Over the weekend...

I had so many plans for the weekend. I had shopping to do, I had weddings to attend, and I had PLWHA clients to visit. But so many things cropped up, I had to cancel my plans to visit the PLWHA clients.

On Saturday morning, I received a text message from Yah. She was coming to Ipoh that afternoon to attend a wedding (no, not hers lah… hehehe) and if possible wanted to get some things from me the next morning. Since I didn’t reply her message immediately, just as I was about to go to the kitchen to cook for lunch, she decided to call me. She said she’d wait for me at Medan Kidd the next morning. I told her to be there at 9.30 am as I needed to pass her some things for the children.

There was a wedding for me to attend in the afternoon at my kampong but I still had to cook for lunch as my mom no longer go to kenduris due to her knee problems. As I was cooking (the menu yesterday was gulai asam kepala ikan) another call came in. No, it wasn’t the James Bond ring tone for my PLWHA clients, but this time it was the Beverly Hillbillies ring tone, the assigned ring tone for my fellow Buddies volunteers. (I assign different ring tones for different groups of people to enable me to easily identify the incoming calls.)

The call actually came from Pat, a fellow volunteer, who updated me on the needs of the poor clients at her area. I had earlier called her up to tell her that the Children Education Fund had been approved for the few children of our clients there and sought her help to get the full details of the amount needed. Pat promised to fax me the list on Monday. Yayy!! So I don’t have to worry about Hana, Pushpa and Valli. Pat will take care of them and submit whatever claims to me later.

I still needed to shop for some things but since I had another appointment on Saturday, I simply didn’t have the time to go shopping. And since I’m the type who hates to go out at night (unless I really have to), I didn’t go shopping on Saturday night even though I had no other plans that night.

Like it or not, I had to go shopping this morning. Luckily the supermarkets open early so by 8.30 this morning, off I went to shop for some babies’ needs and also some groceries for the poor families. I had promised to meet up with Yah at 9.30 am, so I had to shop earlier.

As I was pushing a trolley full of baby’s diapers and milk powder, I bumped into a kampong folk of mine. Imagine the shock on her face upon seeing the loads of diapers and milk powder in the trolley. As expected, the first question she asked was, “Siapa yang pakai pampers ni?!” As far as she knew, there were no babies at my house. She probably wouldn’t be as surprised if I had bought adult diapers since she knew I have a bedridden grandma. (But just for the record, my grandma refuses to wear diapers so we have to carry her to the toilet every time.) Anyway, I just told her the things were for poor families. I didn’t mention anything about HIV though – the story would have ended longer if I had brought that topic up.

After loading everything into my car, off I went to Medan Kidd as I promised Yah. Usually she’d say she’d meet up with me at the bus station (which is across the road) but since this time she was the one who specifically mentioned Medan Kidd, I thought she may have had her own reasons to wait there instead. And it is easier for me too as there are ample parking space there. When I got there, I couldn’t see her anywhere. So I called her to ask where exactly she was.

Yah: “Kat Medan Kidd lah.”
Me: “Medan Kidd ke atau stesen bas? Medan Kidd ni yang kat seberang jalan ni.”
Yah: “Kat stesen bas lah, tempat akak selalu tunggu tu.”

First she said “Kat Medan Kidd lah” then she said “Kat stesen bas lah”. All I can say is WHAT LAH!! And she always assumes people would automatically understand what she means when she says anything. Aduuuh… her lack of focus is beginning to drive me up the wall…

Sabar Pi, sabar…

I handed over some diapers and milk powder for Yah’s baby, and some books for her two girls who did well in their last exams.

Anyway, I was supposed to go elsewhere this morning and on the way to visit Shila as well. Shila had not been feeling well for the past week. She was down with measles and she was also having very high fever. Since I had to cancel my plan, I called her up to find out how she was doing. Thank goodness she said her fever had subsided, although she has yet to fully recover from her measles. I will try to visit her within this week, not only to check on her but also to find out if her daughter’s schooling needs are settled.

Tomorrow I have some business to attend to in another town, and I will be passing by the small town where Mr. and Mrs. K live. I will drop by their home on my way back. And so when I go to my office tomorrow, my car will be full of diapers, milk powder and groceries.

I also promised to bring Fuzi’s children to buy their schooling needs on Wednesday. I purposely chose a working day as I can imagine the horror of queuing up to pay if I go on a public holiday. Oh no, no, no...

Another busy week it will be...