Spilling It All Out

Oh well.

Im back in Pitas, Kota Marudu. I'd like to spill it all out.

Okeh!

Day 1 , arrived at KKIA around 8pm. Stayed the night at Airport View Hotel. L-o-u-s-y. But it was a free stay with free foodsss. I started to not eat heartily there and then.

Day 2, got THE letter, SK ROSOB PITAS. hmm. Before i came, I had always looked at the list of schools in Sabah and always, always i will had my eyes on Pitas. hmm. Jodoh kot?

Day 2, arrived in PPD Pitas at abot 6pm. Magrib approached and i waited for reps from my school to come and pick me up. No tears tho despite seeing other beginning teachers leaving with the Guru Besar. Mine arrived late. And, it wasnt the GB, It was the school's clerk, a pakcik with a golden heart. i was brought to his home. built strategically di atas laut. saya ulang, di atas laut. i had to take off my Charles n Keith pumps and brought up my kain dekat paras lutut because of air pasang. there you have it, my first taste of air laut in Sabah! Btw, theres another teacher with, from IPPerlis, Kak Ros. Both of us were to report the next day at SK ROSOB.

Day 3, reported myself to the school. filled in the borangs. and lucky me, i was living (Actually menumpang) with the clerk whos responsible for my pay! yeay! gave all the docs he needed and he said my pay could be in February! but...sadly, just before school ended, he said, PPD couldnt allow for that to happen. so, its going to be in March. isk. bolehla tu~

Day 4-5 I went for house hunting and it was very hard to find a proper house here in Pitas. and, mind you..tiada bekalan air sempurna ye, semua turun dari langit. alhamdullilah, so far, my kulit macam biasa suda. tiada masalah pun. terima kasih kepada body shop, i guess the cleanser can work well with nature. haha. cut short, we managed to get a room, rm300 permonth on sharing basis. no aircond or water heater ye najib.

Day 6- up until now; Moved to the new house/room. hoho. water crisis; no water supply if theres no rain. electricity crisis; my tuan rumah is a verry verry cermat old lady and can u imagine living with a person who wont let the lights up smpai dah betul2 gelap?

okeh. am tired to type more actually.

but seriously, here, i have learned about how help and assistance could come to you from persons you barely know...

i feel indebted to the clerk's family; provided me with food in the shapes of super XXL size prawns, fresh from the sea and a place to stay before i found a suitable house for me.

next, to Kak Ain of cohort 1, she called me on Day 6 and i nearly cried. but i managed to hold it. i wanted to cry because her voice sounded very honest when she asked about my current being. of course i said i was fine. Kak Ain also helped to to find a better house in Kota Marudu, about 30mins from my school but the place is the (nearby and only) area of civilisation that could help me stand strong and preserve my sanity. haha.

Kak Zabrina, my future housemate; i learned from my Cohort 1 friends that she is very nice and a cool person to be with. insya Allah. i met her the other day and i really hope i could get along well with her once i have moved in.

The best thing is, i will be living only few doors away from Yao! One very familiar face and we made the pact the other day to take good care of each other. kite tgkla sape jg sape nanti. haha.

I went to Yao's place last friday and for the first time, i announce, the first time, i ate whole-heartedly. Udang freshhhhh (i bought on my way to Kota Marudu) with sambal belacan stolen from Yao's hsemate. I told Yao that i wanted to perform sujud syukur that night and i did during magrib. i was really pleased to see Yao and very pleased to feel the nikmat of makan-makan again.

i shall continue later. i need to pack my bags as im due to move out tomorrow. insya Allah.

Kota Marudu's Future Puppeteer

I am waiting patiently for my flight day. I think this time around I am having different kind of ‘leaving’ feeling. I think I look forward to this new adventure than my 2006’s departure to the UK. Maturity is kicking in, you think? Most of my fellow Sabahan future teachers know that I have finished packing days ago. Ding Dong. And my bag weights at 21kgs! (Jaime says im a light traveller!) That is quite an achievement considering that I have put in 18 pasangs of Baju Kurung and 2 puppet theatres besides other necessities. Here are some of the lucky things that have secured places in my bag.

Portable/Hand held Puppet Theatre

Bought in the UK, GBP 7.99.

Another one…

Foldable Puppet Theatre

Bought in IKEA, RM9.90 (quite a steal, huh?)

Then, presenting…

The Actors! TITTA Mini Puppets!

Available in IKEA too, RM19.90 for 10pcs
A lot can be done with these little figures.
Adjectives. Colours, Shapes, Speaking Skills...I cant stop! Yeay!

But sadly, only binatang laut available…the binatang darat out of stock~ Sume dah jalan gi Marudu kot~~ Sigh!


And surprise surprise…

RM 5 for both sets.
Need my explanation of what are these things going to help me with?

Well, I gulped when I heard Syida plans to bring mini rice-cooker whereas I never thought about stuff like that at the initial stage of packing. So, to give myself a sense of ‘security’, I bought these utensils. And, yes, of course I am going to get myself a mini rice-cooker once I am in Kota Kinabalu.

Many things happened yesterday. I would like to congratulate my fellow secondary teachers for securing places that they favour. All the best, guys!

Regarding the Surat Lantikan issue, I was pretty frustrated yesterday as this problem surfaced in the midst of these very hectic weeks…where flights are about to take depart and classes are about to begin. However, I have to thank some of my friends for making the effort to seek clarification for the rest of us. The letter is apparently important for our pay and yes. Pay is important for us beginning teachers, especially those who are going be away from home and comfort zones and of course from our non-gangster-money-lenders; our beloved Fathers and Mothers. Ding Dong. And the pay is important. For my June camping trip to Pavilion. Haha.


So far, I have heard quite many mixed remarks about Kota Marudu and I am taking them very positively, Insya Allah. Plus, my positive friends are helping me in this (you know who you are) and of course, I just smiled at the not-so-positive comments. I hope that I can maintain my ‘positiveness’ up until I reach and see with my own eyes; the school and of course, Kota Marudu. I googled for images of Kota Marudu and for non-photography lover like me, I personally think that the scenery is amazing…tu baru tengok gambar…belum sampai betol-betol~

Okay, I might sound too positive, as if I am denying the probable dangers, risks or all sorts of kesulitan that I might face once I am there. But, the truth is, I would like for once (again) to be all positive and prepare myself with sufficient strength that may be needed when I step on Kota Marudu’s ground rather than mind-mapping the un-positive probabilities. So, cut me some space eh? Honestly, they are comments that came out from people (you don’t know who you are) that I can categorise as non-positive-at-all-so-i-will-just-smile-at-you, your-comments-aren’t-honest-enough and your-comments-are-meant-for-your-own-self-assurance-not-me. But. That’s it. No offence taken. Its alright.

And, I received texts and call from friends that I could straight away smell their sincerity (you know who you are). Somehow, text from Ungku took my heart away. Thanks girls! And Jarod, for your comment for my previous post.

Hmm… I think that’s it for now. I have to start practising my finger puppeting technique!

Of Kota Marudu and PSP?

It is almost a week after I got to know which state I will be posted to. In a week, I have been to Singapore, back to KL and managed to get to know that I will be sent to Kota Marudu, flying from KLIA on the 7th day of January 2009. More specifically, within the week, I actually managed to hold a Kenduri Doa Selamat and Kesyukuran, celebrated my grandma’s birthday with perfect attendance of my cousins (which rarely happened because I was abroad, my cousins were in boarding school etc), went out for a farewell lunch and breakfast with my closest friends and last but not least, I bought a PSP. Portable Play Station. Can I just say that, the thought that I might not have proper ‘entertainment’ in Sabah lead me to make the purchase? I was not and I am still not a game addict or enthusiast. I just like the idea of having a portable machine that can store things; pictures, songs, movies and of course all sort of games. So, that’s my explanation.

Of going to Sabah, I must say that I was shocked but not really surprised. One string has been pulled and it failed. My recommendation letter from my former GB (during practicum) also didn’t quite play the magic. I took the news quite alright. My mother was unhappy but my father was quite supportive. Quoting him; ‘You just go,kakak…Yang menurut perintah, right’. He was right.

Right after the trip to Singapore, I started to pack my things much to the dismay of my mother. She thought I was too eager to leave her. Ding dong. It was not that I was too eager, it was because I basically had nothing to do during the hols and by packing up my stuff, I guessed I was utilising my time for the right thing.

About going and not going. There are few friends that I learned might not be going to ‘lapor diri’. I have no judgement and not in the position to make one. It is up to the one; to decide whether he or she shall take the first step of their future right away (that means to lapor diri on the required date) or let it linger a while (wait for the second posting offer which might come in two months or four years time) or let it pass (which means you let the offer pass?). None of the mentioned acts promises a strong and solid future, personally, that’s what I think. Each has its own advantages, risks and challenges that require one to carefully choose and walk on. I guess I am being very broad here.

I have to say that I am very motivated to go and teach in Sabah despite of all the shocking news. I will (partially) list them, in order:
Placed in Sabah
Placed in Kota Marudu. Alone while others mostly got Sandakan. And I was with that shocking news for half an hour before a friend called and said she got Kota Marudu too. You do not want to know what I have been thinking during that half an hour.

The truth is, my source of motivation is me, myself and I. Of course, there are people around me who gave a lot of nasihat and kata-kata pendek for me to go and look for valuable experiences in Sabah but they are just saying those to respond to the news (that I’ll be going to Sabah), I think. The real motivator is the thing inside my head that keeps telling me that it is alright to start my career in a place that I might have not imagined I’d be in before. I can’t keep my on my comfort ground all the times. Sometimes, I just have to let KLCC go…and go explore Pasar Pagi in Kota Marudu instead? And I believe in one thing; He will always be with me. Allah is the best of providers. I really love saying that. And, just now, I read Abang Faisal’s entry about being posted to Sabah and I was touched by what he wrote. Saya tumpang letak ye, abg Faisal…


Life might not be fair to you,
but...it doesn't give you the right to treat other people unfairly.
Life might not be fair to you,
but... you could make it fair to millions of life around you.
Life might not seem to be fair to you,
but... who are you to say so,
when you're destined to be great,
you're fated to something more!
(firus_azali_ 070108)
a poem written as a challenge to my own self,
without intention of implying it to anyone else.

I appreciate this short poem, probably written from the deepest point of his heart and this piece of writing is actually helping me to play support for the motivation button in my head. Adding to that, The Ustaz who lead the prayers during the kenduri the other day said (dalam nada paling menyentuh hati) ‘Insya Allah, takpe pergi jauh, untuk mendidik anak bangsa’. Insya Allah.

I am now waiting for the day of the flight and I can’t wait to see the place physically. I am praying that I will not lose the battle that I haven’t fought for. Insya Allah. Ya Allah, kuatkanlah hatiku. Amin.