"Ubaid, this is the story of how I met your mother...

I first met your mother when we were both studying at UiTM Lendu many many years ago... In the campus, there was a filthy lake... I was walking alongside the lake with my roommate, Uncle Ridhwan, when I first saw her from far... 

The first time I saw her, I fell deeply in love with smile... It was the sweetest smile I've ever seen... So cute, so genuine, so pure... Don't puke because it's true... Well, at least that was what I felt... 

She was walking from the opposite site and as we got closer and closer, I swore to you, I could almost see birds flying behind her in slow motion... It's like my eyes were camera lenses and everything in the background went blurry and she's in the focus... The wind blew her rebonded hair and created a sweet scene that melted my heart...

To my surprise, Uncle Ridhwan greeted her... Apparently, they knew each other... 

I can't remember whether he introduced me to her or not because I was so caught up her cuteness... 

And kid, that's how I met your mother...

...

What about I tell you more about the story of your mother and I? I'm sure you want to know more, right? Owh come on! Don't make that face!

Okey, here goes...

After that moment beside the lake, I started to notice her everywhere on campus... Though, being an introvert as I was, I never had the nerves to go to her and say hi... We often exchanged glances and smiles and every time she looked my way or caught me staring, I felt heavenly... I was on cloud nine and couldn't get her out of my head... In Malay, it's referred as "angau"... 

For months, we ran into each other and exchanged sweet glances but I just didn't have the guts to say anything... 

Finally, I decided to ask for her number... from Uncle Ridhwan...

It was a funny thing, heheh, because as soon as I got her number, I didn't call her right away... I just made a missed call... You know, as soon as I heard a ringing tone, tutt, I hanged up... She, in return, also gave me a missed call... Yeah, I'm not sure whether your generation does it or not, but back in the days, leaving missed calls was a thing... 

Your mom was very curious and she was not the patient type... It drove her nuts as I made more missed calls and she didn't know from who these missed calls came from... We 'replied' missed calls for quite some time before she snapped... She texted me, demanded to know my identity... I played around by replying texts like, "Cuba la teka..." or "Ada la :-P"

That went on for about a week... Just imagine how pissed she was... Haha... She scolded me via SMS a few times but that made it more fun for me...

Finally, her instincts kicked in and it drove her to ask another roommate of mine, Uncle Abe, who was her classmates, about this mystery missed-caller... Kantoi~

You know, I was a bit of a stalker back then... There was once, after class, I decided to take the long route back to my hostel because I wanted to see your mother... She was in class at that time and I stalked her through the classroom windows from far... That was pretty psychotic... Don't ever do that, okey? She noticed me standing outside the classroom, staring at her and I think it scared her a bit... Haha!

We continued texting each other and making missed calls but never ever had a real conversation... It went on for a year... Can you imagine? We exchanged looks and smiles often but never ever say a word to one another... 

At my last day of being at UiTM Lendu, we hanged out... That was the first time we sat in front of each other and talked... Well, actually, she did most of the talking... She and her bestfriend at that time, Aunt Yatie... If you asked her now about how that particular meeting went, she would definitely answer, it was lame... She said to me that it was so frustrating for her because during the whole meeting, I only let out probably five words... Pfttt... I was really a dork... The most memorable thing about that meeting for me was your mother pretending to kiss Aunt Yatie... on the lips... She teased me by holding up a piece of tissue paper parallel to her and Aunt Yatie's faces and acted to kiss each other behind it... 

She was really fun... 

After that, I furthered my studies at UiTM Bandaraya Melaka while she remained at UiTM Lendu... Though we were just around an hour's drive to each other, but I never had the urge to go see her again because I was a dork... I thought, even if we met, I would have nothing nice to say and it would be extremely awkward... but we continued to text each other... and of course, exchanging missed calls sometimes...

We eventually met each other during our course's annual dinner at Legacy Hotel, Melaka... 

That meeting was also very memorable for me because it was like a romantic movie scene... While the director of UiTM Melaka at that time, Mizan Hitam, was giving a speech in the dining hall, we escaped outside and sat at a sofa... The interior design of the hotel was so beautiful and close by, a guy was playing a guitar to practice for his stage performance... With the sweet acoustic music in the background, we finally talked and it was a nice conversation... She was very beautiful at that time... She cut her hair short, wore a cute blouse and long skirt... While I looked like a dork... 

The day after the dinner, I texted her and asked her to be my girlfriend... 

One month later, she gave her answer... and her answer was no...

...

Man, I'm famished! Lets go eat! 

What?? Relax... I'll continue the story later... Come on, lets see what your mom cooked today..."