26 February 2006

DPA reunion

It was an impromptu arrangement. I called up Syikin after she replied my email, with her phone number. The number was kind of weird so I called up to confirm whether it is correct or not. Talked to her for while and she asked about Ina n Dina. Forwarded her email to both of them and it kind of escalated from there. Somebody forwarded the email to somebody else and before long, 14 of us agreed to meet at MFM last Friday during lunch. Syikin, Kak Ina and Suaidah even took time off after lunch for a longer rendezvous.

It was fun meeting familiar faces that have left the radar for so long. For some of them, the last time I met them was during our diploma convocation day. Mek Tie n Kak Eda can't make it and so was Nole, but we promised to keep in touch.Ina is collecting contact details from us and will be arranging a bigger reunion with more participants from our DPA classmates.

So those of you, who happened to read this, who knew somebody who graduated (or not) with Diploma In Public Administaration ( DPA) from Institut Teknologi MARA Shah Alam year 1989 to 1991, please leave me your contact details. It will be a pleasure to hear from you.

Rombongan Cik Kiah ke Kota Kinabalu












Am flying to KK, Sabah tomorrow with 4 of my office colleagues. Tina booked the free tickets in December and I had totally forgotten about it until she asked me how am I going to the airport as the flight will be pretty early in the morning. Alamak! Cepatnye...how time flies...I thought lambat lagi....have yet to tell dear hubby and apply for leave.

It will be a 3 days 2 nights stay over there. Tun had arranged all the accomodation and Tina had arranged for the airport transfer, the car rental and even the place to source for freshest udang galah. Trust these ladies to do these unofficial duties efficiently!

We planned to drive to Kundasang with a few stopovers in between. The Filipino Market is a 'must go and must buy ' place on our itinerary. Poring Hot Springs, Kinabalu Park are mostly for picture taking purposes- momentos for the kids left behind with their daddies back home. And if Azah is up to it, we will be contemplating to do some island hopping...Mamutik n Manukan. The last time I did that was in 1991, back from Mount Kinabalu climb.

These time round, there will be no mountain climbing done. We hope to be able to see the top of the mountain clearly, though.

Wish us a safe journey, for all 5 of us makciks. This will be the first time l go on a holiday without my family. Less things to packs, less running around after the kids, less hassle, less everything. I wonder if it also meant less fun..hmmm...

14 February 2006

It has been quite a while since I last update my blog. A lot of stories to tell during the long absence. I don't know where to start. Maybe I start with my trip during the long festive Chinese New Year/ Awal Muharam/ Federal Territory Day holidays.

It was decided that this time round, it was time to go 'balik kampung' to the East Coast aka my mom in law (MIL)'s place. It is normal for Malaysians regardless of the type of holidays, to head back to their respective kampungs. Be it school holidays, festive season holidays or any other holidays that matters.

We left home at about 11am, heading towards Kuantan. Hubby has booked a room for us there. with the intention of letting the children loose in the swimming pool, together with their cousins. My bro in law ( BIL) resides in Kuantan and he has 4 children altogether. With 3 boys and a girl, you can expect a lot of splashing , combine with my 3 water babies. But that was not be...

Hubby and his brother were caught up in some business deals during the day. We reached BIL's home around 3pm. After some freshening up, children went to the playground in front of the house.

Me and my biras, Zaya( BIL's wife) had some other plans. We booked a facial session with Zaya's friend's saloon. Our maids took care of the children while we had one hour time off to ourselves. It was nearly Maghrib when we got back. We round up the children from the playground, sent them for their baths and dressed them up for dinner outside.

Dinner was at a riverside restaurant near a jetty at Sungai Kuantan ( i'm not sure about the name of the river but it is a wide river allright). I had ikan bakar , whilst the others had other sorts of menu. The toddlers had 'nasi air' or akin to 'bubur' while Anis and her cousin, Nani had nasi lemak. Anuar who was sort of full, ordered burger from a stall nearby but was told to wait as there was a bulk order of 40 burgers aehad of him.

We spent the time talking while enjoying the night breeze from the river. The children were all over the place and we have to keep a sharp eye on them as the river is too close for comfort.
There was an angling competition going on and we went to check it out. The winner get to take home RM10k which I considered is very lucrative.

After dinner, we went to the jetty. Zaya had to get back home to feed her youngest boy, Idham around 1 year old, who was left behind at home with her maid. The rest of her brood were left with me.

To be continued...