The wedding was simple but splendidly magnificent. Today, I attended a wedding of my senior, Azrina from back in my Paris days. The beauty of the wedding was how it became a little congregation of ex-Paris-diplomats... and how I reunited with friends from the times I spent there for a quarter of my life. It was amazing how many still looked the same after all these years and everything seemed to fall into place and pick up from where things were left off. The sense of belonging was unmistakenly there.
Sometimes, I guess when you are away from family, you tend to make the best of what you have. When you don't have family around, friends are immediate alternatives. It probably explains how even after a decade, things just fall back into pace, almost naturally.
The montage they created was sweet. Pictures of cute kiddy days to touching poems of what they think and expect of each other in the marriage. I smiled, because the cute Kak Azrina in the montage was the Kak Azrina I knew and came to love. I sat in front with my parents, somehow stuck among Datuks & Tan Sri's who were given the honour to merenjis. The bride looked blissfully happy, not to mention gorgeous. She caught my eye from where she sat bersanding and smiled, I came over to her later while she was eating and we hugged and kissed. Can't believe she's now married.
I was genuinely excited seeing everybody after all these years. I kept getting comments on how different I looked. I mean heck, be specific, do I look cuter or what??? :p
I came home feeling a part of me, complete. That I still have what I thought I lost.
A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person. --Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic's Notebook, 1966
Sometimes, I guess when you are away from family, you tend to make the best of what you have. When you don't have family around, friends are immediate alternatives. It probably explains how even after a decade, things just fall back into pace, almost naturally.
The montage they created was sweet. Pictures of cute kiddy days to touching poems of what they think and expect of each other in the marriage. I smiled, because the cute Kak Azrina in the montage was the Kak Azrina I knew and came to love. I sat in front with my parents, somehow stuck among Datuks & Tan Sri's who were given the honour to merenjis. The bride looked blissfully happy, not to mention gorgeous. She caught my eye from where she sat bersanding and smiled, I came over to her later while she was eating and we hugged and kissed. Can't believe she's now married.
I was genuinely excited seeing everybody after all these years. I kept getting comments on how different I looked. I mean heck, be specific, do I look cuter or what??? :p
I came home feeling a part of me, complete. That I still have what I thought I lost.
A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person. --Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic's Notebook, 1966
Ramadhan is over but I can't seem to believe it... coz I keep hesitating to pick my nose. Getting the hang of it though.
Anyone heard of the painkiller Vioxx? I used to be on it a few months ago but never finished my dose, it didn't work for me anyway. Apparently, rumour has it that it could cause heart attacks and strokes even before it was released. Damn! Good thing I gave up on it. Haha.
I wonder why you can always read a doctor's bill and you can never read his prescription. --Finley Peter Dunne
Being relatively human(hee!), I guess we always try to see the bright side of things, hence the silver lining. The reason being, we were brought up to know that when a certain challenge meets, there's always a hikmah behind it. Of course, you don't see it then and there because it's not something that comes knocking at your door introducing itself and greets you at your feet... but unconsciously, things will sooner or later compensate.
It applies to people too. We want to see the good side of people, discriminating any form of negativity they do or might possess. We give people leeways and make ourselves content as to give them the benefit of the doubt, especially if it involves a friend. Maybe it's in our culture, maybe we are very accepting people. I mean, waking up on the wrong side of the bed already spoils your day, why further spoil it? I have bad tudung days too.
I guess we're humans that way. We hope and expect goodness out of people. We set a certain standard to types of people we want to make friends with. Like one day, someone tells you, "Eh you tau tak, dia tu kan... lala lala laaa!" Some may take things at face value, some investigate, some just shrug it off. Or another would be the Sh*rifah A*ni case. When truth prevails and things are actually opposite of what we initially thought of her or any other person for that matter... especially if our initial assumption was a good one, respect is lost. There's always pros and cons. At the end of the day, it all goes down to acceptance.
You know the 'You Are My Sunshine' song? We all do, don't we? But we only know the happy verse. The one that is sung along everywhere, translated into so many languages. I don't know if many know the full version... but it's actually a sad song. There's a part that goes...
You told me once, dear, you really loved me,
And no one else could come between,
But now you've left me and love another,
You have shattered all my dreams...
"Look on the bright side..."
When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. --Franklin D. Roosevelt
Ramadhan this year has got to be the fastest one I've ever experienced. Maybe because I was going through a short semester and being busy with classes and all got me pretty occupied. Saturday morning before Raya, my mom, aunt and I were down in the kitchen filling in ketupat sarungs with beras and chopping kilos and kilos of meat to make rendang. Try sitting down for hours cutting those and you'll get what I mean. I had a sore back after that.
Raya was festive, just like every other Raya I've had in my hometown in Melaka. Food was ample, lotsa people came... especially kids making their rounds of collecting duit raya. We had rendang, ketupat, lemang, kuah kacang, sambal lodeh, kurmak and the likes. I must've consumed a generous amount of rounds of all those.
But Raya for me this time was put to a halt when I sadly had to make an early leave to resume hitting the books for my finals next week. At this very moment, my parents and brothers are probably still having a blast raya-ing with the rest of my extended family. Ah well, sacrifices have to be made. Just a few more days and hey, I'm back to celebrating and stuffing myself again!
The above pictures are snaps of my late paternal grandparents' house. It doesn't look very kampung-ish does it? It used to be, really. I should've taken snaps of my late maternal grandparents' place which looks more kampung-like but since most of my time was not spent there, I naturally forgot.
Anyway, to those who sent in lovely, humorous, thoughtful SMS-es to which I didn't have the luxury in replying to all, thank you very much. Salam Aidilfitri from me and have a good Syawal!
Raya was festive, just like every other Raya I've had in my hometown in Melaka. Food was ample, lotsa people came... especially kids making their rounds of collecting duit raya. We had rendang, ketupat, lemang, kuah kacang, sambal lodeh, kurmak and the likes. I must've consumed a generous amount of rounds of all those.
But Raya for me this time was put to a halt when I sadly had to make an early leave to resume hitting the books for my finals next week. At this very moment, my parents and brothers are probably still having a blast raya-ing with the rest of my extended family. Ah well, sacrifices have to be made. Just a few more days and hey, I'm back to celebrating and stuffing myself again!
The above pictures are snaps of my late paternal grandparents' house. It doesn't look very kampung-ish does it? It used to be, really. I should've taken snaps of my late maternal grandparents' place which looks more kampung-like but since most of my time was not spent there, I naturally forgot.
Anyway, to those who sent in lovely, humorous, thoughtful SMS-es to which I didn't have the luxury in replying to all, thank you very much. Salam Aidilfitri from me and have a good Syawal!
Waiting in the car in the heavy rain while my brother went to buy his cravings, I saw this old Chinese couple about to cross the street. My guess would be both were no less than 70. The lady walked with one of those walking sticks that branched into four at the end for stability while the husband seemed to be of better health. What caught my eye was how the husband lovingly held his wife's arm and led her across the street, all the time with a genuine smile on his face. It was as if it was a responsibility he loved doing most. I wonder how many of us would still be as loving and caring at that age?
Yesterday morning, I was awoken by my brother's phonecall. "Kaklong! I got 5A's." I said, "Heyyyyy congratulations!!!" with much enthusiasm... and went back to sleep. You see, it's not that I'm not excited of his success but everyone sort of expected it. Him getting 5A's was something that we all assumed would come in naturally. His school emerged best in the Federal Territory with 94 out of 186 scoring a perfect string of A's. In the top 2 classes which was streamed since the beginning of the year, out of 80, 79 achieved 5A's. Crazy smart asseslah kids these days.
Speaking of Raya, my Raya cards boleh kira dengan 2 jari. Hahah. I guess most of us have resorted to the hi-tech way of wishing friends and family. Instead of the traditional way of sending out Raya cards, people have succumbed to SMS-ing and instant messaging. Not only does it save time and trouble but it's prompt and well... you get a Raya wish back, no? Hehe.
Anyway, in case this is my last entry before I go off to hometown on Friday, I would like to take this golden opportunity to wish everyone a glorious Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Maaf Zahir & Batin for all non-intended wrongdoings and uhmm... perhaps intended ones too. Heheh. God bless!!!
Yesterday morning, I was awoken by my brother's phonecall. "Kaklong! I got 5A's." I said, "Heyyyyy congratulations!!!" with much enthusiasm... and went back to sleep. You see, it's not that I'm not excited of his success but everyone sort of expected it. Him getting 5A's was something that we all assumed would come in naturally. His school emerged best in the Federal Territory with 94 out of 186 scoring a perfect string of A's. In the top 2 classes which was streamed since the beginning of the year, out of 80, 79 achieved 5A's. Crazy smart asseslah kids these days.
Speaking of Raya, my Raya cards boleh kira dengan 2 jari. Hahah. I guess most of us have resorted to the hi-tech way of wishing friends and family. Instead of the traditional way of sending out Raya cards, people have succumbed to SMS-ing and instant messaging. Not only does it save time and trouble but it's prompt and well... you get a Raya wish back, no? Hehe.
Anyway, in case this is my last entry before I go off to hometown on Friday, I would like to take this golden opportunity to wish everyone a glorious Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Maaf Zahir & Batin for all non-intended wrongdoings and uhmm... perhaps intended ones too. Heheh. God bless!!!
Yesterday while queueing up by the cashier, I came across a father and son who were standing right behing me in the line. The little kid, who was no more than 5 had caught his eye on a pair of shoes and was nagging his dad to get them for him. Below is an excerp of what I managed to hear while trying hard to contain myself from laughing.
Kid : Ayahhh!! Nak beli kasut niiii! (while shoving a box of shoes to his dad.)
Dad : Semalam kan baru je beli kasut, kasut apa lagi?
Kid : Dah kecikkkkk, sempit laaa.
Dad : Aik?? Baru semalam beli dah kecik? Banyak la songeh.
And the kid continued nagging... After a while, he complained of being thirsty.
Kid : Ayah, hauslaa. Beli la airrrrr.
Dad : Mana ada air kat sini. Nak air, baju ni tak payah beli ok?
Kid : Lepas bayar belila air, ehhh yahh???
Dad : Tu pili bomba ada.
Haha. Obviously the kid didn't get his dad's sarcasm and further asked of 'bombas'.
Also while queueing, another dad was chasing after his toddler. Chasing and smiling at the same time, I heard him heave, "Penatlah bawak budak-budak nih," and disappeared behind racks of clothes to retrieve his kid.
My mom and I exchanged meaningful glances and smiled.
Any man can be a father. It takes someone special to be a dad. --Author Unknown
Kid : Ayahhh!! Nak beli kasut niiii! (while shoving a box of shoes to his dad.)
Dad : Semalam kan baru je beli kasut, kasut apa lagi?
Kid : Dah kecikkkkk, sempit laaa.
Dad : Aik?? Baru semalam beli dah kecik? Banyak la songeh.
And the kid continued nagging... After a while, he complained of being thirsty.
Kid : Ayah, hauslaa. Beli la airrrrr.
Dad : Mana ada air kat sini. Nak air, baju ni tak payah beli ok?
Kid : Lepas bayar belila air, ehhh yahh???
Dad : Tu pili bomba ada.
Haha. Obviously the kid didn't get his dad's sarcasm and further asked of 'bombas'.
Also while queueing, another dad was chasing after his toddler. Chasing and smiling at the same time, I heard him heave, "Penatlah bawak budak-budak nih," and disappeared behind racks of clothes to retrieve his kid.
My mom and I exchanged meaningful glances and smiled.
Any man can be a father. It takes someone special to be a dad. --Author Unknown
Ramadhan has always been a time to reflect and repent the past. You try to double up on your good deeds struggling to cover up for all those sins you've purposely(or not) committed. I have always wondered why it seems so hard to revert to the better(to which we all were at some point). People ask why havent you this, why haven't you that. Some people say, "belum sampai seru" or "belum ready lagi". But what if God takes your life away the next day? Will you be ready to face The Day of Judgement just because you put off all those years procrastinating? One thing I know for sure, He won't wait for us to be ready. Definitely a reminder to yours truly as well.
It's so hard to instill in myself that life is momentary. That everything made known to me(AND you) will sooner or later disappear in a snap. We are all so used to the comfort and illusions life has brought us that we occasionally forget our main mission here. And what have we got to bring with us 'there'? Definitely not the beaming Merce or the mega mansion. Scary ain't it? For all there is to it, this might be our last Ramadhan. Let's just hope the remaining of this holy month will be a fruitful one and to be made continuous, insyaAllah.
"Satan runs in the circulatory system of the son of Adam in the same way blood circulates in our system; so tighten his passages with hunger." (Bukhari/Muslim)
It's so hard to instill in myself that life is momentary. That everything made known to me(AND you) will sooner or later disappear in a snap. We are all so used to the comfort and illusions life has brought us that we occasionally forget our main mission here. And what have we got to bring with us 'there'? Definitely not the beaming Merce or the mega mansion. Scary ain't it? For all there is to it, this might be our last Ramadhan. Let's just hope the remaining of this holy month will be a fruitful one and to be made continuous, insyaAllah.
"Satan runs in the circulatory system of the son of Adam in the same way blood circulates in our system; so tighten his passages with hunger." (Bukhari/Muslim)
