My darling husband,
Happy Anniversary! :) Today, our marriage turns two years old. Words can't describe how wonderful you have been to me and I love you even more than I did two years ago.
Je t'aime, Mr. Junaidix.
Love,
Mrs. Junaidix
Cuti-cuti Raya Haji, kami tak mampu nak balik ke Sarawak. Kerana keadaan kewangan yang goyang2 membuatkan kami terperangkap di Semenanjung Malaysia sahaja. Jauh dari keluarga terchenta. Huhu.
Therefore, kami cuti2 Malaysia di Melaka untuk mengambil bro ipar a.k.a. adik Suami Terchenta dan mencari baju yang sesuai untuk Away Day department saya yang bertemakan Zaman Kesultanan Melayu Melaka! *wink*
Dengan penuh semangat bercuti, kami mengerahkan Sang Kancil kami berlari-lari ke Melaka pada awal pagi semalam. Suami Terchenta tak berapa sihat, jadi terpaksalah saya menjadi pemandu pelancong semalam!
Secara sinopsis nya, percutian ke Melaka kami amatlah tidak memberangsangkan. Beberapa tempat menarik sangat tidak terjaga dan lebih sesuai dijadikan lokasi penggambaran filem hantu daripada tarikan pelancong! Siyes sungguh menakutkan! Silap2 bercuti bertiga, tapi balik berempat! *Ayat apakah ini?*
Ceritera #1: Melaka Bandaraya Bersejarah Traffic Light!
Haruslah saya memasukkan elemen traffic light di dalam entri ini memandangkan di Melaka, tak sampai 5 minit akan jumpa traffic light! Baru si CLK nak berlari2 dengan gumbira, dah terpaksa berhenti lagi bagi memberikan laluan kepada orang lain:
Traffic light lagi! Yeaah! Memandangkan traffic light di mana2 saja di Melaka, kereta2 terpaksa beratur panjang. Lalu datang pulak beberapa kereta bernombor plat bermula dengan 'Mxx...' dengan senang hatinya memotong barisan sesuka hati mereka. Maklumlah, This is My Territory! Kami sebagai pelancong memberikan jalan dengan hati yang tidak berapa gumbira.
Ceritera #2: Taman Mini Malaysia / Asean a.k.a. Taman Semuanya Tak Boleh!
Boleh bayar tapi tak boleh naik! (Siap manggakan pintu tak kasi naik) Perhentian pertama kami ialah di Taman Mini Malaysia / Asean. Lepas menjamu selera, kami dengan terujanya masuk ke Taman ni dengan bayaran RM12 sekepala. Malangnya, tak semua rumah boleh dinaiki:
Tak boleh naik 1: Penggambaran sedang dijalankan di Rumah Sarawak 
Tak boleh naik 2: Tapi Suami Terchenta & adik naik jugak! (Melawan arahan pihak berkuasa!) 
Tak boleh naik 3: Kalau berani, naiklah! Kompem ada makhluk lain yang akan ikut balik ke KL! Bayar RM12 untuk tengok sahaja, ya!
Ceritera #3: Melaka Bandar Sesak-raya!
Semalam jugak, saya berpeluang buat senaman kaki. Kaki kiri, tekan klac. Kaki kanan, tekan minyak, tekan brek (ulang selama beberapa jam). Masalahnya, bukan memandu di KL atau di highway, tapi dalam bandar Melaka sahaja! Cuaca hujan menyebabkan kami terpaksa melancong di dalam CLK sahaja:
Mula2, set kan halatuju... 
Tuan2 & puan2, di sebelah kiri anda ialah Muzium Belia Malaysia... Khas untuk belia2 sahaja, ya.
Di sebelah kiri anda, ialah Stadhuys.
Langkah2 mengelakkan banjir: bina kincir air di tengah-tengah bandar. 
Kalau banjir jugak, kita naik kapal! 
... atau boleh pergi ke tempat2 yang tinggi seperti Eye on Malaysia atau Menara Taming Sari! 
... Tak pun, naik sahaja ke Fort A'Famosa. 
Ini pun tutup jugak semalam, pada hari cuti umum di mana semua pelancong dari seluruh pelusuk Akhirnya, kami cuma berjalan2 di dalam shopping mall di Dataran Pahlawan untuk mencari baju yang sesuai. Nasib baik saya jumpa baju ittew, kalau tidak... bertambah lagi la list ketidak-seronok-an berjalan2 di Melaka.
Jalan2 di Heritage Gallery... Mungkin saya terlalu tegas menilai Melaka, tapi memandangkan saya ialah seorang warganegara Malaysia yang prihatin maka saya menilai Melaka menggunakan standard antarabangsa, bukan standard kaki lima saja. Melaka perlu upgrade perkhidmatan pelancongan mereka sebagai salah satu tarikan pelancong paling popular di Malaysia.
... Tak pun, jadikan Taman Mini Malaysia macam Universal Studio untuk tarik pengarah2 filem seram di Asia buat penggambaran di sana!
:p
This year is our third time celebrating Hari Raya Aidiladha together :) If last year we had the privilege to host an open house, this year we decided to have a low-key celebration.
In the past, during Aidiladha, I used to bake my specialty cake - Kek Batik. The cake was so popular among friends that it'll be finished within only hours! This year, I decided to bake Kek Batik again, with the help of Suami Terchenta :
Using mixer which is our wedding gift from my darling sister, we whipped sugar, butter, eggs, flour and cocoa powder together. 
This is an important ingredient to making Kek Batik - Marie Biscuits 
The art of baking cake - aren't they pretty? -_- 
Pour the batter into a saucepan and stir it all the time over slow fire 
When it thickens, add in the biscuits. Lastly, when it's ready put it in a container and put a layer of clean plastic on top before pressing the cake until it is really compressed! 
Tadah! The compressed cake! When it's cool, put them in the fridge :)
This is how it looks like after. Yummy!For our Raya meal, we cooked chicken curry & chicken kurma and also bought some lemang to have them with:
Curry, kurma & lemang Selamat Hari Raya Aidiladha, everyone!
2 bulan lepas, dompet saya terkoyak sampai mendedahkan span kat dalam kulitnya. Tapi saya tak de duit mah, nak ganti baru. Sebab. Saya kena renew insurance & road tax CLK. Sampaikan kawan-kawan tegur - 'Dompet tu mesti Suami Terchenta yang hadiahkan, sebab tu you sayang nak gantikan, kan?' Dalam erti kata lain, kawan-kawan saya pon perasan dompet saya sudah buruk lagi sangat kesian.
Lepas balik dari orientation, saya tak bertangguh2. Terus serbu Sogo, macam dah berbulan2 tak jejak kaki di shopping mall (padahal ofis saya kat KLCC!). Jadi, bulan ni saya pun shopping dompet baru. Yabeda bedoo!
Akhirnya, inilah dompet yang telah berjaya jatuh ke tangan saya:
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| Dompet warna purple! I loike! |
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| Haruslah saya jatuh chenta dengan dompet bercorak quilt patchwork ni. Huhu...! |
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| Dompet baru saya beraksi dengan penuh anggun lagi... |
P.S. Dompet lama saya dah berusia 3 tahun. Hopefully, dompet baru ni akan bertahan lebih lama sebab harganya 4 kali ganda lebih mahal dari dompet lama! Huhu...!
Perhaps some of you might be wondering - how did the orientation program go so far? I have one particular experience to share with you. One of the programs scheduled for our orientation is called the 'Mega Challenge'.
Ah... somebody raised a hand to ask why is it called as such? Good question. It was meant to be the most challenging task we have to complete during this orientation and it involved lack of no sleep, no food and no decent weather either. It was totally wicked.
At 2pm, we were forced to run helter-skelter to the gym to assemble or ELSE (kena hukum la, apa lagi). Then, we marched to a field, where we had to complete 2 obstacles - which are actually the less torturous compared to the all-nighter assignment we had.
The weather was not cooperative either - it rained cats & dogs soon after we finished the 2nd obstacles back we went to the gym to assemble & pray. Then back to another field, in our poncho, dripping wet.
That sounds bad already? Nooo... of course the worst had yet to materialize.
At 6pm, our heavy bags and rolled up sleeping bags were stored in our tents (two for the girls, and two for the boys). Food ration was then distributed to appointed persons-in-charge and we were told to guard at all costs because the 'natives might attack and steal our food'. So we had to hide them and ration out to everybody. Dinner comprised of a boiled egg and a piece of bread. Awesome.
The engineers had assembled to complete the grand task - building 5 platforms which had to withstand 10kgs of burden. The material? Two boxes of PVC pipes, a few roll of tapes and ropes to tie the pipes together.
Rain continued to pour, albeit not-so-heavily. Security team was formed, password given around to avoid natives creeping up to us unbeknownst. The design team continued to discuss and sketch, and we had to move our working area (tent and all) to another area which was less muddy. The whole experience was horrendous. I was wet, shivering cold, and hungry the whole night.
The construction began, everybody sat building basic structure and assembling them together to form the platforms. Throughout the night we worked, we slept in turns but most did not. At 10pm, a drill took place and we had to abandon the camp and run to assemble or risked our food ration being confiscated. From then onwards, we had another 5 more drills and those who was just about to take their nap had to run without their shoes, treading on muddy puddle. I repeat - the whole experience was horrendous.
I had my half an hour rest and even though I was still clad in my raincoat, I lay down without bothering to take them off because I was so tired. It didn't matter anymore the wetness, the cold and the shivering - all I cared for was sleep.
At 6am, we barely survived and couldn't even gather the strength to eat our breakfast - comprising an orange, a piece of bread with sardine gravy (uncooked), and a piece of cracker. One girl had fainted at 3am, and had to be brought to a nearby hospital. Two more suffered gastrics because of the lack of sleep and food. The rest were just grouchy, tired and extremely sleepy. The weather continued drizzling, and our teeth chattered every time the wind blew in our direction. My feet were all wrinkly from the wetness.
Our engineers were worried because the platforms were wobbly and looked like they were about to collapse. Our materials were not enough - as a result, the 'natives' demanded two of our tents in exchange for a roll of tape and low quality rope. The team decided that it was not enough to build 5 sturdy platforms - but there was no other options. It was 5, or fail.
At 8am, an officer came to inspect the platform and found that none was strong enough to carry a 10kg-lead. We then marched ran for two more obstacles. If you had watched a military practise before, you would have an idea of the kind of tasks we had to complete.
The torture ended at 12pm - I did not have the strength to go for lunch and headed back to my room because I stinked and badly needed a hot shower, clean & dry clothes and hours of sleep on the soft, warm bed.
I had one lesson firmly lodged in my brain out of this exercise - uncooked sardine rocks. The fishy taste of it after a long, cold & tiring night on a piece of bread sent us to heaven and back. No matter what the chain email claimed - sardine, you are our saviour and life's hope during that extreme challenge.
Cheers to tinned sardine.
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