Scrabbling Around

Just a little update on my uneventful life: there was a series of games event earlier this month (well, it started at the end of November) and I found myself selected to represent TheCompany for Scrabble. We started our practice in June, abandoned it half-way and only started again in mid-October (oops! Blame work for that!).

The Scrabble games took place on 3 and 4 December 2022. We were provided accommodation at Park Inn by Radisson Putrajaya and checked in on 2 December 2022 - Alhamdulillah for that as I wouldn’t want to commute from home or office every morning to get to Bangi. As I rode with my friend on Friday, I found myself helping to set up the tables for the matches the following day... setting up boards, drawing out the tiles and assembling them on the boards, setting the chess clocks and tile racks. I was this close to regretting hitching a ride from my friend.

It was a mentally and physically exhausting weekend. Definitely mentally exhausting if one has to play six games with all the stress that came with it on the first day and three games on the second day. Physically exhausting too for some reason even though I know we didn’t run up and down the hall or around the stadium. We were so exhausted that we didn’t even make dinner plans on Saturday and retired to our respective rooms.

Long story short: TheCompany won gold for Scrabble, its only gold for the whole tournament. Alhamdulillah. I suffered a very bad gastritis on Monday, so much so I had to get medical leave for the afternoon. My first medical leave of the year. So yes, we won, but at what cost.

Workwise, I’ve also been busy, like the rest of the office, carrying out year-end activities.

On the personal front, there’ll be no trip abroad this December because I’m literally grounded. There have been many times I feel like an only child for all the attention, help and support that my brothers give my parents and myself over the years.

39.5 Hours In The East Coast

I found out about my niece’s graduation ceremony the day before my trip to Alor Setar and spent some time that weekend searching for flights. Thankfully there was some offer on Firefly to encourage people to return home and cast their votes with the promotion period starting early so I managed to avail myself of the offer. I did have to reschedule my leave plan but all went well and clicked in place.

I had bought a graduation bear in early October and had pondered how I was going to bring flowers for my niece. Finally I decided to buy soap flowers (they last so much longer than fresh flowers for one!) and would be fragrant. After browsing Shopee, I placed an order and had the bouquet delivered to my colleague’s address so she could help bring it to the office. I then mulled how I was going to transport the bouquet to the airport. I browsed flower boxes sold by florists (they cost wayyy too much!) and had a brain wave when I was performing prayers (!) to used a recycled padded envelope. Sorted! I literally thought out of the box! Alhamdulillah!

I left the office on Thursday, 24 November 2022, early afternoon and made my way to KL Sentral. I then rode the empty 14:25 SkyPark Link train to Subang Airport. The bag drop process was surprisingly slow and I just about managed to drop off my bag before it was due to close (half an hour before ETD). I went in immediately and before long, we were called to board. The flight took off before its ETD and we landed into wet Kota Bharu an hour later. I took my time as my sister and family sans el nino were only arriving in an hour.

They arrived just before 18:00 and we drove off to Sabak for early dinner. After dinner, we drove to Jelawat, Bachok, where my sister had booked a homestay for the night. The new PM announced Monday as a holiday so I did try staying up a bit to finish some work but I was too sleepy, plus we had an early start the following morning anyway.

On Friday, 25 November 2022, I woke up early. We left at 07:20 and drove to the campus of UMK. Actually, only two guests were allowed in but as there were many empty seats towards the back of the hall, my other niece and I went in too. I continued my office work while my niece did her assignment while waiting for the ceremony to begin.

The ceremony started on time and it was not at all boring as there were brief breaks with some entertainment. It finished before noon and after taking photos, we left my niece there to catch up with her friends. We went for lunch first before dropping off my brother-in-law at a mosque near to the homestay. Then we returned to perform prayers and pack. My sister had to go and fetch my niece before the afternoon ceremony started.

We finally left the homestay at 14:25 and drove down to Terengganu. We stopped en route at Penarik Beach before having tea at a beachside restaurant. We reached the resort at Batu Buruk at 18:30. We stayed in and had lasagne and pizza for dinner.

On Saturday morning, my sister and brother-in-law sent me to the airport for my flight back to KL. The road leading to drawbridge was closed though so we had to make a long detour. I arrived just within minutes before the bag drop off counter closed.

We took off slightly earlier than ETD and landed just an hour later. Alhamdulillah for the rezeki to fly and for the good weather while we were there.