One Fine Day

Two days in a row I've gone out for lunch instead of staying at home and save money. What to do when your own cooking is making you puke because you're bored of the same old thing you're cooking.

When Abu and Firdaus came over to claim the microwave, bread toaster and the book shelf that they have bought from me on Wednesday, I decided that since there's only a ghost of a chance that I'll see them again once they all fly back home this Sunday, why not have a final get-together? So I asked them to gather around the other members of our usrah group and we'd decide on where to go eat on Friday. While they decide on that I called up Aysha and asked her to join us as well.

Our alma-mater, where we have a love-hate relationship with. That aside, it's an ideal place to begin our day.

After Friday prayers, at first we decided on going to Dudu's, a Turkish cafe which these guys frequented a lot (I haven't gone there in years ever since other eating establishments bloomed like after-rain mushrooms). However the plan changed when we realized that Aysha was at Manesh shopping mall, shopping. So we decided to join her there, because there was another cafe at the mall's food court that I hadn't tried, but had heard of from others. And I have only been to Manesh once to shop for stuffs for my Euro Trip, so I was pretty much game for anything. My main intention was only to have the get-together. The venue was not so important.

I haven't had any pictures at this place so since I was already there, might as well just take a picture or two... or maybe ten.... :P

Then we went straight to the topmost floor to eat - I was starving because I hadn't eaten any breakfast and dinner the previous night after going to Vremya Yest with Anna. I'd do an entry of that, but haven't gotten the pictures from Anna yet. It was impromptu decision after settling some payment pertaining to the legalization of our MDs from Russian to English. Okay, out of topic.


For a flat-rate of 100Rubles (that's roughly around RM12), it's all you can pile up in one single plate, up till 900g - 1kg of food. That's a lot actually. No refills, however, so we have no choice but do the Malaysian attitude and pile up everything we could for our money's worth (I don't do this if I go to hotels for buffet but since here I didn't get to refill.....).

There was these mixed veggies that looked tempting so without hesitation I loaded a spoonful of them in my plate. Then I saw strips of meats in there and I asked the counter girls... 

Me: Eta kakoy myasa? (What kind of meat is this?)

Counter girl: (cheerfully) Eta svinina. (It's pork)

Me: Uikkkks.....(Can't eat that!)

Counter girl: Umm...you can't put that back in there. (Apparently she realized that I'm 'one of those students who don't eat pork' - it's a common occurrence lah)

Me: I know.... (Of course-lah I know cannot put back, it's not hygienic)

The other guys: Never mind. You can get an extra plate and a spoon and push those away.... those porky veggies are just at the corner of the plate. No need to throw everything away.

Me: (Won't throw other stuffs away too because I've already paid for it. Membazir kan amalan syaitan. I'll do what it takes to salvage what I have piled in). Great idea.

So I carefully and successfully extracted the can't-be-eaten stuffs to another plate and set it aside. One would think that I'm having a toyol with me for doing so.... hahaha. Then I could eat the rest of the stuffs in peace. It was lucky that I had the insight to put the veggies at the corner of the plate. Well, actually I had created an Everest of foods on the plate, there was no other place to put the porky-veggies other than the sides. See, being tama-hak actually had its benefit for once! :P

Aysha joined us after her shopping spree - Manesh is having wonderful sales now so it's perfect for shopping. I'd have seized the great deals too, but the idea of going back to Malaysia for good is to have as little unnecessary stuffs as possible, and I already have a lot in my plate for now. Zamir joined us after half an hour or so, and while waiting for him we ate as slowly as possible. Then Zaid - our usrah's naqib - called us, regretfully informing that he wouldn't be able to join us. That's just too bad. Well I have gone and met him a couple of days back and we had tea together so I suppose it's okay...

Chit-chat, jokes and being snap-happy are always the main highlights whenever we have this kind of get-together. For memories what. Whoever invented digital cameras should get a Nobel prize if they hadn't already gotten one. Pure genius.

Verdict for food: 3- (Satisfactory with difficulty, as our professors would say if we barely pass our tests).  Just invest the money on something better. It's nothing remarkable. But the eating area was perfect for us to spend an hour idling around.

So after we finished with our lunches, off we went to the groceries store because these guys needed to get some munch-munch stuffs for their trip to the airport - it takes about 8 hours to reach the airport in Moscow from Kursk! But they couldn't find what they wanted. At the same time I was eyeing the ice-creams and saw that since the prices were way cheaper than the stores near our hostels, why not I treat them with the ice-creams one last time. At first I asked them if they wanted ice-creams and half said no thanks because they were so full already, while half was game for it. When I told them that it would be my treat, nobody said no anymore. Hahaha.

Here we are, eating our ice-creams while waiting for Aysha completing her second round of shopping. That girl can really shop.

And here we are, again doing what we like.

After this summer, who knows when I'll be seeing them again. Well, I suppose it's safe to say that my path with Aysha's will cross again one day because our families are 'almost-neighbors' at Saudi Arabia, but for the others....who knows? Ada rezeki adalah tu. I choose to be optimistic. There's a quote I heard in a movie I watched when I was young.

"Don't say goodbye; say good journey." 

Good journey to you all, my young friends. Those three and four years you still have left will fly by quickly. Take it from one who's been there.

Man I feel nostalgic and melancholic. It's really true what they say: separation is such sweet sorrow. I feel this way now, and I'll feel this way again when it's time to leave this place once and for all. And I actually Googled on why it is termed as such. Here's what I have found.

As Ella Fitzgerald sang, every time we say goodbye, we die a little. This is, of course, better than dying altogether, which may explain why there is sweetness even in sorrow. Juliet's lament about her separation from her very new acquaintance was enhanced by the thought that it would be temporary: that she would see Romeo again. In song and story, life goes on, even if something is missing.

Real life, however, offers no such certainties, and neither does Life the Guardian supplement. In a here-today, gone-tomorrow world, there is a certain satisfaction in having existed at all. The exuberant joy of being is tempered by the wistful knowledge that nothing is forever. The Romans had a phrase for it: ave atque vale, hail and farewell. Psychological literature is rich in studies of separation anxiety, grief and loss. There is a denial phase to grief in which the bereaved believe that the lost one will come back. Then after a while, this denial gives way to anger, fear, guilt and depression. Loss of energy, fatigue, headaches and chest pains may occur before the inevitable adjustment.

Parting, neuropsychologists say, is a stretching of emotional bonds: the sorrow is tinged with the sweetness of the memories.