444

I met up with a volunteer wannabe yesterday. She found Buddies through this blog, called up our hotline number and enquired about being a volunteer. So while I was at the centre yesterday, I decided to give her a call to ask when she was free to meet up. She happened to be on leave from work, and so we agreed to meet up immediately. Within half an hour she was already at the centre.

We had a short chat while she filled in the form to become a volunteer. She asked how long I’ve been the chairperson. “4 years?” she asked. It took me quite a while to recall that I have almost completed my second year as the chairperson, but God! How come I feel as though I’ve been the chair for ages??? Adoiii…

Anyway, as trainee, this lady will have to be under the wing of one of the confirmed buddies – we usually call the senior volunteer as the “mummy” or “daddy” to the trainee… although sometimes the mummy/daddy can actually be younger than the trainee. We will have to wait until the next board meeting to decide who to be assigned as the mummy/daddy to this new trainee volunteer.

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I got rather fed-up with my wired broadband. The line tend to be unstable at times, and although the problem could have probably been solved by filing a complaint, I was too lazy to do so. Towards the end of last year, the phone line was down quite often. I think within a period of 6 weeks, I had to report 3 times and on all 3 occasions, the reason was “kabel kena curi”. Sigh! Well, that one was not the fault of the service provider, but having to pay the same amount every month for the broadband service despite not being able to use it fully, let’s just say I got fed-up. Phone line fixed, suddenly no electricity le pulak. I had been contemplating to “potong” a few times already, but kept giving it a second, third, fourth chance. Then one day, lightning struck, and my modem went kaput.

So I signed up for one of the wireless broadband. With my mini notebook and the USB modem, I can easily access the internet even when travelling now, without having to depend on availability of WIFI.

After I got my wireless broadband running, I went to POTONG my wired broadband. Finally! The officer did everything online there and then and once done she told me that I will still have to pay for my final bill which they would send later.

I waited for that bill to come, somehow I didn’t get any. Being the type who prefers to settle things as soon as possible, I was beginning to wonder whatever happened to that final bill. Yesterday a letter came from the service provider, I thought I could finally settle the bill. But when I opened the envelope, it wasn’t a bill. Instead it was a cheque. You see, they set off the final bill against the deposit that I had paid (and forgotten about). And there was still a balance owing to me and so they sent me a cheque.

YEE HAR!! I got myself a CNY angpow! They paid me 150!!

Yes! 150… sen lah. Yep, the cheque was for the balance of RM1.50. Adoi! Buat penat aje nak pergi bank in. Nak buat duit sekolah pun for some kids it’s not even enough for one day. But I guess the service provider too need to settle their accounts, so I may consider banking in the cheque when I have any other cheques to bank in as well. And when I do, I will be sure to use the cheque deposit machine – am not going over the counter to bank in RM1.50!!! Malufying…

Oh well, my bank charges me RM1.00 for every online transfer to other bank accounts. I guess I can use the RM1.50 to cover the bank charges for 1 1/2 transfers!

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So, what has the title “444” got to do with the above stories?

NOTHING!

This is my 444th posting in this blog. Sei! Sei! Sei!

SEI LOR!!

Let’s just hope this is not my final posting…

Hectic week

This week is rather hectic for me.

I will be away for the whole of next week so there are so many things I need to settle before I go off, especially at the office.

A business client will be having their board meeting next week, and I need to get their management accounts, including cash flows ready by this week.

We have 2 new staff plus 1 practical student who just reported for duty on Monday, and so this week I'd have to teach them what to do etc.

Last night we had dinner for my office staff - farewell dinner for one staff who just left the Company, and appreciation dinner for another staff who has been with the Company for 5 years.

Yesterday, a cousin sent me a text message, informing me that my 93 year old aunt's health had deteriorated. So yesterday afternoon I brought my mother to visit my aunt. Very likely I will visit again before I go to Bali.

On my voluntary work, a few calls and text messages were received this week. Puan Nur (Sharifah's mom) sent me a text message on Monday just to ask how I was doing - lama tak dengar cerita, she said. How thoughtful of her, at least she remembers me even when she doesn't need my help.

Last night while I was having dinner with my office staff, Sharifah called. Her appointment with the doctor at Ipoh GH is today, and since the appointment date was given to her by phone, and not written on her hospital card, she was wondering if she'd have any problem at the registration counter.

Earlier Anita called. For those who may not remember Anita, she's the 22 year old who had not done her IC and had not registered for her baby's birth.

That was a few months ago. Her baby boy is probably about 9 to 10 months old now. I was not assigned as Anita's buddy, so I left it to another buddy to help her out. The buddy did inform me earlier about the need to get any of her siblings to come along especially to get her IC done.

But when she called on Monday, I was informed nothing had been done yet - not her IC, not her baby's birth cert. She asked if she could see me when she comes to Ipoh next for her appointment. I'll be back from Bali by then so I agreed.

I have only met Anita once. I wonder why she wants to see me instead of the other buddy...

But I will only get the answer after I get back from Bali.

In the meantime, I need to settle so many other things first. It's already Wednesday, and my Ipoh-LCCT bus will be at 3 am early Saturday morning.

Whatever it is, I need to get everything ready by Friday. So, what am I doing blogging?

HELP!

A pleasant surprise...

One of my school friends agreed to host a lunch/tea gathering for my batchmates at her house today, and since it has been quite some time since I last met my friends, I decided to go.

Coincidentally, there was an Inter-Alumni Bowling organised by my school alumni at Sunway Mega Lanes this morning, and so I thought if I make a move from Ipoh a bit earlier, I could drop by to watch and give some support. After all, I had never attended any of TKCOGA's bowling tournament, whether internal or inter-alumni, despite being the tukang pukul canang for so many years. Well, I had never even been to a bowling alley before!

So yes, despite getting a bit lost on my way to Sunway Pyramid (never been there before either), I did spend more than an hour there. I didn't wait for the tournament to end though, as my main destination was actually lunch with my batchmates. So when it was almost noon, I said my goodbyes to my fellow old girls at Sunway Mega Lanes and headed out. It was when I was on my way out that I saw one lady whom I thought looked familiar. Hmmm... she looked like a blogger whose photos I've seen. However, I wasn't really sure if I should approach her - takut salah orang. What was she doing there? She obviously wasn't playing, so which alumni was she supporting?

But I knew her (from her blog lah) as a "ratu bowling", so I figured, whaddaheck, just ask lah. If wrong person, just apologise. I went to her and asked, "Sherry ke?"

She looked at me, blankly at first, but did not deny she was Sherry... apparently Sherry's her "nama glamour" so only certain groups of people would call her that. She obviously didn't recognise me (sebab I kurang glamour kot... ), but the moment I introduced myself as Pi Bani, barulah beria-ia berpeluk apa bagai! Frankly I thought we looked like 2 long lost friends who had not met each other for so many years - whereas in fact it was our first meet ever!

Too bad I was already on my way out for my lunch gathering, so the "pertemuan yang tak disangka" only lasted for 2 or 3 minutes. Sherry only managed to get my phone number (oh, she also did introduce her kiddies to me), and I only managed to get this photo, tak sempat nak touch up or even nak betulkan tudung yang dah senget-benget due to the earlier cheering...

Then off I went for my batch lunch gathering. Although not many turned up, as usual, it sounded as though there were so many of us. Had good food, good company and a good time too. And I didn't come home empty handed. One of them gave me some used clothes still in good condition to be given to the poor PLHIV families under my care, and another friend gave me new stationery sets which we could use as prizes for the games during our coming family day. Yayyy!

It was definitely a good day for me... and it was such a pleasant surprise to meet you Sherry!

This and that...

As mentioned in my previous posting, I was going to Putrajaya on Sunday 26th April.

Since my function was to start at 3 pm, I promised to meet up with Raden Galoh in the morning, at our usual meeting place, as she mentioned in her blog posting here. And yes, of course, I got myself a signed copy of her book, Kanser Payudaraku.

Then off I went for the launching of my alumni’s own building in Putrajaya.

What I’d like to bring up is about the motorist who was tailing me at the PLUS highway on my way back to Ipoh. It was somewhere along the Tanjung Malim stretch when suddenly there was this Mat Motor tailing my car. Yep, right behind my car. I was driving at the speed limit of 110 km/h and this mamat followed at exactly the same speed. The distance of his motorbike and my car, at that speed, was simply too close for comfort. If I had suddenly slammed on my brakes, he was sure to crash into the back of my car, with an impact that could be fatal.

I stepped on the gas to increase the speed of my car, with the hope of furthering the distance between my car and his motorbike, but every time I increased my speed, he did the same; and every time I slowed down, he did the same too. I got to the right lane to overtake another vehicle, he did the same. I went back to the left lane, he did the same. Sheesh! Kurang asam punya mamat! Although I didn’t get the “jantung berdebar” feeling I’d usually get when there’s trouble ahead, I was still extra alert nonetheless, just in case this mamat was up to no good.

Just as we were approaching Tapah R&R where I was going to stop for Maghrib, we overtook somebody else who was riding a motorbike at a rather slow pace. It was then that this Mat Motor who was tailing me suddenly slowed down to the same pace as this other motorist.

This other motorist happened to be a young lady riding alone.

Wonder what the Mat Motor had in mind when he tailed right behind my car and then when he suddenly slowed down to follow the pace of the woman on the motorbike?

I don’t know what happened thereafter because he soon got out of my sight.

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Yah called me while I was in my office this morning. She wanted to know if there are any orphanages in Ipoh that would accept both girls and boys. She said if she sends Abang Chik to a boys orphanage while his sisters are in another orphanage which takes in only girls, chances are Abang Chik would want out soon.

Huh? Now she wants to send Abang Chik to an orphanage too? Aduuh, when others would do anything to have their children staying with them, Yah seem to be sending one by one of her children to orphanages. I asked her why she wanted to do this, her only answer was, “Tak tau lah kak, tengah banyak masalah ni” – without mentioning what the problem was. What about her youngest daughter who’d be 3 years old this year? “Yang tu tok dia tak bagi. Dia nak bela sendiri.”

Frankly, I don’t know what Yah’s problem really is. Seems to me she’s having problem with her own parents. Last time she was the one who refused to let her in-laws take her kids away from her. Now she wants to send the children away to orphanages.

Then she asked me if I knew of any homes for single mothers she could seek shelter from.

Aduuuh… tak habis-habis problem lah perempuan sorang ni! For the children's sake, I will have to arrange to meet up with Yah soon to discuss things. Maybe it is indeed better for the children to stay in orphanages rather than with Yah.

Busy schedule ahead

Looks like quite a number of dates have been marked in my calendar for the coming month or so.

This Sunday, 26/4, I will be in Putrajaya, attending the launch of my alumni's building. I need to discuss some things with the committee as well. I used to be a committee member too, but that only lasted for one term - the monthly Ipoh-KL drive for the monthly committee meetings were rather taxing. When others only had to put aside half a day if there were any meetings, I had to reserve the whole day as I needed to include an additional 4 hours drive (to and fro) on the expressway. But I still do attend one-off functions like this one if time permits.

On 28/4, it's time for Buddies monthly Board Meeting.

On 9/5, I will bring my office staff for a "compulsory" tour of Gua Tempurong. During my last visit there with 2 of my office staff last year, time was limited and we didn't really plan anything proper, so we just went in for the 40 minute dry-tour. Even then, the 2 staff who tagged along were huffing and puffing up and down the steps. This time, we're going for the full 3 1/2 hour tour - going up & down the steps, then down to the lower chambers, crawling in the underground river etc. So we really need to go in the proper attire, and bring along change of clothes as well because while we are going into the cave dry, we'll be coming out wet. I've always wanted to do this, but kept postponing as I couldn't seem to get any "gang" to come along. So when the "Boss no. 1" (I am "Boss no. 2" at the office) suggested to me that we should go for this tour as some sort of "training" for the staff, to me it was "pucuk ubi dicita, ulam petai mendatang". I've even posed a challenge to the staff who are all much younger than me (the youngest one even less than half my age!), that they must make sure they don't lose out to this makcik in terms of fitness.

On 12/5, Buddies will be organising a sharing session between PLHIVs at our center. MAC (Malaysia AIDS Council) has agreed to send a PLHIV to conduct the session.

On 17/5, I will be in Putrajaya again for my alumni's Health Awareness Programme and AGM. I have been roped in to handle the committee elections. Whatever... as long as I myself don't have to be in the committee, I'm okay with it!

On 26/5, it's time for Buddies monthly Board Meeting again. This time we will call all volunteers to attend the meeting to report on the progress of their PLHIV clients.

On 31/5, I will be attending a seminar on Women in Syariah (or something like that... will only get full details later). A lady from PWW (Perak Women for Women Association) called me up yesterday asking me if I'd be interested to attend. It will be fully sponsored - seats are limited and attendance is by invitation only, so to me it's a chance not to be missed. It would be good to empower myself with more knowledge in this field as I'm dealing with quite a number of problematic women in my line of voluntary work!

The very next weekend, on 6th and 7th of June, it will be time for Buddies Retreat in Cameron Highlands.

Oh well, I think I will make full use of the long weekend next week to have a good rest. Friday next week is a public holiday in conjunction with... my birthday!

Oh yes, next week I will be celebrating my 17th birthday for the umptieth time!! Woo hoo!!

The wedding, the closed roads, and the traffic jam!

In the invitation card for the wedding reception last Saturday night, it was indicated that guests were supposed to arrive at 7 pm. I knew obviously the function wouldn’t really start at 7 pm but I decided to go early anyway and have my Maghrib prayer at the hotel’s surau. Leaving my house after Maghrib would mean I’d have to rush.

Just as I was getting ready, my friend called. She was already on her way to the hotel but the junction leading to the hotel from the roundabout was closed by the police. This friend, a single mom, was the type who’d panic easily and so if the road she wants to take is closed she wouldn’t be able to think of options. She was with her son then and they parked at a nearby church. She then told her son she’d just try to call me and see if I could help fetch them, otherwise they’d just attend the church’s service for that night.

Since I was not out of the house yet, I promised I’d fetch them at the bus-stop across the church. At that time, I myself wasn’t really sure of what other option to take to get to the hotel. The hotel happens to be on the same road as Istana Kinta, and the road was closed to traffic since Friday morning for security reasons.

After fetching my friend and her son, I decided to try to get into the road from the other end. But, as expected, the other entry was also closed. So, how were we supposed to go to the hotel? I decided to stop right beside the police car and asked the police…

Me: “Macam mana nak pergi Casuarina?”
Policeman: “Ada apa di sana?”
Me: “Ada wedding.”
Policeman: “OK takpe, boleh masuk ikut tepi tu.”

Oh well, all I had to do was ask lah…

Anyway, after the buffet dinner, there was supposed to be a second segment of the reception which was supposed to be something traditional (the bride, a catholic, married a Hindu guy). But my friend’s son was supposed to be at his school by 10 pm. It was Anderson’s 100 years celebration and the countdown was on that same Saturday night.

As we left the hotel I was thinking of the shortest route to the school. We had yet to reach the nearby roundabout when the jam started. You see, on one side of the roundabout was the MB’s official residence where PR supporters were keeping virgil, and on the other side was Yuk Choy school where the DPM and state BN leaders were for the Chinese New Year celebration. So it was such a massive jam, something you don’t usually see in Ipoh, especially at night. Aduuuh… tension betul!

Initially I wanted to send both my friend and her son to the church where their car was parked before my friend would send her son to his school. But that road was so jammed, and to add to that it’s a one way road, as such I’d have to go around quite far getting there. Based on the traffic, I wasn’t sure how long it would take me to get there. So I decided to help send the boy to his school first before I send my friend to get her car.

As I was about to reach Anderson School, another jam started. Cars were parked on the roadsides. I thought many of the parents decided to join the celebration at school and so they parked there. Where I came from, the school was on the other side of the divider, so I was thinking I’d go around the roundabout (laaa… roundabout lagi??) in order to drop him off right beside the school without him having to cross the road. As such I stayed on the right lane. But just as I was approaching the roundabout, I realized that road too was closed. Alamak! I forgot about the Thaipusam procession la!! No wonder la so many cars parked by the roadside. The procession would follow that route going to Gunung Ceruh which was right after that roundabout… aduuuh!!!

Like it or not, I had to drop my friend’s son near the hospital across the school and he’d have to cross the road. But I was on the right lane and getting to the left lane was quite a task. But I managed after getting to the junction leading back to town. And right at that moment the Thaipusam procession was at the road across the divider. I think it has been ages since I last saw a Thaipusam procession live before my very eyes. Usually I’d avoid big crowds and would only watch the processions on TV. Sorry folks, no photos… I was driving lah!

I then headed back to town to send my friend to the church where she parked her car. Under normal circumstances, whenever I knew a particular road was jammed, I’d avoid that road. But that night, I actually drove right into the traffic jam knowing what was coming. I dropped my friend off by the roadside on the right lane as the church was on our right. Otherwise, it would have been difficult for her to cross the road. That was about all I could help her with. How she was going to drive her car out of the church area into the already jammed road, may God help her…

Too bad the wedding was planned for that night. Of course, when it was planned earlier, nobody had expected the political hullabaloo in my home state. Add Thaipusam and Anderson’s 100 year celebrations, it was a perfect night of closed roads and traffic jams in Ipoh.

My only consolation was that there was no football match or any other events at Stadium Perak, which is very near my kampong. Otherwise there’d be cars parked by the roadside leading to my kampong and I’d probably be facing another jam.

Aduuuuh… TENSION BETUI TEMAN!!!

Thank goodness today is a public holiday so I have an extra day to relax.

Taking a break...

My NGO has a few activities for this month, including a joint exhibition with CASP, an NGO from Penang, in conjunction with World AIDS Day. No, joint is not the right word lah. Let’s just say CASP is organizing everything while Buddies simply ‘menumpang’! Even to just ‘menumpang’, we are finding it hard to get enough volunteers to man our table for the exhibition. The exhibition by the way, will be held at Tesco Taiping on 13th and 14th of December.

There will also be a workshop on HAART (Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy) organized by the Family Health Association on 20th December whereby we Buddies have been invited to send 20 people (exempted from paying the fees) to include volunteers, caregivers and PLHIVs. While I myself can’t make myself available for the workshop, I need to get people to go – and so far I’ve only got 6 names, and I need to submit the names by this week.

Meanwhile, I have yet to finish the progress report on the sponsored children under our Education Sponsorship for Children programme. Am still waiting for a few more reports to come in before I can finalise things. We have 3 more children (including one HIV infected child) needing education sponsorship beginning next year, so hey, if any of you want to sponsor a child, do email me ya?

Our annual year-end dinner is usually held on weekends, but since Madame Chair here simply cannot make herself available on the weekends, the Board agreed to have it on a weekday instead (was thinking of giving it a miss but the other Board members said “Chair must attend lah!”)

Apa yang Madame Chair busy sangat ni?? Actually I need to reserve my December weekends this year for family matters. The 1st weekend of December will be too near Hari Raya Haji. The 2nd weekend, well, I may still be able to make it on Sunday night, but there’s the exhibition I mentioned above in Taiping and so it will be difficult for the volunteers involved in the exhibition. The 3rd weekend, my family will be in Malacca for a kenduri. And the 4th weekend, the kenduri will be held on my family’s side.

So our annual dinner will be on a Tuesday night (we usually hold our meetings on Tuesday nights).

I did receive an invitation from Unicef to attend a brunch function in Carcosa Seri Negara this coming Thursday, but while I’d love very much to go, I simply had to turn down the invitation. Never been to Carcosa before… and am missing the opportunity to be there… sigh!

With so many things to do, and not knowing which ones to do first, I may need to take a break from blogging for a while…

…which was why I made it a point to attend last Saturday’s blog-bash at The Curve. I’m not going to do a write up on that as you can get all the stories and photos from Matsalo’s, Elviza’s, Pak Idrus’ and Pokku’s. I did bring along my camera, but seeing there were so many paparazzis around (with Mat Salo as the kepala paparazzi), I figured there was no need for me to become a paparazziah… (female version meh!)

I have to say it was a great pleasure meeting up with fellow bloggers – the familiar faces (it was such a pleasant surprise seeing Raden Galoh there – you’re one helluva lady sis!), the not-familiar-faces-but-familiar-names and not forgetting the not-familiar-to-me ones. Imagine Tokasid introducing one guy to us saying “This is Bunga Telur & Bally Shoes”. Aduh, I can’t be calling this guy by that name every time, can I?

It was also a pleasant surprise when someone came and asked for Pi Bani and then she said, “Saya ni pembaca aje.” The fact that a silent reader took the effort to ask for me was flattering enough. I think she’s Bunga Telur’s wife (sorry Bunga Telur, I did ask for your real name but can’t for the life of me remember it right now!)

Thank you to the organizers of the “perhimpunan tanpa permit”, and in case I don’t get enough time or the urge to blog for the next few weeks…

To fellow Muslims, Selamat Hari Raya Haji.
To all Christians, Merry Christmas.

I will try to post something before the year ends…

The week that was...

I had initially planned to visit Fuzi over this weekend, but weekend is here and somehow I just don’t feel like going anywhere. I feel sooooo lazy. Like my former Science teacher used to tell my batch-mates in school when we were in form 3 – “You girls are plain LAZY – capital L capital A capital Z capital Y, underline twice with red ink!!”

Yep, THAT lazy! I just feel like having a good rest. Oh well, I think I’d better take a good rest before I suffer from burnout.

Maybe I just feel tired after attending a seminar in KL the other day – am not the kind to sit still the whole day to listen to people talking so a whole day seminar is indeed tiring, not forgetting the additional 2 hours driving to KL and 2 hours driving back. But I was running out of time to gain another 8 CPD (continuing professional development) hours required for this year to renew my license with the professional body of which I am a member – so a whole day seminar it had to be.

Earlier in the week I had to attend a business client’s board meeting where the topic of discussion didn’t really follow the agenda – and where whatever that went wrong in the company was always the fault of somebody else. Sigh…

I guess that’s why I prefer to do voluntary work – there may not be any monetary rewards, but I do get more satisfaction - except for the few cases like Yah’s lah… this one can drive me up the wall if I pay too serious attention to her! (Nanti I jadi spiderwoman le pulak asyik panjat dinding je…)

Samsul called up from the hospital on Wednesday. He and his wife Suhaila were there for their blood tests and since they were in Ipoh, they wanted to pass me the copies of supporting documents we requested from them to enable us to help submit their application for financial assistance, particularly for their child. Thank goodness things weren’t too hectic at the office that day so I went out for a while – this is Ipoh after all… so the hospital was just 10 - 15 minutes drive away. The only problem was that it’s never easy getting a parking spot at the hospital.

As I entered the hospital compound, I was surprised when I saw a certain area cordoned off from the public. There was one tent outside with the staff fully equipped with the kind of equipments like the ones used during the SARS or bird flu outbreak. I was thinking to myself… Huh? Is there an epidemic or pandemic going on that I’m not aware of? I must really be out of touch with the real world!!

I couldn’t get a parking spot at first, far or near. I called Suhaila, thinking maybe I could tell them to meet me outside so I didn’t have to park my car. But I was told they were at the canteen, eating. I couldn’t simply ask them to leave just like that without finishing their food and drinks. For people like them who earn so little, every single drop counts! Thank goodness during my second round of looking for a parking spot, somebody just drove out of a spot very near to the specialist clinic, so lucky me it didn’t take me too long to get my car parked.

As I walked to the canteen, I saw a signboard – Latihan Simulasi Pandemic Influenza. Ohhh… so it was just a simulation exercise! I’m not so out of touch with the real world after all… phew!!

Anyway, I just had a short chat with Suhaila and Samsul. I just took the copies of documents from them and then I left. No doubt things weren’t too hectic at the office, but usually it’s when I’m not in the office that the business clients want me to sign this and that and they always seem to want things immediately. It’s their payments that are never immediate.

I will still have to visit Fuzi soon to get the reports on her children’s progress in school. I hope to do so within this coming week. I need to prepare the full report for all the children under our sponsorship program as I need to send the reports to each individual sponsor before year end. Besides, I will need to ask for next year’s sponsorship money…

Aiseh… lots of paperwork coming up laa…

Now what shall I do with this thing?

My sister and I were doing some spring cleaning over the weekend and we found lots of "disimpan tak guna dibuang sayang" kinda things. But we had a good laugh when my sister found this...

Meet my first ever hand phone!!

If you're not sure of the size of that phone, take a look at the following comparison...

On the left-most is one of the present-day simpler and cheaper models available; and the one in the middle is the hand phone/pocket PC I am currently using.

Oh, let's not forget to compare them sideways:

Now, imagine putting my old hand phone inside your pocket!!

Hey, don't laugh la! When I bought that phone, that model was considered canggih already (there weren't that many models to choose from anyway as compared to now). At that time only 010 and 018 numbers were available other than 011 for those bigger and bulkier mobile phones. No SIM cards. No SMS. Definitely no cameras. Just making and receiving calls.

Yeah, just calls. (and the phone had to be that big, huh?) Yet, it was more expensive than my current hand phone.

I suppose my first hand phone is another of those "disimpan tak guna dibuang sayang" collection of mine. Not that it's totally useless. I can still use it as a weapon. Hey, if it hits someone's head, can pengsan I tell you!!

So, what shall I do with it?

This and that...

A few members of Buddies attended our anniversary lunch on Merdeka Day. Anniversary? No, it wasn't the anniversary of the setting up of Buddies, but the anniversary of the official "opening" of our center. Prior to that, we had our meetings at the residence of the chairperson then. Ahh, we'd celebrate anything as long as there's makan-makan involved...

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I went to Pasar Ramadan yesterday. There sure are lots of food stuff there. From all sorts of kuih to all sorts of lauk-pauk to all sorts of drinks. From nasi ayam to nasi tomato to nasi kerabu to nasi dagang to nasi lemak. From murtabak to rojak pasembor to satay. And hey, you can even register for Streamyx at Pasar Ramadan!!

Anyway, the kuih-muih were sold at 3 for RM1; or if you don't wish to buy 3, it's one for 40 sen. That reminds me of one or two years ago at the same Pasar Ramadan, on the first day of Ramadan, there was this one particular seller (whom I bet only sells during the month of Ramadan) who wanted to keep up with the rest who sold at 3 pieces for RM1. Proudly written at his stall was...

KUIH-MUIH

1 = 30 sen

3 = RM1

Hmmm... you tell me why I would want to buy more than 2 kuih at that stall?! Even if I did, I'd buy maximum 2 at a time and return again to buy another 1 or 2 or more. The other stalls by the way sold at 35 sen each or 3 for RM1.

The next time I went, the 3 for RM1 was no longer on offer by that particular seller... :-)

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The other day I was at a shopping center and as I was walking past the various shop lots, I got attracted to a sign posted at one of the shops. The sign read:

VACANCY: FULL TIME FEMALE

Hmmm... I am female all the time so I guess that makes me a full time female, right? Now, I wonder if that shop had ever employed a part-time female, and if so, I wonder what became of that person the other part of the time... a male?

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Then there was this banner by the roadside where they collected recyclable goods. The banner read:

PUSAT KITAR SEMULA ORANG-ORANG TUA xxx (name withheld)

Gee, I never knew they could recycle old folks?

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Sorry folks, sounds like I have nothing better to do, huh? Just trying to see the lighter side of things. Actually there are so many matters that need my attention at the office, so I'd better resort to working mode right NOW!!!

Of board meetings, exhibitions and Labour Day...

My NGO had our board meeting last night. Seemed more like a BORED meeting as many of the board members were not able to make it to the meeting due to work or other commitments. Yes, yes, the meeting was held at night but still, some of our volunteers’ nature of work sometimes requires them to work at odd hours. We had just ngam ngam the number of quorum needed to proceed with the meeting.

Alas, with quite a number of the coordinators not present to give their reports, the meeting ended earlier than usual. No report from the treasurer, no report from the publicity and recruitment coordinator, no report from the outreach coordinator, no report from the fellowship coordinator.

Some of these board members did say during the elections that they may not have the time to commit themselves as board members, but since we don’t have many members to choose from, we had to literally BEG them to be in the board.

Just shows how poor we are in the manpower department. Which is why for the coming International AIDS Memorial Day (celebrated in May every year), we are only able to hold just a simple exhibition, displaying posters and giving out brochures. Even this simple exhibition we are not doing it by ourselves. We are doing it together with the Perak Family Health Association. The management of the shopping complex where we asked to do the exhibition had actually wanted us to do something on a bigger scale, giving us the stage etc, but nope, neither Buddies nor the PFHA are willing to carry out anything too big. Even doing the exhibition is already an achievement for us, given our limited resources.

So yes, just a simple exhibition it will be on the 18th of May this month. If any of you happen to be at Ipoh Parade on that day, do visit us, ya?

Tomorrow is 1st of May. As I’ve always been telling people, the day my mom went into labour (to give birth to me) they called it Labour Day. To remember the pain my mom had to endure while giving birth to me, 1st May is now declared a public holiday. Hehehe…

Here, have a piece of the cake…

Have a nice holiday folks!