2. It’s all about adaptation!

That first day in the Caravan Park in Molong, I was really brooding and pensive. I could not help missing my very comfortable bed.There were a few things that made me very contemplative (read: moody) during the first two days of my adventure:

TOILET

And as usual, I was trying to work out the most efficient way to go to the toilet. Below were the thoughts that went through my mind:

1)I need all the toiletries brought in a separate container because I couldn’t leave my toiletries in the shower.

2) I need to change clothes in the shower.  Segan laaa nak sexy2 dalam khemah. So, I have to remember to bring fresh clothes  everytime I am going to take my bath. And I might as well, bring all the bedak and the toner and the mousturiser and the lotion as well and apply them all in the shower.

3)Because I couldn’t berkemban to toilet as usual, I sometimes forgot to bring my towel with me. I must remember to bring my towel with me to the toilet at all times. (pernah aku terlupa bawa towel…dah habis mandi baru teringat. I end up using A LOT of toilet paper to wipe myself dry! Such tedious work)

4)I am used to taking my shower twice/day. Since I am supposed to be camping and having an adventure, maybe I can cut down to once/day. Maybe I shall shower right after I come back from work. (even though sometimes I ended up having two showers per day, anyway: once after working and another one just before I slept. I could not compromise personal hygiene no matter where I am!)

5)Agh…I don’t care about water restriction! I am not going out of the shower until I am good and ready, okay!!

FOOD

And there is of course, the food to think about. The truth is, I am not much of a cook even in newcastle. I eat fried rice everyday during weekdays….weekend baru masak lauk beriya-iya sebab ada masa free sikit. So, to a certain extent, there’s a slight variety in what I was having here in Molong compared to in Newcastle.

What I was thinking about was…how am I going to stand makan dalam dulang for one month? Aku dah empat tahun kat oversea…and aku patut dah biasa dengan ‘makan dalam dulang’ ni…tapi…

I have always had some reservations about makan dalam dulang:

1) I am fussy. Sangat cerewet pasal makanan. Of course people think I eat like piranha and I can eat whatever. But Wani knows better. She always said, “Afiza makan banyak kalau makanan tu sedap sahaja.”  Well, sebenarnya, Aku makan banyak kalau makanan tu exactly as I like….kalau tidak, aku takkan makan langsung. Bila kita makan dalam dulang, kita kena cater to a lot of tastes. Ada orang nak kuah banyak sampai melimpah ruah….I don’t. Ada orang asyik nak tambah kicap to EVERY meal…I don’t.  So bila tanah tak rata, dan dulang tu senget ke arah aku, I end up with nasi yang banjir gila…aku mulalah makan sikit. And bila kicap terkena my part of the dulang…again aku makan sikit.

Yang kelakarnya, people were like “Kenapa Afiza makan sikit ni?”. Aku cakap jer aku dah kenyang…which is really far from the truth. The truth is “Kalau aku makan sikit and then cakap aku dah kenyang, maksudnya aku memang tak minat dengan makanan itu. As simple as that.”

2) Makan dalam dulang macam susah. There’s an art to it. Ada 4-5 orang dalam satu dulang. Berhimpit-himpit.  Sempit. Ahhh..sungguh tidak selesa. Kalau setakat 2-3 hari tak per. AKu tak boleh bayangkan selama sebulan aku akan makan dalam dulang for every meal. I was quite doubtful of my ability to do this! Aku confirm, balik nc nanti my bathroom scale would show a dramatic drop in my weight!

3) I eat very, very fast. Like very fast. Gelojoh pun ada jugak, aku rasa! My parents always said, “Kak ngah, berhenti lah ambil nafas sekejap.” LOL! Bila aku tengah makan, mulut aku senyap seribu bahasa…aku cuma mengunyah sahaja. My friend used to joke, “Kalau dating dgn Afiza, kena buat conversation puas2, and then baru bawa pergi makan.” hahahha. I didn’t realize that at first. Tapi memang betul pun.

Bila ada makanan, aku concentrate pada makanan sahaja.

So, bila makanan tu sedap, aku akan makan dengan laju dan banyaknya. AKu takutlah aku terambil bahagian orang lain dalam dulang tu. Macam kesian la pula kat diorang. Just because aku makan laju, diorang nampak makanan bahagian aku dah habis. So they keep pushing more nasi my way. Padahal, aku makan dah banyak drpd diorang. Haih…rasa bersalah kepada orang2 yang share dulang dengan aku.

4) Again, I am very fussy about personal hygiene.  Aku kalau boleh nak semua orang basuh tangan dengan sanitizer or antiseptic sebelum share dulang dengan aku. kahkahkah. Aku tak derlah perasan aku punya tangan bersih sangat….tapi kalau pun tangan aku kotor, aku cuma makan kotoran atau bacteria from my own hands. Tapi bila aku share dulang dengan ramai orang….well, you get the idea.  Kalau boleh aku nak semua orang pakai sudu bila makan dalam dulang…cumanya aku sendiri pun kurang gemar nak pakai sudu bila makan. I love eating with my hands. So, takkan aku nak demand suruh orang lain pakai sudu pula. Macam, sangatlah mengada2. It’t just that I have to be careful to make sure that my part of the dulang is only touched by me. So, aku selalu end up sudah paling awal bila makan dalam dulang. Sebab aku tak nak end up kena habiskan nasi2 yang berterabur kat bahagian lain.

As usual, I will say “aku dah kenyang.” Padahal perut aku banyak lagi space untuk diisi. Huarrghhh!

TENTS

We had two type of tents. The big tent was shared by 5 people. It was very, very comfortable. We can even stand and pray in this tent.

The small tent (which was meant for two people) was shared by three people and a lot of bags! Very, very claustrophobic; as the tent is so small I could not even stand on my knees before my head would touch the roof.

I got the small tent.

Sungguh menyesakkan nafas. I felt like I was being crowded in. I felt the roof of the tent so very close to my face (well, not that close tapi aku memang genrally tak suka enclosed space. I sleep with my door open back in NC …so there’s a dramatic change in terms of my sleeping preference here.)

Bayangkan khemah yang sepatutnya untuk dua orang jadi tempat tidur 3 orang dengan beg2 sekali.

Sebab aku tidur di tengah dan diapit oleh Wani di sebelah kiri dan Ilya di sebelah kanan….aku rasa lagi tersepit. Both of them kurus dan tak pernah pun himpit aku…it’s just my feelings of rasa sesak tu….

My preference is tidur mengiring sebelah kanan. Tapi sebab tanah sangat keras, aku mengiring kejap ke arah Wani, kejap lagi ke arah Ilya to release the pressure in one hip and transfer it to another hip. As a result my hip bone lebam di dua2 belah. So, in my third day, aku dah tak boleh tidur mengiring sebab tak nak press on the bruise.

So, I ended up sleeping on my back.

The truth is, I hate sleeping on my back. It started a few years ago when my friend said dia kena tindih dengan hantu dan dia tak boleh bernafas. Well….aku bersyukur aku tak pernah kena tindih sebelum ni. And I never want to experience it! And somebody had told me that sleeping on your side is better because less chance of kena hempap dengan makhluk ghaib. So since that day, I ALWAYS sleep on my side! Setiap kali nak tidur on my back, I would feel stiff and very uncomfortable because I kept thinking about the makhluk ghaib.

I know it’s silly! But I always feel protected when I sleep on my side…like in fetal position.  Sleeping on your back felt like too much exposure againts aggressive elements. When we are sleeping, we are almost dead to the world and  are vulnerable to any evil forces. For example, a murderer can stab you right on your chest if you sleep on your back! That is fatal to your life! But if you sleep on your side, the murderer has to alter your position to stab you on your heart….hopefully by that time you’ll be awake to kick his crotch!

And then there’s a matter of sleeping in a sleeping bag. Again, I know it’s ridiculous but I always thought that sleeping bag reminds me of beg mayat colour hitam yang polis guna untuk angkut orang yang meninggal lepas accident. Huwaaaa!!

ADAPTING

For two days in Molong, I was quite morose. I didn’t tell anyone about what was going on in my mind. I didn’t tell anyone that evertime it was meal time I wanted to request having my own plate. I didn’t tell anyone that I could not sleep in enclosed space.

I felt like I should toughen up! Because I am tough! I was a girlscout..and then I was in kadet polis before. I volunteered to go to PKSN (before PLKN was made compulsory) and I have camped a lot of time! All these were nothing new.

Tapi, dulu2 itu semua hanya untuk beberapa hari sahaja. But this time, it would be for a whole month! I wasn’t sure I wanted to do this for one month!

But as usual, all it takes were adapting and getting into a routine.

After the 3rd day I was very, very happy. I have stopped caring about sleeping on my back and gradually I slept as soundly as everyone else. Makan dalam dulang tu….I still had some reservations tapi aku just mention kat diorang, “look, be careful jangan bagi kicap terkena kat bahagian aku, tau. Kalau tak, aku tak boleh makan.”

Dan makin lama selera aku pun bertambah. Aku end up butakan mata dan makan sahaja. Daripada lapar, baik aku makan jer. I am sure the acid in my stomach can kill bacterias from everybody’s hand as well as my own.

Makin lama aku dah makin selesa duduk di Molong. Even time tidur pun, now that I could sleep soundly, I must have taken up other people’s space as well.

One day (when we were about to end our adventure) I told the group this: “Dulu2 aku tak boleh tidur tau in enclosed space. I mean, I open my bedroom door everytime. Tapi skrang aku tidur dengan nyenyak sekali. I am amazed I could do this.”

Wani (as someone who’ve known me very well) said, “Wahh hebatlah Afiza. Ko memang banyak kompelin, tapi at last kau boleh buat juga. “

Well, well. That must have been the best compliment I have ever received since going through this adventure.

And the reason I began to feel happy after the third day was because I found out that there was a small library soo very near at the Caravan Park.

Oh, heaven! Adaptation was not difficult, after that.