Makbudak Mumbles

Septic Soles

2012-01-27T16:20:00.003+08:00

Yes, you read it, they are indeed septic.

Adam got that infection after his camping trip in December. Apparently after seeing a specialist in Melaka his feet didn't get better. We had to see another specialist in Shah Alam. So Adam was ordered to stay home, no outdoor activities, no walking. So we were stuck at home on CNY break.

But of course, we got bored, so we went to the movies, and Adam got to be on wheelchair. Sungguh OKU. Now at least my kids appreciate what it's like to be wheelchair-bound.

After a week the infection dried up. So the skin specialist did some dead-skin-peeling.

Then liquid-nitrogen was sprayed to the dying cells to kill them off entirely (plus all the bacteria that were with them).

I hope those soles get better by the time we take the flight to SG next week.

p/s: can you believe it? The doctor's charges were RM340 just to do that little procedure. Adam, you better change your cita-cita from pediatrician to skin-specialist!

Birds & Bees 101

2012-01-22T00:16:00.002+08:00

Today Amir asked about why Acik 'bleeds' when she's not even married. He thinks only married women bleed.

Now...Mama has got think hard and fast.

What shall I say? I know this would lead to a lot of questions from this 8 year old.

So here goes my story:
'Amir, all women bleed, no matter whether they are married or not'.

And of course he had to ask why.

'Every woman has an egg produced in her tummy every month. The egg needs to wait for another egg to produce babies. So when there's no partner egg, the blood will come out.'

'So mana egg satu lagi mom?'

Hmmmm...what shall I goreng without really twisting the fact?

'Err, the other egg is from the husband!'

So he rationalized 'so kalau no husband, darah keluar?'. By this time Aina who was listening quietly started to become dizzy. She cannot hear the mention of the word blood or anything related to that.

I said 'as long as there's no other egg to couple that egg then blood comes out'. Aina was covering her ears already.

Then came the dreaded question, 'so how the egg masuk the tummy mom?'

Guess what I said? 'How do you think it gets there?'

He said 'I know! Kiss!'

Thank God! We're gonna end this conversation soon!

'But macam mana egg tu masuk kalau kiss?'

Adoi, cepat Mama, think!

'Ehmmm, masuklah kalau kiss, that's why I never allow you guys to watch kissing scenes on tv! Nanti when you're slightly bigger we continue this discussion!' I just had to end it there. Adam never ask this sort of question. Luckily Amir accepted the explanation.

Next time I have to think harder I guess.

Dear ...

2011-12-08T18:02:00.002+08:00

Dear Employer (of my hubby),
I'm writing to officially express my concern on your delayed response to approving my husband's leave.

You see, my husband has been a loyal and hardworking employee of your company for the last 6 years. He hardly takes annual leave for our family vacation as he treats his work as his number one wife. So you see, I am indeed, number 2. But this doesn't stop me from asking you to consider the leave request as I feel that his family needs him badly now, as in his presence at home, with undivided attention (and no international con-calls please..). Such leave would be beneficial for children's well being as well as his wife's requirement for TLC.

I am not asking much, just a few days off from work as he has not been back here in his home country for more than 3 months already. I am sure you would also understand that this kind of arrangement is not healthy to our relationship. Please do remember we do not take up your offer for transfer as you never provide education allowances for all our children. Hence I believe denying him of his leave entitlement would encourage me to file a lawsuit against your company soon. Again, I am reminding you that I do have a pool of talented lawyer friends.

I urge you to please approve the leave request immediately as the flight home is less than 2 days time. In the mean time, you may also consider picking up the bill for this trip as he is entitled for two trips home annually (and also please throw in an iPhone 4S or two, to be justified as peace offerings for causing harm to our relationship).

I thank you for the time taken to read this letter. More importantly I am thanking you in advance for approving the request. Your cooperation in making sure our family gets our deserved family time is much appreciated.

Thank you,

Yours sincerely,

The attention-deprived wife.

Doodle Delight

2011-09-15T14:48:00.002+08:00

What a delightful sight, to get this from your 3 year old upon arriving home from work.

I'm impressed that she has progressed fast from the cockroaches drawing she did sometime last year.

I think she's cut to be an artist, or architect, or designer...he he.

p/s: Dari kiri - baby, Abang, Dad, Aisha and Mom (tak siap), ada hati nak baby lagi tu!

Sadness

2011-09-12T12:50:00.003+08:00

My grief is like the ocean, sorrow coming in like waves,
sometimes gentle like a ripple on the sea.
Other times it just engulfs me with crushing waves of sadness
and undertows of despair pull down on me.

Ferna Lary Mills

No words can match the grief of a mother who was weeping over the loss of her child in front of your eyes. I can’t help but wept along silently as the child is of the same age as mine. My tears even ran faster when my friend moaned about not having anybody sharing her coloring and doodling hobby anymore. My throat lumped when I wanted to console her. I put up a brave face and said that Allah loves him more, it’s the only thing I could say to my dear friend. I don’t know how and what else to say as it is unbearingly painful to see the little boy lying there, so pure and peaceful, ready to be returned back to his Creator.

I can’t imagine how I would react if Allah were to test me like this. It was a long time ago when I dealt with death of a close family member. It was my younger sister who passed away when she was 8 months old, and I was 12 that time. Even then, the sorrow was so engulfing, that I also couldn’t bear saying goodbye.

I admired the courage and composure that both my friends (the parents) have. I guess both of them have finally came to terms and redha’ that whatever test Allah has given us, there will always be a hikmah to it. May Allah grants them and their children the strength to weather the days ahead, may He provides them prolonged peace of the hearts and may He rewards them with patience and blessings throughout their lives.

A maid named James

2011-08-21T21:25:00.004+08:00

I'm on MDS again, season 6, ever since March this year.

For the uninitiated, MDS stands for Maid Dependency Syndrome. My whole household has been upside down, so is my schedule, but thank god for my sister Acik, at least the kids have a guardian at home. Sometimes my other sister the kids call Mak comes to the rescue when Acik is not available.

Nevertheless, after raya, both of them won't be available anymore. Acik will be starting her new job in Penang while Mak will be moving to Vientiane, Laos, to be with her hubby who just transfered there. So I won't have any more domestic support after this, and time is running out. The maid that I was promised to come last two weeks got deported back upon reaching KLIA. Gosh, my MDS is getting severe by the day.

So, when my agent called yesterday saying that there is someone available immediately, I was simply elated. He said he can send the maid as soon as I say so. But, there was a big BUT. He said the maid is no ordinary maid. He's a man maid.

I was like blur and blank for a while.

"What do you mean he's a man?" I asked the agent.

"Yes, a MAN. Lelaki!" he said.

"Huh?" I still couldn't get it.

"And he's Mat Salleh some more.."

Huh? A man, Mat Salleh some more. Biar betul this agent.

"He's actually a Mat Salleh, named James, doing some research for his thesis, and willing to be a maid for 6-8 months. Your requirements seem to fit his profile request" explained the agent again.

Hmm...my mind suddenly raced for all the possibilities. An educated maid, not bad. Why not? My kids can learn English faster as they would be forced to speak English all the time, perhaps pick up his slang too. Homework-wise, I wouldn't need to worry anymore, he could take care of it. Maybe after this all my kids toys will be catalogued according to type or theme, maybe even my wardrobe could transform as well. WHY NOT!

I quickly texted my hubby. Surprisingly his answer was "Why not, you trusted me with the maid when you were away out-stationed, so now it's my turn to trust you".

I was like doubly elated! But somehow thinking 'biar betul?'

Then I immediately instructed the agent to send the maid last night. When he arrived in front of my house, I thought I saw a silhouette of a tall lanky man standing besides the van. The light was dim and I couldn't figure-out how James look like. But I believe I saw a structure just like Taylor Lautner. Adoi, should I really take this maid in? Nanti Dad cakap apa? Nanti what would the neighbors say? But I'm desperate!

"Come in" I gestured them to my door after opening the gate. Slowly James seem to appear from the shadow. I can't wait to see how this James is like.

Suddenly I heard a loud ring, so loud that suddenly I realized I was on my bed! It's sahur time!

Aaaarrrrgghhhhh!!!!

Reminiscing Ramadhan

2011-08-17T21:16:00.004+08:00

I remember Ramadhan used to be a long and enduring month when I was smaller. Unlike before, this Ramadhan just flew by in a wink of an eye. It's already the 17th day of fasting, and in less than 2 weeks time we'd be hearing takbir in the air.

When I was about 7 or 8 years old, we stayed in my Mak's kampung as Apak was assigned to the very remote school in Kuala Tembeling. It was difficult for us to follow him as that place was still deprived of the basic facilities. Hence, we stayed at my arwah Uwan's place.

The Ramadhan that I remember vividly was when I think I started my full puasa. Boy oh boy, I was weak by the time I got back from school. At that time, the rambutan trees around the house were blooming with ripe, fluffy red-haired rambutans. It as really a monumental effort to refrain myself from reaching those fruits. At that time, the kitchen was still on stilts, and if you stand at the kitchen balcony, you could just grab those ripe rambutans. I just stood and stare at those dangling fruits after school, imagining how the juicy flesh would taste in my mouth in that hot afternoon. Luckily, I managed to brace myself through those hot afternoons. I remember having a feast at iftar when Mak actually prepared fresh rambutan juice, with the fresh flesh of the sweet juicy fruits. I can't recall the rest of the menu though :)

After iftar I followed my Uwan to the nearest surau for Isya' & Terawih prayers. It was filled with the nearby folks who were actually my relatives. The prayers were led by my eldest uncle, arwah We Zakaria, who used to be the kampung's Imam and Qadi. I remember the surau was dimly lit, with a gasoline lamp I think. There was no electricity in that surau as it was not the official surau.

This is the sample of the gasoline lamp - for my kids who have never seen something like this (Picture courtesy of Google images)

I also remember the prayers were long and I would always wish that it would end immediately so that I could savor all the nice kuehs that the womenfolks have brought for moreh. I obediently stood next to my Uwan and followed all the prayer movements, only to recall being shaken up by her "Along, bangun, bangun, dah habis!" during my sujud. I actually felt asleep!

Now, when I bring my kids for the prayers, I always wonder if they would feel the same. But then, we always do 8 rakaats and would leave by then. As for the fasting, my 3rd child Amir is always the one whining all day, calling me at work complaining about his hunger and thirst, and still is. He's going to be 8 soon, and so far has fasted for 14 days. Not bad with all the whining and complaining.

My two girls waiting for Isya'

Kek Gula Hangus

2011-07-04T18:29:00.003+08:00

This is a reminder for me and my good ol' friend Wanee to bake this soonest possible :) Dah siap sila jemput ye?

Ingredients:
13-14 eggs
2 cups water and 2 cups sugar (for making the gula hangus)
1 tin tinggi susu pekat manis
1 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 tablespoon bicarbonate soda
1 tablespoon vanilla essence

Step:-

Making gula hangus:
In a pot, heat sugar with slow fire and stir until sugar turns brown. Turn off the stove and stir until the mixture is not too hot. Pour water and keep stirring while turning on the stove again until you get a well blended caramel.

Making the cake:
Heat oven till 180C
Beat eggs in a mixer until fluffy. Add milk, bicarbonate soda and vanilla essence. Turn of the mixer.

Then spoon in the flour alternating it with the caramel making number 8 gesture while mixing the ingredients.

If you feel the mixture is a bit too cair, add in 1-2 spoon of flour.

Place mixture dalam acuan non-stick or yg dah greased.

Bake for about 30 mins, then you have a cake with lots of sarang!

Fairly Fondant

2011-06-27T14:05:00.004+08:00

I have been admiring a few of my friends over Facebook on their exquisite skills with fondant cake decoration for quite some time.

It's time to put my admiration to a test. Sebelum tu, study dulu from the institute of youtube.

Hasilnya - Aina's birthday cake.

I actually had to roll over and over again coz the fondant kept on sticking to the mat. Both Aina & Adam assisted me, by suggesting different methods and ingredients to deter the stickiness. We followed the recipe which was to use icing sugar, but it didn't work. Last-last kita pakai corn starch. Aisha pun sebok. She insisted on using the flower cutter to make her own flower. Mama layan aje, and asked everybody to stick the little blue flowers. Sebab tu la banyak variation if you observe properly. Anyway, bila dah jadi tu, rasa very satisfied.

We had a family gathering over tea, and celebrated my nephew's birthday too. It's Azzam's 9 year old birthday. So Mama made a few cupcakes with cream cheese topping too, which was a hit coz they were not too sweet.

Mama sungguh gumbira, lepas ni boleh try lagi..kut2 la boleh buatkan kek hantaran untuk 2 orang adik-adikku yang belum naik pelamin lagi tu..

Smitten by Seth!

2011-06-17T16:15:00.002+08:00

By now, I’m sure a lot of ladies out there are still thinking of Seth. Seth Tan is a character from the tv series Nora Elena, who have smitten a lot of ladies out there, married or not. Why? Well, Seth is the epitome of the almost perfect man. Though he sinned when he was younger, he came to admit his fault and try to correct what ever he did wrong. On top of that, he’s the most caring, gentle and the ever romantic hubby material a woman coud ever dream of, laced with the good looks and good fortune. Almost perfect huh? Makes you want to be in Nora Elena’s shoes.

Which is why I followed the series recently. But I think my more authentic reason is because the character is played by Aaron Aziz. He carried his role well, with his deep expression of love and guilt. I hardly watch malay movies/series, except when they are the good actors/actresses. By good I mean looks and talent ☺. And the very few that made this list are Aaron, Aaron, Aaron, Adi Putra, and maybe Aqasha or Fahrin Ahmad. Errmm, do notice there hardly any actress in the list. Well, that depends on whom they are being paired with…chuckled!

Anyway, back to Seth. The series is an adaptation of a novel, which revolves around Nora Elena who have been raped by a masked guy when she was 15. 10 years later, when she was about to get married, she bumped into Seth, who turns out to be her fiance’s boss and her good friend’s brother. When she told her fiance about her past, coupled with his suspicion on her having an affair with Seth, he broke off their engagement. Seth came to rescue her family from embarassment by offering himself to be the groom. And they got married much to Nora’s resentment. The marriage is all about Seth wooing her to accept him, but later just when she discovered that she’s pregnant, she found out that it was Seth who raped her. So, it’s all about accepting, apologizing and a bit of drama from Seth’s secret admirer who turns out to be his secretary.

It was Nora Elena fever for a month! I think if it was Saleh Yaakob or Rosyam Noor, I don’t think this series would get so many followers. For me, it was more of Aaron in Seth’s character…his style, expression and all…well, it just does it for me. In the end….inilah akibat suami kurang romantik! Hehe, sorry Dad!

Atuk dalam pool

2011-05-16T20:33:00.002+08:00

Aisha: Mama! Nyanyi lagu atuk dalam pool?
Mama: Huh? Lagu apa tu?
Aisha: Nyanyi lah sekawang Mama!
Mama: Hmmm...uhhmmm lalala atuk dalam pool...
Aisha: Bukan la Mama!
Mama dah gabra, sure sat lagi budak ni jerit. Mama try la macam-macam lagu, semua bukan. Adeh!

Then baru Mama teringat!

Anak itik tok wi
Mandi dalam kolam
Sakit apa tok wi?
Sakit sendi tulang
Ubat apa tok wi?
Ubat limau lelang!

Every day is Mother's Day

2011-05-09T11:52:00.004+08:00

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers and those who mothers (include cats, rabbits, hamsters, fish, turtles, etc..) As much as the celebration been commercial, it's always status quo for me. No special lunch, no spa treatment and what nots. Seperti biasa, I'm always the mak budak. The only thing special is the card I received and the attempt by the kids to bake cupcakes. Well, the way I see it, depa yang nak cupcakes more than Mama, hehe.

As usual, my ever creative Aina will always come up with the greetings card, thank you Darling!

Cakes in the oven. Sebelum tu, berebut timbang ingredients, berebut nak handle the mixer. Last-last, Abang beat the eggs, Amir & Aisha took turn with the mixer. Aina, well..she had tummy ache, so she slept. Then berebut nak take out the cups from the plastic and lay them straight for Mama to fill in the cups.

Nasib baik cupcakes ni senang nak buat. The secret, beli pre-mixed ingredient. Kat rumah cuma tambah eggs, water & melted butter.

Keluar oven je, terus wallop. Sebelum tu cuci mixer dengan tangan sambil menjilat jari.

Last sekali, Aina yang prepare the buttercream with Mama piping them on the cuppies. Papa kata lawanya cake, boleh jual. Mama kata tu baru amateur yang buat. Kalau dah pro memang boleh buka bakery, anak-anak yang makan sendiri :)

Of course, bab mencuci, mengemas still Mamalah. Kan dah cakap status quo...every day is Mother's Day... Fathers out there, please appreciate the mothers! They never take a break!

(sebenarnya Mama yang never take a break...I know some mothers out there got pampered on this day..sob, sob..)

Racing Heartbeats

2011-04-28T13:21:00.005+08:00

My husband probably has one of the most hazardous occupations in this era.

Recently he told me that there was an ex-gangster who has sold his land to a developer trying to get back his land. The developer is a my hubby's client. The ex-gangster is trying all sort of avenues to make the developer miserable. And my hubby is the mediator.

This morning my hubby texted me and said that he has a meeting in some ranch with that ex-gangster, some 45 minutes away from his office. I questioned why there and he said probably the guy wanted to show his other land for sale. Adoi! Sound so fishy. And what made it worse is my hubby said no one is following him, and he asked me to call his office should I haven't heard anything from him by this evening.

This is really making my heart beat really fast, and he hasn't replied my email an hour ago.

Oh Allah, please protect him...

Conversation with my Pumpkin

2011-04-11T17:20:00.003+08:00

Last weekend's conversation with Aisha.

Aisha: Mama, nak shushu!
Mama: (Busy preparing her formula).
Aisha: Mama, Allah buat shushu ke Mama?
Mama: Allah buat lembu yang keluar susu. Then orang bawak susu kat kilang & process jadi susu Aisha.
Aisha: Lembu tu apa?
Mama: Lembu tu cow.
Aisha: Owh! Kalau minum shushu jadi cow ke?

Bedah Manyak Wow, teman setiaku

2011-03-23T07:48:00.004+08:00

Mama dalam dilema. Si Bedah Manyak Wow teman setia Mama tu dah mula (sebenarnya dah lama, since last year lagi..) menunjukkan tanda-tanda lanjut usia. Ye lah, 'kriuuk' sana, 'keretuk..keretuk' sini. Mulalah Mama terfikir nak cari kawan lain. Yelah, umur pun dah lanjut, kalau nak banding dengan Mama ni, lebih kurang je kut. Kita pun duk bunyi sana, lutut duk ber'keriuk' juga..hmm bahaya juga kalau Papa pun terpikir sama ni.

Tahun lepas Mama terjumpa Odah - Cenoni, Ranggi & Vogue! Dah lah tinggi, besar dan mengancam juga dia punya looks. Sekali lalu ada juga kepala yang terpusing. Mama cukup berkenan dengan sifat-sifat Odah ni, tapi setakat tahun lalu Mama rasa macam masih sayangkan Bedah. Bedah setia. Walaupun selalu jugak sakit dulu, Mama tetap hantar ke klinik, dan bila dia keluar klinik, macam baru keluar spa. Bila berjalan dengan Bedah, seronok lagi rasanya, smooth, strong and still fast, bak kata omputeh lah.

Tapi Mama suspen juga. Tahun lepas ada juga 2 kali kut stranded tepi jalan dengan Bedah. Sampai kena panggil ambulan angkat Bedah ke klinik yang kali kedua tu. Masa tu Papa ada. Kunun nak pi ke pejabat berdua-dua gitu ditemani Bedah, ye lah, kita ni mana pernah pergi kerja bersama, nak jugak merasa ala-ala romantik gitu. Tapi pagi-pagi tu entah macam mana si Bedah merajuk pulak, sampai hot, terpaksa la berhenti kat tepi NKVE menghala ke tol Jalan Duta. Bedah macam mengamuk aje, terus nak stop and berasap. Papa pun macam nak hangin la masa tu coz dia nak cepat sampai ke meeting dia. We all stop kat tepi jalan nak bagi Bedah cool dulu. Tapi Papa kan macam biut gitu, tak sabar, nak jugak belek si Bedah ni. Bedah pun apa lagi, bertambah upset la dia, tengah-tengah berasap tu, dia sembur la kat Papa. Dah Papa mengalami kecederaan kat tangan kanan, habis kena angin hot Bedah.

Inilah penangan hangin Bedah

Kesian Papa, tapi tulah akibat degil. Dia jugak yang selalu pesan kat Mama kalau Bedah hangin jangan diusik, bagi Bedah cool dulu. Last-last kita pun terpaksa tunggu ambulan angkat Bedah and lepas tu pi klinik rawat tangan Papa. Kerja ke mana, meeting ke mana, kita pun duk diam-diam kat rumah lepas tu. Well, tu peristiwa tahun lepas in April. Now dah nak April semula. Mama masih lagi teringat kat Odah. Bila tengok Odah kat jalan, rasa macam syok je kalau Mama dapat Odah jadi teman baru Mama.

Tapikan, kalau nak bertemankan Odah, Mama kena selalu maintain perbelanjaan Odah, macam maintain perbelanjaan anak-anak juga. Tapi Odah high maintenance juga. Macam Bedah, Mama dah lama tak belanja bulan-bulan untuk dia. Sekali-sekala bawak Bedah ke spa, tak de la terasa sangat. Tapi bila mengingatkan stranded tepi jalan sorang-sorang dengan Bedah yang suka mematikan diri tu, rasa macam tak sanggup aje. Nak nangis tau bila sorang-sorang macam ni, dah le laki jauh di perantauan. Pilu je mengenang nasib diri.

Hari tu hint juga kat Papa that Mama nak teman baru. Papa kata bagi list teman-teman baru dan perbelanjaan yang terbabit. Hmm, macam bagus je bunyi tu. Tapi kan, Papa macam tak berapa sukakan Odah. Dia suruh suggest yang lain. Mama rasa macam Odah lah yang terbaik dengan value for money kalau nak di compare dengan yang lain-lain. Kali ni Mama rasa nak teman yang tinggi dan sporty pulak, so Mama mencari dalam kategori yang itulah. I tell you yang lain macam high maintenance je kalau nak kawan dengan depa, or Mama yang punya taste yang mahal?

Entahlah, bila pikir pasal nak belanja lebih tu rasa tak syok pulak. Tapi bila pikir bab kena tinggal tepi jalan tu...hmmm!

Maggi

2011-03-19T20:24:00.004+08:00

This school holidays, Mama export the big kids balik kampung.

So it's just Mama & Aisha.

One night, we were so hungry. So Mama decided to make Ibu Mee Goreng. While eating, suddenly Aisha said,

"Mama, look, Aisha makan rambut Aisha!"

My Girls' Arts

2011-03-18T12:15:00.002+08:00

Aisha really loves drawing and sketching. At 2, she could already hold the pencil like a 5-year-old. She will just ask for a pencil and papers and she can just be in her own world. Well, that's good for Mama, I can run my errands while she's occupied.

This one below is a cockroach, one mighty big cockroach! She did this in August 2009, barely 2.5 yrs old.

This "shotong" was drawn on a napkin paper while waiting for our food in that kopitiam in Shah Alam's Tesco early this year.

While this one below is actually a hanger, with eyes! Drawn on a doodle about two weeks back.

And this cute turtle...well, it's Kak Aina's work of art. That's another girl who loves art, and I wonder where she gets that from, hmmm....

She could just watch TVIQ and after that immediately improvised based on the things we have at home. There's a lot more work that Mama has not been able to capture on camera..but I'll find them soon..

Another one by Aina

Pumpkin's Phasing

2011-03-17T16:39:00.003+08:00

February 22, 2011

My little pumpkin is no longer little. She's 3 already. Time really flies. I think last year went like a breeze. And my kids are all grown up.

I remember about 4 years ago when at one point I felt so sick I thought it was gastric. My boss gave me some gastric pills and said "take this, as long as your not pregnant"

Then it struck me. So quickly I dashed to the panel clinic in the next block, and there I just blinked with amazement when the doctor told me I was pregnant. I could already imagine the late nights and the extra luggage. But then, it was indeed a pleasant surprise..another little body to snuggle with..

Mama is as busy as ever. Couldn't even plan for a birthday party though Mama has long bought some party bags and treats. But when the time came, Mama had to just buy some cupcakes on the way back from work. Kesian my little Pumpkin.

But kids being kids, any treat on their birthday is a blast. As long as we remember.

So there she goes, one happy kid with a few candles on her birthday.

My mini project plan(s)

2010-08-20T12:46:00.004+08:00

I wish I could complete these:

1. Greasing up my teak benches with new coat of teak oils. This will totally compensate my last month's gardening exercise. I need a perfectly manicured lawn too. But then, to have a well-manicured lawn, I need the nice grass first. Hark! Now, where's that Philippine grass I wanted to plant last time?
2. Totally scrape all the toys and donate to the needy (this one will create a major war specially with Aisha & Amir)
3. Clear off the area under the staircase so I can turn that into a play area, a totally uncluttered one. But then if I do no 2, then there's no more toys to play with..
4. Upholster the side sofas, but this need quite a lot of dough. Where's my commission boss?
5. Hang all the paintings/carvings that have been staying long in their respective wrappers. Wait, before that I have to have the wall drilled. Ooh well...now I have to wait for my handyman to come home first. Have you booked your air-tickets yet dahling?
6. Sew my own table runner. Hah! This one I think can be accomplished first, provided that I run to the nearest Mode house, the likes of Jakel, Nagoya or Alta Moda. I will put my RM99 newly bought mini sewing machine to test. Once I'm successful with the feat, then I can start sewing the cushion cover for the dining chairs. The cost of upholstering the leather seats for the dining chairs could cost me another set!

Aiyooh, so many challenges! Now which one should I start first?

It's been too long

2010-07-27T12:53:00.003+08:00

Sangat lama tak update blog ni. This post is just to make sure my account is still active, heh heh. Lagipun, there's this one good ol' friend of mine likes to check my blog instead of my updates in facebook, so this post is for her, wink! wink!

Mula-mula taruk gambar kids dulu:

Check out Abang dah ada jerawat huhuhu..

Aina, as always my sweet little girl yang mendengar cakap ibubapa

Amir, my most difficult to deal with sebab banyak sangat syarat kalau nak buat anything..

And my little cheeky pumpkin comot! Her hair is a mess coz she hates it when I tie the hair, dia suka gerbang-gerbang gitu..

Anyway, I'm lucky now that I have a reliable maid so far, and she's almost like my first maid yang boleh dibawa berbincang and can do work without me telling her what to do, alhamdulillah, I hope she continues being like this. It was one hell of a time trying to find maid, and I got her not through my agent. It was through a business partner who let go the maid because he thinks the wife is jealous of her (probably true..) Anyway, I'm glad I found her.

I've got a lot of other things going on in life that I don't think I sempat update. Maybe when I have the mood I'll do that. Now FB has taken over, coz it's faster update to friends and siblings especially. Maybe my good ol' friend should check her FB more often hihihi..

Trying times..again

2010-01-26T15:30:00.004+08:00

What can I say, time and a lot of other stuff is always in the way whenever I want to put my thoughts down. So I had to abandon this page for a long time.

Actually, that’s another way of saying “I malas…”

How can I not be “malas”, I have not been lucky so far in the maid department.

If I pen down the many stories of the maid(s) I had, I’m sure I need another blog for that. In fact, with just the maid affairs, I really want to have another blog, or even a website for the benefit of other potential employers.

Well, to cut the stories short since I so don’t have much time:

1) I terminated my maid after 1 year of service after I sensed that she’ll be coming back from her raya break looking for another job, in other words, she’ll come back on my visa but will disappear.

2) That was Raya Puasa. After that maid, I couldn’t get a replacement and was maidless for almost 2 months. Had to transport Aisha back and forth my sister’s place in Nilai during work whilst the three big kids are on their own after school.

3) Got a new maid in November. Unfortunately after 1 month FOMEMA found her unfit, so I had to send her back. Maidless again, but this time it was already school holidays, and I took a long leave and took the kids to stay in Brunei with Dad. After we got back, had a new maid, just a week before school started. Thought she was good, but after 6 days, she ran away. I think she already planned that out. Found out she had worked here before for 4 years. Go figure.

4) Then last 2 weeks got another replacement. So the blurrrrr..I decided to send her back. After I quietly told my agent, the maid came to me and said “mahu pulang bu, saya enggak betah..”. I was ok still then but right after she told me, she totally abandoned her work and just watch me cook and took care of the kids while she lied down on her bed crossing her legs. “Mangkuk” was the word I had for her, should have just thrown one to her. I sent her back the very next day.

5) So now I’m maidless again. Was relying on Acik to help out while she’s in between jobs, but then she now down with chicken pox, a nasty one though. Got it from Amir I guess.

So there goes the short summary of my life as a dependent on domestic assistance. My house is a total mess, 2 weeks of unfolded laundry and what with the repair work going on with the ceiling that was attacked by the killer white-ants – killed all my parquets & ceiling.

Dad is back, and making him the babysitter and the domestic god at the moment. Thank you darling.

Second day pox

Third day pox

Rites of Passage

2009-08-07T12:20:00.003+08:00

Jun 11, 2009 - Amir had his rites of passage. He has been asking for it coz he's uncomfortable with his "u-know-what" being "hard" from time to time. Besides that, all his cousins had it done, and he's the only big one left. So there's a need to belong.

Papa & Mama decided to take up the "laser" procedure as it's already the 2nd week of school holidays. He needed to heal fast. So we went to Adam's previous surgeon who did the operation and the same rites. Look how happy Amir was.

I guess he didn't feel a thing, except for the big ouch when he got jabbed prior to the procedure.

The only thing we had to put up with was his nagging and boredom. Of course little baby sister Aisha tried to keep Abang Amir occupied playing games together. Macamla Aisha pandai main.

Of course our big boy needed a lot of rest, but a bit bored because Kakak & Abang went balik kampong.

And Aisha felt what Abang Amir felt...

Identity Crisis

2009-05-25T18:15:00.003+08:00

For the past few months, I noticed Amir asking for his name to be changed, be it after coming back from school, or merely watching his favorite episodes of Ben 10 or Star Wars. Or simply out of the blue, he'll just asked for me to call him as somebody else, like Muhamad Amir (macamla ada mid-life crisis kunun..)

Sometimes, when he met his cousin he wants to be Amir Irfan.

Or I am Alienforce!

Or when he watches too many Ben 10s, he wants to be Stingfly

But I know at the end of the day, he still wants to be Amir Diduan..

Cherita Bergambar

2009-04-16T11:50:00.005+08:00

Al-kisah tika purnama mengambang akhir minggu lepas, anakanda putri kami, Aina, telah dianugerahkan pingat ASHR dari tempat menuntut ilmu chara bangsa Nippon yang digelar Kumon. Pingat ASHR itu dalam bahasa Inggerisnya digelar "Advance Student Honour Roll" yang jika diterjemahkan sechara terus maknanya mungkin bermaksud "Daftar Nama Anugerah Penuntut Maju".

Majlisnya dibuat sechara sederhana sahaja, di tempat makanan ayam goreng segera dari Amerika yang kalau boleh ingin kami boikot tetapi pabila memikirkan anakanda kami nampak sungguh gumbira medapat jemputan anugerah tersebut, maka kami niatkan sahaja untuk hadhir memberi sokongan kepada anakanda Aina.

Kedua-dua puteri sungguh gumbira ketika bersiap sedia untuk pergi ke majlis.

Kekanda Adam yang sedikit berduka chita kerna tidak berjaya mendapat anugerah.

Anakanda Amir dan Aina yang seronok mendapat bingkisan parti.

Menikmati juadah yang tidak seberapa.

Aisha yang tidak menghiraukan riuh rendah majlis bermain sendirian.

Berdebar-debar hati menunggu namanya disebut untuk tampil mengambil pingat.

Saat manis dan membanggakan.

Bersama teman-teman seperjuangan.

Days of our lives

2009-04-08T17:20:00.003+08:00

Actually I was really stressed out that I don’t feel like documenting what happened in the past three weeks. But somehow, I just want to note down the facts so that in my later life of which I may not be able to remember precisely the things that happened now, I could reflect back on the things and the blessings that Allah gave me.

Anyway, it was really a soap-opera life. Papa initially was admitted to hospital due to dengue, ended up spending 5 days in ICU because of pneumonia due to infections via his IV drip. He was in the hospital from March 17 until April 3, 2009. That was 17 days at the hospital. He went into ICU from Mar 25-29, when his blood platelet is already on the uptrend.

See, when dengue attacks, your immune system becomes very vulnerable, and when infections seeped in, it better be controlled properly as all the nasty bacteria can become fatal when you have low antibodies. Papa had 3 types of nasty bacteria in his system, Enterobacter and Klebsiella in his abscess and Staphylococcus aureus in the blood stream. His hand was so swollen that the surgeon had to do a minor surgery in ICU. The effect of the infections was bronco-pneumonia. Both of his lungs were watery and he had trouble breathing. It broke my heart to see him lying, out-of-breath in ICU, so weak and vulnerable. Thank God the water in the lungs was not as much; otherwise they had to perform another procedure to poke his back with needles to let the water out. So much of poking him here and there I guess by now he’s allergic to needles.

I am thankful to Allah for giving Papa and me the strength to face this challenge, and thankful also that Papa is a fighter. Also thank you so much to my family for the emotional support during that trying time. Now Papa is in recovery mode, carrying a lot of prescriptions in a little bag all the time possibly until the end of the month.

On the lighter side of things, my kids are enjoying all the fruit and flower bouquets that Papa’s colleagues and friends brought along. Our house became like a mini florist during that time. At the same time also, Adam had his first braces installed, and I also discovered that Aisha could possibly be allergic to seafood as she’s getting measles-like rashes after eating some savory crab cookies. Anyway, life goes on…

Test of patience

2009-03-20T12:57:00.004+08:00

Abu Sa’id & Abu Hurairah reported that Rasullullah s.a.w said: “If any Muslim is stricken with hardship, discomfort, grief, worry, pain or illness, even a thorn which hurts him, Allah will wash away his sins because of it.”

Taking care of a sick grown-up is actually tougher than taking care of the young ones, emotionally that is. You really have to be patient, be careful with what you’re saying and also be ready for any sarcasm coming your way.

My husband hardly falls sick, but when he does, he’ll be really sick, and what’s worse is he’s also becoming quick tempered. But then, all sick people is easily tempered kan? With all the aching body and high fever, all the nerve system becomes haywire.

Now he’s hospitalized, already spent 3 nights as the hospital and could be longer now that the doctor is suspecting it a dengue case as his blood platelet count is on the downtrend. Today’s test will determine if it’s really dengue or not.

I’m praying very hard that he’ll recover very soon.

I know Allah is testing him with the illness, and me too, to see if I can weather the downside of my other half. So far,I'm just brushing off all the torments and troubles in my heart with lots of doa's and quiet cry at night before I go to sleep.

25 random things about me

2009-03-02T17:46:00.007+08:00

1. I’m generally a happy person and I always think people have good intentions all the time.

2. Not good at making small talk to new-found acquaintance. I don’t know how I ended up in sales.

3. Every year after leaving school, without fail, I have nightmares of sitting for my SPM exams, and that IS REALLY a nightmare I tell you!

4. Which reminds me of my other nightmare when I was small I was lost on an island and found myself a sacrifice to talking head statue – the same statue I found at “The Aloha” pub & restaurant on Jalan P.Ramlee. Weird, too much Hawaii Five-O perhaps?

5. I’m forever banned from anything shellfish like prawns and crabs. My body just can’t take it (just like Auntida). I’ve tried out-growing this intolerance since I was small, and have managed to overcome intolerance to chicken, mussels, squids, ikan tenggiri, ikan kembong and the likes. But I still can’t fight prawns and crabs, they are the most lethal. I can’t even hold them at all coz a drop of their fluid will make my hands itch. That bad…

6. I ‘m a fan of the late Sudirman Hj Arshad, and was in constant communication with him until I left for the States. My letters to him were not so much a fan-mail, but more to a friend’s letter, which explained why I received his replies faster than a usual fan-mail. I regretted for not continuing the relationship…now must dig all those letters.

7. According to my husband, the reason why he noticed me in a wedding crowd is because I have a big head. Duh! I thought it was my sweet sexy lips.

8. I love theater – during our courting days, our usual date would be going out to the theater. I found out 5 years later that he hates it! Just doing it for the sake of going out with me.

9. I once was hit by the yellow fever – when I was 16 I liked everything yellow, from my toothbrush, to my shoes, my shirts, everything small, etc…

10. Now I prefer more earth-toned colors.

11. I have an addiction to cod-liver oil capsules; I love to chew them and purposely overdosing it.

12. Whenever I drive home from a late night at work especially around midnight, I avoid looking at the rear mirror. I use the side mirrors instead for fear of having the close encounter of the next dimension.

13. I have yet to fulfill one of my husband’s many desires (do not question what it is…)

14. Slow drivers on the fast lane really irritate me. If I’m late for something, I would tail closely behind them and force them out of the lane. Cruel and dangerous, yeah, I know.

15. Until now I still have problems stepping on the grass, attribute it to fear of paying fines back in high-school because I had limited funds with my allowance back then.

16. I don’t know why I was elected President of the Drama Club when I was in pre-uni days, I couldn’t even act or sing for that matter. Come to think of it, maybe THAT was the reason I got elected – everyone else was acting, no one to do the paperwork. But then, why did I join the club in the first place?

17. At work, I perform better under pressure. Translation – procrastinator.

18. Cooking is my other passion, but lack the time and energy doing it, mostly the preparing & cleaning bit.

19. I hardly travel because I don’t have the heart leaving my young ones behind, but taking them along also requires a lot of energy.

20. I multitask most of my time; attend meeting while face-booking and doing proposals at the same time, driving while teaching my kids reading and a whole lot other things.

21. There are still 3 un-finished books of various genres that I bought 6 months back – which explains my lack of free time.

22. Not a sport person either – the only game I think I’m good is ping-pong, and ironically my street name is also named after it.

23. My whole body is aching due to a mere lack of exercise – been telling myself to do this time and time again. Must catch up with hubby who’s already starting to do this and watch his diet.

24. I have always been an independent person/mother that sometimes I think my hubby is taking advantage of this, betul ke Yang?

25. Wonder who really came up with this “tagging” thingy – it took me almost a month to do this – 1 item per day, and mostly procrastination, thank you very much.

And now, the honors go to Acik, Mummy Ranger and Dilla, with perhaps some other people in FB.

My Late Bloomer

2009-02-27T17:34:00.004+08:00

If I calculate the number of waking hours in a working day, it’d be only about 4-5 hours that I get to spend with my little pumpkin Aisha. So, imagine the reluctance of me waking up in the morning just to go to work. Once I’m all cuddled up with her under the bed covers, it’s all warm and fuzzy. The smell of her slightly sweaty hair plus the remains of the already dried up baby formula around her lips, though some kind of sour, it’s enough to leave my nostrils stuck on her forehead forever. It’s difficult to let go. Baby smell is the most wonderful smell, and I’m enjoying it most with her because I will not get to enjoy another of my own baby after this.

Now Aisha is already 1 year old, and yet she’s taking her own sweet time to grow up. She hasn’t got any tooth yet, compared to her brothers and sister, who got their first when they were about 6 or 7 months old. And she only started crawling only about two weeks ago though she’s already making her baby steps way before she crawled by hanging on to the sofas and table.

Perhaps another reason for being late is purely for me to take pleasure of her infancy. It’s such a great feeling being around her after a long day at work. She’s getting cheekier by the day, especially after her birthday, giggling her heart out when Papa tickles her tummy and demanding to be tossed in the air often times. A great stress reliever.

She’s learning fast too, picking up a trick or two in a day from her siblings. Before I knew it, she’d be another Amir…gosh I hope not. I hope she turns out more like Aina, sweet and polite, but she needs to be a little chirpy which I think there’s no problem of doing that . Anyway, just want to wish my little baby girl a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

My wish for you pumpkin is that life will be kind to you,
yet you will go through hardship, but you’ll learn from it as life is never fair.
I wish that you don’t have to face all the cruelties in the world,
but you’ll be aware of them and learn to give, forgive and forget.
I wish that you will achieve your dreams,
but you’ll climb the mountains to reach it with all your might.
Most of all my darling, I wish that you will never forget your mighty creator in all your endeavors.

We all love you very much!

My Little Perfectionist

2009-02-16T19:29:00.004+08:00

Doing homework with Amir is not easy I tell you. Like always, the teacher's message commands more respect that the mom's teachings.

This time Amir was doing his Bahasa Melayu homework and some writing. So his work was to write the sentence that the teacher wrote on top of the page and to practice his physical writing skills, he needed to copy the sentences on top over and over again. And guess how long it took to write 6 sentences like "Datuk duduk di dapur"? It was 1 1/2 hour!!

Why?

He insisted that all the alphabets must be parallel to the top (his teacher's sample). As his writing was so big, of course everything went out of proportion. And he would nag and nag that his teacher will make him stand on the chair for not doing it correctly and nicely. Then he would erase the entire sentence and wrote it all over again. Then he would get confused once the alphabets went out of range... trying to look for the 'D' of "duduk" when it has gone under "dapur" of the previous line due to his big writing. I tried to convince him that as long as the writing is readable and straight, he shouldn't be worried. But then, who was I to say that?

"Mama ni..teacher cakap betul la..., Mama mana tau Mama bukan teacher!"

Adoi!

Because of that, Mama had to have some retail therapy.

So Mama went out and buy some stuff for my last weekend project, which I spent the entire Saturday afternoon cucuk mencucuk..

And hasilnya...

At least my living hall corner got a new look :-)

New Year at the Bird Park

2009-02-03T14:31:00.013+08:00

The Bird Park is near Tasik Titiwangsa. We have been wanting to go there for some time since the last trip to Butterfly Park. KL Bird Park is well known worldwide as "The World's Largest Covered Bird Park" or "The World's Largest Free Flight Aviary", home to more than 3,000 birds from approximately 200 species of local and worldwide birds.

Since Papa was busy beraya Gong-Xi, I took everyone including the maid (4 is too many to handle alone especially in a public attraction place). Aisha was one happy baby when we first got to the park, so did my maid who screamed "Ibuuuk.... banyaknya burung! Ibuuukkk..besar ya cenderawasih...! yadaa yadaaa yadaaa". Felt like I want to hide away under all those shady trees.

Since my camera always kena pau, had to rely on my phone camera.. This place would be wonderful for all DSLR enthusiasts. The birds were so colorful and poised!

My boys just love to feed to Kois...all fat and chubby.

Beautiful peacocks. We waited for them to flash the colorful tail, but I suppose they only do that during mating time. So they boys decided to feed them fish food, and they came out from behind the fence and jumped over. Bertempiaran lah the boys lari!

Of course the girls je yang tak takut. Aina happily posing with a peacock. By this time Aisha already felt asleep in her buggy.

At the Ostrich & Emu section after we saw part of the Bird Show.

At the nursery with baby chicks and ducklings. Of course Abang paling penakut to grab the one chick.

Lovely. I had this flower at home before, but of course Gary (siput babi as my kids call it - based on too much Spongebob exposure) ate them all up. By this time, the kids were all hungry and we had our early dinner at the Hornbill Restaurant just outside the park. You could actually dine with the birds picking on your food.

By 6:30pm, we were on our way home, with smooth traffic condition as almost everyone is out of town for the CNY. Wish it was like that for all the days that I go to work...

Adjusting back

2009-01-14T18:49:00.003+08:00

It has been a week since school starts but it's still difficult for Amir to get back into his school routine.

This is pre-dominantly due to the change in his transport schedule going home. Normally either Papa or Mama will send him in the mornings (though of course he prefers me to send him everyday but that's not cost effective because I have to make a big round going back past the house to go to work, while Papa's office is just almost in front of his school) and he'll go back via a school-van.

Last year the van route was not complex, so he could reach home in only half-an-hour. This year, we almost had to charter a cab for him because we couldn't find a van that has a short route so that he could be home at least by 1pm (pre-school finishes at 12pm). Luckily, end of last week, we managed to get one who could send him before 1pm. So, the whole of last week Papa had to fetch him in between his meetings.

But of course, the little boy complains and nags the whole time.. even up to the point that he doesn't want to go to school at all. His criteria was that there should only be at least 3 people in the van that driver needs to send. I had to explain and justify to him all sort of reasons why he needs to take a van and share it with other kids...

So this week the challenge is to wake him up and entice him for school. Last night he nagged me for nasi beriani just because his friend had that packed by the mom for snacks in school. So after picking up the big kids from Kumon, we went hunting for nasi beriani in the vicinity as Mama had a bad headache and couldn't go that far to his favorite JM Beriani. Lucky there was some left over for him for breakfast this morning, so he went off to school with a happy face though very very late because he insisted for second helpings.

Whadya know..today he came home excited to show me his arts & craft piece. I hope he'll still be interested to go tomorrow :-)

Selera Mat Salleh

2009-01-06T11:40:00.005+08:00

For the past 1 week anak-anak Mama duk minta makanan omputih je..and since Mama memang finishing off my must-clear leave days, boleh la layan their selera. Tak larat pun nak bawak pi makan-makan outside all the time. So the past 4 days punya recipe was, Spaghetti Bolognoise, Spaghetti Tuna, Roast Chicken (ini first time mama try tau) and Spagetthi Aglio Olio de Fungo (with mushroom), semua recipe campak-campak. Janji they had fun and enjoyed their food, disamping belajar tolong-tolong kat dapur kan...

And budak-budak ni bukan main nak makan ala proper sit down meal, so pandai-pandai la they set the table on their own. Especially Amir la.."Mama, Amir nak macam otel punya ok?"

Kerja mama, masak aje. Abang kupas garlic and took out the plates, Amir peeled off the onion skins and Aina set the table. For me, Spagehetti la paling senang. But the roast chicken tu, something I wanna try for quite some time, cuma tak terbuat aje. Last raya, we had a very nice roast chicken dish at one of Papa's friend, so I've been asking for the recipe, tak dapat-dapat lagi. Tak kira, nak buat jugak, so the next best thing was to google and modify la recipe sendiri.

So, recipe Roast Chicken yang Mama dah modify is like below. Remember, ini first attempt buat, but I think not bad juga for a first timer. Papa kata boleh jemput orang kira ok la tu.

Ingredients
• 3 carrots, peeled and cut into thirds
• 3 ribs celery, peeled and cut into thirds
• 3 onions, peeled and cut into quarters
• 6-8 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 whole chicken (Mama prefer ayam kampung) rinsed and patted dry
• 1 1/2 tablespoons salt
• 1 teaspoon white pepper and black pepper
• 1/2 to 1 lemon - if you like it sourish a bit, use the whole lemon
• 2 fresh bay leaves (hari tu takde kat kedai, Mama tibai Sweet basil he he)
• 6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 4 sprigs rosemary, roughly chopped, plus 1 tablespoon for gravy (pun takde kat kedai, Mama used Tarragon)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup chicken stock - kalau beli Maggi or Knorr, use half a cube je
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped and fry it dry
• 1-2 tablespoons of apple cider (if takde pakai cuka pun boleh)
• 2 teaspoons of cornflour (chap butterfly tu)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celcius.

In my Corningware Casserole dish (masa ni la nak test power Corningware) place the carrots, celery, garlic and onions by the sides.

Season the chicken both inside and out with the salt and white pepper. Squeeze the lemon halves over the chicken and place the rinds inside the cavity. Place the bay leaves inside the cavity.

In a small bowl, combine the garlic, rosemary, olive oil and butter. Rub the chicken both inside and out with the garlic rosemary blend and place in the roasting dish.

Place the pan in the oven and roast the chicken for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the juices run clear.

Remove the chicken from the oven and pour off excess juice from pan and return to heat.

Whisk in chicken stock, roasted garlic, applce cider and chopped rosemary, Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Reduce gravy by half, until thickened using a bit of cornflour.

Serve chicken with gravy on the side.

Pandai-pandai la modify if you wanna try it too. Good Luck!

Bottom line, the kids said it was Yummy! That's enough satisfaction for the mother!

Stalker

2008-12-04T13:59:00.005+08:00

I have been receiving smses from this on unknown number since yesterday, saying good morning sweetie and loads of other stuff. I smsed back asking who the person was and the response was "just wanna say hi".

By lunch, I got another sms asking if I have had my lunch. Thinking that I might as well settle it, I called the number. Ringing but was not picked up.

So I was left wondering for the rest of the day. Not that I wonder too much as I was busy ferrying myself from one meeting to another. From Islamic Museum, to Glenmarie to Hicom Industrial Park.

When Papa called in the evening from Penang, I couldn't help but ask if he's got himself a new number. He said no. And I told him about the smses that I received. He said probably a wrong number, which I replied how could it be as I did ask who that person was.

Probably he was right after all as later that night I didn't receive any more sms.

When the phone beeped again this morning I'm already concluding that someone is trying to mess up with me. It was a good morning sms.

Later the messages are becoming more intimidating. By late morning it sounded like the person knows where I work and what car I drive.

I'm starting to feel uneasy as Papa always told me to be careful and alert when I'm outside. Being a banker's wife also has its own adversaries.

But deep inside I know something is fishy.

Later I got an email from Papa. He just got a new Blackberry...

Turns out all the smses were from his new number, and my hunch was correct.

Tak pasal-pasal Mama takut sekejap.

p/s: Pix - Burung Tiong at the Bird Park's restaurant where I had lunch yesterday, trying to pick on my food.

The longest 45-minutes in my life..

2008-11-14T13:51:00.004+08:00

Why was that?

There was a conference recently, and my COO was supposed to be a speaker as my CEO was out of the country. My COO refused to speak to my marcomm manager since his name was listed as a speaker. My marcomm manager went gu-gu-ga-ga, and decided to put my name then, 3 days before the event.

My schedule was so hectic last week that I didn't have time to prepare. And since it was more like a panellist session, I didn't really need to prepare slides. But then the moderator said he will send my questions prior to the session...and yes he did, but not the questions, but only the subject that he's going to ask questions on.

And to top it all, one of the panellists chickened out. He was actually out there, but insisted that that was supposed to be his boss' session. Hey, his name was already on the program book! Why should he chickened out? Unlike me, my name wasn't even there, and to make matters worst, the MC announced me as an Encik.. (yeah..like this never happen before..)

So there were just two of us left, which meant more questions to be asked.

When I looked at the crowd, my heart just stopped, and my whole body felt numb. I felt my blood rushed up to my face and spine. Suddenly the surrounding became so warm when infact just before that Mama was like tergigil-gidil kesejukan. Mama ni kan anti-social sikit - quite reclusive kan.. mana la biasa public appearance macam ni. I'm ok with a small group of customers, and doing presentation everyday is nothing. But..this involved so many people, press, research companies etc.. I felt like going back to my mother's womb.

So when the moderator asked me questions, I frozed first, and then just answered a short one, I think. Though my colleague did say I answered with full confidence etc etc.. I still think I didn't give it my best when I ran through the scenes again and again. I could have elaborated on my subjects further.

But then again, it was already over... no need to have sleepless nights about it. Though deep down inside I feel like I could have done better. Maybe next year I would want to give it another shot.. I want to overcome my fear and eventually get rid of it. Maybe..

Apa nak buat dengan budak sorang ni?

2008-11-03T17:55:00.003+08:00

Cuba perhati betul-betul. What is wrong with the picture?

Lain kali boleh tak sesape yang berkenaan simpan shaver dia elok-elok? Sebab anak-anak sedara dia semua naughty-naughty.

Dah perhatikan gambar tu?

Ya betul, kening abang dah tinggal separuh.

Apa nak jadi?

Kunun-kunun nak cukur janggut.

Tapi the only facial hair he got are the eyebrows.

So inilah akibatnya.

Sekian terima kasih.

Of Kekasih, Passion & Interests

2008-10-29T11:43:00.005+08:00

On the subject of Kekasih, my latest pursuit of happiness about this subject comes in the form a horror serial on TV3. Normally, I only watch interesting Malay movies & series, and my opinion is that the filmmakers and screenwriters in Malaysia are getting better now. Kekasih Ku Seru comes with an interesting plot and cinematography, and for the past 3 months Mama has always been looking forward to Thursdays. It’s just that this serial always have some new upturn in the story line that makes me wanting to find out more. The best part is my princess Aina will always remind me every Wednesdays to make sure I come back early on Thursdays. And on Thursday afternoons, she will call me to remind me again.

Somehow my boys become so penakut lately. Everytime we watch it, Adam & Amir will be under their pillows, and Amir insists not to sit nearest to the window. He he..I guess he doesn’t want to see glimpses of Waris there.

Actually, Mama pun penakut with all these horror flicks, but since the actors are all familiar faces in the local movie scenes, Mama pun dah tak seram lagi. In fact, the first few series really made me jumped off my seats and woke Aisha up because of my terperanjatness. The horror scenes are almost equal of those Korean horror stuff.

On a serious note about it, it provides subliminal messages about the culture we Malay folks tend to inherit. The stereotypes, the black magic (Saka) that some people may not understand and how it is forced on to the descendants. While watching it, do remind your kids about the background of black magic and how we shouldn’t be influenced about it. Do watch it, and this week will be the series finale. You can catch the back episodes on TV3 website. Hmm, TV3 should gimme credit for promoting this.

MY REAL KEKASIH

Moving on…my real Kekasih actually surprised me with a gift last week, as I just got my birthday present in August. You see, my Kekasih is hardly around with me and kids. He’s always working, and working, and seeing clients, and entertaining…hopefully jangan salah entertain la. The average time he’ll be home on a weekday would be at 11pm. I do envy some people who always have their husbands around, cooking together or just be home having dinner like the ideal family. So, when he comes back early, it would be a nice surprise.

Really, I have to make appointments to see him during workdays and even weekends activities have to be booked. So, we always try to make it up by having breakfast or lunch anytime our schedule can accommodate. It’s kinda fun too, because we are like “curi-curi” jumpa. I guess the gift was to make up for all the time he’s not around, and for the times that I feel like I’m the only parent for the 4As.

Guess which one of those 3 at the bottom was the gift last week?

MY INTEREST

I’m on to a new project (that I like doing). Now looking for ideas and concepts for my cousin’s wedding in December. My other interest is to gubah hantaran and floral arrangements. And since my youngest Acik & Achu are not showing any sign of settling down yet, I look forward to any opportunity to help decorate the wedding hantaran.

In fact, I’m onto decorating the girls’ room also. So many things planned in my head, yet very little time I have. Been wanting to go to SSF to get new flowers as well as I want to re-do my living hall’s floral arrangement. Which reminds me of the time we had our flower shop. I have been out of touch doing the floral arrangement which I used to do with my partner at the shop and it’s always fun having to arrange all the big orders for all the datins in Shah Alam. Let’s see what I want to do this time. Should I stick to the old English or classic theme, or get more vibrant colors for my all brown & earthy-toned hall?

We used to give themes to our promotioal events, like this round was 'Simply Magical'. I'm thinking of having some of these concepts in my new arrangements.

And we also named our arrangements, so that it will inject some buying psychology. Like this one above was Summer in Cambridge

This one was Sunshine Dream

I forgot the name to this one as this was an order from one datin.

Forgot this one too.

Pink & Roses

Summer in Cambridge II

Montana Summer

Romance & Passion

I miss those days, when it was tiring but fun selling all those arrangements & pots & hampers. I think when I have the right partner who is as talented as my previous one, I think I want to do it again..

Simply Inconsiderate

2008-10-20T17:54:00.002+08:00

Today Mama hot betul, bukan apa, when I reached my office parking this afternoon, my favorite spot was occupied. But I'm not upset about that.

Basically I'm a sucker for parking spots that are near the elevator areas. So as usual I went around looking for the nearest spot. And how unfortunate today it was kinda full. So had to look for the next best spot. Yes, there was one particular spot I was aiming while going around, but HECK!! I got really upset because next to it was this particular flashy brand new Honda Accord that actually occupied almost a quarter of the empty lot. Tell me siapa yang tak hot? Nama je bawak kereta besar-besar, sepatutnya educated la kan, tapi tak respect orang langsung.

So I ended up in another parking spot at the below level. And disebabkan keberangan Mama pada orang yang sungguh la selfish, Mama sanggup jalan ke spot tu and left a big note with the message "PLEASE BE CONSIDERATE BY NOT OCCUPYING 2 PARKING SPOTS, THANK YOU". And do notice Mama masih berbudi bahasa menulis nota itu. Kalau ikut hati, memang nak sumpah seranah, tapi sebab Mama tak mau anak-anak Mama jadi macam tu, maka buatlah apa yang sepatutnya sebagai seorang yang berbudi bahasa.

I owe Amir this post

2008-10-09T17:42:00.005+08:00

Sept 24, 2008 - bulan puasa. Mom was still maidless masa tu. Sorry Amir, tak sempat nak buat posting for your 5th birthday. Anyway, as usual, we don't have big celebration, enough to mark that you are a big boy now.

Lucky I found this little cake, 350gm, siapa la nak habiskan bulan-bulan posa ni..

My 5-year old Amir, ya Allah, please let Amir be a good boy, listen to Mom & Dad, jadi anak yag soleh, tak gado2 with kak Aina & Abang, rajin pi school, rajin buat homework...

Siapa la yang main dengan phone Mama ni, adjusted the white balance setting?

Some people are happy dapat celebrate birthday walau kecil-kecilan.

Ini Amir tengah inquire dengan Mama what is pahala & dosa. Tangan kanan pahala berat...

Rumble & Mumble

2008-10-08T15:21:00.002+08:00

Whilst others are busy celebrating raya, I was busy managing the new maid's arrival. As always, Mama being the ever independent mom of four, had to round up everybody (except Abang who decided to follow Acik) on Saturday before Raya to wait for the maid at Jeti Pulau Ketam. And as usual, Papa was always working, this time in Seremban. The maid was scheduled to arrive at 3:30pm, so by that time, we were already there.

And Mama, who hardly waited at the jetty for maids coming in at peak time of the balik-raya madness - never anticipated the crowd. So with baby Aisha, Amir & Aina, Mama had to do 'muka-kesian' at the police-officers and RELA guards the entrance. So they showed me a parking spot just beside them.

When we got off the car, the guards warned me that any ferry coming in will be held at the jetty, and they can only come in once the crowd leaving for Indonesia is cleared by the immigration. So after a few checks and waits at the ferry operator, somebody finally told me that they could actually clear the maid for me if I leave the a copy of the immagration letter for a RM20 fee - that after 2 hours waiting uncomfortably with my 3 kids!

So I was asked to come after buka puasa... and so in between the rush to cook for buka puasa and settling the baby, we did, this time leaving Aisha with Acik while waiting for Papa to come back from Seremban as Acik had to go pick Achu up.

When we got there, the maid was already waiting. I could imagine the exhaustion she had from travelling and waiting since morning. But upon the introduction formalities and such, she popped me the big question - "Anak ibu ada berapa ya?" I was surpised as I already introduced the 3 who followed me. Apparently she said that she didn't ask to to take care of small kids, and if any, only 2 expected!

Adoi! Pusing kepalaku! Quickly I texted Papa that we have to psych her up upon reaching home. Later, we found out that we were also "conned" by the Indonesian agent. We asked for a single lady no kids, we got a janda with 3 kids. And she wanted to take care of only 2 big kids. Reason being she does not want to be reminded of her kids who are now with the gambling ex-husband.

So both expectations were not met. We start to worry already and we realized we need to keep reinforcing the idea that she needs to start fresh and forget the past. But deep inside, I have major doubts, not to mention her hardly smiling face and reactive mode of working. For the first few days, she didn't even try to make friends with the kids, especially Aisha. How can I expect to leave Aisha with her? Even with the laundry, I already told her how to separate the colors, and everyday she'll keep coming back to me with which cloth goes where.

Last Monday, I found her still sleeping at 6:45am when we were busy upstairs gettingready for school. Anyway, I'm still giving her the benefit of the doubts, until yesterday. I asked Aina to send to her room some school uniforms to be ironed, and what did Aina get? "Kakak penat, kakak nak rehat."

That was yesterday when I was still on leave. I took care of Aisha's bathing and stuff. I cooked lunch while she prepared the ingredients. Not so much of work and she did that. I started missing my previous maid, and in fact, Papa did suggest to try calling her back. And I did last night, and was pleasantly surprise that she wants to come back now that her father has recovered from whatever sickness he had. She needs to seek her sister's blessing first and will get back to me soon.

This morning, while I was rushing to go to work after prepping Aisha, I called her to take Aisha while I was getting into the car. Guess what the response was? "Tunggu bu, habiskan jemur kain." Never before my maids did that to me and I was in a hurry some more.

That's it! I want my previous maid back! This current one has too much too ask but too little to give.

Anxiety in the Air

2008-09-26T15:30:00.003+08:00

My sister went and check with the tailor last nite - our baju raya are not even cut yet!!!!

Now I'm in no mood for raya, infact have been in no mood since I was maidless.

But, hey, tomorrow is the Day - the new maid is coming via Port Klang. Now I'm getting nervous. Would she be a good helper? Would she treat my kids right? Would she know how to take care of them? Would she be hygienic? Would she.....??

It's the same old feeling again, every time we're taking in a new person. Only tawakal and lots of do'a that I could do.

Let's see how tomorrow turns out, insya'allah if there's tomorrow.

Coloring Contest Again

2008-09-22T15:18:00.003+08:00

My kids are just hooked to coloring. I wish they are like that when it comes to books. Having said that, whenever we went to any contest, we will not go home empty-handed.

Yesterday, Abang & Aina participated in a batik coloring contest, again at the local mall. This time around Papa's bank co-sponsored the gifts. What do you know, Aina came in second in her category. So she got a savings certificate of RM70, RM80 of Kedai Nasi Ayam vouchers and a piece of batik cloth (for Mama la). Not bad for a 2-hour job.

However, Abang was disappointed for not getting anything. He tried his very best not to smear his work (I told him to be careful of the mess), so he was one of the few that submitted last. He was so proud of his piece that he thought he could win something. In fact, the MC missed announcing his name for the consolation prizes (everybody got one..), which made him even more upset.

Lucky Papa's staff knew the MC - so they asked for the missed gifts. Lucky for Abang and Amir, both got a RM10 voucher of Kedai Nasi Ayam.

This time around Mama couldn't capture their masterpieces. Aisha was sleeping on my shoulders, and Papa was busy handing out the prizes.

The only picture I got was when the Upin & Ipin mascots came out, and all the kids got excited. Not bad for a local animation company - the series seems to be capturing many hearts.

Abang was so excited, trying to figure out who are inside the mascots.

Happy Bunch

2008-08-27T14:02:00.005+08:00

As expected, with the absence of a domestic helper, Mama couldn't get to bring the bunch anywhere last school holiday. Lucky Mak was around, so Mama took instant leave last Friday and brought everybody to Times Square. Where else could I bring them this rainy season kan?

Seronoknya Amir. Last time we went he was just 3, tak ingat.

So the 3 elder ones had fun with the rides at Cosmo's World, though they have rode 'em before, but as long as we went somewhere, it'd be still meaningful. Kalau nak tunggu Papa, forever we won't get anywhere. Rumah Opah pun lama kita tak balik.

Nasib baik Papa also enrolled them for a coloring contest last Sunday. At least ada some activity. But I tell you, the competition is fierce, as usual. Other kids siap bawak pedestal masing-masing for coloring, siap dengan kain buruk etc. My kids, empty handed coz the coloring materials will be provided by the sponsor, the stationery maker yang bunyinya macam stapler (but my kids sebut 'tespler' he he).

So Aina & Amir got into Category A, 5-9 years old and Abang in Category B, 10-12 years old. And guess what? Despite the saingan sengit, Aina gor no 7 in her category! And Abang got lucky! Dapat lucky draw - a wrist watch and some other stuff from a movie maker/distributor. Since Amir didn't get anything from the sponsor but a sample pack of 1 color pencil (sebatang aje), Mama bought him (and Abang & Aina) crayons. So long as they are happy.

And hasil tangan anak-anak Mama yang tak boleh dibawa pulang:

Abang punya tersangat le meriah!

Pemenang no 7 category A

Amir main taram je, but he finished it!

What Happened?

2008-08-21T17:35:00.003+08:00

What happens if you have three mischievious kids not listening to their mom when she's busy cleaning the house?

Hang them out in the sun!!

Let Justice Prevail

2008-08-19T16:23:00.002+08:00

How do I console a friend who has recently filed for a ‘fasakh’ divorce because her husband is a total ignorant?

My friend L is a Chinese Muslim, and have long embraced Islam before she met the hubby S, a Kelantanese Malay but oblivious to his duties as a husband. They got married in 2002, and were blessed with a daughter coming to 4 years old.

During the early years of marriage, it seems that hubby S had problems retaining his job. He was unemployed for some time, and living off L’s earnings day by day. He didn’t even make an effort to find a job immediately, and was practically forced by L to go and look for opportunities out there. L had even prepared and polished his resume and searched for openings for S, and S keeps delaying things. Then L got pregnant, and decided to purchase an apartment, entirely from her own pocket.

Later, L secured a comfortable position in an MNC, and S finally landed a job. Since it was a hassle for them to go to work in L’s car, L bought a car for S by putting down the deposit and S promise to maintain the loan. Somehow along the way, S didn’t do well at work and was again living off L’s earnings. It seems that L is paying for everything, and even when they moved into the new place, not even a light-bulb was contributed by S.

The problems seem to be building up since the days S lost his job, and not even trying to look for a new one. It was always L who had to remind him again and again. Even with a child, S was not even trying to prove his fatherhood by providing for his child in terms of shelter and food. He only babysits the daughter when L had to be away. And even when he’s unemployed, L still sends the daughter to the nursery.

So after a few rows and reconciliations, L finally decided to file for a ‘fasakh’ on the grounds that S was not providing anything to the family. So their case was put to trial, and after a few rounds of humiliation in court where her sex-life was also discussed, the court is now due to give the verdict. By the way, S had his lawyer friend defending him, and it was a tough trial. His defense was that he wasn’t aware that his wife was unhappy, and had the nerve of saying that L was too proud of an independent woman to take anything from the husband. L had evidence as thick as a few Qurans, and S had nothing. But somehow, he managed to sort of assure the judge that he has been paying for food and stuff with cash. So there’s no specific evidence, but it was rather convincing. He is not ready to give the ‘talaq’ and that there’s no ground for ‘fasakh’.

It was so terrible that L had to force him out of the apartment, so ugly he didn’t want to move out that L had to file a police-report for harassment and made him move-out.

The court is due for the verdict, but knowing some of the public service in Malaysia, we can never tell when exactly it is coming out. L has spent so much for the trial and it’s unbelievable that for every court presiding, she had to fork out money.

What I’m more concerned is that how the entire affair is affecting her as a Muslim. I’m more embarrassed as a fellow Muslim of what her husband has done to her. But I’m glad she is strong and keeps strongly to her prayers & do’a. All I can say and do’a is for justice to be executed properly.

High on Glue

2008-08-13T16:08:00.003+08:00

The office is being renovated, actually since early July. I have been avoiding it for the past 2 weeks, but today somehow I have to see someone there.

Now I'm walking on air. My head is spinning and my eyes are drowsy. Not to mention the medication I'm taking for the ultra-big ulcer on my tongue. Can you believe how bad it is that the doctor gave me 2 days of medical leave? I wasn't eating properly for the past few days, and my head was throbbing just like the hammering of the front reception desk as I speak. Worst, that I have to manage the house-chores still...

So in my diziness, I just realized that I have not posted Aina's birthday picture. I wanted to write a about it, but it's like 2 months ago.

What the heck, here goes the pix.

the cake for the 7-year old

she thought we're not gonna have any celebration at all..was almost upset

the neighborhood friends, Senja & Bayu

her long-awaited gift

Oh I must go home now, the glue is making me too drowsy...

MDS

2008-07-30T13:57:00.003+08:00

MDS- Maid Dependency Syndrome.

If there were such a condition, I'd be the first to be diagnosed with it.

I cannot run my house-hold without a maid. The dust and all sorts of debris are accumulating as I speak. There is a big pile of unfolded clean laundry in the backroom, not to mention another pile that needs ironing. Actually I can make do with that by sending some to the laundry-mat. For RM1.20 a piece, they'll do a great job making my husband's shirt all pressed up nicely.

There is also a big bag full of unsorted stuff from Alor Setar that Papa brought back over the weekend, stuff that he got from Pekan Rabu, which my kids adore like emping, putu beras, kuih bangkit, serunding and salted fish. Those are stocks for Ramadhan.

The kitchen floor has not been mopped properly for the past 5 days. I only sweep the floor at about 11:30pm every night after I'm done cleaning the dishes (which are still not placed at their proper racks) and after tucking away the dirty laundry in the washing machine, leaving it for the night so it'll be ready for hanging in the morning.

I only manage the necessary stuff, like food, Aisha, dishes, Aisha's bottles, dirty laundry, basic sweeping and school uniforms ironing. Papa manages the pets, garbage, sending kids to school and groceries. Last night, Amir was practically screaming to do his homework with me. He waited and waited till I'm done with the kitchen and laundry. I succumbed to his demands by asking him to do his homework in front of me while I was ironing the school uniforms. There is a big lump in my throat, and my heart practically sunk at my inability to provide for my children properly at this time.

All these while, all the house chores are being done by the maid. So I don't have problems meeting the kids' demands and whims. Now, I have to juggle work and chores. I have so much on my mind that sometimes I did ridiculous things like placing Aisha's bottles in the fridge and putting Aisha's formula in Amir's bottle instead. The hands and the mind are not synchronized sometimes, to the extend that the other day I took the normal route to office when I was supposed to go to a client site. I guess this would be the major signs of MDS.

And what am I doing rambling away like this?

Hyperventilating

2008-07-21T18:24:00.002+08:00

My current maid is booked to go home this Thursday, and I heard all sort of problems with my selected replacement maid. I need a paper bag...

What happened? You see, Mama & Papa already selected the candidate. A widow with 2 grown-up kids, husband passed away. Never worked in Malaysia before. Based on her "water-face", we think she's sincere and hard-working. Mind you, THAT has always been the guidance for us to select the pass 3 candidates. It's always based on the photo that was given in the personal data info. What other means can you assess the person you hope you could entrust your kids with? Doa and lots of doa...

This is a typical career-woman issue. Replacement maid, run-away maid, horrible maid, stealing maid... you name it. I'm sure many could share with me of their maid-from-hell stories and untrstworthy agents. My neighbor had her fair share of maid troubles, from stealing and bleeding (this is gross actually, I might write on this in another post). So does my cousin, who recently thinks she got conned by the agent. The maid she was waiting for at Port Klang didn't turn up, while the agent said she already boarded the ferry. And the list goes on..

So much of maid issues that everytime working-mothers get together, there will be endless narration of all sorts. I'm sure everyone would like to share their agony and grouses. For me, alhamdulillah I have not encountered any horror stories yet. I decided to set a very low expectation on the maid's scope and quality of work. To me, as long as she could prioritize my kids well being, I'm already thankful.

So, at every contract renewal, both Papa and me are starting to be jittery. We have experienced problems getting the maid in, especially with passports and tickets. This time around, the candidate that we selected had actually lied to the agent. She was supposed to get a new passport, and it turned out that her thumbprint is already in the system. She had worked here before, under a different name. We got so upset, but we can't prolong our disatisfaction as we need to work fast getting a new one. Now we are faced with a pool of candidates that are neither Muslim nor young. Sigh!

I'm chasing the agent like mad today, up till the point that he's not taking my calls anymore. Nevertheless, I sent him multiple smses and e-mails to remind him that I desperately need a new candidate!

Now, where's that paper bag?

Ownership or Politics?

2008-07-18T01:44:00.005+08:00

I'm currently monitoring a project that I closed last year in a GLC. It's a human resource project and when we first start, the project owner, one of the senior managers in HR was so full of excitement envisioning the completion of the project and what good it would do to the company.

So, we are almost near to the go-live date of the project, when a new HR director joined the company. Prior to this, there was no director, so I guess the project owner was sort of happy handling his baby. As typical as it is, new boss means new structure. So, this project owner's portfolio has somehow been reduced and re-assigned to other people, not to mention the new group of people this director is bringing in to the company. So our friend somehow just dropped all interest in the project, as is he's washing his hands off the project. Now my team is feeling that we are doing this project "syok sendiri" and they have become demotivated.

Never in our past projects we experienced such lack of ownership from the customer. I just don't understand the mentality of the people in this GLC. There are just too much politics going round, and people seem to be so superficial here. No one dares to be bold enough to stand out and bring changes to this GLC. And we are talking of a GLC that used to be the pride of the nation, coming up with Malaysian made product, roaming the streets in UK, Singapore, Australia, Egypt and many other nations. When the company is reviving now, the employees should realize that they can no longer be in their comfort zone. Things need to move to ensure change. And what my team & I are doing is only partial contribution to enable effective monitoring and strategizing of the human capital in this GLC. What we expect is for the people in this company to work together and make it happen.

It seems that the only person who's really interested is the MD. But he's been shed off a lot if information. So how do we get moving here?

How Much?

2008-07-18T01:19:00.002+08:00

Amir sayang his baby sister so much, to the extent that when I asked him can I give away Aisha, he would fiercely say NO!

So I tested him. "Amir, you said you want a baby brother, not baby sister. So Mama can give Aisha to Aci next door ok?

NO! NO! NO! TAK BOLEH!

Kalau Mama jual Aisha, can? How much?

ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND JUTA POINT THIRTEEN FIFTEEN!!

Abang? You want to sell Aisha or not?

NO! Abang sayang Aisha!

This one I have no problem testing his love. From day one, he wanted to hold the sister.

As for Aina, she's too clumsy to hold Aisha and strike a pose...

Susahnya nak pergi kerja..

2008-06-19T16:39:00.003+08:00

Bila bangun pagi, celik mata tengok Aisha comel dan mungil tengah bercakap sorang-sorang dia, hati Mama berat je nak siap-siap pergi kerja. Aisha dah pandai communicate with her baby-talk tu la, and it's been fun layan Aisha. Gerrraaaam sangat Mama kat Aisha. Come-lotey..sapa lagi nak cakap Aisha comel, mestila mak dia kan.

Dah pandai borak, pandai gelak.. memang berat lah hati nak tinggal kan dia dengan maid. Ni sebab jealous la coz the maid got spend more time with her...

Ni muka baru bangun, playing with her hands. Mama rasa Aisha tak tahu lagi that tangan tu part of her body.

Aisha suka hisap jari, she can just fall asleep suckling her fists.

And.. Aisha dah boleh turn, tapi tak tahu turn balik semula.

By the way, this Sunday, Aisha will be 4 months old, and kakak Aina will be 7. Nak buat apa ek? Papa pi Singapore, only back late Sunday evening.

Quarrelsome

2008-06-04T22:03:00.002+08:00

As usual the kids would have some kind of daily fight, be it the shower, the PSP or whatever reasons to fight for lah..

Today in the shower, since everyone wants to be first... both Aina & Amir decided to shower together. And in the middle of it:

Amir: Mama!!!!! Kakak bagi taik kat Amir!!

Mama ignored them..busy changing Aisha.

Amir: Mama! Tau tak kakak bagi taik kat Amir...huwaaaaaaaaaaa!

Mama: Hah??

Amir: Kakak sapu taik kat Ammmmiiirrrrrrr!

Mama: Kakaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaakkk!!

Aina: Aina sapu taik mata la Mama!

Laaa.....

Delayed Mother's Day Post

2008-05-28T15:48:00.004+08:00

As usual, every day in my household is Father's Day, because Papa will always get the attention from Mama - massage, hot nescafe, belek kelemumur and stuff. The only thing different on Mother's Day are the wishes I received from my kids...and there were priceless!

This card is from Aina. She loves drawing and artsy crafty.

Amir picked a flower outside the house. In fact, he loves picking this flower every now and then and gave it to me whenever I come back from work, and that's when he's like an angel. I forgot for a moment about his tantrums and mischiefs.

Adam gave me I big I love u hug, which no picture can describe.

And for my mom, I bought her this electric thermos to replace the old one. I've promised her before, so it's a good time to send her this gift. Of course the kids claimed the gift is from them!

And Papa? Where's the little wish for me?

Aqiqah buat Aisha

2008-05-23T00:01:00.003+08:00

Sudah lama mama ingin bercerita tentang hal ini, tetapi masa selalu tidak mengizinkan. Hari ini Mama berasa ingin berbicara dalam bahasa ibunda kerana tiba-tiba saja ingatan melayang kepada guru Bahasa Melayu Mama ketika di sekolah perempuan di Seremban dulu.

Seperti biasa, buat anak-anak Mama & Papa, kami akan mengadakan ibadat Aqiqah ini seboleh-bolehnya sebaik sahaja habis waktu pantang. Selalunya aqiqah dilakukan sekali dengan tradisi berendoi (bukan sunnah). Kali ini, majlis dibuat pada hari ke 58 umur Aisha, juga bersamaan 20 April - hari lahir abang Muaz ke 11, yang keesokannya pula hari lahir abang Adam yang ke 10, yang diraikan bersama dengan hari ulangtahun perkahwinan Atuk & Wan yang ke 40, dan juga ulangtahun perkahwinan Mak & Uncle Jek yang ke …berapa ye, 7?

Sebagai imbasan, berikut adalah pengertian Aqiqah sebelum Mama bercerita lebih panjang. Mama petik huraian ini dari sini.

AQIQAH UNTUK ANAK

Aqiqah, pengertian dari segi bahasa ialah rambut di kepala kanak-kanak. Sementara pengertian aqiqah dari segi syara ialah binatang yang disembelih pada hari mencukur rambut bayi. Aqiqah sebagai ibadah yang telah disyariatkan oleh Allah s.w.t. sebagaimana penjelasan Rasulullah s.a.w. dengan sabdanya yang bermaksud:

"Setiap anak yang lahir itu terpelihara dengan aqiqahnya yang disembelih untuknya pada hari ketujuh (daripada hari kelahirannya), dicukur dan diberi nama." (Riwayat Abu Dawud, al-Turmuzi dan Ibnu Majah)

Ibnu Majah menerangkan maksud "... terpelihara dengan aqiqahnya..." (pada mafhum hadis di atas) adalah bahawa aqiqah itu sebagai sebab yang melepaskan kanak-kanak tersebut daripada gangguan syaitan yang cuba menghilangkan daripadanya melakukan kebaikan.

Menurut Imam Ahmad bin Hambal, bahawa apabila seseorang kanak-kanak itu mati dalam keadaan belum diaqiqahkan lagi, maka anak itu tidak dapat mensyafaatkan kedua-dua orang tuanya diakhirat kelak.

HUKUM AQIQAH

Hukum aqiqah itu adalah sama dengan ibadah qurban iaitu Sunnat Muakkad kecuali dinazarkan menjadi wajib. Penyembelihan aqiqah ialah pada hari ketujuh dari kelahiran bayi atau pada hari ke empat belas atau ke dua puluh satu. Jika tidak dapat maka bila-bila masa selagi anak itu belum baligh.

Jika anak telah baligh, maka gugur tuntutan atas walinya dan sunnat bagi dirinya (individu yang berkenaan) mengaqiqahkan untuk dirinya sendiri. Hal ini berdasarkan hadis dari Ahmad, Abu Dawud dan al-Tabrani, bahawa Rasulullah s.a.w. pernah mengaqiqahkan dirinya sendiri sesudah Baginda s.a.w. diangkat menjadi Rasul.

Anak lelaki disembelihkan dua ekor kambing (tetapi sah sekiranya seekor) dan perempuan memadai dengan seekor kambing. Diriwayatkan daripada Aisyah, bahawa Rasulullah s.a.w. memerintahkan para sahabat agar menyembelih aqiqah untuk anak lelaki dua ekor kambing yang umurnya sama dan untuk anak perempuan seekor kambing. (Riwayat al-Turmuzi).

Daripada Ibnu Abbas r.a. pula menyatakan. bahawa Rasullullah s.a.w. menyembelih aqiqah untuk Hasan dan Husin masing-masing dengan seekor kambing. (Riwayat Abu Dawud)

Jadi, sebagai amalan biasa di kampong, maka kami korbankan seekor biri-biri buat Aisha kali ini. Dulu ketika abang Adam, kami korbankan 2 ekor kambing, seekor buat kak Aina manakala buat abang Amir, 2/7 bahagian lembu ketika berkongsi majlis aqiqah cucu-cucu Wan Andak.

Biri-biri disembelih petang sebelum majlis berendoi. Wan beriya-iya hendak memasak rendang, jadi Mama & Papa ikutkan sahaja. Disebabkan Wan& Atuk sudah lama tidak berkenduri, maka Mama & Papa turut sahaja rancangan mereka, terutama Wan. Rendang dimasak petang itu juga, dan pada waktu malam, jiran-jiran Wan datang ke rumah menolong menyediakan rencah-rencah untuk memasak pada pada keesokan harinya. Mama dan adik-beradik ipar-duai Mama juga sibuk di dapur.

Suasana gotong-royong masih diamalkan di kampong kita, ini suatu amalan yang patut dikekalkan oleh generasi baru. Namun, disebabkan arus hidup yang membuatkan anak-anak Wan berpindah dan berumah-tangga di kota, kami jarang-jarang dapat melaksanakan amalan ini. Kadang-kala Wan ada meluahkan kerisauannya tentang apabila Wan dan kawan-kawannya meningkat usia nanti, siapakah pula yang akan meneruskan tradisi ini.

Berbalik kepada majlis Aisha ini, kali ini Mama teringin membuat buai yang comel buat Aisha, jadi Mama sediakan buai yang dipinjamkan Ateh dengan warna ungu dan merah jambu. Buainya agak ringkas kerana Mama kekurangan kain untuk digunakan.

Pagi esok harinya, kumpulan Marhaban kenalan/saudara-mara Wan pun tiba untuk upacara berendoi. Mama pakaikan Aisha gaun warna putih dan merah jambu, dibungai warna ungu. Anggun sekali anak Mama pertama kali naik buaian. Aisha terus lena dibelai alunan suara nenek-nenek dengan lagu-lagu yang mendayu.

Suatu perkara ketika majlis berendoi ini yang selalu mengusik jiwa Mama ialah sebuah lagu atau nazam yang menceritakan tentang betapa perit ibu mengandung dan anak patut sentiasa menghormati ibunya. Setiap kali lagu ini dialunkan, Mama mesti akan menitiskan air mata. Suatu hari nanti, Mama akan letakkan lirik lagu itu di sini insya’Allah. Tetapi seingat mama, antara lirik awalnya ialah:

Ayuhai anak di dalam buaian

Pejamkan mata jangan tangiskan

Lagu Berendoi kami dendangkan

Di dalam majlis tanda kesyukuran

Lamalah sudah kami menanti

Namun engkau tak kunjung tiba

Dengan takdir ilahi rabbi

Kini engkau sudah menjelma

Selepas berendoi, upacara cukur jambul pula dilakukan, dimulai dengan Wan yang memotong sedikit rambut Aisha (yang tidak banyak itu), kemudian oleh Papa dan kaum-kaum ibu dan nenek yang hadir di situ, diringi dengan selawat keatas Nabi junjungan. Namun Aisha tidak sempat dicukurkan hari itu kerana masa tidak mengizinkan (Aisha akhirnya dicukur oleh Mama & Papa sendiri di Shah Alam pada 1 Mei :-)).

Selesai upacara berendoi dan cukur jambul, Abang Muaz & Abang Adam diraikan pula dengan acara memotong kek. Kanak-kanak yang hadir dihadiahkan sedikit ole-ole yang terdiri dari pensil, mainan kecil dan makanan ringan. Hanya selepas acara itu, barulah tetamu semua diraikan dengan hidangan makanan tengahari berlaukkan rendang biri-biri serta gulai masam ikan sungai dan sebagainya.

Alhamdulillah, semua anak-anak Mama telah diaqiqahkan. Tidak perlu bimbang lagi di kemudian hari…

Calibre?

2008-05-22T12:56:00.003+08:00

Mama was attending WCIT 2008 at KLCC Convention Centre for the past two days. Mak ooii, penat kaki duk jalan ke sana ke mari, attending B2B sessions with prospects from Middle East, Europe and India and also attending the plenary talks. I missed the first two days of the congress, so didn't manage to catchup the sessions with PM & Bill Gates.

Yesterday, the closing was done by the DPM. So alang-alang tu I sat in lah for his speech. Cheee..mula-mula tu macam gempak la title, lagi pun I never attended any function yang pernah ada DPM. I'm quite impressed with his English and accent. Tapi lama-lama duk dengar, nothing new in the subject that he was talking about. Everybody knows that ICT helps expedite businesses. So? I was looking for something with more ummph in his speech, baru ada calibre sikitkan? But then it was dry. This is a world congress, so I think who ever prepared the speech have to consider the kind of audience there. Ini macam, malu lah, pemimpin negara punya speech sangat la boring....

p/s: Mama kena interview dengan RTM, tapi tak tau untuk rancangan apa (lupa nak tanya pasal tekedu kejap depa stop Mama when I was rushing for a meeting). Interview was in English though.

Al Fatihah

2008-05-19T13:18:00.002+08:00

14th May 2008 was the day I lost one of my friends that I grew up with in school. There were 138 of us, and now our numbers are reduced with the passing of Maria Razak.

I was in a middle of a client meeting when my mobile beeped a text message. I couldn't believe my eyes when the message mentioned of her passing. How could my friend, in her prime age, with 3 kids be gone? But then it got me thinking, Allah could just take away anyone, be it a baby, a teenager, a mother, or even a grandmother. I just lost an uncle just a week prior to this, so another loss is unbearable to this poor and weak soul.

I was trying very much to remain compose in the meeting, but my mind is elsewhere, trying to figure out what was the reason Maria left us so early. I thought it was only a few months ago that we were at the bowling tournament. Then I realized that was before I found out that I was pregnant, so it must have been a year that I last saw arwah.

Later I found out from friends who attended the funeral that arwah Maria had some blood clot in her ateries. That is the silent killer that must have been the cause for Papa's friend who also collapsed and passed away while giving a presentation to his Arab clients in Dubai last year. We have lost a few friends unexpectedly, and I guess the rushing and stressful lifestyle has been the main reason for such early deaths.

When I relayed the news to Papa that night, his reaction was "that was why I'm trying to clear every mortgage and debt I have as fast as possible so that if anything happened to me, you are not burdened..." Oh I just can't hear him talking that way, my tears start streaming down my face... I can't imagine losing my life partner, the father of my children so soon, just when you're about to nuture and shape your young family. My heart goes out to Hazmi and arwah's kids. It's a tormenting loss.

Al Fatihah to my dear Maria, whom in my thoughts I saw a petite young woman running the fields of our TKC ground, holding her hockey stick in the green uniform. I heard her husky voice cheering her other team mates. I also saw her marching in her blue-grey cadet uniform by the side of our main hall. I still remember her complaining not having enough practice when we bowled at the TKC "La-Tua-de-Alley" tournament when all she did was strike most of the time. From now on, there won't be any new image of her, and I have to savor all these memories intact in my mind.

Semoga rohmu dilimpahi rahmat Allah sentiasa...

More thoughts by Ms Hart and Dill.

Holiday in the Land of the Pharoahs - Part 1

2008-05-13T23:11:00.006+08:00

I'm already at work now, infact I was already doing work 3 weeks before my maternity leave ends. Which explains how hectic my life once I reported back to work. But the best part was having a free holiday in Egypt during the last week of my leave - I earned an incentive trip via selling hardware for a business partner through oe of my deals last year.

So there were 16 of us, all from various companies, but we clicked along well. We spent 3 days in Cairo & Alexandria and 2 days flying. The trip was loooooooooooooooooong - 12 hours with a one-hour stop in Mumbai.

Actually, upon boarding the plane (we took Egypt Air as that's the only carrier with a short stopover) dah start culture shock of the Egyptians. Semua stewards dah nak botak and boncit, and the stewardesses masam mencuka and rough. Tolak food trolley langgar segala mende kat tepi. Memang tak ada hospitality langsung. Mama naik flight tu tengah malam, so naik-naik aje terus membuta la. Tapi after a few hours of sleep, we were woken up for breakfast. So like stone aje.

One more challenging part is to express myself. I am still lactating, so by the time sampai Mumbai dah memang kena express. Tapi tunggu the crew kemas the planes, baru masuk toilet. Mama dah tak boleh tahan dah...so kena masuk jugak. Baru nak start pumping, kena ketuk. The stewardess wanted to refill the tissues. I said go and do it at other toilet lah, she said "I need to do my job now, please go to other toilet". Mama mulalah start upset, tak respect langsung kat passenger. Memang patutla Malaysia Airlines dapat Best Airline of the year. I think the airline crews kat US better than them.

Then bila sampai Cairo airport, it's time to express again. So off I went to look for the ladies while waiting for the lugagge. Happy tengok ada ladies, tapi tengok-tengok ada sebijik aje toiletnya. Can you imagine the long line, with the people just boarded off the plane, of course semua orang nak cari decent toilet. Ada ke sebijik aje depa buat kat situ? Then one of the ground staff kata outside ada toilet lagi... Hello!

Cari Benda Tersembunyi

2008-04-21T17:17:00.002+08:00

Dulu masa kecik-kecik baca paper selalu ada ruangan cari benda tersembunyi.

Carilah di sini...

Teringat Semasa Pantang

2008-04-18T15:01:00.004+08:00

Masa pantang, badan can be either slim or gemok, depending how you take care of your diet, and how strict is your care-giver. In my case, I'm my own care-giver, minus the first week when my mother was around. After that, it's all instruction-based care (translate: maid did all the work).

Anyway, I tried as much to follow a good diet, but not forgetting the nutritions that I needed. So the recipes would be all soupy stuff or grilled. Somehow, this time I was always hungry. Perhaps it was the weather - been raining almost everyday. So I needed extra snacks, and what else could be eaten without raising my mother's curiousity? Jacob's Cream Crackers cicah Milo! Everytime I ordered this, there would always be side orders as the kids like to join me. Berebut cicah biskut dalam Milo. So, kena la order personal Milo for everybody.

Paling best - makan biskut cicah Milo bila hari hujan lebat... biskut jadi terlebih sedap somehow. Yum, yum..

Black, White or English?

2008-04-16T15:09:00.002+08:00

Somehow Aisha looks fairer than the rest. Acik always like to tease Amir expecially on the skin contrast.

Acik: Amir, Aisha white kan?

Amir: Ha ah...Aisha white

Acik: Amir? Amir black?

Amir: NOOOO!! Amir English laaaah!

Aisha Sofea

2008-04-07T13:27:00.002+08:00

Welcome to the world my little baby girl Aisha Sofea!

Today is the 45th day, which means the "pantang" is over! Yeaa! Aisha was born on Feb 22 at 9:36am, via C-Section, weighing 3.25kg. And how very lucky was she, our hospital room was upgraded to a single suite, and my gynae didn't charge for her service.

Amir was at first a bit upset as he was expecting a little boy, but later he enjoyed opening all the presents that Aisha got. Words like "Amir nak smackdown baby" soon disappeared. I'm hoping he'll stand the "geram" for the little one.

Aina & Abang on the other hand are very happy and helpful. The big sister is especially attentive the baby's needs, and is always assisting Mama with the cleaning and bathing. Which is why all the more reason I'm happy to get another girl. Alhamdulillah!

So with this number 4, I was advised to stop bearing children altogether. Reason being that I already had 3 C-Sections, and that age is also a factor. So after this, the children that I'll be getting are gonna be my cucu lah!

By the way, the picture above is 5-day old Aisha.

Amir & School

2008-02-20T13:55:00.002+08:00

Masa mula-mula Amir pi school, macam-macam challenges Mama kena tolerate.

First 3 weeks pi school, Mama kena teman Amir naik sampai classroom. Before that, nak kejut bangun pagi pun susah, celik-celik mata aje terus nangis. Amir tak nak pi dengan Papa, Amir nak Mama hantar je. Papa tak best. Ok... janji masuk bilik air and mandi.

Lepas mandi, Mama kena call Abang Mat the van driver. Amir takut Abang Mat lupa pick up Amir. So Mama kena lah berlakon call Abang Mat tu, make sure dia ingat nak pickup Amir and jangan lambat-lambat. Then Amir tegur pulak pasal apa tak dengar suara Abang Mat? Mama kata Abang Mat cakap slow-slow. Suspicious aje budak ni. Mama jangan call tipu-tipu.

Then after that it's another challenge - make Amir have breakfast. Since he starts schooling, having breakfast is something that he really drags doing. Then komplen pasal Amir tak suka makan kat school sebab tak sedap. So Mama kena cakap that kalau tak nak makan kat school, Amir has to eat at home. Otherwise, nanti Mama don't want to tell teacher.

So hari-hari ada je la komplen dia seperti:

Amir tak suka teacher Anis, dia gemok!
Amir tak nak pi school nanti Abang Mat hantar balik lambat!
Amir tak suka teacher Fiza sebab dia pakai specs!
Amir tak suka makan macaroni tak sedap!
Amir tak suka baca Iqra' sebab Amir nak ngaji ngan Mama!

So Mama nak buat macam mana dengan budak yang banyak komplen ni? Sabao aje lah.

Nasib baik lately ni mood dia dah improved, Papa boleh hantarkan. And balik rumah komplen pun dah kurang sikit...still there..but improving.

Contractions Counting

2008-02-20T11:15:00.002+08:00

Two more days to go!

My contractions are still irregular, which means that the baby is still comfortable in my tummy. Expected what...the original due date is Feb 29. Based on previous track records, the babies would come out 1 or 2 days earlier. So I guess Feb 22 is still on schedule.

The only thing most discomforting is the difficulties getting into the right position while trying to ge to sleep at night. And that's also the time the contractions start coming. Only at night. Last night I had to toss and turn a trillion time and everytime the contractions kicked in, it had to be accompanied with a trip to to the loo. But by 4:30am in the morning, the contractions subsided. I hope these sleepless nights don't follow through after the baby is delivered. All 3 older kids were pretty much good sleepers - last feeding time would normally be midnight, and the next one would be like 5 or 6am. How wonderful it was for me to have uninterrupted sleep during my confinement.

The C-Section on Friday is scheduled to be at 9:30am. I have to fast like 4 hours before the procedure. And the sad thing is I'm always hungry at 7:30am. Looks like I have to sahur by 4am or at least have a midnight snack. Good luck to Mama!

So, this round I hope it would be another blessing...

Countdown

2008-02-14T18:05:00.003+08:00

Finally, my gynae & us decided on the C-Section date - it's gonna be February 22, 2008. Papa & Mama were wishing that we could get February 23, as we would have a nice sequence of birthdates for the kids : Abang - 21, Aina - 22, baby - 23 and Amir -24. Unfortunately the gynae won't be around on the 23rd, so we had to settle for 22nd then. But then we never know, baby might want to come out earlier huh?

Counting down the days is tiring. So let's just go with the flow. My tummy is so big I can't even stand for a long period. I even got sick last week after my meeting in Putrajaya, what with the walking in enormous government office complexes (that serves little purpose except for the breathtaking designs), and walking back to the parking lot under the hot sun. Getting home, I immediately came down with high fever and very low blood pressure and had to be saline-dripped. Geez! So now I'm trying very much to minimize my client visits to nil.

My mode of working is from home now, trying my very best to focus and delegate things. One thing for sure, the new guy we would like to recruit (and back me up temporarily) chickened out the last minute. I was expecting him to be on board early February. I guess his current employer counter-offered him with a better deal. So that makes things a little bit frenzier. I can't really delegate much.

So it's back to my current colleague and the CEO & COO to followup my deals he he..

Dreadful encounter of the lifts kind...

2008-01-14T15:56:00.000+08:00

Lately I don't feel like going to my office at all. The lifts are horrendous!! It feels like hours just waiting for the lift from the basement, and with my aching back, I just can't stand it anymore. Actually this has been going on for months, and for every trip down or up the building, you have to do it reversely.

Example, during lunch time - you must press up to avoid the down crowd coming from the upper floors. So you have to bear the trip for another 13 floors up and down with potential stops at each floor. Otherwise, you will end up with a full lift everytime. Sigh!

I shall avoid working in KL as much as I possibly could. Imagine the possiblity of having my contractions in the office, and my gynae is 38km away plus the lift conditions and traffic?

Every single night is a restless night. I'm feeling mild contractions, and sometimes movement that can be equated to touching an electric eel!

On top of that, my boss think I should postpone my delivery! Hark!

Ah Lan Wa Sah Lan 1429H

2008-01-11T13:53:00.000+08:00

Ma'assalamah 1428!

Punya lah lama Mama tak update blog - was so busy catching up with things and managing my pregnancy (especialy at nights when I get utterly uncomfortable and breathless with backaches and too much sommersaults in the tummy). The pregancy is already 33 weeks, but according to my oby-gynae, the baby's size is 35 weeks. Betul ke ni? Patut la tak larat and termengah-mengah aje.

I'm due perhaps in one month, and this morning one of my directors are asking if I could postpone my delivery he he.. This year my job will be tougher as we have new investor coming in and scrutinizing our pipelines. Ye lah, nak go listing mestilah kena ada healthy pipeline kan.

On top of it, my current customer from hell still tak moh go live with the project. Entah apa lah yang dia orang nak kita pun tak tau. Requirement asyik bertambah, last-last we end up doing charity work instead. Penat you.

Aina dah masuk primary one, it was a breeze sending her to school. I'm more worried of Adam who's already in primary four tapi perangai macam budak-budak lagi. It's a long time for him to be matured, unlike Aina who can already absorb some responsibilities.

The worst is to handle Amir's fear of separation. He's in pre-school now and everytime he comes back home from school, he swears that he'll never go to school again. And it's still difficult to send him in the morning, so I had to do it instead of his dad.

Back at home, my left-side neighbour just menimang cucu last month. My right-side neighbor just adopted a 6-month old girl, and sebelah that neighbor just delivered a baby girl a few days back. So it's baby-blues along my row of neighbors. Come February, insya'allah we'll have another.

Graduation Day

2007-11-20T14:23:00.000+08:00

Masa Mama kecik-kecik dulu mana ada graduation ke konvo ke...in fact mana pernah pi sekolah tadika! Mama sekolah tumpang, ikut Atuk masuk kelas yang dia ajar. Kalau Atuk ajar Matematik darjah 4, Mama jadi le budak darjah 4. Kalau ajar Bahasa Melayu darjah 3, Mama jadi budak darjah 3...dan begitulah seadanya.

Sebab tu agaknya Mama dapat sekolah lompat, tapi last-last kena ambil penilaian darjah 5 dua kali jugak sebab Gurubesar masa tu tak bagi Mama lompat masuk sekolah menengah... (walaupun 2 kali result 5A... ish ish..)

Sebenarnya Mama nak cerita kisah Aina punya graduation day, tapi ter-alpa pulak. Tahun ni buat kat dewan tempat Mama & Papa kahwin dulu (nostalgia pulak), sebab tahun ni sekolah dia buat sukan sekali.

Aina pelajar senior, tahun depan tahun 1, sebab tu ada graduation. Ini le gambar halus Aina, Mama tak larat nak angkat bontot pergi ke depan, perut dah besar. Biar Papa ajelah ambil gambar yang comel dan clear.

Untuk konsert senior, Aina buat choral speaking, tapi muka tak senyum langsung. Puas Mama dok signal dari tempat duduk suruh dia senyum, tak moh pun senyum. Nasib la anak dara sorang ni. Lepas choral speaking, depa nyanyi lagu "You are my sunshine". Aina main tamborine...

Budak-budak lain menari "stick dance" dengan "Islamic Zapin". Sakan la chekgoo-chekgoo mengajar depa ni, mesti penuh kesabaran dan ketata-susilaan.

Abang entah pi ke mana-mana dalam dewan tu, dah terjumpa geng dia, tak ingat Mama & Papa dah. Papa pun buka booth bank dia, sempat le mem-promote bank dia disamping menaja lucky draw yang ada 15 hadiah tu..hadiah besar sekali ialah sebijik basikal.

Amir punya la upset sebab tak dapat basikal, dan Papa bagi basikal kat orang lain.

Lepas tu baru la bersukan, more like tele-match la untuk bebudak ni. Papa masuk acara tarik tali, tapi kalah. Apa taknye, team lagi satu tu badan 2 kali ganda team Papa.

Last-last acara habis pukul 1:30 petang. Kita orang dah kelaparan dah... Apa taknya, depa serve bihun goreng aje masa break...kalau tau dah lama suggest buat pot luck. Aina masa tu dah lembik..dah tak de mood nak pose any more gambar, nasib baik depa dah ambik gambar graduation siap-siap 2 months ago.

Tahun depan anak Mama 2 orang sekolah rendah...cepatnya masa berlalu!

Boys will be boys

2007-11-13T16:37:00.000+08:00

I came home about 8pm yesterday, greeted by a little miss reporter, screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Abaaaang! Ammmmirrr! Mama dah balik!!!"

"Mama tau tak, tadikan, masa Aina ngaji, Abang ngan Amirkan put songkok and put fish dalam songkok, bawak keluar atas carpet sampai basah-basah carpet and then put back again dalam aquarium Papa!"

Me, "Abaaaaaang! Ammmmiirrr! Come here!!!!"

No wonder when I was outside just now I saw the carpet on the bench. I thought Amir must have spilled something.

"Mama upset ni!" and I pinched both of them.

"I don't know...when Papa come home nanti, u all kena..."

And I went upstairs and took my shower before both of them got more scolding from me. Let the father handle it lah, it's his aquarium by the way. But I'm so upset they spoiled their songkoks.

At 11pm, both of them were nervous already. "Amir takut la Mama!"

"Tu lah, sapa suruh naughty-naughty...I don't know..."

Lucky for them, Papa came back at 12:15am, all of them were already asleep. And Papa found this report card in his closet.

Tooth Away!

2007-09-28T22:02:00.000+08:00

My princess is going through that phase - her baby teeth are starting to loosen, time for permanent ones to take over. Looks like this hari raya, her potrait will be different, she'll be one tooth less. But her molars are already out.

Before extraction

Princess Rongak

With he new look, she looks cheekier and mischievous. The visit to the dentist was short and sweet, and cost me RM25 just to pull that one out. Next time should do it myself, or just like Abang, he'll just surprise me by presenting the pulled tooth.

It's Batman!

2007-09-24T22:36:00.000+08:00

What else could make a little boy happier than having one of his favorite characters on his birthday cake, and a day earlier.

Amir is four today, but we had an earlier celebration yesterday, mainly because it's Ramadhan, and it was Sunday. When we were picking the cake up, we we told him that the cake was for Papa's friend, and of course the little boy went beserk. We explained to him that his birthday is tomorrow, and we would get another cake for him.

So imagine the look on his face when we brought the cake out later after berbuka. It was full of happiness. Too bad Papa didn't manage to capture that priceless moment.

After the singing and blowing and finger licking good, Amir came to Papa & me, and said,

"Amir best la Mama, dapat Batman cake! Amir happy sangat!"

"Say that to Papa, Papa yang belanja" I told him.

The he went and kissed Papa and said,

"Thank you Papa sebab beli Amir cake Batman!!"

and an hour later he did that again, and that was the best part of the day....

Salam Ramadhan

2007-09-13T10:16:00.000+08:00

Ramadhan Mubarak datang lagi!

Mama kena bayar fidyah this year sebab tak habis ganti puasa 7 hari due to the all time morning sicknesses. But today Mama is trying very hard to complete my puasa. Tadi dah sahur nasi and ayam goreng, then had 1 piece of toast with scrambled eggs. Actually Adam mintak scrambled egg tapi Mama pulak yang makan coz he ended up eating rice. Aina only had rice & ayam goreng. So we'll see who shall finish the puasa for the day.

Papa has an event in Park Royal, so tak sure if he'll buka puasa with us. Kalau tak, then malas nak masak banyak, Adam is already asking nak pergi Pasar Ramadhan cari otak-otak & laksa. Adoi! Kalau Mama balik lambat, kesian dia, unless Achik is around la to take them. But then kalau beli kueh mueh sure tak termakan one.. nanti membazir.

Speaking of membazir, teringat masa merdeka weekend Mama & kids pi makan kat Nando's. Since it was just the four of us, Mama decided to order only 3 dishes. Then Abang monyok coz dia tak ada pinggan kat depan dia. So Mama pun bukak la story Mama masa kecik. About how Atuk's salary was small to support the 7 siblings, and there was no such things as McDonald's, Nando's or KFC. And if there were any treats from Atuk, it would be eating at that Restoran Samsudin in Jerantut...I still remember the gulai ikan tenggiri yang tak macam gulai, it's in between masak asam pedas & gulai santan...but the taste is excellent! Sampai hari ni teringat-ingat lagi kat gulai tu.

So I digressed a bit. The point I was trying to relate to Abang was that we had to share everything because we didn't have the luxury of having outside food. Even if we had, kena share 7 beradik. Kalau Atuk nak bawak makan everybody, kata la one person dish is RM10, then kena time nine, habis RM90...chian Atuk. So sebab tu la Mama adik beradik kena share sokmo.

With that cerita, Abang ada mood nak makan semula. In the end semua orang share their dish and habis licin pinggan everybody, and Mama gave everybody thumbs up!

Merdeka Blues

2007-09-05T18:27:00.000+08:00

We spent half of the Merdeka Day in bed, watching the parade on tv. That was because Papa came back late the night before, when we already told him that we want to watch the fireworks at Dataran Shah Alam. By 11:45pm, Aina got tired waiting, and went to sleep. Mama was already not in the mood for anyting, but the two boys were still eager to wait till the countdown, hoping that they could witness the fireworks display at the golf club via our windows.

The countdown on tv was hopeless, because there were too many speeches, and I guess the crowd also went to sleep if not for the Merdeka shouts that punctuated the speeches.

Lucky for the boys, the fireworks did come, but because the trees were too tall, they could only see partially. By then Papa was back already, and quickly they jumped into the car and drove to the golf course. By then the fireworks has already subsided, and I guess the boys didn’t really enjoy the whole show.

Nevertheless I brought them to SACC the next day to look at the Merdeka exhibition. Abang & Aina got to count and memorize the names of the Prime Ministers. There goes our Merdeka weekend..

Tastelessness

2007-08-14T17:19:00.000+08:00

So my little gardening plan didn't work out as planned. I succumbed to the ever passionate call of my bed...what with the rumbling tummy and a seriously lack of appetite for anything.

Ah yes...my terrible first trimester. I hope it'll last soon. I can't be missing dinner all the time. Truth is, I don't think I can ever put anything in my mouth after maghrib. It'll just feel like a terrible boat ride in a stormy sea and thundering monsoon typhoon. Any unnatural smell will invoke the wildest uproar in the tummy, and yes, lunch and everything else will come out as those disgusting fragments you see on CSI.

This just doesn't happen now. It happened throughout my other three pregnancies. Some people claim that each pregancy is different. Hey! Not with me. It's almost the same throughout.

I'm into the second trimester soon...I just wish all the pungent taste in my mouth will go away soon. I want to be eating properly. I want to enjoy this pregnancy. I want to be having the drive and energy again as I have got a lot of grand and small plans in my mind. I wish...I wish...I wish..

Going Green

2007-08-03T17:03:00.001+08:00

My little s0-called "garden" in front of the house seriously needs a revamp. In fact I think my whole house needs a revamp. With all the Monet & Van-Gogh wanna-bes around, I am seriously thinking of renovating. The key word here is thinking...without the dough, there won't be any doing.

So I guess the best that I could do is to start with the little garden. I have not tend to it for almost a year now, or more come to think of it. What happens every Friday at 5pm is that I'll plan for the weekend activities... in between my late meetings and traffic jams. So this weekend, the grand plan is to re-arrange the garden, perhaps go to Sg Buloh nurseries and buy a few bags of soil, instant plants and I'll have the kids and the maid help me re-design the new garden.

Actually, my wish is to have a "make-over" by Eric of Casa Impian... but of course this is just a wish. Come to think of it, my plants are all big and green, it's just that they need a little more touch-up - swap some pots, swap the positions etc. Just take a look at these fat "pegaga".

So, I hope this grand plan of mine will materialize. I've been sleeping over the past three weekends because I was just plain tired of work. So did Papa. This weekend I'm determined not to have his sleep-bugs affect me.

Happy Gardening to me!

What Happened to July?

2007-08-02T18:22:00.000+08:00

My oh my...

July just passed like a breeze.

It's the second day of August already - which means I'm turning a new leaf.

That means numberwise, my age gets bigger.

But deep in my heart, I still feel the same youthful me just coming out of college, eager to start a new life.

Except this round I got a man to take care of, and be taken care by, and 3 kids to feed and hug.

Did I tell you that one more is in the oven?

Bad Parenting

2007-06-28T14:27:00.000+08:00

Lately, Adam is being difficult with his homework that I'm forced to threat him rather than encourage. I have ran out of positive enforcement ideas to stimulate this little guy and beginning to think that some teachings by some motivational personality are only idealistic, and not practical enough to be applied to kids like mine.

May be I'm not trying hard enough, may be I'm just an impatient mom whose had enough at work and merely dumping the pressure on the boy. On Tuesday, I have come to the point of forcing him to finish his homework through his own tears. The punishment for not finishing is that I would be ignoring him for the rest of his life, that I would never talk to him again ever. He was weeping all along while finishing the assignment. He had to make sure that Mama will still care for him, and frantically rushed through his work, with tears flowing down his chubby little cheeks.

Deep inside I regretted for bruising his ego and reaping off his sense of belonging. Now this damage is bad, really bad. I shared my worry with Papa, but he said I'm merely trying to meet deadlines. Papa doesn't seem to be worried at all.

I wonder if this would really scar his love for me? I'm trying to show that family love is unconditional, yet by doing this, I am actually going against my own principle, wrecking the entire foundation of love and trust in my own flesh and blood. Gosh, parenting is really a difficult responsibility!

Six-Year-Old Girl

2007-06-25T11:44:00.000+08:00

For her sixth birthday, Aina wanted to share it with her friends in kindy. She asked me to prepare party-packs and a cake to bring to class. I'm already dried for ideas as all the other mommies have already used up my ideas like giving out accessories like hair pins, pencil boxes and what nots.

I finally decided that books make better party-packs for the children, though boring but they will be useful. So I got them prophet-themed workbooks - they're like story books with activities like coloring, find hidden items etc. Just not to make them boring packs, Aina asked me to put color pencils, raisins and jellies - of course, my girl cannot be rated boring!

By the way, if you are looking for children books with Islam oriented contents, do drop by my friend's shop Mindaku Bookstore in Seksyen 13 Shah Alam, opposite the primary school.

Then comes the cake part. It's a challenge trying to bring a big cake and split them to 22 kids in 15 minutes break-time. What better solution than having cup-cakes, and they were pretty too. And these are fresh from the oven, from a college-friend Saf who decided to quit her job and concentrate on baking.

After the little party in school, I was already feeling exhausted from the previous week's hectic schedule. In fact, I was feeling under the weather already, and decided to sleep the whole afternoon.

Of course, Aina's birthday won't be complete without the family dinner. This time, we decided to have an Italian dinner at the Little Italian Kitchen in Shah Alam Mall. And courtesy of the owner who recognized us as regular patrons, Aina got this little soufle with ice-cream. So we saved on buying a while cake.

But then later that night, what was consumed during the dinner was thrown out when my tummy just couldn't stand the big ball of gas that's been in there since noon, afterwhich, I slept through the night like eternity.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AINA!

Another year gone in a breeze. I just hope I wouldn't miss my kids growing up because life is like a dash..

Hectic School Holidays

2007-06-10T14:10:00.000+08:00

What happened for the past 3 weeks?

Mak came back from Peru just for Atam's wedding. Too bad she came back alone, leaving Uncle Jack behind, missing all the bustling fun preparing the wedding.

Atam got married on May 28-27, we felt a bit short-handed though, that we didn't even have the opportunity to pose with the pengantins. I had to cancel my long leave because work is unbelievably demanding.

Aina caught sore-eyes, thanks to Ariff. She was also down with fever that we were not sure if we coud make it for the Perlis reception on June 1. Adam left early with Achoo & Acik just in case Mama & Papa decided not to go. Well, we made it though despite the jam and sleepiness driving up north on Friday night.

June 1- thanks to the nice food Pak Tam's family prepared, we had a good time though. By this time, Adam also caught sore-eyes. After the reception, we went up to Padang Besar, and we just didn't know what to get there. I finally decided to buy a small wok. Other than that, a few kaftans for me & maid. On Sunday, we held lunch for the family at Opah's house.

Coming back from Alor Setar was another frenzy - the traffic was very slow all the way from Taiping right to Rawang. What used to be a five hour journey became a 9 hour slow moving ride. I was worried all the way because I have a negotiation session at 9am in the morning, and I wasn't prepared for it at all. After everybody had settled down at home, I worked from 2:30-4:30am.

Sigh!

Selamat Pengantin Baru Mak Tam & Pak Tam

2007-06-08T18:15:00.001+08:00

Wishing Mak Tam and Pak Tam all the best for their new life together

May you live happily ever after

Hope Mak Tam will miss us ever

At that new place you endeavour

Is unlike Shah Alam we favour

You will miss all the laughter

When the brood are all together

But then we hope our new "brother"

Will take care of you forever...

Life has been very hectic for the past three weeks that I haven't had time to update this blog. All my planned leave are canceled until I submit a major proposal on June 19th. Until then, my blogging time will be limited.

Exhilarating Genting

2007-05-07T18:47:00.000+08:00

The bunch had a great time last weekend. Even though I was working on my proposal on Saturday, the three of them managed to entertain themselves by dipping in the instant-pool at the back of the house. Saturday was tremendously hot, so being in the pool was a splendid endeavor. Plus, with Papa being away in Melaka, the pool was a great distraction as they don’t even have to bug me at my notebook.

Having them spent the entire afternoon soaking in the pool, it was easy to let them retire early that night. With that, we have more reasons to plan taking them to the much awaited Genting trip, plus if the weather condition permits.

Despite me sleeping at 2:30 am in the morning finishing my work, I managed to wake up early to find that it was raining quite heavily. When Aina woke up, she was a little but frustrated because I already told the kids that the trip would be cancelled if it rained. So, when the three of them were all awake, they didn’t make much noise as they already knew my pre-requisite for the trip.

Nevertheless, the sun starts to appear slowly in the morning drizzle after 9am. So we quickly decided to make the trip instead. By 11am, we were on the road already. True enough, by the time we got to the cable car station in Gohtong Jaya just about noon, the weather was excellent!

Boy oh boy, the cable car ride up to the peak was an awesome 3.4km ride, with deep jungle beneath us. Both Papa and Aina are already pale. I didn’t know my girl is just like his dad. But the boys were behaving themselves too; I guess the unfathomable green abyss beneath us somehow made them nervous.

Cable car ride

Nevertheless, when we got to the peak, the kids were kids again, especially when they saw all the indoor games. When we were out at the outdoor theme park, they became even more excited. However, when we counted the number of rides they could get on to against the entrance fee, we decided to opt for the indoor park instead.

Amir steadily riding the carousel horse

Aina's tired looking smile

Big boy on the ride

So off we went to the indoor park and rode all the family rides. By 6pm, they were all tired, and we decide to call the day off. Both Papa & I agreed that we have to wait till they are teenagers if we were to go to Disneyland or the Australian Gold Coast. :-)

Sunday Stowy

2007-04-24T15:58:00.000+08:00

Hawi tu Amir ikut Mama & Papa pegi Tesco. Pagi-pagi Amir bangun ikut Mama pegi Tesco beli fish, dengan sayur, dengan buah, dengan roti….dengan apa lagi ek?

Masa naik kete Papa kan, kan, Amir nampak buwung 2 ekor terbang kawer mewah. Pastu ada aewoplane kat sky Amir bai bai.

Kat Tesco tak ramai owang sebab Amir bangun pagi-pagi. Mama kata kalau bangun pagi fish ada banyak sangat. Mama beli bawang banyak sangat tapi Papa bayar. Abang ngan Kakak pun ikut juga, tapi Abang mewajuk sebab Mama mawah Abang sebab Abang suka lambat-lambat masa nak pegi Tesco.

Lepas tu kan Mama kata siap cepat-cepat sebab nak pi makan kat otel sebab befday Abang. Mama ajak Acik jugak tapi Acik tak moh. Mama ajak Kakak Leha juga, kakak Leha siap cepat-cepat pakai baju mewah. Pastu Kak leha pakai kefium waaangi sangat sampai Mama tutup idung dalam car Papa.

Otel tu jauh sangat kat KLCC dengan KL Tower Amir nampak! Owh...itu otel dulu befday Amir ngan Kakak jugak. Papa suka datang otel tu, otel Shalala. Amir makan udang besar banyak-banyak lepas tu Amir makan ice-cream. Abang makan nooodle 3 sampai perut Abang besar. Kakak Aina suka makan pasta aje, dengan udang aje. Pas tu ada clown datang bagi balloon.

Kakak Leha makan sikit aje, sebab dia shedih. Mama dia meninggal hari Sabtu. Kakak Leha nangis lama-lama kat bilik dia. Mama kata jangan kacau Kak Leha sebab dia shedih sangat, tak dapat jumpa mama dia masuk dalam kubur.

Lepas makan tu Papa ajak balik, Abang tak nak balik nak jalan jugak. Kita naik car Papa pegi tempat lain. Mama kata kita pi Chewas, tengok Opah Ngah baru keluar ospital.

Dah sampai tu Amir tengok kata chest Opah Ngah ada tempat doctor cut, kaler yellow! Ada benang macam mama jahit baju. Lepas tu Wan Chor ajak makan pisang goweng dengan kawipap, Amir makan kawipap aje kat tepi dengan cwunchy-cwunchy pisang tuh. Pas tu bagi kat Mama bagi abis. Kat rumah tu Amir minum air suam banyak sebab boleh ambik sendiwi kat paip tu. Kakak Aina pun nak ambik sendiwi.

Lepas tu hari nak hujan macam thunder. Papa ajak balik cepat-cepat. Pas tu Papa stop kat Giant sebab Mama kata nak beli bawang. Mama kata Mama nak pegi cepat-cepat, tapi Amir nak ikut jugak. Amir kejar Mama masuk Giant dekat kedai Saykepi.

Owh...Mama nak beli cake. Amir nak cake black aje. Tu cake Amir. Mama kata tu cake Abang. Nak jugak cake Amir jugak, Amir nak jewit kat mama dah. Mama kata cake Amir nanti fiderman...ok lah Amir nak cake fiderman, tapi September nanti. Cake black bagi Abang.

Lepas tu balik rumah pasang candle, ada nine. Abang tepuk tangan, Papa take picture Abang smile kat cake black dia. Mama put fire kat candle, lepas tu Amir cepat-cepat tiup lepas Mama & Atam & Kakak nyanyi kat Abang…

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABANG!

Tergolekdoq

2007-04-20T13:31:00.000+08:00

Hari Rabu baru ni Mama tergolekdoq.

Hari Selasa kan dah rasa macam seram-seram sejuk. Malam tu memang rasa demam, telan le 2 biji panadol. Lepas tu pukul 4 pagi dah tak leh tido, pinggang sakit, berpusing-pusing seram sejuk tergigil-gigil. Last-last turun bawah, buat milo campur oat satu mug, minum habis dengan 2 biji panadol lagi. Pukul 6.30 pagi dah berpeluh-peluh, so kejut abang pi school, siapkan dia, then mintak Papa hantarkan.

Pukul 8 pagi Rabu contemplate nak pi kerja ke tidak. Sms boss kata tak larat, dan tak kan join dia meeting dengan client kat Jalan Duta. Dia kata take care ..he he. Sat lagi pukul 9 pagi Amir datang, "Mama, bangun, dah siang la Mama, Amir nak susu".

"Amir pi cakap kat kakak Leha la, Mama tak larat"

Lepas tu dengar dia jerit kuat-kuat tepi tangga "Kakaaaaaaak Leeehhaaaaaaaaaaa! Amir nak susu botol besaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar!"

Tak lama lepas tu dengar sok-sek sok-sek, Amir panjat katil masuk selimut Mama dengan botol susu besar dia. Last-last kita berdua pun out sampai pukul 11:30 pagi. Perut Mama dah berkeroncong, nasib baik Leha sudah masak nasi. Tibai aje nasi tu sebab dah tak larat nak tahan ketar badan, nak makan ubat.

Call Papa, dia kata dia ada lunch appointment. Kalau nak pi hospital, kena tunggu petang. Berguling-guling le Mama kat atas katil menahan sakit belakang. Malam tadi sakit belah kiri, masa tu sakit pindah belah kanan pulak. Lagi sakit la dari nak beranak. Pinggang pun rasa macam nak tercabut aje. Masa tu Mama rasa dah 100 kali keluar masuk toilet shi-shi sikit-sikit. Abang & Aina pun dah balik sekolah, masing-masing tolong gosok belakang Mama tengok keadaan Mama macam tu.

Then Papa sms kata dia nak ambil Mama pukul 2:25 petang. Bila Papa kata dia nak mai sat lagi, ingat nak mandi la. So pi la toilet kunun nak mandi. Tapi of course kena shi-shi dulu. Bila shi-shi tu tiba-tiba rasa lain macam je...dengar "ting" macam ada mende jatuh kat dalam bowl. Lepas basuh tu, perhatile betul-betul dalam bowl tu..macam ada biji lada hitam. Nak ambik ke tak? Aahh, bukan tak leh sterelize tangan tu kang..so ambik le biji tu. Cepat-cepat cuci tangan ngan dettol. Macam batu-karang aje...warna brown, ada shiny-shiny spike sikit-sikit.

Dan-dan tu sakit belakang hilang. Batu karang dah keluar le rupanya. Terus call Papa kata tak yah hantar hospital la. Nanti petang pi jumpa doktor dekat rumah ambil MC aje.

So petang tu pi jumpa Dr Ikhwan tu, dia kata nasib baik batu dah keluar. Dia bagi antibiotic and pain-killer la, sebab bladder mesti infected punya. Dapat MC dua hari, tapi Khamis dah belambak meeting lined up. Nak buat camne?

Lepas pi jumpa doktor, kita pi makan kek Secret Recipe (Saykepi kata Amir)...tapi malam tu start demam balik....sampai la ni masih demam on off.

Ingat nak balik awal petang ni, tapi my colleague baru call minta tolong buat proposal, esok due!

Ada ke suka buat last minute! Arrrggggghh!!!

Wayward Weather

2007-04-17T17:02:00.000+08:00

May I say that the weather is a little bit on the naughty side? Playing tricks everyday, unbearably hot during the day, and thunderstorms late in the evening?

The tricky weather makes our body systems go haywire, and children are the most affected, especially my kids.

To top it all, masing-masing degil!

They want "air sejuk" all the time, especially Amir. Some smart alec like Abang will also climb and open the freezer door of the refrigerator and ransack all the fish containers with the hope that there would be a lucky container full of ice-cream. That's because Acik & Atam would always hide their precious Italian or Neopolitan icecream in between the fish containers.

So there goes the "pantang" for the asthmatic kids.

What happens next? They would end up like this:

I'm starting to feel the chill too! I need a loooooooong break!

New Trail & Outpost

2007-04-13T13:55:00.000+08:00

The hamsters pair, Racer & Teecoos had their offsprings last month - all four of them. After a few days, only one managed to survive. Amir named him Wobot. This means they need bigger space to play, and Papa (who took a day-off from work last Monday, without telling me, and went to the Curve, Ikea and all) managed to buy the extension of the Habitrail.

Additional trail tube (in yellow) for more meaningful playtime.

Wobot enjoying his (or her?) new outpost. He became this big after 3 weeks! He was just the size of a peanut when he was born.

Now, Adam is telling me that Teecoos looks like she's pregnant again. He's excited about it because his friend just bragged to him that he got 7 hamsters. Oh my! At the rate they are breeding, the habitrail soon will look like train coaches!

My Naughty Bunch

2007-04-04T18:04:00.000+08:00

Remember Adam has to regularly use the inhaler?

Now the cannister is nowhere to be found.

I just found out that the three of them had played "doctor-nurse", and have used the nebulizer on to the "bearly patients". Now we are out of stock. That thing was supposed to last 3 months!

And now I gotta call my paeditrician friend Noni and asked what was the name of the inhaler. I think it's "Inflamide".

And this is what happened if you have a kid who just couldn't stand still to have his picture taken with his favorite movie character.

Nak Durian!

2007-03-28T15:49:00.000+08:00

This is a tree planted by my next door neighbour outside the house. I always park my car underneath this tree.

A few days back, coming back from the market with Amir, he pointed his fingers to the hanging fruits.

"Mama, Amir nak durian!"

I never realized that the tree is bearing fruit already.

"Bukan durian la Amir, it's nangka!"

"Owh!"

Asthmatic Adam

2007-03-06T13:28:00.000+08:00

The flu & cough virus are on the loose lately. My kids got them one at a time, taking turns one after another. Adam got it last, which eventually landed him in room 312 in DEMC last week.

Adam got the coughing bug the previous Sunday, afterwhich we had to bring him for many rounds of nebulizer. Normally, he'd recover after two days, but on Thursday his condition remained that the GP requested for a chest x-ray. True enough, his chest was filled with phlegm, and infected with bacteria. Eventually, he was diagnosed to have pneumonia, and needed to be admitted for the intraveneous antibiotic.

It was the day of my big presentation with a client, and in the middle of it, Papa smsed that he needed the insurance number and stuff like that. I had to call him during break time, and frantically sorted out the details. After that, my mind was not at the presentation at all, and had to get myself excused at 3:30pm.

First day at the hospital. Not a happy lad at all, especially when Mama is not around. Generally, he's ok, it's just that he needed to be on the nebulizer every 3 hours, and antibiotic 3 times a day.

Cheerful a bit, when Mama popped in at 4pm on the first day. Every half an hour, he'll go round the paediatric ward, talked to the nurses, go down the lobby and made himself at home.

Resah, gelisah, bila lah Abang boleh balik nih... 4 days at the hospital is agony.

Waiting for the discharge papers...

So it was a three-night-four-day stay for Adam in the hospital. We took turn to accompany him, Mama, Aina & Amir in the day, Atam & Acik popped by in the afternoons, and Papa stayed the nights. Of course he's upset because Mama couldn't sleep over, but since Amir is also showing some signs of flu & cough, Mama had to sleep at home.

In the end, Adam now is equipped with an inhaler, which he needs to use three times a day, for 3 months. He was pronounced as asthmatic, but not the frequent type. The inhaler is supposed to help strengthen the lungs and treat the asthma. Hopefully this illness is not for long.

Now we are monitoring Amir.

Mesmerizing Malaysia

2007-02-21T18:24:00.000+08:00

I'm beginning to sound like a tourism ad.
It's just that sometimes it's the day-to-day thingy that sometimes I fail to appreciate.

The rocky beach behind Marriot Miri. The actual panorama is more breathtaking. I'm marking this place as future vacation spot with kids.

I pass by this bridge everytime I go to Putrajaya. Execellent view huh? Even better that Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Rain is always welcomed during the hot spell. This one taken during our trip to the Butterfly Park.

My long unattended lilies in my garden - despite the insects attack and lack of fertilizer, they still manage to bloom, large and pure.

Hills being cut for the marbles along the Ipoh Highway. One day all these beautiful hills will be a flat, barren land.

p/s: And all the shots were taken using my Sony Ericsson K510i. Please refer to this blog if you wish to republish the shots.

Tourism or Independence?

2007-02-13T12:01:00.000+08:00

It's Visit Malaysia Year 2007 (VMY07) , but it's also the 50th year of Independence. We hear more of VMY07 all over the radio stations, but less of the nation's birthday. I guess whichever generates more money will make the headlines. A lot of influential people will also make money out of new tourism related projects, anything goes, as long as you can convince the public that the projects would directly or indirectly affect them beneficially.

So then how would my kids understand the meaning of Independence? And it's the 50th celebration. Do I need to show them the lovely places in Putrajaya, or the big posh bungalows along Section 9 and 7 in Shah Alam? Or merely repeating the movie Embun? Or try explaing to to them why Mama & Papa had to work late nights to fork out lotsa money so that they could have better education and compete in the outcome of the national post-independence curriculum.

I have not heard of any big plans for a big celebration yet. Maybe I'm too busy to read the papers and catch up with the latest fling. But I still managed to get some abuzz on Eye of Malaysia... so is it me or is it the news? Somebody please update?

Baby for Sale Anyone?

2007-01-16T18:28:00.000+08:00

Over the past few weeks, my kids had a lot of baby-encounter, from people visiting our home with babies, to meeting friends with babies.

This, of course triggers a lot of baby requests, and play time is now baby-themed.

"Mama, jom pegi Tesco beli baby" nags Amir all the time.

"Do you have money to buy the baby?" I asked him back.

"Ada, dalam poket Mama!"

"Baby tu berapa ringgit Amir nak beli?" asked Papa this time.

"Dua ringgit!" and he smiled endlessly, thinking that we both are willing to entertain his wish.

However, when we are at Tesco, babies are no longer on his mind, thanks to the many aisles of toys, cookies etc.

After work last week, I found these in Adam's room.

Welcoming 2007

2007-01-03T18:46:00.000+08:00

Goodbye 2006, Hello 2007!

That means goodbye my savings for the year, hello new school uniforms, fees, new tyres, insurance and road tax.

That also means we have to forget about having another baby sister, because that will cost us another big dent in our twiggy-bank. The kids have been watching waaaay too much of baby movies over the holidays, and have been begging for a little baby, especially Amir & Aina.

Well...I too long for soft little teeny weeny body to cuddle, but the thought of going through a torturing 9-month pregancy just gave me the jitters.

Papa, being the conservative banker he is, well... being calculative as well, are pretty much contented with the bunch. Hey, it's not cheap to raise children these days.

Let's just be calculative for a moment now, let's check our monthly list of spending just for the kids:

Groceries
Diapers
Powdered milk x 2 tins for 2 kids
Kumon x 4 subjects for 3 kids
Aina's pre-school fees
Adam's BM & Math tuition
Taekwondo
Iqra' home classes

Well, these are the basics, no frills yet. Frills include entertainment, toys, clothes and eating out.

Perhaps we need to look at those not as lucky as we are? Perhaps we need to be more sensitive to others needs? Like the flood-stricken victims? Like the land-slide survivors? Like the less fortunate ones?

Perhaps with the new year, we should be more prudent? And with prudence comes more blessings and increase in iman? Let's just ride the course of 2007 with more conscience of the poor and more quality time with our offsprings. I wish my kids will fly this year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Still Rude Malaysians

2006-12-19T16:53:00.000+08:00

Based on my personal encounters, Malaysians are still rude in general, despite the many efforts to reinstate that we Malaysians are of the gentle and respectful, polite culture. Unfortunately, I beg to differ, as I believe it's the little things that people do make you realize that people are not so polite after all.

Let me cite a few personal encounters, and observations:

Scenario 1:
Me and kids trying to get out of the elevator in a shopping mall. When the doors opened, people outside came rushing in as if that was the last elevator to leave the planet. They didn't bother to see a mother with 3 little kids trying to get out from the unnerving crowd, despite the fact that I was trying to manage the stroller out of the way. How disrespectful!

Scenario 2:
Gentlemen-ness is lacking in our local men. There is no giving way to open doors for ladies or even mothers with kids. No wonder we women adore the Mat Sallehs as they are more polite and sensitive to women (in that manner lah).

Scenario 3:
A senior citizen with walking stick trying to board the bus. The waiting crowd just pushed him aside. When I was in Perth, Australia, the bus driver actually came down from the bus and assisted an old lady with a wheel-chair to board the bus! He actually folded the wheel-chair and got showed her a seat in front. How attentive!

Scenario 4:
Al-fresco dining - this is eating out in the open at stalls. Well, I was pregnant that time, and the boys next to our table was puffing and smoking cigarattes like nobody's business. No doubt that it was open dining, and you could actually smoke, but please la be sensitive to your surroundings. It was so different in Paris. Smokers will not light up their cigarettes if they see pregnant ladies or kids around them.

Scenario 5:
Spitting in public! Euuwww!! I was in my car, at the traffic lights. A lorry driver in front was spitting out like there was a basin or something on the road. Come on la... people are just waiting there, observing other people. Tak malu ke?

Scenario 6:
Was just in the LRT last Sunday, taking Amir for his first ride. We got three seats to share, Adam, Aina, Amir and me. A few stops away, a couple with 2 kids boarded, the little boy was screaming as he didn't want to stand wobbly-ly. Two young chaps were just beside me and Adam. Nobody moved. I told Adam to give his seat away, and Adam moved to sit with me and Aina. But the boys didn't move at all. Gosh...what ever happened to kids these days??

Scenario 7:
Another LRT incident, last week, coming back from JB. A bunch of youngsters were talking loudly. It was rush-hour, and people are cramming in there, and these people just laughed and shouted as if there were loud music in there, macam disco la kut?

So there goes the ever so polite Malaysians. Or are we just polite to tourists and foreigners? Why can't we be nice to people of our own kind, people of Malaysia?

Pet Commentary

2006-12-15T18:20:00.000+08:00

A visit to Pet Safari last Sunday ended up with 3 hamsters and a habit-trail (the cage) which costed me a single room in a 4-star hotel for the entire package.

Well, somebody really really really begged for a pet, and after a series of promises like:

"Abang bagi makan hamster!"

"Abang promise to wash the cage!"

"Amir put air kat hamster!"

so we decided to put some responsibilities in the kids. Aina initially wanted a tortoise, but we figured we'll end up with too many habitats to take care of. So hamster it was.

We got 2 male hamsters and 1 female. Abang named his male hamster "Shark", Aina wanted a white hamster, so she named him "Racer" and Amir, simply named his girl "Tikus".

Unfortunately, Racer was the more dominant male, trying to outcast Shark, he bit and fought till Shark went bleeding all over and died on the second day. We learned our lesson, not to take two males at once.

By the third day it looks like its Papa who is doing the feeding and water-level checking all the time..

Monsoon Blues and School Holidays

2006-12-02T12:39:00.000+08:00

Year end in Malaysia will always be equated with the monsoon. As far as I could remember, it rains almost everyday since the start of school holidays, which was about 2 weeks ago. My kids are restless now as we have no agenda for the long holidays. To top it all, Mama has got tonnes of work mounting up to January next year!

But as a mother, I always want to ensure that my kids are happy. So we need to have some compromise this time around. I told the kids that we can't go somewhere far and spend days away from home. So the plan is to make every weekend as fulfilling as possible.

This plan started Saturday last week, where I brought them to the Butterfly Park, had lunch at the Bird Park among the Hornbills and climbing (not literally) the KL Tower. The day ended beautifully with us watching the sunset behind the dark clouds in the horizon which I believe is somewhere near the Klang shorelines.

It rained halfway through the Butterfly Park. Adam got bored waiting for the rain to stop.

Kois being fed every day by visitors to the park. No wonder they are so fat!

Magnificent view of KL.

I'm pleasantly surprised my phone camera picture turns out nice and sharp.

Aina loves collecting ticket stubs.

Hornbills are friendly in the bird park.

So now the challenge is to produce a weekend initerary for the kids, and manage the weather too! And here I am blogging in the middle of a Saturday meeting at the office. My colleagues thought I'm very much indulged in my proposal preparation. He he...

p/s: The copyright of the work in here belongs to Makbudak. Please cite reference to this site if you'd like to reproduce the materials.

Award Surprise

2006-11-13T17:25:00.000+08:00

On Friday last week, Mama had the honor of watching Adam going on stage, as a recipient of the “Peningkatan Prestasi Terbaik” award of Penulisan Bahasa Melayu. Boy, was I so proud of my son!

Actually, we never expected this, but the call came in to Papa on Tuesday last week, asking for our attendance to the Majlis Anugerah Cemerlang of the school. When Papa told me that Adam will receive on award for “Prestasi Tulisan” we were giggling endlessly as his writing is always the first thing we commented every time we review his work.

Turned out that Papa misheard the invitation. So the award is for his improvement in Bahasa Melayu composition and writing. We were impressed!

Being very easily distracted, Adam is not doing that great in school. I have always been the worried mother, and boy oh boy, the competition these days are just unbelievable. Not to mention the ever complicated curriculum for an eight year old, I just don’t have the heart of putting that pressure on Adam.

So, I decided (since Papa is always too busy with work) that we’ll take things easy for Adam. Let him bloom at his own progress. Just to catch up, we put him in Kumon so that will discipline him a bit. I’m not too sure if it’s the right thing to do for him. But I always pray that he’ll give us a surprise someday, and this award is one of them. Ameen!

Homey Hippopotamus

2006-11-01T15:21:00.000+08:00

Remember when when we were small and we loved to play "badak-badak"? (This question is for my siblings actually)

Now I have rekindled that memory with my own kids. So, how do we play "badak-badak"?

First, take a sizeable blanket enough to wrap your kid around. Fold both corners to form two triangles at one end of the blanket. Then place your child on the blanket while placing both hands under the folded corner.

Then wrap him up from both sides of the blanket.

Roll him over and bend him like below...wallah! Introducing you the Homey Hippopotamus! So this hippo can be a scary mean ol' hippo chasing everybody in the room, or simply a loveable, huggable little baby hippo that people just can't wait to cuddle. Now, this one looks like the latter, isn't it?

Oh, I just love entertaining my kids play time.... and this is merely one small piece of their imaginations..

In the Raya Mood 2

2006-10-30T13:47:00.000+08:00

The best part of raya is actually the preparation, especially the day before. This year we celebrate the first raya in my kampung, so we got busy with preparing lemang, rendang and kelamai (pumpkin cake in bamboo). The riuh-pikuk from the kids and cousins is unmatchable by the rest of the kids in the neighboring houses. This year, all my mom's grandchildren are back, so the pitch and screams are almost 100 decibles, especially chasing after the chickens.

This year, we had two types of rendang, rendang daging rusa (venison) and buffalo meat rendang. On top of that, the evergreen gulai ayam kampung, without the skin because all these kids had torn away the skin while pulling off the feathers. Thank god, only one chicken is skinless, otherwise, the flavor would have been different.

And Mama was in-charged of the kitchen, with the blending and the "tumis'ing", managed to put these rendang on the stove before Asar. Ended up with sore shoulders - results of dehusking coconut with Papa and fidgety fingers after squeezing the coconut milk.

The gentlemen? Well they were kept busy with the lemang and kelamai outside. The weather was excellent, so they didn't have much trouble taking care of the fire. Somehow, my dad was a little bit disappointed as the lemang was cooked to perfection - no kerak! And he loves kerak lemang!

So the timing was nice, we had lemang, gulai ayam and rendang for the buka puasa of the last day of Ramadhan. The kids just love the gulai ayam, not hot at all, while the parents were wishing it should have been a little bit spicier and hot...

In the Raya Mood

2006-10-19T17:55:00.000+08:00

Somehow all the buzz and fuss of the festivities reminds me of my childhood. There was a different feeling back then, and I miss that feeling.

I miss the atmosphere of Ramadhan then, specifically being around the kitchen of my late grandmother's house when she and my mother would prepare the buka puasa dishes.

I miss feeling so weak and drained while waiting for the azan.

I miss the fresh smell of rambutan plucked from the trees, turned into juices from the blender my mother just bought when we first had electricity installed at Wan's house.

I miss being greedy with all the buka puasa spread like pengat, kueh talam, rambutan juice, gulai cendawan sisir.

I miss having buka puasa with my parents and siblings.

And I look forward to a sumptuous buka puasa with them when we all get together this Sunday to prepare my mom's famous gulai ayam kampung, my kids favorites - lemang and rendang daging kerbau... Hey, only in my kampung I get to have daging kerbau (buffalo meat), instead of beef!

Now & Then

2006-10-06T14:42:00.000+08:00

The difference between a primary two boy NOW with his mother at primary two in 1976 THEN.

Adam - 5 pairs of school uniform – none of them is spotless, must have at least one marking of pens or water color, or pure dirt.
Mama - 2 pairs of school uniform – managed to bag the “Best Dressed Student/Cleanest Uniform” award most of the years in primary school.

Adam- 1 pencil last 2 days
Mama- 1 pencil last 1 month

Adam - New box of color pencils every MONTH
Mama - New box of color pencils every YEAR

Adam - Exercise books become “lonyer” by end of first term
Mama - Exercise books in excellent condition till year end

Adam - Sleeps in air-conditioned room, showered with warm water every morning while Mama busily prepares which uniform (ironed by maid) to wear and put tie on.
Mama - Slept in ”kelambu”-clad bed, no fan or air-cond. Showered with ice-cold water, collected the evening before from the perigi near the kubur…and dressed up on her own with uniform ironed by herself.

Adam - Homework done only if Mama asked and checked, under close scrutiny of Mama or aunties.
Mama - Her mother never has to worry about homework – all homework settled by night time.

Adam- Screams and shout for Mama to look for his missing textbooks that Mama has no idea of the whereabouts.
Mama - Books and school things are sacred stuff. Treated with honor and dignity.

Adam - RM 1 duit belanja every day, with bekal air and sometimes bekal of rotikaya, cereal, apples or sausages.
Mama - 20 sen duit belanja, spent on the best nasi lemak daun pisang ever, sold by best friend who came to school with a basket of those to help her mother.

Adam - Sent to school in Papa’s car, came back in neighbor’s car.
Mama - Walked about a km to and from school, with a bunch of friends, sometime de-toured to collect rambutan or rambai by the road side.

Adam - Watched Playhouse Disney Channel and play the videogame. Hands are quick on the remote and joystick. Calories burnt – 200 perhaps.
Mama - Created own game using stuff collected around the house, sticks, boxes, leaves etc...Imagination was wild and high. Calories burnt probably 1000.

Adam - Results: No 32 out of 39…sigh!
Mama - Results: No 1 out of 25, infact no 1 throughout the primary years… :-)

Terkenang semasa dulu...

2006-10-03T11:00:00.000+08:00

In every congenial trip back to my mother-in-law’s in Alor Setar, we would religiously make our compulsory visit to Pekan Rabu, the all northern food-galore center. When we were there recently, Amir found a new love – the “emping”. We were at this regular store, getting the regular stock of ikan masin and putu beras when we realized that Amir was happily dipping his little hand, filling it with emping from one of the containers. He was munching bit after bit that we decided to stock that too.

I already knew what to dish up with the emping. We just need some young grated coconut and some thinly sliced gula kabung to be mixed with the emping to make an unforgettable concoction. Which reminds me of the good old days...

When I was small, there was a period of time that my family stayed with my late grandmother in her kampong house. My dad was assigned to a very remote school deep in the jungle of Pahang. Accessing his workplace was very challenging, he decided to leave us to stay with our grandmother. This was in the mid-70’s, when having electricity and water is a new concept to the kampong people. Oh! I remember… I think we only had electricity, but water access was still very much ‘going-to-the-well’ type.

This was when I remember there was a lush green paddy field behind the house, with plenty of coconut trees swaying, that you could see tempua’s nests moving to the motion of the wind. This was when the air was crisp and smell of young paddy seeping up my nostrils. This was when I would pull the strings of the scarecrows tied to a bunch of empty milk cans made by my late grandmother to jolt the nerves of the uninvited visitors, cheering their departure.

I remember after the harvesting season, my mom’s siblings would gather at their eldest sister’s place to celebrate yet another good year of harvest. This was where the fun start, the making of emping. I recalled my aunties choosing a certain type of yield, dry frying the rice and when it was ready, transferred to a lesung kaki. Boy… I remember the fun of tapping the lesung with my elder cousins, and it was done with such a rhythm. The best part was enjoying the emping hot from the "oven"!! How I wish my kids would experience the simple life in the kampong during those days...

Seloka buat Amir

2006-09-25T16:45:00.000+08:00

24 September 2006

Sembilan bulan bermacam dugaan
Demam campak sungguh menduga
Kering air di dalam badan
Pinggang seperti dikerat tiga

Kandungan dibelit tali pusat
Sekali lagi Mama di’caesar’
Amir Ridhwan sangatlah bulat
Isra’ & Mikraj lahir lah dia

Dibelai ditatap saudara berdua
Adik baru umpama bintang
Tiga hari ke hospital semula
Demam panas mula mengundang

Sungguh resah rasa di hati
Buah hati tak dapat dibelai
Tinggal dia seorang diri
Demam kuning pula mengintai

Seminggu berjauhan tidak terduga
Rindu kami terus membara
Berkat doa seisi keluarga
Amir pulang semua bahagia

Tangkas berlari seperti kedidi
Burung tempua burung cecupak
Amir cergas tidak terperi
Belum setahun sudah menapak

Murai lalu di buluh tajam
Pohon jambu jadi penahan
Balik kampung duduk tak diam
Anak ayam lari bertempiaran

Sorong papan tarik papan
Buah keranji dalam perahu
Suruh makan Amir makan
Ayam sahaja nasi tak mahu

Riuh pekik tiga beradik
Rumah bagai tongkang pecah
Main bersama terpekik-pekik
Mulut becok Amir tak sudah

Tiga tahun sudah berlalu
Tetap menagih belai manja
Kerja Mama bertalu-talu
Tumpuan kasih sentiasa dipinta

Usia Amir masih dipangkal
Doa Mama setulus hati
Moga anakku sentiasa beramal
Buat bekalan kemudian hari