* I actually drafted this two weeks ago, but was tied up with stuff and just could not follow it through at one seating. So, it might be a bit outdated, but alang-alang dah ada dalam my Draft box, why not just post it, kan? :)
Laporan Anak #1
Ayah and I went to Sri Aman Open Day to collect Hanna's report on 23rd June (Thursday) morning.
CGP of 3.61, and 7th in her class. She got 5th in her last test.
Not too bad, I guess, but her teacher - Pn Illyanie, said Hanna could do better. She could even be in the Top 3, in fact.
So, Ayah asked her how Hanna is in class generally, and what can she do to improve her grades. And Pn Illyanie said,
"Hmmm... Hanna ni banyak cakap in class... (Errr... Tell us something we don't know already, please? Hehehe...) But, bila ditanya soalan, dia memang boleh jawab. And bila saya tanya Cikgu-cikgu lain pun semua cakap macam tu. Hanna boleh bawak semua subjects - tak der masalah. Kalau kurang sikit bercakap, insya Allah lagi okay... Macam this time - banyak cakap pun, results ok...".
Errr... If you say so, Pn Illyanie... :)
Anyway, we went on to ask Pn Illyanie if she thinks Hanna has been so distracted with all her Club activities in the last couple of months (she's running for President of Sri Aman Interact Club, and also Treasurer for PRS, and has been actively involved in all sorts of Interact and PRS activities, and sports practice, too).
And Pn Illyanie said that it is quite normal for Sri Aman's Form Four students to go all out in all their club activities, and they would give all in whatever tasks and responsibilities given to them, and those who are active would more often than not, see a dip in their grades in Form Four.
Pn Illyanie assured us that once the students give up their posts in the Clubs when they're in Form Five, then insya Allah their grades would improve tremendously after that and they would do very well for their SPM, insya Allah.
I hope so, Pn Illyanie... I hope Hanna is one of them. I seriously hope so...
Laporan Anak-anak #2 and #3
All of us went out of the house at 6:45am on Friday (24th July) morning.
We had asked Zaidy to start work at 6:30am today instead of his usual 9:30am/10:00am reason being we were going to Hasya and Hilman's Report Card Day. If Ayah were to drive, it'll be near to impossible to find parking at the school, especially this time the school had scheduled the Open day for BOTH sesi pagi and petang in the morning.
Anyway, Zaidy dropped us and Hasya Hilman off outside the school at 7:15pm, and off he went to send Hanna to Sri Aman.
As we were early (the perjumpaan with the Guru Kelas was supposed to start at 8:00am), Ayah and I decided to have breakfast at the canteen first.
By 7:45pm, we noticed that some of the parents had started to queue up in front of the classrooms, and some had even seen the teachers, so, we made our way to Hasya's class first.
Her class teacher is Puan Usha who was also Hanna's class teacher when she was in Standard 6.
Syukur alhamdulillah, Hasya got all As. But, for placing in class she got #4. It has become a pattern for Hasya from Standard 1 to fare better in her finals than her mid-year exams, so we were half expecting that. She would normally get #1 or #2 for her finals, and the lowest she had gotten for her mid-year so far was #5. So, this is still within her expected range.
Anyway, we were told by Puan Usha that Hasya is doing well, and she should not have any problems maintaining her As for her UPSR. Insya Allah...
And when we asked Puan Usha, how she is in class, whether she's playful or talkative, etc., the reply we got was,
"No, she's okay! She's not as talkative as Hanna... (Hahaha! Hanna really has a reputation of being talkative both in her primary and secondary schools! Aiyoooo... :))) Hasya participates in class and is always enthusiastic in whatever she does. She's a well-rounded girl - and she does well in her studies and also she's very active in her co-curriculum activities, too. There are students who score, but, that's it. They just study".
So, we take it that Hasya should be fine and should improve on her low As by the time she sits for her UPSR, insya Allah :)
Next we went to Hilman's class and sat down with Encik Suhaidi, his class teacher.
And guess what? The first thing Encik Suhaidi asked was, "Kakak Hilman, Hanna apa khabar?" (Aiyoooo... Kan I dah kata Anak #1 tu famous... LOL!!!)
Anyway, Hilman got 4As and 1B (for Science, which is his favorite subject - which he got Hadiah Matapelajaran Terbaik every year). So, we asked Encik Suhaidi if Hilman had any problem following the subject in class in Tahun 5?
The answer we got was that the questions were quite hard and only 2 students got A for Science, and the fact that Hilman got a very high B for Science meant that we should not be too overly concerned. Hilman should be able to do well in the subject, insya Allah. According to Encik Suhaidy, if based on his marks, Hilman is second in his class, but because there are 2 of his classmates who got 5As, Hilman is therefore ranked #3.
And the standard question on how our kids are doing in class was also asked :)
And Encik Suhaidy said this,
"Hilman ni, kira macam jadi contoh lah dalam kelas. Memang selalu participate in class and selalu nak jawab soalan. Sampai kadang-kadang saya kena cakap kat dia, 'Hilman tak dibenarkan jawab soalan ni!" (HAHAHAHA! That is SO Hilman! :))
Encik Suhaidy went on to say -
"And Hilman suka bertanya. Apa yang dia tak faham, dia tak segan bertanya. Kadang-kadang saya pun tak boleh nak jawab and kena minta dia berjumpa dengan saya selepas kelas...(Hehehee... That's our Hilman alright!) Generally, Hilman ni bagus dan budak yang baik. Insya Allah dia tak ada masalah nanti..."
Syukur alhamdulillah... Insya Allah :)
So, I'm quite happy with the reports from the teachers, and I know, if we were to look at the previous patterns, both Hasya and Hilman will fare better in their finals nanti, insya Allah...
Errrr... But, for Ayah -
In Hasya's case, it does not matter if Hasya is more active in all the co-curriculum activities compared to her friends who got #1 and #2, she should still get #1.
And in Hilman's case, if there are two students in his class who could score A for Science, Hilman should have also gotten an A! Whether the questions were hard or not, is irrelevant.
** Adoyaiiii... Kesian lah anak-anak yang bapaknya high achiever nih...Hehehe!*
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Sunday, June 12, 2011
7 o'clock...
I was fast asleep when I suddenly felt Hilman tapping on my shoulder.
Hilman : Mommy, can I borrow your Master key, please, Mommy?
Me : Huhh?! (Still in "mamai" mode, and I looked out of the window) Errrr... What's the time now, Hilman?
Hilman : It's 7 o'clock, Mommy.
Me : 7?! (Panic mode!) Huhh?!! Why do you need my Master key? Kenapa Hilman tak gi sekolah lagi ni?!
Hilman : I need to find my school tie in Wan's room, Mommy.
Me : (Angry mode) Baru nak cari tie now?! It's already 7 o'clock, Hilman! Kenapa tak siapkan semua semalam?! Kan Mommy selalu pesan you have to get everything ready for school the night before. You'll be late for school nanti!
Hilman : (Puzzled mode) Errrr...? That's why I want to borrow your Master key, Mommy. I want to look for my school tie...
Me : It's already 7 o'clock, Hilman! Where's Ayah?!
(Started feeling puzzled as to why Ayah woke up late and why he did not wake me up to solat subuh like he normally would in the morning!)
Hilman : Errr...Ayah's in the bathroom, Mommy - mandi I think?
I slowly looked out of the window again, and around the room and suddenly it dawned on me and I realized that it was 7:00 P.M ON SUNDAY and NOT 7:00 A.M ON MONDAY!
Me : (Feeling guilty for raising my voice at Hilman) Errrr.... All my keys are in the two pouches in my handbag, Hilman. If they're not there, they're in my work bag.
Hilman : Errr, ok Mommy... Thanks... (With a puzzled look on his face)
MORAL OF THE STORY - DO NOT TIDUR PETANG WHEN IT HAS BEEN YEARS SINCE YOU LAST DID SO!
HEHEHE... :)))
Hilman : Mommy, can I borrow your Master key, please, Mommy?
Me : Huhh?! (Still in "mamai" mode, and I looked out of the window) Errrr... What's the time now, Hilman?
Hilman : It's 7 o'clock, Mommy.
Me : 7?! (Panic mode!) Huhh?!! Why do you need my Master key? Kenapa Hilman tak gi sekolah lagi ni?!
Hilman : I need to find my school tie in Wan's room, Mommy.
Me : (Angry mode) Baru nak cari tie now?! It's already 7 o'clock, Hilman! Kenapa tak siapkan semua semalam?! Kan Mommy selalu pesan you have to get everything ready for school the night before. You'll be late for school nanti!
Hilman : (Puzzled mode) Errrr...? That's why I want to borrow your Master key, Mommy. I want to look for my school tie...
Me : It's already 7 o'clock, Hilman! Where's Ayah?!
(Started feeling puzzled as to why Ayah woke up late and why he did not wake me up to solat subuh like he normally would in the morning!)
Hilman : Errr...Ayah's in the bathroom, Mommy - mandi I think?
I slowly looked out of the window again, and around the room and suddenly it dawned on me and I realized that it was 7:00 P.M ON SUNDAY and NOT 7:00 A.M ON MONDAY!
Me : (Feeling guilty for raising my voice at Hilman) Errrr.... All my keys are in the two pouches in my handbag, Hilman. If they're not there, they're in my work bag.
Hilman : Errr, ok Mommy... Thanks... (With a puzzled look on his face)
MORAL OF THE STORY - DO NOT TIDUR PETANG WHEN IT HAS BEEN YEARS SINCE YOU LAST DID SO!
HEHEHE... :)))
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Oops! No more my baby (next year?)
Ayah, myself , Hasya and Hilman were just having our dose of Tutti Frutti froyo
for the day at our outlet in SS2 last night when this conversation came up -
Hasya : Hmmmm... Hilman has got stuff on his face now!
Me : Stuff? What do you mean?
And I looked at Hilman's face.
Me : Oh, you mean facial hair? Not that much and that clear lah, Hasya.
Hasya : Ya lah kot? (and a 3 second pause) Oh my. Puberty!
At this point, Hilman butted in -
Hilman : No la. Next year la... (with his usual muka selamba) :)
Ayah looked at me, and we looked at Hasya and all of us started laughing!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
"H
for the day at our outlet in SS2 last night when this conversation came up -
Hasya : Hmmmm... Hilman has got stuff on his face now!
Me : Stuff? What do you mean?
And I looked at Hilman's face.
Me : Oh, you mean facial hair? Not that much and that clear lah, Hasya.
Hasya : Ya lah kot? (and a 3 second pause) Oh my. Puberty!
At this point, Hilman butted in -
Hilman : No la. Next year la... (with his usual muka selamba) :)
Ayah looked at me, and we looked at Hasya and all of us started laughing!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
"H
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Income tax filing woes... What's new, babe?
It's not as if I didn't know the deadline to submit my tax returns is at the end of April.
And it's not as if I had to do it myself, as both Ayah and I have engaged tax agents to file everything for us. Mine is based in Rawang, while Ayah is asking our company secretary to do it for him as this is the first time he has to submit returns for our company (for medical consultancy and services) AND for his personal incomes.
But, still I had to wait until 3:00pm today to fax all the necessary statements to the agents (who must be cursing like crazy today as I'm sure we are not the only procrastinators on their clients list!)
Anyway, by 4:00pm, (talk about efficient service!)I received a phonecall from my tax agent informing me that she had done the calculations and I don't have to pay anything for last year's income. In fact LHDN owes me money! YEAYYY!! Well, it's not much coz' my gaji pun bukannya banyak mana pun - chiput jer... But, lepaslah kot satu Coach handbag... (hahaha!) Syukur alhamdulillah :)
So now we're waiting with bated breaths for Ayah's tax agent to come back to us... Hopefully, they can somehow come up with ways to get as many exemptions for Ayah, and get him to pay as minimal as possible.
If not, our year end vacation might have to wait...
And it's not as if I had to do it myself, as both Ayah and I have engaged tax agents to file everything for us. Mine is based in Rawang, while Ayah is asking our company secretary to do it for him as this is the first time he has to submit returns for our company (for medical consultancy and services) AND for his personal incomes.
But, still I had to wait until 3:00pm today to fax all the necessary statements to the agents (who must be cursing like crazy today as I'm sure we are not the only procrastinators on their clients list!)
Anyway, by 4:00pm, (talk about efficient service!)I received a phonecall from my tax agent informing me that she had done the calculations and I don't have to pay anything for last year's income. In fact LHDN owes me money! YEAYYY!! Well, it's not much coz' my gaji pun bukannya banyak mana pun - chiput jer... But, lepaslah kot satu Coach handbag... (hahaha!) Syukur alhamdulillah :)
So now we're waiting with bated breaths for Ayah's tax agent to come back to us... Hopefully, they can somehow come up with ways to get as many exemptions for Ayah, and get him to pay as minimal as possible.
If not, our year end vacation might have to wait...
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Happy 27th Anniversary (of knowing each other...), darling
It's 10:40pm, 25th April 2011.
In 1 hour and 20 mins, it'll be 26th April 2011 - marking the 27th Anniversary of the day Ayah and I first knew each other. To those who followed our cherita chenta which I posted 4 years ago when we celebrated our 23rd Anniversary (I think?), you would already know the cerita hindustan and the ups and downs of our courting years which started when we were both 16 years old, sampailah we tied the knot ten years after that, at the age of 26 on 9.9.94 :)
Syukur alhamdulillah - this year both of us are 43 years old, and I still can't believe that it has been 27 years since we first knew each other way back in 1984 when we were in Form Four! And we're still going on strong, insya Allah - with our eldest - Hanna at 16, Hasya at 12, and Hilman at 11 :)
It has been a wonderful 27 years - going through an amazing journey as best friends - more than 16 years of which as husband and wife.
Syukur alhamdulillah, life has been good to us and Allah SWT has blessed us with a wonderful marriage, albeit with glitches, cold wars and challenges here and there, which had sometimes rocked the core of our married souls. However, the same dugaan were the things which have made our love and commitment to each other stronger over the years.
I guess having known each other for more than 10 years before tying the knot had laid a very strong foundation for our marriage to stay steadfast, come what may.
There's no such thing as a perfect marriage, and I don't claim my marriage to Ayah to be perfect. But, I know that, dengan Rahmat dan Berkat dariNya, we are very happy because we always bersyukur with whatever that comes our way, insya Allah - be it good things, great things, not so great things, dugaan maha besar and dugaan maha kecil... Through thick and thin, we have stayed together, syukur alhamdulillah.
I don't know if I would ever live that long and get the chance to celebrate another 27 years of pure marital bliss, but, I know that whatever borrowed times we have, I will treasure Ayah - my husband, my confidante, my best friend until my last breath, insya Allah.
And I make do'a that he will treasure me the same way, insya Allah... Amin.
Happy 27th Anniversary (of first knowing each other!), darling :)
Love you loads... (Words just can't describe how much exactly, but, I know you know just how much I love you...)
In 1 hour and 20 mins, it'll be 26th April 2011 - marking the 27th Anniversary of the day Ayah and I first knew each other. To those who followed our cherita chenta which I posted 4 years ago when we celebrated our 23rd Anniversary (I think?), you would already know the cerita hindustan and the ups and downs of our courting years which started when we were both 16 years old, sampailah we tied the knot ten years after that, at the age of 26 on 9.9.94 :)
Syukur alhamdulillah - this year both of us are 43 years old, and I still can't believe that it has been 27 years since we first knew each other way back in 1984 when we were in Form Four! And we're still going on strong, insya Allah - with our eldest - Hanna at 16, Hasya at 12, and Hilman at 11 :)
It has been a wonderful 27 years - going through an amazing journey as best friends - more than 16 years of which as husband and wife.
Syukur alhamdulillah, life has been good to us and Allah SWT has blessed us with a wonderful marriage, albeit with glitches, cold wars and challenges here and there, which had sometimes rocked the core of our married souls. However, the same dugaan were the things which have made our love and commitment to each other stronger over the years.
I guess having known each other for more than 10 years before tying the knot had laid a very strong foundation for our marriage to stay steadfast, come what may.
There's no such thing as a perfect marriage, and I don't claim my marriage to Ayah to be perfect. But, I know that, dengan Rahmat dan Berkat dariNya, we are very happy because we always bersyukur with whatever that comes our way, insya Allah - be it good things, great things, not so great things, dugaan maha besar and dugaan maha kecil... Through thick and thin, we have stayed together, syukur alhamdulillah.
I don't know if I would ever live that long and get the chance to celebrate another 27 years of pure marital bliss, but, I know that whatever borrowed times we have, I will treasure Ayah - my husband, my confidante, my best friend until my last breath, insya Allah.
And I make do'a that he will treasure me the same way, insya Allah... Amin.
Happy 27th Anniversary (of first knowing each other!), darling :)
Love you loads... (Words just can't describe how much exactly, but, I know you know just how much I love you...)
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Updates on Family, Work and Business (?!)
Oh my...oh my! It has been nearly 4 months since I last posted an entry here (and I nearly forgot my blogspot username and password!)
So many things to share but I just don't know where to start!
I think I shall categorize my cerita into three groups today - family and I, work and business venture (Yup! you read it right - "business venture" - hence the reason why I've been running like a headless chicken for the last few months!) Will leave that story for the last.
Family and I
The follow-up from my last entry - Syukur alhamdulillah Hanna got straight A's for her PMR. Very, very proud of her :))) As the Kak Long, she has indeed set a very good example for her sister and brother.
As a recognition for her achievement, she received an award under the Badan Anak Negeri Wilayah Persekutuan last Saturday (by virtue of her Wan and Ayah being Anak Nogoghi), and insya Allah this Saturday her school will be having their Hari Anugerah and Penghargaan, and she'll get an award, too, on that day.
And Hanna got No.5 in the whole Form in the March test! Looking good so far, insya Allah :) And she represented her school in handball for the MSSD Meet earlier this month.
Hasya is made a prefect again this year, and she's holding the post of the Secretary for the Prefectorial Board. And she represented her school in netball for the MSSD, too.
As for her PKSR 1, Hasya didn't do as well as she expected, and she VOLUNTARILY surrendered her handphone to me after she got her results! She said she wants me to keep it for two months - and how could I say "No" to that, kan? Hehehe...
Hilman got No. 1 in class for his PKSR 1, and because of that we lifted the 1 month ban we imposed on him in February when he carelessly put his PS3 box on his Wan's brand new car and scratched it! So, he's back being a happy boy he is after fasting from playing PS3 for nearly 1 month!
Ayah is as busy as always - no change there. Please refer to my older postings on how busy Ayah was. Hehehe... Can copy and paste here. Same ole, same ole ;)
Oh ya, still on the family front - We've started going for badminton sessions every Sunday for the last 2 months. What started off as just a family bonding session while Hilman attended badminton coaching at the Pioneer Badminton Academy at Sunsuria, has now turned into 'sweat-it-out' sessions with friends as well, and as to date we have 4 to 5 other families of friends joining us every Sunday! My MT gang include Abid, Awin and Ieja, who have also enrolled their sons for badminton coaching, too!
The good thing about these badminton sessions is of course - I feel much healthier and relaxed nowadays. And, I now spend less time and money on shopping, too, coz' previously Sunday was our Family lepak day at the shopping malls! So, it's a double-edged sword for us :) So, that's nice :)
By the way, Hilman's chief coach is Lee Wan Wah - one half of our former Malaysia's number one doubles badminton player. Had never really seen him in real life before this - only on TV and in the newspapers. Handsome jugak Mr Lee Wan Wah ni rupanya...Ada rupa Andy Lau, weh! HAHAHAHA! And oh ya, Dato' Lee Chong Wei also made a special appearance at the academy earlier this month right after winning the All England title - much to the delight of Hilman and his friends - siap bergambo bagai lagi :)
So, that's about it on family matters, I think?
Work
My HoD tendered his resignation unexpectedly early January, and yours truly dipaksarela to become the Bidan Terjun and fill in as the HoD until August this year (and hopefully, the management will not extend it beyond that!). It has only been 3 months plus heading the Department, but, I think my grey hair has doubled (even tripled) since January! I have never been a fan of admin work, but, this time, nak tak nak terpaksa jugak pikul tanggungjawab demi department... I am so not cut out to be an HoD!
Business ventures
Hmmmm...nak tergelak pun ada - out of the blue suddenly teman dah jadi businesswoman lah pulak, ya?! :)
Sebagai persiapan nak pencen, Ayah and I decided to seriously think about investing in business(es).
Our first opportunity came when one of Ayah's friends approached us if we would be interested to become investors/financier for his OTWC outlet in Damansara Perdana. We didn't really have to think hard about it, and within a month, all paperwork was finalized, and we officially became businessman/woman! Chewaaah!! ;) But, we're not the franchisee as such, but, insya Allah will be getting some steady fixed returns from our investments into the business. Not millions, of course, but, sufficient to build up and add on to our savings, insya Allah. So, if ever you guys are in Damansara Perdana area, do drop by the OTWC place at Metropolitan Square (besides Citibank), okay? :)
AND, our more serious and BIGGER venture has just opened two weeks ago, with our Grand Opening on Saturday 16th April 2011. We have opened a TUTTI FRUTTI FROZEN YOGHURT OUTLET in SS2, PJ! Same row as McD, just besides AmBank, across the Hawker Centre.
What started out as a joke has in fact become a reality for us!
Our kids, together with their lil' cousins were so into Tutti Frutti Frozen Yoghurt (or Froyos) that they were having it nearly every day (sometimes twice a day, in fact!), and Ayah made a remark, if they buy it everyday, might as well we buy the shop! (Gempaq!! LOL!) That thought suddenly didn't sound like a joke anymore when we decided to discuss the venture with Ayah's siblings, and they agreed to it!
So, from our first meeting with Naza Tutti Frutti Malaysia management at the end of January, and after finalizing the paperwork, and renovation work, we finally opened for business on 9th April 2011, and a week after that, on 16th April 2011 we had our Grand Opening with BUNKFACE making a special appearance - mingling with guests and fans, and also singing three songs for their fans. They were simply awesome - very talented and yet very humble (not to mention making many young girls' hearts melt that day! Hehehe!)
I would like to share some pictures of our Grand Opening here :)
So, if ever you guys are in the neighbourhood, do drop by and FROYO with us, okay? The address is -
No. 36, Jalan SS2/61
47300 Petaling Jaya
Selangor Darul Ehsan
We open 7 days a week, from 12pm to 12am and we have Happy Hour from 12pm to 3pm Monday to Thursday until the end of April, whereby we give 20% discount to customers :) Free WiFi available.
I'm there almost everyday after 6:00pm - straight after work, and would stay until closing time at 12:00am.
So, begitulah kira-kiranya why I've been on a very long hiatus for the last 4 months or so. So many things to juggle and I only have two hands, 2 feet and 1 head... Fenin jugak, but, I'm getting used to the new routine/schedule now (insya Allah)
I will try to post entries regularly from now on while moonlighting at our Tutti Frutti Outlet everynight, hopefully, insya Allah :)
So many things to share but I just don't know where to start!
I think I shall categorize my cerita into three groups today - family and I, work and business venture (Yup! you read it right - "business venture" - hence the reason why I've been running like a headless chicken for the last few months!) Will leave that story for the last.
Family and I
The follow-up from my last entry - Syukur alhamdulillah Hanna got straight A's for her PMR. Very, very proud of her :))) As the Kak Long, she has indeed set a very good example for her sister and brother.
As a recognition for her achievement, she received an award under the Badan Anak Negeri Wilayah Persekutuan last Saturday (by virtue of her Wan and Ayah being Anak Nogoghi), and insya Allah this Saturday her school will be having their Hari Anugerah and Penghargaan, and she'll get an award, too, on that day.
And Hanna got No.5 in the whole Form in the March test! Looking good so far, insya Allah :) And she represented her school in handball for the MSSD Meet earlier this month.
Hasya is made a prefect again this year, and she's holding the post of the Secretary for the Prefectorial Board. And she represented her school in netball for the MSSD, too.
As for her PKSR 1, Hasya didn't do as well as she expected, and she VOLUNTARILY surrendered her handphone to me after she got her results! She said she wants me to keep it for two months - and how could I say "No" to that, kan? Hehehe...
Hilman got No. 1 in class for his PKSR 1, and because of that we lifted the 1 month ban we imposed on him in February when he carelessly put his PS3 box on his Wan's brand new car and scratched it! So, he's back being a happy boy he is after fasting from playing PS3 for nearly 1 month!
Ayah is as busy as always - no change there. Please refer to my older postings on how busy Ayah was. Hehehe... Can copy and paste here. Same ole, same ole ;)
Oh ya, still on the family front - We've started going for badminton sessions every Sunday for the last 2 months. What started off as just a family bonding session while Hilman attended badminton coaching at the Pioneer Badminton Academy at Sunsuria, has now turned into 'sweat-it-out' sessions with friends as well, and as to date we have 4 to 5 other families of friends joining us every Sunday! My MT gang include Abid, Awin and Ieja, who have also enrolled their sons for badminton coaching, too!
The good thing about these badminton sessions is of course - I feel much healthier and relaxed nowadays. And, I now spend less time and money on shopping, too, coz' previously Sunday was our Family lepak day at the shopping malls! So, it's a double-edged sword for us :) So, that's nice :)
By the way, Hilman's chief coach is Lee Wan Wah - one half of our former Malaysia's number one doubles badminton player. Had never really seen him in real life before this - only on TV and in the newspapers. Handsome jugak Mr Lee Wan Wah ni rupanya...Ada rupa Andy Lau, weh! HAHAHAHA! And oh ya, Dato' Lee Chong Wei also made a special appearance at the academy earlier this month right after winning the All England title - much to the delight of Hilman and his friends - siap bergambo bagai lagi :)
So, that's about it on family matters, I think?
Work
My HoD tendered his resignation unexpectedly early January, and yours truly dipaksarela to become the Bidan Terjun and fill in as the HoD until August this year (and hopefully, the management will not extend it beyond that!). It has only been 3 months plus heading the Department, but, I think my grey hair has doubled (even tripled) since January! I have never been a fan of admin work, but, this time, nak tak nak terpaksa jugak pikul tanggungjawab demi department... I am so not cut out to be an HoD!
Business ventures
Hmmmm...nak tergelak pun ada - out of the blue suddenly teman dah jadi businesswoman lah pulak, ya?! :)
Sebagai persiapan nak pencen, Ayah and I decided to seriously think about investing in business(es).
Our first opportunity came when one of Ayah's friends approached us if we would be interested to become investors/financier for his OTWC outlet in Damansara Perdana. We didn't really have to think hard about it, and within a month, all paperwork was finalized, and we officially became businessman/woman! Chewaaah!! ;) But, we're not the franchisee as such, but, insya Allah will be getting some steady fixed returns from our investments into the business. Not millions, of course, but, sufficient to build up and add on to our savings, insya Allah. So, if ever you guys are in Damansara Perdana area, do drop by the OTWC place at Metropolitan Square (besides Citibank), okay? :)
AND, our more serious and BIGGER venture has just opened two weeks ago, with our Grand Opening on Saturday 16th April 2011. We have opened a TUTTI FRUTTI FROZEN YOGHURT OUTLET in SS2, PJ! Same row as McD, just besides AmBank, across the Hawker Centre.
What started out as a joke has in fact become a reality for us!
Our kids, together with their lil' cousins were so into Tutti Frutti Frozen Yoghurt (or Froyos) that they were having it nearly every day (sometimes twice a day, in fact!), and Ayah made a remark, if they buy it everyday, might as well we buy the shop! (Gempaq!! LOL!) That thought suddenly didn't sound like a joke anymore when we decided to discuss the venture with Ayah's siblings, and they agreed to it!
So, from our first meeting with Naza Tutti Frutti Malaysia management at the end of January, and after finalizing the paperwork, and renovation work, we finally opened for business on 9th April 2011, and a week after that, on 16th April 2011 we had our Grand Opening with BUNKFACE making a special appearance - mingling with guests and fans, and also singing three songs for their fans. They were simply awesome - very talented and yet very humble (not to mention making many young girls' hearts melt that day! Hehehe!)
I would like to share some pictures of our Grand Opening here :)
So, if ever you guys are in the neighbourhood, do drop by and FROYO with us, okay? The address is -
No. 36, Jalan SS2/61
47300 Petaling Jaya
Selangor Darul Ehsan
We open 7 days a week, from 12pm to 12am and we have Happy Hour from 12pm to 3pm Monday to Thursday until the end of April, whereby we give 20% discount to customers :) Free WiFi available.
I'm there almost everyday after 6:00pm - straight after work, and would stay until closing time at 12:00am.
So, begitulah kira-kiranya why I've been on a very long hiatus for the last 4 months or so. So many things to juggle and I only have two hands, 2 feet and 1 head... Fenin jugak, but, I'm getting used to the new routine/schedule now (insya Allah)
I will try to post entries regularly from now on while moonlighting at our Tutti Frutti Outlet everynight, hopefully, insya Allah :)
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Wee hours rambling...
It's 4:25a.m now, and here I am wide awake - for two reasons.
Firstly - Ayah was woken up by a phonecall from Sri Ko*a Medical Centre, Klang just over an hour ago, and he had to leave immediately to attend to an emergency heart attack case. He left within 15 minutes of the call - after taking a quick shower to freshen up and gulping down a mug of Ali Ca*e coffee I made him - as an added measure to make sure he stays wide awake and alert on the road at this hour of the night/morning.
He has brought along his work attire with him, just in case his Klang patient needs an emergency angioplasty which would probably, give and take, take 2 hours to complete, after which it would already be time for Ayah to go to TMC for his ward round and later – clinic.
It has become a norm for Ayah to either come back VERY late and/or being called in the middle of the night to attend to his patients for the past 6 months or so. The reason being - he is now covering four hospitals. On top of TMC where he is a Resident Physician and Cardiologist, he's also a Visiting Consultant at 3 other hospitals - Col*mbi* As*a (Puchong), Ass*nta Hospital (PJ) AND Sri Ko*a MC (Klang). He has also been accredited to practise at Su*way MC, but, as it is, he has his hands full with the said four hospitals and has yet to start his sessions at Su*way.
So, you can just imagine the amount of to-ing and fro-ing he has to do on some days if he has patients to see at ALL four hospitals! It's just like you doing your current job, but, four times more at four different offices spread out at four different locations. Almost everyday.
Attending to his scheduled clinics and ward rounds at these hospitals is not much of a problem, as Zaidy, can drive him around. It's answering to emergency cases like this morning that is making his life topsy turvy now (and my life, too, for that matter!) The calls could lead to him going to Kota Damansara (which is not too bad), or Puchong, or PJ, or even Klang at godforsaken hours, like this morning.
But, Ayah did warn me early last year when he was leaving PP*M to go private that the first couple of years would be hell as he would have to establish himself in the private practice first and get his patients base in a few hospitals as he would not be able to survive just on income coming from one source. And true enough, he has to do just that now.
Syukur alhamdulillah, his earnings since leaving the government hospital has been pretty steady without too much fluctuations between the months, but to guarantee that, he has to work twice as hard as when he was in PP*M. (and as it was, he was already working like 14-18 hours a day then! But, it wasn't too bad then as he was only covering PP*M, and was not running here and there between four hospitals like now!)
The kids and I have gotten so used to Ayah's crazy schedule now, and what little time we have with him would be maximized with whatever family outings we could go on.
It has not been easy for both parties – Ayah, and me and the kids. But, over the years, things have become relatively easi-ER.
I know a lot of people out there are thinking just how on earth does he do that? And, maybe a LOT MORE are probably thinking – “How on earth does she know that his coming home late everyday IS because he’s attending to his patients? How on earth will she know if he is in fact up to no good with some other woman?!”
Well, I don't, and I probably won't know.
I’d be lying if I were to say that these thoughts had never crossed my mind – especially in the early years of being married. Hell, I have to admit that as recent as maybe 5-6 years ago I still had doubts about that!
But, like all couples, we would have our arguments, and more often that not, they were always because of him not spending as much time as I wanted him to with the kids, and me doubting if he was really at work during all those long hours he was not home. Hati perempuan, kan…?
But, Syukur Alhamdulillah… things are so much better in that department now. I guess we grew up… Or rather, I grew up.
I guess, as long as I focus on fulfilling my duties as his wife well, and as long as I bersangka baik with him, and trust him with all my heart, and as long as I appreciate just how hard he’s working to provide for the family, and as long as (and I make sure he does! Hehehe…) he appreciates the sarifices the kids and I also have to make over the years for him, insya Allah, we will be okay. In fact, MORE than okay :)
It is strange, but, I do find our relationship has reached another level whereby there are better understanding and tolerance between us, since Ayah went private, even though as mentioned, he is so, so much busier now.
I now see and focus on how hard he works for the family, rather than on how little time he spends with us. BIG difference there.
And apart from focusing on how hard it was for him to be where he is now, I think Ayah now also focuses on how hard it was for me and the kids to go through life with him not being around for most of the time, and I know that he appreciates that fact.
Experiencing life as a doctor, and even more so, as a cardiologist, AND seeing how it has affected us as a family, Ayah is forever trying to discourage the kids to follow his footsteps. His latest attempt at this was made last weekend when he had to give a talk to a group of students aspiring to become doctors, whereby he had dragged the whole family to listen to his talk which covered his journey to becoming a doctor and what he had to give up along the way until now.
Listening to him that day had made me realize that I should have appreciated him more as a very good and responsible husband and father all these years and should have given him 200% more support than I had given him all this while. I should have given him more credits…
Anyway, I don’t think he did a good job at discouraging the kids to do medicine – cardiology in particular, as I think Hasya is more determined to become a cardiologist now after listening to her Ayah’s talk!
In a way, I guess it is not fair for us to discourage the kids to become doctors, and even more so - cardiologists. So, we have agreed that we will not discourage them, but, at the same time, we will not ACTIVELY encourage them to follow their Ayah’s path. We have gone through the trials and tribulations as a family in medical life conundrums - and we know that not everyone will be able to go through it like we did/do.
However, if Allah SWT has determined their paths to be so, then we as parents will embrace it whole-heartedly, and will support them and their families all the way, insya Allah…
So, THAT was one of the reasons why I’m still wide awake at this hour – being woken up by the emergency call for Ayah at 3:30a.m!
A blessing in disguise, I guess, because I have somehow managed to come up with this entry :)
Now, the SECOND reason why I still can’t go back to sleep is that in less than 5 hours, Hanna will be getting her PMR result!
I’m pretty nervous even though I have every confidence in her, insya Allah…But, Moms, being Moms, we just can’t help feeling the jitters, kan?
Come what may, I know she has worked hard, and I’m very, very, very proud of her.
And as my senior at school, Along Faezah would say, “Usaha sudah, tawakal sudah. And now kita redha with anything that comes our way…”
All the best, my darling Hanna! Mommy and Ayah love you VERY, VERY MUCH! And don’t you ever forget that…
And (after all that was said! :)) even when your PMR results would mean that you probably would get good SPM results, too, insya Allah, and can probably go ahead and pursue medicine after school, do think about it twice (or maybe, three or four times, or more, okay, dear…?) ;)
* By the way, Ayah's MM article for this week can be read here :)
Firstly - Ayah was woken up by a phonecall from Sri Ko*a Medical Centre, Klang just over an hour ago, and he had to leave immediately to attend to an emergency heart attack case. He left within 15 minutes of the call - after taking a quick shower to freshen up and gulping down a mug of Ali Ca*e coffee I made him - as an added measure to make sure he stays wide awake and alert on the road at this hour of the night/morning.
He has brought along his work attire with him, just in case his Klang patient needs an emergency angioplasty which would probably, give and take, take 2 hours to complete, after which it would already be time for Ayah to go to TMC for his ward round and later – clinic.
It has become a norm for Ayah to either come back VERY late and/or being called in the middle of the night to attend to his patients for the past 6 months or so. The reason being - he is now covering four hospitals. On top of TMC where he is a Resident Physician and Cardiologist, he's also a Visiting Consultant at 3 other hospitals - Col*mbi* As*a (Puchong), Ass*nta Hospital (PJ) AND Sri Ko*a MC (Klang). He has also been accredited to practise at Su*way MC, but, as it is, he has his hands full with the said four hospitals and has yet to start his sessions at Su*way.
So, you can just imagine the amount of to-ing and fro-ing he has to do on some days if he has patients to see at ALL four hospitals! It's just like you doing your current job, but, four times more at four different offices spread out at four different locations. Almost everyday.
Attending to his scheduled clinics and ward rounds at these hospitals is not much of a problem, as Zaidy, can drive him around. It's answering to emergency cases like this morning that is making his life topsy turvy now (and my life, too, for that matter!) The calls could lead to him going to Kota Damansara (which is not too bad), or Puchong, or PJ, or even Klang at godforsaken hours, like this morning.
But, Ayah did warn me early last year when he was leaving PP*M to go private that the first couple of years would be hell as he would have to establish himself in the private practice first and get his patients base in a few hospitals as he would not be able to survive just on income coming from one source. And true enough, he has to do just that now.
Syukur alhamdulillah, his earnings since leaving the government hospital has been pretty steady without too much fluctuations between the months, but to guarantee that, he has to work twice as hard as when he was in PP*M. (and as it was, he was already working like 14-18 hours a day then! But, it wasn't too bad then as he was only covering PP*M, and was not running here and there between four hospitals like now!)
The kids and I have gotten so used to Ayah's crazy schedule now, and what little time we have with him would be maximized with whatever family outings we could go on.
It has not been easy for both parties – Ayah, and me and the kids. But, over the years, things have become relatively easi-ER.
I know a lot of people out there are thinking just how on earth does he do that? And, maybe a LOT MORE are probably thinking – “How on earth does she know that his coming home late everyday IS because he’s attending to his patients? How on earth will she know if he is in fact up to no good with some other woman?!”
Well, I don't, and I probably won't know.
I’d be lying if I were to say that these thoughts had never crossed my mind – especially in the early years of being married. Hell, I have to admit that as recent as maybe 5-6 years ago I still had doubts about that!
But, like all couples, we would have our arguments, and more often that not, they were always because of him not spending as much time as I wanted him to with the kids, and me doubting if he was really at work during all those long hours he was not home. Hati perempuan, kan…?
But, Syukur Alhamdulillah… things are so much better in that department now. I guess we grew up… Or rather, I grew up.
I guess, as long as I focus on fulfilling my duties as his wife well, and as long as I bersangka baik with him, and trust him with all my heart, and as long as I appreciate just how hard he’s working to provide for the family, and as long as (and I make sure he does! Hehehe…) he appreciates the sarifices the kids and I also have to make over the years for him, insya Allah, we will be okay. In fact, MORE than okay :)
It is strange, but, I do find our relationship has reached another level whereby there are better understanding and tolerance between us, since Ayah went private, even though as mentioned, he is so, so much busier now.
I now see and focus on how hard he works for the family, rather than on how little time he spends with us. BIG difference there.
And apart from focusing on how hard it was for him to be where he is now, I think Ayah now also focuses on how hard it was for me and the kids to go through life with him not being around for most of the time, and I know that he appreciates that fact.
Experiencing life as a doctor, and even more so, as a cardiologist, AND seeing how it has affected us as a family, Ayah is forever trying to discourage the kids to follow his footsteps. His latest attempt at this was made last weekend when he had to give a talk to a group of students aspiring to become doctors, whereby he had dragged the whole family to listen to his talk which covered his journey to becoming a doctor and what he had to give up along the way until now.
Listening to him that day had made me realize that I should have appreciated him more as a very good and responsible husband and father all these years and should have given him 200% more support than I had given him all this while. I should have given him more credits…
Anyway, I don’t think he did a good job at discouraging the kids to do medicine – cardiology in particular, as I think Hasya is more determined to become a cardiologist now after listening to her Ayah’s talk!
In a way, I guess it is not fair for us to discourage the kids to become doctors, and even more so - cardiologists. So, we have agreed that we will not discourage them, but, at the same time, we will not ACTIVELY encourage them to follow their Ayah’s path. We have gone through the trials and tribulations as a family in medical life conundrums - and we know that not everyone will be able to go through it like we did/do.
However, if Allah SWT has determined their paths to be so, then we as parents will embrace it whole-heartedly, and will support them and their families all the way, insya Allah…
So, THAT was one of the reasons why I’m still wide awake at this hour – being woken up by the emergency call for Ayah at 3:30a.m!
A blessing in disguise, I guess, because I have somehow managed to come up with this entry :)
Now, the SECOND reason why I still can’t go back to sleep is that in less than 5 hours, Hanna will be getting her PMR result!
I’m pretty nervous even though I have every confidence in her, insya Allah…But, Moms, being Moms, we just can’t help feeling the jitters, kan?
Come what may, I know she has worked hard, and I’m very, very, very proud of her.
And as my senior at school, Along Faezah would say, “Usaha sudah, tawakal sudah. And now kita redha with anything that comes our way…”
All the best, my darling Hanna! Mommy and Ayah love you VERY, VERY MUCH! And don’t you ever forget that…
And (after all that was said! :)) even when your PMR results would mean that you probably would get good SPM results, too, insya Allah, and can probably go ahead and pursue medicine after school, do think about it twice (or maybe, three or four times, or more, okay, dear…?) ;)
* By the way, Ayah's MM article for this week can be read here :)
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Cerita choti...and such...
God. I'd better not get used to NOT blogging for more than a month!
All rusty already.
Ayah has been asking me every now and then, "You ada blog posting baru tak?"
I guess, with him being so ultra-busy nowadays, reading my blog might just be the only way he could keep up with what's happening with me and the kids kot? Hehehe...
The last one month had been okay. In fact, more than okay!
Did I mention that we went to Gold Coast?
Well, yeah, we did. We were there for a week - terbang there on 19 November, and terbang balik on 26 November.
It was a really nice break for just us family, and we had a wonderful time there.
We stayed at Mark*am Court, Broadbeach - which was just about 5 minutes walk to the beach and The Oasis Shopping Centre, and 5 minutes drive to Surfers Paradise and Pacific Fair Shopping Mall. We rented a 2-bedroom apartment with 2 bathrooms, a kitchen (fully equipped), a living room, a dining hall, a utility room (with washing machine, dryer, and ironing facilities), with a secured basement parking - only accessible by residents. Worked well with us as we had rented a car for the full one week we were there.
We had booked our car online from Coolangatta Her*z Car Rental and we didn't have to pay any booking fees at all. Right after clearing the customs check-point, we just walked to Her*z Counter at the airport with our rental reference code, and within 15 minutes we got our car - a Camry Sportiva(o?). And on the day we were flying back to KL, we drove to the airport, parked the car at the parking lot, dropped the key at Her*z counter and went straight to the AA Check-in Counter. All done within 10 minutes!
Mark*am Court is located just off the Gold Coast Highway which brings you straight-ish to all the Theme Parks - Movie World and Wet n Wild (20 minutes drive), Dream World and White Water World (25 minutes drive) and Sea World (10 minutes drive). We bought VIP tickets to all the Theme Parks (valid until 30 June 2011 - a good excuse to go back to GC before the tickets expire, huh? ;)It's cheaper getting the Family VIP tickets + 1 Adult ticket compared to getting individual tickets for all) and we did in fact go to Movie World and Dream World TWICE over 4 days - the first time just to go on the rides and do a bit of shopping, and second time - to indulge in more shopping there! Hehehe... :)
Even though it was mostly gloomy throughout most of our stay there - with intermittent showers and sunny intervals here and there, that didn't spoil our fun at all. Well, we just didn't linger on the weather facts even though we only had ONE full sunshiny day in the 6 days we were there. We made sure that, came rain or shine we were on the rides at the parks for most of the times! (Well, at least the kids were :)).
The day we arrived (we arrived at Coolangatta Airport at 7:50am, and at the apartment at 9:30am) we just spent the time resting and lepaking at the apartment, and later that afternoon, we went to The Oasis to shop for our one week grocery stock, and also to purchase our Theme Park tickets.
The next day was spent at Movie World and later at Broadbeach (even though it was freezing cold!)
The day after that was spent at Dream World and White Water World, and later that night we went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at Pacific Fair Mall. Like la cannot watch the movie in Malaysia, kan? But, the kids insisted on watching it there that night! Aiyooo... But, Ayah said, "This holiday is mainly for the kids, so, we just do the things they want to do to make them happy lah, kan?". So, the Boss (who's also the Menteri Kewangan) won, and the kids got their movie treat :)
The day after that was spent at Wet n Wild, Movie World (again!) AND Dream World (again).
The day after that - it was my turn for some thrilling "rides" at Harbourtown Outlet Centre, and later that night, we spent some time souvenir shopping at Surfers Paradise.
The day after that - we went to Broadbeach again, and we later went to Sea World, and then shopping (again) at Pacific Fair. And of course - being our last night there - malam tu pulun shopping for souvenirs at Surfers Paradise again!
Hanna and Hasya went on MOST of the BIG THRILL rides at the parks. You just name it, they were on it (except for the ones which were under maintenance on the days we were there). THEY DEFINITELY DO NOT HAVE MY GENES, unlike Hilman who was rather selective when it came to choosing his rollercoaster rides. He opted to NOT go on the ones which would leave one with a zero-gravity sensation and those which would make one feeling ultra-dizzy, post-ride. So very like his Mommy... Hehehe! :)
Apart from the Theme Parks and the occcassional shopping trips, we didn't really go out that much as the kids preferred to just sleep and rest at the apartment. And what with Ayah subscribing to a week Wifi connection to the apartment, the kids had a field day going online in the evenings!
Anyway, as we were not really rushing to go to all the places around Gold Coast and Brisbane recommended for tourists, all in all it was quite a relaxing break for us, for Ayah especially, as he managed to catch up on some sleep over there. (But, having said that, he had to spend a few hours on Tuesday to work on his MM article which he had to submit that night for the Wednesday issue! What to do? Orang Gila Kerja like that lah!)
After spending 6 days in Gold Coast, we checked out of Mark*am Court on Friday morning, took the 9:50 am flight back to KL and by 3:30pm (Msian time) we were back on home soil.
Syukur alhamdulillah, everything dipermudahkan for us from the day we left KL until the day we came back :)
If it's a relaxing but fun break in GC that you're looking for, I think 1 week is just nice with you renting an apartment and a car (with a GPS), and do as what you please in your own time, having a good nap here and there. Just like what we did.
BUT, if you feel like you want to explore a bit more of what GC and Brisbane have to offer, you should rent an apartment and a car (with a GPS, of course!) and stay for 10 days. OR if you can't afford to stay that long due to limited cuti and all, then, alternatively you can go for a 5D4N OR 6D5N packaged tour (which will be pretty hectic as there are so many things to do and so many places to go to (on top of the 5 Theme Parks!) within that 6 days.
Anyway, I had wanted to post an entry on our GC trip earlier, but, after coming back to KL I was pretty buried in an avalanche of exams invigilations, and of course - with the task of marking the exam scripts lah pulak after that. And on top of that, two days after we came back, it was my MIL's turn to go for a vacation, and we were "house-sitting" for her for a couple of weeks, while she was in London.
Nak jadikan cerita, her maid ran away last Friday, 2 days before my MIL was due to come home!
I was not at home when it happened. In fact I was on my way home from the office. My SIL Rubiah was there with her kids, along with Hasya and Hilman, and Bibik Dar. Everybody was inside the house, while the maid - Eton - was sweeping outside. We checked the CCTV recording after she cabut and it showed her tawaf the compound a few times, looking out to the main road nervously every now and then, and at 4:57pm, she went down to the garage with the penyapu lidi, pretending to sweep there, walked towards the garbage closet, walked through it, and never came back in!
And I reached home at 5:25pm.
And we only knew she was gone at 6:45pm when Dar could not find her when she was supposed to start cooking dinner then! All those while everybody was thinking that she was outside watering the plants, and doing some gardening.
And the recordings also showed that the guard was standing about 30 feet from the garbage closet when Eton went out. He was looking out at the back, probably enjoying a breather of the angin petang, watching the golfers doing their thang. And he was oblivious to the fact that Eton had cabut lari right under his nose...
Anyway, like Hilman (maybe rightly?) put it, "The guard is supposed to make sure nobody comes INTO the house, NOT goes OUT of the house, Mommy..."
My MIL came back on Sunday night, and with her being maidless now, we are extending our stay at her place so that Dar can help her out around the house.
So, begitulah ceritanya...
So, that's all for now. Hopefully, there'll be another update from me soon, insya Allah.
In the mean time, here are some pics from our Gold Coast trip. Enjoy!
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
P/S :- Please be warned : A friend took nearly 3 days to go through the pics (in between his free time and work schedule, of course :))
All rusty already.
Ayah has been asking me every now and then, "You ada blog posting baru tak?"
I guess, with him being so ultra-busy nowadays, reading my blog might just be the only way he could keep up with what's happening with me and the kids kot? Hehehe...
The last one month had been okay. In fact, more than okay!
Did I mention that we went to Gold Coast?
Well, yeah, we did. We were there for a week - terbang there on 19 November, and terbang balik on 26 November.
It was a really nice break for just us family, and we had a wonderful time there.
We stayed at Mark*am Court, Broadbeach - which was just about 5 minutes walk to the beach and The Oasis Shopping Centre, and 5 minutes drive to Surfers Paradise and Pacific Fair Shopping Mall. We rented a 2-bedroom apartment with 2 bathrooms, a kitchen (fully equipped), a living room, a dining hall, a utility room (with washing machine, dryer, and ironing facilities), with a secured basement parking - only accessible by residents. Worked well with us as we had rented a car for the full one week we were there.
We had booked our car online from Coolangatta Her*z Car Rental and we didn't have to pay any booking fees at all. Right after clearing the customs check-point, we just walked to Her*z Counter at the airport with our rental reference code, and within 15 minutes we got our car - a Camry Sportiva(o?). And on the day we were flying back to KL, we drove to the airport, parked the car at the parking lot, dropped the key at Her*z counter and went straight to the AA Check-in Counter. All done within 10 minutes!
Mark*am Court is located just off the Gold Coast Highway which brings you straight-ish to all the Theme Parks - Movie World and Wet n Wild (20 minutes drive), Dream World and White Water World (25 minutes drive) and Sea World (10 minutes drive). We bought VIP tickets to all the Theme Parks (valid until 30 June 2011 - a good excuse to go back to GC before the tickets expire, huh? ;)It's cheaper getting the Family VIP tickets + 1 Adult ticket compared to getting individual tickets for all) and we did in fact go to Movie World and Dream World TWICE over 4 days - the first time just to go on the rides and do a bit of shopping, and second time - to indulge in more shopping there! Hehehe... :)
Even though it was mostly gloomy throughout most of our stay there - with intermittent showers and sunny intervals here and there, that didn't spoil our fun at all. Well, we just didn't linger on the weather facts even though we only had ONE full sunshiny day in the 6 days we were there. We made sure that, came rain or shine we were on the rides at the parks for most of the times! (Well, at least the kids were :)).
The day we arrived (we arrived at Coolangatta Airport at 7:50am, and at the apartment at 9:30am) we just spent the time resting and lepaking at the apartment, and later that afternoon, we went to The Oasis to shop for our one week grocery stock, and also to purchase our Theme Park tickets.
The next day was spent at Movie World and later at Broadbeach (even though it was freezing cold!)
The day after that was spent at Dream World and White Water World, and later that night we went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at Pacific Fair Mall. Like la cannot watch the movie in Malaysia, kan? But, the kids insisted on watching it there that night! Aiyooo... But, Ayah said, "This holiday is mainly for the kids, so, we just do the things they want to do to make them happy lah, kan?". So, the Boss (who's also the Menteri Kewangan) won, and the kids got their movie treat :)
The day after that was spent at Wet n Wild, Movie World (again!) AND Dream World (again).
The day after that - it was my turn for some thrilling "rides" at Harbourtown Outlet Centre, and later that night, we spent some time souvenir shopping at Surfers Paradise.
The day after that - we went to Broadbeach again, and we later went to Sea World, and then shopping (again) at Pacific Fair. And of course - being our last night there - malam tu pulun shopping for souvenirs at Surfers Paradise again!
Hanna and Hasya went on MOST of the BIG THRILL rides at the parks. You just name it, they were on it (except for the ones which were under maintenance on the days we were there). THEY DEFINITELY DO NOT HAVE MY GENES, unlike Hilman who was rather selective when it came to choosing his rollercoaster rides. He opted to NOT go on the ones which would leave one with a zero-gravity sensation and those which would make one feeling ultra-dizzy, post-ride. So very like his Mommy... Hehehe! :)
Apart from the Theme Parks and the occcassional shopping trips, we didn't really go out that much as the kids preferred to just sleep and rest at the apartment. And what with Ayah subscribing to a week Wifi connection to the apartment, the kids had a field day going online in the evenings!
Anyway, as we were not really rushing to go to all the places around Gold Coast and Brisbane recommended for tourists, all in all it was quite a relaxing break for us, for Ayah especially, as he managed to catch up on some sleep over there. (But, having said that, he had to spend a few hours on Tuesday to work on his MM article which he had to submit that night for the Wednesday issue! What to do? Orang Gila Kerja like that lah!)
After spending 6 days in Gold Coast, we checked out of Mark*am Court on Friday morning, took the 9:50 am flight back to KL and by 3:30pm (Msian time) we were back on home soil.
Syukur alhamdulillah, everything dipermudahkan for us from the day we left KL until the day we came back :)
If it's a relaxing but fun break in GC that you're looking for, I think 1 week is just nice with you renting an apartment and a car (with a GPS), and do as what you please in your own time, having a good nap here and there. Just like what we did.
BUT, if you feel like you want to explore a bit more of what GC and Brisbane have to offer, you should rent an apartment and a car (with a GPS, of course!) and stay for 10 days. OR if you can't afford to stay that long due to limited cuti and all, then, alternatively you can go for a 5D4N OR 6D5N packaged tour (which will be pretty hectic as there are so many things to do and so many places to go to (on top of the 5 Theme Parks!) within that 6 days.
Anyway, I had wanted to post an entry on our GC trip earlier, but, after coming back to KL I was pretty buried in an avalanche of exams invigilations, and of course - with the task of marking the exam scripts lah pulak after that. And on top of that, two days after we came back, it was my MIL's turn to go for a vacation, and we were "house-sitting" for her for a couple of weeks, while she was in London.
Nak jadikan cerita, her maid ran away last Friday, 2 days before my MIL was due to come home!
I was not at home when it happened. In fact I was on my way home from the office. My SIL Rubiah was there with her kids, along with Hasya and Hilman, and Bibik Dar. Everybody was inside the house, while the maid - Eton - was sweeping outside. We checked the CCTV recording after she cabut and it showed her tawaf the compound a few times, looking out to the main road nervously every now and then, and at 4:57pm, she went down to the garage with the penyapu lidi, pretending to sweep there, walked towards the garbage closet, walked through it, and never came back in!
And I reached home at 5:25pm.
And we only knew she was gone at 6:45pm when Dar could not find her when she was supposed to start cooking dinner then! All those while everybody was thinking that she was outside watering the plants, and doing some gardening.
And the recordings also showed that the guard was standing about 30 feet from the garbage closet when Eton went out. He was looking out at the back, probably enjoying a breather of the angin petang, watching the golfers doing their thang. And he was oblivious to the fact that Eton had cabut lari right under his nose...
Anyway, like Hilman (maybe rightly?) put it, "The guard is supposed to make sure nobody comes INTO the house, NOT goes OUT of the house, Mommy..."
My MIL came back on Sunday night, and with her being maidless now, we are extending our stay at her place so that Dar can help her out around the house.
So, begitulah ceritanya...
So, that's all for now. Hopefully, there'll be another update from me soon, insya Allah.
In the mean time, here are some pics from our Gold Coast trip. Enjoy!
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
P/S :- Please be warned : A friend took nearly 3 days to go through the pics (in between his free time and work schedule, of course :))
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Hikayat 64 Malam...
Hmmm...the last time, I was off my blog for more than a month. And this time around, it's another record.
Forgive me Blog, for I have slackened. It has been more than 2 months since my last posting - 64 days, to be exact! :(
Life has been pretty hectic at the home front and also at work, and with FB being at my mere fingertips day in day out, it became a preferred venue to share my thoughts with friends. Less hassles, and less time involved.
Believe me, many a times I had wanted to post new entries here, but somehow or rather things got into my way, and when opportune times came by, I would be just too zonked out, or the news that I had wanted to share had become yesterday's news.
And you know how it is when you have heaps to tell and/do, and you just don't know where to start, that after a while it becomes such a humongous task to actually carry them out, and you decide to just put them on hold. Time and time again. And again.
Guilty as charged.
But, I have to say this - I do miss blogging. Very much :(
I know I have friends out there who had followed me through this blog of mine, and somehow I feel that I have lost their/your friendship over the last few months due to my non-active blogging phase. For that, I humbly apologize...
So, I hope this entry will kick-start my blogging streak again, insya Allah, and what better way than to pick up from where we left off, kan? For those who have been following my rattles and ups and downs over Facebook, please bear with me, as most of what I'm going to write here will be very much like a re-play of events. Sorry, guys!
So, where do I begin?
What had happened since 7 September 2010?
Hmmmm...Let me see.
Of course - there was Raya Puasa which Ayah, me and the kids celebrated in KL. Pagi Raya - we were at my MIL's place in Tropicana, and in the afternoon, we celebrated with my parents in Kota Damansara. The big hoohah for Raya was of course - Baju Melayu Ayah and Hilman tak siap satu pun! (And there I was worrying about us girls punya baju yang takut tak siap! Khadijah, our tailor had in fact managed to siapkan 2 pairs of our baju kurungs! (Alamak!!! That reminds me! Our third pairs - the orange themed ones are still uncollected since Raya Puasa! Have to call her. Hopefully dah siap, so that we can wear them for Raya Haji next week, insya Allah. And, Baju Melayu Ayah and Hilman yang tak siap for Raya Puasa hari tu pun are still uncollected from Omar Ali for that matter! Mak oiii... They actually called Ayah 2-3 weeks after Raya hari tu asking him to collect the baju Melayu, but, both of us have been pretty tied up, and langsung terlupa! (Alamak...mana la pulak I letak receipts for the baju, ya?)
Whatever it is, Insya Allah I will collect them by the end of this week, and we'll have an ORANGE Raya Haji this year :)
And of course, there was Hanna and her PMR. As we were without a maid then, we decided to "pindah" to my MIL's house for two weeks - a week before PMR and a week during PMR to make sure that Hanna's studying schedule would not be disrupted and so that she could concentrate and focus on her revision. If we had not done that, Hanna would have had to carry all her books and stuff to and fro from Tropicana to Sri Damansara everyday, and THAT surely would not have helped her to have a clear mind to sit for her papers.
If we were to have followed our normal routine then, she would have had to go to my MIL's place after school, and I would have picked up her and her siblings from there, and go back to SD after 7:00pm, and the next day she would have had to leave the house from SD to go to school, with all her materials for her revision for that day, to be brought to my MIL's after school, etc and the cycle would have continued, and she would have been mentally and physically exhausted at the end of every day!
So, stayed at my MIL's place we did. For 2 solid weeks.
Hanna was pretty cool about her papers. Unlike her Mommy (who tried her very best to stay cool though...). She said they were okay, except for her Science 2 Paper. Anyway, apparently many candidates reported the same, so, insya Allah, she'll be okay.
And after PMR until now, she has been making her school like her Bapak punya sekolah, and only goes when she feels like going. And there had been days when she felt like going, but, Mommy said "No need to go!" (coz' Mommy malas nak hantar! So, Mommy buat sekolah Hanna macam sekolah laki Mommy lah pulak! HAHAHA!)
And of course - the biggest news must be this - BIBIK DAR IS BACK!
Remember when I posted on incident berbalas-balas SMS with her hubby dulu? Was it in January this year?
Well, anyway, apparently, Dar had in fact returned to KL in January using the permit that we had renewed for her, but, instead of coming back to us, she had gone to Muar to work with her brother there. And all this while she had been there, thinking that her permit was still valid, not knowing that we had in fact cancelled it early April.
So, I guessed, thinking that her permit would expire in November (which she didn't know that in fact it had been cancelled dah pun!), she called me early last month, disguising as "RIRIN", her friend - asking me if I still needed a maid and that Dar was wondering if she could come back and work with us again. This "RIRIN" told me that Dar was then still in Indonesia, and that her husband had then allowed her to come back to Malaysia and work again, and that Dar ONLY wanted to work with us.
I knew it was her on the phone, but, I just played along and told her that I would have to discuss the matter with Ayah, ESPECIALLY when at that point in time, we had already submitted our application for new maid, and we were just waiting for the new maid to come. (Remember Mutmainah dari Jawa Tengah?)
And the next couple of days that followed, I received calls from her brother in Muar, pleading me to take Dar back and when I asked him why was it that Dar didn't admit that "RIRIN" who had called me was in fact her, the brother said that she was afraid that I would scold her. Duuhhh?! You'd think?!
Anyway, me being me yang cepat kesian kat orang, decided to take her back, even though I know Ayah was (is?) dead against it...
Ayah told me that he should not be the one who's angry with what Dar had done, as she not returning had actually affected me more than it had affected him, in that my life had gone haywire since I became maidless in Sri Damansara for 10 months! And because of that, Ayah had let me decide whether I wanted Dar back or not.
And after weighing the pros and cons of things, I decided to take her back.
So, Dar is now back with us, and our house has ceased to be a tongkang pecah anymore, and more importantly - my laundry is being done (washed/ironed/folded/hanged) everyday, without fail. (Too bad for Mr. Dhobi who had made a fortune out of me for the last 10 months, though...Hehehe!)
And more importantly, the kids are very, very happy to have her back! :)
But, I have to say that Ayah did not speak to Dar for the first 3 weeks she was back with us. In fact, I think, he only started speaking to Dar at the end of last week, kot?
But, it's good to have her back. It's like she never left. The first day she came back, she started mengemas everything and by the third day, everything was tip top again. Syukur alhmadulillah...
But, of course, now we're in a fix.
We don't really know how to "legalize" her again, and Mutmainah will be her at the end of this week!
We had thought of just cancelling Mutmainah, and in fact there have been quite a number of friends who are more than willing to take her from us. But, it just so happened - my SIL's maid ran away a few days ago (what's new, huh?!), and so, Mutmainah will be working with my SIL, instead, insya Allah.
Our agent offered to process Dar's documents for a fee of RM5k which we think is pretty steep, and we are now still looking for other agents who can do it for us at a lower fee. If any one of you knows a reputable agent who might be able to help us to get out of this fix, please, please, please let me know, ya? Thank you, thank you, thank you! :)
Hmmmm...Have I missed out on any other significant events which happened in the last couple of months? Let me think...
Nope, I think that's about it.
If anything pops up later, it'll be in my next posting, insya Allah :)
So, that's all for now, and I hope to come up with another entry soon, insya Allah.
Maaaannn...It's good to be back, you all! :)
Wassalam!
Forgive me Blog, for I have slackened. It has been more than 2 months since my last posting - 64 days, to be exact! :(
Life has been pretty hectic at the home front and also at work, and with FB being at my mere fingertips day in day out, it became a preferred venue to share my thoughts with friends. Less hassles, and less time involved.
Believe me, many a times I had wanted to post new entries here, but somehow or rather things got into my way, and when opportune times came by, I would be just too zonked out, or the news that I had wanted to share had become yesterday's news.
And you know how it is when you have heaps to tell and/do, and you just don't know where to start, that after a while it becomes such a humongous task to actually carry them out, and you decide to just put them on hold. Time and time again. And again.
Guilty as charged.
But, I have to say this - I do miss blogging. Very much :(
I know I have friends out there who had followed me through this blog of mine, and somehow I feel that I have lost their/your friendship over the last few months due to my non-active blogging phase. For that, I humbly apologize...
So, I hope this entry will kick-start my blogging streak again, insya Allah, and what better way than to pick up from where we left off, kan? For those who have been following my rattles and ups and downs over Facebook, please bear with me, as most of what I'm going to write here will be very much like a re-play of events. Sorry, guys!
So, where do I begin?
What had happened since 7 September 2010?
Hmmmm...Let me see.
Of course - there was Raya Puasa which Ayah, me and the kids celebrated in KL. Pagi Raya - we were at my MIL's place in Tropicana, and in the afternoon, we celebrated with my parents in Kota Damansara. The big hoohah for Raya was of course - Baju Melayu Ayah and Hilman tak siap satu pun! (And there I was worrying about us girls punya baju yang takut tak siap! Khadijah, our tailor had in fact managed to siapkan 2 pairs of our baju kurungs! (Alamak!!! That reminds me! Our third pairs - the orange themed ones are still uncollected since Raya Puasa! Have to call her. Hopefully dah siap, so that we can wear them for Raya Haji next week, insya Allah. And, Baju Melayu Ayah and Hilman yang tak siap for Raya Puasa hari tu pun are still uncollected from Omar Ali for that matter! Mak oiii... They actually called Ayah 2-3 weeks after Raya hari tu asking him to collect the baju Melayu, but, both of us have been pretty tied up, and langsung terlupa! (Alamak...mana la pulak I letak receipts for the baju, ya?)
Whatever it is, Insya Allah I will collect them by the end of this week, and we'll have an ORANGE Raya Haji this year :)
And of course, there was Hanna and her PMR. As we were without a maid then, we decided to "pindah" to my MIL's house for two weeks - a week before PMR and a week during PMR to make sure that Hanna's studying schedule would not be disrupted and so that she could concentrate and focus on her revision. If we had not done that, Hanna would have had to carry all her books and stuff to and fro from Tropicana to Sri Damansara everyday, and THAT surely would not have helped her to have a clear mind to sit for her papers.
If we were to have followed our normal routine then, she would have had to go to my MIL's place after school, and I would have picked up her and her siblings from there, and go back to SD after 7:00pm, and the next day she would have had to leave the house from SD to go to school, with all her materials for her revision for that day, to be brought to my MIL's after school, etc and the cycle would have continued, and she would have been mentally and physically exhausted at the end of every day!
So, stayed at my MIL's place we did. For 2 solid weeks.
Hanna was pretty cool about her papers. Unlike her Mommy (who tried her very best to stay cool though...). She said they were okay, except for her Science 2 Paper. Anyway, apparently many candidates reported the same, so, insya Allah, she'll be okay.
And after PMR until now, she has been making her school like her Bapak punya sekolah, and only goes when she feels like going. And there had been days when she felt like going, but, Mommy said "No need to go!" (coz' Mommy malas nak hantar! So, Mommy buat sekolah Hanna macam sekolah laki Mommy lah pulak! HAHAHA!)
And of course - the biggest news must be this - BIBIK DAR IS BACK!
Remember when I posted on incident berbalas-balas SMS with her hubby dulu? Was it in January this year?
Well, anyway, apparently, Dar had in fact returned to KL in January using the permit that we had renewed for her, but, instead of coming back to us, she had gone to Muar to work with her brother there. And all this while she had been there, thinking that her permit was still valid, not knowing that we had in fact cancelled it early April.
So, I guessed, thinking that her permit would expire in November (which she didn't know that in fact it had been cancelled dah pun!), she called me early last month, disguising as "RIRIN", her friend - asking me if I still needed a maid and that Dar was wondering if she could come back and work with us again. This "RIRIN" told me that Dar was then still in Indonesia, and that her husband had then allowed her to come back to Malaysia and work again, and that Dar ONLY wanted to work with us.
I knew it was her on the phone, but, I just played along and told her that I would have to discuss the matter with Ayah, ESPECIALLY when at that point in time, we had already submitted our application for new maid, and we were just waiting for the new maid to come. (Remember Mutmainah dari Jawa Tengah?)
And the next couple of days that followed, I received calls from her brother in Muar, pleading me to take Dar back and when I asked him why was it that Dar didn't admit that "RIRIN" who had called me was in fact her, the brother said that she was afraid that I would scold her. Duuhhh?! You'd think?!
Anyway, me being me yang cepat kesian kat orang, decided to take her back, even though I know Ayah was (is?) dead against it...
Ayah told me that he should not be the one who's angry with what Dar had done, as she not returning had actually affected me more than it had affected him, in that my life had gone haywire since I became maidless in Sri Damansara for 10 months! And because of that, Ayah had let me decide whether I wanted Dar back or not.
And after weighing the pros and cons of things, I decided to take her back.
So, Dar is now back with us, and our house has ceased to be a tongkang pecah anymore, and more importantly - my laundry is being done (washed/ironed/folded/hanged) everyday, without fail. (Too bad for Mr. Dhobi who had made a fortune out of me for the last 10 months, though...Hehehe!)
And more importantly, the kids are very, very happy to have her back! :)
But, I have to say that Ayah did not speak to Dar for the first 3 weeks she was back with us. In fact, I think, he only started speaking to Dar at the end of last week, kot?
But, it's good to have her back. It's like she never left. The first day she came back, she started mengemas everything and by the third day, everything was tip top again. Syukur alhmadulillah...
But, of course, now we're in a fix.
We don't really know how to "legalize" her again, and Mutmainah will be her at the end of this week!
We had thought of just cancelling Mutmainah, and in fact there have been quite a number of friends who are more than willing to take her from us. But, it just so happened - my SIL's maid ran away a few days ago (what's new, huh?!), and so, Mutmainah will be working with my SIL, instead, insya Allah.
Our agent offered to process Dar's documents for a fee of RM5k which we think is pretty steep, and we are now still looking for other agents who can do it for us at a lower fee. If any one of you knows a reputable agent who might be able to help us to get out of this fix, please, please, please let me know, ya? Thank you, thank you, thank you! :)
Hmmmm...Have I missed out on any other significant events which happened in the last couple of months? Let me think...
Nope, I think that's about it.
If anything pops up later, it'll be in my next posting, insya Allah :)
So, that's all for now, and I hope to come up with another entry soon, insya Allah.
Maaaannn...It's good to be back, you all! :)
Wassalam!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
From Ramadhan...to Aidifitri :)
Salams.
God... Can't believe that I have not updated this blog of mine for more than a month!
Ramadhan has been pretty hectic for everyone, I guess, and no exception for me. Somehow, this year puasa seems to pass by so quickly. It has not been as bad as I had expected, being maidless and all. And I surprised myself this year with the fact that out of the 28 days of fasting, syukur alhamdulillah, I had managed to consistently wake up between 4:30am to 4:45am to prepare sahur for the family. Cuma once we nearly terlajak when I woke up at 5:25am, and we ended up having bread and jam for sahur!
Anyway, sahur has been okay since we very rarely have rice, and the whole family can survive the whole day fasting with just 2 pieces of bread/toasts with our own choice of fillings or soups/dips, and/or other non-rice stuff for sahur. So, my life has been pretty easy when it comes to preparing sahur thus far.
The kids and Ayah are also not fussy when it comes to Iftar either. I would cook when time permits. If not, we would either eat out, tapau or berbuka at my MIL's or my Mom's.
All five of us have lost some kilos over the last 3-4 weeks, but unfortunately, I have not succeeded in meeting my aim of losing 2kgs more over Ramadhan, but syukur alhamdulillah I have managed to lose 3kgs out of the aimed 4kgs which I started out in April.
I was just telling Hilman how much weight he had lost and I was praising him for being such a good boy over Ramadhan, and had encouraged him to maintain his weight or lose a bit more after raya. I was just telling him how much more handsome he looked now that he has lost some of his baby fat (Hehehe!) and that he should start controlling his food intake from now on.
And this was what he said, "Okay, I'll start a week after raya".
Me : Why a week after raya, Man?!
Hilman : Because I'll be busy the first one week.
Me : Busy?! Busy with what?
And Hilman dengan selambanya replied - "Makan..."
LOL!!! That's my boy :)
Anyway, I still have not collected our baju raya from the tailors yet, and hope to do it today. I just hope Khatijah, has finished siapkan baju for us girls. I actually sent to her to sew 3 pairs each of baju kurung for us, and she said she could only guarantee to siapkan a pair each, and if we're lucky we'll get two pairs. My worry now is if she has not even siapkan that one guaranteed pair! I have been calling her since yesterday, but she has not been answering, so today I'll just drop by her shop at pasar Taman Tun. Wish me luck!
As for Baju Melayu Ayah and Hilman, clever me has misplaced the Omar Ali's receipts! But, luckily, I remember Ayah's number for last year's baju which Abang Man the tailor has re-used for this year. The only thing is, I hope they have kept Hilman's bajus together with Ayah's because I for sure cannot remember his new receipt number. Sigh...Anyway, hope to drop by at Wisma Yakin later today to collect the baju melayu and get a new samping for Hilman. Our boy has outgrown all his old sampings!
Hilman has really shot up over Ramadhan, and I guess maybe it's because he has lost some weight, and somehow that has made him look taller :) But, having said that, we've also discovered that he's now wearing Size 7 shoes when we went to get his chapal raya the other day! That's like 2 sizes more than his previous Raya shoes! Hanna and Hasya have also lost a lot of weight and have grown rather lanky this Ramadhan, and somehow have become rather matured young ladies over the month :)
As always, there's a tinge of sadness to say farewell to Ramadhan especially when I feel that I could have done so much more in terms of amal ibadah. Insya Allah akan diberikan rezqi again to sambut bulan mulia ini di tahun hadapan, dan memperbaiki lagi diri ini, insya Allah. Amin...
Raya this year will be extra wonderful as Ayah has been extra generous this year as Ayah has presented me with early Raya and Anniversary gifts early last month in the form of a bracelet and a ring! Yeay!!! (Oh, that reminds me - I have to get him an Anniversary Card and gift for our 16th Anniversary this Thursday 090910!) And he had also asked the girls to choose a piece of jewelry each as raya gifts, and a raya watch for Hilman :) And oooh, I realized that the girls have outgrown their little girls' taste when I saw the designs that they have chosen for themselves! No more charms or cute dangly bracelets and pendants, and the likes. (Yikes!! They're growing up too fast!)
Apart from that, Raya this year will be the same as all our previous rayas. Raya eve will be spent at my parents' place when I would help out to kemas the house gotong royong with my sisters and help to cook the rendang and all and then I would go back to my MIL's and spend the night there. Pagi Raya will be spent at my MIL's and we will only go back to my parents' in the afternoon and stay on until very late. My Sis Lala also has a similar arrangement with her hubby, so, her family will also be there in the afternoon until late. And my second and third brothers (if they don't go back to the wives' kampungs) will be there at our parents' the first three days of Raya.
That's one of the things that I'm thankful for - the fact that my parents and my MIL stay about 20 minutes from each other's and our house, and we don't have to ikut giliran balik kampung. The downside is - my kids don't really have a kampung per se, and as such do not really get the real feeling of Raya like most of their friends get :( But. like they say - we win some, we lose some, eh?
My raya leave only starts on Thursday, and I will be away from work for the whole of next week. Nice :) But, as it is, I'm already in Raya mood, and can't seem to do much at the office this week. But, I'm trying my best to finish whatever I can so that I can really enjoy the long break with the family. We're not planning to go anywehere, but, lazying around the house for one whole week sounds perfect (and surely would contribute to the accelerated post-raya weight-gaining process. Sigh...But, what the heck... It's Raya :))
Ooops! Is that the time? Okay, gotta go and get ready for work now.
But, before that I would like to wish you all -
Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri :)
And if in any ways at all I might have wronged or offeneded any of you with the things I have written in here, or in any other ways at all -
Jari Sepuluh disusun, Mohon Maaf Zahir Batin.
Enjoy the time spent with your loved ones, y'all!
Take care! :)
God... Can't believe that I have not updated this blog of mine for more than a month!
Ramadhan has been pretty hectic for everyone, I guess, and no exception for me. Somehow, this year puasa seems to pass by so quickly. It has not been as bad as I had expected, being maidless and all. And I surprised myself this year with the fact that out of the 28 days of fasting, syukur alhamdulillah, I had managed to consistently wake up between 4:30am to 4:45am to prepare sahur for the family. Cuma once we nearly terlajak when I woke up at 5:25am, and we ended up having bread and jam for sahur!
Anyway, sahur has been okay since we very rarely have rice, and the whole family can survive the whole day fasting with just 2 pieces of bread/toasts with our own choice of fillings or soups/dips, and/or other non-rice stuff for sahur. So, my life has been pretty easy when it comes to preparing sahur thus far.
The kids and Ayah are also not fussy when it comes to Iftar either. I would cook when time permits. If not, we would either eat out, tapau or berbuka at my MIL's or my Mom's.
All five of us have lost some kilos over the last 3-4 weeks, but unfortunately, I have not succeeded in meeting my aim of losing 2kgs more over Ramadhan, but syukur alhamdulillah I have managed to lose 3kgs out of the aimed 4kgs which I started out in April.
I was just telling Hilman how much weight he had lost and I was praising him for being such a good boy over Ramadhan, and had encouraged him to maintain his weight or lose a bit more after raya. I was just telling him how much more handsome he looked now that he has lost some of his baby fat (Hehehe!) and that he should start controlling his food intake from now on.
And this was what he said, "Okay, I'll start a week after raya".
Me : Why a week after raya, Man?!
Hilman : Because I'll be busy the first one week.
Me : Busy?! Busy with what?
And Hilman dengan selambanya replied - "Makan..."
LOL!!! That's my boy :)
Anyway, I still have not collected our baju raya from the tailors yet, and hope to do it today. I just hope Khatijah, has finished siapkan baju for us girls. I actually sent to her to sew 3 pairs each of baju kurung for us, and she said she could only guarantee to siapkan a pair each, and if we're lucky we'll get two pairs. My worry now is if she has not even siapkan that one guaranteed pair! I have been calling her since yesterday, but she has not been answering, so today I'll just drop by her shop at pasar Taman Tun. Wish me luck!
As for Baju Melayu Ayah and Hilman, clever me has misplaced the Omar Ali's receipts! But, luckily, I remember Ayah's number for last year's baju which Abang Man the tailor has re-used for this year. The only thing is, I hope they have kept Hilman's bajus together with Ayah's because I for sure cannot remember his new receipt number. Sigh...Anyway, hope to drop by at Wisma Yakin later today to collect the baju melayu and get a new samping for Hilman. Our boy has outgrown all his old sampings!
Hilman has really shot up over Ramadhan, and I guess maybe it's because he has lost some weight, and somehow that has made him look taller :) But, having said that, we've also discovered that he's now wearing Size 7 shoes when we went to get his chapal raya the other day! That's like 2 sizes more than his previous Raya shoes! Hanna and Hasya have also lost a lot of weight and have grown rather lanky this Ramadhan, and somehow have become rather matured young ladies over the month :)
As always, there's a tinge of sadness to say farewell to Ramadhan especially when I feel that I could have done so much more in terms of amal ibadah. Insya Allah akan diberikan rezqi again to sambut bulan mulia ini di tahun hadapan, dan memperbaiki lagi diri ini, insya Allah. Amin...
Raya this year will be extra wonderful as Ayah has been extra generous this year as Ayah has presented me with early Raya and Anniversary gifts early last month in the form of a bracelet and a ring! Yeay!!! (Oh, that reminds me - I have to get him an Anniversary Card and gift for our 16th Anniversary this Thursday 090910!) And he had also asked the girls to choose a piece of jewelry each as raya gifts, and a raya watch for Hilman :) And oooh, I realized that the girls have outgrown their little girls' taste when I saw the designs that they have chosen for themselves! No more charms or cute dangly bracelets and pendants, and the likes. (Yikes!! They're growing up too fast!)
Apart from that, Raya this year will be the same as all our previous rayas. Raya eve will be spent at my parents' place when I would help out to kemas the house gotong royong with my sisters and help to cook the rendang and all and then I would go back to my MIL's and spend the night there. Pagi Raya will be spent at my MIL's and we will only go back to my parents' in the afternoon and stay on until very late. My Sis Lala also has a similar arrangement with her hubby, so, her family will also be there in the afternoon until late. And my second and third brothers (if they don't go back to the wives' kampungs) will be there at our parents' the first three days of Raya.
That's one of the things that I'm thankful for - the fact that my parents and my MIL stay about 20 minutes from each other's and our house, and we don't have to ikut giliran balik kampung. The downside is - my kids don't really have a kampung per se, and as such do not really get the real feeling of Raya like most of their friends get :( But. like they say - we win some, we lose some, eh?
My raya leave only starts on Thursday, and I will be away from work for the whole of next week. Nice :) But, as it is, I'm already in Raya mood, and can't seem to do much at the office this week. But, I'm trying my best to finish whatever I can so that I can really enjoy the long break with the family. We're not planning to go anywehere, but, lazying around the house for one whole week sounds perfect (and surely would contribute to the accelerated post-raya weight-gaining process. Sigh...But, what the heck... It's Raya :))
Ooops! Is that the time? Okay, gotta go and get ready for work now.
But, before that I would like to wish you all -
Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri :)
And if in any ways at all I might have wronged or offeneded any of you with the things I have written in here, or in any other ways at all -
Jari Sepuluh disusun, Mohon Maaf Zahir Batin.
Enjoy the time spent with your loved ones, y'all!
Take care! :)
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