"Ok..I want 2 do dis 4 u dear..Duit bole cari, but I want u 2 relax n chill out wen u come home. Kalau x tu habislah anak2 kena marah..+ bapak they all sekali! Haha :)"
Hehehe....
(Okay, okay... Granted. I can be so like a singa betina when I'm dead tired after a round of Bibik duties at home - and especially after a stressful day at the office).
Anyway, THAT was the SMS I got from Ayah last night after various SMSes between him, myself and Pn No*iz*n from a maid agency in SD. Even though we were quite shocked when we got to know the amount of dosh we have to part with to get a maid, we finally decided to just go ahead with it. Apparently, the amount quoted to us is the standard fee that one needs to pay for an Indonesian maid nowadays. In fact there are some agencies which charge between RM1k to RM1.5k more than that!
Really.
Really mencekedaghah more like it.
We've chosen one candidate by the name of Mutmainah, a 33 year old Mom of 3, from Jawa Tengah. She has worked in Malaysia before - there are pros and cons to that, like there are pros and cons to chosing EVERY single maid candidate out there irrespective of what are written in their biodata. So, pejam mata ajer lah. Pengemis tidak boleh menjadi pemilih... Bukankah begitu?
I was given the impression that this girl was already here and she could start straight away, and I was already planning to fold and iron at least HALF of my laundry yang dok menggunung in the back room, and also clean and tidy up the house a bit, coz' takut nanti Bibik pengsan bila sampai our house... Later I was told that it would take 2 months before all documents would be in order, etc. So, tolak campur kali bahagi, the new Bibik will only be here after Raya.
Well, I've been without a proper maid for 8 months now, what's another 2 months, kan? (I don't consider my last maid as a "proper" maid - for obvious reasons!)
Furthermore, this would also mean that I don't have to rush to iron and fold all those undone laundry, and there is also no need for me to break my back to do all that tidying up, too. At least for now ;)
So, insya Allah, we will not live like Kaum Badwi lagi nanti come end of September.
Having said that, this would mean that I can only REALLY chill out and relax at home in another 2 months time.
And in turn, this would also mean that Ayah and the kids would have to bear with this stressed out singa betina at home for another 2 months lagi...
;)
Showing posts with label maids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label maids. Show all posts
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Good riddance...
Her name was Anis.
She was the replacement maid whom we got after four months of me being maidless in Sri Damansara. There was no contract between us. The deal was - we had to pay the introducer some RMxxx, and we pay Anis RMxxx every month. No strings attached.
Apparently she had been working on this modus operandi since 1997. She could go anytime she wanted, and we could terminate her service anytime we wanted.
We got her on 13 March 2010, and within a day of working with us, I got to know the A to Z of all her previous employers. Why she didn't like or liked working with them, why she left the job(s), etc.
The first two days, I found her to be too talkative, and as if she was laying down HER terms with me indirectly.
Example 1 - she told me that she once worked with a Chinese family who lived in a BIG house, but her job was easy because rumah "tu tak bersepah". And I felt that she was hinting at me that my house WAS bersepah! And I remember cursing underneath my breath - "Of courselah rumah aku bersepah, mangkuk! I had been maidless for nearly 4 months then. What do you expect?! It is YOUR job to unsepah my house, woman!!!
Example 2 - she told me that she once worked whereby she had to take care of an elderly couple, and she hated it.
Example 3 - she told me that she once worked with a family but, she didn't like the mother-in-law whom she said always "interfered" in her job. My take on this was that the MIL was not happy with the way the job was done by the maid around the house and was merely telling her on how to do things right. And she didn't like that. Indirectly telling me NOT to tell her what to do.
Example 4 - she told me that she once worked with a certain "Tan Sri", and the Tan Sri was really nice, but, she didn't like the Puan Sri because the Puan Sri was really fussy. Hinting to me that I should not be fussy like the Puan Sri (?!)
And the list goes on and on. You got my drift?
And on the second day, after telling me all her working experiences, while at the same time subtly "laying down all her terms" etc., she suddenly became very quiet and non-responsive! It was just so damn hard to get her to react or respond to any of our requests, etc.
She never uttered a word whenever I asked her or give her instructions on what to do and how to do things around the house.
Example - "Anis, bawang ini nanti, kamu tolong potong dadu, okay?"
And she would continue doing whatever she was doing (washing dishes, etc) without acknowledging what I had said to her. And I would then repeat myself again until I was sure that she actually heard me, and she then responded, "Iya, iya, kakak! Saya dengar tadi!" Sounding annoyed with me!
Many a times when my kids asked her for help, she would raise her voice and asked them to do the things themselves!
Example - Hilman would ask her where his baju sukan and seluar sukan were (as the maid would be the one who either washed/ironed/folded and kept them), and she would just tell him at the top of her voice, "Carilah sendiri dalam bilik!" And Hilman would come to me and tell me that he had tried looking for them at the normal places but he could not find them anywhere. And we then found his baju sukan and seluar sukan kept in his baju tidur drawers.
She would also tengking my kids if they put the cushions on the carpet while watching TV in the living room! What the...??!! My kids couldn't even lepak and enjoy watching TV at home! She even pushed Hasya's head once! Pantang nenek moyang I!!
And the third day she was with us, our ASTRO decoder ranap. We came back one evening and found the channel set/fixed at the "Pay Per View" Menu and we could not access any of the regular channels! The decoder ranap. The remote control also ranap!
And since she came, my microwave has also rosak and whatever mode we now use, it can never go beyond 59 seconds. So, if I need to cook something for 10 minutes, I would have to wait in front of the microwave and re-start it everytime it hits 59 seconds. So, that means 9 times of re-starting the damn thing over 10 minutes!
And I once found the blender LEAKING while she was using it!
I know some would say that I should understand that some of the maids had never used all the elctrical appliances, etc., and that is why we have to be patient with them while they learn how to use them.
But, this Anis surely could not use the same excuse as she had been working in Malaysia for the last 15 years!
And lagi satu pantang nenek moyang I - she suka sangat buang makanan!
Many a times I found rice and leftover lauk in the bin. And once I caught her pouring the Chicken Korma which I just cooked a couple of hours before that, into the sink. Mind you, there were still 4-5 chicken pieces left, with some potatoes and carrots in it! And when I asked her why she was throwing the korma which was still good, she said "Saya tak suka lauk ini!"
WTF?! I didn't cook the dish for you, you *&%$#!!*!! Even if you didn't like it, my family could still eat it, you *%^$#@!*!!!
Menggelegak hati I!! But, me being me - I just tegur with a slightly raised voice.
I guess, tu yang dia naik kepala tu!
She slept at 9:30p.m or latest - at 10:00p.m, irrespective of whether Ayah dah balik from work or not, or whether Ayah has had his dinner or not! So, Ayah being Ayah, he would normally come back after 10:00p.m, and I would set the table and prepare his dinner and later tidied up the kitchen, etc. A few times Ayah had asked me to just leave everything for the maid to do in the morning when she woke up. Sometimes I would do that. But, sometimes, if I larat, I would just clean everything up myself. Malas nak tengok sink with dirty dishes. But, if I was not up to it - I would just leave everything as it was. And the next morning you could see the maid tarik muka when she saw the dirty dishes.
She woke up at 5:30a.m every morning - the same time as me. And if you do your maths right, that would be EIGHT hours of sleep every night, whereas yours truly only got an average of 4 1/2 or 5 hours of sleep! Siapa yang boss sebenarnya, kan?
The only thing she did when she woke up would be to set the breakfast table, and dump the washing into the washing machine, while I do the cooking. She would then sweep and mop the floor while waiting for the washing cycle to finish, after which she would hang everything in the backyard.
I would leave for work around 9:00a.m, and most of the times the kids and I would only come home after 7:00p.m. That would be TEN hours of being left alone. TEN long hours alone at home while I was at work.
Apart from folding and ironing the clothes, you tell me what else would she be doing in that TEN hours...
She really got it easy working with us.
I also found her very rude and she had no respect for us.
But, I kept my patience as I fikir and bersyukur that at least she was helping me out around the house, and more importantly, she was doing the damn laundry for me - the whole package of washing, drying, folding and ironing for me! So, I tutup sebelah mata aje to some of the things which would have driven me up against the wall in a different circumstances.
It's true what they say - beggars can't be choosers...
Many a times I felt like firing her and sending her back to her SIL's place in Kg Sungai Kayu Ara (which is just sepelaung from our house!), but, selalu tak sampai hati coz' I pitied her as I knew that she needed the job and money. (And of course, I needed her to do my laundry, too ;)Hehehe!)
The kids didn't like her. They called her "The Wicked Witch" as she had this really shrieking high-pitched voice. Ayah didn't like her, too, simply because he felt that I was doing things around the house more than the maid did! But, he kept quiet as he knew that whatever it was, at least I had some help around the house.
The arrangement was for the maid to have cuti once in one or two months, so, I was not surprised when she suddenly told me last Friday that she wanted to go back to her SIL's place on Saturday, and that I could then fetch her on Sunday night. She TOLD me to send her at 1:00p.m on Saturday.
Came Saturday, Ayah and I and the kids took our time in the afternoon as we wanted to wait for Edisi 7 on NTV7 which was airing an interview I did on some current issues. We were just waiting in front of the telly when the maid suddenly came down the stairs and halfway down she just asked me "Kakak! Bila mau hantar saya balik?!"
Tak ke kurang ajar?! Why couldn't she come down and ask nicely instead of literally shouting at me from the staircase?!
Ayah masa tu dah meluap-luap dah, and if I hadn't been there, mau dah kena penampar Minah tu there and then!
We sengaja took our time after that because we were so bengang with the maid, and we only left the house at 2:15p.m after solat Zohor.
On the way, I asked her how much money she wanted for belanja. I offered to give her only RM400 and she insisted that I gave her her full gaji. Ayah was reluctant as he was afraid that the maid would run away and not come back.
But, for me, I'd rather pay her whatever wages she had earned, and if she decided to not come back, at least I didn't owe her anything. So, I gave her her one month pay (FYI, we had already given her half a month pay at the end of March, i.e exactly 2 weeks after she started working with us as she claimed that she needed to give the money to her brother who had to go back to Indonesia to berubat kena buatan orang, etc. Ladida dida... They can really come up with most amazing tales, kan?) But, well...
Anyway, we dropped her off at Kg Sg Kayu Ara on Saturday afternoon.
And on Sunday afternoon, I got this SMS from her -
"Assalamualikum! Kak saya anis, saya tak mau kerja lagi dg kakak. Saya tak dikasi sama kakak ipar...saya mau kerja restron"
And I tell you, I had never felt so relieved hearing the news that my maid was not coming back as I had felt then!
And when I told the kids the news, all of them gave a BIG "YEAYYYYYY!!!! Makcik Anis is not coming back ever!!! YEAAAAYYYY!!!"
The kids REALLY, REALLY, REALLY didn't like her. And mind you, our kids are not those type who are that particular about maids before this.
It feels so peaceful around the house now.
Bersepah a bit. But, VERY peaceful :)
GOOD RIDDANCE, I tell you :)
She was the replacement maid whom we got after four months of me being maidless in Sri Damansara. There was no contract between us. The deal was - we had to pay the introducer some RMxxx, and we pay Anis RMxxx every month. No strings attached.
Apparently she had been working on this modus operandi since 1997. She could go anytime she wanted, and we could terminate her service anytime we wanted.
We got her on 13 March 2010, and within a day of working with us, I got to know the A to Z of all her previous employers. Why she didn't like or liked working with them, why she left the job(s), etc.
The first two days, I found her to be too talkative, and as if she was laying down HER terms with me indirectly.
Example 1 - she told me that she once worked with a Chinese family who lived in a BIG house, but her job was easy because rumah "tu tak bersepah". And I felt that she was hinting at me that my house WAS bersepah! And I remember cursing underneath my breath - "Of courselah rumah aku bersepah, mangkuk! I had been maidless for nearly 4 months then. What do you expect?! It is YOUR job to unsepah my house, woman!!!
Example 2 - she told me that she once worked whereby she had to take care of an elderly couple, and she hated it.
Example 3 - she told me that she once worked with a family but, she didn't like the mother-in-law whom she said always "interfered" in her job. My take on this was that the MIL was not happy with the way the job was done by the maid around the house and was merely telling her on how to do things right. And she didn't like that. Indirectly telling me NOT to tell her what to do.
Example 4 - she told me that she once worked with a certain "Tan Sri", and the Tan Sri was really nice, but, she didn't like the Puan Sri because the Puan Sri was really fussy. Hinting to me that I should not be fussy like the Puan Sri (?!)
And the list goes on and on. You got my drift?
And on the second day, after telling me all her working experiences, while at the same time subtly "laying down all her terms" etc., she suddenly became very quiet and non-responsive! It was just so damn hard to get her to react or respond to any of our requests, etc.
She never uttered a word whenever I asked her or give her instructions on what to do and how to do things around the house.
Example - "Anis, bawang ini nanti, kamu tolong potong dadu, okay?"
And she would continue doing whatever she was doing (washing dishes, etc) without acknowledging what I had said to her. And I would then repeat myself again until I was sure that she actually heard me, and she then responded, "Iya, iya, kakak! Saya dengar tadi!" Sounding annoyed with me!
Many a times when my kids asked her for help, she would raise her voice and asked them to do the things themselves!
Example - Hilman would ask her where his baju sukan and seluar sukan were (as the maid would be the one who either washed/ironed/folded and kept them), and she would just tell him at the top of her voice, "Carilah sendiri dalam bilik!" And Hilman would come to me and tell me that he had tried looking for them at the normal places but he could not find them anywhere. And we then found his baju sukan and seluar sukan kept in his baju tidur drawers.
She would also tengking my kids if they put the cushions on the carpet while watching TV in the living room! What the...??!! My kids couldn't even lepak and enjoy watching TV at home! She even pushed Hasya's head once! Pantang nenek moyang I!!
And the third day she was with us, our ASTRO decoder ranap. We came back one evening and found the channel set/fixed at the "Pay Per View" Menu and we could not access any of the regular channels! The decoder ranap. The remote control also ranap!
And since she came, my microwave has also rosak and whatever mode we now use, it can never go beyond 59 seconds. So, if I need to cook something for 10 minutes, I would have to wait in front of the microwave and re-start it everytime it hits 59 seconds. So, that means 9 times of re-starting the damn thing over 10 minutes!
And I once found the blender LEAKING while she was using it!
I know some would say that I should understand that some of the maids had never used all the elctrical appliances, etc., and that is why we have to be patient with them while they learn how to use them.
But, this Anis surely could not use the same excuse as she had been working in Malaysia for the last 15 years!
And lagi satu pantang nenek moyang I - she suka sangat buang makanan!
Many a times I found rice and leftover lauk in the bin. And once I caught her pouring the Chicken Korma which I just cooked a couple of hours before that, into the sink. Mind you, there were still 4-5 chicken pieces left, with some potatoes and carrots in it! And when I asked her why she was throwing the korma which was still good, she said "Saya tak suka lauk ini!"
WTF?! I didn't cook the dish for you, you *&%$#!!*!! Even if you didn't like it, my family could still eat it, you *%^$#@!*!!!
Menggelegak hati I!! But, me being me - I just tegur with a slightly raised voice.
I guess, tu yang dia naik kepala tu!
She slept at 9:30p.m or latest - at 10:00p.m, irrespective of whether Ayah dah balik from work or not, or whether Ayah has had his dinner or not! So, Ayah being Ayah, he would normally come back after 10:00p.m, and I would set the table and prepare his dinner and later tidied up the kitchen, etc. A few times Ayah had asked me to just leave everything for the maid to do in the morning when she woke up. Sometimes I would do that. But, sometimes, if I larat, I would just clean everything up myself. Malas nak tengok sink with dirty dishes. But, if I was not up to it - I would just leave everything as it was. And the next morning you could see the maid tarik muka when she saw the dirty dishes.
She woke up at 5:30a.m every morning - the same time as me. And if you do your maths right, that would be EIGHT hours of sleep every night, whereas yours truly only got an average of 4 1/2 or 5 hours of sleep! Siapa yang boss sebenarnya, kan?
The only thing she did when she woke up would be to set the breakfast table, and dump the washing into the washing machine, while I do the cooking. She would then sweep and mop the floor while waiting for the washing cycle to finish, after which she would hang everything in the backyard.
I would leave for work around 9:00a.m, and most of the times the kids and I would only come home after 7:00p.m. That would be TEN hours of being left alone. TEN long hours alone at home while I was at work.
Apart from folding and ironing the clothes, you tell me what else would she be doing in that TEN hours...
She really got it easy working with us.
I also found her very rude and she had no respect for us.
But, I kept my patience as I fikir and bersyukur that at least she was helping me out around the house, and more importantly, she was doing the damn laundry for me - the whole package of washing, drying, folding and ironing for me! So, I tutup sebelah mata aje to some of the things which would have driven me up against the wall in a different circumstances.
It's true what they say - beggars can't be choosers...
Many a times I felt like firing her and sending her back to her SIL's place in Kg Sungai Kayu Ara (which is just sepelaung from our house!), but, selalu tak sampai hati coz' I pitied her as I knew that she needed the job and money. (And of course, I needed her to do my laundry, too ;)Hehehe!)
The kids didn't like her. They called her "The Wicked Witch" as she had this really shrieking high-pitched voice. Ayah didn't like her, too, simply because he felt that I was doing things around the house more than the maid did! But, he kept quiet as he knew that whatever it was, at least I had some help around the house.
The arrangement was for the maid to have cuti once in one or two months, so, I was not surprised when she suddenly told me last Friday that she wanted to go back to her SIL's place on Saturday, and that I could then fetch her on Sunday night. She TOLD me to send her at 1:00p.m on Saturday.
Came Saturday, Ayah and I and the kids took our time in the afternoon as we wanted to wait for Edisi 7 on NTV7 which was airing an interview I did on some current issues. We were just waiting in front of the telly when the maid suddenly came down the stairs and halfway down she just asked me "Kakak! Bila mau hantar saya balik?!"
Tak ke kurang ajar?! Why couldn't she come down and ask nicely instead of literally shouting at me from the staircase?!
Ayah masa tu dah meluap-luap dah, and if I hadn't been there, mau dah kena penampar Minah tu there and then!
We sengaja took our time after that because we were so bengang with the maid, and we only left the house at 2:15p.m after solat Zohor.
On the way, I asked her how much money she wanted for belanja. I offered to give her only RM400 and she insisted that I gave her her full gaji. Ayah was reluctant as he was afraid that the maid would run away and not come back.
But, for me, I'd rather pay her whatever wages she had earned, and if she decided to not come back, at least I didn't owe her anything. So, I gave her her one month pay (FYI, we had already given her half a month pay at the end of March, i.e exactly 2 weeks after she started working with us as she claimed that she needed to give the money to her brother who had to go back to Indonesia to berubat kena buatan orang, etc. Ladida dida... They can really come up with most amazing tales, kan?) But, well...
Anyway, we dropped her off at Kg Sg Kayu Ara on Saturday afternoon.
And on Sunday afternoon, I got this SMS from her -
"Assalamualikum! Kak saya anis, saya tak mau kerja lagi dg kakak. Saya tak dikasi sama kakak ipar...saya mau kerja restron"
And I tell you, I had never felt so relieved hearing the news that my maid was not coming back as I had felt then!
And when I told the kids the news, all of them gave a BIG "YEAYYYYYY!!!! Makcik Anis is not coming back ever!!! YEAAAAYYYY!!!"
The kids REALLY, REALLY, REALLY didn't like her. And mind you, our kids are not those type who are that particular about maids before this.
It feels so peaceful around the house now.
Bersepah a bit. But, VERY peaceful :)
GOOD RIDDANCE, I tell you :)
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Back to square one...
Remember Sabarudin Tukang Bawak Kereta which I wrote about here?
Well, it's Sabarudin no more.
To cut a long story short -
He worked for us for 20 days during which we observed the following -
(1) His driving was okay. Well, if you consider him nearly hitting a car coming out of the junction near our house as okay, and also if you consider him making a dent on Ayah's car by knocking on my MIL's automatic gate as okay, then he must be okay lah kan? You got my drift?
Apart from those two incidents, he would either be driving too slowly, or too fast at times. I find myself pressing on the invisible accelerator and brake pads every now and then, and that was stressing me out a bit, I tell you.
And he rarely used the indicator lights when he was changing lanes or when he was making turns despite being reminded by us many, many times. And that was also stressing me out
(2) He has to be reminded EVERY TIME to wash and clean the cars. We specifically told him during the interview that we expect him to take care of the cars and he should wash them as and when necessary (read "dirty") and we expected him to clean both inside AND out.
But, what happened was, everytime any of the the cars needed washing, WE had to ask him to wash them (bukannya suruh wash all 3 cars serentak pun!) He could have washed them ikut turn every other day, etc. And sometimes if he washed the outside of the cars, he would forget to clean the inside. You got my drift?
Berat tulanglah sikit. No initiatives at all. Padahal while waiting for the times to ferry Ayah and the kids tu, punya lah banyak masa terluang and he would just sit and read his newspapers (tak tau lah khatam berapa kali sehari!) or he would just doze off on the chair.
(3) He had problems answering our calls and replying our SMSs. One time, he was supposed to fetch Hasya and Hilman from school at 1:00p.m. but, by 1:30p.m he was still not there. Hasya called us to ask where the driver was, and neither Ayah nor I knew his whereabouts then. It was on the Saturday when the kids had replacement school and there were not many kids around at the waiting area that time. I must have tried calling him more than 20 times, while Ayah tried calling him more than that. I was at One Utama and didn't have my car then (as Din had dropped me there at 12:30p.m before going to the school to fetch the kids). If not, I would have just gone and fetched them myself.
By 1:45p.m when Hasya called and said the driver was still not there, Ayah who was still at the hospital then, decided to go and fetch the kids himself. Just then Din called saying that he was stuck in a jam earlier and that he only arrived at the school at 1:45p.m! He didn't answer our calls because he didn't realize we were calling him as his phone was on silent mode (?!). So, Ayah gave him a piece of his mind - why couldn't he just SMS or call us to say that he was going to be late fetching the kids? What if the kids were the only two pupils waiting at the school, and what if anything happened to them?! Nauzubillah... He could have at least informed us his whereabouts, especially when he was 45 minutes late fetching the kids, right? What's the point of giving him his monthly telephone allowance if we can't contact him, and vise versa?
(4) He was just not a responsible employee. And that was the last straw for us. It was Thursday last week, and Ayah decided that I should use the driver instead as Ayah would be at his TMC clinic and he was not going anywhere that day. As I was to have a class a 10:00a.m. that morning, I SMSd Din at 6:45a.m. asking him to come at 9:00a.m. instead of his usual 11:00a.m. clock-in time. And he did not reply my SMS.
I waited until 7:30a.m and tried calling him just to confirm if he had received my earlier SMS, and he didn't answer the phone. I tried calling again a few times after that. Still no answer. So, when he didn't turn up at 9:00a.m. I decided that I should just drive to work myself. Ayah then asked me to just wait until 9:30a.m. And waited I did. But, I couldn't wait any longer as I had a class to go to at 10:00a.m.
I left the house at 9:35a.m and reached the Tutorial Room just before 10:00a.m. (Thank God!) And at 11:00a.m, in between classes I checked my phone to see if Din had replied. Still nothing from him. No SMSes or missed calls from him. Nada. Zilch.
It was only when I checked my phone again after class at 12:00p.m that I got an SMS from him, sent at 11:35a.m, stating that he couldn't SMS or call earlier as he had to send his 2 kids to the hospital that morning as they had food poisoning, and he was taking emergency leave.
I say, come on lah... From 6:45a.m until 11:35a.m - that's nearly FIVE hours, don't tell me he couldn't just call either Ayah or myself to inform that he couldn't come to work, right? It wouldn't have taken more than 2 minutes for him to dial the phone and speak to us.
Ayah was really mad and called Din and gave him a piece of his mind (or make it - A FEW PIECES of his mind kot...because after that Din just stopped coming to work...)
And that was it. He didn't even SMS or call to say that he was quitting.
Even when I SMSd him that night to ask about his kids - whether they were okay or not, he didn't reply my SMS.
So, back to square one for us.
No Bibik. No Driver.
And my typical routine for the day now would be -
5:45a.m : Wake up and prepare breakfast for Ayah and the kids.
6:40a.m : Ayah and the kids would leave the house and go to school/work, and I would dump the laundry into the washing machine. Solat.
7:00a.m : Tidy up the kitchen, sweep the floor, and if larat, I would mop the floor, too.
8:00a.m : Get ready for work.
8:30a.m : Leave the house for office, and on the way, I would drop the washed laundry at my MIL's place to be dried.
9:00a.m or 9:30a.m : I'll be at the office already.
1:00p.m : If I don't have any classes, I would fetch Hasya and Hilman and send them to my MIL's place. If I have tutorials or lectures, then my MIL's driver would have to fetch them instead,
Between 1:00p.m to 6:30p.m, as the kids' schedules are different everyday, I would either fetch Hanna from school, send her back to my MIL's, or to the tuition centre, or send the kids to piano, or something along that line.
I would then collect the dried clean and crisp laundry from my MIL's place, after which I would drive everybody back to Sri Damansara, reaching home the earliest at 7:00p.m, latest at 8:30p.m. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, when Hasya and Hilman have mengaji class at my MIL's place, we would go back to SD after 9:30p.m. But, if Ayah can fetch them and bring them home, I would go back to SD with Hanna first and normally the two of us would just have dinner outside on the way home.
If I feel like cooking dinner, I would cook.
If I don't feel like it, we would just eat out or order takeaway.
Ayah would normally finish work after 9:30p.m, and he would join us for dinner (at home or outside), or he would just grab something at the hospital.
After dinner, of course - I'd be doing the dishes and also clearing and tidying up the kitchen. If I yell at the kids, then they would be helping me out with this. If not, then I would be slogging in the kitchen alone.
After that (normally dah nearly 11:00p.m.), kalau rajin, I would do the ironing. Kalau tak rajin, then I would do some Facebook-ing :)
I only iron baju rumah and casuals now. All school uniforms and Ayah's work shirts are sent to the Laundrette on Friday evening to be washed and ironed, and collected on Sunday afternoon. That alone easily takes away nearly 3 hours of ironing time off my workload :) Of course this would mean that we would have to spend a bit more on the laundry bills. But, as it is, that would be part of the money which we were supposed to pay gaji Bibik, right? So, we're cool with that.
And THAT, my friends, are the reasons why this blog has been pretty quiet nowadays.
Many times I had opened my Blogspot account with plans to update this blog of mine, and many times I would just fall asleep in front of the lappie...until the alarm went off again at 5:45a.m the next morning for me to wake up and get breakfast ready. And the cycle continues everyday.
That's just how my life is at the moment. Back to square one, but, I'm more settled and organized now, syukur alhamdulillah.
Tired and spent - yes. But still hanging in there :)
Well, it's Sabarudin no more.
To cut a long story short -
He worked for us for 20 days during which we observed the following -
(1) His driving was okay. Well, if you consider him nearly hitting a car coming out of the junction near our house as okay, and also if you consider him making a dent on Ayah's car by knocking on my MIL's automatic gate as okay, then he must be okay lah kan? You got my drift?
Apart from those two incidents, he would either be driving too slowly, or too fast at times. I find myself pressing on the invisible accelerator and brake pads every now and then, and that was stressing me out a bit, I tell you.
And he rarely used the indicator lights when he was changing lanes or when he was making turns despite being reminded by us many, many times. And that was also stressing me out
(2) He has to be reminded EVERY TIME to wash and clean the cars. We specifically told him during the interview that we expect him to take care of the cars and he should wash them as and when necessary (read "dirty") and we expected him to clean both inside AND out.
But, what happened was, everytime any of the the cars needed washing, WE had to ask him to wash them (bukannya suruh wash all 3 cars serentak pun!) He could have washed them ikut turn every other day, etc. And sometimes if he washed the outside of the cars, he would forget to clean the inside. You got my drift?
Berat tulanglah sikit. No initiatives at all. Padahal while waiting for the times to ferry Ayah and the kids tu, punya lah banyak masa terluang and he would just sit and read his newspapers (tak tau lah khatam berapa kali sehari!) or he would just doze off on the chair.
(3) He had problems answering our calls and replying our SMSs. One time, he was supposed to fetch Hasya and Hilman from school at 1:00p.m. but, by 1:30p.m he was still not there. Hasya called us to ask where the driver was, and neither Ayah nor I knew his whereabouts then. It was on the Saturday when the kids had replacement school and there were not many kids around at the waiting area that time. I must have tried calling him more than 20 times, while Ayah tried calling him more than that. I was at One Utama and didn't have my car then (as Din had dropped me there at 12:30p.m before going to the school to fetch the kids). If not, I would have just gone and fetched them myself.
By 1:45p.m when Hasya called and said the driver was still not there, Ayah who was still at the hospital then, decided to go and fetch the kids himself. Just then Din called saying that he was stuck in a jam earlier and that he only arrived at the school at 1:45p.m! He didn't answer our calls because he didn't realize we were calling him as his phone was on silent mode (?!). So, Ayah gave him a piece of his mind - why couldn't he just SMS or call us to say that he was going to be late fetching the kids? What if the kids were the only two pupils waiting at the school, and what if anything happened to them?! Nauzubillah... He could have at least informed us his whereabouts, especially when he was 45 minutes late fetching the kids, right? What's the point of giving him his monthly telephone allowance if we can't contact him, and vise versa?
(4) He was just not a responsible employee. And that was the last straw for us. It was Thursday last week, and Ayah decided that I should use the driver instead as Ayah would be at his TMC clinic and he was not going anywhere that day. As I was to have a class a 10:00a.m. that morning, I SMSd Din at 6:45a.m. asking him to come at 9:00a.m. instead of his usual 11:00a.m. clock-in time. And he did not reply my SMS.
I waited until 7:30a.m and tried calling him just to confirm if he had received my earlier SMS, and he didn't answer the phone. I tried calling again a few times after that. Still no answer. So, when he didn't turn up at 9:00a.m. I decided that I should just drive to work myself. Ayah then asked me to just wait until 9:30a.m. And waited I did. But, I couldn't wait any longer as I had a class to go to at 10:00a.m.
I left the house at 9:35a.m and reached the Tutorial Room just before 10:00a.m. (Thank God!) And at 11:00a.m, in between classes I checked my phone to see if Din had replied. Still nothing from him. No SMSes or missed calls from him. Nada. Zilch.
It was only when I checked my phone again after class at 12:00p.m that I got an SMS from him, sent at 11:35a.m, stating that he couldn't SMS or call earlier as he had to send his 2 kids to the hospital that morning as they had food poisoning, and he was taking emergency leave.
I say, come on lah... From 6:45a.m until 11:35a.m - that's nearly FIVE hours, don't tell me he couldn't just call either Ayah or myself to inform that he couldn't come to work, right? It wouldn't have taken more than 2 minutes for him to dial the phone and speak to us.
Ayah was really mad and called Din and gave him a piece of his mind (or make it - A FEW PIECES of his mind kot...because after that Din just stopped coming to work...)
And that was it. He didn't even SMS or call to say that he was quitting.
Even when I SMSd him that night to ask about his kids - whether they were okay or not, he didn't reply my SMS.
So, back to square one for us.
No Bibik. No Driver.
And my typical routine for the day now would be -
5:45a.m : Wake up and prepare breakfast for Ayah and the kids.
6:40a.m : Ayah and the kids would leave the house and go to school/work, and I would dump the laundry into the washing machine. Solat.
7:00a.m : Tidy up the kitchen, sweep the floor, and if larat, I would mop the floor, too.
8:00a.m : Get ready for work.
8:30a.m : Leave the house for office, and on the way, I would drop the washed laundry at my MIL's place to be dried.
9:00a.m or 9:30a.m : I'll be at the office already.
1:00p.m : If I don't have any classes, I would fetch Hasya and Hilman and send them to my MIL's place. If I have tutorials or lectures, then my MIL's driver would have to fetch them instead,
Between 1:00p.m to 6:30p.m, as the kids' schedules are different everyday, I would either fetch Hanna from school, send her back to my MIL's, or to the tuition centre, or send the kids to piano, or something along that line.
I would then collect the dried clean and crisp laundry from my MIL's place, after which I would drive everybody back to Sri Damansara, reaching home the earliest at 7:00p.m, latest at 8:30p.m. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, when Hasya and Hilman have mengaji class at my MIL's place, we would go back to SD after 9:30p.m. But, if Ayah can fetch them and bring them home, I would go back to SD with Hanna first and normally the two of us would just have dinner outside on the way home.
If I feel like cooking dinner, I would cook.
If I don't feel like it, we would just eat out or order takeaway.
Ayah would normally finish work after 9:30p.m, and he would join us for dinner (at home or outside), or he would just grab something at the hospital.
After dinner, of course - I'd be doing the dishes and also clearing and tidying up the kitchen. If I yell at the kids, then they would be helping me out with this. If not, then I would be slogging in the kitchen alone.
After that (normally dah nearly 11:00p.m.), kalau rajin, I would do the ironing. Kalau tak rajin, then I would do some Facebook-ing :)
I only iron baju rumah and casuals now. All school uniforms and Ayah's work shirts are sent to the Laundrette on Friday evening to be washed and ironed, and collected on Sunday afternoon. That alone easily takes away nearly 3 hours of ironing time off my workload :) Of course this would mean that we would have to spend a bit more on the laundry bills. But, as it is, that would be part of the money which we were supposed to pay gaji Bibik, right? So, we're cool with that.
And THAT, my friends, are the reasons why this blog has been pretty quiet nowadays.
Many times I had opened my Blogspot account with plans to update this blog of mine, and many times I would just fall asleep in front of the lappie...until the alarm went off again at 5:45a.m the next morning for me to wake up and get breakfast ready. And the cycle continues everyday.
That's just how my life is at the moment. Back to square one, but, I'm more settled and organized now, syukur alhamdulillah.
Tired and spent - yes. But still hanging in there :)
Monday, January 18, 2010
BENGANG...
BIG TIME.
I am in no mood to write about what I'm about to write, but, I feel that I need to write about it.
I had vented out my frustration and anger on my FB, and I had comments, advice and support from friends which had made me feel somewhat better. Thank you so much, guys!
To all who are yet in the know, it's confirmed - Bibik Dar is NOT coming back.
And she didn't even have the courtesy to call or SMS herself to tell me.
I was the one who SMSd to her husband last night to ask her flight date back to Malaysia, and he got back to me saying that Dar could not come back because she didn't have any money left to buy her flight ticket. All her money had been used up to repair the house.
I then SMSd again saying that that should not be a problem as I could send her the money.
He came back and said that that was not the only reason. Dar has decided not to come back because she said there was too much work to be done at our house and she never got any rests in the last 2 years!
That really pissed me off!
Why the hell did she ask us to renew her permit and endorse her passport for the fiscal exemption thingy in the first place if she was not happy working with us in the first place?! To think that Ayah had to run around to get everything done a few days before she went back that day. Grrrrr....
She could have told us this before she went back so that we could have arranged for her replacement two months ago and not have to be maidless in the last 1 1/2 months while waiting for her to come back!
Luckily, when she wanted to kirim her salary back to Indonesia 2 weeks before her flight back, Ayah had asked me to keep the RM950 which we had used to renew her permit just in case she decided to do just this. I told her that she could send that amount back when she comes back nanti.
I called the agent this morning and he said that he suspects that Dar MAY have come back using the permit and all, and now might be working with someone else. Apparently he ada dengar-dengar from his other maids that there have been some of her friends who had ajar and ajak her to do this. NOW he tells me?!
I don't understand what exactly it is that she wants from us.
We treated her well. We bought her stuffs and things (shoes, clothes, handbags, you name it, etc.) We even bought stuffs for her kids! We tanggung everything - makan, minum, toiletries - even facial creams and cleansers, etc, and all other necessities. Heck, her shampoo was more expensive than mine! We brought her along with us when we went out for movies and when we ate out. She ate what we ate - at home and outside. In fact, I did most of the cooking and all at home. So basically I cooked for her! We let her watch her Astro Indon Channel as and when she pleased. We gave her RM20 IDD card everytime as and when she wanted to call home. We bought her baju raya, and gave her duit raya every time. We paid her extras whenever we had functions at home which required her to work extra hours. Every night she would sleep earlier than we did. We let her cuti at the agent's place whenever she requested to go there.
What? She wants us to send her for a 4D3N holiday at Pangkor Laut every month?!
I SMSd her husband to tell him that we would be cancelling her permit and lodged a police report as this is considered as Kes Pembantu Lari, and the implication of this would be that Dar would not be able to enter Malaysia again after this (assuming that she may still be in Indon now. If she's already here - I guess there's nothing much we could do). At least they would be aware of the implications, and should thank me for informing them.
But NO. He came back with an SMS saying that if this makes me 'PUAS' then I can go ahead with it, and he had the cheek to ask me not to 'ganggu' them again and not SMS them again, and that THAT would be their last SMS to me (?!) Apakah?!!!
I just had to reply saying that it was not a question of 'PUAS' or not. I am cancelling her permit and lodging a police report and all for the simple reason that if I didn't do that, I wouldn't be able to apply for a new maid la, BAGHAL... Just because their hati busuk, they think that hati we all pun busuk like theirs?!
I AM REALLY PISSED OFF...
I feel so betrayed. I REALLY thought that Dar would be different from the other helpers. My bad.
Hanna who saw how upset I was last night had this to say -
"Mommy, it's okay... We had coped well in the last couple of months without her. It's okay, insya Allah we'll be fine..."
Thank you, darling. That had tenangkan hati Mommy somewhat...
I am now seriously considering just getting a part-time weekend helper to help with cleaning the house and the ironing. An FB friend asked me to hold on to this - "Kalau larat, buat. Kalau tak larat, pejam ajer mata. After all it's our house..." And I think I'm going to do just that.
But, Ayah is not keen on the idea and wants us to apply for a new maid.
See la how it goes...
Frankly speaking, I've had just about enough of them ungrateful, tak mengenang untung lot....
I am in no mood to write about what I'm about to write, but, I feel that I need to write about it.
I had vented out my frustration and anger on my FB, and I had comments, advice and support from friends which had made me feel somewhat better. Thank you so much, guys!
To all who are yet in the know, it's confirmed - Bibik Dar is NOT coming back.
And she didn't even have the courtesy to call or SMS herself to tell me.
I was the one who SMSd to her husband last night to ask her flight date back to Malaysia, and he got back to me saying that Dar could not come back because she didn't have any money left to buy her flight ticket. All her money had been used up to repair the house.
I then SMSd again saying that that should not be a problem as I could send her the money.
He came back and said that that was not the only reason. Dar has decided not to come back because she said there was too much work to be done at our house and she never got any rests in the last 2 years!
That really pissed me off!
Why the hell did she ask us to renew her permit and endorse her passport for the fiscal exemption thingy in the first place if she was not happy working with us in the first place?! To think that Ayah had to run around to get everything done a few days before she went back that day. Grrrrr....
She could have told us this before she went back so that we could have arranged for her replacement two months ago and not have to be maidless in the last 1 1/2 months while waiting for her to come back!
Luckily, when she wanted to kirim her salary back to Indonesia 2 weeks before her flight back, Ayah had asked me to keep the RM950 which we had used to renew her permit just in case she decided to do just this. I told her that she could send that amount back when she comes back nanti.
I called the agent this morning and he said that he suspects that Dar MAY have come back using the permit and all, and now might be working with someone else. Apparently he ada dengar-dengar from his other maids that there have been some of her friends who had ajar and ajak her to do this. NOW he tells me?!
I don't understand what exactly it is that she wants from us.
We treated her well. We bought her stuffs and things (shoes, clothes, handbags, you name it, etc.) We even bought stuffs for her kids! We tanggung everything - makan, minum, toiletries - even facial creams and cleansers, etc, and all other necessities. Heck, her shampoo was more expensive than mine! We brought her along with us when we went out for movies and when we ate out. She ate what we ate - at home and outside. In fact, I did most of the cooking and all at home. So basically I cooked for her! We let her watch her Astro Indon Channel as and when she pleased. We gave her RM20 IDD card everytime as and when she wanted to call home. We bought her baju raya, and gave her duit raya every time. We paid her extras whenever we had functions at home which required her to work extra hours. Every night she would sleep earlier than we did. We let her cuti at the agent's place whenever she requested to go there.
What? She wants us to send her for a 4D3N holiday at Pangkor Laut every month?!
I SMSd her husband to tell him that we would be cancelling her permit and lodged a police report as this is considered as Kes Pembantu Lari, and the implication of this would be that Dar would not be able to enter Malaysia again after this (assuming that she may still be in Indon now. If she's already here - I guess there's nothing much we could do). At least they would be aware of the implications, and should thank me for informing them.
But NO. He came back with an SMS saying that if this makes me 'PUAS' then I can go ahead with it, and he had the cheek to ask me not to 'ganggu' them again and not SMS them again, and that THAT would be their last SMS to me (?!) Apakah?!!!
I just had to reply saying that it was not a question of 'PUAS' or not. I am cancelling her permit and lodging a police report and all for the simple reason that if I didn't do that, I wouldn't be able to apply for a new maid la, BAGHAL... Just because their hati busuk, they think that hati we all pun busuk like theirs?!
I AM REALLY PISSED OFF...
I feel so betrayed. I REALLY thought that Dar would be different from the other helpers. My bad.
Hanna who saw how upset I was last night had this to say -
"Mommy, it's okay... We had coped well in the last couple of months without her. It's okay, insya Allah we'll be fine..."
Thank you, darling. That had tenangkan hati Mommy somewhat...
I am now seriously considering just getting a part-time weekend helper to help with cleaning the house and the ironing. An FB friend asked me to hold on to this - "Kalau larat, buat. Kalau tak larat, pejam ajer mata. After all it's our house..." And I think I'm going to do just that.
But, Ayah is not keen on the idea and wants us to apply for a new maid.
See la how it goes...
Frankly speaking, I've had just about enough of them ungrateful, tak mengenang untung lot....
Monday, November 30, 2009
Life without you...
At 9:30p.m last night, I sent this SMS -
"Asslmkum. Ini Ibu Shana. Mau bertanya samada Dar sudah selamat sampai ke rumah? Pesawatnya tiba di Yogyakarta pukul 8:30 pagi tadi. Terima kasih"
2 minutes after that, came the reply -
"Wlaikmsalam. Alhamdulillah. Sudah selamat sampai. Maaf baru bagi kabar"
And I sent a reply -
"Syukur alhamdulillah. Sampaikan salam kepada keluarga di kampung. Hilman minta beritau Dar dia baru beli 2 ekor anak kura-kura!"
Those SMSs were sent to Bibik Dar's husband.
YES - Dar has gone back home for a 2-month break. And I really hope she IS coming back to Malaysia and work with us again. We've heard of stories of maids who were supposed to come back after their holidays who never came back, and this was after their majikan had paid for all the charges/fees for permit renewal and all.
So, to play safe, when she asked us to transfer all her gaji home 2 weeks ago, we told her that we would keep the amount already spent for her permit renewal, and she could send it home AFTER she comes back in January nanti. And she was okay with that.
So, we take that to mean that she IS coming back.
But, at the same time, we're not keeping our hopes too high because the cash my MIL and my Mom gave her, and all the stuff we bought for her and her daughters to bring home with her could easily be about the same amount we're keeping, if not more. So, she MIGHT feel that she could just forego her gaji that we're still keeping.
When I asked Ayah if he thought Dar was coming back or not, he said "50-50", especially when we checked her room, and saw that she had brought ALL her things with her, save for the clothes she wore the night before and the towel she used yesterday morning.
But, for now we want to bersangka baik... and insya Allah she will come back especially when we have promised her a significant increase in her pay for the next two years.
She told me that she would come back once the work to repair her house (especially the roof) is done, and that should only take about a month. And even though she is supposed to go home for 2 months, she said she would come back by Mid-January. I can only make do'a that she will come back, no matter when exactly, insya Allah.
And YES, we've bought two terrapins last night, and the kids (or rather the girls) have decided to name them Jasper and Seth. Apparently they're a couple of characters from the "Twilight" saga (?!). My 14-year old Hanna seems to think that "Seth" is such a sexy name (??!!). That worries me - giving a sexy name to a terrapin?! Hehehe... And she also said that when she gets married and have kids nanti, all her sons will have "Seth" as their first names. Hmmmmm...Sexy names for her sons...and it started with naming her terrapin "Seth", too?! Aiyoooo, Hanna...
So, the terrapins are additions to our existing pets. We already have a couple of Syrian hamsters at home - Benji and Button, and I just hope the kids will be responsible pet-owners and take really good care of them. Dar had been the one who cleaned their cage, bathed them and changed their water and food all this while, and for the next couple of months, the kids will have to be responsible for them. At least the pets will keep them occupied over the school holiday, I hope.
(A good sign this morning when Hilman woke up, and the first thing he asked me was, "Mommy, when do I feed the terrapins, Mommy?" :))
I made sure that they sit and see and help Dar to clean the hamsters' cage on Saturday night so that they know how to do it and not expect ME to clean it for them every time. I have so many other things to do without adding "cleaning hamsters' cage" to my already long list of things to do over the next couple of months.
And, oh ya - I've already cooked 6 chicken/beef/fish dishes yesterday and have frozen them in small containers for convenience. So now we have frozen Assam Pedas Tenggiri, Lemak Chili Padi Tenggiri, Daging Kicap, Daging Masak Merah, Sweet and Sour Chicken and Ayam Masak Lemak Putih in our freezer. Not forgetting the big pot of Sup Tulang/Daging Qorban on the stove :) If we were to eat at home on alternate days, those should last us for about 2 weeks, insya Allah. I only need to teach Hanna how to cook the rice now. (Yup! She never masak nasi before this - all throughout her 14-years of life...)
As for the laundry, I've made enquiries at the nearest Laundrette, and nampak gayanya I'll be a regular there. They charge 2kg per kilo, and for ironing, it's RM1.20 per piece. I would probably wash and dry everything at home, and just send the necessary clothes for ironing. But, then again - what with it raining everyday, I would probably dump everything there every 2-3 days or so and let them take care of everything. I've also bought a small pail and detergent for each kid to put in their bathrooms for them to wash whatever necessary themselves.
Hanna is now in-charge of sweeping the floor every day so that it'll be easier for me to do the mopping later on. We're so used to Dar mopping the house every day, and we have to make sure that we stick to that. Failing which, maybe we would just do it every other day (or maybe once in 3 days...or once a week ke...? See la how it goes :))
Dar had also blended all the onions, garlic, ginger, dried chillies and had put them in their usual containers in the fridge, just in case I need to use them. That should last me for about a week, that is - IF I were to cook everyday, but, I'm not, am I?;)) Anyway, IF I run out of them, I need not worry as Pasar Taman Tun has this gerai which provides all things under the sun blended. They also have pre-mix pastes for rendang, asam pedas, Nyonya/Kapitan curry, and the lot. I loike :) I've also bought some Maggi pre-mix paste last week. Just in case. Anyway, Pizza Hut, Dominoes and McDonalds are just a phonecall away, kan? :)
Anyway, it's Day 2 without Dar, and so far, so good. The kids helped me clear the kitchen and wash the dishes last night (but this morning I had to re-wash a few of them!) Hopefully they'll get better in time, insya Allah.
All we need now is luck. Loads and loads of luck.
"Asslmkum. Ini Ibu Shana. Mau bertanya samada Dar sudah selamat sampai ke rumah? Pesawatnya tiba di Yogyakarta pukul 8:30 pagi tadi. Terima kasih"
2 minutes after that, came the reply -
"Wlaikmsalam. Alhamdulillah. Sudah selamat sampai. Maaf baru bagi kabar"
And I sent a reply -
"Syukur alhamdulillah. Sampaikan salam kepada keluarga di kampung. Hilman minta beritau Dar dia baru beli 2 ekor anak kura-kura!"
Those SMSs were sent to Bibik Dar's husband.
YES - Dar has gone back home for a 2-month break. And I really hope she IS coming back to Malaysia and work with us again. We've heard of stories of maids who were supposed to come back after their holidays who never came back, and this was after their majikan had paid for all the charges/fees for permit renewal and all.
So, to play safe, when she asked us to transfer all her gaji home 2 weeks ago, we told her that we would keep the amount already spent for her permit renewal, and she could send it home AFTER she comes back in January nanti. And she was okay with that.
So, we take that to mean that she IS coming back.
But, at the same time, we're not keeping our hopes too high because the cash my MIL and my Mom gave her, and all the stuff we bought for her and her daughters to bring home with her could easily be about the same amount we're keeping, if not more. So, she MIGHT feel that she could just forego her gaji that we're still keeping.
When I asked Ayah if he thought Dar was coming back or not, he said "50-50", especially when we checked her room, and saw that she had brought ALL her things with her, save for the clothes she wore the night before and the towel she used yesterday morning.
But, for now we want to bersangka baik... and insya Allah she will come back especially when we have promised her a significant increase in her pay for the next two years.
She told me that she would come back once the work to repair her house (especially the roof) is done, and that should only take about a month. And even though she is supposed to go home for 2 months, she said she would come back by Mid-January. I can only make do'a that she will come back, no matter when exactly, insya Allah.
And YES, we've bought two terrapins last night, and the kids (or rather the girls) have decided to name them Jasper and Seth. Apparently they're a couple of characters from the "Twilight" saga (?!). My 14-year old Hanna seems to think that "Seth" is such a sexy name (??!!). That worries me - giving a sexy name to a terrapin?! Hehehe... And she also said that when she gets married and have kids nanti, all her sons will have "Seth" as their first names. Hmmmmm...Sexy names for her sons...and it started with naming her terrapin "Seth", too?! Aiyoooo, Hanna...
So, the terrapins are additions to our existing pets. We already have a couple of Syrian hamsters at home - Benji and Button, and I just hope the kids will be responsible pet-owners and take really good care of them. Dar had been the one who cleaned their cage, bathed them and changed their water and food all this while, and for the next couple of months, the kids will have to be responsible for them. At least the pets will keep them occupied over the school holiday, I hope.
(A good sign this morning when Hilman woke up, and the first thing he asked me was, "Mommy, when do I feed the terrapins, Mommy?" :))
I made sure that they sit and see and help Dar to clean the hamsters' cage on Saturday night so that they know how to do it and not expect ME to clean it for them every time. I have so many other things to do without adding "cleaning hamsters' cage" to my already long list of things to do over the next couple of months.
And, oh ya - I've already cooked 6 chicken/beef/fish dishes yesterday and have frozen them in small containers for convenience. So now we have frozen Assam Pedas Tenggiri, Lemak Chili Padi Tenggiri, Daging Kicap, Daging Masak Merah, Sweet and Sour Chicken and Ayam Masak Lemak Putih in our freezer. Not forgetting the big pot of Sup Tulang/Daging Qorban on the stove :) If we were to eat at home on alternate days, those should last us for about 2 weeks, insya Allah. I only need to teach Hanna how to cook the rice now. (Yup! She never masak nasi before this - all throughout her 14-years of life...)
As for the laundry, I've made enquiries at the nearest Laundrette, and nampak gayanya I'll be a regular there. They charge 2kg per kilo, and for ironing, it's RM1.20 per piece. I would probably wash and dry everything at home, and just send the necessary clothes for ironing. But, then again - what with it raining everyday, I would probably dump everything there every 2-3 days or so and let them take care of everything. I've also bought a small pail and detergent for each kid to put in their bathrooms for them to wash whatever necessary themselves.
Hanna is now in-charge of sweeping the floor every day so that it'll be easier for me to do the mopping later on. We're so used to Dar mopping the house every day, and we have to make sure that we stick to that. Failing which, maybe we would just do it every other day (or maybe once in 3 days...or once a week ke...? See la how it goes :))
Dar had also blended all the onions, garlic, ginger, dried chillies and had put them in their usual containers in the fridge, just in case I need to use them. That should last me for about a week, that is - IF I were to cook everyday, but, I'm not, am I?;)) Anyway, IF I run out of them, I need not worry as Pasar Taman Tun has this gerai which provides all things under the sun blended. They also have pre-mix pastes for rendang, asam pedas, Nyonya/Kapitan curry, and the lot. I loike :) I've also bought some Maggi pre-mix paste last week. Just in case. Anyway, Pizza Hut, Dominoes and McDonalds are just a phonecall away, kan? :)
Anyway, it's Day 2 without Dar, and so far, so good. The kids helped me clear the kitchen and wash the dishes last night (but this morning I had to re-wash a few of them!) Hopefully they'll get better in time, insya Allah.
All we need now is luck. Loads and loads of luck.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Surat Tunjuk Sebab :)
Hmmmm, we're into our third week of Syawal, and I had not posted anything on our Raya celebration this year. So not me!
Well, life pre, during and post-Raya had been pretty hectic for all of us, me included, and on top of that I have been spending more time on Facebooking than blogging (which I think quite a number of bloggers are guilty of, too!) But, I hope to be able to balance between the two soon, insya Allah.
A summary of what had happened in the last couple of weeks -
The first day of raya, my MIL cooked Lontong and Macaroni Goreng, on top of the usual Lemang, Rendang, Nasi Impit, Satay, etc. While my Mom cooked Mee Rebus, on top of the usuals. And I also cooked some Asam Laksa for both. Malam Raya was spent at my parents' for our last berbuka, after which we went to spend the night at my MIL's. Pagi Raya was spent at my MIL's and we only left for my parents' around 4:00p.m and stayed till late. Everybody was there except for my second brother, Jame who spent his Raya in Taiping as he had to work.
Oh ya, the theme for First Day Raya was Turquoise Blue :) The following days - semua carca marba :)
I lost 2.5kgs during Ramadhan, and gained 1.5kg back in the first week of Syawal. Sedey tau ! :( I'm still trying to make sure that it stays at that, or hopefully go down from now on. I'm on my third day of Puasa qadha' (some say, can also be considered as part of Puasa 6). Thinking of doing a proper Puasa 6 after that. That is IF there's enough time to do that. Syawal dah half-way dah ni...
The whole family is fasting now. Just as how it was last year, I'm very heartened when the kids, especially Hilman and Hasya decided to join us to puasa. Nobody pressured them or anything. They decided to do it on their own accord. And so far, so good. Imaan masih kuat di sekolah even though the temptations must have been great when they see their friends eating and drinking during recess.
We have also been dining out a lot after raya, AND buying food for our meals - the reason being, my MIL's and my SIL's maids (both staying at my MIL's) ran away on first raya! My MIL left the house at 6:15p.m to beraya at her sister's place in Keramat, and by 7:00p.m., when the guard came for duty, he could not get in as there was nobody to open the gate for him! Within 45 minutes - the maids lesap. That was after we gave them 2-3 pasang Baju Raya each and duit raya! Big mistake - with the cash in hand, panjang lah lagi kaki they all :(
Anyway, so, now my Bibik Dar kena kerja lebih sikit coz' kena cover 2 houses. But, my MIL is paying her extra for the extra chores/responsibilities. And everybody in the house chips in to wash the dishes, iron the clothes, sweep and mop the floors, etc. I would help with the cooking if I finish work early. If not, my MIL would just buy lauk dah siap, or we would eat out.
My MIL had a temporary maid last week on Thursday, but decided to send her back to the agent on Monday morning. So many things yang memeningkan kepala and menaikkan darah my MIL. That maid refused to eat leftover rice, and would cook fresh rice for HERSELF every day, and would also serve the DRIVER the fresh rice. BUT she would serve leftover rice to my MIL! Ada kah patut?!
On top of that, she spent more than half of her time eating whatever she could find in the kitchen, in the fridge, in the freezer, etc. She even finished the food meant for the toddler at home, Qadri! And she actually cooked one whole packet of Meehun and ate the whole thing herself for breakfast on Sunday! The whole KUALI of Meehun... Can you beat that? She refused to do other things EXCEPT cook. Even then, she would cook ikut selera dia even though my MIL had taught her how to cook the way the family likes it.
She didn't know how to iron properly, she didn't know how to use the mesin parut kelapa (even though dah diajar a few times), and she refused to cook the fish/chicken/meat which had been in the fridge for more than 4 days. According to her - dah tak sedap! Lawan tokey betul...The majikan tak kisah, pembantu rumah lah pulak yang memilih!!! Tak sakit jiwer kitorang?! Anyway, good riddance - my MIL asked her to pack her bag and sent her to the agent on Monday morning.
Another thing yang memeningkan my kepala, Bibik Dar wants to go back for a 2-month holiday in November, but, I'm trying to persuade her to go back in January 2010 instead. So many things to settle at work year end, and having her around while the kids are on their school holiday would really help ease a lot of things. She's keen to come back and work for another 2 years after that, but, she said she has to ask her husband first...I REALLY hope she'll get the geenlight from her hubby. She has been the best maid we've had so far, and the kids are close to her. We're giving her a substantial raise if she comes back, and we hope that will convince the hubby to let her come back and work with us. Pray for us, please. Thanks! :)
Okay, I guess that's all for now - Surat Tunjuk Sebab why this blog has been idle for a while :)
But, before that, you can click here and here for some of our Raya pics :)
:)
Well, life pre, during and post-Raya had been pretty hectic for all of us, me included, and on top of that I have been spending more time on Facebooking than blogging (which I think quite a number of bloggers are guilty of, too!) But, I hope to be able to balance between the two soon, insya Allah.
A summary of what had happened in the last couple of weeks -
The first day of raya, my MIL cooked Lontong and Macaroni Goreng, on top of the usual Lemang, Rendang, Nasi Impit, Satay, etc. While my Mom cooked Mee Rebus, on top of the usuals. And I also cooked some Asam Laksa for both. Malam Raya was spent at my parents' for our last berbuka, after which we went to spend the night at my MIL's. Pagi Raya was spent at my MIL's and we only left for my parents' around 4:00p.m and stayed till late. Everybody was there except for my second brother, Jame who spent his Raya in Taiping as he had to work.
Oh ya, the theme for First Day Raya was Turquoise Blue :) The following days - semua carca marba :)
I lost 2.5kgs during Ramadhan, and gained 1.5kg back in the first week of Syawal. Sedey tau ! :( I'm still trying to make sure that it stays at that, or hopefully go down from now on. I'm on my third day of Puasa qadha' (some say, can also be considered as part of Puasa 6). Thinking of doing a proper Puasa 6 after that. That is IF there's enough time to do that. Syawal dah half-way dah ni...
The whole family is fasting now. Just as how it was last year, I'm very heartened when the kids, especially Hilman and Hasya decided to join us to puasa. Nobody pressured them or anything. They decided to do it on their own accord. And so far, so good. Imaan masih kuat di sekolah even though the temptations must have been great when they see their friends eating and drinking during recess.
We have also been dining out a lot after raya, AND buying food for our meals - the reason being, my MIL's and my SIL's maids (both staying at my MIL's) ran away on first raya! My MIL left the house at 6:15p.m to beraya at her sister's place in Keramat, and by 7:00p.m., when the guard came for duty, he could not get in as there was nobody to open the gate for him! Within 45 minutes - the maids lesap. That was after we gave them 2-3 pasang Baju Raya each and duit raya! Big mistake - with the cash in hand, panjang lah lagi kaki they all :(
Anyway, so, now my Bibik Dar kena kerja lebih sikit coz' kena cover 2 houses. But, my MIL is paying her extra for the extra chores/responsibilities. And everybody in the house chips in to wash the dishes, iron the clothes, sweep and mop the floors, etc. I would help with the cooking if I finish work early. If not, my MIL would just buy lauk dah siap, or we would eat out.
My MIL had a temporary maid last week on Thursday, but decided to send her back to the agent on Monday morning. So many things yang memeningkan kepala and menaikkan darah my MIL. That maid refused to eat leftover rice, and would cook fresh rice for HERSELF every day, and would also serve the DRIVER the fresh rice. BUT she would serve leftover rice to my MIL! Ada kah patut?!
On top of that, she spent more than half of her time eating whatever she could find in the kitchen, in the fridge, in the freezer, etc. She even finished the food meant for the toddler at home, Qadri! And she actually cooked one whole packet of Meehun and ate the whole thing herself for breakfast on Sunday! The whole KUALI of Meehun... Can you beat that? She refused to do other things EXCEPT cook. Even then, she would cook ikut selera dia even though my MIL had taught her how to cook the way the family likes it.
She didn't know how to iron properly, she didn't know how to use the mesin parut kelapa (even though dah diajar a few times), and she refused to cook the fish/chicken/meat which had been in the fridge for more than 4 days. According to her - dah tak sedap! Lawan tokey betul...The majikan tak kisah, pembantu rumah lah pulak yang memilih!!! Tak sakit jiwer kitorang?! Anyway, good riddance - my MIL asked her to pack her bag and sent her to the agent on Monday morning.
Another thing yang memeningkan my kepala, Bibik Dar wants to go back for a 2-month holiday in November, but, I'm trying to persuade her to go back in January 2010 instead. So many things to settle at work year end, and having her around while the kids are on their school holiday would really help ease a lot of things. She's keen to come back and work for another 2 years after that, but, she said she has to ask her husband first...I REALLY hope she'll get the geenlight from her hubby. She has been the best maid we've had so far, and the kids are close to her. We're giving her a substantial raise if she comes back, and we hope that will convince the hubby to let her come back and work with us. Pray for us, please. Thanks! :)
Okay, I guess that's all for now - Surat Tunjuk Sebab why this blog has been idle for a while :)
But, before that, you can click here and here for some of our Raya pics :)
:)
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Puasa Enam...
It's 9th Syawal today.
So far, including today (insya Allah), I have puasa four days of my Puasa Enam. Syukur Alhamdulillah. So far, so good.
Ayah and Hanna had managed to fast three days so far as Hanna only started on Tuesday, and Ayah had to break fast in the afternoon as he was not feeling well yesterday. But, as I also have extra days to ganti puasa which I plan to also do during Syawal, insya Allah, they can "catch up" and we'll get to "raya" together.
Hasya and Hilman - so far, two days. Hasya had a school trip to Dominoes yesterday, so she couldn't possibly puasa, could she?! What with all those yummy Pepperoni and Hawaiian Chicken pizzas beckoning her?! And because his Kak Ngah Hasya was not fasting yesterday, Hilman decided not to fast, too. So nanti, they, too, will have to "catch up" in order for us to "raya" together.
Apparently, Hasya's teacher asked her class the other day who amongst them Puasa Enam, and Hasya was the only one who put her hand up. And the teacher asked her if the whole family was doing it. And when she said, "Yes", the teacher asked, "Even your brother yang Standard 2 tu??!!" I think, looking at how montel and how kuat makan Hilman is, she couldn't believe Hilman would have the will-power to puasa outside a Non-Ramadhan month, especially when he would be surrounded by friends who would be munching away all the goodies foodies at school! Hehehe!
Ayah and I had never asked or forced the kids to perform the Puasa Enam, but syukur alhamdulillah, they wanted to do it themselves. It all started last year when they were curious as to why both Ayah and I were still fasting when it was already Raya! So, when Ayah explained what Puasa Enam was all about and betapa besar ganjarannya, insya Allah, the kids decided to puasa with us.
So, this year is the second year we all Puasa Enam together as a family, insya Allah.
The initial plan was for everybody to finish Puasa Enam by Tuesday next week. (Weekends tak boleh puasa coz' there are so many Open Houses to go to! Hehehe!). But, now that dah tak "synchronised", I will have to adjust everybody's puasa schedule so that we can puasa the 6th day together, and celebrate together - maybe berbuka at a place of the kids' choice outside on the final day?
Anyway, for sahur, I decided not to kacau Dar and so, for the past four days, I've been getting up at 4:45a.m to siapkan our sahur. Ayah asked me to just ask Dar to do it coz' he didn't want me to wake up and prepare everything. But, I kesian pulak kat Dar if she has to wake up just to siapkan sahur when she's not fasting sekali.
But, Ayah and I realized - after Raya, Dar has been slacking a bit. MAYBE, because she had spent too much time mingling with my MIL's and my SIL's maids in PJ over Raya, and dah berjangkit with their "malas" attitude. We (ourselves, my MIL and my SIL) had each given all the maids some Baju Raya and bonus raya. And we also gave Dar IDD cards worth RM60 for her to call her family during Raya. Maybe dah "naik lemak", kot ?
This morning, after sahur, I didn't go back to sleep, and tengok-tengok sampai 6:20a.m, Dar tak bangun lagi! Lawan tokey betul. Normally she would wake up at 5:45a.m. and prepare breakfast for Ayah. Ayah normally wakes up just before 6:00a.m and would leave the house with Hanna by 6:40a.m. And I suspect, when I leave the house to go to work, and send the kids to my MIL's place in the morning, she would continue with her chores, and then have a looooooong nap in the afternoon because we normally only reach home earliest at 7:00p.m every day. Nobody at home. Nothing much to do.
Hmmmm...maybe for the rest of our Puasa Enam ni, I should ask her to prepare our sahur kot? Tak boleh bagi muka sangat... And I'm sure I will not be depriving her of her beauty sleep as she would have the whole afternoon every day to sleep anyway.
Anyway, to those who are performing the Puasa Enam, selamat menyempurnakannya. Semoga ibadah kita diterima Allah SWT, and semoga kita diberi ganjaran yang berganda, insya Allah. Amin.
So far, including today (insya Allah), I have puasa four days of my Puasa Enam. Syukur Alhamdulillah. So far, so good.
Ayah and Hanna had managed to fast three days so far as Hanna only started on Tuesday, and Ayah had to break fast in the afternoon as he was not feeling well yesterday. But, as I also have extra days to ganti puasa which I plan to also do during Syawal, insya Allah, they can "catch up" and we'll get to "raya" together.
Hasya and Hilman - so far, two days. Hasya had a school trip to Dominoes yesterday, so she couldn't possibly puasa, could she?! What with all those yummy Pepperoni and Hawaiian Chicken pizzas beckoning her?! And because his Kak Ngah Hasya was not fasting yesterday, Hilman decided not to fast, too. So nanti, they, too, will have to "catch up" in order for us to "raya" together.
Apparently, Hasya's teacher asked her class the other day who amongst them Puasa Enam, and Hasya was the only one who put her hand up. And the teacher asked her if the whole family was doing it. And when she said, "Yes", the teacher asked, "Even your brother yang Standard 2 tu??!!" I think, looking at how montel and how kuat makan Hilman is, she couldn't believe Hilman would have the will-power to puasa outside a Non-Ramadhan month, especially when he would be surrounded by friends who would be munching away all the goodies foodies at school! Hehehe!
Ayah and I had never asked or forced the kids to perform the Puasa Enam, but syukur alhamdulillah, they wanted to do it themselves. It all started last year when they were curious as to why both Ayah and I were still fasting when it was already Raya! So, when Ayah explained what Puasa Enam was all about and betapa besar ganjarannya, insya Allah, the kids decided to puasa with us.
So, this year is the second year we all Puasa Enam together as a family, insya Allah.
The initial plan was for everybody to finish Puasa Enam by Tuesday next week. (Weekends tak boleh puasa coz' there are so many Open Houses to go to! Hehehe!). But, now that dah tak "synchronised", I will have to adjust everybody's puasa schedule so that we can puasa the 6th day together, and celebrate together - maybe berbuka at a place of the kids' choice outside on the final day?
Anyway, for sahur, I decided not to kacau Dar and so, for the past four days, I've been getting up at 4:45a.m to siapkan our sahur. Ayah asked me to just ask Dar to do it coz' he didn't want me to wake up and prepare everything. But, I kesian pulak kat Dar if she has to wake up just to siapkan sahur when she's not fasting sekali.
But, Ayah and I realized - after Raya, Dar has been slacking a bit. MAYBE, because she had spent too much time mingling with my MIL's and my SIL's maids in PJ over Raya, and dah berjangkit with their "malas" attitude. We (ourselves, my MIL and my SIL) had each given all the maids some Baju Raya and bonus raya. And we also gave Dar IDD cards worth RM60 for her to call her family during Raya. Maybe dah "naik lemak", kot ?
This morning, after sahur, I didn't go back to sleep, and tengok-tengok sampai 6:20a.m, Dar tak bangun lagi! Lawan tokey betul. Normally she would wake up at 5:45a.m. and prepare breakfast for Ayah. Ayah normally wakes up just before 6:00a.m and would leave the house with Hanna by 6:40a.m. And I suspect, when I leave the house to go to work, and send the kids to my MIL's place in the morning, she would continue with her chores, and then have a looooooong nap in the afternoon because we normally only reach home earliest at 7:00p.m every day. Nobody at home. Nothing much to do.
Hmmmm...maybe for the rest of our Puasa Enam ni, I should ask her to prepare our sahur kot? Tak boleh bagi muka sangat... And I'm sure I will not be depriving her of her beauty sleep as she would have the whole afternoon every day to sleep anyway.
Anyway, to those who are performing the Puasa Enam, selamat menyempurnakannya. Semoga ibadah kita diterima Allah SWT, and semoga kita diberi ganjaran yang berganda, insya Allah. Amin.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Our sweet, sweet boy...
I was cooking dinner tonight, with Daryati helping me with the ingredients and also the washing up, and we were just talking about what Hilman did the whole day today while I was at work. Hilman had missed 3 days of school due to his asthma and he needed his Ventolin puffs every 4 hours, and the only way that he would get his puffs at a regular 4 hours interval was for him to stay at home. He's also on Prednisolone and Diphenydramine which can cause drowsiness. So, just to make sure that he gets the right dosage of all the medicines at the right times, and so that he would get the rest that he needed, staying at home was the answer.
And suddenly, Daryati said -
Daryati : Ibuk, Hilman lucu sekali siang tadi, buk! (Ma'am, Hilman was so funny this afternoon!)
Me : Lucu? Mengapa? Apa yang Hilman buat yang lucu? (Funny? Why? What was it that he did which was funny?)
Daryati : Tadi makan siang Hilman minta saya gorengkan ikan, jadi saya gorengkan satu ekor ikan kembung untuk dia. Kemudian saya hidangkan di meja. Siap duduk, dia minta pisau dari saya... (This afternoon, for lunch, Hilman had asked me to fry some fish for him, and I fried one spanish mackerel for him. After that I served the fish on the table. Right after he sat down, he asked for a knife...)
Me : Pisau?! (Knife?!I was quite taken aback by this)
Daryati : Iya...Habis saya tanya untuk apa? Hilman bilang, "Saya mau potong, mau simpan sedikit untuk Ayah, Mommy, dan kakak-kakak saya."
(Yes...So, I asked him what did he want the knife for, to which he replied, "I want to cut the fish and save some for my Ayah, Mommy and my sisters")
And Daryati continued -
Daryati : Jadi saya bilang sama dia - "Enggak perlu disimpan untuk Ayah, Mommy dan kakak-kakak kerna Makcik tidak goreng semua. Masih ada banyak ikan di dalam peti. Kalu Ayah, Mommy, Hanna dan Hasya mau, Makcik boleh gorengkan untuk semua yang baru. Jadi dia bilang dan tanya sama saya, "Makcik, ikan yang belum dimasak, cukup untuk semua orang?", Jadi saya bilang, "Iya, cukup...tak perlu dipotong ikan goreng punya Hilman. Hilman boleh habiskan semua..."
(So, I told him - "There's no need for you to keep the fish for your Ayah, Mommy and sisters because I did not fry all the fish. There are still a lot more left in the freezer. If Ayah, Mommy, Hanna and Hasya want, I can fry for them fresh. So he asked and said, "Makcik, those uncooked fish - are they enough for everyone?" So, I told him, "Yes, there's enough...there's no need for you to cut your fish. You can finish the whole fish...")
And Daryati said, after hearing this, Hilman then asked her if she wanted some. And when she convinced him that she didn't want any, then only Hilman took the whole fish....and finished it under 5 minutes!
Hilman is by nature a very considerate and a very sensitive boy who has a very soft heart, and always thinks of others before himself. What happened this afternoon showed that he could, if he wanted (and which he DID. Hehehe!) finish the whole fish himself. It was just a very small ikan kembung, but, he was thinking and was more worried that we would not get to eat the fish like he did, and that was why he wanted to save some for us.
That really brought a lump to my throat. And the lump got bigger, when I saw tears trickling down Daryati's cheeks while she was relaying the story to me. She was so touched by what Hilman did. She has always had a soft spot for Hilman. And I know that after what Hilman did today, her soft spot for Hilman has become tenfold now...
Our sweet, sweet boy - Hilman. Taken after one of his swimming lessons some weeks ago.
And suddenly, Daryati said -
Daryati : Ibuk, Hilman lucu sekali siang tadi, buk! (Ma'am, Hilman was so funny this afternoon!)
Me : Lucu? Mengapa? Apa yang Hilman buat yang lucu? (Funny? Why? What was it that he did which was funny?)
Daryati : Tadi makan siang Hilman minta saya gorengkan ikan, jadi saya gorengkan satu ekor ikan kembung untuk dia. Kemudian saya hidangkan di meja. Siap duduk, dia minta pisau dari saya... (This afternoon, for lunch, Hilman had asked me to fry some fish for him, and I fried one spanish mackerel for him. After that I served the fish on the table. Right after he sat down, he asked for a knife...)
Me : Pisau?! (Knife?!I was quite taken aback by this)
Daryati : Iya...Habis saya tanya untuk apa? Hilman bilang, "Saya mau potong, mau simpan sedikit untuk Ayah, Mommy, dan kakak-kakak saya."
(Yes...So, I asked him what did he want the knife for, to which he replied, "I want to cut the fish and save some for my Ayah, Mommy and my sisters")
And Daryati continued -
Daryati : Jadi saya bilang sama dia - "Enggak perlu disimpan untuk Ayah, Mommy dan kakak-kakak kerna Makcik tidak goreng semua. Masih ada banyak ikan di dalam peti. Kalu Ayah, Mommy, Hanna dan Hasya mau, Makcik boleh gorengkan untuk semua yang baru. Jadi dia bilang dan tanya sama saya, "Makcik, ikan yang belum dimasak, cukup untuk semua orang?", Jadi saya bilang, "Iya, cukup...tak perlu dipotong ikan goreng punya Hilman. Hilman boleh habiskan semua..."
(So, I told him - "There's no need for you to keep the fish for your Ayah, Mommy and sisters because I did not fry all the fish. There are still a lot more left in the freezer. If Ayah, Mommy, Hanna and Hasya want, I can fry for them fresh. So he asked and said, "Makcik, those uncooked fish - are they enough for everyone?" So, I told him, "Yes, there's enough...there's no need for you to cut your fish. You can finish the whole fish...")
And Daryati said, after hearing this, Hilman then asked her if she wanted some. And when she convinced him that she didn't want any, then only Hilman took the whole fish....and finished it under 5 minutes!
Hilman is by nature a very considerate and a very sensitive boy who has a very soft heart, and always thinks of others before himself. What happened this afternoon showed that he could, if he wanted (and which he DID. Hehehe!) finish the whole fish himself. It was just a very small ikan kembung, but, he was thinking and was more worried that we would not get to eat the fish like he did, and that was why he wanted to save some for us.
That really brought a lump to my throat. And the lump got bigger, when I saw tears trickling down Daryati's cheeks while she was relaying the story to me. She was so touched by what Hilman did. She has always had a soft spot for Hilman. And I know that after what Hilman did today, her soft spot for Hilman has become tenfold now...
Our sweet, sweet boy - Hilman. Taken after one of his swimming lessons some weeks ago.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
My prayers answered....I hope.
No more “Gunung Kinabalu” in the ironing room.
All clothes washed, dried, ironed, folded and/or hanged.
All floors swept and mopped everyday.
All surfaces cleaned and all the dusts wiped.
All windows washed and are sparkling now.
All dishes washed, dried and put away every night.
All kitchens and toilets gleaming.
All “sawangs” gone.
And check this out – even the plaster ceilings and cornices were wiped clean.
And the table is always set up nicely for every meal.
I can sigh with relief now.
YUP! After 6 months of chaos at the home front, we finally have a helper.
Her name is Daryati. She arrived a week ago. So far, so good.
If you were to look at her, you would get the impression that she’s lazy or slow. The ways she walks, the way she (doesn’t) talk, and the way she goes about doing things around the house. So, it’s amazing to see how she gets everything done so fast. And I don’t have to repeat myself 1001 times with her!
But, more importantly, the kids like her. And I can see that she’s quite attached to them, especially Hilman.
Her time management is good. Hey, she even has time to watch Nickelodeon and the Disney Channel with the kids, AND sit with them when they play with their PS2, mind you! And she normally goes to sleep at 10:30p.m and wakes up at 6:00a.m. Even Ayah and I get less sleep than her, okay?
The only thing she doesn’t do is cook. But, I can live with that, as long as she helps me with the preparation of the ingredients and clean up the kitchen after that.
The kids' toys and books are still all over the place unfortunately. Well, what do you expect? It’s the school holiday maah…
My mind is more at peace now. Syukur Alhamdulillah.
But, it’s still early days, and you all know how it is with helpers. So, I don’t want to “puji” lebih-lebih.
I just pray that she is what she portrays herself as now.
I just pray that she will stay until her contract ends (at least).
I just pray – for that is the only thing I could do now when it comes to “rezqi” with helpers…
All clothes washed, dried, ironed, folded and/or hanged.
All floors swept and mopped everyday.
All surfaces cleaned and all the dusts wiped.
All windows washed and are sparkling now.
All dishes washed, dried and put away every night.
All kitchens and toilets gleaming.
All “sawangs” gone.
And check this out – even the plaster ceilings and cornices were wiped clean.
And the table is always set up nicely for every meal.
I can sigh with relief now.
YUP! After 6 months of chaos at the home front, we finally have a helper.
Her name is Daryati. She arrived a week ago. So far, so good.
If you were to look at her, you would get the impression that she’s lazy or slow. The ways she walks, the way she (doesn’t) talk, and the way she goes about doing things around the house. So, it’s amazing to see how she gets everything done so fast. And I don’t have to repeat myself 1001 times with her!
But, more importantly, the kids like her. And I can see that she’s quite attached to them, especially Hilman.
Her time management is good. Hey, she even has time to watch Nickelodeon and the Disney Channel with the kids, AND sit with them when they play with their PS2, mind you! And she normally goes to sleep at 10:30p.m and wakes up at 6:00a.m. Even Ayah and I get less sleep than her, okay?
The only thing she doesn’t do is cook. But, I can live with that, as long as she helps me with the preparation of the ingredients and clean up the kitchen after that.
The kids' toys and books are still all over the place unfortunately. Well, what do you expect? It’s the school holiday maah…
My mind is more at peace now. Syukur Alhamdulillah.
But, it’s still early days, and you all know how it is with helpers. So, I don’t want to “puji” lebih-lebih.
I just pray that she is what she portrays herself as now.
I just pray that she will stay until her contract ends (at least).
I just pray – for that is the only thing I could do now when it comes to “rezqi” with helpers…
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