i'm burnt.

I got up really early this morning.


The alarm was supposed to ring at 6 in the morning but being the sleepaholic, I snoozed it until 6.20am. Only then I realized it was freaking late and I was supposed to get off from the bed and help my mum for the Qing Ming festival. Actually, I wasn't of much assistance to her but I just want to make myself look really busy :) But this year, I was given a task. A really important one. I needed to get breakfast for everyone in the family. Eh, don't say this is not important. It is, all right? No breakfast, no energy. No energy, no mood.

No mood = NOT GOOD lah. What else? By the way, it was really fun to drive early in the morning. It felt like the whole road belonged to you.

So, you can drive, speed and turn in the most dangerous way you want. JUST don't beat the traffic lights. Who knows there might be some drunk drivers speeding and possibly kill you with their recklessness?

Okay, we finally reached the cemetery at 8.45am. I agree that it was already late. But, luckily it was pretty easy to find a parking space. Oh btw, the place I was referring to was Kubang Semang. OR Kuala Semang. Can't remember it that well. But the 'semang' word was definitely there. So, without wasting further time, we divided ourselves into two groups. One for my great great grandmother and another for my grandfather. We were supposed to hunt for their tomb and inform each other through the cell phones once we locate it. This time, we took longer that we should because both teams failed miserably. We couldn't remember where the tombs were and mind you, the place was huge. And the morning sun was emitting its full power. But luckily, we still manage to locate them. A consolation for us?

The first stop. My great great grandmother's tomb. One year ago, I stepped into this place and it was really clean. Spanking clean. Now, it was all covered with coarse grass. Immediately, we moved into action. The guys removed the grass from the 'top' while I was solely in charge to remove the grass from the ground. So, there I was. Digging and pulling the grass with one hand, while wiping off my sweat with the other available hand. I was happily removing the earth when I had an encounter with a worm. A fat worm, I would say. I bet I had accidentally disrupted its morning sleep. My bad.

But YOU were just at the wrong spot. And YOU happened to meet the wrong lady. xD

All right, without further ado, we proceeded to the next tomb which was metres away from the first. But still, we took longer than we should to spot it. There, we laid down the offerings which included two chickens, eggs, kuehs, pineapple and fruits. Then came to the part which I loved most. The pineapple-cutting session. Usually, my father will assume his role as the man of the family and slice the pineapple all over the grave and finally leave the last bits for us to savour. The role was passed to brother this year. I don't know why but this ritual just catches my attention and I have always wanted to be part of it. Even if it meant standing under the hot sun for my grandfather to 'arrive' and 'eat'. :)

Minutes later, we threw the coins to check if grandpa has in fact finished his heavy breakfast and CLING...
he had.

Immediately, we cleared everything and marched our way to the car for the next spot. It was time to deliver the food to my great grandmother at Kulim.

Something really scary happened here. It gave me goosebumps and I just couldn't stop slapping my mouth for fear of uttering the wrong words. I was joking with my brother about calling great grandmother and ask her if she was having fun in the other world. My auntie, who overheard our conversation, interrupted and said that we might just wake great grandma up from the grave since we wanted to talk to her so badly. Yeah, this part isn't scary. Not until I tilted my head 45 degrees to the left. I saw a grave. There was a big hole in it. It looked as if 'someone' had just woken up from the huge pile of earth. Like mummy or the Chinese vampire that you see on the tv. Serious enough. I just didn't have a good feeling about this. I couldn't resist slapping my mouth.

Then, everything finally came to an end just minutes before noon. We were all tired, dirty, burnt and HUNGRY. To feed ourselves, we headed to Bukit Mertajam's famous bee chai bak stall at 40km/h. Yeah, it was rather slow but guess what slowed us down? None other than the huge lorries laden with earth or steel dominating the road with its body. Tell me, will you dare to overtake these lorries when the road was so narrow and the cars coming from the opposite side were at full speed?

Still, we managed to reach the stall. We ate like we have not eaten in a thousand days and I forgot if I had washed my hands before I picked up that chopsticks and started pushing the noodles into my mouth. I guessed hunger overruled hygiene at that moment.


Right after, we headed back home and it was already 1pm. We have never been that late in the past and this year definitely made its way into the record. All the way, we reminisced about our past as we passed by familiar places. From the market to the supermarket and finally the BM high school. Can't believe that I once lived here in BM. And now, I'm here in Penang. After a round of calculation, Penang still has my vote.

SAYA CINTAI PULAU PINANG BANYAK-BANYAK.

Agenda for tomorrow: Kek Lok Si Temple for my grandparents (mother's side) and Miau Hiang Lim (uncle).

Then, evening nap?

P/s: I was sun burnt so badly that I probably look like a panda now. FYI, only the area below my eyes got burnt compared to the remaining skin. No explanation for this. Just don't laugh.