Ping Pong - Inter-departmental Tournament 2009

Went to Perlis for J*A's Inter-departmental Tournament 2009.
Spent 3 days and 3 nights away from the family and really, really missed baby Haniyya. In fact, it was the first time I spent any night away from baby Haniyya.
I had had numerous (not merely second) thought about joining the trip to Perlis. But when my boss mentioned in our sectoral meeting that The Big Director has highlighted our sector's lack of participation in the departments sports team, I made up my mind there and then to announced that I would be joining the department's ping pong team to Perlis for the J*A's Inter-departmental tournament. Yes, I know, I always find it difficult to resist any challenge hurled my way, and to me, it was kind of a challenge...

So, Thursday night, I boarded one of the three buses provided, together with 100 plus other officers and support staff to Perlis. Friday evening, we attended a motivational speech by TKPPA(O) (who used to be Mak's officer) in Dewan Warisan, and Friday night we were introduced to Woodball game, and then our players competed for the Congkak Inter-departmental tournament. Despite winning the third place last year, this year our department did not made it past the preliminary round. And I'm afraid I might played a teeny meeny tiny part in it by asking one of the main player to accompany me to a bazar near the Dataran Sheikh Ahmad when the preliminary round was not yet over. Kak Pah, the 'pemain harapan' of our team missed the second game and a substitute player played instead, and we lost. So we did not win any placement for congkak this year (according to Kak Pah, we were No 1 in 2007 and No 3 in 2008, so it was quite a shock not to made it even to the semi-final)

Saturday morning was the day for ping pong and batu seremban players. I wore a long sleeved navy blue t-shirt, only to be told by our Captain that there's a light blue Butterfly jersey similar to those worn by the male team members waiting for me. Upon seeing the jersey for the first time, I worried about it being too tight for me. Alhamdulillah, as it turned out, our Mr Manager was wise enough to get a jersey in a plus size for me. I first thought it would be okay to put on the jersey on top of the navy blue t-shirt, but as it turned out, no air-conditioner was turned on at Kompleks Sukan Negeri Perlis that morning, so I had to change. It was good that I usually had a pair of hand-socks ready in my handbag, because the jersey provided was short-sleeved which meant I had to put on my hand-socks.

Although it was the first time I played mixed double next to Encik Mazlan/Lan (a.k.a Loyot who also used to study and live in Tokyo), I found it easy for us to get along with each other and get attuned to each other's tempo. Our department team won the preliminary round in Group A, which mean we had to meet the second placed team from Group B, the Pension department, in the semi-final.

It was tough fight in semi-final. Encik Lan and I won the first set, but lost the subsequent 3 sets, all in deuce fights. At one time Encik Lan and I were leading by 8-0 in the third set, but we ended up losing our game 3-1. Our team lost to Pension department, 3-2. (The Pension department went on to be the No 2 in the tournament, after they lost to INTAN)

We met the Admin department in No 3/4 placement battle. Encik Lan and I won our game 3-1 (eventhough we lost the game by 2-3 to the same couple in the preliminary round). Prior to that, while we were still playing the third set if I'm not mistaken, a team member whispered, "Puan, kita kena menang ni. Ini deciding match, kita tengah hang 2-2". I looked at Encik Lan, he nodded and from then on we played to win. And we won, alhamdulillah.

So we won the third place in Ping pong, alhamdulillah. Which is a 'cure' of sort for our department since we also did not get pass the preliminary round in batu seremban.

I was so exhausted by the end of the tournament, I hit the sack almost immediately after we arrived back at the hostel. We spent two nights in Institut Latihan Perindustrian (ILP) Perlis, Kangar. When we first arrived, the dormitories were dirty, the shared toilets were dirty, the beds all bare and unmade - an obvious change from the cosy hotel rooms I'm getting quite used to when attending meetings/seminars. But hey, the accomodation provided was way better and cosier than the rubbles our friends in Palestine and Afghanistan are sleeping in, so there. I quickly said alhamdulillah, counting my blessing, simultaneously making doa for those freedom fighters in their beloved homeland and chiding myself for being 'kufur nikmat' for a while.

Saturday night, we attended a dinner hosted by Perlis State Secretariat. I was in the wrong place and the wrong time, so found myself seated at the main table, together with other VVIPs. So my diet went out the window for that one night as I was served nasi minyak Perlis style, laksa, kuey teow sup Siam style, Air Batu Campur, Teh Tarik and various local fruits (rambutan, dokong, mangosteen and durian). I took the opportunity to convey Mak's salam (which she had sent since I started joining the organisation many months ago) to TKPPA, as well as asking him to support Mak's NGO by buying Nasi Arab Amal coupons for Iftar Ramadhan program in Gaza. TKPPA asked me to call him when we're back in the office and I promised I would.

Sunday was spent jalan-jalan at a grape vineyard in Sungai Batu Pahat, followed by a visit to Taman Ular nearby. I had no camera with me, so had to satisfy myself by using my phone camera. Pictures will be uploaded later, insya Allah. And since we were already in Kangar, we did not miss the opportunity to go shopping in Padang Besar.

We left Padang Besar at about 3.15 p.m. and arrived at Putrajaya (after numerous stops along the highway) at about 12 midnight.

I arrived back home at about 12.20 p.m. and guess what greeted me upon my arrival?
The oh-missed-so-much sound of baby Haniyya's cry.
Almost as if he knew I was back and wanted to let me know that he missed me too.
Oh well...