Busy, busy, busy weekends.
For sixth consecutive weekends, I have been away from
home.
On the 17th Sept I went to Kg Pahit Dalam,
a village off the road heading to Baling from Gerik, for a visit to my wife’s
foster parents place with my wife, Lisa and Arief. Even though Ayah was no
longer with us, we make it a yearly affair to drop by at least once a year, since Mak is still around. And like previous visits, the family never
failed to entertain us. Abundance kampong dishes prepared for lunch, and later
before we left for home, they gave us a basket full of durians and thousands of
rambutan. So tell me, how can I forget this kind of love and generosity?
The following weekend, 24th September, the four of us and + Nabil, went for a trip to Gua Musang to visit my foster families. We left at 7am and by half past ten, we were having our breakfast at Kedai Kak Zah at Bandar Lama Muse. Once done, we headed to Ku’s place. And just like at Kg Pahit, Ku has passed on about four years back, but Kak Pah and Yie were there. Spent around an hour, and Kak Pah stocked up durian siam @ batang mas for us to take home. We then headed to Limau Kasturi, where my ‘brother’ Mat Cok was waiting for us. Drove everyone to his place in the deeper part of the village, and after everyone had settled down, took a ride on the bike with Mat Cok to visit Nordin’s and Mok’s grave. I last met both of them last year, and Mok @ Mat Cok’s mum, passed away early this year due to old age. Nordin, Mat Cok’s brother, followed suit a couple of months after that. And the least I could do was pay them a visit at the graveyard. I could feel a sigh of relief after visiting them, and the burden felt less heavier and the sorrow less greater. Late afternoon, we headed to our hotel in Gua Musang but before that we stopped at Zakiah’s stall to meet up with her. Zakiah is Kak Pah’s daughter, btw. The next day headed home after having breakfast at kak Zah’s. Again. Hahaa
30th September my school was having a
camping session for eighty students and I volunteered to stay the nite at
school. It was quite fun actually, especially so with all the barbequed chicken
and everything else. I slept in my room that nite, where everyone thought would
be unsafe since they suspected that there were genies staying in the room. I told
them the genies were my makmum for solat la hahaa. And true to my word, nothing
unwanted happened. Alhamdulillah. The next day 1st Oct was Nia’s
birthday and my wife and I together with Arief and Lisa headed to her hostel to
celebrate the occasion. I brought food from Mcd as promised and we enjoyed the
moment, though it was only for an hour.
Next weekend, Saturday 9th Oct, at 7am, sent Arief to the bus station. He was heading back to Ums on the 5pm flight later that day. At 9am, I and my wife and Lisa left for Kuantan. Both Arief and Lisa would start their new semester the following Monday. The journey took almost six hours of driving without stopping, except for gas n the loo. We stayed at Timur Bay, which was quite nice. And the best thing was there were plenty of shops n cafes within walking distance. The next morning, after Lisa checked into her hostel, we left for home at around 11. Traffic was heavy, I must say, all the way from Kuantan to KL, and later from KL to Lekio. Probably everyone was sending their children back to varsities all over the country kot. Nevertheless we still managed to reach home at the projected hour, with stops for gas, lunch n solat. I found out later that a colleague of mine, who sent her daughter to Uia too, left Kuantan at 330pm the same day and only managed to reach home in Manjung almost twelve hours later. Pehhh! That’s bad. Very very bad.
And last week, for the very last time, I represented
Manjung district in the Trail Run in Gopeng. I took part in the veteran
category, and came out 21/50. Tua, beb! Well, looking on the bright side, that’s
not too bad considering the fact I was the oldest runner in that category, and
veteran category starts from the age of 40, which is very unfair to me. Do I sound
like a sore loser ? haha you bet.
And this afternoon, the 7 a side football tournament at my school, which started yesterday after Friday prayer, ended on a positive note. Everything went as planned, no injuries to the players, God pushed away the dark clouds and prevented the rain during the games, and basically everyone was happy, though definitely some couldn’t accept their losses. Which is normal. On a personal note, I as the football club advisor and tournament organizer, couldn’t be happier that I managed to have this session for the football enthusiasts.
And now, I guess I deserve some space. To stretch my
limbs, to ease my mind, and to rejuvenate for coming days.
On another note, I have 40days to go. Officially. Sedehnya.
Hahaa
Layan..
*Happy Birthday Lisa!!
