idiosyncrasies of a lady: May 2008

'hantaran' part 3

This 3rd part of the blog presents to you the final look of 6 of the 15 'hantaran's...

nenek
[the creative director behind all the 'hantaran']

wedding preparation still in progress.. finishing the decorations with the furnitures, flowers and all. putting the final touches on the 'hantaran'. one more day to go and my dearest cousin will be a happily married man. can't wait to see that..hehe

making the 'hantaran'

This morning I woke up to see everybody in the house busy cleaning, redecorating and whatnot as preparation to Bro Hafiz (my cousin)'s wedding. Later that morning, I went to see Amre, my old classmate in KMK (my former college). Haven't seen him for over a month. He introduced me to his best friend, Khai and his pet sis, Dalila. They were both friendly but Dalila was the more talkative one. Khai is taking Japanese classes before heading to Japan to further his studies. We spent the day hanging out around Alor Star until after midday.

When I got home the house was just as busy as when I left. Curtain-sewing and more cleaning inside the house while the guys were mixing cement outside. They were cementing the parking space just outside the front porch. But the best part of the business is making the 'hantaran'. Practically everybody was involved in making the 'hantaran'. It has always been the most fun part of the whole wedding preparation. The aunts and grandmas will decorate the presents in such ornate and creative way with a touch of the traditional Malay culture which softens the overall look. The wedding is this Sunday. Can't wait!

I only managed to take pictures while we were making the 'hantaran'. Here's a few...
(the guy holding the fan is the groom)

modern nomad

I just arrived in Alor Star a few hours ago. Lately the nickname 'modern nomad' given by my friends from my former college seems to suit me perfectly. I've never stayed at one place for too long. Constantly moving from KL to Brunei to Sarawak to KL again and this is if you look at it roughly. It has been about a month since my final exams and I've been hopping from one place to another during the holidays. I flew to Brunei to spend the first few weeks of my holidays with my family. Then I got back to Malaysia and later found myself at my relatives' house in Shah Alam, Port Dickson, and Kuala Lumpur respectively. Now I'm at my uncles' in Alor Star. I've been to numerous places growing up. Never stayed at one place for more than 4 years which sometimes complicate things especially when it comes to people asking where I live or even the simplest things like filling up a form for the new school. Every time we move to another place I have to memorize a new address, phone number and the names and faces of my new neighbors. This also means I have to find a new group of friends. I guess living a life that is so familiar to changes makes me the type of person who gets bored easily by stereotypical routines. Always finding a way to change things and be anything but ordinary. Although, it's not entirely a bummer. On the bright side, I get to know people from lots of places. Different people with different attitude, style, habit, culture, race and alternate views of life and everything in it. It widens my view of the world and the situations happening in it. So I'd say that being a 'modern nomad' is not that bad. Sure, sometimes it's hard especially when you are traveling with a bunch of big bags and huge boxes not knowing where to put them since you are living with your aunts' and uncles' all over the country but eventually you'll learn how to deal with it and independently solve other problems in life.

KMK

i introduce to you KMK - my former college. Well, actually parts of it. Loved this place. Miss everything and everybody in it especially my classmates & roommates..

view from my bedside window [nice!]. used to look outside the windows a lot. especially at night. the view's just soooo nice..

the cafeteria [fave place!]. we would stop by in between classes every chance we had. this cafe belongs to my neighbor's sister

this is another place i loved to go whenever i felt like clearing my mind. just sitting on top of the hill watching the view is calming enough. when not playing basketball i liked to spend time playing squash or tennis or just cycling around the campus

administration building - i'd come here to get my weekly dose of gossip with the lecturers. i'll definitely stop by MKA, Mdm.Sariwan & Mdm.Yuppa's desks. [miss them a lot!]

...and the colours fly high! (for some)

It's out! I found out around 11:15 PM last night from my friends that the results for our finals are out. They couldn't wait to know their results and were already busy going through the internet or sms. By midnight my cellphone is overloaded with text messages from friends asking whether I'd checked my results and sharing theirs in return. Some of my 4-flatters friends managed to maintain their pride and right to brag about it for a while longer. They deserved it. Even the ones that failed to hold on to the fat 4 were only 0.05 or 0.10 short. Some got better results than the last semester and others got a little bit lower - which only means that MY results are becoming harder to predict. I didn't know what to expect. I never liked to check results hot from the oven. Usually I'm the last person of the day to get the results. I decided to wait 'till later. So, about 2:35 today I checked my results through sms and am satisfied with it. At least they are better than last semester. I managed to stay above 3 and what really matters is that I don't disappoint my family. They have always been very supportive and I'm thankful I got them. Thanks so much guys!
XOXOXO