Sarah and Bear Bear return home

Yesterday at 12.15 pm my daughter Sarah arrived home, or rather at KLIA. We had been texting each other since she was in Moscow airport - me because I was concerned about Bear Bear, her cat which she was bringing home to Malaysia finally. A lot of preparation had to be carried out before Bear Bear was actually allowed to come to Malaysia. The Russian authorities were very strict - his vaccinations and other documents had to be in order and he also had to take his anti -rabies shot exactly one month before departure. Then on the Malaysian side we had to get the papers from the Veterinary Department - import permit and so on. So finally the cat was allowed to be taken back here but first he had to undergo the journey - 6 hours by van from Nizhny Novgorod to Moscow, a stop at the Malaysian Embassy to get his permit stamped, then to the airport where there was a wait of another 5 hours before boarding. Bear bear had his own ticket, which costs us RM1200 - he would be in his cage in the plane with Sarah!

According to Sara he was a really good traveller - he was quiet most of the journey,only miawing for food early in the morning just before they were to arrive in Bangkok. In transit he was the centre of attraction - being a big cat (8 kg) and black a few people thought aloud whether Bear Bear was in fact a cat or a small lynx! In fact quite a few took pictures of him on the leash, walking around Bangkok airport.

Then here in KL, he had to be quarantined - luckily for a week - but much to Sara's disappointment because she had heard from a friend that her cat was not quarantined at all!  Anyway after some tears (from Sara) Bear Bear was finally released to the vet and taken to the Quarantine Department, a few kilometres away from the airport.

Of course to day we had to visit him at his quarantine place - and it was quite ok - spacious and airy. There were a few other cats with him (all in their own rooms) some were quite noisy and attention seeking.



Poor Bear Bear in the quarantine place



Bear Bear was quite stressed, judging from the furballs rolling off his back and his very quiet demeanor. In fact at first he wouldnt even acknowledge Sara who felt terribly guilty. We spent half an hour gently petting him and trying to make him relax. Looks like I will be driving to the Veterinary Department every day until he is released. Sara says she must visit him every day!

Russian sojourn

Finally after six long years of slogging and a lot of heartache, pain and sickness suffered alone, joy and withstanding the bitter cold of a Russian winter, my youngest Sarah has graduated with an M.D! She worked hard for it of course even though critics here in Malaysia say that overseas trained graduates, especially Russian doctors are not as good as the locally trained ones! Just because many of them were not pampered government scholars who rely on the government for everything, they are looked down upon. Anyway Sarah had a grand occasion yesterday. They looked splendid in their red and black gowns and black graduation caps with red tassels. The ceremony itself was quite simple - it was presided over by the Rector of the Nizhny Novgorod State Medical Academy (NNSMA) and went without a hitch. It began with the Russian National anthem sung by a really good choir who went on to sing the university song.

The morning started with a grand gesture from the students - they had hired for themselves a limousine to go to the convocation venue- a really huge, white limousine that could take 10 of us easily. So we went to the hall in style! There they quickly dressed in their graduation robes and I noticed that there were a lot of Malaysian parents on hand to help their children. Eighty students - all from foreign countries- would be graduating this year. Almost 80% of the students are Malaysian , the rest coming from some African countries (Kenya, Tanzania and Morrocco). There were also some students from Sri Lanka and one from Indonesia.

After the ceremony we all went for a celebration lunch - at a Japanese restaurant, booked by Sarah and her friends but paid for by parents (lol).

The four young doctors

Leaving on a jetplane

I remember that old song - "I'm leaving on a jetplane... don't know when I'll be back again.." In this case I do know she'll be back next year in July, but it still means a long way away and I'm going to miss her like anything. I'm  talking about my youngest, Sara, who's studying in Russia. Sara is now almost 22 years old and since she was 17+ she had been living overseas, all because she could not get a place to study medicine here in Malaysia. Life in Russia is hard - especially for my  little girl. There she has to learn to cope with the harsh winter, learn a new language, cope with studying Medicine (which she says is not hard) cook for herself and overall be independent. These days when I look at her I see a young woman who is very independent, full of initiative, caring and sensitive. Maybe I am a bit biased but I think she has grown to be a really remarkable young woman, and will be a good doctor when she comes back next year.

In April 2005 when Sarah went to Nizhny Novgorod she was still a teenager - full in of  dreams. Today she's more down to earth, in fact more so than myself. She's very practical and has a clnical way of looking at things. Maybe its the training that she's getting as doctor so that she can be objective. In the two months she was here for the summer break we spent a lot of time together. We joined a fitness centre (Celebrity Fitness) and went nearly every day except weekends. We went shopping for her stuff to take back to Russia (mainly spices and other foodstuff that you can't get there), she learned to cook curry and made cookies and pastas. We talked about her and Neville (her Sarawakian boyfriend and a Christian) and discussed about marriage and what it takes to keep a marriage going. She's well read, this daughter of mine yet is not a book snob as my elder girl is. We can talk and laugh about things without her getting uptight if I happen to say something she didn't like. She knows that I love her and want only the best for her. Sigh... I miss her already.

At home with Sara

Actually Sara's been home for more than a week. She came back last week on Monday, looking tired, pockmarked with acne and happy to be home at last. The last semester she said was a real torture chamber and I told her 5th year is going to be worse. She agreed dejectedly, then like mercury changed the topic and talked instead of what she is going to do during these 6-7 weeks of home leave.
Thursday was Sophie's birthday. My grand daughter is now 2 years old! When we saw her today she was wearing her favourite green dress - she looked so cute! And not as talkative as before although she did call me and asked "where is datok?" She refused to talk to Sara at first but a half hour later was persuaded to sit on "Auntie Sara's" lap and be read to.
Sophie's birthday party was only held on Saturday - so that everybody could attend. We made fried bee hoon and vegetarian curry puffs. I was surprised that we received a number of compliments on both because I always thought that being vegetarian it wouldnt be tasty! I guess I was proven wrong - according to Rizal's friends the vegetarian bee hoon was really delicious. Sadly for Sophie though she had a little accident due to the lighter used for lighting the birthday candles, burnt her cheek and for a while there were only screams of pain. I remember during last year's birthday celebration she also had a little incident in which she fell on her face. Poor little baby. I just hope there won't be scars. But apart from that the birthday party went well though we could not stay long. Immediately after that we had to rush back to Malacca.

This and that

Books I got recently - (1) Nora Roberts - Divine Evil
(2) Nora Roberts - Seaswept
(3) Alexander McCall Smith - The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency
(4) Alexander Mc Call Smith - The Kalahari Typing School for Men
(5) Alexander McCall Smith - Morality for Young Girls
(6) Wendy Markham - Bride Needs Groom
(7) Sophie Kinsella - Confessions of a Shopaholic

Shasha recommended me the Sophie Kinsella - I didn't want to get it but she said its quite good reading - humorounyway I started reading the Alexander McCall Smith book - very interesting and introduces us into Zimbabwean culture and life. The main character is a lady detective, Precious Ramotswe, a practical, funny and intriguing female detective who uses her intuition and keen observation to solve all kinds of crime - whether it is a husbnad who has run away or a clerk who has swindled his company. Subtle British humour - more on the Jeevees variety.

Oh yes, we caught a few movies - Inkheart, Twilight and the two girls got to see Bride Wars, Underworld 3 as well as the first two. I quite enjoyed Inkheart. Twilight ... well I cant even say that the book is better because it wasn't. I think the character for Bella was better in the movie. I didnt like the character in the book but I preferred Edward in the book. A bit of a let down.

Sarah has come and gone. Three weeks is too short but her winter break is just that - 3 weeks. At least we went to Mersing for two days - otherwise it would have been just Melati for her and maybe a weekend in Batu Berendam. But anyway I got to see my girl for a while and she got away from the cold Russian winter. Can't wait to see her in July.

End of holiday

Sarah will be going back to Russia to morrow. How fast the time flies. I feel as if she just came back and now she is going already. I'm going to miss her, poor baby. Its different having her around. The week after is the start of Ramadan and how I wish we can break fast together, as before. Imagine the last time we spent Ramadan to gether was way back in 2004.
Yesterday was the 6th Convocation for OUM. It was the same as last year - but I think this time there around 4000 students are graduating. The convo will be held for 4 days. But Sara will be going back tomorrow. Repin will take the half day off to send her to the airport.

Sara

Sarah is in Paris now and seem to be having a great time. Just hope she takes care. Looked at her blog just now and she seems to have gone to all the places of interest there. Tomorrow she'll be in UK and from there to Berlin. My girl really knows how to move around.

7 February

Sara has returned to Nizny, thank God. I always worry about her when she travels - I know that she is a savvy traveller, street smart and all that but I guess as a mum I'll always worry about her. Not that Nizny is any safer - but at least she's in a familiar place. Imagine she was in Paris, then Edinburgh, London and finally Berlin. My girl really knows how to make use of her student days.

Thinking of my girl brings to mind another little girl - Sharlinie - who still hasn't been found. I just hope she'll be found soon - and alive. What kind of monster can keep a little child from her parents and worse still kill them I don't know. When will all this end? So far three children have been kidnapped, two have died and in the past three years so many children have been raped and murdered. What kind of world are we bringing our children into? Malaysia is no longer the safe place we thought it was. I think places like London and even New York seem safer. I was in New York a long time ago and I remember once travelling in a taxi to a restaurant that I did not even know. The taxi driver, a young Jew from Israel, was also new to New York and after driving to the wrong part of town managed finally to take me to the restaurant. He refused to accept the full amount for the cab and said it was as much his fault as mine for being ' lost'. I thought it was really kind of him. At first I was scared though, thinking he must be taking me for a ride!! Can such a thing occur nowadays, I wonder. People are generally less trustworthy, more cruel today than twenty years ago.

Sara

Looking at Sarah's pictures on Facebook makes me realise how much I miss my baby.Everytime we have something here I think of her - what is she doing, what is she eating, is she ok? Sometimes I purposely block the feelings not wanting to feel that heaviness deep inside. Its the same with Rizal before when he was at WMU. I guess with firstborns and youngest ones its always like that. Not that I don't love my other two, but theyre always there - at home with me. When I cook something specially nice I always think what Sarah is eating tonight. Poor darling, having to contend with the cold and the foreign land and the studies.It's a long time before we see her again and I really wish she's coming home this winter nstead of going places. But I guess we must let them fly away free - they'll come home soon enough.

just thinking

Today I'm supposed to go to Kiran's wedding. Feel bad coz I can't go - for the second time. Mak is here in KL with us and she's not well so I don't like to leave her and go back to Malacca. Hope Ranjeet will understand. It's also another 4 days before Sara goes back to Russia. I'll miss her a lot... and although we've spent a lot of time together this holiday season I still feel its not enough. The time has passed so swiftly - It feels like she just came back yesterday and now she's going back already. She wanted cookies and lots of foodstuff but Repin and I are worried she may not get the things if we send too much foodstuff.

At times I feel so sad - especially when we all have a sumptuous family dinner and she's so far away. Knowing she has to cook herself after studying so hard also makes me feel bad. She's my youngest and yet right now I think she's facing the toughest time - what with the cold, being so far away and a foreign country which is so different from what she's used to.