Work but no work blues...

Sometimes, I might sound pompous. Oh! Well, most of the time actually. But since this was happening once more time, it really drive me nut. Oh! Please stand by me, a self-importance little woman who think that she was so bored with her life. The one and only raison d'être was that she thought she was underwork (though always underpaid?) which out of sudden instill a need for her to go all out searching for work to be done.

But then, don’t get me wrong. I am a well paid worker who has been working with this company for the past 8 years.

Prior to a life in Japan as a student, the working life had never been so undemanding. My former boss was a workaholic surgeon with responsibilities more than the average people can handle. Since he was able to do more things, he had a similar anticipation on me, and most of his subordinates. Thus, to stop and smell the roses was a luxury in those days. Then Japan came, which life pattern was nothing new to the whole world. They eat, drink and sleep with one word only throughout the life, WORK! The 8 years training left me with no choice but to think that life is all about filling your day with work, not just simply to attend the work place.

Therefore, this ‘me’ found that the pace of my work was too slow creep a hell out of me. Moreover, the free time (during work hours) gave me enough time to wonder into ideas where one of it was I’ve started counting money of other people bank’s account. Ops! Sorry. That is an in-house joke about a particular housewife who we speculate had spent her free time counting the money of the students with scholarships since she was well aware of other people expenditure. Easily said, I’ve started to wonder other people life which is against my principle. I can feel that I have become so negative that my DNA (which is also negatively charge) was coming out of my body, in view of the fact that two objects with same charge experience a mutual repulsive force. Oh!

So, what do I do?

Well, I need work. I create one.

I asked a dental master student of another lecturer whose project was co-researched with me to come for a little introduction tutorial. Not only that, I had volunteered to teach two laboratory’s technician on the basic of molecular techniques. Besides, I did volunteered to review a few articles intended for a book publication.

I lied. Those were not just one work.

The list is growing by second.

I just wish somebody will come along and stop me before I am overload again. Probably asking me for water skiing in Langkawi will do for the time being.

New guy on the block

Move aside MekDi. Here comes MatB, Mat SalaiB. This Mat B is seing taking his place slowly but confidently around stores in front of KK Campus. And the first one that I bought tonight was the Mat Beef. Suprisingly, the cook added enough black pepper sauce and mayonnaise plus the regular chillie sauce which of course brought out a different taste. An alternative choice besides Ramly's, I guess.

Adaptation is the word

My friend on FB suggested that adaptation is the right word and steps for me at the moment. We difinitely speak the same language.

I believe there is a thing we called adaptation. It is a process of fitting in. In my case, it is basically about to find my niche in a place that I used to have a roof of my own. It was about 4 years that I left this place. But now, I am behaving like a fish out of water.

It never crossed my mind that coming back was so hard. And it was not that I never come back this place at all. I was here twice in four years time. It now occurred to me that I underestimated the power of belongings. Probably, time do have the ability to change the environment plus the people themselves.

I know it's the matter of time that I can feel at home again. But somehow, I am a slow learner with a big trait of being impatient, not a good collaboration though. And a hard one to please oneself.

So, the first step that I took was to arrange for my car to be sent here and thus I can roam around Kb once more. Other than that, I will start some new experiences, such as, design a small japanese style garden or go to school again. Not the science class, but some religious class of maybe trying to stitch my shirt. The list will goes on by time. I just need to be more patient.

Nothing out of nothing.....

Life has been so good that I forget the heat of the sun shining through the blue sky of Malaysia. Nevermind the heat; since eating, talking and laughing out loud have become a regular thing, everyday, life is great! Gone the day where Naba only talk five sentences a day, it was a history though the past was not very far behind.


For that, I only has one thing to say; thank God for the good life.

But then again, I was threading on a thin line when food and BFF were the subjects. For the past few days, I almost lost it; the coolness of being Naba. Although being Naba is about stay cool, but being Naba also means you can be the worrying soul who eat other souls to be strong, just like the Pedang Setiawan comic or internationally known as Storm Warriors. OMG!

Having rice as a source for nourishment for breakfast, lunch and dinner is like living in heaven but not when body weight and health are your main concern. The same goes when your BFF was in the midst of getting a life partner, the feeling tossed in between sadness and happiness. All in all, everything seemed so confused as if I have been smothered by a thick blanket.

Anyway, at the end...I choose to think positively which is about controlling the mind since everything is all about the mind's perspective. And the perspective could be very vary from a person to another.

I shall brave the storm because I think that it just another type heavy rain. Afterall, I should think that it was just a drop of water in an ocean.

I am home...

Thank God...The short journey had came to an end. The few final days in Japan was celebrated with my mother, my best friend (Ina) and few friends of Japan, Indonesian and Malaysia origins.

As usual, all bad and good things will come to an end. I will always treasures the memories and the friendships.

Thank you.

Raya is coming to town with Ila

All of them went home, only a handful left behind because this time it was a summer holiday for the undergraduate students. So, I can only expect a small number of guest for Hari Raya gathering. Luckily, Ila agreed to come down tomorrow morning from Tokyo and spend the Raya celebration with me. Nothing much that I can plan for us to do, but to have a family, even only one of them in here, is joyous to the max.

Well, since I don't have anything to do in the lab (not a lab's rat anymore!!!), I can see myself suddenly missing from the lab and turn into a full time baker/ chef. Two cakes are now in my mind waiting to be bake into reality. And many, many other Malaysia delicacies, which I will try to get the recipes right, which also means the googling will start tonight. Just wish that it all will turn out alright.

Tomorrow, the day will start early since I will be going to pick Ila up at the bus station. Voila!

End of life...

Life flies as fast as time and it will never return to the same start anymore, never. The end of life means death and it wait for no body, that’s what I learned yesterday.

Many times my posts touched about the death of the close ones in my big fat family but, so far, death only took away the elders. However, yesterday, I was snap back to the reality which reminds me one thing that I should always remember, death was never afar.

Around 6.30 pm yesterday, the cousin, single man, in his early 40’s, succumbed to stroke.

He was not always around for his work took him away but once awhile he made his way to heart of the family. His mother, the fragile Mak Lang, just lost her husband last year and now it was her son.

I can’t imagine the pain any parents would adhere to lay their child to the grave.

From Allah we come, to Him we’ll return.

Orchid X

This summer proved to be too hot to think of anything to write or in other words it was simply the excuse of being lethargic and a cipher who live just to enjoy the life. It probably the unsavoury way celebrating the end of my journey here in Japan, but I would like to think it as a way to rehabilitate my little grey cells, as Mr Poirot, the famous Belgian detective of Agatha Christie creation would say. This week was really the end since I had sent the copies of dissertation (a thinner version of a thesis) for binding and the galley proof for the article that will be published soon in a scientific journal based in USA were received. For the article, it was nothing of grand, but for me as a small fish in a sea of scientists, it was a big success. God had granted my wish.

Enough about me; we do miss the orchid, didn't we?

The orchid was not making their entry to the lab as many as they did during the previous season. Probably summer was just too hot to handle. Anyway, he did brought in a small lovely orchid known as benishusuran (japanese) or Goodyera macrantha, maxim. At the first sight, it looked like a wild plant that we can find anywhere near the bushes. However, if we look closer, the flower did resembled the famous 'slipper'.

In this post there were two pots of flower. The wild type was the one with white colour and the other, the pinkish flower, was the mutated orchid.

The real deal....

There he was, wading through the crowd while taking a peek at the seat number on the tickets at hand. Alone, by the way. I was curious, thinking about his wife. Standing at the upper end of the stairs in front of the city hall, I waved at him. Ten second later, his eyes catched me and saw the sheepish smiled. I brushed it off, the fasting me said that it was too much to indulge at that moment. I simply signaled him the right entrance out of the four in front of us before walking down the stairs to join him. Curiosity took the better of me and I asked about his wife, who he said when to pick the dinner boxes. Later, Nagata sensei joined us, coming along with J's family; daughter, father and mother. He then insisted that the rest of us to go in first and he would waited for the wife. At the end, it was a real deal. The much waited Awa odori started.

A little too early.....(Awa Odori festival 2010)

I should have spanked myself hard just now and then laughed out loud to cover the silliness. The fact is, I don't know what have gotten into me, perhaps a little too much rest a.k.a sleep?

This afternoon, after preparing chicken tika masala using sauce which was brought by Ina last time she visited me, off I cycled to the Tokushima Station. Besides making a stop at the Jupiter shop to get some international food items; i.e., my favourite tortilla crackers, the main reason was to join datuk, his better half, and their entourages watching Awa dancing - a special dance during Awa odori festival – which was a famous summer dancing festival of Tokushima. Well, I made my way to the entrance as we had agreed previously and after waited for a while, I called his mobile phone. Can you guess the embarrassment I caused myself when he said the date would be tomorrow afternoon, not today?

Oh! This event had brushed my egoistic self and blew away any subsistence of the proud me. *At this point, I started rolling my eyes.*

Not to waste the day, I walked around strolling the bicycle, taking pictures here and there before came home for iftar.

Salam Ramadhan

Personally, as a Muslim, I feel that Ramadhan is the best month of the year. Can't wait!

I wish everybody, Salam Ramadhan....\(^_^)/

The Lalaland....

Since I'll say bye-bye to the Land of arising Sun soon, I took some time off to visit Ila in the most expensive city in the world. Or is it still is? Anyway, that was also an excuse for us to go to the Lalaland.....