Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Missing Kids and Cats, and KitKat

1. I am missing the children terribly. Naj and Ann, who are journalists with an English daily, have been in Permatang Pauh for the last 10 days to cover the by-election. The stressed out, harried duo are only expected to return to Kuala Lumpur this weekend.

Joe and Awwa, both in the highly-charged, fast and furious world of advertising, are in the thick of their respective clients' campaigns now that the festival season is approaching. Seems to me they hardly have time to breathe, let alone drop by for some quality time with Mak.

There isn't any feline in the house anymore to listen to my occasional monologue bitching - not that there is much to bitch about these days, by the way - and to offer its head to be scratched. And I am missing that too.

The only constancy in my life at the moment is dear Pak Abu, but that dependable (if somewhat cranky) old soul is constantly out of both sight and range; he spends his afternoons at the golf course and evenings glued to the sports channels.

Going by past indications, he will be camping in front of the TV for the next one week or so, now that the US Tennis Open has begun. Which works just fine with me, for I no longer have to pitch a tent in the living room to keep him company, when the bedroom is barely five steps away.

2. I simply love love KitKat and have been surreptitiously tucking in those oh so yummy chocolate bars without Pak Abu's knowledge. Err, I have to make this open admission because my girth is giving me away and it has nothing to do with a joey in a kangaroo pouch.

I am trying to quit KitKat (been without one for a week now). Heck, this is worse than trying to quit smoking! Pak Abu frowns on my indulgence because chocolate gives me migraine. But for the love of KitKat, I was willing to endure the throbbings...

3. With Ramadan (fasting month) fast approaching - we should begin fasting Monday next week - some shopping complexes have already begun stringing up lampu liplap (festive coloured lights) and displaying Hari Raya wares alongside the current Chinese mid-autumn festival decorations.

Our condo management has put up a notice informing Muslim residents of solat tarawikh (special prayers during the fasting month) to be held at the surau (prayer hall) on the ground floor this Ramadan.

Other activities undertaken by the surau committee this fasting month include a couple of ceramah agama (religious talks) and berbuka puasa (breaking of fast) with orphans and students of a religious school nearby.

This will be my first experience with communal living (discounting my boarding school life with a few hundred teenage girls, that is) and I am looking forward to it.

Alhamdulillah, we have acquired some new friends among the neighbours (they graciously attended our kenduri the other day) and are hoping to get to know more through these activities.

4. Fid, a forty-something lady from Penang whom I knew through the internet chatroom and has since become a close friend, dropped by earlier in the evening. She was in the vicinity running errands and decided to say hello and check out the new pad.

She said it was partly conscience that drove her to our house, for she was unable to attend the recent kenduri due to prior commitment. "Aku rasa guilty lah," said she. Poor Fid.

We spent three hours talking about this and that and she kept me updated with recent news of fellow chatter friends she keeps in touch with, not to mention commiserating with my loss of feline company, for Fid is also a cat lover.

As in the past, Pak Abu and I are hoping to regroup our chatter friends for the breaking of fast again this Ramadan. It is something of a tradition with us, to get together for buka puasa with our Internet friends, Muslim and non-Muslim, every year.

For some, like Fid, our friendship has spanned almost a decade. We may not meet often these days due to personal commitments and also distance, but we do try to get together for teh tarik at the mamak every now and then.

Two weeks back, our close chatter friend, Angie (Solehah, after her conversion to marry fellow chatter Smarties), who lives in Prai, dropped by with Cynthia, a chatter from KL. Angie and Smarties were in town for the school holidays.

Joined by KL chatter Lipsy, we attended a BBQ at the house of fellow chatter Sumbing in Taman Melawati. I am hoping to meet up with the rest of the gang with the proposed buka puasa do. That would be fun.



8 comments:

Kak Teh said...

I know the feeling so well, but at least I still have my feline friends. Most days we find that there's just the two of us at the dining table. Kesian kan? and just now, we were both googling the map of India., looking at Udaipur and pictures of Udaipur, trying to imagine Nona backpacking there. Pathetic!

Selamat berpuasa - the Permatang Pauh election will soon be over and your children will be back...insyaallah.
If I am close by, we can both give each other a hug.

Kama At-Tarawis said...

I wait patiently for that hug, Kak Teh. I assure you, you won't be disappointed... I am very very 'pelukable' sebab isi I banyak..LOL

MrsNordin said...

Hi Puteri!

I've just read two of your postings but I think it's a very interesting one! Will read more!

And just so you know, MrNordin & I pun pernah masuk karaoke competition kat Mukah, Sarawak. Orang kawin. I got 3rd placing and he got 4th ~ bahagian veteran! That was our first time, too. He sang "Apo Nak di Kato" and I sang "Sejak ku Bertemu Pada mu". Hee.. hee...

Congratulations on your winning the karaoke compt. You sure have a very colorful life, gurl!

P/s Btw, you "sound" very much like K.Teh, so I figured you both must be good friends. Mmm... betul kan?

Typhoon Sue said...

my mom complains of not seeing me much. i often merely shrug. I didn't think moms would miss their grown up children too much since they're all capable of taking care of themselves now. Guess I was wrong. maybe i should call my mom tonite. :-)

(why does it take other people's mother to remind me that i have one of my own? )

am looking forward to all those nice and sweet raya ads this year.

Bustaman said...

Go easy on the chocolate although you can shed some kilos by the coming terawikh.
Selamat berpuasa to you and Pak Abu.
Salam!

RoyalTLady said...

Kay,

Apa cerita kita dulu dalang kelah masa kita sama-sama "story telling" and I ended up "bekok mata-mata" listening to your extremely touching childhood stories ...keluarga 69, Chok (Megat Yusof), Norzahana's family, etc.etc.etc?

Do they ring any bells now?

Were you with me in our singing-group when Datuk Sheikh Dollah was teaching us something in "Californian Dream(ing)"...OR was it "Dream, dream, dream" that you mentioned????

I have left PESAT AND BERKAT although very much still their life members.

Congratulations, masih maintain your singing tempo and good voice, eh?

Sunday ni, 10:00 a.m. ada ceramah on Smart Ramadhan by Dr.Abdullah Yassin @ Masjid Taman TAR and MOnday, 9:30 a.m same topic, at KGPA by the same ustaz. Datanglah dengar kalu ada masa.

RoyalTLady said...

Surprised that I found you here instead of at our association meetings since 2006...

Kama At-Tarawis said...

Mrs N..always glad to know another karaoke kaki. mudah2an one day we can 'keriau' togeder2. btw, kak teh and i kenai each other in the late 1970s tapi lost touch until recently. now she kenot lari from me oredi.. i pi london sah dia kena masak..hehehe

sue, all maks are the same. you may be half a century old with a dozen kids in tow, tapi to yr mum you'll always be her budak kecik. i have difficulty looking at my kids as full-grown adults. the eldest son is 33 tapi rasa macam semalam aja i woke up in the middle of the night to change his diapers. Sighh..

Pok Ku, if the past is any indication, my stubborn 'lemak' is so kebal that lengoh lutut tarawikh pun tak kurus2 ..hehe

minoh kemamang aka royaltlady ... tenggelam timbul ajer ni pehal. i remember all the naughty things we did in the dorm when the lights were off.. playing hide and seek with pakcik guard, sobbing away into our selimut listening to cerita2 sedih..those were the days..