Questa è Enida

I have been officially ‘discharged’ from Optimax. Meaning, I am not under their super vision anymore (pun intended). And meaning, I don’t have to go for regular check-ups anymore. Well, as regular as once a year now, that is. And meaning, I have achieved my vision 20/20. It has been a good experience, though I do hope to not go through it again. I suppose I can tolerate having to use reading glasses when I am around 50, or let it be 60, or 70. But I’ll cross the bridge when I come to it. For now, I am just going to enjoy crossing bridges without any glasses or contact lenses.

Speaking of bridges, it has been a while since I crossed the Penang Bridge last. A lot longer than I did Jembatan Tamparuli in 2005. Or even Pensacola Bridge in 2003. I need a vacation.

I have not shed a tear. Could not…until I read Kak Teh‘s blog. And that was when my anger had turned from fear to sorrow. I held my daughter close to my chest last night. So close that I hurt for Nurin’s mother. And I rocked Kitreena in my arms like I did the moment God bestowed her into my arms. I pray today, like all mothers do…that we don’t live to see our daughter’s tombstone.

I have been back to be a 9-5 gal. In fact, it is now 9-6. I have been making myself, and I have been made useful – outside the house. In fact, I have not been in the house mostly. Even on Saturdays and Sundays.

I am happy. In fact, I am happier. And I know it for a fact, that I am complaining less and less these days. Because as a matter of fact, I get to develop content and modules of training courses for some people in the Customer Service industry. Not only that, to top it all, I get to TRAIN these guys! Huh! How’s that for a fact?

Oh! i’m lovin’ it already.

A friend of mine told me about her not so romantic hubby and I immediately thought of what I said to mine in 2001 when we were in San Donato, Milanese:

“Babe, sometimes the most romantic thing a husband can do is the dishes.”

I am losing my patience with TM Telekom. Which is still good sebenarnya. Jangan sampai I am losing my interest sudah. It’s a long story, despite TM’s supposedly long history being in telecommunication business. They should have known by now how customers LOVE to wait…not!

I transferred my phone lines and Streamyx from Ampang to Kajang. Two phone lines, Streamyx attached to one. The area in Kajang where I am, had only ONE line available left. So, only one phone line got transferred. The other, with Streamyx, pending available line. So I went to TM Ampang Point again, sekembalinya dari Bumi Kenyalang, to detach Streamyx from the un-transferred number. Just attach it to the number available, even if it means I have to have seven splitters to all seven phone points in the house. Bah!

To cincang the big story into 18 pieces so to speak, between July 25 when I did all this, another visit to TM Ampang Point on August 1, and a call almost everyday to TM Streamyx Customer Care including one today (August 8, 2007) my Streamyx is not even trickling like a stream. Let alone a broad river! Cik Halisa kita, at Streamyx Care Line said “Ini akan mengambik masa sedikit lah Puan Enida.” I said, “This is not SEDIKIT anymore. I am losing my patience sudah.”

Yes, little did she realize, I am slowly losing my interests in their blasted Streamyx because I am really steaming right now with their mengambik SEDIKIT of my already sangat SEDIKIT masa. Demikian lah why I haven’t been online, nor updating my blog. Sekian terima kasih lah kepada TM Telekom.

Between moving to a new house, vacationing in Kuching (the Rainforest World Music Festival in Santubong was a blast!) and reuniting with a long-lost-but-not-so-lost-kinda long-lost friend in Miri, marking exam papers and keying in grades using my very little knowledge on MS Excel’s formula inserting, attending a job interview at a company in Pusat Bandar Damansara only to find another long-lost-but-not-so-long-lost friend, handing over keys back to the landlord of the previous home, going for my one-month post-IntraLase eye check-up, transferring phones connection to this new place, setting up Streamyx, following hubby furniture-hunting two days in a row between IKEA in Kota Damansara, Gothic in Ampang and Furniture World di pinggiran lebuhraya Jalan Sungai Besi…I pingsan a few times, walked in my sleep half of that time, held my breath and pinched myself, trying to believe I am still alive.

Be couldn’t even remember his name, driving home last night after Sushi at Mid-Valley Mega Mall when I asked if he still knew me. He said, “Oh you…you are the happy thing that happened in my life. I remember you!”

I am alive then. Still.

Ucapkanlah kasih
Satu kata yang kunantikan
Sebab ku tak mampu membaca matamu
Mendengar bisikmu

Nyanyikanlah kasih
Senandung kata hatimu
Sebab ku tak sanggup mengartikan getar ini
Sebab ku meragu pada dirimu

Mengapa berat ungkapkan cinta
Padahal ia ada
Dalam rinai hujan, dalam terang bulan
Juga dalam sedu sedan

To Salina, Lisa and nns …thank you for leaving comments on me bloggy, gals! The good thing is, your comments have reminded me of so many other things that I have been thinking and re-thinking and un-thinking of and about. I promised Lisa on this pedas story:

The year was 1998.
I was in Scarborough, Perth, then. The first few months in Western Australia I felt like I was in Fish ‘n Chips heaven. Masuk bulan ketiga, the heaven turned to limbo, and the fourth month…limbo turned to helluva fishy hell. (There is, however, a very good restaurant downtown Perth called ‘A Fishy Affair’.)

After the fifth month I started having some mental imbalance and strange hallucination that resulted in me salivating to the mention of “Tom Yum”. So, off to the Innaloo Fresh Produce Market I went. (What a name for a suburb eh? In-a-Loo! Imagine this conversation:

“Where are ya mate?”
“Innaloo right at the moment.”
“Again? But you were just there 10 minutes ago.”
“I was and I’m still here. Innaloo.”
“But I thought you said you were going to the market?”
“I am.”
“Where is the market?”
“Innaloo!”
“You can’t be serious! So, are you fishing or fertilizing then?”

Silly Aussie!

I asked for the hottest/spiciest cabai there and I got some Habaneros. The guy let me take a quick little lick to prove a point that I didn’t need half a kilo of those bombs. A quick little lick I had and I virtually DIED at the market! I bought six or seven pieces of those orange crinkly peppers and I died six or seven times again…after.

Everytime I made Tom Yum, I had to put only one or two slices for one whole 5L pot (and that is equivalent to over a half baldi of TomYum, ok!) Powerful tak powerful the Habanero kick in Perth. I died a few more deaths that year, but I resurrected a Tom-Yum-mier woman…beating all Tomb-Raiders alive!