Random Act of Kindness

Last night, my husband, 2 of our dearest business partners and me had had an unforgettable experience. Enough to say that it was not our highlight of the day and would surely be quite some time before we forget the scene. Let's just say when emotion and anger consumes the mind, people can act quite aggressively & in an uncivilized way. Alhamdulillah my 2 business partners was very mature, very professional and I have to say they had showed great composure in the whole commotion.

As I woke up this morning, I was feeling a big groggy from lack of good sleep, emotionally a bit ticked by the unforseen event the previous night, I had had busy clinics in the new vitreoretinal team, I haven't really held my 1yr old son in 4 days as everyday as I came back, he'd already be asleep and as I took off to work in the morning, he'd still be in bed. In a word, I was feeling low. The drive to work was not as jam-packed as usual but the dread of running an operating theatre and an upcoming assesment by the Profs today, was enough to make my mood parallel with the clutch in the car.

But as I drove into the carpark, as I reached the 4th level (without any sign of an empty spot), I took a bend at the curve, and I saw an old Chinese man being pushed by his wife (I presumed) in a wheelchair, in the narrow curve. I knew if I go through the curve they'll have to wait and let me pass first or else they'll get squeezed against the wall. So I reversed my car, and let them pass, and as they passed my car, they raised their hands to say thanks. Amazingly, I felt so good about myself, and I was literally elated after that.

Conclusion? Whenever you feel so depressed about something, regardless it's your boss, of your spouse, of your children is taking a huge toll of your daily composure, try a RANDOM ACT of KINDNESS to someone you DONT know... The effect? Better than any drugs in the world. You'll feel better instantly, plus you're one step closer in making our planet a better place to stay :)

2011 Chinese New Year

The Chinese New Year comes again... this year it is the year of the rabbits.. I had not had any problem or infatuation with rabbits but I suppose this year is going to mark a very fertile year indeed. I remembered when I was in my primary school, we had had rabbits as pets and the rabbits keep producing baby rabbits like nobody's busisness! Regardless, the rabbits only lasted for a couple of months as the rabbit's home was constantly attacked by dogs and the bad dogs ate them one by one... Asfor me, my 3 wonderful kids are quite handful as it is, so no fertility year for me pleassseee!!

I had not been back to my hometown in Muar for quite some time so I decided the 4 days break was ideal for a short trip. I was oncall the day before the CNY holiday and my father had an injection to his eyes for his eye condition (poor Ayah.. :(.. I came home at 8am, left our house at 10am and my parents were with us the whole trip. Our 1st stop was Putrajaya where we visited my brother. His eldest son was turning 6, so we had a big lunch & a mini-birthday party there. We left at 1pm towards Seremban, where we had another stop at my in-laws' place. After a plate of mee goreng, deliciously cooked by my mother-in-law, we continued our journey my cousin's house in Pedas.

My cousin in 47years old and he was suffering from a condition called MS. He was one of the most soft-spoken person I ever met and he has an angel for a wife, called Lin. My cousin is currently bed-ridden, fighting for his life from this disease that is ripping one nerve at a time. Ironically, my cousing lost his vision in his right eye weeks before my visit. I got a chance to see his MRI that showed progression of his disease that has involved the occipital lobe of the brain, which controls the eyesight. While my family drunk in the sad facts and quietly said grace in our hearts for our priceless gift of good health, my children got a chance to get to know their second cousin Yafiq.. interesting name ha :)

We left Pedas for Tampin, my husband's grandmother place, where we had Lemang & Rendang for dinner! What a RAYA! We left for Muar at around 9pm and safely reached home in Muar at 11.30pm

The following 3 days was fulled of loafing, relaxing, sleeping & most importantly letting my kids know the place where I grew up. Umar got his actualy 1st pair of shoes, which he "inherited" from his cousin Ali. It was a pair of very old, comfy shoes but Umar loved it so much he was literally running in it, at the playground.

The very last day we were in Muar, we went to Pasar Tani for me to do some grocery shopping with fresh vege & fish. Throughout the trip, Umar was asleep in the stroller & Dina was oddly very clingy. She literally hugged my knee most of the time. As I was paying for some stuff I bought, I heard Dina screaming behind me, "orang tu ambil rantai Dina!". I had the biggest shock of my life! Someone was snatching my baby's necklace, when she was standing in between me & my maid. And the worse part was that I could not see anyone running away from the scene, and Dina was too shocked to describe the assaulter. Lucky she was unharmed, despite repeating that she wanted her Tok Dad who's a policeman, to shoot that man with a pistol at both his hands & legs! When I said to her "kita kena sabar, Dina doa kita murah rezeki, nanti Ummi belikan Dina rantai lagi", she said " Nanti Ummi beli yang besar, yang tempat tutup dia tu ketat tau, supaya tak boleh bukak".... :)

We left Muar at 2pm, and the traffic was terrible, it took us 2 1/2 hours from Muar to Tampin, 2 hours from Tampin to Seremban (via the conventional road), and an hour 1/2 from Seremban to KL via LEKAS highway. Lucky we have numerous houses we could stop by, had food, used the bathroom etc before we pursued our journey. And double lucky my kids were so wonderful that despite the long and boring journey they still managed to crack jokes & made the journey less tiring for all of us..

After 6 and half hours driving, the best part of the day was when my husband opened the house door & greated us with a big, warm, comfy hug that all of us missed so much...

What a CNY holiday....