalker di dalam filem gred B di rangkaian televisyen Vision Four itu. When you live in paranoia, you bring misery not only to yourself but to the people around you. Not to mention muka jadi cepat tua sebab asyik marah-marah dan fikir yang bukan-bukan.

But then again if you do need to stalk my blog, click on the ads if you see any okay. At least I get something out of feeding your fear and distrust.

P/S: Banyak tu nak kena baca.

Cheers! :)

Kisah teladan #1

Once I went on a vacation to Holland with a few friends. For two weeks, we rented a car and drove all over the country. We didn't really have a specific plan. We sort of pinpointed the towns we wanted to visit and once we arrived there, all we had to do was explore. Many houses provided B&B facilities so lodging was never a problem. Well come to think of it some of the most beautiful places we discovered in that country was purely by chance when we got lost. Like the Isle of Kaag. Google Image it and you'll see. It's such a gem.

One afternoon we were having lunch in a restaurant in one of the towns. I can't remember which one. We sat outside to enjoy the view of the buildings around us and also to eyeball all the passers-by. Orang Belanda ni ramai yang tinggi-tinggi. Tak kira lelaki mahupun perempuan. And many of them were taller than I. That made me feel right at home. Nobody staring at you for being this freakishly tall long-limbed girl walking clumsily around the shopping mall. In fact here in Holland if you're, say, 5 feet tall, with short stumpy legs, saya nasihatkan duduk rumah je la because the Dutch people might just grab you and make you their garden gnome. Oh yes. Another wonderful thing to see in Holland is their love and pride for their gardens and greens.

Well anyway back to the lunch story. Sedang kami asyik makan tengahari dan menikmati pemandangan, kami dikejutkan dengan suara orang-orang bercakap di dalam Bahasa Inggeris yang bertelo Melayu. Cepat-cepat saya beritahu kawan saya, "Eh let's speak in French so that they won't know we're from Malaysia too. Leceh la nanti nak kena berborak-borak dengan depa."

True enough the minute they saw us they started staring to see if we were also from Malaysia Tanahair Tercinta. Jadi kami pun bercakap-cakaplah dalam Bahasa Perancis. Konon menyamar. Cakap punya cakap gelak punya gelak saya ter"lebih uja" (is that how you translate over excited?) dan terhantuk kepala di tiang bersegi di belakang saya. Sakitnya bukan main.

"ADOI!!!"

Hence my cover-up was exposed.

The moral of the story?

Ko kalau dah Jawa tu Jawa jugaklah. Sedar diri tu sikit. :)

Ngeh ngeh ngeh.

20.10.2010

Today on FB many of my friends have mentioned this date as "nombor cantik". For me it's just a number but it got me thinking. What did I do during this day the past couple of years?

So just now I checked my phone calendar and office organizer. It seems that on 20.10.2008 I had class during the day and dinner with my girlfriends in the evening Most probably after doing a dance class at the gym in the hopes of trying to shed off the kilos I piled on during Hari Raya Aidilfitri. I think on that day we were still in the month of Syawal, so I am guessing that I might have gone a little overboard with the food consumption.

On 20.10.2009 I also had class (tugas hakiki will always be tugas hakiki) and at night I went to the local music shop to inquire about piano lessons. Now that I remember I'm cringing a little because I stopped going for piano lessons after only 6 months of classes. My piano teacher gave up on me after two polite phone call reminders and she has accepted the fact that I enthusiastically took up lessons in the beginning simply because they were having a grand sale at Yamaha Music in Kelana Jaya when I bought my electric piano and its price was super marked down. Plus I just got paid for some translation job. Plus the lessons were also paid by a friend as a belated birthday gift.

So today, on 20.10.2010, I don't foresee anything special. I have a class in awhile, in the afternoon I might have to go to the workshop for some car check-up. Oh yes and wish happy birthday to a few friends who were born on this day many moons ago.

Dan buat apa lagi ye? Maybe buy a pink guitar and take up guitar lessons pulak? :)

Kejadian di farmasi

Last week I went to the pharmacy to buy some stuff and at the cashier, while waiting for my turn to pay, I thought of buying some mint candies as well. But that meant leaving my queue for awhile. Tapi tak payah sebenarnya cos usually they put all the candies and sweets and lozenges right in front of the cashier and if your hands are long enough you can grab some while in line.

Well anyway I was about to get those candies when a little kid (maybe around 6 years old at the most) came and stood right in front of the shelf. Exactly at the spot where they had the mint candies. So I politely asked the boy to move a little to the side, just for awhile, so that I can pick and choose and get back to my queue.

Anak mat salleh tu just ignored me.

OK. Takpe.

I tapped on his shoulder lightly and said again, "Excuse me, can you move a bit please? I need to get those mint candies."

Then he looked up at me and said, "Lady, you can suck my dick."

HUH? I was so shocked that my jaw literally dropped for a few seconds. Literally. And I actually looked around the pharmacy to see if this was some kind of hidden camera prank or something. I just couldn't imagine a kid with such a cherubic face saying that to a grown up. And I was too gobsmacked to think of a reply. Takkan nak cari gaduh dengan budak kecik ? You pick someone your own size lah kan.

Anyway his mom saved the day by calling him from outside to leave.

No, seriously, you call that a dick? A silly willy maybe, or a wriggly tadpole, but a dick? That little kid's got guts.