ah..its been approximately 3 weeks since i came back..
was busy with one exam which just finished 3 days ago, and now yet another comin up..
actually i’ve been dying to write something for soooo long - it gets boring just reading blogs, it makes me feel that i wanna write something too..
and i just have to write about the holidays first and foremost before anything else..
as evryone knows, i went back late this summer..the things i did here during that time, i’ve already posted up here..
now back home, it was an entirely different story…
1st week : basically my time table was to get up 1 hour before noon, make sure my brother has his lunch before going to school and then watch tv til mom comes back..mum prepares the food in the morning before leaving for school so i didnt have to cook anything..ahh..i just miss watching tv - in english..haha..i was practically glued to it ok..
no internet, no sim card : no connection with the rest of the world..
2nd week : i was given the liberty to choose what i want to eat - in other words, i started cooking, so it was all my favorite dishes..
pasar malam : its just so enjoyable goin to the pasar malam, getting all those junkies especially the tauhu in sugar water - YUMMYLICIOUS!!! and durians and rambutans and a whole lot of food..its truly food heaven and i got to eat all that i wanted..
makan - makan : once every 2 days basically, we had something to tapao..and hell, it was great to just drive out, sit at the mamak stall and order food..and it gets served steaming hot with that kat chai semoi blended..hebat giler..
new-found family : there remained this side of my family that i had never seen ever..it was my dad’s brother’s first wife and their 3 children..i gotta tell ya that my dad’s family is a lil’ bit kuku..really really..they have the weirdest ideas and basically their arguments and perspectives simply clash with mine..anyways, i really shudnt be washing my, or rather his, dirty linen in public, so suffices to say that the wife and kids managed on their own without the help of the family leader..and now those kids, who are my cousins, have children of their own just 4 years younger than me!!! well anyways, it was a very heart-wrenching story..the wife passed away not too long ago and her dying wish was her husband to bury her bones which the daughter kept..so began the journey of relocating the father, meeting up the long lost family, with my mum inviting ‘em over for lunch before they headed back to sungai petani..as they narrated their side of the story and wept over the hardships that they have gone through which i could not even begin to imagine, i just felt so mad at the rest of the family for just turning a blind eye..my father did try once to see them but he was chased out of their house..nevertheless, i was surprised that he didnt try again..i woud have..and this really opened my eyes as i actually saw how one’s selfishness could destroy an entire family, how the kids were scarred for life, how difficult it must have been to be cheated and lied to..i couldnt control my tears as i wept for the sorrows of my cousins that i barely even knew..and to cap it all, their father had suffered a stroke and needs to be taken care off - and how great must their souls be that they offered to tend to him and requested that he come immediately with them to sungai petani..after all that he did NOT do for them, i think that he is truly lucky to have rejoined his kids who were more than willing to take him back into their lives..astounding huh?? i dun think i could have done that..but they did..speechless..and my father now refers to them as ‘my other daughters’..grrrr..
batu gajah : for the first time in me life, i took the train to another state - perak..went to batu gajah for some prayer thingy..it was cool..the train was not though..takler hebat ape pun, just the same as we have here..and when we reached batu gajah, me and my granma, i gotta tell ya, that place was like the never-never land - we malaysians are experts at building something right in the middle of nowhere..my uncle’s friend came to fetch us, then we had lunch at his place and off we go towards ipoh..ipoh, ah quite sleepy town oso la, hahaha..got a few stuff for prayers, then went to kuala kurau for a temple festival..
1st temple festival : it’s located in an estate and by the time we reached there, it was like 7pm..actually, it was something like the temple’s 40th birthday, in other words, it was the temple deity’s 40th birthday and my granma was one of those were behind it so, there you go..i was miles away from the nearest town, surrounded all around by palm trees..all the crazy insects and mosquitoes and flies buzzing crazily around..plus, it was so freaking dark!! best news yet to come, the celebration was supposed to be at 4am!!! so i had to stay up the whole night!!! the previous night, i had slept for 3 hours only cos i was happily watching tv til 330am..it was agonizing but managed to stay up by helping out..the only people that i knew there were my granma, the uncle whom we came with and the priest..evryone else were strangers!! it was so crazy..and i was this city girl wearing a blue baby-t and jeans with big big earings, evryone was giving me this weird look..by 2am i was so freaking tired but forced myself to go and mandi - in a small cubicle behind the temple..where there were 4 walls, a door, a small longkang to drain the water, a tap, a huge container and a dayung to bathe - whoopie..bathing in cold water at 230am in the middle of nowhere with insects flying all around - not the pretty..then we continued with the prayers and stuff and by the time it was all over, the sun was rising and evryone started leaving for work..so the rest of us helped to clean the temple..then i was waiting for my youngest uncle to come from penang to fetch us back to penang - mind you he was supposed to be there at 7am and he wasnt..when i called at 830, he was still sleeping!!!! buggernesss..i was so freaking tired, my eyes simply refused to stay open any longer, and so i curled up on a table at the temple and had a short nap..at 1030am, my uncle came and woke me up..i was freaking furious but pity the fella la, he had to go cabut gigi or something and apparently it hurt like mad, so i decided that he has already been tortured enuff and shud be spared from my nagging..by 11am, we were on our way back to penang..had mcd on the way, with french fries for the uncle cos he really couldnt eat - kesian..
penang : family crisis in exacerbation..i hate it..i feel like just making ‘em all sit down and listen to what i have to say..so childish..there are now like 2 sides in the family and i am stuck on the wall in between..i love all of them and seeing them like this, it makes me feel that i dont wanna come back home..wat for?? i miss the times when we used to sit at the dining table or out in the garden, laughing well into the night over a glass of wine or two..the barbeques..i miss it all..this time around, evryone was sulking, no one had a joke to spare, evryone was trying to get away as soon as possible, i was running around trying to make peace and forming the connection between the 2 sides - basically i was trying to dig a hole in the wall..not very successful though, will have to try again next year..maybe next year, i shall make them all sit and give them a nice long lecture..at 25, i shud probably be heard but then again, i might get shot at too..
kuala kurau : as every year, we had our prayers..and as every year, my favorite uncle’s temper flared up..and i had to do the calming down part cos i was sitting right next to him in the car..you know sometimes when you are so angry, you cant reason out things and me being in the third person’s point of view, i could see the strands in the cloth..i think my reasoning made sense to him though, cos he did calm down after a bit..he was after all under a lot of stress, what with the house and the kids and all..wow..this year, since i had helped with the temple works before, i joined the kitchen team where we prepared the food..and as always, it was great..almost everyone was there and i had fun teasing and laughing about, it may have extended my life by 3 years..
the new house : my uncle was building his new house, tudor - style and it was nearing completion..it is AWESOME!!! i am sooo in love with it..they shud be moving in soon and i just cant wait to see it next year..weeeeeee…
kedah : since we were nearby, my dad’s ‘other daughters’ invited him over..we went to one daughter’s house for lunch where we met their family and dinner was at the others..nicey nicey..but it was quite kekok la..
back to kl : the initial plan was for me and my granma to go back by bus, but in the end we decided to let the granny naik the car and me and the younger sis to go by bus..so there we were at the bustop, the bus was there, we got on and my parents left for the bridge..lo and behold, there was someone else in my seat..and that person had a ticket too, for the same seat..so the driver said, lets wait and see if there are any seats vacant - we waited and there was one left..so we were trying to sort things out cos that ticket was expensive..and then we noticed that the time and date was right, in kl..we were given a kl-penang ticket instead of penang-kl..watched the bus leave as there was nothing that we could do..went to the counter cos we bought 6 tickets and these 2 were printed wrongly..no amount of talking made them refund the ticket even though it was their bloody mistake - assholes..my dad was already across the bridge, he had to make a U-turn back to penang and there we were, 6 of us in the car - my mum, me, sis and bro at the back, dad and granny up front, all the way 4 hours to kl..fish you plusliner!!!
the remaining days : were spent shopping for my stuff - food stuff and others..before came the biggest highlight of my summer this year..
INDIA!!! : what can i tell you?? basically it was a pilgrimage..2200km by car..it was exotic..i tell ya’, these indians, if they have any will to use their brains, they could be a super nation..instead, they are just content with those dusty roads and crazy systems..the temples are superb, i dun think that humans actually built em..and if they did, i wonder what a great civilisation that must have been and how they are now..i shall talk all about india in a separate blog..
back to russia : came back from india on 27th night..spent the whole of 28th vomitting, the 29th recuperating and on 30th early morning, i was back at the airport..
talk about a productive holiday eh?? actually, there’s so much that i have gt to say but my elbows are hurting..
plus i have yet another holiday to blog about..
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