Khartoum Tales: Family Day - Part 1 (Dinner at As Salam Rotana)

We had our Family Day Dinner last Friday night. It was fun.. mainly cuz I takyah terkejar-kejar ke sana ke mari.. :)

But the best part of the Dinner was the entertainment bit. Now, I'm such an introvert that I will not go on stage (unless terpaksa).. but it was amazing to see young kids going on stage bravely to belt out tunes or to dance.

Alia (she's maybe 10 or 11) belted out Adele's Someone Like You and mind you, that is NOT an easy song to sing. Yet, she went on stage and performed je. Takde pun perasaan takut or malu. And then Idris' sons (all below the age of 7) belted out Mariah Carey's Without You and that was awesome too.

Kids are amazing kan? They go on stage when they see their friends go on stage. They are not afraid of singing off-key. They are not afraid that people will laugh at them. They take chances and only aspire to have fun.

Unlike us adults yang so conscious about things.. about how people will perceive us.. the impressions that we make..

Because of that, we hide in our shell, skulk in the corner and watch others with envy.. wishing that we were as brave. At least, that's what the introverts like me think lah. Heheh. The extroverts are the ones yang berani menyahut cabaran.. berani go on stage and do what they want and like..

So what are you?

Funnily, I don't think people believe me when I say that I'm an introvert. Isba semalam kata I "peramah" while Pokji the other day said that I "could talk to just about anybody".

Well, maybe sebab I was trained that way? I mean, prior to being a reporter at the NST, I was such a shy girl. I still am, but at least now I main belasah je lah. Sebab being a reporter dulu, I was trained to just main belasah. Just ask questions during a Press conference, walaupun jantung berdegup seribu.

But yeah.. I am an introvert. Not that I hate people.. but most times, I would rather just sit quietly in a corner and do my own thing - read a book or play with my phone. Cuma tu lah.. I have been told that I have this face.. bila orang duduk sebelah I, mesti lah nak cakap ngan I. And usually, I akan layan je sebab I'm too polite to just tell the person to just shut up.

Cam last week on the flight to Singapore.. there's this Swami who started chatting with me. And after the 40-mins flight, I already knew that he teaches Sanskrit in Singapore on weekends.. but from Dec - Feb, there will be no class sebab he will be in India. He's from Penang but stayed in India for almost 10 years.

And so, since he taught Sanskrit.. I asked him about the word Allah.. as there were Facebook comments yang kata perkataan "Allah" itu ada dalam kitab Sanskrit. And so he said, yes... in the older books memang ada perkataan "Allah".. but he has never come across it.. and he said, that to his knowledge, the word "Allah" was used in the context of "the Almighty".

Interesting stuff you learn when you talk to strangers kan....?

But again, I talk to people because I might just learn something new.. :)

Oh my... how I've digressed...

Anyway, back to the Family Day dinner, here are the pictures..