We May Never Know If This Is Our Last Goodbye ....

I read this phrase in one of the many articles that I came across during my reading pursuits. Somehow it got stuck in my mind and whenever I read mails from friends or read their postings on their facebook walls, it crossed my mind - what if this is my last goodbye? Especially after hearing that Pak Wan, our old neighbour at our old home in Peringgit had passed away last month. Last Hari Raya outing was our last goodbye to him. I was glad my siblings and I made the effort to make time to visit our old neighbour ....

Last weekend I took leave to go back to Melaka/Kelana Jaya. Not for any particular reason. Yet since I was down in KL, I went to the Treasury Department to settle my house loan so that when I retired I did not owe the government anything. I thought I could meet up with an old friend but he was not available due to prior commitment. Anyway, after the dutiful visits to my siblings and mother in-law, I managed to contact my old classmates from college years.

Ikram and I stopped at Simpang Pulai RTC R&R. I knew Zam and Hasyi lived here. Since I knew they were here via facebook, I always had the intention to drop by for a visit. We were just trying to break the sleepiness from a monotonous highway driving and so, I gave Zam a call on the off-chance they could be home. Being fresh retirees with both children working in KL means that they are always not home. Alhamdulillah, Zam answered in the affirmative. Thus, without any planning, he sent me his address and with the GPS as a guide, we reached their house in Simpang Pulai.

After 31 years .... they were the cutest and sweetest couple in class. Hashiyah or Hasyi as we called her is less than 5 feet tall. Very cute and pretty. She still is. She looks much younger maybe due to her size. Zam is also about 5 feet tall. This made me so gigantic beside them. We caught up and both of them were happy for my decision to opt out next year. Yes, I guess as we grow older, we become more nostalgic of those happy, carefree years. Now, insyaAllah, we can relive them with our partners or children.

Zam told me the last time he met Awi or Moawiyah, another classmate. He was in Ipoh for a course and they decided to meet up. Awi passed away a few months later due to a heart attack. He found out about it via social media. I had not met up with the others since 1985 i.e. our Convocation Day from MPMK. Shamsizar, Laziah, Latifah, Norrizah, Hasnah, Mariam, Rosie Ling, Christine, Norizan, Khairunnisa, Salmiah, Sivakumar, Jegathesan, Kasmani, Lee Tian Aik, Lim Sang Khim, .... maybe we will meet one day ... insyaAllah. Yet, thanks to social media, we always manage to keep tabs of everybody through one of us. Just to know that everybody is alright. My thoughts and prayers go to the class of 3H (81/83), MPMK, JB. Al-fatihah for Awi .... may his soul rest in peace. Aamiin.

Nature's Royal Show ...

Just because it is near the mini palaces of the Sultan Kedah's immediate family, does not mean the road should also be paved royal yellow in colour, does it?

The park where I usually go for my evening walk is thickly carpeted with the small, bright yellow little flowers. I had posted before how the trees shed their leaves during the hot, dry season and a month later flourish with new green leaves. This year, maybe, the tree has matured and maybe too, due the the extreme hot and dry spell, they blossomed and flourish with the little yellow flowers. Normally the flowers would just leave a trail of yellow carpet on the road. But this time around, they thickly carpeted the road and pavement bright yellow. It was just spectacular and beautiful to look at ... :-))

The trees that lined the park blooming with the small, bright yellow flowers ..

The parking lot along the park, the pavement and parts of the park thickly carpeted with the yellow flowers ..

I enjoyed this show of nature. After the "autumn" where the trees shed their leaves, the sprouting of fresh green leaves on the bare branches, the blooming yellow flowers and finally the flowers fall off whenever the wind blows .... all over the road .... gracefully, gently, direction-less and settle layers upon layers naturally, without planning or with intentional design everywhere .... thus, we can see the thick layers of carpeted yellow road .... magnificent and spectacular natural work of art.

Alas.... the bane of the poor road sweepers again - after the "tecoma" flowers, now it is this yellow flower's turn to be swept and cleaned up .... all in a day's work ... :-))

Ramblings ....;-}

Rambling 1

 After almost two months of the scorching, blazing hot weather .... we finally got rain !!!! Its been raining for three days albeit in the late afternoon. Yesterday I had classes until 3:30pm. It was pouring at about that time which caused all of us to be stranded in school instead of leaving for home. I was tired yet so joyful because it rained cats and dogs. Instead of waiting for the rain to subside, I took off my shoes, clutched my bags and walked happily in the heavy rain towards my car. Yes, I was wet but it sort of washed off the stress that I had been under for weeks .... By the time I arrived home, the rain had subsided and stopped completely. The lovely weather (I love after-rain weather) motivated me to go for my evening walk. It was cooling and refreshing. The skies were still dark and as soon as I completed my second round, big drops of rain started to fall again. Laughing to myself, I made a dash for the car and safely got in it before the rain started to pour. The snag was - it was a long traffic crawl home as I had to pass through the town to reach home ..... anyway, it was a fantastic day !!!! The next day it would be so hot that you could hardly open your eyes and so humid that you are sweating even though all you did was sat down .... I have always loved the rain ...
"Hujan yang turun,
  Bersama air mata,
  Bersama pedih bersama rindu ...
  Kau datang dan kau pergi jua...
  Rindu lagi ... "
    -Sudirman's "Hujan"-

The heavy rain from the porch of my house ... 

Rambling 2 

School had been hectic and stressful since it reopened with a new boss and her way of getting things done. I would say it was a transformation process in progress. She took over the school in a condition where it really needed a firm hand and person. I felt that there was no time for anything. So much paper work and running around getting things done ASAP .... ad hoc .... like you had no time to sit and eat or read the papers ... by the end of the day I was so exhausted. It is now April ... slowly we got used to her way of doing things. I needed to get away .... I was so exhausted after six periods of classes plus extra class that when an old friend send me an mms of a part of my hometown - the place where I grew up, lived, studied, fell in love, lost my father, lost our one and only aunty, celebrated Abang, Abang Omar, Naim, Kak Leha, Kak Ti and Kak Hajar weddings, welcoming Nadia's birth and finally left .... it caused me to suddenly long for my sisters, parents' graves, food, pampering, love, sense of being protected and secure. I had not gone back since last Eid ul-Adha. My sisters were wondering and calling to know if I was returning for the term break but I had the SAL project going. That bridge was just opposite near my old home - 4078-C, Peringgit, Melaka. Of course it was no longer there after my father's demise. Hmmm ... so nostalgic. Is it due to being more than half a century old that you began to look for little things that used to be pushed deep into the recesses of the mind that now meant so much ...??? As this old friend said - "every time he passed by this stretch of road, he would reminisce the past..." . Yeah ... I guess so. Everything started here - where we grew up and learned about our young lives. One day, as like now, it would just be a blur memory .....

The bridge across the road to my old house ... old friend, old house, old memories ...