The discussion, the lawn mower and the 888 tag

As mentioned in my previous posting, I had been invited to join the discussion organised by the women’s wing of a political party, pertaining to problems faced by women. I didn’t get any proper letter to really know the exact topic to be discussed, but I just went anyway.

It was only at the meeting itself did I get the letter, and the actual topic of discussion was “Bagaimana Menangani Masalah Sosial”.

Other than representatives of the political party itself, others invited were NGOs, JAIP and the police. All the representatives were women.

As always, matters pertaining to women’s rights were raised… we spoke about empowering the women etc but then we realised, maybe we have been targeting the wrong groups for awareness. Many of the awareness programmes had been targeting the women, but what’s the point if men themselves are not made aware of their responsibilities? So yeah, target the MEN!!

Anyway, all the problems seem to be inter-related to one main thing – FAMILY.

I shall not go into each and every detail of the discussions. If we had not focused on a few major topics, then discussions would probably still be going on at this very moment! So we all agreed to set up a few sub-committees. I volunteered myself to be in the sub-committee for the setting up of a shelter home in Perak. A home which accepts the problematic cases without prejudice and without making any prejudgments. A home which wouldn’t say no to HIV cases.

I had expected the discussions to end by 4 pm (we started at 2 pm), but it went on and on until after 4.30 pm. Immediately after the meeting off I went to a machinery shop which sells stuff like lawn mowers and the likes. I had initially sent my old lawn mower there for servicing but when I got to the shop yesterday, I decided to trade in the old faithful for a new lawn mower. The old one is already at least 10 years old! A new one should be easier to start! I had promised the guy I’d come and get the new lawn mower at 4 pm today, but I was still in the discussion then. When I got to the shop, the guy said, “Haiya, saya ingat you sudah lupa! Saya punya orang sudah tarok minyak semua, tengok you tada datang. Pukui lima setengah tutup kedai lor!”

“Sorrylah taukeh, meeting habis lambat leh… ini baru pukui lima, sempat lagi apa?”

So yeah, I’ve got myself a new toy at home now. Am not sure when I’m gonna start “playing” with it. Maybe on Sunday, before my 10 am shift at the exhibition in Kinta City. Otherwise it will have to be during one of the weekdays next week but I will have to get it done before next weekend.

After a short rest at home, I checked my emails and then off I went blog-hopping… only to realise that I had been tagged by a blogging cat for the 888 tag. I promised her I’d respond, so here’s my response!

The rule:
1. Go to your photo files… select the 8th photo folder
2. Select the 8th photo in that folder
3. Post that photo along with the story behind it
4. Then challenge 8 blogging friends to do the same.

Hmmm… okay kitty, I’ve checked my photo files. They are divided into 5 main folders – Family, Alumni, Office, Buddies and Blogger. There’s no 8th folder. But I still kasi chan. The main folder have sub-folders under them, but only the Buddies folder have more than 8 sub-folders. The rest have less. So yes, I kasi chan again. I selected the 8th sub-folder in the Buddies folder. The sub-folder is for the Buddies Annual Family Day 2009. That settles rule #1.

Then I selected the 8th photo in that sub-folder to comply with rule #2.

Then comes rule #3. Aiseh… post the photo along with the story behind it?? Errrr… that particular photo shows a group of my PLHIV clients. For confidentiality purposes, I am NOT supposed to show pics of the PLHIVs to others! So sorry, I cannot comply with rule #3.

And because of that, definitely I cannot go on to rule #4!

But hey Cat-in-Sydney, I promised I’d respond… and I have responded! Aci tak aci belakang kira!!

The Award

I received an award recently.

I'd like to thank my abah, my mak, my adik-beradik, my kakak-berakak, my abang-berabang, my atok, my opah, my tok sedara, my opah sedara, my pak-pak and mak-mak sedara, my cikgu sekolah, my kawan-kawan, my memanda menteri, my hulubalang-hulubalang semua...

Laahai... Pi Bani dok menang award apa pulak ni?!

Woman of the year? (Ish, sekadar nak berangan pun tak layak)

Pelakon terbaik? (Haa... kalau sekadar jadi pelakon extra tukang pegang tombak je pun entah berapa kali tuan director suruh CUT agaknya...)

Penyanyi terbaik? (Oh well, the frogs sing better than I do! Kedek, kedek, ONG!)

OK lah, let's cut the craps and go straight to the point lah.

Actually Naz named me as one of the recipients of this award...

It's an award which doesn't come with any prize money (sigh!) but instead comes with some set of rules. In other words, it's a tag disguised as an award. (cakap je lah terus terang...) Senang cakap, it's some sort of multi-level marketing. At first I wanted to postpone doing this, but then I figured might as well get this over and done with. Lama sangat hutang nanti kena interest tinggi!

The first set of rules: State 5 interesting facts about the person who gave you this award.

Well, yeah, Naz did mention to the 10 recipients to feel free to skip this part. Dia takut pecah tembelang apa-apa kot. Now that I am responding to the award/tag, I am NOT going to skip this part. So here are 5 facts about Naz:

1. She's a northerner. She hails from a state north of Malaysia and now stays in a country north of Europe.

2. She's the incurable juggler - voluntary and involuntary - who crosses the street to walk in the sunshine. (hahaha! Cut and paste babe, apa susah?)

3. Her interests include anthropology, linguistics, travel and photography. (chuckle! Guess where I got that from?)

4. She loves foreign (hollywood and bollywood-free) movies. (hehehe, this is darn easy!)

5. She has another blog by the name of Dapur Serenity which is open only to invited readers.

OK, first part easily done. (Work smart, not hard, okay people?)

Now for the second set of rules: Each blogger must mention 10 facts about themselves or their hobbies before choosing the next 10 recipients.

Okay, I've done another tag before this where I had to state 15 random facts about myself. So here's a special offer for you - if you'd like to know 10 facts about myself, please click here and you'll get a bonus of 5 more.

(Hehehehe... work smart people... work smart, not hard!)

Finally, the third set of rules: Choose 10 recipients and describe them.

Although I don't usually name anyone when responding to tags, this time I will. I will have to choose 2 groups of people. The first group are those who tagged me before (it's payback time!). And the second group will have to be a few regulars to this blog or blogs I frequent to, even though they may not visit mine. MARI KITA TENGOK SIAPA YANG KENA!

1. Kak Teh - She gave me the Thinking Blogger award during my earlier blogging days and last year she tagged me for the cringe moments tag. No need to describe Kak Teh lah... she is already "fofular" di alam blogosphere.

2. Raden Galoh - Ahh, the bouncing cancer survivor who deserves this award very much! And the award comes in pink ribbon... very sesuai gitu...

3. Typhoon Sue - Someone who moves around like a typhoon, and sues people while at it. Errr no-lah, kang tak pasal je kena saman! Sue's a lawyer who blogs to express whatever's in her mind.

4. Pak Zawi - here's one guy who needs to be roped in to be Kelantan's tourism ambassador - he's good at it! Right now he's touring Europe though...

5. Kerp - A die-hard Arsenal fan who fights for the rights of OKUs.

6. Mamasita - The mak datin from Kuantan yang baru belajar pakai pario. (muahaha! Jangan marah kak... nanti terlucut kain...)

7. Yvonne Foong - Yvonne probably doesn't follow my blog, but I'm naming her as a recipient of this award as I find her truly remarkable and admirable.

8. Mat Cendana - the title of his blog, Recovery From Drug Addiction, is good enough to describe him. And oh, he writes well too!

9. Akmal - A medic student who loves photography.

10. ___________ - I shall leave the last one blank. This final award is dedicated to ALL bloggers out there - because you are an AMAZING lot!

I wish I can name Pak Malim and Mekyam, but they don't have blogs. So to these two, nanti later we try to come up with Anugerah Khas Juri untuk Kaki Komen Terbaik ya?

So, Naz, itu hutang dalam buku tiga lima boleh cancel sekarang ok?

Tagged again - Cringe moments!

Tags, tags, tags... I am not a fan but somehow I still get tagged. Maybe it’s because I tend to give in easily. Ye lah... people tagging me means there are people thinking of me, right?

The first time I got tagged, it came in the form of an award – The Thinking Blogger Award. For this I was tagged by Kak Teh, Raden Galoh and Apandi. The rule of the award was that I’d have to name 5 other bloggers for the award. I withdrew myself for reasons stated here.

The next tag came from Kak Ruby and Cikgu KTN. This time it was a charity tag originating from Pak Payne (or back then better known as Idham). Since it was for charity, I gladly responded here.

Then came the blonde bimbo moments tag coming from Typhoon Sue, followed by the tagging galore coming from Nightwing, Pearly and Daphne Ling. I answered all 3 tags in one posting here.

Next was the 2007 takeaways tag coming from Pak Zawi. Then I stopped getting all these tags… until just recently when Kerp tagged me and I was supposed to expose 15 random facts about myself. That was less than a month ago.

Well, I just got tagged again – by Kak Teh. The tag is about my cringe moments – something similar to the blonde bimbo moments tag I responded to earlier. Since I withdrew myself the first time Kak Teh tagged me, this time I guess I owe her one. Kalau dia merajuk nanti susah nak pujuk…

My cringe moments? Ish, apasal sibuk nak tau ni??! Oh well, I had a good laugh reading Kak Teh’s and Kak Puteri’s cringe moments, so whaddaheck!! Here goes…

SCENE 1: PI BANI AND THE GLASS DOOR

I was in form 3 or form 4 then. It was during staying up hours. There I was in the lounge at the hostel block, supposedly studying. But studying had always made me sleepy, so I got up and went out to the water cooler right outside the lounge, near the sliding doors. The sliding doors were made up of wooden frames and glass panes. For quite some time, one section of the door was without any glass pane and we’d happily walk through the door without any problem. Well, that particular day the glass pane was finally replaced. Having made it a habit to walk in through that door, that night after getting a drink from the water cooler, I did exactly that – I walked back into the lounge through that door and...

GEDEGANNGGGG!!!

Silly old sleepy-head me banged into the glass pane lah! Lucky thing I didn't break the newly replaced glass. Needless to say, I was sleepy-head no more. The girls in the lounge had a good time giggling away. Well, they couldn’t laugh out loud since we weren’t supposed to make any noise during staying up hours.

SCENE 2: PI BANI AND HER DRIVING SHOES

Noticing that the shoes I wear to work gets worn out faster (especially the heels) if I wear them for driving, now I have a separate pair of shoes, either flat shoes or slippers, which I leave in my car.

I was on my way back from work one day when I decided to drop by a grocery shop to buy some things. Parked my car, got down and walked to the shop, bought whatever necessary and then I walked back to the car. No problemos.

As I was getting back into the car, I realized that I had my work shoe on my left foot and my driving shoe on my right foot! I had been wearing them all along when I walked to the grocery shop. Until now I wonder how I managed to walk around with one flat shoe and one heeled shoe without even realizing it! I must have looked like a MGB. (makcik-gone-bonkers)


SCENE 3: PI BANI AND HER PARKING TICKET

It was my first time at a parking lot using auto-pay machines. As I was about to leave, I got to one of those auto-pay machines to pay for my parking. There was nobody in front of me so I couldn’t observe others using the machine. Whaddaheck, I thought… just follow the instructions lah, what’s so difficult? So I read the instruction, it said “insert ticket”. Confidently I inserted my parking ticket into the slot located on the right side of the machine. The machine didn’t seem to accept my ticket. Dia buat donno aje. I pushed the ticket further in, still no response from the machine. Kurang asam punya machine.

Then I heard some people walking by – am not sure if they noticed this jakun at the auto-pay machine but it was only then that I realized there was another slot on the left side. So inserted my ticket there and finally the machine accepted my ticket and the next instruction was to insert money. Of course by then I already knew where to insert the money lah kan…

SCENE 4: PI BANI AT THE RESTAURANT

I have already mentioned this story in my earlier respond to the blonde bimbo moments tag. But let me just mention a shorter version of it here.

A friend had approached me, asking me to talk to a relative of hers, a problematic rebellious teenager who always caused trouble to her family. So we agreed to meet up in front of a particular restaurant. My friend then left me with the girl and went off elsewhere. We figured the girl wouldn’t talk much if my friend was around. I told my friend I’d call her once we’re done.

We went into the restaurant, ordered some food and had our chat. After about an hour or so, I called my friend to inform her that we were done. We (the teenager and I) then got up and walked out to wait for my friend. Just as I was about to open the door to walk out, a waitress ran after me and said rather loudly, “Kak, belum bayar!”

I had totally forgotten to pay for the food!!! I looked at the bill, gave the waitress some money and told her to keep the change as I was too embarrassed to wait a second longer. There I was, talking to a problematic teenager, yet I looked like someone trying to escape without paying but got caught instead! During times like this, I wished the waitress would have called me makcik or even nenek instead of kak. Then at least people may think… alahai, kesian orang tua pelupa ni…

SCENE 5: PI BANI AT THE CAR SERVICE CENTRE

I went to send my car for servicing at the regular service centre. They had a comfortable waiting area so I waited there while they serviced my car. Once done, the girl at the counter called me, “Kak, sudah siap!” I got up from my seat, went to the counter, the girl showed me the bill, and I paid in cash. After she gave me my change, I asked for my car key. The girl looked confused. Then she asked, “Yang kakak pegang tu bukan kunci kereta kakak ke?”

Actually when she showed me the bill earlier, she had already given me the key and I was holding it all along. There I was already holding the key and yet I was still asking for it. I then said to the girl, “Aiyo, sudah nyanyok lorr!” and then selamba-ly walked out (it helps that I have a muka sadin).

Alright then, 5 scenes enough lah okay? I hereby tag whoever wants to share their cringe moments with the rest of the world...

Getting to know me?

“Getting to know you, getting to know all about you…
Getting to like you, getting to hope you like me…”


Remember this song? I’m not really the kind who remembers lyrics to any songs, but I do remember bits and pieces here and there, especially catchy songs like the ones in the movie Sound of Music.

So, what has this song got to do with my posting this time? Actually, I’ve been tagged. While I’m not the type who likes doing tags, how can I say no to Ahmad Kerpov, the bugger blogger who tagged me for this one.

Getting to know me it is… but getting to know ALL about me?? Naaah… I don’t think so!

Here are 15 things about me you may or may not already know…

#1. I’ve got taggophobia. Yep, I hate doing tags. Those who have been following this blog from the beginning would already know this by now. But not wanting to be a spoil sport, I still tend to oblige, albeit reluctantly. (Yo Kerpov, hang punya pasai aku buat jugak tau!)

#2. I don’t use lipstick. Lip balm yes, lip stick no. If you need a different colour for your lips, there’s something cheaper you can use. Use the lastik! The red/blue/purple/black colour on your lips will last longer I assure you. Not that I’ve used it before for my own lips… I prefer original colour.

#3. I’ve never been married (maybe men are put off by the lastik above…hehehe) but am not at all awkward with soalan-soalan cepumas like “anak berapa orang” and the likes. Of course when I was younger the soalan cepumas would be more of “Bila nak kawin?” and I’d usually just selamba-ly say, “Eh, dah hari tu. Tak dapat jemputan ke?” – causing the penyoal-penyoal cepumas to become speechless and thus, no further questions asked.

#4. Way back in primary school, I used to love to eat canned sardines. Every time I went to the nearby shop, the moment the guy saw me he’d ask, “Ikan sardin eh?” I assume that was how I managed to come up with my muka sardin and the ability to selamba-ly answer the soalan-soalan cepumas in #3 above.

#5. I am a serious joker. Seriously. With my muka sardin acquired from #4 above, I am able to make jokes looking so serious. Those who don’t know me well may not know whether I am joking or not. People who meet me for the first time may think I am such a serious and garang person.

#6. I was born in 1382. Serious. No joke. I swear!

#7. I have a “deadly stare” many people are scared of. This ability/disability was very handy in school particularly when I was in form 6 and became the headgirl. I didn’t really have to say anything whenever the students did anything wrong. I just stared at them and they got the message. There was once when a girl got ill and needed a prefect to bring her to the sickbay. Her dorm-mates came to my room (the only prefect’s room at that particular block) to look for a prefect and since my other room-mates were not around; I had to attend to this girl. The moment I got to the dorm, the dorm-mates went to the girl (who was lying weak in bed) and told her, “Jom! Kak Pi dah datang.” That very instant, the girl sat straight up and exclaimed, “KAK PI??!!!” See… she didn’t need any medicine. A serious-looking headgirl was enough to scare the germs out of her.

#8. Despite my muka sardin, I am lousy at acting. Am definitely not an insan seni I know. The only time my acting made an impact was in form three. That too because all I had to do was to be myself – it was a mock fairytale and my role was as the wicked witch.

#9. I was very active in sports during my school days. I was a school hockey player and a school runner (but I did not run away from school). Being active in sports was one way to get out of the school gates more often – having matches in other schools, jogging at the lake gardens for our training etc. Yep, in shorts and all but tak sexy langsung!

#10. I was also a school debater. That was another way to get out of the school gates often, only this time in more proper attire.

#11. People often think I’m either a teacher or an ustazah. Once at a petrol station, the pump attendant came over to my car and asked, “Nak isi berapa cikgu?” Another time I was at the market and the chicken seller asked, “Tak mengajar ke hari ni cikgu?” Then there was another time at the hospital, the nurse asked, “Ustazah ni cari siapa?” Of course, these people are not aware how separuh tiang I am.

#12. I must have been a fan of weightlifting events when I was small. I used to put both my hands behind by head and say “APECHI”! (that’s a budak pelat’s version of angkat besi, by the way…)

#13. After my STPM, I applied to do either law or mass communication. I was offered something else instead and that was how I ended up as a qualified company secretary. All is not lost though. They wouldn’t offer me law, I became a loyar buruk. They wouldn’t offer me mass communication; I am doing my own communication with the masses through this blog. I still achieved my ambition.

#14. I don’t easily give up but I do tend to easily give in. Heck! How did you think I ended up doing this tag?!

#15. I hate doing tags. Hmmm… have I mentioned that already? Of course I have. I am purposely ending this with the same fact just to remind readers of my taggophobia.


So, there you have them! As always, I am not tagging anybody else. But if any of you readers are interested to do this, please tag yourselves!

And ohh, before I forget, for #6 above, please refer the Hijri calendar, ok? I am not antique yet and I certainly don't belong to any museum.

2007 takeaways: My take

Zawi of Life As I See It tagged me. I’m supposed to write about 3 takeaways for 2007.

3 takeaways? Here goes…

1. KFC
2. McDonalds
3. Pizza Hut

Betul lah kan?! I went into the respective fast food outlets, ordered some food to bring along when I visit the PLWHA families, and when asked if I wanted to eat in or take away, I said “TAKEAWAY”!

Huh? That’s not the takeaway I’m supposed to write about? Aiseh… and I thought I had just finished doing the tag!

Anyway, I was tagged supposedly because Zawi’s instincts (oh really?) told him I’d have many things to share.

Well, the stories in my blog may indicate I have many things to share, but if all I can talk about is the stories of the PLWHA families and the lessons learnt from them, then isn’t that considered as ONE takeaway? Darn, I still prefer the fast food takeaways lah!

Here comes my attempt:

No. 1: BLOGGING: When and why?

2007 was the year when I started my blog. Although I was introduced to blogging earlier in 2005 when Kak Ruby asked for my favour to set up a blog, all I did was help set up the blog and that was it. I wasn’t interested to start a blog for myself as I didn’t really know what to blog about. At that time, I just got confirmed in my voluntary work and there were not many interesting stories to tell yet. Blog about myself? Naah… I never was the type to keep a personal diary, and creating a blog to tell of my personal stories was simply not me.

Somehow in 2006 more and more clients were assigned to me, with all sorts of interesting and complicated stories. The real life stories of the HIV infected/affected families really made me more thankful for the things that I have and don’t have in life.

By early 2007, it did occur to me that I should share these real life stories with others – not only to highlight the trials and tribulations of the PLWHAs, but also to create more awareness amongst readers.

But I still had my reservations. Many things played in my mind. Is it okay for me to tell their stories? Will they mind? What about the issue of confidentiality? Ah, in the first place, who would want to read my blog? Siapalah saya?!

It was only in March 2007 that I finally made up my mind to start a blog – with the intention to share stories of my PLWHA clients. My main rules were not to mention their real names and not to post their pictures. My first short “intro” posting on what this blog was all about was on 4th March 2007 followed by another short posting on how I started getting involved in this voluntary work. I informed my TKC old girls yahoogroup about this blog so that those interested to know more about the lives of the PLWHA families could visit the blog when they wish. No point posting the stories if nobody but myself was going to read them.

To my surprise, by the time I posted my 3rd posting on 6th March, which was also the first of my PLWHA stories, even a few Malaysian Aids Council people were already visiting my blog. Apparently, they had a meeting and MarinaM who was also in that meeting did some sort of a promo for me. Wow… without even checking to see first if the stories in my blog were worthy enough to be read, she went ahead to promote it. I sure hope I didn’t disappoint her!

During the 10 months in 2007 that I blogged, I had a total of 129 postings – most of them HIV related. There were only less than 10 postings that had nothing at all to do with HIV – particularly the tags which I dreaded so much. (Somehow in this particular tag I still get to write on HIV.)

Ahh… this blog is HIV related. So what? There are many HIV related websites out there, aren’t there? Probably better constructed too! But the difference between my blog and the other HIV related websites is that while other websites give HIV facts, figures and stats, my blog concentrate on the personal life stories of the HIV infected/affected people – just the way I see them – from my own hands on experience.

Hopefully through the stories that I highlight, people will understand more about the PLWHAs. Ah well, the gossip-like stories are far more interesting than the facts and stats, aren’t they?


No. 2: MY VOLUNTARY WORK: What Have I Achieved/Learnt?

Hmmm… somehow point 1 and 2 are inter-related although I put them under different headings. The reason for my no.1 2007 takeaway is my no. 2 takeaway – my voluntary work! If not for my voluntary work, I wouldn’t be able to know all the stories that I posted on my blog.

By 2007, I had handled even more PLWHA families with all sorts of different stories and different problems. Family problems, monetary problems, attitude problems, yep, even angau problems! Yes, being the person the PLWHAs talk to whenever they have problems can actually make my blood pressure rise, but the fact remains that I learn a lot of things from them. I learn to become a more grateful person. I learn that there are many unfortunate people out there much worse than me. I learn how lucky I am to be born into such a loving family as mine. I learn that it takes all kinds to make this world and we can’t apply the same solution to every person facing the same problem.

And I do get great satisfaction whenever I see any improvement in the life of the PLWHAs under my care. Of course, there are times when I get frustrated if they in turn change for the worse (like you know who lah…) but we can’t expect everything to go the way we want them to be, can we?

So, yes, while at times I may complain about feeling a bit stressed out, I am actually blessed to be involved in this voluntary work. No, never once did I regret becoming a volunteer.


No. 3: MY PERSONAL LIFE: Any improvement?

Frankly, there is not much difference in my personal life. Life had been just as routine as it was before. But after being involved in no. 1 (blogging) and no. 2 (voluntary work) above, I have more friends – my blog friends and my PLWHA friends. While I have not met most of my blog friends, their friendship mean a lot to me. And it touches me when even those who have not met me in real life, trust me enough to the extent of giving contributions to the poor families through me. Aren’t they afraid I may just be another scumbag?

Well, the expansion of the circle of friends that I have means I can learn a lot more about life. The more I get to learn about life, hopefully the more I will be able to improve myself.

And so the learning shall continue…

Oh, am I now supposed to tag 3 persons? Well, if you're reading this and you haven't been tagged yet, consider yourself tagged!

Tag, tag, tag...

Hmmm… some people seem to get keTAGeh to this tagging/meme thing… sigh… well, I just so happen to be one of those who don’t really fancy them, but I’ll just try to be a sport this time, ok? Talk about being grateful in my previous post, I have to be grateful I got tagged. It shows I have blogger friends who think of me. Of course, I don't have to LIKE being tagged and I can’t promise to be a sport every time though…

Nightwing tagged me for the 10 questions tag. Earlier on Pearly tagged me with the millionaire tag, but since there is a millionaire question under the 10 questions tag, consider both tags done here... sorry folks, but...

"I'm just a LAZY BUM! LAZY BUM!" (to be sung to the tune of LADY BUMP)

Although I am a law abiding citizen, I don’t usually bother to follow any of these tagging rules (actually too lazy to go through them…). So I shall just answer the questions okay?

Q1. What were you doing 10 years ago.
1. Performed Umrah with 9 other family members after having performed the Haj with my mom the year before.
2. Did freelance accounting – working from home.
3. Installed internet at home.
4. Sold my old red recond Ford Laser (that was my first car!)
5. Grew older…

Q2. What were you doing 1 year ago.
1. Went to AIDS Village in Hatyai, Thailand together with my NGO members.
2. Visiting homes of poor PLWHA families around Perak.
3. Sent a pregnant girl to a shelter home in KL.
4. Attended a workshop organized by MAC.
5. Grew even older…

Q3. What are 5 snacks you enjoy. (not in any specific order)
1. Chocolates
2. Keropok
3. Kerepek
4. Kerapak… oops, no such thing… ok lah, kuih-muih
5. Anything edible lah

Q4. What are 5 songs you know the lyrics to.
1. Negaraku
2. TKC song (my school song)
3. Doe, a deer a female deer… :)
4. Chorus of Rasa Sayang Eh
5. Chorus of Chan Mali Chan
(Oh wow! I know the lyrics to so many songs!! Fuuuyyooohh!!)

Q5. 5 things you would do if you are a millionaire.
That depends…if I’m a millionaire of Rupiahs, I shall remain as I am. If in currencies such as Ringgit, or better still Dollars, Pounds, or Euros…
1. Figure a way to reduce my income tax.
2. Pay off all my debts.
3. Contribute to the poor especially in respect of their children’s education.
4. Invest in such a way that I will be able to quit my office work and do full time voluntary work.
5. Travel to interesting places around the world.

Q6. 5 bad habits. (Where got?! Me very sopan one…)
1. Sometimes tend to spontaneously say things without thinking of the outcome. (that’s why I prefer writing, I can re-read and edit)
2. Lie down on the settee after dinner. (and I’m complaining perut buncit!)
3. Simply dump things on my table at home… it is such a mess! If I tidy them up, later on I wouldn’t know where to find this and that. So I have to leave them messy… (yeah, excuses!)
4. Simply chuck whatever receipts (whether still useful or not) into my handbag.
5. I tend to postpone doing things which I have to do but don’t enjoy doing.

Q7. 5 things you like to do.
1. Set up a home in Perak for HIV women and children.
2. Do full time voluntary work.
3. Perform the Haj again.
4. Learn Arabic.
5. Stop people from tagging me… (wishful thinking?)

Q8. 5 favorite toys.
1. My laptop
2. My hand phone
3. My digital camera
4. My USB recorder/player
5. My electric bike at home

Q9. 5 things you’d never wear.
1. Stilettos (I won’t be able to walk in them!)
2. Too much jewellery (I don’t feel comfortable wearing too many of them…)
3. Anything too fitting.
4. Anything too revealing.
5. My underwear on the outside (like Superman, Wonder Woman etc.) - ni dah tak tau apa nak jawab la ni...

Q10. 5 things you hate to do.
1. Tags
2. More tags
3. Even more tags
4. And again, more tags.
5. Oh no, there’s another tag to be done!!

You get the drift?!

Phew… that was a tough one! And since I’d like to get this over and done with, here comes my respond to the other tag by Daphne Ling… the Fives! (no, not Jackson 5 lah...)

5 things in my handbag/bag
1. My purse
2. My blood donor book
3. A multipurpose penknife
4. A pepper spray key-chain
5. Lots of unwanted receipts

5 things in my purse
1. Cash (sometimes more, sometimes less...)
2. MyKad
3. Driving license
4. Credit cards/ATM cards
5. My blood group card

5 favorite things in my favorite room (the living room)
1. The TV
2. The settee (where I lie down while watching item 1)
3. A family photo taken during Hari Raya a few years back
4. A copper tooling “Ayat Haikal” (Quranic verses) on the wall.
5. A masjid-shaped clock bought in Mekkah.

5 things I would love/like to do
*Please refer Q7 of the 10 Questions Tag above.

5 things I am currently doing
1. Planning for my Ramadhan house visits to send goodies to poor families.
2. Blogging
3. Responding to these tags.
4. Wishing that nobody else will tag me.
5. Thinking of my next posting (after I clear these tags)

Okay, so now I have to tag 5 people. I hereby tag:

1. Superman (or anyone by the name of Suparman)
2. Batman (or anyone who loves bats)
3. Spiderman (or anyone who loves spiders)
4. Ultraman (or Auta man, if Ultraman can't be found)
5. Wonder Woman (or any WOMAN who's always WONDERing what to do...)

There you go... TAG DONE! Legaaaa....

The bimbo in a limbo

Bimbo? Who me? Heck no! I can’t seem to remember any bimbo moments of mine. Not that I have a lack of memory… but this surplus of forgetfulness that I have ain’t helping me. Oh okay, maybe I purposely deleted the embarrassing moments in my life…

I’ve actually been tagged by Typhoon Sue to reveal my blonde bimbo moments. Blonde? I do have some strands of grey hair (maybe even more than my grey matter, really) , but since none of my hair has gone blonde yet, (as if it ever will!) let me just tell you about a grey-haired bimbo instead…

*trying to recall*

Urgh… I think this grey-haired bimbo is getting too old to remember lah. Sorry Sue, unable to respond to your tag… you’re not going to sue me, are you?

Instead, allow me to tell you about the problematic teenage girl whom I was asked to talk to. This case had nothing to do with my usual HIV cases. The girl was simply a stubborn, problematic girl whose mother had given up trying to change her into a better person. As a matter of fact, the mother was the last person this girl would listen to.

So, how was I pulled into talking to this girl? Actually a friend of mine sought my help. The problematic teenager so happened to be my friend’s… emmm… niece… or cousin… I forgot (Ahh! My surplus of forgetfulness is showing again!!).

Anyway, as I had never met the girl before, my friend promised to bring the girl to meet me at a specified time in front of a specified restaurant. After introducing us, my friend left the girl with me. We figured the girl wouldn’t talk if my friend lingered around, so I told my friend I’d call her once we’re done.

I took the girl into the restaurant, ordered some food and started chatting. It wasn’t so difficult getting this girl to talk. She even admitted that she had been giving problems to her mother. She used to be so close to her father that after her father died she became rather rebellious. She never listened to her mother. Actually what made it even worse was the fact that her mother made decisions for her without even consulting her – with good intentions of course, the mother simply wanted the best for her daughter.

There was however something about this girl that reminded me of Zana. Remember Zana, the problematic young woman whom I sent to a shelter home before? The similarity between the 2 was that both of them tend to tell different stories to different people. In this girl’s case, I could sense that some of the stories she was telling me were simply made up by her creative mind. The stories simply didn’t tally and didn’t make sense.

After about an hour or so talking to this girl, I figured it was time to go. So I called my friend to come back and fetch this girl. We both then got up to leave the restaurant. Just as I was about to walk out the door, one of the waitresses in the restaurant chased me, and said rather loudly, “Kak, belum bayar!”

Alamak… malu… malu…

Already embarrassed, I apologized to the waitress, saying that I had truly forgotten to pay (I told you I had a surplus of forgetfulness, didn’t I?!) . After looking at the bill, I gave her a sum of money and told her to keep the change. Not much, just a few ringgit balance, but the main reason for telling her to keep the change was because by then I was too embarrassed to wait even a second longer.

Imagine, there I was, trying to help a problematic teenage girl who was always giving problems to her family… yet I ended up walking out without paying for my food. For all I know, the problematic girl may have thought I purposely walked out without paying but got caught instead!

BIMBO!!! How could I simply walk out just like that without paying?! (Ooops, did I just reveal a bimbo moment of mine?)

Anyway, since I mentioned Zana’s name, here’s a little update on Zana. Zana and her baby need to leave the shelter home by the end of this year. Due to lack of space, only HIV infected children are given priority. The rest will have to leave. While the other ladies are going back to the home of their parents, Zana’s family has still not accepted her. Or rather, her father still cannot accept her back into the family, and in that family, whatever the father says is law. With Zana herself still too stubborn to apologize to her father, I’m in the dark as to how I can get them to reconcile…

If Zana is to live on her own, she will need to find a job. But who is going to take care of her baby when she goes to work?

I’ve got to start thinking on what to do with Zana and her baby.

Yo! This grey-haired bimbo is now in a limbo…

Generate RM127 the easy way!

Does the title of this post sound like one of those work-at-home money making opportunities?

Well, maybe it is in a way...

The difference is that for this one the money generated will be going to charity!

So yes, how would you like to contribute RM127 to an orphanage without having to fork out your own money? All you have to do is to complete at least seventeen of 27 sentences, and one taukeh by the name of Idham will contribute RM127 to the Darul Izzah orphanage! Easy, isn't it? And there are no wrong answers!

Actually I was tagged... by K.Ruby and Kata Tak Nak. Since this tag is for charity, I shall oblige. While I'm not fond of tags, I do support charity. I shall not tag anyone, but if any of my blog readers wish to participate, by all means, please do! Don't forget to leave a comment at Idham's blog after you've done so.

OK, so, I'd better get this done before something else crops up!

*These can be copied and pasted to your entry*

1. A person is only as good as ................... what's in his/her heart

2. Friendship is always ................. so meaningful when you have true friends.

3. To love is to.................... care for someone unconditionally.

4. Money makes me................... normal. Without them very susah lor...

5. I miss ....................... my school days (minus the exams laa...)

6. My way of saying I care is by .................... being there when I'm needed.

7. I try to spread love and happiness by................ caring for people.

8. Pick the flowers when................... you really need to do so. Otherwise just leave them as they are.

9. To love someone is to............................. do so unconditionally.

10. Beauty is........................... something that is not ugly. hehehe

11. When I was thirteen, what I remember the most was............ I was in form one lah!

12. When I was twenty one, I remember.................. wondering bilalah nak habis belajar ni...

13. I am most happy when ........................ something I've been worrying about ends well.

14. Nothing makes me happier than .................. having happy people around me.

15. If I can change one thing, I will change......... a frog into a handsome prince. (hahaha... kidding, kidding...)

16. If smiles were........ able to change bad guys to good guys.... then I..... would smile to every crook! (for the moment I don't think I dare do so... they may get other ideas...)

17. Wouldn't it be nice if we could....................... just snap our fingers to get things done! (I wouldn't have too many outstanding things to do if I could do that!)

18. If you want to ...... pee .......then you have to ....... go to the toilet lah! Jangan buat hal merata-rata!

19. Money is not everything but........................... lack of it can give me BIG headache.

20. The most touching moments I have experienced is.................. when an orphan came and suddenly just sat on my lap uninvited...

21. I smile when............ I am happy.

22. When I am happy, I....... smile. (hey, if A=B, then B=A right?)

23. If only I don't have to .........see other people's sufferings......, then....... I wouldn't be too appreciative of the good things that come my way.

24. The best thing I did yesterday was............ hug a 6 year old orphan.

25. If I ever write a book, I will give it this title, "The Untitled Book" :)

26. One thing I must do before I die is...................... to forgive everyone and hope that everyone forgives me too!

27. Doing this meme, I feel like ............... Hey! I just made RM127!! ;)