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Awesome.

Mana lah Mak Lijah nak sangka dapat datang ke sini. Masa winter plak tu. Gigil...

Lawatan ke sini telah menyedarkan bahawa Mak Lijah dah ditipu bulat-bulat selama ini oleh propaganda Amarika... Ceh.. Tipah tertipu sungguh!

Dulu memang Mak Lijah ingat Moscow ni sebuah pekan yang sepi. No cars, gloomy, cold, boring, dark, no people on the road... dan macam-macam lagi lah yg tak best tentang nya.

Rupa-rupanya... Waaaaa....leeehhhh.....!!! Except for the temperature, yang lain semuanya opposite. The city was extremely busy...busy...busy...!!! Plenty of cars e-ve-ry-where.. I repeat.. e-ve-ry-where... And they were all faassssttt... and furious.... Seriau betul dengan cara diorang drive. Pandu laju-laju.. and then break suddenly.. Hey..!!!! Lomah jantung den... There are six lanes on each side. So if you want to cross to the other side, you have to walk across 12 lanes. So how are you going to do that? Lupakanlah...

Bangunan-bangunan di sana pun canggih-canggih belaka. Not only were they huge.. the architecture were just superb. Sungguh...! Hotel-hotelnya besar-besar belaka. They would probably have 1,000 rooms. Kalau nak bergerak from the ballroom to the restaurant, kenalah berjalan dekat 2 km kut, sebab rasa berjalan sangat jauh dan lama... Tu dia...

Jadi selama ni, Mak Lijah memanglah termakan dengan propaganda depa tu. Cisss...

Apa-apapun, pengalaman Mak Lijah ke Moscow was so amazing. Amat berharga sekali. Lupakanlah cerita 007 yang banyak memesongkan tu..

360 degrees

My oh my... Dah dekat setahun rupanya tak jenguk ke sini. Asyik maksyuk dengan facebook, hah akhirnya blog pun ditinggalkan. Memang facebook sungguh mengasyikkan tapi facebook juga membawa padah. Mak Lijah pun pernah terkena tempiasnya. Syukur segalanya pulih seperti sediakala.

But that was like one and a half years ago. My life turned 180 degrees on 1 October 2009 when I changed my 'work station'. Bukan sekadar bertukar work station, benda-benda lain pun terikut juga bertukar... Daripada lokasi kerja ke tempat hangout, ke baju kerja ke segala-galanya lah. Baru tau langit tinggi rendah. Macamlah sebelum ni tak tau langit tu tinggi mana, kan? Daripada a hectic working life, terus bertukar to a 'paid holiday'. Hari-hari drive 38 km away dengan hati yang berat sebab tak der motivasi.

Nevertheless, dalam pada tu Mak Lijah dapat gak pi satu business trip ke Norwich, UK in January last year. What do you know? Boring punya boring pun majikan masih nak hantar ke sana. Kira best lah juga. Balik jer dari trip tu, Mak Lijah pun pulun lah buat report, siap dengan calculation, proposal, bagai... Lepas seminggu, diam. Dua minggu pun, diam. Sebulan? Dua bulan? Aleh..aleh.. senyap gitu jer. There goes my spirit.

It got worst later on. Dengan Danisy asyik sakit perut and I had to drive back home sebab he was crying... hidup sungguh tension, I have lost the motivation inside me and always thinking that the attachment to the new place was a punishment. I was counting by the days when this whole thing would be over. Always taking leave sebab I felt that the time with family at home was more rewarding than being at work.

At last, the 'news' came just before the Raya leave, about 11 months later. The news that I will finally be sent back to 'normal', 'original' working life came as a pleasant surprise. Alhamdulillah. So I reported duty at this new place on 15 September 2010.

Since then, another 180 degrees turned, completing the 360 turn. My life has totally changed. I am back on the jet, hopping from one country to another, sleeping from hotel to another hotel, landing in one airport to another, chairing heaps of meetings, oh gosh...!! Such a challenging job! But you know what? I am enjoying every single bit of it. My spirit has returned since, I am now highly motivated and best of all.. I have work to do! There's always something waiting for me at the office each day..

All I can say is that since leaving my old office where I have served for 14 years, my life has completely turned 360 degrees to a better phase although I had to go through a year of hardship. Alhamdulillah..

Bigger Baby Danisy

This is my youngest son.
Wish he won't grow up so fast.
I have a lot to tell about him because he is very special to me.
But there were too many to tell.

Semasa di dalam perut, dia selalu mahu Mak Lijah tahu, "Hey.. I'm here..!" Pun begitu, bila genap 9 bulan 10 hari, tak mau pula keluar. Kena berjemput.

Mak Lijah pernah cerita kisah dia semasa baby dulu. Jarang sangat menangis.
He was a good baby.
Sangat independent.
Mak Lijah ingat dia merajuk dengan Mak Lijah sampai tak nak minta pertolongan Mak Lijah. Rupa-rupanya dia jenis nak buat semua benda sendiri.

Sekarang ni, pemikirannya makin kritis. Bila dia bertanyakan mengenai sesuatu, dia akan digest maklumat yang kita berikan dan interpret mengikut pemahaman dia. Kadang-kadang kita kena betulkan statementnya sebab dia interpret dari perspektif seorang yang seusia itu.



Semalam, sebaik-baik saja turun dari bas sekolah, terus jer dia meluru ke Mak Lijah (dengan cemasnya) yang tengah bersiap nak ke konsert Siti dan KD.

"Mama.. Mama..! Boleh tak Mama tolong kawan Danisy?"

(Kebingungan dan kebimbangan) "Huh...? Tolong kawan Danisy? Kenapa? Dia sakit ke?"

(Dengan nada sangat cemas) "Tak....! Kawan Danisy ni.. dia kena tinggal. Pakcik Hashim (drebar bas sekolah) tadi tak nak tunggu dia. Terus jer pergi. Kesian kawan Danisy... Tapi abang dia dah naik bas, tinggal kawan Danisy sorang jer."

"Oh.. Kalau abang dia dah naik bas, mestilah abang dia bagitau kat Pakcik Hashim yang adik dia tertinggal."

"Tak...Mama...tak...! Tadi Danisy tengok dia masih ada kat situ. Please Mama..please... tolonglah kawan Danisy. "




Alahai anak Mak Lijah ni....



Sebab tu lah bila kawan baik dia membuatkan dia menangis dua minggu lepas, Mak Lijah pun rasa macam nak nangis juga. Selama ini jarang sangat dia menangis, mungkin 2-3 kali setahun or even less. So kalau dia menangis dengan kuatnya sampai teresak-esak, it must be dead serious. Dia rela luka berdarah, parut sana parut sini, yet dia tak akan menangis, tapi hatinya mudah terluka kalau diejek-ejek, sebab dia sendiri tak suka mengejek orang.




Selamat ulang tahun yang ke lapan, wahai Danisy Eisyraf. Semoga Danisy menjadi seorang yang beriman, baik budi pekerti, rajin belajar, cerdik, menjadi orang yang berguna dan segalanya yang baik.

The Power of FB

Dulu Mak Lijah pernah cerita macamana Mak Lijah got hooked to this thing called FB. Mak Lijah dapat 'berjumpa' kembali dengan classmate Mak Lijah yang sama-sama belajar di Convent Green Lane kira-kira 25 tahun yang lalu. Seronoknya kemain lagi. Cerita-cerita lama dari kengkawan membuatkan Mak Lijah terkenangkan kembali keseronokan zaman remaja dulu.

FB bukan setakat dapat reconnect dengan kawan-kawan lama, dapat juga kongsi gambar-gambar, untuk sama-sama update mengenai status kahwin masing-masing or yang dah beranak-pinak malahan tolong mengutuk, menyakat yang seterusnya dapat mengukuhkan tali silaturrahim. Banyak dah re-union telah dan akan dibuat sejak ramai yang sign-up ke FB ni.

Betapa bagusnya ciptaan yang bernama FB ni.



Pun begitu, jangan diabaikan laporan Harian Metro semalam:

FB PUNCA CERAI
http://www.hmetro.com.my/Current_News/myMetro/Wednesday/Global/20091223083451/Article/index_html



Memang dah tak boleh dinafikan bahawa FB juga telah mendatangkan masalah, kemudaratan dan kemusnahan. Telahpun dibuktikan di Australia. Ciri-ciri keterbukaan FB membolehkan maklumat dapat dikongsi oleh sesiapa saja di seluruh dunia yang telah sign-up kepada FB. Hati-hati dengan komen dan status yang dipaparkan. Boleh melukakan hati orang lain dan menjurus kepada krisis. Kalau dibuat kajian, hasilnya akan membuktikan perkara ini juga sedang dan telah berlaku di Malaysia. Silalah buat kajian itu. Peguam-peguam nikah-cerai mungkin mempunyai maklumat.


Pun begitu, Mak Lijah harus berterima kasih kepada FB kerana telah memberi isyarat, telah menyedarkan dan telah menyelamatkan Mak Lijah dari keruntuhan. Namun, semua itu tak akan berlaku kalau bukan dari petunjuk dan kehendak Allah S.W.T. juga. Alhamdulillah.

FB telah membuatkan Mak Lijah tersentak seketika dan kini Mak Lijah lebih peka dan lebih berhati-hati.

Ada manusia di luar sana yang suka mengambil kesempatan dari kejujuran dan keikhlasan. Kesempatan itulah yang meruntun jiwa dan mencabar pertimbangan.

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The Ordeal

WARNING : THIS POSTING IS UNUSUALLY LONGER THAN PREVIOUS ONES. SO IF YOU WANT TO GO ON READING, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE PLENTY OF TIME AND PATIENCE IS QUITE IMPORTANT. (He..he..he..)




Dah sebulan berlalu masa Abang dimasukkan ke hospital sebab kecederaan di kaki dia.



Nak dijadikan cerita, Pak Lijah pulak masuk sepital baru-baru ni. Kat Penang plak tu... Such a dramatic incident...



Tahun ni holiday di Penang hanya tertumpu kepada city centre sebab ultimate objective ialah untuk pekena the food. To begin with, Mak Lijah tak makan suppressant for the entire week so that I could savor the scrumptious Penang gastronomy.

We reached Penang island at about 1230 pm after a very smooth journey from Bangi. Dari awal lagi Pak Lijah and Mak Lijah dah plan nak lunch di Minah Restaurant kat Gelugor. Dulu masa zaman belajor (even sampai ke tahap universiti), hanya harap ke mak and ayah jer lah nak bawa kami ke situ sebab restoran tu dikira untuk up-market. Pun begitu, tak kisah perihal harganya sebab makanannya amatlah lazat sekali.

Untuk tuan-tuan dan puan-puan yang belum pernah makan di situ, silalah isi poket dengan amaun yang bersesuaian dahulu, dan kemudian silalah order menu wajib: Kari kepala ikan, sambal tumis udang dan ayam goreng special yang ada sos. Menu ni kena tempah khas sebab dia tak dak kat counter. Tunggu sekejap, dalam 10 menet, all will be served hot and spicy. Nevertheless, makanan yang kat kaunter tu pun sedaaaaaaap. Cuba try test sambal tumis sotong dan ayam goreng berbawang. Tapi dua menu tu selalu habis cepat.

Tengah sedap menjamu selera tu, baru Mak Lijah terperasan yang this lady yang duduk accross our table was my school mate kat Convent Green Lane dolu-dolu. And seated opposite her at her table was Pak Lijah's lecturer dulu (paper Marketing Management, kalau tak silap).

So we all pun Sembang Mak Lijah and I asked her to sign-up kat facebook sebab kat situlah Mak Lijah got connected to school friends some 25 years ago tu (remember my earlier posting?).








At about 1.50 pm, we all pun check-in kat Danisy's favourite hotel yang attached to KOMTAR, tu. After resting for a short while, anak2 Mak Lijah dah terlompat2 nak pergi swimming pool walaupun semalam diorang cakap nak pi beli swimming trunk/suit dulu sebab yang ada sekarang ni dah either ketat or pendek.

Maka berenang-renang lah budak-budak tu dan bapak budaknya dalam gerimis manja-manja tu. While the kids were still swimming, Pak Lijah pun keluar lah dari pool sambil komplen sakit pinggang. Later, Pak Lijah komplen lagi that pinggang dia makin sakit and ajak Mak Lijah ke klinik (which is so unusual of him).

Kami pun berjalan di sekitar GAMA mencari klinik, malangnya, klinik yang paling hampir di Jalan Dato' Keramat tu tutup pulak sebab Ahad. So we walked ke depan KOMTAR untuk mencari lagi klinik lain but unfortunately tak ada. Melihatkan keadaan Pak Lijah yang makin teruk, berjalan pun dah terbongkok-bongkok, Mak Lijah suggested to ask the cab driver to take us to any clinic yang buka and tak berapa jauh dari situ. So the cab driver took us to this clinic yang Mak Lijah pernah frequent yearssss ago, opposite Padang Brom (Taman Brown). Doctor dah suspect it was batu karang and gave him a jab.

Nak dijadikan cerita, on our way back, dah dekat sangat nak sampai ke hotel, tiba-tiba terperasan yang wallet dan blackberry Pak Lijah tertinggal kat klinik tu tadi. Makanya, kamipun berpatah balik ler ke klinik tu sambil Mak Lijah menekan-nekan punat blackberry Mak Lijah untuk memanggil klinik tu. Pak Lijah pulak nampaknya masih dalam kesakitan.



Malam tu, Mak Lijah memesan room service saja untuk the kids sebab Pak Lijah masih lagi kesakitan yang amat sangat. Melihatkan dia macam tu, Mak Lijah menelefon klinik tadi dan bercakap dengan dokter tu. Katanya, kalau dalam setengah jam lagi tak kurang juga sakitnya, Pak Lijah harus dibawa ke hospital. Mak Lijah pun meminta nama obat yang dijab kepada Pak Lijah tu : Volteren, 70 mg. Patutler tak baik sakitnya, dalam keadaan biasapun, Pak Lijah selalu ambil 100mg for his gout.


Selesai saja Isyak dengan doa yang panjang, Mak Lijah mengajak Pak Lijah ke hospital. Untuk mengurangkan masa menunggu, we decided to go to a private hospital.


Masalahnya, Mak Lijah ni dah lama benar tinggalkan Penang dan dah lupa kebanyakan nama-nama jalan di situ. Lagipun, kebanyakan jalannya dah jadi one-way ditambah pula dengan bangunan-bangunan baru yg begitu asing bagi Mak Lijah. Mujurlah consierge hotel banyak membantu dengan menunjukkan arah di atas peta. Tapi yang betul-betul helped Mak Lijah with the bearings was the landmark that he mentioned : CRC kiri, hospital kanan, kat Jalan Larut.




Maka Mak Lijah pun berdusyum lah memandu kereta Pak Lijah dengan hati yang sangat berdebar-debar. Mana taknya, dah ler hujan, malam pulak tu...

The route was like this : keluar hotel, turn right to Penang Road. Then turn left to Jalan Burmah and after that... ?????

Memang totally blind..! Oh my God.. cemana nak buat ni? Pak Lijah pulak semakin sakit jadinya. Arggghhh... belasah jer lah.. The formula I want to use is to drive straight through Jalan Burmah tu...

Keter pulak banyak. Hujan...Gelap... tapi ada banyak lampu kedai and yet Mak Lijah betul-betul rasa buta sebab stress/tension yang melampau. Mana nak turn ni? Apa lagi... redah jer traffic light... hon sana hon sini. Hoi...! Tak nampak ke aku bawa orang sakit ni? Mujur aku tak der sairen jer..! Dalam dok drive takut-takut tu pun Mak Lijah bawa laju juga macam ambulance gak (tapi ambulancepun bukannya bawa laju pun, kan?). Then we reached this very familiar area and I saw the signage to CRC. Fuuhhh... that's something..! Then baru nampak tanda "Jalan Larut"..


Oh dah nak sampai rupanya. Terus jer Mak Lijah parking depan pintu Emergency hospital tu.. Peduli lah nak clamp ke, nak tarik ke, nak saman ke... nak haper ke...


Pak Lijah pun masuk dalam bilik rawatan emergency tu.. Dah ada dokter sedia menunggu. Mak Lijah pula bergegas pi register sekejap. Balik dari registration 10 minutes later, tengok2 Pak Lijah tengah 'high' atas katil rawatan while the doctor and nurses were working around him. Kat tangan dia dah dicucuk apa benda entah. Macam citer Grey's Anatomy plak rasanya. The doctor pun explain lah macam2 kat Mak Lijah and at the same time asked a lot of questions, about his medical history, last medical check-up etc. Mak Lijah also explained to the doctor that we were actually on holiday and just arrived that afternoon.

Dipendekkan cerita, the Doctor said Pak Lijah has to be admitted for observation, takut sakit tu datang semula later that night. Masa dengar dia kata 'for observation' tu, Mak Lijah rasa lega sikit. Maknanya bukanlah untuk rawatan lain, i.e. pembedahan or laser or whatsoever. Masa tu, Mak Lijah was contemplating whether to call emak Mak Lijah to tell of the ordeal or not to call. Mak Lijah tak mahu dia risau, especially ayah Mak Lijah yang paling kuat risau yang melampau terutamanya kalau disebut 'masuk hospital' - itu sememangnya amat alarming bagi mereka berdua.

Akhirnya, Mak Lijah decided hanya to call anak2 Mak Lijah yang ditinggalkan di bilik hotel, diorang bertiga saja. Dah tidor rupanya. Mak Lijah beritahu kepada si Abang that I would be spending the night at the hospital untuk menjaga Pak Lijah dan berpesan kepada dia to take care of his siblings for that night. I promised to be back subuh the next day. Mujurlah si Abang faham situasi tu sebab diapun baru jer merasa 'nikmat' bermalam di sepital.

Mak Lijah bertekad that if Pak Lijah hanya di'wad'kan for observation, tak perlulah upset kan mak and ayah sebab knowing them, they will just drive all the way from Perlis to Penang malam tu juga even if I told them not to. Kesian lah kat diorang.


Semasa registration to be warded, Mak Lijah asked for a single-bedded room atas faktor Mak Lijah akan bermalam di situ. Pak Lijah pun dibawa ke bilik tu while he was still on the treatment bed. Katanya rasa melayang-layang sebab ubat tu masih lagi doing work on him. Bilik tu agak besar, much bigger than bilik Abang di Az-Zahrah dulu. Siap ada Astro and a 3-seater sofa cum bed.

Sementara tu, sempat juga update kat facebook... Keh...keh...keh... And because of that, Abang Jam called from KL to ask what happened. He had been in that situation before, a couple of years ago.


Dalam pada nak sampai ke midnight tu, nurse asyik keluar masuk bilik entah berapa kali... At the same time Mak Lijah monitor lah perkembangan Pak Lijah. By then, the pain was slowly going away. Lega lah sikit rasanya... Berbanding masa dalam kereta nak ke hospital tadi, he was much better, then.

Subuh tu, Mak Lijah bangun to find Pak Lijah dah sihat and keluar masuk toilet, as part of the reaction to the ubat the doctor gave him. Finding him like that, Mak Lijah lebih lah rasa leganya and confident enough to leave him for a while.


Dalam gelap-gelap subuh tu, Mak Lijah pun drove back ke hotel. This time it was so much easier sebab tak stress and more confident sebab jalan balik (Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah/Northam) masih sama macam dulu-dulu.

Sampai je ke hotel, Mak Lijah pun sembahyang subuh dan ajak anak-anak breakfast kat coffee house, sebelum memecut ke hospital semula. Pak Lijah kena x-ray pukul 8.30 pagi.




Sesampai je di bilik Pak Lijah, budak2 tu bukan main lagi. Diorang ingat hospital tu macam another resort je so riuh-rendahnya tak ingat dunia.


Oleh kerana nak kena x-ray, Pak Lijah tak dapat nak breakfast lagi pagi tu. By the time the whole process was over, it was almost 10 am and Pak Lijah was so hungry. The staff then brought him bread with jam and butter, plus extra lagi for Danis and Kakak. Baiknya hati mereka...

Later, the doctor came to see Pak Lijah and explained what he found through the x-ray : A three mm-sized stone. Although he said no surgery or any other treatment is necessary yet, Pak Lijah needs to come back in three months time to see the development and prescribe something if necessary. By then, thanks to facebook, ramai yang concerned tu banyak memberi petua-petua dan tak kurang juga yang menelefon Pak Lijah.


Pukul 1230, cukup 24 jam berada di Penang, Pak Lijah pun di discharged. Keluar je dari hospital, we went to Norman's, to have lunch. Menu biasa: kari kepala ikan, sambal tumis udang, ayam goreng dll. Pergggh....! Balik hotel sekejap to solat, then off to Queensbay Mall to shop and shop... Shopping bagai nak rak as if nothing happened the last 24 hours.


On Wednesday, kami meneruskan perjalanan cuti kami menuju ke Perlis, least to the knowledge of mak and ayah of what we went through in Penang on Sunday/Monday.






Akhir kata to all, thank you for your concern and khidmat nasihat yang tidak ternilai dengan wang ringgit. Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Adha.

Se-malam di Az-Zahrah

Malam ni Mak Lijah bermalam di Pusat Rawatan Islam Az-Zahrah, Bandar Baru Bangi http://azzahrah.my/my/. (Website dia ni macam biskut lah.. Boleh tentiba hilang cenggitu jer.) Bukan Mak Lijah yang di'wad'kan. Si Abang. Kaki dia terpele'ot. Main rugby petang tadi.

Ini lah salah satu perkara yang Mak Lijah risaukan dan menjadi juga kenyataan. Syukur kakinya masih boleh diubati. Pun begitu, no rugby for the next six months. Naahh.. engkau.. Fanatik benor dengan rugbynya. So lepas ni, dia kena home arrest and just pluck his guitar jer lah.

And here I am, trying really hard to stay awake until paling lewat so that my sleeping hours would be shorter. Really, tidor kat wad hospital - not as a patient is challenging. Tapi itulah tanggungjawab kita. We must be around our family members especially the younger ones, who are sick, all the time so that they know we are always there to protect them and so they know that we care for them with all our love.

Kesian dia, tidor dalam pening-pening sebab kena cucuk painkiller tadi.

Get well soon, Abang. Mama is always here beside you.
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