Wednesday, November 26

I received a mail from my aunt today.

Before that, let me convey the fact that my grandmother
passed away a few weeks ago (while I'm here).

This mail surprised me a bit.

Because on my father's side we rarely talk
about emotions, and the knee-jerk reaction would be to keep
a stiff upper lip.

But I guess we don't really need to keep up the machinations,
do we?

I replied.

In good faith.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Fahmi Zaki
Date: Nov 26, 2008 6:10 PM
Subject: Re: just to say ...
To:

Mak Teh,

I am doing alright here in Kiyanly.

Right now is the onset of winter, and the temperature is decreasing,
although we still can find a few warm days. The peak would be in
December, with ambient temperature falling to minus
twenty-five. Work here will definitely be challenging.

I work at the edge of Caspian. If you'd view the map, you can find
Turkmenbashi (port). We're 30km to the north. I'll be working here
for two years (til end 2010) with the occasional home leave. Right
now I don't have my working permit sorted out yet, so every 30 days
I have to travel to Ashgabat and then Iran for the usual exit-entry
process to get another 30 days here. It's not a process that I enjoy.

Making friends here is relatively straightforward and easy. Here in
Kiyanly, there aren't a lot of locals. Instead, there are russians, azeris,
tartars, kazakhs, and whatnots. The common bind would be the
Russian language, so that's what I'm doing now, on the sides. It's not
exactly similar to any other languages I've learned, what with all the
Cyrillic alphabets. But it's nice to communicate with them
and they appreciate the effort and gesture.

As you might have heard last week, PM came to Ashgabat with the
delegates. There were talks about him coming to Kiyanly, but later did
not materialize. Gaddafi also came and I gave him my contact number.
But we did not meet up since he's in Ashgabat and I'm handling cargo
offloading here. Next time, maybe.

The culture here is pretty much bare. They celebrate birthdays,
weddings, new years, and a few others. Those are the major. Religion
here is practically eroded, save for Friday prayers and greetings. There
are quite a number of Malaysians here, so you can say there's some
element of homeland transplanted here. We'll be celebrating Eid Adha
in December by slaughtering cows and prayers.

For now that's about it. It's a pretty simple life here.

I hope everybody will feel better as time progresses.

You can view pictures of Kiyanly/Turkmenbashi at my photoblog

photoblog.com/anwarfahmi

Take care Mak Teh.


On 11/26/08, wrote:
Fahmi
I hope you are doing well and in good health. we are ok here althoiugh, Tok's demise is affecting all of us. We are going through the natural process of grief
Tell me about your work, friends and other things happening in your place now. subzero!
Love
Mak Teh



--
Used Off-office.
Fahmi Zaki
--
Used Off-office.
Fahmi Zaki

Tuesday, November 25


EFFIN' TAG.

Another one.

Well, I do need a reason, don't I.

Jom.

1. Do you think u are HOT?
Nemnoga (Not very much)

2. Upload a fav pic of you
See above. I can't get the f*kin' blog to upload properly.

3. Why do you like this picture?
Oh, so many ways to answer, so little time to type.
To cut things short, it's a fantasy really.

REALLY.

4. When was the last time you ate pizza?
Last night, actually. Thanks for asking.

5. The last song you listen to?
Oh Lately It's So Quiet - OK GO

6. What are you doing right now besides this?
Gmail, Wikipedia, review Planning Package, breathing, doing butt clenches.

Both cheeks. Impressive, huh?

7. What name you prefer besides yours?
I like the name 'Proximo', a character in 'Gladiator'.

Other than that, any name spelt using Cyrillic character immediately gets my vote.

8. People to tag Yap, Sal, Ila, James, Some

9. Who is no.1
I jam with this guy and a few others every now and then. Wicked bass skills, this guy.

10. No.3 is having relationship with?
Me (pandai aku susun).

11. Say something about no.5
Baru hilang teruna Sabtu lepas. A few times, I think.

12. How about no.4?
Dah enam ratus kali dia tukar kerja. Gaji dia sekarang enam juta.

13. Who is no.2 She's responsible for me and No. 3.

Wednesday, November 19

MENJADI MANGSA TAG YANG BERTALU-TALU

Kurang asam betui Some. Boleh dia tag aku ngan nama
penuh aku plak tuh. Terpaksa lah aku akur-slash-pasrah
(walhal lama tak update blog).

What if your ex said this to you?

1. Hi..how are you?
Not bad (I answer like this all the time)

2. Hey! You wanna go to the mall?!
You might as well strangle me.

3. I LOVE U
I have heard of something resembling this 'three words'
and frankly, it just disgusts me.

4. Do u want some cookies?
Unless it's Famous Amous, hell no.

5. Can you take me a picture?
What picture? They're just photos, after all.

6. Help me in my work?
I have heard of something resembling this 'five words'
and frankly, it just disgusts me..

7. Here's my gift to you...
I wouldn't know. Never had any.

8. Let's just be text mates
As opposed to mind-f**k buddies?(Open-ended answer, innit)

9. Do you want me to buy you an Ipod?
They're an abomination. No.

10. Let's sit together in the bus
Whoa there! Buy me breakfast first!

12. You're still pretty...
OMG

13. I still LOVE you! :
I have heard of something resembling this 'five words'
and frankly, it just disgusts me.

14. Can I visit your house?
Surprisingly, no. But you can buy me dinner.

15. Do you love me?
OMG. ROTFL.

tagged next:

1. Yap
2. Sal
3. Hana
4. Nina