back from the exhaustion

what was supposed to be a relaxing 3 day break (plus 2 days over the weekend) turned out to be such a tiring and exhaustive time for me. i had planned to take 3 days off from work to follow hubby on his working trip up north, along with my son and maid. to top it off, i was down with a flu, followed by my son too at the end of the trip. i finally recovered from this fatigueness this morning when i woke up with bright eyes and my body feeling much stronger than it has been for the last 4-5 days.

the drive was endless and what made it tiring was we had to make many stops as my husband (the ever so busy businessman) needed to meet some people along the way. and while he had his "short" meetings, i would find some kind of entertainment for nazim, like finding a McDonald's or a KFC that has a play area..or just hoping that that meeting place has a small aquarium or those water feng-shui things. waiting for amin in the car would drive all of us crazy because we weren't sure how long the meetings would take. and while we were on the road, nazim would keep shifting places from his own seat at the back, to my seat, and then to his dad's seat..and then in between us. and this would go on for the whole time we were in the car until of course, he falls asleep...phew..that's the time when i can put my legs up on the dashboard and rest.

we arrived at our destination (Penang) close to 11 pm, freshened up, and were ready to hit the sack...oh but before that i managed to catch a quite interesting movie on 8TV called 'Just Desserts'. they certainly made nice attractive desserts in that movie. yum yum..

the next morning...i decided that all of us should follow my hubby to seberang, as he said he would be there the whole day!! i didn't wanna be stuck in the hotel for a whole day! maybe i would take nazim to the pool but how long would that last? probably an hour...and then what? so, we all jumped in the car and headed for seberang prai. exploring prai for the first time, it did make me a little excited..and i can say that i can roughly tell where kepala batas, permatang pauh, and other areas in prai are, having driven the highway a few times that day.

during the many "entertainment-finding-stops", i managed to get a few things that i've been looking for like a non-stick muffin pan (nice material and cheap too!), a board to roll my dough on, a really2 cheap kitchen weighing scale (now i don't have to use my head to do all the conversions!!), a nice tikar gulung, and a matress (i plan to have my massages during my confinement on this).

our day in prai ended pretty late that day, and culminated with me, losing my entire handbag just before we made our way back to the island. yup..i had left my HANDBAG (with my wallet with not a lot of cash, camera, handphone, keys to the office, key to the hotel room) at one of the shops in kepala batas! on the way back to the shop, i was in complete silence..praying that someone would be nice enough to keep it till i arrive...and Alhamdulillah..my prayers were answered...my handbag was safely kept at the lost and found counter at the Wisma Dato' Kailan (the shopping place). that was how tired i was...because i'm not really the type of person who would leave things behind..we visited my grandma on my father's side the next day before making our way to KL for the weekend.

i realize during my trip..that my husband has quite a stressful job, compared to mine..i mean i know this even before going on the trip with him...but after seeing him on the job..gosh..i do feel a little remorse..driving to people's office for meetings, and people not being there on time, arranging as many meetings as he can fit in a day which results to him forget his meal times, trying to make it to the meeting spots on time by driving like a mad person...and of course..the amount of time he spends yakking on the phone with his own staff and business contacts (his phone rings every 5 minutes on an average working day and i am not exagerating). his stress level on a scale of 0-10....11!!

and then there's me....who goes to her office..unlocks her door, turns on the AC and PC and goes to her classes (which is about 7 hours per week) and with her phone ringing at maybe 0 calls/hour?? my stress level on a scale of 0-10...0.5 (ok..maybe during marking exams, it would be a little higher..like 4 or 5..hehe)

so i guess i can be a bit more understanding whenever he comes home with a not-smiling a face...so i normally give him some time to cool it off a little..and then he'll be back to his normal self. :)

A few things i noticed on my trip:

1. Public toilets in Malaysia have not improved despite the recent campaign to clean the toilets. Apa taknya, some of the toilet flush in the toilets were deliberately removed so that tak kena curi! So how is one suppose to flush?!! and naturally, all the bau hancing from the unflushed bowls will accumulate and becomes the potpurri for the entire bathroom!!!WHEN IS OUR COUNTRY GOING TO HAVE NICE SMELLING AND CLEAN TOILETS?! NEVER?!

2. I absolutely cannot stand the smell of a room that had people smoking in it...(i literally had to cover my nose with a towel as i was suffocating)

3. It is not that difficult to entertain my son...so long as there is a McDonald's playland and lorries on the road..

4. Penangans have heavy breakfasts (they serve nasi tomato and nasi beriyani at the hotel for breakfast!!)

5. My husband is a very patient man..:) (of course i know this a long time ago but this trip really proves it)