Sharing My Stories

In Bangkok,what I like most is Tuk-tuk-it’s like trishaw but with 4 seats and engine.The hotel apt provided tuk-tuk for hotel customers to go out to the main road,bcoz Centrepoint Hotel in Sukhumvit Soi 13 is not located in the main road,so it was quite exhausting to walk to the main road.The main transportation is BTS(Bangkok Transit System),like LRT,very convenient.The road is always congested and travelling with BTS is much better.

Chatuchak is a flee market-a shopping haven.U can find everything there,but so tiresome to walk and see all corners in there since it’s so hot and it covers a big area.

I was taken aback when we went out at night,the streets are so much alive and don’t be surprised with countless prostitutes trying to sell their bodies-the targets are Mat Salehs of course-lots of money.The pub was crowded with Mat Saleh tourists.

There was also a few stall selling fried insects-I was too disgusted to find out what kind of insects-so gross,eyuck…

Since I can cook,we had to go to wet market to find seafood but then we can’t bear to enter the market,so dirty and u can see porks were hung upside down with water running down there-oh my god-the scenery was a nightmare,almost traumatising-I never went there anymore,we just shopped at supermart nearby.

Once when I went to Guardian pharmacy,I met this famous actress from Filipina,famous for her role in Pangako Sa Yo-ex gf of Jericho Rosales-Kristin Hermosa,she was accompanied by her manager I think,she’s drop dead gorgeous even with no make up on.I didn’t ask for autograph though…

We also went to main attractions ie:Floating Market,Grand Palace,Menam(River) Chao Phraya.

The best thing is cinema-we get to choose 1st or 2nd class.1st class provided huge seat with leather and the price is not bad.2nd class is like any other cinema u can find in Msia.B4 the movie starts everybody have to stand up to sing national anthem-wow….

I learned to love travelling eversince I start loving my man-he’s like an open geography book to me.I never loved geography back in schooldays,in fact that subject never looked appealing to me.It’s not that now I can be a geography teacher but it has somewhat been improving.

The first time I ever went abroad was in 2002,to Bali for our honeymoon-then the rest was history.I didn’t start working right after been called to Bar(for layman:appointed as a lawyer before the judge in High Court and the name was admitted to Bar Council)bcoz I got pregnant with our first child-so I decided to tag along with my hubby.

There are only 5 countries I’ve been to-Bangkok(repeatedly),Jaksel(Jakarta Selatan),Japan,Australia and now Sweden.

In Jakarta,u get 1st class treatment-the hotel was luxurious,food was very good at low rate(eating for 2 at a fine diner only costs RM60-70).The hotel provided by my hubby’s company was right in the city centre-walking distance to Blok M(a mall)-so finding food is easy and shopping is fun with rupiah,hahaha…

In Bangkok,We were provided with hotel apartment,fully furnished with kitchen-so I can prepare our own meal.Eating out is okay but we juz have to find seafood,halal restaurant is available but the choice of food is limited to Middle East and Indian cuisine…boring.We got to taste the authentic tomyam kung-yummy,tomyam in Msia is far cry from tomyam in Thailand(it’s the land of tomyam origin anyway..).

In Japan,we stayed for 3 months in Nihombashi-Ningyocho,20 minutes from Tokyo(commute by train).The train system is very complicated-difficult to go out & about,no english language-people ran away when we tried to ask something in English.Luckily,we managed to survive with help from a good firend,he was a Msian student in Chiba(1 hour from Tokyo)he showed us around Tokyo to shop for halal food-I was taken by surprise to see the market for halal food have everything we need-from Adabi spices to Sambal belacan from Johor-but of course the price is beyond expectation.U can buy Thai Jasmine Rice at RM20 per kg,while the ketchup is RM17 per bottle.Cost of living is very high regardless Yen is cheaper than RM,1000 yen =Rm32.But u cud hardly find things at low rate here.No shopping spree was allowed then…hehe,by my hubby of course.We only shopped for food.

In Melbourne,I think it’s the best place we’ve been to so far.People don’t call it"The most liveable place on earth" for nothing.Halal food is accessible,Even Nando’s,McD,KFC are halal there(in certain places where Halal certificates is put on the counter with a list of halal meals),and of course,at least I can afford to do some shopping there for handbags,clothings,kids’ stuff and accessories.We stayed there for 2 months,at serviced apartments,first month in Somerset Apt in the middle of the city-2nd month in Quest Apt in Docklands.

While for now,being in Solna,Stockholm…so far so good,not the most liveable place but surviving is not that complicated.I’m beginning to like it here anyway.The people are friendly & most of them can converse in English which is very good.The cost of living is high but halal foods are easily found with reasonable rate.Another 3 months to go,the previous 3 months have been great.Except for this weather(winter-so cold beyond my imagination…)everything is juz nice.

When I started working back in 2004(I quit a few months later)I finally knew how it felt to be a working mother.I had to commute from KL to Kelana Jaya every morning(the firm was in SS7 Kelana Jaya) and I only reached home at 7.30pm(if I managed to escape at 6pm) but normally I had to stay back and arrived home by 9pm.To open the door and see two person I love with that miserable look on their faces was very tormenting.My first kid,A’An was only 1 year and a half,we had to send him to a nursery nearby every morning and daddy will pick him up at 6pm,and I only got to see him at night-he was always sick until one day he was admitted in SJMC-suspected lung infection.I felt everything was my fault since I was so preoccupied with my new world as a working mother-so much so for my dream to become a lawyer…My hubby didn’t say much but I knew that I-told-u-so look on his face…My so-called-superior was oh my god…so damn fussy,everything was never right-this and that-I tried to tolerate but after some times it finally had taken its toll on me..I cudn’t stand it anymore,her attitude was really killing me.Not long after,my hubby was requested to work in Jakarta,then I decided to call it a quit.Then off we went to Jakarta-I never asked to work again from that day on…

Now that my mother’s gone-I always have her in my dream which reminds me to send her a gift from afar-a gift from living to those in Barzakh.I can’t bear the thought that she’s waiting for something while we get carried away with worldly life.I’ve heard somewhere that spirit of the dead miss us more than we miss them.So,despite we cried & grieved over the dead,it’s even better to send a prayer n recite Quran as a token that we miss them and we are helping them in return.

Perhaps,that’s the question some people wud ask-knowing that I’ve graduated from Faculty of Laws in IIUM and even finished my 9 months period of chambering.Well,that’s the catch…I don’t work bcoz I don’t feel like working,no…I really want to be in legal world actually but for some reasons,I feel it’s best to stay at home and be a homemaker instead,why?I’m married to a man whose job requires frequent travel abroad.His trip will usually take at least 1 month stay & it’s so hard to be away from each other esp when the period of stay is 3 months and above…So,I decided to be a housewife on the move,caring for my kids & hubby on the move,still a housewife..but not a typical one.

Since I have 2 kids now,it’s even more better to stay home and nurture them myself-hiring a bibik comes with a lot of complications-sending them to nursery is unlikely-the best way is I’m taking charge of everything.Sounds easy now,doesn’t it?And what is more rewarding than to have my hubby coming home from work smiling to see me at home with the kids?

Sometimes we never know what we have until we’ve lost it.Sometimes we never learn to appreciate things around us until it fell from our grips.Sometimes we long for something that’s beyond our grasps,knowing that we can never afford it.This is human,always not satisfied with what they have,longing for something,searching for the better.If we never appreciate what we have,don’t be sorry when everything is gone.Live life to the fullest,syukur for what with have,leave your insatiable behind for sometimes your thirst can never be quenched.

As for me,I used to think why can’t I be like others,going off to work,having my own salary…but then on second thoughts,I guess there are a bunch of people out there wanna be in my shoes,that’s exactly what I meant in the 1st place,people never appreciate what they have.

So now,I’m every bit thankful & blessed with my life,this is dunia anyway,we don’t live here forever,there’s a long way to go down the road to Hereafter-the fate of which only we can prepare ourselves for that.

This is the longest stay-6 months.The longest period normally is 3 months.The last one is in Melbourne.Funny I shud say,it’s as if I’m the one who’s working overseas,not my hubby,heheh…It’s a mixture feeling of fun and anxious.Fun to have the opportunity to travel and see other places,anxious and kinda worried to leave behind our home in KL for quite some times.