Adrian’s posterous

A week of scramble eggs breakfast can give you a massive craving for roti canai.
But first I had to wait for her to get up (complaining about what a perfect morning it is to sleep in), take a shower and get ready.
Then we had to drive half an hour in the morning traffic to reach our destination, Kayu Nasi Kandar. 

But when the roti canai came, it was flawed.  As if a rat took a bite out of it (bottom part of the picture).

Nevertheless, in my opinion, Kayu still serves one of the best roti canai this part of town.

For my Malaysian friends in Australia, close your eyes and imagine.  Don’t fret, I eat another piece on your behalf. :P

People usually get picked up from airports & hotels in taxi cabs, shuttle vans and buses but that’s not how they do it in Canberra.  They sent a limo to pick me up from the hotel to the meeting place and according to the driver, he’s supposed to drive me to the airport right after.  Talk about making an impression.  They must think I’m some kind of successful businessman from Malaysia, not knowing that I’m just a small time ikan bilis. :P

Either that, or this is how they roll in Canberra!

The shops here list their business hours as till late.  Wonder what is till late.

Conference ended yesterday.  My partner flew back this morning.  I’m spending one more day here before going to Canberra tomorrow.  Walking around Surfers Paradise.  Don’t really know where I am, just walking around, enjoying the weather and the beautiful ‘views’. *ahem*

One thing Malaysia beats Australia hands down is food.  Every day eating this is ok but still…..  I want my nasi lemak, roti canai with thick dal & sambal, bak kut teh, dim sum, chee cheong fun and even chap fan. :P

Early morning already so many people at LCCT.  Seems my flight has quite a number of gwai loh.  Please oh please don’t let me sit beside a talkative one.  I just want to zzzzzzz… all the way to Gold Coast.  But if it’s a Megan Fox look alike then it’s ok. J

There’s quite a crowd at LCCT.  Everywhere seems to be packed.  The only place without much crowd is Coffee Bean.  So a Coffee Bean I will go.  1 more hour to kill before boarding.

The whole day yesterday I wasn’t affected by my grandma’s passing.  I didn’t feel that sad.  I went back home late afternoon and took a nap.  By the time I woke up it was around 7pm.  I had made arrangement earlier with mom that I would go over to my uncle’s place only when she was around.  My grandma lived with my uncle.  I didn’t want to go over alone surrounded by relatives I hardly see.  Mom told me to pick her up at 8.

We reached my uncle’s house at about 9pm.  My mom and dad, me and my brother.  I wheeled dad into the hall where the coffin was.  My dad couldn’t bow (as a show of respect in Chinese tradition) because of his condition.  He just raised his left hand towards the photo of my grandma which was placed in front of the coffin.  You could see he was somewhat emotional.

Someone told my brother and me to go have a look at grandma so we walked to the side of the coffin where there was a window on top.  Someone had put makeup on her and it was overdone which you’d come to expect at Chinese funerals.  Her face looked so fake.  As if it wasn’t her.

My brother left after about a minute which was the average time someone took and I was alone.  And I wept.  So much for being heartless.  It’s been a really long time since I last saw her.  Memories of my grandma looking after me as a young boy flashed by in my head.

I spent a good five minutes standing beside the coffin.  Constantly blinking my eyes and wiping the tears away.  I caught a glimpse of the people sitting outside and I think my distant relatives & cousins would not have expected such a reaction from me.  I walked away because there was a couple who just arrived and it was their turn.

For a brief moment my eyes locked with dad’s and I could see he was so surprised at my reaction he almost sprung out of his wheelchair and walk again. :P

I think all the relatives were.  Some didn’t even know who I was until they asked around.

But my emotions soon faded away because as always there will always be those nosy, looking to stir shit people lurking around.

More on that when things settle down and I get some time in front of my computer.

Got word this morning that my grandma passed away. When I was a very very young boy I used to be her favourite. Maybe because I was the only grandchild then.

When I first heard the news from my mom, there was just a small pinch of sadness. It was such a small pinch I wouldn’t even call it sadness.

The thoughts that ran through my mind was that I had to perform certain duties during the funeral because I was the eldest grandchild.  I felt a certain mahfan-ness.  Like I had a boring chore I had to do.  I thought perhaps those duties should be given to one of the other grandchildren, one who was living with her and close to her.  It would be more meaningful to her than to me.

I’m heartless.

I told mom I had meetings to attend and will only go over at night. Around 8.  Her response was “What!? So late!?”  I didn’t budge.

I’m heartless.

So here I am sitting outside Starbucks waiting for my meeting.  Waiting for when it’s time to go up to my client’s office. 

But somehow as I’m typing this, it’s starting to hit me.  My grandma has passed away.  I might be heartless but there are those that are hurting right now because she is no longer here.

I’m off for my meeting. Ciao.