Last Weekend in Civilisation.....
Friday, 7 July 2006
Another busy day at IJN, also supposed to be my last day there….stressful it was, trying to tie up loose ends, and to prepare for the handover of my part to my colleague….
It was also a the day we had a farewell for another colleague who is leaving for greener pastures (we think anyway) at one utama. It was fun, we made her stand on the stool to give her farewell speech, but being so typically shy, we ended up singing her a farewell song instead…..it would also be the last time I would be seeing another ex-colleague who is leaving for UK….by the time I come back from Bangladesh, they would have left…..
Going for so many farewells recently, I do wish them well….its a little sad though, there’s a feeling of being left behind, seeing the changing of the guard too as well, as most of the people who joined around the same time have more or less left….there’s just 4 of us left now from the 1st half of 2003 now if I’m not mistaken….we’ll see who’ll be the last one standing, though I don’t think that’s an honour I would necessarily want…..
There was also a classmate’s bday at Salsa Havana (SH) to go for that night, and while I was exhausted that day due to the stress encountered in IJN and having gone for the farewell dinner…..well,it was his bday, and I wouldn’t have wanted to miss out on that….As it was, it turned out to be quite fun, as following typical SH tradition, he had girls lining up for a dance with him…. It was also the bday of 2 girls, and the guys were the ones to sort of line up for a dance…it was amazing how they could take turns dancing with the bday girls so seamlessly, they all somehow knew how to step in and for the other guy to release her…. I wonder how long before I get to do all that…. Haha, well, with my bday being in February, barring any more trips outstation or overseas, am sure I’ll learn how to do the same….
Saturday, 8 July 2006
How good a friend must you be to be able to be a Heng Tai? I asked myself this as I attended the tea ceremony of a friend today…. There must have been at least 15 of us, driving our cars to the bride’s place, horning the whole neighbourhood down….. I do hope her neighbours were aware of her, because I’d be very annoyed to be woken up by so much horning at 9am on a Saturday morning. Apparently the girls were very kind to the Heng Tais, because all we had to do was to dance in our suits in the morning sun, drink unknown substances from 10 cups ( which I found out later to include among others soya sauce, vinegar, a block of butter, dodol topped with wasabi and a spoonful of wasaibi) put on women’s bras and singing Chinese songs on the way to the bride’s room.
It was amazing how the guys would just come up and perform these tasks for the groom….Thankfully I only had to dance along with the rest in my suit in order to get us into the house….. not to mention how expensive the tolls these days to get into the house…. I cant say I like anyone enough to want to take a spoonful of wasabi for, if you want your bride badly enough, you’d better be the one to take that wasabi……
The tea ceremony was quite uneventful…..for me anyway, but still, it was a very interesting morning, being my first time attending such a ceremony…. Not a surprise as he is the first among my Chinese friends to get married…. While I suddenly thought maybe I should finally get a move-on, as everyone else seems to be taking several steps forward, I still have yet to even take that first step in getting someone to tolerate me for the rest of her natural life….hehe, now that isn’t going to be easy, no wonder the girls have been avoiding me :)
The evening reception was even more fun….held in Senja restaurant in Saujana Hotel, it was very nice indeed…. The groom and bride even performed for us before dinner, doing the Cha Cha, much to the delight to the invited guests….however, they were too shy to repeat their performance when asked for an encore….the food was not too bad, the speeches made by the Best Man and Brides Maid were humorous, and gave us a small insight to the couple, who had been together for 9 years now…. We were supposed to raise a toast, instead we ended up “Yam Sing’ing them, as they moved from table to table…. And the amount of pictures that were taken, I don’t think my group of friends have taken so many pictures together before…. It seems as if we need people to get married in order for us to meet and catch up….
A very tiring day, I left the hotel at close to 1am I think…. hehe, bets are now being taken on which falcon is to get married next….
Sunday, 9 July 2006
I woke up feeling quite depressed today….. knowing its your last weekend for nearly 2 months, I would think its enough to make anyone depressed….of course, oversleeping and missing out on the Germany-Portugal game didn’t help, neither did the prospect of working for most of the day….. I had to skip badminton, meaning I wasn’t going to have another game for nearly 2 months…..
I had gone for my 1st intermediate class, and it was really tough…. A really tough workout doing our shines left me weak in the knees, bewildered, not to mention sweating and out of breath….. this should only be happening when I’m on the futsal pitch!!! my only consolation was that my fellow intermediate classmates who had been attending these classes for months…. Its just too bad that I have to go back to the improver level when I get back in 2 months time…. It was fun nevertheless, and my new classmates were really friendly and helpful. At times, the girls were leading me, as to where my arms were supposed to go, to avoid us getting into a tangle…. On second thought, maybe it wasn’t an accident then to see the guys make those mistakes….
Monday, 10 July 2006
I’m feeling tired…. I guess 3 hours of sleep would do that to you….I had stayed up to pack, and of course, to watch the World Cup final…..the last World Cup game, and I now have to wait for another 4 years for the next World Cup….. it was sad to see Zidane end his playing career in such a manner, however, he was a legend, and his contribution to the game will never be forgotten….
It’s a good thing mum didn’t know the extent of my packing, as packing stretched on till an hour before I was due to leave for the airport….that would have stressed her out no doubt…. Oh well, I’m quite sure I packed everything I’d need, as I had drawn up quite a comprehensive list of items to be brought since I seem to be sent for outstation engagements so often these days….
The flight was uneventful, for the first time, I managed to actually get some sleep…. here was a kid in front of me, but it wasn’t the kid that annoyed me, rather the idiot who was sitting across the aisle, who kept on trying to attract the kid’s attention….with all the funny noises and faces the fella made, no wonder the lil kid burst into tears from time to time…..
It was the same ol Dhaka I arrived to, dusty, noisy and crowded….the immigration was as slow as I remembered it to be….how long can it possibly take to process a red book and a piece of paper called the disembarkation card….. trust the immigration fella handling my entry into the country to keep the rest of my team waiting…. Being so grumpy at 1.30am local time (3.30am M’sian time).
It didn’t take long to get used to the crazy way the local people drive….at full speed, horns blaring and zig-zagging in between cars, with the brakes being jammed periodically….near misses are common in this country, and the sounds of horns is just part of the background….the idea of a queuing is foreign in this country, and a free-for-all mentality is prevalent, which are not just limited to the roads of Bangladesh….. all I could do was close my eyes, and I was very grateful when I finally arrived at the hotel….
7 weeks in this country, I may as well make the most of it I guess…..
Another busy day at IJN, also supposed to be my last day there….stressful it was, trying to tie up loose ends, and to prepare for the handover of my part to my colleague….
It was also a the day we had a farewell for another colleague who is leaving for greener pastures (we think anyway) at one utama. It was fun, we made her stand on the stool to give her farewell speech, but being so typically shy, we ended up singing her a farewell song instead…..it would also be the last time I would be seeing another ex-colleague who is leaving for UK….by the time I come back from Bangladesh, they would have left…..
Going for so many farewells recently, I do wish them well….its a little sad though, there’s a feeling of being left behind, seeing the changing of the guard too as well, as most of the people who joined around the same time have more or less left….there’s just 4 of us left now from the 1st half of 2003 now if I’m not mistaken….we’ll see who’ll be the last one standing, though I don’t think that’s an honour I would necessarily want…..
There was also a classmate’s bday at Salsa Havana (SH) to go for that night, and while I was exhausted that day due to the stress encountered in IJN and having gone for the farewell dinner…..well,it was his bday, and I wouldn’t have wanted to miss out on that….As it was, it turned out to be quite fun, as following typical SH tradition, he had girls lining up for a dance with him…. It was also the bday of 2 girls, and the guys were the ones to sort of line up for a dance…it was amazing how they could take turns dancing with the bday girls so seamlessly, they all somehow knew how to step in and for the other guy to release her…. I wonder how long before I get to do all that…. Haha, well, with my bday being in February, barring any more trips outstation or overseas, am sure I’ll learn how to do the same….
Saturday, 8 July 2006
How good a friend must you be to be able to be a Heng Tai? I asked myself this as I attended the tea ceremony of a friend today…. There must have been at least 15 of us, driving our cars to the bride’s place, horning the whole neighbourhood down….. I do hope her neighbours were aware of her, because I’d be very annoyed to be woken up by so much horning at 9am on a Saturday morning. Apparently the girls were very kind to the Heng Tais, because all we had to do was to dance in our suits in the morning sun, drink unknown substances from 10 cups ( which I found out later to include among others soya sauce, vinegar, a block of butter, dodol topped with wasabi and a spoonful of wasaibi) put on women’s bras and singing Chinese songs on the way to the bride’s room.
It was amazing how the guys would just come up and perform these tasks for the groom….Thankfully I only had to dance along with the rest in my suit in order to get us into the house….. not to mention how expensive the tolls these days to get into the house…. I cant say I like anyone enough to want to take a spoonful of wasabi for, if you want your bride badly enough, you’d better be the one to take that wasabi……
The tea ceremony was quite uneventful…..for me anyway, but still, it was a very interesting morning, being my first time attending such a ceremony…. Not a surprise as he is the first among my Chinese friends to get married…. While I suddenly thought maybe I should finally get a move-on, as everyone else seems to be taking several steps forward, I still have yet to even take that first step in getting someone to tolerate me for the rest of her natural life….hehe, now that isn’t going to be easy, no wonder the girls have been avoiding me :)
The evening reception was even more fun….held in Senja restaurant in Saujana Hotel, it was very nice indeed…. The groom and bride even performed for us before dinner, doing the Cha Cha, much to the delight to the invited guests….however, they were too shy to repeat their performance when asked for an encore….the food was not too bad, the speeches made by the Best Man and Brides Maid were humorous, and gave us a small insight to the couple, who had been together for 9 years now…. We were supposed to raise a toast, instead we ended up “Yam Sing’ing them, as they moved from table to table…. And the amount of pictures that were taken, I don’t think my group of friends have taken so many pictures together before…. It seems as if we need people to get married in order for us to meet and catch up….
A very tiring day, I left the hotel at close to 1am I think…. hehe, bets are now being taken on which falcon is to get married next….
Sunday, 9 July 2006
I woke up feeling quite depressed today….. knowing its your last weekend for nearly 2 months, I would think its enough to make anyone depressed….of course, oversleeping and missing out on the Germany-Portugal game didn’t help, neither did the prospect of working for most of the day….. I had to skip badminton, meaning I wasn’t going to have another game for nearly 2 months…..
I had gone for my 1st intermediate class, and it was really tough…. A really tough workout doing our shines left me weak in the knees, bewildered, not to mention sweating and out of breath….. this should only be happening when I’m on the futsal pitch!!! my only consolation was that my fellow intermediate classmates who had been attending these classes for months…. Its just too bad that I have to go back to the improver level when I get back in 2 months time…. It was fun nevertheless, and my new classmates were really friendly and helpful. At times, the girls were leading me, as to where my arms were supposed to go, to avoid us getting into a tangle…. On second thought, maybe it wasn’t an accident then to see the guys make those mistakes….
Monday, 10 July 2006
I’m feeling tired…. I guess 3 hours of sleep would do that to you….I had stayed up to pack, and of course, to watch the World Cup final…..the last World Cup game, and I now have to wait for another 4 years for the next World Cup….. it was sad to see Zidane end his playing career in such a manner, however, he was a legend, and his contribution to the game will never be forgotten….
It’s a good thing mum didn’t know the extent of my packing, as packing stretched on till an hour before I was due to leave for the airport….that would have stressed her out no doubt…. Oh well, I’m quite sure I packed everything I’d need, as I had drawn up quite a comprehensive list of items to be brought since I seem to be sent for outstation engagements so often these days….
The flight was uneventful, for the first time, I managed to actually get some sleep…. here was a kid in front of me, but it wasn’t the kid that annoyed me, rather the idiot who was sitting across the aisle, who kept on trying to attract the kid’s attention….with all the funny noises and faces the fella made, no wonder the lil kid burst into tears from time to time…..
It was the same ol Dhaka I arrived to, dusty, noisy and crowded….the immigration was as slow as I remembered it to be….how long can it possibly take to process a red book and a piece of paper called the disembarkation card….. trust the immigration fella handling my entry into the country to keep the rest of my team waiting…. Being so grumpy at 1.30am local time (3.30am M’sian time).
It didn’t take long to get used to the crazy way the local people drive….at full speed, horns blaring and zig-zagging in between cars, with the brakes being jammed periodically….near misses are common in this country, and the sounds of horns is just part of the background….the idea of a queuing is foreign in this country, and a free-for-all mentality is prevalent, which are not just limited to the roads of Bangladesh….. all I could do was close my eyes, and I was very grateful when I finally arrived at the hotel….
7 weeks in this country, I may as well make the most of it I guess…..
posted by zufar | 4:13 AM
2 Comments:
hi there..
2 comments:
1. you are supposed to put latest entries first :)
2. lighten up! ur going to give yourself a stomachache from brooding too much
haha,i realised that PW even b4 i got this comment, and have arranged it accordingly :)
hahaha,as for stomach aches, i worry about getting from food poisoning now rather than brooding :p
and its as bad as how i thought it would be
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