Stories from Lunch

I just got back from lunch with my girlfriends. These are friends from school dulu ~ D, I & L. We were together in the same dorm from Form 1 right up to Form 5. We meet whenever the opportunity arises and this lunch was one of those opportune times.

Whenever we meet like this, topik perbualan will surely revolves around 3 things : 1) husbands, 2) other friends, and 3) school days. Ok, just to give a bit of a background of these ladies:

D is a Company Secretary at one of the major foreign banks in KL. She has a husband who is always very suspicious of the guys who call her eventhough these guys either 1) have been friends with her for eons, or 2) are married with children and have no other intention to speak to her other than bertanya khabar. She was one of those girls who wore kain senteng and pom-pom socks to school, very popular and had many "boyfriends". But now, she has mellowed down quite a lot. Pakai tudung, and looks just like any other middle-aged married woman. I guess marriage does that to all of us...

I is an architect. She runs her own firm. She lost her husband during a landslide some years ago which wiped out her whole house and killed some of her family members, including her mother. She now lives with her father and 3 children who survived the tragedy at the exact same spot where the old house used to be. She has not re-married (I don't think she ever will, not in the near future at least) and is happy doing what she's doing right now. She is another popular girl in school; played basketball, pandai menari & menyanyi, and had a crush on one of our band instructors when we were in Form 4 (that was a major crush, ok?!).

As for L, she's currently attached to one of the construction firms in KL. This girl was quite low profile when we were in school. Tak banyak kerenah... boyfriends pun tak ramai masa tu. But after she left for Canada, we heard so many juicy stories about her. Her strings of boyfriends ranged from Puerto Rican to Canadians. Black & white! Terror makcik tu!! She came back much later than any of us and married this very nice malay chap 10 years older than her. I think he straightened her up. They now have 3 beautiful children and lived in Sg Buluh.

We had lunch at Rain Nuddle in Pavillion. Very nice food! I'd recommend it to all who wants to bring their family / friends for Thai food.

D was telling us that her husband has been in contact with his ex-GF lately. Ok, this ex-GF was a very old GF. They knew each other even before he met D; since primary school lagi. One day, D saw several SMS sent by an unfamiliar name in her husband's HP. Our friend was not happy lah, so she asked him to remove the girl's name & phone no. from his contact list. So he did, it seemed. But last week, D's HP had some problems and she wanted to use her husband's HP to make a call. Scroll punya scroll, it turned out, the ex-GF's name was still in the contact list, but it has been altered so as to not raise any suspicion on the wife's front.

So apa lagi, our friend pun mengamuk lah. You know why? Coz the ex-GF is still not married, still single. That's a big threat, right? When our friend asked him why he still kept the number even tho he said he had deleted it, he said he kept it "..so that nanti kalau nak contact pasal reunion ke, senang tahu nombor...". Hee... Hee... I thought that was funny! They were together in PRIMARY school, ok. Any reunion that he was thinking about would most probably be his primary school's reunion. Kinda strange, isn't it? Jarang2 kita dengar orang buat reunion for primary school friends!

And this came from someone who'd get jealous everytime a guy calls his wife, or sent an e-mail to his wife, about work or other trivial matters. Tch... tch... tch.... it's so unfair.

Anyway, we were just laughing away about this. Men are so typical. When it comes to us, semua tak boleh. But when it comes to them, macam2 alasan untuk membolehkan keadaan! Letih lah nak gaduh dengan they all pasal ni... membuang boreh iyo! (bak kata orang negori sembilan)

Then I told us about her last moments with her late husband. We were complaining about our husbands' late night coffee/teh tarik outings when suddenly she said, "Let them go.... don't make a big fuss about it." Huh? Why, we asked.

She said, the night before the dreadful incident, her husband had told her that he wanted to go out and meet a friend for teh tarik. This was during bulan puasa, after terawikh. She was not very happy because she wanted to spend sometime with him. He went out anyway, despite her protest, and returned later after she had gone off to bed.

She said, when he came into the room, she heard him say "Assalamualaikum". She replied, albeit hesitantly, because she was still angry with him. Their 10-month old baby cried, and so he picked him up and sat on a chair next to the bed. They still did not speak. My friend continued sleeping and he dozed off on the chair.

At 5am, the alarm clock went off for sahur. She woke him up, but he didn't want to get up as he said he was still sleepy. My friend was pretty annoyed ~ "Tu lah, malam tadi keluar lagi, sekarang kan dah ngantuk?!" she said in her heart.

Then it happened ~ the LANDSLIDE. In a blink of an eye, the avalanche wiped out her family home and took away her husband's life. She didn't get to say goodbye, she didn't get to say sorry. He's gone ~ just like that! Just a few hours ago, he was still around, the next thing she knew, he was gone ~ pinned under a concrete pillar that was stripped down by the landslide.

No wonder when we first met her at the hospital right after the incident, she kept on telling us, "Jangan gaduh2 with your husband... always make peace. Nanti you'll regret it!" She kept on repeating the same thing. We didn't know what she meant at that time, but now we do.

After hearing that, we didn't know what to say. We felt sorry for her and at the same time, we felt how lucky we are to still have our companions. I is a very strong woman. She was 4-months pregnant when it happened, but she lost the baby eventually a few months after the incident. I think it's fated and for the better as well. I don't think she can have the baby alone because he/she will always be a reminder of the past, and it's going to be painful.

So, MrNordin, I think after this, kalau you nak pegi Nescafe tarik tengah2 malam pun, pegi lah yang. I tak marah. I tak nak menyesal di kemudian hari, macam cerita Intan. (But this general consent is renewable every 6 months, ok?)

Comments

Anonymous said…
Dear sis, I think I know Kak Intan; her MIL was my neighbor when I used to live in Taiping, a couple of years back.... Her MIL was my former teacher, her late husband was a very kind man... i knew Abg S**m.... Alfatihah, may he rest in peace... (I lived next to her MIL's house)

Blue roses~ 89-92(TMGS Taiping)
wanshana said…
BJ,

FYI, my hubby and his PRIMARY school friends are having their reunion dinner some time in November this year! They just had a meeting last weekend discussing and forming sub-committees for that night. So, even though it is quite abnormal, it is possible!(But, I have to say - sekolah they all ni memang high profile sket! Errr...entah-entah same school dengan IQ, kot?!!)

But, I agree with I - just let our hubbies have their time with friends, etc every now and then. Even though Haizal selalu join Karaoke with my MT friends and their hubbies, every now and then he would go Karaoke-ing with his own sets of friends without me tagging along. Bagi chan...

And Anonymous @ Blue Roses,

Ex-TMGS? Small world - me, too! But, I'm your super duper senior. I was there 75-80!
Kmar said…
BJ,

It was nice to meet up with old friends, tukar-tukar cerita. Setiap orang ada bahagian masing-masing dalam hidup ni. Something for sure, everyone deserve to live their life to the fullest, betul tak?

Say hi to D. I still have duit raya given by her daughter for my kids.. he.he..
BJ-

Tell D that kalau benar2 takda apa, her husband has to introduce that woman to her too. Jadi kawan D sekali lah. Biar dia tau sapa yang dia kacau. Bukan calang calang orang woit. This does not sound good J..and sebijik cerita tipikal dalam Mingguan Malaysia.

And so sad abt I...I think in I's husband's heart, he is the one yang rasa bersalah sikit kot.....

And Jab goes out at night too- with his dept friends- the 4 of them are very tight- haritu pi Phuket empat empat tak bawak bini (remember how worried I was)- tapi biarkan lah..bukan selalu pun and we do it too right...

and rainudle IS nice! Althoug macam makan dalam pasu kan sup sup dia tu...hehehehhee
MrsNordin said…
Hi Blue Roses,

You are neighbours with S**m's parents? What a small world...!

I remember S**m as someone who smiled a lot. Everytime we met, that was the first thing I noticed about him. Until now, infact. That's how I like to remember him.

Yes, may he rest in peace. Thanks for your well wishes. I hope Intan is reading this.
MrsNordin said…
Hi Shana,

Oh I see... ada juga primary school reunion, ya? Good for them! I wish I could do the same, tapi dah tak contact sorang pun...

Err... I don't think Haizal's school is the same as IQ's. IQ sekolah kat Kelantan lah.

I do let my husband goes out alone for that ever-so-important male bonding thingy. I've no problem with that. It's just that, pandai2lah adjust timing, kan? Kalau tiap2 malam keluar dengan kawan, bini mana tak hot, kan?!!
MrsNordin said…
Hi Kmar,

I shall pass on your message to D and I hope she reads this, too.

Like I always said before, each one of us have our own story to tell. Some sad stories, some happy stories. It's nice to share these things with friends sebagai pedoman dan pengajaran... (Hee... hee... pagi2 Jumaat ni, nak bersyarah pulak!)

Take care!
MrsNordin said…
Hello SW,

That's what we told D yesterday! Kalau tak ada apa2, introduce lah! But obviously that will never happen, kan? I think it's just the "EX" thing ~ no one can get along with exes.

Rain Nuddle macam makan dalam pasu? Hee... hee... never thot of it that way! Next time we meet, kita gi makan kat situ, ok?

Take care & have a nice weekend!!
MrsNordin & SW,

Tunggu I balik then we go together makan mee dlm pasu tu, ok!

I thoroughly agree that both spouses should be given time off from each other and each can do their own thing ONCE IN A WHILE.

Problem is the wives know their limits when given such 'freedom' but sadly the hubbies tak pandai sikit. Always always terlanjak punya..hence this 'time off for hubby' will inevitably lead to a tiff between spouses. Not good kan.

Should we not be possessive towards our hubbies and vice versa, as both are human beings and have their own needs despite being married to one another?

Ideally yes..but in reality the green-eyed monster that lives within us refused to let us be an idealist person about this.
MA said…
Rainudle eh? Makan dalam pasu? Hmm..can bring the Brood for a new adventure. Thanks for the tip.

Re reunion of primary school friends, I do that too! As a matter of fact, some of us go all the way from kindergarten! Now our kids are getting to know each other too. We made it a point to meet every two years when one of us who now reside overseas, come home to visit.

Hari Raya, Xmas and CNY too!
Kak Teh said…
mrs nordin, i am still in touch with my primary school friends. We have a website and we have loads of reunions - counting wrinkles.
busymum100 said…
MrsN,

My primary school friends do have reunions once every 2 or 3 years. Normally we will have it during Raya break. Why 2 or 3 years? Because our "penghulu" is married to a Batu Pahat dame, so when he went back to BP, takde re-union lah :(

There was one year, when I spent the whole of 3rd Raya attending school re-union cum Raya meet - pagi I drove through the jam (Raya jams in Kelantan are no joke!)to go to Tanah Merah (from Ketereh) for the primary school re-union, and then drove back for zohor, before rushing for my secondary school re-union in Pengkalan Chepa in the north!

And there was once, when we invited our x-teacher (who had retired for several years already), and most of us gave her duit raya. She just couldn't help crying! She didn't need the money, but the thoughts really touched her!

As for the Rainudle, I am watching my calendar. Once it's not too busy, I'd love to meet you in person! It's logh overdue, don't you think so? ;-)
Hope said…
mrsN

Make it general consent fully revocable at your sole discretion!

My Hub hardly goes out with his buddies at night-you know why? Bcoz he doesn't want me to do the same thing..paranoia ..ha ha
MamaEta said…
Bj..first thx for updating about them..kalau sebut I, D and BJ...cannot forget one la..the 3 charlies angles...yang I rasa..macam inseperable.ye lah..dari satu dorm, satu kelas.,sama red crescent society lagi.....tapi yang L tu...kita dok tertanya..wonder who???

and Biarle ayang-ayang kita keluar minum ngan kengkawan...asalkan depa tu..tau camana nak make time for kita lak...kalau dia pi teh tarik malam..morning esok..teh tarik la sekali lagi breakfast dgn kita..sekali-sekali bole ape...quality time maaa...

ibarat kata pepatah..biar layang2 terbang jauh..tali masih kat tangan ape..tapi sekali nampak layang2 nak pi jauh gak..rentap putus karang!!!
MrsNordin said…
Madam,

I don't know when this issue will ever be resolved. We, the wives, know our limit, that's why our husbands never have problem with that. I'm trying not to be too hard on him. Tapi tengok mood lah... Nasib baik kat Bangla tak ramai budak MC, ya? :)
MrsNordin said…
Ma, K. Teh & Busymum,

So you all do have Primary school reunions, huh? Well... my mistake then. I've never had any, so I presume the same applies to everybody else, and how wrong was I.

Ma,

Yes, take them there. The food is nice. Lepas to boleh pegi Fish Spa again :)


Kak Teh,

I "heard" your voice on RTM1 news last Friday night (about the royal guards), and was proudly telling MrNordin, "Haa.. tu lah K.Teh!" Hee.. hee... another claim to fame!


Busymum,

Bisa saja lunch di Rain Nuddle. Just let me know when you're free. It's just a 10 mins drive for me. Kalau jumpa ni, I think I have to take half day leave. 1 hour lunch tak sempat nak bercerita, betul tak? Hope to see you soon.
MrsNordin said…
Hope,

I forgot about that part! Ya lah, must include that revocation part. Kalau tak... susah...

Lucky for you your husband tak keluar malam. I guess, like you said, it's a culture thing.
MrsNordin said…
eTA,

L tu is Lin Ali. Ingat tak? She was on the upper bed next to ours (or so, I think).
Anonymous said…
Hip Hip Hooray (x 3) - renewable 6 monthly pun tak aper laa. Ini laa contoh isteri mithali... syorga !

Mr N
MrsNordin said…
En Nordin,

Jangan excited sangat, ya...

Walau pun dah diberi kebenaran, kalau nampak muka I panjang je masa you nak keluar tu, faham2 je lah, ya?

Sometimes, I just don't want you to go because I want to while away the night with you... Is that an too much to ask?

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