Day 2 (Tuesday, 25th Dec 2001)

I was awakened by SOMEONE who rang the bell (‘school bell’) purposely, repeatedly, meant for us teenagers sleeping in the living room to wake up. A real bell, not the buzzer or ting-tong bell. It was sooo irritating. I mean, come on, this is a HOLIDAY, you don’t expect to wake up early. I might as well sleep at home, at least there’s nobody who’ll disturb me. He thought that by ringing the bell, we would wake up. Haha! Actually, we’re already awake b4 they are, it’s just that we don’t want to get out of our ‘bed’, have a longer snooze. We had prata for breakfast which our mothers cook in the villa’s kitchen. Then, I went to sleep again, this time in my parents' room, so there’ll be nobody to disturb me. The living room was no place to sleep in, in the day, what with the TV blaring, the kids playing (oh yeah, I brought Jenga and let them play with it - big mistake, the plastic cover and the box was destroyed), climbing over, bullying and pinching you and the adults talking loudly.

When I woke up at nearly 11am, it was already time to leave for Tanjung Pinang, which was a 2-hour drive from our resort. Our driver brought us to a restaurant called Sangkuriang at Tanjung Pinang. I realised I’ve been there before when I last went to Tanjung Pinang in 1998. The sambal belacan was very nice so our mothers took it home so we could have it for dinner. We had kailan ikan masin, kurau asam manis, asparagus soup, tofu soup, prawns in butter and fried chicken. We also ordered gurame (the standing fish) and kangkong belacan but the orders didn’t come. (What bad service!) It was a 500 000 (rupiah, of course) meal.

After lunch, we went shopping at the town. Went in and out of shops but did not buy anything. Izah and Lin went home first, following Cik Bahari and family.

Yeah, and we were bullied by the kids in the van. At first, me and Izah sat at the back of the van, with the kids in front. Then, we asked the eldest sister, Afiqah, to join us (she’s the most well-behaved), so she did. What happened was Yaya decided to join us too, despite our LOUD protests. We couldn’t stop her. In the end, I decided it was way too cramped at the back and I should go to the front seat. By then, the van was already moving and I couldn’e very well ask the driver to stop the van just so I could change seats rite? So, feeling unlady-like and like an idiot (I mean, what must the driver have thought of me?), I climbed over the seat to sit in front. Unfortunately, Nazifah was there, eating crackers. She treated my tudung like a towel. After picking a cracker and eating it, she wiped her hands with my tudung. Plus, the changeover did not deter Yaya from bullying me and Izah. At last, out of frustration, I threatened to tie Yaya up - that shut her up and there was some peace after that. Then, (thankfully) the kids fell asleep, exhausted. But my troubles were not over. I nearly wanted to throw up because of this sickly smell (can’t say what, afraid of getting sued - came from one of the kids). I managed to hold myself, though.

Meanwhile, I was at the market with my parents. The driver showed us the way. (After arriving back in Singapore, Lin’s mother commented the fact of us being too arrogant to ask the drivers to be our guide in where to buy the best and cheapest stuff of everything). The market reminded me of the wet market at Geylang Serai. We bought chicken, veggies and other necessities. My dad and his video camera!!!! It was soo embarrassing cos people were staring at us.

After a tiring 2 hour ride home, I had to help with the cooking. Kecoh! Cos there’s seven people in the kitchen.  My first time chopping ikan bilis! Cos there’s no batu tumbuk. The salad tasted a little bitter and the chicken stinked a little cos of the 2-hour ride, I guess.(What do you mean a little? It stunk a LOT until I wanted to gag. At first, when I smelled it, I thought one of the kids had **** in her pants). And there was no asam jawa to clean the chicken!  Dinner was  served at 8pm. We had fried cabbage, salad, tahu goreng, sambal kacang, chicken soup, sambal belacan and chicken in soya sauce. We were so hungry that we even lapped up all of the stinking chicken! (I didn’t. I could only eat one piece of chicken. The smell made me lose my appetite. And the smell in my hands stayed for quite a while). I think we’re gonna gain weight if we stayed long here cos it kept raining and we did nothing but ate, slept, and watched TV. Izah tengok TV macam tak pernah tengok TV padahal mula2 dia cakap boring .‘Home Alone 3’ was sure to be boring cos it wasn’t **** that was acting.(siapa budak tu yg act dlm Home Alone 1 and 2?) . Macauley Culkin?

The time now is 10.45pm, Singapore time. We’re now watching Casper. It is sooo pathetic, we do not have proper paper to write on except for this measly, small “stick notes” that Kakak Las managed to get from her mother.