Juli stori

It shouldn’t be entitled Juli Stori

It should have been juni juli ogosti stori. But who cares, right..

Well, anyway, when June appeared, the school’s sports activities would be around the corner. So that first week, I prepared the 400m running track with the help of Mizi, the school utility guy. Managed to complete it after four consecutive mornings being in the field for four hours daily. By that time, my skin was starting to get tanned. The following week was a school holiday, and after much cajoling from my wife, I took her and three of my children to Dungun for mencandat sotong session. Mencandat sotong or catching squid has been my wife’s dream for so long now, and so she was delighted when I gave in to her persuasion.

getting the boat ready..

Missus n Ilya at Kg Jambu Bongkok

by the beach

Picturesque

Kg Jambu Bongkok

akhirnya dapat seekor

sotong bako

having tea at Jln Pantai Sura 

lunch at UIA cafe

We left home on Monday morning and took a leisurely drive. At Batang Kali we stopped at Dek Non Café for her special Soto Ayam n Nescafe Tarik. By four pm we reached our destination. We stayed at a hotel along Jalan Pantai Sura exactly in front of the South China Sea. Since it was still early, we went  for a drive looking for local delicacies to savour. And we found a cozy place which served kerpok lekor, udang salut tepung, fishball at reasonably cheap price.

soto dek non

The next morning, after subuh, or not really after subuh, around 645, we left for Kg Jambu Bongkok. My wife’s friend’s parents lived there. The place was acclaimed to be picturesque and many tv dramas and even films did their shooting there. And true to its word, the place was idyllic especially so in photos. We took a boat heading out about 5km to the sea. But before that, to make sure that nobody would be seasick, everyone gulped down a pill to stay sober. Being at sea waiting for squid to catch the bait was actually a long wait. I was told that it was almost at the end of candat sotong season. Thus the long wait. But once the fishing rod started to flinch, everyone was excited. We stayed at sea for a lil more than an hour. We didn’t catch many squids but luckily our host took the effort to buy some from other fishermen and so when it came to the membakar sotong session, we ate to our heart’s content. Squid caught fresh and grlled immediately tasted so deliciously tender, to be frank. At noon, since we were close by to Marang, drove up to the town to see how it looked like up close. As everyone was tired, got back to our hotel and dozed off for an hour. At nite, strolled by the pasar malam and bought stuffs for the children.

The next day, on the way back, stopped at UIA Kuantan to have lunch with Lisa, who’s doing her degree there. Before six pm, reached home sweet home.

And for the following three weeks, almost every morning I was in the field getting things ready and running sports events. Eventually, on the 1^st of July the big day appeared and everything ran smoothly and I was so thankful for that. A sigh of relief I must say. Alhamdulillah. the next day i went to Mira's wedding in Serdang Kedah. i met up with cousins and nephews and nieces on my mum's side. MakCu was there too. it was nice to meet up with them after such a long time.

kenduri kt Serdang

seusai sukan

me mizi n en usop 

July came and the first weekend was Raya Haji. I busied myself at the mosque with the community to slaughter the cattle and distribute the meat. The following weekend, I drove to Perasu and Limau Kasturi, after a lapse of almost three years. So glad that I could come back to the place that enriched me with life experience. I even went for a boat ride along the Nenggiri river with my wife and my brader Mat Chok. That night after dinner consisting of ikan kenerat, petai celor and sambal tempoyak, headed to our hotel in GM. The next morning after breakfast with Zakiah, headed home.

super moon

my home when i stayed in Limau in the early 90s

me n my brader mat chok

limau kasturi revisited

after dinner with kaum limau

Weekdays were filled with me preparing the form five students for the upcoming mid year exam. The third weekend, I went to Kg Pahit in Gerik to visit our foster parent. Every time we got there, the family never failed to delight us with kampong traditional cuisines, and normally I would be spoilt for choice looking at the dishes laid in front of us. Since it was still the durian season there, we brought home abundance durians along with rambutan and manggis. Alhamdulillah.

When I thought I could relax during the coming weekend, I remembered that I hadn’t visited my kebun sawit for more than a month for the standard fertilizing session. This time around, I went to all three kebuns in one day. I left home that Saturday morning quarter to seven, reached Mandah and at around ten left for Pulau Juar. Mandah is in Parit and Pulau Juar is in Kg Gajah, if anyone cares to know. By zohor I was already at kebun Sg Tiram which was about 5km away from home. All in all I managed to tend to my trees as planned. Alhamdulillah. The next day took Nia for her outing. We went to Kuala Kangsar for lunch and some shopping. Kuala Kangsar is further away from Nia’s MRSM compared to Seri Iskandar town, but I prefer to go to KK for its rustic and nostalgic ambience.

in between all these activities, i did take my family for dinner now and then, especially when everyone was around. the latest cafe we went to was Marmalade, situated at Pundut. it happened to be Abil's birthday too, so there's a reason la for the dinner. it was a nice place: great food n drink with reasonable price too. Most probably we'll come again next time. 

abil masa toddler

my bobber @ virago: new facelift

steps beside my room at school painted in between my busyness

the freshly painted door  of my room at skool, with Ayang at the foreground

And now August has come. The students will have their exam soon. I don’t have to teach for a while but there will be bundles of exam scripts to assess. Hopefully they will do well. Hopefully Nia too will do well. inshaAllah. As for the rest of the children, Arief is waiting for a place at the local varsity, Lisa is waiting for her sem exam results, Abil will have to decide soon where to continue his studies if no suitable job offer comes along, and Alhamdulillah Iliya will start her HO next September. inshaAllah.

So much that He has provided for me, bestowed upon me, that sometimes I can’t help but to wonder is this how He is testing me. Testing to see how I appreciate and be content with every little thing that happens to me. Be it good or bad. inshaAllah I hope to remain steadfast remembering Him with every breath that I take in this journey of going back to Him.

Quite a number of friends passed away too these couple of months and made me realize that being mere mortal my days would be numbered soon. And for that reason, I’m doing my level best to fill my time with quality chores and moments. And along the way, trying to be kind to everyone because the way I see it, that is a way of trying to please Him, as long as you do not expect anything in return lah.. kannnn

What say you?

Life is short. Live it up. ~ nkc ~

Gotta go now, so see you when I see you, and take careeee –

Ciao!!