Reader's Digest gives women an excuse to shop! ;-))

I must share an article I found in one of the recent publication of Reader's Digest. Bear with me if you've read this one:

Shopping Keeps Your Brain Young

Women live longer than men because they shop more. That's what husband-and-wife team Guy McKhann and Marilyn Albert, both professors at Johns Hopkins University and authors of Keep Your Brain Young, have theorized after a ten-year study of 3000 elderly people that assessed how physical and mental activities help people live longer and have more productive lives. Shopping keeps older women physically active (bags to lug), challenges the brain (a trip to the shops involves hundreds of choices) and boosts self-esteem (a sense of accomplishment results). Meanwhile, Grandpa is on the sofa watching television – an activity that fails to challenge in any of these areas. (OK, you can stop reading now coz the interesting part has finished, but the article in Reader's Digest has 1 more sentence at the end of this paragraph, which I have to also include here) Retailers love such studies, but puzzles and card games might be cheaper ways to keep the brain active, and a walk is as effective as a lap around the mall.
- Reader's Digest, September 2004 (Asian Edition), RDYou, pp 132

Ooh la laaa...!

So ladies, why are you feeling so guilty about your recent purchases?! After reading the article above, go ahead and shop your heart out!!
Also, go and get a copy of September 2004 issue of Reader's Digest and show the article to your partner the next time he "nags" your for buying that gorgeous dress or those perfect shoes. ;-))

3 days away and here's what I have to say

It's Wednesday and I'm still in the middle of my 1-week off from work. I'm at home right now, and currently have my fingers poised at the keys of this notebook, wondering what to update in my blog. Oh well, here goes...

Abah had the operation in SJMC last Monday, the angioplasty (correct spelling courtesy of Acat – Thanks man!) performed by Dr. Nik. Alhamdulillah it went well. Though, Dr Nik only did the balloon on 1 artery on the right side of the heart. I found out (from Mak) that the left side of Abah's heart is not functioning. Blood (to the left side of the heart) is supplied from veins of the right side. It's a bit complicated, so I won't be going into detail about it. In short, Dr Nik will be seeing Abah again, InsyaAllah in a year's time. Perhaps then another round of angioplasty might be considered. Oh yeah, the cost of the past 2 (and 1/2) days at SJMC? Somewhere in the region of RM19,000, if I'm not mistaken.

Right now, Abah is watching the television; Discovery Channel to be exact. I think he has another appointment with the doctor (can't recall which doctor though) on Wednesday, 13 October. Doctor's order: Abah is to rest at home until then. Although I'm quite sure some of his staff will probably pay him a visit. Some to wish him well, and some (I think) to get his signature on documents and cheques and stuff. So you see, eventhough Abah is on Medical leave, I think he'll be rather busy. I just hope he can get enough rest as required.

As for me, I'm only supposed to get back to work next week Monday. Until then, I'll just be at home, catch up on my beauty sleep.
Hmm, I take that back. Now that I remember, I do have some things to get done before I start work:
1. Wash car (forgive me, this is always, always overdue!)
2. Settle OD loan
3. Grocery shopping for the house
4. Transfer money to Mak's Tabung Haji account
5. Transfer money to own Tabung Haji account

Aiseh, hopefully I have enough time to do all these.

And now that the phone line is "alive" again, probably I can settle more things online. Thank you technology! :-))

A week away from work

I'll be away from office for the whole of next week. Abah is having an operation – his engioplasty (OK, honestly I have no idea how to spell it), at SJMC with Dr. Nik. That would be this coming Monday, the 27th.

Mak said they both would leave the house around 7am and make their way to SJMC. She told me to get there a bit later, but definitely before Abah goes into the Operation Room, say maybe leave the house around 11am. I told her that I would settle the phone line registration and maybe Streamyx registration too (hmm, gotta register before end September to enjoy the RM75 fee waiver, right?).

So, I guess unless Streamyx is up in the house, I would only blog again after 1 week lah, only when I’m back at the office (aha, now you know that the besides my Outlook program, IE is definitely another favourite icon to click on eheheheh). If Streamyx is OK at home, you’ll definitely hear from me much sooner than a week :-))

Until then, enjoy your days ahead!

Amazing Race

Last Wednesday night was Amazing Race Season 5's finale – a two-hour episode. I always feel sad whenever a book is nearing its end; I didn’t realise that this feeling applies to TV series as well.

I've been following Amazing Race (AR) for the past couple seasons – it started with Season 3 actually. Ya, my sis, is the one who was SO into AR 3, simply because of the gorgeous twins (check them out). She absolutely went nuts over these two guys. And when we went to Singapore about a week before the finale of AR 3, we found out that our young auntie, Cik Lela in Singapore, was also a huge follower of the AR 3, and she too was really hoping that the twins would emerge winners. Well, to the disappointment of Ya and Cik Lela, the twins didn't win. If you had been a follower of AR 3, you would've known Flo, one half of the winning couple. Gosh, I really hated that girl; I thought she was a manipulative, conceited and forever-whining person - definitely a complete opposite of her partner Zach.

Needless to say that when AR 4 started, I was glued in front of the TV. Well, partly to watch the new season; partly to check out the contestants. You know, in case there is anyone for me to feast my eyes upon ;Þ Woohoo... indeed there were! The two best friends, David and Jeff, were absolutely yummy ;-)) Although they did make it to the final 3, they didn't win the race.

OK, OK, back to Wednesday's finale.

On Amazing Race 5, there are contestants who caught my eyes, but not because of their physical beauty.

I wanted Brandon & Nicole to win, 'cause I thought Brandon was such a gentleman. But I guess being a gentleman is not the ticket to win you a million US dollars in this AR, right? Brandon & Nicole are models, and dating. And I was especially touched when in India, the two of them decided to attempt the fast-forward (where they would have to shave their heads bald). Brandon said something like: "My hair can grow back anytime, but I wouldn't let them cut a single strand of Nicky’s beautiful hair". OK, so Brandon didn't exactly look like some dream guy or anything, but after listening to what he said back then, I thought I melted like chocolate in front of the TV that night.

I cried when Charla & Mirna were eliminated. I still think that Charla is more capable between the two, despite being small in size. Mirna, the "normal" one, seems to always fall behind in terms of capabilities. When they were at the pit stop in Tanzania (I think so lah), Charla's speech simply moved me to tears.

I didn't like Colin & Christie at all, especially more so after Christie blocked the airport door and not letting Charla & Mirna enter the airport. I know it's a race and she wants to win, but there is something called fair play you know. Boy, am I glad they didn't win the million dollars, otherwise Colin's ego would definitely soar to the skies!

As for the winners, Chip & Kim, initially I didn't like the husband Chip, especially in one episode where Chip didn’t play fair – he jumped into the taxi with one of the twins (can't remember if it was Kami or Karli) eventhough the twins spotted the taxi first, and then he refused to budge from the taxi. I thought he was a pain in the butt. I think in the same episode Chip played unfair again, where he snatched a red scarf from a calf eventhough Mirna was the one who cornered the calf.
In my eyes, Chip redeemed himself when he didn't want to yield anyone in Emirates. And when he gave up a taxi to the twin girls. And he definitely secured his place in my good books when he yielded Colin & Christie in Manila. Hehehe... from that point onwards, I wanted Chip & Kim to win the race too (anyone but Colin & Christie, eh? ;-))

Ahh, now that Amazing Race has ended, my Wednesday nights will be a bit quiet. I still have CSI: Miami to look forward to. And, now that we've got a new Astro decoder (very sleek and stylish), 8TV reception is somehow sooo much better (I wonder why...). At least there's another channel for me to choose from. Very nice indeed... :-))

Freaky Fella

OK, now I'm officially freaked out about this person.

I'm referring to this.

This person has been calling me a few times. I've never picked up his call.

The calls are bothering me. The SMS's are bothering me too. This guy is really testing my patience. Sheesh, what does he want?
It's not like I encourage him or anything. I've never picked his calls (except the first time when I told him that he got a wrong number). Neither have I replied to any of his recent SMS's. Why the constant calling / SMS then?

Do you think I should consider changing my mobile number? I know I’m seriously tempted to do so.

Do you know how a parrot acts?

Well, in case you don't know, they just nod and repeat whatever you say. Well, at least that's what I see on TV. ;Þ

Anyway, got a new name for the Icky Guy: Burung Kakaktua @ Parrot.

No matter what The Boss says, he will go: "Yes, yes, yes" while nodding his head (and hence the name Parrot lah.) Did I tell you that Jikin even sings the song "Burung Kakaktua" whenever she hears Icky Guy talking to The Boss.

*Sigh* I'm so sick of this guy. He doesn't know anything, I swear it.

I feel like vomitting blood just now. Just my luck that I have to sit at his table listening to the vendor's explanation on the system. He just mumbled his answers (I don't know about the vendor, but I certainly couldn't understand what he was saying!). And when yours truly here answered or explained, he went: "Yes, yes, yes" and repeated what I said.
Hello? Can't you be original at all? Give the vendor your own answer lah!

Arghhh!!!

I'm SO tempted to pass this project to him, but I think he's gonna screw things up big time.

Eh? What am I saying?
Baguslah if he takes on this project, at least now everyone can know how "competent" this Parrot is. Let the Bank find out what kind of people are on its payroll.

I'm getting a break :-))

How does 2 days at J.W. Marriott sound?

Definitely a much-welcomed break! :))

I'm having a 2-day course at Marriott KL. Courtesy of the thousands-US-dollar fees the Bank pays to the vendor every year.
Of course food would be wonderful, and I don't have to empty my pocket to eat there. Nice, eh?

Hmm, probably we'll be enjoying their buffet serving. Or even better, we'll be having our lunch at Shook! ;-) (Hehe, a girl CAN dream laa...)

Well well, I'll be enjoying the 2-day "break".

And I'm ignoring that little voice in my head that's telling me I have a LOT of work waiting on my desk ;Þ

What an outing..!

Sunday, 12 September 2004: Woke up late. Sheesh. I’m supposed to meet The Girls today!

Managed to leave the house at 9.40am, but traffic lights were against me apparently. Heard "Angel" punya ringtone, and I thought: "Must be Mel, wanting to know where I was!" LOLs... I didn’t pick it up 'cause I was on the main road. Takmo kena saman sia-sia! ;-)

We reached 1-Utama at around 10.30am – Zuec called while we were looking for a parking space. She was the first to arrive. No sight of Sheils yet. And Darls promised to be there when four of us have finished our movie. Yes, THAT movie that everyone is talking about (will comment on Puteri Gunung Ledang later).

Movie ended at around 2.05pm, and we went searching for Darls. Lunch was at Dome's – expensive woo. If I were to meet friends weekly this way, I’ll tell them to change tempat makan to more affordable ones. Can't believe they’re charging RM3.45 for a 500ml mineral water. Come on, you're NOT a hotel. I can't wait for the Government to include mineral water in the control-priced items.

I reached 1-Utama at around 10.30am. Guess what time I left that place? 10.30pm. 12 hours on an outing?! Whoahh..!

Yeah, I know, I know. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t be spending 12 hours at a shopping complex. But this is an outing with The Girls I’m talking about. 12 hours actually seemed short. Girls, we definitely need to plan to spend a night somewhere!

Oh yeah, I gave myself a little present. Well, a big one if you look at the size.

A brand new comforter set.

Which I bought at Home’s Harmony. Added some colour to my room, I must say. Yes Sheils, I changed the bedsheet at midnight, just so that I could sleep with the new set. :Þ

***
On the movie Puteri Gunung Ledang.

Firstly I must say that "Sejarah" has always, always been my weakest subject. I don't know whom / what to blame for my lack of interest in the subject – be it the teacher, the syllabus, my upbringing, or myself.

Well, a lot has been said about this movie. From the cast, to the people behind the scene (read: the choice of director), to the storyline, to the accuracy of events in the movie. I'm sure you can add more to this list.

You can say whatever you want. In the end, it really boils down to you. And what you expected when you purchased the movie tickets. Your expectation actually determines whether or not you'll be satisfied with this movie.

So, what do YOU expect to get out of Puteri Gunung Ledang, The Movie?

I was expecting a love story. Although I must say that some scenes could be better (i.e. they are rather, err... tepid, and not of the "Cinta Agung" as advertised), a love story is what I got.

I guess the focus here is not really about getting the facts right about how old Hang Tuah was when he was commanded to lead the team to propose Puteri Gunung Ledang. The focus here is neither who exactly Puteri Gunung Ledang was. Nor was it about who was the best to play the Sultan.

It was about feelings between 2 human beings. Where true love conquers all. It was about proving that love CAN exist even when there's an ocean separating the two lovers. And it was about what sacrifices the lovers are willing to go through, just to be together. It was about choosing between listening to the heart, or to the head.

In a world filled with cynical, sarcastic people, a couple hours entranced in a tale of Cinta Agung was exactly what I needed.

It was a love story. That's what it was.

Sorry, wrong number... Or is this some random act of "mengorat"?

I saw my mobile screen flashing an unfamiliar mobile number. Initially I hesitated, but in the end I answered the call anyway.

The guy's voice was unclear; I couldn't understand what exactly he was saying. When I asked (again): "Who do wish to speak to?" he was silent for a second and said: "I'm sorry. I think I got wrong number." We ended the call.

So, that’s the end of it, right?

Think again.

The guy sms-ed me. Something along the line of: sorry about the wrong number. but you have soft and sweet voice. can i be ur friend?

Whoahh... is there such thing??

I thought that was SOOO corny, but my I admit I had itchy fingers last night. LOLs... so I replied: lol...

Which was, of course, a mistake.

He replied back: why u lol at me. now i'm angry at u.

Whoah...

A couple SMS’s later, he told me that he’s not a Malaysian and is learning Malay language. Will I be his teacher?

*blink blink*

Erm... any idea how much does a prepaid starter pack cost? You know, just in case in need to change my number... ;Þ

3 jenis hati manusia

Confession: I haven't attended any religious classes for quite some time already.

Why? Hmm... I'm not sure myself. Whatever reason I give would sound like an excuse, so I won't be giving any.

Anyway, after a long time (more than 6 months), the Bank decided to bring back Friday ceramah for the Muslimah. Today, Ustazah Fatima Zahrah was invited as the speaker for the ceramah. Having been absent from majlis ilmu for quite some time, I thought it was due time for me to sit in and listen to whatever ilmu I can get.

The main topic for today was "Hati".

***

Ada 3 jenis hati manusia:
1. Hati yang selamat
- Iaitu hati yang bertaqwa. Hati ini percaya kepada yang ghaib. Examples: Percaya akan adanya Allah, ada Hari Qiamat. Percaya kepada Qada' dan Qadar.

2. Hati yang sakit ("maridha")
Ada a few petanda hati yang sakit ni, among them:
(a) Orang yang riak – menunjuk-nunjuk, buat kerja coz nak tunjuk pada boss and not because of Allah or because it's an amanah. Rasulullah pernah kata bahawa riak tu adalah salah satu Syirik kecil.
(b) Orang yang takabur
(c) Orang yang berhasad dengki
(d) Orang yang bakhil / kedekut

3. Hati yang mati
- Orang yang hanya fikir pasal dunia, and has nothing on his / her mind about the after-life. Ustazah kata, orang-orang ni yang pegang the concept: "Live to live" and not "Live to die" (by "live to die" she explained that while alive, a person must be prepared for death). She mentioned that orang yang paling rugi are those yang tak ingat langsung pasal mati, and those yang tak bersedia untuk hadapi mati.

***

I'm praying, that at the end of my journey here on Earth, I will belong to the first group.

I'm supposed to do... what?

Three entries today? Wow...

But I just have to jot this down. Also serve as a reminder lah.

***
What am I supposed to do, again?

1. Settle phone line & Streamyx application.
(Rupanya forms ada kat rumah, belum isi. Nak letak nama sapa ni ek? *confused*)

2. Facial appointment
(Overdue 2 weeks. Hmmm.. no wonder lah macam ada pimples dah muka ni.. adoi..)

3. Watch PGL
(Going with The Girls, but it won't be everyone. Probably just 4 or 5 of us.)

4. Gosok baju
(This one, wayyyy overdue. Which means I have to even do some tonight, tomorrow night, and on the weekend. Hmmm...)

***

OK, that's it. I'm calling it a day.
I'm heading home, gonna take a relaxing shower, have dinner, and start ironing a few baju kurung.

Wedding bells

No no, not mine.

In my current state of mind, I forgot to blog about last Saturday.

That was the day Sheils' sister got married. I think the akad was on Friday night, and the kenduri / bersanding took place on Saturday.

Sheils invited The Girls to the wedding ceremony. Including Sheils herself, 6 of the 9 Girls were there – Darls, Zuec (with her parents), Rina (with hubby and Kish), Mel (with her parents and hubby), and yours truly here.

On one hand it was fun meeting up with the girlfriends. Laughed a lot. Hehe, I guess it kinda slipped our minds that we were at a kenduri kahwin! I saw Mel's parents and Zuec's parents glancing our way every once in a while, especially more so when our laughter got out of control.
And, pregnant Mel ate A LOT! Gosh, I had trouble believing it at first, even after I saw her piling up food on her plate. And that's her second helping! Man, what pregnancy does to your appetite eih?

On the other hand, seeing Sheils' younger sister getting married, and there were 4 of us Girls currently unattached to anyone (officially, that is)... well that kinda made me sober up a little from the laughing session just minutes earlier. I mean, that's the younger sister there, married. (The bride being only 1 year younger is not the point. The key word here is "younger".)

It even made me wonder if there are people who consider us being "on the shelf" already. (OK, seeing one Crown Prince marrying a 17-year old girl made me feel even more hopeless.)

Oh yes, before I forget, must tell you that Kat too got married last Saturday. (Who is Kat? Read this.) And that afternoon (at Sheils' house) when I sms'ed Kat asking how was the akad, that guy immediately called me up and told me: "Sekali lafaz jer."
LOLs... eksyen sungguh. ;Þ


To the newlyweds, "Selamat Pengantin Baru". May your marriage be filled with much love, happiness and sharing, and Allah's Blessings.

* * *

And talking about marriage, Mak Abah has been married for 30 years yesterday (8th September). Imagine that. 30 years.

Happy Anniversary Mak & Abah.
InsyaAllah many many more years ahead, together. Love you both so much, more than words can ever say.

Blogspot having problem? Plus, a surprise phonecall last night.

Did blogspot have a problem yesterday? 'Cause I can't seem to be able to publish my blog. Hmm... Mogok kah? Or maybe it's MY browser / connection having problems. I've just installed IE6 on Tuesday afternoon. Could THAT be the problem?

On a different subject, I got a surprise phone call yesterday; someone from the past. A Mr. RL. Apparently Mr. RL found out about Abah’s condition.

How? Hmm... it seems like someone who knows him read one of my blog entries (Maybe he / she has been reading this blog all this while, I dunno. Maybe he / she is even reading this now), and told Mr. RL that Abah is unwell. So, Mr. RL called me up (of course not before reading my blog with his own eyes ;Þ).

To Mr. RL, thank you for the call. Brought back memories – some nice, some otherwise. But then, you know that too, right? :-)

To Mr. RL’s informer: Well, I guess thank you, too. :-)

Absolute power corrupts absolutely?

Last night I watched Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Honestly, I’ve NEVER watched this show before; I guess I’ve always thought it’s too heavy for me to digest after a long day at work.

But I was playing Spider Solitaire using the notebook, which happened to be in the TV area. So whether I wanted or otherwise, I can hear what’s showing on the tube, which of course turned out to be Law & Order: SVU.

What an episode it was.

A Judge Taft apparently has been passing judgment even before all the facts were presented by both prosecutor and defendant. It seems like this judge made his decision based on what he sees – and he decided a person’s innocence (or if he's guilty) based on the outer appearance (what’s their jobs, where they live, what kind of society they’re in).

In one case, this Judge Taft judged a mother – who was a hooker – guilty of causing the death of her daughter. In reality, it was a wrongly prescribed medication at the hospital that caused the girl to die.

In another case, Judge Taft let a woman walk free. In the end, this woman (who happened to be slightly psycho, I believe) murdered her child who’s down with illness. He gave the verdict of “Not guilty” because he thought this woman and her husband were nice people.

My personal thought of a judge? I think they shoulder this huge burden, where they have the power to deem another human being innocent or guilty. That’s huge power to be held in the palms of a person.
What if not all facts were presented? What if either the defendant or the prosecutor didn’t do their job well, or didn’t present those facts well? An innocent man could be sentenced behind bars. A person who has committed serious crimes could be walking free on the streets.
A judge has got to have a conscience, and live with what he has decided about other people, for the rest of his life. Let him be a person of high ethics, and holds on to his principles. Let him be a person of clear sense of responsibility and holds the highest esteem for honesty.

And let the saying “Absolute power corrupts absolutely” stays a saying. Not a fact.

Is this my story, or yours?

I’m suddenly thinking about an email I recently read. Something about being a good friend doesn’t mean you’re a good listener. It’s true you know. Some friends / people just simply lack the listening skills.

I have my share of friends like this. They want to know the latest happenings of your life. Yet when you tell them of your updates, these friends would always, always find a way to cut your stories short and immediately tell you about THEIR “similar” experience pulak. I guess it all boils down to “I don’t have the patience to wait for your story to end, so I’ll just butt in and start telling you MY story”.

Let me give you an example.

A friend recently called me up after finding out about Abah’s near brush with death. So here I was telling her about how it affected his right side, and she immediately said: “Oh, macam aku dulu lah. Aku dulu kena sebelah gak, itu yang dulu muka aku macam senget sikit.” OK, so that got me speechless. Hello, I was in the middle of telling you something YOU want to know from me. Why the heck are you butting in with YOUR sob story pulak.

A few minutes later, I was telling her about when the doctor in Outpatient saw Abah:
Me: Doktor tu, after a few minutes tengok Abah, dia cakap, “Eh! This is not my case!” Terus doktor tu refer Abah kat, erm... aku tak sure sangat, but rasanya terus refer to Neuro.
Her: Aku tau. Aku tau. Refer kat ENT kan?
Me: Apa pulak ENT. Neuro lah.
Her: ENT dengan stroke kan berkaitan. Macam aku dulu, diorang refer ke ENT. Ear, Nose & Throat.
Me: (Dah start fed-up) No lah. Apahal lak hantar ke ENT. Neuro lah, that’s what the doctor said.
Her: Ye ke? Eh, aku dulu terus hantar gi ENT. Mesti ENT tu, not Neuro.
Me: Elow, ini aku yang cerita, ke kau yang cerita? Abah aku gi Neuro, and buat CT Scan. Bukan gi ENT.
Her: (Laughed out) Yelah, ini pasal Abah kau.
Me: Hehe... haa abih tu? Biar jelah aku cerita. (We both laughed some more)

LOLs... after hanging up with her, I grinned silly. I can’t believe I said those words to her. Even now I’m grinning in front of the PC!

Another example. This time about someone in my office.

There I was, telling The Boss about Abah’s condition. Someone in the office, who shall remain nameless, came by The Boss’ desk, and listened to what I was saying. When I said that the doctor wants to do angioplasty to Abah, she immediately piped in and said: “Yer, memang kena buat camtu. I punya jiran pun blablablabla…”

OMG! In terms of sharing of experiences, I’ve always found her extremely irritating. Cerita lah pasal apa benda pun, she would definitely have experienced something better / worse, or would know someone (family, relatives, neigbours) who has more sensational experience. Any topic under the sun – you tell it to her, and she would tell you back that she knows something about it too.

I remember once, someone who came back from Mekah performing her Hajj, was telling us about her experience. Suddenly this know-it-all woman boleh bukak cerita: “Yeah, memang macam tu. Memang kat situ panas. I tau situ panas tahun ni. Ramai yang dah cerita. Dalam berita pun selalu tunjuk.”
HELLO! If she HAD been in Mekah before, it’s understandable for her to say something along those lines. But if all your words are just based on other people experience, or from watching / listening to the news, then zip it lah, woman. It’s not like you know it first hand. Sheesh...

I’ve observed that this kind of people revels in other people’s adoration. That is, other people adore them for knowing a lot. So how to deal with this kind of people? Either you ignore them and continue with your story (which more often than not doesn’t work!), or just let them have their say and then continue with your story lah (OK, OK, it’s true that some of them can go on and on and on, and in the end, your story remains hanging mid-way).

Knowing a certain fact doesn’t mean a person can totally relate to what another person is feeling.

I have a sister, you have a sister. Does that mean that I know exactly what you’re going through, and how you feel, when you deal with her?
I fell down from the bicycle and broke my arm, and once, you’ve felt down from the bicycle too. Does that mean I know exactly how you felt when you hit the ground?

Not necessarily. Could be the same, could be different. We’ll never be sure.

I know my friends mean well. I think they just want to point out that they CAN relate to whatever I’m feeling. Or point out that they know and can understand my pain / sorrow / happiness / excitement (whatever feeling the situation calls for lah). I appreciate that. I really do.

The thing is, let me finish my story.

And if you know me, I’ll let you talk your heart out after I’m done. I promise I won’t butt in.

Monday Lunch @ KLCC

Had lunch at KLCC's Asian Flavors. Nasi + paru goreng dgn cili + kentang + kacang botol goreng dgn cili. Yummyyy...

BUT...

It's bloody expensive! Comes up to RM6.00! I swear it, lunch at KLCC is sometimes NOT worth it lah. Cekik darah betul. Kalau hari-hari macam ni, my money will be drained faster than I can say "What's up?"

It's a slow Monday. And this is one sleepy woman. Excuse me, but I think I need to catch my forty winks.

An entry long overdue

Abah was complaining of sakit kaki on Wednesday 25th August, so the Doc gave him 2 days MC, and Abah was supposed to go to SJMC for further check-up. Abah said he can’t walk properly, probably because of his knee. I thought he did look a bit sickly on that Wednesday night – I guess his leg was really painful and bothering him. He did play golf on Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday, so we all thought it was a simple case of muscle spasm.

How wrong could a person be.

Abah had a mild stroke.

The stroke affected his right side, basically his right leg and right hand were very weak. That's the reason he couldn't walk properly.

When Mak sent me to the LRT station on Thursday (26th August) morning, Mak asked me if I noticed anything different about Abah’s lips, and the way Abah spoke. I told her I didn’t notice any difference. Mak said she thinks Abah’s lips were a bit lopsided on the right, and he slurred a little when he talked. She suspected Abah had a mild stroke, a very mild one. That got me speechless for a moment. A part of me wanted to stay home – furthermore, believe it or not, when we got to the LRT station it appeared that there was some LRT problem, which were barely resolved at around 8.45am. Hmm, maybe that was a sign for me to stay home instead...

I don't think I want to dwell on that part of last week too much. Now that I'm able to collect my thoughts and think rationally, I thought I should post something on the blog, just as an update.

I'm currently feeling... a bit blur. I guess I've gone through a myriad of emotions these past few days. Numb, scared, sad, hopeful, touched, exhaustion, disbelief... you name it. I've been through them all. You could say that these past few days have been kinda bleak for me.

Mak has been sleeping at the hospital since Friday. I don't think she's comfortable there, having to sleep on the slepperette jer.

Alhamdulillah Abah was discharged yesterday, after Doc had discussed the angiogram result with both Mak and Abah.

Maybe I better stop writing. I don't think I can see the screen very well when my eyes are blurred. I'm actually surprised at the amount of tears a human is able to produce.