The confession of an alter ego

It has been a month (…plus) since my last confession… So for the purpose of catching up, here is a not-so-detailed account of last month’s happenings.

Pameran Kegemilangan Tamadun Islam: Sains Islam Mendahului Zaman
The Pameran, which was held at KLCC, occupied all of my free and working time from 8th January to 14th February… KLCC became a second home to me…That, and the ERL and LRT station… But I made a lot acquaintance as well as potential enemies… It was a good experience as a whole… But it wasn’t that “good” while it was going on…

Valentine’s Day
This time last year, I was in a kayak - with Kayak 59, navigating our way around Pulau Pangkor. It was a blast and the beginning of a beautiful friendship (or maybe an unholy alliance… whatever). I had a nostalgic moment for about 5 minutes, but then had to get back to the Pameran…

The Job
I was transferred to a new Unit, effective 2nd February. Now I’m part of the Development & Procurement Division. If there is one Division that is most abhorred by others, it is mine… So ladies and gentleman, I have officially gone to the dark side…

Maybe this entry is a bit late. But Day One of a resolution need not be on the 1st of January right? I’m not a person who regularly has resolutions anyway, being a pessimist and a procrastinator, but one can hope for attainable annual target (once in a while) or at least aspire to have one, at least. It’s much like a key performance index, but solely for my own self-interest and satisfaction. Yay!!!

So, what will it be this year? I think it’s going to be recycled from previous unattained targets. A collection of things I have always dreamt of doing/being and never quite been able to. Of course there are new items to add onto the list, which I have discovered through interactions with other people, and this Little-Miss-Envy can’t help but want it too. Hmmm… So here goes… This is my wish-list/resolution for the year 2007:

1. Brush up on my “other” languages.
2. Learn to swim…

Again? I’ve wanted to do this for ages and DPA temporarily got my hopes up, and then it fizzled out.

3. Get fit…
Join a gym or take dance lessons maybe…hehehe…

4. Learn to sew…properly.
As in make something that I could wear… In public… With no possibility of wardrobe malfunction… I blame this on Project Runway by the way…

5. Be more meticulous at work…
People make mistakes at work. But why am I particularly susceptible at making calculation mistakes or spelling errors or am I just plain cuai?

6. Dress better…
Will present a more immaculate image of me. No-nonsense-professional-woman-with-supercool-outfits. AND with the heart of gold…of course.

7. Go white-water rafting…
Have been dawdling for a while. Yeesh!!! And it’s not that expensive either…

8. Be comfortable in my own skin…
If you know what I mean….

9. Get a confirmation as a civil servant and pass my PTK exams
…so I can get a raise or whatever it is that I get if I pass…

There are plenty more, but I can’t write them all down as it’d cause great embarrassment if I fail to achieve even a smidgen of it. Not that I’ll achieve all the other ones lah kan… But one can always hope…

So I shall be evaluating the success (or lack-thereof) of my 2007 Resolutions on the 28th January 2008. Ciao!!!

What one experiences as a child is bound to impact one’s adult life, or so people say. I can’t say that my childhood is far from the norm, because what is normal anyway? Then again, I don’t think I had a typical upbringing compared to what children my age were going through at that time. Or maybe I’m just perasan… 

Growing up, my sisters and I didn’t have a lot of toys. I think in total I had one Teddy Bear (Bubu from Hanna-Barbera cartoon), a stuffed E.T and a pink plastic doll (with a head that I made detachable). That was it!

Most of the time when we went out, Ayah or Mama would take us to a bookshop and let us choose a book each, for us to read at home. At the time there was no such thing as Kinokuniya and MPH was just starting to spread their wings. We’d go to Pustaka Minerva at Jalan TAR or some random bookstore at Sungei Wang for our supplies. If an outing wasn’t scheduled, Mama would drive us to the library and leave us there for a few hours and made sure we borrow some books. That’s why we love reading. We used to pore over books for hours, which Mama wasn’t very happy about it since none of us would be helping her at housework. Oh well…

Compared to Mama, Ayah’s a bit… Hmmm… Off tangent, maybe… Here are just some of the crazy things Ayah had come up with when we were kids, just to freak us out…

Ayah: If your mum and I were to split up, who would you want live with?
This question came up after he bought a vacuum cleaner for the house

Ayah: If any of you were kidnapped, I’m not going to pay for your ransom…
This came out randomly while we were watching TV at home

Ayah: Those mists that you see over the forest’s surface is actually from soldiers’ cigarettes
He said this as we were driving to Gopeng. We only found out much later what ‘mist’ was…

During my 2nd Year University, I bought a computer. Being jahil IT, I left everything to him. So when he was done setting up everything, he said:

Ayah: I’ve taken out all the entertainment and games things from your PC, so you wouldn’t be distracted. So there’s absolutely no need for you to be looking for them. OK

Me: Uh… OK

My friends were really disappointed when I told them this, because I was the only one with a PC and they wanted to watch CDs and whatnot… Well… I only found out a year later (thanks to an interfering friend) that all those things were still available in my PC…

Ayah saya memang bagus… Hahahahaha…. Blergh….

What was supposed to be a one-week event has now been extended to one month. Ergh… So now I have to be in KLCC every other weekday as well as all weekends!!! From 10 am-10 pm, I might add. Hmmph!

I blame the government for my lack of social life. But that’s another story.

Being busy does help though. I didn’t even have time to think about the gentleman from the previous post. All I can say is, all the best to him.

The phone rang. Twice. And then it stopped.

I looked at the caller ID. It was him. Calling me. Out of the blue.

The last time I spoke to him was at that closing dinner, five months ago. The last time I saw him was after the rehearsal, 3 months ago. And then silence…

I was curious… So I sent him an sms…

Me: Did you call me?… Or did you accidentally press the wrong button… heh

Humour. It lifts the mood and averts the obvious.

Him: Yes, I called… But I didn’t know what to say…

Strange… The whole time I’ve known him, he always seems to know what to say… But then again, we had never spoken over the phone or sent message to each other before. All our interactions have always been in person… Face to face… In the flesh…

Me: Hello would be a good start… I was at your home town last week. I thought of calling you… But I didn’t… Weird huh?

Weird? Yes… Boy was I tempted to call him up… “Hey! I’m in town! Fancy hanging out? Go ikan bakar or something.” But my good judgment got the best of me, and I refrained… It’s better not to tempt fate…

Then he called me…again.

I picked up the phone…

We spoke…

I am not a person who is easily impressed… A discovery of someone’s spectacular ability (especially if it’s in something I lack) would normally induce me into a fit of envy… But he managed to do that without a trace of resentment on my side.

Thus I was appalled when I discovered the truth about him… All this while, I thought…

Never mind what I thought! What was HE thinking?!!! It wouldn’t have been so bad if he had told the truth… Even the slightest bit…

But to take credit for something he didn’t do… Well, that’s just low, even for him… I don’t care if he has good intention… He should have given credit where credit is due…

Note:

1.    I was so livid yesterday that on my way home, I missed the junction to Dengkil… All of a sudden I found myself driving towards Bandar Salak Tinggi… Deng!!!
2.    The identity of this person shall be kept anonymous.

A conversation in the car on the way to KL

Me: Yah! I need a “cari makan” song lah… Just in case I have to do impromptu karaoke session… Y’know PTD style…. Got suggestion?

Ayah: So cari lah lagu senang… Low notes ke… Or lagu lama…

Me: But I can’t sing to save my life… I can only hum… Itu pun with limited range…

Ayah: Ha! Try lagu nih…

…. At the time Paris Hilton’s Stars Are Blind was playing… So I sang lah…
Moments later…

Ayah: I guess you really can’t sing huh?

Me: <Deng!!>

Ayah: But you’ve got Happy Feet….

Me: <Nice save Dad…>

This is what happened…

Me: Madam, may I take my thumb-drive back. I just have to save some data for my boss…

H: Huh?! How come you didn’t prepare enough equipment?!! I’m writing a speech for the Boss lah!

Me: Maybe you can save that on the desktop…

H: Kenapa tak bawak cukup laptop?!! Tak pikir ke?!

Me: Actually we brought three laptops…

H: Three laptops pun tak cukup ke?!!… Nah lah… Kalau hilang speech ni, you duduk sini taip tau!!!

Me: Thank you…

This is what should have happened…

…

H: Three laptops pun tak cukup ke?!!… Nah lah… Kalau hilang speech ni, you duduk sini taip tau!!!

Me: Actually we brought enough laptop for us to use. By “us”, I didn’t mean you and your drones…  May I suggest using your own laptop the next time there’s a need for you to do last minute work…? Oh wait! You don’t have a laptop… Okay, maybe a thumb-drive…  What..? You’ve lost that too… Hmmm… So let’s try being polite when you’re borrowing stuffs from other people, instead of biting their head off!!! Everyone’s stressed today… You’re not that special…

Note: If Scene 2 had transpired, it would have been a 24-hour transfer instruction for me…

On Friday, before I left the office, I was told to be on standby the next day, just in case we would have to go to PWTC for a meeting with JJ, bearing in mind that I just arrived from Rompin that morning. So this is an account of Saturday’s event.

3:00    Received a telephone call from my boss. We have to be in PWTC by 7:30

5:00    Left the house to go to ERL station.

5:45    Arrived at ERL station. Bought a ticket and waited for the train

6:00    Received phone call from another boss, and told to go to the office instead. So had to leave station. ERL ticket was un-refundable.

6:15    Arrived at the office and started work on the press-kit for Monday’s event

9:15    Was slightly hungry, so made a phone call to Nescafe Shake to arrange for supper or something. Turns out Nescafe Shake’s in Terengganu. Bloody Monsoon Cup!! Hmmph!!!

9:30    Lights out!!! The whole section was dark except for the exit

9:32    Fumbling at the desk trying to clear up as quickly as possible. Was alone in the section. Horror story flickered in my mind.

9:35    In the car and happily driving away from the building

9:37    Was approaching the gate when realized something was amiss. Looked down at my feet. Aiya!!! Was wearing selipar jepun… Had left my beautiful shoes at my cubicle.

9:38    To u-turn or not to u-turn?

9:38.5    U-turn

9:45    Shoes safe and sound in the car. Owner was hungry, but was comforted with the fact that she would not have to miss Gilmore Girls.

With Samson’s Kenangan Terindah in the background, I have the sudden urge to be nostalgic. I know… I’ve promised myself to stop dwelling in the past… Not that I have a lot of past or Kenangan Terindah to dwell on, but there you go…

You know how some songs, sound or even smell can trigger off a memory of the past… Well, let’s just say I’ve been pretty trigger happy these past few days…

The smell of the carpet at a hotel I stayed in last week, reminded me of England. Cold, wet but just nice…

A gathering with the surrogate siblings took me back to the DPA days. I know… It’s lame… DPA was just a few months ago… Too short to reminisce about, you might say, but for me…? Hmmm… It was fun though. I actually got to meet the in-laws and future in-laws… Oh yes! Not to forget the surrogate nephews and niece… Thank you Kakak Cool for bearing with us, your rowdy siblings.

Adik Gedik is getting married this Sunday. I was chuffed that he actually gave me/us a card, because he said that he’d only invite us via email… But let us not overlook the fact that he managed to spell my name wrong… Hmmph… Then again he also spelt Abang Beautiful’s name incorrectly… Boy, did HE pull a face!!

The beginning of my acquaintance with Adik Gedik was far from cordial. Let’s just say he witnessed me at my most ulnerable and helpless moment, and drew inspiration from it by taking every opportunity for re-enactment (again and again). Entertaining to those who were not present, but humiliating to yours truly. Furious was an understatement… I was livid and I hated the sight (and sound) of him.

I thought that it would die down, and be forgotten within a few days of returning from that outdoor module… Boy was I wrong… But, when he insisted sitting next to me during 2-weeks of IT, despite my obvious displeasure and continuous refusal, another side of Adik Gedik was revealed. He is actually a dependable, loyal and trustworthy guy albeit with a larger than life belly persona (not to mention his trademark satanic laugh).

I really should put this in his testimonial, but my ego has a way of inhibiting excessive compliment. Adik Gedik, it is a pleasure to have known you… The craziest guy I have ever met!! Despite the obvious lunacy, the inexplicable act of randomness and a second career as an oriental deity, he is the BOMB!!!