Second day in Sendai - some observations

More photos from Sendai - but not as many as before as there were so many photos of me with my round face! Pantang menjadi tontonan umum... Hahaha! So, I took the liberty to post some round-faced pics of Ayah's here instead ;)

We spent some time shopping in the morning until about 12:00p.m when Ayah had to attend the afternoon live procedure session as one of the commentators. Ayah came back just after 3:00p.m, and we went out to shop (again!). I noticed that they have LOADS of shops selling ladies/girls fashions and accessories, but not many for men and kids.

Bermacam gaya... but, I don't think they'd be well-received in Malaysia. It's more of a Mix 'n' Match thingies and the Japanese can be quite OTT with their accessories. And oh, they have so many different kinds of cool hats here. Unfortunately, neither of my girls are into hats. If not, it would have been easier to shop for them! And they also have amazing designs for their socks, stockings, and leggings. They're just fantastic! And Ayah and I noticed that the youngsters here are more "westernized" than the westerners (well, at least in their dressing-up sense, that is).

And it is just so difficult to communicate with them as virtually all of them do not speak English. We've given up trying to speak English with them, and Ayah finally resorted to just speaking in Bahasa Malaysia (with sign language, of course!) when we wanted to enquire on stuffs. It makes no difference really, whether we speak in English or BM. Both are very foreign languages to them. And it is just so amazing to see them to be so advanced technologically without having to rely on or know the "so-called" global language! As they say - only in Japan...

Anyway, we went back to our room just before Iftar at 5:30p.m. And we had sushi for Iftar. Maybe not that appealing to some, but, Ayah and I were okay with it as this is actually the second time we experience berpuasa in Japan. The first time was in 2002 when I was on a 3-week Research leave in Nagoya, and it just so happened that Ayah also had a conference in Kobe around that time and he extended his stay to join me in the last one week of my stint in Nagoya. And we had Sushi and Sashimi nearly every night for iftar then.

Seriously, I can't imagine if we were to spend our Raya here. No suasana langsung... I really feel for those Malaysian students who have to go through the festivities (or rather, the lack or non-existence of it!) here. At least when we were in the UK dulu, the suasana was very much alive, albeit in an ala-Pakistani way.

Yesterday, while waiting for iftar, Ayah made a 'lawak tak berapa pandai' by kononnya trying to find the channel which aired the Azan Maghrib...(Harharhar, Ayah...), and we ended up watching Sumo wrestling during iftar.

Seriously, how did them wrestlers turn out to be SOOOO huge?!

I asked Ayah, if he had any idea as to the life expectancy of the Sumo wrestlers as I didn't think it would be that long, considering how obese-looking they were. Ayah said, he didn't know. All he knew was that, the Sumo wrestlers are filthy rich here in Japan.

Hmmmmm... If it was me, I would rather be not-so-rich, but have a longer and healthier life to share with my family.

(Sorry...terlupa pulak nak ambik gambar the Sumo wrestlers on TV. Terlampau engrossed tengok they all berSumo semalam!). Hahaha!

Anyway, here are some pics of our second day in Sendai.

Note : Please do not confuse Ayah and myself with the Sumo wrestlers, okay?! But, one thing for sure, if we had their pics here, they would have made us feel so good about ourselves weight wise. Hahaha!

Hello - from the Land of the Rising Sun...

Hello from Japan!!

Hmmm...Ayah did it again. Remember, in January this year when he came to Japan, all the while thinking that his flight was for Kobe, when it was actually for Tokyo? Nasib baik lah he was travelling with his sponsors that time. If not? Aiyoooo...

Well, this time around, he told me that his meeting was to be in Tokyo - BUT, we found out at KLIA last night that it's actually to be held in Sendai, about 1 1/2 hours train ride to the north-east of Tokyo. That's about the same distance as Tokyo-Nagoya!

And again, nasib baik the sponsor's Malaysian rep, Mr. Gu*n was travelling with us last night. If not, sure terkial-kial we all.

Hopeless betul lah laki I ni... Hehehe! (But, I still love you to bits, dear :))

We touched down at Narita at 7:38a.m, and was met by Ayah's Japanese sponsors - Mr Os*wa, and took the train to Tokyo Central. From there, we took the 10:56.m train to Sendai,and reached Sendai at 12:37p.m.

Why am I giving all these exact times? Well, simply because the Japanese are SO punctual! Not a second more, not a second less! Tension gua...nyaris-nyaris missed the train pagi tadi.

We were only able to check-in into the Sendai Me*ro*oli*an Hotel at 2:00p.m, and after checking in, both Ayah and I fell asleep. We were supposed to meet up with the sponsors and another couple (from Indonesia - Dr. Mu*aw*ar and wife) at 5:00p.m at the hotel lobby, to have our iftar, so Ayah set the alarm for 4:30p.m. But, horror-horror - we only woke up at 5:05p.m!! Apparently Ayah forgot to take into account the 1 hour time difference, and 4:30p.m in Malaysia would mean that the alarm would only go off at 5:30 p.m Japan time!!!

Hopeless betul lah laki I ni...Hahaha! (But, again - I still love you to bits, dear :))

So, we were 25 minutes late just now - not a good impression to set with Ayah's Japanese sponsors, huh?

Today's berbuka in Sendai was at 5:32p.m, but, due to our tardiness, we only berbuka at 6:05p.m. No big deal - it was still more than one hour earlier than berbuka in KL, right? (And Hanna, if you're reading this, Mommy just have this to say to you - "JANGAN JELES, OKAY??!..." Hahaha!)

We went for a Teppanyaki iftar tonight. And as always, whenever we travel abroad, it's fish and seafood for the whole trip for us. And for sahur, we've equipped ourselves with a few packets of Maggi Mee :). Imsak is at 3:55a.m, by the way.

We had a mixture of Seafood and Fish Teppanyaki which was served with Garlic Fried Rice, only to find out that there were tiny bits of beef in the rice after tasting it!! We had earlier asked our Japanese sponsor if there was any meat in it, and he said "No"! Well, tak sengaja. Tak per kot? Nasib baik it was just about the amount of a tip of the spoon.

Anyway, we're going to have loads of seafood and fish for the next 3 days or so, and that would mean that Ayah would also be taking loads of Ar*oxia as preventive measures - in case those yummylicious sea creatures trigger his gout ;)

Ayah will be one of the commentators for a Live Cardio Procedure tomorrow afternoon, and he's chairing another session on Saturday afternoon. Nasib baik lah wi-fi kat hotel ni FOC! So, while he's at the sessions, Insya Allah I'll be in the room, surfing and hopping the blogosphere with my Portege.

I just love the wi-fi here - it took me only about 5 minutes to upload the pics to this posting, whereas it would have taken me nearly half an hour to do the same back home! Jepun, oh Jepun...

In the mean time, here are some pics of our first day in Tokyo/Sendai.

Errr....is it just me? But, do I LOOK round in my new tudung style, OR I AM INDEED ROUND (despite having lost 3kg this Ramadhan?!)

Mee Rebus & another birthday do...

Hmmmm...what else but a posting on makan-makan AGAIN. Hehehe!

After more than 6 months of hinting to yours truly, Ibu finally got her Mee Rebus last night. Hehehe! Sorry, kawan, for having to wait so long :) Gua manyak busy maaa...

Anyway, we had a berbuka do at our place last night, and the main menu was my Mee Rebus.

But for those who have to eat rice for berbuka, we also had Nasi Briayani, courtesy of J* and Iz*am (who also brought some Tauhu Sumbat with them.

Yours truly also prepared some Nasi Putih to accompany the Ayam Percik Kelantan - prepared by Re*a and Ta*s (Errrr....more of the latter actually. Hehehe!) who also brought with them satu GUNI keropok yang sangatlah sedap!

For desserts, I prepared Custard Pudding, while Ibu and Sa*a brought those yummylicious Big Apple Donuts.

There were also some popiah basah which Ayah got from the SD Bazar Ramadhan - one of the better popiah basah around.

I also asked Dar to fry some Ay*mas Hot & Spicy Chicken, and for the kids who could not take spicy dishes, I also made some Kuey Teow Soup for them.

For drinks - we had Sirap Bandung Soda and some Teh Tarik.

Ab*d and On*ir and their cos came slightly later as they had their proper berbuka somewhere else first. Kengkawan lain - Yu*, Et* and Aw*n could not make it as they had prior engagements somewhere else :(

We also had another birthday do for Hilman. The other day it was at Mak's and he was surrounded by girls. This time around he had a REAL fun party because there were boys, boys and more boys around!

The highlight of the night was of course Hilman's birthday thingy, but us Mommies (and Daddies) had our own highlight in the form of reminiscing the Mommies' culinary (or lack of it!!) skills. Hehehe... We even came up with our own Charta and ranking (results of which shall remain within the group sahaja, okay?! Hahaha!)

Later, we (or rather - the hubbies) had a field day gelakkan the wifeys when we went through my album of old photos from zaman sekolah dulu . Masa zaman jahiliah. Even the kids gelakkan mak-mak they all yang posing maut. Cissss...

The last of the guests left just after 1:00a.m - adjourning to Na*i Ka*dar Se*ap for their sahur. Ayah and I didn't join as Ayah was supposed to drive up to Ipoh this morning for a meeting, and he needed his sleep so that he would be fresh.

But, as I'm typing this (and it's 12:23p.m!), he's still sleeping beside me, as he's not feeling that well.

Too much Mee Rebus last night kot?! :)

And as I'm typing this, too, the rest of the MT are (on their way to?) at KLCC for a ladies day out/shopping tak ingat laki... Hahaha!

Anyway, enjoy the pics!

Sponsored makan-makan...

I'm at the office now, and it's raining cats and dogs out there.

I had a 2 hour tutorial session earlier on, and I'm having a slight headache now. Just thought I'd take a half an hour break.

It's the 18th day of Ramadhan today. Syukur Alhamdulillah, so far so good.

Most of the times this Ramadhan, we all berbuka at Mak's house in PJ or at our own place in SD. But, we've also had a few invitations for berbuka puasa from families and also companies supplying drugs or machines to Ayah's hospital. So far, we had berbuka at Ea*tin and Cr*stal Cr*wn, PJ.

Next week, there's another invitation - at Ge*ji, PJ Hi*ton (the kids and I are so looking forward to this!). And my BIL (Ayah's brother) managed to get some berbuka vouchers at Tr*pi*ana. So all of us are going there next week, too.

Ayah had quite a number of buka puasa invitations actually, but he only accepted the invitations if the family was included, too. So the kids and I dapat lah tumpang sekaki...(or rather - LAPAN KAKI) :)

So, so far all our buka puasa di luar have been fully sponsored :)

A few years back, we used to frequent jugak the hotels (especially Pa*a Se*ai @ PJ Hi*ton) stuffing ourselves sick with the buffet spread. But nowadays, both Ayah and I would not spend so much of our OWN money to savour all the Ramadhan buffet at any of the hotels. Cheapskates, ke we all?! Well, dah ada yang nak sponsor...apa salahnya, right? Hahaha!

But, there was this ONE time this Ramadhan when WE became the sponsors pulak. That was last Tuesday night when we brought Hanna and 6 of her friends for berbuka at It*li*nnies @ The Cu*ve. As it was a public holiday for Selangor on Wednesday, Tuesday night seemed to be the best time to bring them out. We had Aq*la, El*nna, Na*ia Ra*li, Na*ia Ro*lan, Ka*, and Ma* with us.

As It*li*nnies portions are quite HUGE, we only had to order 3 different kinds of pastas, a large pizza, and 2 plates of starters for the eleven of us! And yes, they served their 'bottomless' drinks, too. So, the kids had a field day asking for refills every 5 minutes or so. Pening jugak lah the waiters nak melayan. (But, tak miskin pun Italiannies malam tu, I'm sure. Hehehe!)

After berbuka, all of us went to perform our solat Maghrib at the surau in Ci*el*isure. And there I was with a group of 7 giggling teenagers (plus my own Hasya), while Ayah had his hands full with.... ONLY Hilman :) But, the girls were a nice bunch of kids. So, it was not too bad at all :)

After solat, we brought them to Bo*ders, and also to the CupCake and Candy/Chocolate shops (Sorry. I can't remember their names - near Se*ret Re*ipe tu?) while waiting for Ma*'s and Na*ia Ro*lan's parents to come and fetch them. We left The Cu*ve just before 10p.m and went to send the rest of Hanna's friends home before heading back to SD.

I think everybody had a good time, ESPECIALLY Hanna who thanked us profusely for the outing with her friends that night :)

And, by the way, Ayah and I are having a get together at our place with my MT friends this Saturday for berbuka, insya Allah. MORE postings on makan and food, for sure!

Anyway, with all the sponsored berbukas, eating and cooking sessions which I have been blogging about in the last few postings, one could be forgiven to think that Ayah and I had put on weight. But, syukur alhamdulillah, I have lost 2.5kgs so far this Ramadhan, while Ayah has lost about 3kgs!

But, Ayah has been losing weight gradually for the last 4 months or so now, anyway, and he's now at the weight he was 7 years ago. That's pretty impressive, my dear :) Keep it up (or rather - DOWN!).

I so look forward to going shopping again to get Ayah's new trousers and jeans! Yahoo!

And, just a shout out - Insya Allah, Ayah and I will be going out of the country from Wednesday next week until Sunday. While there, I guess we only have to worry about our sahur ajer, as all dinners will be - SPONSORED!

Hehehe... :)

Lazy Sunday...

Last Sunday was a lazy day for the whole family.

While Ayah, Hanna, Hasya and Hilman were whiling away the time in the living room and/or family hall, waiting for berbuka -



Ayah & Hanna lazying around on the sofa



Hasya watching TV upstairs



Hilman engrossed with his PS2


Yours truly was whiling away my time in the kitchen cooking -




The end results -



Spaghetti Bolognaise/Moussaka



Ayamas Hot & Spicy Fried Chicken with Mashed Potatoes & Gravy




Hilman's berbuka plate




One very simple meal which made this bunch one very happy family :)

Happy 8th Birthday, Darling Hilman...

Thank you all for the Anniversary Wishes and Do'as. Ayah and I are touched by them all. Thank you again.

A day after our 14th Anniversary was Hilman's 8th birthday - on 10th September 2008.

We threw him quite a party last year knowing that his birthday would fall during Ramadhan this year. Ayah and I had already told him since last year that we would not have any parties this year, and we explained to him why.

And he was "okay-ish" about it.

"Okay-ish" in the sense that every now and then he still would ask me - "Mommy, can I have my friends over at night after berbuka for my birthday party?" - this he asked at least 5 times in the last month or so.

Anyway, Ayah and I felt guilty pulak if we didn't plan for anything at all, so we decided to just have a small do at my MIL's last night, and all the uncles, aunties, and cousins on Ayah's side were there.

In a way, it was a hush-hush thing as we didn't tell Hilman about it.

I was pretty busy yesterday, and thank God both my SILs (Ayah's sisters) came to the rescue. Ly** had gone to get all the ingredients that I needed to make Roast Chicken (or as Hilman would call it - "Big Chicken"), and I had SMSd Ad*k on how to marinate the chickens that afternoon.

I went back to Mak's house at 4:30p.m yesterday and found that Ad*k had already marinated 3 BIG chickens. Nasib baik I asked her again on how she had done it, coz' I then realized that instead of asking her to marinade the chicken with blended ginger, I had wrongly SMSd it as "blended garlic"! No wonder there was a strong pungent smell of garlic when I went into the kitchen. So, we had to wash all the chickens again and re-marinated them.

In the mean time, Ayah had also got a cake from Secret Recipe earlier on.

At 5:30p.m, Hanna, Hasya and I went to fetch Hilman from school, and from there we went straight to their Piano class. I had put A**k in charge of the chickens while I was gone. Hilman was the last one to finish his piano lesson at 7:45p.m, and he asked me where we were going for a proper buka puasa after that, as all of us only had some kurma, bread and water waktu berbuka earlier.

And I asked him,

Me : Where do you wanna go?

Hilman : I want to go to Nasi Kandar Sedap, Mommy. I want to have their Mihun Tom Yam.

Me : Hmmmmm, what if we can go to somewhere better and have something that you like better than the Tom Yam?

Hilman : Where, Mommy?

Me : Can we just berbuka at Wan's house?

Hilman : At Wan's house? YESSS!!! I want! Can you tell Aunty Ly** that we all berbuka there? Coz' she said she would give me my birthday present tonight!

(So, it was more because of getting his present than anything else actually! Hehehe!)

Anyway, when we reached Mak's house, you should see how BIG his grin was when he saw TWO BIG CHICKENS on the table and one more roasting in the oven! All thoughts of Mihun Tom Yam gone by then!

After berbuka with his Big Chicken, he went up to have his shower (as Aunty Ly** told him that he would only get his presents after taking his shower :)), and when he came down, it was "opening-his-presents" time, and later it was the "blowing- the-candles-on-the-birthday-cake" session.

It warms my heart to see how happy he was even though it was just a small birthday do for him :)

I asked him to say thank you to Aunty A**k and Aunty Ly** for the roast chickens and also to Wan, and his uncles and aunties for the presents, and he went around hugging each one of them.

We decided to sleep at Mak's last night as everybody was pretty tired by the time the "party" was over. And Hilman decided to sleep with Ayah and myself, and before he slept, he said -

"Thank you, Mommy... Thank you, Ayah..."

And both Ayah and I hugged him and said, "You're welcome, Hilman..."

Ayah looked at me and said, "Hmmmm, dah besar anak kita..."

(Hmmmmm...time to have another one??!!) Hehehe!

HAPPY 8th BIRTHDAY, DARLING HILMAN...

Mommy and Ayah do'akan semoga Hilman menjadi anak yang soleh, berbudi pekerti mulia dan berjaya dalam hidup dan semoga dilimpahkan rezqi yang halal, insya Allah. Amin.

Here are some pics!

Happy 14th Anniversary...

My Dearest,

Syukur Alhamdulillah. Syukur kepada Allah for making it possible for us to have known and met each other all those years ago.

Syukur Alhamdulillah. Syukur kepada Allah for blessing us with the love, tolerance, understanding, faith and the patience to accept each other for what and who we are.

Syukur Alhamdulillah. Syukur kepada Allah for blessing us with all these years to love and to hold each other.

Syukur Alhamdulillah. Syukur kepada Allah for blessing us with such beautiful children.

Syukur Alhamdulillah. Syukur kepada Allah for blessing us with the rezqi in our life.

And Syukur Alhamdulillah. Syukur kepada Allah for making the love, tolerance, understanding, faith and patience stronger after all these years.

We are truly blessed.

Syukur Alhamdulillah.

And I make do'a that Allah SWT will continue blessing us with all of the above, and more, as we go through life, as we grow old together... Insya Allah.

Happy 14th Anniversary, my dearest...

With all my love, and more...

I Love You So.

Saya manusia biasa...

I received a comment earlier to my previous posting from someone who memberi teguran because he/she said that even though I said my hati dah kempis, I still do'akan the thief will get balasan yang setimpalnya, if not di dunia, di akhirat nanti. He or she said that I should not have said that, and gave me a word or two, short of saying that it was "unislamic" of me to have done that. He/she said that sebagai orang Islam, kita seharusnya berkasih-sayang sesama manusia...

I published the comment, but then I was advised by someone to withdraw it.

Thank you for the teguran, though.

But, I just want him/her to read the posting again.

Yes, earlier on in the "Hati Yang Bengkak" posting, I did do'akan some bad things, but, after reflecting everything, in my last posting, "My Cooking Weekend", I was okay - hati dah kempis, and I didn't say/write that "I "DO'AKAN" the thief will get balasan yang setimpalnya, if not di dunia, di akhirat nanti".

What I wrote was ,"And whatever it maybe, he will get balasan yang setimpalnya - if not di dunia, di akhirat nanti".

Those two, to me, are NOT the same.

Anyway, isn't that what we're supposed to believe in? Whatever deeds we do, whatever sins we commit, we will be rewarded and punished for it?

Hmmmm, was I wrong to have written/said what I said?!

Whatever it is, I guess I have to respect him/her for having the capacity to totally forgive 200% those who may have wronged him/her in whatever ways, in a matter of hours or days. He or she adalah semestinya seorang manusia yang luar biasa. SUNGGUH luar biasa. And I take my hats off to him/her.

Saya pula hanyalah manusia biasa.

I have to admit, I am not seorang yang wara'. I am only human. Manusia biasa.

Dosa pun ada jenis dosa pada Allah SWT, dan ada juga dosa pada manusia, yang mana kita wajib minta maaf pada orang yang mana kita telah melakukan kesalahan terhadapnya.

Why is that? Sebab sebagai seorang manusia biasa, sekiranya kita dianiaya, kita akan terasa marah, sedih, dan sebagainya. Dan it is said that do'a orang yang teraniaya, akan dimakbulkan Tuhan.

Dan sebab itulah, mereka yang menganiayai orang lain mesti memohon maaf pada mereka yang dianiayai oleh mereka supaya yang teraniayai akan memaafkannya, dan insya Allah, tidak akan mendoakan yang buruk-buruk ke atasnya.

Sebab yang teraniaya selalunya adalah manusia biasa...

Am I making sense here?

Well, whatever it is, whatever that goes through my mind, my heart - hanya Allah SWT yang tahu, and memahaminya.

Jahat ke hati I sebab masa memula tu mendoakan yang buruk terhadap si pencuri? Hanya Allah SWT yang tahu.

I feel like hati I bengkak balik...for a different reason pulak.

To all manusia luar biasa out there, I salute you all...

But, to those who THINK they are luar biasa, and think that other manusia biasa are lesser than them, jangan pakai cakap ajer...


Post-script : Anyway, here are some pics of the family berbuka puasa dalam suasana kasih sayang semalam...

My cooking weekend...

Hati ni dah tak bengkak dah.

Thank you so much to all my blogosphere friends who had given me a few angles and perspectives on how to look at my phone-less situation. Yes, it was just a phone. We have friends who lost TWO CARS in one night, and I can't even begin to imagine how they must have felt then.

My rezqi to have that phone with me was just until 5:55pm of 2nd Sepetember 2008. And insya Allah, I will be getting a new one, which may be better than my HTC in its own way. Syukur Alhamdulillah, my kids and I were not harmed during the culprit's attempt to steal the phone. And maybe I should give him the benefit of the doubt (?!) as to why he stole my phone. And whatever it maybe, he will get balasan yang setimpalnya - if not di dunia, di akhirat nanti.

Thanks again, guys, for mengempiskan balik my hati :)

Tonight, we'll be breaking our fast in SD for the first time. Well, at least for me and the kids. Ayah will be breaking fast with his PRIMARY school friends (Boleh?!) They're planning a Reunion Dinner for the end of this year, and after berbuka they'll be having a meeting to discuss the proposed event.

So, I will be cooking for berbuka. And as Ayah will not be around, I'll be cooking some campak-campak dishes for the kids.

Hasya has requested for "Ayam Hotel" (which is actually Szechuan Chicken).

Hilman wants "Ayam Pedas" (which is actually Ayamas Hot and Spicy Chicken).

And Hanna has yet to request for anything.

I'm in a dilemma, coz' Hasya and Hilman just had Szechuan Chicken and Ayam Pedas with rice respectively for sahur this morning. I think I should not layan sangat their tekak, especially when they just had those dishes for sahur. I think what I'll do is cook something else which are also their favourites.

So, insya Allah, I will cook Sweet & Sour Lala (for Hilman), Ayam Masak Halia (for Hasya), and Japanese Tofu for Hanna. And oh yes, I also have a few Ikan Terubuk Masin (which I brought back from Kuching that day). I can just steam one of them up, and squeeze some lime on top. Settled.

The only problem - Hasya and Hilman finish school at 5:30p.m, and the traffic going back from PJ to SD on Fridays is always crazy. If we can get home by 6:30p.m, insya Allah, I will be able to have everything on the table by the time berbuka. Later than that, the kids will have to berbuka minum air dulu. (I don't think we even have kurma at home! Aiyoyoooo...Teruknyer...)

Hmmmm, a note to self - better get some kurma for the house tomorrow, coz' we're having my side of the family for berbuka at our place tomorrow night. The truth be told, we have yet had the chance to berbuka and see my parents' this Ramadhan even though they're just sepelaung away in KD! I feel so guilty, but both Ayah and I have been rushing here and there the whole of this week.

As both my Mommy and Abah pun are not that well, I'm having them and my sisters and brothers over instead. Kalau berbuka at my parents, I'm very sure my Mommy will insist on cooking something - which is not a good idea as she's not that strong anymore (even though it would be heavenly if we could taste her chicken chops, ikan masak lemak putih, gulai tempoyak, her fish curry, pechal, gulai tauchu, sambal tumis udang petai, her daging kicap, her kueh sepang, her tepung talam, and the list just goes on!) But, I'd rather have my Mommy to just come over, put her feet up, and enjoy her cucus, while I do the cooking. If at her own place, sure she cannot duduk diam one...

Menu for tomorrow night, just Nasi Ayam, and Kuey Teow Goreng (both are big hits with my kids and my nephews and nieces), and maybe Ayah will get some Roti John and Desserts from Bazaar Ramadhan.

I'm really looking forward to tomorrow night. Best, best, best!

Selamat Berbuka, y'all, and here's wishing all of you a great weekend!

Hati yang bengkak...

It was supposed to be a happy and fine day yesterday, as Ayah managed to get off early from work, and we were planning to go to Bazaar Ramadhan with the kids - a rare opportunity as Ayah would normally finish work pretty late. I went to fetch him at the hospital at 5:00pm (as we had slept at Mak's the night before, and Ayah's cars were in SD). Anyway, after fetching Hasya and Hilman from school, we headed straight to the Bazaar Ramadhan at Section 17.

Ayah had to drop us in front of one of the flats, as it was impossible to find a parking space at that time. Just as the kids and I were walking to the Bazaar, it started to rain, and I took out my handphone and called Ayah to bring the umbrellas with him. I immediately put my handphone into my handbag, and went to the stall selling Roti John (this is the kids' wajib food for berbuka), and I met my SIL there. We chatted a bit, and as the rain was getting heavier, the kids and I took shelter at "Kamal" - a grocery store opposite the Bazaar.

I immediately opened my handbag to get my phone to call Ayah, to inform him of our whereabout. It was then that I realised my handphone was NOT in my handbag!!! I panicked, and started to double/triple check the contents of my handbag. Confirmed - my handphone was missing!!! Somebody must have picked it out of my handbag when I was chatting with my SIL at the stall earlier. My God!!! It was just a matter of 1-2 minutes!

AAAARRRGGGGGHHHHH!!! Why does this always have to happen to me?! I once lost my handphone while I was waiting for Hilman to finish his JELIC class in 2004. I was doing some work at one of the tables at the JELIC centre when 2 Indian guys came in on the pretence of selling some stuff. I ignored them, and one of them came to the table and started to put a few brochures on the table, explaining about their "products". On hindsight, it was pretty strange, as they were telling me about household cleaning detergents, while the brochures (which I glanced briefly) were full of pictures of baby products!!!

Anyway, when I continously ignored them, they apologised and took the brochures away...without me realizing that they also took my handphone which was on the table underneath the brochures!!! Sedih sangat... And I cursed them like there was no tomorrow then.

And it happened again yesterday. Rasa bengkak and berbuku sangat hati ni. Kenapalah ada manusia macam ni yang tak nak berusaha dengan cara yang halal. Buat dosa dalam Bulan Puasa yang mulia ni. I strongly feel that the culprit's a Muslim...Sigh. Sedih sangat.

The HTC Touch was given to Ayah for his role in organizing a Conference earlier this year, and he had given it to me. And I fell in love with it straight-away. It was a very friendly phone, and quite durable. It had served me very well indeed. Yang tensionnya - all my contact details, my schedules for the next 6 months are in there...Not to mention, pictures of the family, too.

I asked the kids to keep a lookout for their Ayah, as it was quite impossible to catch sight of him in the rain when everybody was holding an umbrella. Ayah was the one who saw us at Kamal, and I immediately told him about the phone. He asked us to wait at Kamal, and started calling my number while walking up and down along the street hoping to hear my ringing tone. It rang a few times, and after a while the *&^%$%#@! thief took the battery out, I guessed.

Ayah came back, and told me, it was okay. It could have happened to anybody, and it was just a phone. He said he'd get me a new one. But, that's besides the point... I felt so enraged and sakit hati sesangat!!! Ayah asked me to bersabar, as it's Ramadhan, and there might be a hikmah behind all these. I guess one of the hikmahs was that we ended up buying JUST the Roti John and Air Soya from the Bazaar (instead of 101 dishes which we really didn't want/need...)

We went back to Mak's. The kids knew how upset I was, and started to console me, especially Hanna. And while waiting for berbuka, Ayah asked Hanna to go through the website to look at all the latest HTC and Nokia models in the market, and asked me to choose one. Frankly speaking, the HTC Diamond which Ayah suggested is just way too sleek for my liking. I fear that it would end up with thousands of scratches scrawled on its face! (That's how brutal I could be!)

And talking about being brutal, after performing my solat Maghrib semalam (still enraged), I actually made a do'a that the culprit would meet with an accident last night. And I know I shouldn't have done that, and even more so, I shouldn't have told Hanna of what my do'a was, but, I did. And, she just said, "Oh my God...I do'a the SAME thing, too, Mommy!!!", and earlier on Hasya had also chipped in, "And I hope the thief will burn in hell!!" (????!!!)

I was speechless, and Ayah came out, with "Aiyooo...brutalnya mak and anak-anak!!!" (Hahaha!). Let's make it "anak-anak perempuan", coz' my anak lelaki's reaction to the whole thing was, "Mommy, will all the bad people go to neraka nanti, Mommy? Will the thief go to neraka for stealing your handphone?" in a very cultured manner.

Ayah said, "SAH, anak perempuan semua brutal ikut their Mommy!"

I guess it was just a dugaan in the month of Ramadhan, and I should bersyukur, that the @#%$*&^! thief only took the handphone, and not my wallet/handbag with all my credit cards, and MyKad, etc. More importantly, as Ayah kept on telling me, he did not harm the kids and me.

Later, around 9:30p.m, Ayah said to me - "Do'a orang yang teraniaya selalunya dimakbulkan Allah... Dah accident dah kot orang tu..."

Which left me smiling. Ayah pun brutal jugak sebenarnya...