MUSINGS WITH ME

KARYN WHITE - SUPERWOMAN

2010-07-08T01:37:00.000-07:00

Bleargghhh

2010-04-26T09:54:00.000-07:00

Am desperately looking for some instant solutions to the things that have been bothering me of late; responsibilities, financial commitments / constraints, kids, career (?), expectations, high expectations, lethargy, housework ...

Surely I can get (crawl) my way out of this abyss

Marathon days are here..

2010-04-04T07:55:00.000-07:00

Am not looking forward to the days ahead. Anticipating very stressful Tuesday and Wednesday. Hopefully will have a more or less smooth transition in the next couple of days as I get back to my old routine. Must remember to have a sit down session with the elder two and hopefully they'll co-operate with mama. Perhaps a little bribing will do the trick. Wish me luck..

Doing it and doing it right

2010-03-11T22:45:00.000-08:00

Wishing that people would just do their job and do it properly. Is that so much to ask?? Really, stop the grumbling, whining and pointing of fingers and just get to it. After all, you're getting paid right... so what's the excuse? I can't think of any...

Saturday nite

2010-02-28T01:05:00.000-08:00

A few old frens came up from JB yesterday with the intention of meeting the KL bunch for a quick/short get together. Unfortunately though, since it was a long weekend with friday being a public holiday (Maulidur Rasul), only 3 managed to make it to the meeting. The rest of the gang were scattered all over the Peninsular, back in their hometowns meeting families and relatives. For the remaining few who were still in the state and not under the weather, we managed to converge at the big golden arch at Ampang Park last nite.

I was happy to be there, seeing old frens from the past and catching up on life in general. It was made even better with the presence of a new found ex-classmate of late. I came of course with my BFF/chauffeur (as always) who was kind enough to drive me to KL 45 mins after returning home from being out working all day. Honestly, without him I doubt I would've made the journey to the city. I hate driving to KL. I hate it even more when it's at night and to a place where I'm not familiar with. The last time I was in Ampang Park was many moons ago, and it's not exactly high on my list of fav places to hang out.

Anyway, my BFF was his usual friendly/sociable self. Quickly warming up to my frens and I'm pretty sure had a good time chomping away on the prosperity burger whilst watching Chelsea vs Man City. The last time he was out at some joint watching football with male companions was probably 14 years ago...before we got married. It's great to see him so relaxed and at ease last nite. I have to admit, at one point I wondered... were we there for my mini reunion or his?

Mengaji Class

2010-02-04T19:04:00.000-08:00

No 3 never liked going for his mengaji class. I don't know why, since the tahfiz school is just 3 doors away from our house, with many boys of his age as company... and the class is only half an hour at most. He'd often beg to stay home, giving all sorts of excuses... ranging from I have a fever/headache/toothache/ulcer... to I have a lot of homework from Teacher Kamisah (his kindy class teacher) etc. In extreme cases, no 3 would force himself to nap minutes after arriving home from his sitter, just to avoid attending his mengaji class which comes after.

What I don't understand is, when he comes back from the class... he's always in such a good mood. Telling me all the things that he's learned from the short 30 minute class, how many more pages to go before finishing off his Iqra' and who his new friends are. So I'm left to surmise that the class isn't that bad after all.. and that he's actually able to enjoy it once he's there and gets started.

Well, 2 days ago... to my surprise.. no 3 requested to be picked up early from his sitter because he wanted to go for his mengaji class after that. What?? Am I hearing this right... So mama did a bit of probing and discovered that on the day before, he had such a gala time at his class. Porquoi? Well apparently on that day... the ustaz who usually teaches him wasn't around so the older abang tahfiz was left in charge of his lesson that day. Which means... no 3 was able to have a chit-chat with the younger tahfiz boys as oppose to the usual hush-hush - silent mode which prevails in his regular classes. (Yes..yes..when the cat is away... the mouse comes out to play). Which also means that the tahfiz boys@ son's comrades were free to take out their rations of singam (chewing gums) and lollipops to be shared with no 3.

Husband has only one thing to say.... "No wonderlah he wants to go back to the class..it's like a gentlemen's club there".

Farewell mentor

2009-10-26T06:46:00.000-07:00

I've often believed that as I travel through life, I'm bound to cross paths with someone special who will leave an impression in my life. And if I'm lucky, I might strike a long and lasting friendship with such a character lasting for decades. Benefiting much from the relationship physically, mentally and spiritually.

I met with such a person, nearly 2 decades ago... a postgraduate student who arrived in bonny Edinburgh late autumn with his wife and 3 kids. Over the years in Edinburgh, my friends and I have regarded him as more than just the provider of our weekly usrah. He was our friend, our mentor and our point of reference with regards to many things in life. He was our brother who was wise and generous with what he had. And we will definitely miss the friendship and wisdom of the man affectionately known to us as Ustaz Din.

- Dr Hj Zainuddin Jaafar, may Allah have mercy on your soul. Al Fatihah.

One lazy , gravity-defying Saturday afternoon

2009-06-20T12:06:00.000-07:00

No 5

No 4

No 3

No 2

No 1

Altogether now

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-20T10:36:00.000-07:00

Years and years ago, sometime back in the early 90s, I came across a poem in an article in the New Straits Times. There was however no title nor name of the poet that had written it. Drawn by its simplicity and clever use of metaphor, I immediately cut out the poem and have kept it for the past 16 odd years.

I took it out today and like any newspaper clipping kept over a long period of time, mine has now turned yellow, almost brown in fact.... but still intact.

"If there be a garden with blooms aplenty

But not the buzz of a single bee

Be it fresh and bright from morn ' to morn

Yet is it not lifeless without some sound?

For it is the way with Mother Nature

The humming bee completes the overture

So tell me not, dear ladies and friends

That we can live without our men

A day, a week... perhaps we can

But come a month, that is the end

We yearn and long for his caress

With him, we enjoy the comfort of our nest

Without him, ecstasy is never at its best."

****

To F my best bud... partner in crime... "along"...mr fixit...gadget-man...driver...court jester... DVD provider etc etc...

"HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!"

Father's Day dinner at Sunway Pyramid

The Holy Land

2009-06-15T07:32:00.000-07:00

About 2 weeks ago, a few colleagues, a neighbour and a friend from primary school left to perform their umrah with their respective families. Seeing a few of them leave and having conversations with them prior to their journey, has left me feeling very nostalgic indeed.

It was exactly a year ago when I too had the priviledge of visiting the Holy Land. And I've often wondered since then, when my next visit would be. Sometimes in quiet moments alone, I'd have flashbacks of my time spent in Madinah and Mecca. I'm reminded of the prayers performed in the two great mosques and the feeling of calm and tranquility felt there. Often I'd find myself wishing I was back in Masjidil Haram, amongst the sea of people performing the tawaf or listening to the melancholic call of the azan beckoning all to perform the solat. I look forward and can't wait for the time when I'm given the opportunity to return to these two holy cities again. And I certainly hope that it wouldn't be too long of a wait.

WOULDN"T IT BE NICE

2009-05-21T08:23:00.000-07:00

Wouldn't it be nice

to be left alone

in the bliss of quiet solitude,

to set the mind free

of worries that be

which plagues this self of mine.

Wouldn't it be nice

to walk out that door

and leave this empty room,

for far distant places

with many new faces

and return

like a rose in full bloom.

Chaos

2009-04-22T21:42:00.000-07:00

Life has been pretty chaotic for the past couple of months...and off late I've been feeling very exhausted and frustrated. This unwelcomed change of lifestyle, imposed by the recent change of events has very much turned my life upside down, with very little time left for me to indulge in my "Me" things.

I miss the quiet afternoons when I used to be able to catch up with my multiple readings.... (3 books read around the same period of time)... or how about just lazing in front of the TV at 3pm with remote control in hand and watching snippets of Ellen or My Max-ed programmes recorded a couple of days before. And one thing for sure, I most certainly miss (and I'm saying this with a capital M)... blogging.

The last post was about 2 months ago... and I haven't written anything since. Thus this very dead blog needs to be resurrected and I plan to do so ASAP. Yes... I will do that the moment there is some semblance of order in my life. ;)

Reunion at Rojak-Rojak

2009-02-14T05:49:00.000-08:00

Ever since the date was set, I've been thinking about it almost everyday. What would everyone look like? Would I be able to recognise them? Would they be able to recognise me? What would I say to all of them when finally face to face? After all, 25 years is a very long time...

Yes, after weeks of planning, discussing dates and venues and coordinating with everyone... the reunion finally took place this afternoon. There was much laughter of course, as everyone recounted the past... recalling events as far back as 30 years ago. Old pictures were produced and animated conversation took place as we tried to recall names of ex-classmates and teachers. Some names easily rolled off our tongues, whilst others needed a bit more recollection. We definitely had a laugh looking at the pictures; the ridiculous poses and our 80s fashion sense.

Within the span of 3 hours, past events which have remained locked in the recesses of our minds for many many years were mentioned once more, resulting in peals of laughter. We recalled being used as messengers by two teachers who wanted to send notes (love notes??) to each other. We remembered a certain pencil accident which resulted in a slight spill of blood in standard one. And we certainly never forgot the nenek kebayan toilet stories that used to haunt us back at school.

Twenty-five years have passed, some things have definitely changed, but the familiarity of friendship and camaraderie have remained the same.

FBB's 2 days visa

(tq Fauzi B, Fauzee T, Fauzi I and Rizal for making the journey north to see Yassin, Shahrin, Inaz, Huda, Siti and I here in KL)

Though we have gone our separate ways,

the memories are here to stay,

Of cherished thoughts that fill our hearts

Till the last moments when we part.
******

What's Happening To the World?

2009-01-30T22:27:00.000-08:00

I think I've gone rather cynical over the years. This deep feeling of mistrust of human nature is not just something that I've slowly developed over time, but is further fuelled by the increasing number of crime cases heard, seen and even experienced.

As such, the way I behave and conduct myself have always been of caution. I trust no one except for God and my family. Though we've had our share of potentially dangerous situations / encounters with robbers and such ... we've been quite lucky so far, in the sense that nobody has been hurt and everyone is safe in the end. And I have only ALLAH to thank for that.

I honestly can't understand how anybody could rob from the poor. My gardener this man who comes to our house on his rickety bicycle once a month to mow our grass, was robbed yesterday about 20 meters away from my house... roughly 30 minutes after I had last seen him. It's so mind-boggling and difficult to comprehend how anybody could even think of robbing him as he was obviously poor. There was no way anyone could mistake him to be rich. Definitely not from the way he was dressed; old and tattered trousers worn with a shirt that has probably seen many a washings.

Ironically, I had actually seen the robbers and the white Kelisa they were in before that. But of course, I didn't know then that they were looking for victims. Through tricks, deceit and physical assault they managed to relieve the gardener of his machine ( a brand new grass-cutting machine which was bought on loan and have yet to be paid back). My husband and I saw him moments after the robbery and we were deeply affected by the sight that greeted us. The anguished look on his face which later gave way to cries of despair was something that neither of us could ever forget. He could not understand how fellow Muslims could ever resort to such acts on another fellow Muslim. Yes.. the robbers as I recall were indeed Muslim lads and there were 3 of them in the car. Such cowards!! Three against one... and I've only words of contempt for them.

Today, our gardener returned to our house with another grass-cutting machine which was given to him by a generous Haji who lived not very far from here. In our brief conversation, I advised him not too be too trusting of people ( even if they are Muslims ) and to be extra cautious in the future. As he cleared my garden of weeds and later mowed the lawn, I asked my 2 elder kids if they wanted to give the man some money as sedekah as their way of helping a fellow Muslim in need. They both agreed to part with some of their savings - Hannan from her Eid collection whilst Yusuf from the circumsicion angpau he received from Atok Famy last year. And when I gave him his dues for the day's work together with a packet of bahulu and my kids' sedekah .. I could see the tears of joy trickling down his weather-beaten face as he clasped his hands together in a sign of gratitude . Being the softie that I am, I quickly turned away as I too felt a tear or two trickling down my face.

Revisiting my past

2009-01-23T19:02:00.000-08:00

FB has been a godsent and I have Mark Zuckerberg to thank. The whole idea of allowing people to get connected with others be it locally or globally is just great. Over the past year of being active in FB, I've been able to stay connected with friends, make new friends and even get reacquainted with long lost childhood pals from school...going as far as 25 years.

I had left primary school 25 years ago to be exact. Since then, I've been everywhere. When dad got promoted, we left the state and moved up north. I later left the country in 1990 to continue my studies abroad for 6 years. Upon my return, I moved 3 times before finally settling down to where I am today. With work and family commitments, keeping in touch with friends over the years required effort... a lot of effort. And there were many many times when contacts were lost or friends just drifted apart.

Of late, some old friends have been extra busy tracking down classmates of a primary school that I used to attend in Johor. People whom I'd never thought I'd hear or see again suddenly appear on my screen out of nowhere. Imagine the emotions stirred upon seeing familiar names popping up and the floodgates of memories opening, unleashing memories of yesteryears. Contacts have since then been re-established, phone calls made across states and messages sent flying in cyberspace. All in the pursuit of reconnecting with my past.

There's been a buzz on FB about organizing a reunion for our group. Talks about getting as many classmates as possible and teachers too (if possible) to meet up sometime soon... have definitely left me feeling so excited. I never had many pics of my primary years, and the fact that many were lost when we moved about only made it worse. So I can't thank you enough friends who have taken the effort to upload some old..really old pics of us back in school (some going as far back as 30 years). And it was indeed hilarious to be looking at the pics and not recognizing yourself in them... how terrible is that??

My Alma mater

1 kuning - 1979

Prefectorial Board - 1983

with friends at the school field

Class teacher Pn Hamidah and my tormentors

Our actual class register

OMG! I can see my name in the register!!!

(kudos to Fauzee/Fauzi)

* I'd just like to say a special thanks to several friends in Johor, who have taken the task to revisit the school and collect as much info about the class of 6 Biru 1984. See you guys at the reunion!

Family Bliss

2009-01-11T01:20:00.000-08:00

When I was growing up, I remember spending a lot of time at my grandfather's house. On weekdays my brother and I stayed at his place in Taman Johor Jaya, whilst on weekends we would be back in Singapore with our mom and dad. He was a strict man, my Tok Bak . And I remember us (his grandchildren) being terribly afraid of him. He only had to give us the briefest of glance, and we'd be scampering away in the opposite direction. On the contrary, my Mak Tok was a gentle and quiet woman, whom we often sought comfort from. But as Tok Bak got older, he somehow mellowed in my opinion. He became more friendly and less of a disciplinarian and his grandchildren were no longer afraid of him.

If there was one thing about my garandfather that I'd remember most, it'd be his belief in the unity of the family. And over the years of growing up, I have witnessed the solidarity and unity of the Omar clan. Yes, they bicker and fight, like any other family. But at the end of the day, they remain as one. And it is this value passed on from my grandfather to my mom and to me, that I hope to pass on to my children one day.

***

I came aross this beautiful poem earlier on and I think it encapsulates the true essence of the family day we had last December.

Family.. by
© Ryan Guerrero

Not enough hours in the day, we often say

we watch as the business of life allows time slip away.

Before we know days turn to months and months into years,

Time is mapped with laughter and cheers,

the long road sometimes landmarked with sadness and tears.

Elders pass and children grow,

has it been that long we ask, where does the time go?

Not every chance to gather is taken.

"We'll see them next time" we say and hope we're not mistaken.

A chance like now comes once in a lifetime it seems,

when the bright light of family is nurtured and beams,

there will be laughter and time to reminisce

we will all be proud this is a chance we did not miss.

***

Our venue : Agrotek Garden Resort. Beautifully landscaped.

*****

Let the games begin....

Betung Air

Tarik bangggg....jangan tak tarikkkk!!!

nombor besar..nombor besar..nombor besar

Eh! Doktor gigi tau tak anak dia tengah kutip gula-gula..

kiri-kanan-kiri-kanan

... I'm quite sure there was a baby whale just now...

santai kita....

wrestling atas titi

ohh...but he was doing so well just now...

the faris familia

and the cheering crowd

santapan rohani

Aisyah's birthday cake

Luqman's birthday cupcakes

... and Safreedah's Hilton cakes... yum! yum!

****

The Entertainment

David Copperfield wannabes

.. suara ikut mamanya... those dance moves definitely ikut ayahnya

bacaan selawat oleh cucu tersayang

... and the best line of the nite..."Err atok... we are balanced".

.. the crooner and his mime squad..

the singing dentist...with his most unique rendition of Purple Rain

***

Prize giving ceremony

our very own Princess Hannan

best performance... "mama miaaaaaaa"

pertawai

Kacong

kampong kastam

pujaan kuuuu

and the winner is... the mengkarungs!

orang kuat kita

the Omar family

yeayyyy! that was one successful family day!!

and

... the winner of the karoake nite...
Dr Purple Rain himself, accepting ( in absentia)his award at home.

***

A chance like now comes once in a lifetime it seems,
when the bright light of family is nurtured and beams,
there will be laughter and time to reminisce
we will all be proud this is a chance we did not miss.

... and happy I am that we did not miss, the times with our loved ones was surely bliss!

Haute Couture

2009-01-02T20:45:00.000-08:00

My mom is a superwoman... and I'm not kidding. She's a wonderful teacher, a great cook ( all her 4 kids and 9 siblings can attest to this) and has upholstered hubby's fav sofa at the cost of RM50 (when the shop wanted to charge us a thousand bucks!!).... and these are just a fraction of the many wonderful things that she can do.

Recently she surprised the family by designing new evening gowns for my daughters' Barbie dolls. Somehow rather after giving the Barbies their bath one day... my daughters misplaced their costumes and the Barbies have been without any form of attire for many months now.

And Mak Tok who simply cannot stomach a Barbie with no clothes on, decided to take matters into her own hands. So, she came up with these.... and even decided to give them new names befitting their new identities.

Meet Khadijah (pink) Ratu Malaya in kebaya and flowing sequined skirt, complete with scarf and Priyanka (blue) the Indian Princess with an off-the-shoulder embroidered baby blue evening gown.

And that is why my daughters simply lurrrrrvveeee their Mak Tok to bits!!

** A special thanks to our tailor Tee for giving away the fabrics for free.

Korea 6th Dec 2008

2008-12-14T19:29:00.000-08:00

After husband's 2nd day of conference, we decided to go and visit the Korean National Mosque. A study of the local map showed that we needed to get to Itaewon, where the mosque was located. And with our good friend Dr Chew (our subway guru) on board, we were quite certain we'd have no problems getting to the place.

I'd say, it was a good hour later (with us changing lines 3 times I think) before we finally arrived at Itaewon. Upon stepping out of Itaewon station, we found ourselves standing in front of a building which had the word Hamilton on it ( I can't remember if it was a hotel / shop or restaurant). We immediately turned left and started walking amongst the crowd... but weren't sure how far we had to walk before getting to the mosque. Luckily, husband spotted the minarets of the mosque in the distance... probably some 50m away. We quickly zigzagged in between rows of shops and soon found ourselves in the vicinity of the mosque.

By the time we reached the mosque, which was beautifully perched on top of a hill overlooking Seoul city, it was slightly after Isya'. The majestic entrance leading to the mosque was beautiful with turquoise geometric tiles set according to Islamic architecture... and right at the centre were some Korean wordings which I assumed meant the Korean National Mosque.

The front facade of the mosque

It was interesting to learn that Malaysia had a role in setting up of the mosque. In fact, if I'm not mistaken the late Tunku Abdul Rahman had helped by purchasing the hill top land at the price of US 33,000 back in 1962. However, the plan was derailed due to inflation and the mosque was only built in Seoul's Itaewon neighborhood in 1976. The president of the Korea Islam Institute estimated that there are about 40,000 listed Muslims in South Korea, and about 10,000 are estimated to be highly active practitioners.

We met a few muslims at the mosque and wished them Happy Eid Mubarak as Raya Haji was just 2 days away. From them we found out the location of halal restaurants in the area and soon found ourselves at a Turkish restaurant called "Salam Restaurant". Hubby, Dr Chew and I were more than happy to escape the cold and have a quick bite and pit-stop at this very cosy place. Feeling rather famished, we happily ordered dinner which comprised of lamb kofte, chicken kebabs with salads, pitta bread and turkish coffee ( the last one for the heck of it).

Salam Restaurant

Yummy!!

Yummy... no more!

With a full belly and an empty bladder, we left for Myeong-dong for our last shopping spree in Korea. We were leaving for home the next day and I was feeling very apprehensive as I hadn't bought anything for the kids. I was told by Dr Chew that this was the best place to get cheap cheap toys for children.

Ready for riot?? Normal scene in Korea

Myeong-dong.... shop till you drop

Had it not been sooo cold, we might have stayed longer and explored the area better. But it was freezing cold... -10 Celsius, and I felt as if my nose was going to fall off soon. So with shopping bags in hand, we ran into a cab and headed for our hotel. While husband had a short meeting with a colleague back at the hotel, I had the task of packing for our trip home the next day. We managed to get loads of stuff for our girls at Myeong-dong, but none suitable for our boys. Hubby later said that we'll just do what he normally does on his overseas trips when it comes to getting gifts for the kids...that is shop at KLIA toy shop before getting into the taxi home. Yup! That's what we did... and a big Kamsa Hamnida to the cashier for snipping off the price tags before stuffing the things into our shopping bags.

Korea 5th Dec 2008

2008-12-14T07:23:00.000-08:00

The weather forecast warned us that the temperature was going to drop down even further today... and it did. It went all the way down to sub zero during the day!

As we left the hotel for a tour of the factory, we noticed the small pool of water outside the hotel had turned into ice. It was rock solid. I'm pretty sure, if there were little elves around in the neighbourhood ... they would have been able to ice-skate on it.

Anyway the factory tour ended in the afternoon and we were back at our hotel by 4pm. Two Korean friends of hubby later came to the hotel and took us out for dinner. We took a taxi and hubby and I were pleasantly surprised to find ourselves at the doorstep of a Japanese Restaurant. My last and only experience of Japanese cuisine prior to this was many many years ago at Hilton Hotel in P.Jaya. What an experience that had been. I vividly remember my clumsy attempts at trying to get sushis into my mouth using chopsticks... and how they often ended falling onto my plate instead... which of course explained why I was still feeling hungry after dinner!

The restaurant was cosy but more importantly it provided us the much needed warmth and refuge from the -12 Celsius freezing weather outside. I really liked the place and was most taken by its wooden decor which was complete with typical Japanese sliding doors and low dining tables. It reminded me of the Japanese drama series Oshin that mom and I used to watch when I was a child.

Our Korean hosts understood our need for halal food, hence ordered an array of dishes which comprised of fish, crab, shrimps and the likes of them. It was a true Japanese gastronomic fare. I was almost hesitant initially to sample the dishes, lest I ruin the obvious meticulous work of the chef who had carefully and delicately placed and arranged every item of food on the big serving plates. Suffice to say, we were in awe at the amount of detail placed on the presentation of each dish to ensure it was aesthetically pleasing to the eyes of the customers.

The highlight of the night was a dish our Korean friends described as "toxic fish"... which I assume was akin to the "fugu" or Japanese puffer fish. In the hands of the inexperienced, whereby the fish is not carefully prepared, it becomes lethal. Our server came in and carefully rolled the thinly sliced fish together with strands of cucumber ( I think). As we popped the mini delights into our mouths (not without many many Bismillahs before that), we couldn't help but recall the fatal incident in Johor a few months back in June when two customers died after eating the puffer fish or ikan buntal. Naudzubillah!

Surviving that... we then proceeded to another amazing dish which had specks of edible gold lightly scattered on the fish. Having worn gold all my life, it felt very very odd indeed having it for dinner! But to my surprise, the gold was hardly noticeable once in the mouth. I'm quite sure these two dishes must have cost a bomb and both hubby and I felt most lucky to be treated to such sumptuous dinner by our Korean friends.

The chef meeting our party for a short chat during dinner

Leaving the restaurant was hard as we knew we'd be reluctantly thrown back into the freezing cold. As cold as it was that night, not a drop of snow was to be seen anywhere in Seoul city. But later that night, we discovered from the local TV that snow had actually blanketed some areas down south. Alas! No winter sonata for me this time around...

Korea 4th Dec 2008

2008-12-10T01:44:00.000-08:00

Anyong Haseo!!

Husband's 4 day trip to Korea was great. Great because unlike many of his trips abroad, this time around I got to go too. Ain't that great!

The one and a half hour journey into the city from the airport took longer than usual. Upon crossing Han River, we found ourselves stuck in a traffic jam... crawling slowly into Seoul city. As we gazed out from the MPV, hubby and I were struck by the level of patriotism amongst the Koreans when it came to owning cars. Daewoos, Hyundais and Ssangyongs lined the streets with hardly any foreign cars to be seen anywhere. Sooooo unlike home.

Anyway, once checked into our hotel... our party of 7 took a taxi and headed for the silk shops. A few days earlier, hubby had read in the internet about a certain area which is known to be a good place to purchase silk. Just in case anyone is thinking of going there in the future, perhaps this address may be of use to you as it has to us.

HYUN WOO SILK

#187, 188 1F KWANG JANG, TEXTILE DEPT 6-1 YEJIDONG JONGROKU, SEOUL, KOREA

Tel : 22660167, 22760169 HP : 011-2760169

It's a good idea to call the shop in advance as someone from the shop might be able to wait for you at the entrance. Honestly, I don't think we'd have been able to find our way to the shop as the area was a huge labryinth of little textile shops which looked pretty much identical.

At the shop, we were greeted by a young and pleasant shop assistant who surprised us by speaking English. Not only was she pretty, she had vocabulary to boot using the word "shabby" to describe the food stalls in the area. My F5 students at school can surely learn a thing or two from this girl. Her motivation and drive to learn English can easily put my students to shame.

Our helpful Korean "silk" girl assisting our group in search for lunch

Through our newly found interpreter, we were able to get a discount from the owner of the shop. He called it the "Malaysian Embassy Price" (Wallahualam). Now this had me thinking immediately about the number of Malaysian customers that must have walked through the doors of his modest shop over the years. It must have been somewhere in between his use of the word "baju kurung" and "cantik" that I was bought over and hubby soon found himself having to depart from his many many Korean wons. Don't we just lurve our husbands!!

Yes. Two of the five pieces that ended in my shopping bag. Husband finally redeemed after his A Tale of the Korean Silk fiasco last year.

On a walkabout
Our walk around Dongdaemun area saw us passing by many specialised shops. There were rows that specialised in sewing machines, another that sold plastics and rubber bands of all shapes and sizes, another had books stacked from floor to ceiling (my fav), some sticker shops...and the amazing thing is, these shops were sooo tiny. In most instances there would probably be enough standing room for 3 people!

Orthodontic rubber bands for giants available here

Customized stickers service

Namdaemun Night Market
For cheap souveniers to take home, this is the place to go. Little Korean trinkets like paper fans, book markers, keychains, placemats, small dessert spoons and forks, brooches and hair accesories abound everywhere you turn. Communication may be a problem...a BIG problem sometimes...but don't despair. On your part resort to sign language (as I did many many times) and on the seller's part he/she will be punching the numbers on his/her calculator for you to see. Definetely no communication barrier there!

Market comes alive at night from 7pm till midnight

Flying thousands of miles away, to end up buying
Vietnamese silk handbags in Korea!

If this interests you the place is

#18, 1F, Co Co B/D.

52-1 Namchang-Dong, Choong-Gu, Seoul, Korea

Starving
In Kimchi-land, halal food is scarce. Unless you know where to look, finding halal food is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Luckilly I had mom's sambal ikan bilis in my emergency kit. This was of course eaten together with maggi mee brought from home. Once awhile, when sick of maggi, the sambal was eaten with bread. Extradiondinary times call for extradordinary measures..

Simply delish!

Anyway, it was during one of our walkabouts on the first day that we stumbled upon a small halal kebab shop which if I'm not mistaken is located near Hoehyeon Station. It was manned by an Iraqi who had been in the country for the past 6 months. We were of course ecstatic to see him. Whilst he was happy to see fellow Muslims in Korea, we were of course happy to see him for reasons more related to our tummy! Needless to say the kebabs were savoured and devoured in a matter of seconds by the hungry travellers..

For truly satisfying kebabs at 3000 won (roughly rm7.50) call 776 6904

Lost
Getting around in taxis would be ideal. It's faster (when there's no traffic jams of course) and less tiring on the feet. The only thing is, one must be willing to part with the thousands of wons in the wallet. Perhaps, it's only right that when in Korea, one needs to at least try the subway system.... no matter how complicated it may seem. Used to the less complicated London underground, I have to admit being slightly intimidated by the whole Korean subway thing. Lucky for us, we had hubby's good fren (Dr Chew) to take us on a train hopping experience. Looking at the way how he managed to get us from one place to another, one could mistake him for a local. Perhaps Korea is indeed his second home and his real name is Dr Kim Chew!

Care to decipher the map???

So over the 3 days, we got around using the subway... and life would definetely be incomplete if we didn't get lost along the way ;> We had actually got down at the wrong station on our way back to the hotel and ended up unsure as how to proceed from there. Instead of exiting at Seolleung Station, we had somehow rather exited at Samseong Station. The tall modern buildings surrounding the area gave little hints as to where we were. It didn't help either that by that time, the temperature had dropped to just slightly above 0 celcius and we were freezing our @*%%$ off. But thank god for 2 Korean men who helped us by getting us a taxi back to the hotel. I was more than happy to jump into the cab as I felt we were slowly but surely turning into popsicles!

Deep in the night, last night

2008-11-03T07:16:00.000-08:00

I'm amazed how some people can easily fall asleep the moment their heads hit the pillow. Take hubby as an example... he can immediately doze off anytime...anywhere...if he wants to that is.
Never a fuss... just instant sleep the moment he closes his eyes. He can even do this whilst I'm yakking away beside him about the day's events...much to my dismay, of course!.

I on the other hand, happen to be one of those that take hours to fall asleep. Well maybe not really hours as in hours... but surely many many minutes before I reach the very first phase of sleep. The tossing and turning and countless fluffing of pillows are just part of the usual exhausting rigmarole that I go through before finally falling asleep. It's quite exasperating actually, especially if you turn and see your sleeping partner sprinting himself away towards a good surf on his delta waves!!

Hubby says he enjoys his power naps which is a somewhat effective way of increasing productivity in the afternoon at work. He believes that a quick shut-eye can help to give a much needed recharge in the afternoon... in his case before rushing off to do his night shift at work. After a quick nap ( usually just a couple of minutes ) one will wake up feeling most refreshed and energized. So he says. I wouldn't know, since I need at least 30 minutes to an hour before finally falling asleep. There's definitely no such thing as a quick forty winks for moi.

All these talk about sleep inevitably leads me to what happend deep in the dark, last night. For the hundredth time... when the house was still and everyone's asleep.. yours trully was lying awake in bed, blinking her eyeballs out. She lay there feeling most envious of everybody who were obviously in deep slumber whilst she struggled trying to put herself to sleep. When counting sheep and everything else she could think of didn't seem to work... the insomniac walked out of her room to her children's ... and sat at the edge of their beds and kissed each one of her five children tenderly on the forehead. A calming effect was surely felt. She then returned to bed and recited a series of random zikir. How many she did not know... for sometime at 2.30am she finally fell asleep. Zzzzzzzz

DVD weekend

2008-10-24T01:54:00.000-07:00

Yeay! The loonnggg weekend is here... Monday and Tuesday off with the Deepavali celebrations just around the corner. Since this is the last weekend before the end of Syawal, the weekend is pretty much packed (again!) with back-to-back open houses invites. Hubby and I tried to do a marathon of 6 houses last Saturday...but only managed to cover 4. By the time we got home just slightly before 7pm... we were so knackered and parents and kids unanimously agreed to forgo dinner...(there was just no room left after the satay, rendang, laksa penang etc etc).

I'm hoping for a slightly less manic weekend this time around. Do our rounds of open-houses during the day and perhaps watch a few DVDs at night. I used to do that quite a lot... a couple of years back...watch DVDs with hubby when the kids are all curled up in bed. No interruptions. Bliss...

Well, our library of DVDs have somewhat grown over the years. Must confess there are many, many, many movies that we have not seen yet. They're just lying there mostly... still in plastics.. waiting to be taken out of the DVD basket. Sometimes, hubby the official DVD hunter/seeker forgets he has made an earlier purchase of a movie... ends up buying the same movie again at the DVD shop. This of course explains why we sometimes have 2 copies of the same movie in our collection...

I finally watched Atonement the other day... just to see what the hype was all about... and happy to announce was not the least bit disappointed. The movie was great!! Immediately requested for Atonement II from hubby, if it should ever come out..haha! Wished the ending could have been somewhat different.. but then again.. it wouldn't have garnered all the awards had the ending been the way I wanted it to be.

Official verdict : Atonement - a must see and a must have!

Raya 2008

2008-10-08T01:45:00.000-07:00

Just when you think that a week's holiday is more than enough to celebrate Eid, attending open-houses and uploading the hundreds of pictures taken over the week... think again. I found myself rushing from one open-house to another... hosting one myself...while assisting another at my in-law's a few days later... and before you know it... the holiday is over and I'm back at work...albeit unwillingly.

Happy Eid Mubarak everyone!

On My Anniversary

2008-08-31T21:33:00.000-07:00

What did I do on my wedding anniversary?? Well... a drive to Concorde Shah Alam for a much deserved high-tea (minus the kids of course).

Bread pudding. Yummy!

...and what did hubby do on the eve of our anniversary??

1. Went for his 2-5am night patrol of our housing area

2. Came back after his rounds with stories of how a suspicious looking car (possibly robbers') rammed into the palang placed at one of the exit points at our housing area after being in hot pursuit by a radio car on patrol. In an attempt to escape, robbers rammed pole at full speed causing windscreen to be broken to smithereens... hopefully sustaining serious facial/brain damage along the way.

Though robbers were seen leaving the housing area with what's-left-of-the-car... they did leave however their road tax lying on the road...to be picked up by our night patrol on duty...which was of course handed to the police. Hurrah!

El Stupidos getaway route which backfired BIG time!!!

A big chunk of the windscreen left by the roadside

Keeping A Promise - Stories from the Holy Land Part 2

2008-08-26T02:49:00.000-07:00

I promised I'd do this. At a family gathering about a month ago, my uncle Famy who had read my earlier entry on Stories From The Holy Land, pointed out that I had missed out two important scenes/incidents that happened during our umrah trip in May. Both were equal in hilarity and will forever be etched in our minds.

A Fetish For Chicken Mandi
When we were in Mecca, most of our meals were taken at the hotel. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were simple meals eaten within the confines of our small dining area, in the company of other umrah performers.

In was not until the third day in Mecca, that we ventured out to the more modern, swanky and upscale area of... Hilton Hotel. We had completed our second umrah just slightly after noon and instead of returning to our hotel we decided to stay close to the vicinity of Masjidil Haram and wait for Asr. Since we had not eaten lunch yet, we walked across to Hilton in search of some grub and soon found ourselves at Al Tazaj - a takeaway restaurant that specialised in Arab cuisine.

Hubby and uncle soon placed our order, guided by the colourful menu displayed behind the counter. Feeling slightly adventurous, they bought an array of delectable dishes which included pitta bread , salads and savoury rice. Since it was a takeaway restaurant, we discovered there were no tables and chairs to be seen anywhere at the establishment. What we did notice though, were several small Arab families sitting on the floor enjoying their own Al Tazaj takeaway meals...and they looked quite comfortable doing it too!

So throwing caution to the wind, we too found ourselves sitting cross-legged on the floor. Me and an aunt still garbed in our telekung whilst hubby and uncles in their ihram- oblivious to our surrounding as we dug into the delicious Chicken Mandi and Chicken Kabsa. None of the Arabs gave us a second look. But we did see some eyebrows raised from fellow Malaysians, who must have thought we were bonkers for doing so. Very unMalaysian we were I'm sure, but as the saying goes "When in Rome, Do as the Romans Do".

Chicken Mandi - my favourite!

The Golden Lounge
Another memorable incident was at Jeddah just hours before we flew home. We were at the airport and discovered that there weren't that many seats available for us while we waited for our flight. The only place vacant was the curb which eventually became the parking area for several families. Hence dubbed our Golden Lounge. And like many other Golden Lounges, it would be incomplete if it didn't have the prerequisite beverages and snacks for weary travellers like us. And ours came in the form of a very friendly Indian man who pushed a trolley laden with the necessary cold fizzy drinks, hot coffee/tea and confectionary galore. Though we didn't get our teh-tarik... there was still enough supply of drinks and tidbits to kick-off Uncle Famy's 4?th birthday at midnite.

A novel way of getting the tea to be frothy minus the "tarik"

So we may have not had the luxury of Hilton, nor received the Golden Lounge treatment, but in the company of those we love and enjoy, the experience and moments shared (even if they involved sitting on hard floors) are without a doubt priceless and meaningful to us in more ways than one. This simply justifies the old adage that It is not where you are that's important, but who you're with.... or something like that ;)

Our Petrosains Outing

2008-08-23T19:19:00.000-07:00

Here's what we did over the weekend...to celebrate the joint birthdays of hubby and no 4 - Safia

Saturday Gone Awry

2008-08-03T01:59:00.000-07:00

I can think of better ways to spend my Saturday mornings. Like sleeping-in, something I've not done for years since having children. Or taking the kids out to the mall as soon as the doors to the entrance open at 10.30a.m (am allergic to crowds...and usually avoid them by going early and leaving just as the midday visitors start trailing in).

Anyway, just as I thought I'd finally have a Saturday off, after having to work every Saturday for the past 2 months...word has it that me and colleagues have all got to come in...urgh!!..for an in-house training.

So there I was, yesterday... physically there but mentally and spiritually at home..all curled up in bed. I sat in the room with pen and paper (handout) and soon found myself doodling away, as I often do when bored. The talk was on ... something like..ways to make teaching and learning effective. Pretty impressive topic...very useful for the likes of me...those invloved in education. But unfortunately though, the man in my personal opinion, failed to deliver in an effective way. We (yes the victims - colleagues and I) spent endless hours listening to him go over nearly every line in the handout and oh...did I mention he had us read out the passages loudly.... only to come up with this in the end "OK...what's her/his problem?" "Yes, pronunciation, modulation, pitch" bla bla bla. Hey! we already know some of us have problems with our pronunciation, modulation, intonation etc...as you've clearly pointed out earlier at the beginning of the session. So why is there the need to tell us over and over again?

It didn't help that some of his remarks toward us were quite condenscending at times. Something like we can be at a better place than this, bla bla bla. Look Mr Consultant-Anglophile-Know-It-All...I'm proud of what I do...and my being here and not in some institution or college or university, does not make me any less of a person or educator for that matter. If there are a few things that I'm proud of... it'd be my family and the work that I do. And my being here is a conscious decision and not some last choice I can't get any other job thing.

So, this Ms No-I-Will-Not-Let-People-Talk-Down-To-Me just had to stand up and defend her vocation which she feels passionately about. And she did. Annnddd Mr Consultant-Anglophile-Know-It-All went on a tirade about him being a busy man globe-trekking and all and having to come down to our(?) level.. hah?.. gosh I can't even remember what he said and all...only that at the end he said I should go to Oxford University like him. Hah??? Go to Oxford University and turn out like him?? No thank you!! Well Ms No-I-Will-Not-Let-People-Talk-Down-To-Me could have continued with the repartee and lashed out at Mr Consultant-Anglophile-Know-It-All, but she is reminded to hold her tongue and not stoop to the level of the pompous #$#%@!*. Since earlier that morning at 4 plus she had woken up early to perform her Tahajjud prayer... and had among other things asked God for the virtue of patience, something which she feels she clearly lacks. And in that room at that time, Ms No-I-Will-Not-Let-People-Talk-Down-To-Me told herself that God wanted to test her patience. Therefore He sent her Mr Consultant-Anglophile-Know-It-All.

Yes, that's my Saturday gone awry.

Stories from the Holy Land

2008-06-20T02:05:00.000-07:00

Slightly more than a month ago, both hubby and I left the country for the holy land to perform our first umrah. Neither of us had actually planned to perform it this year. In fact to be honest, we never expected it to happen anytime soon. There were always routines that bogged us down and prevented us from leaving home, things which needed to be attended to, work issues... so on and so forth. But mainly we were worried about who's going to take care of the kids during our absence and can we get people to man the clinics while we're away? Me more so for the former, hubby for the latter.

So how did this trip came about? Well back in Dec 07 I was informed by mom that my uncle was planning to go for umrah with his family in 2008. My response was ...a big Ohhhhhh!!!! How wonderful...and fullstop. She then had this idea that me and hubby should tag along and even offered to look after my kiddies. Of course when I heard this I was over the moon. The only snag was I didn't have a helper then, and didn't know when she would arrive. I couldn't imagine leaving my 5 kids..yes 5 kids with my mom and no help.

So over the next couple of months I remember constantly praying that help would arrive by the time I leave for the holy land. And syukur alhamdulillah, 3 weeks before I was to fly off, my maid arrived. In between this of course, I had other lil obstacles (mostly work related stuff)which thankfully sorted themselves out (praise to Allah). What I realised prior to my departure was the need to constantly pray for the things I want in life, and trust in Him that he will make everything ok for me and the family. If we believe and trust in God, insyallah everything will fall into place, as it did in my case. And as a result of that, I soon found myself on the plane on 24th May... destination Madinah.

Nabawi Mosque, Madinah

We arrived at our hotel just slightly before 4am I think, and saw streams of people making their way for the mosque to perform the Subuh prayer. It was pretty awesome, looking at the hundreds of people walking slowly towards the mosque and listening to the melancholic call of the azan in the background. My first sight of the mosque early that morning left me speechless. Masjid Nabawi was just soooo beautiful. The size, the magnificent architecture and its sheer beauty and everything else about it was perfect.

That morning after breakfast, my aunties and I went to queue for Raudhah. It was open to public (the ladies) at 7-11am and I thought that since we were there before 7am, we'd have no problems getting in. Hahahhhh..how foolish could I be. There were hundreds of others already ahead of us and I was beginning to doubt whether we could actually get the chance to enter. I noticed that the crowd was divided into groups..from the Arabs..to the Indians/Pakistanis ..to us from Msia/Spore/Indon/Brunei. It wasn't hard to tell the groups apart as we were all shrouded differently. So while sitting and waiting for our turn, which of course felt like forever, we did our individual zikir and privately prayed that God would give us easy access to Raudhah. Insyallah.

Honestly when we were sitting right infront of the entrance, I was overwhelmed with a lot of mixed emotions. Running from excitement to suspense and even fear. When we were finally allowed entry everybody scrambled in. Me being a first time umrah performer was stunned by the crowd's sudden rush forward. People were scrambling in and I could only describe its likeness to the mad rush you'd see on J Card day! I'm not kidding in saying that it did feel like a stampede at times. I remember once being told that when you're in Raudhah don't be surprised by the amount of pushing and shoving. That's to be expected I guess, after all it is The Garden of Raudhah. People were just trying to find whatever spot they could, to do their prayers. And Alhamdulillah with a lot of patience and after taking in a lot of pushing from the back and front and left and right..I managed to perform my prayers. In that very short space of time permitted to us, we quickly read our duas; personal duas for ourselves, our family members, relatives and friends. Duas that were either read from small books brought from Malaysia or scraps of papers which were hastily handed to us by relatives who sent us off at the airport. And not forgetting the duas which were not written down in any form but remembered by heart and read on behalf of people who have not had the chance to come to the holy land just yet.

Salam to Rasulullah and his sahabat was conveyed from the inner area of Raudhah. I recall distinctly how difficult it was to even do that. There were just soooo many people wanting to do the same. Again, people were pushing and shoving and a couple of times I was swept away back and forth. It's hard to describe the feelings felt as we stood huddled closely facing the wall which separated us from the area which housed Rasulullah's makam. Suffice to say it was pretty overwhelming. Not only because of the huge crowd factor but more of the realisation that Rasulullah's makam was just behind the walls.

Infront of entrance for ladies at Nabawi Mosque

The inner area of Nabawi Mosque

The several days spent in Madinah saw us visiting some of the historical sites which were either learned through personal readings or stories related by my ustazahs back in school yonks ago. It was quite amazing to be at the very places mentioned in my textbooks. Our visit of the Quba mosque was most significant since it was after all the first Islamic mosque ever built by the late prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and is the oldest mosque in Saudi Arabia. We were reminded earlier by our guide to take our ablutions at the hotel and upon arrival to pray at the mosque as "Whoever purifies himself (take wudhu') in his house then comes to Masjid Quba' and prays in it has the reward like that of Umrah. (an-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah)". Masyallah.

With uncle, aunties and cousins at Quba mosque

It is believed that a black spot at the dome area (pic above) marks the

exact position where the late prophet used to pray in the mosque

Getting By in Madinah

When in Madinah, our hotel was a mere 50m away from the mosque and near the entrance for the ladies. It was the Saidina Usman entrance I think. This was sooo convenient. Just outside the hotel were many shops and vendors selling this and that...and I had a wonderful time absorbing the view everytime I walked to and fro the mosque. There's always something interesting to see... from the exquisite local wares peddled by enterprising businessmen/women/kid to wonderful and terribly cheap items brought in from neighbouring countries.

Initially I was worried about buying things from the locals since I couldn't speak the language. I must confess I remember failing every single Arabic paper back in my agama school heydays in JB. My kids actually tried to give me a crash course before I left for my umrah, but mama was such a slow learner... they gave up!

But lo and behold I needn't have worried coz the locals could speak enough BM for me to understand them. Haggling was a norm ...which was great. It was quite amusing infact to discover during a shopping outing that some of the locals called us ladies from Msia as ...SITI RAHMAH. So they'd go "Siti Rahmah..Siti Rahmah..mari mari murah murah". Well better Siti Rahmah...than Siti Nurhaliza!

I'd have to say in Madinah foodwise my faves have got to be the mango juice and kebab which were sold infront of our hotel. Many times on our way back from the mosque, our party of 10 would make a quick stop at one of the small shops to obtain our snacks. Not only did they taste good...they were also very cheap. Imagine savouring fresh mango juice and super delicious kebabs at only 5 riyal...roughly about RM4 plus! That's something you can't get back home.

It's a different kind of feeling when you're in Madinah. I'm reminded of what a friend once wrote about her experience performing her umrah. About not remembering to call home until 3 days later after arrival. I can understand that now. My worries about my kids seemed to disappear altogether....and I'm such a worry-wart! When I was there, there's this feeling of calmness and happiness and contentment which is hard to explain but is surely felt.

Leaving Madinah

On the last day in Madinah we prepared for our 4 hour plus journey to Makkah to perform our first umrah. The nite before, after isyak, hubby and I went to my uncle's room so that hubby could learn how to put on the ihram. It was quite hilarious, seeing grown men (hubby and another uncle) learn the proper way of tying the kain ihram. Tips were thrown in by those who have worn it before on how to minimise the possibilities of the ihram dropping off...(hubby's biggest nightmare!).

Anyway, the next day we left for Bir Ali - the beginning of our umrah journey. I have to admit I was a bit worried about the 13 pantang larangs...during the long journey to Makkah. Not so much worried about the "larangan membunuh binatang"...since I'm no huntsman/woman..but with the likes like.."memotong kuku...rambut" etc...things that I often do unconsciously all the time...now that was worrisome.

The journey to Makkah took about 4 hours plus and we arrived in Makkah nearly 10pm. We then checked into our very old hotel which was about 1km away from Masjidil Haram. After making a pit stop at the bathroom, we began our walk down the hill to the mosque. It was warm and since its nite time I couldn't really see the buildings surrounding us.

As we got closer and closer, we saw lights from the minarets beaming brightly on the mosque and we became more and more awestruck by the sheer size and beauty of Masjidil Haram. I think my heart must have stopped beating when I saw Kaabah for the first time as I descended the steps that led to the dataran. It's a feeling that simply cannot be described. We've seen pictures of the Kaabah in newspapers or magazines or tv. It's even on most of our prayer mats. But to see it right before our eyes and to have it standing right infront of us during solat ...is just sooo surreal...leaving one with a most humbling experience...

We then proceeded wth completing our umrah. The saie was a bit tiring with the distance to be covered but overall everybody was in good spirits and alhamdulillah everything went well.By the time we finished it was about 2am. I was surprised that though it was very late, everybody seemed as fresh as a daisy (including 6 year old cousin - Haziq). It must be the excitement and adrenaline rush pumping on overdrive.

The next day when we walked to the mosque for zohor prayers we were shocked to see that the route taken the nite before looked like Ground Zero. Buildings which I presume were old hotels surrounding the mosque had been demolished and we had actually gone through a construction site...with rubbles and piling rods protruding from the ground everywhere. This infact became our route to and fro the mosque for the next 6 days. It was a quite an adventure for us as we found ourselves having to negotiate in between lorries and tractors several times a day, everyday!

Our daily route to the mosque

Once after Asr prayers I was walking back to the hotel alone (hubby had the case of food-poisoning) and saw all these people ahead looking at me. Suddenly a local construction worker shouted at me "Hajah! HAJAH! ..Bla..bla.bla..in Arabic " and pointed for me to move away from the area. I turned to my right and saw that a building abt 20m away was in the process of being demolished. Infact dah senget pun and they were all waiting for it to collapse. To put it in my best BM description..I pun bukak langkah seribu and lintang pukang cabut lari to join the crowd on the other side who were waiting to witness the collapse of yet another building. Honestly, the construction of the area was in full swing, but safety measures for the public forced to use the route...was an absolute zero..zilch..nada. Pandai-pandai lah jaga diri masing-masing.

Bluewonder's great escape

Daily trek across construction site worth it..to be able to see this

Our time in Madinah and Makkah wasn't that long..only 10 days. But the most memorable thing for me about my time there was the time spent at the mosques. For the first time in my life I did nothing but indulge in lots of prayers, zikirs, selawat and reading the Quran. Something that I don't do much in Msia. I feel that my time here in Msia is often spent doing a lot of other stuff..and very very little time is spent on my ibadah or preparations for the hereafter. Ouwchh!

Anyway, both hubby and I have registered with Tabung Haji and hope to be able to perform our haj some day. Though the year given to us is a loooooonnnnnngggg way ahead, we hope to be able to go while still young and healthy. Hopefully sometime soon.

To uncle Famy, thank you, thank you, thank you for inviting us to join your family on this trip and also for being hubby's oral rehydration seeker when he was ill..

To uncle Jaafar, thank you for accompanying me to Hajar Aswad - now that was an experience!..

To aunty Faezah and aunty Liza...when can we do this again?...

To Amar, Imran, Amira and Haziq...thanks for the wonderful company....and...

...to my hubby, thanks a million for sponsoring the trip. May God Bless You Always!..

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

2008-05-11T02:56:00.000-07:00

Wishing all mumsies out there a wonderful day. Hopefully ze husband and kiddies have planned a nice lunch / tea / dinner celebration. Am still waiting for mine. Hubby is out for the day and hopefuly we'll get to squeeze in a simple dinner before the day is over.

Hundreds of dewdrops to greet the dawn,

Hundreds of bees in the purple clover,

Hundreds of butterflies on the lawn,

But only one mother the wide world over.

~George Cooper

AN ENCOUNTER OF A SIMIAN KIND

2008-04-05T00:05:00.000-07:00

I love my house and the area that comes with it. With only slightly less than 90 houses around, people basically know each other. The best part is in some cases there are 3 generations living in the taman - from grandparents to parents to grandchildren (me as an example lah).

It's wonderful especially in the evenings to see lil kids engrossed in lively chatter as they cycle around in small groups or enjoy the swings or monkey-bars at the playground next to our house. The older kids of course would religiously head off for the huge field behind our house for their daily game of footie.

Come rain or shine, these kids always know how to keep themselves occupied. Which brings me to my title of course - an encounter of a simian kind. About a week or so ago, a young wild monkey somehow rather ended up at our housing area...more specifically at our street. I heard from my mom, who lived a few houses away from us that a monkey had been in and out of her neighbours' houses living a trail of destruction in its wake. Apparently in one instance dear monkey was super hungry and had taken the liberty of sampling Aunty Salina's lunch which she had prepared for her family. So hungry was the monkey that nothing was left for the owner except for empty pots and pans.

Efforts to capture the simian proved to be unsuccessful. On two separate occasions, visits by the authority which included the wildlife guys saw them leaving empty handed. No amount of bananas was good enough to entice it to venture into the traps that was laid out. Dear monkey cleverly evaded all of them and resorted to feast on foods only obtained from the kitchens. Over the week dear monkey became very friendly with the kids. Sometimes I'd see them chase the monkey who later became known as BOBO (courtesy of kids in the neighbourhood). And this action was reciprocated by BOBO who'd often chase them back. There were laughter and squeals all around as monkey and kids (Hannan and Yusuf included) take turn chasing after one another.

BOBO did not limit his interactions with only the kids. On several occasions I found myself having to face BOBO in what could only be described as a standoff. Me trying to guard the food in the kitchen, while monkey tried in all earnest to get his paws on the fruits of my labour. As long as monkey stays out of my house and doesn't harm my kids...I'm ok. But when monkey gets too close, then it's a different story altogether. ..as I've discovered one day upon returning from work.

I was just about to get out of my car when BOBO decided to pay me a visit. It jumped on my side window and tried to get in. Suffice to say I was more than stunned by this unexpected friendly gesture. No amount of shouts nor blaring of honks could scare BOBO away. I was stuck in my car and had no way of escaping. Help soon came in the form of hubby who came out of the house brandishing an umbrella. BOBO saw the umbrella and decided it was not worth getting into a duel with my knight in shining armour. I was saved. Slightly shaken but happy nonetheless to escape my simian friend.

To cut the story short, hubby got in touch with the wildlife people again and they soon arrived at our doorstep. The hunt for BOBO was launched again and this time they did not leave empty handed. Well not really anyway. Though they didn't get to physically catch it, they did manage to scare BOBO away into the secondary forest nearby. How relieved I was to be rid of this monkey menace only to be told by my aunt down the road that she had spotted a snake somewhere near her house a few days ago. Oh dear! :(

FOR THE LOVE OF IKAN BAUNG

2008-03-17T01:14:00.000-07:00

8 hours before dear brother was to return to Manchester with wife and their lil bundle of joy, my aunt arrived at my doorstep holding a small, loosely wrapped package in her hands. I was surprised to see her, as she normally calls before coming to our house. Anyway, it was a short visit. She didn't even come in as she had to rush home to cook lunch for her family. She quickly passed me the package and muttered it was "Ikan Baung". A quick glance inside the package revealed that the fish was still whole and had not been ...err..how do I say this...

"siang-ed"??

Realising I would never be able to do any justice to the fish, I quickly told her that my mom (the chef) would only return much later at 7pm and promised to leave it to her to prepare/cook the ikan baung. As I stood later in the kitchen, staring at the fish in my sink, I realised that waiting for mom would be very risky as my brother (the very person the ikan baung was intended for) had to leave for the airport at 8pm plus. Thus this would mean, we would need to have an early dinner. Which of course means, the ikan baung needed to be cooked pronto! Now the question was by whom??? I had no idea how to clean the fish as it was not like any ordinary fish. And my culinary skills in cooking anything masak lemak has always been questionable , if not inconsistent. After much thot, I decided to bite the bullet and give it a go.

First task was to clean the fish. And just how does one do that. The fish itself was a challenge for me. In fact, I found its shape to be pretty intimidating. After much struggling with 2 knives, a kitchen scissors and a small pestle, I did manage to have the fish cleaned (more like butchered) though it did take me a good hour to do so. Mental note: must remind dinner guests to ignore the slightly mutilated fish.

Next task was to actually cook the ikan baung. With a lot of prayer muttered under my breath, I went on to prepare the dish which was to be the main course for the family's dinner that nite. A dash of this and a stir of that..I then left the slightly cair and pedas ikan baung masak lemak in the pot and made a quick 911 call to my mom on her handphone. Rushing through the story of how my aunt, her sis had left me with the fish bla-bla-bla...I then begged her to return to my house A.S.A.P and help salvage my definitely ruined ikan baung.

Anyway, she returned as usual at 7pm and sampled my dish. Took out half of the gravy and added more coconut milk in order to make it thicker and less pedas. Voila! 15 minutes later it was ready to be served for dinner. For the hundredth time, SuperMom has saved the day again. And the daughter of SuperMom silently vowed that she'd make a point to sharpen her culinary skills before embarking on her next ikan baung escapade!

LONG OVERDUE

2008-03-10T00:43:00.000-07:00

Yes, this entry is long overdue. I only managed to write one for the whole of last month and am trying hard to make sure that I write at least one more for this month. If only I had more time. Sigh!

****

DONUTS GALORE

ok, it's official. We're all fans of Big Apple Donuts!!!

If you happen to be at the Curve in PJ, check out the shop and I"m sure you won't be disappointed. Forget the donuts you've tasted before. This is the one! It's soooo soft and soft and did I mention soft??

The unofficial mascot@spokesperson@donut-tester

****

ELECTION DAY

8th March was election day and like others I headed off for the polling station to cast my vote. The center was just about 4km away but due to traffic conditions it took a much, much , much longer time to get there. There must have been hundreds of people on the road that day, all rushing to get to the polling station. As I was driving (more like crawling away at snail's pace), I was entertained by the many sights along the road. People doing last minute campaigning for their respective parties, cars/lorries/bikes brightly decorated with party flags and stickers and honks from supporters in their own vehicles everytime they passed by a polling center.

There was indeed much to see and take in on that day. The roads were lined with the young, the old and the curious onlookers. From the colourful buntings and flags to the shouts of party slogans. There were expected victories from some and unexpected losses too. And lets not forget the shockers that became the center of discussions for days on end. Yes, enough fodder for you, me and the rest of the country to talk about until the end of the month. On my part, I'm relieved I've fulfilled my responsibility as a citizen of this country and I can only hope and pray that we will keep enjoying the peace and harmony in our country's diversities of race and beliefs.

****

STARTING THEM YOUNG

I'm worried about my number 3, who rarely picks up books to look at the pictures or pretend to read for mama's sake. His scope of interest at this stage is limited to watching cartoons on telly, tractor-spotting and playing and demolishing his toys (more so with the latter). So when he was noticed curled up on the sofa one night, with a book in his hand...we (mama and ayah) were most pleased. Even if it was read upside down! (tis a start anyway).

****

ASIARI-COMPULSORY

Eversince hubby and I discovered Asiari at SACC mall (Shah Alam), we've been faithfully returning there once a month...at least. Food is tasty, even my picky eaters (children) have no problem licking their plates clean. The price is reasonable, the ambience most cosy. And the interior leaves a homedecor-challenged person like me...most inspired ;)

note : we're not paid to advertise for the restaurant!

CNY

2008-02-06T08:31:00.000-08:00

It's 12 midnite and I'm listening to the sounds of firecrackers going off from a distant neighbourhood marking the entry of the New Year for the Chinese. My kids had planned to stay up for the fireworks but had fallen asleep just a couple of minutes ago. Now it's left to mama and ayah to enjoy the show from the bedroom window.

I love festivals. And I also enjoy observing my friends celebrate their festivals. I love seeing the excitement on their faces as they talk about going back to their hometowns in Setiawan or Alor Setar. Or seeing the frowns on their faces as they describe the usual nightmarish journey they have to endure travelling during the festive season. Or how about the serious discussion among friends on how to get the melt-in-your-mouth-to-die-for shortbreads@samprit? Now doesn't that sound familiar?

When I was a child, I recall visiting my late father's good friend "Uncle Chap-Gee" every Chinese New Year. We would go to his house, year after year until we moved to KL. And being sensitive to our culture and religion, Uncle Chap-Gee would make sure he only served us food which we could eat. And for a little girl of 9, getting the customary angpau was a definite bonus. The act of visiting is reciprocated during our Hari Raya too. Uncle Chap-Gee would always come to our house on the second day of Raya and I love hearing this jolly old man talk about golf, shopping in Singapore etc as he tucks into my mom's delicious laksa Johor.

Like many, I agree that festivals can help to foster good relationships among the races. What better way to learn about one's culture if not through festivals? Today, from my colleague Miss Tan I learned that the yee sang ceremony is more for people in the business field. And from the 2 students who gave me a mandarin each, I learned that 2 mandarins are better for me as "there is balance" in my life ( I hope I got that one right).

As I walked into my F5 class today, I was greeted by a very festive decoration put up by a member of the class. The bright red paper streamer was individually cut and assembled by a girl, who had taken 3 days to get it done. It hung across the ceiling and gave the class a festive air indeed. Perhaps more colouful paper streamers will adorn the class come Hari Raya and Deepavali. Who knows.

Forever in favour of harmony in diversity

One for the Camera

2008-01-20T06:39:00.000-08:00

Finally a complete picture of ALL the kids together. This was taken in November. The photographer almost gave up during the shoot and as he was about to leave he said ,"Never work with animals and children".

Salam Maal Hijrah

2008-01-16T00:27:00.000-08:00

I meant to do this much much earlier, in fact on the day itself, but as usual never got around to doing so. But 7 days late (give and take) is still okay, I think. Anyway, this entry is dedicated to all the relatives and friends, here and abroad, whom I've not seen nor heard from for whatever reason etc etc.

May this new year brings happiness and joy. And may we all be under Allah's protection and guidance always.

To the Manchurians - Ash n Dee n baby Syakir n Mak Tam n Pak Tam n Syahadah... Salam Maal Hijrah from everyone at home.

Love, Bluewonder

One for the camera

Caught sleeping on the job!

Am I seeing double???

Freestyle pose..pleaseeee

Er...is this boy ever awake?

Doa selamat at Wan and Atuk's house

Girls shouting out "SYAHADAHHHHHH!"

Boys in Jubah garb

Our little Iranian import

Spiderman.. ready to go

History revisited

2008-01-14T07:47:00.000-08:00

A recent trip to Kota Malawati in Kuala Selangor resulted in a rather extensive history lesson by hubby. He, who I can only describe as a history-anthropology freak @geek has always been able to rattle off names, dates, places and events in the past as easily as I can concoct telur goreng!

I dunno how he manages to remember all the details. Perhaps he learned them for the right reasons..i.e for the knowledge itself...unlike yours truly who memorised history just to pass SPM. Hence, as soon as exam was over... all history facts were dutifully erased from memory :(

Today, Bukit Malawati offers a panoramic view of the Selangor coast and the Klang Valley. Besides Fort Malawati, there are several other fascinating historical attractions such as the Royal Mausoleum and the fabled execution block. My kids in particular were most interested in the ancient fort and cannons which were found there. Their first hand experience being at the fort surrounded with cannons brought squeals of delight as they imagined to be Captain Jack Sparrow on his many pirate escapades!

steps leading up to the fort

cannons galore

little did we know then that Safia was sitting pretty on what might

have been chopping blocks used for executions

As we circumnavigate the Malawati Hill we marvelled at the beautiful white-washed lighthouse also known as the Altingsburg Lighthouse. Named after the Dutch Governor General of that time, who was Governor General Alting. Since baby Luqman was in my lap, I forced hubby to run out of the car and take a pic of it. And I wasn't disappointed. The view of the lighthouse in the late afternnoon, framed by branches from a nearby tree was by far the best picture of the day!

Kudos to the amateur photographer!

Balik Kampong

2007-12-30T08:30:00.000-08:00

As I was growing up...no..no.. this is not going to be a GUIT-thingy thing, visits to my kampong were made at least once or twice a year for either Raya celebrations or weddings of kith and kins. Going back to my grandma's kampong house in Bota Kiri, Perak and seeing my relatives were something I really looked forward to. I couldn't wait to meet my cousins who'd take me and my brother into the depths of the rubber estate just behind my grandma's house on my uncle's old Raleigh to check out the squirrels and perhaps a wild boar if we're lucky?? Or visit a place I vaguely recall calling tali ayor (the Perak way of pronouncing it) where my grandma's little orchard was located and durians lay scattered on the ground for us to collect and bring home. For a girl who's lived in concrete jungles all her life, these simple pleasures were indeed a real treat.

A journey made recently to my kampong, this time with the whole clan was indeed an experience to remember. The wonderful sights along the way brought back memories of yesteryears. Days when there were no highways and it'd take us 2 days to reach our destination. How my kids marvelled at the idea of us surviving all that travelling in my dad's old Fiat without any AC!

The limestone hills and marble quarry (or what's left of them) just outside Ipoh

Yes kids.. the rice that you eat actually comes from these paddy fields

and not from the supermarket shelves

Grandma's house

Aunty Teh's house...just lovingggggg it

Aunty D...Hannan is pausing to reflect at the stairs

Did Atok really swim here ( Sg Perak) masa kecik-kecik dulu?

I'm glad we made the balik kampong journey as a family. In the 3 hour car ride, with many Geography and History lessons thrown in by both me and hubby, the kids got to see and learn much about a place that was an integral part of my life in the past. There's so much the kids need to know about their roots and the hometown where their late grandfather grew up. Nothing better than seeing and learning about it first hand.

I've been tagged

2007-12-19T10:11:00.000-08:00

1. Name one person who made you laugh last night. My kids with their usual endearing antics

2. What were you doing at 0800? Struggling with housework and kids

3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago? Just finished watching DVD with hubby - Premonition by Sandra Bullock...not bad

4. What happened to you in 2006? Fat and frumpy looking...I was pregnant with no 5 then

5. What was the last thing you said out loud? Cepat kemassss...kita nak gi rumah Wan!!!! (a standing order that I dish out to my kids moments before leaving the house for my MILs)

6. How many beverages did you have today? I treated myself to Sprite...or was it Ice-cream soda?? Cant remember

7. What color is your hairbrush? It changes daily, coz the kids keep using and losing it

8. What was the last thing you paid for? The stuff needed to prepare Hari Raya Haji's feast...well actually I pay, but mom masak.

9. Where were you last night? Same place as this very moment .. on the bed

10. What color is your front door? Boring brown

11. Where do you keep your change? Anywhere possible; pockets, bags, drawers. bookshelves etc

12. What’s the weather like today?Not bad..managed to get my laundry done

13. What’s the best ice-cream flavor? Used to be chocolate, then strawberry later choc chip

14. What excites you? Many things... I'm very excitable

15. Do you want to cut your hair? Desperate for one right now

16. Are you over the age of 25? I'm what my kaypoklub frens would describe as half past thirty

17. Do you talk a lot? A bit on the quiet side

18. Do you watch the O.C.? No

19. Do you know anyone named Steven? no

20. Do you make up your own words? Err I dont think so

21. Are you a jealous person? I think not... have no problems talking about hubby's ex girlfriends...or making fun of them. Hahaaa

22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’. Alina

23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’. Khadijah

24. Who’s the first person on your received call list? Mom

25. What does the last text message you received say? A long sms from an ex student wishing me Selamat Hari Raya Haji

26. Do you chew on your straw? Sometimes..unintentionally though

27. Do you have curly hair? no

28. Where’s the next place you’re going to? Tomorrow going beraya

29. Who’s the rudest person in your life? Every person that has a license but still cant drive properly on the road

30. What was the last thing you ate? These to die for doughnuts... hubby got them from the Curve. He had to queue for 30 mins to get them... called Big Apple something something

31. Will you get married in the future? Already married

32. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks? Guilty of not seeing any movie at all. I pass out after isyak... too tired/sleepy for anything

33. Is there anyone you like right now? Many

34. When was the last time you did the dishes? 2 hours ago

35. Are you currently depressed? Only when I have to fold my laundry...menggunung tinggi!!

36. Did you cry today? Well I did have tears in my eyes...but of a different sort...I was "crying" when I heard my two older kids fight. Their reasons for fighting was sooooo hilarious, absurd and totally ridiculous

37. Why did you answer and post this? I had time to kill

38. Tag 5 people who would do this survey:

elara

madam blossom

minah celoteh

the guarding light

manjady from sharing is caring

2007-12-17T08:45:00.000-08:00

When hubby came home a couple of weeks ago and declared that he was going to the Federer VS Sampras match at Malawati Stadium.... I was esctatic. Ecstatic because I would get this once in a lifetime chance to see my main man Mr FedEx himself in action. Yeayyyy! Being a tennis fanatic ( a passion which only came about the past 5 years), I couldn't believe my luck or husband's luck that he should land himself with tickets to which I'm sure thousands of Malaysians are dying to get their hands on.

Then came the SHOCKER. No.. I was not going with him coz he was going with his friend Mr Beh instead. Apparently it was Mr Beh who had landed the tickets and he wanted to bring hubby along for company.

LOOONNGGGG silence on my part.

Days went by with me imagining what an experience it would be for hubby to be at the stadium watching his hero Sampras get thrashed by my hero Federer. It was all I could talk about for days on end.

Anyway to cut the story short, hubby came home from work a few days before the match and announced that I would be going after all. Somehow rather he had managed to convince dear Mr Beh to depart with his ticket so that he(hubby) could take me instead.

Reaction: EXPLOSION OF FIREWORKS!!!! HOOORAYYYY!

So there we were at Malawati stadium on Nov 22, amongst the 12 000 strong crowd cheering for his Sampras and my Federer. Honestly from way up where I was seated the two of them could have been 2 little matchsticks playing tennis. Nevertheless, it was wonderful. I know that a chance to go to any of the Grand Slams is pretty remote, so you can just imagine how fantastic it was for me to be there. Anyway at 10 plus when we left the stadium, I realised that my hero was not the guy with the bandana holding the racket, it was the guy who sat next to me throughout the match. The one who had to arm-wrestle the tickets from his good friend Mr Beh or pay him 4x the price...whichever!

Wanna remove a mole? Cheap..Cheap!

2007-12-17T08:19:00.001-08:00

I just had to share this with everyone. Came across this during one of my many JJ outings. I wonder if anyone had enquired about the service from the girl behind the counter. I know I wouldn't.

Keeping Them Occupied

2007-12-17T07:57:00.000-08:00

I've always loved watching Neil Buchanan and his Art Attack shows on TV. The sheer simplicity of the art works, the colour and creativity are enough to make me want to pick up my paint brushes and get all artsy!

My kids too love his shows. Infact Hannan the slightly art inclined has a couple of Art Attack books in her posession. She's been pestering me for a loooonnng time to get her the art stuff so that this holiday... she and her brothers could have a go at one of the easy projects.

Dining table sacrificed for future art prodigies

don't we just love slapping lots of PVA glue

birthday cake for Ateh - blueberry and strawberry pandan cheesecake

A tale of the Korean Silk

2007-12-05T05:49:00.000-08:00

Hubby came home from Korea the other day after spending the weekend there. He was invited to attend a conference and since everything was paid for...lucky man..he decided to go. The trip was meant to be his last overseas trip for the year.

Anyway, my kids made a point to be at home at the time of his arrival. They were excited when ayah finally arrived and immediately made a beeline for his...what else BAGS! Like many of hubby's previous trips, he would try and get something special for each child and not forgetting mama of course.

The kids were thrilled to bits when they received their little pressies which as you might have guessed...consisted of apa lagi..toys! And to my surprise hubby even managed to find time to get me some nice Korean silk ( aahh..so he was paying attention to my many not-so-subtle hints about getting silk in Korea).

Well as I held the materials in my hands..I had a funny feeling that they were rather short in length. So I had to ask. Were the materials already cut when he bought them. To this he replied.."Oh No! I had them cut specially for you...3 meters each piece".

Aiyaa! I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Did he say 3 meters????? Since when did I use only 3 meters for my baju kurung? Well perhaps a zillion years ago when I was a wee child of 12!

Anyway it was apparent that hubby had somehow rather forgotten that I required 4 meters for my baju kurung. When told about this, suffice to say he was very annoyed with himself for making such a silly mistake. On my part..though I was disappointed that my baju kurung would now turn into a baju kedah...I was also in a way pleased that in a moment of madness my dear hubby thot that after 10 years of marriage and 5 kids to boot.. I was le petite in size! And for that, I forgive him.

HOLIDAYS

2007-12-02T05:10:00.000-08:00

Okay, hubby has been constantly reminding me to update my blog for the past couple of weeks. I've been promising him to do so but as usual procrastination is my middle name...

It's kinda hard these days since I come home from work later than usual and am usually dead tired by then, to even reach for my laptop...let alone compose something for my blog.

But since hubby is away in Korea this weekend and I'm usually home-based every time he is away..I have a bit of time to spare. So what do I write about...

Now, since my nephews and nieces have been stationed at my mom-in-law's house (their parents are currently away performing the Haj)..my older kids have been begging me to let them go to their Wan's house as well for sleepovers. I was just happy to oblige since I wasn't able to entertain them as I had to work during their school hols. So that's one less headache.

Atuk and Wan who relish the idea of having 11 grandchildren running around in their house for the entire school hols have taken the initiative of having the house equipped with games to keep their grandchildren entertained. Ranging from a basketball hoop to carrom board to pool table to ping-pong table to an X-box to a PS2game etc etc . As hubby would say it... the house has turned into a real Kid's Club!! and how he wished he had the time to have a go at all of the games.

But more interestingly though is that they have taken it upon themselves to teach the kids mengaji Al Quran everyday and among other things how to perform sembahyang jenazah. And like sponges these kids absorb everything that is taught to them. Atuk was happy to observe that all of his schoolgoing grandchildren were progressing well and would be able to recite the doa for sembahyang jenazah soon...

Atuk goes high-tech during the mengaji session after maghrib prayers

On the weekends when I'm free, I'd try and take the kids out for an outing to the nearby mall. Usually it'd be one day for girls and another day for the boys. This was the only arrangement possible as it would be humanly impossible to squeeze 9 schoolgoing kids into my Estima without being stopped by the police! I'd try to be fair and make sure that the outings are as similar as possible for both groups... a spree at the bookstore followed by makan-makan at Pizza Hut or KFC...just in case they compared notes!

my bodyguards

choc chip ice-cream anyone??

the girls at Baskin Robbins

Still Here...

2007-11-17T01:17:00.000-08:00

Gosh! It's been about a month plus since I wrote my last entry. I had a million things I wanted to write about in the past month, but never got around to writing them down. I never seemed to have the time. The Raya month was in itself a busy time for me and others too I'm sure. With balik kampung and visiting relatives and friends as the main agenda.

I was pretty much occupied with all these but more so with a certain incident which happened on the 5th day of Raya. My son who was at my mom-in-law's house with his cousins decided to do what could only be described as a triple somersault which saw him landing or to be more precise slamming his face onto the leather sofa. Apparently he was running around the hall and had somehow rather tripped over his cousin's leg, thus resulting in the fall.

When I saw him after the fall, I nearly fainted from shock. The bruising and swelling was unbelievable. His nose had doubled instantly and lucky for him there was no bleeding nor fracture. Over the days, the bruise turned green, then blue, then purple, then green again and later became yellow...just like a true chameleon!

Anyway, it took about 2 weeks before his nose turned back to normal.. i.e to its orignal size and colour.

Hmm..at present when many of my colleagues are enjoying their break, I on the other hand have had to work. It's that time of the year when students have to sit for their exams and yours truly have to be on duty. And this will go on for another 2 weeks. I leave home as early as 6.10am and most times come home a good 12 hours later. By the time I reach home, I'm like a zombie just wanting to curl up in bed and sleeeeeppppp till next year!

When husband comes home after his night shifts, he doesn't bother to wake me up anymore...knowing that only a nuclear explosion would be able to wake me up from my deep and dead-tired slumber! And since I leave early the next day, there have been many days when I've hardly had a decent conversation with him. Perhaps the longest sentence I've managed to utter to him when he returned from work late one night was "Baju kat situ" (directing him to his pyjamas)...and that was it.

To be honest, I can't wait for my duty to end and I'll be able to enjoy the hols with the kids. For the time being, whilst this harried mama is busy at work, the kid's grandma has taken over. Thank God for Mak Tok who comes to the house everyday to make sure the kids eat, read and get their correct daily dose of TV-time.

YUSUF turns 8

2007-10-11T08:53:00.000-07:00

My son turned 8 on 10th October. For weeks and weeks...well actually months and months he has been asking both me and husband to get him something unique for his birthday present. Normal stuff that we usually give was not good enough... he wanted something extra special. Lucky for us, he revealed what he wanted exactly.

Nothing super extravagant, just a science kit. Something that would allow him to do a bit of experimenting with this and that. I guess all those times spent infront of the TV, watching Dexter's laboratory had in a way influenced his choice of present this year. So hubby and I had to go present-hunting at the shops for this so-called science kit. Husband said there was a specialist shop at Bangsar Village which sold something of the sort, but it has since closed down. Not making business I guess. Perhaps it couldn't compete with the attraction most toy shops would have when it comes to wooing childrens' interest.

I was getting a bit worried last Sunday because up to that day we still hadn't found anything for him yet. As we were driving around town looking for "lampu kelip-kelip" for our house, we passed by an old shop that my husband used to frequent when he was a child. It was one of those shops that sold electronic parts. Much of my husband's childhood was spent making transformers, model aeroplanes and fixing TVs/radios. It was his passion. And that particular shop supplied him with all the necessary parts and gadgets.

I quickly instructed husband to pull over and we soon found ourselves in the shop. There were so many stuff there, stocked from floor to ceiling. Browsing through, he soon found something which would interest my son. It was an electronic hobby kit. Something that would enable him to build a 4 digit Up Counter. I know it's not a science kit, but it was close enough...plus we were running out of time.

We also purchased other paraphernalia which were needed in getting the little science project running. Namely a soldering iron with solder coil, a flux vacuum and a few other stuff. To be honest, I was at loss looking at all these things. The names and functions of the objects were as foreign to me as coffee from Colombia.

Anyway, my son is looking forward to this long Raya holiday as ayah has promised to assist him in getting the counter up and running. And I look forward to him using it to count my palpitations everytime I discover he has forgotten do his homework again!

The electric shop at Jln Kapar, Klang

The present

Yusuf's little birthday do

Where Art Thou?

2007-10-06T02:02:00.000-07:00

Of late I've been quite the busy bee with a new mission that I've put myself to. Eversince finding out that d's husband is ill, I've been trying hard to locate as many friends / acquaintances who presently know or knew them from the past.

It was very easy in cases where I was still in contact with friends from the past. I had their handphones and we were also in frequent correspondence via emails. It was a lot harder with those whom I've lost touch with over the years...this could go as far as 2-3 years to 11 or 15 years.

A lot of phoning was involved, trying to locate this person and that person through a friend's friend or through somebody's new wife or simply calling up the last known workplace and enquiring if he/she is still there. In most instances I've been quite lucky but sometimes I'm not so lucky and come to a dead end.

This is where googling comes to the rescue. Hours spent surfin the Net has brought many successful leads. This was especially true if the person is attached to a university. I was able to locate the exact department and name too. I must confess...much to my dismay full names of past friends / acquaintances have been lost in memory due to my multiparous activities over the last decade! Hahaa!

Using the new found leads, I managed to get in touch directly with quite a few people. While with others I wrote emails...often long ones too...as I've had to explain who I was, giving some background information of myself lest they forget. This in itself would take a paragraph or two.

To date I'm still waiting for replies from 2 important people who were very close to us back in the early 90s when we first arrived in Edinburgh as undergraduates. These 2 postgraduates who were doing their PhD's were there with their families, and they often invited us to their homes over the weekends. They not only nourished us with their home-cooked meals but our well-beings too with their weekly usrahs which we attended.

On the topic of googling, I also managed to discover an old friend who I presume is currently in the UK with his wife. I came across in the Net one of those pre-raya pics that Malaysians overseas would usually send to our local dailies. The info that accompanied the pic said Dr J was attached to Nuneaton Hospital Coventry while his wife Dr N was with Limerick County Hospital Ireland. You can imagine how surprised I was with this latest bit of info. D was also surprised as his hospital is quite close to where she is and told me that she would see if she could get in touch with him...this after 11 years of no communication.

The world has indeed become smaller with the aid of modern technology and how wonderful it is to be able to renew personal acquaintances and get in touch with long lost friends. And I look forward to hearing from all of them if not some.

A Prayer For A Friend

2007-10-02T08:33:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I was informed by a close friend of 17 years, that her husband (Mr d)was unwell.`Apparently he has been in that condition for the past few months. Visits to the doctors revealed nothing until last week when he was diagnosed with cancer.

This bit of information came as a shock to me and my husband. I have shed tears many times in private, eversince receiving the news. My kids who noticed my watery eyes would ask me why my eyes were red. This was often replied with "I'm sleepy...I haven't been getting enough sleep".

The whole thing seems so surreal. At times I find it hard to accept. I've known d and her husband for a very very long time. Both d and I were roomates for the most part of our university life. Her children are about my kids' age and in the past, we have not only been to each others wedding but also to each other's homes for birthday parties, kenduris and whatnots. She is not just a friend. She is like a sister to me.

For the past one week, I've been trying hard to get in touch with as many old friends who know d and her husband by calling them on their handphones or through emails. I'm doing this with the hope that they can give du'a and words of comfort to d and her husband during this very trying times indeed.

Perhaps in this special month of Ramadhan, God will grant our prayers and lessen the pain and sufferings of Mr d and his family.

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!

2007-09-26T00:09:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago, sometime after dinner, I was alerted by a call ( well..a shout actually) from my partner. Sensing something's not right, I rushed to the living room to find him sitting on the sofa staring at his hand.

From where I was standing, about 3 meters away I could see a small black plastic device in his hand. Coming closer I soon realised that he wasn't actually holding it. It's more of his finger being stuck in it! This of course resulted in me laughing my head off. And my reaction certainly didn't go down very well with the victim as he chided me for not taking the situation seriously.

Really... how could I ever be serious in a situation such as that? There I was standing infront of a 40 year old man who somehow rather had managed to get his finger stuck in what was apparently a mini weapon contraption that was part of the ensemble for my son's toy action figure! He then revealed that he had slided it onto his finger when my little girl had handed it to him. Out of curiosity he wanted to see if the thing would fit in his finger. And fit it did!

After much pulling and tugging (with a swell slowly but surely forming) we soon discovered that the little contraption would not budge.

At this point, all sorts of things went through my mind . I wasn't sure if I was to continue tugging at it or to drive him to the A&E instead. Mentioning the word A&E brought an instant reaction from husband who insisted there was no way he was going there. And I can imagine why. The thot of seeing his colleague's reaction with regards to his predicament was enough to put him off the idea altogether.

After much deliberation, he agreed that I should simply yank the thing off his finger. So mustering all the energy that I had, I then yanked it off with all my might. This was of course accompanied by a scream that must have echoed around the neighbourhood. And at the end of it all, dear hubby was left with a swollen finger and a slightly bruised ego.

Note to all children and...adults too...Do Not Try This At Home.

She came, she performed..and almost conquered

2007-09-20T00:04:00.000-07:00

When I was in primary school, taking part in competitions was often limited to the academia. Simply because I'm hopeless in everything else! It would mostly be an English quiz or a storytelling competition or the occasional pantun competition. I won some of them but lost many too! It was fun taking part, especially those with friends. The adrenaline rush as we fought tooth and nail to win every point and the feeling of group camaraderie were some of the things that I find hard to forget till this day.

So when my daughter came home from school one day and declared that she had been selected to represent her school in an action song competition, I was thrilled to bits. We’ve all heard of storytelling and choral speaking but Action song?? Ditto…that was my reaction too.Well apparently it’s singing a medley of English songs accompanied by actions and movements. Hence, the name.

Hannan's Action Song journey began way back a couple of months ago. She went for her first competition with her team sometime in March and slowly made it through the succeeding rounds securing the district and state level competitions. The whole family was ecstatic when she announced that she’d be representing Selangor in the national level competition in September. Both hubby and I were terribly proud of her. Especially since none of us has ever made it further than class level in any of the competitions we entered during our school years. I think secretly we were living our childhood dreams through our daughter's achievements!

Anyway, the finals was held at Kuantan, Pahang and the whole family was there to watch history in the making!The first in the family to have made it to the Nationals. Hoorayyyy!

They came, they performed and they did their very best. Though it would have been super fantastic to win, it was not meant to be. The top three spots went to the other states. Sure there was some disappointment from the Selangor camp but that is part of life. You win some, you lose some. I was close to tears when I saw Hannan and her mates crowding their teacher and asking her why they didn't win. I have to say I was most impressed by the teacher's response. One that had a bit of psychology, pedagogy and analogy in it. A complete answer that left the 9 year old girls feeling slightly better and in a happier mood after that. Thank you Pn Shazrah.

And words of consolation come in many forms. My husband on the other hand, overheard a different gogy-approach adopted by a teacher from the northern region. It went something like this...(to be read with a thick northern accent of course!):

"Hang ingat hang sorang aje yang nak menang? Hang ingat balik-balik hang soghang sahaja yang nak menang. Kasi chan lah kat depa, depa pun nak menang jugak!" (rather unconventional I admit, but it worked too, coz his student broke into a laughter after that)

Anyway, as we left Kuantan and made our way home, I relayed the news to our family members via sms. One sms was read out loud to my daughter later as I felt it conveyed the true meaning of taking part in competitions.

It came from her dear Mak Lang which read "Don't worry, we celebrate effort, ALLAH determines results!"

And that is what we call TAKDIR.

Hannan and her team before boarding the bus to Kuantan

the highlight of the trip - a 30 min splash time at the swimming pool

my daughter, the flower in the middle.

RAMADHAN

2007-09-12T07:32:00.000-07:00

I've always loved the month of Ramadhan. The very thought of millions of muslims around the world fasting and performing the Tarawih prayers during this special month has always been fascinating.

When I was just a child, fasting was a very big deal for me. I remember vividly during my early years, my mom would allow me to fast for only half of the day - up till noon time. I often argued with her that I was BIG enough to fast the whole day, but mom insisted that I practice fasting bit by bit and assured me that I would be able to fast the whole day some day soon. She would wake my elder brother and I for sahur and watch us with our eyes half closed slowly struggle to swallow the rice on our plates. How proud was I when I was able to complete a whole day of fasting. I was happy that I was able to get up for sahur before imsak just like the adults and fast a whole day just like the adults. And so I thought. During a conversation with mom a couple of years back I discovered that my mom had all the while woken us up for sahur at 7a.m. and whenever my elder brother asked if it was imsak time, she would insist that there was still plenty of time and we can eat for a little while longer (we were of course oblivious to the fact that the sun was already up at the time) .

When I was a student back in the 90s, I stayed with a Scottish family. My roomate D and I would have our sahur in the confines of our room. We both had a rice-cooker each. And during the fasting month we would have a simple sahur. One rice-cooker would contain rice, while the other a simple dish. We would take turns to wake up to reheat the cookers. Then we would set our alarm clocks for a 10 minute snooze before waking up again to eat our sahur. I remember once it was my turn to reheat our food. I got up. Pressed the reheat button and crawled back under the warmth of my duvet. I got up again after that and woke D up for sahur. We both sat around the cookers and were ready to eat our simple sahur. Just before eating, a quick glance at the clock revealed that I had not taken a 10 minute shuteye. Infact it was more than that. Through my blurry sleepy eyes I saw that it was exactly an hour later! So there we were, two souls cross-legged infront of two rice-cookers looking forlornly at our steaming hot rice and daging masak kicap (I think) and realising that we would have to go without sahur for that day.

To all I wish you a Happy Ramadhan!

10 YEARS DOWN THE ROAD

2007-09-01T20:14:00.000-07:00

31st August has always been a special day for my husband and I . This year is more significant namely because it's a public holiday to commemorate the country's 50th year of Independence. It's also a day when the whole world remembers the sudden and unexpected death of Lady Diana who was killed in a car crash 10 years ago. But more importantly on 31st August this year, it's my 10th wedding anniversary.

I still remember on that day, the conversation amongst the guests centred around Lady Di's accident and later confirmed death. Infact many of the guests who made their way to our reception (which happened to be at my house) would briefly congratulate us before making a compulsory 10 minute stop or more, at our TV room to get an update on Lady Di. It was obvious the buzz of the day was definitely her death and our wedding reception took second spot. Oh well!

Anyway, 10 years down the road and 5 offsprings later... this year's anniversary celebration was marked by our mandatory dinner for two, minus the candles of course. Mind you it nearly turned out into a dinner for 7 (kids included!). But we managed to take the kids out to the park earlier, just so that mama and ayah can have a romantic??? dinner surrounded by at least 30 strangers at some nice restaurant later on.

Our delicious tiramisu. Yum yum.

MERDEKA!!!!

2007-08-30T23:54:00.000-07:00

Today was a special day at work. Why special? Simply because a celebration was held at my workplace to commemorate Malaysia’s Independence Day.

Being in a secondary school allows me to experience the Merdeka celebration with the younger generation i.e my students. It’s wonderful to see how everyone came together to make this occasion a memorable one…and why shouldn’t it be memorable…it is after all our 50th year of Independence. Kudos to all (the administrators, teachers and students) who’ve worked hard in ensuring today’s celebration was a success. And indeed a success it was.

The early morning showers did little to dampen our spirits this morning. We waited anxiously and prayed the sky would lift up soon. God must have heard our prayers coz just little after 8am the light drizzle stopped and we were able to congregate at the assembly ground to begin our celebration.

I’ve never been much of a cameraman/woman. But this time around, with my husband's camera in hand, I made a point to go all out and took as many photos as possible. I have to admit, it wasn't easy running around the school taking shots of the celebration in my formal batik baju kurung. It didn't help either that my inappropriate footwear i.e my high heels got stuck in the earth when I ventured into the water-bogged field, all for the sake of capturing that one in a million shot. Ha! Ha!( Mental note.. high heels and school field certainly don't go together!).

Anyway, they say a picure is worth a thousand words and I can't agree more. I don't think I'll go into much detail as I feel the photos I've taken speak for themselves. So enjoy viewing.

Raising the Jalur Gemilang

Colourful Malaysia

Guess who? Yes none other than Dato Jamali Shahadat, our guest of honour

"Atan" in a light banter with one of the students

The cast of our school's Merdeka sketch

Er..recognise our human Tugu Negara at the back?

MERDEKA!!

A special needs student belting out " ..Inilah Barisan Kita.."

Oh yes! During the sketch our "Tunku Abdul Rahman" had a monologue, as he stood infront of the Tugu Negara.

It was pretty moving and I thought I'd share it with you here;

" WAHAI PAHLAWAN NEGARA,

BANGUNLAH...BANGUNLAH,

50 TAHUN TANAH MELAYU SUDAH MERDEKA,

LIHATLAH WARISAN KITA,

ANAK-ANAK DIPERSIMPANGAN JALAN...MEMBUANG MASA,

MEMBUANG TENAGA...MEMBUANG NYAWA,

BERTELINGKAH TAK SEMENA-MENA.

WAHAI PAHLAWAN NEGARA,

BUMI INI JADI SAKSI,

DARAH KITA YANG TUMPAH KE BUMI,

SEMERAH KELOPAK MAWAR,

SEHARUM BUNGA KASTURI,

DEMI MENYAHUT SERUAN PERTIWI.

WAHAI PAHLAWAN NEGARA,

BUMI INI JADI SAKSI,

AIRMATA YANG GUGUR KEBUMI,

PARA ISTERI MENJADI BALU,

ANAK-ANAK MENJADI PIATU,

IBU-IBU HIBA...ANAKNYA PERGI DAHULU,

MENYAHUT SERUAN TUHAN YANG SATU.

WAHAI PAHLAWAN NEGARA,

ADAKAH PENGORBANAN KITA SIA-SIA?

KITA MEDEKA UNTUK SIAPA?

KITA MERDEKA UNTUK APA?

WARISANKU...SEDARLAH,

SEDARLAH DARI TIDURMU YANG LENA,

ESOK HARI KAU MAHU JADI APA?

ESOK HARI KAU BERADA DI MANA?

ESOK HARI...ADAKAH KAU MASIH BERNYAWA.

WARISANKU...MASA TIDAK MENUNGGU KITA,

REBUTLAH PELUANG YANG ADA,

JADILAH INSAN YANG BERGUNA,

UNTUK AGAMA, BANGSA DAN NEGARA.

WARISANKU...PERJUANGAN INI BELUM SELESAI,

TANAMKANLAH AZAM DAN TEKAD,

PESANAN GURU JADIKANLAH AZIMAT,

BUANGKANLAH DENDAM KESUMAT,

HIDUP SEPAKAT MEMBAWA BERKAT,

MOGA HIDUPMU DILIMPAHI RAHMAT,

HINGGA KE AKHIR HAYAT..."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

2007-08-23T09:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday 22nd August, was my husband’s birthday and every birthday since we've been married, I'd notice how he would become very reflective indeed. Being the curious me or for want of a more accurate word…“kaypo”… I'd discover the same thing year in year out. Without fail on his birthday, dear husband would be asking himself “What have I achieved so far to date?"

I think it’s great that he does this. A self-check is always good as it helps us to keep tabs on what we have done, what we’re doing now and where we are heading. It reminds us of the things that we need to improve on or perhaps consider doing in life. Without these self-checks, our birthdays would just be another day…another day of an added number to our age.

So when my husband turned 40 yesterday…yes the B.I.G 40.. I felt compelled to remind him what he has achieved so far to this day and to consider the many blessings that ALLAH has bestowed on him and the family. This of course brought a smile to his face. It also brought a cheeky response from him… an impromptu - off the cuff- amateur attempt at a rhyming couplet which sounded something like this ;

“You are my strength, You are my pillar,
If I go astray, you are my KILLER”

And this of course brought a smile to MY face.
So to dear husband….H.A.P.P.Y B.I.R.T.H.D.A.Y

and may you have many more ahead.

the towering inferno we had for lunch

the aftermath...a meal feat for Mr Tompang

a spidey inspired birthday cake

little V.I.Ps graced our small birthday party

Hannan and her compulsory birthday card for ayah

NEGARAKU

2007-08-09T22:48:00.000-07:00

Come 31st August, Malaysia will be celebrating her 50th year of independence. So much has been achieved since 1957 when the late Tunku Abdul Rahman led thousands of other Malaysians to the 7 cheers of MERDEKA! The famous Merdeka cheers signalled the end of the colonialist British rule and a new beginning for the people of this country.

Going around the Klang valley these days, one can’t help but notice the many flags that have been put up. Schools, government buildings, shopping malls have all gone to great lengths to get the Malaysian people into the Merdeka spirit. Heck! Even I have not been spared. My daughter came home one day from school and asked if she could buy this really fancy merdeka visor/cap. She said it was a-must-have as it had a mini flag attached at the side and sunglasses that can come down or go up whichever way you want it to be. She has a lot of hats and I wasn’t very keen on her buying another one. But I had to make an exception to this one, after all it is the Merdeka month.

Anyway, I’m glad my daughter managed to coax me into departing with my Rm24...coz the colourful visors/caps were indeed supercool. Perhaps my young kids may not know the real historical significance of celebrating Independence day but that’s okay. They will learn in time I hope. At least for the moment, the spirit is there and that’s important I think.

Gearing up for 31st August

Moving along on the topic of Merdeka spirit, I have to admit feeling puzzled by the recent act of a Malaysian who came up with an infamous 6 minute video clip called Negarakuku.

He wrote the song in conjunction with the country’s 50th anniversary of independence and it was his gift to the country. He also claimed that he did not mean to offend anyone by producing such a video clip. How can that be? I find it puzzling because the content of the video clip did not reflect his good intentions. Infact, I was very much offended by the lyrics which I felt mocked my religion.

I find it hard to accept that even after many, many years of co-existing with one another, there is still lack of understanding among the races. Living in a multiracial country we have to learn and respect each other’s customs and religions. That goes without saying. We are special in the eyes of the world not only because of the many similarities that we share but also because of our many differences. That is why Malaysia is so unique.

So in view of the coming Independence Day, let's be more understanding and tolerant of each other…only then can we truly embrace the spirit of MERDEKA!

Err...sorry, this space is not for you!

2007-08-05T02:22:00.000-07:00

When you go out to shopping malls, finding parking spaces at the carpark can sometimes be a headache, if not most of the times. This is especially true if it’s the weekend or a public holiday. Some may decide to leave their houses early just so they can secure a parking space, often times reaching the malls 15 – 30 mins before they are open ( I admit having done this on several of my Ikea outings). Others on the other hand, decide to leave it to God and simply cruise the parking lot until they find a spot somewhere...hopefully before their petrol runs out!

On some of the occasions when hubby and I chose the latter, he would jokingly ask me if I would mind pretending to be an OKU or a handicapped. We could then easily zero in on the designated parking spaces for the handicapped which are often near to the entrances. This would of course be met with a death stare from yours truly.

I’ve often observed how many Malaysians ignore the signs reserved for the handicapped, and simply park their cars at spaces which are not meant for them. When reminded of this, some choose to feign ignorance whilst others claim that they’re just parking for a few minutes only. Whichever way, their actions are denying others who have the rightful claim to these limited spots.

So when I saw 2 cars being clamped this afternoon at a mall, for parking at spaces reserved for the handicapped, I have to admit feeling…how do I describe it ... somewhat pleased?? Finally…somebody is doing something. We need to be sensitive of others and not just think of ourselves. We need to be less selfish and more civic conscious. Lets champion the rights of the handicapped and be morally upright and caring citizens of Malaysia. It’s time we walk the walk and not just talk the talk!

I’m a teacher, hear me out

2007-07-27T01:26:00.000-07:00

Of late, there is not a day that goes by without teachers being mentioned in the daily news. If you have followed the current events in Malaysia, you will definitely know what I’m talking about. But for those who are away from home or not a Malaysian, let me enlighten you. Teachers are making headlines for reasons such as below. Let these news clippings from the local dailies speak for themselves.

School head suspended for allegedly slapping 22 pupils
KOTA KINABALU: A primary school principal here was suspended with full pay for two months following complaints that she slapped 22 Year Four pupils for failing to turn in their homework. via The Star Online

Student (slapped by teacher) may lose his hearing
Penampang : A Form One student who was allegedly slapped by a female teacher on Friday may lose his hearing on the left ear forever. via Daily Express

These are just a few of the clippings that I found, but if you have time to scour the dailies you can indeed find more.

When parents send their children to school, they expect their children to be taught and nurtured by teachers and possibly along the way pick up good moral values from school. The last thing they expect is their children to be slapped or punched or anything of the sort by the very people who are supposed to be looking after them.

Being one in the teaching line and having to face hundreds of students each day, I feel that one should exercise the utmost restraint when dealing with school children. Patience and tolerance are prerequisites, if one wishes to survive in the teaching world. This is especially important if one is teaching in a primary or secondary school. Without these qualities one can easily succumb to the pressures at the workplace and end up doing harm not only to the students but to one’s career as well.

I often hear people say that those who end up as teachers are those who have failed to secure any other jobs. I don’t know about that, but I do know that there are many who choose teaching as their vocation and do so because they feel they can be good if not great teachers. One who inspires the minds of the young ones to lead less ordinary lives. Perhaps in the light of these events, we should, as a friend would put it...pause to reflect...and ask ourselves where do we go from here? Aside from teachers adhering to the clear guidelines set by the Minstry on what is deemed as acceptable forms of punishments, I feel that parents should play a more active role in bringing up their children. You’d be surprised that many parents have no inkling whatsoever on what their children are up to when they are busy at work, the people they consort with etc etc. Some children are so good at masking their true selves, playing both Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Perhaps they are little angels at home. But sometimes these kids can be very different when at school, with the way they behave and the foul language used. And in many instances it is the teachers who bear the heavy responsibility of disciplining these kids.

Another thing to look at is the Malaysian education system’s emphasis on academic excellence. The way things are, we are trying to produce little professors. But children are not all academically inclined and why should they? There are students who find school a bore as they feel that the syllabus has no relevance to their lives. And when they are bored or find the lessons difficult to follow, these children may resort to mischief and cause discipline problems at school. I feel, we should make an effort to cater to the needs of such students i.e. vocational subjects should be made part of the mainstream schools. Instead of just Science and Arts, there should also be a vocational stream in all schools. Many of these kids may not be good in their studies but they’re good in other things. If we can tap this talent we will be helping them in the long run, by giving them something that they can actually do, skills that can be used after leaving school. And when students see the relevance of what they can be taught at school to their future needs, then perhaps they will find school / education indispensable. With some luck they’ll behave and appreciate what schools have to offer.

Teachers are in schools to help mould the future generations and if there is a need to punish, it pays to exercise good judgement. After all, we are not in schools to become punishers and the “teaching profession is not peopled by psychotic tyrants” ( I hope!) I’m optimistic that things will get better.

WHEN THE OTHER HALF IS AWAY

2007-07-19T23:25:00.000-07:00

My other half goes away every 2 – 3 months for about a week or so. Usually to conferences, either as a participant or speaker, or at other times for business pusposes.

The kids love it when he goes off …when the cat is away, the mouse comes out to play you’d think. Well maybe, but they love it as this would mean that ayah will come home with lots of goodies (read as presents@toys). Also, this would mean that the older two will take turns to sleep in my room together with me and the younger three. The excuse…well since ayah is away, mama might be needing help at night and it’s a boon if one of them is in the room to give a hand. They’ve even done a schedule on who gets to sleep first, carefully dividing the number of nights between the two of them. Not a day more, not a day less. Equal number of nights on my already cramped Kingsize bed!

On my part, I dread when my husband is away. Simply because I find myself having to do the stuff which used to be taken care off by my partner. The runarounds like paying bills and picking up stuff from this person and that person often leave me feeling like the dispatch boy/girl. But the one that I dread most is the morning run to send my eldest to school. You see, it’s his job to send my girl to school everyday. I on the other hand would send my number 4 and 5 to the babysitter and then send my number 2 to school on my way to work. This arrangement has worked out quite nicely. But when he is away, adjustments have to be made. I find my day starts 30 minutes earlier. Need to get myself ready for work, get 2 kids ready for school, other 3 kids ready to be sent to their babysitters. Make sure the TV is not switched on as kids would be watching it and not eating their breakfast. Get things in the car; laptop, schoolbags, bags for the sitters and the list goes on and on. Really! With me running around getting all these things done, there’s no need for any morning exercise. I think I’ve managed to have a full cardio workout even before stepping out of the house. By the time I arrive at work at 7.30am and plonk myself at my desk, I feel as if I’ve gone through the whole day already.

Dear hubby knows my feelings about his outstations. Often, a day or two before leaving he would try and “suck up” to me by taking me out for some nice dinner or lunch. This time around he didn’t get to do so. However, a few hours before he left, he managed to get me a box of Secret Recipe’s sinfully rich chocolate cake as a butter-me-up …before-I-leave-you present. Like they say, the best way to win a person’s heart is through the stomach …and that reminds me…I need to eat the cake with my kids before he returns tomorrow!

SCRATCHES - Part 2 (the C.S.I version)

2007-07-12T00:18:00.000-07:00

Just like many successful movies that are later followed by sequels, my “Scratches” too has its own sequel but this time with a different set of cast and at an entirely unexpected location.

The setting:
Last Sunday at home, sometime in the late afternoon.

The plot :
I had just returned from the shop with my eldest son for our weekly grocery shopping and as we were busily lugging the grocery bags into the house, I noticed some scrawls on the passenger door of my husband’s car. Ohhhhhh! Are my eyes deceiving me or are these actually scratch marks!! And they’re on HIS car!! For those who have missed the earlier “Scratches”…the car that tends to get scratched has always been mine. Not his, but mine. Always at my workplace and NEVER at home. So imagine my horror!

Anyway, they were scrawls…imagine someone placing his hand (with long nails to boot) on the door and moving it in a circular motion over and over again…that’s what it looked like. I yelled for my son and daughter to come outside immediately, and when they saw what had happened they quickly announced that they had nothing to do with it. They even gave their alibis for me to check. By this time, my husband who was in the house, had heard the commotion and joined us at the porch. There was dead silence as he bended over to inspect the damage.

When he asked who had done it…my 3 year old son almost on cue declared “Pia” my youngest daughter, and insisted that he had been the sole witness to the crime. Both husband and I stood there puzzled. Yes, my youngest girl was in the vicinity at the time, but really…how much damage could this 1+ year old inflict with the egg carton she was holding. It was at this very moment our CSI skills kicked in. NO, we didn’t have any magnifying glasses lying around in the house to help us with our case, nor did we have any fingerprint dusting kit that would lead us to the perpetrator. All we had was the God given skill of using Reverse Psychology on a 3 year old. We realized that the only way to ever find out the truth was to get hold of the crime weapon. So we asked for our son to go and fetch the so called “weapon”. To our surprise he said…O.K...and darted into the house. We waited with baited breath. A few seconds later he returned. Lo and behold he was holding a packet of Chipsmore! And eating it too. Is it possible that my lil’ Princess had used a biscuit to scratch daddy’s car? Whatever it was, we were definitely losing sight of our evidence, as it slowly made its way into my son’s belly!

The Conclusion:

IF YOU CAN’T CONVICT, ACQUIT...(smiling!)

11 Years Ago Today

2007-07-04T08:44:00.000-07:00

I received mails today from friends whom I've known for the past 17 years reminding me that 11 years ago today... twas our graduation day! How quickly time flies. I recall 6 years before that, we were called to attend an orientation programme for a couple of days at Wisma Belia in KL. Students selected for the course came from all over the country; East and West Malaysia and we congregated at this nondescript building to meet each other for the first time.

We met, we bonded and became life-long friends in the end.

A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE

Wisma Belia - Days were filled with morning exercises and listening to talks and participating in group sessions. We not only learnt about each other but also ourselves.

The famous Malaysia Hall in London (er...excuse the cat!) Who can forget the lunches at the canteen - nasi, satu lauk berkuah, sayur and the compulsory air sirap? Not to forget the dashing Dexter then.

After saying goodbye to our other half who headed off for Coventry, we were bundled off to bonny Edinburgh and roughly 4 1/2 hours later arrived at Waverley Station.

Aaahhh!...first few glimpses of beautiful Edinburgh...

Horay Mouse Institute :) for the next 6 years.

***

Field trips-summer picnics-winter sales-Boxing Day,

weekly usrah-sleepovers-video marathon,

HMV-Virgin Records-Dorothy Perkins-Argos-James Thin-Odeon

Kebab Mahal-Pancake Place-Veggie burger-Pizza Hut-Crawfords

Lawn bowling-Croquet-Ice skating-hill walking

Eid prayers at the meadows-Raya gatherings-open houses-free food!!!

Easter break-study break??- Xmas holiday-trip to Europe

oh yes..not to forget classes-assignments-presentations and exams.

...Pure bliss...

McEwan Hall - Our Graduation Day!

********

Though we have gone our separate ways,

the memories are here to stay,

Of cherished thoughts that fill our hearts

Till the last moments when we part.

Scratches

2007-06-29T00:34:00.000-07:00

Part of the "perks" of being in the teaching line is that you may get your property vandalized by students from time to time. It surely doesn’t help if you’re teaching in a school where visits by the local police is a regular affair.

To date, my dear Estee ( a nickname I’ve reserved for my car), has been vandalized 5 times in a span of 3 months. Most of the times it would be scratches…sorry..long scratches at the sides of the car, extending from the back door all the way to the front. At other times it may be chalk markings on the windows. Yeay! Lucky me..it wasn’t liquid paper like my friend’s Altis. Perhaps Estee is a tad too pale for the students’ liking, so much so they felt they needed to give her an instant make-over by splashing Milo onto the windscreen.

When I see the “art work” left by the students, I often wonder what goes on in their minds when they do these “touch ups”. What drives them to cause such destruction? What have I done to deserve this? The physical scars can be repaired…all one needs is money. But the emotional scars that one bears inside take time to heal. Often, a very long time indeed. For many of us whose husbands take interest in our cars, having to explain to them about the scratches and sorts is something that we can do without. Really, we don’t need to be reminded that we work in a zoo (as mine had aptly put it). And yes…we have been extra nice to the students today…no punishments meted out to those who turned our classes into a circus.

So when I discovered a 2 meter scratch on Estee yesterday, I quickly went into control damage mode.With the help of my kids the car was “cleaned”. After an hour of laborious polishing (and a backache to boot), we managed to get most of the scratches to magically disappear. Thank God! Coz hubby returned about 10 minutes later, and I really didn’t feel like going through the rigmarole of explaining the why and the wherefores.

To end this post I leave you with a poem that I penned on the eve of Teacher’s Day.

A Teacher’s Wish

On Teacher’s Day I have one wish,
For students to try their best and resist,
Temptations to scratch a teacher’s car,
The one that’s near, or one that’s far.
Be it with stones or twigs or pens,
Your actions are hard to comprehend,
Splashes of Milo across the screen,
It stains our hearts, makes us wanna scream.
Oh Why! Oh Why! Do you do this?
Why is it you’re hard to please?
What would it take to leave our cars alone?
Perhaps a parking bay in some safe “Green Zone”.
Till that day comes, we just have to pray,
That you’ll turn your backs and walk away,
Heed this advice, and be at your best,
End this vandalism, give it a rest!

D-ARMPIT for IED by Mr Tompang (Unwelcomed Guest Editor)

2007-06-23T21:17:00.000-07:00

More and more American soldiers are dying in Iraq these days, prompting GW Bush to rethink his global strategies for world domination. This leads back to the American soldiers’ love for acronyms. It all started many years ago when watching Gomer Pyle USMC (That tells you how old I am). USMC means United States Marine Corp (or corpse).

IED was coined for Improvised Explosive Device by the US military. This sounds like somebody concocted something from his kitchen sink, as he was making curry puffs , they actually turned out to be an explosive device, perhaps too much curry. He then lays down these curry puffs by the road side and then KABOOOM!!! They explode! And next thing you know, its on CNN.

However in the last few weeks or so, you hear no more of IEDs. It’s now called Home Made Bomb (HMB) not to be confused with HMV your friendly local CD joint. I somehow doubt that these are really HMBs. The last I heard they were built with armour piercing elements and laser guided triggers.

So let’s call them for what they are D- ARMPIT for Device for American Reconnaissance Military Provocateur as Intentional Target. A mouthful of BS isn’t it… well I have nothing better to do on a Sunday afternoon.

I am what I am and Mr Tompang is who I am!

Of Teng-Teng and Zero Point

2007-06-20T00:38:00.000-07:00

At lunch time today, an interesting topic cropped up amongst my colleagues and I. It was on games we used to play as a child. Games we played with our friends whilst waiting for class to start at school, or those we played alone, in the lazy afternoons when none of our friends could come out to play because of one reason or another.

I’m sure we all have our childhood memories when it comes to these games of the past; who we played with, when we played them and where we were exactly when we played them. For most of us who grew up way before the advent of computer generated games like PS 1, 2 and 3..(is there a 4?), these games were our little forms of entertaiments and enjoyments. I love the fact that these games were very simple and straight forward. No wire cables or plug points needed. Often, all that's required were simple stuff like a piece of chalk, rubber bands, cap bottles and a whole lot of imagination.

I remember my primary school would start at maybe around 1p.m...but I was usually at school an hour before that. My friends and I would run to the field where the giant saga trees with its lush foliage, would provide us with some shade. We planted ourselves there and immediately got into our respective groups. From then onwards it was GAME ON. We would only stop when the bell rang, signaling it was time to get to class.

I recall these games were actually seasonal. At one time we would be playing Teng-Teng (hopscotch). At another time it might be the hundreds of rubber bands attached to one another (zero point). Sometimes we might be playing with 5 bottle caps or the famous batu seremban on the canteen table. Then, there’s the galah panjang or cop tiang. There’s this other one which I can’t remember the actual name. Is it capteh? Where we have a couple of feathers stuck on a small circular rubber piece and we’re supposed to hit it with our legs (timbang2) as many times as possible and stop when it hits the ground. Aaahhh! Those were the days.

In retrospect, I often wonder what was it that made these games so enjoyable? Was it the people we played with or its sheer simplicity? Perhaps it’s both. When I tell my children about my childhood and the games that I used to play, there is often this look of bewilderment. Then it dawned upon me that many of the kids today may have never heard or seen any of these games. It would be a shame if the art/skills of teng-teng or galah panjang or zero point are lost in the future. Hmmm..perhaps it’s time to smuggle out some chalks from school. I feel my itchy feet can do with a bit of hopping with the kids.

Err..this is not me playing batu seremban ok!

Happy Father's Day

2007-06-18T01:03:00.000-07:00

(TQ Kak Lang, for sponsoring the cake)

After weeks of waiting, 17th June arrived, much to the excitement of the family. It’s Father’s Day!.My sis-in-law and I had earlier planned to rendezvous at the “big house”with our respective families on tow, for our annual father’s day do. Unfortunately though, hubby had to be at a conference and would only be back in the late afternoon (conference organizers!!! Don’t they know anything about Father’s Day?). So gathering was set at roughly 5pm.

Anyway, since I was busy slaving away in the kitchen preparing my infamous mee lemak, my eldest quarantined herself in her room and produced another one of her famous Father’s Day card, complete with Winnie the Pooh and Hello Kitty stickers!

I love it when we meet up on special occasions. Be it for birthdays, Mother’s Day or Father’s Day. I feel it’s important to celebrate these occasions and show our appreciation towards those who we love and care very much. Often as we mindlessly go about our daily routines, we may forget to thank our partner for his/her contribution in keeping the family “together” . And what better time to do so, than on these special days.

So to dear husband, the father of my five children…Happy Father’s Day. Thanks for being such a great guy.

It matters not that Time has shed

His thawless snow upon your head,

For he maintains, with wondrous art,

Perpetual summer in your heart.

~ William Hamilton Hayne

Special Needs Special Kids

2007-06-14T23:21:00.000-07:00

When the eyes and hearts are closed, that can be a difficult thing. It stops you from seeing things from a different point of view, a different perspective. But most importantly, I feel, it prevents you from empathizing towards those who may not be as fortunate or as lucky as you are .

I have a story to tell. A sad, but true story to tell. It’s about a special boy, from a Special Needs class in a local secondary school. This boy was vision-impaired. Although he had problems with his sight, that did not stop him from leading his life as normal as possible. In fact in his school where he sat for his SPM, he was placed in a normal class, with the other average Joes. He was a hard worker, listening attentively to the teachers in class and occasionally checking his notes with his mates. Often one would see him placing the reference book only a few centimeters away from his face when revising. The only preferential treatment he received was during exam, where his exam papers would be enlarged to A3. Aside from that, he was just like any other kid.

Perhaps it was his perseverance and the will to do well in life, that pushed him to excel in his SPM. When the results were announced, he did very well. Scoring a string of As, where other “normal” kids have failed to do. This didn’t surprise the teachers as he often managed to score high marks in his tests and exams. So when he was called to continue his studies in Form 6 at a neighbouring school, he was very excited. To give support and encouragement, one of the Special Needs teachers accompanied him to his new school. She went to assist him in registering and perhaps meet somebody there to give some background info on the boy.

However, the new school was far from welcoming. The administrators’ reaction to his presence at the school was very negative. The boy was taken aside and a private conversation ensued between him and the school administrators. Whatever transpired between the boy and the administrators of that school remains unknown. But it is suffice to say, that when he was later met by his teacher, he was in tears. To this day, he has refused to reveal what has been said to him in that private conversation. When asked if he wanted to study there, the answer was a definite NO! His spirit had been broken.

I am angry and I am ashamed. More so of the latter, as I too am a teacher, and I feel that we of all people should be more sensitive or understanding towards those who want to learn. What right do we have to prevent one from achieving one’s fullest potential? Who are we to cloud over the dreams of others? How hard is it to give the boy a chance? Perhaps, God willing he may do well in his STPM, and the school might even share the limelight of his success. From where I’m standing, I see him who is vision-impaired. Not blind, mind you. Just a regular boy with some problems with his eyesight. It is the administrators who are blind, for not seeing the gem he is. Buta di mata dan buta di hati.

What’s in a N. A. M. E?

2007-06-07T03:50:00.000-07:00

Finally, exam is over (this morning) and I’m now free to accept the tag passed by my old chum D ( pausetoreflect). So, what’s in a name? A lot apparently, from the entries of those who have been tagged. Thank God the quantity is 5 ( have 5 of my own and wouldn’t want to exclude any of them!).

So.here goes;

Proposition: What is the meaning of your kid(s)'s name?
Requirements: write about what or how or why you gave the name to your kids.
Quantity: FIVE PEOPLE.
Tag Mode:1st - You leave their blog and post link and add to the list below.
2nd - Let the blogger you want to tag know they been tagged by commenting in their blog or etc.

Msau The meaning of SQ and Kiki
Shopping Mum The meaning of Justin and Isabell
Judy Chow Terry
Shannon Rachel
Samm Gordon n Malcolm
Sasha lil J
mott 2 monkeys
Fatty Poh's Fatty Boy
Kd NAMI & MIMI
D Abang Z, Abang H, Princess & Little D
Bluewonder NH, YS, UM, SF & LH.

As mentioned earlier, I have 5 kids (3 boys and 2 girls). All of which I had by the age of 34. When I was pregnant with my firstborn, I remember telling my husband that I wanted the child and the ones to follow (insyallah) to have just one name. Not 2 or 3, but only one name. Being one to please yours truly, he agreed. But, since we can’t actually agree on everything, I’ll give you my version and my husband’s version for all of the names.

N H
The name of my eldest was actually taken from the name of a postgraduate’s daughter that I used to know back in the early 90s. The name means compassionate, affectionate, loving and tender. I remember the little girl as being sweet and pleasant. I was smitten by her and her name. But when I gave birth, my mom-in-law wanted her first girl grandchild to have 2 names. To please her, we agreed. And accepted the one chosen by dear Wan which means light.

Husband’s version:
He claimed that he had a dream of an Irish leprechaun who repeatedly said “Light as a feather, you are..” x infinity. When our girl was born she was truly as light as a feather, weighing a mere 2.21kg. So the inspiration of that leprechaun inspired the name of NH which means light of compassion.

Now since the first child has 2 names, the ones that came after that were automatically given 2 names as well.

Y S
My second child a boy who came about 1 ½ years later bears a prophet’s name. His second name however is the name of the Muslim leader who liberated Al Quds from the crusaders. When we decided on the second name, we hoped that he would grow up being a gentleman and as brave as his namesake.

Husband’s version:
When Y was born, he was, according to my husband, the most handsome baby that he had ever seen. So he named the child after our most handsome prophet. The second name was to commemorate hubby’s grandfather’s name. True enough, when he grew up he seemed to emulate his great grandfather who was mild mannered but can sometimes go into a rage at appropriate circumstances.

U M
The third who is also a boy was named after the 2nd Caliph of Islam. It was also the name of my late grandfather who (as I was growing up) was very fierce and strict, but mellowed in his later life.

Husband’s version:
This one was named after a certain Libyan nationalist/ Islamist/ rebel who lived in the Sahara Desert fighting the Italian colonialists. He was feared as the “Lion of the Desert”. Second name is taken from the 99 names of Allah.

S F
I went thru the Net and chose my little girl’s name which I felt sounded nice and had a simple, straight forward meaning – Pure delight, happiness. And truly, what a delight she is. A perpetual sunshine when not antagonized by big bro UM

Husband’s version:
He wanted to name the child sapphire but it wouldn’t register with NRD. Hence, he was resigned to accept my proposal but added the second name to remind him of his cat and dog relationship which he had with his sister.

Finally, L H
The last one is a boy, and again it’s a prophet’s name. Whenever we tell people his first name, nearly everyone would say “Hakim” after that. So to make his name different from the norm I chose his second name which means protector, one who has memorized the Quran.

Husband’s version:
As he came home late one nite, he could not enter his abode as wife was in deep slumber. He then dreamed (yes...another dream!) of a child who would wait for him in the wee hours of the morning, to open the door with open arms. Thus inspiring his first name.

All that's left is to guess their names and a prize will be given for the correct answers.

A fetish for Bean

2007-06-06T00:57:00.000-07:00

What is it about Mr Bean that appeals to all? The young, the old, the English speaking or not. How is it that this gangly Englishman who doesn’t say much, is understood perfectly by the millions of people around the world?

When I first arrived in the UK as an undergraduate, my friend and I were placed in a Scottish home as part of an integration effort by our Malaysian government. We were given a cosy twin sharing room that came with a small TV. Sometimes, we would join our hosts to watch some programmes in their living room but we'd definitely be in the comforts of our room when it was “Bean-nite”.

I distinctly remember my first experience of watching Mr Bean back in 1990. I have to say I’ve never laughed so much that my jaws hurt. In fact, my roommate D, who I was just getting to know at that time, laughed so much that at one point she was just shaking uncontrollably, in utter silence, as tears trickled down the sides of her face. I recall thinking she was sick or something as she wasn’t able to speak to me for a good couple of minutes. Aaah! Such is the unique effect Mr Bean has on us.

Well 17 years down the road, my kids are now watching Mr Bean. Though the younger ones don’t understand English that well, that hasn’t stopped them from enjoying the show. A couple of days ago, my sis came home with Mr Bean’s latest movie. The kids were so excited that they insisted we watch it immediately. And they have been watching it everyday since. Just this morning, my husband tuned in to CNN for his usual morning dose of news and my 3 year old pleaded with him to put Mr Bean on instead. To this I replied, “Let ayah watch CNN first. Bila ayah dah pergi, baru kita tengok ok”. Upon hearing this, my girl who is 1 yr 8 mths , quickly turned to her daddy and said “Ayah, work …keje..(waving hand)..bye!”.

After ayah leaves for work, kids go on a holiday with Mr Bean

To end this piece, let me leave you with a question. Who would you consider to be our very own Mr Bean? For me one name comes to mind...the funnyman himself..Mat Sentul!

WHAT'S IN A SIGN?

2007-06-04T01:39:00.000-07:00

It’s quite common to come across funny signs when we travel. Sometimes it’s in the spelling, sometimes it’s in the play with words and sometimes it’s in the message itself. Here are some examples that I found in the Net.

When I was in Edinburgh, in my 3rd year university, a group of friends and I went north of Scotland to spend our Xmas break. The holiday was most memorable for several reasons; the convoy journey that was made in my friend’s second hand VW Jetta, the 20 frozen chickens that were packed in a cooler which were to last us for a week and the many unplanned stops made along the way as we struggled to read the map in the darkness of winter. And it was during our travels that we would come across some funny Scottish signs. Perhaps one that strikes my mind is a sign for a small town which read “GOSTAN – 2 kms”. My friend the driver, P, simply couldn’t resist stopping the car and insisted that we took a picture of him standing underneath the sign in the freezing cold. I think you and I can easily understand the significance and hilarity of such a word!

Well a couple of weeks back, my hubby and I met his friend who happened to be on his way to put up a “No Trespassing” sign on his vacant land. Apparently people have been trespassing and even dumping rubbish on his property. Not one to put up with all these nonsense, he customized a special sign which was Big and Bold indeed! When I read what was written, I just couldn’t stop laughing. You have to be a person like A, with his strange sense of humour, to be able to come up with such gems.

My Favourite Day Of The Week

2007-05-26T11:54:00.000-07:00

If you ask me what's my favourite day of the week, the answer has got to be Thursday. Why Thursday? And not the weekend; Saturday or Sunday? Well for starters, upon reaching Thursday I'll remind myself that the next day is Friday, which is the last day of the week at work (that is if I don't get summoned to come in on Saturday!).

Another reason why Thursday is such a favourite is because it's one of the rare days when dear hubby doesn't have his night shift. He works 3 nights a week (on top of working during the day as well) and we only get to have family dinners only 4 times a week. Mind you this has been going on for many, many years...7 years to be exact. If he happens to be at home on the nights when he’s supposed to be out working, it’s only because he’s down with flu, fever or suffering from severe backache (the last one an occupational hazard of course!).

But mainly Thursday is such a joy, simply because it’s a day when my mother cooks a special Thursday nite dinner for us. It all started a couple of months ago when my mom one day announced that every Thursday would be a family dinner day…and more importantly she’ll be the one cooking! You see, although I’m married and don’t live with my mom, I have the benefit of having my mom live a few houses away from me. Our houses are so close to each other, so much so that when I look out of my bedroom window I can actually see her house.

So this Thursday nite gastronomic fare has gone down well with everyone in my family. My kids and husband loves the idea because mak tok / mother-in-law is such a good cook. Truth be known, my mom was a Home Economy lecturer at one of the local teachers training college before she retired. And cooking is her forte and just one of her many specialities. To make it more interesting she said we could ask for anything that we wanted to eat (not all at once of course). Every week, one of us would place an "order" and each week it'd be something different.

Listings of Thursday nite menu;
Week 1. Fish and chips – Yusuf
Week 2. Laksa Johor – Hannan
Week 3. Lemon Chicken and Tomyam – Husband
Week 4. Mee Lemak – me
Week 5. Lamb broth (foul medamas)- mom
Week 6. Baked Macaroni – Yusuf
Week 7. Nasi Ayam – me
Week 8. Murtabak – Husband

Week 9. Spaghetti Bolognaise - mom
Week 10. Chicken Chop - Hannan

I have to say that this little arrangement has caused my two brothers, who live very far from us, to be very envious indeed. My younger brother and wife who work in Manchester asked us if my mom could come and stay with them for a short while. To this my husband replied "Sorry, we may have to negotiate on the transfer fee. But most likely the answer is No. She’s too busy preparing Thursday nite dinners for us". Enough said.

To my mom, I can only say two things.

Thanks and we love you lots!

Poverty In The Land Of Plenty

2007-05-18T09:22:00.000-07:00

I'd like to think I'm a person of habit. I often do things a certain way. Like for example I always try not to cut my nails in public (don't ask me why), I laugh first before telling a joke and I usually try to park at the same place everytime I go to my favourite mall. But today, I did something out of the ordinary. I didn't park at my usual place when I was at the mall at Sek 9 Shah Alam. And because of that, I was left with a very unusual experience.

It began when I was walking to the carpark after my grocery shopping. I was stopped by a scrawny young boy who asked me for 3 ringgit. Did he just ask me for money? He 's a beggar I told myself. At this point I could have done several things. One, I could have just walked away. Two, give him 1 ringgit or maybe 3 ringgit and then walk away. Or three, ask him what he needed the 3 ringgit for. I did just that and his response gave me a shock.

Apparently he had walked all the way from Sek 8 and was hungry. He hadn't eaten anything for lunch and it was already 4p.m . I was gobsmacked. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Here I was in swanky Sek 9, the Concorde Hotel just next door, and standing infront of me was an urchin that could have been Oliver Twist himself.

So I took him to a bakery nearby and asked him what he wanted to eat. I didn't give him the 3 ringgit, lest he blows it on some PS2 games at the mall. He pointed at a sausage bun and sotongball on sticks. From our conversation I discovered that he has 2 other siblings ( an older brother and a 4 year old adik), both parents are working, but has no idea what they actually do for a living and he is in std 4 but can't recall his teacher's name. Upon learning about his siblings I then filled the tray with an assortment of buns and reminded him to share with them when he reached home. After giving him 1 ringgit for pocket money, we then went our separate ways. Me to the carpark and he to the basement where the PS2 stall was.

My husband said I should have taken a picture of him. I don't think it would have been necessary. To this very moment I can still remember what he looked like. A wide-eyed boy in an old orange t-shirt perforated with holes, and trousers that's too small for a boy his age. I remember turning back to have a last look at him as he walked away wearing slippers that were 2 sizes too big.

A Belated Mother's Day Wish

2007-05-18T08:01:00.000-07:00

Perhaps it’s not too late to wish the millions of mothers around the world Happy Mother’s Day! Last Sunday, I was woken up early in the morning by my boy Yusuf who came into the room and gave me a Mother’s Day kiss and hug. Aaaah! If only everyday was like this. A couple of years ago, when my kids were much younger, I remember having to coax them into making mother’s day cards for me. In fact, it wasn’t unusual for me to assemble their art paraphernalia and give them some general instructions on how “my” mother’s day card should look like. Pathetic, but true nonetheless.

However, now that they’re slightly older things have changed. I find that I no longer need to drop hints prior to the event nor do I need to take them to the shop to purchase “my” gifts! My kids can now come up with their own cards thanks to the many Art Attack programmes. Hannan who loves art came up with this lovely card which she claimed took many, many hours to produce. It was a yellow card with little butterflies fluttering amongst flowers (Neil Buchanan would have been proud). In it she had kindly signed her younger siblings’ names since my last 3 have yet to acquire the skill of writing. They are after all 3 years old, 1 ½ years old and 5 months. Somehow rather, in between memorizing her multiplication table for her mid-year exam, she had managed to get it done.

Yusuf however, decided to take the easy way out this year. The day before Mother’s Day, when I was at MPH with my husband, he called me and asked me to remind my husband to buy my Mother’s Day card, and if possible to buy one in green. Well, so much for originality!

For what it’s worth, I loved both cards. Be it one that’s homemade or one that came from the store. Can’t wait for Father’s Day when the kids and I gang up and brainstorm on the ideal card-present-celebration for their dad.

I leave you with this :

When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child - Sophia Loren

HAPPY TEACHER'S DAY

2007-05-15T01:11:00.001-07:00

It's that time of the year again...mid-May and scenes of parents making a dash for the shops as they make a last minute purchase of gifts for their children's teachers. Yes! it's Happy Teacher's Day tomorrow. Not to be left out, I too found myself at the shop this morning, spending a good 20 minute walking up and down the aisles, trying to decide on acceptable gifts for my kids' teachers.

Last week I heard my daughter Hannan (9 yrs old) and Yusuf (8 yrs old) talking about their teacher's day celebration. Apparently Yusuf and a few of his friends have to come up with a performance at school. When asked what his teacher had requested him to perform...he said "Mama, this is supposed to be a surprise for the teachers. They're not supposed to know!". Oops sorry. My mistake.

Anyway, at first he and his friends decided to perform a short sketch. Then later they changed it to singing songs. Finally, I was told, it would be reciting a poem. I have to admit that getting this little activity going (even if it's just a 5 minute performance) without the guidance of the teacher would be an uphill task for these 8 year olds. So mama had to intervene. I soon found myself surfing the Net looking for simple, straight forward, fuss-free poem which would be easy for Yusuf and crew to memorise. In the end, I found one which was reasonably simple. However, serious editing was required if my son and his friends were ever going to remember the lines. So, after reducing the 5 stanzas to 2, and simplifying some of the words..I gave it to him. His reaction? "Ohh..so many words to memorise!". Sorry mate. It'll just have to do.

Well, that's my son sorted out. This evening it'll be a session of wrapping gifts with Hannan. I'm quite certain she's already mentally planned what her teacher's day card should look like. Just leave her alone in her room for an hour or so, and she'll later come out with her masterpiece.

I'm glad my kids have shown interest in celebrating teacher's day. I hope, when they grow up, they'll remember and appreciate all the things their teachers have done for them throughout the years. I know for a fact that it's more than just pure teaching. So to all the teachers out there...thank you!

Enjoy the poem;

"WHEN YOU THOUGHT I WASN’T LOOKING By Mary Rita Schilke Korzan

When you thought I wasn’t looking, you displayed my first report, and I wanted to do another.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, you fed a stray cat, and I thought it was good to be kind to animals.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, you gave me a sticker, and I knew that little things were special things.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, you put your arm around me, and I felt loved.

When you thought I wasn’t looking I saw tears come from your eyes, and I learned that sometimes things hurt--but that it’s all right to cry.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, you smiled, and it made me want to look that pretty too.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, you cared, and I wanted to be everything I could be.

When you thought I wasn’t looking--I looked...and wanted to say thanks for all those things you did when you thought I wasn’t looking. "