A wife’s gotta do what a wife’s gotta do

It has been a long time since I wrote anything GUiT. But the time has come for me to do my wifely duties and write things GUiT again.

I vividly remember the day we received the news that GUiT was finally going to be published. To say that I was more overjoyed and over the moon compared to the writer is not far from the truth. I was ecstatic. Deliriously so. He, being the man he is, was more composed, allowing only a smile and later broke into a brief jig around the room with the children. But that is him.

The day the books arrived, hot from the printers in Singapore, we were again overjoyed; my smile never left my face and for months it ached because I was/is that proud of my Awang Goneng.

We had the books delivered for the soft launch at the Royal Asiatic Society in London and I took to bringing five to ten books with me in my huge bag, the writer himself not suspecting anything. People I met at functions, press conferences and even from across the road, were targeted as possible buyers and readers of GUiT.

Take this for example: an interview with the then Foreign Minister. When I finished the interview, I boldly said: Can I interest you in a book written by my husband?

Of course he was interested, for he himself writes books and later congratulated AG personally.

Then there was the time we went to the bank and I saw a familiar face at the till. He was from the former cabinet, in charge of Finance. Once it was confirmed it was him, I said my salam and had small chats. AG began retreating in the background suspecting that any minute then, Iwas going to whip out GUiT to the unsuspecting former minister. And of course I did.

By then I was resigned to the fact that my husband only wanted to write the book and keep them all locked up in his cupboard. He'd shy away from any GUiT talk so much so I had to be the spokesperson, the salesperson and the pr all in one.

He worries that people might not find it interesting; a book he wrote only for his children, about his growing up years in a small town in Trengganu. About the Trengganu still alive in his memories. But I knew better.

I was on assignment in Paris two years ago. And then I decided to return the generosity of our Culture Minster who had kindly given me his book. So, I signed a book on AG's behalf and sent it through his officer. Within a week, I received orders for 500 books, and much later 500 more.

And there were many more. I took some books to a seminar in Liverpool and I believe I sold more books than the book stall outside the conference room.

So, imagine my shock when I read that in Malaysia the books were not selling and people couldn't find it anywhere. So, I went back, initially to attend the launch of the book alone in Singapore as the writer himself felt that he couldn't/wouldn't make the journey. (But later, I somehow twisted anything twistable, and he relented and came along).

My first few days in KL, I went around the bookshops and I couldn't find GUiT anywhere - not in MPH, Kino or anywhere. I was devastated. Those I found were sandwiched between Dina Zaman's I am Muslim and Lydia Teh's Life's Like That. Or hidden behind mountains of Samy Velloos!

So, it was then that I decided that I had to do something. There's no limit to a wifely duty. I approached a manager at a bookshop, explained my predicament, my frustrations. My husband, had he been there would have fainted with embarrassment. But, the manager, bless him, saw the book, believed in its potential and made just one phonecall that within one week saw GUiT in the best sellers list.

It was less hard work after that, though I still carry a copy or two in my bag these days.

The reason I am doing this promotion again is simple; GUiT has been shortlisted for the Popular-Star Readers Choice Awards 2009 for non fiction. Here's the list:

Yvonne Lee - Vanity Drive: The Vagaries of Women's Vanity
Sheik Mustapha Shukor Al-Masrie - Reach for the Stars
Adeline Loh - Peeing in the Bush
Adibah Amin - Glimpses : Cameos of Malaysian Lives
Paddy Bowie - Datuk Teh Hong Pow : Banking Thoroughbred
Kee Thuan Chye : March 8: The Day Malaysia Woke Up
Tun Mahathir & Tan Sri Abdullah Ahmad - Dr. Mahathir's Letters to World Leaders
Rustam A. Sani - Failed Nation? Concerns of a Malaysian Nationalist
Amir Muhammad - New Malaysian Essays 1
Awang Goneng - Growing Up in Terengganu

According to Sharon Bakar: Voting will be once again via the Star's Reads Monthly Supplement. The bookstore is organising promotions of the books and from June onwards, customers that visit POPULAR outlets will get 20% discount when they buy any of the nominated books. The winner will be announced at Bookfest @ Malaysia 2009.

So, if you've not read GuiT, give t a try. Below are just some of you who helped make GUiT a success!! Thank you!!!

.


And AG, Happy Father's Day!!!

On the GUiT Trail on Galeri Perdana (RTM 1 TONITE!!!)

Just a quick note before we leave for London.

Our last few days were spent, yet again on the GUiT trail as RTM had requested that we do a kind of Jejak Awang Goneng for Galeri Perdana (Starting tonight 28th Jan at 8.45'sh pm) .

We were back filming for two days – two hot but very rewarding and emotional two days, as AG went back to places, which he had not seen since he let Terengganu, met up with friends and teachers and most important and interesting of all we went on the Beluda trail, followed by the crew from Astro in search of the Beluda after the Terengganu roti was given a fresh airing in GUiT.

Jejak Awang Goneng will be in several short parts - So, do stay tuned.

We went to capture beautiful and enchanting Trengganu.....

was given a treat of Siti Payung by the son of an old Guru

Witnessed the making of the beluda......

What's the story with the genta?

A meeting with a member of the Pok Loh Yunang clan to hear the background of their migration to Trengganu.

A meeting with his first teacher from Sekolah Rendah Ladang.

and much, much more.....

Thanks to Sdr Karim who recorded the first two episodes. Actually The first episode was a little longer than what was required so, it was split up into two episodes...by then I had left the big building on the hill.

Part 1

Part 2
part 3

part 4

(sigh!!!! How I wish I was there to edit them myself!)

The final part is here.

A disclaimer: Part three was not edited by me...The ending was taken from somewhere else in the script. There was supposed to be a bit on Trengganuspeak. Alas I couldnt be there to see that everything was in place.

Psssst! GUiT has climbed up to no. 1 best seller non -fiction at MPH again! And no. 1 best seller non fiction for Monsoon Books!

A letter to my sayang mamas 2

Hello all,

Awang Goneng will be at MPH Midvalley on 20th January 3-4pm for a booksigning session.

Hope to see all of you there.

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We are now in Penang where AG is giving a talk on his book at USM on 17th December (ooops- its January!!) at 9am (while yours truly will be talking about what she does for a living.)

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My dearest ones,

It has been a while since I last wrote as we do not have internet access all the time. Daddy and I are now familiar faces at the internet café in front of the KLCC surau after we’ve had a spot of breakfast at Delifrance. We pay RM8.00 an hour, which is a bit steep, but it is worth it because the place is clean and most important of all, we do not get people standing right behind us reading our emails!

I am now back at Pak Ajie’s after sending Daddy off at the UKM station heading for Gombak. Everyone is fast asleep. Tok must be so tired as she had had a long day today. We all trooped off for breakfast at Taman Warisan and Tok enjoyed a a bowl of mee curry which was actually someone else’s. She forgot that she had ordered nasi lemak. That is Tok. But it is amazing that there are certain things that she doesn’t forget. She was telling Hilman on his first day at school, that I actually cried and kept running out of the classroom on my first day at school! And that must have been some ^%$#@ years ago!

Tonight I am sharing Hilman’s and Iman’s room and watching them sleep so peacefully, I thank Allah that they are safe and sound surrounded by their loved ones. I hope and pray that five year old Nini who went missing a few days ago, is also sleeping safe and sound and being cared by someone who will not harm her but will return her soon to her parents. Yes, not another one, I hear you say.

It is every parents’ nightmare and this happened not long after poor Nurin Jazlin was found in such a sorry state after being abducted for nearly a month. There are some very unsavoury characters around and it is sad that we have to bring up children to be suspicious of people.

When all of you were small, I used to be so paranoid – I believe I am still so. I’d hold your hands so tight that it hurt. I used to sew our phone number inside your clothes, just in case. Let us pray that Ninie will be returned to her anxious parents, soon. Real soon.

It has been more than a month since we said goodbye at Heathrow and I remember thinking “It is going to be a long two months away from all of you!”

If truth be told, I really don’t know where time went. The Singapore book launch seems like a year ago and we’ve been whizzing up and down the country – all GUiT related trips. So far, we’ve been back to Trengganu twice and I must admit I have fallen in love with the place AND the people.

Remember I told you that after the booksigning in Kuala Terengganu, we were invited back by the Chief Minister of Terengganu. He suggested a wonderful and interesting idea – which materialised into an event called Sembang-sembang Awang Goneng. And that happened on 7^th January at 3 pm at the Kelab Warisan on Pulau Duyong.

For the event, your cousin Mi and his wife Na bought Daddy a silk batik shirt. I must say I have never seen Daddy in a batik shirt and there’s always a first. I was presented with a similar piece of material which I sent to Mak Su’s tailor who made a baju kurung for me, fit for the occasion. Daddy was expecting about 50 people to turn up – instead, when we entered the grand hall, there were about 300 people , mostly pensioners and people old enough to remember events, people mentioned in GuiT. There was a big picture of Daddy on the screen and that was enough to give him a heart attack! Daddy talked for quite a bit, remembering his growing up days in Kuala Trengganu but when he spoke about the need to keep the people, the soul of the city, in the city, to grow with the development, he got a bit emotional and couldn’t speak for a while. I have never seen him like that, but then again, he had never been invited by the state to speak about his hometown. After the talk, the MB invited people to sembang-sembang, and exchange stories on Trengganu, but quite a few people stood up to speak about their concerns. A few spoke about the need for local writers to be recognised. Yes, I do agree with that.

Before the food arrived at our table, Daddy was surrounded by people carrying GUiT, courtesy of the state government. I don’t know how he managed to stand and sign all copies – but that he did, while answering lots of questions and posing for photographs.

Read about it here.

Earlier in the morning, he gave a talk at Universiti Darul Iman and considering students had classes to attend, many turned up and the hall was ¾ full. Suffice to say, Daddy is really enjoying doing the university rounds, speaking about creative writing, blogging and journalism.

We met a lot of people this time, his ex-classmates organised a reunion and one former teacher, his English teacher, in fact, turned up. The next day, his maths teacher came all the way from Ipoh after reading his book. If my maths teacher were to turn up searching for me, I’d run miles in the opposite direction!

Anyway, the stay in Trengganu was great. We stayed an extra day at Primula because I fancied
a walk along the beach after subuh. Every night I’d look out of the balcony – the south china sea right at our doorsteps! We could hear the roar of the waves lapping the beach…its mesmerising, fascinating but scary. I was in awe of nature , this creation of God. So, one morning, we decided to take a walk along the beach, and test the water, so to speak.

But, let me tell you something. A thing of beauty can also be dangerous.

Some very interesting people came to meet Daddy and one of them was French lady who had made Pulau Duyong her home. I remember visiting her in the 70’s. I just couldn’t reconcile the fact that we have all decided to adopt a foreign land but when asked where is home?, we had the same answer: wherever we happen to be at that time. I remember pencilling in “Going home “ in my diary on 2^nd December. And I am home now. And when we meet again, that is home too for that is where you all are.

Daddy is doing more booktalks at universities in Penang and two more in Selangor. He is really enjoying it. He seems to be in his elements talking about writing. Anyway, Pak Su, Mak Su and I took him to an Indian barber yesterday. I was worried that they’d do a real goneng on him, so we briefed the barber carefully. We looked through Bollywood magazines on the rack, no, not the shahruh khan look, nor the kapoor brothers. Pak Su helpfully said: Yul Bryner!

Well, this will be all for now and I don’t know when I can get my hands on a computer with internet connections again. Will call. Missing you all lots but take this time to be together, look after each other and be friends, not just brothers and sisters. And of course don’t forget Tabby, Gizmo, Kissinger, Moaner and Snowbell. They are your siblings and friends too. Here, Daddy keeps feeding stray cats.

Oh yes, there will be a booksigning at MPH Midvalley on 20^th Jan. 3-4 pm. Come lah…..hehe!

Lots of love,

Mama

A Letter to my Sayang Mamas

To my dearest sayang mamas,

A very happy 2008 to all of you minding the fort while we are away. And let’s hope for a fruitful year, blessed with happiness and success. Insya' Allah.

It looks like I have to update you on last year’s events and this, hopefully will be more than the usual rushed phone calls and brief sms’es of things GUiT.

The latest on GUiT is that Daddy was invited to read sections of his book at Seksan’s organised by Sharon Bakar. It was held on a fine Saturday afternoon in Bangsar, quite near where we got married 28 years ago. Daddy’s hair, I must report, was getting a bit long and how I wished Taufiq was around with his electric gizmo. Daddy thought it was okay, but I persuaded him to let me have a go trimming a bit here and there with Cik Su’s scissors.

A lot of people turned up and according to Sharon, it was a record number – well, I counted at least five of Daddy’s cousins, some old friends who came with their own copy of GUiT and some people who had perhaps read about GUiT in the media. You know that gentleman with the white beard and long hair, whose talented son, As, came and strummed his guitar for the cats? Well, as you know he is a well known national laureate who married an old classmate of mine. Both of them came to give Daddy some moral support.

There were other readers, like Dina Zaman, who actually interviewed Daddy two weeks ago. Then there was Patrick Teoh, a veteran broadcaster, whose dulcet tones and perfect diction and pronunciation earned him the title “The Voice of Malaysia”. It was great listening to him ‘live’! We don’t have anyone like him anymore.

I was a little nervous for Daddy as he had misplaced his reading glasses. The first reading was okay but I thought he struggled a bit with the piece on Besut. But all in all, everything went well and copies of GUiT brought along by the Pizzaman went like hot cakes, with one lady buying about ten!

That night we went back to Bangi as Pak Ajie had a small feast before your cousin Ummar makes his way to his secondary school up north.

But I bet you’re dying to hear about the Kuala Terenganu GUiT launch and booksigning. It was, needless to say, something way beyond our expectations. It was great and Daddy was visibly touched by the response and the reception.

He had insisted that we took the bus to KT and later I understood why. He wanted to take in all the sceneries along the route. He had not been back for a while.

I know how much all of you wanted to be here and there was not one moment when I didn’t wish that you were all here witnessing Daddy’s important moment. He had repeatedly said in press interviews that the book is dedicated to his children. And he said that not without a lump in his throat.

We stayed at Daddy’s cousin’s house – and the morning before the launch at Alam Akademik bookshop, Daddy ironed and wore the blue shirt that Hafiz bought for him just for this occasion. He told several people this. Ngah and cousin Mi managed to persuade him to change his shoes but I couldn’t make him part with his old rucksack which now looks a little tattered. So, off we went, tattered rucksack and all and at 10.30 people were already milling outside the shop. So, the signing began half an hour earlier and stopped only briefly for a press conference. The signing continued until after four.

I must say, I was in the limelight too as a few bloggers and blogreaders turned up and requested my signature as well and had my pictures taken with them. What a day! My feet were aching and I ended up wearing Japanese slippers.

Daddy shook hands with so many people that day, and at one point the queue was so long that it went right outside the shop, spilling into the street. There was a bit of a carnival atmosphere with bright yellow banners and posters of Awang Goneng being displayed everywhere, even on vans and neighbouring shops. While he signed, they played ‘Baliklah Wok’ or “Come home, My Beloved Child” – a very touching and sad poetry in Trengganuspeak. I couldn’t understand most of the words but I felt tears stinging my cheeks and I knew Daddy was also trying very hard not to let the dam burst.

We didn’t have much publicity before this but people came clutching their GUiT. Daddy’s English teacher, Mr Wee and his history teacher, his schoolmates and classmates came after hearing of his return. I was so truly amazed. People who knew him when he used to come to Pok Loh Yunan’s shop to get a copy of Utusang Melayu for Tok Wan, still recognised him. “We want him to come home,” said one Chinese friend who dragged another one still in his Pagoda singlet.

There were lecturers and professors and some important looking people whose appearance caused excitement among the local media. We didn’t know who they were and they queued up quite patiently like the rest. The event was open to everyone. But the next day, pictures of Daddy appeared in the papers with them and that was how we knew who they were. I wish the media had latched on to another interesting angle, i.e. the presence of the oldest surviving member of the Pok Loh Yunan clan.

When Daddy went for his prayers, I was approached by a lady who addressed me as Kak Teh and told me that the Chief Minister was inviting us for tea. Oh dear, how does one behave in such company? But if you must know, the CM was a very simple person who does not stand on ceremony. As soon as his iron gates swung open, he appeared in his kain pelikat and we sat and enjoyed tea with his lovely wife. I was tempted to have second helpings of murtabak Kelantan which was so delicious but really, I must behave myself. There were some funny moments that afternoon that we had tea with the CM. Sitting outside the porch with the breeze from the South China Sea gently blowing in, Daddy and the CM sang the Trengganu anthem!

Anyway, it was a long day, but a wonderful one.

The next day was Boxing day, but it was also the anniversary of your grandma’s passing away. We walked to the cemetery and I sat down saying my prayers to the mother-in-law that I am only beginning to know through GUiT. Later that morning, we went to the house in Tanjung. Ngah and Cik Su had already washed the floor and swept the dust and we sat down and did the tahlil for her. The house still holds many books, but sadly, many are now hollow. The silverfish had devoured the contents but I believe Daddy beat them to it. I stood at the window looking out to the new buildings outside but I imagined the qasidah and prayers that Daddy used to hear being recited from the nearby surau.

Even at the house in Tanjung, people were coming over to have their books signed. Many came to confirm and share stories about events and characters that Daddy had written about in the book.

I wonder if you have read the chapter about the unfortunate incident experienced by cousin Dah? Well, we visited cousin Dah, who from a distance beamed and giggled, recalling the day she was knocked down by a tok peraih on a bicycle carrying fish to the market. Ngah even took pictures of the junction where the fishy incident took place. There were many, many memories being rekindled and many were amazed at Daddy’s memory. I was dumbstruck too as I recalled the countless times he came back from shopping without most things that I had written on my shopping list. But that’s by the by.

Daddy’s cousins and uncles and aunts all wanted to feed him – so we were constantly being fed with kerepok lekor, laksa Terenganu, roti paung and many more which I can’t pronounced but are mentioned in GUiT.

This trip back to Trengganu is indeed an educational one. Daddy took me to Makam Tok Pelam and the caretaker was kind enough to allow us in. And once the door to the Makam was opened, lo and behold, there were the two bird’s eggs that Daddy mentioned in GUiT in the chapter on Eggs in a Net. Even some of the locals didn’t know of the existence of the eggs.

In some of the chapters where Daddy spoke about his father, he also mentioned a colleague of Tok Wan, someone called Pok Mat. Well, we got news that Pok Mat had had a stroke and we went to visit him. The poor man was in great pain. He couldn’t recognise Daddy anymore and Daddy was moved to tears to see his father’s dear friend in such a state. It was really very sad.

This is becoming a little too long. But let me tell you how Daddy is coping with this instant fame. He is stil not used to being in the news. He is more comfortable writing the news, doing the interviews. But now he finds that people recognised him as Mr Awang who wrote GUiT. We were having breakfast at KLCC when a Uruguayan lady approached him for a signed copy of GUiT. He was all flustered and embarrassed. Oh well.

There’s a lot more to tell, but this will suffice for now and I do need my beauty sleep and lots of energy as I am now managing Daddy the Awang Goneng. He is no doubt enjoying his rest in Gombak and I am sleepless in Bangi.

Take care my sayang mamas, take care of each other and love you lots.

PS, GUiT was knocked down to number three best seller two weeks ago but has gone up to number two again this week. We will be on the move again.

Have a good and prosperous 2008!

Oh, PPS...On the way back, Daddy pointed out to me the haunted house he mentioned in Whispering Wanderers!!!

Random Sharings Part 2

Anniversaries of sorts

It is December and we found ourselves on the road down memory lane. It must have been the second time in 28 years that we made this journey together to Singapore. The first was when we went there to take the flight to London. I was then a tearful bride leaving for a foreign land with a future firmly placed in the hands of God Almighty. The road that we took by car was a far cry from the modern highway dotted with R & R’s. The 6.45 Aeroline to Singapore was one hour late because of the rain, but I must admit the service was fantastic.

Twenty eight years ago, all manner of thoughts played in my mind but this time, it was filled with excitement and anticipations. Singapore holds memories of school holidays, walks in the Botanical Gardens, visits to Makam Habib Noh, of fresh buah lai and imported apples and gawking at window displays of Robinsons with Pak Lang – his words still ringing clear in my head: “Ni lah tempat orang-orang kaya shopping”, he said, as we walked away.

This time the visit to Singapore was almost like a visit to the official birthplace of GUiT. It was the launch of Growing Up in Trengganu, a meeting with publisher Philip Tatham of Monsoon Books and with friends old and new. GUiT was launched with four other titles. Read more about it here.

It was a very short visit and before we took the Singapore- Malacca Express the next day, we visited Makam Habib Noh once again to offer our respects.

We arrived in Malacca, all sweaty and tired, to be greeted by songs of gazal and gambus at a friend’s wedding. Nurul’s parents had decided to take her back from London to Malaysia for a real kampong style wedding and what a treat it was for us to find a big group of ex Londonders occupying two big tables. This was the first of several weddings that we attended.

Selamat pengantin baru to Leya and Ashraf

The other wedding was of course that of the famous daughter of an equally famous mum. It was held at The Legend and again a reunion of sorts with friends and ex colleagues from Jalan Riong.

Yes, I remember this day in December. “Twenty eight years ago, today”, I told Leya, “your mum was at my wedding, putting my veil in place. Today, I am returning the honours by attending your wedding.”Pengantin lama

When the radiant bride and groom left the stage to meet their guests, cheered on by some friends, we took over the stage, short of sitting on the dias, to take the 28 years later picture.

The GUiT Trip
One of the reasons for our home coming is of course to see how GUiT is doing in the homegrounds. On arrival at KLIA, I was disappointed to see that the bookshop there did not stock GUiT. I made my first visit to MPH Midvalley – again, this confirmed the comments and reports from people in search of GUiT. None- in this case – only one copy lodged in between other books at the Malaysiana section.

My next stop was MPH Alamanda – none at all. And by this time, I was ready to speak to someone to try to understand how the distribution of books works in the absence of the writer himself promoting it. I was lucky that I met a very helpful and kind MPH manager who explained to me how the whole system works. Of course, it is the distributor's job to push the books and to keep on asking if the stores need anymore. And if the copies run out, shops too should contact distributors to ask for more, especially when people are asking for it. In the case of GUiT, I don’t know what went wrong.

Then Kind and Helpful MPH manager took out his phone and made one phone call. The next day – most of MPH stores were stacked with GUiT. And this week – GUiT made it to NUMBER ONE best seller non fiction at MPH from a humble number ten at the beginning. Thank you all for the support. Tabby and his siblings will be mighty pleased with this news.

Indeed, there have been several GUiT meets kindly organized by blogger friends. Thank you again. We are so touched by such wonderful gestures and support from people, some we have never met before. I hope and pray that our friendship goes beyond GUiT.

We will soon be going to Kuala Trengganu for a booksigning session at what AG calls the spiritual birthplace of GUiT. So, do come, one and all. It will not be a grand one, just a modest occasion where we can meet and talk and get to know each other. Thanks to Encik Karim of Alam Akademik (Keda Pok Loh Yunan). For more information, click here.

I guess we will still be doing the rounds now that we are here. Hope to meet up with whoever wish to meet up with us, soon. Insyaallah.

Random thoughts ala JT

JT of Jacqui’s Curve has given me an idea on how to update my blog. She doesn't know what to blog about but has filled an entire blog with all sorts of interesting stories. Now, I will try to do the same.

I don't know what to blog about. Do I write about my trip to Manchester to watch Manchester United play Blackburn Rovers? I can’t write about the game because I just do not understand football. I can’t tell a corner kick from a penalty kick. I am more of a board game person, letting my fingers and mind do the exercise. Games like Scrabble. However, that wasn’t my first time at the famous Old Trafford. The first time was in August to see Manchester United play Inter Milan. And it was with my Taufiq, a diehard Barcelona fan who wouldn't be seen dead at the Old Trafford but for the love of his mama, he accompanied me on what must have been a mission to bond.

The whole stadium was a sea of red. Taufiq had briefed me earlier, “Never,” he warned, “never clap or cheer if Inter Milan scored," he said looking worried. He gave me some tips and grunted a few answers to some silly questions and by half time, I was able to oooh and aaaah at the right moment. But just as Taufiq was gaining confidence in my knowledge of football, I asked, “Isn’t Mark Owen playing today?”

(Oh yes, the day before at the Man Utd training ground, I saw Taufiq talking to someone vaguely familiar – It was Sir Bobby Charlton. Taufiq was worried that I might address him as Fergie. As if!!)

Suffice to say, even though Man Utd lost to a thunderous groan reverberating around the stadium, the fans were well behaved and I was even treated to a streaker running across the field at half time.

But no such luck at the Man Utd vs Blackburn Rovers match. However I had the advantage of sitting in the media box with a radio commentator right behind me and so I knew what was going on.

Fancy a trip on the Eurostar to Paris?

To those contemplating going to Paris on the Eurostar, you’d be glad to know that the Eurostar journey to Paris now starts at St Pancras International and the time taken to get there is now shorter by 20 minutes.

I went to Paris five days after the new spanking station was launched by the Queen and although I wasn’t very impressed by the new station which I thought was cold and unfriendly, with no seats or cash machines, I was quite impressed by the service on the train. Before our tea went cold, we were already at Ashford International. But because of the speed, we walked from the buffet bar back to our seats like sailors on a rough sea.

If my last visit to Paris was in autumn with its fascinating dashes of colour, this time Paris was wet and NOT MOVING!!! Paris was on strike.

Let’s see what else has been happening in my life...

Preeta Samarasan

Oh, I met the delightful Preeta Samarasan whose first novel "Evening is The Whole Day" will come out in the US of A in May!! This is how it has been described, so look out for it when it hits the bookshops.

“A MAGICAL, EXUBERANT tragic-comic vision of postcolonial Malaysia reminiscent of Rushdie and Roy. In prose of acrobatic grace, Samarasan conjures a vibrant portrait, by turns intimate and sweeping, of characters and a country coming of age. The début of a significant, and thrilling, new talent.” Peter Ho Davies, Man Booker Prize-longlisted author of The Welsh Girl (2007).

Writers, first time or many times over, fascinate me. I love to hear about how they work a certain idea to produce a book, how they find a suitable title. I mean, do you find the title first and work your plots and storyline or do you write first and find a title. You see, silly things like this stops me from producing my opus...if ever there is one.

Preeta now lives in France with her husband Rob. While in America, she gave up pursuing her PhD in Musicology to write. And I’d say its a good career move. Sometimes you just have to be brave and then make the sacrifice to do the things you love.

A bit of a weep

Yesterday, I had a bit of a weep -right there smack in the middle of the Christmas rush in Oxford Street. He hugged me and said goodbye and I walked quickly away not wanting him to see the tears. The rain helped.

I thought when he told me he was leaving, it was another joke. When I realised teh seriousness of it all, I thought I’d throw my tantrums and pray to God like I did the last time, until his plans failed. But this time, I thought it is best to let him go. I didn't cry when he slung his guitar across his shoulders and got into the taxi. I didn’t cry when he told me he needed a kuali. I even gave him my mee bandung recipe. But yesterday, watching him choose his cooking pot at M&S, the dam burst. My first born has flown the nest. See you in Facebook, sayangmama!

Oh dear.

GUiT News Two days ago, I was woken up by the familiar tone of the sms – the message said: Minister wants to buy 100 copies of GUiT! Couldn’t believe my eyes and quickly guit-up eh, got up and woke the GuiTer to show him the message. I think we have been selling more here than the bookshops in Malaysia. In the manner of our sastrawan negara , Dato A Samad Said, who carries his books in his rucksack, Awang Goneng has been doing the same, taking them to bookshops across London. And lo and behold, GUiT is now available at two London Bookshops – and I can bet they are not stacked in the lower shelves! They are available in London at Stanfords, the travel bookshop in Long Acre, Covent Garden and from Probsthain's @ Great Russell St., WC1 (opp. the British Museum; and at their branch in the Brunei Gallery, SOAS (London University). There’s a publishers' launch of GUiT in Singapore next week (Singapore Writer's Festival) on 7th December at Arts House. So, if you are just across the causeway do come and join us. Yes, we are going back. Then we will head back to Kuala Lumpur for I understand Awang Goneng has a few appointments for booktalks at various universities. Otherwise, we will be downing teh tarek somewhere in between prawn noodles at Little Penang. Latest GUiT news from En Karim of ALAM AKADEMI in Kuala Terengganu: GUiT is now available at ALAM AKADEMIK (Keda Pok Loh Yunang) Kuala Terengganu - depan Pasar Keda Payang - yes the same old location. For those in KL, FREE DELIVERY service is provided [will try a next-business-day delivery] C.O.D RM39.90 *LIMITED TIME OFFER* {lepah ni mungking nok kena cah se-riyal dua pulok - kalu nok beli sendiri parking & tol doh berapa!} sms/call - 019-3199788 Mentions of GUiT at: * Tunku Halim * NZ in NZ * MHI * Pok Ku * Ubi Setela *Lydia Teh *Lifeinside *KC * Eric Forbes * Berita Harian * Ena Samad * Elviza *Sharon Bakar *Blooking Central *Anak Alam *hicsuntdracones *Bin Gregory *Victoria Institute Website *Atok *Knizam *Ms Istanbul *Pak Adib *Athene * Nazrah * Wonda