Recharged.

When I fall in love I take my time
There's no need to hurry when I'm making up my mind
You can turn off the sun but I'm still gonna shine and I'll tell you why
Because
the remedy is the experience. It is a dangerous liaison
I say the comedy is that its serious. Which is a strange enough new play on words
I say the tragedy is how you're gonna spend the rest of your nights with the light on
So shine the light on all of your friends when it all amounts to nothing in the end.
I won't worry my life away.

- Jason Mraz’s “The Remedy” -

Hey, I’m back :)

And you know what?

It was F.U.N.

Seriously, no joke! Ok, so there were parts where I did feel like screaming “Nak balik!!!!”, but with the great company I had (Mrs Skyline, Mrs Denmark, and La Pacina) and a bunch of other people from various govt places, I didn’t have much time to moan about being away from home *grins*.

The one thing that I came back with was: the amount of things I learnt throughout the whole time; be it propaganda, facts, gossips, tips, basically general knowledge. I am now refreshed, ready to tackle on my ever burgeoning pile of work, and to re-enter my life as a human being again. The fact that my family welcomed me back with open arms added to the sweetness of coming back from the boondocks *or the boonies, as how Intan puts it hehe*. I am actually very grateful that I opted to go for this session, as not only I got to know those ladies very well, and found my niche with each of them, I also found out that I made the right decision, as I was greeted with a pleasant surprise upon coming back, on my desk. Alhamdulillah, I never expected to be picked for this thingy I have to go to in July, and now that I have, I’m going to use this great opportunity as a bouncing stone. Let’s hope all goes well then.

Back to the knowledge I’ve gained. I didn’t realize how ignorant I was *well, ok laa, I did, but not to THAT extent* and how short-sighted I can be. I’ve learnt that you can learn the most amazing things from the unlikeliest people. I’ve learnt that there’s more than meets the eye. And, I now realize that its never too late to learn. And to not stop questioning, ever.

The other thing I came back with was: The friends I’ve made. The wonderful, wonderful people I hung out with: the great guys from the federal land development authority, the fun people from the export agency, and of course rediscovering current workmates who have now turned to playmates * I mean that in a non-Playboy kind of way, you yellow-brained pervert, you*. The guy with much caliber and the hugest laugh, the unassuming one who sat in front of me who could read the Quran in a most melodious voice and turned out to be such a sensitive yet intelligent man, the sweet young one who helped carry my Santa Claus sack of dirty clothes to the car, the one with the juiciest lips ever *hehe* who provided some highlights of the whole thing, but turned out to be just another kid looking for a buddy, the lovely lady who held my hand in the dark and bounced along my stories, the bunch of dudes who had such sense of responsibility and know the role they play so well that they made me squirmed in embarrassment whenever they talked passionately about their job, the great bunch of people who helped tugged me out of the swamp and endured my tremendous weight in the jungles, and the other lovely ladies who were there who added to the fun and also tragic moments of the whole 17 days.

And of course, the surprise phone call I got. Tee hee.

I’m whole again.

Some unforgettable moments:

1. The food poisoning. Uggh, the diarrhea, the constant rumble in the tummy, the long nap in the afternoon while skipping class for worry that the constant journey to the toilet might disrupt class. Well, I wasn’t the only one afflicted with this, about a quarter of us suffered it, but we ended up still stuffing our face during the BBQ session, regardless of how we all think that macaroni and cheese should not taste spicy. Na’ah.
2. The rush to get those pesky assignments done. I have not written reports by hand in a while, so all of us got some wrist exercises that time.
3. Brokeback Mountain. La Pacina, bless her heart, brought along a vcd player, and although we’re all a bunch of CSI and movie freaks, there’s so much we could take from only AXN, HBO, and TV3. Alor, Hindi soundtracks, Tristan and Isolde, and of course, Brokeback Mountain broke the monotony. Let’s just say the gay lovers got us discussing about them, just about everywhere. Sampai nak tidur malam pun kena kupas that movie again, hehe.
4. The rush of clear river water every meal time as the cafeteria was next to the stream. However, the pool, or more like the contents of it, leaves much, much, much to be desired. Although, that did not stop the boys from all the water polo games they played.
5. The show we had to put up. Our group opted, instead of the sketch that we’re supposed to do, we’d just sing and dance to Ratu’s “Teman Tapi Mesra”. Corny but yeah, what do u expect from last minute preparations. There were prizes up for grabs, of which we were not confident of winning. The other groups had matching outfits and choreographed movements, we just had our gila-gila people dancing like an Egyptian. And guess who won? Yup, us! Guess the judge was prolly swayed by the sincerity of the boys swaying uncertainly but earnestly to the song. Awww, sooo sweet. I was pretty terharu looking at most of the guys as they don’t seem to know their left feet from the other, but the effort they put in was worth everything. The best part was when our group practiced with the CD playing on a fellow groupmate’s car cd player *by the surau, no less!*. Well, there we were, trying out all the moves, and generally fooling around, when a bunch of other people joined us in, and there we were, a giant group of people dancing to “Teman Tapi Mesra”!! Guess everyone was as stressed out as all of us were, even the appointed ustadz who reads our doas everyday was dancing along! Haha!
6. The great performance, of which I must give kudos to my colleagues, for learning and practicing the steps in such a short time. We recreated the short dance for the Deepavali show we did last year to “Bole Chudiyan” and got enormous applause. That was such a kembang-fied moment for me, not only because we came up with something different, but because those colleagues of mine did soooo well. I'm so proud of you guys!
   
7. The karaoke session with Mr Juicy hehehe..nuff said ;)
8. The studying session which led us to learning a bunch of new stuff. And of course, copying of each other during the exams *which was not guarded, so there* , and the comeback of the toyol. Hehe. I think all of us did pretty well for that exam *winks*
9. The breakfast session which should remain a secret to some of us. Oh, I never thought a simple nasi lemak with lauk kangkung, teh o'ais limau, teh tarik and teh ais could taste soo heavenly. And the small shopping spree at the local Petronas, where we spent almost a hundred bucks on jajans. Oh, and surviving on Maggi Cup noodles when cafeteria food was too unbearable.
   
10. The mad rush by the 3 ladies (Mrs Skyline, Mrs Denmark and La Pacina) and myself to the nearest mall, about ½ an hour before the exams ended to utilize the few hours we have before kena kurung dalam kandang balik. We had sumptuous and satisfying lunch at Chillis, short shopping session and lots of whiffs of the city air, before making our way back mournfully to the jungles. *sigh*. I never thought KL's polluted air could smell so much of freedom till then hehe.
    
11. The short showers, the stolen naps in between sessions, the short sleep at nights, the rushing to most places, the marching, the lessons read out aloud in the surau where I would just stare at the carpet till it swims before me as I was sooo sleepy, and wearing the same clothes for a few days in a row. Hehe. Memang tak boleh lupa.
12. The sweetie who read out the wrong doa when asked to recite the doa makan, resulting in us laughing our heads off.
13. Ohh, laughter. Tons and tons of them. I had a good tummy and face workout the whole 17 days.
14. The mercun sound which I claim personally to be our unique signature. *sigh* that’s something I’ll miss.
15. The memorable lecturers, especially the last one who just had the x-factor that no one could take their eyes of him. Unfortunately, I kept dozing off in class. Can’t help it laa, soooo sleepy!
16. The stimulating discussions and revealing ice-breaking session. I had great group mates who just made everything much easier for me. Hehe, sorry korang, I got the best ones *grins*
17. The mealtimes all of us shared together.
18. The facilitator that made me sooo sleepy that at one point I thought, why is this guy going into a squatting position while seriously talking about matters of the country, when I suddenly realized, actually, it was my eyes going downwards, not that dude. Cheh.
19. The jungle trek which got me into knee high mud, and ended up falling into the arms of a senior colleague who thought he had the strength to carry me. Tolong la abang, saya rasa, saya yang boleh angkat abang! Hahaha…but that was a great mini adventure. My body is still aching till today. I got a taste of the commando crawl, and failing that, had the priviledge to be carried back to the campsite on a sling made out of kain pelikats. Ooh, and finally meredah-ing the river waters that were soo inviting before. Well, it’s a good thing we’re the second group that set out, the pacats were already stuck on the first group participants. Poor La Pacina had 3 of them bloodsuckers on her.
20. The heartfelt speech made by Mrs Skyline whom I didn’t know had it in her to make it sound so sweet.

Err, I think 20 moments is enough :p Not to mention I was known to be a speed talker due to the speed and topic I was talking on during the public speaking session, plus the tears inducing moments when they showed the black and white video. The farewell on the last day was apt as it was raining, and it seemed as if nobody really wanted to leave. Despite the yucky bathroom, the water that doesn’t seem to wash off any traces of soap nor is very clear resulting in us buying huge bottles of mineral water to drink from, all of us left the tiny village with tiny bits of our hearts left there. Tiny pieces that can be picked up by each other, should we ever chance by that village again.

*sigh* I didn’t think that that was the break I need. And it turned out wonderfully well, bar a few bitching sessions *biasalaa, we’re ladies not to be messed with, so if u mess with us, we’ll reward with a few unintentionally loud bitching session*. I'm a happy bunny once again :)

Actually, of course there were loads more to tell, but I’m tired out from Jazzercise and I’ve gotta catch my faithful driver tomorrow, so this is a tiny momento of the experience I had that I bequeath to you, my readers.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE…………………..POOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!