Once upon a Summer’s Day

Tags

lavender, New Zealand

Lavenders in Kaikoura

Plant roses and lavender, for luck. Fall in love whenever you can.”
― Alice Hoffman, Practical Magic

In Living Colour

Tags

rare moments

There are many kinds of friends and people that I have in my life. There are those who are my best friends for life-till-death do us part kinds, those after work coffee buddies whom I meet once in a while to de-stress and rant about the office, and then there are those who hold a cameo role, appearing rarely but nonetheless, making their presence known and heard.

I have a few of these people in my life. I see them very rarely, but during those rare moments, they have never failed to make me either stare in amazement, cringe, roll my eyes or secretly wish I can stab them-repeatedly.

I have a friend, whom I’ve known since we were 15. Whenever I cut school, I would go over to her house to hide out and we would listen to Feminin (yes, they were the rage back then if you must know) and talk about the boys at school. We were so close that if we aren’t together, we will be hanging on the phone…sometimes not even talking. Just holding on to the phone, listening at nothing at would only start to talk if there was something that  crossed our minds.  But school life ended and we parted ways. Me to UPM and she chased her dream of becoming a singer. Well, we’re still friends now but not as close as we used to be. We talk, meet up once in a while and exchange life stories.

So I texted her a few weeks back. Asking her how she is, since she just went through another breakup to which I had spent countless and endless hours of texting, trying to calm her down.  My “Hi babe, how’s it going? Are you ok?” was met with a short reply – “Hey, check out my video yah? (insert video link here)”

Hmmm…okay…what is this? A game of Blue’s Clues? Find the clues in this video to get your answer ;-)

Or did she just confuse me as being one of her fans? Maybe I should’ve asked for her autograph.

And then, there is this guy. Who I rarely see. Very interesting character and perhaps well on his way of being sued for sexual harassment one of these day.

His idea of breakfast talk is “you hebat tak di ranjang?”

And I splutter hot tea all over the table. Who ever uses the word ranjang anymore these days?

Oh, and he gave me the middle-finger as he sped away in his brand new mini cooper as I stood waiting for a bus late one evening.

Pgthggshhhjkss…..

The girl I wrote about some time ago also made a comeback. Remember her?

I was in my car one morning, idling and warming up the engine. I saw her driving past in her black MyVi. I looked down, hoping she didn’t see me and quickly shifted the gear, wanting to drive away JUST in case she saw me.

She did. And what were the odds of that happening to me?

She made a U-turn.

Drove up to the side of my car, rolled her windows down and asked

“Kau ni bila nak kahwin ni? Umur dah berapa”

I’m beginning to wonder what is with her and her obsession with my status?

Yes hi, Good Morning. Kau sihat? Dari mana ni pagi-pagi? Oh..hantar anak pergi sekolah. Besar dah anak kau… Ok lah bye

Shoot, I wish I had given a better comeback. At least she skipped the weight issue this time around. Thank god.

Well, whoever they are, and for whatever reason they exist in my life, I just realised that they add colour to it. Yes, I admit annoyance was the initial feeling but when I sat down, and thought about it, I found myself smiling and chuckling.

I think I can still handle those bizarre once-in-a-blue happenings.

They are who they are. And I am who I am.

Looking back and moving on

Tags

big earthquake, blessed, mossy forest, moving forward, pancake rock, sweet scents, university malaya

I’ve deleted a few lines and a number of words as I attempt to breathe life back onto this small space of mine. I sat staring at the monitor, watching the predictable rhythm of the cursor as it blinks, thinking of how I can recap 2011 in twenty words or less or more. Perhaps more.

Emotionally, 2011 was a stable year. No major heartaches or heartbreaks but also not a single date. But I think I was ok with that. I’ll consider 2011 as a buffer year from the years of mis-match making attempts by friends and family. Nonetheless, I still believe in the age-old of happily ever afters. I am Cinta, after all.

I survived the moving office to Putrajaya, got used to the long commute and sometimes long drive between home and the new office. I finally got my diploma in translation and managed to whizz past my first semester with the assignments and endless presentations and exam as a post graduate student in University Malaya. Not too bad I say, though there were times when I think I forgot to breathe.

2011 was also a good year as I was fortunate enough to have the means to travel to New Zealand’s South Island, twice in the same year. I hopped in a car armed with a GPS and guide books and drove the width and breadth of the country. I hiked through a mossy forest, saw the seals in Kaikoura, inhaled the sweet scents of lavender, listened to the sounds of nature at the Pancake Rock Blowholes in Punakaiki, stared in amazement at the glaciers in St. Josef and watched my own reflection at the lake in Wanaka. I was in Christchurch a week before the big earthquake in February happened and came back a few months later. I saw how beautiful and busy the city was before and witnessed the eerie silence of the city after. Christchurch will never be the same again. I counted my blessings at the greatness of Allah the almighty.

I was and am lucky to have friends who so willingly handed over a paid luxury holiday at the Pimalai Resorts in Krabi, spending three days experiencing what it was like living a life of the privileged. I couldn’t thank them enough.

I shrieked with shared happiness as a friend landed a job in Dubai, and another found her other half and soul mate. Wedding bells soon to be ringing and a trip to Dubai must be planned.

I also learned how to bake a cheesecake from scratch and met a lot of new people. In real life or virtual from this blog of mine.

Most importantly though, I welcomed my first niece into the world early in 2011. She’s a bundle of joy a ray of sunshine for the whole family. I couldn’t ask for more.

But it wasn’t all smiles last year. Of course there were those moments of gloom. But lets not dwell on that.

The only regret I have of last year is that I didn’t write often.

What will 2012 bring?

Only the best that life has to offer…. And maybe my other half. I want to be married before the year ends. There, its out in the open. This is the first time I’ve actually said it out loud. I guess I’m ready now.

I am ready. Percaya tak?

Oh, and happy new year to you. This will be great year for us. You and me.

Too Small of a Plate

Tags

breathe, DBP, Malaysia Translators Association, UM

I believe that we all have those moments when we feel that life is pulling us in different directions at one time. Those time when you feel like your head is about to explode and you wish that there are more hours in a day.

It is one of those moments for me.

The next few months will certainly be a challenging uphill battle. The office is moving to Putrajaya in a few weeks and we’re in the midst of packing. Apart from that, I’m to start attending my postgraduate class in UM tomorrow. A.full.day.of.class. The last time I sat in a class the whole day was 11 years ago. That long. I doubt my bottom is up for that nowadays. It’s the age thing.

It doesn’t stop there. I took up a Diploma Course in Translation with the Malaysia Translation Association and Dewan Bahasa Pustaka early in the year which was scheduled to end early this month. Was being the operative here. Was supposed to and currently, not happening as planned. Pushing a few classes back because of a few holidays, I am due to attend three more classes every Saturday and exam for this particular course will be somewhere in December.

Two different courses, work and life.

i.can’t.breathe.

Too much on this little plate of mine.

Wish me luck!

p/s: maybe I’ll meet The One on campus? ;-) A girl can dream.

#2 Wordless Wednesday

Tags

answers, questions, wondering, Wordless Wednesday

Current Thoughts

Tags

colleague, flu., paper shredder, stack of books, tesco

1.  When will I ever be able to finish the stack of books that I keep on buying but never have the time to read?

2. I need to go to Tesco and buy a paper shredder.

3. When will he reply his email.

4. Why don’t I like Pavillion and keep going to KLCC although the former offers better choices.

5. I don’t want to get my colleague’s flu.

6. Can I finish the assignment for my translation class on time? Still in post-raya mode.

7. Should I try out that online dating website which Shanty (a colleague) has been pressing me to do?

#1 Wordless Wednesday

Tags

Wordless Wednesday

I Sat There Listening

Tags

colours, laughter and tears, people

Sometimes I just sit and wonder what they say about me. I just wonder. I wondered as I sat listening to them judge others.

My FairyGodmother always reminds me not to care what others think. That I should do what I want to do, regardless. But being the Capricorn that I am, I tend to over analyse situations and read too much in between those lines.

Do they see me as a hopeless romantic? That I see the world all roses and cream when they say that it is a scary place where the big bad wolves prey for its victims.

I just sat there, and I listened to them say how  we shouldn’t do this and we shouldn’t do that . Or maybe we  should not do anything at all?

Don’t take risks in life, become social recluse and let life go by as we sit by the window and watch.

I wanted to scream. Wanted to scream from the top of my lungs and tell the two to just let others lead their life they way they want to. To let them write their life history, and their life story; every sadness, every laughter and every tears and make it public should they decide to.

But I didn’t. I just sat there instead, quietly seething and wishing that I could have said what I wanted to say.

And the day went on as usual and at the end of it, I am still a hopeless romantic; I choose to see the world and the people in a multitude of happy colours.

That’s not so bad now is it?

Mencari Cinta

 

"All our young lives we search for someone to love, someone who makes us complete. We choose partners and change partners. We dance to a song of heartbreak and hope, all the while wondering if somewhere and somehow there is someone searching for us."

The Wonder Years

The Notebook #1

 

I laughed till it hurt, and months ago I thought I’d never laugh again. 

 

If you don’t look like an Abercrombie model, then don’t expect me to look like a Barbie. – The Notebook

But I don’t expect much, a Craig David lookalike will do.