I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.
I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For, who has sight so keen and strong
That it can follow the flight of song?
Long, long afterward, in an oak
I found the arrow, still unbroke;
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
Langston Hughes
It just so happened, that long long time ago, I fell in love with English poetry. And these poems are the ones I like best. I could have become a writer because I love words so much, but I let my dream deferred. What happens to a dream deferred?
P/S: I shot my dream into the air, it fell to earth I knew not where…
Saya mungkin lambat sedikit posting tentang cuti-cuti kerja (saya perlu siapkan report trip ini dan menghitung expenses untuk travel claim!), sebelum itu saya nak ucapkan ribuan trimas kepada dua orang kakak blogger, iaitu Kak Noamee dan Kak E yang sudi hadiahkan award kepada saya :) Wah, marveles! Me like-y!
Kepada kawan-kawan lain, saya jugak rasa berbesar hati dan bergumbira berkenalan dengan kalian semua. Hopefully, kalian pun rasa bergumbira berkenalan dengan saya, walaupun secara realitinya, saya seorang yang malu-malu kucing *gelak sopan-santun*
Sekarang semua boleh bersurai ke blog masing-masing.
My dearest sister turns
My sister is actually just a year older than me, yet she had taken care of me since I was a baby. She helped Mom to hide me under the bed in case some kidnappers happen to pass by and saw a newborn baby left on the bed alone. Isn't she a smart toddler back then? In fact, she continues to be a smart girl until now. Otherwise, how could she land a high-powered job in a big company? I'm so proud of her!
Having a big sister is a blessing indeed. Yes, sometimes I ended up kena buli, but most of the time, I have someone to look up to when I am not sure of what I have to do. She became my testing ground, or a trial product. If she succeeded after doing A, then A is the established next-course-of-action for me. Most of the time, she made the correct decision because, in compensation for carrying the burden of being the eldest child, God gives all firstborns a certain Wisdom that none other of their siblings can comprehend. So, even until now, if in doubt or need guidance, I will always pick up the phone and call my sister to check what would she do if she was me.
Me: Eh sis, got job interview la tomorrow. What to do, ah?
Sis (wisely): Must always use big words like 'responsible', 'manage', 'team spirit'. Dress formal. Don't forget to sembahyang hajat.
Me: What will they ask me?
Sis (knowingly): Your contributions, how you manage challenges. Blablabla.. (siap give sample answers)
In short, she has the answers for almost everything except how to make asam pedas. Perhaps because she doesn't like asam pedas.
My big sister is also very protective of me. When I have work problems, I will tell her. Back then when I had love problems, I will tell her also. Then she will help to scold whoever made me angry / sad / hurt. Over the phone la. There was one time when Trump scolded me for something I did not understand, so as usual I called up my sister. My sister promptly said,
'Give the bloody phone to Trump. Let me scold him for asking stupid questions!'
My sister, very gung-ho you know! She seriously wanted to speak to Trump, no kidding! Tak padan kecik!
After that, my sister became my hero. We were very close. We shared room, clothes, stories, and when I first fell in love with Suami Terchenta, my sister and I spent hours giggling over the phone about our crushes. When she first moved away to start her varsity years in Kuching, I felt like a part of me went MIA and for weeks after that, I couldn't wait for her to call home and tell about her classes and friends.
A sister is real.
A sister never will pretend.
A sister is someone like you whom I treasure everyday in my heart.
I've been doing a bit of research on our end-of-month trip. Do the locals speak English? Do they have good public transport? Do we have to bring warm clothings? Is the hotel far from the city centre? Never mind the fact that I will be stuck in conference rooms for most of the time we are there. I need to know how the metro works and look up local language's pronunciations because I was informed that most of them no hablan Inglés.
Oh, yes. And I fret about the expenses too. Not mine, but his. My trip is fully-sponsored. His is not. God knows we have stretched our budget to beyond comfort level this month. I do hope that we will recover next month so we can pay off some of the expenses. I seriously have got to be serious about getting a job that pays higher salary.
Take a deep, slow breath. Think about the exciting part. We are going to do this and take the time to enjoy our first long trip together. Who knows that this will be the last year we have the opportunity to challenge the ordinary and live life to the fullest (and to our hearts' contents!) Because if I listen hard enough, I can already hear my biological clock starts ticking. Faintly.
"Meet the Princess of Persian..." |
"Pirate of The Caribbean. Muahaha!" |
Lepas Subuh, iron baju Suami Terchenta.
Sambil bebel2 pujuk2 Suami Terchenta mandi cepat2.
Suami Terchenta mandi, aku buat nasi goreng kampung (ringkas, cepat dan mudah!).
Cili padi banyak lagi. Ambil beberapa biji dan tumbuk dengan bawang.
Minyak panas, dan terus ditumis sampai wangi.
Hidung terus berair, dan aku terbersin-bersin. Pedasnya!
Suami Terchenta keluar bilik air dan terbersin-bersin. Pedas jugak!
Lepas kami bersiap2, duduk depan tv sambil menikmati nasi goreng pedas.
Sampai merah2 muka habiskan nasi goreng.
Huhu… pedas…
Sampai di ofis.
Sakit perut memulas2.
Semua gara-gara nasi goreng kampung.
Lepas membuang isi perut di tandas,
Baru rasa lega.
Hahaha…
Lain kali takkan masak nasi goreng pedas lagi.
Taubat!
- When dealing with lawyers, make sure you only believe 10-20% of what they say (unless you know them for years or they are your friends / family)
- Make sure you do a thorough study of all the process and procedures of buying a house / securing loans / withdrawing EPF before you actually proceed to sign anything.
She and her fiance are getting married. So they decided to buy a house. They applied for housing loan. Soon, they were approached by a man at the showhouse unit who claimed he was a lawyer who could help them to manage the whole house-buying process. He wanted to charge them RM10k for 'legal charges'. Without thinking, the then-happy couple borrowed RM10k from relatives, siblings etc. They thought this is part of the buying process. They met up with the 'lawyer' at a coffeeshop and gave him the money. Guess what happened after that? Yup, the 'lawyer' and their borrowed money were gone with the wind. They tried to call him, but he didn't answer. They went looking for him at the address on his business card - the office is just a block of empty shophouses. When they realized that they were cheated, the girl spent days crying in her room. She did not think that she want to go ahead with the wedding. I'm not sure whether she has changed her mind since then.
- We went to look at the show unit, paid booking fee (which is part of the downpayment) of RM100. The developer then issued a receipt (or you must ask for the receipt!)
- Surveyed housing loan packages offered (usually you can find bank loan brochures at the show unit) and picked one.
- We filled up loan application form. At this point, we were required to submit photocopies of our IC, latest 3 months' salary slip, latest income tax or EA form, latest six months' bank account statement, and the booking receipt (that's why you have to get the receipt)
- Upon loan approval, we had to sign a few copies of letter of offer from the bank.
- The bank informed the developer that our loan request has been approved, we then proceeded to sign the Sale & Purchase (S&P) agreement and Deed of Mutual Covenants. Before we can sign the SPA, we had to pay the downpayment as well as the disbursement fee (to pay for documentations to the developer's lawyer).
- We proceeded to sign transfer of power document which basically means that as long as we have not fully paid our loan, the bank has the power over our house, including to sell it off in auction. This is done at the bank's attorney office. Oh, and the legal charges? Cost our arms and legs. We had to give the original copies of the S&P and the Deed to the bank's lawyer for the bank to proceed payment release.
- We went to Kepong to settle our MRTA (Mortgage Reducing Term Assurance) policy -- you are required to apply for MRTA when buying a house. This policy is to cover the repayment of outstanding loan in the event of death / disability / critical illness of the borrower. The older your age at the time of applying this policy, the more expensive it is. So buy your house while you're still young.
- Last but not least, we then made copies of our copy of S&P, the offer letter, IC and bank book, filled up EPF form and submitted all these to the EPF. People advised us that it is best to submit our EPF form at the their HQ in Jalan Raja Laut, as the withdrawal process is faster. We just have to wait...