About Me

My photo
I am married to my loving husband for more than 40 years now. I am a mother to 3 beautiful children, until years ago when I lost my youngest son. Since then my life is forever altered but yet unbroken....

Thursday 28 June 2007

The demise of a big man…

"Live everyday as if it is your last. For one day you're sure to be right..."


It was 5 o’clock in the morning. I was deep in my sleep when I was awakened by the sound of the sms.

“Puan, Dato’ Megat meninggal dunia lebih kurang pukul 2 pagi tadi di Ipoh…”
“Innalillah…”

'
When I reached office, I e-mailed the news to all who knows him. I think most of my staff had dealt with him when he was the Royal Mint Director. The Jabatan Korporat had also received the news early and had arranged for a transport to Ipoh. I represented the department and Linda came along to accompany me. The rest went with own transport and met at Dato’s house in Ipoh. We met Puteri and Datin and conveyed regards and condolences from those who could not come.

I met Dato’ Megat Mohd Abd Wahab 4 years ago when I first join the department. My former boss warned me that I am going to deal a lot with one big man. And true enough, he was biggggg, literally. Throughout my dealings with him, I have learned a lot from him. And he was generous to impart with his knowledge. Dato’ Megat was a charming man. Not only was he big in size, but he was also big at heart…

Al-fatihah…

Saturday 23 June 2007

A goodbye for now...

"You should always leave loved ones with loving words, it may be that last time you see them..."

'
Through the laughter
Through the tears
Through the months
And through the years
'
Through all we've seen
And all that's been
Through the old
And all that's new
'
I'm grateful
That I have you
'
p.s. Thank you for the lovely card, yang. I'm going to miss you too...

Friday 22 June 2007

Last destination...

"What is terrible is not death but the lives people live or don't live up until their death..."

This morning I was busy clearing e-mails when sara called:

“Mak… Im’s mother passed away this morning. She’s on the way to KB…”
“Innalillah…”


When I was young and innocent, I see life as a simple straight road, with a destination at the end. Now I am older and wiser, I no longer see life that way. As we continue life journey, the road at times becomes narrow, twisting and winding and at cross-roads a series of decisions we either make or fail to make lead us to our next destination. The journey could still be long for some of us. For some, it will just stop here.

(It's the end of the road)

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away"

Thursday 21 June 2007

Johor - Separate destinations…

“More lands to travel to, more places and people to see…”
'

This weekend, Sara, her Abah and I will be flying off to 3 different destinations.

The last few days I was busy preparing for my trip to JB. The branch is having their family day and annual dinner and I am honored to be invited. On Monday, there will be a full day road show on Financial Planning organized by Financial Planning Association of Malaysia in collaboration with our organisation.

Sara is off for a week holiday in Kota Kinabalu with some friends. I heard that they are going to climb Mount Kinabalu with a group of Uni students from Sabah. Looking at the amount of things that she packed for her journey, I think she needs a Sherpa to help her carry her things up the mountain…

Her Abah was busy packing too. Earlier tonight, we bought provisions for his trip to Dhaka. This time around, he will be there for almost 3 weeks and he is bringing with him packs of Nescafe, sambal daging and sambal ikan bilis.

I know that I am going to miss him. To ease the sadness in our hearts, tonight before we sleep, we made plans for our weekend rendezvous in early July…

Monday 18 June 2007

Pahang - 4x4 to Banjaran Titiwangsa...

“If you are not living on the edge you are taking up too much room...” Howard Jayne 

(Banjaran Titiwangsa in the background)

The last few weeks, our work schedules were so hectic; we barely have time to even breathe! Hubby's work team was frantic with procurement proposals and mine with contracts and terminations. Our precious time together was limited to hi and goodbyes. We are contented with holding each other close at night and let sleep revived our tired minds.

Yesterday we decided to go for a self-drive adventure crossing the Banjaran Titiwangsa. And we crossed the Main Range twice in a day!

The two of us started from KL in our 4WD around 9.30 a.m. We drove up north and made a few necessity stops at the R&R. Traffic was minimal. It was raining heavily when we exited at Kuala Kangsar interchange.

(Lush greenery of the mountain)

The journey to Grik was smooth and we stopped for lunch at one of the small R&R before we entered the East West Hi-way through forested mountains and deep valleys. We crossed the Temenggor Dam which is now the third largest dam in Peninsula Malaysia. It was once the largest dam and largest hydroelectric generation facility upon its completion in 1979, before being overtaken by the Kenyir Dam.

(The man-made Tasik Banding)

We stopped at Banding to check the facilities. Banding is a man-made island located on the Temenggor Lake. Sitting amidst the aura of the Belum Valley forests, the activities here include fishing, jungle trekking, bird watching, camping, visits to orang asli villages and raffelssia sightings.

(A resort on the Banding island)

If you need to stay the night, there are reasonably cheap chalets overlooking the lake. Or you may want to try the modest floating chalets instead. We thought of renting a boat for island tour but all boats were taken by a group of students on a science expedition trip.

(Chalets with basic amenities on the lake)

We continued our journey to Jeli and on the way passed the Pergau Dam and had a glimpse of the claimed tallest waterfall in South-East Asia, the impressive 300 m Gunung Stong waterfalls. For the adventurous type, the Jelawang jungle offers many treks and there are 4 caves (Gua Ikan, Gua Kris, Gua Pagar, Gua Gelap) to explore. There is also a Hill Resort located at the foot of the Gunung Stong waterfall.

(Overturning a fishing boat)

We decided to take a short cut route from Dabong to Gua Musang and ended up tailgating trailers loaded with lumbers. When we reached Gua Musang it was almost dark.

(Entering Gua Musang area)

After fueling we decided to try the Gua Musang – Cameron Highland highway cutting across the Titiwangsa range again through 3 states, Kelantan, Pahang and Perak. We exited at Simpang Pulai interchange and stopped at Tapah R&R for a late dinner.

After 15 hours of driving across 4 states, we reached our apartment way after midnight.