- week-long journal... in MANJUNG -

monday 12 feb

oiyooo... tired gile, tido kul 5, updatin my mp3 players with, you guessed it, The Donnas, n then tido sikit jam lagi... 6.45 aku bangun balik, mandi got my bags in the car, and we were on the highway to MANJUNG. that didn't sound rite, did it? haih. well, will it be another boring week- long vacance just like last year (where the only time i went out was to the dentist, makan2 tak kira la) or- else? we'll see...

i made up for the hutang tido by sleepin in pa's bureau... die call aku 5 kali suroh bukak pintu.. aku ni tido mati, biasela... even missed lunch, if you believe me lah. then at 6, scrambled home, and along the way, marked improvements are all over my eyes: roads upgraded, schools built (bukan takde skolah, but more new schools le) and... well, lets just say that much-needed progress is being done. and i was kinda impressed with it all. after all, this WAS my hometown for 10 years....

pasar malam was an all-week affair, monday at KDSK, tuesday at sitiawan, wednesday at someplace... you get the picture... KDSK changed, a bit, got my old standby: nasi kerabu with solok lado... hehehe... lotsa beef, lotsa budu n sambal, pegh... (kekadang kalau bulan pose tu rase menggatal nak bukak kat situ jugak) from the only kelantan stall... then met wif alif sabri, d old joker in 5 dyna, the class next to mine... i thought i'll meet em there, pasal die memang dok dekat2 situ pon... cakap2 kejap, pastu aku pon belah ngan sate and the nasi kerabu.....

tuesday 13 feb

i feel kinda weird, wakin up at 6.45, AND waking up my pa... its usually the other way round... i dunno, or is the mosquitoes being kind to me? or they just wanna give me a 1-day headstart? hey, this is the town where my senior at school, who is now a doc (temping at manung hospital) said: the place with THE most cases of dengue in perak... AND belakang my taman got paya bakau.. AND kolam udang... AND a new taman... the mosquito population was waiting to get their suckers into my feet, i tell you, cos by lunchtime my leg is full with dead mosquitoes and blood they got from ME that i wanted back....

bought nasi lemak for brekkie (and lunch) at d van pakcik depan kedai celcom (orang desa bayu n taman samudra taula)... pukka, mate! sedap gile... makan macam org tak jumpa nasik setaun...
gilalah, kalau hari2 cenggini, aku tak kisah duk manjung setaun pon... tapi.... hehe....

d house was spick and span by the time pa got home.. (surprising cos aku dah lame tak buat mende2 pembersihan nih) n i arranged the dentist appointment at 4 the next day.. indahwater's coming at approximately 10... ala, kaco la deme ni... takpe2, aku sabo n waited for wednesday to come...

and then at about 3 (morning aaa) before i got my head down into my pillow, i said to myself : "mc d dekat... nak jumpe member2 aku bile?" then i smsed the dudes and dudettes : afi, fiza, liyana, nini, and o course, alif.... cheih, cam takde keje kan, but i DID say i was gonna buy, so i expected them to be there at lunchtime... then, with happy thoughts, i went to bed... krohhh...

wednesday 14 feb (valentine's? naah. not for me. aku bukan mat bunga)
okay. i gotta plan set up: do all the things im supposed to and get them done by noon... not bad, i actually did... lepas makan nasik lemak pagi, indahwater pon datang... lepas die abis tue, die kate 'adik, dah habis, adik pegila tengok,' gile ape orang ni? aku baru je lepas makan. muntah kang. "takpela pakcik," i retorted politely... 'la, sendiri punye... takkan takut?' ya Rabbi ya Rasul, orang ni nak kene ni.... "lagipun saya baru lepas makan," 'oh gitu,' and the old git shut up... macam nak tendang je... haih... well, they did their job and went away... i got a free morning, so called d dentist to reschedule... the dialogue went:

phone: ring ring
dentist office: hello, klinik maheran.
me: ye, saye ade buat appointment pukul 4 hari ni. azahari.
akak: oh ye. panel UiTM kan?
me: aha. boleh tak kalau saya bawak ke depan?
akak: ???
me: maknanya, boleh awalkan sikit?
akak: nak awal macamane lagi?
me: pukul dua boleh?
akak: boleh... datang pukul dua suku la.
me: ok... (pause, thinking)... jap...
akak: ???
me: err, boleh awalkan lagi tak?
akak: NAK AWAL MACAMANE LAGI?
me: err, pagi boleh?
akak: boleh. adik duduk mane?
me: saya desa bayu je.
akak: ohh... ingatkan manjung ke, mana ke.... oklah, adik datang pukul 10.
me: baik...
akak: confirm eh? takde tukar-tukar lagi?
me: ye..... nanti saya datang....
-end of conversation-

so at 9.15, i showered, dressed and brushed my teeth again... pastu naik beskal pegi dentist... bukan jauh sangat, setanak air je... as soon as i was there, i was in... i think i was d first customer/patient... abis pun kejap je, tak sampai 15 minit... tengokla gigi sape die check.... hihi... scaling and polish in 15 minutes... must be a record....

balik, tengok tv, rake daun keliling rumah (penat dowf) and showered again for the mc d thingy... nasib baik aku muntak duit kat pa... nanti abis aku... hehe... had a hard time pickin' out my clothes... pakai sesimple pun tanak, pakai complicated lagile... haih. pastu pegila mc d.. diorang belum sampai, so i ordered a cone... and horror! aku lupe bawak wallet? shit! so i got back on the bike, raced home amik wallet, and just in time to get the cone... minah kat mc d tu bleh kate: mane customer tadi? aku tengah wat cone ni tetibe die balik... aku dengar aku terus senyum, aku angkat tangan aku dedepan die... due2 malu... and then fiza arrived... bought her a cone, then others start fillin' in... yana+ninie, d unseparable 'twins' sans KB, ninie's balak... and a guy not really familiar with, then alif... almost all were there, afi said he'll come later, his shift at the hotel ends at 3... so we guys borak'd while the girls went to pick up KB, donno from where, probably from mrs sayang's house (thats another story folks).... then afi datang... alif was making all these faces and sounds... ala... biasela... afi ni.. ermm... okla... he's not like other guys, like me... hehe.... tapi afi was and still my bestfriend so i kicked alif hard on the shins... when the girls got back, i ordered drinks, we talked a lot cos nini and afi were there. KB wasn't much of a -talker (die macam separuh sedar je, hmm) and fiza wasn't her usual im-upbeat-and -hyper-and-you-cannot-do-nothing-about-it mode... thats weird... oh well...

then makan time! order memacam, nasib baik duit aku cukup untuk sume.... haih.... well, biasela, kawan2 lama tak jumpa lah katakan....talked some more, cracked jokes, some backfired; took pics... fiza was the only 1 with a canera, a pink cybershot, i think... but it was so definitely pink... n KB was showin off his NEW mobile (mana ko dapat anset SE tu KB? kaya nampak?)
afi was trying to annoy the twins to bits (they're not exactly twins, nanti tengok gambar sendiri, taula) cos we like to tease them alot. so we did alot in the catchin up department that day.... occupied our minds... oh well...

thursdsay 15 feb

the pipe broke...
no hot water...
argh!!!!
call the plumber la....
no money...
shit!!!
how to mandi?!!!
we got two toilets, one for the master bedroom, another shared between two smaller rooms... and the piping in the master toilet burst. aku kene tutup secondary main pipie kat blakang rumah, takut banjir pulak dalam rumah nanti. bapak aku bagi duit (lagi) pastu he called a plumber to fix the pipe... heh...unshowered... not good... the plumber came in high spirits altho it was raining.. (not a lot of rain recently huh?) and fixed the damned thang... nasib baik aku dapat mandi air panas!!! sejuk, ujan, walaupun sudeh pukul 10... hehe... watched the idiot box for the rest of the day, while sweeping room after room with half the enthusiasm ... ninie, i take back what i said... heroes wasn't crap... its kinda ok la... i thought its gonna be like corny ol smallville all over again... well, im wrong, nini... and i thank you fer that...

friday 16 feb (balik KL! oh....)

nothing much... bangun lambat (pukul 9), basuh kain, kemas barang loaded up the car, bungkus mangga, buang yang busuk, mandi, pegi makan kat wak!!! yes, dah lame tak makan kat wak... nasik lemak die first class, sambal first class, telur oso first class. after that, here i am, stuck in my pa's bureau again, updating this blog...

-bye-