Chronology of My Convocation

1.00 p.m.
My bags are partially packed. When I reach the door, my hand phone rang.
“Ain, Ayu kata da lagi satu survey kena jawap la.”
“Ye ke? Alamak mana nak sempat ni. Bas aku pukul 3 nanti. Anyway, thanks.”
My watch said it’s already 1.00 p.m. My bus will be on 3.00 p.m. Sempat ke?
Quickly I took out my laptop and printer. Connect to the internet. Unfortunately, unable to go to the Net. Urgh!!!

1.25 p.m.
Still sitting in font of the laptop. I can’t wait. I switched off everything. Took my bath and pray. Switch off everything except the fridge. Packed my laptop and printer. I must be ready before 2.30 p.m.

2.30 p.m.
Hungry hungry hippo. I locked up everything and started walking to B.K. On the ticket says, my bus will arrive at 3.15 p.m. The first place that I must go is the TAILOR!
“Auntie, I nak tempah baju la.”
“Aiya, you punya beg banyak besar la. Kasi turun.”
“Auntie, I nak tempah Baju Kurung Pahang, tapi leher I nak buat cekak musang.”
“Cekak musang. Itu yang macam mana?”
“Ala, yang macam Baju Melayu lelaki tu. I nak 5 butang tau auntie.”
“Ok, ok. Kasi angkat ukuran dulu.”
“Auntie, kasi ikut macam ini baju boleh ka?” (I brought along a sample)
“Boleh, boleh. Tapi kasi angkat ukuran leher dulu a…”
“Auntie, ini baju contoh kasi tinggal sini boleh ka? Beg I sangat berat la…”
“Mau tinggal ka? Boleh, boleh. Tak da masalah. You mau angkat ini baju bila?
“Emmm… 17 haribulan boleh ka auntie? Saya mau angkat kasi jahit manik la. Boleh auntie?”
“O…you mau letak manik ka? Macam kat baju ni ka? (referring to the sample that I brought)
“Haah la auntie”
“Boleh, boleh. You banyak pandaila kasi letak ini manik a…”
“Sikit-sikit boleh la auntie.”
“Boleh, boleh. You angkat ini baju 17 haribulan. Ini baju (the sample) kasi tinggal. Betul?”
“Betul la tu auntie. Ok la auntie, I nak pergi KL ni. Bas I pukul tiga suku ni auntie. Thanks a auntie.”
“Ok, ok.”

3.05 p.m.
I stopped at Shell. Bought a mineral water, two buns and a mag. Then, I waited for the bus

3.15 p.m.
Sharp. The bus reached as promised. All that I know after that is darkness. I fell asleep.

[Unknown]
“Turun, turun. Semua naik bas yang depan ni.”
Stesen Bas Pulau Sebang.
Unwillingly I woke up and walked to the bus. I can’t sleep. Then I message my sister, asking her to do the survey for me. That’s it. I’m not cheating, but up till at that moment, I still have not got the letter from UPM.

6.50 p.m.
I reached Pudu. Quickly I got down from the bus and buy another ticket, to go back to my hometown on Sunday. Then I went to find the surau, Asar prayer. Finished. It’s raining quite heavily, but told myself, if I do not continue now, I might stuck at Pudu forever. It’s raining heavily until I have to buy an umbrella (sing, Rihanna song, “ella, ella, ella… ")

7.50 p.m.
After walking through the rain all the way from Pudu to Pasar Seni LRT Station, from Pasar Seni LRT Station to Universiti LRT Station, I finally managed to reach my sister’s house. Maghrib prayer. Then I told my sister that I want to go to Mid Valley. With all the blisters on my feet, I still want to go to MV. She said that she will go with me, although her Encik-Tunang is supposed to come and see her. I don’t care. Even if she doesn’t want to go with me, I will still go to MV.

8.15 p.m.
We reached MV. Of course, the first place that I went is… LAKSA SHACK!!! I’m a big fan of Laksa Sarawak, although actually I hate laksa. After that, we went to MPH. And of course, I must buy new novel from FT.

10.45 p.m.
“Kepada semua pelanggan MPH, kami akan menamatkan operasi kami dalam masa 15 minit lagi. Sila selesaikan transaksi anda yang terakhir. I brought everything to the counter and paid. The total is almost RM 100. Wo!

11.05 p.m.
My sister’s Encik-Tunang came and fetches us. We went to I don’t know where, but I my sister bought a clothes for her company’s dinner and the theme is retro. Hehe..

11.50 p.m.
Reach home safely. Brush my teeth and sleep. What a day!

Edisi Syawal- 1,2,3 Syawal

1 Syawal
Along bangun awal untuk masak lodeh. Baru dia perasan, santan mungkin tak cukup. Tak pe, kuah cair sikit pun masih boleh makan lagi. Dah sudah masak, baru berasan akak aku tak masukkan kimcan (aku pun tak atu benda tu apa). Dah siap masak dah... tak yah la nak nyesal-nyesal.

Encik Bulat dapat nama baru sempena Syawal ni. M. Untuk montel, muncung, malas dsb...

Semua pergi solat raya. Macam tahun lepas, time imam bagi khutbah aje mata aku pun layu. Hahaha...itu tandanya syaitan dah terlepas dari rantaian. Jaga-jaga... Balik solat raya, packing lauk untuk jiran sebelah rumah dan makan. Lepak kejap, lepas tu pergi rumah Tok Yam. Meriah sikit.

Petang raya akak aku balik KL. Aku pun membuta la... dalam pukul 5 lebih adala anak-anak kecik datang beraya.

2 Syawal
Takde sape datang umah aku. Biasala. Aku pun meneruskan aktiviti membuta. Ahahahahhaha!

3 Syawal
Bangun awal untuk basuh kain. Makcik aku datang, so tak dapat la aku berlama-lama dengan tv. Rancangnya nak tengok Sanggetha. Novelnya menang anugerah apantah aku tak ingat. Malam nanti tengok Jangan Pandang Belakang. Dah bertahun tayang, baru sekarang aku tengok. Hahaha... biasala, aku memang bukan kaki wayang....

Edisi Syawal- Malam Raya

Tahun ni aku bolkot penjual kelapa parut. Masakan untuk raya memang menggunakan santan, biasala masakan orang Melayu, tapi kami tak menggunakan santan sebenar. Untuk kari, kakak aku guna susu cair. Untuk lodeh, guna santan segera. Harga kelapa makin naik sekarang. Rasa macam tak berbaloi la pula kalau beli kelapa parut. Sebab tu awal-awal lagi aku dah beritahu akak aku, tahun ini tak akan ada rendang. Dah la guna kerisik, pastu pakai santan pulak. Kolestrol tinggi wooo...

Jadi, untuk daging, aku masak Daging Masak Ketumbar. Lauk biasa bagi orang Jawa, tapi tak berapa biasa untuk keluarga aku. Maklumla bukan Jawa sebenar. Bila dah kahwin campur campur, kadangkala apa yang sepatutnya di perturunkan hilang di tengah jalan. Lost in the middle of somewhere.

Semua di masak pada petang dan malam raya, kecuali lodeh. Oh ya, untuk ketupat, guna ketupat plastik je. Dah bertahun rasanya aku tak masuk ketupat daun. The last time that I can remember weaving coconout leaves to make ketupat, I slept in the middle of the process of weaving it. Dari tengah hari sampai ke petang, aku sorang je yang menganyam, sampai juling biji mata aku. Last-last aku tertidur. Sedar-sedar je, aku dah ada atas lidi kelapa. Itu pun sebab ada panggilan telefon.

That was the first time we cook everyting on our own. Sebelum ni, arwah yang buat, macam biasa, aku memang malas masak. Setakat tolong-tolong boleh la. But yes, last year I cooked, but still under close guidance from her.

What ever it is, semuanya boleh di makan. Sedap sangat tak de la, tapi boleh la. Ketua chef turun untuk memantau rasa masakan. Siapa lagi kalau bukan ayah aku!

p/s: tengah mask-masak, garam kasar habis! Nasib baik ada garam halus.

Edisi Syawal- Menjelang Hari Raya

Pertama kali berhari raya berempat. Aku pun baru sahaja melangkah ke alam pekerjaan. Bilik guru penuh dengan kuih raya. Tapi aku saja (rasanya la) cikgu Melayu Islam yang tak beli apa-apa kuih raya pun. Bukan apa, masa orang sibuk-sibuk order, aku tak ada gaji lagi. Boleh aja aku tempah, tapi kalau masa nak bayar tu tak ada duit, kan malu.

Ahad sebelum raya- pakat-pakat pergi Giant. Belila kuih tunjuk-tunjuk 5 bekas. Jangan kata kuih raya yang jualkat Giant tak de yang sedap. Yang penting kenala pandai pilih. Yang pastu, kuih raya yang aku beli dari satu pengeluar sahaja. Noraini Cookies. Boleh la makan. Buat-buat rasa. Janji ada kuih raya sudah.

Edisi Syawal- Seminggu sebelum Syawal

I carried out a test for my Form 2A students. What a pity! A week before Hari Raya they still have to sit for a test. I’ve told them to study. It’s easy, they have seen the question. To ensure that they do not copy each other’s answer, I prepared four sets of questions. Because it is a literature test, I took the questions from PMR questions for Set 1, 2 and 3. For Set 4, I gave them Trengganu’s PMR Trial question.

After they have answered the test, I collected the paper, and told them.
“I will try to mark your paper as soon as possible. For those who fail, my punishment is still the same (they know what I mean-lompat bintang!). for those who get highest marks for each set, will be given reward. For those who get Set 4, your reward will be twice more. We’ll see later.”

That very day, I’ve finished marking their paper. 40 of them, 3 absentees. 10 failed. I tried not to be sexist or racist. Or any kind of favouritism.
And the result is…
Set 1- only one student who got high marks 8/10
Set 2, 3 and 4- for each set, two students got high marks 9/10

I do what I say, so, I gave them reward. For those who got high marks for Set 1, 2 and 3, they got RM 5 each. And those who got high marks for Set 4, they got RM 10.

I think it is quite fair. As Raya is approaching, duit raya is the best reward for them. Luckily I just got my pay. So, for they day, RM 45 flew from my wallet. Never mind, once in a while. Tak boleh selalu ma… kopak aku!