twenty years ago

1997

I was 7 years old. A few weeks into my primary one in a Chinese school. For a primary one, I was considered quite tall. Naturally, I would be seated at the back. I had no qualms about it until…

“inilah hor incik jainal…saya rasa hor, anak you hor…siti hor…ada masalah sikit lor…dia hor…selalu salah hor tulis…saya rasa hor…dia tarak nampak itu papan hitam…emak dia ada pakai cermin mata ka? Mungkin la mungkin dia ni hor labun jugak lor…”

off I went after school to kedai cermin mata.

antara spek spek pertama ai...ai dah lama dah pakai ala-ala wayfarer...

Since then, countless frames have decorated my face…besar, kcik…rectangle, square…yang plastik yang besi…And since then, countless frames have been stepped on…sat on…hahahahaha…

“Yah…cermin mata patah…”

“Laa patah lagi??? Ala…cian anak ayah tak nampak…jom jom kita gi buat baru…”

sangat rasa disayangi...

do not approach the other person…

“Ma…cermin mata patah…”

“Patah laaaaaaaagi??? Setahun ko nak tukar berapa kali spek ko ni dik…aku heranlah spek yang patut diletak kat muka tu, ko letak merata merata tempat buat ape? Tak sampai setahun pakai dah patah dah bengkok dah pecah…spek aku ni ha…takdelah bertukar tukar, dah bertahun tahun dah…tu yang aku heran…macam mana ko pakai spek ko tu…elok diikat je kat muka ko tu…kalau dikumpullah spek spek ko sebelum ni…boleh bukak kedai spek dah satu…ni spek baru ni kang, tah berapa lama lah tahan…*dengus* tak faham aku…”

sungguh rasa disayangi…

-__-

As I grew older…friends started to nag me to put on contact lenses instead…I tried…then I abandoned the idea for two very-simple-but-my-friends-cannot-accept-it reasons:

1. ai tak rasa cantik kalau ai tak pakai spec.

2. ai malas dan rimas dengan ritual ritual nak buka and pakai and store kanta lekap itu.

percutian tunjuk

my holiday scheme works like this:

plan and tell: you plan first kaw kaw with your friends; then you ask demand you parents’ permission about it. If they say no, well…

“tapi…tapi…tapi ma…tiket semua dah beli dah...chalet semua dah book dah…takde refund…”

my mother, yang sangat careful dengan duit tu…upon hearing “takde refund” (rugilah kan…$$$ tak semena mena nanti terbang…) had no choice but to let me go…

“ape nak dicari kat tioman tu dikkkk…ko ni…takdelah reti nak duduk diam…ke sana ke mari…berenang haram tak tau…pergi nak ke pulau aje…tak tau aku der…ko pergilah Tanya ayah ko tu…*dengus*dengus*dengus*…”        

-__-

“ape nak dicari kat __________” ß-insert name of places you want to go…tak kira, pulau tioman ke…pavilion ke…jusco ke….

my father, on the other hand, was quite supportive every time I wanted to go some where.

“nak pergi mana kali ni? Huh? Tioman? Best tu tioman…adik pergi bahagian mana? Ayah ada kaan kat situ tu…dulu ayah ada pergi tioman…masa tu tioman tak membangun lagi…ape pon takde…pulau kosong jer time tu…best la adik pergi…sekarang mesti dah ada banyak chalet…facilities…line talifon ada?” 

^_^

the positive reaction I got from my father, I think was largely contributed from his own liking to travel too…so, he knew “ape nak dicari kat tioman tu”.

And

And

And

From his GUILT kooootttt…hahahahahahahaha….

When I was small…I can say that I travel quite a bit with my parents…you know being the youngest and stuff…aku jerlah yang selalu dapat ikot pon…we went to Terengganu, balik to our kampung in kota tinggi johor and stuff…

So, we would pass all these interesting places that Malaysia has to offer la kan…

For example, like gunung ledang.

“ha dik, adik nampak tu? Tu lah gunung ledang.” -à point to gunung ledang, miles and miles away from the car window at a speed of 140mph.

gunung ledang would just zoooshhh pass me.

Or

Like air terjun kota tinggi.

“ha dik…kalau kita masuk simpang ni nanti…sampailah kat air terjun tu…” à point to the entrance of the simpang.

Worst…tak nampak pon air terjun tu.

So, this is what I call…

Percutian tunjuk!!!