Cinnamon

Hari ni makan Cinnabon.

Bila sebut Cinnabon mesti teringat Legoland dan bila sebut Legoland mesti teringat Cinnabon. The two are one and the same in my mind. Because, you see, Legoland introduced me to Cinnabons. At the entrance of Legoland, UK, there's a Cinnabon shop. I don't remember a lot about our trip to Legoland (strangely enough I remember going to the travel agency beforehand to book tickets and a hotel near the theme park) but this little shop I remember very well. The Cinnabons I ate at that time were delicious beyond compare.

Unfortunately, there are very few Cinnabon shops in Malaysia but by a stroke of luck my mum found one in One Utama. It's been years since I've had one of these. The strong smell of cinnamon. The sticky sweetness. It's not as delicious as Legoland's Cinnabons but it still takes me back.

Umm, hello.

It's been a while.

I don't know why but I haven't had the inspiration.

This is starting to get depressing.

OK, I'll talk about KMKN.

When I first arrived there it was musim pepatung. While they were noisy, they were concentrated only at the parking area so they didn't annoy me. They didn't last long.

Then came musim lalat. The flies pretty much conquer the dining hall. By now I've probably gained some muscle from continuously swatting flies while eating. Once, I was just about to empty my plate - mungkin dua tiga suap lagi baru habis - when -tup- a fly fell right in the middle of the plate. Dead. So, of course, I had to bin it all. Musim lalat is still going strong much to my disgust.

Most recently, it was musim kumbang. They were small, black, flying beetles my roommate and I dubbed "the creepy crawler" (we call all insects we don't know the name of creepy crawlers actually). During their peak, they were everywhere. They clung to the laundry we hung up outside. They covered the bathroom floor at night. The ceiling too. It was so bad one time, I had to sleep with a towel over my head - my blanket has holes in it, they wouldn't do - because they kept landing on my face. When they started dwindling in numbers I was so relieved. And now they're gone.

Lepas ni musim apa? I shudder to think of that.

Good thing is there are no mosquitoes. At least not in my room.

Parting is such sweet sorrow

Monday, 9th july 2012, I closed a chapter of my life titled PASUM.

In the space of a little over a month, I've learnt many many things (like how hand-washed clothes look cleaner than machine-washed, atau kah cuma aku yang perasan?), made new discoveries (for example, I discovered the existence of Maggi cup Tom Yam yang ja~uh lebih sedap berbanding perisa Kari) and maybe, I left PASUM a slightly more mature, slightly better person than before. Insyaallah, the things I've learnt there I shall bring with me to Kolej MARA Kuala Nerang and Insyaallah diri ini akan bertambah matang, dewasa dan independent setelah setahun hidup berjauhan daripada keluarga.

Antara perkara di PASUM yang pasti akan dirindui ialah aiskrim seringgit yang ada rasa aiskrim McDonald's, benjo + cheese kegemaran di gerai burger yang memang selalu sangat dikunjungi, tau foo fah, vending machine dengan air tin berharga cuma RM1, Encik Ismail dengan nasihat-nasihatnya yang berbentuk sindiran, bilik mandi 'air terjun' sebab shower cap tiada dan tidak dilupakan roommateku, dua pupuku, Aliah.

Sedikit introduction: Aliah, dua pupuku, berkaca mata, ceria, sentiasa tersenyum, sentiasa kepanasan, sentiasa meng-check kipas "betul ke kipas ni nombor 5?", bila buat kerja dia akan buat bersungguh-sungguh hingga ke lewat malam/awal pagi, bila merehatkan minda dia akan ketawa seorang diri sampai terguling-guling atas katil "oh my goodness!". Roommate yang sangat best. Suka tiru tengok kerja dia yang dia tiru tengok daripada groupmate dia.

Aliah, minta maaf sebab pergi dan terima kasih sebab merelakan pemergian kita. Terima kasih sebab selalu gerakkan kita bila kita tertidur time lecture. Terima kasih sebab hari tu tolong ambilkan kunci yang terjatuh di celah katil dan dinding. Masa tu kita terkesima tak mampu buat apa-apa cuma tunggu Aliah pulang untuk tolong gerakkan katil. Cayalah Aliah, dapat gerakkan katil yang berat tu. Sedikit pesanan. Jangan study sampai lewat sangat nanti tak tahu esok pagi bangun pukul berapa. Kat kafeteria, jangan asyik meluru pergi kedai makan yang satu tu je, belilah daripada kedai-kedai lain juga. Variety is the spice of life, you know. Kalau boleh cari roommate baru, Alhamdulillah. Kalau tak dapat pun takpe. Nanti dapat pelajar siswa kot. Senior best apa, boleh minta tolong ajarkan apa-apa yang tak faham. Good luck dengan pelajaran. Belajar kat PASUM tough, kita tahu tapi jangan lupa cita-cita nak buat pharmacy dan berusahalah. Insyaallah, kita jumpa raya nanti.

Actually, I am writing up this post in Pulau Pinang. Kami sekeluarga, minus Farhan sebab dia ada ujian, sedang dalam perjalanan ke Kuala Nerang, Kedah. Rasanya sudah selesai isi segala borang (MARA, mengapa borangmu begitu tebal? UniKL, mengapa borangmu mengelirukan?). Beg-beg pun penuh belakang Innova. Rasa macam semua benda perlu bawa sebab lepas ni nak balik rumah ambil keperluan-keperluan lain dah susah. Raya tahun ni pun mungkin tak balik Bangi :( Terus naik bas ke Ipoh.

When I think about how I'll have to start over from scratch again in KMKN, nak mengeluh sebab lebih senang kalau stay dekat PASUM yang dah selesa. But what is life if it's not challenging, right? Bila pergi UK nanti lagi susah jadi perlu membiasakan diri dengan kesusahan mulai sekarang.

Akhir sekali, aku ingin melahirkan rasa syukur atas penerimaan tawaran MARA ini. I've always thought of it as something out of my reach, something that was impossible for me, but Alhamdulillah, walaupun bukan straight A+, keputusan SPM straight A rojak dapat juga merealisasikan angan-angan kosongku yang kini tidak lagi kosong. It's now within my grasp. Alhamdulillah.

Room Sweet Room

This week I moved. Masa nak tinggalkan bilik C832 tu berat sangat sebab bilik tu best juga lah. Menghadap matahari so waktu siang tak perlu pasang lampu. Pemandangan dari balkoni sangat cantik, boleh nampak tasik KK12, walaupun boleh nampak budak lelaki juga. Malam-malam buka pintu balkoni untuk ambil udara malam yang nyaman. But it's ok. Bilik C845 pun best juga. Dapat sebilik dengan sepupu dua pupuku yang sentiasa membuat aku nak tergelak besar dengan caranya dan loghatnya yang agak kePerakan. Haha. The room and roommate might be different but one thing never changes: my side of the room is always the messiest. And that's when I'm making an effort to keep it clean. Biasanya lebih kobang.

A daily routine is starting to form. Wake up at 5.45. Go back to sleep. Wake up at 6.00. Go back to sleep. Cousin wakes me up, "Bibah dah pukul 6.45." Reluctantly go and take wudhu then realise it's getting light out and quickly pray.

Satu malam aku buat soalan latihan vectors yang diberi oleh Dr Zahrah. Sepupu dua pupuku sedang sedap memeluk bantal peluknya. Aku pula menghirup teh, cawan yang kedua. Selesai latihan vectors, tengok-tengok dah pukul 2. Belum solat Isyak lagi! Aku pun memulakan perjalan ke bilik air di hujung bangunan. Setibanya di bilik air aku perasan ada orang tak tutup paip air rapat-rapat. Aku pun tutupkan. Kemudian kusedari semua paip air di situ tak ditutup rapat. Aku pun tutup semuanya. Tapi masih kedengaran bunyi air. Aku naik seram. Dengan lajunya aku mengambil air sembahyang dan berlari balik ke bilik.

Moral of the story: Kalau nak study sampai lewat malam pastikan dah solat Isyak awal-awal.

Jadual Semester 1

It's been 3 weeks since I got into PASUM and 2 since lectures began. Next week, we start following the real timetable. I don't know how I'll survive. Kalau jadual sementara yang tak penuh sebab cuma ada lecture pun tersengguk-sengguk dalam auditorium, jadual yang penuh dengan tutorial dan amali juga ni tak tahu lah. Masa nak cari nama untuk tengok kumpulan punyalah ramai orang. Datang petang sikit pun masih lagi ramai berkerumun di papan tanda tu. Lepas push push sampai depan, carilah nama dalam senarai Hayat 1 yang ada 1000 lebih nama sebab ramai budak-budak aliran fizikal tukar aliran masuk hayat. Jenuh mencari dari hujung list, rupa-rupanya nama ada dalam kumpulan pertama, iaitu N1 (hancur harapan untuk dapat F4 :( Kumpulan A hingga berapa entah, tapi termasuk F, untuk budak-budak fizikal. N-W budak hayat. X Y Z alam bina kot).

I think I might like this arrangement because I get a rest in the middle of the week. Jadual Rabu tak pack sangat.

Lepas baca senarai N1 berulang kali, hampa sebab tiada satu nama pun yang kenal. Muaz dalam N3. Sepupu dua pupuku dalam R2. It's ok. This is a chance to make new friends. But I'm nervous. Dengar cerita kumpulan-kumpulan awal ni dipenuhi anak-anak orang kaya, boleh dikatakan golongan elit. Selalunya mereka ni speaking. Entah kenapa bila nak bersembang, rasa pelik kalau bersembang dalam bahasa Inggeris, mesti nak BM juga, dan kalau orang tu nak juga BI diri ini akan tak banyak bercakap. (In England, I was known for being very quiet.) Mak suruh biasakan diri ber-speaking sebab bila kerja nanti kena speaking juga. So I'll do my best.

Jadual PALAM macam mana?