Istanbul Chronicle: Chapter 1 - Half globe trotting

Looking back to just yesterday, I remember how I had cold sweat all over me. Our flight was 5 hours away, I hadn't finished completely my review of the "thing" that needed my review. I hadn't finished packing our clothes. My cold did not seem to get any better. And the nurse called the person who came in later than me to see the doctor first ... Urghh!!! By the time I collected the cold medicine & antibiotic, it was already 12 noon.

We ran across to Bintang to get Vit C supplies for the kids, and to exchange some money. No direct exchange to that currency and so we opted for Euro & USD. We rushed home, and I sort of just stuffed my clothes & Ayah's into our luggage. Then I continued with my last minute attempt to review the last few worksheets - unbelievable!

And then my phone rang. The plane did not land in KL last night they said - technical problem. WHAT???

But they re-arranged alternative flight for us, the first 2 options offered I rejected outright because I would have to travel separately from Ayah. Finally they offered us SIA but the flight would only take off at 9.45 pm, transit at S'pore, with stopover in Dubai.

I only heard 9.45 pm departure and both travelling together. And I said OK lah....

What a blessing! I finished off the review which was necessary to ensure our 5000+ staff would be able to smile this month end. I managed to replicate the email & send it by about 4.30 pm. Phewww.... Flight delayed? But expected arrival a few good hours earlier? Ada hikmah disebalik setiap kejadian.

Ayah packed his "gadgets" - travelling parents these days must be prepared with the equipment to stay in touch with the children. So cable check, earphone check, speaker check, web-camera check - except that he was not sure if Abang Idin knew how to log on to YM with webcam. And so a last minute 1-2-1 tuition took place, with Idin meng-iya kan saja apa Ayah dia kata.

I looked at all our luggage. One small luggage for office wear, one medium size luggage for our casual wear, 1 notebook bag each, and 1 very special luggage for her. This special luggage was full of Msian goodies such as Maggie, ikan bilis, jelly powder, brahim ready-to-cook, sup punjut adabi and asam Moh Far Kor to name a few.

Boy have I been away from home once or twice for what seemed like eternity! And indeed the items in her wish list were indeed some of the simple pleasures of Msian "cuisine" that I missed very much those days. So I made sure all the items in the wish list were grabbed from the hypermarket shelves for that dear someone. I also grabbed lots & lots of jeruk mangga until one of the floor managers who walked past whom I knew quite well asked me if I were 'craving'. Well ... at least I thought it must be the asam that made him think that I was pregnant and not my ugly bulging buncit tummy. Craving pun craving laaa....it was in her wish list and I want to see her smile. The dear someone who is another blogging mom that I only came to know in recent moons by a sheer coincidence really, when I checked out her site, thinking that it belonged to my sis-in-law. Funny how our blogosphering friendship blossomed eversince - common ground of course being mothers of children.

I looked at the bag again and I wondered if Allah would really grant me a chance to meet up with her & her lovely family. The goodies were ready. Actually - I also threw in one non-edible into that bag - tampal koyok cap tiger. HAHAHA ... dunno why!

Ayah saw me daydreaming and gave me the time-check eye brow. And whooosshhhh I hurried to get ready.

That was yesterday.

This morning finally, we touched down on Istanbul - the only city on earth with a foot on two continents which stand proudly at the crossroads of Europe and Asia. "A city which a sheer mention of its name awakes people's fantasies of civilisations and religions, old and new, historic and modern" - this I read and copied from the hotel room brochure about this beautiful city.

Ahhh.... The weather is so nice out there. But Ayah is snoring. So here I am blogging from the hotel room, overlooking the Bhosphorus Straits.

Istanbul
Just you wait
In between work & leisure
We'll roam your streets & straits ...

To my dear blogging sis if you are reading this, hope we would finally meet soon. "Mawi" dah tak sabar nak jumpa you.

To Abang Idin, please do your best in your term exam this week. I'm sorry I'm not around to help you with your studies - but that would also mean you can study in peace, without me nagging behind your back.

Wassalam .....