Wonderful Weekend

Last weekend was busy but wonderful. On Friday night (19 June) Danial and I went to Chung Ching School in Tanah Putih to watch the Kuantan Amateur Ping Pong Tournament. Only four of us from the College entered the competition: Azah, Hisham, Mus, and I. Although I wasn’t playing that night, I went to see my two friends playing in men’s doubles. They tried their best but they lost. They didn’t wait until the end but Danial and I decided to do that. After the matches were over, I took Danial to Taj Restaurant in town. I had “roti nan” and Danial ordered fried noodles. We came home at midnight.

The next day (20 June) Hannah and I had our piano lesson as usual. At 2 pm I had to attend the officiating ceremony of the “OPKIM”, a social service operation, which was organized by the KPTM Student Government. The ceremony was held in Kampung Ubai near Pekan. The program was officiated by the Deputy Minister of The Rural & Regional Development Ministry. It was over around 4.30pm.

I rushed home, thinking that I could rest before I had to play in the women’s singles at 8 pm that night. Unfortunately, as soon as I got home, a mountain of clothes were waiting to be folded. To avoid being too nervous, I went to the tournament hall early. I took Danial with me too. The other kids were not interested in watching so they stayed home with Steve. The first round I played against a Malay lady and I won 3-0. The second round I had to play with a Chinese lady and I was whipped 3-0. I tried my best but she was better. Anyway, it was a good exposure for me. If I am still in a good shape as I am today, I will enter the competition again next year. I also signed up for a short course to be a certified ping pong referee which was announced that night. I hope there will be enough participants so the class will be offered soon. Danial and I stayed until the end of the night matches to watch men’s singles. Two of the pairs were playing really great and it was worth waiting for.

On Sunday morning, Danial had a futsal tournament in Indera Mahkota. He went with his friend Khairi. In the afternoon, I asked him if he wanted to go to the ping pong tournament with us but he was too tired from playing footsal, he declined. Yasmin and Harris decided to stay home too. Only Steve, Hannah, Najla and I went to see the final games for men’s doubles and singles. Around 5.30pm, Steve, Hannah and Najla went home to get the other kids so that we could go to Teluk Chempedak beach. I decided to stay at the hall to see the prize giving ceremony and of course to take some pictures of the winners. Perhaps someday I will be one of them.

Around 6pm we all went to the beach. As usual, the beach was packed with visitors bringing their loved ones to relax and enjoy their weekend. Since everyone was hungry, we hurried to the food joints. Najla, Yasmin and I went straight to the restaurant while Steve was far behind, entertaining the other kids who were distracted by the play ground. As I was busy looking for a table to sit, a very nice man offered his table to us and he moved to the nearby seat. I asked him where he was from and invited him to join me. He said he is from France and on a 3 month vacation in Malaysia. He brought with him a mobile home, so that would make it easier to move around and much cheaper to stay. Since I took a few French subjects while studying in college, I blurted out a few French words to him and boy he was really excited by that. He gave me his web site address, which is written in French. Mon dieu! Je n’ai pas comprend! I wish I could understand what is written. The good thing is, I am all excited to relearn my French so I registered in one of the free sites on learning French on the internet. Messieur Parez, one day I will write to you in French.

Messieur Parez, Steve, Yasmin, and Danial