Dublin, MARA, and Nyonya.

You know my name,
Not my story.
You've heard what I've done,
Not what I've been through.

Hey.

Blogging from Dublin. Brought my laptop here bc it's a light HP elitebook that I can carry in my handbag without my shoulder aching afterwards. It's really easy to make my shoulders ache. They be tres weak :(

When I got here this afternoon, I was proper shitfaced and confuzzled when I got off the bus because I slept through most of the journey (apart from the 40minutes in which I worked on an assignment because I'm hardworking like that). As I got myself orientated, I walked through the now familiar streets. Barely ten minutes into it, a middle-aged man walked past me and said 'SCUM' right in my ear.

This is the reason I hate Dublin, and love my darling friendly Cork no matter how much good food and major events are in this city, and no matter how much people like mocking Cork, calling it kampung and gabus. They have no idea how good life is in Cork :)

Anyhoo. I found my way to the MARA office (it was my very first time seeing the actual Clifton House after years of posting letters to it) with the help of a lovely junior (no thanks to Amin, who was in the movies and not replying to my texts, sabar je la aku). Pak Lan, the MARA officer, was in a meeting with the people from the Malaysian embassy, so I met with his assistant instead. He was very easy-going and approachable, though still maintaining that aura and mindset of a government officer (/official...?). We talked through the options and possibilities regarding my scholarship for next year, and at one point he asked,

'Kenapa sebenarnya awak datang...? Ada sebab lain ke selain dari ni?'

'It's so that I become a person with a face and a story to you....not just a stack of paperworks,'

He just gave a faint smile to me as a reply. He kept repeating 'Jangan risau...' though, so I guess that's a good sign.

I then brilliantly found my way through Dublin city to locate my friend Lala at the much-talked-about Nyonya, and akhirnya got to try their famous Nasi Ayam Hai Nam and bandung ais. And soya cincau. Haha...lagi 9 hari nak balik tapi kempunan tak tahan, asyik minum tea je kat sini, naik luga doh anok tekok.

That was the highlight of the short trip (I'm heading back to Cork tomorrow evening) so far.


Tomorrow I attend University College Dublin's MB BCh BAO Class of 2011 conferring as Amin's family.


xoxo
Atiqah