The Sequel (1984 - 1985)

Now that I've started, I'd better get it over and done with, taking all of you back through time when I started out with Saudara HHK. Being an academician that I am, I will divide my sequels into 4 parts, and I will end the whole thing with a Conclusion. (Giler academic!!! Hahaha!)

This posting will be called "The Sequel (1984 - 1985)"

To those who are new to this blog, this will only make sense if you were to read this and this first.

Everybody ready? Here we go...

After getting Ayah's apology letter (which I shared with Yus, of course!) I decided to give it a go with this guy - as friends exchanging our schools' test and exam papers. True to his words, every month I would get a bundle of either test or exam papers from him, and I would also send him bundles of exam questions from my side. I guess if we were to sell off all the papers to the "Old Newspaper Guy", we would have made a lot of dosh then:)

The only problem was - he was in Science, and I was in Social Science (despite getting all As for my SRP, and despite being advised by my teachers to join Science Stream, I was adamant to stick to my choice - I knew I wanted to be a lawyer, and I didn't want to waste my time and crack my head with all those science subjects which I knew I would fail miserably in anyway!) Anyway, it was not a big problem, as I would normally get copies of the Science papers from Noi, my dorm-mate, and whatever Science papers which Ayah sent me, I would pass them to Noi. I can't seem to remember whether Ayah actually got copies of exam questions from his Social Science friends to pass to me, or not.

But, what I remember clearly was this -

Give and take 2 months after we started writing to each other, a classmate of mine received a letter from her friend who was a Soc.Sci pupil at Sekolah Melayu KK. And in that letter were (about) 25 paper strips with a name written on each. There was a request that each of us pick one name, and that person would be our "pal" for the purpose of exchanging exam papers. I just could not understand why it had to be so complicated. Why couldn't MY classmate just send a SET of the exam papers every month to HER friend in Soc.Sci Sekolah Melayu KK, and he in turn just send their set to her, and anybody who wanted them could just make their own copies, right?!

Naaaahhhh...got hidden agenda one! Serampang dua mata strategy! I guessed it was not so much of a request to exchange papers, but more of a platform to get to know your "pal" better! Pandai budak Sekolah Melayu KK ni...

Anyway, as I was already getting my "supplies" from Ayah, I didn't want to be part of the arrangement. However, after most of my classmates had chosen their "pals", there were a few names left, and the rest of us who had earlier refused to join in were persuaded to be part of it. Kesian punya pasal, and also thinking that this "pal" would be a Soc. Sci student who could provide me with Soc Sci papers, thus lessening saudara HHK's job, and after being cajoled by our classmates, I gave in and got myself a new "pal", too. And my "pal" was Samdol (bukan nama sebenar).

I don't remember writing to Samdol, but I remember getting his first letter. Apparently my classmate - the "organizer" of the "scheme" on our side, had finalized the "pairing" and had given the list of names to the "organizer" from that side. Anyway, I seem to remember that I only wrote to Samdol when there was a set of exam papers to send him. And all those while, Ayah and I had been writing to each other regularly as friends - nothing more than that, and of course, exchanging exam papers. I never mentioned Samdol to Ayah, as I thought it was a non-issue.

And, oh my...was I wrong to have thought that!

What I didn't know was that, Samdol was NOT a Soc.Sci student after all. He was in fact a Science student. He was in fact......Ayah's classmate! Horror! Horror!

Apparently, the 25 names from which we had to choose from - they were NOT all Soc.Sci students. They were just a group of smart alecs who were never really interested in exchanging exam papers in the first place! Aaaaarrrrgggghhh!!!!

What happened was, Ayah found out that I was also writing to Samdol, while writing to him, and he was rather upset. I was upset, too! Because - firstly, I just couldn't understand why he had to be upset in the first place. We were not boyfriend/girlfriend anyway, and he surely didn't have any rights over me, right?!!! Secondly, I was upset because Samdol was not really a Soc.Sci student and there was no point for me to correspond with him in the first place!

So, I gave them BOTH a piece of my mind, and I stopped writing to both of them. That was the last time I heard from Samdol...but, not from Ayah...

A week or so after I sent out the letter, Ayah wrote back to me and apologized. I don't know lah...there was something about him yang buat I cair everytime I read his letter...So, things got back to normal.

You would think that was the end of it, right? That everything was hunky dory until we finished our SPM, right? Nope! Guess again!

I can't remember whether we were still in Form Four, or we were already in Form Five when the next "incident" happened.

Did I mention that I had also been exchanging papers with a guy from Sekolah Lorong Harimau, by the name of Wak Jonggo (juga bukan nama sebenar) about the same time I started writing to Ayah? Again, Wak Jonggo was the one who wrote to me first. And again, I didn't mention this to Ayah. As with that Samdol thingy, I thought this Wak Jonggo was also a non-issue between Ayah and I. And after his apology following the Samdol incident, I thought we had an understanding about this exchanging exam papers thingy.

And I really didn't see it coming...

I remember - it was a week after school reopened, and all of us just came back to JB after our Term break, when I received a letter from Ayah. And he wrote -

Lebih kurang -

"Salams Saudari Shana - how was your term break - mine was okay - full of tuitions, etc. Something interesting happened on my train journey back to KL (or was it to KK?). We, a group of Sekolah Melayu KK guys ended up sitting in the same coach with a few of bebudak Sekolah Lorong Harimau - we got talking - and somehow one of them started talking about their friends from STF, TKC, SSP, etc - and somehow YOUR name came out. By the way, do you by any chance know a guy by the name of Wak Jonggo?!"

And I was like, "Oh NOOOOOO!!! Not again!!! Why does this have to happen to me???!"

Of ALL the coaches, and of ALL days, and of ALL people - why did he have to end up sitting with Wak Jonggo?!!!

Again, I was upset because HE was upset! I still thought that he had no right or reason to be upset....

But, deep inside, I had a strange feeling of the possibility of "losing" him... After Samdol, and then Wak Jonggo, he REALLY must have thought that I was not a loyal friend, or that I was somehow a "loose" person?

Even though I felt helpless and worried, I wrote a similar letter to the one I wrote to him after the Samdol incident, explaining to him what needed to be explained. And I remember waiting anxiously for his reply...which came only after nearly 2 weeks. That was one of the longest 2 weeks of my life...And I really thought - that was it. He was not going to write to me again...

THAT was when I realized that I was actually falling for him! Even though I had already had this strange feeling that Ayah was the one for me going into his sixth letter to me, I never really seriously entertained that thought. That was UNTIL that long 2-week wait.

And my...was I relieved when Ayah's letter finally came, again - apologizing for being "possessive", etc. And I remember feeling warm and fuzzy inside reading that letter....and thinking to myself, "Hey...he's jealous. That's very sweet..."

And things got back to normal :)

I remember getting a Musical Box from Ayah for my 17th Birthday, and we continued writing to each other throughout Form Four and Form Five.

I remember getting beautiful cards from Ayah on my birthday and also on Valentine's Day '85.

I remember still writing to Wak Jonggo, as I felt I at least owed it to him to continue sending my sets of exam papers to him.

I remember BOTH of us doing very well in our studies - him always being the top in his stream, while me being the top in my stream.

I remember never ever calling him and I think the only time we spoke in those two years was when he called me at home which caught me by surprise. Apparently he went searching for my Abah's name in the thick Telekom Directory and tried his luck and called the number.

Abah was the one who answered that call, and I was quite surprised that Abah actually passed the phone to me and let me speak to Ayah! (Of course Abah was sitting just 3 feet away from me! Hehehe!). And of course, right after I put down the phone - Abah began his Spanish Inquisition on me... I think he suddenly turned mellow on me, when I told him that the caller was budak Sekolah Melayu KK...

And all those while, we NEVER met.

And I remember thinking, "Would BOTH of us get the offer to further our studies at the same place after SPM? Would we ever get the chance to meet?"

And those questions were answered in January 1986...

Talk about a fateful coincidence...

Gosh...Has it REALLY been a year since I wrote this?

If it was "23 years on" for that posting, it is "24 years on" for this posting then. Yes, today is Ayah and I punya 24th Anniversary of Knowing-Each-Other. MrsNordin was saying, if we were to get married 24 years ago, our kids dah nak kawin dah! How true...but, both Ayah and I would rather see it as, "Our kids dah keluar Universiti dah!!! (Rather than kawin! Hahaha!)

Where do I begin? Bits and pieces of my epic Hindustani love story with Ayah can be found in the abovesaid posting, that is if you all want to know more. There have been a few who had requested for a sequel. I guess I will take this opportunity to fill in the lacunae and give a clearer picture of what actually happened 24 years ago on 26th April 1984. But, brace yourself - this is going to be a looooonnnnggg entry. If you all don't want to be hooked to the storyline like those people who were hooked to Winter Sonata and the likes, my advice to you all is, just hop to another blog NOW.

To those who are still reading this, here goes :

26th April 1984 was the date I FIRST received a letter from Ayah. I was in a boarding school in JB, while he was in a boarding school in KK. We were both sixteen at that time (well, I wasn't quite sixteen yet ;)) I can still remember that day VERY clearly.

It was lunchtime, and I had gone to the staffroom to check my mail, when I saw an envelope addressed to me. Unfamiliar handwriting - but VERY neat, at a glance it looked like it was typed. Perplexed and curious to know who the sender was, I opened it immediately while walking to the dining hall. I began reading it, and I have to say I was totally lost and I just could not understand what this guy called "HHK" from that Sekolah Melayu KK was trying to say!

Bits and pieces from the letter -

"Assalamualaikum -I'm HHK - not sure if you remember me but, we spoke on the phone about a year ago - didn't think you really existed then - thought you had given me a false name - a person with a name THAT long surely didn't exist, la di da di da...(for those who know me, you guys know what he meant when he said my name was LONG, right?)- but then, I was at the PPM meet at SMSS - was going through the magazine and I saw your name and pix in your school debating team - tried looking up for you, but didn't see you - anyway, was wondering if you don't mind if I write to you - exchange exam papers, la di da di da, etc..." (By the way, the letter was written in full BM, okay? With "saudari" here, "saudari" there, you know?!)

(And oh ya - only my pix went to PPM that year. Tuanpunya badan tak pergi - long story :))

I was so confused and was trying really hard to remember any phone conversations which I might have had with this "HHK", or any other guys for that matter! And then I remembered - Hmmmm...couldn't be, because if it was true that we had THAT conversation, my Abah would have killed me, and I would not have been around to read that letter then.

I quickly went to get one of my closest friends Y*s, and showed her the letter, and she said, "Hmmm...this guy saja make up stories, and nak tackle you ni. Entah apa-apa entah. Tak payah layan laaa orang macam ni, etc...!"

All that happened on 26th April 1984.

For a few days, I was contemplating whether to reply the letter, or not. Finally, I sat down with Y*s who helped me compose a very nasty letter to this HHK guy.

Lebih kurang -


"Errr...Hello Saudara HHK! Tolong sikit. I'm not THAT kind of girl, okay? I had NEVER spoken to you over the phone OR any other boys for that matter. Tak ada tactic lain ke nak berkenalan? La di da di da, etc"

Put a stamp on it and posted it to Saudara HHK of Sekolah Melayu KK.

A few days passed, and I remember that afternoon. I was in the Hall practicing for our inter-house Drama competition when Y*s came and pulled me to the side, and she said -

"I'm SO sorry!!! I think I know who this HHK guy is. I just remembered - Z* (her sister) told me sometime last year about a phone call she made to her tuition mate in Sekolah Melayu KK! She called the number for the New Hostel Common Room and one of the seniors answered and started asking her for her details - name? calling from where? etc. Z* was quite annoyed because that senior seemed so kepoh to know her details! So, she flicked through the address book in front of her which had the phone numbers of friends of everyone living in my parents' house, and saw YOUR name in it - which I wrote, but she thought it was our Mom's friend's name - Aunty Wan, and she gave your name to that guy thinking that it was Aunty Wan's name! And when that guy asked her where she was calling from, she immediately thought of my school and she said, she was calling from S*F, JB!!!"

I didn't think Y*s actually took a break to inhale some oxygen in between her sentences when she said ALL that to me.

I was speechless. Talk about coincidence - MY name and MY school! And suddenly both of us started to laugh and started to garu kepala and our thoughts went straight to the nasty letter we wrote to that HHK guy! Alamak!!!! Kesiannyer!! Sudah teruk kena hantam!!! And it was all a case of a mistaken identity!

Again, it took me a few days to come up with a "short-of-apologising" letter to Saudara HHK explaining to him that I knew who he spoke to the year before, and that it was a case of an innocent mistaken identity, and hoped the matter would be put to rest. Mesti control macho and pride, right? So, apologies pun macam bukan apologies sangat laa...Hahaha! Put a stamp on it and posted it to Sekolah Melayu KK. And I never expected to hear from Saudara HHK again after that.

As it turned out, our letters berselisih, and the next day I received a letter from Saudara HHK. Apparently, he had, at his end over there, also made some enquiries and had squeezed out some info from Z*'s tuition mate (which the fated phonecall was really meant for), and he managed to put the pieces together. And feeling that he had made a fool of himself (Hahaha! Jangan marah saudara HHK :)), he wrote a long apology letter, and asked if we could start fresh....

And the rest, as they say...is history.

To Y*s and Z* - if you guys are reading this, THANKS SO MUCH FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS...*

Depending on my mood, I might blog about the pusing-pusing, and the ups and downs of our relationship in the 10 years 4 months and 15 days before we finally got married on "9994" - Sequel gitu... ;)

Anyway, to celebrate our 24th Anniversary of Getting-to-know Each Other, Ayah brought me out on a date just now. Just the two of us. We left the kids at home with Daryati, and went to watch the 11:30pm show at GSC.



And we watched The Forbidden Kingdom.

Romantic giler tengok Jet Li and Jackie Chan berkungfu....HAHAHAHA!

HAPPY 24th ANNIVERSARY, SAUDARA HHK. I LOVE YOU SO VERY MUCH.

Thank God for our external food suppliers...

I just came back from Restoran Nasi Kandar S***p in SD with the kids. It has been our routine - every Wednesday night after the kids piano lesson in Section 1* PJ, we would all have dinner there - minus Ayah (who has his clinics on Wednesday evenings), minus Daryati (coz' malas nak balik rumah dulu to fetch her, etc - but we would normally tapau her something).

We would normally choose to sit at this particular table at the back of the restaurant. Hilman calls it "Our Table", and this one skinny 40ish year old waiter would be the one who ALWAYS takes our order (even though there are about 6-7 waiters there). So much so, most of the time he would just ask us, "Biasa punya order kaa?"

Our "Biasa" would be -

Hanna - Kuey Teow Latna (No Veges, No Chillies) + Iced Milo

Hilman - Kuey Teow Latna (No Veges, No Chillies) + Milo 'suam' (since he cannot take iced milo now because of his asthma)

Hasya - Mee (or Maggi) Goreng (No Veges, No Chillies) + Iced Lemon Tea (sometimes 'suam')

Myself - Either Mee Hoon Tom Yam OR Nan with Chicken Tandoori + Iced Lemon Tea (No Sugar)

If Ayah finishes his clinics early, he would join us, and his "biasa" would be - Nasi Goreng Kambing (or just Roti Telur IF he has already had very late lunch at the hospital, i.e at 4-5p.m) + Apple Juice (No Sugar)

By 9:15pm, I would have paid for the food, and by 9:20pm all of us would have reached home and just veg out in the living room - kenyang macam ular sawa...

And this is not the only routine for us.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays we would all have dinner at Mak's house in PJ as Hasya and Hilman have their Mengaji there, and only finish at 9:30pm. Hanna also has her tuition in Section 1*, and she only finishes at 10:00pm. What we normally do - we would all go back to SD in one car, and the next morning, after sending Hanna to school, Ayah would send me and the younger ones to Mak's house again as my car would be left there overnight. Or sometimes, Hasya and Hilman would just sleep at their Wan's on their mengaji nights.

I only cook on Monday and Friday nights. Itu pun, most of the times, on Fridays, the kids and I would normally have dinner at One-U after a visit to MPH. Ayah also has clinics on Friday evenings and most of the times he would have his dinner at the hospital. And if Ayah doesn't eat at home, I don't have any mood to cook maaa...

I don't cook/prepare breakfast. During the week that would be Daryati's department. During weekends - our breakfast supplier would again be Restoran Nasi Kandar S***p.

And I don't normally do weekend lunches or dinners. We would normally eat out, or eat at my parents' in KD, or eat at my sis Lala's place in Keramat.


So, in actual fact - I only do real cooking on Monday nights!


Hmmmm...What can I say, except - I thank God for Restoran Nasi Kandar S***p. I thank God for my MIL. I thank God for my parents. I thank God for my sister. I thank God for Daryati. And I thank God for anak-anak dan suami yang tak cerewet makan :)

And I thank God because even with all those frequent external food supplies, I still can come up with various MEAN dishes when I decide to cook once in a blue moon.

Mahal tu... ;)

A lonely weekend :(

It's 12:04a.m, and I'm waiting for Ayah to come back from his all-guys karaoke outing at R*d B*x @ The Curve.

I would normally just go to bed, and if he's lucky, I would be half awake (or sometimes tido mati!, if he's unlucky) when Ayah comes back in the wee hours of the morning. But, as Ayah will be going to KK tomorrow for his alma mater's Old Boys Weekend, I thought I would just wait up for him. I will have to pack his overnight stuff later anyway.

Ayah will be working tomorrow morning, and he'll be leaving for KK in the afternoon - after lunch. So, this morning will be the only sembang-sembang time for us - that is if both of us can actually open our eyes when he comes back nanti! From experience, if Ayah and I went karaoke-ing with my MT friends and spouses, the earliest we reached home was around 4:00a.m, I think?! And I don't think this morning will be any different. Hehehe!

The kids are already asleep - sprawled all over our living room. Hanna's on the 2-seater sofa, Hasya's on the 3-seater sofa, while Hilman's halfway to Hot Wheels Dreamland on the carpet : ALL fell asleep with a book each in his/her hand! You see - we spent about an hour at M*H One-U just now, before having our dinner at TCRS, and Hanna, Hasya and Hilman ended up with 3, 5 and 2 books each, and their Mommy ended up RM238/= poorer! But, it's okay - good investments I always say :)

Daryati brought down all their pillows and blankets/duvet about half an hour ago. She's so used to us sleeping in the living room, with ASTRO watching us sampai suboh, especially during weekends. So much so, there is no need for me to ask her to bring down all the beddings, etc, when one or two of us has fallen asleep in our living room! It is understood. Anyway, at least when Ayah comes back later, he can straight away see the kids when he enters the living room. I'm sure he misses the kids as he had not seen Hasya and Hilman since Thursday morning!

Ayah had to go to a meeting in KL straight from work yesterday and came straight back to SD after that. Hilman and Hasya, on the other hand, went back to their Wan's house in PJ straight after school, and decided to sleep with their Wan after their Thursday night mengaji class there. My bet is, Ayah will try to squeeze and sleep in between Hasya and Hilman when he gets back home later - to lepas rindu :)

As for me, I'm already missing Ayah even though he has yet to leave for KK! Sobs! I am beyond help...I know.

Anyway, looks like I will have to fill my time with quality shopping hours at One-U yet again this weekend, guys ;) Hehehe!

Cheers, y'all. Have a great weekend, wherever you are.

POST-SCRIPT

Yahoo!! Ayah tak jadi balik KK!!!! Somehow or rather, not many of his batch could make it for the reunion, so, the organizer has cancelled all plans for the weekend for his batch.

But, daaaannnggg!!! This means no quality shopping time for me at One-U...Hehehe!

Hasya's Sleepover Weekend...

Hasya's sleepover weekend was officially over 2 hours ago when we sent the last of her friends home. Phew...

All in all, I think the girls had a fun-fun time with us :)

The girls - Ali*, Na*ia and Elmi*a followed us home straight from school after their Sports Day on Saturday, and after taking their shower and all, they locked themselves up in the room and watched some DVDs. Not just ANY DVDs. I can bet my right arm that they actually watched whatever they could of the whole of Hasya's Bratz and Barbie DVDs collection that afternoon.

Lunch was served at 1.30p.m - I settled for Spaghetti Bolognaise and boiled sausages (healthier option than fried sausages, no?) and they thoroughly enjoyed the food. Everybody had seconds, and I didn't have to prepare anything for tea as everybody was still VERY full at tea-time.

After lunch they went back up to the room for a few rounds of DVDs and PS2, but by 7:00p.m, everybody was ready for our dinner out. We left the house after solat Maghrib, and we decided to go to the Sec*et Rec*pe in SD as we were pretty sure it would be a nightmare to find parking at One-U at that hour. Ayah could have just dropped us first but he might have had to go a few rounds to find a slot before he could join us for dinner there and by the time he would have found a parking space the movie would surely have started! So, to play safe - SD Sec*et Recipe it was.

We left SR at 8:45p.m and reached One-U just after 9:00p.m and went straight to G*C while Ayah went to find a space to park his mini-bus. Syukur Alhamdulillah, he managed to join us just before the movie started. Ayah had already bought the tickets on Friday night, so we didn't have to join the long Saturday night queue at G*C. It was Nim's Island - Hasya's own choice (much to the disappointment of K.Long Hanna who wanted to watch something else - but, I told her that it was Hasya's weekend and we should let her choose her preferred movie).

Anyway, the small girls enjoyed it, the small boy Hilman semi-enjoyed it because according to him, "Mommy, it was not the same as what was written in the book, Mommy... It was supposed to be this and this and that and that...bla bla bla...". He had just finished reading the book last week, you see. So, ada sikit rasa tidak puas hati there. Hehehe! As for Hanna, errrr...I think she slept through the last half hour of the movie! As for Ayah and I, I think it was just so-so. But, I have to say that Abigail Breslin who played Nim was simply awesome. And just to let you all in into a secret - she made me cry a couple of times during the movie...Sobs!

We reached home just after 11:00p.m, and after a hot Milo each, and brushing their teeth, the little girls had a "make-up session" in the room using Hasya's new make-up set which she got from her Aunty L*nn as birthday present. When I went to check on them at midnite, they were all under the duvet watching one of Hasya's Barbie's DVD, and I left them with, "Make sure you all go straight to sleep after you finish this movie, okay? Promise me that you all will not watch another movie after this, ya...because Hasya and Ali* have to wake up early tomorrow. They have their dancing class, okay?". To which all of them replied, "Okay, Aunty...We promise. Good night!" Ahhhh....such sweet girls...

And then Hasya kissed me on the cheeks, PUSHED me out of the room, and LOCKED the door! Sigh...

Sunday morning, I checked on the girls at 8:00a.m - and they were still under the duvet, watching a DVD! It was as if I had just left them 5 minutes before that! "Hmmmm...did you all just wake up OR you all did not sleep at all last night watching DVDs?", to which the girls replied with giggles, "No la Aunty...we woke up very early tadi!" Phew...that was a relief! I was scared that they would go back to their parents and tell them that they were up all night long at Aunty Shana's house watching DVDs when it was supposed to be a SLEEPover!

For breakfast, the girls helped me make Cheese Omelette with their own choice of toppings (they could choose from sausages, mushrooms, diced tomatoes, diced onions, and of course - cheese). We also made pancakes. Everybody wanted to break the eggs, and I thought, "Why not? They can take turns to do that!" Suffice to say, we didn't only have eggs in the bowl and the frying pan - they were also on the table AND the floor. Nasib baik ada Daryati to clean up everything...Hehehe!

After breakfast, I called D*da (Hasya's and Ali*'s dance teacher) whether it was okay if Na*ia and Elmi*a follow just to watch the girls dance, and when D*da gave the green light, all four girls (and Hilman, of course) were bundled into Ayah's car at 10:45a.m and off they went to PJ.

I must have dozed off on the sofa right after they left, and only woke up when they came back at 12:30p.m! (By the way, Ayah and I have decided that our 3-seater sofa in the living room tu "berhantu" because anybody who lies down on it will definitely fall asleep within 60 seconds! Hehehe!) Ali*'s Mama had fetched her from dance class herself as she had her piano lesson after that, so there were only Na*ia and Elmi*a left.

Anyway, all my headaches on the weekend menu was pretty much unnecessary as we received a lunch invitation from Ayah's cousin at Bukit Utama. We asked the cousin whether we could bring the whole platoon with us and he said "Yes, of course - there's plenty of food!", and I felt so relieved, as it meant that I wouldn't have to slave over the stove that afternoon. Hahaha! However, Elmi*a's Mom called to say that she had to fetch her as her great grandma who was very ill, had been asking for her. She came by the house to pick up Elmi*a just before 2:00p.m, and we only left for Bukit Utama at 2:15p.m. And so, there was only Na*ia left.

And of course, our "lunch" invitation dragged on to tea-time and also to a BBQ do by the swimming pool, and we only left Bukit Utama at 7:15p.m! Off we went to send Na*ia home and we then had to follow Ayah to the hospital as he needed to see one of his patients. We only left UMSC at about 8:15p.m - tummies very, very full, but mind and body very, very tired! But, it was a good weekend for all, I think :)

Here are some pics. Enjoy!

Summary of two weekends :)

Have been meaning to write a couple of postings on how we spent our last two weekends, but -

(i) have been caught up with this and that,

and

(ii) didn't have the time to transfer the pix to be downloaded here

So sorry!

Anyway, just to summarize -

We had a surprise birthday celebration for my Abah who turned 79 on Sunday 30th March that day. But, since my nephews would not be around on that day itself as they had to go back to their Unis, we decided to have it on Saturday 29th March instead.

We thought of having it at my parents' place initially, but, it wouldn't be a surprise, would it? With Abah around in the house, and us preparing stuff and all?! So, we decided to have it at my sister La*a's place in Keramat. It's our usual weekend hangout, anyway.

The thing about La*a's place is - it is ALWAYS full of people. Come Saturday night, our side of the family and my BIL, Abang Ros*i's side of the family would have a Potluck Dinner there. We have 6 siblings, while he has 7. So, you can just imagine with all the spouses and anak-anak buah segala. But, of course, sometimes a few would not be able to make it. But still.

Anyway, back to Abah's birthday do.

We nearly could not persuade him to join to go to Lala's place that night. One thing about Abah, he prefers to stay at home, enjoy his own TV, sit on his own chair, sleep on his own bed, use his own toilet, use his own mug to have his coffee, etc. And we told Y*ng (my other sister who's staying with my parents), "If Abah does not want to go to La*a's house, you will just have to tell him that we're having a "surprise" birthday do for him..." Hehehe! Nasib baik la pulak that night Abah was in the mood to go out of the house.

For the Potluck - back by popular demand, yours truly masak Kuey Teow Goreng and Spaghetti Olio. Sorry, tak sempat take photos of the latter :)

HAPPY 79th BIRTHDAY, ABAH! WE LOVE YOU!

(There's a pix of my Abah and Mommy together in one of the slides below :))


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Last weekend pulak, we all berkampung at Mand.Or KL. Ayah was a Committee Member involved in organizing NHAM's Scientific Meeting at KLConvCent, and he was given a room (or rather a huge suite!) at Mand.Or throughout the course of the Meeting.

Ayah started staying there since Wednesday night last week. And the original plan was for us to join him on Saturday afternoon after the kids' Chess class. On Friday, I took a cab from PJ to join him there for the NHAM's faculty dinner at the exclusive KLCC Petroleum Club. The food was excellent. The beef that Ayah had...it just melted in my mouth. Very nice indeed.

However, we decided that the kids should enjoy the hotel room more than one night and after dinner, we rushed back to SD, packed all the stuff needed for the weekend, rushed to my MIL's place in PJ to send Daryati and fetch my kids, and off we went back to Mand.Or. We reached the hotel about 12:25a.m.but, I think the kids only went to sleep around 2:30a.m!

Our room was on the 21st floor, facing the Twin Tower, Suria KLCC and the fountains, and on the right we could see the park, the wading pool and the playground. Ayah and I were just thinking, maybe, we could book the room and stay there on New Year's or Merdeka Eve to watch the fireworks display and all from there. But when we found out that the total bill (which was footed by the organizers) for the whole 5D4N was in excess of RM13k, we decided that it would be much better watching the celebrations on TV in the comfort of our own home...Hahaha!

The kids missed their Chess and dancing classes that weekend. While Ayah was busy attending all the NHAM sessions, the kids and I were busy carrying our shopping bags to and fro Suria KLCC and Mand.Or. When we were back in our room, the kids would either be reading, playing PS2 or watch DVDs. Oh yes - Hilman also brought a few of his Hot Wheels cars to play with (WAJIB for him! Hehehe!)

Ayah had his NHAM fellowship Convocation on Saturday evening. And for the rest of the time, we just enjoyed the hotel (AND Suria KLCC, of course! :)) I'm dreading the day when the credit card bills arrive through the post...But, Ayah DID say that we could spend on whatever the kids and I wanted, didn't you, Ayah? (My eyes fluttering - flutter... flutter... flutter... Hehehe!)

THANK YOU, AYAH!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!!!

All in all, it was a great weekend. Thank you NHAM (and our hotel room sponsors!)

Enjoy the pics!

Hasya is 9...

Once upon a time,
you were but
a tiny flicker
of love,
of light,
of hope.

And now...
...just look how you shine!

(* Poem from Hallmark *)

HAPPY 9th BIRTHDAY, DARLING HASYA!!!


It's Hasya birthday today, but, we didn't throw any party or anything as Hasya had requested for a sleep-over for her friends this weekend. She has invited 3 of her close friends to come over, and yours truly is cracking her head to think of things on how to entertain them.

We've had Hanna's friends over a few times before - and girls that age are much easier to handle. You just let them be, and they know just how to have fun. But, 9 year olds....Hmmmm, it's a bit tricky.

Hasya has made a list of things to do this weekend - among which include :

- Dinner at Sec*et R**ip*
- Watching DVDs
- Playing PS2
- Mommy and Ayah bringing everybody for a movie

My list pulak, include :

- What to cook for breakfast,
- What to cook for lunch,
- What to cook for tea
- What to cook for dinner, and
- What to cook for supper

while Hasya's friends are here?!

Anyway, I'll be posting an update on the celebration this weekend, okay? Hopefully it will not be as low profile as our mini celebration of her birthday at her Wan's house tonight whereby, I cooked my special chicken rice, my SIL bought a cake, and I got some putu piring from the Pasar Malam.

9 candles were blown, and special wishes and do'a were made by Hasya...

Semoga dipanjangkan umur, dimurahkan rezqi, dikurniakan kejayaan dalam hidup, diberikan akhlak dan budi pekerti mulia dan menjadi anak yang solehah. Amin.

Happy Birthday, dearest... Here's wishing you many happy returns of the day, Amin.

Lots of Love...and Hugs and Kisses,

Mommy, Ayah, K.Long Cinchin and Chiman

What is it with cars, and people's attitude?

Ayah is staying at Mand.Or KL for a few days (him being part of the organizing committee for a Cardio Conference at KLConCentre), so, I had to send Hanna to school this morning. Right after I dropped her off, I gave a right indicator signal. I was just about to join the main road when this woman in a sleek Jaguar stopped right beside me to drop off her daughters.

I was like - "Right, okay...no problem". I was not in a hurry anyway. It was only 7:05a.m, and I was only on my way to send Hasya and Hilman to my MIL's house, and I only needed to be at the office by 9:00a.m.

I waited for about 40 seconds while she chatted away with one of her daughters, and suddenly I saw the woman answering her mobile, and started talking. She knew I was waiting for her to drive away, as my indicator light was still on, and she was glancing my way a few times. I waited and waited...for a full four minutes before she finally ended the conversation and drove away - WITHOUT even raising her hands to say sorry or thank you, etc! She wasn't just blocking my way, but, a few other cars were also queing up behind her!

In my mind, I was saying, "Mentang-mentang lah I drive a small chiput national car, and she drives a Jag, dia ingat jalan tu datuk dia punya?" Don't get me wrong - I don't have problems with people driving all these luxury wheels. In fact, I have close friends and family members who drive these machines. What I can't stand are just those who drive all those sleek cars with THAT kind of attitude!

What happened this morning reminded me of another "luxury wheels" incident that happened about a month ago to a friend. This was relayed to me by another friend. Apparently, what happened was our friend M*t Z was looking around for a new car, and he was contemplating whether to get a Merc or a Beemer for himself. So, one day, he went to AB - just to look out for any Beemer that he might fancy. M*t Z being M*t Z, he was wearing his normal casual (baggy, and rather not-so-kemas looks) baju, and he was probably wearing a worn out shoes or chapal or something like that. He went into the showroom, and NOBODY came over to greet him or to bring him around. There were a few people/potential customers who went in AFTER him (who probably looked like they have the dosh) who were attended to promptly by the sales people there! M*t Z must have wandered around the showroom alone for nearly an hour and he was was SO P**SED OFF that he went up to one of the salespersons and told him that he was getting one of their Beemers that day - just to show them that despite his appearance, HE HAD MONEY!

And yet another "luxury wheels" incident was when we saw the sign on our next door neighbour's gate in BJ that the house had finally been sold. We were curious to know who our neighbours would be, and so, Ayah called the Real Estate Agent and spoke to her. Apparently, she had called Ayah a few times before this to ask if WE were interested to sell our house because there were a lot of people interested to buy it from us!

Anyway, Ayah was asking her about our new neighbour/her buyer, etc., and this was what she told him -

"Oh, don't worry! Your neighbours are not-so-old, not so-young couple, and they don't have any kids (or was it their kids are big already? Or something like that). Don't worry...I can guarantee you that they're VERY GOOD neighbours - the husband drives a BMW and the wife drives a CLK!"

And when Ayah told me what she said, both of us were like, "What?! So? Just because they drive a BMW and a CLK, they MUST be good neighbours?!!! And the fact that BOTH of us are driving national cars make us BAD neighbours?!!!

Apa punya attitude ni?!

So, you see - these kinds of attitudes are not just the attitudes of SOME of those who drive all these luxury cars. Yang tak tahannya, those who are ONLY SELLING these cars, or only associated with these cars or with those who drive these cars through work pun have the same attitude (or sometimes, lagi kerek and even worse than the owners themselves!)

Big sigh...

What I want to say here is - Jangan sangka people out there who don't show off what they can afford, cannot afford what they don't show off. Fullstop. And more often than not, those yang nawaitu they all memang nak show-off sebenarnya bukan gempaq mana pun...

Anyway, to those who might end up being our neighbours in the future - you have been warned -

WE ARE BAD NEIGHBOURS. WE BOTH DRIVE OUR NATIONAL CARS...

So there! Eherks...