Beneath the same big blue sky...

Thoughts recorded on February 21, 2007...


It was 7.50pm and I was so, so, stressed out! I have two revised chapters which I promised my supervisor that I would e-mail to her by Thursday (I must have been under the influence of Pearl cafe when I made that promise - that drink sometimes gives me the "Malaysia Boleh" attitude at very unappropriate times!) It was 3.50am in Malaysia and I couldn't be calling home! Stupid time zones...

"Hate" may be too harsh a word, but I DO HATE 4.00pm-11.00pm (GMT) simply because in between these hours almost everybody I know is dreaming away in Dreamland...I opened up my Yahoo Messenger - nobody was online! I opened up my Yahoo Mail - yep, I have 4 new mails - from Google Alerts, Chicken Soup Series and a couple of political journals which I subscribe to (postings of which I rarely read anyway!)

But Ayah DID say that I could call him ANY time I feel like talking... So, just to make sure that I would not give him a heart attack when his phone rings, I sent him an SMS first (at 3.55am Malaysia) - "Jz 2 exhaustd mntally 2 go on wt work - i'm jz not gonna do anythg 4 nx couple days. Wil tel ilona (she's my supervisor, by the way) i nd to wind down - my head rlly feels tepu! I need a hug now...."

Waited....and waited....and waited...and finally - a reply came! - "Jz read ur sms. Totally agree u shld wind down & chill out! Y don't u go c a movie...hv drink w fltmates...watch dvds...go shopping...or write in ur blog? Take care..."

Errrr...See a movie? Nope - one must be crazy (or really drunk?) to go out in this cold weather! Have a drink with my flatmates? Nope-nope. Unless I want to drag them home when I'll be the only one sober to lead the way back to the flat! Watch DVDs? Not in the mood. Go shopping? Hmmmm...I think Ayah was still half asleep when he wrote the SMS - all the shops are closed my dear...Northumberland Street IS NOT Bintang Walk...or Taiping Cashier Market, for that matter...Everything closes at 6pm. Period. Write in my blog? Well...that looks like the only thing I can do now...

Well, frankly my dear, I did not send you the SMS to get ideas as to what I should do to wind down...I just wanted to make sure that you were up, (or rather - I wanted to WAKE YOU UP!) so that I could call you...Wink!Wink!

And I did just THAT! It was really nice talking to you...And I am all wound down and chilled out now...No need for movies, no need for outings with friends, no need for shopping. All I needed was to hear your voice - at 4.00am in Malaysia...

I guess it really does not matter if we are in different time zones after all...At the end of the day, when you think about it - We are beneath the same big blue sky...

So, to those who are in dire need to talk to someone, wherever you are beneath the big blue sky, just grab that phone, pour your heart out... and you will feel much, much better. I should know - I did just that...and my "Malaysia Boleh" attitude looks like it's coming back...or is it because I just had my Pearl cafe?! Hmmmm....

Wassalam...