BACK BLOGGING

I know. It has been nearly a week since my last post and I will not apologize for being physically sick. If I had been mentally sick, I am sorry.

My predicament started last Monday. My gums got swollen and I had trouble chewing food. On Tuesday, I was feeling a bit woozy so I decided to drive to the college. I could not find my car keys anywhere. Then I remembered that Shah came to the house the day before and he must have inadvertently took my keys with him. A phone call confirmed that and Shah promised to deliver the keys early next morning. I sent Mimi to school by cab and took the LRT to college. I broke into cold sweat well after Bangsar Station and barely made to college washroom to throw up like a pregnant young lady. Later, some of students saw me sitting alone in the class and was alarmed enough to inquire if I was alright. They dragged me to the cafeteria but and when there I was already swaying in the queue like a drunken sailor. I hardly touched my rice (with ikan keli and kuah asam pedas).

The class went on as usual with lots of pregnant pauses on my part and my students waiting to catch me in case I keeled over. When it was over, I caught a cab and asked to be sent home. The cabbie politely told me he can only send me to the Setiawangsa LRT station because he had to pick up his kid at school. So I took the LRT home. I had to break my journey at various stations along the way to throw up in the toilet.

I got my car keys back at 6am on Wednesday. I drove to the college and later went to see my doctor. He told me I have gastritis which was causing the giddiness. The gastritis was probably caused by my erratic eating. That was caused by my rotting teeth. My stomach condition was also aggravated my an overdose of painkillers that I bought from a pharmacy. My doctor told me I was given a double dose. I had to see a dentist once the gums stopped swelling.

Calls and SMS from concerned bloggers (Kak Teh, Awang and SK called long-distance) helped to raise my spirits and I felt good enough to attend the Futsal "Let's Kick It" at Bukit Jalil accompanied by my eldest daughter. I had to give marks to the organisers of this event. It was part of the students final assignment. Even though no one from the college cared enough to drop by, the students were in an upbeat mood and the event was an unqualified success. The winning team was from a group of non-college students from Bangsar while the runners-up were from UNITEN and MMU. I got to give away part of the prizes and medals even though I forgot to comb my hair and had to lug my considerable amount of medicine. The students even gave me a hamper that they got from a well-wisher. Inside was one packet of Jintan mee, 2 packets of chips and one large bottle of 7-Up. What wasn't inside but more valuable was the sentiment and thought of the students. On the label outside the cellophane wrapper, they wrote in large letters:
"AYAHANDA".

I won't deduct their marks for that spelling error.

p.s.
The real ayahnda now needs your help. My daughters are thinking of opening a restaurant and they are conducting a survey. If you haven't done so, please spare a few minutes to answer the questionnaire here. Thank you!