Dude, where's your car?

Have you ever been to huge malls or business centres? You know, those buildings where they have multi level of parking bays or a vast expand of parking lots? The land where everything looks similar and non-descript. If you have, you know how easy it is to 'misplace' your car!

Case 1
We had finished shopping and were heading to the car with a cartload of stuff. Wanting to speed up our exit from the mall, I gave the car keys to my companions and asked them to load things into the car while I queue to pay for the parking. After paying the parking, I took the escalator down to the level where I parked my car. I walked to my car thinking that they were already waiting in the car only to find my empty car. Waited for about 5 minutes before a guard came. He must have thought I've lost my car:
Guard: Apa nombor? (translation: what's your car plate number?)
Me: Ni kereta. Tunggu kawan (translation: This is my car - pointing to my car. I'm waiting for my friend)
The guard went away but not far enough for me to escape his watchfull eyes.

After what seems to be another 5 minutes, still no sign of my companions. Went to the guard.
Me: Encik, minta tolong. Saya rasa kawan saya sesat (translation: Sir, need your help. I think my friends is lost)
Guard with blank face: Apa nombor?

Erk... He's a foreign worker. So I repeated in English. Still he gave blank look. I gave up. I was about to flag down another guard patroling on a motorcycle when, to my relief, I saw my companions in the distance.

Case 2
After a great dinner with a bunch of close friends in a mall, we decided to call it a night. While deciding which way to go to our respective car, a friend suddenly said:
Friend A: where did I parked my car?
Us: Dude, where's your car?
She eventually found her car by backtracking her steps.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that I've never 'misplaced' my car. In fact, I was the most frequent person among my friends to have 'misplaced' my car. I've found a solution. I use my camera phone to take pictures of my car and the surrounding. The pictures was sort of 'breadcrumbs' to my car.

It made some noises

There was a heavy downpour. I was soaked to the bone. I waited for the passengers to alight then dashed towards the taxi. I told the taxi driver my destination.

While sitting at the back seat, I heard a faint beeping sound. I looked at the fare meter. It couldn't have come from there. Then I realize, it was my trusty old T5.

It has ended its silent treatment. It is now on talking terms again!

Engagement Party

No, I'm not talking about mine. But rather about the one that I tagged along. No, party does not meant those funky fiesta function. Party as in a bunch of people getting together (like political party?). It was a Malay engagement party.

Generally, in Malay culture, there are a few 'steps' to take before actually getting hitched. The first is being 'merisik' (literally translates into 'spying'), followed by 'bertunang' (engagement), then 'akad nikah' (solemnization), and 'bersanding' (very much like wedding reception).

In the 'merisik', family member from the male side would visit the girl's family house. The family member(s) could be the guy's parents or uncle and aunt. As the name suggest, it is very much like a spying mission. The male family would 'attempt' to investigate the girl. Main objective is to find out whether the girl is suitable match for the guy. Typically, a ring called 'cincin tanda' (loosely translated into 'marking ring') would be given to girl's family. If the girl agrees to marry the guy, she keeps the ring. Otherwise the ring is return as soon as possible. The ring is sort a marking to tell the rest of the village that someone will send an engagement party.

The guy then send an engagement party to the girl's house. The party would be bringing gift that might be use for the impending marriage. The girl's family would prepare gift as a 'reply'. the During this ceremony, a spoke person from the both family would discuss and 'negotiate' almost all things related to the pending marriage. This include the 'term and condition' of the engagement (i.e. what to do if either side to break the engagement, how long the engagement, etc.). Also discussed things related to the pending marriage.

However, since the two family are from different part of the country the 'merisik' was not done. The guy is from west coast of peninsular Malaysia, while the girl is from east coast of peninsular Malaysia. It would be kind of costly to make the trip twice. Plus, the two love birds already know each other. So after the negotiation, typically, a female member's (mom/aunt/grandma) of the guy family would put the 'cincin tunang' on the girl's finger. The girl was calm when the guy's grandma put on the ring. The guy, however, made a suprise. He bought two rings, one for the supposedly 'cincin tanda' and another for the 'cincin tunang'. So, when the guy's mom came up to her, she was a bit shaken.

'Akad nikah' and 'bersanding' is beyond the scope of this entry. Maybe when it happened, I'll blog about it.