We have our routine.
You wake up first, usually. You sit on the bed, trying to shake yesternight’s dreams off, slowly letting the day sink in. I’m awake too, but most mornings you don’t notice this. I lie on my side of our bed, still snug and lost in the rolls of the comforter and the bedspread. I can only see your back and not your face. Eventually, you get up and you remove your bedclothes, carefully setting them aside. I watch you as you pad into the bathroom, a vision of the perfect day, of the sweet years to come.
I wake to beauty each morning.
Soon enough I rustle myself from semi-slumber and I follow your footsteps, I enter the bathroom as the second guest, always. You’d have finished brushing your teeth by now, or almost anyway, and you’d have laid my toothbrush beside the wash basin, with a smear of toothpaste squeezed onto it already. As I brush my teeth, you start the shower, you test the water, letting it run till it is warm enough. When I wash alone, I like it hot enough to scald, but when we wash together, we just need it warm enough to smoothe the night’s aches away, to awaken us a second time.
It’s warm enough, the water. You draw the curtains. I spit the foam of the toothpaste into the washbasin and I rinse my mouth. Time to join you. I draw the curtains back and I climb into the tub. You’re soaking yourself, allowing your skin to be wet enough for the facial cleanser. You always wash your face first. I lay my hands on your shoulder, and your tender neck. I knead and I massage your flesh, till it gives in to the pressure. We sigh together, pelted by hot water and the promises of a perfect day, of more sweet years like this.
We pass products back and forth. Shower gel. Shampoo. Hair moisturizer. Facial cleanser. A scrub, either for the body or the face, which one I can’t tell. We’re blinded by the soap, the foam, the healthy beads of Cleanliness we’re coating ourselves with. And then we wash it all off.
Always, I finish first. I’m impatient for the gentle caress of the towels, the flurried scrubbing till we’re dry and warm. I dry myself and then I grab your towel and pass it to you, along with the first kiss of the day, a brief and quiet kiss. I have to help dry yourself cos you usually miss a spot or two. Even if you don’t, I enjoy wrapping you round in my towel. We can hold on to this for a moment longer. Before we have to face the cold rush of air as we open the bathroom door into the bedroom once more. Before we have to dress and get ready for work. Before breakfast.
But that is another routine altogether…
.
{ This is Part One of the “A Day in Our Life…” series. }
Wow! I guess the fuel hike has taken its toll on you, huh? Or you’ve become quite environmentally friendly… Saving money and saving water… Lol
Yeah, I love waking up in the morning and see the one we love before we start our day. And I wish I can wake up everyday with him and not just a day.
wah.. you wake up so such romantic moments everyday!
that l’occitane smells good ya…
so different from the dashing out of bed, “oh no… i am going to be late for work” that most people wake up to.
McC: Well, I have always been very supportive of the Go Green movement…
equilibrium2008: And not just a day. That would be everything, wouldn’t it? From every day before to your last days together…
keropokman: Haha, we can avoid that “oh no… i am going to be late for work” rush by setting the alarm clock a good half an hour earlier than most folks. That, and living close to the office helps too!
so nice..even toothpaste also squeezed for u already.
wah, the youths of today really lomantic, eh? branded soaps lar, sea shells lar, aromatic oil lar. i can’t imagine how exuberant your breakfast is like… part deux?
i just need 5 mins to take my “buffalo bath” with the strongest of dettol (yupe, i’m that filthy..haha!) and still, i’ll be late for work!
Kenny, do you REALLY wake up to all these every morning?? That’s really luxurious!! Not to mention romantic-la
lotsofcravings: Hehe, that’s my favourite part. I’m that lazy…
Nic (KHKL): Not lomantic lah, but hey life is short, never put off pampering yourself says I. And trust me, the Breakfast (aka Part Two of this series) will not be as luxurious. Mundane, really. I’m just a normal bloke lah…
P.S. Mandi Kerbau = Buffalo Bath? You’re a genius. Heh.
seowyin: Yeah, mostly. Which is why, after swearing I won’t move again, I moved. It’s worth the madness of moving to spend every morning with the one you love ma. Romance is over-rated lah. This is just… uhm, biasa lah. Like all the unker/ahntee and pakcik/makcik ma… Bangun pagi, gosok gigi only.
i think most of us set the alarm clocks half an hour early too. But.…..
we press the snooze button for a good half an hour before actually grudgingly get off the bed.
awww … toothpaste all squeezed out for you. and saving money on water too!
next round, save on laundry bills — use same towel also la 
he he …
nice light read kenny —
you have a constant fan. 
i’m just grinning like an idiot after reading this… these normal ‘bangun pagi gosok gigi’ routines are the bestest routines… sweet, comforting and familiar…
looking forward to the rest of the series!
keropokman: Haha, that’s why we don’t use the snooze button. All it takes to develop this habit is a lot of discipline, hard training… and a couple of times being late to work!
kenneth: Use the same towel? I don’t think one towel could absorb all the water from two very wet adults. Some things we can’t save on.
Glad you enjoyed this by the way; wouldn’t want to bore folks with too much heavy stuff… A couple of friends actually referred to me as the “King of Emo” over the weekend. The nerve! Hahaha…
lingzie: They are the bestest routines, aren’t they? I haven’t written the rest of the series yet, but it shouldn’t be too hard, since it all revolves around our daily routine. I’ll post them at the start of each week, and hopefully alternate these posts with other stuff, maybe blog about food, fitness, the usual suspects.
wow! looks like you have all the time to enjoy your daily rituals.
You have it right there. Such are simple pleasures we are missing out in our hectic life. We have forgotten to take a second, look up the blue sky , appreciate nature. We have even forgotten how to take a good bath or shower. Even a simple bath routine can be made so spa-ish and luxurious by you. I need to get a better bath soon!
donG hO: All the time? No, not nearly as much as we’d like, but just enough.
tigerfish: I don’t know about luxurious, but it’s never hurried that’s for sure… I love my bath times… A time when you do nothing but relax and let go…
King Of Emo, so apt!
LOL.… Does watching sunset makes you cry? The last few weeks, I have been watching Sunrise and Sunsets almost daily in the Australian Outback. What a pity, sekelip mata, sun sets, and we repeat the same thing the next day. Haha… it can be called a watching sunset holiday!
keropokman: Not you too! I am hardly emo. *huffs indignantly*
(Well, maybe just a little emo.)
Sunrises and sunsets? That sounds like a perfect holiday to me, man. And reminds me of the Richard Linklater films — Before Sunrise and Before Sunset. Love explored in no uncertain terms, simply as it develops and envelops us… Uhm, yeah.
(Okay, maybe more than just a little emo.)
I’m normally the first one to wake up. I don’t snooze my alarm… off it straight away, give myself another 5–10 mins or so… and wake up straight.
I’ll give him longer time to sleep tho… cuz i know i need more time to get ready than him. hahah… ;o)
you mean she din say nothin at all ? that you really must rush again ?
outside the morning rustling patient breeze will always be fresh.….….….…..(er ) ?
Kenny dear I took your advice.… Its a wonderful piece. Love it. I know how if feels.… its intoxicating!!!
spiffy: Haha, I’m sorta like your better half then — the lucky one who gets to snooze in just a tad more knowing there’s no danger of waking late. Hehe.
backStreetGluttons: Patient breeze? Sir, I live in Kuala Lumpur. Trying blustering smog and haze.
Nisa: Good on ya. Now remind me, which advice was it again? I give you advice all the time and you almost never take it, so pardon me if I have no clue right now what you’re talking about.
This is how my morning goes:
We wake up. You fart. I smack you for farting. We walk to our separate bathrooms becoz you shed too much fur on da floor. My bathroom smells better anyway. (Why does your sh*t smell so foul when we both eat the same dinner?) I finish first because you sh*t and read at the same time…so time-consuming liao. You’re still sh*tting when I leave. I kiss you goodbye, trying hard not to breath in the fumes. You’ve made me coffee. I lub you, my dahling hubby.
Short and sweet hor.
Lyrical Lemongrass: *utterly speechless*
mmm…sounds like a reaalllyy familiar wake-up-to routine to me.….:P
Oh, I <3 I <3 I <3! I love everything about this new website. The text and the images together. What sensuality!
rokh: You too? Join the club, dear!
Sharanya: Or perhaps, sin–suality? Hehe.
Yes.
well, it’s the least i cud do la.… he wakes up at 830 at home, but he gotta wake up at bout 630 when he’s at my place. hahah.…
Sharanya: Knew you’d catch that, O fellow admirer of Tori Amos, you.
spiffy: Yes, that commuting bit. I definitely hated it when I had to do it early in our relationship, but now we share the same apartment and call it home. And that makes all the difference.
Plus it saves on fuel and utilities.
hahah.…tht’s why i’m looking for a place now. helps me save on my expenses. also, i wudn have to wake up so early and be sleepy.…like, right now. yawwnnnn~~~
p/s: eh, tht mean ur not staying anymore at where i think ur staying ah?
hmm, yeah i would want to find that someone now la…
So how’s the dating service? any progress?
spiffy : Nope. I have moved. Just haven’t blogged about it yet. Or maybe not at all. There’s only that many “I have moved into a new apartment” posts I can blog about, no?
equilibrium2008: Dating service is facing difficulties. Lack of suitable candidates cited as reason for hiatus.
hahha.… now i darn paiseh wei… asked u to help me to check it out. *blush*
i’ve went there myself last week. nothing suitable and interesting…
Makes the day beautiful, doesn’t it? Makes me wish I was back in Malaysia right this very minute.
The photo’s just vintage.
spiffy: Dun need paiseh lah, what are friends for, right? Just keep looking… Perseverance always pays off in the end.
Michelle: Actually the original photographs were very badly taken by yours truly. Fortunately what I lack in photography talent, I make up in manic Photoshopping. Hehe.
Kenny, unker/untee don’t shower together ok?? :p
seowyin: Who says they don’t? Try catching this film by Yasmin Ahmad, “Rabun.” And unless you follow unker and ahntee into their bathrooms, how you know lah? Hehe.
Are you saying that you followed them to their bathrooms??
seowyin: I’m not saying I did; I’m not saying I didn’t.
I’m certainly not a Peeping Tom or voyeur; if anything I’m more of an exhibitionist. Quite the opposite, really.
*sigh* let you win…you are the unker that shower together, happy??
seowyin: Good gosh… it’s like we’re both back in university again, arguing up a storm. Ah, I miss those days… *muka nostalgia*
kenny the premature unker…
time passes very quickly, u will be old old unker in no time.…
keropokman: Ya lor, very old unker oledi. What more now trying to write a blog post cum restaurant review that is running away from me and trying to be an European fairy tale of sorts instead. I tell you har, words can be so conniving and troublesome.
Some more this story features an old unker (who may or may not be me)…
Kenny, I miss those days too
I could never argue with you…you are of another level :p
seowyin: Where got? You’re gonna make people think I was a nasty argumentative sort… Anyway, these days I lose all the verbal battles, believe or not. Finally got my comeuppance, haha.
P.S. Stay tuned. Gonna post a new story soon, this one perhaps influenced a tad by our conversation. Let’s say there are other sorts of unkers and ahntees…
unker ah.…you better post it up soon.
..before Alzheimer’s pays a visit and you can’t remember what you wanted to write.
..osteoporosis knocks at the door, and you can’t type anymore.
oh no, i think i suffer from them.…
keropokman: Speaking of Alzheimer’s, forgetting and memory are featured in this new story… as do knocking on the door… and perhaps even suffering. What, are you reading my mind?
P.S. Just posted it!
Your morning routine sounds just like my evening routine. The way you describe it is just so romantic. Really admire your writing. Glad to know that I’m not the only one who enjoys a bath together every day.
Jennifer: A bath together every day keeps the blues away?
Wah.. almost like a sacred morning ritual.
gina: Oh waking and washing should be sacred; it wakes us up to a brand new day, after all, preparing us for all that is to come.
Very aroma-sensitive, eh? Kiss only after the double tooth-brushing!
argussimo: Hahaha… no lah, it just usually happens this way, is all. My nose is normally so insensitive I doubt I’d smell anything!
hmm is that so? I think I will just stay for a long time now at the bathroom and savor every moment of it.
equilibrium2008: That’s it. Slowly… savour… slowly…
like this site!
wow! what a beautiful way to wake up to and look forward to every morning .. so romantic. Hehehe … it used to be like this for us … wake up, look at honey sleeping next to me, give him a nice long morning kiss, pounce on him to wake him up cheekily … then slither away to make breakfast for us in bed. Those were the good old days. These days, first wake up call is ‘Mommy! Mommy!’ then followed by little footsteps stomping down the stairs to our room. If we still haven’t gotten out of bed, Little One will open our door herself and then take our glasses from our nightstand and give it to us — signal: Get up mom! I want my breakfast. *sigh*
The Cooking Ninja: The Little One wants breakfast? Strange, cos that’s what I wrote about next…
i followed the 1st post to this post.. and all i can say, is Lyrical Lemongrass’ comment is damn bloody funny
now i feel more normal 
cumi&ciki: Hahaha, her comment was hilarious, wasn’t it? Just perfect. Of course, her husband now thinks she’s exposed the details of his morning flatulence to the whole world…