These kids..

Just now, the house was filled with chattering of the kids who came for tuition. I am always fond of them, albeit them being naughty, talkative, and at times, delaying their work.

But of course, my mom is allergic to those kinds of attitude. So there you go kids, being scolded and nagged at. I know how that feels, haha.

But Afif didn't seem to take heed of mom's nagging. I was the one who was more concerned, hushing him to lower down his voice, and asked the others to concentrate on their workbook.

"Eee.. Afif tak takut pun Aunty marah.."

"Eee.. akak takut!"

"Nape nak takut.. kan kita kena takut Tuhan aje.."

Then Afiq interfered, "Habis tu, ko tak takut Mak ko?"

Afif shook his head, "Tak.."

Well, I suppose this is the egoistical part of kids after being scolded.

"Eehh... kalaupun tak takut Mak atau Aunty, tapi kita kena hormat.. mak ayah, cikgu, semua kita kena hormat. Betul tak..?" I was trying to give my suggestion.

"Betul betul.. Hormat orang tua la Afif.." Afiq seconded my opinion.

Afif sat down again, continuing his work. But not long after that..

"Hmm, akak, tak boleh ke UPSR dapat 4A ke, 3A ke.. memang kena dapat 5A jugak ke..?"

"Well, boleh je.. tapi lepas tak dapat 5A tu, jangan la marah kalau ada kawan-kawan ejek kita sebab tak dapat 5A.. Suka ke nak kena jadi bahan gelak orang..?" Well, expect a kiasu answer from a kiasu practitioner, haha.

"Tak nak.. tapi mak asyik cakap kena dapat 5A.. 4A pun ok apa.."

"Ok tu memang ok.. tapi kenapa kita target nak hadiahkan something yang tak sempurna pada mak ayah kita..? Everytime Afif datang tuisyen mesti pakai baju Manchester United. Baju mahal. Mak ayah bagi apa Afifi suka.. betul tak?" Afif nodded his head. So did Afiq.

"So, kalau Afif bagi something yang tak sempurna pada mak ayah, so can your parents.. do you want them to give something that you don't want..?"

"Apa yang kitaorang tak nak.. akak tahu ke..?" Cewah, Afiq seemed to question my credibility in understanding their wants, haha.

"Hui, senang je, let's say after this, parents korang belikan baju kat pasar malam je.. no more T-shirt Manchester United ke, Ben-10 ke.. ataupun t-shirt football club yang Afif tak suka.. sure tak nak pakai kan..??"

Afif answered straightly, "Uii, mestila tak nak pakai.." Gila demanding budak ni, adeh.

"See.. you want to give something yang tak perfect to your parents, but you want them to get you the best things in life that you want, eee.. mana aci.. Be fair la to your folks, korang~"

Afiq nodded. Afif was still left with a little defiance.

I suppose, kids need the explanation, only then can they really remember and feel what is being taught.. agaknyalah.

Journey to Swiss Garden

Lumut. The last time I was there, it was during Oreetians' Barbecue Day. It was held at the end of our 4th year 1st semester, just for fun and friendship, before leaving for internship.

This week, I had a work assignment together with a colleague at Kencana HL yard in Lumut Port. I drove alone, since it was hard for us to meet up and car pool. But no issues. I love driving alone, especially on long distance and with no traffic lights, and of course, with good music accompanying.

My colleague confirmed that he would be staying at Swiss Garden Damai Laut. Since I did not frequent Lumut that often when I was in UTP, I had no idea where this hotel was located. My dad always reminded me to stick to the signboard in case I didn't know the way. Well, I would take it from the expert.

I arrived at Lumut township around 6 p.m. I could not find any signboard that could lead me to Swiss Garden, though I was sure that I saw a signboard before the Lumut junction saying that Swiss Garden was 21 kilometres away. I dropped by a pump station, and there was a kind lady who told me to follow the directions to Lumut Port. So okay, I got on the main road again, and took that junction: To Pantai Remis/ Pelabuhan/ Taiping.

"Yerp, this was the road that got Nadi and I to venture off until Changkat Jering tollgate at 10.30 p.m.!" I murmured.

The road wasn't good. And the junction to Swiss Garden, it felt like ages to reach there. My heart was boiling, and the feeling of fear seeped in at the same time. It was then 6.20 p.m.

The road to Swiss Garden led to a palm plantation, with a signboard at the beginning of the junction saying "7 km to Swiss Garden". Driving into that kind of area at that time, it didn't feel good. Then there was another junction, that led to a narrow, winding road. No cars were in sight.

Not too far after that junction, I could see a plantation of dragon fruit plants on both sides of the road. Well, not to say it was a pleasant sight, since the 'leaves' looked like the hair of the aliens from the movie "The Predators".

"Ishhh.. time2 macam ni laa nak teringat rambut alien tu.." and the bumps on the road made it hard to push the accelerator further.

Greeting me along the way were the swallows, flying high, and then drooped towards my car, as if they were teasing me to knock them down, and when my car was drawing near them, they fly away, which was quite enlightening really. Kinda fun to watch them teasing. At least they got my head off the predator. Oh yes, should I mention too that the monkeys lying on the road were so affectionate towards each other, ha ha.

And then I saw a signboard "1 km to resort".

Oh great. I had been driving for too long, man. I wished that there won't be another following sign that said "Oopss.. sorry.. another 10 km for you to drive, wahahaa.." Wuu, that would be really scary.

After the long, narrow, winding road (as if I were on my way to Fraser's Hill!) I arrived to a guardhouse. Lowering down my window, I was greeted by a security personnel.

"Nak ke mana Cik?"

I was beginning to feel puzzled.

"Hmm.. Swiss Garden?"

"Nak buat apa Cik..?"

"Eesshh banyak tanya lak encik ni. Kang cakap nak main golf kang, dia rasa kita berlagak pulak.." my heart murmured again.

"Nak tidur. Boleh kan?" with my eyes bawling out.

"Cik ada buat reservation?"

I supposed he didn't really get the 'eyes bawling out' signal.

"Dah call, tapi reception kata boleh walk in. Boleh saya masuk tak ni? Ke register sini je?" I wasn't sure if he understood that sarcasm.

"Tak, register kat reception.." Then he lifted the iron bar gate, and I quickly drove in. To reach the hotel, I had to drive further, surpassing the resort golf course and apartments. Thinking that I only had some leftovers of Nescafe and Bytes, I regretted of not buying anything for dinner, as I would not want to traverse the same road at night just to fill in my grumbling stomach. It was 7 p.m.

As I parked my car, I saw a Mazda3. I called up my colleague to ask if it was his car. Yep, it was his. Nice to look at definitely.

I quickly headed for the reception and got my room. The staffs there were nice and welcoming. The ambiance and setting were something like Hyatt Kuantan. Hahhh.. selamat pun sampai..

P/S: It was good that I didn't rush in to get a Mazda3.

Adi on AC?

I do think it's about time that I change the banner of this blog. It has gotten outdated I know.. I haven't the time to do so anyway. Will think of something interesting soon.

I guess my energy of going 'beraya' has ended. With Mak being busy (even on weekends!) and Abah whose spirit to go anywhere plunges every time Mak is not around, I suppose staying at home is better.

Talking about staying at home, one of the ways to kill time is of course, watching TV. Yesterday I watched AC?. Not because I am a fan, but because the brilliant kid Adi Putra was on air.

All in all, I should sum the kid as being "outstandingly wow".

Sadly, the one interviewing him, should I say, 'otak ke laut'! Personally I think the program does best in tarnishing the minds of the viewers. Adi is too intelligent to be there. Serious.

The best thing about the interview with Adi Putra was that, he answered all the questions with intelligence in modesty. I absolutely salute his qualities.

One of the questions if I could recall, "Adik, adik kata nak bina satelit dengan formula yang adik buat tu, dah tahu macam mana nak naikkan satelit ke atas?" I am not so sure if this kind of question was being asked to test the boy's credibility, but to me, it was kinda annoying. Lain la kalau yang menanya tu memang pakar fizik ke.. boleh la terima. Oh well, I am not judging the guy who asked. He confessed that he flopped math in school ok. Physics need Math.

But Adi's answer was just simple, "Adi tahu macam mana nak bina luar dan dalaman satelit tu, tapi macam mana nak naikkan, itu Adi belum fikirkan lagi.." In short, he's humble! How many intelligent people could be as humble as that? I don't sound like a fanatic fan, do I? Haha. No, just mesmerized.

The usual question that was popped was regarding Adi's competency in subjects other than Math. Personally, I think he is not just gifted in dealing with numbers. In fact his capacity could be borderless. Who knows. I suppose people would love to know that he's only good at Math, but not in other subjects. Why? The easier for them to criticize. Why? Because they want Adi to appear imperfect, just like them, so that they won't be inferior. Also, people worrying about him not having the 'fun' childhood. Kenapa la nak susah hati sangat kalau Adi ni tak reti main bola pun.. it is his choice. And he did say in the program that he does actually spends time to play. So, no issue la kan..

The worry that national education system is unfit for Adi, I suppose it may be hard for the government to have an avenue for genius kids when they are actually not prepared to have anything implemented. It is not everyday that we encounter child prodigies, and if the education system is not formulated with much thought being put in, it is feared that the kids will not benefit from it. We have yet to figure how can we offer an interesting way of learning for gifted kids. Perhaps Professor X can help? Ok2, stupid joke.

The thing that I am concerned about is, I hope that he will escape the envious hearts around him. Just for precautions, since our society still believes in resorting to you-know-what when it comes to the matter of envy and jealousy and hatred. I hope he will survive all those bad things.

P/S: Dulu agak reluctant nak beri pendapat tentang Adi Putra ni, but kerana bengkek dengan cara AC bertanya soalan yang menyakitkan hati kepada adik yang sangat berakal ni, maka post ini pun ditulis. Nasib baik aku takde kat studio, if not, mahu dah aku sound AC ni.

Plain updates

I just can't believe that tomorrow's Friday again. It feels like last Friday was just here not too long ago. Oh well..

Lega sikit la hari ni dah memasuki separuh yang kedua, siang tadi pening ditunggangterbalikkan dalam the submerged heli simulator, tapi nasib baik ada breathing bag this time.

This week is quite bland, since Mak is away on her first paper presentation after getting her doctorate. Well that means no tuition for a week! Betapa bosannya la budak-budak tu takde membisingkan rumah.. Ozal pun is not around to pretend being a baby.. tak gitu Ozal? :P

.. And I am viewing October to be the most boring month ever so far.. sigh.