Jalan-jalan buat kerja…

Tuesday, 13th July -

A fellow volunteer had agreed to join me for my trip to Nilai and so I told her I’d be coming over to her house at about 3 pm. I got right to the front of her house at 3 pm, honked and out she came, saying, “Wah, you managed to find my house!” I just giggled… for it was my friend Mrs G who had showed me the way. Huh? Mrs G? Well yeah, her full name is G P S… ;-)

Well, I then set Mrs G to show us the way to Nilai Springs Resort Hotel. It was to be my first time in Nilai, and so Mrs G actually saved me the trouble of having to google for a map. And indeed Mrs G did a good job in guiding us the way – by 6.30 pm we had checked in at the hotel. We got a room facing the golf course, so yeah, nice view from our room…

 

Wednesday, 14th July -

After breakfast at the hotel, we checked out and headed to Nilai University College. I had earlier received a text message from Kak Zawiah (the one who approached me for the talk) informing me of the venue of the talk. Again, with the help of Mrs G, we had no problem finding the college. In the meantime, Sara, the Masters student from American University had agreed to meet up with us at Nilai University and so I told her to go straight to the lecture hall.

The seminar, which was held in conjunction with their Red Ribbon Campaign Week, started off with a welcoming speech by En Samsudin, the Head of the Medical Lab Technology Dept; followed by the presentation by the officer from IMR on the subject “HIV and Lab Diagnosis”.

My turn was for the second topic - “Dealing with the HIV Infected & Affected”.

Hmmm… if I was a wee bit cuter, I would have been hidden behind the rostrum, wouldn’t I? (sekali-sekala perasan cute, tak pa noo?)

Anyway, this time my talk didn’t involve any facts and figures, just sharing my personal experience in dealing with the PLHIVs in the course of my voluntary work.

After my presentation, they showed a short video courtesy of Malaysian Aids Council.

Ada gaya student tak?

 

After the seminar, we were brought to “Thinking Cup” (that’s the name of the cafeteria) for lunch. So I didn’t have to worry about having Mrs G show us the way for lunch. :-) We still headed to Nilai Square after that, no, not to shop for textiles, but I had promised to meet up with a friend of mine who wanted to hand over some goodies (clothes and stuff) through me to be given to the poor families under my care. After that we headed straight back to Ipoh – stopping only in Tapah R&R for a drink and for me to stretch my legs. Apakan daya… kitalah speaker, kitalah drebar… my two passengers tangkap lentok in the car…

We reached Ipoh about 4 pm, sent Sara to the hotel she had booked earlier, then sent my other colleague home. I left it to my colleague to bring Sara out for dinner last night. Was told they went for Chinese food.

 

Thursday 15th July -

I promised Sara I’d pick her up at the hotel between 9 to 9.30 am. I told her to check out straight away so that after our rounds, I could straight away send her to the bus station for her to get back to KL.

First stop was our center. I had told our treasurer to prepare a cheque as 50% deposit for us to confirm bookings for our coming family day at LWOT, so I needed to go to the center to get the cheque. I also needed to get the receipt for Saiful’s glasses (remember Sofie’s son who had to wear those THICK glasses?). Somebody had stepped on his glasses and the impression I got from Sofie when she called yesterday was “jahanam cermin mata dia”. Frankly I thought it was beyond repairs.

Today’s the first day of Saiful’s trial UPSR exams, and so today he had to sit for the exams without his glasses. I hope he managed.

Sofie’s house was the first house I brought Sara to. Too bad Sara doesn’t speak Malay and Sofie doesn’t speak English, and so all Sara could do was observe. When Sofie showed me the glasses, I was relieved to note that it wasn’t as bad I had imagined it to be. Well yes, one side of the lenses came off from the frame, and there was a tiny chip, but it didn’t look like we needed to make another pair. We brought Sofie to the optical shop where Saiful’s glasses were made, and the guy there repaired the whole thing in a jiffy. He still remembered me as the one who brought the little boy who needed the thick glasses and so he didn’t charge us a thing. I introduced Sofie as the boy’s mother, and so next time if need be, Sofie doesn’t have to worry about having to pay if Saiful’s glasses need any more repairs.

After Sofie’s, we headed straight to Fuzi’s house. Again, Fuzi doesn’t speak English, so Sara had to endure listening to conversations she couldn’t understand. Of couse, she noticed the different tone of language used by Fuzi… Fuzi’s an Indonesian, remember?

Both Iwan and Ijam were also home. Iwan is not schooling yet, while Ijam has leave from school as the school is being used for UPSR trial exams. And oh, they now have a cat at home – a white/orange cat. Iwan handed the cat over to me, and the cat just sat quietly on my lap without moving an inch. Am not too sure if the cat’s overly pampered or simply overly lazy!

After Fuzi’s, we headed to LWOT as I wanted to confirm bookings for our Family Day and pay the 50% deposit. I didn’t realise that the amount on the cheque wasn’t properly written (and to think that our treasurer works at a bank!!) and so I couldn’t do the confirmation then (confirmations must come with 50% deposit). We’re having a meeting tonight, and this time I’d better make sure he gets it right. I will have to go again tomorrow. Sigh!

After LWOT, I took Sara for lunch. As I needed to send her to the bus station after that, I opted for a restaurant near Medan Gopeng. So I brought her to Assam House Restaurant. Sara did mention she loved Malay food and she loved nasi lemak and sambal sotong, and I figured Assam House would have all the sambal cookings. And not surprisingly, she opted for the nasi sambal sotong. (Yes, she loves spicy food – but like me, can’t take cili api!)

Sara insisted on paying for lunch (she said I’ve been giving her free rides here and there), and so I let her be. We finished just in time for Sara to catch the 1.30 pm bus.

Am having a rest at home right now before going for our Family Day meeting tonight. Tomorrow I will have to go to LWOT again to settle our bookings and on Saturday there’s another talk to be given to a girls school here in Ipoh. And Sunday will be my lawn mowing day…

Banyaknya kerja…. so how come I’m gaining weight huh?