When Life Slows Down

Assalamualaikum wbt,

Hi!

Yeay!! My friend’s convocation day! At first, I thought I couldn’t attend, but my class was canceled—so I went there in a rush and luckily managed to find her in the sea of people. 

There were so many that I almost gave up on meeting her and giving her the bear bouquet, haha. Tapi takdir menyebelahi, so bertemu la juga akhirnya, huahuahua merapu.

Aku suka bila aku boleh buat orang lain bahagia. There’s a kind of satisfaction that’s hard to describe. Tapi masa tu agak touching juga sebab most of them were hugging their fathers, and all of a sudden I remembered my own convocation—Abah wasn’t there. But I hope I made him proud that day. :’)

This week feels like my “finding peace” week, cewahh. Not that I’ve achieved total calm, but at least I’m doing better than before. I followed my sister on her outstation trip to Perak, and coincidentally, all my classes were canceled one day. Bagai pucuk dicita ulam mendatang, I joined her happily and skipped one class without guilt =.=' Sorry, sir.

One thing about me—I really like Perak. I don’t even know why, but I just do. That’s why I love visiting my friend’s house in Batu Gajah. It’s simply because it’s in Perak :)

We took the old road from Bukit Subang, so it was my first time exploring the jalan lama in Selangor. Baru la aku tahu mana Kuala Selangor, Sekinchan, Sabak Bernam and all that. And guess what? I loved every bit of it. Totally fell in love with the scenery, even if the road was a bit rough. We left early in the morning, so the air was cool and calm—it felt peaceful.

First stop was Manjung because my sister had work at the Pejabat Tanah. I tagged along just to see how things worked and bumped into one of her colleagues. Took quite a while to finish everything. Aku pun clueless dengan apa benda yang diorang buat, haha. By the time they were done, it was already noon and we were starving. It’s been ages since I last came to Manjung—I used to visit often.

After lunch, we drove to Teluk Batik, the beach my late father used to bring us to whenever we visited our grandparents in Air Tawar. It used to feel so special back then. Now, it feels more ordinary—but still nice in its own way.

Then we looked for Teluk Senangin since we’d never been there. Not bad at all. The waves were stronger than in Teluk Batik, but it was less crowded and the view was beautiful. We just sat by the beach to get some fresh air before checking into our hotel. By that time, I was so sleepy. Woke up early but slept late—so no surprise there.

Oh, and throughout the drive, I was tweeting non-stop. Not for any reason—just to make my other sister jealous, haha. I’m not really the type to update much, but I guess it was a mix of excitement and stress relief.

When we reached Perak, my sister started being all dramatic, saying I didn’t tell Mom about the trip. I told her I was planning to once I topped up my credit. Then, right when I was about to call, someone else called to ask about a report I had to send. Baru je lupa pasal dia, terus ingat balik. After checking in, we stayed in and only went out again for dinner. Still, it was such a fun day—felt like being hypnotized by the scenery. And beaches… they’ve always been my comfort place since I was a kid.

The next day, we headed to Teluk Intan for my sister’s final task. Luckily, her work there didn’t take long, so we got to explore a bit. We went to the Menara Condong (the Leaning Tower). As soon as I stepped inside, I caught that familiar wooden smell—it reminded me of my late Tok Minah’s house. Kayu kan, semua bau sama. Got scolded a bit for not knowing how to take proper photos, haha. Sorry la, I’m really awkward with cameras.

After walking around, we headed home. I slept the entire way. Woke up only when we reached Sabak Bernam—so fast!

We stopped at Bukit Malawati for lunch at a restaurant my sister liked. Not bad at all. I hadn’t eaten fish in a while, so it felt extra good. Before eating, we went up the hill for a bit, just to look around. Not many monkeys this time though. My sister said it used to be full of them. What happened? Nap time, maybe?

Lastly, we stopped by Pantai Remis just to enjoy the breeze before heading back to Shah Alam. My friends had been messaging me non-stop, jealous that I was away, haha. That night, we went out for Pecel Lele in Padang Jawa. I didn’t know much about it—just followed along. Strangely, all the cats that night decided to crowd around me. I used to love cats, but suddenly I felt scared of them. No idea why.

Conclusion: Everything about the trip was great. Life has its ups and downs, but it’s important to appreciate the happy moments—we never know when sadness will hit again. So I’ve decided not to take things too personally anymore. Whatever people say, I’ll just respond with “okay.” Everyone has their own struggles, and as a friend, I should understand that.

Next week, I’ve been booked to babysit my sister’s kid, huhu. Widad K, please don’t be naughty, okay? And I’m dying to watch The Perks of Being a Wallflower since I already read the book. Too bad it’s only showing for a short time—huaaa.