crazy for waterfalls

Breeze

Sometimes you feel like stepping out of your normal office. Either be at the top of a hill singing at the top of your lungs, not caring whether your tormenting the birds with your screeching rendition of 'The Hills are Alive" not caring your barefooted, soils on your dress or pants, running and running just wanting to be free, away from claustrophobic feeling of your cubicles or the monotones routine, not caring whether your getting that increment or promotion.

The natural  fresh soothing hill air kissing your  face and not the dry air conditioner that increase your wrinkles.

Wouldn't it be nice not to worry about money and just drift away and be free.
Sigh.

Frank Sinatra – Moon River Lyrics

Art Gallery

Went to Redang Island. This is the scene that caught our eyes as our longboat reached the shores. 

Ohhh got my heart broken again in a non existing relationship kinda crappy when you keep falling for the right guy just that your not the right girl for him. Ouch!  

Went to a forest reserve for a picinic with a few of my friends. Well it isn't exactly the same but almost close to  the real thing :)

I am sailing, I am sailing..... across the see.


Been almost a year since I wrote something so might as well start again. As my therapist say (yes, I actually went to a therapist. Be calm it has been truely certified that I am harmless) I need to vent out somewhere :)

Moody

Don't have much to write, I guess this painting translate very well on what I'm feeling nowadays :P

Gloomy, sad and just out of body experience doing every routine like  automated and looking at it through a tunnel vision...

///////huh guess I don't make much sense.....oh well hope to get out of this droopy mood.

Art Gallery

 

Soft pastel painting  - Through my windscreen

Canson paper

 

Baby - bam bam

A4 art block

 

Lovers - A4 Artblock 

 

Additional drawings that I did this year  :)

Jumping Puddles

A few weeks  ago I went for a marathon organized by my company.

Well actually the level that I entered could hardly be called a marathon as it was such a short distance. A very pale comparison to the 10 km and above levels. (I just entered for the sake of entering and of course the donation.Plus I never experienced a marathon atmosphere before , I was curious how it was like) How cool was it to actually have numbers and an actual marathon T-shirt ! Even though I was just going for the fun run.

All the participants were to release at the same time.

We gathered at our company's driveway at 7am. (I had to wake up at 5.30am to get ready and I wasn't in the spirit of running that morning as two of my friends fell sick)

Pessimist as I was my inner voices were saying......"Oh your all alone," "You don't know anyone there"  "You're going to have a miserable time" I still drag myself to the car. Small drops of rain trickle down my windshield as I drove at the parking lot.

Great.....more bad luck.

We warmed up at the drive way and as we were doing our stretches, it started to rain.  We huddle at the driveway and waited for the announcement whether the run will be delayed or not. I was standing beside this lady who was  alone.

What the heck, I said to myself since the day couldn't get any worse might as well make friends. I introduced myself to the lady and we made small talk.

I asked whether I could join her and she said yes. Somehow my grumpy veil dropped, I had made a friend. The rain was pouring by this time and the organizers announced that they would still begin the run. All of us went into the rain. ALL of us were soaking wet even before we got out of the company compound.

As the rain hit me I didn't feel bad anymore, it was cold, chilly but as I got soaked , it also washed of my negativity. Here I was with a new friend running together in the rain , splashing in puddles , shoes heavy with water but I was grinning like a mad men.

It was early in the morning and  I had never felt exhilarated and energized before.

When was the last time that I actually, ACTUALLY played in the rain. Eons ago when I was in school! When was the last time that I truly felt happy in the rain. Definitely not when I was cursing stuck in a flooded jam!

While others were grumbling in the rain , I took that opportunity to jump in puddles with a goofy grin in my face, smiling and joking at the students passing water to us runners (hehe which was kinda silly cause I don't think anyone was thirsty). There was this family, mother, father and son smiling and giggling in the rain . I smiled at them and they smiled back having a little adventure of their own . We waved at each other.

I understand now why Gene Kelly felt  like singing and dancing in the rain (although difference circumstances :))

Acid rain pacid rain none of us fell sick , I'm grateful cause I didn't even catch a cold.
But as I was half walking, half running in the rain , I said a silent thank you up above cause at that moment even though I was wet to my bone and even though I had made  stupid decisions these past few days and even though I couldn't run from negative thoughts ......just at the moment as I was jumping, running through puddles I felt like a kid.

And felt really happy.....

Dating

Alo, in the  mood for drawing as you can see above.

But today's story has nothing to do with painting .


It's about dating ,YUPPO my rule of dating ( kindly make known that this is NOT a guide to dating - should you be hit by another guys girlfriend or unexpectedly had to buy a large stock of perfume - I am not responsible to be  WARN)

Everyone has dated at least once in their life either they realise it or not.  You might have thought that your hanging out with a guy buddy until at the end of the day the guy said that he had a nice time and we should go on another date - THATS when you understand why he was dressed so nicely and he insisted on paying for the food or you totally forgot that it was a date and went to meet him in your simplest clothing  (aka flip flops, worn down t-shirt and equally worn down jeans)



I went on my first ever date in my early twenties.
I met this guy on the commuter train  heading back home to Seremban from Kuala Lumpur. I was tired and he was sitting beside me. He introduced himself and said that he was working in Kuala Lumpur. He was from East Malaysia. Since he was a friendly chap I decided to entertain him. We talked quite a bit - well actually he talked a lot about his family, his dad, his brother, his life at home town and I was listening interestedly . Everything went down hill when he entered into the topic of marriage ( eeerrrrr we just met, hello. ) He's searching for a wife , how he wants his wife to follow him to hometown, how he wants his wife to be the obedient type, how he wants this and that....By that time I had already spaced out. I came back to earth when he asked whether we could meet again on Saturday at Sogo. (A shopping complex in KL) . I hesitated but from what I can remember he asked for my number (I gave him my office number) and he got off at an earlier stop.

Saturday came, I was working at the office. The guy had given me a call early that morning and we were supposed to meet 1 o'clock in the afternoon. 1 o'clock, I was still in the office. I know I was a bad person I should have given him a chance I didn't know why I was freaked out in meeting him . He called a few time to ask where I was and I told him that I had a lot of work at the office. After the third call and it was approaching 2 pm , I didn't have the heart to lie anymore and said I will go and meet him.

Now Sogo on Saturdays especially in the afternoon will be crowded with people . I was looking around when I realised that I forgot how he looked like. There were a lot of men there, there are some with family, some with their girlfriends and some were with their friends. I couldn't see anyone that was seperated from any of the mentioned group. All of them looked at me  when I looked at them. How did he look like ? All I could remember was that he was on the tan side which was ridiculous because all Malaysians are on the tan side! He wasn't that tall and not that short but definetely taller than me
Which all guys there were taller than me!
(Now you know why I'm equally as bad with direction! Oh it's not that far, it's father from your house , but it's nearer to mine, it's basically the same distance from where we are now).
We were suppose to meet at the groud floor food court.

I went to the ground floor and I spied one guy standing near Delifrance looking as if he was waiting for someone. I was feeling mixed should I approach or shouldn't I approach? What the heck, might as well I approached him.

I walked to him and smiled. He smiled back which was a good sign.

"Hi , are you..................." He looked at me with a confused expression.
"No I'm not, " he said then he smiled. Not bad looking than I realised that his eyes were looking past me. I turned and I saw a pretty girl frowning slightly at me and quickly walked to his side. AND behind her was another guy glaring at me .

Ouch, that would definetely be him. I apologised profusely to him and he said that he had plans with his friends and without smiling bid me goodbye. Double ouch! Well I did deserve that I wasn't kind to him by making him wait.

My rule is always remember a guy's face and give him a break and a chance. Karma was a bitch and didn't stop there.

The second date story went much better than the first. I knew this guys to a friend of a friend who gave my picture to him. He gave me a call and we talked on the phone. We promised to meet at Sogo (it's nearer to my office) after to work for tea. I finished work at 6pm.


This time he was specific to where we should meet. I reached there about almost six, I already spotted him when I arrived but he didn't see me. Nervous,  I dived behind a Polo perfume station, panicking. He wasn't bad looking. What if he didn't like what he saw? I quickly called my friend for support , I dived to Ralph Lauren station to make the call. The sales girl ask whether I wanted to try a sample and I just gave  her my hand while busy trying to get my friend on the line. I saw him pacing around... I dived at another station and without being asked gave the salesgirl my hand.

"Go for it girl, " said my friend. It took me another 5 minutes of walk- a- bout before I got the courage to approached him. I did realized that  I had variety of smell and it was quiet strong.

Gosh I had a headache ... hopefully he won't faint from the smell. I slowly went to him and when I saw his smile , everything felt that it would be ok. And it did, we had a wonderful tea and he walked me to the train station.

We became friends and there was a few times that we go out together alas we didn't end up together but until today we became good friends.


I realized that one of the rules in in general for dating is that a lady should act as a lady and not be as chivalry as the men.
In one of our dinner dates , I thought  that since he was so kind to walk me back to the office, I decided to walk him to his monorail station and mind you it was dark at night. He wasn't happy with this but I was a stubborn person  and he didn't want to ruin the night, he finally agreed. Of course he repeatedly asked whether I would be ok ? Was I really sure? It was getting dark? When I realised it was dark  and there wasn't many streetlights on the way to the station , I nearly changed my mind. I had my ego also and I didn't want to tell him that I was getting worried. Steeling myself I stayed to my decision. Even when we reached the ticket booth , he turned to me and said " Maybe I should accompany you half way." I shook my head and waited until he went up the stairs to the monorail, wave him off.

I turned back and hugged my bag. Gosh it was dark. All kinds of images keep appearing in my head on the way back to my office.

I  ran like a tornado  when I saw my office light , just because I a noise at a dark alley.

My friends weren't happy to hear what I did  and boy did I receive an earful from them. Lesson learn so no being chivalry when your with a guy.

I have loads more of story but I'll just stop there. Bye

Are you here yet ?

Aiyo! I have done it again!



I had a dinner date a few days ago with my friends at my previous company. Since it is  the month of Ramadhan , fasting month for the muslims, my friends graciously wanted to break fast with me.

Now we were whatsapping each other during work planning where to eat. After a few suggestions we decided to  eat at Penang Restaurant in Sunway Pyrammid.

Since I finished work earlier than the rest , I went to Sunway Pyramid first to book our dinner reservation. Then it was shopping time! Time was 6.00 o'clock, one and an half hour until the call of prayers and to break fast. I think I got overboard with shopping buying about 3 pairs of shoes.

3 pairs mind you and this is coming from someone who only buys one pair to be used for work, travelling, partying and any other social events.
I can even wear the shoes even when they have holes in them. That's how rag muffin I was!

I don't know how I could have gone on a shoe shopping frenzie , again 3 pairs! Must have been the SALES sign popping out everywhere, hypnotizing us (us in this case would be only yours truelly) to buy the items. Bought a half an inch black shoe (this one is for Eidilfitri) , a flat shoe, colored blue with black emroideries and a sweet lacey flat walking shoes. (I know girly lace....EEEEEK!!!!!)

Holding the shoe bag left and right, I walked to the Penang restaurant and was surprised that my friends had not arrived yet. They had called while I was in the shop and said they had taken a sit.

Hmmmm curious I went to the table that I had booked. The waiters had brough my drink at the table and 4 complementary drinks since I told them that three people will be joining me.

7.25pm, another five minutes to eat. Worried I called one of them. She  said that they were in the restaurant. Surprised, I told her that the table that I booked was outside.

She mention that she couldn't see anyone outside.

I said ,' But I'm sitting right outside Simply Penang!"

"Simply Penang in Sunway?!"

"Yeah!"

"But we're at Nyonya Penang in Subang Parade !" wailed my friend.


Now Sunway Pyramid and Subang Parade are two different malls at different locations. I quickly looked at the whatspp message , we had sent so many messages to each other that I failed to notice that they wanted to go to Subang Parade! Right at that time, the mall gave an announcement that it was time for prayers and time to break fast. Everyone in the restaurant said a little prayer and started eating.

I looked at my food that had arrived and the four complimentary drinks feeling disappointed and of course embarassed.
I quitely told the waiter to take back the extra drinks and slowly ate my food. There was no way I would go to where they were at that time as I was so hungry.

The head waiter looked at me and the empty chairs and raised his eyebrow, I merely shrugged and gave an apologetic smile. Good thing he didn't say anthing else. I guess he understood and just smiled.

I was sad to be honest as I had to eat all by myself, but I was also slightly annoyed with my friends and also myself. Well, I did mention that I wanted to go to Sunway, they should have taken  the hint.......but then again they had wrote clearly in the llooooongg whatsapp correspondence that their going to Subang, so in the end I decided that instead of blaming others .........I should blame the Penang Restaurant!

How are we suppose to know that there are more than one Penang outlet! Who cares if its from a different OWNER! Nyonya Penang should have promoted themself well so that I would know where they are !

After I finished my bowl of rice and the deilicious red bean ice blended AND able to think straight! I started laughing at the hilarity of the situation and of course how ridiculous to blame the restaurant (plus the food was nice, I guess that was the pushing factor in getting me back in a good mood).

I called back my friends and asked them whether they werre up for coffee. THIS time I made sure that I got it crystal clear where we were going to meet :P

Vacation time !

 

 

 

http://www.redangisland.com/

 

 

 

I have finally  commit myself to one of my several annual recycle resolution . Yes, I have finally established one ok two resolution in which the other one is exercise.

I  decided to change company and I finally done that after 5 years. Don't get me wrong, I liked my duty as an education counsellor and I liked my friends, but things change and so must I . So to reward myself , I've decided to go on a holiday, before I start in the new company, and my family (mom, dad, little brother) decided that it was time for our family holiday. So they gave the task of deciding a destination to me. (so they say) But I later  found out that they had already mapped out where they wanted to go. (sheesh should have saved me the trouble of trying to find the cheapest package to Vietnam , India or even China which is impossible within a few days tight dateline and so very close to the school holiday (end of April)

 

It seemed that mom and dad had an idea of a road trip up north. Going all the way to Kelantan and coming down to Pahang. Driving along the east coast.

 

I was fine with it as long as we get out of Seremban.

 

So up we went , heading first to Kelantan.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelantan

We stayed  at the Cahaya Bulan Beach (Moonlight Beach) for two days.

 

 

The beach itself was pretty peaceful in the morning but its a pity that they hadn't finish the fort.

 

 

You can see the rocks in the picture, this is to avoid erosion. Hopefully it will  finish next year and they will have their beautiful beach back.  

 

Oh yeah went jogging early in the morning. Well the rest of my family member were jogging I was slugging behind :)

 

Hmmm there are a few attraction places that I didn't take in my camera. They are :

Siti Khadijah Market - for ladies, you will have a blast , shopping for batik clothes, t-shirt, souvenirs, bargain galores.

Oh Buddha statues, there's  a few if your nearing the Thailand Border.

 

Wat Machimmaran in Tumpat, Kelantan.


If  you want to go to  somewhere  peaceful you can go to the Beach of Seven Coves ( Pantai Tujuh Teluk) . Unfortunately I don't have the picture in my handset.

Sorry ....But it really does have seven coves. I'll see whether I can grab my brother's camera and download it later. Its a pretty cool place to have picnics or stroll around the beach.

What I'm more excited, is the fact that I can strike off form my bucket list one of the places I wanted to go before I die . Which is Pulau Redang!!!! . (The pictures and  info are  all on top ya' all)

I have my dad to thank for this.

I guessed he saw me dragging my feet following mom shopping:) . He said " Why don't we spend two days at Pulau Redang?" Yahoo!!!!!

To go there we have to get out of Kelantan, downwards to a place called Kuala Terengganu.Redang Island is located a few kilmetres from Merang Jeti.
You have to get a boat/feri to Redang Island through two Jettys, first is in Merang  (Jetty Merang) the other one is Jetty Syahbandar (no idea where that is ) .

It took about four hours for us to reach Merang. We arrived late evening. We scouted the price at the Jetty. We were lucky that there was a chalet place that would take us in for one night. But it will cost us RM 200 each for the whole package, snorkeling trip and food. Steep, but  its well worth it! Besides, it was a day before the school holiday begins, they would have marked up the rate by then .

Early the next morning...Pretty excited.
Our boat departed from the Jetty at 9.30 am. It took about close to almost an hour  to reach the island . We missed the first snorkeling trip  but there was another one at 2pm.

 

 

We got two chalet each, mom and me, dad and little brother. (there is a brief cameo of how the chalet looked like in the video I put op)  

 

The chalet wasn't bad, it's  a two storey bedroom, the main bedroom at the bottom with air-cond,washroom, heater, blanket , water (basic essentials) and the top floor is the attic bedroom. Most importantly it was cosy and clean.

 

 

At 2pm, dressed in our t-shirts and track suits, we waddle through  waist length salt water to the awaiting boat . I was slightly disappointed that our snorkeling area wasn't further off from the beach.  But the view was beautiful underneath the water. There were colorful fishes and corals. Rainbow fishes, nemo , Dorey and other type of fishes of different shapes and sizes. I thought I saw a turtle but it turned out to be a coral. We didn't realise that we were getting farther away from the group and the water was getting rough. It was later that dad told me and little brother that they were waving like mad on the boat to call us backand one of the guide even blew his whistle. Didn't they know that we were both short sighted and that our ears were filled with sea water that we practically couldn't hear anything!  Anyway, after our two hours were up we headed back to our part of the beach.

 

Dad jumped into the water first and then rushed back to me and brother , telling that the corals at the beach was was better then our snorkeling area. So we spent another hour or so snorkelling near the beach looking at corals and the fishes there. I was still in the water when both dad and little brother got out of the water to clean up.

 

I only got out when I realise that it was tea time and I was getting really hungry.

Tea was served at the dinner hall, hot tea, rolls , cakes and local pastry.

 

Then all of us went for a walk around the beach until close to dinner time.

 

It was barbeque night,  so we had to to cook our own food. Dad left the barbequing to the two of us. Little bro and I were fanning like mad and keep turning the food to make sure the fish, chicken and cutlets were cook to perfection. I'm proud to say that we didn't burn any of the raw food,not  even the chicken breath!

 

We had a hearty round of barbequed fishes with fried rice and went of for a walk along the beach.

 

 

 

I would have to say that there is nothing  on this earth as beautful as walking along a beach on a clear night. The sky lit up with stars and it felt like we were walking underneath the milkey way. Simply magical, as if we were in a different planet :)

 

We bought milk tea and just sipped and talked on the beach. There was a live band playing at one of the resorts ,  practicaly lullabying us to sleep. Then dad got up and said it was time to bed.

 

There was a funny confusion when we got back to our chalet. The scene happened like this:

Me : mom, i thought i switched on the front light .

mom : maybe someone switched it off for us .

me : whys there a broom infront of the door .

mom : maybe someones helping to clean d patio

Me : and throw away my shoe?

mom: wait wheres all your wet clothes that was hanged outside?

Me: G2? Our room is G3 (both of us looked at each other)

Me: eeeeeeerrrrr mak why is dadtrying to open the door to OUR room?

 

 

Hey, at least it wasn't a car this time around! :P (check family of thief, accidental)

We head to Terengganu city early the next morning....

 

 

 

 I seriously would recommend people to visit the Redang Island. I know I don't have much description on it but if you ever need a place to relax, trust  me you should go......Just don't go during the school break.

 

 

syazlin's mini art gallery two

Back to my drawing. Man, been having the urge to draw for quite sometime, hopefully my inspiration doesn't run dry.

Currently, I'm more keen on drawing with soft pastela which has its pros and cons.

Pros is that its a wonderful medium to get your hands dirty , the texture is so soft and easy to flow and direct compared to oil pastel and brushed.
Cons, is that I have an itchy nose, heck my whole face is itchy, so I end up with black blotches under my eyes and I have blue and red blotches on my nose. Very unappealing if your going out on a date. Worst is that I have a tendency to fall asleep so you could say Bonzo the clown is much more prettier than me when I wake up :)

 

My friend went to Sydney this year and took a photo of this scene . It was really captivating that I had to draw it.  You have this itchy feeling when you want to draw something and no matter how hard the picture is you just won't give up until you finish it. I'm basically an insecure person at times and when I write I just simply give up when I find that its not going anywhere but with drawing , it seems my hands have a life of its own .

 

Your just like looking at the picture and like .....

.

"Should I finish you , nah its hopeless , should I ....shouldn't I " and you end up with "What the heck!" focusing for an hour or two to complete it.

 

The reference of this drawing was a photo I took quite some time ago when I visted my nephews and niece. We went for a roadtrip and passby Wales. Had a nice lunch there and saw this pretty scenery :)

 

I was doodling in the morning. Inspired by what Tom Hiddleston said in Nerd Hq sometimes you have to get early than the rest and look around. (or something like that)

 

Again feeling in a rutt and want to break free. Gosh maybe I'm watching way too many Free Willy.

 

This drawing was inspired by a photo my brother's friend took during their company holiday trip.

 

 

Tadaa that's all  for now.......

Dreamscape

Hi,

Just drawing my dream scapes . Horses and cars .....hmmmmmm......

I was trying to analyse it when my friend said that hey, the first picture is nice, but it shows dark color and kinda spooky. Does it reflect your emotion?

I didn't think about it much but yeah, at that time I was pretty upset with myself as yet again I was stuck in a rutt with AGAIN no idea how to get myself out. I was angrry and frustrated. Funny thing was that when I started the drawing what I had in mind was clear blue skies with a beautiful image of an enormous white colored cloud, sunray vibrating from behind giving a warm color to the background. A girl on a lonley road pushing her bicycle with a colorful bright sunny mountain background. Quite a contrast to a stephen king's image, foggy , isolated road and dead gloomy trees at the side.
Guess I wasn't in a happy place at that time :)

Second picture, now  this I have no idea what I was doing. I wanted to draw clouds and somehow my head was going towards horses. I was rubbing in the soft pastel when , I noticed something....the cloud looked like a horse! A colorful horse, but a horse none the same :) Hence came out with this picture. My inner self is shouting for me to break free and run wild . Now as I'm looking at it , the horse cloud is looking at you probably waiting to see what would be my next step.

Just wish I knew buddy...

 

Soup Chuck it all in

Ola! it's been quite some time since I last wrote or cooked

Now I will teach you a very simple , very quick and very delicious soup. It's healthy you can put veggies, potatoes, fish( if you want) even meat as well just chuck it all in.
There is a secret ingredients which is so convenient so simple ( I know I'm really having a ball with all the so's here but hey .....It taste nice....you don't have to use onion if you don't want to and it takes about 5 minutes. ) Provided you don't put in meat , theeen it will take longer.

Tadaa the secret ingredients - anchovies paste

Sorry if the pictures are not in order but below is the boiling process.

 

Ready to eat with nice cold milk. Had it for brunch. Oooh and I tost in rice noodles for filling .

One tomato, slice , dice it's up to you. Once carrot is enough. The tofu goes well with the soup and you have to add any salt at all. Blackpepper and you can put green chillies if you love spices. I also put in some diced potatoes to give it more flavor.  

 

And walla, good for cold rainy days, brunch or even snacks. No oil if needed sort of you broil the whole thing and as mention you can add any of your ingredients. And it's super duper convenient for lazy people like yours truely.

 

Anyway that's for today.

Ciao

 

 

 

Melor 4

“Are you sure this is the house Fique?” asked Raju looking at the big double storey bungalow house through the iron gate. The two of them were standing in the drizzling rain admiring the architecture design of the building. It looked posh and modern with a large landscaped lawn to boast on. Rafique and Raju had lived in Rembau throughout their lives and they had passed that house countless of times to go into town but this is the first time that they had actually stopped in front of it.

 

Rembau is a small area, with a small town and a few numbers of villages in it. The people were friendly and they lived in a community where everyone knows everyone….Well, the elder villagers though. The younger generations like Rafique and Raju tend to keep to themselves.

 

The two young men had heard of the owner of that house. He was a rich businessman and a well-loved philanthropist. Kind hearted and soft spoken was what the town people said about him and his family.

 

Rafique rang the bell again. The big gates open and a man wearing a gardener hat stepped out. He was wearing a worn out jean and a thorn black I LOVE PD t-shirt. They couldn’t see the face through the big hat.

 

            “Can we see the owner of the house?” asked Rafique. The man nodded and gestured for the two men to go in. The man nodded again and hurriedly walked out the gate.

 

            “That was weird,” mumbled Raju to Rafique as he knocked at the door. There was a loud commotion inside the house. Angry voices could be heard, doors open and closed loudly and they could hear people calling out Malek. The two of them looked at each other. What had happened?

 

Finally, the door opened and a maid stepped out.

 

            “Hi, I’m Farouk’s brother. I have a prescription for Malek, can I see him?” asked Rafique. The maid shook her head.

 

            “Everyone is searching for Malek right now. He is not in the house,” whispered the maid. There was a loud crashing sound coming from inside the house.  The maid looked nervous and hastily closed the door on the two of them.

 

            “What is going on here?” asked Rafique. They walked out the gate. Raju suddenly stopped and grab Rafique’s arm.

            “Ouuww! What?”

            “Wasn’t it raining heavily this morning and it only started to drizzle just a while ago.  What gardener that would come to work when it is still wet?” asked Raju . The two of them looked at each and said the name simultaneously “ MALEK!”

 

            “Where do you think he is going?” asked Rafique looking at his friend.

“My guess is to find Melor. Let’ go back to Sof’s house and quickly!”

 

 

            “Stay calm, stay calm,” I whispered more to myself as I held firmly to Melor’s hand. Farouk was busy talking on the phone. The midwife was called to another house and had to leave.

            Mom wiped the sweat on Melor’s forehead and went to change the basin. Farouk was looked worried. Melor’s condition was getting worst by the hour. He had already called for an ambulance to take her to the hospital in Seremban town. Melor was getting weaker and Farouk could hardly hear the baby’s heart beat.

 

            Melor pulled me closer and whispered weakly to my ear.

            “I have to go back to my home; I can’t go to your hospital. The baby and I won’t be able to make it if we do. Please Sofia, you have to do something!”

 

            I had no idea what I was supposed to do. I couldn’t possibly drag the heavily pregnant Melor outside and what will everyone say if I walked out with Melor in her condition? Should I dare tell them the whole story? Would they possibly believe me?

 

Farouk put down the phone and went to me.

 

            “I have to go for a while; it seems that there is another emergency in town that I have to look into. I will come back as soon as I can. The ambulance will come soon and I’ll try my best to rush back. In the mean time, what you can do is talk to her, keep her warm and calm. Give me a call on my mobile once her contraction comes. I will come back as fast as I can.” Farouk squeezed my shoulder gently, grabbed his bag and rushed out of the house.

 

            Melor mumbled something which I couldn’t hear. She looked so tired and weak.

 

It sure was taking Mom a long time to change a basin of water.

 

Panic, I called for Mom.

            There was no answer……I called again. Probably Mom was at the back of the house hanging clothes on the clothing line.

 

I walked to the bathroom. The door was wide opened. I looked inside and screamed!  There, was Mom lying unconscious on the floor! A hand clasped my mouth and I was dragged away from the bathroom. Another big hand was grabbing my neck in a chokehold. I was roughly pulled into the living room where Melor lay asleep.

 

            “What did you do to her?” a male voice asked me harshly from behind. He had taken his hand away from my mouth.

 

            “Melor’s not well. She’s in labor but something is not right with her.”

            “Liar, you drugged her!” The hand on my neck was getting tighter.  He was squeezing my windpipe.

            “No! We …..Didn’t do anything to her.……She has to go back she is not feeling well in our world!” I shouted. I could hardly breathe, I struggled as hard as I could to get free but my captive seemed like he was made of bricks.

 

I was feeling light headed when I heard shouting’s behind me.

            The next thing I knew, I was on the floor beside Melor and Rafique was wrestling with the man beside us.

Raju came into the living room, saw the two men and pulled Rafique off of the other man.

 

The loud noises had woken Melor. She opened her eyes and looked at us. Her gaze fell on the man still lying on the floor.

 

            “Abang Malek?” she called out weakly.

Malek quickly rushed to Melor who flung her arms around him. Both of them talked and cried at the same time. Malek told her how much he missed her and that he had never forgotten her. He told her how his family did not believe his story and had kept him away.

 

The three of us were looking at each other awkwardly. It felt like we were interrupting a lovers reunion.

 

            “Ahhhhh!” screamed Melor touching her stomach. Her face was writhing with pain.

 

            “Oh my god! “ said Raju. There was blood on Melor’s sarong, on her clothes and also dripping on the floor.

 

            “We have to take her back! “shouted Malek carrying Melor  “Do you know where the portal is?” Melor shook her head. Sweats were forming on her forehead. She was focusing on her breathing to ease the pain.

 

            “The ‘sena’ tree, “said Rafique softly. I was looking at him.

 

            “You had that dream too?” asked Raju looking at the two of us. Weird, how the three of us had the same dream. That had to be where the portal was.

 

            “It’s at the Sena tree in front of the house,” I said. Raju and Rafique just nodded their heads.

 

            All of us rushed out of the house. The sky was still dark and the ground was wet. The Sena tree looked even gloomier then it normally was. Malek and Melor stepped closer to the tree .Malek extended his hand towards the trunk, instead of touching the trunk, it disappeared like in a magic show. I sighed in relief; I didn’t realize that I was holding my breath, praying that we were right.

Melor’s looked so weak and pale. There was no time to loose!

             The two of them looked back at us. Melor clinging feebly to Malek , gave us a weak smile and nodded her head. The two of them disappeared into the portal.

 

We stood there for quite some time, expecting Melor to peak out, automatically feeling better once she entered her world. But no one came out. It was just the three of us facing an old ‘Sena ‘ tree.

 

Rafique went up to the tree and extended his hand. It did not disappear like Malek; his hand touched the tree trunk ….Everything was back to normal.

 

That was that…….We wouldn’t know whether Melor had made it or what child she had given birth too. 

 

            Mom had woken up on her bed with a throbbing headache. She did not remember anything that happened. Farouk had checked her and there was no concussion. We told her that she had fell and hit her head on the bathroom floor.

 

It was funny that nobody remembered Melor, not even Farouk. It was as if, once Malek and Melor went into the portal, an invisible cloak was pulled over the whole town of Rembau and nobody remembered anything of those two. As far as Malek’s family was concerned, their son was still  missing and they were still searching form him.

 

            A week later, Mom bumped into Malek’s mother at the wet market. She was smiling and looked happy. She told Mom that she and her husband had dreamt of their son. In that dream, Malek introduced them to his wife and baby boy. He told them not to worry and that he was well and happy. He told them that they will meet again in time and loves them very much.

 

Things were getting back to normal. The three of us sometimes talk about Melor but most of the time we were too busy discussing on studies, projects and classroom assignments.

            After hearing what Mom said, we were happy that everything had gone well for Melor and Malek. We hardly had any dreams now about Melor and her Bunian world but we did miss her, terribly, even when we only knew her for a short period of time.

 

It was on one windy evening, the three of us wanted to study underneath the old ‘Sena’ tree. Rafique was studying the bark and smiled.

 

            “Hey Raju, Sof, come and look at this.” The both of us stood beside him and saw a small carving at the bark of the tree. It was heart shaped with three of our names engraved on the bark. Written in [1]Jawi were the words THANK YOU signed by Malek, Melor and baby Tajol. …..

 

THE END

 

 

 

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

           

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[1]Arabic alphabet commonly written in Malay in Malaysia.

Melor 3

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------         “DaulatTuanku!” Dozens of voices echoed in unison. I looked around me. I wasn’t in my room anymore. I was in a court hall with half a dozen men sitting alongside of me and half a dozen men sitting across me. All of them were sitting on a podium. They weren’t from this era; they were wearing clothes that the Sultan noblemen wore during the kesultanan Melayu, centuries ago. The noblemen were wearing different designs of head dress to show their status, baju melayu and keris inserted in between the songket at their waist.  All of them were facing the Sultan sitting on the throne.

 

            “Have you found my princess, Laksamana? “asked the Sultan looking at a man kneeling in front of him in the court. The man bowed his head, both hand clasp pointed towards the sultan, he raised it to his forehead in a solemn sign of respect.

 

            “I haven’t Tuanku, but rest assured I have a few of my men scouting the village for her.” Nobody seemed to notice I was there.

 

            Was I dreaming?

 

I stood alongside the Laksamana and still no commotion was made. Everybody looked worried.

 

            “Where has she gone, Permaisuri has not been able to eat nor sleep worrying where she is?” sighed the Sultan.

 

            “Maybe if we have spread word that you have accepted her husband, then she might come out of hiding. Youngsters now are too sensitive, she will return home once her anger subsides,” said an elderly man wearing a white baju melayu with snow white beard sitting on the right side of the Sultan.

 

            “Thank you, Tok Guru, I hope that is the case. I shouldn’t have been in a haste to send her and her strange husband from the istana. Permaisuri has fallen sick since then,” sighed Sultan.

 

 

            “Strange husband? Surely he didn’t mean Melor?” I whispered to myself. Suddenly the Tok Guru looked at my direction. I was still standing beside the kneeling Laksamana. Tok Guru got off the podium and walked slowly towards me. All the noblemen and the sultan were looking at him curiously but nobody said a word. They couldn’t see me.

 

            “Who are you, young lady?” asked Tok Guru. I was stunned. He could see me! The Laksamana had gotten up and was looking at my direction but he couldn’t see anything.

 

            “Who are you, young lady with your strange clothing?” I was wearing my pink teddy bear pajama.

 

            “You can see me?” Tok Guru nodded.

            “You’re not from this world.” I nodded. “Where is Puteri Melor? Is she with you?” 

 

            I couldn’t answer him; I wasn’t sure whether he was talking about our Melor.

 

            “Answer me!” he raised his voice.

 

            “We’re…..we’re searching for someone,” I stuttered. Tok Guru looked at me, studying me….somehow reading me.

 

            “Find Pak Pandir. “

 

 A hand grabbed my shoulder roughly. I screamed at the top of my lungs…

 

 

            “Aaaaarggghhhhh!!!!!!”

 

            “Wake up…..wake up!, “Mom screamed. I was trashing on the bed. Mom was standing above me looking as startled as I was and then when I had calmed down, Mom shook her head.

 

            “It’s almost 8 am, what kind of girl would wake up this late. Hurry up and take your bath!” scolded Mom with Melor peeking over her shoulder.

 

It was a dream….It was just a dream…. Or was it?

 

 

 

            “So you’re a royal princess,” said Rafique for the gazillions time. All of us gathered at Pak Hassan’s nasi lemak stall for breakfast. It was Saturday morning, there were no classes and Mom had to go to Kuala Lumpur to visit a sick aunt. We sat there trying to figure out how to find Malek while indulging ourselves to the sweet spicy coconut rice, wrapped in banana leaves and drinking steaming hot teh tarik.

 

I told them about the dream that I had the night before. Rafique was so excited that he was meeting a real life princess.

 

            “Yes.”

 

            “Why didn’t you tell us?” asked Raju.

            “I didn’t feel it was time to tell you. Father didn’t approve of my marriage and I didn’t want to be separated from Malek.”

            “That’s why you left the Istana.”  I said. Raju was eating his rice quietly.

            “Aloooo Raju, what’s on your mind?” asked Rafique .

            “What I don’t understand is why did Sofia dream about the Istana?”

Melor shook her head.

            “It wasn’t a dream, it happens to most humans that wander into our world. It’s a temporary side effect, where the soul is connected to my world either subconsciously or unconsciously. We have humans that can find their way into our world after their first contact but it only last a few days or, most is a week. In Sofia’s case it was unconsciously. When you sleep your soul will leave your body and wander the earth. Her soul was pulled into the other world, my world. Since she has been in contact with me longer than you and Rafique, her soul must have been pulled to my place of origin which is the palace.”

 

            “What about the old man’s message about Pak Pandir?” I asked. Melor perked up.

 

            “He asked to see Pak Pandir? That’s good, we go now?”

 

            “Pak Pandir exists?” asked Rafique intrigued. Melor nodded her head.

 

Pak Pandir was a famous folktale character. I used to listen to my grandmother when I was small telling the story about Pak Pandir and the Giants. Fool and idiotic as he was, his character was loved by many. It had always been a fable but now Melor was claiming that he actually exist…..

 

            “What are we waiting for, let’s go,” said Rafique getting all geared up. The four of us left the nasi lemak stall and followed Melor . We headed back to our village, [1]Tanjung Kling.

 

I have to admit, for someone who was pregnant, Melor had great stamina. We walked past the corn fields, passed my house and clambered up the railway track. Melor stopped and looked left and right.

 

There was a train coming towards us from a distance.  Melor was still looking around.

 

            “Hold hands,” said Melor and walked on the track. I held Melor’s hand; Rafique grabbed mine and Raju’s hand.

 

            “What are you doing? There’s a train coming!”Screamed Raju .

 

            “Don’t let go!” cried Melor and walked towards the direction of the incoming train. All that I could remember, was, we kept walking forward, there were flashing bright lights, a horn bellowing and just more bright lights.

 

 

            “I’m dead! I’m dead!” cried Rafique.

            “Woi! You’re sitting on me! Mak Andih! Help me!” cried a voice.

My vision was coming back to me. We were in a kitchen, an old fashion kitchen, where firewood was used for cooking and the stove was made of rocks. Rafique was definitely sitting on a short, old man, wearing a songkok and a weathered baju melayu. He was flaying his hand and shouting for his wife. Raju and I quickly pulled Rafique off of him. I helped him to get up but he was muttering and calling out for his wife, Mak Andih.

 

            “Mak Andih is not here Pak Pandir,” said Melor. When he saw Melor, he stopped screaming for Mak Andih and smiled.

 

            “Ah yes, she is in town.”

 

            “Then why are you calling for her?” asked Raju.

 

            “She might hear me.”

 The three of us looked at each other and shrugged. It was THE Pak Pandir; gullible, clumsy, naïve and lovable at the same time. He was holding on to a bunch of unripe bananas and there were a few bananas colored black.

 

            [2]“What are you doing Pak Pandir?” asked Melor. Pak Pandir was rubbing the bananas with ashes underneath the stove.

            “I’m grilling the bananas, Mak Andih is not around and I’m hungry,” said the little man. Rafique wanted to say something but was stopped by Melor.

            “Even though Pak Pandir is in a different realm, any changes now will change the stories that everyone knows so well,” hissed Melor. Pak Pandir held out one ash-colored banana to Rafique.

 

            “Do you want one?” Rafique vigorously shook his head. Pak Pandir shrugged and popped one small banana into his mouth. I felt like I wanted throw up. Pak Pandir munched slowly trying to figure out the flavor.

 

            “Hmmmm…..Funny. It doesn’t taste how Mak Andih used to cook it.” He took another banana and start rubbing underneath the man-made stove.

 

            “What can I do for you, Puteri Melor?” All of us were fixated at Pak Pandir’s actions.

 

            “I was wondering whether you have seen my husband.” 

 

            “Ahhhh, the wanderer. Yes…….Yes,” said Pak Pandir gobbling up another banana. All of us moved closer to him. Had Pak Pandir really seen Malek?

 

            “Where have you seen him?” asked Melor impatiently. Pak Pandir didn’t answer immediately, he kept eating.

 

            “Oh my, my stomach hurts really bad, “moaned Pak Pandir. He wanted to rush out of the house but Raju stopped him. If the fable was correct if we let him out we will never see him again. Pak Pandir was restless and his face was getting red.

 

            “Please, let me out.”

            “Where did you see my husband?!” asked Melor sternly.

 

[3]           “I wandered out of the human world, I was going to bury my child you see, and on the way back I saw this doll. Then I heard shouting’s, I was scared and I hid in the bushes. I saw this man being dragged away by three big men, shouting and screaming. I wouldn’t have known who he was, if he had not screamed your name Puteri. He said that you are giving birth soon and he has to get back to you.  I would have thought it was some crazy person.”

            “Do you know where they took him?” I asked. Pak Pandir shook his head, he was holding his stomach, and stamping his feet impatiently like a little child. Without warning he ran to the window and jumped out. All of us couldn’t do anything.

He was pretty agile for an old man.

            “Should we chase after him?” asked Raju. Melor shook her head.

            “How is it possible that Pak Pandir is in the Bunian realm, he’s just a myth, a folktale?“ asked Rafique .

            “But any tale has to begin from somewhere and it has to be told from someone at the very beginning. Pak Pandir and Mak Andih love children and what they love most is telling stories, so they will tell their stories either through dreams or to little children.”

 

We left the realm and got back to our world. We didn’t get out at the railway track. We landed at a small muddy stream across the cornfield not far from my house. It was dark and none of us had brought torchlight with us. It seemed that time had moved fast in our world while we were in Pak Pandir’s house. We asked Melor why time didn’t move this fast when she first brought us into the Bunian world the other night. But Melor smiled and said that none of us noticed that we were moving far faster than normal when she took them to her old hut in the forest. Her people can manipulate time if they want but they find it too tasking and it drained their energy. They would rather live a simple life without any speed and any care in the world. She pointed out that; Bunian time and Human time are polar opposite. A day in her slow peaceful world would mean a month in our world. Raju was walking in front of us making sure there was no danger in the dark. He stopped suddenly.  Rafique nearly collided into him.

 

            “What’s wrong Raju? Is there any snake?” asked Rafique looking at the dark bushes fearfully.

 

            “How long did you know Malek?” asked Raju looking at Melor.

 

            “About a year, in my world.”

 

            “So we are trying to find a man that has been missing for 10 years now. Didn’t Pak Pandir say he was roaming into the human world? Do you think they might have gone through this way?” We were all looking at Melor. Was I imagining things or her stomach was growing bigger within a day?

 

 

            “It’s possible, the portal normally shifts within the area.”  We were looking around us. We know this stream; it runs down the hills behind us, passed through Tanjung Kling and bends around Rafique’s house. So that narrows our search to a few places, my village, Rafique’s house, the police station, the hospital or the grave yard. Melor told us that Malik had disappeared a week ago. Seven month in our world, anything could happen within seven month. Judging from the size of Melor’s stomach, which was growing every minute, we didn’t have much time!

 

            I dreamt again that night. It wasn’t the same dream that I had the night before. This time I saw a big Sena tree, not like the one that Melor had taken us into. This was big, ancient, but strong. I walked to it and it loomed above me. The leaves were big, shading and protecting anything underneath it. There was a gentle stream that passed by one of its gigantic roots, nourishing it. Behind the tree lay fresh paddy fields, stretching across the horizon. I saw children running around the tree, laughing loudly. Little girls in baju kurung, while the boys wore baju melayu with pelikat clothe slinging on one side of their shoulder. I had seen this tree before except that it didn’t look as majestically as in my dream. The bark was drier and it was rapidly peeling off the tree. There were lesser leaves now ….And the tree lay in front of my house…….

 

            I knew that something wasn’t right the minute my eyes open the next morning. First, I woke up with a terrible headache. I could hardly turn my head. When the pain subsided, I noticed that it was raining outside. Second, Melor wasn’t up yet and it was 7 am. That was weird since she was normally the first one to wake up in the house for the morning prayers. Melor was lying on her side and she wasn’t moving when I called her name. I shook her shoulder and noticed how warm she was. I gently turned her to lie on her back. Her clothes were drench with sweat. Her face was deathly pale. I touched her forehead and it was burning hot. I quickly rushed to find Mom. Together we changed her into drier clothes and put a wet clothe on her forehead to reduce her temperature. Melor kept calling Malek’s name.

 

Mom rang the village midwife to the house.

            The midwife was an old lady in her 70’s who like to chew on tobacco. She sat beside Melor and checked her pulse. She asked Mom to get a basin of water.

 

            “Is she going into labor?” I asked.

            “It seems like it but she seems so weak and the baby is not as active as it’s supposed to be, “said the worried midwife. “I think we need Farouk here as well.”

 

Farouk was Rafique’s brother and he was also the Rembau town’s doctor.

 

            “Yes, give him a call Sofia. Poor man, no minute of peace. He stayed up all night because that strange man has been acting up again. Yesterday he tried to escape and wrestled one of his relatives. They managed to sedate him but he was shouting and screaming like a wild animal. Farouk had to make sure he was stabilized.”

 

I was dialing Rafique’s number when I heard all of this.

 

            “What man?” I asked the midwife. The midwife told me that there was a man in town that had disappeared almost ten years ago without a trace. His parents and sibling had searched for him everywhere in Malaysia, and even the neighboring countries. They couldn’t understand how he could vanish into thin air. They didn’t believe that he had run away. Malek was a responsible man and work hard to care for his family.

 

            Huh, so it was his name.

 

The last time they saw him, he was heading to one of the lakes in Rembau with a fishing rod in hand. They had never seen him again. Seven month ago, he reappeared but he was rambling about his wife and a beautiful place where everyone was nice and friendly. He rambled that he was in an istana and the sultan wasn’t in favor of his marriage. People had seen him wandering around town and villages looking through trees and bushes searching for a door. His family thought that he had gone mad. They summoned a ‘bomoh’. The bomoh told them that he had disappeared into the Bunian world and had lived among the people. Fearful, that they might lose their son again and not believing in the Bunian stories, his parents had him locked up in the house. It was only a few days ago that the man had been having dreams and started acting violently to get out of the house. Farouk was called in to restrain him. The family was thinking of moving him to Kuala Lumpur to get medical help.

 

            “Oh no we can’t let that happen,” I whispered softly. I quickly called Rafique’s house. Thankfully, he was the one that picked up the phone. I explained about Sofia’s condition. I tried as briefly and quietly as I could, to tell him the story of the man in town. It was definitely the Malek, we were searching! I put down the phone and waited.

             It was in the hands of Raju and Rafique to bring Malek back to Melor.

 

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[1] Now most people would have thought there’s one Tanjing Kling in Malacca but there is another village known as Tanjung Kling which not many people know it exist which is in Rembau. It is in the shape of a cove , in the olden days it was surrounded by padi field but now since the padi fields has dried up, farmers plant corns. There is a railway track passing by the village hence where it got its name due to the sound of kling king when the railway first started. There are a lot of sena trees and also small muddy streams there.

 

[2] There is one story of Pak Pandir, he loves to eat ripe bananas.  MakAndih grilled the unripe bananas and Pak Pandi found that he liked it even more. One day ,MakAndih was away, Pak Pandir took some unripe bananas wanting grill them. He didn’t know how to cook them and saw the ashes in the stove and thought that was how it was cooked . It tasted differently  but since Pak Pandir was dim witted he finished the whole bunch. He had a stomach after eating the bananas and rushed out off the house to do his business. He stumbled and fell on a jar of sticky fluid. Pak  Pandir tried to get up but couldn’t as MakAndih used the sticky fluid to trap birds that eat their crops. Later Pak Pandir was covered with birds and unluckily for him, the birds flew away, bringing him with them. (story was taken from a blog : scarlettj1.blogspot.com/2010/06/last-story-of-pak-panir.html)

[3] Another famous story  Pak Pandir is Pak Pandir and the giants, where he accidently killed his son in boiling water. He wanted to give the boy a warm bath and thought that he was happy playing in water until Pa Pandir  realize the boy was dead. Mak Andih had asked him to bury the boy. He wrapped the boy with a mat and the body had slipped out. Pak Pandir buried an empty mat and on the way back saw the body thinking it was a doll.