final week

I went to K-Mart to get some candy canes but the ones that H said were on sale are sold out already. So, I bought 2 butterflies to add to D's xmas tree in the living room. I need to go find something for D the next time I go out. This will be her first time celebrating christmas away from home. She misses home now that all her close friends have balik kampung. I need to put a smile on her face on this quiet summer celebration.

Just in case I don't get back here to write another post before the year ends, Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it.

When it comes to music, the only thing I'm good at is listening to it. I should never attempt anything more than that. D was strumming on her guitar when I told her that I adore people who plays the guitar well and instantly she was very keen on giving me guitar lessons. She asked me to start with a little ukulele. She taught me a few notes and I failed miserably in getting into the right tunes but D is not giving up on me. At least not yet.

*****

People are leaving for holidays and now I'm collecting car keys, none of them are mine. I need to keep an eye on the cars. So dah banyak kereta ni nak naik kereta ke nak naik bas? Naik kereta is easier but naik bas, can cuci mata! Oh, lupa, I didn't write a post on it. Story is... the other day, I terjatuh cinta when I took a bus ride to city. Ok, not cinta lah, a crush, quite a major one because until today I still can vividly recall the stranger's face. Iyer, I had a crush on a stranger who boarded the no.81 bus. He is a much better version of Wentw0rth M1ller, *nod* I said BETTER and botak too! and... to add to his hensemness... as he took his seat, he opened his bag and took out a novel. He reads!!! hati saya tiba-tiba terpaut bila melihat dia membuka dan menyelak helaian mukasurat, khusyuk dengan bacaannya ( ayat!!) [ Ya tuan-tuan, pesanan khidmat masyarakat: membaca itu meningkatkan daya penarik anda. Tetapi tuan-tuan, membaca majalah yang kandungannya hanyalah gambar kaum hawa yang kurang berpakaian tidak termasuk dalam kategori membaca, that's ogling!] .

*****

Today is the final Friday. Come next Friday, I'll have another number added to my age *sigh*.




ubi: ya, saya gerascophobic.



.

can we skip monday?

sugar with your coffee?

.

the odd one out

Tatkala menulis ini, aku masih terdengar jeritan girang mereka
Aku cuma tersenyum, geleng kepala
Ketika mereka membaling telur, menabur tepung, memalit sisa-sisa 'icing' sesama sendiri,
Aku menyelinap keluar ikut pintu belakang
Tak siapa pun sedar aku menghilang
Biarlah mereka bergembira
Kurasakan aku telalu tua untuk itu
Malam dah larut, mataku dah layu
Selamat Hari Jadi, D.

(di saat D lahir, aku dah dapat keputusan UPSR, aku dah bersedia nak masuk sekolah menengah. Tuanya aku bila berada di kalangan mereka)


.

Granny Dumpers

Hari ni, terbaca kat suratkhabar dalam talian, hospital di NZ dah bagi amaran pada Granny Dumpers atau terjemahannya 'pembuang datuk & nenek' agar tidak membuang ibu bapa dan datuk nenek mereka yang dah tua di hospital. Kisahnya, setiap tahun bila musim cuti dah dekat banyak la pulak anak-anak tak tau diuntung ni hantar mak bapak diorang masuk hospital, lepas tu tak jenguk-jenguk sampailah dah habis musim cuti. Sepanjang masa ditinggalkan tu anak-anak keparat tu pergi la melancong cuti-cuti nuzelen ker, cuti-cuti ostolia ke, pusing dunia ke (harapnya tak ada yg buat perangai mcm tu utk pegi haji & umrah)... semua talian telefon tetap atau mudah alih/susah alih semua dimatikan. Jadi sementara anak-anak tu bercuti gembira sakan, mak bapak tu duduk la raya krismas kat hospital. Kejam.

Aku harap sangat di tanahair aku tak ada la yang buat perangai keparat macam tu. Keji ok. Tapi dalam tak nampak tren macam tu, aku rasa ada jugak yang buat, buang saudara yang tua, sakit, uzur, apa lagi kalau sakit mental. Nak dijadikan cerita, bulan Oktober lepas (ketika dia Malaysia) aku beli 'prepaid pack' Celc0m Biru di pasar malam. Dah memang lazimlah nombor telefon mudah alih baru ni kebanyakannya dikitar semula dari nombor-nombor lama yang dah luput. Suatu hari tu, pagi-pagi lagi masa masuk pejabat, tiba-tiba aku dapat panggilan dari nombor tak dikenali,

Hello, ini saya ***** (tak dapat tangkap nama dia), ini saya telefon dari Hospital Bahagia Tanjung Rambutan, ni berkenaan dengan pesakit kita ****** bin ******** (pun tak dapat ingat nama).


Ya encik, encik nak cakap dengan siapa ni?


Ni bukan ke nombor telefon ******** , anak pesakit di sini? nombor telefon 013*******


Nombor tu betul, tapi ni nombor telefon saya baru beli, baru guna. Mungkin orang encik nak contact tu dah tukar nombor.


Oh, dia cuma tinggal nombor ni saja pada kita. Dah cuba nak contact saudara mara pesakit kita ni tak dapat-dapat. Mintak maaf ya cik.

Aku tergelak lepas tu, mungkin kerana aku pun ada stigma, mentertawakan imej hospital mental tanjung rambutan sebagai tempat orang gila. Tapi aku lupa tak ada siapa pun yang sengaja nak masuk hospital jiwa. Tak ada orang sengaja nak jadi gila (unless you've killed someone and pretend that you were insane). Kita yang waras ni pun, confirm ke kita boleh sihat mental sampai bila-bila? Dah lepas gelak baru la aku sedar balik yang aku tak sepatutnya ketawa pasal tu. Kesian pulak kat pesakit tu. Dah la sakit, anak-anak tak lawat. Kalaulah dia sakit tenat ke, meninggal ke, langsung tak dijenguk sampai mati, macam mana?

Semalam pun, masa tengah sarapan pagi dengan lempeng tak sedap tu, aku sayu betul bila melihat nenek-nenek yang berjalan keseorangan beli barang dan sarapan pagi di cafe. Rupanya nenek-nenek ni keluar shopping pagi-pagi, berduyun-duyun warga tua masuk mall masa tu tapi semuanya sendirian, ada pakai tongkat, ada naik shopping scooter, ada yang jalan perlahan-lahan, terketar-ketar. Kesian sungguh. Agaknya tua esok-esok macam tu jugak ke aku? Ada sorang nenek tu siap datang kat meja aku, menyapa, "Good morning my dear, what's the occasion? you both look so pretty today." Aku cerita la kat dia, aku raya hari tu. Kembang la orang dah kata pretty tu kan. Hahaha... Sebenarnya baju kurung pun semua aku dah hantar balik Malaya, pakai pun baju pinjam, nasib baik ade saiz. Mesti diorang ni rasa aku overdress.


Oh, akhir kata , pesanan penaja, sayangi mak bapak pakcik makcik anda yang dah tua.
Kesian. Sekian.

oh goreng lempeng lempeng yang hangus

I missed Eid prayer this morning, yes, today, on Tuesday. Kisahnya sampai dah lambat, sampai masjid orang dah sudah sembahyang & all.... so just patah balik without knowing that they were actually going to perform a second round of prayers for the latecomers. Padan muka, siapa suruh tak tanya!

The photos above are of one same menu- pancake stack - from one same cafe - R0bertHarr1s R1ccart0n, taken at different times over a few years. It used to be my favourite. The last photo was the one that I had this morning (lepas dah gi masjid without performing semayang raya!), the worst pancake I've ever had - both in terms of looks and taste, just the worst. The pancakes were neither light nor fluffy, it was just chewy and soggy, drenched with raspberry sauce & yogurt. Aku rasa nak rotan staff dia yang buat pancake nih. Tobat aku takkan makan kat sini dah.

Eh, kejap, ni maknanya aku tak bersyukur ke? bukan tak bersyukur tau. I paid freaking $14 for that(harga dah naik $2)! kononnya nak celebrate raya lah, dah kat rumah aku tumpang tu aku tak masak apa2 pun. Tup2 macam tu rupa pancakesnye... boleh bad mood akak satu hari tau.





*Oh tajuk di atas tiada kena mengena dengan lempeng tersebut, dia tak hangit.