God sent me two angels..

On Monday, after I went for an interview - somewhere.. not a job interview.. something else. I decided to go back home after the Assistant Editor of Entertainment Desk at New Straits Times gave me the permission to take a day off. Afterall, it was already almost 2pm and I only had 3 hours left to work so I guess it was no point to drive all the way to Bangsar which would take about 30minutes or less. Depending on the traffic and which route I decided to take..

Anyway, as I reached home, I decided to take a short nap. Well, not really a short nap.. I set my alarm - 5.30pm. As I closed my eyes for less than an hour, someone called. I wanted to ignore at first but it could be an important call so I decided to pick it up.

The dialog below are not the exact words. I couldn't remember wholly what I said:
"Hello?" I said.
"Hello? Elena? This is ----- from -----. I was at ----- just now." she said.
"Oh, hi!" I replied.
Then she introduced herself as my late mother's bestfriend.
I became silent....
.....
She said that she was my late mother's housemate back in the 80s. Before my mother got married. She was very close to my mother..
As she started to explain how she knew my mother, my tears started to drop..

Imagine not meeting someone 'new' that knows your mother well for quite some time? Imagine not listening to new things about your mum for quite some time?

I don't know if she'd notice the change of my voice but seriously, I cried a lot till my nose became blocked.
She told me that my mother's other friend was there (the place I went earlier that day). She said she felt like she wanted to hug me but didn't want people to think that something was going on between us..
I didn't recognize her.. I'm not sure whether I've met her before. But she surely knew my mother well.. And I'm so blessed that God gave me the opportunity to get to know her and my mother's other friend even if it wasn't official.
I texted her yesterday.. confirming her sirname as I spotted her name in my mother's old phone book.. for those who don't know, my mother passed away 11 years ago due to brain haemorrhage when my family and I was living in Hong Kong. I was only 12 at the time.
She replied, "yes, that's my name." And her text continued with: "I felt so blessed that Allah gave me the chance to see you from a distance. And that smile really reminds me of your mum. Dia memang murah senyum and cepat mesra. Hati dia baik, suka tolong orang and sabar ..... and a few other things... and she ended with Nanti kita jumpa ya!"
I havent' stopped reading the text eversince.. the words are beautiful..

This afternoon, she called again.. and talked about my late mother and her work.. And again, I wanted to cry but I was about to enter the NST building so I decided to contain it. About an hour later, the other lady called.. and we spoke about my mother, the tragic incident.. a bit of my current life.. seriously, it was wonderful despite me trying to hold my tears. By then I was at my desk working on a story but I had to leave the table as I knew that I would shed some tears.

So far this week, I've never felt so happy in my entire life.. God has awarded me two beautiful people in my life and I will definitely appreciate them and be in contact at all times.. They are part of my life.. my history.. my mother's life.. her history.. Every single details they know are valuable at this point.

I can't wait to meet them both.. They want to see me after Raya as they want to invite me for lunch.. I can't wait for that.. I'm definitely looking forward to meet them and share stories about my mother..

Thank you Allah..

My first weird job interview

The clock indicated '9:00am' and it was time for me to go for my first job interview at Karisma Publications. One of the local publishing company here in Malaysia. I only applied for the job - Editorial Assitant just for the sake of applying. I think I've heard about the company but never have encountered any books published by the company. So yeah, I did some research prior to the interview.

So I was there at 9am sharp. I pressed the door bell and a lady opened the door. I sat there at the waiting room dressed sharply with a folder with my transcripts and certificates in one hand. I was prepared to answer questions and ask them questions on the salary and benefits. A lady came up to me and asked me to sit in a meeting room. She was the editor dressed in a baju kurung and wearing a tudung. I salam-ed her to show respect and she asked me to sit down and handed me a paper.

When I looked at the paper, it said ujian = test. The editor said that 'ada ujian sahaja. dah habis buat, boleh balik.' In my heart I was like 'ohh....okayyyy......'

The first question asked me to edit a rather long text using the copyediting symbols. I couldn't remember the whole symbols as the last time I studied copyediting was in part 3.. or was it part 4? And now I just finished my part 6. Two semesters = a year. Anyway, the text was in Malay and everything looked right. Like the word di dalam, di antara... Are they supposed to be a word or two? Yes, the Malay language is my weakest link.. Since I couldn't remember all of the words and the text was tough (it was on history) I just did a few slashes on words that I thought was not needed and did a double underline on letters that was supposed to be in small or big capital... i guess that's about it.. If I'm not mistaken, the marks for this is over 10. And I think I probably scored 3 or 4 tops. I bet my former copyediting lecturer would be devastated if she knew about this. lol.

So the next section was the translation section. The second text of the exam was in english and I had to translate it in Malay. And yes it was tough indeed! It was on Islamic history with words like Ikhwan al-Muslimin (of course you don't need to translate that) but trust me.. history words are mind-boggling. I was too shocked that I had to do the test to the extent my brain could not function properly. I was like.. 'what am I doing?' I wrote and scribbled whatever I could think of and proceeded to the third section.

The third section - translation from Malay to English. I think I did okay with this part. Yes, just okay. There were some Malay words that I didn't understand so I just wrote whatever my head could interpret. Again, if my translation lecturer knows about this, she'll be devastated as well. I could score as I've learnt this before but, I wasn't prepared to face any tests. Especially during a job interview.

Here comes the worst section of all.... translation from Malay to............. Jawi! Yes Jawi. The last time I wrote in Jawi was probably during high school... I think. I think the text was so tough! It talked about Malaysia and it's 50th celebration I think... How do you write 50 in jawi? At that moment I only remembered number 1, 2 and 3.. and I assumed 5 was the shape of an onion and I couldn't remember how to write '0' so I did the onion shape on the right and 0 on the left. I bet if the editor marks the paper, she'll be shaking her head. Not that I am buta jawi. I can read it but not write it in one sentence. Only alphabet by alphabet.

The next section asked me why I wanted to be an editor and what contributions can the editors make... in Malay.

Oh by the way, the editor did come and see me during the third section and asked 'dah habis ke?' I really thought that I could take my own sweet time. But then I realized that in the first page it said that I had to do the test under 1 1/2 hours and I think I did way over the time. lol.

It was bad.... I'm not surprised if I don't get the job. But I don't really intend to work there anyway cause my dad wants me to work elsewhere like Petronas. Somewhere that gives you many benefits. And yes, he is right..

Oh my dear head..

I've been waking up with a throbbing head lately... probably due to the heavy load of thinking the past couple of weeks. I have so many things to think of and due to this, I can't seem to keep everything on track.. I just finished my Asian Politics test which was a very scare for me due to me knowing very little on politics and general knowledge. Thank goodness it's over and whether I did well, not to the extent that I am very pleased as others had higher marks. But anyway, what's done, is done..

Next is my very huge task which is making the 20th colloquium happen. It's this coming Saturday by the way.. and I have yet to think and conduct so many things. Thank goodness for the people around me who are busy helping me out.. I was rather afraid when no one started doing anything two weeks ago.. but, everything is in order.. the team managed to get 3 speakers, the banners and posters are up, the invitation letters has been distributed and the goodies for the goodie bag is in process of purchase and searching for sponsorships. So what am I worried to the extent that my head is throbbing really hard? The fact that I am the project manager and I've never actually had the opportunity to organize a somewhat big event in my faculty, that's the reason! This is something new.. of course that I am grateful and pleased that I was chosen to lead the team but I'm curious what others think of me? I hope they don't think I'm pushy nor too relax?

I wanted to keep things cool as we are all grown up and we are university students so our brains are well developed. I hope my interpretations are true..well, so far, yes :-)

Once that's done, I have so many other big projects for other subjects like the French dialogue video for my French class, the investigative video for my investigative reporting subject, 3 articles on economic crisis, a research for my mass media and society class... oh and the report and presentation on interpersonal relationships for my interpersonal communication class.. The list goes on and on but the ones that I have mentioned are the critical ones..

It's 7.30pm right now and I have to now baby sit my little brother Eshan while my parents has gone to a tahlil just infront of our house.. he wants pizza so I'll probably bring him to the one in Tesco in a short while..

it's already March!! @#$%

Uh Oh.. It's already March and that means..... the Colloquium is just around the corner! (28th March) and the worst part is that, my team and I are just about to start searching for the place and speakers for the event. I was appointed as the director for the talk but of course, having the designation means nothing as everyone must work together and equally as this is part of our Magazine Production subject. I've already made my 0wn checklist last week.. every little detail I've typed them down.. (i hope!). Just so that I would not forget.. (double I hope!). Farhana, the secretary for the talk has been helping me out with the letters and also following me to FTMSK, APB and Engineering faculty to book three different 'halls' to do the event. Thank you Farhana as things would be in slight delay if you weren't around..

Right now I'm just checking out the upcoming assignments that I have to get done. A lot.. but I am not in the mood to do any of them at the moment as this upcoming talk is making my heart beat really fast. I'm nervous that things would not go as smooth as I am expecting it to be.. I'm afraid that there wouldn't be any speakers that would want to be one of the speakers.. (3 in total).

I vow to myself that I would get everything done this week.. the most important thing is - the place and speakers.

3 years :)

25th of February is one of the dates that I must not forget. It's the date that Azmin (or better known as Min) and I got to know each other. We've been course mates for almost 5 years now but it was 3 years ago that we got to know each other more in-depth. It's not the date that we became an item. That's on the 10th of June.

On this very date onwards, I got to know him more.. his character.. what he enjoys.. what he dislikes.. Of course I only knew his existence during my 2nd semester and he said he already spotted me during the 1st semester but, I'm thankful that I did.

Min has been so nice to me for the past years. I've been depending on him ever since and for some, I know they would advice not to but in this case, I'll take any chances. He fits perfectly in my life. The great quality I like about him is that he is very patient with me especially if I forget things especially the roads! ;)

Of course, he is definitely loving and caring. It seems that my family is comfortable with him around as well which is a plus. The best part of course is that he never says "no" when I invite him for a movie date. I'm a movie-o-holic so every now and then I feel that watching a movie is a must do thing. I've once dragged him to watch High School Musical 3. I know it wasn't his cup of tea but like I said, he never says no.

I don't know how things will be in the next few years.. whether we'll end up getting married or not. But I do hope and pray that we do as he's the best thing that has ever happened to me..

This is a picture during the early days we got to know each other. Min looks very different compared to now. I look very much the same. Haha.

This is him (present). Hehe. He's a very good guy if you're interpreting this picture wrongly. ;) I was just fooling around with his dslr camera while waiting for Joanne Kam at a gym. I had to interview her for the Staying Fit & Fabulous section for NST – Life & Times paper.