HAPPY 20 YEARS OF BLOGGING TO ME!!

I was clicking on the blogs which i linked to my page. None are active anymore!! Haha Wow.. Most of them sort of stopped circa 20-teens which I suppose was because of the twitter and facebook effect whcih took social media to a different level.

Then I checked .. eh my first post: 

https://mafeitz.blogspot.com/2004/08/hello-start.html

Wooo.. This blog is 20 years old!! Which is coincidentally almost as old as Qayyum. Allahu Akbar. I can't believe it has been that long! Of course the last few years were not the best of my blogposts but I do try to keep em alive. It is a part of me, reference and all the things I felt in the past 20 years. Subhanallah.  

Memang tak sangka betul it has been that long. Congrats to myself for keeping it alive and to continue as long as I can. Hopefully blogspot remains lah as the archives will not be lost unless they shut down. Don't really know how I can archive it myself because there is too much of my history in here. 

2004 to 2024... Wah.. May mafeitz.blogspot continues to live.😀 

Eusoff first hospital admision

He was just recovering from HFMD. There was an outbreak that made the school to stop for a while before all were allowed to come back. Eusoff had a mild one - just flu like symptoms and not really high fever. He was his usual self, active and cheeky!We even brought him to the new playground where he was enjoying himself so much! I had to be on guard letting him climb as he was a very determined person who wants to reach the top!  

When we got back home he was behaving slightly odd. I thought it was just dehydration but he looked like he was exhausted and weak. Then he started to vomit - he has this knack to gag which sometimes annoys me. However, the vomit became more projectile every hour as he was unable even to keep in fluid inside. 

At 3am he was still vomiting after trying to sleep and looked really weak. So I decided that we had to go to the hospital to hydrate him. And so we drove that early morning. So many things were happening with the new maid who was just on her 2nd day. 

He was still coughing which sounded very phlegmy and I suppose why the paediatrician decided to Neb him regularly. This was something that Eusoff really dislike and traumatised till now! It was certainly an experience for wifey as she dislikes needles and hospital stuff very much. 

Apparently a stomach flu was known to making its round in the community. There was nothing sinister and Eusoff slowly recovered to take orally well. He was in the hospital for 4 days and it was indeed and experience for both him and us. I had an emergency CABG pulak kena buat on the Sunday! Haha Nasib baik sama hospital, senang sikit to work and taking care of him. 

Thanks to my colleagues for the get well soon message. When I received the phone call I though he had the wrong number looking for my surgeon (Also named Usoff) !!! Haha 

Eusoff is certainly fond of his elder siblings. He really adores both Laikha and Mizan - their visit certainly brought his spirit up. I really do like to see them interacting with each other. 

Bye be Hospital!! Hopefuly this will be the first and last of his visits here 😉

Anfield Visit September 2024

Word... Sampai juga tour Stadium with Qayyum. Future: Tengok game sini pulak sesama 😛

YNWA!!

Kinabalu August 2024

I've not been on a mountain trip since Acon in 2020. I was thinking about going for trips but unfortunately the timing was not right and perhaps its not my climbing group trip. I guess Deeno and Pak Am needs to recover after the Denali tragedy that happened. 

This trip was planned with my Chief Anaesthetist BossKhoo since early the year of 2024. But writing it down now, its a bit sad because perhaps that was the last time I met Wak. He has passed away late last year due to diabetic complications. He was our contact person there where he would settle all things for you on Sabah trip. The last was duing Covid 2020 with him when i climbed Kinabalu then. He was a good friend whom I met many years ago during our Gunung Hitam trip. Wak a native Sabahan was a very reliable person. When we met him in August 2024, he was just being discharged from hsopital after being ill. I did not expect later on the complications came back and we would not be seeing him again.  

It had to be a Wak trip because during one of the shortcuts he claimed, we actually rammed down a big old drain! It was really a scene when we had to call people arounf that area to help pull the car out. But Wak was pretty cool about it as I was worried if we could not be in Kundasang on time that evening. Such memories with Wak will remain as classics. 

I did not do enough training for this trip. However I do maintain my level basic of fitness because the important thing was not to get cramped or injured. I learnt from my last trip that I have to protect my knees because it gave me well whilst descending and few months after! Haha 

 

We took the Sutra lodge hence it was very comfortable with the dinner and breakfast before the climb. I did not get much sleep because it always give me the jitters doing this climbing especiallu you know when you are not 100% ready for it.  

 

The weather did not look it was clearing in the early morning. It was drizzling but it did stop. The clouds were dark and I was hoping as per my previous climbs it would be ok. However it turns out to be the wettest climb to Laban Rata I have ever done. It started to rain heavily 1/2 hour into the trek. It went superly cats and dogs! Visibility was bad and I was so cold! Gila.. the step up was like going through a continuous waterfall. That wasthe story of the next 4.5hours up! memang lencun lah tak ingat !!  

 

 The rain sort of stopped when we arrived at Laban Rata mid afternoon. Best gile mandi air panas and get yourself fresh at the lodge. Khoo arrived earlier than me as he went up faster. As I've mentioned before ,I was not that fit for this trip and just good enough to survive the hike up.

 

Later that night, rain started again and it was much heavier than before. Before lights out, I was hoping that it would stop as that would gurantee a very clear path to the summit. I was all hyped up to summit! Unfortunately when we woke up at 1am the rain was still really heavy. We proceeded to get ourselves ready but it did not look good. The ranger called us all down and would give time up to 330am before deciding we could do the summit attack or not.

 

At 3am he called us back and had to inform the bad news. According to their scouts, the condition after Layang2 was treachorous and dangerous. Hence he had to call it off! Aduhh.. It was so disappointing that we could not go up at the time. The rain was super heavy I have to say as I;ve never experienced such rain in Kinabalu like this before.  

We wemt down early in the morning after breakfast with a broken heart. It was all clear and good view of Kinabalu that morning. It was just not our luck that day. Dapat sijil hitam putih je lah. hahaha 

Gaza Mission Part Deux: Team 1

Team 1 consist of 7 team members. We were formed as part of the WHO-EMT SCT (Surgical Cell Team). We were supposed to be a team who can function as an OT team wherever we are being sent. It was a very general TOR because that was the only information given and expected of us. Where, How and When we would not know and we had to depend on the previous teams notes and experience while they were in Gaza. We were definitely not clear about our specific role and assignment. 

Let me introduced you to the group. We were divided into 2 groups for our flight into Cairo. There was always the possibility that any of us denied for entry especially if we go in a big group. Group of 4 or 3 seems less suspicious. We were not supposed to reveal our real purpose going into Cairo etc.

Together with me on my flight was Kak Zah, S/N Yati and Pak Hafiz. I've met Pak Hafiz and Yati before in the previous mission to Nepal in 2015. Pak Hafiz was in team 1 as well and it was certainly a story then with him! Yati came later after we/ve started our field hospital. It was glad to see the old faces. Yati currently works as a clinical nurse in IMU and she deals with academics more. I knew from Mercy Malaysia's posts that she has been an active volunteer going for various missions. 

Kak Zah is probably the eldest volunteer Mercy Malaysia has had ever. She is in her 70s and seemed to bevery committed to the mission. She is a very experienced midwife and worked in hospital management admin during her last few years of service. She was certainly very energetic and having that kind of positive energy with us was important. During this flight she was supposed to be my auntie and we were in Cairo as tourists! We actually rehearsed this a few times in case we were being queried by the Egyptian immigration. We certainly had our laughs as often she would suddenly answer tangentially during our mock interviews.

 Kamarul Haqq - orthopaedic trauma ulung was in the other team. I have blogged about him before and again it was such a nice feeling when were introduced during the online taaruf. Dr Al-Amin - a senior surgeon who had been to Gaza many years before was in the team as well. I got to know him better afterwards during the mission.

 https://mafeitz.blogspot.com/2014/08/gaza-mission-chronicles-from-volunteer.html 

And of course the team leader was Pak Azam, Mercy Malaysia's main man over the years. I first met him in Ormoc, Philippines for the Thyphoon Yolanda response. He was a very calm and learned man; the best person to lead this mission by far. I have learnt a lot from him and gathered my experience of disaster response and humanitarian work thus far. 

Myself? The anaesthetist of the team and all of us together will be known as Team 1 MM. 

 We were very nervous of course - because we knew we could be asked to turn back at anytime during this trip. Alhamdulillah, it was a breeze in Cairo airport. There was a bit of a worrying moment when Kak Zah was asked to wait in front of the imiigration officer. She kept smiling and giggling and that made Pak Hafiz uncomfortable. It happened that there was a scanning issue of her passport and she was let through without any issues later. 

Here we were in Cairo, all seemed busy and typical. 

The Gaza Mission Part Deux: Leaving on a jet plane

Everything was kept under wraps because of two reasons. The first was it wasn't sanctioned by the government of Malaysia, Two because it is not confirmed until we step inside the real soil Gaza! It was that uncertain. But things were certainly moving really fast. Once our names were given the thumbs up by Gaza, then the tons of paperwork that had to be done by Masniza ( our Mercy Malaysia coordinator for this mission to WHO/UN and whatever agencies that needs to be. 

 

We had our online meetings done a few times with the initial date of entering Gaza was supposed to be the 1st week of February - but we got rejected and had to reapply for the next date. Whilst doing all this, nobody knew I was going except for the group. Eka and my parents had no clue about this at all. Totally zilch.  

Then the date was approved, we were scheduled to fly from KL on the 17th of February, Saturday morning. The first person I informed was Qayyum which was on the Wednesday. I went to PASUM to meet him up; it was then that I informed him that he had the honour to know it first. it was in ZUS cafe UM that I explained it was possible that I may not return and I am preparing him for that. I told him he will have to lead the family when I left. He was speechless because of course he did not expect this at all. Knowing at the same time the chaos in Gaza through the social media. I saw tears in his eyes as there was with me too. I left with him the necessary instructions of what to do if he received bad news about me; my account bank number and all the contact persons involved. 

 

Later I met Azad and informed him as well. He is my most trusted person in my life hence I gave him the honor to help sort things out if something did not go right with this mission. These were the only people who knew about this, even my parents were not notified of this departure. I'm sure they will know later once I am there. 

 

Telling my wife Eka was not easy. I totally did not know what to expect but I was fully prepared for the anger that she may project knowing how very last minute I told her. Eusoff just turned 1 and we were just recovering from organizing the massive party we had.  I was prepared for her to react negatively towards my intention of going to Gaza. What was my logic doing this? Well.. kalau last minit nak marah pun sekejap je kena endure and by then I''m off away.. haha 

 

To my upmost surprise, she reacted very rational. Too calm yet accepting stragiht away. Yes she cried but not because of anger; because she knew that I really wanted to do this. This was in fact my dream to step into Gaza as I;ve told her many times about my failed attempt in 2014. She knew I was being my usual self as a humanitarian to serve and to my surprise, she was in fact HAPPY for me! She even apologixed to me because she was angry with me not planning to attend Marissa's birthday do because I could not tell her I was not going to be around! She was truly sincere and very lovingly supportive hence this is the story about how I told my wife.. 2 days before leaving for Gaza. 

Qayyum made a point that he said he wanted to send me at the airport. In the early morning of the 17th February 2024 we made our way to KLIA. Guess in which car? Yes.. the trusted steed of Perdana V6 101 because I did not trust Qayyum to drive my car haha It was certainly a wobbly drive and I do still remember how panicky Qayyum was negotiating the driveway in the KLIA parking. 

Last day with PERDANA ASEAN 101

My trusted steed.. since the day Qayyum was born! It was older than him 😆 If you browse back my earlier blog you will find that I got this car on the week he was born. We needed a better car and it was just fortunate that Abang Fathul ( who was then a Proton dealer) offered a good price for a V6 Perdana car.

 https://mafeitz.blogspot.com/2005/12/pimp-my-ride-malaysia.html 

It was a trusted steed and survived all the years. When I bought my F30 in 2015, I gave this to Papa for his daily use. Memang kena lanyak lah by everybody Mutee and Meng. How many times I had to settle the summons and the car went for a few overhauls for the damage. Alhamdulillah it was still in one piece.

Later when Qayyum joined PASUM, I thought of handing this car back to him. I could have bought a new car but I thought he would learn more about cars with this old Perdana. It was n a really bad condition when he first got it (haha memang tak terjaga langsung in Taman Tun) So we had to go back to square one to get this car back into its groove. I spent quite a lot to recond this car into a safe one! It was not safe wei when driving it the first time after taking it over from Papa. The reason I spent that much because I thought that it would be Qayyum's ride till forever!! Little did I know.... 

Qayyum had his bit of lessons meeting mechanics, workshops, breakdown towing haha I gather it was a really good experience for him to learn about taking care of a car. THis V6 had a good engine and certainly was an excellent steed. Aircond dia still menggigil weh hahaha   

And when he accepted the offer to study in Bristol, I decided to sell off the car. The thought of passing it down to Qaisya was there; but... dont think she can handle this piece of art 😛 Qayyum managed to sort it out with CARSOME (Yup.. told him u settle it) and we ended up with Deficit la with the amount I spent to repair it! Should have sold it to the mechanic whilst repairing it as he offered a really good price! 

And there we were, saying our farewell to the car who was as old as Qayyum himself..😀 

Sending off/with Qayyum to UK Aug 24

It seemed like yesterday that Qayyum left for UK. This was on Merdeka day as I was lucky to even get flight tickets that week. It was a bit last minute and the closure of Malaysia airspace did not really help. Qayyum was on his way to Bristol and his first trip to UK ever. We decided to follow him as ni kan scholar mak-bapak so it would be a good break and time for us to bond before he starts his life in adulthood.  

 

It was never in the original plan for him to go overseas to study. Despite his super  excellent results, it was just unfortunate for him to be during this age where he is discriminated because of his parent's income. He did apply to various scholarship bodies but he was rejected by them all - due to me being in the T20 bracket. I do feel that he should be recognized for his own ability and should be rewarded for that. But then I suppose fate has put it that way and Alhamdulillah, I did my save for MDQs education. 

 

In fact, Qayyum had proceeded to be in UM - Asasi and doing very well in view of achieving his ambition into the Acturial Science programme. Little did I know, PASUM's curriculum is recognized by oversea institution and Qayyum was encouraged by his lecturers to apply for a place. He was in fact offered to a few places under the UCAS system!

 

Well, I didn't really know about it until he has successfully applied! I was fairly surprised but he was a very determined boy to fulfill his dream. And it is because of his own effort, I agreed to support him financially for his coming 3 years stint. He chose Bristol which I thought was a good place to be as it was not easy to be admitted there. He did apply for financial backing with a lot of instituition but it was off season and a bit last minute. I told him, dont worry.. if he wants it then I will support him to the best of my ability. Thats what parents do right?  

Alhamdulillah, All the preparations went smoothly and there we were.. a good break for me and Eka too going to London 😆

Pre-UK 2024 doa selamat

We gathered as family and perhaps this was the last gathering we had with Arwah Mutee too. Allah was too kind for us to celebrate his return that day.😔

Marissa's day on stage

This was mid 2025 😁 Part of my blog qada'.

I would certainly not miss this moment. Its not frequent that she would be on stage to receive academic prize for her achievement. I took my day off to attend this. I have always pledged to be around when they are honored in such occasion. 

They dont have PMR anymore so it will only be at school level that they are recognised. Marissa has always been known to be the gritty and determined one amongst the MDQs. At the moment, she is thinking about taking up medicine haha We'll see how long she would have that ambition in her. Its tough and perhaps at the end of the day macam tak berbaloi. To me it is lah haha but I don't think I want my children to go through it. Unless it is their choice and I always remind them it will only their perseverity which will bring them through.

Well done my daughter!! Nanti belajar local Uni yeah haha :)😋

Alfatihah.. 1 year passing of Mutee

 

 "Eaylalle.." we were just strolling and passed Covent Garden when I received an unexpected call.

 

"Yes Meng.. tiba2 call ni? nak cakap Man U kalah ke?" Liverpool just won their match against Man U!

 

"Bodoh la.. bodoh la... "

 

"Kenapa Meng?"

 

"Muti meninggal... "

 

"Ha?????!!!"

 

Mutee my younger brother passed away last year early September. I was not around in Malaysia as we just arrived in London the ay before. Mutee even sent us (specifically Qayyum) to the airport and I never thought that was the last time I would see him. It was such a shock but that moment of grief did bite me inside as I was unable to be there for the funeral.  

We had always been 5 and grew up together. We was my younger brother and perhaps the darling of my father. He was always rebellious and tend to choose that way to potray his feelings. In our family circle, his stories are legendary haha like for one, he ran away after sitting on the dentist chair and my mother had to go and look for him! Or the time during a school camping trip when he ran away and me ( with Azad, fiqar and ikmal the facilitators) had to go and find him! MAcam-macam lah.. His antiques certainly would test one's patience.

We grew apart unfortunately as he and my other siblings followed my mum to UK for her PHD when i was 16. This also explains why in a way I am not very close with my siblings as the four of them grew up together more than being with me. Since then I have always been away hence the bond may not be as strong as it should be. I do know that my siblings do look up to me with all my achievements but being at my age now, I do wish I was closer to them in the most important growing up years. 

Mutee has a very creative mind and this was exhibited since young. He was brilliant and his ideas were always outside the box. He was good at building things with LASI when we played with our neighbours back then.Later in life he was always known as the artist. There were a lot of his decisions which I did not agree then even though my parents would follow his wish. I was young then and perhaps did not understand his dynamics. I had a big disagreement with my parents because of him and perhaps that was why I was not always informed and being put out of the picture when it comes to him. Mutee was special and very sensitive at the same time. We do get on well when we meet up now and then. 

 

He was always secretive on what he was doing. He was in fact away for the past few years and I hardly see him. It was a surprise when 2 weeks before Qayyum left for UK, he came back during the doa selamat for Qayyum. I was glad and relieved to see him but little did I know that last 2 weeks he was with my parents would be his last moments with them. I knew he was a bit unwell but never thought that he would leave us so soon as he did.

What I am glad was, he passed away in the arms of my mother. It was a good end. Allah planned it that way and I could not have prayed for a better ending of how it went. It was very sad for his kids and they were reunited and very happy with their papa being with them again.  

All I can do now is to pray for him and that he be rewarded with Jannah. He passed away 2 days before he turned 43 last year. Alfatihah Mutee. 😥