sparkslife

When soap is accidentally dropped to the floor, it will make a serious dent on its otherwise smooth body. It’s just makes me wonder whether staying in Forest Green had dented my life in some sort of way. Well, I would says dented because traumatized seems like such a BIG word to use. Haha… Anyway back to my point.

Let us revise back to my life in Forest Green. First of all, it is far from UTAR. I wouldn’t mind the walking but I DO mind the sweating. You guys know what happened when I sweat. My hair will be all over the place (not that it actually stays in place when it’s dry) and sticking firmly to my wet forehead, my shirt will be soaked, my bag will slop halfway down my shoulder, my glasses will become blur and yes lastly people will stare at me as if I’m a reject from a freak show.

That is just the tip of the iceberg. The next thing is I don’t know what the hell is wrong with Forest Green. It seems like everything is wrong there. The house, the security guard, the stray dogs (Ok it doesn’t BELONG to Forest Green but it do strays around there), the damp grass, the flooded corridor, the over-chlorinated pool, the a-bit-too-friendly neighbors, the abandoned sarang burung (REAL bird nest, not the food!) in the kitchen, the giant garbage dump and lastly the color of my room (It is deep red! Which color blind jerk goes and paints it?). I began to wonder whether Forest Green is built to trap all the innocent UTAR people with its cheap rent and its so-called “serene and refreshing environment”.

That’s why I dreaded going back to Forest Green every Sunday night. Looking back I could not imagine that I actually stayed in that place for 3 months. Suddenly a feeling of accomplishment overtakes me. I tell myself, I need a pat on the shoulder! Like seriously.

Now sitting ever so comfortably in my Flora Green room and writing this piece of blog, I felt that I wouldn’t want to be anywhere (in Sg. Long) but here!

Yes, I am dented when all the while in Forest Green but who said that soap couldn’t regain its perfect smooth body after a great fall? With a bit of touch up job I’m could be just as smooth and perfect as a newly bought one.

If not better.

Don’t be misled by the title above. No, I did not sneak into MPH after they closed down. What I did that for actually? Just to enjoy and savor the sensation of having the whole bookstore to my own? That’s totally crazy if you ask me. I mean you can read all the books you want during their operation hour, so why risk yourself going into a darken bookstore to erm… read. Unless my sanity is outta window, I wouldn’t do that in my whole entire life. And yes, I totally do not look forward to telling my grandson how “brave” and “courageous” their grandpa is when he was young to sneak into a closed bookstore to read a couple of Archie magazines.

OK back to the main story.

For those of you that are still in the dark, yes I got a job in MPH Mid Valley. I’m working as a Customer Service Assistant (normal worker lah. They twist the name. Haha.). My job involved housekeeping (susun buku), assists customers (like Duh!), and the book processing stuff (pricing, displaying and returning books). Don’t you ever think that you can goyang kaki when you working in a bookstore. Everyday is freaking busy to me. Running here and there. Pindah this and move that. But at the end of the day it is all worth it. Don’t ask me why. I’m just love working in a bookstore.   

Well, tonight there is no exception. My boss, George called me to help him up in the decoration for the Peter Pan storytelling event tomorrow. At first I thought the event will be the normal sort of events like the other events they have here weeks after weeks. But George goes to the extra length this time. Kinda weird for an event like storytelling. First we cover up the messy backdrop of the KidZone (A large open space where kids can sit and read and also the venue for any events) with a red cloth. To go with the theme of the new Peter Pan story we need to set the right mood and the suitable atmosphere for the event. The book cover for the new Peter Pan story is maroon in color with gold details. And on the center of the cover stands a young and energetic Peter Pan with a grin on his face. Behind him, the crimson sky is vast and huge. Next to Mr. Pan we can see a coconut tree and some other stuff that I don’t remember.

So the theme color is red. I got that. And we suppose to set the atmosphere to some sort of autumn-like condition. I got that also. So we have some vines of dried fallen (going to fall) leaves, some reddish berries garland and some bulky branches of leaves and berries. At first I thought George had everything planned and set up in his mind, but to my disappointment, he did not. He kept asking me for my opinion. I being the most stupid and uncreative kid you will ever met, failed to provide any “brilliant” or “out-of-the-box” suggestions. I guessed my boss was disappointed because he expected SO much from me. Not that I can’t give him what he wanted, but more like I can’t live up to his expectation.

Anyway when the whole thing is done and over with, I can feel that my boss did most of the job. And he did quite a good job. I stand there with two branches in my hand and started to wonder what my boss could possibly thinking at the moment. Could it be “Gosh, I ended up doing everything by myself! And I’m the boss!!” or maybe “Luckily he working here for three months! I so gonna die if it’s three years!!”. Anyway I know the answer to that question when he turn and address me a question.

What you think?

I can’t believe that he still care for my opinion. He should just kick me hard and tell me to buzz off. But being a good boss as he is, he still care for my opinion.

After that incident I felt kinda down. You know, the feeling where you felt you can’t do anything at all and everything is outta your limit. Anyway to cure my “downiness” I decided to have a brief walk around the store. Anyway the store was closing and some of the lights were off. Plus the kids and parents were long gone; leaving me a sense of peacefulness and serenity. As I was walking through the teen reader section, I saw one girl sitting on a wheelchair. She looked kinda lost and helpless. Sitting there in the dark with nobody around. I guess she was afraid. I went near her and mouth her a word of “Hi” before going to a nearest shelf to arrange some out-of-place books. Minutes later she called out for me.

“Excuse me, but can you push me back to the front entrance?”

There is a tone of desperation in her voice. But behind that tone also, I can sense a strong ness and concreteness in her request. What amazed me the most is her request to push her back. It’s like she is not afraid to tell people what she is incapable of. It’s more like she is proud of who she is. Not to be ashamed of what she doesn’t have. In this case is the ability to stand on your own feet and walk. The basic thing that we took for granted is what this girl is lacking. And instead of dwelling in self-pity I can tell that this girl is thankful and proud of what she has.

She really intrigued me. So I started to talk to her. I found out that her name is Javellin and she is 12 years old. She studies in Segambut. She talks in a quick and fast-paced manner. She is very polite and her English is perfect. Talking to her make me forget about the stuff that happened a moment ago. All those stuff seems small compared to what she is dealing with. Meeting her is really a blessing to me. She may not know this but she had just taught me a very important lesson in my life. She is more than who she is. Totally more.

After bidding her goodbye I met up with George.

Without any hesitation, I told him I’m sorry. I’m sorry for not doing all the stuff that I could do. I’m sorry for making him feel that I could not give him what he wanted. I’m sorry for being so ignorant. I’m sorry for everything.

After listening to what I said to him he smiled and patted me on the shoulder. “You did a lot Teck. Look at what we had done. It’s beautiful right?” He said referring to the decorations. “You’ve been a great help. Believe me. Don’t ever felt sorry for yourself.” He smiled again and left some time for me to digest what he had said.

I don’t know about you but for me George is the best boss I have ever had. 

I promised him I will do better next time. I will not disappoint him and I definitely will try my hand in everything I do not believe I can do. For a moment I can sense that what George said to me just now is solely for purpose of making me feel better. I nodded to him and smile.

“OK Teck?”

I nodded again and sensing that I’m alright, he left.

At that moment I realized how small I am. In my eyes I’m just a small kid in a big world trying to figure out the complexities of life and there will sure be a hell of shits I still have to learn.

The One With Road Trip: Penang

Well, after weeks of planning and drooling over the thoughts of Penang laksa, we are finally going to Penang for REAL! Surprise surprise… our planning didn’t go down the drain this time (When was the last time it went down there?!). But unfortunately something else went down there instead. Haha…

Hmm… the first thing I can tell you about Penang is of course the Penang Bridge. Ah… the magnificent and majestic hanging bridge which have been the shown-off of Penangites to others. Unfortunately during my time of visit the sea is a bit; well, hazy if I have to say. The skies look like a white thick curtain draping from high above over the sea. The sea, in turn cast a reflection of the hazy skies above; which perfected the mirror image of the skies on the sea. So you can say that everything looked whitish above and below the horizon (Heck! I can’t even see the horizon!). But even during the hazy time, the bridge still stands tall and proud (I mean the tiang-tiang! Haha…) making us go oohs and ahhs over it. (Maybe it’s just me. Hehe…).

After dropping off at the bus station in Sg. Nibong, we get ourselves to our hotel by the means of the most convenient public transport, taxi. The fare was an astonishing RM 35. We agreed to it nonetheless after the initial rude shock. Luckily the taxi driver was a helpful one. He managed to introduce to us a few places of interests and how to get there from our hotel. At least he made up to the costly fare by providing extra tour guiding counseling services. Haha…  The journey to our hotel took about half an hour. On the way to the hotel I can see a lot of old but big houses all along the road. The houses are with huge garden (usually unattended) and the walls that surround the house are grey and beaten. On some sides of the wall mould can be seen all around it. There will be a huge shady tree standing at one side of the house perimeter. (Standardized design?). The house itself is of vintage designed with huge windows and a huge front door to match. From outside, the house looks quite big with approximately 3 floors.

We reach our hotel at around 1pm. Crown Jewel is the name of our hotel. It is a huge white building with a dried up fountain on its main entrance. (Ever heard of fillin’ up water?). The sea is located at the back of the hotel. Well too bad for us because our room doesn’t provide us with a pleasant sea-view (We get to see a bit only). After checking in and dropping off our luggage, we head off to the nearest food court to cure our empty stomach.

After the meal, we head off to Gurney Plaza for a little sight seeing (Yea right, in shopping center) Haha… With the help of a helpful and kind aunty, we managed to board bus No 1-1 to reach there (There are more to come of that bus). Well, after 3 days of walking around a lot of Malls (Gurney Plaza, Island Plaza, Looking Good, and Perangin Mall) I would says that Gurney Plaza is THE best mall of all. It typically shares a huge resemblance to Sunway Pyramid, Mid Valley and maybe a bit of KLCC also. Haha… In the designs and lighting factors it totally a mirror image of Sunway Pyramid. The shops variety ness is kinda same as Mid Valley. While the shops lay out is kinda similar to KLCC’s. So it has the best of three worlds if I must say. Until now I still kinda miss shopping there. I just dunno why.

For dinner, we get ourselves to the renowned food court, Gurney Drive. The food there is nothing short of excellence. The laksa was great and the char kuey teow was very mouth watering. Plus the fried lobak that we had have practically an aftertaste to last a lifetime. I can still remember the crunchiness and crispiness of it as if I just had it a minute ago. The chili sauce that comes with it will totally knock your sock off. For desserts, we have both the Chendul (Penang’s spelling) and Bubur Cha Cha. Both did not disappoint me a bit. Penang is the heaven for food!

After two days of zooming around malls and checking out food, we meet up with Jacy on the third day. Well she is from Penang herself. (Lucky us. She can totally bring us around. And not forgetting having fun with us!). Well, she showed us around Georgetown, the capital of Penang. Knowing that Arveen have a thirst for night clubbing, she brings us to famous clubs in that area. Haha… And with a trusty tour guide with us, we get to try our hand on the best delicacies around! First stop: Chendul. The chendul is of big proportion (One BIG bowl) and its store has a photo of Gurmit Singh and Irene Ang eating chendul at their store sticking next to the name of their store. Famous store huh? Haha… Yea, I must say the chendul was very different from what we have in Gurney Drive. Definitely nicer!

For the next two hours, we embark on a backpacker-style journey around the town (On foot.). I must say all the running and walking does have an effect on the digestive system. Especially after a heavy buffet for breakfast (I knew I shouldn’t take those extra sausages!!). We zip, we run, we avoid cars (Penang drivers are worse than KL’s), we laugh, we giggle, we joke, and we practically have to drag our heavy feet under the blazing hot freaking sun. That is ONE experience I will remember! After we reach Perangin Mall, I don’t feel so good. It’s like all the stuff I had is trying to crawl their way back up my esophagus.

I got sick and I don’t feel very well.

Every step I take is a cautious one. (To avoid agitation to the stomach content. You don’t know what they will do when they get agitated). And every breath I take is a slow one. What do you think I suppose to do now? With a stomach content desperately trying to push their way out and I’m freaking stuck in some Malls in Penang and not forgetting I’m suppose to take a 4 hours bus ride to KL. Just when I thought that the pressure of it all will finally get the stuff off my chest, literary, I was wrong. When I did try to forcefully push all the content out, they refuse to bulge, even a bit. How freaking ironic. When I emerged from the toilet with my hand on my upset stomach, my friends know I did not throw up.

To add the embarrassment for the day, I have to resolve to ask a few extra plastic bags from the shop counter. This is just a safety precaution in case I DO throw up in the bus. The lady behind the counter threw me a curious glance. I guess she must be wondering what the heck am I suppose to do with the extra plastic bags. Hello? Ever heard of the usage of plastic bag as the storage place for your rejected stomach content? Well I guess that’s a BRAND new concept for her. To make matter worse, she purposely slow down her action in retrieving the puny plastic bags for me (I guess she want other customers to see how generous the store is in giving extra plastic bags). And here I am thinking that Penang people are kind and generous in nature. This totally reminds me of THE incident that happened during the second day of our trip.

<Turning back the clock of time to a day before>
The bus came to a rumble as it attempted to begin the journey after a brief stop at the bus stop. The three of us have to resolve to standing on the aisle of the bus as all the seats had been filled up. After getting some REALLY weird look from the passengers in the bus, we decided to waste no time and be on the total lookout for our next stop: Island Plaza. After about 15 minutes of “looking out”, I felt that our little effort might just not bear any results. Thus, I did the next best thing: ASK THE GIRL IN FRONT OF ME!

From her face, she does look quite helpful and friendly. But approaching a stranger in a noisy bus is no easy task. Suddenly my mind zoomed to a phrase by my one of my favorite author, Mitch Albom. In his bestseller, “Five People You Meet In Heaven”, he mentioned something that related to the relationship of us and the people around us (the society at large). The phrase goes something like this; Strangers are just the family members you didn’t know. OK I told myself; just treat her like one of my long lost sister or an auntie that had been living in Penang for her whole entire freaking life. I should be happy meeting up with her now. (Or shouldn’t I). Fine there’s no more time to waste. With a heavy heart and a heavier hand, I began to reach to her and give her some sort of greeting. I guess she was taken aback by my sudden move (Don’t worry. I’m not courting you or something. I’m LOST for Christ’s sake). Addressing myself in Mandarin, I try to explain my situation to her and at the same time ask for her help. Surprisingly, she replied me in English! (OMG. My Mandarin got English slang?!).

Stranger/Family member: Erm, Island Plaza is on the right side of the bus (Pointing to the right side) and it’s after the fire station. You know the fire station??

Me: (Wanted to roll my eyes but didn’t) I guess I know a fire station if I see one. In fact I think I saw one when I’m coming here. So Island Plaza is after the fire station and it’s on the right side of the road?

Stranger/Family member: Yea. You can ask the driver if you don’t know. The driver knows everything!

At this point I can feel all eyes on me. It’s like I can feel the pressure of their stare on me. All over me. I must admit, I don’t comfortable at that point in time. Beside having the words “I’M SO LOST AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE THE HECK THIS FREAKIN’ BUS IS GOING” written all over my face now I have all the passengers staring at me as their form of entertainment in the bus. After the helpful girl got down from the bus, Arveen approached me asking me how to get to Island Plaza. I have to repeat all the shits the girl threw at me just now. All this while, our friend, Lup Soon just stand behind there pretending not to be involved in the drama (Good job!). At this point “The Sitcom At The Bus” just reaches a new level of hilariousism. (Somebody should record this and upload at YouTube).

Arveen give me an “I-Don’t-Understand-A-Crap-You-Talking-About” look after the tiring effort of me explaining the shits to her (How hard can it be?). The kid beside us obviously had been faithfully watching our little antics on the bus because he was giggling in his seat. Moments later he told us that Island Plaza is after the traffic light junction. I guess the little boy helpful action just triggered a chain reaction in the bus. Suddenly all the passengers are focusing on us (The bus is small) and a Chinese auntie beside us was actually screaming “Excuse me, Excuse me!” a few time toward us to get our attention (Minus the frantic hand movement). Failing to get our attention the first time, he reach for part of Arveen’s anatomy (Can’t be mention due to the explicit position of the anatomy. Haha!!) to seriously get our attention (Penang people ARE seriously helpful!). After the little jolt, we finally pay our 100% attention to her and believe me, it pays off. She gave a VERY detail direction and the old skinny Indian guy next to the kid even offered to press the bell for us! Haha… The Sitcom At The Bus is really a collaborative effort between all the passengers! After thanking all the people that helped us, we finally got down the bus in one single piece. I’m glad the curtain had finally coming down for our little act! (But no encore?). Haha….

Our ride in the bus just shows one thing. No it’s not about how entertaining KL people can be (although it might be true) but it’s about how helpful and kind Penang folks can be. A top notch respect to them! Haha…

<Un-turning back the hand of a clock to the present>
Looking at the lady face behind the counter, I wonder if she is the only unkind Penang people. Haha…. A black sheep in the island! Anyway after getting the plastic bag from her we quickly get back into the car and get ourselves to Sg. Nibong bus station. Time is ticking away fast and my stomach is getting weaker and weaker by minutes. By the time we reached Sg. Nibong, I was practically sniffing the minyak angin as if I was sniffing some very exquisite and delicate perfume. Afraid that I will eventually throw up all over the place, Jacy want me to keep the minyak angin as another safety precaution (Thanks Jacy! Gonna give you back the minyak angin after about…. Erm 3 months).

The bus came to a halt in front of us 3. It was a different bus compared to what we have when we coming to Penang. Anyway the interior of the bus is the same as the previous bus. After getting seated and stuff, we finally begin our journey back to Kuala Lumpur!

To cut the story, I didn’t get to bring any form of souvenir back to KL. Even what I ate. (Get it? I threw up!!) Yes, somewhere near Kedah I think, I finally couldn’t take it anymore. After a sharp turn around one corner, I finally reach for the trusty plastic bag and…… and…… well; let’s just skip the detail part of it OK?

And that’s the end of our exciting and memorable road trip in Penang.