Lessons never learnt...

Just like the previous years, I HAD to wait till the last minute to submit my income tax returns. But, this year, the experience has somewhat been a kind of "blood-goes-upstairs" experience for me because of a few things -

Firstly - I decided to do my e-filing at 9:05a.m yesterday morning, thinking that it would only take half an hour (at the most), and I would be on time to reach the office at 10:15a.m. after sending Hilman to my MIL's. The problem started when my EA annual salary statement which all this while I thought was in my office bag, was NOT there when I wanted to do the e-filing. This resulted in the bedroom looking like a hurricane had just passed through it when I finished with turning everything in the room inside out and upside down to find that piece of paper, ONLY to find it NOT in the bedroom, but downstairs in the livingroom - in one of Hasya's paperbags... I must have put it there as a temporary measure earlier this month, only to have forgotten all about it. Nasib baik lah jumpa...

Secondly - I also had to search for all the insurance statements, and relevant receipts which I knew I had kept somewhere safe. Too safe in fact, sampai tak terjumpa! Spent about half an hour rummaging through all the letters received in the last 4 months. After finding them, of course, I had to decide which ones should be used for my filing, and which ones to be used for Ayah's. I decided to just use one policy for myself, and the rest of the policies, i.e. Ayah's and the kids' should go under Ayah's filing as he needs as many tax exemptions as possible so as to avoid paying a bomb for his income tax this year.

Thirdly - I happily clicked on the LHDN E-filing link, only to be asked to provide my Password before I could proceed. Aaaarrggghh! I totally forgot about it! So I tried my luck with a few probable passwords which I might have chosen for last year's e-filing rigmarole. Nope - none was accepted :( The problem was - I even forgot the answers to the challenge phrases to retrieve my password in the event I should forget my password - which obviously was not much of a help, huh?

Questions like -

"What's your favourite food?" Errr...too many to mention here, mate!

"What's your mother's name?" Errr...she has two names, by the way. And do you want her binti as well?

"Which primary school did you go to?" Errrr...you want the FULL name or just the initials?!

"What was your first transport?" Errr...I've forgotten whether I registered it as "Perodua", "Kembara", or "BMW"? Coz' my first transport memang BMW pun - Bas Mini Wilayah"...

Aawwwhhh, maaan?!

So how?!

So, I had to call this particular number to get a new password.

Fourthly - calling that number, or rather, WAITING for a human being to answer my call PERSONALLY (rather than a computer-prompted voice) took nearly an hour, and I had to call the number at least 6 times because the phone kept on getting cut-off! And finally, when I did manage to speak to a human being, it was another waiting game.

Because, fifthly - after successfully accessing the E-Borang with the new password, and after clicking on "Simpan & Teruskan" everytime I wanted to proceed to the next page, again I had to wait for nearly half an hour after every "Simpan & Teruskan", and that did not include the times when I had to fill in the pages again when suddenly out popped the "This page cannot be displayed" notification. Memang banyak kali I dah nak nangis semalam...

Sixthly - not wanting to abandon the mission after waiting for so long, I persevered, walaupun hati ni menyumpah-nyumpah! Mind you, I was not cursing the LHDN people. I was cursing myself for leaving it to the last minute! Tak serik-serik...

I FINALLY completed and submitted it at about 1:35p.m. And because I did not want to abandon the mission, especially when I had finally managed to access the E-Borang, Hilman had to miss school yesterday. His Mommy just could not possibly leave the gruelling task of filling in the E-Borang halfway just to send him to school, could she?! Of course NOT!

Seventhly - my PCB payment was short lah pulak for last year, unlike the previous years when the LHDN owed me money! So, this time around, I had to pay the balance. And thus, another waiting game began - nak buat E-payment lah pulak...And you guessed it - itu pun macam SIPPPUUUUUUTTT!!! Waited for nearly half an hour!

So, eighthly, I decided to make the payment manually. Went to send Hilman to my MIL's house at 3:00p.m., and went straight to CI*B and payment was finally made at 4:15p.m...

LEGAAAA....It's a nice feeling when you don't owe the government any money, kan? If not, takut nanti tak leh gi holiday overseas...Hehehe! But, of course, it's even nicer if we get the check from LHDN returning our overpaid tax, kan? ;))

Another thing I lega - it's a good thing that starting last year Ayah is only required to do his tax returns in June. If not, lagi haru I...

I just hope, there won't be a repeat of this next year.

But, but, but...Don't be surprised if this time next year, there'll be a cut and paste of this posting ajer coz' I'm pretty sure I'll be doing the exact same thing again ;)

Hehehe...

Ayah's articles :)

Hi, y'all.

For those who might have missed it on Malay Mail yesterday, here's the link to Ayah's article :)

http://www.mmail.com.my/content/kamar-heart-and-environment

And here's the link for the article he wrote last week -

http://www.mmail.com.my/content/shape-size-does-matter

I will try to get the links to all of his articles in Malay Mail and post them here, soon, insya Allah.

And if you want, you can always get Malay Mail every Monday to read the hard copy, of course :)

And here's the link to Ayah's first article in Metro Ahad early this year. I couldn't seem to find the link to the rest of the articles that he had written to Metro Ahad, though. Sorry.

http://www.hmetro.com.my/Current_News/myMetro/Sunday/Sihat/20090104003524/Article/index_html

He writes in Metro Ahad every two weeks, by the way.

I love the way Ayah writes - in that he tries to make it non-technical so that people like me (yang lemah when things are so technical - malas nak fikir!) find it easy to understand.

Hope you'll find Ayah's articles beneficial for your health - in particular the health of the heart, insya Allah.

Happy reading :)

* Btw, Ayah appeared on Selamat Pagi Malaysia on TV1 this morning :) Hmmmm, my hubby macam "Celebrity" Doc lah pulak! Tsk...tsk...tsk...

OH TIDAAAAKKKK!!!

Happy Silver...

I was sitting on the two-seater sofa, watching Man U playing against Spurs - my eyes, although heavy, were on the telly. My mind - elsewhere...

I wasn't really watching the game. I was downstairs in the living room to accompany Ayah who was working on his article for the Ma*ay Ma*l Monday edition. He needed to e-mail it to the Editor early in the morning, and I needed to make sure that he stayed awake to work on, and finish the article. Every now and then, I would ask him some random questions on Man U and Spurs players. Not that I was really interested to know about them, but, rather, so that Ayah would have to think of the answers - and hopefully THAT would help him keep awake :)

Ayah was sitting on the three-seater sofa across me, when he suddenly stood up and walked slowly towards me. And I said to myself, "Hmmmmmm, ni sure nak menggendeng and nak sleep on my lap lah nih...bila lah pulak nak habis article ni?!"

But instead of sitting beside me and landing his head on my lap, he stood in front of me, gave me a kiss, smiled, and said -

"Happy Anniversary, dear...."

And I was like, "Errrrrrr..." (blank for about 10 seconds), before I came out with -

"Errrr...Anniversary? Errr...today...? Errrr...what's the date today, eh?! Oh my God...Oh ya lahhh... It's 26th April! Alamak...sorry...I langsung tak ingat. So sorry!"

And he came out with -

"Hehehe...I ingat, but tak sempat nak beli card laaa... I was waiting for midnight tadi to wish you, but somehow I didn't realize until just now! (that was about 12:40a.m)

And I was still like -

"Ha-ah laaaa 26th April...I lupa!!! Hmmmm...25 years already! Sorry laaa! I betul-betul tak ingat!"

And that was SO UNLIKE ME, okay? There were a couple of times before this when Ayah was the one who forgot. BUT, NEVER ME!

I guess this time around, I'm the one who's more stressed out at work, compared to Ayah, sampai I pulak yang terlupa our anniversary.

Mind you, it's NOT our wedding anniversary, but, rather it's the 25th Anniversary of the day we first knew each other - when we were both 16 :)

If some of you might remember, it was this time last year when I posted a posting on our 24th Anniversary which somehow led me to share our Cerita Chenta yang berkebat-kebat with you all...Hmmmm, time REALLY flies!Has it really been a year?!

Anyway, so tadi Ayah asked me -

"Hmmmmm, where shall we go tomorrow?"

I knew he was thinking of dinner somewhere, but, nyaris I nak reply - "SELBERAN, boleh?"

Hehehe! Just joking, dear :)

ANYWHERE is fine with me, as long as I'm with you...

HAPPY 25TH ANNIVERSARY, DARLING...HAPPY SILVER :)

I make do'a that we will at least get to celebrate our GOLDEN Anniversary in 25 years time, in happiness and good health, insya Allah.

I love you loads (or as Hilman would put it - infinity and beyond...)

MMMMMUUUUAAAAHHSSS!

The difference... I like :)

It has been just over a month since Ayah cut his 'umbilical cord' totally from UM*C, and already I could see the difference in him. The good kind of difference. This, I like... :)

Yes, he still goes out to work at 6:45a.m. every morning as he has to send Hanna and Hasya to school first, and he would go straight to TMC after that. And he still comes home after 10:00p.m. nearly every night.

But, I notice that when he comes home tired at night - it's a different kind of tiredness. I could sense a kind of calmness in him, unlike before, when he would come back tired AND stressed out.

And he calls and SMSs me more often now. Sometimes, it would be -

"Hi...How are you? Saja ajer call...How's your day? Have you had your lunch? You makan apa?"

OR

"Hi...okay to talk? Saja ajer call...I'm taking a break now. Where are you now? You tengah buat apa?"

OR

"Hi...Just to let you know - I'm on my way to As*un*a (or Co*um*ia As*a or Ch*ll*ah) and I should be back home (or at TMC) by XYZ a.m. (or p.m.)"

It may not be a big deal for some of you, but, it's a big deal for me, okay?!

Before, when he was with UM*C, he would TRY to call at least once during the day, and once just before making his way back home. Itu pun terkejar-kejar nak bercakap, and normally he would call while he was on his way to the wards, or to the clinic, or on the way to some other parts of the hospital, etc., and everytime when he got into the lifts, the phone would go dead on us! Tension... And if he didn't call by 3:00p.m, I would call him instead. And when we spoke, I could sense that his mind would be elsewhere - thinking of the 1001 things he needed to attend to at the hospital then.

But, now - he would call just to say "Hi" every 2-3 hours :)

This, I like :)

And he's always in a good mood nowadays. Dah tak marah-marah the kids sangat (NOT that dia selalu marah them before this pun...but, well, you get what I mean? He doesn't get irked easily by small-small things the kids do).

The ONLY time that I see him stressed out sekarang would be when he has to meet the datelines to submit his articles to the Editors of Ma*ay Ma*l and Me*ro Ah*d :) But, it's still bearable because I know that he enjoys writing them. It's just finding the time to write them ajer yang sometimes a bit bermasalah for him :)

Oh ya, for those who are not in the know yet, Ayah has a regular column in The Ma*ay Ma*l (you can read it every Monday), and he also writes once every two weeks for Me*ro Ah*d. So, a couple of days before the articles are due, I pun stressed jugak, coz' I'm his proof-reader and personal editor. Hehehe!

And his clinic at TMC is also picking up, syukur alhamdulillah :) He also does sessions at Co*um*ia As*a (in Puchong), and As*un*a Hospital. And also at Ch*ll*ah Diagnostics Clinic in PJ. He has to. Mula-mula ni, kena kais kat banyak tempat nak cari rezqi... :) And he gives talks on health in general, and on heart matters in particular, here and there, too. Yes - he's pretty busy. But, he's doing it on his own terms :)

And the best thing for the kids is, sometimes when he has to work late, the kids and I would join him at his clinic/room, and we would tapau some food and have dinner with him there...and sometimes, while waiting for Ayah to wrap up his work, the kids would sleep on the sofa in his room, or help themselves not just to the drinks or food in Ayah's fridge, but also to all the medical "gadgets" in his room :) (We start them young, you see...Hehehe!)

In a way, Ayah gets to spend more time with the kids - tak kisah lah even if it's in his office on some of the evenings. It's HIS time, and NOT his employer's.

And this, I like. Very much :)

Of sports, and birthdays...

Sorry, sorry, sorry... Have been busy, busy, busy!

Exams have started, and I need not say more :)

Anyway, before cerita jadi lemau, I'd better post this.

It's the time of the year when anak-anak kita get the tan, or rather - sun-burnt. Yup - it's Sports Day time :)

Hanna took part in the shot-putt event and she got silver for Class 2. Initially she thought she got the gold, but apparently the teachers also took into account the throws made by the students during the qualifying rounds. It's okay, dear. Silver is good :) You can always try for the gold next year, okay? No pics of her because her Sports Day was held on a Thursday and both Ayah and I couldn't be there :( Most parents couldn't make it. Maybe memang the school wanted it to be a closed thingy? I don't know.

Hanna was also involved in the handball tournament. She's in her school U-15 team and they also had the inter-school tourney last week. She was the Wing and one of the Strikers (I think?). Anyway, they won 1, and lost 2. So, their journey to the next level ended there :( But, I know she had fun practising and playing for her school. That's the most important thing, dear :)

Hasya was in the 200m and also the 4x100m events. She just missed the bronze medal for the 200m run by just a foot, I must say. But, YEAY!!! Her team got GOLD for the 4x100m event! We've never really seen her run on the tracks before, and I have to say, she can really sprint! It just so happened that three of the runners in her team were also with Hasya in the state rhythmic gymnastics team, which I blogged about here. Memang gymnasts ni kuat lari, kot? Hasya was also in the Perbarisan and her house - Tun Perak (Green) won first place.

Hilman pulak was in the Baling Bola dalam Bakul event and his team won the silver medal. And I think, if there was a prize for it, he would have also won the "Student Most-Resembling Udang Bakar" prize that day. Him, being so fair and gebu, habis muka jadi so merah! Kesian betul...

Overall, Green House got second place, behind Red House. And Hasya is praying hard that her legs would grow longer so that she can run faster, and beat Red House in all events next year. That's the spirit, my girl :)

Anyway, Mommy and Ayah are SO proud of you guys!! Well done :)

Petang tu, they didn't go for their Chess and Swimming classes. Balik from Sports - semua melepek...

In the evening - checked in at Sa*ja*a Im*ia* Resort again for a triple birthday celebration - Hasya's, Ibu's Idin's and also Sh*dy's a.k.a Mr.Engineer's birthdays, or in short - "HASYIDIN'S BIRTHDAY" :) It was a Pot-Luck thingy with spreads like Nasi Hujan Panas, Kari Daging, and Acar (On*ir's), Ayam Masak Merah (Moi), Ketam Masak Lemak, Lala Tumis (Ibu), Eclairs (J*), Satay Kajang Samuri (yang dibawa dari Taman Melawati ke KAJANG oleh Re*a, buleh?!), Nasi Lemak, Spaghetti Bolognaise dan macam-macam lagi.

Ibu was the games coordinator and the kids had some water games in the pool, which included water polo, and also a race. Who would have guessed - Hilman won the swimming event! (But, errrr...maybe because he was the ONLY one wearing flippers that night? Laju giler...Hehehe!)

We also had a Karaoke contest, and Ayah got the highest score of 98! Fuiyoooo... don't pray-pray, okay? :)

Another sleepover, but, the Kaum Ibu only went to bed at 4:30a.m :)

Sunday morning - left the "Resort" at 11:00a.m as Hasya and Hilman had their dancing lesson nun on the other side of KL...but, not before having a few rounds of Nasi Lemak with Sambal Sotong and Sambal Udang and Ayam Goreng, and Nasi Goreng Bibik Special. Breakfast included in the package, maaa...Kena lah makan, kan? ;)

Everybody had fun. And needless to say - everybody had extra kilos on them that weekend... :) And nobody cares. Hahaha!

Here are some pics.

The (not quite) sleepover :)

The long awaited day finally arrived!

We had been waiting for it for the last 2 years or so, and On*ir had been teased and chided by us as to why laaaa the construction of her house was taking soooo long to complete. The standing joke was that it was because she took so long to decide on the FONT to be used on the floor plans of the 2 1/2 storey bungalow, and THAT had stalled the building process and progress...Hehehe!

(No lah, On*ir...we know how tedious and nerve-racking it is to build a house from scratch...AND BRAVO to you and Sh*dy for a job well done! The house is REAAAALLLLY beautiful. So, now you guys can sit back and relax, and sigh a breath of relief :))

Anyway, On*ir, Mr. Engineer and their kids finally moved in into their spanking new place about a month ago, and last weekend, we were all invited to their housewarming do, and a few of us yang muka memang tak malu had invited ourselves for a sleepover, too :)

It was supposed to start with Tea at 5:00p.m on Saturday, followed by Dinner and Supper in the evening, and for those self-invited sleepers - Breakfast and Lunch on Sunday were also included in the package :)

Saturday, as usual, was a packed affair for us, and what with the kids' school replacement and all, we only managed to leave SD after Maghrib and only reached Sa*ja*a Im*ia* just after 9:00p.m. This time, we brought with us some Spaghetti Olio and Bubur Chacha to complement the spread prepared by the tuan rumah - Nasi Ayam and Mee Hoon Soup. Aw*n brought some Soto, and No* brought with her some Carrot Cake (yang very the sedap!) And, oh yes - Ibu brought with her some Tauhu Sumbat! :) (By the way, who brought the Nasi Lemak Daun Pisang and the cupcakes, ya?)

While the Mommies were catching up with the latest gossips, and the Daddies were busy watching some football matches over on ASTRO, the kids were busy "officiating" the spanking new swimming pool!

Later, the Mommies and Daddies lepas gian berkaraoke until about 2:30a.m. :)

The hosts were kind enough to give each family a room for the night, and after tucking the kids (and the hubbies) in bed, the Mommies went down for an all-night long chat which lasted until the Azan Suboh berkumandang from Ibu's phone! Hehehe...memang tak ingat dunia!After solat Suboh, baru lah rasa mengantuk giler.

Yours truly only managed to fall asleep just before 7:00a.m, only to be woken up by Hilman who wanted to ask permission if he could go for a swim in the pool again, at 10:00a.m :)

So, the kids had another round of splashing about in the pool until about 11:30a.m.

Sunday Breakfast menu was - Nasi Lemak with Sambal Udang, Sambal Sotong and Ayam Goreng Berempah, and also Nasi Ayam - served with Air Sirap, Teh Tarik and Nescafe Tarik.

First Class Service, or what, huh?! :)

Dengan berat hati, we left the house just after 1:00p.m, as Hanna had to go to her replacement guitar lesson at 2:30p.m. We reached home about 1:35p.m and Ayah and Hanna left again for One-U just after 2:00p.m.

I was struggling to keep awake the whole afternoon, but, by 4:30p.m I was already like a zombie. I think I zonked out just after Asar, and only woke up at 8:15p.m in the evening! Baik punya qadha' tidur!..

Even though my timing was a bit off, and this continued over until the next day - it was all worthed it :)

We all had a great time with friends and family during the Sleepover at On*ir and Mr Engineer's beautiful and cool new abode :)

(Errrr...but, me think - "Sleepover" is somewhat a misnomer for the Mommies, as we didn't really sleep that night. Hehehe! ;))

To the gracious hosts - Thank you so much for having us over the weekend, guys! We had a great time.

Planning to check in again this weekend. Can aaaarrr?! ;)

Oh ya...Lupa la pulok -

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MR. ENGINEER!!! :) Semoga dipanjangkan umur, dimurahkan rezqi, and may your life with On*ir and family be blessed always. Insya Allah. Amin.

Here are some pics. Enjoy! :)

Happy 10th Birthday, Hasya :)

I meant to post this on the day itself, but, exhaustion and stuff at work had other things in store for me in the last three days.

We had another makan-makan session on Wednesday night at my MIL's to celebrate Hasya who turned 10 on that day - 8th April 2009.

I am always reminded of the hikmah (which I wrote here) which had given us the gift of Hasya 10 years ago, and how the grave sadness that we felt when we lost our second baby after a miscarriage in 1997 has been compensated by Allah SWT many, many, manyfolds when HE gave us Hasya in 1999. Syukur Alhamdulillah. God really works in mysterious ways...

Of all three of our kids, Hasya is the choleric one. I wrote about it here. She's a perfectionist. Very determined. Strong-willed. Knows what she wants. And very set in her ways. So much so, sometimes we feel like she's the boss :) But, she listens to reasons well if they are valid :) She's a very bright girl. She NEVER cried (not even once) when she had her immunisation jabs when she was a baby. In fact, she never cried/cries when she got/gets a scolding from us. It's quite frustrating sometimes when you want to get some kind of reaction from her after a round of scolding! The only times that she cried/cries (or rather, merengek) would be when she was/is really sick. That's our Hasya :)

For her 10th Birthday, we didn't plan for any big parties, etc, but she did ask if she could have a couple of friends for a sleepover this weekend. But, after the makan-makan and after I explained to her of how packed our weekend would be - what with the school replacement AND also another makan-makan session at Aunty On*ir and Uncle Sh*dy's new house this weekend (Ya...hidup kami memang sentiasa dipenuhi dengan sesi makan-makan. Anda ada masalah?...;)), she was okay with not having the sleepover today (but, she did ask if she could have it in May, instead. And I said - depending on her Mid-Year exam results :))

Anyway, this time around, I goyang kaki ajer, coz' I outsourced everything. I gave a free hand to my SIL - Ya*re*n a.k.a Aunty Adek, to organize the birthday dinner. She just finished her exams and was/is on her Semester break, and so, she jumped at the opportunity to mess my MIL's kitchen up :) I only asked her -

i - to come up with the menu
ii - to list out the things she needed to whip up the dishes
iii - to follow me to Co*d St*ra*e @ Ja*a33 to buy the stuff, and
iv - to cook everything

I only paid for the stuff. One thing I realized - Co*d St*ra*e has EVERYTHING, I tell you! Considering that the menu she came up with was pretty much a western spread, and she's the type who follows the recipe to a T, we actually managed to get EVERYTHING she needed (including those pelik-pelik and rare ingredients!) from there. Pretty impressive (and pretty expensive, too, if I may add...but, sekali-sekala tak per...And it's for our daughter's birthday pun, kan?)

And she came up with :-

Mushroom Soup and Garlic Bread
Cheesy Jacket Potatoes
Pizzas (a myriad of those!)
Beef Lasagna

and

Roast Chicken (she made FOUR, in fact - and obviously she over-estimated, as we were having roast chicken until Friday. Hehehe!)

And, oh ya - for desserts, she made some Baked Poached Pears.

How cool was that?! :)

Thank God, for a SIL who's a gem in the kitchen (and she's only 20-y.o., okay?)

The food was REALLLLLLY good. And everyone was stuffed to the max that night.

Thank you so much, Adek. Nanti Kak Shana and Angah belanja you somewhere, okay? :)

(Errrrr, another thing - maybe you should block the weekend of Hilman's birthday in September? Because I think he has already planned a similar feast to celebrate his 9th birthday! Hehehe!)

Anyway, here are some pics.

HAPPY 10TH BIRTHDAY, DARLING HASYA. WE ALL LOVE YOU SO VERY MUCH...

MMMMMMUUUUAAAAAAHHHHSSS!

AND

((((((HUGS)))))))

All in a day's work...and fun :)

I woke up at 7:00a.m on Saturday morning, and only went to bed at about 1:00a.m the next day. That's a good 18 waking hours - out of which I think I only got the chance to sit down for about 2 1/2 hours in total (excluding the times when I was sitting in my car, driving, that is :)

I don't think our new PM's schedule running up to the three by-elections pun was as packed as my last Saturday's schedule!

The day started off with me going to Pasar Taman Tun at 8:30a.m as I needed to get the stuff to cook for a Pot Luck Dinner to be held at my Sis Lala's place in Keramat to celebrate our Abah's 80th Birthday that night. Abah's birthday fell on Monday 30th March actually, but, we decided to have a makan-makan on Saturday instead with my other set of MTs - the regulars at Lala's on Saturday nights - i.e. my siblings and my BIL's siblings and families.

Hanna had to come along with me to the Pasar as she had to be at Sek. Ab*ul Sa*ad at 10:00a.m for her Interact Club meeting/gathering, and there was no way that I would go back to SD to fetch her after going to the Pasar, and then send her to Sa*ad. I would be wasting petrol, wasting my time, wasting on toll money, and of course - wasting my energy, too, if I were to do that.

By 9:45a.m, we got everything we needed from the Pasar, after which we went to my MIL's place in PJ to send some of the groceries there. Ya lah kan....Anak-anak I memang selalu didepositkan kat situ before and after school, and semuanya kuat makan, kan? Every 3 days or so - kena lah replenish stock in my MIL's fridge and freezer :)

From PJ, I went to send Hanna to Sa*ad and waited in the car with her outside the gate until her other school friends came. I left her with Aqila and a few of her seniors at about 10:00a.m, after which I drove back to SD - reaching the house at about 10:25a.m. By that time, Hilman and Hasya were already up.

I took my shower again, and after the kids had had their breakfast, I left for Sa*ad again at 11:20a.m with Hasya and Hilman to fetch Hanna. We reached Sa*ad at 11:45a.m - greeted by a sulking Hanna who had been waiting there, at the front gate, under the hot sun since 11:30a.m! Sorry, dear...

We rushed to One-U as Hanna's guitar lesson was to start at 12:00p.m. The traffic and the crowd were not that bad, syukur alhamdulillah, and we reached her class five minutes early. While Hanna was having her lesson, Hasya, Hilman and I went to MPH to get some books, and then to Pa*kso* to get a birthday present for Ayah's friends' daughter whose birthday party we were planning to go to later that afternoon. Imagine - 2 places to go to under half an hour, had to choose and shop for books and birthday presents some more! It was quite a rushed job as Hanna's guitar lessons was only for half an hour, and we were aiming to be back at her class before she finished her session at 12:30p.m.

From MPH and Parkson, the three of us went to get Hanna and we all left One-U at 12:40p.m. Just as we were about to leave the parking area, my BIL Su*fi*n called to ask if Hilman would be interested to follow him to the Sepang Circuit as he had an extra ticket to watch the F1 Race. Of course Hilman was interested lah kan?! (But, having said that, he was having a difficult time trying to decide between going to Sepang OR going to the birthday party which was to be held at the Tr*ca*er* Bowl at Tropicana Club - much to his sisters annoyance! Hehehe...Dah lah dapat gi tengok F1 free - lepas tu boleh tak sure nak pegi or not?! Aiyooo...Kak Long Hanna dia sikit punyer tension ker...Hehehe!

So, instead of going straight to Tr*ca*er* Bowl, we had to make a diversion when I had to send Hilman to my MIL's place as Su*fi*an, together with my SIL Ly*n and their 2 kids - Q1 and Q2, would be leaving for Sepang from there. We reached Mak's house just before 1:00p.m.

After dropping Hilman off, Hanna, Hasya and I drove straight to Tropicana for Aleysha's 6th Birthday Party. Aleysha is the daughter of two of the doctors who are with Ayah at TMC. Ayah who had been working from morning was supposed to meet us there as I segan nak gi the party just with the girls as I had never met Aleysha's parents before this. So, we waited for Ayah in the car until about 1:35p.m when we finally saw his car going into the parking area.

Ayah and the girls had fun bowling while I just watched from the sidelines. And the amazing thing was - it was Ayah's second? (or maybe third?) time bowling ever, and he actually got the highest overall score that day (much to Hanna's and Hasya's dismay! Hahahaha!)

Hanna and I had to leave the party at 3:40p.m while Ayah and Hasya stayed on a little bit longer as I had to send Hanna to my MIL's place as her Aunty Ad*k was to send her to a handball tournament in Section 13 PJ which was supposed to start at 4:00p.m. They left just before 4:00p.m, and barely a few minutes later, Ayah came back with Hasya.

Leaving Hasya and my car at my MIL's, Ayah and I made a dash to BSC to join our KPP86 - BTU2 friends for a Reunion at The Do*e. We were fashionably late (Hehehehe...) as it was supposed to start at 3:00p.m...and we reached the place at 4:30p.m! Even though there were only 15 of us, it was actually a good start for our first reunion after 23 years of going our separate ways. It was really good to see all the gang. Thanks, Wa*Sa* and Li*a for organizing it. Insya Allah next gathering, we'll get a bigger turnout :)

We left BSC at 5:45p.m and headed back to my MIL's place as Ayah had to drop me there before going to another meeting - this time with his primary school reunion committee members at Ja*a32 (which was supposed to start at 3:00p.m!). I left my MIL's place with Hasya at 6:20p.m to fetch Hanna from her handball tourney. And seperti biasa (and I didn't mind really :)) Hanna asked if I could drop three of her seniors at a couple of places, and thus, we had to make a detour to Section 14 and Kg. Tunku before heading back home to SD.

We finally reached home at 7:05p.m and I had to start cooking immediately as I was to bring two of the main dishes to my Sis Lala's place for our Pot Luck dinner. Nasib baiklah I had earlier left instructions for Dar on what to siapkan, and Dar was ever so efficient. By the time I reached home, all the ingredients had been prepared, and I only had to put and mix everything in the pot and kuali and cook them. I finished cooking Ayam Masak Merah and Acar Rampai at 7:55p.m. and straight after that went up to get ready and solat. By the time I came down at 8:20p.m, Hanna, Hasya and Dar were all ready to go.

I couldn't wait for Ayah coz' nanti semua orang kat Keramat lambat pulak makan coz' waiting for my lauk-pauk! So, I called Ayah up and asked him if I could drive to Lala's with the girls first. Ayah had just finished his meeting and was just about to fetch Hilman from my MIL's (Hilman had just come back from Sepang then). Ayah gave his greenlight and off I went to Keramat with the girls and Dar.

We reached Lala's place at 8:50p.m - semua orang dah lapar menunggu ketibaan my lauk. Hahahaha! And the feast began at 9:00p.m :)

Abah was very happy to have his 80th birthday celebration last night. If only his sons were there, too. Eddie was down with flu, Jame was in Taiping and Abang Imi had something on last night. But, it's okay - Abah's favourite girls were all there with him last night :)

However, Ayah and Hilman only reached Keramat at about 11:00p.m as Ayah was called to the hospital just after they left Mak's place for Keramat. He had to attend to an emergency case. And according to Ayah, Hilman had a field day exploring the A&E Department last night while waiting for Ayah to finish his work. Hehehe...

By the time Ayah had his dinner with Hilman, most of the Keramat MTs were already leaving for home. Ayah spent some time berborak with my BIL and my biras, and I could see that he was struggling to stay awake! Mana taknyer - he had been out and about since 8:00a.m in the morning! He was physically and mentally exhausted after a looonnnngggg day of work and socializing. By midnight, he was having a splitting headache and had gone into my nephew Amir's room for a short nap.

By 1:00a.m, I decided to just let him sleep. Or rather, I decided that ALL of us should just spend the night at Lala's as I didn't think I would be okay to drive back to SD myself.

The kids were delighted of course!

Me - the only concern was on how to clean and store my contact lenses? Aiyoooo...pakai langgar ajer lah! So, last night I had to sleep with my lenses on. To all the opthalmologists out there - I know...I know...That is one of the biggest sins for you guys, kan? Sigh. But, what to do? Unplanned overnight stay, maaaa...

As for Ayah - he woke up at 3:00a.m, and immediately started working on his article for Ma*ay Ma*l. I don't think he slept at all after that. He woke me up for Suboh at 7:00a.m, and continued working until we left Lala's place at 8:30a.m this morning.

What to do? Suamiku sememang seorang workaholic... :)

Anyway, for a different perspective of what went on yesterday, Hanna also has bits and pieces of her day posted here and here :)

Here are some pics.

These and those...

Posting ini adalah ditujukan khas kepada kawan yang sorang tu - yang tengah bored giler nun kat Rawang tu, untuk dijadikan bahan bacaan dan bahan rujukan di kala mengantuk dan kepala asyik tersengguk-sengguk macam ayam mematuk padi... :) Dan sempena memenuhi permintaan kawan tu, I shall call this entry as "These and Those" - a timely hapdet after my previous posting of "This and That"...Hehehe!



First, it was supposed to be just Hasya.

Then it was supposed to be just Hasya and Hilman.

Then it was changed to also include Hanna.

Under all three arrangements, Di*a assured us that she would be taking care of them in the event that both Ayah and I are not able to join them.

After much thought, we then decided that I should be with them as it wouldn't be fair on Di*a to have to take care of our 3 kids when she would have so many other things to attend to and do there.

And a few days ago, Ayah said that he will be joining us, too - either for the first, OR the last 3 nights we're there. Yeay!!!

"There" where? I heard you all say.

"There" = BALI!!!

Yes! We're going off to Bali in June, insya Allah :)

Di*a is bringing some of her students to attend a special workshop on Balinese dances over a 6D5N stay at Diwangkara Sanur and Maya Ubud, and parents are also encouraged to attend, as it would be an interesting and wonderful experience for her students and their families. It'll be like a family vacation, too!

This is not the first time that Di*a is organizing such a trip. Some of her students had the opportunity to learn and have fun in Bali a few years back and those parents who had joined them then strongly recommend that we follow the troop this year.

So, from now until June, Di*a's students who are going to Bali will be taught a few Malay traditional dances which they will be performing on a special night in Maya Ubud. Not only that, they will also be going through a few workshop sessions when in Bali to study and learn on how to dance some of the traditional Balinese Dance, after which they will be performing those dances to the locals. That will be so exciting!

As it will be during the school holidays, Ayah finally decided that ALL of us should go. Lagi pun dah lama the kids tak holiday outside tanah tumpah darah mereka...(Asyik-asyik gi Langkawi ajer kan? Hehehe!) Their passports pun dah lama expired. High time to renew them. And after that we won't have any excuse not to go holidays abroad sekurang-kurangnya 3 kali setahun kan, Ayah?! (Hehehe! Ayah dah start berpeluh dah tuh...)

And that's another thing.

Because it was supposed to be just Hasya alone going initially, last month we only renewed HER passport. And because of the Immigration policy that the father of the child MUST be present at the time of applying and collecting the passport, we had to wait until Ayah had some free time to bring Hasya to the Immigration Office. Nasib baik lah jugak kat Pusat Bandar Damansara...Kalau kat Putrajaya, mau Hasya tak jadi gi Bali kot dek passport tak terbuat-buat oleh mak bapak dia...

It was AFTER Hasya already got her new passport that we decided Hilman and Hanna would also be going, and of course, we had to renew THEIR passports, too!

It was a bit tricky as Hanna is in the morning session, while Hilman goes to afternoon school. And Hanna being Hanna - she wanted to maintain her spotless school attendance record. She received a special certificate for 100% perfect attendance last year, and she wants to maintain that. And Hilman being Hilman - pergi sekolah pun okay, tak pergi sekolah pun tak per :) So, we decided to bring them to the Immigration Office on one of the afternoons, after Hanna finished her academic session. Itu pun tricky coz' at Sr* Am*n, the students are expected to attend extra-curri activities until either 4:00p.m or 5:30p.m everyday! Nak tak nak, Hanna had to miss out on one of her handball practice sessions last week (she's in her school Under-15 Team, by the way :))

Nak collect the passports pun satu hal. The kids AND Ayah have to be there. Nasib baik lah jugak the collection counter opens on Saturdays and Sundays. So, the kids don't have to miss school again. But, masalahnya pulak - this weekend, Hasya and Hilman are following their Wan to Port Dickson. And we don't want to wait for the next weekend. Lama sangat! So, nak tak nak, Ayah had to collect Hilman's passport with him this morning. And both Ayah and Hanna are only free to collect HER passport this Sunday. Banyaklah pulak kerja, kan?!

And until and unless we've got everybody's passport renewed, we won't be able to book the flights online (which is supposed to be much cheaper than dealing with the travel agents, etc). I just hope we'll be able to book and fly on the same flight as the rest of the troop nanti. And I also hope the fare tak mencekedaghah sangat...

Everybody's pretty excited.

Hilman especially, because this will be his first time performing in front of an audience. He's going to dance the Zapin with his friend, Is* (the cute little boy in the MILO and the ASTRO adverts). Only that - how I wish Ayah could be with us for the whole 6D5N stay there. But, alas...He can't afford to close his clinic that long. He has to "mengais", remember? :)

This will be Hilman's first time in Bali. And Hasya's, too! As for Hanna, this will be her second time. The first time being 8 years ago when she followed her Wan and her aunties for a holiday there.

Although Ayah had been to Bali a few times, this will be our third time going there together. The first time was when we went for our honeymoon...(Hmmmmm....Come to think of it, MAYBE technically, this will be Hanna's third time in Bali? Hahahaha! ;))

We are ALL excited! I think Ayah needs this break (even though it's only for 3 days) and it'll be a trip to remember for the kids, insya Allah.

In the mean time, it's "kais" time for Ayah and myself. Perlu juta-juta rupiah untuk belanja di Bali, dooonngggg... :)