Salam Aidilfitri.

'Tis the last day of Ramadhan! What have you achieved this year?

For me, this year was my first year of fasting in Bintulu. DON'T let me start on Bintulu. Please. Not that bigga deal if you consider how I was always away on Ramadhan since 2005. First it was Labuan (gag), then it was KL and now Bintulu. I guess Labuan wins the Worst Place to be Fasting In category. KL has the most atrociously awful traffic jam during this time of the year and Bintulu? Can't say anything much because it's... Bintulu? And that's not a good thing.

Whatever it is, Miri wins, hands down. Though my Ramadhan has never been the same without the famous abang who sells Murtabak Jakarta! Where has he gone off to? It has been.. what? Four years since I last have me some of those murtabak??

ABANG, BALIK LAH MALAYSIA. T_T

I swear on my flight tickets to KL this October, I will get to eat Murtabak Jakarta again before I die. Even at the cost of going there myself! *stalks AirAsia website*

I guess Bintulu is at least good for one thing, I get to do tarawikh at the mosque more than I've ever done so in KL or Labuan because I have Uncle with me. So, it's nice to join in the kampung people. Even if they sometimes stare because I was always alone, and obviously am not from around there. Or maybe because I just dazzle in my telekung.

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..

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But lemme tell you something! I am sick of people in coveralls being everywhere! And they are literally EVERYWHERE. On my way to work, I see these people walking along the road, or waiting for the bus. In the office, when that one contractor comes in to fix things. At the site, well that I understand because they have to. At the gas station, well they gotta fill up their tanks too. At pasar Ramadhan, in flocks, I swear! E-ve-ry-where.

There are so many things I wish out of Bintulu but I guess I just have to settle with things to be grateful of.

Last Friday, I was cruising from the office on my way to town, which, mind you, takes almost an hour to and fro, with earphones blaring off playlist from my iPhone, when I passed by this young lady carrying two luggage bags, with her one hand holding a child.

They were walking alongside the highway and it was murderously hot outside. See, ever since my first week in Bintulu I've been wanting to let someone hitch a ride with me but I never came to it because..

I was always in a rush.

It's not safe to just let strangers in your car, I can hear Ahmad in the background, "Nurul, jaga diri elok-elok tau." and trust me, he says that almost everyday.

The highway from our site office to nearby housing area is not that near, so (God forbid) if anything were to happen..

But that day, it was different. There were a lot of cars on the road because everyone was rushing to go somewhere before they go back for holiday. I really wanted to help but I hesitated at first but bad conscience over responsibility overpowered me. So I made a U-turn up ahead and looked for the lady. Saw her, made another U-turn and stopped by the road side.

"Kakak? Mau pergi mana?"

"Stesen bas.."

"Masuk lah kereta, kita sama-sama pergi. Kamek pun on the way."

She looked like she just showered in her own sweat. She got in the car with her two bags and her daughter, who must not have been a year older than 5? 6? And so we started chatting.

"Mau balik sine?" I spoke in both Sarawak dialect and a little bit of Bahasa itself, because I didn't know whether she was Iban or Indonesian. From our conversation later on, I found out she's the former.

"Miri.. Sudah lama tidak balik." She spoke softly. She seemed friendly, Good! I thought.

"Oh! Kamek pun orang Miri. Berapa lama sudah kakak sik balik?" I asked.

"Dua tahun.. Ya lah, mok tengok bajet kan." She said, her smile never left her lips.

And here you have me, driving back every weekend because RM50 for full tank is dispensable.

We got on more personal topics, how long has she stayed in Bintulu. How long have I been in Bintulu. Her father's kampung, mother's kampung, her kids. Her husband and former husband.

During some parts of our conversation, especially when she shared about her ex husband and why the marriage broke up, her voice was trembling.

Aku sedih. :'(

Ya Allah, protect all the women out there including myself from abusive husbands, I thought to myself.

If someone who's been through so much like her struggled with that type of men, apa lagi someone semanja aku, who has never even been hit or threatened with words by my own father.

We ventured into new topics after, her kampung in Niah and how there's no water and they take their showers in the river at the plantation and I was even more pressed with guilt. I see rivers being polluted everyday by the contractors and what do I do? Take a picture of it, make a report and instruct the contractors to do something about it - which is always too late for any action, anyway.

We reached the bus station, I helped her carry her things out of the car and she suddenly held out RM10 for me, "Untuk tambang kereta, dik."

Aku sedih lagi. What's RM10 for me?

"Tidak apa kak, kamek pun on the way jugak. Bagus-bagus okay?" I said, slipping in something.

"Terima kasih," She said gratefully.

And that alone made my whole week.

* * *

Since all of us are here (me from Bintulu, my baby sister from Kuching and my brother from KL), my father decided to break our fast at the hotel. Because he misses us! Well, he wouldn't say it. Pfft. But I know that man good enough that he does not need to say a word.

Looking all animated, telling a story about something.

My brother, my baby sister (who just cut her hair after being coerced to by yours truly) and my father who looked away when he saw me holding up my phone. Ecececeh!

Since it's my brother in law's turn to celebrate the first day of Raya at his kampung in Kedah, my sister and my niece will not be here for Raya until only the 5th day. I'm sharing this information because it's vital to the next part of my story.

Ayra, my niece, is my parents' first grandchild. My mother took care of her when she was here. My mother is lonely. My mother wants another grandchild so if Ayra can't celebrate Raya here at least she'll have the other grandchild to celebrate with. And then sitting at the same table, you have us - my 30 year old brother who's single, 23 year old me who just started working this year and my 19 year old sister. GO!

"Dzul, kahwin lagik kau Dzul."

Abang senyap. "Mmm."

"Okay? Mak mbak kau pergi Bandung cari bini, okay?"

"Mmm." Abang makan salad.

Because abang was not responsive, my mother turned to her daughter sitting next to her - me.

"Kitak kahwin bila, Sha?"

"Sekda duit," I said.

"Oh sikpa, mak belanja! Mak belanja! Bertunang jak dolok!"

"Mmm."

When two of her most probable children to get married soon both refused to respond to her pleading, she turned to her youngest.

"Baby.." And before she could say anything else, the whole table roared with laughter! Even my father struggled to contain his!

My mother is really desperate for more grandchildren, she even started planning for 2013, when none of her other kids are even married yet!

As for me? I have a few personal goals to achieve before I can even start on that. So, until then, Mak, minta maaf zahir dan batin!

***

Yesterday, I woke up really early. How early? 9.30 AM early! Suck on that!

Okay, don't.

Since my hair has been devoid of any contact with brushes for the past month, I thought it's high time for me to pamper it a little bit what with all the sun it has been exposed to day in and day out. So I turned to Bob.

Bob is a shemale. She (he?) is nice. She (he??) is chatty so it's always a fun trip when I go to Bob's hair salon. Bob has a really purdy Persian cat as seen in the picture below -

I forgot its name. But that's beside the point of this story.

Don't mind the bare face. It was 9.30 in the morning, hokay! On a Sunday! Sheesh.

Before I had the chance to do my hair, my mother stopped by the hair salon to persuade me to get the shot for prevention against cervical cancer after my hair treatment.

"But I don't want!" I protested.

"Sakit! Hari ya kamek kenak inject ya, keluar darah!" My baby sis chimed in, whose life is sworn to make it even more difficult for me.

"NOOOOOOOOO!!" I cried out.

"And since this is your first kan Kakak, you'll have another two shots to go!" She added.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

My shout reverberated through the room, I swear the glass of water on the table shook and almost spilled on the table. Wait, I don't swear. I am just trying to describe how loud I was.

VERY to the power of 10.

I don't like needles, NAY, I am terrified of needles. The thought of that thing being near me drives my heart up multiple notches. My heartbeat would accelerate so much, my tear duct would suddenly start producing this.. this thing you human call tear.

I am no human, I am an Ice Princess. I feel no emotion.

After learning that I cannot escape the needle. Ice Princess cebik. :-(

But after much wheedling (I'm so good) I made my mother believe that I'll go and get the shot the day after, instead (which was today but I didn't wake up for it teeheehee).

Helah berjaya. Happy sekejap, will deal with it tomorrow, I thought. And deal with it, I certainly did. Heh heh.

While waiting for the erm thing to finish erm producing steam from the top of my head? I was given a few magazines to read.

Of all magazines - URTV! Yes, tok lah best untuk gelak.

I browse through and laughed and laughed and laughed some more at the headlines displayed on every page.

Oh, poor Fasha. Tak rindu siapa? Tedah!

1. Edisi ekslusif dan terhad??

2. RM69 for a songkok!?

3. Tinggi 5 inci?!?!!

4. Nama songkok is NA'e'SYA?!???

5. ALL OF THE ABOVE!?!???!!! Bloody hell.

Ha ha makan katak!

Ah, I saved the best for last -

HOI!! Siapa ajak Ahmad ke ranjang ni!?! BERANI?! Nurul marah ni, marah!!

Teehee. You can only imagine how mad I looked like, with steams at the top of my head, laughing like no one's business! Ah, good day.

Selamat Hari Raya and Maaf Zahir Fatin. Oops, I mean batin!