22

Two things happened today:
1) I turn 22.
2) I am officially a fifth year medical student.

Same as last year, our batch's final exam results come out the same day as my birthday. God's gift besides another breath of life is ease of this overthinking mind on this date. Alhamdulillah, glory to none but Allah!

This calls for extended qiamullail and a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting and shaved white chocolate topping, hehe.

Mom wants me to think and act more maturely now that I am 22 and I concur. But I have been told by friends and colleagues that I am too matured. This is rather conflicting. Maybe our family is just different.

Taekwan-do Kids versus Big Sister with a Master Headlock

Melle and Maru had their grading yesterday. I had my breakfast of The Nasi Ayam Mok Noh while the kids were warming up.

Nasi Ayam Mok Noh. This has been our staple since 1997. Maybe even before that. If you become my guest, breakfast is on me.

Melle was practicing her pattern with her friends, doing so deliberately and artfully while Maru was running around playing with his friends. I called for him and told him to practice and a good boy he is, he stopped in his track and did his pattern. Quick, smooth and precise, smiling that monkey grin all the way.

I was so swelled my grin was Chesire.

It is befitting that the last in the family is a sunny sanguinous monkey as oppose to the melodramatic perfect Melancholic that is Melle.

Maru then went chasing his friends for a while before practicing another set of pattern and another and then he sparred with his friends.

You should have seen him. He gave four successive kicks without missing a beat, crouched and blocked and proceeded to hell out punches.

Front kick, back kick and jumping kick (jumping kick was not in Grade 6 syllabus). I was so proud at little boy I would had scooped him up in a hug. But I was considerate not to drop down his machismo level, haha. (I am his sister, I can humiliate him anytime I want.)

Monkey King Hakim (8 years old) on the left with his friend Ashimudin (11 years old).

Maru was a mighty offense. But his problem was that that monkey didn't block as efficiently as he attacked. He'd rather jump out of the way and counter-kick than blocking kicks properly.

That was something we will definitely work on.

They passed their grading with one grade. You can give the kids a black belt for all I care, but I'd win them with a Master Headlock anytime.

Nasi Lemak TC at Jalan Kuala Krai near JKR. This stuff is also a staple dated back in 1997. My favourite is with sambal kerang. 

We went home and ate Nasi Lemak Sambal Kerang Bersinar, formerly known and I still call it Nasi Lemak TC. (I will eat whatever I want now that I am home and leave housemanship period once I graduate to do the thinning for me.)

Bear That Pain

When we were doing our debate thing, they gave us a motion that required us to dig into the private health sector of America. It was a cool experience, conflicting actually, because mom works in the private health sector so I wasn't thinking objectively.

Anyway, let's put that aside. Post debate, I was Wiki-ing Justin Bieber and he mentioned something negative about USA helth sector, which would have been a point for our coolness should we used it.

Bieber has said he is not interested in obtaining United States citizenship and has criticized America's health care system. Praising Canada as being "the best country in the world", he cited its health care system as a model example.

And then there's that scene in CSI Miami season 9, when the guys interrogated a Mala Noche member. Leuitenant Caine shot his shoulder to bring him down and Wolfe pressed on his wound to make him talk. The guys got what they wanted and left the thug to be apprehanded.

He yelled his cut of the bargain, "Where's my hospital?!" to which Caine replied, "You ain't got the insurance."

Heh. The private health sector in USA is sad.

Swing

Marrybrown had this sectioned area with different kinds of seat. I spotted the sofa and I badly needed to sink into something soft so I made my way towards it. That was when I saw the swing-seat section.

My inner kid leaped in joy. I took my Crocs off and swung my seat while I ate my burger.

So I was polishing my yogurt, my seat taking a steady swinging when a group of three MAS worker came near my section. The only guy in the group was uber excited as he coaxed the two ladies to please let's seat on the swing. It'll be fun, we can swing around!

I smirked. That was one guy after my own heart, haha.

P/s: Those three turned out to be the cabin crew of my flight back to Kota Bharu.

Idle Girl to Abu Dhabi

Etihad was pretty cool.

The current movie selection was rather boring actually, but their album collection was OMG. They had two albums on Queen, one on The Script (I would have been doing cartwheel if not the fact I'm on board a plane) and an entire album of AC/DC!

Haha THUNDERstruck! I was officially on bat-shit crazy OKC fan mode.

To be fair to fans of sissy boys, there were JBiebs and One Direction albums as well. In a tribute to Kemal who enjoys vocal powerhouse ladies, Celine Dion was also there to be enjoyed.

Life was therefore balanced.

In another news, I walked from Saidina Hussein to Mounira last night. Rabid taxies wouldn't pick us up and there was no way I'm waiting around. Went to three different supermarkets on the way back because a certain little sister wanted Temmy's Papaya Granola Bars, with no luck. Bought Power Flakes with Raisin instead.

Was sore all over, passed out twice in the tub during a 30-minute soak, packed my luggage with uncooperative upper limbs yet sleep failed to come until 4.30 in the morning. Was awoken from my sprawl on the floor three hours later by an affectionate lovebite on my earlobe courtesy of the ants. Stupid perverts made rather good wake-up alarm.

Told the sister about her granola bars and that little prick had the nerve to be ungrateful. Now another reason to look forward to my flight home was to be able to wring her neck and smack her head really hard with the Power Flakes I bought her that she ended up with counter-coup contusion.

Ahh. Something to look forward to.

At the Abu Dhabi airport, the officer let a family of Arabs cut the line in front of me. I muttered "Ain't that f---ed up" and yes I am rotten, I know. Then I saw it was a family with three kids.

My muttering continued, "Great. Kids. I should get fat and claim I am pregnant."

So They Are Gentlemen

I was reading something (inappropriate, considering our last viva is tomorrow) and there was a scene where the girl got off her shift at 11pm. She was going to walk home alone when her supervisor saw her and he thus offered her a ride. She politely refused, but the stoic snobbish worship-me-you-heathen supervisor insisted because- oh what the hell, just read the lines and you'd see what I mean.

After a moment of what seemed to be painful internal debate, Sasuke scowled and walked over to her. "I'll give you a ride." He said gruffly and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"No, it's really o-okay--"

"Don't be stupid." He snarled. "Do you want to be assaulted?"

"Wh-why are you offering?"

Scowling, he buckled his seat belt and replied, "Because Itachi would kill me for letting a girl walk home alone in the dark at eleven o'clock at night."

My jaw dropped. All this while I was under the illusion that girls-should-not-walk-alone crap was all in the overprotective Messiah-complexed Malay's mind and severely concocted in our community here in Egypt. I didn't expect the same sentiment to be entertained by a Canadian, even calling it "gentleman"ly.

Gentleman by vitellan on Deviantart.

So this.. protective sentiment has to be the common sense, eh? Totally got past me, so is my common not mainstream then? I am sorely misguided... 

Okay don't bite me, I've enough ant bites to fear anaphylactic shock already. I take my leave now. Bye.

Path We Chose #3

21 Feb 18:06

Disclaimer: This post, as most of my posts, is highly analogous. What I write is not what you understand. Continuing reading will waive your right to object otherwise.

Strangely enough despite facts about my relationship status, I know what it's like to be happily married for a year and suddenly he says to you, "The reason I'm staying is because I'd be lonely without you. And I haven't found another stable relationship yet." And he is openly working towards establishing another stable relationship.

You feel stabbed. You want to kick him in the groin. You long to say, "Get lost, you selfish jerk." You want a divorce right away.

Because I am a self-proclaimed level-headed and rational person, I react with a masked face and a simple nod. I listen to his rationalization and calmly sip my coffee like we are discussing the many breeds of cat. I hum when appropriate. But when I look up to look him in the eyes, I make sure it is hard and there is not a drip of approval in my glance.

And I can't help feeling stabbed.

Syeikh Rohim told us once how to properly react when your husband propose to having a second wife; that is to consider whether you want to be the first wife like a boss or become the unwanted widow shunted by the community.

But for me, in this case, I don't think there's any ounce of sincerity left for us to go on when the thread remains reeks of undiluted selfishness. And when sincerity is long lost, thus the time to stop.

True, he's physically still around and maybe Allah is giving me another chance to work harder and make him stay for good. But I can't feel his heart present with us and I'd be damned, but I am tired of human; they are so messed up. I never was a people person before him and I am sorely tempted to become my old self again. The one with the self-centered, devil-may-care, I-don't-give-a-damn attitude.

They said when you love someone, you don't give up. Perhaps. Had I been a better person, maybe I won't give up.

MAG and Me

When I just started my first year, we celebrated Kak Battah's batch graduation during the winter and as a young reporter at that time, my assignment was to interview her on video and pass the clip to Abang Warouq who will be doing the compilation.

Assignment was delegated by Kak Radin, then big boss of BPP. So I called Kak Battah and she told me the direction to her house (take the Metro and stop at Ghamra, take the microbus towards Awwal Maqram and get down when you see a ministry building on your right. Walk into the street and turn at the first left, enter building number-I-don't-remember-now on your right).

Take note I was a first year student in Cairo, barely three months into my stay in Egypt and already wandering beyond the neighbourhood alone. I was a brave lass. Lol.

So that morning I went to Kak Battah's house she shared with Kak Nik. They were packing and there were also Kak Nik from Alex. I asked whether Kak Battah was ready to be interviewed, in which she told me to interview Kak Nik instead since Kak Battah will be giving a speech during the ceremony.

Interview taken, video edited and even subtitled. I dropped the video to my then boss Kak Fathy to be picked up by Abang Warouq before running off to catch the public bus towards Thamin to cover the MAG ceremony. I was dead late and Safwan had been calling me so many times wondering where I was (I reject his calls after a few times because I got lost and was too egoistic to admit that to a male senior).

Kak Radin saved me that day. All seniors I encountered were very kind I could cry.

---

When I was in second year, I got involved as an AJK for Kak Aniah's batch graduation. The rest of AJKs were the batch-after (Abang Ayep, Abang Aslam, Abang Faizal and Kak Bid) with the notoriously famous Kak Pink and this was how I get to know them and concurrently the close kinship, lol. Lucky me!

We had graduates from Cairo University and Ain Shams University, so I prepared the questions and asked Kak Fathy to interview the Cairo graduates, my housemates (haha bullied) to interview Kak Asma and I took the ASU graduates. Rahman took care of interviewing the male seniors.

So as last year, I called Kak Zawil up and she gave me directions to her house she shared with Kak Daing and Kak Laili (go to the bus stop at the end of Maarad and walk ahead along the big road until you find a chicken shop on your left. Enter the building next to it.)

They thought I would be coming with friends (because good girls don't go wandering to new places alone) and Kak Laili already prepared the best dhal gravy I ever had to be eaten with fresh fatiroh from the bakery. We had the shot while they were going through daily tasks and wrapping up the boxes to be shipped home.

It amazed me how easy for us to get along. They were seniors older than me and I was just a pesky kid running around with a camera and a notepad. They were friendly and helpful and I had no reason to be awkward at all. Naturally the leftovers were too much so I brought them back home, hehe.

Kak Fathy had me to accompany her during interviewing Kak Aniah since it was done at the futsal pitch of Zinhoum; Kak Aniah the good wife was cheering for her husband during the final match of LiQa 2010 and it was Waadul Haq versus Fawwaz at that time.

Supposedly I just interview them and Rahman do the video compiling, but later he asked me to compile them as well.. Truthfully I am better at interviewing than doing the technical job, but we need to be outside our comfort zone sometimes, right? Well actually had he not been a neighbour and a senior from Hadi's batch, I would never had given him any slack.

At that time, I had the worse time trying to edit the video. Abang Ayep and Abang Aslam kindly called time after time asking me was it done yet and was there anything they could help but I was probably too stressed out to give an honest answer.

But the video did turned out okay, at least Abang Faizal seemed to be happy with it. During post-mortem meeting/party I took a lot of beating but nevertheless, I had fun.

Kak Zawil, Kak Daing and Kak Laili later came over to my place and they made friends with old Yuuno. They even registered themselves to be in Kelab Sahabat Yuuno, haha.

trees are made for hanging

there's a huge tree outside my balcony. kinda like the old tree at the end of the field of my primary school which i spent climbing and jumping off during my lunch breaks. except this tree, the one outside my balcony, doesn't have that kind of thick sturdy branch that allows petite girls (hey i still fit my adolescent clothes) to safely hang around.

what a waste. trees are made to be climbed and jumped off and hung around.

so bored..

Ant Lover

today, some ants thought it was amusing to bite my upper eyelid. i woke up irritated with unilateral mechanical ptosis only relieved when i close the right eye, thus taking the right hand away from doing whatever else i wanted to do.

anyway, i was irritable the whole day. it didn't help that i was skipping meals again.

Haru:
i effing hate ants
argh

the deliberate break on my two months no-cussing pledge clearly conveyed my infinite frustration.

Wunan:
adeh la kau ni pon
apsal tak suke sangat semut?
diorang ok je kot

Haru:
diorang selalu gigit aku

Wunan:
adeh la. bukan salah diorang kot
diorang binatang kan, bukan ada akal. dan diorang tak dendam pun dengan kau

Haru:
i still hate them

Wunan:
-_-

Haru:
KENAPA KAU SEBELAHI MEREKA

Wunan:
aku pun tak tahu
mungkin sebab tindakan diorang dikawal oleh Tuhan kot
aku kalau binatang buat hal, aku redha je la.

Haru:
oh tuhan
sucinye hati kau D:

now i am not sure which one i hate the most.
a) my uncanny prowess in attracting ant lovebites
b) effing ants
c) this ant lover
d) my inability to suck up and be redha