2/2/08
its a Sat but we stayed home almost all day. bcos there wasnt any water.
aunty nargis came to visit along w her children jawwad, wahhab n hifza.
And later mami nargis, kiran n all also came to visit. it was so crowded i nearly wanted to cry! my private space has been violated. perhaps its cos the house is not really finished yet so tt the guests hafta hang out in our room where the heater is. But then again…even at other houses we hung out in THEIR bedrooms. i so totally dont get it. Isn’t bedroom supposed to be like your sanctuary where u get to rest after a hard day’s work or play and where u have all the space and privacy to get ready in the morning? But I understand and appreciate that they came to see how im doing. I suppose I just wish i know what they were talking about and also i can actually TALK with them.
But my irritated mood was also the result of feeling helpless and trapped from NO WATER to shower with and with NO real explaination WHY such a thing can happen. Khyyam only managed to say, “Bcos its from the govt.” Humph… 2 days later i finally got the answer. and you gotta stay tuned for that! hehe
Oh yes i missed writing about the night before. Ehtesham came with his CPU and wireless phone for the internet!!! He also showed us lots of old videos. So i finally got to see Z when he was younger. So funny there was a clip during Salman’s bday where he danced like chicken lah… like girl lah..
But i hafta tell you that i SUPER HATE those mujra dances/dancers. Like what is the purpose of those girl dancing in the front of the audience? For the guys to gawk at them? Oh please! No thank you. In the video Ehtesham played, there were 2 of them, and they cant even dance in sync… no form of choreography at all! null! zilch! Ergh! Is this Pakistan? Im really confused sometimes… are they a very good muslim country or a rebellious one?
Anyways, The internet was working and can play our newly bought DVDs… Yay!! i cldnt wait to blog and email my friends. But by the time they all went home, which is slightly after midnight i think, we were tired already and immediately hit the sack.
Back to that Sat. This is our bfast. Double roti, omelette and SHAMI KEBAB from Aunty Nargis. OMG!! Shami Kebab straight away got to No 1 in my list of Fav Pakistani Food. it’s something like Malay’s begedil, but this one’s made of dhal (yellow beans) and chicken all boiled and mashed then fried covered w egg.
Then without showering we went to the wedding next door. The house has a very spacious compound. The house can hold more bedrooms if not for the compound. Why? Why they design their house in such a way that everybody hafta cramp to sleep in one room? Can somebody explain to me?
We were led to a small living room then into the bedroom where we ate naan n chix korma ON THE BED! really! ON the bed!! And in the dark too but that’s because there was a loadshedding. No surprise there.
Salman went back to the house to get mineral water for me. You know, he’s really an attentive one. He notices the things that i need when Z is totally blur and ignorant about them. Well.. they are small small things like passing and pouring the water or tissue or telling Z to cover my hand from the cold or even when my shawl slipped and my hands were tucked inside i cldnt adjust it myself. Although he’s younger than me by 2 years, i felt like i acquired two older brothers just like i’ve always wanted but was impossible before. I just wanna say i truly appreciate them.
Thats the bride and the other girl is another neighbour named Hira
i also noticed that ALL their brides always seem SAD on their wedding day! Well i suppose mostly is bcos its an arranged marriage. But Z also told me something like bcos they’re leaving their mother’s house.
Next Stop: Cloth material shopping at the outlet in Main Bazaar. Ammi said i looked like a salesperson. z can see my taste of material already. normally not prints cos their flowers r too ethnic or oldish.
The place looks very much like the old Geylang, only instead of uneven cement floor, it was uneven sand natural floor. It wasn’t a place to take pictures either for fear of being “bumped” and you’ll notice ur hp’s gone!
Once again, i wasn’t in the mood for touristy shopping. My objective that day was to get the materials and be done with it. I dont know why but i feel very tired most of the time. Must be the endless pills i hafta down 3 times a day. Ergh
It was prolly 8pm when we came home after yet another of those daily visits to the clinic to change the dressing. But tonight is a bit different. Tonight some of the stitches are dry enough to remove. I had been looking forward to remove the stitches as i see that to mean nearer to the time when the bandage can be removed also and i will be free to dress as i like (i can’t wear my normal tudung/scarf yet)
I remember pple saying something like they can feel the thread being taken out but that it didnt hurt. Most unfortunately, my first one HURTS LIKE HELL! It hurts so much i cried! i cried! and i cried! I didnt care there were other patients outside it hurts OK! I was beginning to think that the healing process is much more painful than the actual accident!
Doc: *quite sarcastic tone* Why are you crying? Its not painful, is it?
Me: Why would i cry if its Not painful??
Doc: You’re still here aren’t you? still alive?
Me: *in my heart* how would i be able to answer you just now if i weren’t still alive?!
Quite confusingly, the next two didnt hurt at all.
Doc: What? no crying?
Me: *silent* = angry
Come to think of it, the first one was located some more my thumb where i was feeling numb. Prolly that’s the sensitive/troubled area? I kept asking the doctor why are my fingers swollen and he kept saying, “Swollen? where’? there’s no swelling.” Like HELL there wasn’t. My new found uncles could also see they are swollen and you, the supposedly qualified doctor, who alternate career in the past was a PILOT, couldn’t see its swollen? How can that be? The only consolation i get from seeing this doctor is that he speaks good english and that with every move when he treated me he said Bismillah.
We reached prolly 8pm? If you think my day was over, you have truly mistaken. We started to quickly pack a few of our clothes cause we’re going to Aunty Farzana’s house at Old Lahore and it’s like 1hr away!
Salman got his boss to drive 4 of us (Rizwan was still at work) and Aunty Nargis & her 3 children in his van. I’m ashamed to say i rested for the first half of the journey. The painful ordeal earlier left me quite tired and i thought that it was dark anyway and with the fog outside and no specs, i cldnt see much of the scenery.
But i felt much better after waking up and could appreciate the Bharti Gate when we passed through it. i wish i was on the bike though so i could see more openly. We were on some lane but there was something blocking the road so Z said ok we’ll stop here. We got down and walked 100m then zigzagged through a narrow alley until suddenly…..
it was raining rose petals!!! They were serenading me from first and second floor. How sweet sweet sweet of them! I was brought inside and presented with a…
on the left is Aunty Nargis. Right Aunty Farzana. The small face in background is Qandil
bouquet of flowers!! I dont normally appreciate flowers but i was truly warmed by their gesture and effort in going all out to welcome me! I feel…… LOVED 
it was 11pm
We were first served with dinner of chappati, kheema and meatballs as well as chicken biryani. I was soo stuffed! But that’s not all!
Next is Gajrela, a dessert made of carrot. Hmmm i suppose it was ok… but i can only take a small morsel at a time cos its super sweet. Lucky that i like carrots usually but it feels weird tt it can become a source of dessert. But it was sooo soft u wont remember there’s carrot inside! More like flour.
They were waiting for tea. Not being a fan of milk tea, i decided to join the girls. Hifza was playing “anak banak” with Qandil and Fiza (Aunty Farzana’s 2nd and 3rd daughters). My own two palms were spread on top and below my right and left partners’ palms. then my right palm clap my left partner’s right palm and she will clap her partner’s palm while chanting the play song. Then they count 1, 2,3 – 20. At the 20th count, whoever’s turn to clap is supposed to slap the next person’s palm. If hit, the partner is out. if missed then the slapper’s out. It’s fun really and for my sake they counted in English. And amazingly, i won in my first round!! Haha
After that, We played “Yasu Panju”. First, we assigned ourselves names. then made a show of any number of fingers then we started counting with our names. If it ends with our name then we’re out. If it ends with out name again, we’ll be tickled until we say sorry sorry. When down to the last two members, one hafta hit the last person’s closed hands until he missed and this goes on for one round with the rest of us.
Then, i showed them how to play Chop chilli Chop. and they all laughed and laughed and laughed. Just take a look at this video!
Only Wahhab the younger boy in front of me caught the gameplay. That is to follow my action AFTER i finished mine. The rest were mimicking me while im doing it. its ok.. Most importantly we really had fun and bonded nicely
Next, we were treated with Mamoo Akmal aka Mamoo Gungga’s magic tricks. This video below is my fav trick cos he did it on me also and i really didnt feel how the other ball got INTO my hand!
But you hafta be patient till u get to the last part of the video. Mamoo was trying to do his act but Haseeb, Aunty Farzana’s youngest son, the naughtiest one kept interrupting him.
We were then shown to our room on the 4th floor.. but they seem to think its 6th floor i dont know why. Remember that i went here without having showered first? We were supposed to shower here and then i found out that even though they have 1 toilet on every floor, they have only 1 shower and its on the 1st floor! My cranky mood kicked in and i slept at 2am with my back facing Z.
To be continued……
Cake Mania 2
