masterwordsmith-unplugged

Yesterday, I flew to KL supposedly for a white water rafting experience in Kuala Selangor with my friends. To be honest, I was initially very excited about it by as the day approached, my heart was filled with doubts and much worry. And why so? Well, it is because I have a slipped disc problem. Although I have achieved almost 98% recovery, I have to be on guard to avoid any mishaps and injury. As such, for more than a week my blood pressure was pretty high and I had tensed muscles, shoulders and a stiff neck. Thank God my younger boy was at home to massage my shoulders to ease the pain and pressure. I was also on muscle relaxant and using aromatherapy to calm my nerves.

Well, the truth is out. I have to face it. Much as my heart, mind and spirit are young, my body is not. As if by a stroke of luck, I mentioned this to a blog reader - Dr. Murali, who cautioned me against going as it might aggravate the injury. So, I decided not to go for the white water rafting and asked my friends to find a replacement failing which I would have to pay for it. I had a choice - let my MAS air ticket burn or just go and have a short holiday. I had no choice as my friends had ordered 7 boxes of the famous Penang tambun biscuits so off I went to KL on a purposeless trip safe for delivering goodies.

This time, my heart was heavy laden. The truth had finally dawned on me. I am no longer a young chiku and have to explore other forms of sport. I kissed goodbye to my dream of doing bungee jumping and really regretted not trying the deadly DROP ZONE ride in Great America, California. Now, I know I will never get a chance to do it. When I was there with my cousin years ago, I remember we went for many rides and always contemplated doing the DROP ZONE and then we said "After the next ride" and this excuse went on till it was time to go...

Now what is the point that I am trying to make?

Each of us has dreams and sometimes we wait till forever to chase that dream (take note Murali :-) haha!) but now I tell everyone, if you have a dream be it a girl or guy or job or invention or story - please do not give any more excuses or to procrastinate further for tomorrow may never come and even if it did, it could be far too late.

So, I do regret not trying all those things I wanted to try in the past including:

* Drop Zone
* White water rafting
* Hand gliding
* Parasailing
* Banana boat
* Climbing up Mount Kinabalu, Gunung Tahan
* Camping in Belum Forest and Taman Negara
* Camel riding in Morocco
* Attending Outward Bound School

etc.

*Sighs*

If only I did not tarry in the past, I would have had the opportunity to experience the adrenalin rush of all those exciting activities. And now, it's too late ...

And so it was the shortest trip to KL ever and lots of money wasted ...I changed my return flight from the last flight at 11.50pm to 1.50pm and had to fork out 232RM stupid me for it was only on the plane that I realized that it would have been cheaper to fly Air Asia. I can't believe I spent the evening reading for the third time John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men".

Then this morning I felt so homesick so I went to the MAS B17 standby counter and tried to see if I could get a seat on an earlier flight and hurray I managed to secure one on the 10.35a.m. flight and arrived by 11.20a.m.

I wish I had had the chance to meet up with Angela but sadly our schedules did not match - next time okay dearie?

I felt so homesick while away. Trust me - I do not like to venture out of my home and apart from missing my family, of course I missed my laptop and blog!!!

Yet, the time spent away from them is always good because I am reminded of how much they mean to me and how the best place in the world is always home!!!

Well, at least during the flight I noticed some changes in MAS. When I flew there last month, they still served orange juice that they painstakingly poured out into cups and gave out packets of salted peanuts. This time round, however, I was pleasantly surprised as the stewards rolled out the trolley and gave each passenger a box filled with a small packet of orange juice, a packet of salted peanuts and two small toblerones. My only complaint is that it is not too environment friendly as the cover of the box is made of plastic while the base is made of cardboard. On my flight to KL yesterday afternoon, the steward even served me hot milo within 30 seconds of his offer and gave me a N95 mask which I wore for the duration of my journey there.

This trip has been an eye-opening experience. The time has come for me to take up a healthier sport that is suitable for a lady in her forties and I will try my hand at golf and take up lessons from hubby's coach and then sweat it out at the driving range. Sadly, my husband has a degenerative disk problem and has abandoned his game...and I am not sure if my back is strong enough for the swing but we'll see.

By the time I reached the airport, I scuttled away to my car. It would be cheaper to pay for the overnight car park than to take a cab and I had called up Encik Sallehuddin, the Manager of the car park to confirm the price of the parking. Imagine my indignation when the guy manning the parking kiosk announced that my parking charges were 75RM!!!!! INSANE!!! Daylight robbery. Fortunately, I had made friends with Encik Sallehuddin and at the mention of his name and DUA PULUH LIMA RINGGIT (25RM), the guy acquiesced and meekly accepted my payment. On the way home, I stopped by Guan's Home's Cafe and enjoyed a bowl of Hokkien Mee :-) before driving straight home!

The moment I arrived home, I showered and then headed straight for my computer. What a relief ! I published blog readers' comments, responded with my own comments and checked my mails and then I proceeded to clean the house, do the laundry, play with my hamster etc. Women like me are very strange creatures. I grumble and want to take a break and when I do, I miss home so much and also worry about who will do the sweeping, mopping etc and when I come home, I don't rest but start cleaning up but I don't mind because home is where my heart lies...

Having said that, I felt so empty and lonely without my boy at home as he had gone to the Penang Turf Club for the Horse Show and I realized that a few years down the road, I will be facing an empty next.

Yet, I comfort myself knowing that I will be doing my favorite activities at home - reading and blogging and it's sure good to be back home again and tonight, my older boy will be home :-) together with his girlfriend and that makes it complete....YAY!!!

Have a lovely evening everyone!