Manusia dalam perjalanan...

'"Luck is when preparation meets opportunity..."

Hari ini: Menunggu, Menanti, Mengharap.

Kelmarin: Pun menunggu, Menanti, Mengharap.

Esok: Akan menunggu, Menanti, Mengharap.

Bila-bila pun: Menunggu,Menanti,Mengharap.

Hinggalah Ridwan mengucap Salam…

(Mamat M. T.)

31-10-1981

Pahang - Unwind and relax...

“It’s an experience we shall always remember or an experience which, alas, we shall never forget...” - Julius Gordon

Last night before we went to sleep, we talked about the earlier mishap and thanked God that it was only a minor one. We talked about what ifs, and ended up holding each other close while we slept, valuing the precious borrowed time we had together.

The next day, to calm nervous minds, we decided to drive to nowhere in particular. We headed towards Segamat and stopped at the foot of Gunung Ledang, the legendary mountain where the Sagil waterfall located at the base is a local favorite picnic area.

From Segamat we headed to Kuantan where we stopped for lunch. We drove on to Cherating Beach, where we checked in the Legend Resort and spent the evening walking along the beach and watching the beautiful sunset.

Although we booked in for two nights, the next morning, we decided to go to Taman Negara. To access the park, we can either take a three-hour boat ride to Kuala Tahan, or go by land.

We decided to go to the park driving through a long winding road. The drive was exciting, the scenery lush green.

Along the journey, we recollected the experiences of our travels, local and abroad while listening to a compilation of songs of the 70’s and 80’s, which without fail brought nostalgic sweet memories.

To many visitors, Taman Negara is a favorite adventurous getaway where they can explore lowland forests or mountains along the marked trails.

As for us, we just want to spend our time together relaxing, while watching the motor boats carrying passengers across the Sungai Tembeling.

Visitors don’t often get to see wildlife unless they are very lucky. And we thought we were when a few naughty monkeys hurled green unripe mangoes at us when we passed under the mango tree.

Later, a huge wild boar passed us and disturbed our tranquil rest while we were drinking fruit punch and eating apple pie at the restaurant terrace…

I'm happy for the time we spent together. It would be more exciting if the kids were with us...

Near miss, close shave...

"There's nothing sadder than getting to the end of your life and saying: I didn't do it right..."

It was the second day of Hari Raya and we were on our way to Melaka.

All my siblings were already at my parents’ house. Tonight there will be a majlis bertunang for one of my nephews. Our kids didn’t follow us as they have to start work right after the Raya holidays.

It was still drizzling when we started our journey late that afternoon. Earlier it was raining quite heavily. The road was wet and slippery, but the traffic flow was surprisingly smooth. Hubby drove carefully and slowed down when we approached the sharp corner of the Sungai Besi flyover bridge. We were engrossed in our conversation, when it happened.

In one split second our car skidded and slithered from the center of the road and hit the barrister. Hubby reacted quickly, managed to straightened the car but the road was too slippery and the car hit the barrister the second time. We were lucky that the cars in front and behind were a distance away and avoided smashing right into our uncontrolled car.

During that few seconds, hubby's biggest concern was to get the car off the barrister and avoid the car from flying over the bridge. My biggest concern was how my beloved kids will take to the news of losing both their parents at the same time. In that few seconds, my entire life reeled in my mind in slow motion. In my life, the last fifty years were littered with near misses and close shaves. And I was thinking that all it takes is this one particular moment.

I was not injured and neither was he. But we were shocked to the bone….

Timeless Moments...

"The bitterest truth is better than the sweetest lie..."

Love is most nearly itself

When here and now cease to matter

Love is itself unmoving

Timeless, and undeserving

Except in the aspect of time

Caught in the form of limitation

(Author unknown)

SELAMAT HARI RAYA EIDIL-FITRI

Maaf Zahir & Batin

Belated Arabic Exam...

"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence..." - Robert Frost

Since early this year, I have been attending the Arabic classes two nights in a week. The class was interesting and the Ustaz was good. We learned our lessons in a relaxed environment and most of the time we deviated from the syllabus to cater for some slow coaches and those who often took unauthorized absence more too often.

Although it was the policy for all students to have more than 75% record of attendance to sit for the final exam, only a handful of us met that criteria. The Ustaz being lenient and nice, would not report on us. The reason being only a small minority were of hardcore miscreants. The rest of us were good and obedient and never missed to submit our homework.

Towards the end of the semester, attendance got better and the class was full-house again. I made a point not to miss classes as Ustaz would, in between revisions, sometimes gave hints on probable questions for the final exam. A list of soalan bocor circulated among the 3 classes and students were all excited and geared up to sit for the final exam. Confident to receive the much coveted certificate, a license to enroll for advanced Arabic class next year.

I was the unlucky one. I missed my final exam as the date clashed with my Umrah trip. Sensing my frustration, Ustaz advised me to request for a special sitting at a later date. After I came back from my trip, I was engrossed in my normal busy life and forgotten all about the exam.

Until last Tuesday, when I received one sms from my Ustaz: ‘Saya dah arranged untuk awak ambik exam hari Khamis. Datang lah, pukul 8 pagi…’

This morning, sitting in one corner in the administrative office in Masjid Negara, I took my written Arabic exam, while eaves-dropping on conversations among the office staff discussing about balik kampung, kueh raya, ketupat and rendang…