Time:10:00am                        Date:8th Nov.,1998
Location:Mary Martin Bookcafe,Bourke St. Melbourne.

It is spring time  downunder.The weather is beautiful,18C and sunny.To-day is the last day before I go home from  a trip to Sydney and Melbourne to attend AWWA Water Seminar.

While everyone was busy enjoying their Sunday breakfast at the hotel coffeehouse,I skipped the hotel lobby by the side door,got out of the hotel alone and walked briskly along Flinders St. to  a nearby  tram station.Even though it was only a five minutes walk,I really enjoyed every minute of it,especially in this kind of weather.

It was a short tram journey and I alighted at the third stop.By 10:15am I am already at the shop entrance.I was the third customer for the day.The shop front is just like a normal cafe, however it has two wings-cafe section and book section.In the cafe side of the shop,I saw a couple were having breakfast and one shop assistant was at the cash register in the book section.

After ordering and paying for my breakfast,I selected a table facing the street and two tables away from the couple.We exchanged smiles.While waiting for my food to arrive,I walked to a corner where there is a bookshelf for cafe patrons to browse or read while enjoying our food and drink.

As I was reading the back cover of a novel entitled Naked Sleeper by Sigrid Nunez,the Australian gentleman striked a conversation with me.

Ausie:Hi,where're you from?
Me:I'm from Malaysia.

Ausie:I heard there is a big trouble in Kuala Lumpur.Is it safe?
Me:Yes alittle bit.It is quite safe,as safe as Melbourne streets.

(Anwar Ibrahim court case has received a lot of publicity in Australian media.Almost everyone I met was asking me about Mr Ibrahim.The BBC World is doing a nightly coverage.By 12 midnight,I sometimes can listen to BBC telephone interview with Wan Azizah,the wife of Anwar Ibrahim)

Ausie:You're very interested in books.Are you a writer?
Me:Yes,I love books especially reading them while having cappucino...actually,I am a water engineer.Maybe,one fine day,I will be a writer;-

Ausie:Water engineer?We have problems in Sydney.Is your water in Kuala Lumpur safe to  drink?
Me:Yes,it is quite safe.However,I make sure my wife boil it first,just a normal precaution gainst harmful bacteria.
Ausie:I see. I think I will do the same.

Me:Do you like this bookcafe?
Ausie:Yes I do.Do you have bookcafe in Malaysia?
Me:Not really.I wish to own one like this in KL.
Ausie:Good luck to you.

By that time,I excused myself to eat my breakfast.In fact,I planned to set up a bookshop by next year,but due  to economic problems I have to postphone to the year 2000,insya Allah.After I finished my breakfast,I moved to the book section for another half hour.It has a good collection of books with two Internet terminals.The online charge is AUD 10/hr,almost five times the cost of going online at a normal Malaysian cybercafe!!!.Home sweet home.Before I "Cabut balik KL" ,I bought my fifth book in seven days entitled The Rest of Us by Jacquelyn Mitchard,the writer who created the runaway national bookseller TheDeep End of the Ocean.Enough books to last me for the next six months....not of course until I found the one I can't resist;-The promise that any bookworm won't keep.