More on Brunei

There are many beautiful and grand mosques in Brunei, many with gold-plated domes. I can't recall what this one is called, but notice the dome- it's gold plated. Many of the domes here are gold-plated including the one at Istana Nurul Iman, which I heard is solid gold.



I love their teh tarik India. I had one glass everyday I was there. It tastes like teh tarik but the way it is prepared that is giving its presentation. First you stir condensed milk and evaporated milk in hot water; then pull it to form froth. Pour in thick hot tea. Voila!

I also sampled their Mee Kolo (but no picture to prove- as I was so hungry). I do not know whether the one I had was authentic Brunei or not, but it was sedap! It is different from Sarawak Mee Kolo (which I have never tasted, but seen pictures of). Cucur Pisang and Murtabak Kosong is Goreng Pisang and Roti Canai, respectively in Bruneispeak.

I went to Jerudong Park, but it was closed during my stay there. They only open during the weekends. Admission and the rides used to be free until year 2000.


The Kampung Air was a nice experience. The 10-seconds boat ride costs 50 cents a way. The people may appear to be poor, but I change my mind when I saw their cars, parked at the specially built parking bay near the jetty.

Signboards of establishments are written in Jawi as well as Rumi. I had a fun time testing my Jawi proficiency. Notice Pizza Hut is Pondok Pizza in Jawi.

Empire Hotel and Resort

This 5-star hotel lies about 20 minutes from Bandar Sei Begawan. The opulence of the hotel should merit the hotel 6 stars, but a star was deducted because this hotel does not serve alcohol. It is a lovely place for Prudential sales incentive if only the Agency people know.

We did not stay here though. I was informed a night stay costs B$199, which is reasonable. The grounds are beautifully landscaped, but I can't help but compare them with the ones in Bali which I find far more outstanding.

Interesting Finds

Instead of “Encik” and “Puan”, they use “Awang” and “Dayang”, though these could also be a family name. So, I was addressed as Dayang M. I saw “Awda” in their literature and I thought it was a typo for "anda"; but no. It is the combination of Awang and Dayang. So in a sentence, it is used like this: "Awda dijemput untuk ke majlis...."

“Kami” means “Awak”. So if you are eating with your Brunei friends, and they say “kami bayar”, it means they want you to pay.

Their official baju is called MIB, or Melayu Islam Beraja.There are about 380,000 people living in the whole sultanate, out of which a third are foreign workers or expats.

Bruneians do not ride kapcai unless they are McD delivery boys, couriers or newpaper men. Most drive to work. They ride super bikes after office hours.

Cars are cheap here. Vios costs B$23K. Mercedes B$80K. B$10 petrol can fill up the gas tank.

The drivers are very polite. They readily give way and patiently wait for you if you make a wrong turn. Generally, honking is frowned upon. You risk of getting slapped on the face if you happen to honk at the “wrong” car.

Kain ela is "the" thing to bring home. They have the "latest" designs and price is very the cheap. My friends and I enjoyed shop hopping the outlets of Nazmi, Hong, KoFom and YMRM and their branches all over Bandar Seri Begawan and Gadong.

Starting salary for a graduate working with the Govt is B$2,600. He/she enjoys free medical coverage and housing. After 15 years of service, he/she can perform the Haji for free.

Every Bruneian can apply for a piece of land or “tanah kurnia”, but it cannot be sold.

Despite their good salary and many perks, Bruneians are big borrowers; they borrow money even for hari raya celebrations.

Brunei Escapade

The plane was scheduled to take off at 3.15pm on 20th Feb 2007, but was re-timed to 4.oo pm because our assigned plane was still at Langkawi Airport. At 4.30, we were still not boarding, and then the rain came. We were given each an umbrella to cross the tarmac, but suddenly the rain got heavy and we were shooed back to the wait lounge. We finally departed at 5.30 pm amidst still bad weather. In mid-flight, there were a couple of scary turbulences, and I was very relieved and grateful when we landed, albeit late. We were further held back in the plane for another half hour, not sure why, but the plane had to get to another gate before we could disembark.

We were lucky to find a shop near our hotel, Le Gallery Suites that agreed to serve us dinner at 10 pm. We had nasi goreng kampong and teh tarik. It felt like Malaysia but we were already in a foreign land.

Merapu, meraba.

Hari ni, Embak dipaksa tukar ke format baru. Tak tahu lagi apa kelebihannya, tapi sebab dah lama tak post berita, Embak cerita dulu, sebelum intai apa yang bagusnya format baru ini.

Semalam, Embak habis membaca buku A Civil Action, oleh Jonathan Harr berkenaan kisah benar seorang peguam, Jan Schlichmann yang berjuang membela pelanggan-pelanggannya dalam satu suit melawan 2 syarikat besar dalam kes pencemaran pada tahun 80an. Embak ingat, ceritanya berakhir dengan kegembiraan, tetapi sebab ianya kisah benar, tak bolehlah pengarang membuat cerita sendiri. Walaupun akhirnya, Schlichmann berjaya mendapatkan pampasan untuk pelanggan-pelanggannya, tetapi dia menjadi bakrup. Buku ini sarat dengan proses perundangan dan prosiding di mahkamah. Penat membacanya.

Bila di "google" nama peguam ini, Embak lega yang dia kini kembali menjadi peguam, dan telah berkeluarga. Kisahnya telah dijadikan filem dengan wataknya dilakunkan oleh John Travolta. Ebert memberi 3 setengah bintang untuk filem ini.

Mulai 3 Februari, sebaiknya baik demam, Embak telah mulai kelas nurseri lanskap di UPM. Ini yang buat Embak teruja ni. Lima kali sahaja kursus ini yang akan berakhir pada 3 Mac ini, yang kebetulan Hari Lanskap Negara. Sekarang memang tengah kemaruk subjek ini.

Rancangan TV yang Embak ikuti sekarang ialah American Idol. Cuba juga nak tengok Heroes, dan Gray's Anatomy, tapi tak gi lah. Akhirnya Embak tengok balik DVD House MD Seasons 1-2. Tiada yang setanding siri House ini. Bilalah AXN nak mula siarkan Season 3?

Itu sahajalah rapuan ku ini. Oh, sebelum tu, Embak nak cerita, satu hari di masjid subang jaya, Embak terdengar sekumpulan budak perempuan sekolah agama bercerita, in disgust tentang seorang ustaz yang suka meraba. Mereka menggelarnya "Rubber Tapper".

My day

After turning and tossing, I finally slept sometime between 2 and 3 am. I tried to carry on until 8 am, to “make up” for the lost hours but my body clock simply refused. I got up, partook my nasi lemak breakfast, and sat to finish “All Too Human”. By 11 am, I was ready to see Dr Kassim again. I waited for my turn by reading a book that I once read two years ago, Deena Katz on Practice Management. I thought and still think, I have been disillusioned by the promise that a financial planner is a coveted career choice as it is in the US. I am trying to find again bits of wisdom in preparation for tomorrow’s meeting at SFP. Don’t worry, as I don’t care to explain, I don’t expect any of my readers to understand what I’m blabbering about.

Today’s shot is more painful than yesterday's. Come again tomorrow, the good doctor reminded me. I spent my afternoon reading some more Deena, and another book from my shelf, a fiction, White Oleander by Janet Fitch. By 6pm, as if by telepathy, an old, old friend sms-ed me, asking how I was doing. Just the break I need. I quickly called her back, thanking her for making my day. And All Praise to Allah, I felt I just need to sms another friend, and ask her how she’s doing. It turns out that she was feeling down, and my calling her up had cheered her. MashaAllah. Thank you Angah for checking on me first thing in the morning. I am also blessed for Makcik Timah who insisted on getting me daun bunga raya to cool my fever down, my buddies from my hostel years for calling, and for my abah for making me teh tarik and buying me peanuts from the night market.

Embak Demam

Sekian lama Embak tak demam (yang migrain sebulan sekali tu tak kiralah), hari Sabtu baru-baru ni, lepas balik dari seminar 1/2 hari, Embak rasa tak sedap badan, panas semacam. Tergoleklah atas lantai depan tv. Pukul 4 petang adik Embak yang dari Bukit Beruntung datang dengan keluarganya. Embak bangun buatkan air. Lepas tu dalam pukul lima, satu lagi keluarga tiba. Embak tambahkan air. Embak ambikkan cawan, sebab nak cepat, Embak tingkatkan sampai 3. Gopoh sangat, jatuh berderai. Dah terpaku anak-anak sedara Embak, tak dibenarkan bergerak takut terpijak kaca. Embak ambik vacuum cleaner, adik Embak yang sorang tu datang tolong dengan penyapu, yang sorang lagi ambik vacuum cleaner dari Embak. Lepas tu, Embak "excuse myself" dan terus lepak kat bilik Embak. Lepas tu, Embak dah tak ambik pusing, pandai-pandailah layan diri sendiri. Lepas muntah, Embak ambik Panadol.

Semalam, Ahad, demam Embak berterusan. Pagi-pagi lagi dah buat pengumuman yang Embak tak nak masak. Tapi tengah hari terasa lapar, Embak ambik keputusan buat masakan yang simple: meehoon goreng dan meehoon laksa cina. Ambik Panadol lagi. Dan Lozenges, sebab tekak dah mula sakit. Sepanjang hari tidur, walaupun badan rasa tak selesa, panas.

Pagi, tadi rasa kurang panas dan lebih kuat. Pergilah ke Klinik Dr Kassim, pukul 8.30 ambil nombor. Dapat No. 20. Embak balik dulu. Dalam pukul 10.00, Embak congak-congak barulah tiba giliran. Wrong! Pukul 10.50 lebih kurang, barulah dipanggil. Pembantu Dr Kassim kata demam akak kuat nih, temperature 38.5 darjah. Embak complain , kelenjar sakit dan nak telan sakit. Dr Kassima suruh buka mulut dan kata "aaaah", tonsil awak kiri kanan bernanah. "Saya beri injection antibiotik paling kuat" Esok dan lusa datang lagi. Kalau tak, nanah tu akan poison badan awak, dan rosakkan hati, blah, blah, blah". Embak kata, "Doktor, you takutkan I je". Dia kata, kalau tak percaya, malam karang awak akan menggigil. True enough, sekarang nih Embak tengah kesejukan. Dan tak boleh tidur. Walaupun tak buka kipas, Embak kena berselimut. Tapi bila di bawah selimut, berpeluh pulak. Tu yang tak tak selesa tu.

Jadi, nak cuba buat mengantuk, Embak ambil keputusan mengarang blog ni. Lepas ni kalau tak boleh tidur juga, kena baca buku All Too Human yang tinggal kurang dari 100 muka. Esok, eh bukan esok lagi, sekarang dah pukul 1; nanti pukul 8 pagi kena mengadap Dr Kassim untuk injection #2.

Embak dah menguap, insyaAllah boleh tidur dah. Wassalam.

Baru je Mmbak cakap....

Hakikatnya, dah menular ke bandar-bandarpun.

Lelaki berkeluarga dilanda sindrom malas bekerja
Oleh: AZMAN MD NOOR dan ZINAIDAH ZAINON (Utusan Malaysia)


23 Jan. – Sindrom lelaki berkeluarga malas bekerja kian menular di negara ini sehingga menimbulkan kebimbangan akan wujud jurang ketara antara lelaki dan wanita dalam soal kerjaya, kepercayaan dan tanggungjawab.

Setiausaha Parlimen di Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Dr. Mashitah Ibrahim berkata, fenomena lelaki tidak suka bekerja, manakala wanita pula mengambil alih tugas mereka, sedang menular di kampung-kampung sehingga ada lelaki sanggup menjaga anak di rumah. Menurut beliau, perkara seumpama itu telah pun berlaku di beberapa negeri termasuk di Kelantan.

Mashitah berkata, telah ada wanita dilantik sebagai pemimpin Jawatankuasa Kemajuan dan Keselamatan Kampung (JKKK) dan ia bukannya kerana tidak ada calon lelaki tetapi mereka menolak tanggungjawab itu sehingga akhirnya diberikan kepada wanita.
“Ini merupakan satu fenomena serius apabila wujud kecenderungan lelaki lebih suka duduk di rumah berbanding wanita yang kuat bekerja. “Sekiranya perkara ini tidak dibendung, dibimbangi akan lebih banyak tanggungjawab dan kepercayaan diberikan kepada golongan wanita, sehingga mewujudkan jurang ketara antara lelaki dan wanita,” katanya selepas menyampaikan kerusi roda kepada Mohd. Rosli Ali, 33, yang lumpuh, di rumahnya di Kampung Telok Petata, Kupang, dekat sini hari ini.

Menurut Mashitah, jika keadaan itu dibiarkan berlarutan, dibimbangi kaum wanita akan memilih untuk hidup membujang selama-lamanya kerana tidak sanggup memikul tanggungjawab yang sepatutnya ditanggung oleh kaum lelaki. “Rasulullah s.a.w. menegaskan bahawa dosa pertama yang dihitung bagi seorang lelaki ialah dosa mengabaikan nafkah rumah tangga. Ini menjelaskan, bahawa seorang lelaki yang mengabaikan tanggungjawabnya kepada keluarganya adalah berdosa di sisi Islam,” ujar beliau.

Menurut Mashitah, fenomena itu hanya berlaku di kalangan lelaki golongan bawahan yang tinggal di kampung. Katanya, wanita yang berkahwin dengan lelaki berkenaan terpaksa bekerja sebagai penoreh getah bagi menanggung keluarga.
“Malah lebih menyedihkan, ada keluarga yang sanggup memberi duit bulanan kepada anak lelaki mereka yang tidak mahu bekerja, seolah-olah menyokong perbuatan anak mereka itu, yang disara oleh isteri masing-masing. “Gejala itu kini sangat serius menyebabkan ada wanita bujang takut untuk berkahwin kerana bimbang mendapat suami yang malas bekerja.“Sindrom itu jika dibiarkan boleh menggugat institusi perkahwinan dan kekeluargaan yang sangat-sangat dituntut oleh Islam,” katanya.
Sehubungan itu, beliau mengesyorkan satu program bagi menyuntik semangat kaum lelaki dilaksanakan bagi memperkasakan semangat golongan itu.

A Snapshot of Me, Now

Favourite colour: Olive Green
Flavour of the Month: Simon Baker (Past fav include: Ralph Feinnes, Jim Caviezel, John Colbert, the young Robert Redford, the young Ryan O'Neal)

Recent Favourite Movie: Something New (have watched 5 times even without the ending)
Top on my to-do list: Get a new Something New DVD
All-time Favourite: Notting Hill (have watched 14 times, and counting)
Favourite TV Programmes: House, American Idol, Sinchan

Tension Reliever: Chain Watching House DVDs
Favorite Blog: Yahoo! 360 Degrees - Viewpoints of Nebula_Z
Dream Holiday: 2 weeks of really living it in Germany (where my brother is)
Dream Car, but will not waste money on unless I win in a contest: Golf GTI

Current Read: All Too Human by George Stephanopoulos
Currently in my CD Player: Il Divo

I can't tolerate Big Time: Arrogant and lazy husbands living off wife's income
Person I admire: My multi-tasking cousin who endures her big talker, lazy husband

Things that I appreciate: Good quality cotton bedsheets, plush towels; good books

Recent "feel good" moments:
1. The blouse I bought at a sale actually matches the colour of my Bali pants
2. Shopping at Ferringhi night market

Recent "feel sad" moments:
1. My best friend describes "Something New" as ordinary.
2. Just this evening, when a young revert appealed for help at Masjid Saidina Uthman as his parents threw him out of the house.

What tickles me now: My “pelat” niece, Mai whose vocalization for the words Mak Long, belon and telor is the same: Yo.

For the record, this post is specially for my 2nd sister who reminds me that unless I am really busy, I should post something, however mundane.

Bill of Health

When it comes to annual health exams, fear is my motivator. Like two years ago, the motivator was the death of Anita Mui. This year, it was a friend of a friend, who is not a smoker but was diagnosed with 4th stage lung cancer. She wasn’t aware of the illness until she went for a check-up following a difficulty in raising her arm. She also noticed her back suddenly is besieged by moles. It’s so happened that I had been having shoulder ache after a night’s sleep, and when I checked my back in the mirror, shudder! there are a lot of moles.

I went to SJMC for an Executive Health Screen last Friday which took 2 hours altogether (waiting time+tests+free sandwich). I thought the results would be known that day, but I had to come back for them. Co-incidentally, Pay Less Books was having a clearance sale at 3K Community Hall not far from the hospital, so I decided to treat myself to one full day of “leave”. Just to release tension. Needless to say I enjoyed myself very much; I got many good books; spent RM81.50 on 18 books, mostly hard covers! Bloody Cheap.

So today, I went back to see the assigned consultant, Dr Mazidah who used to treat my mom for her thyroid condition 10 years ago. Alhamdulillah, the results are all good; my sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol level etc. all are good - excellent. Only a minor problem with my heart that records a sinus arrhythmia, which the doctor said, is nothing to worry. But she urges me to take a stress test to know more details. And all four cancer t markers came back negative which are a relief.

I am thinking to incorporate some form of exercise in my life next year, and I am thinking Yoga! We shall see.

Test

Life is full of surprises and lessons for those who ponder.

A month before Ramadhan, a friend confessed to me that she is in great financial difficulty as her husband's business is not bringing in much dough, bills are mounting, and meeting the demands of her growing children is challenging, to a point that she had to hock her jewelery for RM3,000 to get through the month. She had turned full-time housewife ever since her lay-off 7-8 yars ago. I listened to her, mouth agape, as she fought back tears. I've been visiting her house periodically for years now, but didn't notice her predicament as she was always cheerful and always, and always gave me something to take home when I leave. I thought everything was fine. She said she didn't tell out of respect for her husband.

My poor, beautiful friend. This is the friend whom when we were younger, always wore stylish clothes and have lots of jewellery. She is still slim and beautiful, but gone are the need for make-up, new clothes and trendy shoes. Everything she does now is for the family. She learns new skills and with these skills, she helps her husband to provide for the family. She now makes nasi lemak and kuih-muih and sells them at gerais. This is a very demading job that deprives her of sleep; she only sleeps 2 or 3 hours a day for six days straight. I worry for her health, but she says, desperate situation requires desperate measures.

But my friend is redha; she says, Allah will not test us more than we can endure. She tells me now she understands and is convinced that Allah is the ONLY provider. Every rizq is determined by Him, and Him only, not by others. Allah gives her the ilham and the strength in what she does now.

I pray to Allah she come out victorious. I have no doubt she will, one way or another.

House

My favorite tv series nowadays is House or House M.D. shown on AXN Mondays at 10p.m with repeats at different times. After checking the episode guides, I notice that I have missed quite a lot, and thanks to Google, I discovered a site dedicated to the transcripts of all the episodes; wow, it's like discovering a goldmine!

So, for those who are a fan, here's the treasure; www.twiztv.com/scripts/house . Have fun!

Postscript: For a medical discussion of the series, visit www.politedissent.com/house_pd.html. Interesting you!

Incredible Woman

During the recent raya celebration, my sister and I traded stories. We were planning to go to Tanjung Bidara when my sister recalled she has a friend there, and proceeded to tell this story. This friend is a dentist and they have kept in touch over the years through their high school alumni yahoogroups. The sequence of the following story may be jumbled, but they all happened to her.

This dentist lives in Melaka with her three children, and has a weekend husband whose business keeps them apart during the weekdays. The reason why she stays put in Melaka is to be near her elderly parents. She suffered from leukemia some ten years ago. While battling her illness, she learned that her husband was having an affair. Eew! Alhamdulillah, she recovered, and the marriage is still intact.

This year, her illness returned. So again she had to go through a battery of treatments. This time around, she discovered that she was adopted, and as a dutiful daughter turned to take care of her real parents; now she has two sets of parents to care. Alhamdulillah, she is recovering from her illness.

What is so incredible to me is that, during last Ramadhan she also sold cookies in her clinics (she has two), cookies that she made herself! Unbelievable. According to my sister, she started her cookies business many years ago to fill her time as husband was always not present, and over time she had accumulated a clientele whom she can’t refuse every raya.

Salute!