Baju baru

Raya ni flat Embak akan berwajah baru, setelah mendapat biaya dari Unit Penyelarasan Perlaksanaan (ICU), Jabatan Perdana Menteri. Terima kasih banyak kepada Setiausaha Persatuan Penduduk, Puan Faridah yang telah bertungkus lumus membuat working paper. Pada mulanya, dijangka penduduk akan berkongsi 20% kos; alhamdulillah akhirnya mendapat 100% pembiayaan.

Blok C di peringkat lapisan asas

Blok D - menunggu giliran

Blok E dan F - sudah berganti baju

Selain dari cat baru, bumbung dan salur air juga akan diganti. Kos pembaikan dan cat semula hampir berjumlah RM1 juta. Sebanyak 4 blok  atau 320 unit rumah flat mendapat menafaat ini.

Flat Embak di Blok C; tinjauan tadi mendapati sekarang sedang di tahap "Base Coat". Blok E dan F telah siap dicat sepenuhnya.

I. Want

but my pocket says
I.Don't.Need

Yang Molek, Yang Jelek, Yang Pelik

Kisah benar 1:

J, pemuda 20 tahun menalipon saya untuk menempah emas 20g. Sebelum itu saya sudah pastikan yang dia betul-betul tidak memerlukan wang simpanan yang hendak digunakan untuk membeli emas tersebut. Almaklumlah dia masih belajar lagi. Dia kata pasti. Lepas itu dia menyuruh saya menghantar emas tersebut kepada ibu kawannya untuk disimpan. Boleh-boleh dia menyuruh saya meletakkan nama kawannya N dalam invois saya, walhal dia yang bayar. Terus saya bertanya "point-blank". "Awak nak book N ke?" Dia menjawab, "ya!!"

Apabila saya berjumpa dengan ibu N, ibu N menerangkan, beliau dah jumpa dengan J, dan sudah berkenan dengannya. Tapi dia memberitahu kepada J, semuanya terserah pada takdir. Kalau ada jodoh, tentu J dan N akan bersatu. Kalau boleh, biarlah tunggu sehingga kedua-duanya habis belajar. "Nanti kalau tak jadi, bagaimana?" tanya saya. Ibu N berkata, "J kata, emas tu kira rezeki N". Apakah kesudahannya? Nanti Embak akan update kalau ada perkembangan, insyaAllah. Embak sangat kagum dengan J yang berani, confident dan gentleman.

Kisah benar 2:

A, seorang gadis berkawan dengan seorang pemuda Y untuk beberapa bulan lamanya, dan menjadi serius sehingga membawanya berjumpa ibu-bapanya. Tup-tup, A berubah hati dan membatalkan perhubungan mereka. Bukannya sebab A ada kekasih baru. Y, mungkin kecewa, menuntut ganti rugi semua yang pernah dibelanjakan sepanjang perhubungan mereka. A akur, lalu setelah dihitung kesemuanya, membayar balik lebih RM4,000. Sampaikan dish TV yang dipasang di bumbung rumah A oleh Y dituntut agar dibuka dan dipulangkan kepadanya. A offer dish tv yang baru, tapi Y tak mahu. Memang sah, Y sakit hati. Nasib baiklah tak jadi kawin. Embak rasa terjawablah persoalan mengapa A bertindak untuk putuskan hubungan mereka in the first place.

Kisah benar 3:

M berkahwin dengan isterinya Disember lepas. Minggu ini, baru pihaknya membuat resepsi. Oleh kerana ibu bapa M telah membuat keputusan untuk tidak menyusahkan diri mereka, maka M buatlah majlis tersebut sendiri di rumah sewanya. Nasib baik, ibu saudaranya membantu menyiapkan bunga telur dan menempah katering. Ibunya akan datang menaiki bas dari kampung untuk turun meraikan majlis. Bapanya tidak dapat datang kerana urusan perniagaan. Saya bertanya kepada kawan saya iaitu ibu saudara M, samada M anak angkat. Kawan saya menjawab, tidak, anak sendiri! Kalau anda, sanggup buat begitu pada anak anda?

Begitulah 3 coretan hidup orang yang Embak secara tak sengaja telah terkongsi minggu lepas.

Chiang Mai Day 3

After breakfast we decided to explore the eateries around our hotel for authentic tomyam for surely a visit to Thailand would be incomplete without sampling tomyam in its native land. Much to our delight, we found several Halal restaurants in Anusarn Market, which is about 200 meters from our hotel, and all of them have tomyam on their menu. Satisfied with our survey, we returned to the hotel to rest.

Close to 9.30 am, we hailed a songtaew to Robinson's, the local mall which is located near the Airport. The mall opened at 11am, so it was a long wait outside the mall until we grew hot and sweaty. It was a relief when they opened the doors. We did some shopping and returned to the hotel for Zuhur before going back to Anusarn for lunch. 

We settled on a Chinese Muslim eatery and quickly set to order garoupa, steamed crab, seafood tomyam, omelette, broccoli and white rice. The tomyam was especially explosive followed by the steamed crab. Suffice to say, we cleaned up the plates save the bones. The bill came close to RM100 which was graciously settled by Sayyida. Thank you sistah.

Our original plan was to go the Queen Sirikit Botanical Garden, but we digressed to the massage centre. The fee for most types of massage/therapy was about half the price charged in Malaysia; between 180-200Baht. That's RM18-RM20 per hour. So, Zack and I signed up immediately for a half-hour reflexology session. We quickly realised that a half-hour was not going to be effective, so we extended to a full hour. Soon Ros joined in. Sayyida decided to skip the activity and returned to the hotel.

Zack's masseur who was the most fluent in English amongst her team-mates kept Zack and l entertained with her stories interspersed with a smattering of Malay words like Sedap? Sakit? Mahu? Tak Mahu? Ros went to sleep immediately after she settled in the recliner, and the massage lady began to work on her feet. The session was tremendous, so all three of us made an appointment for another session later that night. Fed and relaxed, we settled for a siesta in bed. I napped the longest.

Night time, we went to Anusarn for more shopping. Mid-way, we heard the sound of explosives. Above the canopies, up in the sky there was a display of fireworks. I asked one vendor lady what was happening. She said there was a government function, but methinks it's the work of some Americans celebrating 4th of July.

Bright lights inside and outside Anusarn night market.

We had to cut short our shopping for our 9 pm appointment at the massage centre. This time all three of us chose back, neck, hand and head massage. No oil was applied, as this was a Thai traditional massage. Suffice to say, it was another enjoyable experience. Something that I would repeat. I attest to the skill of my masseur as I didn't get blue black marks on my body, and I felt great afterwards.

The next day, we caught the 9 am flight back to LCCT and thus marked the end of our 3-day-3-night free and easy vacation in Chiang Mai.  Big up to Sayyida, Rosnah and Thai Zaikiah (tee hee) for being such agreeable travel companions.

Chiang Mai Day 2

We took our breakfast very early as we were going up north to Chiang Rai, which is 175 km away from Chiang Mai. For this trip, we have decided to engage Mr Mustafa of the day before instead of joining a tour group. Not only was it cheaper, but we figured only a Muslim brother would know how to care for his Muslim sisters. We heard Mr Mustafa said that along the way, we would stop at several places like the something something hot spring, then at a site where the famous white temple is, then the tribal village, then the Golden Triangle, and finally Mae Sai. Undoubtedly, we would return to Chiang Mai very late at night.

So that's what we did on Tuesday 3rd July, 2012. Here are some pictures:

20 Baht for one basket of eggs to boil in the hot spring

Of course we got weird stares from the locals for stopping and posing at a signboard

Wat Rong Khun or the White Temple, a modern architecture, a work still  in progress

This mosque belongs to a Muslim community in which we had our lunch. That car is a Pesona.

Traversing the tribal village with a walking stick.

With an Akha woman. One thing I notice with all this tribal villagers, they really perfected the art of smiling for the camera. Because later when she performed with her mates, she was all sullen faced.

With an Akha girl. She speaks English.

A Lahu girl with her grandmother

Sayyida offering her sympathy to the Karen woman. Or was she offering to scratch her neck?

With the Palong "Big Earings" people

A jump shot outside the tribal village showcase. Note to self: I must procure a better camera.

At the confluence of three countries; Mynmar, Thailand and Laos, thus the name the Golden Triangle. At one time this place was notorious for opium smuggling. Oops, forgot to suck in the tummy.

In Mae Sai, the most northern city of Thailand at the border of Mynmar. The blue gate in the background is the Immigration point.

Indeed we reached Chiang Mai at about 10pm. We were too exhausted to do anymore night marketing, so we retired to our bed almost immediately. Thanks ladies, for a wonderful sharing of stories and fart banter throughout the journey. Mr Mustafa must have thought us nutty.

Chiang Mai Day 1

Our AK816 flight to Chiang Mai was scheduled to depart the LCCT at 7.00 am, but the moment the plane backed off from the runway, I smelled fumes, then the engine started to gurgle. The Captain announced that he could not proceed and had to call for an inspection. After some minutes, he came back on the PA system saying that the plane was found unfit to fly and we had to change plane. The suitable replacement was on its way from Penang, so we the passengers waited patiently. It's better to wait than to have our remnants strewn out from the stratosphere of Malaya right? Finally we took off at 8.30am, so the wait wasn't too long.

We reached Chiang Mai some three hours later. We took a cab from the airport that cost us 150 baht, which my head immediately divided by 10 to gauge it in RM. The driver introduced himself as a Muslim and his Muslim name was Mustafa. He responded to our salam and he said inshaAllah, but we were fully convinced when he showed us the picture of his wife and daughter wearing hijab.

The tiny hotel that we booked was nice enough. The receptionist gave directions to a "halal" restaurant  even though she was vague about what "halal" or Muslim mean. The first "Muslim" looking restaurant that we saw was an Israeli restaurant-- what nerve!! We marched on until we saw an Arabic Restaurant right across Shangri-la hotel. It was a decent lunch that cost us 700 baht.

Lilu Hotel reception hall

We had a rather embarrassing experience with the tuk-tuk on the way back which I will not elaborate, no thanks to one guy named U-Soop Mad-alee, phone number 085-0385846.  Be wise to avoid this opportunist if you ever come to Chiang Mai.

Outside the massive Warorot market

After Zohor, we went out to Warorot market; that's the day market that the locals go to for their supplies, a place usually overlooked by tourists. I got my supply of yarn (for shawl project, inshaAllah) while my friends got their supply of lychees and mangoes. Then we chartered a van for 200 baht to take us to a Thai silk factory, decisively skipping the silver and gems factory. My three companions came out of the store beaming with metres of silk material for their baju raya.

My travel buddies with their silk haul.

We took our dinner at the hotel before going out on foot to the night market some metres away from our hotel. Got our souvenirs and stuffs to bring home. We noticed  a few Muslim vendors from their attire. And of course we bumped into other Malaysians and Arabs. But surprisingly no Indonesians. Not even one during the entire stay which is surprising as I had always met them during my trips in other parts of the world save Japan. By the way, the time in Chiang Mai is minus one hour from Malaysia. 

One thing that I made sure I did on the first day was to pose a'la RITZ in the modified van called songtaew (means 2 rows). These are Chiang Mai's bus and taxi service rolled into one. So, my fellow travel buddies, now you know. Ta daa. Hehehe.

Chiang Mai Beckons

It calls out "Mai! Mai!" And so I'm going. I'll (try my best) be off the the internet for a few days; hopefully I come back a better tuned , balanced person and perked up and be more enthusiastic about work. And not take an extra day leave upon my return ha ha. So, see ya.