Hanna and I were on our way to SBL to get some workbooks for the kids in preparation for their exams on Tuesday morning, when Richard Reid went on the "JJ & Rudy Morning Crew Show" on Hitz FM with some Hollywood gossips. What else, but, more on celebrities going through break-ups and divorces.
And suddenly Hanna asked me -
Hanna : Mommy, do you think Angelina Jolie really is a home-wrecker?
Me : Well, I believe she admitted that her affair with Brad Pitt started when they were filming Mr & Mrs Smith, and at that time Brad Pitt was still married to Jennifer Aniston. So, in a way - yeah, she is a home-wrecker...
Hanna : Kesian kan Jennifer Aniston? Angelina Jolie is so bad.
Me : Well, Hanna, it takes two to tango. Kalau Brad Pitt tak mengada nak melayan Angelina Jolie, it would not have led to anything.
Hanna : Do you think Jennifer Aniston is still angry with them?
Me : I'm sure she is. Her marriage crumbled because of them. If I were her, it would be very difficult to not be angry. I would be very angry for a long, long time.
Hanna : Do you think she's angrier with Brad Pitt or with Angelina Jolie, Mommy?
Me : Well, if I were her, I would be angrier with Brad Pitt. He was her husband. For better or for worse. He should have stayed faithful to her. Angelina Jolie was never in their marriage equation. If I were Jennifer Aniston, I would definitely be angrier with Brad Pitt. Fullstop.
Hanna : If you were Jennifer Aniston, (Hahahaha! Wishful thinking!) would you forgive them?
Me : Hmmmm, difficult to say, Hanna. IF I were Jennifer Aniston - even though I may say that I could forgive them, DEEP inside I know I could never do so 100%. And I definitely will not forget. That's for sure. Maybe given time I could forgive them for having the affair. Maybe the affair might not have led to anything pun. Maybe, Brad Pitt would come back to me at the end of it. BUT, I don't think I could forgive him for making me lose the trust I had in him. THAT is not a good feeling to have all your life, you know - not being able to trust him again. EVER. And I guess I could never forgive him for that.
And Hanna just nodded her head as if she understood what I was trying to say.
And we both went very quiet for a good 5 minutes after that.
AND IN ALL HONESTY, I DIDN'T (AND STILL DON'T) KNOW WHY I HAD THAT CONVERSATION WITH MY 12 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER! :)
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
My de-stressing process...
Thanks to all who had put in words of comfort and advice in my "Stressed Out" posting before this. It felt good after I poured everything in the posting, but, it felt even better reading your comments. Thanks again :)
Just an update on what happened after that posting -
FRIDAY 24/10/08
(1) I managed to finish all that was needed to be done by 5:30a.m, and somehow I also managed to squeeze in a 2 hour sleep before getting ready for work. That was the first step of me de-stressing myself (albeit just a bit).
(2) And I managed to improve on my slides for my presentation at the office and print out all handouts for my session. Felt better when I looked through the finished work. More de-stressing factor for me :)
(3) I delivered my presentation at 11:30a.m, and received some very positive feedbacks and suggestions. An Aussie Professor who also presented his paper during the same session had proposed that I expand my paper and write a book on the topic! And he said he would be more than happy to provide me with all the old maps which I might need for the book (he's a professor of maritime cartography, by the way). Now, THAT was a MAJOR de-stressing factor for sure :)
(4) We had our Faculty meeting at 3:00p.m. Thank God it did not drag on like it usually did, and this time around there was no intra-departmental bashing of this ONE particular Department at our faculty meeting. So, it was not as stressful as I thought it would be. I just so hate it when departmental issues are brought up at faculty level. Your mess, you clean it up yourself la, kawan... And please, la... keep your politics confined to the department. Buleh?
Anyway, that didn't happen that Friday - so, another de-stressing factor for me :)
(5) My MIL had a makan-makan session at her place for her staff on Friday night, so all of us had our dinner there. No worries for me - no need to think about what to cook for dinner and all. Bliss...(thus de-stressing myself further :)
(6) However, in the middle of dinner, I received a phonecall from my Mommy, informing that my eldest brother had been admitted to the ICU at Si*e D*rb* Health Centre. Ayah and I went to fetch my Mommy and Abah at KD and straight to the hospital. Apparently, my Abang I** had a stroke (bleeding of his brain-stem) while conducting a meeting at work, and the cause of it was his BP. He went in with a BP reading of 240/100+! (Hmmm...obviously HIS stress level was more than mine!)
But, Syukur alhamdulillah, he was alert and conscious, and did not have any weaknesses on any parts of his body. His grip was firm that night, and no slurs as such. He was only complaining of severe headache and numbness on his left side. As I'm writing this, he is now at the normal ward, and the doctors are trying to get his BP down, and he's been given 6 weeks to rest. (But, knowing him, he would be back at work next week for sure...Sigh...)
Anyway, of course this piece of news had brought my stress level up a few notches, and I need to de-stress myself more after that.
SATURDAY 25/10/08
(7) Saturday morning - stress level went up a bit as it was my Supersupir Day, and I had to send and fetch the kids to and from a few of their classes.
(8) Stress level went down in the afternoon when we attended the Badan Anak Negeri Sembilan Raya Do at KG*A. I'm no anak Negeri, but I'm a member by virtue of being married to one and because my MIL is orang kuat persatuan. So, no choice. Hehehe! Anyway, good food can never go wrong. So, the raya do really helped the de-stressing process a lot :)
(9) We spent the rest of Saturday afternoon at Mak's as she was flying off to Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday. Right after maghrib, Ayah and I decided to bring the kids to One-U for dinner. The last time we went to One-U was just before Raya. We had dinner at Fi*h & Co., and after that, we didn't know what happened (probably there was something in our dinner?!), the kids managed to persuade Ayah and I to watch HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3 at GSC! As we had nothing planned, and it had been a while since we went out on a proper outing with the kids, Ayah and I surrendered. We also had to drag Dar along.
I hate to admit it, but, I actually ENJOYED HSM3! The choreography was just superb, and the songs were very catchy. But, of course, like the previous HSMs there were so many lame scenes. Even Hanna and Hasya could not help themselves from giggling and laughing out loud during those lame scenes. But, overall - if you need a major de-stressing treatment (like I did), watching HSM3 should do the trick :). Go watch it with your kids!
SUNDAY 26/10/08
(10) Sunday morning, went to Te*co for grocery shopping. Was there from 11:40a.m until 2:15p.m! Punya la banyak manusia!!! Stress level - CONFIRMED shot up. But, I managed to get everything to fill in my fridge and pantry. And there's no better way to de-stress myself than by looking at my fridge/freezer and pantry full to the brim later when I got home (and DAR kemas everything while I surf the net. Kalau I yang KEMAS, blood pressure sure go upstairs... Hahaha!)
I just love it when I open the fridge and freezer and the pantry, and I see that I have everything in there, just in case I suddenly feel like cooking something special. It doesn't matter if I didn't. Yang penting - the ingredients are there. Just in case. A good feeling - that one :)
(11) at 4:15p.m, got a phonecall from Ab*d (one of my MT friends) -
Ab*d : Are you there yet?
Me : There? Where?
Ab*d : Aw*n's House-warming and Open House?
Me : Errr... When did she move to a new house? And errr...I didn't get the invitation pun!
Ab*d : It was in the group e-mail lah!
Me : Ye ke? Alamak. Sorry lah - I've not checked my e-mails for 2 months laaa. Okay, never mind, I'll check it now, and I'll see you at Aw*n's house in an hour.
True enough, the invitation to Aw*n's new home was in one of the 2580 un-opened mails in my Inbox!
Another MAJOR de-stressing session at Aw*n's house that afternoon - with good food and good company in the form of other MTs and their spouses. After Isya', we later adjourned and convened at Ab*d's house in Vi**a Dsara, and lepak till about 11:00p.m.
MONDAY 27/10/08
(12) We left the house just after 9:00a.m and headed straight to the MPH Warehouse Sale at Section 13 PJ. We thought we were early, but there were already throngs of people there. Everybody managed to get books for themselves. Not bad at all - we got 38 books all in all, for about RM600!! That was definitely another major de-stressing point for me - hilang all my guilty feelings that I had with Hanna (especially when she got 18 books for herself!). And of course, it was also a very de-stressing moment when we paid for the books (especially for Ayah) because we thought they would cost us more than RM1,500! Happy, happy, happy!
(13) What better way to further de-stress myself than tucking in in some good food for lunch with the family. We went to Co*y Co*ne* at Jaya 33 and everybody had their favourites. Their sharks fin soup was so yummy...
(14) We then went to jenguk our BJ house (which we had not jenguked for more than 2 months!). Suffice to say, it's time for another call to Badhal Khan. And we also found out that the roof was leaking in a few places and there were water marks in some areas of the house. Stress level naik balik... But, I'm just going to tell myself that IT IS NOT A MAJOR PROBLEM. I'm not going to stress myself out over this. I'm not going to worry. I'm just going to be happy :)
All in all, the de-stressing process over the long Deepavali weekend has really helped. And I'm ready to face it all, insya Allah.
And I guess, what I could gather over the last few days ni - there'll be stressful moments everyday BUT, some things might just creep up while we least expect them, and make us feel better. And we have to always prepare ourselves for other unexpected things which might spoil our day again. The trick is to wait for the positive things to happen, or it they don't, we take things positively. Or we make them happen.
And however stressful we feel our lives are, there are others who lead an even more stressful lives than we do. So, we have to bersyukur with whatever it is that is thrown to us.
Cheers, you all :)
Just an update on what happened after that posting -
FRIDAY 24/10/08
(1) I managed to finish all that was needed to be done by 5:30a.m, and somehow I also managed to squeeze in a 2 hour sleep before getting ready for work. That was the first step of me de-stressing myself (albeit just a bit).
(2) And I managed to improve on my slides for my presentation at the office and print out all handouts for my session. Felt better when I looked through the finished work. More de-stressing factor for me :)
(3) I delivered my presentation at 11:30a.m, and received some very positive feedbacks and suggestions. An Aussie Professor who also presented his paper during the same session had proposed that I expand my paper and write a book on the topic! And he said he would be more than happy to provide me with all the old maps which I might need for the book (he's a professor of maritime cartography, by the way). Now, THAT was a MAJOR de-stressing factor for sure :)
(4) We had our Faculty meeting at 3:00p.m. Thank God it did not drag on like it usually did, and this time around there was no intra-departmental bashing of this ONE particular Department at our faculty meeting. So, it was not as stressful as I thought it would be. I just so hate it when departmental issues are brought up at faculty level. Your mess, you clean it up yourself la, kawan... And please, la... keep your politics confined to the department. Buleh?
Anyway, that didn't happen that Friday - so, another de-stressing factor for me :)
(5) My MIL had a makan-makan session at her place for her staff on Friday night, so all of us had our dinner there. No worries for me - no need to think about what to cook for dinner and all. Bliss...(thus de-stressing myself further :)
(6) However, in the middle of dinner, I received a phonecall from my Mommy, informing that my eldest brother had been admitted to the ICU at Si*e D*rb* Health Centre. Ayah and I went to fetch my Mommy and Abah at KD and straight to the hospital. Apparently, my Abang I** had a stroke (bleeding of his brain-stem) while conducting a meeting at work, and the cause of it was his BP. He went in with a BP reading of 240/100+! (Hmmm...obviously HIS stress level was more than mine!)
But, Syukur alhamdulillah, he was alert and conscious, and did not have any weaknesses on any parts of his body. His grip was firm that night, and no slurs as such. He was only complaining of severe headache and numbness on his left side. As I'm writing this, he is now at the normal ward, and the doctors are trying to get his BP down, and he's been given 6 weeks to rest. (But, knowing him, he would be back at work next week for sure...Sigh...)
Anyway, of course this piece of news had brought my stress level up a few notches, and I need to de-stress myself more after that.
SATURDAY 25/10/08
(7) Saturday morning - stress level went up a bit as it was my Supersupir Day, and I had to send and fetch the kids to and from a few of their classes.
(8) Stress level went down in the afternoon when we attended the Badan Anak Negeri Sembilan Raya Do at KG*A. I'm no anak Negeri, but I'm a member by virtue of being married to one and because my MIL is orang kuat persatuan. So, no choice. Hehehe! Anyway, good food can never go wrong. So, the raya do really helped the de-stressing process a lot :)
(9) We spent the rest of Saturday afternoon at Mak's as she was flying off to Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday. Right after maghrib, Ayah and I decided to bring the kids to One-U for dinner. The last time we went to One-U was just before Raya. We had dinner at Fi*h & Co., and after that, we didn't know what happened (probably there was something in our dinner?!), the kids managed to persuade Ayah and I to watch HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3 at GSC! As we had nothing planned, and it had been a while since we went out on a proper outing with the kids, Ayah and I surrendered. We also had to drag Dar along.
I hate to admit it, but, I actually ENJOYED HSM3! The choreography was just superb, and the songs were very catchy. But, of course, like the previous HSMs there were so many lame scenes. Even Hanna and Hasya could not help themselves from giggling and laughing out loud during those lame scenes. But, overall - if you need a major de-stressing treatment (like I did), watching HSM3 should do the trick :). Go watch it with your kids!
SUNDAY 26/10/08
(10) Sunday morning, went to Te*co for grocery shopping. Was there from 11:40a.m until 2:15p.m! Punya la banyak manusia!!! Stress level - CONFIRMED shot up. But, I managed to get everything to fill in my fridge and pantry. And there's no better way to de-stress myself than by looking at my fridge/freezer and pantry full to the brim later when I got home (and DAR kemas everything while I surf the net. Kalau I yang KEMAS, blood pressure sure go upstairs... Hahaha!)
I just love it when I open the fridge and freezer and the pantry, and I see that I have everything in there, just in case I suddenly feel like cooking something special. It doesn't matter if I didn't. Yang penting - the ingredients are there. Just in case. A good feeling - that one :)
(11) at 4:15p.m, got a phonecall from Ab*d (one of my MT friends) -
Ab*d : Are you there yet?
Me : There? Where?
Ab*d : Aw*n's House-warming and Open House?
Me : Errr... When did she move to a new house? And errr...I didn't get the invitation pun!
Ab*d : It was in the group e-mail lah!
Me : Ye ke? Alamak. Sorry lah - I've not checked my e-mails for 2 months laaa. Okay, never mind, I'll check it now, and I'll see you at Aw*n's house in an hour.
True enough, the invitation to Aw*n's new home was in one of the 2580 un-opened mails in my Inbox!
Another MAJOR de-stressing session at Aw*n's house that afternoon - with good food and good company in the form of other MTs and their spouses. After Isya', we later adjourned and convened at Ab*d's house in Vi**a Dsara, and lepak till about 11:00p.m.
MONDAY 27/10/08
(12) We left the house just after 9:00a.m and headed straight to the MPH Warehouse Sale at Section 13 PJ. We thought we were early, but there were already throngs of people there. Everybody managed to get books for themselves. Not bad at all - we got 38 books all in all, for about RM600!! That was definitely another major de-stressing point for me - hilang all my guilty feelings that I had with Hanna (especially when she got 18 books for herself!). And of course, it was also a very de-stressing moment when we paid for the books (especially for Ayah) because we thought they would cost us more than RM1,500! Happy, happy, happy!
(13) What better way to further de-stress myself than tucking in in some good food for lunch with the family. We went to Co*y Co*ne* at Jaya 33 and everybody had their favourites. Their sharks fin soup was so yummy...
(14) We then went to jenguk our BJ house (which we had not jenguked for more than 2 months!). Suffice to say, it's time for another call to Badhal Khan. And we also found out that the roof was leaking in a few places and there were water marks in some areas of the house. Stress level naik balik... But, I'm just going to tell myself that IT IS NOT A MAJOR PROBLEM. I'm not going to stress myself out over this. I'm not going to worry. I'm just going to be happy :)
All in all, the de-stressing process over the long Deepavali weekend has really helped. And I'm ready to face it all, insya Allah.
And I guess, what I could gather over the last few days ni - there'll be stressful moments everyday BUT, some things might just creep up while we least expect them, and make us feel better. And we have to always prepare ourselves for other unexpected things which might spoil our day again. The trick is to wait for the positive things to happen, or it they don't, we take things positively. Or we make them happen.
And however stressful we feel our lives are, there are others who lead an even more stressful lives than we do. So, we have to bersyukur with whatever it is that is thrown to us.
Cheers, you all :)
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Stressed out...
Today - It feels like everybody takes it for granted that I could attend a last minute meeting that lasted for 5 damn hours.
Today - I realize that more often than not people think that what I have to do is not as important as what they have to do.
Today - I realize that people think that I have all the time in the world to do things for them.
Today - I realize that I always take it for granted that everything will always go according to plan. But, obviously it doesn't.
I was supposed to focus on a certain piece of work from 11:00a.m until 6:00p.m today.
But, this morning poor Hilman woke up with a terrible cough. Apparently he has croup and he has been coughing incessantly since morning.
I had to leave him at Mak's for a while as I had to attend a meeting at 9:00a.m.
Went back at 10:30a.m to fetch and bring Hilman to see Dr. Mu*a at 11:15a.m. and we only got all the prescribed medicines and only left the hospital at 1:00p.m.
Went back to the office at 1:15, only to be told that there was a last minute urgent meeting that I had to attend.
The meeting lasted for 5 hours. FIVE DAMN HOURS!
Went back - exhausted.
Had to send Hanna to Tuition at 7:45p.m.
Poor Hanna. I was so stressed out that I snapped at her when she asked me if she could go to the MPH Warehouse Sale.
I gave her a curt, "NO!"
And she asked, "Why?"
Another curt reply from me - "Who's going to bring you there?"
She replied - "You?"
And yet another curt reply of "I don't have time", from me.
And I felt so, so bad after that :(
Tonight - I will not be sleeping as I need to finish whatever it is that I was supposed to finish this afternoon.
Tonight - I need a lot of luck. And a LOT of coffee...
And tomorrow, I will make it up to her...
But, you know what? Whatever it is that I've written here - things are not going to change. People will still take me for granted... And I will still have a lot of "stressed out" days ahead of me to deal with.
Today - I realize that more often than not people think that what I have to do is not as important as what they have to do.
Today - I realize that people think that I have all the time in the world to do things for them.
Today - I realize that I always take it for granted that everything will always go according to plan. But, obviously it doesn't.
I was supposed to focus on a certain piece of work from 11:00a.m until 6:00p.m today.
But, this morning poor Hilman woke up with a terrible cough. Apparently he has croup and he has been coughing incessantly since morning.
I had to leave him at Mak's for a while as I had to attend a meeting at 9:00a.m.
Went back at 10:30a.m to fetch and bring Hilman to see Dr. Mu*a at 11:15a.m. and we only got all the prescribed medicines and only left the hospital at 1:00p.m.
Went back to the office at 1:15, only to be told that there was a last minute urgent meeting that I had to attend.
The meeting lasted for 5 hours. FIVE DAMN HOURS!
Went back - exhausted.
Had to send Hanna to Tuition at 7:45p.m.
Poor Hanna. I was so stressed out that I snapped at her when she asked me if she could go to the MPH Warehouse Sale.
I gave her a curt, "NO!"
And she asked, "Why?"
Another curt reply from me - "Who's going to bring you there?"
She replied - "You?"
And yet another curt reply of "I don't have time", from me.
And I felt so, so bad after that :(
Tonight - I will not be sleeping as I need to finish whatever it is that I was supposed to finish this afternoon.
Tonight - I need a lot of luck. And a LOT of coffee...
And tomorrow, I will make it up to her...
But, you know what? Whatever it is that I've written here - things are not going to change. People will still take me for granted... And I will still have a lot of "stressed out" days ahead of me to deal with.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Stars in their eyes...
It took us nearly one and a half hours to reach SD from SS* just now.
I left the office at 5:50p.m, and reached the kids' school about 6:05p.m - inching away until I reached the Balai Menunggu at 6:15p.m. Once Hasya and Hilman got into the car, we started our journey home. In the pouring rain. Through the jam. So, banyaklah topik-topik menarik which surfaced in the car. We only reached home at 7:30p.m.
Topic 1 (Started when we saw the new James Bond Movie Billboard near Eastin)
Hilman : Why is the James Bond character different, Mommy? (translated - why is it that it's a different person playing James Bond every time?)
Me : They're just actors Hilman, playing the same character - James Bond.
Hilman : Why do they have to change the actors?
Me : Well... the previous actors are all quite old already, Hilman. They cannot be running and jumping over buildings, and what nots. Not realistic la nanti.
Hasya : How old are they, Mommy?
Me : A few nearly 70, maybe over. A few over 50.
Hilman : What about the James Bond in Quantum of Solace, Mommy?
Me : Hmmmm, I'm not sure - he's 30 something, I guess?
Hasya : Which is your favourite James Bond, Mommy?
Me : The current one - Daniel Craig.
Hasya : Why?
Me : Hmmmm, I think he's the best Bond so far. His portrayal of Bond has been the most realistic so far. I think.
Hasya : Do you think he's good looking?
Me : Well, he's not THAT good looking. But, I think he's really attractive. He's got piercing blue eyes.
Hasya : They look like snakes eyes la, Mommy!
Me : No lah...He's got VERY nice eyes.
Hasya : Eeeeeewwww... Mommy?!
Me : What?! And he's very muscular, too!
Hasya : I don't like muscular men...
Me : ?????!!!!
********
Topic 2 (Still on Hollywood Stars)
Hasya : Mommy, who's your favourite actor?
Me : I have a few.
Hasya : Who, Mommy?
Me : Well, I like Tom Hanks.
Hasya : Because you like Forrest Gump, right?
Me : That, and he's a VERY good actor. I also like Bill Murray.
Hasya : Bill Who?
(And I started naming a few movies which Bill Murray starred in. All met with blank looks)
Hasya : He must be VERY old.
Me : ????!!!! No! He's not THAT old! Have you seen "Groundhog Day"?
Hasya : No.
Me : Oh, never mind. Oh yes, I also like Steve Martin.
Hasya : Oh ya... He was in Cheaper by the Dozen, right?
Me : Yes - and he's also in The Pink Panther Movie. Remember?
Hasya and Hilman : Oh yaaaa!!! He was the one who was trying to speak proper English right? The part where he wanted to say, "I would like to have a hamburger", tu kan, Mommy?
And both of them gave the cutest French accent macam Inspector Clousseau tu. Hehehe...chomei!
Me : Yes, that's the one!
Hasya : Oh, I like him, too. And I also like Nicholas Cage.
Me : ???!!!! Errr, how did you know Nicholas Cage, Hasya?
Hasya : I saw The National Treasure. 1 AND 2 - BOTH of them.
Me : When was this? Even Mommy have not seen them, tau?
Hasya : Dah lama dah... He's cool...
Me : ???!!!
********
Topic 3 (Still on Hollywood Stars)
Hasya : Mommy, do you think Angelina Jolie is nice?
Me : Yes, I guess so. I think she has a good heart - adopting and taking care of all those poor children from all around the world, etc.
Hasya : Yeah, I think she's nice, too. Too bad she's going to H**l...
Me : ????!!!!!
********
Topic 4 (STILL on Movie Stars)
Hasya : Mommy, do you like Daniel Radcliffe?
Me : No, not really. I don't think he can act. I like Rupert Grint, though.
Hasya : Yeah, me, too. I don't like him. And I read somewhere that he acted in a play - naked! I'm never going to see it!
Me : Me neither. And you are MOST definitely NOT going to THAT play, okay?!
Hasya : I know. I just told you what?! Anyway, I also like Emma Watson - Hermione.
At this point, Hilman butted in -
Hilman : I like Cedric Diggory, Mommy!
Hasya : HILMAN!!! He's a guy la!
Hilman : I know. But, I like him in Harry Potter la, Kak Ngah.
Me : ????!!!! (Hmmmmm, THAT'S IT - He's definitely NOT going to Ayah's alma mater!)
HAHAHAHA!
********
TOPIC 5 (STILL on STARS. What else? But this time - singers)
Hasya : Mommy, do you like Rihanna?
Me : Nope.
Hasya : Me neither. She's so lembik like that... (and Hasya started imitating the way Rihanna sings, etc.)
Me : Yup. Lembik!
Hasya : Who else do you like?
And she started listing down the names of all singers which came to her mind. All of which got a straight "NOPE" from me as replies.
Me : But, I kinda like Avril Lavigne and Pink, though. And Fergie and Black Eyed Peas.
Hasya : Simple Plan?
Me : They're okay. And I like Bon Jovi.
Hasya : Who?!
Me : Bon Jovi. They, oh well...never mind.
Hasya : Are they old?
Me : ???!!!!!
SABO AJER LAAAAAHHH....
* Anyway, to those who are new to this Blog, Hasya's 9 years old, and Hilman's 8 years old, by the way :)
I left the office at 5:50p.m, and reached the kids' school about 6:05p.m - inching away until I reached the Balai Menunggu at 6:15p.m. Once Hasya and Hilman got into the car, we started our journey home. In the pouring rain. Through the jam. So, banyaklah topik-topik menarik which surfaced in the car. We only reached home at 7:30p.m.
Topic 1 (Started when we saw the new James Bond Movie Billboard near Eastin)
Hilman : Why is the James Bond character different, Mommy? (translated - why is it that it's a different person playing James Bond every time?)
Me : They're just actors Hilman, playing the same character - James Bond.
Hilman : Why do they have to change the actors?
Me : Well... the previous actors are all quite old already, Hilman. They cannot be running and jumping over buildings, and what nots. Not realistic la nanti.
Hasya : How old are they, Mommy?
Me : A few nearly 70, maybe over. A few over 50.
Hilman : What about the James Bond in Quantum of Solace, Mommy?
Me : Hmmmm, I'm not sure - he's 30 something, I guess?
Hasya : Which is your favourite James Bond, Mommy?
Me : The current one - Daniel Craig.
Hasya : Why?
Me : Hmmmm, I think he's the best Bond so far. His portrayal of Bond has been the most realistic so far. I think.
Hasya : Do you think he's good looking?
Me : Well, he's not THAT good looking. But, I think he's really attractive. He's got piercing blue eyes.
Hasya : They look like snakes eyes la, Mommy!
Me : No lah...He's got VERY nice eyes.
Hasya : Eeeeeewwww... Mommy?!
Me : What?! And he's very muscular, too!
Hasya : I don't like muscular men...
Me : ?????!!!!
********
Topic 2 (Still on Hollywood Stars)
Hasya : Mommy, who's your favourite actor?
Me : I have a few.
Hasya : Who, Mommy?
Me : Well, I like Tom Hanks.
Hasya : Because you like Forrest Gump, right?
Me : That, and he's a VERY good actor. I also like Bill Murray.
Hasya : Bill Who?
(And I started naming a few movies which Bill Murray starred in. All met with blank looks)
Hasya : He must be VERY old.
Me : ????!!!! No! He's not THAT old! Have you seen "Groundhog Day"?
Hasya : No.
Me : Oh, never mind. Oh yes, I also like Steve Martin.
Hasya : Oh ya... He was in Cheaper by the Dozen, right?
Me : Yes - and he's also in The Pink Panther Movie. Remember?
Hasya and Hilman : Oh yaaaa!!! He was the one who was trying to speak proper English right? The part where he wanted to say, "I would like to have a hamburger", tu kan, Mommy?
And both of them gave the cutest French accent macam Inspector Clousseau tu. Hehehe...chomei!
Me : Yes, that's the one!
Hasya : Oh, I like him, too. And I also like Nicholas Cage.
Me : ???!!!! Errr, how did you know Nicholas Cage, Hasya?
Hasya : I saw The National Treasure. 1 AND 2 - BOTH of them.
Me : When was this? Even Mommy have not seen them, tau?
Hasya : Dah lama dah... He's cool...
Me : ???!!!
********
Topic 3 (Still on Hollywood Stars)
Hasya : Mommy, do you think Angelina Jolie is nice?
Me : Yes, I guess so. I think she has a good heart - adopting and taking care of all those poor children from all around the world, etc.
Hasya : Yeah, I think she's nice, too. Too bad she's going to H**l...
Me : ????!!!!!
********
Topic 4 (STILL on Movie Stars)
Hasya : Mommy, do you like Daniel Radcliffe?
Me : No, not really. I don't think he can act. I like Rupert Grint, though.
Hasya : Yeah, me, too. I don't like him. And I read somewhere that he acted in a play - naked! I'm never going to see it!
Me : Me neither. And you are MOST definitely NOT going to THAT play, okay?!
Hasya : I know. I just told you what?! Anyway, I also like Emma Watson - Hermione.
At this point, Hilman butted in -
Hilman : I like Cedric Diggory, Mommy!
Hasya : HILMAN!!! He's a guy la!
Hilman : I know. But, I like him in Harry Potter la, Kak Ngah.
Me : ????!!!! (Hmmmmm, THAT'S IT - He's definitely NOT going to Ayah's alma mater!)
HAHAHAHA!
********
TOPIC 5 (STILL on STARS. What else? But this time - singers)
Hasya : Mommy, do you like Rihanna?
Me : Nope.
Hasya : Me neither. She's so lembik like that... (and Hasya started imitating the way Rihanna sings, etc.)
Me : Yup. Lembik!
Hasya : Who else do you like?
And she started listing down the names of all singers which came to her mind. All of which got a straight "NOPE" from me as replies.
Me : But, I kinda like Avril Lavigne and Pink, though. And Fergie and Black Eyed Peas.
Hasya : Simple Plan?
Me : They're okay. And I like Bon Jovi.
Hasya : Who?!
Me : Bon Jovi. They, oh well...never mind.
Hasya : Are they old?
Me : ???!!!!!
SABO AJER LAAAAAHHH....
* Anyway, to those who are new to this Blog, Hasya's 9 years old, and Hilman's 8 years old, by the way :)
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Ooops! She did it again...
Syukur alhamdulillah. Ayah, Hasya and Hilman have completed their Puasa Enam today, and myself - I've also completed my Puasa Qadha'. So, that leaves Hanna as the only one who has not completed her 6th day.
Hanna was supposed to fast with us today so that we could all "celebrate raya" together, but, she and her friends had plans to go to the movies, and then lunch in between today. The Form One pupils of her school were given three days off because of the PMR exams, and the girls had been planning for this outing since last week.
The plan was -
(i) I would send Hanna, Hasya and Hilman to their Wan's house in the morning, before going to the office.
(ii) Na*ia Ra*li would fetch Hanna (with her Mom's driver) from Mak's house and they would go to The Cu*ve and Ci*el*isure together.
(iii) There, Ni*a's Mom would be waiting for them - and she would be their chaperone for the day.
(iv) They would watch one movie at 11:00a.m.
(v) Have lunch
(vi) Then - another movie at 2:45p.m.
(vii) Hanna was then supposed to go back to El*nna's house with El*nna's Mom, and they would go to their Tuition Class together.
(viii) Ayah and I would fetch Hanna from Tuition and bring her home with us to SD.
Everything from (i) until (vi) was okay, and Hanna was sending text messages to me throughout the day updating me on her activities with her friends, and every now and then she would call me, or I would call her just to make sure that Ni*a's Mom was there with them.
I was suppposed to call El*nna's Mom yesterday to confirm (vii) above, and ask if she was okay with the afternoon's arrangement, but, I was so bogged down with work and stuff, I totally forgot about it! And I only managed to call El*nna's Mom at around 4:15p.m to ask if she was okay with the arrangement, and if not, I would fetch the girls myself.
Imagine how surprised I was when SHE was surprised to know that SHE was supposed to fetch the TWO girls from The Cu*ve. Apparently, El*nna had NOT asked her whether Hanna could follow her home, and SHE did not even know that she was supposed to be at The Cu*ve at 5p.m to bring them home! But, she did say that El*nna would call her when they were done so that she could fetch her from The Cu*ve.
Even though she was okay with Hanna going over to their place, and sending Hanna to Tuition with El*nna and all, I felt like an idiot. I guess, it was also my fault. I should have called and confirmed everything yesterday...but, as I said, I was just too bogged down with stuff, and only managed to call her today.
Right after speaking to Da*in Fu*iah, I immediately called Hanna, and she got a mighty SEMBUR from her Mommy, right, left and centre. But, Hanna herself was surprised because according to her, she had asked El*nna whether her Mom was okay about the whole thing, and El*nna told her that she had asked her Mom and her Mom had given the greenlight!
Hmmmmm, I really don't know.
This brings me back to a similar incident last year.
But, this time around I know that Hanna had genuinely thought El*nna had sought her Mom's permission, etc. I could sense her exasperation towards El*nna while I was semburing her just now. In a way, I should have called El*nna's Mom yesterday just to be sure. My fault, my mistake.
By then, it was too late to come up with an alternative plan as at the last minute, Mak's driver SMSd me saying that he could not fetch Hasya and Hilman from school. Meaning I would have to fetch Hasya and Hilman at 5:50p.m. Obviously I could not go and fetch the girls from The Cu*ve at the same time, could I? And I was just about to ask my SIL to fetch them when Hanna SMSd me saying that El*nna's mom would drive them back.
Anyway, at 6:05p.m, while driving back from SS* to Mak's house, I got an SMS from Hanna telling me that she and El*nna were on their way back to El*nna's house with Ka*'s Dad! Lagi lah I bengang...coz' I had not called Ka*'s parents pun to ask if they were okay to bring Hanna to El*nna's! Macam I ni tak ada adab lah pulak. Even though, I know both of Ka*'s parents quite well, tak sedap la when benda-benda macam ni happens.
It is just so not me - not calling the relevant parents in advance. But, I guess after what happened last year, I was so sure that Hanna would make doubly sure that all the arrangement for today's outing would be air-tight. My fault.
Right at the moment of writing this, Hanna is still at the Tuition Centre.
And Ayah and I have decided to tell her in the car nanti that she's not allowed to go for any outings lagi - INDEFINITELY. Until further notice.
Hmmmmm.... macam deja vu pulak...
Hanna was supposed to fast with us today so that we could all "celebrate raya" together, but, she and her friends had plans to go to the movies, and then lunch in between today. The Form One pupils of her school were given three days off because of the PMR exams, and the girls had been planning for this outing since last week.
The plan was -
(i) I would send Hanna, Hasya and Hilman to their Wan's house in the morning, before going to the office.
(ii) Na*ia Ra*li would fetch Hanna (with her Mom's driver) from Mak's house and they would go to The Cu*ve and Ci*el*isure together.
(iii) There, Ni*a's Mom would be waiting for them - and she would be their chaperone for the day.
(iv) They would watch one movie at 11:00a.m.
(v) Have lunch
(vi) Then - another movie at 2:45p.m.
(vii) Hanna was then supposed to go back to El*nna's house with El*nna's Mom, and they would go to their Tuition Class together.
(viii) Ayah and I would fetch Hanna from Tuition and bring her home with us to SD.
Everything from (i) until (vi) was okay, and Hanna was sending text messages to me throughout the day updating me on her activities with her friends, and every now and then she would call me, or I would call her just to make sure that Ni*a's Mom was there with them.
I was suppposed to call El*nna's Mom yesterday to confirm (vii) above, and ask if she was okay with the afternoon's arrangement, but, I was so bogged down with work and stuff, I totally forgot about it! And I only managed to call El*nna's Mom at around 4:15p.m to ask if she was okay with the arrangement, and if not, I would fetch the girls myself.
Imagine how surprised I was when SHE was surprised to know that SHE was supposed to fetch the TWO girls from The Cu*ve. Apparently, El*nna had NOT asked her whether Hanna could follow her home, and SHE did not even know that she was supposed to be at The Cu*ve at 5p.m to bring them home! But, she did say that El*nna would call her when they were done so that she could fetch her from The Cu*ve.
Even though she was okay with Hanna going over to their place, and sending Hanna to Tuition with El*nna and all, I felt like an idiot. I guess, it was also my fault. I should have called and confirmed everything yesterday...but, as I said, I was just too bogged down with stuff, and only managed to call her today.
Right after speaking to Da*in Fu*iah, I immediately called Hanna, and she got a mighty SEMBUR from her Mommy, right, left and centre. But, Hanna herself was surprised because according to her, she had asked El*nna whether her Mom was okay about the whole thing, and El*nna told her that she had asked her Mom and her Mom had given the greenlight!
Hmmmmm, I really don't know.
This brings me back to a similar incident last year.
But, this time around I know that Hanna had genuinely thought El*nna had sought her Mom's permission, etc. I could sense her exasperation towards El*nna while I was semburing her just now. In a way, I should have called El*nna's Mom yesterday just to be sure. My fault, my mistake.
By then, it was too late to come up with an alternative plan as at the last minute, Mak's driver SMSd me saying that he could not fetch Hasya and Hilman from school. Meaning I would have to fetch Hasya and Hilman at 5:50p.m. Obviously I could not go and fetch the girls from The Cu*ve at the same time, could I? And I was just about to ask my SIL to fetch them when Hanna SMSd me saying that El*nna's mom would drive them back.
Anyway, at 6:05p.m, while driving back from SS* to Mak's house, I got an SMS from Hanna telling me that she and El*nna were on their way back to El*nna's house with Ka*'s Dad! Lagi lah I bengang...coz' I had not called Ka*'s parents pun to ask if they were okay to bring Hanna to El*nna's! Macam I ni tak ada adab lah pulak. Even though, I know both of Ka*'s parents quite well, tak sedap la when benda-benda macam ni happens.
It is just so not me - not calling the relevant parents in advance. But, I guess after what happened last year, I was so sure that Hanna would make doubly sure that all the arrangement for today's outing would be air-tight. My fault.
Right at the moment of writing this, Hanna is still at the Tuition Centre.
And Ayah and I have decided to tell her in the car nanti that she's not allowed to go for any outings lagi - INDEFINITELY. Until further notice.
Hmmmmm.... macam deja vu pulak...
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Of smelly pasar and green packets...
We left the house just before 11:00a.m yesterday to send Hasya and Hilman to their Chess class at TT*I. While waiting for them to finish their class at 12:30p.m, I brought Hanna and Dar to the market to get some groceries. It was supposed to be ONLY chicken, but we ended up buying vegetables, some dry stuff, some seafood, kuey teow etc., much to the annoyance of Hanna. Hehehe... She kept on going on and on and on about it.
She said she could not stand the smell of the Pasar, and I told her, as a girl she needs to get used to all those smell because more often than not, it'll be us women folks who would have to do THAT chore, because most men are just like her Ayah - either they'd be too busy to go to the market OR even if they're not busy, they would not know what to get - what fish, what sayur, etc. (Hehehe...no offence meant, dear ;)) I should have told her that if she thought Pasar TT*I smelled bad, she should go to the other markets...
Anyway, the whole time we were at the Pasar, she would ask me -
Hanna : What ELSE are we getting after this, Mommy? Can I just stay in the car, Mommy? Do I HAVE to follow you to get the fish? Can I just sit here at the bench?, etc.
Naik tension lah jugak I...But, then again, I told myself (sometimes I have to REMIND myself!) - "It's okay, she's only 12 years old. What do I expect?!"
We fetched the kids at 12:30a.m, and went to Mak's house to send all the groceries there. Ayah only reached Mak's house from the hospital about 2p.m, and we started our Open House marathon by going to Mak An*ak/Ro*ie's Open House in Section 14. We left just before the sky opened up at 3:15p.m, and made our way to Al*ng's house (Ayah's big brother) in Ar* D'sara in the REALLY heavy rain (and I mean REALLY HEAVY. Sampai langsung tak nampak jalan!). We only left Al*ng's house at 5:40p.m and made our way to Ayah's Pak Long's house in Kajang. And as expected, after the heavy downpour, everywhere was jammed, and we only reached Kajang just before 7p.m.
After Kajang, we left for my Wanchik's place at 7:50p.m. She stays in Pu*ak Al*m. So, you can just imagine how renyuk everybody was when we finally reached Puncak Alam at 9:20p.m - from one end of the world, to the other end of the world! I finally met my cousin's wife, El*ne, and their two kids. The last time I saw him was before he got married (and his eldest daughter is now 5 years old!). I also met another cousin (from another Aunty), Ji*a. The last time I saw her pulak was when she was 9 years old. She's in her final year at UI*M now! So, it was nice to have met her again after all these years.
And both El*ne and Ji*a who had never met our kids before, thought that Hanna was in Form 5! Can't blame them. They were not the only ones who thought that. I think some people even thought that Hanna was already working coz' yesterday when we went to the Open Houses, she didn't get her duit raya at one of the houses! Kesian dia... But I promised her that I would top up her duit raya to equal her adek-adek's, which we normally do anyway :)
If the hosts sendiri yang distributed the packets, for sure she'll get one. But, because the hosts had delegated the task of distributing the duit raya to their staff who didn't know her, can't blame them for thinking that Hanna's not a kid anymore!
They wouldn't know that there would be at least 11 years more before she starts working (if she starts right after getting her degree) and 15-20 years more (basing on current average age of getting married that is) before she would be going to the smelly Pasar herself to do the groceries for her own small family. ;)
Heck, even I sometimes forget that she's only 12 when I look at her. Only when she starts fooling around with her adek-adek, and I see how childish she can be, that I would then realize that she's still a kid...
But come to think of it, Hanna dear, no matter how old you are, you will always be our Baby, anyway... Our FIRST Baby :)
Here are some photos - and you'll see what I mean about Hanna :)
She said she could not stand the smell of the Pasar, and I told her, as a girl she needs to get used to all those smell because more often than not, it'll be us women folks who would have to do THAT chore, because most men are just like her Ayah - either they'd be too busy to go to the market OR even if they're not busy, they would not know what to get - what fish, what sayur, etc. (Hehehe...no offence meant, dear ;)) I should have told her that if she thought Pasar TT*I smelled bad, she should go to the other markets...
Anyway, the whole time we were at the Pasar, she would ask me -
Hanna : What ELSE are we getting after this, Mommy? Can I just stay in the car, Mommy? Do I HAVE to follow you to get the fish? Can I just sit here at the bench?, etc.
Naik tension lah jugak I...But, then again, I told myself (sometimes I have to REMIND myself!) - "It's okay, she's only 12 years old. What do I expect?!"
We fetched the kids at 12:30a.m, and went to Mak's house to send all the groceries there. Ayah only reached Mak's house from the hospital about 2p.m, and we started our Open House marathon by going to Mak An*ak/Ro*ie's Open House in Section 14. We left just before the sky opened up at 3:15p.m, and made our way to Al*ng's house (Ayah's big brother) in Ar* D'sara in the REALLY heavy rain (and I mean REALLY HEAVY. Sampai langsung tak nampak jalan!). We only left Al*ng's house at 5:40p.m and made our way to Ayah's Pak Long's house in Kajang. And as expected, after the heavy downpour, everywhere was jammed, and we only reached Kajang just before 7p.m.
After Kajang, we left for my Wanchik's place at 7:50p.m. She stays in Pu*ak Al*m. So, you can just imagine how renyuk everybody was when we finally reached Puncak Alam at 9:20p.m - from one end of the world, to the other end of the world! I finally met my cousin's wife, El*ne, and their two kids. The last time I saw him was before he got married (and his eldest daughter is now 5 years old!). I also met another cousin (from another Aunty), Ji*a. The last time I saw her pulak was when she was 9 years old. She's in her final year at UI*M now! So, it was nice to have met her again after all these years.
And both El*ne and Ji*a who had never met our kids before, thought that Hanna was in Form 5! Can't blame them. They were not the only ones who thought that. I think some people even thought that Hanna was already working coz' yesterday when we went to the Open Houses, she didn't get her duit raya at one of the houses! Kesian dia... But I promised her that I would top up her duit raya to equal her adek-adek's, which we normally do anyway :)
If the hosts sendiri yang distributed the packets, for sure she'll get one. But, because the hosts had delegated the task of distributing the duit raya to their staff who didn't know her, can't blame them for thinking that Hanna's not a kid anymore!
They wouldn't know that there would be at least 11 years more before she starts working (if she starts right after getting her degree) and 15-20 years more (basing on current average age of getting married that is) before she would be going to the smelly Pasar herself to do the groceries for her own small family. ;)
Heck, even I sometimes forget that she's only 12 when I look at her. Only when she starts fooling around with her adek-adek, and I see how childish she can be, that I would then realize that she's still a kid...
But come to think of it, Hanna dear, no matter how old you are, you will always be our Baby, anyway... Our FIRST Baby :)
Here are some photos - and you'll see what I mean about Hanna :)
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Puasa Enam...
It's 9th Syawal today.
So far, including today (insya Allah), I have puasa four days of my Puasa Enam. Syukur Alhamdulillah. So far, so good.
Ayah and Hanna had managed to fast three days so far as Hanna only started on Tuesday, and Ayah had to break fast in the afternoon as he was not feeling well yesterday. But, as I also have extra days to ganti puasa which I plan to also do during Syawal, insya Allah, they can "catch up" and we'll get to "raya" together.
Hasya and Hilman - so far, two days. Hasya had a school trip to Dominoes yesterday, so she couldn't possibly puasa, could she?! What with all those yummy Pepperoni and Hawaiian Chicken pizzas beckoning her?! And because his Kak Ngah Hasya was not fasting yesterday, Hilman decided not to fast, too. So nanti, they, too, will have to "catch up" in order for us to "raya" together.
Apparently, Hasya's teacher asked her class the other day who amongst them Puasa Enam, and Hasya was the only one who put her hand up. And the teacher asked her if the whole family was doing it. And when she said, "Yes", the teacher asked, "Even your brother yang Standard 2 tu??!!" I think, looking at how montel and how kuat makan Hilman is, she couldn't believe Hilman would have the will-power to puasa outside a Non-Ramadhan month, especially when he would be surrounded by friends who would be munching away all the goodies foodies at school! Hehehe!
Ayah and I had never asked or forced the kids to perform the Puasa Enam, but syukur alhamdulillah, they wanted to do it themselves. It all started last year when they were curious as to why both Ayah and I were still fasting when it was already Raya! So, when Ayah explained what Puasa Enam was all about and betapa besar ganjarannya, insya Allah, the kids decided to puasa with us.
So, this year is the second year we all Puasa Enam together as a family, insya Allah.
The initial plan was for everybody to finish Puasa Enam by Tuesday next week. (Weekends tak boleh puasa coz' there are so many Open Houses to go to! Hehehe!). But, now that dah tak "synchronised", I will have to adjust everybody's puasa schedule so that we can puasa the 6th day together, and celebrate together - maybe berbuka at a place of the kids' choice outside on the final day?
Anyway, for sahur, I decided not to kacau Dar and so, for the past four days, I've been getting up at 4:45a.m to siapkan our sahur. Ayah asked me to just ask Dar to do it coz' he didn't want me to wake up and prepare everything. But, I kesian pulak kat Dar if she has to wake up just to siapkan sahur when she's not fasting sekali.
But, Ayah and I realized - after Raya, Dar has been slacking a bit. MAYBE, because she had spent too much time mingling with my MIL's and my SIL's maids in PJ over Raya, and dah berjangkit with their "malas" attitude. We (ourselves, my MIL and my SIL) had each given all the maids some Baju Raya and bonus raya. And we also gave Dar IDD cards worth RM60 for her to call her family during Raya. Maybe dah "naik lemak", kot ?
This morning, after sahur, I didn't go back to sleep, and tengok-tengok sampai 6:20a.m, Dar tak bangun lagi! Lawan tokey betul. Normally she would wake up at 5:45a.m. and prepare breakfast for Ayah. Ayah normally wakes up just before 6:00a.m and would leave the house with Hanna by 6:40a.m. And I suspect, when I leave the house to go to work, and send the kids to my MIL's place in the morning, she would continue with her chores, and then have a looooooong nap in the afternoon because we normally only reach home earliest at 7:00p.m every day. Nobody at home. Nothing much to do.
Hmmmm...maybe for the rest of our Puasa Enam ni, I should ask her to prepare our sahur kot? Tak boleh bagi muka sangat... And I'm sure I will not be depriving her of her beauty sleep as she would have the whole afternoon every day to sleep anyway.
Anyway, to those who are performing the Puasa Enam, selamat menyempurnakannya. Semoga ibadah kita diterima Allah SWT, and semoga kita diberi ganjaran yang berganda, insya Allah. Amin.
So far, including today (insya Allah), I have puasa four days of my Puasa Enam. Syukur Alhamdulillah. So far, so good.
Ayah and Hanna had managed to fast three days so far as Hanna only started on Tuesday, and Ayah had to break fast in the afternoon as he was not feeling well yesterday. But, as I also have extra days to ganti puasa which I plan to also do during Syawal, insya Allah, they can "catch up" and we'll get to "raya" together.
Hasya and Hilman - so far, two days. Hasya had a school trip to Dominoes yesterday, so she couldn't possibly puasa, could she?! What with all those yummy Pepperoni and Hawaiian Chicken pizzas beckoning her?! And because his Kak Ngah Hasya was not fasting yesterday, Hilman decided not to fast, too. So nanti, they, too, will have to "catch up" in order for us to "raya" together.
Apparently, Hasya's teacher asked her class the other day who amongst them Puasa Enam, and Hasya was the only one who put her hand up. And the teacher asked her if the whole family was doing it. And when she said, "Yes", the teacher asked, "Even your brother yang Standard 2 tu??!!" I think, looking at how montel and how kuat makan Hilman is, she couldn't believe Hilman would have the will-power to puasa outside a Non-Ramadhan month, especially when he would be surrounded by friends who would be munching away all the goodies foodies at school! Hehehe!
Ayah and I had never asked or forced the kids to perform the Puasa Enam, but syukur alhamdulillah, they wanted to do it themselves. It all started last year when they were curious as to why both Ayah and I were still fasting when it was already Raya! So, when Ayah explained what Puasa Enam was all about and betapa besar ganjarannya, insya Allah, the kids decided to puasa with us.
So, this year is the second year we all Puasa Enam together as a family, insya Allah.
The initial plan was for everybody to finish Puasa Enam by Tuesday next week. (Weekends tak boleh puasa coz' there are so many Open Houses to go to! Hehehe!). But, now that dah tak "synchronised", I will have to adjust everybody's puasa schedule so that we can puasa the 6th day together, and celebrate together - maybe berbuka at a place of the kids' choice outside on the final day?
Anyway, for sahur, I decided not to kacau Dar and so, for the past four days, I've been getting up at 4:45a.m to siapkan our sahur. Ayah asked me to just ask Dar to do it coz' he didn't want me to wake up and prepare everything. But, I kesian pulak kat Dar if she has to wake up just to siapkan sahur when she's not fasting sekali.
But, Ayah and I realized - after Raya, Dar has been slacking a bit. MAYBE, because she had spent too much time mingling with my MIL's and my SIL's maids in PJ over Raya, and dah berjangkit with their "malas" attitude. We (ourselves, my MIL and my SIL) had each given all the maids some Baju Raya and bonus raya. And we also gave Dar IDD cards worth RM60 for her to call her family during Raya. Maybe dah "naik lemak", kot ?
This morning, after sahur, I didn't go back to sleep, and tengok-tengok sampai 6:20a.m, Dar tak bangun lagi! Lawan tokey betul. Normally she would wake up at 5:45a.m. and prepare breakfast for Ayah. Ayah normally wakes up just before 6:00a.m and would leave the house with Hanna by 6:40a.m. And I suspect, when I leave the house to go to work, and send the kids to my MIL's place in the morning, she would continue with her chores, and then have a looooooong nap in the afternoon because we normally only reach home earliest at 7:00p.m every day. Nobody at home. Nothing much to do.
Hmmmm...maybe for the rest of our Puasa Enam ni, I should ask her to prepare our sahur kot? Tak boleh bagi muka sangat... And I'm sure I will not be depriving her of her beauty sleep as she would have the whole afternoon every day to sleep anyway.
Anyway, to those who are performing the Puasa Enam, selamat menyempurnakannya. Semoga ibadah kita diterima Allah SWT, and semoga kita diberi ganjaran yang berganda, insya Allah. Amin.
Monday, October 6, 2008
It starts with the letter "K"...
We were on our way to Ayah's cousin's Open House in Saujana Impian yesterday, when we had a trivia on which country manufactures what car makes, etc. And suddenly Hilman asked his Ayah -
Hilman : Ayah, do you know which is the fastest car in the world, Ayah?
Ayah : Hmmmm... Naza?! (obviously - because he drives one! Hehehe!)
Hilman : Noooo! Not Naza!
Ayah : Mommy's Kembara?! (Hahaha! Yeah, right...)
Hilman : NOOOO!!! (He was getting annoyed with his Ayah already :))
Then Hasya chipped in -
Hasya : Is it a Ferrari?
Hilman : NO! You know the answer, Kak Ngah. It's Bugatti Veyron!
Ayah, Hasya, and Me : Ooooo...okay...
Then Hilman came up with another trivia -
Hilman : Now, do you know what's the second fastest car then?
Ayah, Hasya, and Me together : No. What IS the second fastest car then, Hilman?
Hilman : You guess la!
And Ayah started naming all the Protons and Peroduas Mak Nenek, much to Hilman's annoyance.
Hilman : No! No! NOO!!! It starts with the letter "K"!
There was a 10 second pause, before Ayah came up with -
Ayah : Hmmmmm... KONDA?! Kyundai?!
Hilman : NO!! (And he started laughing)
Me : Koyota?! Kazda?! Kerodua?!
Hasya : KMW? Kercedez?! Kerrari?! Kroton?
Ayah : Kaudi?! Korche?! Kodge Kiper?!
And Hasya came out with : KINI KOOPER??!!!
And we all just couldn't stop laughing after that. Ayah sampai tak boleh nak drive lah lepas tu bila tengok Hilman and Hasya berguling on the backseat... :)
Hilman : (in between his laughs) NO!!! It's KOENIGSEGGEGGEGGEGGEGGEGG!!!
Ayah and I : Huh???!!! Koenig what?!!
Apparently there IS a car by THAT name (or something that sounds like that??!!)
Hilman : Ayah, do you know which is the fastest car in the world, Ayah?
Ayah : Hmmmm... Naza?! (obviously - because he drives one! Hehehe!)
Hilman : Noooo! Not Naza!
Ayah : Mommy's Kembara?! (Hahaha! Yeah, right...)
Hilman : NOOOO!!! (He was getting annoyed with his Ayah already :))
Then Hasya chipped in -
Hasya : Is it a Ferrari?
Hilman : NO! You know the answer, Kak Ngah. It's Bugatti Veyron!
Ayah, Hasya, and Me : Ooooo...okay...
Then Hilman came up with another trivia -
Hilman : Now, do you know what's the second fastest car then?
Ayah, Hasya, and Me together : No. What IS the second fastest car then, Hilman?
Hilman : You guess la!
And Ayah started naming all the Protons and Peroduas Mak Nenek, much to Hilman's annoyance.
Hilman : No! No! NOO!!! It starts with the letter "K"!
There was a 10 second pause, before Ayah came up with -
Ayah : Hmmmmm... KONDA?! Kyundai?!
Hilman : NO!! (And he started laughing)
Me : Koyota?! Kazda?! Kerodua?!
Hasya : KMW? Kercedez?! Kerrari?! Kroton?
Ayah : Kaudi?! Korche?! Kodge Kiper?!
And Hasya came out with : KINI KOOPER??!!!
And we all just couldn't stop laughing after that. Ayah sampai tak boleh nak drive lah lepas tu bila tengok Hilman and Hasya berguling on the backseat... :)
Hilman : (in between his laughs) NO!!! It's KOENIGSEGGEGGEGGEGGEGGEGG!!!
Ayah and I : Huh???!!! Koenig what?!!
Apparently there IS a car by THAT name (or something that sounds like that??!!)
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Dua Raya...Tiga Raya...Empat Setengah Raya...
We didn't do much on second day Raya. The kids woke up very late, as did their Ayah.
I managed to do a bit of (office) work in the morning, and prepared breakfast (or rather - brunch) of boiled sausages, some potato wedges, sauteed button mushrooms, and some baked beans. And Hilman, after finishing his brunch, immediately requested for breakfast of cheese omelette for the next day.
Hmmmm...bila dah habis puasa ni, anak-anak macam nak qadha' balik all the breakfasts they had missed during Ramadhan pulak...
We went to Mak's house around 4:00p.m as my Abah and Mommy wanted to bertandang raya and ziarah Mak, and Ayah's cousin and her anak-anak were also planning to visit her that afternoon.
So, it was a tussle between the coral peach or the pink bajus to wear. The pink attires finally won :)
We were at Mak's house until about 9:00p.m, and by the time we reached home, everybody was flat out, and yours truly (for the umpteenth time) fell asleep on the 2-seater sofa, only to wake up around 5:50a.m and found Ayah sleeping on the 3-seater sofa! I woke Ayah up, and we went up to the room. After solat subuh, we went back to sleep.
The morning of third day raya, I was not able to make Hilman's Cheese Omelette as I forgot to get the eggs the day before. I ended up making Nasi Lemak with Sambal Udang and Goreng ikan bilis instead (sans the eggs and timun!) which still went down very well with Ayah and the kids.
Later in the morning, Ayah had to go to the hospital to attend to an emergency and he only came back after Solat Jumaat. In the meantime, yours truly managed to do a bit of grocery shopping to stock up the fridge - just in case somebody comes over to bertandang raya at our humble abode, there's something I could prepare in a jiffy to jamu them - meehoon goreng, instant currypuffs and cucur badak, etc. And oh ya, we also have a couple of chocolate cakes in the fridge. Just in case.
By 3:00p.m Hasya was asking if I was cooking anything special. Apparently she said she seemed to be feeling hungry AAAALLLLLL the time after puasa ni. And I noticed that she has been eating a lot the last couple of days ni. Every now and then she would open the fridge, with a bowl ready in her hands - taking whatever there is in there to satisfy her hunger pangs.
I remembered that we had 3 Ayam Hutan (Wild Fowls) stacked nicely at the back of the freezer - given to us by one of Ayah's patients. As I had got the basic ingredients for a Malay dish from the shops earlier (Serai, Daun Kunyit, Lengkuas, and Daun Limau Purut amongst them), so what else but Rendang Ayam Hutan for the day's menu then.
As Along (Ayah's eldest brother) and his family were on their way back from JB that afternoon, and they were planning to see Mak that night, we decided to see them at Mak's as we all belum beraya with him and the family yet.
So, yours truly just whipped up some Laksa Asam to bring to Mak's house that night for yet another family raya gathering.
The kids wanted to wear the coral peach attires, but, as both Ayah and I didn't feel like wearing our Baju Melayu/Kurung, we just asked them to wear their baju raya 'moden' :). We left the house after Maghrib, and spent about 3 hours at Mak's.
By the time we reached SD, it was already 11:40p.m.
And after assuming our normal positions on the 2-seater and 3-seater sofas respectively, both myself and Ayah fell asleep almost immediately, only to wake up just in time for Solat Subuh this morning!
And it's the fourth day of Raya today, and Ayah has to go to work for a couple of hours this morning. Hanna has an Open House to go to at 11:00a.m, while Hasya and Hilman MIGHT have their chess class this morning. I will have to call Grace to find out if their class is still running as usual. But, even if it is, I think I will allow them to skip it this time. After all, it's still Raya what...
And tonight, insya Allah, we're going to Ayah's cousin's Open House in Taman TAR. We might just serbu my Sis Lala's place in Keramat before that - depending on if she herself is not going beraya anywhere, that is.
But, for now I'm going down to the kitchen to whip up some Raya Cheese Omelettes for the kids and their Ayah.
Myself - I'm having some Nasi Impit with my Rendang Ayam Hutan for breakfast :)
Cheers!
Here are some pics :)
I managed to do a bit of (office) work in the morning, and prepared breakfast (or rather - brunch) of boiled sausages, some potato wedges, sauteed button mushrooms, and some baked beans. And Hilman, after finishing his brunch, immediately requested for breakfast of cheese omelette for the next day.
Hmmmm...bila dah habis puasa ni, anak-anak macam nak qadha' balik all the breakfasts they had missed during Ramadhan pulak...
We went to Mak's house around 4:00p.m as my Abah and Mommy wanted to bertandang raya and ziarah Mak, and Ayah's cousin and her anak-anak were also planning to visit her that afternoon.
So, it was a tussle between the coral peach or the pink bajus to wear. The pink attires finally won :)
We were at Mak's house until about 9:00p.m, and by the time we reached home, everybody was flat out, and yours truly (for the umpteenth time) fell asleep on the 2-seater sofa, only to wake up around 5:50a.m and found Ayah sleeping on the 3-seater sofa! I woke Ayah up, and we went up to the room. After solat subuh, we went back to sleep.
The morning of third day raya, I was not able to make Hilman's Cheese Omelette as I forgot to get the eggs the day before. I ended up making Nasi Lemak with Sambal Udang and Goreng ikan bilis instead (sans the eggs and timun!) which still went down very well with Ayah and the kids.
Later in the morning, Ayah had to go to the hospital to attend to an emergency and he only came back after Solat Jumaat. In the meantime, yours truly managed to do a bit of grocery shopping to stock up the fridge - just in case somebody comes over to bertandang raya at our humble abode, there's something I could prepare in a jiffy to jamu them - meehoon goreng, instant currypuffs and cucur badak, etc. And oh ya, we also have a couple of chocolate cakes in the fridge. Just in case.
By 3:00p.m Hasya was asking if I was cooking anything special. Apparently she said she seemed to be feeling hungry AAAALLLLLL the time after puasa ni. And I noticed that she has been eating a lot the last couple of days ni. Every now and then she would open the fridge, with a bowl ready in her hands - taking whatever there is in there to satisfy her hunger pangs.
I remembered that we had 3 Ayam Hutan (Wild Fowls) stacked nicely at the back of the freezer - given to us by one of Ayah's patients. As I had got the basic ingredients for a Malay dish from the shops earlier (Serai, Daun Kunyit, Lengkuas, and Daun Limau Purut amongst them), so what else but Rendang Ayam Hutan for the day's menu then.
As Along (Ayah's eldest brother) and his family were on their way back from JB that afternoon, and they were planning to see Mak that night, we decided to see them at Mak's as we all belum beraya with him and the family yet.
So, yours truly just whipped up some Laksa Asam to bring to Mak's house that night for yet another family raya gathering.
The kids wanted to wear the coral peach attires, but, as both Ayah and I didn't feel like wearing our Baju Melayu/Kurung, we just asked them to wear their baju raya 'moden' :). We left the house after Maghrib, and spent about 3 hours at Mak's.
By the time we reached SD, it was already 11:40p.m.
And after assuming our normal positions on the 2-seater and 3-seater sofas respectively, both myself and Ayah fell asleep almost immediately, only to wake up just in time for Solat Subuh this morning!
And it's the fourth day of Raya today, and Ayah has to go to work for a couple of hours this morning. Hanna has an Open House to go to at 11:00a.m, while Hasya and Hilman MIGHT have their chess class this morning. I will have to call Grace to find out if their class is still running as usual. But, even if it is, I think I will allow them to skip it this time. After all, it's still Raya what...
And tonight, insya Allah, we're going to Ayah's cousin's Open House in Taman TAR. We might just serbu my Sis Lala's place in Keramat before that - depending on if she herself is not going beraya anywhere, that is.
But, for now I'm going down to the kitchen to whip up some Raya Cheese Omelettes for the kids and their Ayah.
Myself - I'm having some Nasi Impit with my Rendang Ayam Hutan for breakfast :)
Cheers!
Here are some pics :)
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Salam Aidilfitri...
I was supposed to post this last night, so that the posting would be dated 1st October/1st Syawal.
But alas, by the time Hanna finished transferring all the photos to my notebook, I was already in Dreamland - dreaming of all the glorious food we had on our first day of Raya, and later having nightmares of the uphill task of shedding all the kilos I gained within 1 day of Syawal...
The Raya mood has been in the air for the kids since Monday when I finally had the time to bring them to One Utama to search for their kasut raya, and of course when they saw their new baju raya all ironed and neatly hung on Daryati's make-shift 'wardrobe' using an aluminium pole stretched across a step-ladder and the window of her room. Anyone who comes over to the house may mistake her room for a boutique, I tell you... Hehehe!
And today is only 2nd Syawal, and somehow the mood raya (at least for me, that is) is no longer there. Well, at least, not as much as a full-swing raya mood that I had hoped to have this time around. I don't know why...
I woke up at 5:30a.m this morning. I guess, my body or rather, my tummy is so accustomed to waking up for sahur for the last one month. Ayah went back to sleep after solat Subuh just now, and he's snoring away beside me. Raya holidays would be the only time Ayah would have the chance to sleep in this late. So, I'm not going to disturb him...well, at least not until 11:00a.m maybe? :)
And the house is so,so quiet as the kids are still asleep. The truth be told, I don't even know what time they went to bed last night. All I remember was, after asking Hanna to transfer the photos, I saw them watching Naruto (or one of those anime cartoons) on ASTRO, and asking them to brush their teeth before sleeping. That was met by their noddings, with eyes still fixed on the TV screen. And then, off I went to bed.
We have no specific plans for today. We're just waiting for Mak or Mommy to call us. If they're going on a ziarah Hari Raya today, I guess we'll be joining the convoy. If not, we'll just rest at home.
Ayah will probably spend half of the day replying the hundreds of Hari Raya SMSes he got the last couple of days. One thing about Ayah - every year he would come up with his own pantuns to send to his friends, colleagues and also his patients. Some of his pantuns 2-3 kerat had been pretty original and hilarious, but, I think his pantun could never beat this one pantun he got from one of his patients. This pantun surely takes the cake -
Gamat dari paya
Perap dalam tin
Selamat Hari Raya
Maaf Zahir Batin
This really got us and the kids in stitches. We were like, "What???!!!"
Anyway, I hope it is not too late to wish all of you -
And if any of my writings or comments had hit some raw nerves, or if I might have been insensitive towards the feelings of my blogosphere friends and readers in my ramblings -
Sepuluh jari disusun
Mohon kemaafan
Mohon keampunan
Dua tangan ditadahkan
Semoga diberkati
di Aidilfitri
Maaf Zahir Batin.
Hmmmm, I'm still trying to think of pantun 2-3 kerat to counter the pantun gamat above...
In the meantime, here are some raya pics.
But alas, by the time Hanna finished transferring all the photos to my notebook, I was already in Dreamland - dreaming of all the glorious food we had on our first day of Raya, and later having nightmares of the uphill task of shedding all the kilos I gained within 1 day of Syawal...
The Raya mood has been in the air for the kids since Monday when I finally had the time to bring them to One Utama to search for their kasut raya, and of course when they saw their new baju raya all ironed and neatly hung on Daryati's make-shift 'wardrobe' using an aluminium pole stretched across a step-ladder and the window of her room. Anyone who comes over to the house may mistake her room for a boutique, I tell you... Hehehe!
And today is only 2nd Syawal, and somehow the mood raya (at least for me, that is) is no longer there. Well, at least, not as much as a full-swing raya mood that I had hoped to have this time around. I don't know why...
I woke up at 5:30a.m this morning. I guess, my body or rather, my tummy is so accustomed to waking up for sahur for the last one month. Ayah went back to sleep after solat Subuh just now, and he's snoring away beside me. Raya holidays would be the only time Ayah would have the chance to sleep in this late. So, I'm not going to disturb him...well, at least not until 11:00a.m maybe? :)
And the house is so,so quiet as the kids are still asleep. The truth be told, I don't even know what time they went to bed last night. All I remember was, after asking Hanna to transfer the photos, I saw them watching Naruto (or one of those anime cartoons) on ASTRO, and asking them to brush their teeth before sleeping. That was met by their noddings, with eyes still fixed on the TV screen. And then, off I went to bed.
We have no specific plans for today. We're just waiting for Mak or Mommy to call us. If they're going on a ziarah Hari Raya today, I guess we'll be joining the convoy. If not, we'll just rest at home.
Ayah will probably spend half of the day replying the hundreds of Hari Raya SMSes he got the last couple of days. One thing about Ayah - every year he would come up with his own pantuns to send to his friends, colleagues and also his patients. Some of his pantuns 2-3 kerat had been pretty original and hilarious, but, I think his pantun could never beat this one pantun he got from one of his patients. This pantun surely takes the cake -
Gamat dari paya
Perap dalam tin
Selamat Hari Raya
Maaf Zahir Batin
This really got us and the kids in stitches. We were like, "What???!!!"
Anyway, I hope it is not too late to wish all of you -
And if any of my writings or comments had hit some raw nerves, or if I might have been insensitive towards the feelings of my blogosphere friends and readers in my ramblings -
Sepuluh jari disusun
Mohon kemaafan
Mohon keampunan
Dua tangan ditadahkan
Semoga diberkati
di Aidilfitri
Maaf Zahir Batin.
Hmmmm, I'm still trying to think of pantun 2-3 kerat to counter the pantun gamat above...
In the meantime, here are some raya pics.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
