1st Oct
It’s Nia’s
and Ida’s Birthday today. But since they both aren’t around, I send each a
birthday greeting thru whatsapp je
Together
with Arief n Lisa, thought of fetching Nia at school n taking them three for
lunch at Kuale Kangso but Nia’s school doesn’t allow any outing nor visitors
because of recent covid cases there. Sabo je la. So I leave all the stuffs I
bought for her earlier: lepat pisang, tepung bungkus, kebab n a birthday cake
at the guard house for her to fetch later. Hope she will like the cake.
Abil
receives the news that he has been accepted to pursue a degree course at USM.
Alhamdulillah
Right away
after class, I drive down to Msu to fetch Abil since he is going to register at
Usm soon. letih beb!!
It is a
Friday nite. Except for Nia, everyone enjoys their dinner at Strawberry before
leaving home to embark on a new journey in their lives for Abil n Arief soon,
and for Lisa, she will be in her second year in days to come.
We, my wife
and I, + Lisa n Arief, leave for Kuantan around 10am, stopping for lunch at
Batang Kali, and finally reaching our hotel some time at 4. The rooms are not
so great but the location is. At nite, going out for dinner, we chance upon an
alley which has beautiful painted murals on its wall. After a stroll there, we
come upon a flea market @ Paso Dinda, specializing for women’s stuffs. I buy a
heart shaped tattoo for my finger. And just around the corner, we have our
dinner at a food court, entertained by a band of buskers. What a lovely nite it
has been. Kuantan is actually a great place if you know where to find the
entertainments are.
10th-11th
Oct
After
breakfast, and after hugs and kisses, Lisa joins her friends again at UIA
Kuantan. By noon the rest of us are heading to Salak Tinggi to park our car and
take the ERL to KLIA. We have a plane to catch at 950pm. Destination? Kota
Kinabalu, since Arief will enroll at UMS on Tuesday. Our plan and journey for
today have been smooth when we are informed that the flight is delayed to 1250
am. Adussss.. sabo je. But thing becomes worse when the flight is delayed
again, not once but twice, till 215 am. But the unexpected happens when we
could not check in our luggage on time and so, we miss the plane. It’s not our
fault, but a matter of miscommunication. It is not only us, because there are
another two families in the same boat. Nevertheless I will make a complaint to
the relevant authorities after the dust has settled. Feeling a sense of panic,
I book another flight, the earliest available which is at 730am. Groggily we
board the plane and Alhamdulillah by 1130 am we are already at our apartment in
Api Api after an early lunch. Being tired, everyone dozes off soon. Only at 3
pm we are awake. At 4 we start to buy Arief’s stuffs. Once we have found
everything: pail, pillow, toiletries etc, we walk half a mile to pasar Filipina
for dinner. Dinner is superb. Since my wife is craving to have lobster, squids,
prawns and grilled fish, it is the best place to be. After a walk around, we go
back to our apartment to call it a day.
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| KK sunset |
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| pasar filipina |
12th
Oct
We reach UMS
at half past nine. It is not far away from KK. After Arief has registered and
placed his belongings in his room, we say our goodbyes. Hope Arief will be okay
there inshaAllah. My wife and I head to the airport to catch the 230pm flight
back to KLIA. Everything goes well and we reach Salak Tinggi to get our car.
After solat and a bite, we head home around 7pm. Since it is a working day, the
roads are jammed with people heading home. Once I reach Rawang interchange, I
drive faster than usual and reach our place at 945pm. It is damn fast actually because
the goggle map initially stated that we would reach Lekio around 1015pm. My
body is weary and I feel so sleepy that I doze off straight away after bath and
dinner.
13th
Oct
Today we are
sending Abil to USM. We leave at 7 and stop somewhere near the campus for
breakfast at 9am. After Abil has found his hostel and leave his things there, it
seems he does not have a white shirt for today’s activity. Mind you, Abil
registers a few days later than the other new students because I have to send
Lisa and Arief first. So, he does not know what is expected at that moment. So
the three of us head to Parit Buntar old town to find ghis shirt. And you know
something, Parit Buntar old town is a charming place, with rustic shoplots and
pre-war buildings. The shop we buy Abil’s shirt also sells other branded
merchandise. Though probably they are imitation. After lunch and prayer, we
wish Abil all the best and hope he can cope up with life there. Around asar we reach home. I may be tired
physically n mentally but I feel a great sense of relief. Alhamdulillah
21st Oct
Happy birthday Alisya 🤍
23rd
Oct
Finally after
many moons, and since Bak and Mak passed away, the Khans are having a gathering
at Bak’s place. Since Ida is around (she came back a couple of weeks ago) the
siblings decide it would best to have a get-together @ tahli and yasin session.
Except for Nazam, the rest of the siblings are around. It is wonderful to be
back together again and everyone catches up on everybody. With nephews and
nieces present too, though not all, it turns out to be a merry occasion. I personally
feel that this is something we should do every year. inshaAllah. At 2.30 pm, my
wife and I and Nia reluctantly leave for Banting to attend Yop’s children’s
wedding. And as planned by maghrib we reach home sweet home.
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| some of the ladies in Khan's family |
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| the Khan's family |
24th
Oct
It is
Deepavali today. As such it’s a public holiday. I use this opportunity to drive
up to usm to catch up on Abil. It seems he is finding difficulty to cope up
with the subjects there and feels a lil stressed. We discuss the matter and
look upon options to take or to do. He feels like quitting but at the same time
he is still 50-50. I ask him to seek opinion from the students’ advisor @
counsellor. Perhaps the person could shed some light on how to lighten the
burden and to find solution to ease everything. inshaAllah. Personally I feel
sorry for Abil because as a parent, I want him to get the best opportunity
available. Now that he is offered to do a degree at usm, he encounters
problems. I am not sure how things will turn up but Allah knows best.
Coming back from usm, I stop at Tirasa’s place for Deepavali visit. Guna n wife are around too, as well as Munirah @ Devasani. Munirah is Yoges @ Eman’s daughter. Now that he is behind bars for his crime, the grandmother @ Tirasa takes care of the child. Initially the child is a muslim but as it is, I’m not sure of the current status. Hopefully when Yoges is released, he will take care of his daughter.
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| mY wife n Munirah |
30th Oct
It is almost the end of October. Today I visit all three kebun sawit: Mandah, Pulau Juar, Sg Tiram, to fertilize the trees. Being at three separate districts, my travel and work will normally take me around seven hours to settle everything. I would usually walk 9-10 km around my kebuns. And I do this all alone coz I like to be alone, to spend time in the tranquility of nature. Mind you, my kebun is a few km from the main road so I barely hear any sound of vehicles. And I love it. I feel so at ease though the fertilizing session is tiring. Alah bisa tegal biasa. Layan jee…
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| paddy fields along Seberang Perak |
Since the
PRU is around the corner, flags and banners of respective parties have spruced
up all along the roads. While driving from Parit to Kg Gajah to Lekio, BN flags
win the contest of which party has the most flags. But hopefully in the PRU,
they do not. Ahakss
Next week
which starts tomorrow, the form fives are having their trial. I am hoping the
Teknik Menjawab sessions and Teknik belajar conducted earlier will help the
students to do better than their mid-year exam.
And tomorrow
too, October comes to an end.
