Monday 5 April 2010

More notes from under the duvet


The boiler seems to be on the blink again and as it is Bank Holiday here, no one can be persuaded to come and have a look at it. So the duvet seems to offer the warmest place as I oscillate from FB to Blog stopping to read news online somewhere in between; anything at all to stall my long overdue article from completion. 


I must admit that I have been lured back to FB, a place I swore I'd never put a foot in again. A friend suggested that I reactivate my account to retrieve some photographs from her and once I pressed the button, there was no turning back.  There I discovered the place where friends congregate: friends who had been slowly disappearing from my comment box and from my beloved rantauan.com: a virtual village which was once ringing with laughter over pantun wars, is now quiet. Initially, I had problems putting names to faces as in FB most except Mekyam, use their real names. 

I found old classmates and I even found my mother!!!  My nephews and nieces, siblings and relatives are there as well. Our family members used to meet up in www.myfamily.com but some bright spark decided that FB is a more convenient place to meet.  She even ghosted my mother's account!

And guess who else I met there?  Our wedding photographer!! Zubir, or Tok Bet as he is affectionately known, is an old family friend who is related to my brother-in-law and by marriage, related to Puteri Kama.  FB is indeed a small world.  Being in touch with him brought back memories of that fateful day - 9th December 1979.  Tok Bet is almost a brother to us, bunking in with my brother most nights when we were living in Yan.  After our simple bersanding, he ushered us to the bedroom for the standard 'sitting on the bed' pose.  The room wasn't big enough for him to move around, and as he walked backwards to get a good picture, he tripped backwards into the bathroom!!

The virtual world, through all these social networking sites, is forever interested to know what we are doing, what we are thinking.  I wonder why.  So, in a haste, and still procrastinating over the article I am supposed to write, I wrote: ZO's dilema: should I write for blog or cari makan?  This prompted quite a few suggestions. 

Now, I had considered myself quite a veteran in this cyberworld, but it never ceased to amaze me how the online written word could be misconstrued and misinterpreted.  What I had in my head and transfered onto the page, was not what was received.  My dilema was whether I should write an entry for the blog or to write a piece for the newspaper.  Nevertheless, its quite an interesting study of how a written word is read and perceived.  I had failed to convey what was in my head at that point in time.

And as you can see, the blog wins hands down and I will now write to cari makan.

Over and out.

Kak Teh's also wrote from under the duvet here:

Notes from under the duvet

37 comments:

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Mother of Tabby,
Wish I was there with you under the duvet....purrr...meow!

Kak Teh said...

CIS, Tabby pricked his ears reading this. He is not one to share, even if the cat is from Sydney. Snowbell pun kekadang kena kejar keluar bilik.

Pi Bani said...

Yep, I noticed how your "just testing" post on FB triggered lots of responses! :)

I'm in FB but I'm sticking to wall posts, links, photos and comments. Staying away from the other applications (for the moment).

KG said...

yes kak teh, i was surprised to find you in fb...but happy! i met many old precious friends via fb...and it's faster communication esp during weekends, am active there!

Justiffa said...

Its so true KT.. kekadang tak terfikir pun it could ever be misconstrued sbb rasanye dah terang lagi bersuluh. but problem is its actually all in our own head je lol.

Hope u're doing well both under and out of the duvet hehehe ;p

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Tabby? He won't be able to resist me...purrr....meow!

NanaDJ said...

KT, warm and cosy under the duvet, blogging and surfing at the same time, how spoilt can one get. Hot tea and ginger biscuits within reach? Plus playing footsie with you know who! Who wants to think about work then?
Thats what I miss about UK, the berlingkar under the duvet part. It is not the same here!

mekyam said...

kakteh dear, if i were to register as *maryam w...*, no one will know me.

while then i won't have that problem which scares naz [i.e. someone saying *I KNOW YOU!*], i won't have any FB friends either as everyone i send a request to will come back with "WHO THE FRENCH FRIES ARE YOU? I DON'T KNOW YOU!" :D

anyway mekyam is my real name gak. when i first looked for an internet handle, i thought "yam" would be too familiar for people i don't really know. "tahi ayam" [as my siblings will sometime call me] would be so not on. hence "mekyam" - a more baku version of what my worith beloh alik kelatè refer to me! :D

p.s. hope you are done with "cari makan" for the moment and can now waste some serious time on String 'Em In. ;D

Tommy Yewfigure said...

‘The boiler seems to be on the blink again’…hehehe, so cute, is it just me or what?...never mind.

Goodness gracious me u seems to be spending an awful lot of time under the duvet. Hope u r not just only writing, FBing & blogs surfing. There are other more interesting ‘creative’ things to do mah. See lah how NanaDJ speaking from her wealth of experience. She’s on my same wavelength from the age of Aquarius.

Yes2 I pre-empt what u gonna say;’ Yew r beyond redemption.’

Cheers,
Tommy

Zubaidah Arshad said...

i concur. written words in the blog sometimes can be perceived the different way it intended to be. when we hope Mr. A understands that the 'loony football joke' is meant to be a joke, Mr. B looks it a different way. A little insulting maybe.

This is the sole reason why I blog, and just keep it as it is. Never meant to make it known to people. Because sometimes, it hurts me, even I know they do not mean it that way.

Naz in Norway said...

Salam Kak Teh,
Isn't it quite meriah over there? I was so happy to see you on FB.
Like Kak Pi, I too am staying away from all the other app. No time and not interested.

Your comment about the tersurat/tersirat was kinda funny. I'll share that with you one day over mee bandung!

kay_leeda said...

Welcome back to FB again Kak Teh. I must admit I'm an FB addict. And with BB it's even worst.

Nonetheless, FB a good place to hang out. Old friends, uncles, mak sedara, bosses semua ada lah. So meriah kan :)

p/s I'm wishing I could spend longer guling-guling time under the duvet. Ohh how I wish....

The Ceramic Designer said...

assm kak teh!!!

how are you??
yes, i'm liking facebook much more than blogging the past 1-yr too..
yes, its so much faster and less mind-boggling to write down my thoughts too..

please add me in your FB-list? same real name Rosmah Yaakub, and you can also be a FBfanpage of www.theceramicdesigner.com should you be at all the least interested haha..

in the meantime, i shall try looking you up myself...

take care kak teh dear..

Kak Teh said...

Pi , its the same with me; no poking-poking or giving flowers. I asked mekyam abt the word game but i dont think i will even go there as I can get very seriously addicted to word game. Nak kena buat time management sikit ni.
In fact, banyak!

KG, i know it is faster communication almost instant. Tu yang dok check selalu tu.

Kak Teh said...

Pi , its the same with me; no poking-poking or giving flowers. I asked mekyam abt the word game but i dont think i will even go there as I can get very seriously addicted to word game. Nak kena buat time management sikit ni.
In fact, banyak!

KG, i know it is faster communication almost instant. Tu yang dok check selalu tu.

Kak Teh said...

Justiffa, alas i have been condemned to be under the duvet for the whole day today as I think i have done my back in again. Its the old slipped disc..and i am actually sleeping on hot water bottle under duvet. feels like a sauna!

CIS, well, Tabby is a gentleman when he wants to be one..er gentlecat.

Kak Teh said...

NanaDJ, belingkar under the duvet - that's nice phrase and is what i am doing now - thanks to old slipped disc. Tapi nak main footsies pun sakit- so not much fun there! hehe!

Mekyam, you will always be mekyam to me. am dne with one cari makan and am about to embark on another one. and that means, i need to roam around cyberworld to get inspiration.

Kak Teh said...

Naz, apa yang tersurat/tersirat ni penting sebab kita orang melayu ni cakap berlapis2. according to one fierce critic of Malays (and malay writings) who else but Munshi abdullah, reading malay writing is like wading through mud before you can get to the real thing.This he said in his compilation of 10 kebodohan orang2 melayu...interesting, isnt it?

Yes, why not over mee bandung. Your place or mine?

Kak Teh said...

Kay, dont wish you can guling2 under the duvet. See what happened to me - am under the duvet, nursing a back back.

CD, you are back! and yes, we are aready friends on FB!

Tommy Yewfigure said...

Hehehe OMG, Cik Zaharah Othman, I beg your pardon. Did u realise that that that's exactly what u do under the duvet;- 'Yummy Tew'..hahaha & u had in brackets too & I quote ('I have wanted to do that')LOL..perut sakit I.

Excuse me while I go wipe that grin off my face :) nite, nite

Tommy

P/S - Tell me u did not do that in purpose :)

Kak Teh said...

Yew, yes, yew, what did I do or say? aiyaa, this is what I mean by online language. Have you heard about kak teh's fampous spoonerism? well, I think that will be the next change.
For now I will give you a teaser:

My favourite actors are Hariffon sord and East Clintwood. and my bank used to be Shongkong Hai Hai Bank.

hehe!

Tommy Yewfigure said...

OK, Zah, I shall give u the benefit of the doubt. 'Tew' or 'Tiu' is the Cantonese word meaning Fornication Under Consent of King'....giggles.

Zendra-Maria said...

Kak Teh, if ever there is a cyber under-the-duvet faux pas, that one about Yotty Mew is THE one hahaha!

You pull them in wherever you are Tak Keh, be it on FB, blogs, Aunty Beeb. You have the power eh?

Kak Teh said...

Zendra dear, that's a genuine paux fas. My mak would have made a sambal for my mouth for uttering those words!

But on reflection and having had a second reading of TOMMY YEW's (yes, i have said it properly there!)explanation, (Fo******n under the consent of the kings) it sounds rather like it has been given the royal seal of approval, the likes of which you see on a plaque at Harrods.

Fadhil said...

I somehow seem to remember a post where Kak Teh mentioned that she wont be on FB anytime soon, hehehe...

Agaknya bila Kak Teh nak add kita as friend, ek?

Kak Teh said...

Oldstock, memang betul i did say so, but i fell into a trap - I wanted to get some pictures froma friend;s FB account , and she said, reactivatelah your account and i duly did so and see what happened! Okay - will hunt for you and add you. err, kena cari nama you yang sebenar dulu.

Ordinary Superhero said...

Ha ha...fb or no fb, please continue writing here. And you could even link your blog entries to your fb. FB is okay unless you are too occupied with virtual kebun.

Sweet Serenity said...

Hish...mana ada *ghosted* tok yun's fb account..?? ingat tok yun x IT savvy kaa?? hehe

Kak Teh said...

ha tu dia ghost sendiri datang. Dia oleh dengark apa orang kata pasai dia! Awat tok tak update profile dia?

Kak Teh said...

OSH, oh no, no virtual kebun for me!!! Kebun di belakang rumah pun tak terjaga.

3yearshousewife said...

Our boiler failed 4 times for the 3 years we were there. Under the duvet is indeed the best place to be at that particular time.

Kak Teh said...

3yrhousewife, what is painful is the bill and there are lots of cowboys who's willing to do the job and ask for a lot of money. Nak kena cari yang betul2 genuine.

Sunfloraa said...

Yes Kak teh some of "us" have disappeared into the bowels of FB! Look me up! :)

Hope that Boiler is better!

Kak Teh said...

sunflora, you have been away for a long, long time. I must admit, after getting somewhat lost in FB, then i think i can get used to it. If you can beat it, join it lah. But Blog is still my comfort zone. Even if no one comes around anymore, i will ramble to myself - kesian kan?

It is easier for yout o look me up, i will look for Siti?

Atok said...

hehe...racun FB ni mmg dahsyat. after 2 yrs resisting, i termakan...lepas tu terus abandon my blog. now fulltime on FB :)

Kak Teh said...

atok, i nampak sawang di blog you!

Fiona1 said...

Hi Kak Teh! Thanks for this post -I have a couple of newly pregnant friends in London and I'm sure they'd identify with this post. Hope you are well and happy:) I'm working in Heathrow airport and commute between london in the west quite frequently. Catch up soon!