Pergi ke hospital di Khartoum

Badan aku tetiba gatal tak tentu arah. Aku ingat menda ntah. So aku suspected allergy datang balik. The last time aku dpt was when i was in Nairobi, last year. It started masa aku kat Dublin lagi. Kali ni aku dapat kat Khartoum pulak. Nak jadikan cerita kena la pergi hospital/clinic, tak kesah lah. {Eh by the way, kat Sudan ni ramai student Malaysia buat medicine tau, ramai sungguh. Bak kata Luke, depa ni target nak kerja middle east, di mana they can earn so much katanya... So tak kesah la, govt Msia accredit ke tidak medical degree diorang kan, sbb diorang bkn nak berkhidmat kat Msia pong!}

+ Perjalanan ke hospital, pening kepala aku dengan orang ramai, jam, debu. Lagi sakit ada la.

+ Di tepian jalan tu, ramai la orang kan. Tengok pakcik yg asek baca newspaper tu. Tu typical Sudanese man la tuh, yg dah tua2 tu berjubah la. Diorang panggil Jellabiyah. Hujung minggu ni nak belikan Luke sepasang. Dia nak yang jarang teramat, tanpa lining katanya. Tak tau la masjid mana dia nak harung dengan jubah jarang tu nanti :)

Nak cari hospital tu satu hal. Punya la banyak hospital sini. Ntah, orang kata setiap penyakit ada hospital tertentu segala la kan. Sakit rambut bercabang pun ada sebuah hospital la gitu. So, dah masuk spital tu, nasib baik la ada Waleed. Dia la bawak masuk terus jumpa Dokter. Dr ppuan. Memang lost in translation. Dia taji aku tau, "It is you who should know what triggered this allergy". Bleh? Dia marah plak aku, dalam English dia yg ada campur2 sikit tu. Lepas tu dia pereksa segala la, suruh tunjuk tempat yg kena allergy "It looks like there are old marks here!" Sbb dia nak tuduh aku, aku ada skin condition ke apa ke. Aku tau la, badan aku. Aku sure - allergy.

+ Inilah Hospital Fedail yg gah perkasa tu.

Lepas tu kena injection = SDG10, registration/consultation = SDG20, and then kena bayar SDG90 (USD1 = SDG2). Aku tak kisah la, nak baik kan. Aku bayar aje. Lepas tu aku realised aku in this Q to get my blood drawn. Pas tu aku kata kat Waleed, jom kita bersemuka dgn Dr tuh, sedap dia aje nak rodok lengan aku sini sana. Aku nak anti-hystamine ajer. Lepas tu jumpa Dr tu aku kena taji "It is up to you if you dont want us to investigate more the cause of your allergy!". Well, aku diam aje la. Aku tak salah, I am so used to Dr kasik options, nak buat ke tidak, kalau buat apa hasilnya, kalau tak apa pulak jadinya. Entah le.

+ Tertera nama aku yg ditulis mesra oleh Dr yg sama taji aku

+ Tengok la makcik ni hah, sampai terbaring kat luar menunggu giliran. Sakit sangat agaknya. Sian dia.

Lepas tu aku dpt pulak prescription pergi beli kat ubat kat pharmacy. Wow, hebat Sudan, macam kat UK pulak (Kak Mel biasa macam ni, sbb duk London doploh thn, hehe). So pergi la pharmacy sebelah, dan bila nak kena bayar, ops, SDG2 saja! Betul ke ubat tu??? Murah gilo la pulak. Sbb apa, bukan nak kutuk sbb murah, terperanjat murah sangat. Sbb kat Africa ni kan ke banyak fake drugs. I don't want to fall for that. Dan dalam pharmacy tu pulak takut aku, punya la banyak drugs. Takut aku. But malam tu, aku ambik ubat tu dalam 9:00 mlm, lepas tu at 9:10pm, I was knocked out completely sampai la ke pagi. Ish, takut aku nak makan ubat tu. Tapi kena abis kan! Yg si Waleed pulak memandai kata kat aku "Zul one morning, one before sleep!" Dah sakit kot Waleed ni, mati aku kalau aku ambik waktu kat office!

+ Di farmasi inilah tempat aku beli ubat buat aku tidor gila babas malam semalam. Ubat ni seswai untuk ko Luke. Kau orang tengok la ubat2an berkoyan koyan tu. Eh gadis atau mak gadis yang berpakaian pink ni, pakaian busana wanita Sudan. Senang aje, ko ambik kain ela (bercorak ye), lepas tu ko ambik la 4-5m, ko lilit keliling badan, last sekali saukkan ke kepala. Make sure ada baju kat dalam tu, jangan baju t-shirt sengkat plak, nanti jadi saree plak. Tapi kalau ko nak kelainan, ko pakai je tube ke, mati laaaa

Tu je la pengalaman aku kat hospital tu. Aku pun tak paham la. Yg satu lagi aku tak paham, masa aku kena pereksa oleh Dr tu kan, Waleed masuk mintak SDG20, sesedap jiwa raga dia aje nak masuk mintak duit dari aku. Lepas tu Dr tu taji aku sekali suruh bayar. Kok ye pun, tunggu la aku abis kena pereksa. Ni tak, mana Dr tengah godam dada aku dengan stethoscope dia, yg wallet aku dalam poket belakang, tangan aku pegang handphones. Tak ke sakit jadinya! Dr boleh cakap kat aku nih "Do you have the card? Are you a member?" I said No. Bkn ke tadi aku baru register segala. Lepas dengar aku cakap No, terus dia kata "Then, you pay!". Bkn aku tak nak bayar, aku nak bayar. Aku nak tau, aku bayar untuk apa! Ish geram la aku!

Ni hal lain pulak, malam tadi nya dinner... ado gambar aje!

+ Pergi Chinese Palace, dekat dengan Rotana Hotel yang aku duk dulu. Chinese Palace ni dalam Afra Mall - the only Mall di Khartoum. Compare dengan Summit USJ, Summit tu beratus ribu kali ganda lagi bagus! Dialog dalam hati si lelaki menunggu waiter nak ambik pesanan "Mana pulak subang aku sebelah ni tadi? Cicir ke, memang aku tak pakai?"

+ Chicken Lollypops aku makan. Teringat kat Aidah, Mas dan Luke masa kat Lagos sama2. Luke la yang perkenalkan kepadaku cam mana nak buat chicken lollypops nih. Syabani suka gak makan chicken buatan Luke ini.

Dinner malam ni...

+ Sudan ni memang femes dengan jus dia. Kalau kau carik jus pegaga memang tak de la dek oi, tapi jus pelbagai rasa ni memang sedap. Rasanya jus ni ada pelbagai tingkat - strawberry, pisang, mangga etc. Kalau ke Khartoum, jgn lupa singgah di kedai Turkish ini untuk jus sedemikian. Thanks Seb for accompanying me for my dinner.

Another day at the office

Today - my second day at the office after my return. It is not so bad really. Except that I really had a good sleep last night so much so, I did not feel like getting up at all. When I got up, it was already 8:10 am, and the driver is waiting and leaving at 8:30 am. I heard the door bell was run by Fred, who lives next door to mine. I could not be bothered. Yesterday, I was much earlier than him and I waited downstairs. I was busy packing my laptop and stuff when he rang.

For lunch, I managed to get the wings I wanted from yesterday. They were not bad, but they were too dry - unlike the ones I bought from SPAR. I just ate them up as you can see in the following photos (the bones are a bit gross, but what the heck. It is like before-and-after evidences).

+ Before - the buffalo wings

+ After - the bones

I want to share the view I have got - when I look through the window of course. I normally face the office. Sometimes, I would turn and look out through the glass and I could see the Nile etc. Today is the complete opposite - it is all dusty, and all the particles reflect the light and it is so causing pain to the eyes!

+ The roundabout close to the office. It is all jammed up in the morning.

+ Sometimes, it is so nice to gaze out the window and to be greeted by river Nile, but look at it now

+ The football pitch, next to the office

+ Then came a group of boys - playing soccer

Finally, my contribution to the team today...

+ Normally, we have some sugar in the afternoon. So, today I brought my M&M. Everyone loves in. In the background - that is another consultant, busy at work.

Gaya Sihat, Makanan Memikat

Boleh tajuk aku kali ni. Anyway, aku rasa aku ni dah kemaruk nak berblog kot - pelbagai entry aku nak letakkan. Tak apa le. Ini continuation kepada cerita aku pasal lunch aku yg disastrous tu kan. Masa balik tadi, aku dah cakap dah kat Waleed, lain kali dengar betul2 kalau aku kasik arahan. Atau sesapa punya arahan la kan.

+ Inilah gambar kedai runcit dekat dengan rumah aku tu. Nama dia Banafsaj. Tak tau plak aku makna dia apa.

So balik tadi sebab aku tak lunch betul2, nak la makan proper. Dalam kepala aku dah terpikir burger Steers, pizza Debonair, syawarma, grilled lamb, Indian food. Semua tu boleh dapat kat sini. Tapi semua tu aku kuburkan, dan aku suruh Waleed berhenti kat kedai runcit Banafsaj (ala bunyi dia macam lagu Waheeda tu ler, Binafsha...). So sekarang dipersembahkan “resipi” dinner aku malam ni…

+ [1] Langkah pertama: Sediakan satu tub yoghurt (aku pilih ada perisa strawberry sebab aku tak suka plain yoghurt), sebijik oren dan sebiji mempelam (lihat rajah).

+ [2] Langkah kedua: Hiris nipis semua buah (buang la kulit dia OK). Dan masukkan ke dalam pinggan.

+ [3] Langkah ketiga: Kemudian tuangkan setengah daripada yoghurt tadi. Dan ini lah dinner yang ringkas lagi sihat untuk seisi sekeluarga. Jumpa lagi di hari dan masa minggu depan, Selamat mencuba.

+ [4] Langkah akhir: Kalau ada jus buah spt jus pelam kat atas ni, lagi la best untuk dinikmati bersama. Korang tengok la timestamp kat dalam rajah2 di atas, maxx korang needs 5 mins to get this prepared. Sebenarnya maxx 3 mins sbb aku ni nak ambik kamera segala nak ambik gambar semua ni kan... tu yg took time tu kan...

Aku sangat2 berterima kasih kepada Matt yang introduce kan aku kepada gaya hidup sihat ni (tak semestinya aku akan makan cenggini all the time sebenarnya... tapi good lah...). Aku ingat lagi, si Matt dok beli yoghurt aku dok pi beli makanan segera. Matt cuma mampu geleng kepala. Tapi malam ni aku cuba resipi dia tu hah. Memang sedap, aku dah jadi peminat yoghurt pulak dah - but yg plain memang tak leh nak makan.

Driver ohhh Driver

Kekadang aku pening dengan driver kat sini. Entah kat mana silap dia. Aku tak paham la driver2 ni. Bukan apa. They are nice people, tapi lagi nice kalau diorang stop for a bit and listen to the stuff I wanna tell them. Contohnya macam Waleed ni, he is a nice guy no doubt. Tapi kekadang over-excited for no reason.

Aku order hari ni nak makan chicken wings (matila aku yg suka makan chicken wings), aku selalu sangat makan pasta kat sini. So aku nak tukar la. I told him "Waleed 2 buffalo wings for me" Terpaksa cakap macam tu, English tak usah nak betul2 sangat. Nanti depa tak paham la kan (haru aku kalau dia balik, dia belikan 2 chicken wings aje, bukan 2 sets! Worse still, kalau dia tanya aku balik buffalo tak de wings!). Siap jari aku tenyeh line buffalo wings tu... TWO, aku kata banyak kali.

+ Kat dalam menu tu dah terbentang, BUFFALO WINGS kan. Kat mana dia tak leh nampak tu?

Lepas tu bila aku dpt makanan aku, aku tengok bebola ni dalam beg makanan tu. Ya Allah, aku tak paham la. Sah sah itu makanan aku sbb the other pasta is for Fred. Aku tak larat lah. Aku call dia, aku kata dia salah, but I will try to eat it. Tapi aku ingatkan dia, next time, dengar betul2 dan kalau tak paham tanya la. Jgn berlagak pandai, aku memang sentap la. Dah pulak bebola daging ni bukan kegemaran ku ini. Kerna Terpaksa, aku makan la jugak. Sure membazir tak abis lepas ni. Yang dia pulak asek la, Sorry Mr Zul... Sorry Mr Zul... Ish! Malam kang aku remind lagi kat dia, sah sah aku jadi tape rosak cakap menda yg sama.

+ Last last aku dpt bebola daging ni hah (Meat Balls Zingara), dengan garlic bread. Hmmm aku tak larat la, penat tau tak! Nama bebola tu cukup gedebas, tapi tak de la best mana. Aku tak abis pun makan! Aku dah agak akan menjadi pembaziran. Sbb aku nak buffalo wings!

Tadi aku borak dengan Nagi. Eh tak de kena mengena aku call dia dengan the fact that Waleed belikan aku makanan entah apa2! Dia kata kalau nak guna khidmat dia call la Taiseer - the logistic officer. Dan aku called Taiseer sbb nak ajak Nagi pergi solat Jumaat, minggu ni. So dah ada plan la aku Jumaat ni. Lepas tu aku nak ajak dia pi Souk kot. Boleh la aku belikan Luke jellabiyah dia. OK Luke, sepasang aje la nooo... sbb beg aku dah penuh la. Ops. OK ke Luke? Tapi promise ko akan belikan aku DVD Ass on Fire Season II tuh OK? Matila perjanjian setan aha hahaha... Eh by the way, size ko berapa ek? Macam aku gak ke? Eh ko kata hari tu nak yang paling jarang ye, eh nanti solat ko tak sah nanti, aku tak nak subahat ye.

+ Wpun ko nak yang latest, pesen kat atas tu utk season baru ni - spring collection katanya. Tapi kan, utk hang tak seswai la Luke. Lain bebeno konsep dia tu! We stick to the normal jubah ye!

Back to Sudan

I am still tired. I am back in Sudan now. There is absolutely nothing to update but I am simply tired. The journey was great. The service by KLM was beyond expectation. It was simply good. I even heard from the disembarking passenger saying "Thanks for the great service!".

Waleed waited for me at the Khartoum Airport yesterday. I asked him to take me somewhere where I could get dinner. He took me to Grand Cafe. It's nice. I ordered chicken tikka - more of a normally 1/2 chicken grilled, rice, vege and bread. Well, it is nice, the chicken tasted good, the bread tasted like roti canai. I had my dinner while chatting to Luke yesterday.

Today is 1st day in the office. It is such a drag. My back is still killing me. I guess from the manic travelling. In my head - I am all thinking about going back home to Malaysia in 20 days. Counting and counting. I guess I should stop. That way, the time really flies :)

I texted Wendy today. She is that friend that works at UNHR. She said, let's do makan makan soon. I am sure she is bored to death too. She was complaining about Khartoum can get really hot. I have started to feel it now. April/May would be the worst!

Hopefully all will be well

Well aku work from home hari ni. Tapi rasa macam sama aje dengan work in the office. Lagi best kerja kat office aku rasa sebab apa dalam keadaan aku yg huru hara ni, aku rasa baik la aku ada kat office - boleh la aku print e-ticket aku so that aku leh ke Amsterdam pagi esok, dan terus ke Khartoum. Tapi, kelebihan working from home - aku boleh melalak spt dalam video di bawah ini.

+ Of course aku suka lagu ni, tapi aku masih suka Kaer nyanyi dan bukan Sahri

Alhamdulillah, tiket aku nak ke Msia dah confirm dan "dianugerahkan" oleh co. Bkn apa, aku dah book nak balik ke Msia pd 15hb Mac lepas tu pulak the project needs me to be kat project latest 1 Apr. So ada la change of plan sikit. So depa kata "depa nak tanggung pertukaran tiket aku" utk ginih - Dublin-London-KL-Doha-Khartoum-Istanbul-Dublin. Memang gila aku rasa. Tapi, 2 perkara 1) Save time, sbb aku tak yah balik Dublin, lepas tu naik flight lain keesokannya nak ke tempat project (Khartoum), 2) Diorang bayarkan tiket (co), 3) Akyu boleh guna tiket aku dah beli tu utk balik Raya pulak :) OK kan? So sekarang kalau aku nak tukar tarikh boleh la dah kot. Tukar dr Mac --> Sept/Oct (sbb raya 1 Oct kan?)

+ SPAR is like 7-11 equivalent. Although things are a bit dear here, it is still a good place to get some stuff when you are desperate to get them. Well, the chicken wings are great!

So sekarang aku leh la concentrate on errands aku hari ni, byk gak aku kena buat ni:

1) vacuum flat aku yg cinonit nih, lap abuk2 sikit kat TV tu segala
2) pergi ambik laundry dah siap dari semalam
3) print my e-ticket nak ke Amsterdam esok
4) emel Fred dan Matt nak kata tiket aku dah OK
5) beli chicken wings for lunch (kat SPAR sebelah)
6) ambik bus ke Sino Travel nak ambik dan tukar tiket aku yg dah beli tu
7) menghala ke city centre nak beli hadiah utk Matt
8) beli makanan microwave-based utk aku bawak ke Khartoum
9) pack barang (malam ni la kot)
10) keluarkan duit belanja utk project ni (tak perlu USD, sbb USD weak skrg)
11) bungkus dan post/hantar hadiah yg istimewa itu
12) tinggalkan kunci dengan Ramlah

+ Inilah lunch aku untuk hari ni

Tu je lah kot, tak larat aku. Malasnya nak start vacuuming nih!

Minggu yang memberi tekanan

Kalau boleh aku tak nak komplen kat sini. Tapi kan daya, aku insan yang lemah, hanya mampu berserah, ingin sekali bertemu, dengarlah rayuanku... Eh macam mana pulak lagu Kak Ana boleh masuk dalam blog aku ni kan. Bkn ke lagu kak Melah dan lagu Kak Ana tu dah kena book oleh sebuah blog terlampau tu? Haha.

+ Konci oh konci!!!

Hari ni dah hari Khamis. Aku tak abis2 ditimpa nasib malang. Tak tau la apa yang berlaku. Aku pun tak pasti, aku rasa aku kena terjun kat 40-Foot by the pier utk ilangkan nasib2 malang aku ni. To end the week kan, hari ni tadi aku nak balik rumah kol 8:00 malam, lepas tu aku balik aku raba2 kocek aku rasa lain macam konci rumah aku. Rupanya aku terbawak kunci drawer BUKAN kunci rumah. Kunci rumah tertinggal dalam rumah! So aku call Ramlah, Ramlah kata aku punya kunci dengan Ziela. Ziela pulak dah pindah dari Dun Laoghaire ke Tallaght. Aku ngucap la nak pi sana sbb jauh, thank god Ziela kerja kat Supermacs Blackrock hari ni. Blackrock ni dokek dengan ghumah den, tak sampai beberapo menet naik taxi/bus.

+ Sini lah tempat kerja Ziela, ala kerja sambil menyambil, bukan serius la kot.

Yang aku pulak dah janji dengan John (kawan pemain tennis aku), nak jumpa for dinner and stuff. Punya la aku bergelocak jiwa nak jumpa sbb it has been amazingly bad wk for me, so John pulak dengan murah hati nak detour ke kampung aku ni hah, nak temankan aku. Lepas tu the moment dia tau aku ketiadaan kunci, dia kata "Let's sort out your key first". Dia drove ke Blackrock, and Ziela was busy. Lepas tu dpt aje kunci tu dari Ziela, aku terus carik tempat makan dengan John. I felt like makan Indian Food, dia pun tak kesah. So kami bedal makan Indian malam ni. It was great time keluar dengan John. Lepas keluar dgn si John, aku pi jumpa Ziela balik. Dia tgh break - best jumpa dia kat situ. Nanti aku bosan aku akan pi join dia. Aku makan muffin dengan aiskerim - best sesangat. Nak makan ayam dia, aku tak nak pulak sbb baru aje makan beef rogan josh and chicken korma! Sodap!

+ Sedapnya muffin + icecream ni, best gila. Thanks Ziela kerana memberikan dessert yang sedap ini - tambahan pulak masa sejuk2 gini

Baru aku sedar, sebenarnya bila berkawan bukan aku yg ada masalah. Bukan apa, one of the factors aku tension gak accusations from Paul, my friend. Kawan aku kenal melalui tennis club yg aku masuk tuh. John pun aku kenal kat situ. Tapi aku dengan John, we hit off like, god knows how. Tapi FUN, and professional. Aku rasa aku dah telalu baik hati dah, at times aku berkorban utk kawan, kekadang aku naik tension just because nak jaga hati orang.

Contoh malam tadi. Paul made is such a big fuss sebab aku fussy about food, sbb aku nak makan Italian restr sebab aku nak makan Ravioli kegemaran aku, yg Paul pulak dok suggest kat aku suruh makan Italian kat kedai sekian2, reason dia "The place offers cheap Italian food". Ya Allah Paul, aku tak nak "cheap Italian food", aku nak food yg aku familiar with. And aku tau benda tu sedap. Tak kesah la aku bayar berapa Paul, janji aku nak makanan aku nak. Aku bukan pakai duit kau pun. Lepas tu pulak, bila aku beli pizza side order tu kan, aku kata la nak kongsi dengan ko Paul dan Itamar kan. Memula ko kata ko kenyang sangat kan, lepas tu ko la sebok membedal benda tu. Aku tak kisah, the reason aku beli tu aku ikhlas, sbb takkan aku nak biarkan ko dengan Itamar tengok aje aku makan. Aku ni bebudi bahasa, so aku order kan side order utk korang makan so kita boleh makan/borak. Tapi, dapat email dari ko tadi kan, buat kan day aku jahanam as well. Aku tension tau tak! Sedang la aku nak jaga friendship, dan aku mintak maaf sangat la, kalau ko nak ajak aku pi Prague macam kita plan tu, aku rasa I need to give it a pass, sbb aku malas kalau nak travel, ala2 ada budget2 konsep segala ni kan! No thanks. Aku malas.

+ Always fun jumpa Itamar. Kalau jumpa Itamar, mesti jumpa dengan Paul. Lepas ni aku jumpa Itamar sorang2 pun tak apa.

OK dah. Aku dah luahkan perasaan aku. I am glad now I am back in my flat, lepas kena Euro10 naik teksi dari Blackrock to Dun Laoghaire. I had a blast John. Tak de pulak issue dengan si John tu kan. Okeh aje. Aku rasa sbb John ni is so easy going dan wavelength aku sama. Keluar dengan David pun sama. Wavelength sama. Macam dengan Paul asik la ada interference! Tak larat aku, tapi dengan Itamar tu, wpun baru 25 thn, OK plak. Itamar asik la convince-kan aku, Paul had a bad day. Abis bad day (read: bad week), aku ni sapa nak jaga. Tu yg aku tak larat. Aku ni jenis yg bukan judgmental. Kalau aku judgmental kan Paul, aku tak akan berkawan dengan orang cam ko ni. Ada ke ajak aku lepak kat club malam tadi, lepas tu aku tanya, what's the point nak lepak2 kat kelab tu - and aku terpanjat sgt dengar when he said - Saja je, kita tengok2 orang di sana! Tak ke aku sengugut dengar jawapan tu, been there, done that, got the t-shirt, dah rabak pun t'shirt tu. Aku tak nak buat benda2 gitu. Tapi tak de aku kutuk idea 'bernas' ko tu kan!

OK lah tak nak la aku tension lagik, 3 minggu lagi aku dpt makan ikan patin. So aku tak nak tension lagik. Malas dah!

When the day is just getting tougher!

I do not even know where to begin. There is so much fiasco going on here right now. Things do not seem to work out well really. I am saddened by this development. You know right, I have sorted my ticket out to fly home and today, at the unearthly hour of 9:00am, while I was applying eye-cream to get rid of puffiness around my eyes, I got a call from the proj manager of my current project in Sudan and said "Zul can you get back to the project after your holiday as soon as you possibly can!" What?

+ There is a possibility that I will fly this leg KL - Dubai - Khartoum - Dubai - Dublin by Emirates

The point is, it is my holiday. I don't want to be disturbed by this kind of development! And throughout the day, I was managing this. Matt suggested that I do not FLY the ticket I bought and get a new one and expense it to the co. Uh my, I paid good money for it. Euro1,055 to be exact. How can I not fly that? And on top of that I am flying with MAS. I am so not happy since, had I known about this development, I will be prudent in not spending (or not spending at all), the money for the ticket on my own.

+ Hmm well, I think I prefer MAS to Emirates. Why? Look at the pic, who'd render better service? Of course lah adik sebelah kanan tu kan. Yg akak-akak Emirates tu, setiap 3 saat nak betulkan tudung tak cukup kain tu kan, kekadang tersangkut kat kerusi passenger, kekadang termasuk dalam meal passenger, paling hari tudung 2 sentimeter tu tersangkut kat roda trolley!!! Tu sebab aku suka MAS, cabin crew dia gagah perkasa belaka

+ Of course, I would prefer to have a picnic and a swim in the river back in my kampong as opposed to being in the office, working.

I called the travel agent. They said, I can't get any reimbursement at all if I don't fly the ticket that I have booked. It is getting more complicated. No one sees it from my perspective. For heaven's sake, I have planned this holiday and I did not plan to include my work on top of that. This needs to be compensated for goodness sake. In addition to this saga of work vs vacation, I was so gearing up to meet Paul and Itamar but to my dismay, it needs to be postponed to tomorrow and for the love of god, I need my rice cooker back! <-- This is relevant mind you, it has stressed me out since I got back to Dublin.

Anyway, I texted David, he is free for a chill at Bodega at 8:30pm tonight. There goes my chatting time with Luke. Luke, in all honesty, thanks for listening to the crap I have been feeding you for the past days!

Hujung minggu penuh syawarma

I wanted it to be hectic anyway. That was three days of activities. Pure unadulterated activities. Haha. Saturday, it started out well. But it was spoilt with the fact that I started late. I was in my flat most of the day, and the texts from Paul did not help. In one of them, he was saying - "Zul, I am stuck in this film meeting, wont be over till 4:00pm". At first I was gutted to know that, but it also meant that I could take it easy for the day.

So by 3:00 PM, I got ready, cleaned the flat a bit, sent my laundry and headed to the city on bus No. 7. Upon disembarking the bus, I saw this demonstration about Falun Gong - a practice that is banned in China due to the insecurity of government that was suspecting that Falun Gong could turn into a group to topple the govt. I have been following about this development since my days in UK (2005/06), and some of the members had fled China to avoid being sent to concentration camps which might lead towards torture and deaths where their organs would then be harvested and sold. Well, more information about this here. I once tried to take up this conversation with my Chinese friend from China, he even refused to use the words Falun Gong, fearing that the present govt can smell that and he could well be connected to the banned practice and hunted!

+ This is the poster used in the Falun Gong demonstration on O'Connell St, Dublin. You could see the images of the man stitched up (middle, bottom), after his/her internal organs were allegedly harvested/removed against his will - a part of the punishment for the captivated followers

I met Paul and then, kitorang pergi makan kat Epicurian, a food court. I had Phad Thai and he had some Korma Chicken apa ntah. Well, that was not an awesome lunch but, OK lah. Then we had some tea, muffins, carrot cake at Debenhams. Paul told me that he has moved out and moved closer to his uni (UCD) where he reads for his 2nd masters - in film-making. Anyway, that is that. It is kinda weird not to meet Paul with Itamar. I would see both of them this Tuesday, for dinner or so.

+ Lepas makan kat Epicurian, we went on to do tea pulak. Melantak aje kerja. It was Paul's treat. Itu la dia Paul, Luke. Yg lubang idung tertonggok tu, aku la tuh. Eh Paul ni dah dekat 70 thn, tapi baby face *mati la aku...

Right after that, Lock See wanted to meet me for dinner. Alamak, asek makan aje hari ni. It has been a long time also since I last met Lock See. Lock See is such a dear. She is willing to listen to my crappy stories about my project and the pengurus projek yang gila and all that. Her favourite line, Same Shit, Different Day... bagus kan motto dia. So kita makan kat Captain Americas in Grafton Place. I have been wanting to makan kat restaurant ni, TGIF-like restaurant. We had platter of starters - wings, wedges, etc. And then we went on to makan steak and Lock See was busy with her 'chili corne carne'.

+ Sempat ambik gambar starters aje sbb gambar main course, tak sempat nak ambik sbb dah terus makan, haha. Starters pun dah banyak dah kan. Bela hantu ke apa aku dan Lock See ni...

+ Aku tak tau kenapa tempat ni ramainya orang, makanan biasa aje. Satu lagi makan kat Seafood Marina/360, by Burj Al-Arab kat Dubai, aku wonder, for 100Euro I spent on meal kat Seafood Marina/360 tuh, baik la aku makan kat Umbai Melaka tu hah...

So we balik, we took DART home and lepas tu Lock See called Simon - nak ajak main tennis on keesokan hari - Sunday. Instead Simon ajak to go out for a drink in Dalkey. I did not have the mood to go to Dalkey, it was cold. Instead, we compromised, we asked Simon to come to Dun Laoghaire to go Bodega (used to be 40-Foot). We were then joined by Andrea, Fabio and ALberto. It was quite nice there on Sat night. In Bodega 2 nights in a row. After that I stopped by at Ramlah's place. Ramlah was out with her boyfriend and Zila and Farid were in.

+ Bodega can be busy on Sat night. I left at 12 midnight - walking all by myself, heading home in that cold winter night

The next day, I got up at 9:00 am. Lock See sent me a text about tennis. Jenny could not join us. So there were three of us, playing. It was good tennis we played - for three hours. After that we went to grab some food at the Sunday market, at People's Park, not too far from the court. I had some Jamican stuff. Simon had the same. And Lock See had quich or something. We planned to walk by the pier, but it was too cold and Simon was complaining about his sore back, bum and legs! It sounded like orang tua already when he complained.

+ Tennis court by Clarinda Park area. Nice. Weather is getting warmer, I bet more tennis will be played here. So Shane, tak payah la caj2 lagi ye. Hahaha.

+ People's Park Sunday Market where you can get some interesting stuff - from organic vege to non-alcoholic wine. This is where I got the cake for Zila's birthday dinner

On the way home, I met Ramlah and I texted Zila. Ramlah was working at the mall and Zila was there as well - buying some stuff. I had the idea of cooking malam tu sebab nak celebrate Zila punya bday. So Zila setuju. We planned to masak nasi ayam - sedapnya. So aku dan Zila pun pergi la cari ingredients spt ayam halal (ops, ayam halal dah ada, Ramlah punya). So I went to Tesco dengan Zila. And then headed home to masak2. Actually Zila did most of the cooking, I prepared the soup aje. Soup ayam - sedap.

+ Dari kiri, Zila, Ramlah dan Farid (adik Zila). Happy si Zila...

As for the cake, we used the cake that I bought dekat People's Park - home made lagik (apple cinnamon walnut cake). Sedap. Tapi malangnya, sekarang Zila terlebih bergurau dengan adik dia si Farid, kek tu pun terbalik ke atas lantai. Sayang, aku nak jamah pun tak sempat. Rasa terkilan sangat. Ye lah sebab aku beli tu, bkn la beli dengan ayaq liuq lepas tu kek tu kek sedap, dan aku nak makan. Dah jadi cam tu, cam mana nak buat kan.

+ Tengok la gambar makanan dan kek ni hah, siap ada sate lagi kan. And, tengok la kek yg kontrobersi tu hah, sayang 1000 kali sayang...

+ Kat Dublin ni, even kereta pun boleh grow grass tu hah. Tak tau la berapa lama dah kereta tu tak kena drive sampai berlumut, berumput. Hehehe. Tak de la, I think keter ni promote some juice drinks I think. I think it is cute.

So malam tu lepas makan2 tu aku terlelap atas sofa si Ramlah, lepas tu aku balik aku kemaskan2 flat sekangkang kera aku ni. So it did not take me long kan untuk bersihkan. So I think, punya hectic weekend aku tu hah. Anyway, as I said, I wanted it to be hectic. Sebab tak de masa nak jumpa kawan2 dah. Lepas ni, lepas seminggu ni aku kena kembali utk menemankan makcik Lem Lem atas pesawat tu hah!

Finally, aku goreng ikan Tilapia malam tadi (Monday, 18th Feb). So makan dengan nasi. Nasi aku masak dalam pot (expert aku kan, hehe), ini sebab rice-cooker aku bermastautin kat tempat lain buat masa ni. Hehe.

+ Aku nak cari ikan bawal pulak lepas ni. Dalam malas nak masak tu, aku masak gak akhirnya

Friends - rasa nak jumpa semua

I am rather bored. It was a long day yesterday. I dozed off for a bit and then, Zila dan Farid datang - it was nice to see them. OK now, today is Sat. I was supposed to have lunch with Paul, he is stuck in a film meeting till about 4:00pm. What the... Anyway, I will wait for you Paul. The day has been so nice out there, with sunshine and all. I don't want to waste it. I need to be out there.

When I got up, checked out the Internet and Luke was online too. So we chatted. Bertukar2 story la kita kan Luke. So I told him yg aku baru keluar studio (bukan tandah okay!). So lagu ni aku rakamkan utk Luke sebagai memenuhi emosi dia. Katanya dia bersedih sempena Valentine's day. Tengok la kisah Luke tu hah. Merintih perasaan sangat kan!

+ Sedih la lagu ni, tapi aku nyanyi tak de la jadi sedih, jadi takut pun ada. Hahaha.

Selepas tu, aku nak cuba la naikkan semangat Luke tu dengan nyanyikan lagu ni plak. Hahaha. Kisahnya, Luke ni banyak sangat invitation for Valentines kat Abuja tu hah. Last last dia terpaksa korbankan perasaan - dengan menolak semua tawaran cinta tu, dan terus bersendirian di bilik mandi, sambil shower mencurah2 ke atas kepala dia. Kaki/lututnya terlipat rapat ke dada, sambil menangisi kisah hidup dia yg terlalui dicurahi cinta. Kakakakakaa :)

+ Dah naik semangat ekau Luke? Haha.

Oh pasal semalam, went to Bodega for untuk the farewell. Memula Davitt my big boss ala ala seronok nampak aku dah balik dari Sudan - muka ala2 berseri anjung la cam tuh. Lepas tu beriya2 nak get me my drinks. OK lah, lepas tu Aongus pulak get me drinks (another boss). Well, aku bukan cuba nak ngelak borak dengan Aongus ni, tapi dia ala2 pekat Irish accent dia ala2 macam mumbling pulak, but he is a sport (mana tak nya, siap ngumpat pasal the current programme manager utk projek aku sekarang). So it was cool. Bab2 ngumpat ni bagi je kat aku... *ops

It was good to see Niall, my mentor. Like, we were assigned a mentor from day 1 when we joined the co. Well Niall is my mentor since that 1st day. Oh dia bawak Angie - a Singaporean girl he met when he did a project in Singapore. Angie is nice, but did not get to talk that much. Initially I planned to stay for 30 mins, it turned out to be close to 3 hrs before I took the train to city centre where I met David and Peter (memang jarang sangat jumpa dia ni, compared to Paul and Itamar). Sebab diorang dah makan malam, so I grabbed small bites aje and then balik rumah kol 2:00AM. Tak sure apa yg kita buat sampai lama cam gitu. Pukul 12 malam aku dah nguap2 sbb Sudan is 3 hrs ahead of us. So waktu tidor aku la tu.

+ Ni pulak lagu Seribu Tahun - lagu ni Luke ala2 tujukan kepada tawaran cinta yg dah ditolak, tapi lepas tu nak balik. Cam mana tuh Cik Bals? *ops

Now dah kol 2:30pm, Saturday. I need to sort out my laundry and then head to city centre (again?). I need to get a few things. And also, hair cut. Ah malasnya. But the sun is out. Lock See pulak ajak dinner (a colleague from office). Tapi tak tau la. Sbb I will be in town and Ramlah dan Zila pun macam keen nak masak dinner - so aku terima aje la dengan tangan terbuka.

You know what, I am so tempted nak pi jalan2 kat Pier kat tepi laut tu hah. I am so tempted. Dah lama tak pi. Bukan jauh pun, like 10 mins walk from my house ni hah. Tapi at the same time, nak pi city centre. Kena toss a coin nih...

Khartoum - Amsterdam - Dublin : Part II

Well, dah selamat sampai ke Dublin. So kerana Pingat Cekal Berani Tabah Kategori Blog Sunyi Tapi Berisi, aku yang pegang sejak 6 thn lepas, so aku kena update lah ni. Sampai 2 entries sehari **matila aku kan. Memang cekal sangat aku kan. So, kali ni entry Cekal Tapi Malas konsep dia so, terimalah efek gambar-gambar sajor. Hahaha.

+ 'Home sweet home' la concept dia. Selepas 2 minggu berada di perantauan, kembali ke my own nest -- nothing beats the feeling of being back to my own place, meet the friends I have and do the things I am fond of

So menjelang pukul 8 am aje, aku terus ke XpresSpa tersebut terua lah aku bertanya. "Wahai sedari si pengurut, ku ingin mengurut tengkok dan belakang". So terus la dia offer aku nak minum ke idak ke, aku cakap let's get down to business, kelas kan? Hahaha. Aku ingatkan ada adegan kena bukak baju kena urut segala tu kan, tapi tak ado la sampai gitu. So, urut2an dengan baju masih intact di badan **mati la sesapa yang suka urut dengan si tukang urut buta itu - ops.

+ The entrance to the Xpress Spa at Schipol Airport. I was intrigue to try when I saw it for the first time before.

+ I was asked to sit on one of the chairs. Thank god for that. No frills urut la concept dia, terus di urutkan dan dan tu gak. Cantik angle aku ambik gambar ni, makan hati la Saiful Nang - hehehe.

+ Yang ni, seorang customer tengah mendapat service urutan. Cam gitu la aku kena urut gamaknya.

+ Si Alaey yang mengurut aku. She was nice. She was dedicated, let's put it that way.

+ Art piece, with the title of "DUA Orang Gemuk Kekenyangan" di Schipol Airport; Sempena tahun 2008, tahun melawan obesity **hehehehe.

Finally, tadi sebelom boarding the flight to Dublin, I managed to beli a Tee and a decorative plate for my mom (my mak kumpul pinggan2 ni, sekarand dia nak pulak foreign notes). The Tee is a gift that I have promised someone for a long time. Check it out. Eh kalau tak pun aku nak jadikan tee tu sebagai hadiah peneka jawapan tertepat kepada kuiz SMS aku yg baru lepas tu kan? Hmmm... Aku dah sewel... hahaha.

+ The pinggan dan kemeja-T yang diperkatakan di perenggan di atas.

Sekian peeps, sebenarnya aku masih letih. Tadi Zila datang dengan adik dia, Farid yang baru datang ke Ireland. It was nice of them to drop by. Aku buatkan depa kopi-O Aik Cheong, and then borak2; catch up. Wow, Zila was so happy. She gave me the reason why all the big smile on her face - she apparently received a surprise visit by a colleague at work, knocking on her door at home - with him Valentine's Present and all that. Wow, she's really on Cloud-9 now!

Wait a sec, Shane Ward is on teley (Irish TV programming can be very dull, especially RTE1). He's being interviewed about his development since winning X-Factor a couple of years ago. To his fans in Malaysia, apparently he is heading to Malaysia for his concert. So cepat pi beli tiket kepada peminat2 dia tu.

+ Shane Ward on RTE ONE

I am off now to take a shower, head to Bodega for the farewell drink I have been talking about to say BYE to John *sob sob... And then I will head to city to meet Paul, for a drink and dinner, I guess.