Still In JB

The wedding function is not until tomorrow. We have a free day today. I got up very early and went for my morning exercise. After breakfast we visited my sister. The house has been readied for tomorrow’s occasion. Tents will be put up on the road in front of the house at night so as to have the least hindrance to traffic. There was nothing much for us to do then as most are ready. So we took leave and headed for the public swimming pool complex where two of my brothers have offices in the complex and a sister runs an office-cum-services and convenience shop. My brothers also operate a car-wash in the complex. There are quite a lot of economic activities going on there. With proper planning, maintenance, advertisement, etc., the place should flourish. We stayed there for quite a while and then went home for lunch.

A little after lunchtime we went to the Johore Specialist Centre to visit Ram’s grandniece that had the previous night given birth to her first baby, a boy. Delivery was done by her own father and Ram’s nephew, a gynecologist at the hospital, and this is his first grandchild. He must be very proud to be able to deliver his own grandson. The baby’s paternal grandparents arrived just after we arrived at the hospital. This is their first grandchild too; hence there was excitement all round. The baby’s father happens to be working in Melaka Refinery having joined after I have left. He is now involved in a new co-generation project for the refinery. So we have common conversation pieces to share.

Later we headed back to my youngest sister’s house. There were odds and ends to be done and all helped to get them done, but they were mostly ladies’ work. Ram helped wherever she could. Most of my brothers and sisters were there that night. There were a lot of joking, bantering and fun type exchanges between siblings and we were like bringing the roof down!! There was free flow of drinks and laksa, a favourite local spaghetti dish that is popular amongst us. We ended up going home in the wee hours!!

The next morning I went for my morning walk and exercise as usual. There were more people exercising this morning as it was a Saturday. You can see all sorts of styles. Some running, some jogging, some playing badminton, some doing aerobics. I also see one or two walking backwards!! After breakfast we got ready to go to my sister’s house.

All the preparations made for the wedding reception and its execution went on well. The function was from noon till 5.00pm. The only snag was it rained the whole afternoon. But that did not dampen spirits and we met many of our kinfolks and friends who came from all over. It was nice meeting them all at once. It is usually only at weddings and funerals that we can get a chance to meet up with everybody all at the same time. We shared whatever news amongst ourselves in the short meetings we had, but it was fun and pleasant all the same.

The next morning we left JB very early for home. This was because Sita and family were in PJ and were returning to Kerteh in the afternoon. They could not join us in JB for the wedding reception. It was a very pleasant early morning drive that Sunday. There were very few cars on the road and we were home in about three hours, no traffic rules broken!! We had quite a few hours playing with baby Najla, who is able to sit up now. Tessa came home too. Sita and family left for Kerteh at about 4.00pm. Suddenly the house became very quiet ………… again………………..!!

MKI Ramblings Unlimited
Petaling Jaya