Zin ...

During Zin's stay with us, I took him to my school. Zin is a hobo, a wanderer, a man who preferred to have no strings attached whether material wise or people. He leads his own life with his own beliefs, principles and way of life. He is what he is. We respect his choice of life as long as he still practices his faith. His interpretation may not be the same as ours but we believe that everybody has a right to his or her own perception of life. And he is the best brother a sister can have !!!

All my growing up years, Zin was always there as my protector and brother. He was fiercely protective of us - he has 9 sisters!!! - and none of the guys in Peringgit dared to disturb us and none got to know us better. Hmmm .... :-)). He hurt his back a few years back in a fall and due to his age - he is 54 years old - he could not find a new job that suited him. Thus, the family had an account for him to see him through his life. InsyaAllah, he had sisters and brother who loved him and always thought the better of him. Over the last few years, whenever I travelled alone for my sojourn with my sisters, Zin would accompany me back to Alor Setar. He used to make it a one day trip. We would reach Alor Setar in the afternoon and he would take that night's train back to KL. Isshhh....it was dfficult to make him stay and I usually obliged his request to return to KL. Thus, with that freedom of choice, he felt free to accompany me back as he knew I would not hold him back and would respect his wshes. Hence, when he came along this time, he did not mention anything about returning, I took him visiting around Alor Setar. I, too, became a tourist in my adopted state.... ;-))

Zin is good and skilled with his hands. Now he is into making model houses. He has refined his skills and the models turned out beautiful and finely made. I would say it is mostly made with a lot of love and care. He takes pride in his work and although he takes orders from our friends, he never really expects to make money out of it. He uses his allowance from the family fund to furbish his latest hobby. Zin is also an avid reader and he always carries a book with him wherever he goes. We used to read the same genre of books but now we are more into religious theme books. He likes to buy books and usually he reads them and does his own interpretation.

Zin at work on his latest project - Rumah Melaka

The completed project - it was modelled after our house in Peringgit except that this is more traditional, authentic Rumah Melaka. It took him almost a month to complete this.

The side view - Beautiful !! Zin and I had a nostalgic time talking about the "old" house where we grew up. This is modelled after Nenek Ponya's house. Bapak had modernised our house.

As usual, when I drove - ZIn refused to take his driving licence preferring instead to walk and used public transport - he would talk and we would discuss anything from the weather, the environment, the latest books he had read and sang songs from Lite.FM when it was familiar to both of us. Yes, he kept me awoke and gave me the strength to drive on until we reached our destination safely. It was always very easy going between us and we made good travelling companion. Since he was around this time around, I took him to my school. I asked him to repair the sink in the exam room which had been leaking for the year. Complaints and requests for repair from the school took a long time. In fact for the whole of the year !!!

He loved the road to my school which was lined with paddy fields in their growing up process. He could see the same level of beautiful, evenly high paddy as far the eyes could see.... He loved open spaces and closed up areas were claustrophobic and constrained him. I also took him to taste the special Ais Kacang Salji near my school. This was a special ais kacang which dated back to our childhood days - remember ais kacang Tai Chong at Jalan Bunga Raya? Those in Melaka would know this..:-D)) - the finely shaved ice melts in your mouth. The red beans were home cooked instead of the canned version. It was scrumptious .. :-D))

Ais Kacang Salji from Simpang Empat ... melts in your mouth due to the fine ice shaving

Then, I took him along the route of the kampung road which I took while my usual road was under construction. We drove along Jalan Tokai and passed by the huge overflowing tree of the house that I like to see. We went into Jalan Tok Keling and into Jalan Alor Mengkudu until Alor Setar. The roads were lined with paddy fields, kampung houses and less traffic. During his stay, I also took him to visit authentic Rumah Kedah - this was written in my previous postings - and after 3 days - which was quite long for him - he wanted to leave. Thank you Zin ... for always being there.

Zin, leaving on the train to KL - until the next visit i.e. accompany me back to Alor Setar