Drama You...

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The UPSR results were out yesterday. Lina told me that Sofia was quite cool until the last few days before they were out. Then she seemed to tense up a bit. No good, I was not too worried about what she’d bring back, more about what it would do to her self confidence and how it will affect her standing among her friends. Sometimes it matters, sometimes it does not. Boarding school? No need meh……. Unless she wants to go to the same school with her brother, of which she is adamantly against. Maybe that all girl school in Seremban (her choice, not ours) or that school in Cyberjaya which used to carry the name of a pond. We used to call that school the fish pond school. A compromise.

Anyway, Sofia went to school as usual. Lina followed suit at just about noon, when the results were to be announced. The way they did it in her school was to call out the ones who obtained all A’s (5A’s) alphabetically. They went right down the alphabet, got to “S”, and, and, and………………… no Sofia.

“Ma…..”, she looked at her mother realizing what this must means – she’s not one of those who got the desired results, the 5A’s.

She started crying. Her mother, seeing how sad she is, started to do likewise too. Lina told me later that she was so sad in seeing how disappointed Sofia was, that’s why she started to cry. I'd probably cry too.

“Tak apalah adik, tak dapat 5A pun tak apalah……”

It turned out that they somehow missed her name. She got the coveted 5A's. That cikgu caused so much heartache meh…. Only one pupil in her class did not get 5A’s. I spoke with Sofia today and she told me that the poor girl is still crying. But then, for all we know, she is the one who will be breezing through the SPM examinations five years from now. Defeat is the soil on which victory blooms. Stop crying little girl....

So Lina said that she knew how it felt like when Sofia did not get the desired exam results. At least for 15 minutes that is. Cedeh you….

I need a new drug.

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Happy Anniversary

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Today is our 19th wedding anniversary. Nineteen years of marriage. Nineteen years of being together and apart. Nineteen years of ups and downs and everything in between. Nineteen years of agreements, disagreements, passionate conversations, silence and everything in between.

Last night I messaged Lina, thanking her for the love and the life that she has given me. Just her luck, I’m away during our anniversary, but she has grown used to it. We moved so much and I was away so often that she said marrying me was worse than marrying a soldier. Her father being an officer in the army, she was adamant that she’d never marry one for that particular reason, only to marry me and suffer a similar if not worse fate.

You’re stuck with me, dear. I’m here, you are there.

Nineteen years but it felt like only nine or ten. And there is Nazzim and Sofia to make out lives noisier, costlier, happier, merrier, exhausting, more heartaches but fuller. Can a man ask for more? Maybe another forty years so that we’d get to see all our grandchildren and great-grandchildren huh?

Happy Anniversary to us.

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Health Walk

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The good doctor organised a "Health Walk" along the route over the mountains a few miles south of the city. It is an 8-km trek, up and down and up and down the mountain as we go.

The good doctor at the start of the track. Behind her is Khairizul and daughter.

The thing is, all the transport will be waiting at the end point. Either you start and finish or pretend to start and then chicken out. The temperature was in the low teens, I had only an hour of sleep after sending some guests home just a few hours before and 8 km is a very long way. Khairizul's daughter keep pestering him to go faster and catch the others, but there was a catch - he was carrying her on his back!!!

The view from about 500 m up. We ended up to about 2800 m above sea level.

I guess pride played a part. Some of the guys, and gals were running up the track. Granted that many of them are nearly two decades younger than me but then there's life in these bones still. Ain't gonna take things lying down.

Tai Chi lesson gone wrong. How come there aref our different poses? I swear that there was only one si fu....

Don't let the pace of Tai Chi fool you. It is difficult!! You'd think that it would be a cinch to follow it since it is so slow. Yeah, right.

I made it!!!! Now I can look at those young punks in the eyes and tell them that I finished the walk too. Who cares I took an hour longer. I don't.

The first 3 kilometres were the hardest. Then when you reached that point, there is simply no turning back it would mean walking over the same distance either way.

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