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Archive for July, 2009

What Wonder?

Kepada mereka yang tergolong dalam golongan orang-orang yang berkawan dengan akak di Facebook mungkin ada perasan gamaknya tentang this little story morning glory. Sebuah cerita yang memberi warna ceria lagi striking malah fluorescent dalam hidup akak kira-kira limabelas pagi nan lalu. Maka dah limabelas hari jua lah akak menjerukmaman cerita ini dengan penuh asam dan garam serta butir nasik dari Kelumpo sampai ke Bukit Pokrovsky punya lama nak menyampaikan ke WordPress.

 

Tersebutlah kisah di pagi nan hening dan bening itu… Akak dah ler masuk tidur jam 7 pagi akibat asek menulis novel blog. Tak dan sempat satu jam kepala akak mencium bantal, tiba-tiba akak dibangunkan oleh lemparan sebutir SMS berapi 3-pages-long dari seorang wanita yang berwasangka akak sedang teruja hendak Bermain Jongkang-Jongket™ dengan suami beliau. Hah?

 

Ye betul, para hadirin sekalian! Bermain Jongkang-Jongket™. Jangan scroll down screen PC atau laptop anda. Tidak salah apa yang anda lihat di kaca computer anda yang bukannya diperbuat daripada kaca itu. Istilah Kak Enida ni memang kena mohon Trademark or Copyright Reserved nih. Oleh kerana pada akak tuduhan wanita tersebut agak papan gelungsur akan keterlaluannya, memang terperanjat bukan kepalang tanggung. Ingatkan wanita lain je yang berminat nak Bermain Jongkang-Jongket™ dengan suami akak macam what happened last year. Tapi  di pagi yang cerah itu akak pulak dituduh Bermain Jongkang-Jongket™ dengan suami wanita tersebut. Isyy isyy isyy… banyak betul dugaan jadi WWWF (Wonder Woman with a Wow! Factor) macam akak ni. Auuuwwwf!

 

Well, before akak mengomail dan Menggoblog© (blogging) about it kat sini, here’s some background information to piece this little teka-teki of the story morning glory together. Akak ni simple je orangnya. So I won’t complicate simple things with complications.

 

Prakata:
Facebook must have seen hundreds if not thousands of reunions, I dare bet a dollar to a donut to it lah. I, for one, was reunited with the boy who sat next to me in Grade Four! Let’s just call him Zack here, shall we? Nak dijadikan cerita, I finally found Zack on Facebook after NOT trying to Google him for quite a number of years. To cut the story short, we spoke on the phone, reminiscing that little story of a flying kiss I gave him when I passed by his classroom. I must have burst my throat open that afternoon for laughing so hard when he reminded me of the flying kiss story! I had TOTALLY forgotten ALL about it. I did!

 

That phone conversation done, and we were overwhelmingly excited about childhood stories revisited, I received a Facebook message from Zack a couple nights later, asking me to call him. As I was extremely occupied with KaCher and me Monchies, I didn’t respond to the message until much later saying that I would give him a call in the morning at an appropriate time. But as I was sitting down to blog knead my daily bread way later that night, this text message came in:

 

U impress me by wrds, wndr wat else can u do..gd nit

 

Woooohoooooo! Ahak ahak. Well, to say that I was flattered bila baca his statement memuji tu was an understatement lah kan. Memang kembang semua mangkuk kat taman akak dengan pujian di larut malam begitu. Kerana diriku sungguh berharga! And assuming that he had read my blog ke (to have been impressed by me or by my words), akak pun… sebagai orang bahasa, mainkan balik his words in my reply sms:

 

Oh I can do wonders! Words are just what eyes can see and ears can hear. Ehem! Hehe. Great night!

 

Memang akak perasan macam wanita berbakat gitu! And notice the word wonder, okay tuan-tuan dan puan-puan? Since Zack said he ‘wondered’ what else I could do, akak pun recycle lah perkataan ‘wonder’ beliau itu. Maklumlah akak ni kan memang is a wonderful speaker, wonderful cook, wonderful editor cum proofreader, wonderful trainer, wonderful mother, wonderful wife, wonderful singer (akak dulu La Femme De Jogette selama beberapa tahun, jangan tak wonder about it!)

 

The Kata-Kata:
So that was that. The goodnight was said, tutup talipon. Khalas, kaputski, finitto, конец! Alih-alih, akak bangun keesokan paginya belum sempat siram pokok bunga, pokok bunga melur belum lagi tanam tepi kolam, itik belum bertelur ayam belum mengeram… akak bukak mata akak yang bulat ni only to see this sms:

 

Salam n g’mrng. I’m Azura or bttr rfr as Mrs. Zack. Just 2 let u knw tht i understnd ur acqntnc wth him but wht i x apprcte is d way u r behavg. X sure if u r really married. But if u x i c why n if u did thn i x c wht lacks in ur mrrg…coz a girl tht brags about being able 2 do wonders 2 smbd’s hband really shows a pychotic bhvr….in realty she is truely nothing thn just words she has 2 impress. Man is born 2 flirt but wht kinda wife does tht….. I’m sure u hv pride n intellgt so i wld apprct if u cld crry urslf accdgly n learn 2 hv some respect for smbdy’s wife. May allah bless u…salam.

 

If you find it a bit challenging to understand her text message with all the abbreviations – let’s not talk grammar lah kan – here’s an edited cum proofread version of it:

 

Salam and good morning. I’m Azura or better referred to as Mrs. Zack. Just to let you know that I understand your acquaintance with him (my husband, Zack) but what I don’t appreciate is the way you are behaving. Not sure if you are really married. But if you are not, I see why. And if you are, then I don’t see what lacks in your marriage… because a girl that brags about being able to do wonders to somebody’s husband really shows a psychotic behavior… in reality she truly has nothing but words to impress. Men are born to flirt, but what kind of wives would do that? I’m sure you have pride/dignity and intelligence. So I would appreciate if you could carry yourself accordingly and learn to have some respect for somebody’s wife. May Allah bless you. Salam.”

 

With my eyes still going klip-pok klip-pok terkulat-kulat pagi tu di ranjang tidurku (pehhh! Ranjang okay!) trying like Windows application to restore setting after being shut down abruptly, I thought I had been kidnapped and sent to Planet Uranus! I tried going back to sleep to see if it would take me back to Planet Earth, but sirna belaka cobaanku. So… being the simple and uncomplicated woman that I am, I was going to send this as a reply:

 

Salam Mrs. Zack, thank you for your sms. All said, I just hope you know what I was responding to when I said ‘I can do wonders’.

 

Tapi sebaik sahaja akak nak pechett the ‘Send’ button, another alien kidnapped me to Planet Urasses. Mrs. Zack aka Azura sent another message yang berbunyik begini:

 

Enida, srry 2 get u into ths bv need a little favour frm u. Thgh we’ve bn mrrd 4 10yrs n stll really love each othr tht much but i x wanna stop him in pursuing his happiness. Pls persuade him 2 let me go nicely so we cld both b happy.

 

Okay, here’s an improved version (dengan tidak merobah maksud asal teks ucapan di atas):

 

Enida, sorry to get you into this but need a little favour from you. Though we’ve been married for 10 years and still really love each other very much, I don’t want to stop him in pursuing his happiness. Please persuade him to let me go nicely so we could both be happy.

 

What the?

 

I can do wonders with my words, ya know...So akak just antor je ler message di atas tersebut yang akak dah karang dengan penuh tactfulness dan diplomasi. Orang cemburu yang sedang marah biasanya tak dapat membaca dengan baik. Bak kata adat pepatih kita: “A jealous and furious wife is never a good reader!” So tak payah cakap banyak, Mrs. Johnson. For all I know, she was probably scrolling up and down her husband’s phone MMS Inbox frantically looking for gambar bugil akak dengan jari telunjuk di bibir yang basah motioning what WONDERS akak boleh lakukan terhadap Mr. Zack. Oh, boleh bikin filem Azura II ini macam!

 

Walaubagaimanapun, Mrs. Zack came back tak rela mengalah dengan ini akak yang lahir sebelum zaman Parameswara dan penjajahan Belanda tahun 1511… saying:

 

Dear, i wasn’t born yesterday…as i x read between the lines. Salam

 

No translation nor editing needed on this one, huh! Well, even though at that rate I wished that she was only to be born next year… I knew there was no use dealing with a jealous woman. They obviously had something going on in their marriage. I just happened to pass by with a camera – I wasn’t supposed to be in the picture – I was grabbed and dragged into it! So after wondering if her husband was in the know about this, akak pun menulis satu lagi pesanan yang ringkas dan malas. Kali ni kepada si suami:

 

Good morning Zack. What’s going on ya? I just received 2 text messages from your wife. Pretty heavy stuff for me to be judged as having a psychotic behavior from my one-liner “I can do wonders” last night. And then Azura asked me to persuade you to ‘let her go nicely’? Huh? What’s the story morning glory, man?

 

Akak pun dah malas dah nak tulis ending cerita ni punya lah panjang. Masalahnya akak tak boleh nak omit mana-mana details above sebab everything happened within less than 20 hours. Anyway to cut the story shorter than short, Zack called and asked if I dared cared to Starbucks with him for old time’s sake. At first risau jugak akak kalau-kalau nanti kena serang hendap oleh isteri beliau dan terbergaduh ala-ala Fazura vs Geraldine Mariana Wong! Buang karan akak je barang 220 watt! Suami akak pun akak tak tau mana nak letak, inikan pulak suami orang. Akak baru je nak join Pertubuhan Ibu Tunggal peringkat negeri Selangor tahun lepas. Jangan buat-buat lupa pulak.

 

But anyway, Zack came up with a better idea – he would like to introduce his Azura to me. Well, that… I must say was pretty hard to resist! Memang akak suka dan teruja kalau dapat berjumpa dan berkenalan dengan orang-orang yang ‘were not born yesterday’ nih. These people are at the brink of a huge loss lah kalau tak berkesempatan kenal dengan Enida of the Questa è Enida ni, I tell you dengan hidung kembang tak hengatt!

 

So we met up. Had a civilly friendly conversation about nothing much. There wasn’t much in common between us to begin with other than her husband. So it was easy, brief and no wonder-wonder punya… no wondercon, no wonderland, no wonderbra, and no wonderpets! Yeah, it was almost an anti-climax to what was so worked up to supposedly be a menage a trois! Oooh la la je t’aime du fond de mon coeur!

 

I drove to the airport to pick up Mr. Johnson right after that penggambaran filem Perempuan, Isteri dan Suami Beliau Yang Disangka Bermain Jongkang-Jongket™ Dengan Perempuan Tersebut with a smile and sebelah kening yang terangkat seraya berkata di dalam hati… hmmm, no wonder lah.

 

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Write Now

After supper last night, I was writing a sensational story to share with you. The story morning glory about an affair between a married woman and a married man. (Yeah nothing new to many of us, just a glorified gossip some share over a teh tarik or kopi o’beng at mamaks or kopitiams.) But then my moods changed after tucking me Monchies in bed.

 

Kitreena was asking if I was going back downstairs to work on my netbook. When I said yes, she curiously asked “What is it that you are always busy working on the computer, Mom?” Boy oh boy! I ended up spending half an hour answering that supposedly simple question.

 

We had a long talk about how books are made and published. And more importantly about how one works hard to earn a living – no matter what one does, one has to do it well. And we talked about money that can be made from writing. (The second 15 minutes was just me actually, trying to convince myself that I should become a writer with my own books selling at MPH and Popular bookstores! I wasn’t all that convincing… naaah.)

 

Then I came downstairs. Scrounged for Josh Groban CD for a feel-good music and I, the Enida of Questa è Enida,  instead of working on that sensational story of an affair between a married man and a married woman, did dishes! Forget about the affair. Forget about writing a best-seller. Doing dishes, just like ironing… is way therapeutic than what it looks. Josh didn’t have to try too hard to help send me back to August 2008 when I faced the biggest stumble in my life as a married woman myself, and a daughter.

 

My love of then 10 years was leaving. And so was my mother. Hubby, for a new lover. And Mom, in a coma, for her Creator. As much as keeping my head towards the sky almost a year ago when everything else failed, Josh’s songs reminded me of my struggle. Then and now. Yes, I am still struggling, climbing, and am nowhere near a plateau of bliss. But if I ever learned anything from a year of stumbling and struggling, I do know that there is nothing as precious as my now.

 

So my Little Russian Ballerina and my Little Man Pocoyo…
For all that worth stumbling, struggling, and climbing… my now is for you.

 

Ballerina & PocoyoDishes done. I am off to bed now so we can take that morning walk to the pond to feed the ducks and down to the Pokrovsky Convenient Store to get Mommy’s coffee milk. (I heard that when we go to heaven, sleeping is like going to yet another heaven. So I suppose there’s no Espresso there either. Si?)

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Yasmin Ahmad

I am frantically clicking on the F5 (Refresh) button on my lappy every two minutes here to see more updates on Yasmin Ahmad’s condition. As frantic as I am, praying for the best of what life and Yasmin Ahmad both have for each other to offer. To have and to hold. Hang in there Kak Yasmin. The way life has… to your beautiful soul.

 

The Star Online Updates on Yasmin Ahmad

 

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Siapa Gerangan

This entry today is dedicated to that special someone in or near Sri Kembangan or Cheras Selatan who has been reading my blog for many moons. Thank you. I know on weekdays around 0800 or 0830hrs, your eyes would be on my silent words. And to you, another special someone in Johor Bahru who would do the same… I’m glad to be read by you. This morning, like yesterday morning. And many mornings sudah. And of course you too, my special someone in Auckland. (Dee! I know lah it’s you.)

 

But who’s there in Wellington eh?
And who is in Pasig, Rizal (The Philipines)?
Now who is it there in Bandar Penggaram, Johor?
Would you – the one in Puchong, Selangor, leave me a comment someday?

 

The thing that makes it a challenge to kind of guess who and where you are, my special readers, is the FeedJit locator who insists that Sri Kembangan is in Negeri Sembilan. Kajang too is in Negeri Sembilan. Bangi has also been attacked,  conquered by Negeri Sembilan and is no longer in Selangor.  Kota Bharu has been moved to Perak. And I have been worried if Johor Bahru would soon be moved to Singapore… near Signature Park, Toh Tuck Road maybe! FeedJit is, with it’s ralat sifar and all, not overly accurate.

 

But you know who you are, and you know where you are.

 

To my dear readers in Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan  – wherever in Kuala Lumpur you are: Titiwangsa, Bangsar Puteri, TTDI, Wangsamaju, Bandar Pusat Damansara, Bukit Gasing, Istana Budaya, Pesiaran U-Thant, Jalan Binjai, Ampang Hilir, Lorong Chong Khoon Lin, Jalan Watan 1, Gleneagles Intan, or Bandar Manjalara… I send you some Moscow cool morning breeze this morning. And tomorrow morning. And all the mornings, noons and evenings when you come and sit by me at Questa è Enida.

 

Spasiba bolshoi.

 

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Maklum Sajalah

What exactly is our problem with the word ‘complain’ ha? I mean, really! (Here’s another ‘I mean, really!’ post from Enida.) True enough. The denotation and connotation of the word complain doesn’t always give us that positivity we are hoping for from the word feedback. As a matter of complaining right now, complaining is never a nice thing to do – though many adopt it as a hobby. Well, that said, why don’t we use the term feedback when we complain?

.

Like…
“Uh, Encik Nazib. Saya nak bagi maklumbalas sikit lah Encik Nazib. Tayar belakang kereta ni dah agak botak saya rasa. Hujan rebas sikit aje saya dah mengalami hydroplaning yang agak menggerunkan di Lebuhraya Duke semalam. Oleh kerana saya dah sewa kereta ni selama 6 minggu dan kebelakangan ni baru terasa sebab banyak hujan, rasanya baik saya maklumkan Encik Nazib ni.”

.

Encik Nazib yang muda rumaja lagi ramah mesra di HAWK Rental Car KLIA was very appreciative and grateful that I took the time to mention about the worn and bald tyres, though I was practically running over the speed limit to board the flight to Moscow. And I had sisters waiting for me at The Eden for our last sip-a-tea session this season. A feedback wouldn’t make me miss my flight, nor would it make me miss my sisters. I will miss them gals no matter what.

.

But then, just imagine had I said:
“Uh, Encik Nazib. Saya ni nak merungut lah. Tayar belakang kereta ni dah botak chin. Bila nak tukar ah? Encik Nazib tak periksa dulu ke tayar-tayar ni sebelum sewakan kereta-kereta pada penyewa-penyewa sekalian? Lain kali periksa betul-betul dulu boleh? Kalau kemalangan lah saya itu hari disebabkan fenomena hydroplaning, saya saman Encik Nazib dengan Encik  HAWK sekali. Ada fehemmm?”

.

Oh I am so exaggerating it! But really, the word complain or merungut gives me this mood to irritate and annoy everything that moves in front of me. Especially if this everything has two legs and wears a name tag. After all… it is day and night between rungutan dan maklumbalas.  Affirmative?

.

.

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If

I have learned that…

If you can’t beat them with your wisdom,
destroy them with your kindness.

Enida
July 20, 2009

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Red Gold and Green

Healthy and Uh...Safe

 

Of all the people learning, I think I learned my lesson the most today when I almost *raccooned my own daughter with my cili-potong’ed tragedy. I thought after raising this Eurasian girl, feeding her hot spicy stuff more than half of the time for the last 6 and a half years, she would be chili-cut immuned to the heat. Hmmm… I suppose I have to teach her a pantun or two seloka’s before she ever comes close to anything red, ever again. And I learned my lesson for now by playing safe; so for supper… the monchies had:

 

Jasmine Rice cooked in Emborg Chopped Spinach
Special Gold Tolo Mato Kobau Mak Ekau
Cherry Tomatoes

 

Postlude:
*raccooned
From a story I read or heard some time ago, about kids (of Malaysian parents) who spent a long time abroad, saw a sign in Bahasa Malaysia that said RACUN, but was read as RACCOON. The kids got excited about seeing raccoons in Malaysia!

RACUN [rah-choon] = poison

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Hot Done By

I must have done her really wrong when I let her try my lunch today, the Garlic-Ginger Prawns and Broccoli leftover. Though I always believe in feeding curious minds by hand-on attempts, I really really should not have said yes when Kitreena asked for a scoop of my cili-potong’ed meal.

 

Cili Potong

 

A scoop of my lunch sent Kitreena into a nervous silence. Nervous, me. Silent, her. As soon as the salt in the fish sauce was washed down and she stopped chewing, she gave me the ‘are-you-trying-to-send-me-to-the-seventh-heaven-with-this-bomb’ look! Her eyes went rolling in all directions uncontrollably, hands went fanning left right and center, she went running to the cabinet where the cups were but ended up opening a drawer not knowing what she was desperately looking for!

 

In desperate guilt, I pointed her to a red cup on the kitchen counter but all she could grab was a bottle of hot cocoa powder I left by the microwave oven. I had to run to her and grab the red cup myself when she, in split-second, made a bee-line to the water dispenser. The red cup was still in my hand! And I, in split-second, made my conclusion that this Canadian gal needs some  more Malaysianization. But I will have to start with Heaven Number One. One heaven at a time.

 

But hey, Kitreena did survive the seventh heaven bomb!

 

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Good Ikea!

Fully Booked RoomAlmost all my bags are unpacked and I’m ready to go reading. Yay! As a monthly anniversary gift yesterday, my significant other set this room up as my little reading corner. We were off to IKEA Khimki on Saturday to grab one of these Hemnes (2-in-1 Daybed + Pull-Out). It turned out really well and I am excited about reading all the 18 books I bought and got this last trip back to Malaysia.

For now we’re calling this room Gramma & Grampa’s Room as… well, actually this room is set up in preparation for the arrival of our very first guests of honor this August. But until then and after then, there will be an engraved plate on the door with “Booked for Mom” on it! The monchies are for now banned from entering the room – they already have their own play area with toys stacked to the nose! Yay for me!

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Numbed

Numbed

 

To know the artist of the painting above is a privilege for me. At one time in the year 2000, when we were talking about numbness, as artists usually do… he said very little. The next time I saw him, he just handed me this piece – a simple blue-black Hero ink on paper done in half an hour. I asked him if he had given it a title, he said he was still talking about numbness in his head when he painted it. Thus the spilled ink was his thoughts. I am now reading it everyday in Moscow. Every drop. I have persuaded him to keep on painting the way he has persuaded me to keep on writing. Let me know if I should reveal his real name in my next post, will ya?

 

November Rains  Selamanya  Belaian Jiwa

 

Postlude:
You already know his brother.

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