The thing I discovered/realized since my "No-Rice" Lunch regime was that the lauk-pauk served and sold at the Cafeteria were/are giler salty!
It was not obvious before this, I guess, because I had always taken them with rice, and somehow they didn't taste THAT salty as the rice in a way had suppressed the taste.
But, eating the fish/chicken, etc., and the veges on their own REALLY brings out the saltiness of every single dish there was there that I've tried in the last one week or so.
Hmmmm...in my attempt to cut down on sugar and carbo to avoid getting diabetes, I might just end up with hypertension instead...
Adakah ini tandanya I will have to bawak my own bekal from home from now on?
Hmmmm?
Showing posts with label Me Myself and I. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Me Myself and I. Show all posts
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
"Minus-4 Mission"...
Remember last week when I decided to (re)start a healthier lifestyle?
Well, so far, so good. Syukur alhamdulillah.
I have actually worked out a schedule - for both my meals AND exercises, and have been sticking to it quite well. And if TERlanggar, I would somehow compensate it in some ways.
I have set a target for myself. I call it the "Minus-4 Mission" - i.e., I aim to shed 4kgs by 30th June 2010, and I have also called upon my MT gang to join me on this mission. It does not matter how much we weigh now. The target is for all of us to lose 4kgs.
And, I'm writing this down here as an affirmation to myself.
My regime consists of, inter alia -
(1) Rice-free lunch everyday. I've been taking extra proteins and veges instead (and my lunch costs more now!) :(
(2) Rice for dinner on alternate nights - I'm taking smaller portions than before, and will start taking brown rice this week.
(3) On nights that I'm not having rice, I take wholemeal bread - either by making myself sandwiches or dipping into whatever gravy we have at home, and proteins and veges.
(4) I'm taking more fruits now, too. Made some research on which fruits are okay for diabetics and found out that Grapefruits, Apples, Guavas and Cantaloupes are the best. And fruits to avoid include Mangoes and Bananas!
(5) I'm avoiding all sugary stuff (i.e. drinks and desserts) EXCEPT on Sundays - which I declare as my INDULGENCE DAY ;)
(6) And I've started going on the treadmill and the cross-trainer at home every morning before I go to work! YEAY!!! (They no longer serve as tempat gantung baju and place to store boxes! Hehehe!)
(7) AND I've started going to the gym again :) Had to pay RM99 last week to reactivate my Life Membership at Ce*eb*ty Fitness at OU. The last time I actually went for a workout there was 5 years ago! Quite pathetic considering OU tu is like my second home. Tersangatlah selalu melepak di situ, tapi tak terjejak kaki kat CF tu!! So, I'm making a point to go to the gym on nights when Hasya and Hilman are having their Mengaji at their Wan's house and Hanna has her guitar lessons at OU, and also when the kids are having their piano lessons. At least tak rasa guilty going to OU without them :)
And of course - this also gave me a good excuse to shop for new gym attires last week! Hehehe! Sempaaaaat... ;)
Ayah has also joined me on the meals regime, but have yet to join the exercise regime (although I know he gets a lot of exercises running around the hospital from morning till night!)
And after 7 days, I have managed to shed 0.5kg :)
The easiest part is to get rid of the excess water. It's shedding the fat after this which is going to be a major headache.
But, I know I can do this...
By 30th June, I WILL be 4kgs lighter.
Come. Join me! :)
Well, so far, so good. Syukur alhamdulillah.
I have actually worked out a schedule - for both my meals AND exercises, and have been sticking to it quite well. And if TERlanggar, I would somehow compensate it in some ways.
I have set a target for myself. I call it the "Minus-4 Mission" - i.e., I aim to shed 4kgs by 30th June 2010, and I have also called upon my MT gang to join me on this mission. It does not matter how much we weigh now. The target is for all of us to lose 4kgs.
And, I'm writing this down here as an affirmation to myself.
My regime consists of, inter alia -
(1) Rice-free lunch everyday. I've been taking extra proteins and veges instead (and my lunch costs more now!) :(
(2) Rice for dinner on alternate nights - I'm taking smaller portions than before, and will start taking brown rice this week.
(3) On nights that I'm not having rice, I take wholemeal bread - either by making myself sandwiches or dipping into whatever gravy we have at home, and proteins and veges.
(4) I'm taking more fruits now, too. Made some research on which fruits are okay for diabetics and found out that Grapefruits, Apples, Guavas and Cantaloupes are the best. And fruits to avoid include Mangoes and Bananas!
(5) I'm avoiding all sugary stuff (i.e. drinks and desserts) EXCEPT on Sundays - which I declare as my INDULGENCE DAY ;)
(6) And I've started going on the treadmill and the cross-trainer at home every morning before I go to work! YEAY!!! (They no longer serve as tempat gantung baju and place to store boxes! Hehehe!)
(7) AND I've started going to the gym again :) Had to pay RM99 last week to reactivate my Life Membership at Ce*eb*ty Fitness at OU. The last time I actually went for a workout there was 5 years ago! Quite pathetic considering OU tu is like my second home. Tersangatlah selalu melepak di situ, tapi tak terjejak kaki kat CF tu!! So, I'm making a point to go to the gym on nights when Hasya and Hilman are having their Mengaji at their Wan's house and Hanna has her guitar lessons at OU, and also when the kids are having their piano lessons. At least tak rasa guilty going to OU without them :)
And of course - this also gave me a good excuse to shop for new gym attires last week! Hehehe! Sempaaaaat... ;)
Ayah has also joined me on the meals regime, but have yet to join the exercise regime (although I know he gets a lot of exercises running around the hospital from morning till night!)
And after 7 days, I have managed to shed 0.5kg :)
The easiest part is to get rid of the excess water. It's shedding the fat after this which is going to be a major headache.
But, I know I can do this...
By 30th June, I WILL be 4kgs lighter.
Come. Join me! :)
Saturday, December 5, 2009
7:35p.m, 1st December 2009...
It was last Tuesday evening. 1st December 2009.
Hanna was attending her school's Kem Tahan Lasak Programme in UM, while Hasya and Hilman were at their Wan's house in PJ, as they were supposed to have their Mengaji class there that evening.
I was supposed to join Ayah and his staff for Dinner at The Cu*ve, so, after work I drove back to SD as I didn't have any proper attire for the dinner kept at my MIL's. The plan was for me to leave the house after Maghrib and drive to Tr*pi*cana Medical Centre, leave my car there and Ayah and I would be going to The Cu*ve in his car.
Just before Maghrib, I received a call from Ustadz saying that he was not well, hence the Mengaji class had to be cancelled. I got ready right after solat. As I got into the car a few minutes later, fearing that I might forget later, I decided to call my MIL to inform her that the kids' Kelas Mengaji had been cancelled, and for her to tell the kids. I must have tried calling her for about 5 minutes before she finally answered - she was praying before that.
After making the call, I looked at the clock. It was 7:18p.m. I started driving to Kota Damannara using the Sungei Buloh back route/jalan lama. It was raining quite heavily, and I was driving slowly - with my wipers on continuous medium swiping mode.
By 7:35p.m, I was on Persiaran Surian with McD and Pi*za Hut on my left side, and Ayah's hospital was just about 1.5km away. I was on a 4-lane road heading towards SPK Sunway Damansara/Mutiara Damansara, etc., and was approaching the T-junction going to Uptown Kota Damansara/Selangor Science Park. The two right-most lanes are dedicated lanes for those going right to Uptown Kota Damansara and they were on red-light then, while the 3rd and 4th lanes were on green-light, and I was on the 3rd lane.
This is my tempat lalu-lalang as my parents are staying in KD, and Ayah's hospital is also there, and I am very familiar and comfortable with the area and roads and all. But, what happened after that had left me badly shaken even until now. I don't think I'll be able to drive through that stretch of road again without thinking of what happened there that night.
Right at the traffic light, as I was passing through the green-light (which apparently is on green 24/7), out of nowhere, a motorcyclist came from the Uptown direction from my right, crossing straight in front of me heading towards the flats on my left. Mind you, it's a T-junction, and there was no road opening to my left.
He gave me a shock of my life, and there was no way I could have avoided hitting him. I barely managed to press on the brakes and I knocked him straight on his left side. He literally crashed on my windscreen and fell to the right side of my car, onto the road.
I was just so numbed, but I managed to manouvre my car slowly to the left and park it there. I got out of the car, fearing the worst. It was a middle-aged man, probably in his early 50's and he was lying on the road, groaning. And bleeding really badly. His left foot was seriously injured - it must have been crushed between my kangaroo bar and his bike on impact.
The first thing I did was to call Ayah. Believe it or not, I actually forgot how to use my phone right at that moment. I was trembling non-stop, in the middle of the road, in the pouring rain. I forgot that I had Ayah's number on my speed dial, and I was trying to remember how to change my display to the "keypad" mode! Even when I had the keypad on, I actually forgot Ayah's number! It was only after nearly a minute that I remembered to call Ayah through speed dialing!
Right after calling Ayah, I tried calling 999 for the ambulance. Again, I just could not change my phone function to "keypad" mode, and I was struggling for about a minute before I got through, and gave the operator my details and the location of the accident.
By then, there was already a crowd gathering around the old man, and some of them started shouting at me, asking me to bring him to the hospital in my car and not wait for the ambulance. One of them even shouted out, "You bawak dia dalam you punya kereta la! You ada kereta. Mau tunggu ambulan jugak ka? You mau tunggu dia mati ka??!"
Imagine how I was feeling at that moment.
I was not in a state to drive as I was still terribly shaken. I was trembling like a leaf. By the look of his injuries, I don't think anybody in the right mind would want to move the poor guy. And I don't think my Kembara would be able to accomodate him, not with the injuries he had sustained.
I had never been so scared in my life.
A few men then took me to the side and asked me to stay calm and stay with them, while we waited for the ambulance to come. The other crowd was getting impatient and kept asking me if I had called the ambulance. I had in fact called the ambulance twice, and a few of the passers-by had also called for it a few times.
I felt such a relief when I saw Ayah arriving in his car with one of his nurses and and also a staff from TMC. Ayah asked me if I was okay before attending to the old man. He was conscious throughout the ordeal, but I dare not go near him, and I was advised by some of the men around me not to do so.
What I couldn't believe was the fact that the 999 people actually called me THREE times after that to ask me again where exactly the scene of the accident was. THREE times. That was excluding the time when I first made the call to them and explained to them clearly where we were.
The police came nearly half an hour after that, about 8:10p.m, and the ambulance came around 8:15p.m. They must have been stuck in the traffic jam caused by the rain. All throughout the waiting time, I was praying for the old man to be alright. It felt like the longest half an hour of my life...
What was perplexing was the fact that I could actually look at the injuries, and the blood without feeling faint at all throughout the half an hour he was lying on the road. I am one who normally can't even stand the sight of a single drop of blood, and could faint just by looking at blood. Heck, I can't even visit anyone sick without feeling faint. That's just me. But, that night, syukur alhamdulillah, I was okay. It was until the man was taken into the ambulance to be brought to the hospital, that I started to feel dizzy.
After the ambulance left, Ayah asked his staff to drive his car back to the hospital, while Ayah drove my car to the Balai Polis Traffic in Kota Damansara. We made the Police Report and later was brought back to the scene in a police car where I gave the police my account of what happened.
Later I was told that those residing at the flats normally would take a short-cut from the Industrial Park straight to the flat, as they didn't want to make a U-turn further down the road. There was even a makeshift bridge crossing the drain going to the residential area at that spot.
By the time we were done at the Station, it was already about 9:45p.m. Ayah drove us to his hospital in my car. He had to review a few patients, and I waited for him in his office. And while waiting, I decided to call the hospital which the motorcylist had been sent to. Unfortunately, they could not reveal any information via the phone, and had asked me to go and see him myself if I wanted to know his condition.
I told the nurse who answered my call that I was the one who had hit him, and I just wanted to know if he was alright. If he was alive. And she said, "Yes, he's alive". I then asked her if his injuries were serious, and she said, "We can't tell you that. But, biasa lah accident macam ni..." So, I don't really know how he is exactly up until now.
I wanted to go and visit him the next day, but, I was advised not to, as the family might still be riding high on emotions. Even though it was entirely his fault, we can never know how they might react knowing that I was the one who knocked him down. But everyday, I pray for him to be well.
Anyway, that night, we left my car at Ayah's hospital and we had dinner at one of the gerais in SD before going back home. We decided that I would be in no state to drive for a few days, and my car would be sent to the workshop anyway. So, I would be immobile, and the best thing was to put up at my MIL's place. Ayah was to fly to Bangkok on Friday, too, and it was best for everybody to be in PJ.
So, we packed all our clothes and necessities to last us for at least a week stay in PJ, and by the time we reached my MIL's it was already 12:30a.m.
It just so happened that my BIL and his family are away in Perth until 15th December and his driver (Za*di) was at my MIL's disposal until then. And as she herself already has her own driver, Za*di has been heaven-sent as he has been the one driving me and the kids around in the last few days.
My car is already out of the workshop, but, it's only 98% back to normal. There are a few dents here and there which they could not repair, and my kangaroo bar is not really its old self anymore. I have yet to drive my car again since the accident. Masih terbayang-bayang how I hit him and how he crashed on my windscreen and all. And most of all, masih terbayang-bayang his injuries...
Even though I know that it was not my fault, I still feel so guilty for causing him such injuries...
I kept on thinking of all the "what-ifs", and "if it wasn't for, etc.,"... which could have made the accident avoidable.
If only I hadn't made the phonecalls to my MIL before leaving the house, and reaching that spot 5 minutes earlier, the accident might have not happened.
If only I had used the LDP way, instead of the Sungei Buloh way, the accident might not have happened.
If only I had brought my attire for the dinner to my MIL's house earlier on, and not having to go back to SD first, the accident might not have happened.
And it goes on and on and on...
But, I also believe that semuanya dah tersurat , and that whatever differences that might have happened that night, I would still be there right at THAT moment and be involved in that accident.
Setiap yang terjadi ada hikmahnya. Even though I may not see it now, insya Allah I will in the future.
But, whatever that has happened, I bersyukur to Allah SWT - HE has kept me safe in HIS Hands that night...Syukur alhamdulillah.
And I pray for the man's full recovery, insya Allah.
Hanna was attending her school's Kem Tahan Lasak Programme in UM, while Hasya and Hilman were at their Wan's house in PJ, as they were supposed to have their Mengaji class there that evening.
I was supposed to join Ayah and his staff for Dinner at The Cu*ve, so, after work I drove back to SD as I didn't have any proper attire for the dinner kept at my MIL's. The plan was for me to leave the house after Maghrib and drive to Tr*pi*cana Medical Centre, leave my car there and Ayah and I would be going to The Cu*ve in his car.
Just before Maghrib, I received a call from Ustadz saying that he was not well, hence the Mengaji class had to be cancelled. I got ready right after solat. As I got into the car a few minutes later, fearing that I might forget later, I decided to call my MIL to inform her that the kids' Kelas Mengaji had been cancelled, and for her to tell the kids. I must have tried calling her for about 5 minutes before she finally answered - she was praying before that.
After making the call, I looked at the clock. It was 7:18p.m. I started driving to Kota Damannara using the Sungei Buloh back route/jalan lama. It was raining quite heavily, and I was driving slowly - with my wipers on continuous medium swiping mode.
By 7:35p.m, I was on Persiaran Surian with McD and Pi*za Hut on my left side, and Ayah's hospital was just about 1.5km away. I was on a 4-lane road heading towards SPK Sunway Damansara/Mutiara Damansara, etc., and was approaching the T-junction going to Uptown Kota Damansara/Selangor Science Park. The two right-most lanes are dedicated lanes for those going right to Uptown Kota Damansara and they were on red-light then, while the 3rd and 4th lanes were on green-light, and I was on the 3rd lane.
This is my tempat lalu-lalang as my parents are staying in KD, and Ayah's hospital is also there, and I am very familiar and comfortable with the area and roads and all. But, what happened after that had left me badly shaken even until now. I don't think I'll be able to drive through that stretch of road again without thinking of what happened there that night.
Right at the traffic light, as I was passing through the green-light (which apparently is on green 24/7), out of nowhere, a motorcyclist came from the Uptown direction from my right, crossing straight in front of me heading towards the flats on my left. Mind you, it's a T-junction, and there was no road opening to my left.
He gave me a shock of my life, and there was no way I could have avoided hitting him. I barely managed to press on the brakes and I knocked him straight on his left side. He literally crashed on my windscreen and fell to the right side of my car, onto the road.
I was just so numbed, but I managed to manouvre my car slowly to the left and park it there. I got out of the car, fearing the worst. It was a middle-aged man, probably in his early 50's and he was lying on the road, groaning. And bleeding really badly. His left foot was seriously injured - it must have been crushed between my kangaroo bar and his bike on impact.
The first thing I did was to call Ayah. Believe it or not, I actually forgot how to use my phone right at that moment. I was trembling non-stop, in the middle of the road, in the pouring rain. I forgot that I had Ayah's number on my speed dial, and I was trying to remember how to change my display to the "keypad" mode! Even when I had the keypad on, I actually forgot Ayah's number! It was only after nearly a minute that I remembered to call Ayah through speed dialing!
Right after calling Ayah, I tried calling 999 for the ambulance. Again, I just could not change my phone function to "keypad" mode, and I was struggling for about a minute before I got through, and gave the operator my details and the location of the accident.
By then, there was already a crowd gathering around the old man, and some of them started shouting at me, asking me to bring him to the hospital in my car and not wait for the ambulance. One of them even shouted out, "You bawak dia dalam you punya kereta la! You ada kereta. Mau tunggu ambulan jugak ka? You mau tunggu dia mati ka??!"
Imagine how I was feeling at that moment.
I was not in a state to drive as I was still terribly shaken. I was trembling like a leaf. By the look of his injuries, I don't think anybody in the right mind would want to move the poor guy. And I don't think my Kembara would be able to accomodate him, not with the injuries he had sustained.
I had never been so scared in my life.
A few men then took me to the side and asked me to stay calm and stay with them, while we waited for the ambulance to come. The other crowd was getting impatient and kept asking me if I had called the ambulance. I had in fact called the ambulance twice, and a few of the passers-by had also called for it a few times.
I felt such a relief when I saw Ayah arriving in his car with one of his nurses and and also a staff from TMC. Ayah asked me if I was okay before attending to the old man. He was conscious throughout the ordeal, but I dare not go near him, and I was advised by some of the men around me not to do so.
What I couldn't believe was the fact that the 999 people actually called me THREE times after that to ask me again where exactly the scene of the accident was. THREE times. That was excluding the time when I first made the call to them and explained to them clearly where we were.
The police came nearly half an hour after that, about 8:10p.m, and the ambulance came around 8:15p.m. They must have been stuck in the traffic jam caused by the rain. All throughout the waiting time, I was praying for the old man to be alright. It felt like the longest half an hour of my life...
What was perplexing was the fact that I could actually look at the injuries, and the blood without feeling faint at all throughout the half an hour he was lying on the road. I am one who normally can't even stand the sight of a single drop of blood, and could faint just by looking at blood. Heck, I can't even visit anyone sick without feeling faint. That's just me. But, that night, syukur alhamdulillah, I was okay. It was until the man was taken into the ambulance to be brought to the hospital, that I started to feel dizzy.
After the ambulance left, Ayah asked his staff to drive his car back to the hospital, while Ayah drove my car to the Balai Polis Traffic in Kota Damansara. We made the Police Report and later was brought back to the scene in a police car where I gave the police my account of what happened.
Later I was told that those residing at the flats normally would take a short-cut from the Industrial Park straight to the flat, as they didn't want to make a U-turn further down the road. There was even a makeshift bridge crossing the drain going to the residential area at that spot.
By the time we were done at the Station, it was already about 9:45p.m. Ayah drove us to his hospital in my car. He had to review a few patients, and I waited for him in his office. And while waiting, I decided to call the hospital which the motorcylist had been sent to. Unfortunately, they could not reveal any information via the phone, and had asked me to go and see him myself if I wanted to know his condition.
I told the nurse who answered my call that I was the one who had hit him, and I just wanted to know if he was alright. If he was alive. And she said, "Yes, he's alive". I then asked her if his injuries were serious, and she said, "We can't tell you that. But, biasa lah accident macam ni..." So, I don't really know how he is exactly up until now.
I wanted to go and visit him the next day, but, I was advised not to, as the family might still be riding high on emotions. Even though it was entirely his fault, we can never know how they might react knowing that I was the one who knocked him down. But everyday, I pray for him to be well.
Anyway, that night, we left my car at Ayah's hospital and we had dinner at one of the gerais in SD before going back home. We decided that I would be in no state to drive for a few days, and my car would be sent to the workshop anyway. So, I would be immobile, and the best thing was to put up at my MIL's place. Ayah was to fly to Bangkok on Friday, too, and it was best for everybody to be in PJ.
So, we packed all our clothes and necessities to last us for at least a week stay in PJ, and by the time we reached my MIL's it was already 12:30a.m.
It just so happened that my BIL and his family are away in Perth until 15th December and his driver (Za*di) was at my MIL's disposal until then. And as she herself already has her own driver, Za*di has been heaven-sent as he has been the one driving me and the kids around in the last few days.
My car is already out of the workshop, but, it's only 98% back to normal. There are a few dents here and there which they could not repair, and my kangaroo bar is not really its old self anymore. I have yet to drive my car again since the accident. Masih terbayang-bayang how I hit him and how he crashed on my windscreen and all. And most of all, masih terbayang-bayang his injuries...
Even though I know that it was not my fault, I still feel so guilty for causing him such injuries...
I kept on thinking of all the "what-ifs", and "if it wasn't for, etc.,"... which could have made the accident avoidable.
If only I hadn't made the phonecalls to my MIL before leaving the house, and reaching that spot 5 minutes earlier, the accident might have not happened.
If only I had used the LDP way, instead of the Sungei Buloh way, the accident might not have happened.
If only I had brought my attire for the dinner to my MIL's house earlier on, and not having to go back to SD first, the accident might not have happened.
And it goes on and on and on...
But, I also believe that semuanya dah tersurat , and that whatever differences that might have happened that night, I would still be there right at THAT moment and be involved in that accident.
Setiap yang terjadi ada hikmahnya. Even though I may not see it now, insya Allah I will in the future.
But, whatever that has happened, I bersyukur to Allah SWT - HE has kept me safe in HIS Hands that night...Syukur alhamdulillah.
And I pray for the man's full recovery, insya Allah.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
More month at the end of the money?
I was just passing the time doing various quizzes on FB tonight, and one of them was on "What does your facial shape tell about you". And the result was :
+ Always work hard.
+ Handles financial problem smartly.
+ Has an outstanding will to succeed.
+ Has a clear plan for life.
+ Can be quite ego at times.
(Never mind the grammar lah ye? :))
As with most of the quizzes on FB, I had to ponder on whether any of the above actually rang true about me, and I have to say some of them are dead right, while some are fitnah semata-mata (but, I'm not going to say here which ones are which, okay?! Hehehe!) EXCEPT that in a way I somewhat agree with #2 (Well, at least NOT until about 5 years ago, that is). And I wouldn't say I'm 'smart' when it comes to handling financial problems or matters. Maybe 'prudent' would be a better way to describe me. So, bear with me when I share something with you all here, okay?
I'm also moved to share this after reading Meen's (JazzmaTazz :))post on her blog about how now she spends less on shopping as she becomes more contented with life :) And how all the unnecessary spending has dwindled down over the last couple of years. And I agree with her. When you're contented with what you have (doesn't have to be a material thing), you tend to shop less. And to add to that, I believe that once we shop less, we will be able to start saving systematically. And the result - we'll be more contented and happier with basically everything and everybody around us :)
I have to confess - before 2004, Ayah and I were not thrifty with our money at all. We never consciously saved our dosh, and we never kept track of where our money went. Whenever our salary came in, we would just withdraw whatever amount we wanted, signed our cheques freely, and we would just charge most of our shoppings to our credit cards. And normally, due to our free flow spending (of our chiput pay), most of the times we only managed to pay the minimum amount for the credit cards. And more often than not, there was "more-month-at-the-end-of-the-money" (rather than "more money-at-the-end-of-the-month" for us!) Ye lah kan...both of us kerja gomen, kan? So, you all can imagine how much interests we had to pay to the credit card companies on the never-ending outstanding amount! Scandalous, I tell you...
But, everything changed when we were in the UK in 2003-04, when we had to live on my meagre scholarship and on Ayah's pay as a fellow at a hospital in Middlesborough. There were six of us - we all anak beranak plus our helper, Cek Pi. We still received our basic pay in Malaysia at that time, but we decided not to touch our pay if we could help it.
I can't remember what actually happened which made us decide to start saving systematically, but, I think one of the reasons was that we realized that we had an opportunity to start saving seriously as we had a few sources of income then. And we set a target to settle all our outstanding credit card bills by the end of 2004. It was then, the "Demam Bajet" hit me :)
I actually went out to get a hardcover notebook one day, and started laying out the structure of our saving plans, and roughly decided to identify our two sources of income which we would have to live on while in the UK - my scholarship, and Ayah's fellowship pay.
And we started dividing allocations for our routine and recurring expenses between these two sources. I can't really remember the actual items, but roughly, for my own allowances and transportation costs, the rent, my study materials, and the utility bills - these would be paid with my monthly scholarship. And Ayah's pay would go towards payment of his petrol and toll money, his car maintenance, the groceries, clothings, anything that the children may need, for our travels, shopping, allowances for Cek Pi, and of course towards paying for the credit cards.
Whatever was left of my scholarship (which more often than not was nothing to shout about, as it would be gone even before I could shout), I would keep for myself, and normally that would cover all those petty miscellaneous expenses and shopping for me. And whatever left of Ayah's pay, we would transfer the money to our account in Malaysia.
So, throughout our stay in the UK, I kept a budget book, which I worked on at the end of each month, and also in the middle of the month (to modify our budget to accommodate any ad hoc expenses). And this was how I did it -
(1) I would look at how much money there was in each of our income sources for the month - my allowance/scholarship and Ayah's pay.
(2) Work on income source #1, and see how much balance would be left after all the compulsory expenses had been taken into account.
(3) Repeat Step 2 for income source #2.
(4) Set aside some amount for emergencies.
(5) The rest, we transferred to our Malaysian account and also to our UK Savings Account.
(6) We tried our best to stick to the budget.
(7) Failing #6, Step #4 would save us :)
Once we had got into the rhythm of saving, no matter how chiput the balance may be, we would save it. It just became a habit. And until now, I still keep a budget book with me all the time. The current one started with our December 2005 budget. So, you all can imagine how very the lunyai the book is now!
But, the division of expenses has changed somewhat since our UK days.
Now, MY pay goes to MY account.
AYAH's pay goes to OUR joint account. ;)
MY pay would go towards paying for -
* Our monthly grocery spendings (fixed)
* My own petrol/toll/meals allowances (fixed)
* The household utility bills (Tenaga, Syabas, Astro, TM, Maxis) - depends on usage
* My Kembara Car Loan (fixed)
* Standing Instruction for our Unit Trusts (fixed)
* The Home Guard Service (fixed)
* The Kids Piano Fees (fixed)
* The Kids School Allowances (fixed)
* The monthly contributions to my Abah and Mommy (minimum amount fixed, and insya Allah kalau rezqi lebih, will tambah accordingly :))
And whatever balance from there, depending on my mood - I would either put them in the savings account, OR spend it like there's no tomorrow! Hahaha! And let me tell you here - more often than not, it would be the latter ;)
As for AYAH'S pay, it goes towards the following -
* SD House Loan (fixed)
* BJ House Loan (fixed)
* His Naza Car Loan (fixed)
* His Accord Car Loan (fixed)
* His own petrol/toll/meals allowances (Yup! Fixed, too! Kesian kan? I ration his food!)
* Family outings (fixed)
* Shopping money (flexible :))
* All the credit cards (The amount depends on whether the wife goes mental during The Sales or not...)
* Monthly premiums for all the insurance policies we took up.
* Kids fees for Mengaji, Traditional Dance, Chess, Swimming, Guitar, Tuitions (fixed)
* Spending for various contingency/emergencies (fixed)
And whatever balance left, we would transfer to our Savings on the day our monthly pay is credited into our accounts. This is so that our fresh pay is not 'mixed' with the balance :) And if ada rezqi lebih, we will top up the kids' savings, insya Allah.
So, as you can see - yang had besaq-besaq punya belanja semua cheq pass kat dia.... Cerdik naaa?! :)
And this has been our practice for the last 5 years. And I still do it twice a month - the original budget at the end of the month, and the review in the middle of the month - to take into account any unforeseen expenses which may crop up for that particular month, and modify the budget accordingly.
And we make a point to pay our credit card bills in full every month as we don't want to fork out the unnecessary extras to pay for the interests! To do that, we REALLY have to discipline ourselves to spend within our means.
And syukur alhamdulillah, nowadays we see more-money-at-the-end-of-the-month, than more-month-at-the-end-of-the-money, insya Allah. Tak banyak, sikit pun - it is still our savings :)
Please don't get me wrong. My niat is just to share our system of saving money however little it may be, with you all, which works for us, and if you guys would want to experiment with it to see if the system may work for you all, too (IF you still have not found an effective system for you). And also, if you guys may also want to share your system here with us here :)
Personally, I feel that the things that we should always bear in mind are :
* We should always be looking out for any opportunities which come our way which may help us save more.
* We should always spend ONLY within our means.
* Do not mix the previous month's salary with the current one - ALWAYS save whatever balance you have IMMEDIATELY.
* We can splurge every now and then (but only when you feel that with whatever savings you've done, you deserve to splurge :))
* Jangan terlampau save duit sampai jadi kedekut, and tak spend on yourselves, your loved ones, and your friends, and of course bersedekah.
AND Yang paling penting for us para isteri - bila kita belanjakan duit gaji kita untuk perbelanjaan yang seharusnya ditanggung oleh suami kita, kita MESTI IKHLAS, SEIKHLAS-IKHLASNYA... Jangan ada rasa resentment walau sedikit pun. Insya Allah, rezqi kita sekeluarga murah... :)
Anyway, I thought I'd share with you how my Budget Book looks like here -
Nampak macam belacan, kan? ;)
Tapi belacan yang banyak berjasa ni... Hehehe!
+ Always work hard.
+ Handles financial problem smartly.
+ Has an outstanding will to succeed.
+ Has a clear plan for life.
+ Can be quite ego at times.
(Never mind the grammar lah ye? :))
As with most of the quizzes on FB, I had to ponder on whether any of the above actually rang true about me, and I have to say some of them are dead right, while some are fitnah semata-mata (but, I'm not going to say here which ones are which, okay?! Hehehe!) EXCEPT that in a way I somewhat agree with #2 (Well, at least NOT until about 5 years ago, that is). And I wouldn't say I'm 'smart' when it comes to handling financial problems or matters. Maybe 'prudent' would be a better way to describe me. So, bear with me when I share something with you all here, okay?
I'm also moved to share this after reading Meen's (JazzmaTazz :))post on her blog about how now she spends less on shopping as she becomes more contented with life :) And how all the unnecessary spending has dwindled down over the last couple of years. And I agree with her. When you're contented with what you have (doesn't have to be a material thing), you tend to shop less. And to add to that, I believe that once we shop less, we will be able to start saving systematically. And the result - we'll be more contented and happier with basically everything and everybody around us :)
I have to confess - before 2004, Ayah and I were not thrifty with our money at all. We never consciously saved our dosh, and we never kept track of where our money went. Whenever our salary came in, we would just withdraw whatever amount we wanted, signed our cheques freely, and we would just charge most of our shoppings to our credit cards. And normally, due to our free flow spending (of our chiput pay), most of the times we only managed to pay the minimum amount for the credit cards. And more often than not, there was "more-month-at-the-end-of-the-money" (rather than "more money-at-the-end-of-the-month" for us!) Ye lah kan...both of us kerja gomen, kan? So, you all can imagine how much interests we had to pay to the credit card companies on the never-ending outstanding amount! Scandalous, I tell you...
But, everything changed when we were in the UK in 2003-04, when we had to live on my meagre scholarship and on Ayah's pay as a fellow at a hospital in Middlesborough. There were six of us - we all anak beranak plus our helper, Cek Pi. We still received our basic pay in Malaysia at that time, but we decided not to touch our pay if we could help it.
I can't remember what actually happened which made us decide to start saving systematically, but, I think one of the reasons was that we realized that we had an opportunity to start saving seriously as we had a few sources of income then. And we set a target to settle all our outstanding credit card bills by the end of 2004. It was then, the "Demam Bajet" hit me :)
I actually went out to get a hardcover notebook one day, and started laying out the structure of our saving plans, and roughly decided to identify our two sources of income which we would have to live on while in the UK - my scholarship, and Ayah's fellowship pay.
And we started dividing allocations for our routine and recurring expenses between these two sources. I can't really remember the actual items, but roughly, for my own allowances and transportation costs, the rent, my study materials, and the utility bills - these would be paid with my monthly scholarship. And Ayah's pay would go towards payment of his petrol and toll money, his car maintenance, the groceries, clothings, anything that the children may need, for our travels, shopping, allowances for Cek Pi, and of course towards paying for the credit cards.
Whatever was left of my scholarship (which more often than not was nothing to shout about, as it would be gone even before I could shout), I would keep for myself, and normally that would cover all those petty miscellaneous expenses and shopping for me. And whatever left of Ayah's pay, we would transfer the money to our account in Malaysia.
So, throughout our stay in the UK, I kept a budget book, which I worked on at the end of each month, and also in the middle of the month (to modify our budget to accommodate any ad hoc expenses). And this was how I did it -
(1) I would look at how much money there was in each of our income sources for the month - my allowance/scholarship and Ayah's pay.
(2) Work on income source #1, and see how much balance would be left after all the compulsory expenses had been taken into account.
(3) Repeat Step 2 for income source #2.
(4) Set aside some amount for emergencies.
(5) The rest, we transferred to our Malaysian account and also to our UK Savings Account.
(6) We tried our best to stick to the budget.
(7) Failing #6, Step #4 would save us :)
Once we had got into the rhythm of saving, no matter how chiput the balance may be, we would save it. It just became a habit. And until now, I still keep a budget book with me all the time. The current one started with our December 2005 budget. So, you all can imagine how very the lunyai the book is now!
But, the division of expenses has changed somewhat since our UK days.
Now, MY pay goes to MY account.
AYAH's pay goes to OUR joint account. ;)
MY pay would go towards paying for -
* Our monthly grocery spendings (fixed)
* My own petrol/toll/meals allowances (fixed)
* The household utility bills (Tenaga, Syabas, Astro, TM, Maxis) - depends on usage
* My Kembara Car Loan (fixed)
* Standing Instruction for our Unit Trusts (fixed)
* The Home Guard Service (fixed)
* The Kids Piano Fees (fixed)
* The Kids School Allowances (fixed)
* The monthly contributions to my Abah and Mommy (minimum amount fixed, and insya Allah kalau rezqi lebih, will tambah accordingly :))
And whatever balance from there, depending on my mood - I would either put them in the savings account, OR spend it like there's no tomorrow! Hahaha! And let me tell you here - more often than not, it would be the latter ;)
As for AYAH'S pay, it goes towards the following -
* SD House Loan (fixed)
* BJ House Loan (fixed)
* His Naza Car Loan (fixed)
* His Accord Car Loan (fixed)
* His own petrol/toll/meals allowances (Yup! Fixed, too! Kesian kan? I ration his food!)
* Family outings (fixed)
* Shopping money (flexible :))
* All the credit cards (The amount depends on whether the wife goes mental during The Sales or not...)
* Monthly premiums for all the insurance policies we took up.
* Kids fees for Mengaji, Traditional Dance, Chess, Swimming, Guitar, Tuitions (fixed)
* Spending for various contingency/emergencies (fixed)
And whatever balance left, we would transfer to our Savings on the day our monthly pay is credited into our accounts. This is so that our fresh pay is not 'mixed' with the balance :) And if ada rezqi lebih, we will top up the kids' savings, insya Allah.
So, as you can see - yang had besaq-besaq punya belanja semua cheq pass kat dia.... Cerdik naaa?! :)
And this has been our practice for the last 5 years. And I still do it twice a month - the original budget at the end of the month, and the review in the middle of the month - to take into account any unforeseen expenses which may crop up for that particular month, and modify the budget accordingly.
And we make a point to pay our credit card bills in full every month as we don't want to fork out the unnecessary extras to pay for the interests! To do that, we REALLY have to discipline ourselves to spend within our means.
And syukur alhamdulillah, nowadays we see more-money-at-the-end-of-the-month, than more-month-at-the-end-of-the-money, insya Allah. Tak banyak, sikit pun - it is still our savings :)
Please don't get me wrong. My niat is just to share our system of saving money however little it may be, with you all, which works for us, and if you guys would want to experiment with it to see if the system may work for you all, too (IF you still have not found an effective system for you). And also, if you guys may also want to share your system here with us here :)
Personally, I feel that the things that we should always bear in mind are :
* We should always be looking out for any opportunities which come our way which may help us save more.
* We should always spend ONLY within our means.
* Do not mix the previous month's salary with the current one - ALWAYS save whatever balance you have IMMEDIATELY.
* We can splurge every now and then (but only when you feel that with whatever savings you've done, you deserve to splurge :))
* Jangan terlampau save duit sampai jadi kedekut, and tak spend on yourselves, your loved ones, and your friends, and of course bersedekah.
AND Yang paling penting for us para isteri - bila kita belanjakan duit gaji kita untuk perbelanjaan yang seharusnya ditanggung oleh suami kita, kita MESTI IKHLAS, SEIKHLAS-IKHLASNYA... Jangan ada rasa resentment walau sedikit pun. Insya Allah, rezqi kita sekeluarga murah... :)
Anyway, I thought I'd share with you how my Budget Book looks like here -
Nampak macam belacan, kan? ;)
Tapi belacan yang banyak berjasa ni... Hehehe!
Friday, July 24, 2009
Is it hard being a Mom...?
This has been the longest hiatus this blog has gone into, and I guess a few friends were beginning to get worried by my long silence.
Ibu left a comment on my FB - "What happened to you? Sonyap jo..."
Bella SMSd me yesterday - "...Lama tak nampak u update. I hope all is well..."
And even Ayah has been asking me a few times - "You've not updated your blog?"
Thank you for your concerns, my dear friends and hubby :)
I am fine, syukur alhamdulillah. Just that life (if it wasn't already hectic before) had been MORE hectic in the last few weeks.
For a start, the Uni's new Academic Year started early this month, and we had been busy briefing new students as to what the Department has to offer, etc. Instead of the usual congregation of all the new students at the Faculty's biggest Lecture Hall where all the departments take turns to brief the newbies, this year, due to the H1N1 threat, the freshies were not allowed to go to the main campus, and instead we had to go to all the residential colleges for the briefings. So, you can just imagine giving the same presentation over and over again, but to different sets of students? Aiyoooo...mentally exhausting, I tell you. Even though I was not doing the talk myself, going to the residential colleges, and listening to all the briefings itself was quite draining.
And of course, when class started, yours truly had to organize the tutorial groups, etc. And it didn't help when you've come up with the list of students for each group, and allocated the Tutorial topics for each of them, but, every couple of days, a few would come to you and inform that they either just joined the group, or that they had just dropped the course, and you would have to RE-ORGANIZE and RE-ALLOCATE the Topics all over again. And that went on until end of last week. Thank God, I only have a total of 76 students this Semester...
And the kids were ever so busy with all the activities Tok Nenek under the sun, kan? The last 4-5 weekends had not been true weekends for us because of that. I found myself driving the kids here and there for all their extra lessons and social activities throughout most of the Saturdays and Sundays.
And it didn't help when both Hasya and Hilman fell sick at the end of last week.
It started off with Hilman having a bad cough on Thursday, and I had to bring him to see Dr. Mu*a on Friday. He had to go on the nebulizer, and was prescibed with Tussidex, Prednisolone and of course his 4-hourly Ventolin puffs. Thank God, he was not having any temperature.
Come Sunday morning, his cough was not getting better, and Hasya was starting to have flu-like symptoms, and by Sunday evening her temperature went up to 38.4, and she had started coughing, too!
Monday morning, I had to bring both the kids to see Dr. Mu*a again. Hilman had to go on the nebulizer again, and Hasya was asked to take the 4-hourly Ventolin puffs, too, together with Tussidex cough syrup. She was also given a course of antibiotics (Augmentin), but ONLY to be taken if her fever didn't subside by the third day.
Monday night - her temperature was hovering above 38.4 throughout the night, and I was up almost half of the night, waking up every hour or so, checking on her, and spongeing her down. At one point, her temperature shot up to 39.7! We decided to just start her on the Augmentin and not wait for another 2 days.
I had classes until 6p.m on Tuesday, but, Hasya was keeping me in the loop on her temperature. She would call me every hour to give me an update of the thermometer reading. The Augmentin must have helped, as she recorded temperatures of between 37.3 to 37.6 through the day. BUT, Hilman's cough, on the other hand, was NOT getting better at all. In fact it was getting worse. His cough sounded so hollow and so coarse, and I could just feel how soar his throat was just by listening to his coughs!
Wednesday morning, Hasya's temperature went up to 38.1, and I decided to bring them to see Dr. Mu*a again. That was the third visit within 6 days. Those who are familiar with Dr. Mu*a's clinic would know that every visit would mean that half of your day would be gone. However, Dr. Mu*a, upon seeing us in his waiting room, immediately asked us to go to his room - no need to ikut nombor. He was quite happy with Hasya's progress - even though her temperature had not gone down to the normal level, she was getting better and was advised to just continue with whatever medications she was on.
However, after checking Hilman, he ordered for an X-Ray to be done on him, and lo and behold, it showed that Hilman had a lung infection and he was immediately put on a course of Klacid antibiotics.
Both kids were given MC until today.
So, you guys, the last one week had been quite a stressful time for me. What with the lack of sleep, my Florence Nightingale shifts, the running around, the start of my Lectures and Tutorial classes, and the rest of the unsettled stuff at the office. And it didn't help when I was getting the constant, "Are you going to work today, Mommy?!" or "What time are you coming back today, Mommy", or "Do you HAVE to go to the office today, Mommy?"!, either to my face or through the phone. And I was putting on my remote control mode from the office and kept on calling home to make sure the kids were getting their medications on time, and also to make sure that Dar was in fact giving them the RIGHT medication at the right time. And with them being sick and all, eating out or even tapau-ing food from outside would be a BIG No-No! So, that meant I had been doing the cooking myself for the last week or so, too.
It didn't help that we also had some problems with the piping of our nextdoor neighbour's aircond which led to quite a bad leakage in our Master bedroom and onto the plaster ceiling and wall of our living room. And Ayah had also been pretty busy at work in the last month or so, and have been coming back late most nights. But, being busy at the hospital is good for Ayah nowadays, so, I can't complain, can I?
Anyway, it must have shown on my face - the strain, because, while I was driving the kids home from the hospital that day, Hilman asked me what my schedule was after sending them home. Hasya was, by that time, already asleep on the backseat of the car. And I lined up my plans for the day, and said to him -
"First, I have to go back to the office as I have yet to clock in for the day, and I have to settle a few matters at work. Then, I'll be meeting Ayah for lunch. Then, I would be going back to the office to do some work. Then, I would be fetching Kak Long from school at 5:30p.m. Then, I would be sending Kak Long to Wan's house, where she would get ready for her piano lesson. Then, I would be sending Kak Long to her piano lesson, and I would wait for her to finish. (Hasya and Hilman were supposed to have their piano lessons at the same time, too, but this week they're excused) Then, I would be sending Qa*sa*a (his cousin) back to Wan's house (she also goes for piano lessons at the same place and time as the kids) And THEN only I would be making my way home to SD with Kak Long, and cook dinner for you and your sisters".
I said all that to him without a pause.
And after all that, Hilman looked at me and said,
"Is it hard being a Mom, Mommy?"
And suddenly I felt a lump in my throat, and my eyes were getting blurred by the tears welling up in them when all the built-up strain and stress seemed to be rushing in and hit the core of me in those few moments...
I was trying to compose myself, and after a few seconds, I said to him -
"Yes, It IS hard sometimes, Hilman, to be a Mom. But, you know what? I wouldn't change it for the world...NOT EVER."
And with that, all the stress and strain that I was feeling throughout the week, just evaporated away as I held his hand in mine throughout the rest of the journey back to SD...
Ibu left a comment on my FB - "What happened to you? Sonyap jo..."
Bella SMSd me yesterday - "...Lama tak nampak u update. I hope all is well..."
And even Ayah has been asking me a few times - "You've not updated your blog?"
Thank you for your concerns, my dear friends and hubby :)
I am fine, syukur alhamdulillah. Just that life (if it wasn't already hectic before) had been MORE hectic in the last few weeks.
For a start, the Uni's new Academic Year started early this month, and we had been busy briefing new students as to what the Department has to offer, etc. Instead of the usual congregation of all the new students at the Faculty's biggest Lecture Hall where all the departments take turns to brief the newbies, this year, due to the H1N1 threat, the freshies were not allowed to go to the main campus, and instead we had to go to all the residential colleges for the briefings. So, you can just imagine giving the same presentation over and over again, but to different sets of students? Aiyoooo...mentally exhausting, I tell you. Even though I was not doing the talk myself, going to the residential colleges, and listening to all the briefings itself was quite draining.
And of course, when class started, yours truly had to organize the tutorial groups, etc. And it didn't help when you've come up with the list of students for each group, and allocated the Tutorial topics for each of them, but, every couple of days, a few would come to you and inform that they either just joined the group, or that they had just dropped the course, and you would have to RE-ORGANIZE and RE-ALLOCATE the Topics all over again. And that went on until end of last week. Thank God, I only have a total of 76 students this Semester...
And the kids were ever so busy with all the activities Tok Nenek under the sun, kan? The last 4-5 weekends had not been true weekends for us because of that. I found myself driving the kids here and there for all their extra lessons and social activities throughout most of the Saturdays and Sundays.
And it didn't help when both Hasya and Hilman fell sick at the end of last week.
It started off with Hilman having a bad cough on Thursday, and I had to bring him to see Dr. Mu*a on Friday. He had to go on the nebulizer, and was prescibed with Tussidex, Prednisolone and of course his 4-hourly Ventolin puffs. Thank God, he was not having any temperature.
Come Sunday morning, his cough was not getting better, and Hasya was starting to have flu-like symptoms, and by Sunday evening her temperature went up to 38.4, and she had started coughing, too!
Monday morning, I had to bring both the kids to see Dr. Mu*a again. Hilman had to go on the nebulizer again, and Hasya was asked to take the 4-hourly Ventolin puffs, too, together with Tussidex cough syrup. She was also given a course of antibiotics (Augmentin), but ONLY to be taken if her fever didn't subside by the third day.
Monday night - her temperature was hovering above 38.4 throughout the night, and I was up almost half of the night, waking up every hour or so, checking on her, and spongeing her down. At one point, her temperature shot up to 39.7! We decided to just start her on the Augmentin and not wait for another 2 days.
I had classes until 6p.m on Tuesday, but, Hasya was keeping me in the loop on her temperature. She would call me every hour to give me an update of the thermometer reading. The Augmentin must have helped, as she recorded temperatures of between 37.3 to 37.6 through the day. BUT, Hilman's cough, on the other hand, was NOT getting better at all. In fact it was getting worse. His cough sounded so hollow and so coarse, and I could just feel how soar his throat was just by listening to his coughs!
Wednesday morning, Hasya's temperature went up to 38.1, and I decided to bring them to see Dr. Mu*a again. That was the third visit within 6 days. Those who are familiar with Dr. Mu*a's clinic would know that every visit would mean that half of your day would be gone. However, Dr. Mu*a, upon seeing us in his waiting room, immediately asked us to go to his room - no need to ikut nombor. He was quite happy with Hasya's progress - even though her temperature had not gone down to the normal level, she was getting better and was advised to just continue with whatever medications she was on.
However, after checking Hilman, he ordered for an X-Ray to be done on him, and lo and behold, it showed that Hilman had a lung infection and he was immediately put on a course of Klacid antibiotics.
Both kids were given MC until today.
So, you guys, the last one week had been quite a stressful time for me. What with the lack of sleep, my Florence Nightingale shifts, the running around, the start of my Lectures and Tutorial classes, and the rest of the unsettled stuff at the office. And it didn't help when I was getting the constant, "Are you going to work today, Mommy?!" or "What time are you coming back today, Mommy", or "Do you HAVE to go to the office today, Mommy?"!, either to my face or through the phone. And I was putting on my remote control mode from the office and kept on calling home to make sure the kids were getting their medications on time, and also to make sure that Dar was in fact giving them the RIGHT medication at the right time. And with them being sick and all, eating out or even tapau-ing food from outside would be a BIG No-No! So, that meant I had been doing the cooking myself for the last week or so, too.
It didn't help that we also had some problems with the piping of our nextdoor neighbour's aircond which led to quite a bad leakage in our Master bedroom and onto the plaster ceiling and wall of our living room. And Ayah had also been pretty busy at work in the last month or so, and have been coming back late most nights. But, being busy at the hospital is good for Ayah nowadays, so, I can't complain, can I?
Anyway, it must have shown on my face - the strain, because, while I was driving the kids home from the hospital that day, Hilman asked me what my schedule was after sending them home. Hasya was, by that time, already asleep on the backseat of the car. And I lined up my plans for the day, and said to him -
"First, I have to go back to the office as I have yet to clock in for the day, and I have to settle a few matters at work. Then, I'll be meeting Ayah for lunch. Then, I would be going back to the office to do some work. Then, I would be fetching Kak Long from school at 5:30p.m. Then, I would be sending Kak Long to Wan's house, where she would get ready for her piano lesson. Then, I would be sending Kak Long to her piano lesson, and I would wait for her to finish. (Hasya and Hilman were supposed to have their piano lessons at the same time, too, but this week they're excused) Then, I would be sending Qa*sa*a (his cousin) back to Wan's house (she also goes for piano lessons at the same place and time as the kids) And THEN only I would be making my way home to SD with Kak Long, and cook dinner for you and your sisters".
I said all that to him without a pause.
And after all that, Hilman looked at me and said,
"Is it hard being a Mom, Mommy?"
And suddenly I felt a lump in my throat, and my eyes were getting blurred by the tears welling up in them when all the built-up strain and stress seemed to be rushing in and hit the core of me in those few moments...
I was trying to compose myself, and after a few seconds, I said to him -
"Yes, It IS hard sometimes, Hilman, to be a Mom. But, you know what? I wouldn't change it for the world...NOT EVER."
And with that, all the stress and strain that I was feeling throughout the week, just evaporated away as I held his hand in mine throughout the rest of the journey back to SD...
Thursday, April 30, 2009
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...
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...
Monday, February 16, 2009
Rest? What rest?!
I'm at home now. Have not been feeling well the last one week or so. I was getting better a couple of days ago, but last night I was getting all the flu symptoms again. I went to see a GP on Friday, and was given some antibiotics and some eardrops. Apparently I had an infection on my right ear - quite common after a bout of flu, so I was told.
Anyway, as I'm bringing my Abah to see Ayah's ENT specialist friend today, I might as well get him to check my ear, too. It's not a nice feeling - being sick/not sick/sick over the last one week. I have brought back some work with me on Friday, so, I guess I can just while away the time this morning going through them. Abah's appointment is at 3:00p.m, so I have worked out my schedule for this afternoon -
12:15p.m - Go to Ba* Fa*t to get some Manila cards for Hilman's Seni Visual class before sending him to school.
1:00p.m - Fetch Hasya from school, and send her home to SD
2:00p.m - Fetch Abah from Ko*a Dsara
3:00p.m - At the clinic
5:00p.m - Fetch Hanna from school, send Abah home.
6:20p.m - Fetch Hilman from school.
7:15p.m - If I'm lucky, should reach home by this time.
So much of getting some rest at home, huh?
Anyway, as I'm bringing my Abah to see Ayah's ENT specialist friend today, I might as well get him to check my ear, too. It's not a nice feeling - being sick/not sick/sick over the last one week. I have brought back some work with me on Friday, so, I guess I can just while away the time this morning going through them. Abah's appointment is at 3:00p.m, so I have worked out my schedule for this afternoon -
12:15p.m - Go to Ba* Fa*t to get some Manila cards for Hilman's Seni Visual class before sending him to school.
1:00p.m - Fetch Hasya from school, and send her home to SD
2:00p.m - Fetch Abah from Ko*a Dsara
3:00p.m - At the clinic
5:00p.m - Fetch Hanna from school, send Abah home.
6:20p.m - Fetch Hilman from school.
7:15p.m - If I'm lucky, should reach home by this time.
So much of getting some rest at home, huh?
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Lonely Saturday...
It's 9:03a.m, and I'm veggie-ing out on the bed, under the duvet. Voon's worker is finishing up with the paintwork on the roof-garden walls upstairs, and it's pretty quiet around the house this morning, except for the sound of the air-cond softly purring itself away.
Ayah has gone off to work - straight after sending Hanna and Hasya to school this morning. They have replacement school today. Hilman will also be going to school this afternoon. As I'm writing this, he's still asleep in his room. Went to check on him just now - he looked so gebu and so peaceful in his sleep! Tak sampai hati nak wake him up. Peluk dia tadi, and he still smells like a baby laaah! I'll be sending him to school around 12:30p.m, fetch Hasya at 1:00p.m and then go to Sr* Am*n to fetch Hanna pulak.
Even though it's a school day today, I let Hilman and Hasya play with their PSP and Nintendo and watch DVDs till quite late last night because their punishment was supposed to end yesterday. Kesian la pulak - dah 2 minggu they had been deprived of all these gadgets "fix". As for Hanna, right after we reached home from my MIL's at 7:30p.m, lepas solat Maghrib ajer, terus terkam her laptop! And I had to call her to come down to have her dinner several times last night! Nasib baik steam did not come out of my ears... Truth be told, I'm not even sure what time they went to bed last night! But, both Hanna and Hasya didn't have any problem getting up this morning. So, that's okay.
Due to their replacement school day today for their extended CNY break later this month (and I think a lot of other schools are also having it today), their Chess Class and swimming lessons have been cancelled for today. But, Hanna and Hasya are having their piano theory trial exams this afernoon, from 1:30p.m until 3:00p.m. And Hilman will only finish school at 5:50p.m today.
Ayah will be going to hi-tea with his STANDARD 5 friends from SSP this afternoon (buleh?!) which I'm sure will continue until quite late, and he'll be fetching Hilman from school straight after that.
Hanna pulak will be going to her friend's birthday do in TTDI after Maghrib and we'll only be fetching her home after 11:00p.m.
So basically - there goes my "time-with-the-whole-family" Saturday :(
But, I can see some potential "windows" for some shopping today (which most probably might end up being a window-shopping trip anyway :)). I might be able to squeeze 1 hour or so to go to the new shopping mall in PJ - Tropicana City, while waiting for the girls to finish their theory trial exams, AND after fetching them, boleh singgah One-U on our way home to continue with some more shopping...
Nice...
Excellent :)
Ayah has gone off to work - straight after sending Hanna and Hasya to school this morning. They have replacement school today. Hilman will also be going to school this afternoon. As I'm writing this, he's still asleep in his room. Went to check on him just now - he looked so gebu and so peaceful in his sleep! Tak sampai hati nak wake him up. Peluk dia tadi, and he still smells like a baby laaah! I'll be sending him to school around 12:30p.m, fetch Hasya at 1:00p.m and then go to Sr* Am*n to fetch Hanna pulak.
Even though it's a school day today, I let Hilman and Hasya play with their PSP and Nintendo and watch DVDs till quite late last night because their punishment was supposed to end yesterday. Kesian la pulak - dah 2 minggu they had been deprived of all these gadgets "fix". As for Hanna, right after we reached home from my MIL's at 7:30p.m, lepas solat Maghrib ajer, terus terkam her laptop! And I had to call her to come down to have her dinner several times last night! Nasib baik steam did not come out of my ears... Truth be told, I'm not even sure what time they went to bed last night! But, both Hanna and Hasya didn't have any problem getting up this morning. So, that's okay.
Due to their replacement school day today for their extended CNY break later this month (and I think a lot of other schools are also having it today), their Chess Class and swimming lessons have been cancelled for today. But, Hanna and Hasya are having their piano theory trial exams this afernoon, from 1:30p.m until 3:00p.m. And Hilman will only finish school at 5:50p.m today.
Ayah will be going to hi-tea with his STANDARD 5 friends from SSP this afternoon (buleh?!) which I'm sure will continue until quite late, and he'll be fetching Hilman from school straight after that.
Hanna pulak will be going to her friend's birthday do in TTDI after Maghrib and we'll only be fetching her home after 11:00p.m.
So basically - there goes my "time-with-the-whole-family" Saturday :(
But, I can see some potential "windows" for some shopping today (which most probably might end up being a window-shopping trip anyway :)). I might be able to squeeze 1 hour or so to go to the new shopping mall in PJ - Tropicana City, while waiting for the girls to finish their theory trial exams, AND after fetching them, boleh singgah One-U on our way home to continue with some more shopping...
Nice...
Excellent :)
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
16 random facts about wanshana...
I've been tagged by Hanna. Has been since Sunday. And she has been pestering me to get on with it. Since Sunday.
So, here I am doing the tag. On Wednesday. Sorry, dear. Mommy have been pretty tied up with stuff.
Directions: Once you’ve been tagged, you have to write a blog/Facebook note with 16 random things, facts, habits or goals about you. At the end choose 16 people to be tagged, listing their names and why you chose them. Don’t forget to leave them a comment or tag them in your note to read this.
Here goes -
1. I am a hoarder. I just spent the last one week clearing the top-floor room and threw away/gave away/hoard again some of the stuff which I had been hoarding in our top-floor bedroom (which has been serving as a store-room all these years). I swear everything amounted to nearly 10 tonnes (8 tonnes of which, I decided to hoard again. Just in case.)
2. I'm a furniture-shifter. Yup. That kind. The kind who arranges and re-arranges the furniture in the house (and the office) every 2 months or so (like I have all the time in the world, kan?) But, being a pro at shifting stuff, I only need 1-2 hours to get everything re-done. Sometimes, after everything had been shifted, I realized that it was back to square one. Hampehh...
3. I had my first grey hair/uban at the age of 11. Some say it was because I have such a long name and diri tak larat nak bawak the name. Strange, because all my siblings and cousins on my Abah's side have very long names, too. Some even longer than mine. Hitam berkilat ajer their hair, even until now (or maybe they started dyeing their hair since they were 10 without me knowing it? Hmmmm...?) Anyway, another explanation for the white hair - simple (and more logical) - I'm a genius.
4. I've NEVER done facials all my life. Not even once. Okay, maybe once - a week before my akad nikah way back in 1994. Itupun sebab it came with the Mak Andam package from Su*er* Ji*gg*.
5. I've been using this particular brand of facial and skin care since I was 19. And I'm now 40. Very loyal I tell you. Must ask for "LOyalty" payment (if I cannot get "ROyalty" payment) from them.
6. I only weigh myself when I have my contact lenses on, fearing that the weight of my Bu*be*ry glasses would add on the unwelcomed grammes to the reading. I know. Pathetic.
7. I cook mean Lamb Chops, Chicken Rice, Szechuan Chicken (or my kids call it "Ayam Hotel"), Briayani, Ayam Halia, Mee Rebus, Laksa Asam and Char Kuey Teow (according to my kids and Ayah lah kan? Coz' they have no choice but to eat my cooking!) That brings us to the next -
8. I only allow Dar (our helper) to prepare/cook breakfast (coz' I malas nak bangun too early in the morning!). The rest of the meals for the family, I cook myself.
9. I can only drive wearing Cl*rks slippers/springers. Only lately, I started to also drive wearing my Hu*h Pu*pi*s. Wearing other shoes makes me feel like I'm still holding the "L" licence. Don't ask me why.
10. I love listening to the songs my kids listen to when I'm driving. I have no choice really. Those songs are the only songs I have the chance to listen to in the car because the kids will be with me MOST of the times when I'm driving.
11. And when I DO have the time alone in the car, I would be listening to all the Indonesian bands - Ungu, Dewa, Letto, Nidji, Samson, etc. Malaysian singers - errrr, ada ke Malaysian singers worth listening to? If ada, please let me know, and I'll try to start listening to them, too. Thank you.
12. I think Daniel Craig is HOT (but, errr...then again, I think Ayah is hot, too! So how? ;))
13. I don't know how to swim. And I don't think I'll ever learn how to. Hydro-phobic giler...A few times when we went snorkelling on family holidays, I was holding to the boat the WHOLE time, okay? Baik tak payah ikut gi snorkelling, kan?!
14. I love going to Karaoke with my MT and their spouses. But, I don't sing. I mime. I don't feel guilty for not making a fool of myself croaking at Re* Bo*. I leave that to my MT friends... HAHAHAHA! But, seriously, my MT friends are all really good singers. That's the only thing we don't have in common :). Anyway, my lacking in the singing department is overly compensated by Ayah's excellent singing "prowesses". When he belts out all the Bee Gees numbers, aiiyyyoooooo! cannot tahaaaannnn...
15. When I'm angry, I keep VERY quiet. When I'm VERY angry, then you'll start hearing all the bangings of the drawers, cupboard doors and pintu-pintu yang sewaktu dengannya. I'm quite a quiet person. Must live up to the reputation. So, I just let all the pintus do the talking :)
16. I've been described as a very 'sopan-santun' person...(HAHAHAHA!!! And I tergelak besar whenever I hear this!) Hmmmmm....must start living up to people's expectation macam ni. Tomorrow I'm enrolling myself into Kelas Perempuan Melayu Terakhir.
So, there - 16 random facts about Wanshana.
I now tag all the lovely Makcik Bloggers who attended the Sure Heboh High-Tea at Concorde that day because hari tu tak sempat betul-betul get to know each other.
My 16 taggees are as follows -
1. MrsNordin
2. Madam Tai Tai
3. Kak Ezza
4. Zaitgha
5. MsHart
6. Superwomanwannabe
7. Ummi365
8. The Principal
9. Kay
10. Tireless Mom
11. Busybody
12. Bella
13. and of course - IBU! :)
I cannot just stop at 13 or even 16, so, I'm also tagging those who were not able to be there with us that day but were on our minds throughout the gathering -
14. Waterlily
15. Myheartbleeds
16. Jabishah
17. Ja
18. Kak Teh
19. Mak Andeh
Can aaaarrrr??! Hope you guys will oblige, please, please, pretty please?
And this is a good enough reason for Busybody and Bella to start their own blogs, non?!
Cheers! And thank you :)
So, here I am doing the tag. On Wednesday. Sorry, dear. Mommy have been pretty tied up with stuff.
Directions: Once you’ve been tagged, you have to write a blog/Facebook note with 16 random things, facts, habits or goals about you. At the end choose 16 people to be tagged, listing their names and why you chose them. Don’t forget to leave them a comment or tag them in your note to read this.
Here goes -
1. I am a hoarder. I just spent the last one week clearing the top-floor room and threw away/gave away/hoard again some of the stuff which I had been hoarding in our top-floor bedroom (which has been serving as a store-room all these years). I swear everything amounted to nearly 10 tonnes (8 tonnes of which, I decided to hoard again. Just in case.)
2. I'm a furniture-shifter. Yup. That kind. The kind who arranges and re-arranges the furniture in the house (and the office) every 2 months or so (like I have all the time in the world, kan?) But, being a pro at shifting stuff, I only need 1-2 hours to get everything re-done. Sometimes, after everything had been shifted, I realized that it was back to square one. Hampehh...
3. I had my first grey hair/uban at the age of 11. Some say it was because I have such a long name and diri tak larat nak bawak the name. Strange, because all my siblings and cousins on my Abah's side have very long names, too. Some even longer than mine. Hitam berkilat ajer their hair, even until now (or maybe they started dyeing their hair since they were 10 without me knowing it? Hmmmm...?) Anyway, another explanation for the white hair - simple (and more logical) - I'm a genius.
4. I've NEVER done facials all my life. Not even once. Okay, maybe once - a week before my akad nikah way back in 1994. Itupun sebab it came with the Mak Andam package from Su*er* Ji*gg*.
5. I've been using this particular brand of facial and skin care since I was 19. And I'm now 40. Very loyal I tell you. Must ask for "LOyalty" payment (if I cannot get "ROyalty" payment) from them.
6. I only weigh myself when I have my contact lenses on, fearing that the weight of my Bu*be*ry glasses would add on the unwelcomed grammes to the reading. I know. Pathetic.
7. I cook mean Lamb Chops, Chicken Rice, Szechuan Chicken (or my kids call it "Ayam Hotel"), Briayani, Ayam Halia, Mee Rebus, Laksa Asam and Char Kuey Teow (according to my kids and Ayah lah kan? Coz' they have no choice but to eat my cooking!) That brings us to the next -
8. I only allow Dar (our helper) to prepare/cook breakfast (coz' I malas nak bangun too early in the morning!). The rest of the meals for the family, I cook myself.
9. I can only drive wearing Cl*rks slippers/springers. Only lately, I started to also drive wearing my Hu*h Pu*pi*s. Wearing other shoes makes me feel like I'm still holding the "L" licence. Don't ask me why.
10. I love listening to the songs my kids listen to when I'm driving. I have no choice really. Those songs are the only songs I have the chance to listen to in the car because the kids will be with me MOST of the times when I'm driving.
11. And when I DO have the time alone in the car, I would be listening to all the Indonesian bands - Ungu, Dewa, Letto, Nidji, Samson, etc. Malaysian singers - errrr, ada ke Malaysian singers worth listening to? If ada, please let me know, and I'll try to start listening to them, too. Thank you.
12. I think Daniel Craig is HOT (but, errr...then again, I think Ayah is hot, too! So how? ;))
13. I don't know how to swim. And I don't think I'll ever learn how to. Hydro-phobic giler...A few times when we went snorkelling on family holidays, I was holding to the boat the WHOLE time, okay? Baik tak payah ikut gi snorkelling, kan?!
14. I love going to Karaoke with my MT and their spouses. But, I don't sing. I mime. I don't feel guilty for not making a fool of myself croaking at Re* Bo*. I leave that to my MT friends... HAHAHAHA! But, seriously, my MT friends are all really good singers. That's the only thing we don't have in common :). Anyway, my lacking in the singing department is overly compensated by Ayah's excellent singing "prowesses". When he belts out all the Bee Gees numbers, aiiyyyoooooo! cannot tahaaaannnn...
15. When I'm angry, I keep VERY quiet. When I'm VERY angry, then you'll start hearing all the bangings of the drawers, cupboard doors and pintu-pintu yang sewaktu dengannya. I'm quite a quiet person. Must live up to the reputation. So, I just let all the pintus do the talking :)
16. I've been described as a very 'sopan-santun' person...(HAHAHAHA!!! And I tergelak besar whenever I hear this!) Hmmmmm....must start living up to people's expectation macam ni. Tomorrow I'm enrolling myself into Kelas Perempuan Melayu Terakhir.
So, there - 16 random facts about Wanshana.
I now tag all the lovely Makcik Bloggers who attended the Sure Heboh High-Tea at Concorde that day because hari tu tak sempat betul-betul get to know each other.
My 16 taggees are as follows -
1. MrsNordin
2. Madam Tai Tai
3. Kak Ezza
4. Zaitgha
5. MsHart
6. Superwomanwannabe
7. Ummi365
8. The Principal
9. Kay
10. Tireless Mom
11. Busybody
12. Bella
13. and of course - IBU! :)
I cannot just stop at 13 or even 16, so, I'm also tagging those who were not able to be there with us that day but were on our minds throughout the gathering -
14. Waterlily
15. Myheartbleeds
16. Jabishah
17. Ja
18. Kak Teh
19. Mak Andeh
Can aaaarrrr??! Hope you guys will oblige, please, please, pretty please?
And this is a good enough reason for Busybody and Bella to start their own blogs, non?!
Cheers! And thank you :)
Thursday, October 30, 2008
If I were up against Brangelina...
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! :)
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! :)
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 :)
Friday, February 22, 2008
In between...
Have you all been in a situation whereby -
You feel like you have a fever, but you don't?
One second you have blocked nose, and the next thing you know, your nose is so clear (in fact, TOO clear!) that it becomes too painful to even take a deep breath in?! The air just goes right up to your brain?!
And your head feels pretty heavy and 'clogged' like when you have sinusitis?
And you have runny nose, and a lot of "near-sneezes" which frustrate the hell out of you?!
And this goes on for 4-5 days, and no amount of Beechams, Actifed or Redoxon Vit C could clear your head?
But, NO fever whatsoever...
And you tell yourself, "Kalau macam ni, baik demam betul-betul..."
Sigh...
(Mior, if you're reading this - I think I'm having your "Head Cold", minus the fever... and Ibu, I'm having your AAAAAaaahhhh CCCHHhhhoooooos now. It's definitely in the air...)
You feel like you have a fever, but you don't?
One second you have blocked nose, and the next thing you know, your nose is so clear (in fact, TOO clear!) that it becomes too painful to even take a deep breath in?! The air just goes right up to your brain?!
And your head feels pretty heavy and 'clogged' like when you have sinusitis?
And you have runny nose, and a lot of "near-sneezes" which frustrate the hell out of you?!
And this goes on for 4-5 days, and no amount of Beechams, Actifed or Redoxon Vit C could clear your head?
But, NO fever whatsoever...
And you tell yourself, "Kalau macam ni, baik demam betul-betul..."
Sigh...
(Mior, if you're reading this - I think I'm having your "Head Cold", minus the fever... and Ibu, I'm having your AAAAAaaahhhh CCCHHhhhoooooos now. It's definitely in the air...)
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
I am worryingly weird...
This entry may be a wee bit late (which is an understatement!), but, hey - as they say, "better late than never", eh?
I was on my lunch break and was just blog-hopping and reading through some old postings by Ibu in her blog when I stumbled upon her "Weird Factors About Ibu At Last" which was posted in March this year which was actually in response to a tag. Ibu tagged me for that, and I promised her that I would work on it after I figured out how to create the links, etc (masa tu masih berhingus meleleh-leleh lagi in blogosphere daaaa...Eeeeewwwww!!!!) I was supposed to post an entry listing 6 weird facts about myself, and I was supposed to tag 6 others to do the same.
Due to the never-ending commitments in Newcastle and problems faced with configuring my (then Friendster's) blog, the whole thing just fell through the cracks, and I totally forgot about it....until today! (Selamat Hari Raya, Ibu.... Maaf Zahir Batin. Mintak Ampun! :D)
So, I thought I would just do it today, just to settle my debt with Ibu. However, I will not be tagging anybody because this is soooooooooo yesterday! This is just for the fun of it - and also, in a way for people to know that under this cool and composed image (that I have succesfully projected so as to fool you poor guys out there - HAHAHAHAHA!) there are some facts about me which are worryingly weird...
Weird Fact No. 1
I am a "Furniture RE-arranger".
I would rearrange the furnitures around the house (and in my office) once a month. And I'm not talking about just moving the tables and chairs, okay? I would move the beds, all the cabinets, the sofas, the dining table, the kitchen table, etc - in short - EVERYTHING! And when this "angin" comes, I would do the WHOLE house!
AND I do all these ON MY OWN - without Ayah having to move a single muscle. Not because he did/does not want to help, but because I would normally do the make-overs when he was/is not around.
(FYI, a few times he did not even notice the changes until I hinted it out to him a couple of days after that?! This happened EVEN when there was a MAJOR make-over that took place, okay?! Eherks!)
Weird Fact No. 2
I never weigh myself when I have my spectacles on.
Hmmmm.... I hear some of you saying that it's because I don't want to see the reading?!
Errrr...Hellllooooo!!! If I don't want to know how much I weigh, why do I go on the weighing scale in the first place?!! Duuuuhhhh...
Tsk...tsk...tsk....The reason WHY I don't wear my spectacles when I weigh myself is simple - so that the weight of my spectacles will not add on to the reading of my weight! So, I only weigh myself when I have my contact lenses on laaaa.... HAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Weird Fact No. 3
Still on the subject of weighing myself.
I would weigh myself a few times over a minute or so, at DIFFERENT spots in the room - hoping that at certain spots, the reading would be lower.... HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Weird Fact No. 4
I can only drive if I wear my Clarks Springers slippers. ( That reminds me, they are in such a sorry state now! Have to make note to self to go and get a new pair!)
I have tried driving with other shoes, and I have also tried driving bare foot - I totally lost confidence in my own driving when I was not wearing my Clarks Springers slippers!
I would only change to the appropriate shoes once I reach my destination. So, if you happen to be sitting at the front passenger seat, please do excuse the 4 pairs of shoes on the floor of the car, okay? I have two pairs of working shoes, one pair of casual sandals, and one pair of trainers down there.
Weird Fact No. 5
Contrary to a lot of peoples' beliefs and perception of me being a very expressive/verbal person, I don't really like to talk, at least when I'm at work. 9 out of 10 times, I would eat alone during lunch time. Due to my flexi hours, I would normally go down for lunch around 3:00pm when most of the people around me have finished tucking in their lunch, and they would only be going down to the cafeteria again for tea after 4:00pm.
Simple - nobody to eat with, SO, nobody to talk to, SO, no need to indulge in gossips, AND no need to rub shoulders with two-faced individuals or backstabbers who would be bad-mouthing others in front of you.... SO, kurang dosa.... Insya Allah...
Weird Fact No. 6
If I'm waiting for my turn to read the newspapers, I, for the life of me, CANNOT do anything else in the mean time!
If somebody is reading a newspaper, and I'm waiting for my turn to read it, I can just WAIT for my turn WITHOUT engaging myself in other fruitful activities while waiting!!! I can't even go to the kitchen and make myself a cuppa tea while waiting!
I can just wait by the side and do nothing... (errrr....besides staring into space, that is!) unless there is another newspaper which I can read in the mean time.
And this only happens when I'm waiting for my turn to read the newspapers. Not other things.
Weird, or what??!!!
So, there you have it - 6 worryingly weird things about me.
I am, after all, only human... ;) (Sorry to have disappointed some of you... HAHAHAHAHA!)
Cheers, and Wassalam...
P/S : So, Ibu, ZERO-ZERO, eh?! Hutang sudah langsai...
I was on my lunch break and was just blog-hopping and reading through some old postings by Ibu in her blog when I stumbled upon her "Weird Factors About Ibu At Last" which was posted in March this year which was actually in response to a tag. Ibu tagged me for that, and I promised her that I would work on it after I figured out how to create the links, etc (masa tu masih berhingus meleleh-leleh lagi in blogosphere daaaa...Eeeeewwwww!!!!) I was supposed to post an entry listing 6 weird facts about myself, and I was supposed to tag 6 others to do the same.
Due to the never-ending commitments in Newcastle and problems faced with configuring my (then Friendster's) blog, the whole thing just fell through the cracks, and I totally forgot about it....until today! (Selamat Hari Raya, Ibu.... Maaf Zahir Batin. Mintak Ampun! :D)
So, I thought I would just do it today, just to settle my debt with Ibu. However, I will not be tagging anybody because this is soooooooooo yesterday! This is just for the fun of it - and also, in a way for people to know that under this cool and composed image (that I have succesfully projected so as to fool you poor guys out there - HAHAHAHAHA!) there are some facts about me which are worryingly weird...
Weird Fact No. 1
I am a "Furniture RE-arranger".
I would rearrange the furnitures around the house (and in my office) once a month. And I'm not talking about just moving the tables and chairs, okay? I would move the beds, all the cabinets, the sofas, the dining table, the kitchen table, etc - in short - EVERYTHING! And when this "angin" comes, I would do the WHOLE house!
AND I do all these ON MY OWN - without Ayah having to move a single muscle. Not because he did/does not want to help, but because I would normally do the make-overs when he was/is not around.
(FYI, a few times he did not even notice the changes until I hinted it out to him a couple of days after that?! This happened EVEN when there was a MAJOR make-over that took place, okay?! Eherks!)
Weird Fact No. 2
I never weigh myself when I have my spectacles on.
Hmmmm.... I hear some of you saying that it's because I don't want to see the reading?!
Errrr...Hellllooooo!!! If I don't want to know how much I weigh, why do I go on the weighing scale in the first place?!! Duuuuhhhh...
Tsk...tsk...tsk....The reason WHY I don't wear my spectacles when I weigh myself is simple - so that the weight of my spectacles will not add on to the reading of my weight! So, I only weigh myself when I have my contact lenses on laaaa.... HAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Weird Fact No. 3
Still on the subject of weighing myself.
I would weigh myself a few times over a minute or so, at DIFFERENT spots in the room - hoping that at certain spots, the reading would be lower.... HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Weird Fact No. 4
I can only drive if I wear my Clarks Springers slippers. ( That reminds me, they are in such a sorry state now! Have to make note to self to go and get a new pair!)
I have tried driving with other shoes, and I have also tried driving bare foot - I totally lost confidence in my own driving when I was not wearing my Clarks Springers slippers!
I would only change to the appropriate shoes once I reach my destination. So, if you happen to be sitting at the front passenger seat, please do excuse the 4 pairs of shoes on the floor of the car, okay? I have two pairs of working shoes, one pair of casual sandals, and one pair of trainers down there.
Weird Fact No. 5
Contrary to a lot of peoples' beliefs and perception of me being a very expressive/verbal person, I don't really like to talk, at least when I'm at work. 9 out of 10 times, I would eat alone during lunch time. Due to my flexi hours, I would normally go down for lunch around 3:00pm when most of the people around me have finished tucking in their lunch, and they would only be going down to the cafeteria again for tea after 4:00pm.
Simple - nobody to eat with, SO, nobody to talk to, SO, no need to indulge in gossips, AND no need to rub shoulders with two-faced individuals or backstabbers who would be bad-mouthing others in front of you.... SO, kurang dosa.... Insya Allah...
Weird Fact No. 6
If I'm waiting for my turn to read the newspapers, I, for the life of me, CANNOT do anything else in the mean time!
If somebody is reading a newspaper, and I'm waiting for my turn to read it, I can just WAIT for my turn WITHOUT engaging myself in other fruitful activities while waiting!!! I can't even go to the kitchen and make myself a cuppa tea while waiting!
I can just wait by the side and do nothing... (errrr....besides staring into space, that is!) unless there is another newspaper which I can read in the mean time.
And this only happens when I'm waiting for my turn to read the newspapers. Not other things.
Weird, or what??!!!
So, there you have it - 6 worryingly weird things about me.
I am, after all, only human... ;) (Sorry to have disappointed some of you... HAHAHAHAHA!)
Cheers, and Wassalam...
P/S : So, Ibu, ZERO-ZERO, eh?! Hutang sudah langsai...
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Tagged - for a worthy cause...
I first got tagged for this worthy meme about two weeks ago by Mamamia , and again yesterday by Nuraina Samad (K.Ena) - and I said to myself, "Hmmmm....I'd better work on it soon before somebody else tags me to do the same tag! It IS a tag with a very noble cause, and it would look bad (on me!) if I don't do it soon! (In case you guys didn't know, my middle name is "Procrastinate", by the way). Hehehe... Thank you Mamamia and K.Ena for including me as one of the taggees in this wonderful tag.
This tag was initiated by Idham who has pledged RM127 for every blogger tagged up until August 26 - his birthday, and he was aiming to get at least 100 taggees by then. The money would be given to the Darul Izzah Orphanage in Bangi. The date has however been brought forward to the end of July 2007 (as the planned visit to the Orphanage has been rescheduled to 11th August 2007 on the request of the trustees to the beneficiary), and I visited Idham's blog today and by the look of things, the number of taggees has way exceeded the original target! Syabas Saudara Idham. Semoga usaha mulia saudara diberkati Allah swt, insya Allah. Aamin.
This tag was initiated by Idham who has pledged RM127 for every blogger tagged up until August 26 - his birthday, and he was aiming to get at least 100 taggees by then. The money would be given to the Darul Izzah Orphanage in Bangi. The date has however been brought forward to the end of July 2007 (as the planned visit to the Orphanage has been rescheduled to 11th August 2007 on the request of the trustees to the beneficiary), and I visited Idham's blog today and by the look of things, the number of taggees has way exceeded the original target! Syabas Saudara Idham. Semoga usaha mulia saudara diberkati Allah swt, insya Allah. Aamin.
So, the rules of the tag are as follows -
All taggees have to do is to complete at least 17 of the 27 sentences below and then tag as many people as you wish by leaving a comment in their blogs about the tag, and also tell Idham about it.
So here goes - the ins and outs of me, myself and I. These are what I think, feel and hope - for everybody to read. Feels like I'm being stripped bare here, but it IS for charity...
1. A person is only as good as ...his conscience.
2. Friendship is always ... about feeling comfortable even if you are in your tattered pyjamas.
3. To love is to ... make the one(s) you love happier than you are.
4. Money makes me ... think of those who are less privileged, and thank Allah swt for His rizq.
5. I miss ... being a Size 10!
6. My way of saying I care is by ... being there with my loved ones.
7. I try to spread love and happiness by... loving and being happy with my life.
8. Pick the flowers when ... you need colours to brighten up someone's life.
9. To love someone is to ... accept him unconditionally as he is.
10. Beauty is ... what is in your heart.
11. When I was thirteen, what I remember the most was ... starting life at a boarding school.
12. When I was twenty one, I remember...being very much in love.
13. I am most happy when ... I don't have anything to distract me away from my family.
14. Nothing makes me happier than ... seeing my kids happy.
15. If I can change one thing, I will change ... the way wealth is distributed around the world.
16. If smiles were ...money...then...all the smiley and happy people (and those whom they smile to!) will be filthy rich!
17. Wouldn't it be nice if we could ... make everybody happy with his/her life.
18. If you want to ....lose weight... then you have to ....do it yourself, for yourself!
19. Money is not everything but ... it sure goes a long way to ease a lot of worries.
20. The most touching moment I have experienced was ... the moment Ayah lafaz the akad nikah and I became his lawfully wedded wife.
21. I smile when ... I think of all the cute and frank remarks made by my kids.
22. When I am happy, I ... laugh a lot!
23. If only I don't have to ....work.. then...I can spend more time with my kids.
24. The best thing I did yesterday was ... successfully performed the last day of my 7-day Puasa Nazar. Syukur alhamdulillah...
25. If I ever write a book, I will give it this title ..."The Life That Was, Is and Will Be", or "Very Married, with Kids".
26. One thing I must do before I die is ... see all my kids get married and have their own family. (Errrr...that's more than "one" thing!)
27. Doing this meme, I feel like ... I'm liberated!
THERE!
Friday, April 6, 2007
Between Mrs. M and Mrs. P...
I am a phlegmatic melancholic person by nature. Melancholic - because I find joy and satisfaction in making lists AND schedules. And normally if something does not happen according to plan, I would just abandon the whole idea altogether, because to me a plan must be carried out to the letter, failing which, I might as well forget about the whole thing! (My phlegmatic pull has something to do with this, I think?!)
So, the melancholic part of me felt that I had to come up with a new timetable today because the old timetable has somewhat lost its relevance : I have not really been sticking to it as I should have. This was NOT just due to foreseen and unforeseen circumstances, but, also because the Phlegmatic part of me has taken over my whole being, and it has taken my Melancholic trait hostage! And as this ‘hostage drama’ unfolded itself in the last few weeks, Mrs. Phlegmatic (hereinafter referred to as “Mrs. P”) has been quite victorious : and I have been procrastinating on stuff which should have been done ages ago!!! Mrs. P kept on saying, ‘Just take it easy, take your time…It’ll be alright at the end of the day….’
HOWEVER, the glorious spring weather that we had today in Newcastle upon Tyne somehow jolted and woke Mrs. Melancholic (hereinafter referred to as “Mrs. M”) up, and I realized that I REALLY have to buck up because the longer daytime that we are having now means that Summer is just around the corner AND I have to tie all the loose ends in my thesis before the University breaks for Summer Vacation! Panic! Panic!
But, instead of coming up with a comprehensive hourly schedule which Mrs. M in me would have loved, a compromise was reached between Mrs. M and Mrs. P, and yours truly came up with a rather flexible timetable (to make sure that Mrs. M does not freak out in the crucial months ahead if Mrs. P decides to take the upper hand again!)
So, roughly – under the new regime, my day would start at 6:00a.m (or earlier, depending on when waktu Suboh ends nearing Summer) and ends at 12:00 midnight. I start my timetable with the word “UP”, and ends it with “Zzzzzzzzzz”. And in between, I have my SLOG, coffee, BLOG, Lunch, SLOG again, Tea, SLOG yet again, Dinner, BLOG and a final round of SLOG, before I hit the LOG with “Zzzzzzzzz”. (And I came to realize while drawing up the timetable that Blogging time is rather crucial to me as it would be the only thing that will keep me sane over the next couple of months here – hence, two daily slots for it! Hip Hip Hurrah!!!)
Mrs. M is quite pleased with the new timetable, and to make sure that Mrs. P is also happy with it, Yours Truly have decided to only follow it….starting….tomorrow. (Hey, I need to make sure everybody is happy, right?!)
So, to all of you out there who are drifting away because there is a conflict between the “more sensible you” and “the more impossible you”, wherever you are…maybe you need to do as I did – decide what you need to do, and try to reach an acceptable and reasonable compromise between the two. Insya Allah, it WILL be alright at the end of the day. All the best to ALL of us, eh?
Wassalam…
So, the melancholic part of me felt that I had to come up with a new timetable today because the old timetable has somewhat lost its relevance : I have not really been sticking to it as I should have. This was NOT just due to foreseen and unforeseen circumstances, but, also because the Phlegmatic part of me has taken over my whole being, and it has taken my Melancholic trait hostage! And as this ‘hostage drama’ unfolded itself in the last few weeks, Mrs. Phlegmatic (hereinafter referred to as “Mrs. P”) has been quite victorious : and I have been procrastinating on stuff which should have been done ages ago!!! Mrs. P kept on saying, ‘Just take it easy, take your time…It’ll be alright at the end of the day….’
HOWEVER, the glorious spring weather that we had today in Newcastle upon Tyne somehow jolted and woke Mrs. Melancholic (hereinafter referred to as “Mrs. M”) up, and I realized that I REALLY have to buck up because the longer daytime that we are having now means that Summer is just around the corner AND I have to tie all the loose ends in my thesis before the University breaks for Summer Vacation! Panic! Panic!
But, instead of coming up with a comprehensive hourly schedule which Mrs. M in me would have loved, a compromise was reached between Mrs. M and Mrs. P, and yours truly came up with a rather flexible timetable (to make sure that Mrs. M does not freak out in the crucial months ahead if Mrs. P decides to take the upper hand again!)
So, roughly – under the new regime, my day would start at 6:00a.m (or earlier, depending on when waktu Suboh ends nearing Summer) and ends at 12:00 midnight. I start my timetable with the word “UP”, and ends it with “Zzzzzzzzzz”. And in between, I have my SLOG, coffee, BLOG, Lunch, SLOG again, Tea, SLOG yet again, Dinner, BLOG and a final round of SLOG, before I hit the LOG with “Zzzzzzzzz”. (And I came to realize while drawing up the timetable that Blogging time is rather crucial to me as it would be the only thing that will keep me sane over the next couple of months here – hence, two daily slots for it! Hip Hip Hurrah!!!)
Mrs. M is quite pleased with the new timetable, and to make sure that Mrs. P is also happy with it, Yours Truly have decided to only follow it….starting….tomorrow. (Hey, I need to make sure everybody is happy, right?!)
So, to all of you out there who are drifting away because there is a conflict between the “more sensible you” and “the more impossible you”, wherever you are…maybe you need to do as I did – decide what you need to do, and try to reach an acceptable and reasonable compromise between the two. Insya Allah, it WILL be alright at the end of the day. All the best to ALL of us, eh?
Wassalam…
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Truly, Madly, Deeply....
Thoughts recorded on February 08, 2007...
I was at the library for 4 solid hours today - quite remarkable for my standard! But, by the end of the 4 hours my brain was so saturated and it felt like it was going to explode...and I asked myself, "What am I doing here - asserting mental pain and anguish onto myself, being so far away from my hubby and kids for this PhD 'thingy'?!" (Yep! Sometimes it is reduced to just being a 'thingy' for me, especially when I'm really down and stuck with 'i-don't-even-know what' in my research and writing...)
Frankly speaking, I don't really know why I'm doing this 'thingy'. I am not an ambitious person, never was. When I did my first degree, it was somewhat expected of everyone anyway...
When I was pursuing my Bar Degree, it was simply because my boyfriend (who is now my legally-wedded husband - your Ayah) had 2 more years in the UK before getting his MBBS - and I did not want to go back to Malaysia and be so far away from him for 2 years! So, basically, the reason for me to do my Bar was to buy time - 1 full year of it! After getting my Bar, I was called back home by my sponsors, and Ayah and I had to part at the end of 1992. It was really tough, but, we survived our long-distance relationship...
We got married in September 1994 when Ayah literally came back from the UK for just over 2 weeks to say "I do", and off he went back again, and I stayed on in Malaysia because of our career commitments. It was really tough being in a long-distance relationship, especially when you are husband and wife, but Ayah managed to come back every now and then..., but, we survived that, too...
When I discovered I was pregnant with you, Hanna, I didn't have to think at all when I quit my job as a lawyer (Yep! Sounds like "Wow!", but it was just a job, like any other jobs out there), and I joined Ayah in the UK.
When Arwah Tok Andak offered if I wanted to do my Masters under a University's scholarship he was affiliated to in 1996, I said to myself, "Why not?". Hanna, you were already 1 year old and Wan Nyah and her family were also there in Newcastle (Ayah Nyah was doing his PhD then). Wan Nyah was ever-willing to take care of you when I had to go for my classes (..and I don't think I have ever thanked you enough for that, Lala..THANK YOU SO MUCH, SIS!!)
And now, my PhD 'thingy'. I realized that I'm doing it because it just so happened that it "was my turn" in the Department to do it. So, here I am...(Hmmm...that answers my question earlier on as to why I'm here?!!!). Again, I have to go through a long distance relationship which is even tougher because it now involves me, Ayah and you - Hanna, Hasya, Hilman...)
But, insya Allah, just as it was with my Bar (which was for the sake of "buying time"), and just as it was with my LLM (which was for the sake of "why not"), and now with my PhD (which is because "it is my turn in the Department to do it"), Insya Allah I will get through this, and I will survive yet another long distance relationship.
As I said, I am not and have never been that ambitious, but whatever I chose to do, Syukur Alhamdulillah my path to success has been quite smooth...Allah has been VERY kind to me, and I strongly believe it is because of the do'a from Jaddati - my dearest, dearest Mom - your Grandmother, and I know that there is nothing that I could do in my lifetime and beyond that could equal her do'a for me...
And when I think about the choices that I have made in life, I always think of this one time when somebody ACTUALLY asked me why I was "JUST a lecturer" when I could have been a high-profile corporate lawyer or something along that line, with all the "incidental" qualifications that I have. You know what? That question never offended me and it will never offend me because I CHOSE THIS LIFE... I have no regrets at all, and if I were to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing.
My darling Hanna, Hasya and Hilman,
I am not saying that you all should not be ambitious. Far from it! What I'm saying is, you will know what YOU want in life when the time comes. And YOU will have to strive for it, and YOU will have to make some sacrifices along the way to get what YOU want...
And Just like Jaddati, I will always be there and make do'a for you wherever I am, wherever you are, for whatever it is that you choose your life to be. And if all of you achieve whatever it is that YOU know is what YOU want in life, I know that you all will be -TRULY, MADLY, DEEPLY HAPPY with that life that you choose, just as I am TRULY, MADLY, DEEPLY HAPPY with the life I chose.
Allah has put me where I was and where I am today for a reason, irrespective of whatever I thought the reasons were/are...And HE has guided me in choosing the path that I am following, and my do'a is that HE will guide you in choosing the path for you to follow...
To all you ambitious and unambitious people out there, wherever you are - are you Truly, Madly, Deeply Happy with the life you chose....?
Have a great weekend, guys...
Wassalam
I was at the library for 4 solid hours today - quite remarkable for my standard! But, by the end of the 4 hours my brain was so saturated and it felt like it was going to explode...and I asked myself, "What am I doing here - asserting mental pain and anguish onto myself, being so far away from my hubby and kids for this PhD 'thingy'?!" (Yep! Sometimes it is reduced to just being a 'thingy' for me, especially when I'm really down and stuck with 'i-don't-even-know what' in my research and writing...)
Frankly speaking, I don't really know why I'm doing this 'thingy'. I am not an ambitious person, never was. When I did my first degree, it was somewhat expected of everyone anyway...
When I was pursuing my Bar Degree, it was simply because my boyfriend (who is now my legally-wedded husband - your Ayah) had 2 more years in the UK before getting his MBBS - and I did not want to go back to Malaysia and be so far away from him for 2 years! So, basically, the reason for me to do my Bar was to buy time - 1 full year of it! After getting my Bar, I was called back home by my sponsors, and Ayah and I had to part at the end of 1992. It was really tough, but, we survived our long-distance relationship...
We got married in September 1994 when Ayah literally came back from the UK for just over 2 weeks to say "I do", and off he went back again, and I stayed on in Malaysia because of our career commitments. It was really tough being in a long-distance relationship, especially when you are husband and wife, but Ayah managed to come back every now and then..., but, we survived that, too...
When I discovered I was pregnant with you, Hanna, I didn't have to think at all when I quit my job as a lawyer (Yep! Sounds like "Wow!", but it was just a job, like any other jobs out there), and I joined Ayah in the UK.
When Arwah Tok Andak offered if I wanted to do my Masters under a University's scholarship he was affiliated to in 1996, I said to myself, "Why not?". Hanna, you were already 1 year old and Wan Nyah and her family were also there in Newcastle (Ayah Nyah was doing his PhD then). Wan Nyah was ever-willing to take care of you when I had to go for my classes (..and I don't think I have ever thanked you enough for that, Lala..THANK YOU SO MUCH, SIS!!)
And now, my PhD 'thingy'. I realized that I'm doing it because it just so happened that it "was my turn" in the Department to do it. So, here I am...(Hmmm...that answers my question earlier on as to why I'm here?!!!). Again, I have to go through a long distance relationship which is even tougher because it now involves me, Ayah and you - Hanna, Hasya, Hilman...)
But, insya Allah, just as it was with my Bar (which was for the sake of "buying time"), and just as it was with my LLM (which was for the sake of "why not"), and now with my PhD (which is because "it is my turn in the Department to do it"), Insya Allah I will get through this, and I will survive yet another long distance relationship.
As I said, I am not and have never been that ambitious, but whatever I chose to do, Syukur Alhamdulillah my path to success has been quite smooth...Allah has been VERY kind to me, and I strongly believe it is because of the do'a from Jaddati - my dearest, dearest Mom - your Grandmother, and I know that there is nothing that I could do in my lifetime and beyond that could equal her do'a for me...
And when I think about the choices that I have made in life, I always think of this one time when somebody ACTUALLY asked me why I was "JUST a lecturer" when I could have been a high-profile corporate lawyer or something along that line, with all the "incidental" qualifications that I have. You know what? That question never offended me and it will never offend me because I CHOSE THIS LIFE... I have no regrets at all, and if I were to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing.
My darling Hanna, Hasya and Hilman,
I am not saying that you all should not be ambitious. Far from it! What I'm saying is, you will know what YOU want in life when the time comes. And YOU will have to strive for it, and YOU will have to make some sacrifices along the way to get what YOU want...
And Just like Jaddati, I will always be there and make do'a for you wherever I am, wherever you are, for whatever it is that you choose your life to be. And if all of you achieve whatever it is that YOU know is what YOU want in life, I know that you all will be -TRULY, MADLY, DEEPLY HAPPY with that life that you choose, just as I am TRULY, MADLY, DEEPLY HAPPY with the life I chose.
Allah has put me where I was and where I am today for a reason, irrespective of whatever I thought the reasons were/are...And HE has guided me in choosing the path that I am following, and my do'a is that HE will guide you in choosing the path for you to follow...
To all you ambitious and unambitious people out there, wherever you are - are you Truly, Madly, Deeply Happy with the life you chose....?
Have a great weekend, guys...
Wassalam
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