On Cloud 9

“Just because I’m on your side, it doesn’t mean you’re right” Cliffer by The Answering Machine.

As suggested by the title of this post, I’m definitely more than “a little bit happy”. I’m smiling from ear to ear while typing this, seriously (not literally, though. Coz that would just be freaky). Question marks appearing above your heads yet? Well, I’ll just let them stay there by not answering your query.

Nah~ I’m not that cruel. But I guess I am that playful. Here’s the dirt.

I open my eyes and ears to the sound of Bapak shouting “Abang! Boy! Bangun! Subuh!”. So I sit up on my bed and examine the bags I’ve packed yesterday to take back to the Institute. I felt reluctant, but at the same time excited to go back. I didn’t know how two distinct feelings could be felt at the same time. “Abang! Cepat la bangun!”, again Bapak reminds me. I reach my hand over to the other side of the bed, and disrupt the peaceful slumber of Boy.

“Wake up Boy.. Subuh..”, I said, not hiding the uber-baligh voice one gets upon just waking up. Boy opened his eyes and upon seeing my miserable, mamai figure, grunted and continued staring at the inside of his eyelids. I left him there to get his mandatory extra one-minute of shut-eye before really waking up and left to take my ablution. After finishing, Boy was waiting, as he always did, in front of the bathroom door, waiting for his turn. The praying-mats had already been hampar-ed and we (Aiman, Ainul and me) waited for Boy to finish and come and iqamah.

After praying, Boy went back to bed for his usual after-Subuh nap, and I followed, wanting to do the same. I laid on the bed next to Boy (in case you haven’t figured it out yet, yes, we share a bed..) trying to shut my eyes and cover some of the sleep I lost last night when watching Jack Dee on YouTube until 3 in the morning, but I just couldn’t. I tossed and turned for half an hour, then gave up on sleeping and went to the living room to watch some TV.

As I expected, Bapak was already at it, watching the US Open reruns. Sigh, golf? Well, at least that could bore me to sleep, I said to myself. But after staring blankly at the TV for another half-hour, I still didn’t feel any sleepier.

I asked myself, why can’t I sleep? “Eh, awat Abang tak tidoq lagi? Selalunya tidoq sampai pukoi seratuih!”. Even Bapak was amused. I don’t know, I said, more to myself than to Bapak really.

OK-lah! if I continue at that rate, I don’t think I’ll be able to catch any sleep tonight. So I’ll just cut to the chase. My family brought me back to my Institute, but not before eating Nasi Kandar Yasmeen for lunch, and let me tell ya, I ate a LOT. So much that when it came to dinner time, I was still tasting curry in my mouth. And let me tell you another thing. That VERY RARELY happens. Anak Pak Man is known to be hungry almost all of the time, so this was a surprise for me too.

Anyhoo~ After they dropped me off at my beloved Gajus block, I used my spare key to put all my stuff in my old room, assuming that that would be the room I’ll be staying this coming semester. But I was wrong. Oh, how I was wrong.

I went to the Hostel Office to check into my room, but it turns out that all the TESL students were to move to Amra block. My first thought was “NOOOOOOOOO!!!” (Cue dramatic music).

Here’s why. First of all, it was all the way on the other side of the campus, so I had to drag all my belongings (by hand and kudrat, mind you) a whopping 400-metres (uphill, mind you) to another block. Secondly, it was a long way from the cafeteria, and Anak Pak Man needs to have his chow nearby, yo. Third, we (TESLians) were isolated from all the other courses. So, if we weren’t exiled enough by the whole Institute, we now had to live in a community fully severed from other courses (there are KPLI folk here, but they don’t count). Fourth, I’ll have to leave my beloved roommate of one year, Mesow! Oh, how I’m going to miss disturbing his peace. Oh, and did I mention that we have to haul all our heavy as hell stuffs all the way to the OTHER SIDE OF CAMPUS?? Oh, I did? Sucks man, really.

So Amirul and me (Amirul is going to Istana Budaya too) heaved our stuff from Gajus to Amra (by hand, as nobody with a car had come back yet) in two trips. When we were finished (finally), our arms actually went numb. It was like they were injected with some anaesthetics before an operation. We felt like our arms were going to commit suicide to take the misery out of their lives. We rested for a while and refrained from saying a word to each other, being afraid that ours tongues might fall to the floor, and then we had to mop the saliva off the floor.

After about fifteen-minutes of panting and letting out small whines, Amirul took out his laptop to distract himself from the fact that his arms were falling off his shoulders, and turned on some music.

Then, suddenly, he shouted. I thought a cockroach went up his pants or something, but when I looked at him, he was grinning himself silly. He let out another “Wooohooo!!!”, and so I had to ask.

“Woih, awat??”

“Ada Internet weh! Ada Internet! Kita dapat Internet free!!”

So I quickly rushed to my Acer Aspire 4715Z and opened it, waiting the longest 7-minutes of my life for it to start, and there it was. “Wireless Connection: AP HEP (SCHOOLNET), Speed: 54.0 Mbps, Signal Strength: Excellent”

“Woooohoooo!” I joined in the act.

You know what this means my dear readers? This means that Anak Pak Man has Internet access 24/7 baby! Sure, it’s no Streamyx, and I can’t go to any sites that are blocked by the Ministry, but it’s better than nothing right? I can now blog freely in my free time rather than just sleep and violate Mesow’s personal space. Plus, I can now research whatever I want without asking the sympathy of Broad Band owners to complete my assignments and presentations. Oh, I am LOVING this!

Don’t get me wrong now, I definitely AM going to miss Gajus and all its inhabitants, especially Mesow, Arep and Rizal. But I don’t think being here in Amra is going to be that bad after all. Of course I’ll pay them a visit every now and then when I’m free enough.

So, tomorrow I’m off to Kuala Lumpur to see “Mana Setangginya”. Who knows, I might post something about it. Hahahaha! Good one man. I’m DEFINITELY going to post something about it. What else am I going to do with unlimited Internet connection? Sometimes I just crack myself up.

Until then, TTFN, Ta-ta for now!