Well, the day has come where we have to say goodbye. It’s been a fascinating experience for me and Dan for being able to participate so closely on a real wedding ceremony. I believe this has brought us in understanding the whole meaning and procedure of how the whole thing actually looks like.

We were reluctantly woke up by Dan’s papa at around 6am. Toke a morning bath, had a last greeting with chang chang, and off we go for breakfast. Let’s cut the crap on the breakfast part. Breakfast sux. Food was worse than average. Anyway, the only nice one was the fish ball noodles ordered by Dan.

The journey from Kluang to Senai took around 1 hour +. Throughout the journey, me and Dan was holding each other’s hand. The feeling was good. I felt as if our relationship has gone a step higher. I felt closer towards her. Maybe it’s because of the long break that we both had after such a long non-interval working hours. At least, this weekend gave us some good quality time that I believe we’ve spent together. Sometimes all it really needs is just to let 2 hearts rest together side-by-side to replenish the love in between.

Anyway, we reached Senai airport around 9:00am. It was still early. Our checking time is 10am, and so, we me and Dan did some walking around the airport. This airport really amazed me with it’s nice environment. Although small, the cozy feel and beautiful surrounding makes up for its short coming. This was our first time that we’ve came here. And this was also our first time that we patronized AirAsia. As usual, as a more observant person, I used to notice that Dan’s mother’s eyes would be extra shinny every time this moment arises, probable due to the extra moist accumulation on her eyes. Nevertheless, we moved in to the check-in section, and I gave my future in-laws a last goodbye wave.

We look for a nice seat on the waiting lounge, and as I was about to invite Dan for some nice photo session, I was abruptly approached by a huge sized malay-looking guy, around mid 40s. He brought with him a Canon ViewCam. He came with a nicely understandable English slang  and asked if I speak English, he asked for help on setting up his ViewCam’s date and camera. I was somewhat shocked at first, but as a guy which likes to help, I gladly accepted his challenge. I asked for his user manual, and he threw me some Dutch, Italian, Spanish etc manuals. I finally asked for an English manual. We both go thru the manual, and finally found the section. As the viewcam required the user to set the time zone, I therefore seek for his originality, which to my surprise, he answer, ”I’m from Middle East, Bahrain”.

Oh yeah. No doubt I was kinda freaked out for a moment. I believe this is due to the how the public media puts up the impression on those people in the country. I was like “WTF!??!?! Am I really gonna go in the same plane with a Middle Easterner?” . But the next thing happened denies all my accusations. His son came up, and was talking with him in some Arabic language I believe. He then talked to Dan on some English, which we could hardly understand. His father then told him something and then faced back on us and said, that was his son, Hassan, and he was trying to ask u how long are you gonna stay in Penang. That was sweet, isn’t it ? J

Anyway, I kept my composure, and guide him thru the settings. We couldn’t find BadRain in the selection menu, and so, he opted for Dubai. Within a few minutes, we’re done, and he tried a few shots and showed me what he took. There she was, his wife, sitting together with his 2 sons and 1 daughter. As the accouchement from the PA system kept on urging passenger to start boarding the plane, we therefore parted goodbye.

The seats in the A360 was in such a way that it was 2 columns, with 3 seats on each column. Me and Dan settled for a nice window seat, and after a few moments, what a coincident. We were talking about that guys that we just parted goodbye just now, and regretted for not getting his name, and to our surprise, he actually came from behind, and seated his family in front of our seats. When he turned back, he was too surprise to see us, and of course, I invited him to have the seat beside me, and asked for his name.

His name is Waheed, and we quickly exchange name cards.

The conversation during the journey to Penang enlightened me a lot and brought some senses to me. We had some nice conversation and view exchanged. I asked him about his work back there, and he told me that he works in this ManTruck company which deals with trucks, vehicles, constructions, cements etc. He said he works for 7 days a week, 7am till 8pm everyday. I was somewhat stunned, and Dan asked him that was it a norm to work for 7 days a week back in his country. To our surprise, this was his story:-

“I have been working for 16 years for this company. I started of from zero, nothing, until what I have accomplished today. I appreciate the opportunity the company gave me, and so, I do my best to pay back to the company. Our country view Friday as a public holiday. Government organizations has a holiday on Saturdays as well. Our company is a private one, and I have to go back on Fridays not less than 4 hours to make sure that all procedures are flowing smoothly. As you know, I don’t have much time spent with my family, and for this, I do my best to make up with giving my children and family a nice and enjoyable travel at least once a year. I love my job very much. And so, for all the negligence throughout the year, I try to compensate it with this so that I could spend more time with my family.”
 
I was somewhat touched by his words. Although he looks like a normal blue color worker, deep inside, he has a lovable heart which is much more sensitive than what others claim to be. He then took out his whole holiday schedule, printed out on a piece of A4 paper and showed it to us. He told us that he would love to bring his children to all those places where his children could actually enjoy and have fun, and he asked for my suggestion. He said he will be staying in ParkRoyal.

I told him that that’s a nice 5 star hotel, and he said yes it is, and the reason why he chose to take a suite in ParkRoyal was that he misses the homely food so much that he wanted his wife to cook home food for his family for the 4 days he is staying in Penang. We told him to spend more time at the beach there if his kids like to play with water, and he said his kids really do love swimming. He told us about stories on how they spent their time in Sunway Lagoon last week, and with that, he drew out his FujiPix Digicam and slowly browse thru each pictures while telling us the stories behind each of them.

We asked if he is fond of food, and he said “Who doesn’t like food?” hahahaha. And so, we added Gurney Plaza to his shopping list, and Gurney Drive to his next stop. We introduced him to Butterfly Farm. We introduced him to Genting, and he said he was there for 12 hours, which he personally thinks that it wasn’t really enough for his kids.

We asked for his kids’ age, and he said his sons were 10, 7 and 5 for his little daughter. There was a slight silence before he carried on with his conversation. “You know, Hassan, my eldest son? When he was born, we didn’t know that he has a hole in his esophagus (the paip which serves as the breathing tunnel as well as the food channel). He kept on vomiting every time after having his mother’s milk. He face would turn red, blue, and then purple. Every time I see that, I was so scared. We sent him to the hospital, and the stuff there told us that there’s nothing they can do about this. Well, I called my friends and relatives, and I studied myself on what’s the cause of this and everything I could, and I finally decided to bring Hassan back and took care of him myself. I even signed the letter stating that whatsoever happens to him is on the sole responsibility of myself. I bought some chemical cleaning machine, and cleans his room everyday. I took some hard food and make them soft, but not too soft, and feed them down his throat, so as to make sure that those food will not have him choked. I make sure that I change him, and prepare his food and feed him every morning before I go to work at 7am. When I came back around 8pm, I would again change him and feed him myself, and then put him to bed. I did that for 7 months, from the day he as 10 days old, and slowly, the hole patched, and he is as healthy as what he is right now.”

At this time, our conversation was interrupted by the flight attendants. Waheed kindly asked his kids what they would like to have, and to my surprise, he insisted on buying us drinks. His sincerity was too hard for us to turn him down, and so, we finally decided to take 2 bottles of orange juice.

It wasn’t long before we landed in Penang. I couldn’t have the chance to say goodbye to him as he was moving fast catching up with the taxi waiting for them at the arrival hall. I think to myself, I would really want to send him an email when he is back in BahRain, to keep up our friendship.

I personally gain quite a lot from the interaction with this simple yet loving man. I could see from his gestures that he is a loyal man. Loyal to his company. He is a loving husband and caring father, the loves his kids more than anything in this world, and could sacrifice for them in any way. He reasons with his children whenever they do wrong. And he is a responsible man. A respectable husband, father, friend.