I just laughed at his feeble attempt of trick, since I was aware that the Malaysian Embassy would be organizing one such function in conjunction with a Minister’s visit. Kamarol was invited by Nafisah, the girl in charge of Human Resources at the Embassy, who asked him to invite others as well since there were still vacancies for the tables booked at the hotel.
Consulted hubby and he said ok. “Jumpa pukul 4.30 kat lobby Hilton. Jangan lewat. Jangan Menteri lak yang tunggu engkau,” Kamarol warned.
The thing is, I have known about this high-tea some time ago, but was not initially interested in joining because of two reasons – one, reluctance to bring Huzaifah to such function; two, because hubby has to teach some kids at 3.00 p.m, which normally ends at 4.00 p.m., and so I was worried that we might not be able to be there in time.
Just then, the mother of the hubby’s Pakistani-Nihonjin students called us, saying that she would like to have a change of schedule this week and is 10.00 o’clock Sunday morning okay with us? We said okay and I was glad that it seemed we would be able to be in time after all.
But at 2.15 p.m, the mother called again, telling me that oops, tomorrow is not okay, and they would be at the mosque at 3.00 p.m. today, as usual.
I got ready, preparing Huzaifah as well. Asked hubby if he brought any suit to Tokyo, he said no, and no, he wasn’t keen on wearing a suit although I advised him that the function would be a formal one. Hubby said he would take his chances by just wearing a black working shirt and if he’s not allowed to enter the function, then he’ll just return home. I know better than to further argue with him, after all I can’t help but agreeing with hubby’s claim that some people take all the trouble to dress up to meet orang besar but not caring much what they wear when they meet Yang Maha Besar.
We were late. At 4.00 p.m., hubby was in the middle of giving shukudai to the kids, and he hadn’t pray Asar yet. Huzaifah and I waited as he wrapped up the class and prayed Asar. At about 4.30 p.m., we boarded the train from Asakusa to Nishi Shinjuku, transferring once to Marunouchi line at Akasaka Mitsuke. Prior to that, I sent a c-mail to Kamarol, advising him to go ahead and join other people because I had no idea when we would arrive at Hilton.
We arrived at Nishi Shinjuku eki at about 5.10. Kamarol told us that there’s an exit to Hilton from Nishi Shinjuku eki but we used another exit by mistake. As a result, it took us 15 minutes to reach Hilton, and along the way hubby was busy snapping photos although I insisted on quickening our pace.
Yes, we were very late, and Datuk Seri Shahrizat had almost came to the ending of her speech as we were ushered to the far end corner of the ballroom. Hubby realized he was really the odd one out as every other guy in the ballroom seemed to be wearing either suits or batik, while he even wore casual slack. I almost said “I told you so” but decided not to. Let him learn his own lesson.
"Our students in Japan must have been the smartest, most brilliant, prettiest, gorgeous, bla, bla, bla.... (insert typical bodek by politicians)"
It wasn’t long before the MC declared “jemputlah makan” (instead of the more polite expression of “silalah menjamu selera”) and everybody made their way to the buffet table. Hubby and I opted to go straight to the snacks and dessert tables since we were both still full from eating my first attempt of beriani rice (using Maggi instant flavor) and Bombay beriani mutton (Ahmed’s spice) with the normal jelatah.
Huzaifah had lots and lots of pastry and cake (because it’s easier and less messy to feed him such food), while I had my fair share of satay, California rolls and strawberries. There was a chocolate fountain (instead of dip) for the fruit slices (melon, strawberries and pineapples – mind you, all these three are expensive fruits here though pineapples and melons are not that expensive in Malaysia), but I have never been a chocolate lover anyway, so it was not a big deal for me. Nevertheless I noticed a lot of girls appeared to be mesmerized by that chocolate fountain, leaving lots of the cake, pudding and tarts untouched to my delight. And I did not miss much for not taking rice, because according to Apid, the only tasty lauk was the ayam masak kicap, and I can cook a decent ayam masak kicap myself. I was really glad to see satay though since I have been missing them greatly due to the fact that yakitori is a popular summer snack around here.
With Hisyam, a postgraduate under UNIMAS Sponsorship and his wife Wani
Huzaifah was the only baby present and I was really glad that he behaved well throughout the whole evening. You can never tell with babies, they can throw tantrum in a matter of minutes and the cutest baby can turn into a frightful monster. Alhamdulillah Huzaifah chose to be rather quiet; perhaps a bit overwhelmed since he’s not used to seeing lots of people gathering in a dim place. Lots of people came to play with or hold him – including the Minister, some big shots, but mostly undergraduate students, both male and female. Huzaifah used to prefer playing with oniisan than oneesan, but nowadays, since he had gotten the separation anxiety thingy, he refused to be held by others for long.
Huzaifah being mugged with attention every now and then
I took the opportunity to look for other postgraduate student who were attending the function apart from Kamarol. Someone pointed out two girls, both named Ina - one doing her Masters and the other pursuing her PhD. Since the Ina who was pursuing Masters was busy taking picture, I asked to be introduced to the other Ina. And hey, turned out she reads my blog regularly and need not much introduction because she pretty much knew me already. Or my blogger self, anyway.
According to her, she’s been an avid reader of my blog for a long time. In fact she had seen and recognized me when I went for Aidilfitri prayer at the Embassy last year but was rather shy to say hi to me. Well, it did felt rather weird to hear a perfect stranger recalling what I’ve written on my blog in front of me, but coming from her, it sounded friendly as against frightening (“macam stalker” as Apid put it) Anyway Ina, hope you’ll keep on being my reader and yes I am going to find out your blog too soon. It’s a small blogging world after all. And though I am serious about the invitation for Hanabi session and Tobu World Square, I forgot to get your contact details amidst our chat, so please feel free to email me your details, okay?
One for the album - Ina, her two kohai, Huzaifah and I
I was looking for Pak Abas, a former SUB at my old office who is now the TKSU at Datuk Shahrizat’s ministry. Unfortunately he was not around, so I sent my regards to him through an officer named Hasnah, who used to study in Tokyo and lived in Ichikawaono. It would be good to meet Pak Abas – he was one of the fatherly figures we had in the office apart from ayahanda (Dato’) Nadzim, who retired as Deputy State Secretary of Perak. They both helped giving the office some positive ambiance with their generosity and I believe, despite their shortcomings, they would always be remembered kindly by those who used to work under their supervision.
Anyway, the high-tea ended with goodies being handed out – courtesy of Malaysian delegation. We each got a bag consisting a packet of keropok, serunding daging, and the integrated encyclopedia of the Holy Quran CD-Rom plus the unavoidable brochure of the Malaysian Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development.
Hubby spent some time chatting with his own peers – those working under Education scheme. “Aku dah jumpa geng aku. Kau tak yah berlagak, kat sini takdak PTD.Kami semua DG,” Kamarol stated. They even took a group photo chanting “D-G” instead of the normal “chii-zu”.
"Dee Gee..."
"Gaya seorang penghibur jalanan"
All in all, a tiring day, but the less-than-a-thousand yen hubby and I spent to go there was definitely worth it.
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