My dua sen on "When there's a third party in the equation"...

I was so flabbergasted when I read about the nikah between the two celebrities who all this while had maintained that their relationship was just a platonic one. Platonic my *&%$!

My heart goes out to his ex-wife. And his kids.

Fine, people may come to me and say we should not be judgmental against any of the parties because we don't really know what went on during their marriage, and that we don't really know who was at fault, and maybe, the marriage was already on the rocks when the third party came into the picture.

Fine. I don't really know these two celebrities personally, and I don't know his ex-wife. And I for sure didn't, and still don't know what went on in their marriage.

And fine. Ini soal jodoh.

So, I'm not going to throw accusations or be judgmental against these two celebrities. But, what I'm going to write is just how I feel about situations when there's a third party in a relationship.

And this is meant not just for the hubbies out there, but also the wifeys, okay? And also peringatan untuk diri I sendiri, and also for Ayah, insya Allah.

All marriages would have its ups and downs. We can't deny that. More often than not, a marriage would start being on the rocks WHEN there's a third party. But, if there's no third party in the picture, both husband and wife would, more often than not, try their utmost best to deal with the situation and resolve the crisis. This is especially so when there are kids involved. They would be more focused on addressing whatever issues which may have caused the rift between them because there's no third party to distract them from the effort. Nothing to distract the wife, nor the husband. So, both would, insya Allah, try their best to save the marriage. But, when there's a third party in the equation, the third party would more often than not, take that focus away. And the third party would always seem to be offering a better deal than your own spouse. More exciting. A novelty. Konon.

And the third party would always seem to be a good excuse for the husband or the wife to throw the towel in and call it quits, because he or she would be thinking, "Heck...If this marriage were to end, it's okay because I already have someone who's willing to start a new life with me and be my wife or husband. The divorce won't be that painful. And life would just continue as it is, albeit I'll be going through it with a different person". And because of that the sanctity of the marriage institution would just dissipate into thin air.

You selfish git. Yes, the divorce won't be painful for you, but what about your spouse who had been through thick and thin with you, and what about your kids?! *^%#$!

And I feel all of these could be avoided if both husband and wife are loyal and sincere and are open to each other. This is ESPECIALLY important when they know or they feel that there are girls or guys out there who are trying to hit on them. Jangan gatal nak layan or nak try to gauge how laku you are still in the market. This, I feel is the main reason why husbands and wives start to go astray. Sebab macam excited giler when somebody else (besides the wife or hubby) finds him/her attractive or desirable.

I believe that if you know or if you feel a girl or a guy is trying to make a move on you, you should tell it straight to his or her face that you're married. Tak payah selindung-selindung. You don't owe him/her anything. But, you do owe your spouse your loyalty.

BUT, MORE IMPORTANTLY, I BELIEVE YOU SHOULD SHARE THIS WITH YOUR SPOUSE. You should tell your spouse about the particular girl or guy, and you should always update your spouse on whatever attempts the guy or the girl is making to get you. Don't wait. And jangan nak syok sendiri and rasa thrilled macam beruk when somebody shows interests in you. Your love to your spouse mesti teguh. Dan yang lebih penting, Imaan kena teguh. You should share all these things with your spouse. MESTI. WAJIB.

Once your spouse is in the know about your pursuer, this will ensure that you stay anchored to the marriage. And trust me, your spouse who before that may take you for granted, will also start paying more attention to you because they then realize that they have a prized possession in you. They have a competition. And they don't want to lose, do they?

In sum -

(1) Jangan layan lebih-lebih mereka-mereka yang menggedik dan menggatal nak tackle you.

(2) Make it clear to them and SHOW them that you're VERY married. Flaunt your spouse in front of them.

(3) Make sure you tell your spouse about the third party who's trying to get you.

(4) UPDATE your spouse regularly on the pursuer's pursuits on you.

(5) Better still, introduce your spouse to the pursuer.

(6) And if your spouse is the one who's being pursued, make a point to get your spouse to bring you to see his/her pursuer. Sit down with him/her, and tell him/her straight to his/her face not to waste his/her time on your spouse.

I think this is VERY important because the pursuer normally would think that the spouse of his/her desired catch does not know about the whole thing and that's why they all makin daring to try whatever it may take to get that person. But, if he/she knows the spouse tahu about what he or she is trying to do, this may menyedarkan diri dia that it's a futile effort to carry on. Lu pikir la sendiri...

(7) DON'T be the third party.

(8) DON'T encourage the third party.


BUT, of course all of this will only work if BOTH husband and wife are loyal, sincere and open with each other from the start. It's important that you tell your spouse straight away when a third party is trying to tackle you. VERY IMPORTANT.

AND HEY, EVEN IF THE OTHER PARTY WANTS TO BE JUST CASUAL FRIENDS, YOU HAVE TO TELL YOUR OTHER HALF. VERY IMPORTANT, TOO!

You'll never know where this "casual friendship" may end up, kan? Tak kira bila and siapa, if a member of the opposite sex nak kawan dengan kita, even if they are sincere, you have to let your spouse know. Berdosa kalau tak bagitau. Kena mintak izin.

Again, all the above is also as peringatan for myself and Ayah, too. I pray and hope that all these dijauhkan. And I pray and hope that both Ayah and I will continue to be open with each other, insya Allah. Amin.

And last but, not least, I'm a strong believer of the notion, "What goes around, comes around".

If today kita menggedik and menggatal nak tackle laki or bini orang, one fine day, ada orang yang akan tackle laki and bini kita...Baru kita rasa...

If today kita menyakitkan and melukakan hati isteri atau suami kita by abandoning him or her to be with a new person, one fine day that new love will also do the same to us.

If today kita merampas hak orang, one fine day, hak kita juga akan dirampas.

If we hold on to that, insya Allah, we will not hurt others, and we will not be hurt by others. Amin.

Again, ini adalah untuk renungan bersama for all the husbands AND wives out there, ya...

Hutang tag boleh dibayar...

Dear Naz, Dilla and Amy,

No, no, no... I have not forgotten :)

I know I owe you guys a tag. It has been long overdue - in fact since before my Bali Trip in June. So, today is hari membayar hutang...Better late than never, they say. So, this is my late payment. Hopefully you guys won't charge any interests. Hehehe! :)

But, of course, before I start, please do accept my sincere apologies for being so tardy in responding to the tags. I have no valid reasons, nor am I going to come up with excuses. So, let's just call this, a statement - Wa manyak sibuk maaaa... :) But, janji tetap janji...and I did promise that I would get down to doing it. And finally, today is the time to get down to doing it.

The tag actually comes with an Award - the Uber Amazing Blog Award. Thank you so much for thinking of me as one of the recipients, dearies. Terharu I...





The award comes with a set of rules:

First, I would have to state 5 interesting facts about the person who gave me this award:

So, I'll start with Naz :)

Those who follow her blog would agree with me if I say that -

1. Naz is one very cool mom to her gorgeous and lovely brood of three :)

2. And I think Fact #1 has a lot to do with her having a lovely Mom. I just love the way she writes about her Mom...and her writings also tell us that she's one super daughter, too :)

3. She writes from her heart, and what she writes never fail to bring laughter or smiles or tears, and sometimes all three of the above in one sitting to her readers.

4. She's VERY eloquent, and very witty, too :)

5. Even though we've never met, I know that she's a very warm person.


Dillazag's turn now :)

1. I knew Dilla through her blog, and we've met a couple of times (I think? :)) at our Srikandi functions. Yes - a fellow STFian, but, she's much, much, much younger than me. I think I already had Hanna when she just sat for her SPM kot? ;) (Aduh...terasa tua saya! Hehehe!)

2. She's one super mom! And this is especially evident when her poor darlings fall sick. She's like on the Super Bunny Energizer batteries 24/7 :) And Dilla, I read about Khaleeq. I hope it's nothing serious, and my do'a that he'll be up and about, being his normal healthy self soon, insya Allah. Amin.

3. Dilla's one stylo-lady. I love looking at her photos when she dresses up for functions, etc. Ada kelesssss ;)

4. And she's one workaholic, and a go-getter, too! (and please take this in a positive way, okay? ;)

5. I can see from her writings and comments that she's a very bubbly person :)


Amy pulak :) -

1. I also knew Amy from her blog on which she writes about her daily happenings and her loved ones. She comes across as a bubbly person, and at the same time, very soft-hearted.

2. She's a loving wife to Zul, a.k.a as her "B", and I have to tabik spring to both of them as the nature of Zul's work means that some nights he has to be away from home, and sometimes they barely get to see each other. But, I think that is one of the reasons why they are such a loving couple :) She's very manja with her "B", and I think that is so sweet :)

3. And Amy also has an amazing relationship with her parents. I smiled when I read about how her Mama and Abah were there, helping her with her new house and all. And I felt for her when she felt so sad to finally move out of her parents' to live in her new home. To Amy, it's okay, dear... They're just a tinkle away :)

4. I see Amy as a very baik-hati girl, and even though we've never met, I feel that she's someone who'll do anything for her friends.

5. And I think Amy ni suka ketawa. And I like that in a person :) And another thing, somehow I rasa Amy ni has a very good singing voice. Betul tak, Amy?

So, that was the first rule.

The second rule - each blogger must mention 10 facts about themselves or their hobbies before choosing the next recipients:

1. I've always been mistaken for a Kelantanese. I guess because my name starts with "Wan". However, the fact is - my arwah grandma from my Abah's side was an Anak Mami Tanjung, while my arwah grandfather asal Taiping (Larut/Bukit Gantang to be exact) and hailed from Acheh. I never got to meet them as both passed away when my Abah was just 12. While on my Mom's side, my arwah grandfather was a Mendailing, while my arwah grandma was from the Arab lineage. And just my luck, my siblings all have noses from the Tanjung and Arab lineages, while yours truly got the Mendailing and Acheh nose...Hehehe!

2. I had my first uban at the age of 11. And it wasn't just 1 or 2 strands, okay? They came in hundreds! And now, my boy Hilman is having his first hundreds of uban at the age of 9.

3. I had my first pimple at the age of 19, and I thought my world would end that day. Hehehe! And I bought my first facial regime set right after the first zit showed, and I've been loyal to that brand until now :)

4. I love buying shoes. And I love buying handbags to go with the shoes :)

5. I'm not into jewelleries. I mean, I don't really go out to choose and buy jewelleries for myself. The only jewelleries I have are my wedding hantaran, and the three cincins (merisik, bertunang and kahwin). I was given a bracelet by my MIL for my 31st birthday, and Ayah gave me a pendant for Hari Raya 5 years ago. Few times Ayah had wanted to get jewelleries for me, but, everytime I would say, "Thank you, but, it's okay. No." (Sungguh beruntung suamiku ini... Mana nak dapat bini yang akan tolak bling-bling, kan?! Hahaha!)

6. I never cooked until I was 18 (not including my cooking lessons in SRT that is). I was never allowed to go into the kitchen every time I went back home for the school holidays. Reason being, I have two older sisters and the kitchen was just not big enough for the three of us (four if we were to include our Mom). Hehehe... However, thrown at the deep end when I did my A-Levels in Cardiff, and sharing a house with my 2 seniors, we had to take turns to cook dinner. So, that meant we had to cook every 3 days. Pandai pun sebenarnya... Hehehe!

7. I rarely wear Baju Kurung to work. The only time I do would be when there's a function at the Faculty or at the Uni level. My normal choice would be pants/long-skirts with matching tops and tudung (and of course - shoes and handbags ;)) The only times I wear Baju Kurung would be during Hari Raya, and of course during khenduri khendara. (So, Naz...I'm not a Wanita Melayu Terakhir material, okay? ;))

8. Being in an all-girls boarding school back in 1981-85, whenever there were dance and drama competitions, I would always be dancing/acting the parts meant for boys/guys. (So, again Naz - WMT I'm not...Hahaha!)

9. My favourite food would be everything Masakan Kampung. Unfortunately, I don't get to cook them at home as Ayah and the kids are so not into it! So, I'll make sure that my lunch at work would be a feast of just that - Masakan Kampung. Amongst my favourites include Sembilang Balado, Kemahang Masak Pindang, Gulai Nangka, Chili Padi Rebung, Patin Masak Tempoyak, Masak Lemak Chili Padi Pucuk Ubi, Sambal Tempoyak, Ulam Tempoyak, Kerabu Taugeh+Kerang. Need I say more?!

10. And Wanita Melayu Terakhir I'm not again, Naz, because I'm quite a rocker at heart. I just so love Bon Jovi and Def Leppard, and I'm now into Green Day, My Chemical Romance and All American Rejects. And Black Eyed Peas. Shoot me.


So there... 10 facts about me. Done :)

For the third rule, I was supposed to choose 10 recipients and describe them. But, memandangkan this Award and tag has been around for quite some time, and almost everybody has deservedly received it from other fellow bloggers, I guess this Award stops here lah ya? So sorry...

For the fourth rule - I have to inform those whom I have given the award to, but in this case - tak ada. So, I'm going to inform Naz, Dilla and Amy that I've done the tag coz' I'm sure they have probably forgotten about it! This I will do after this.

And finally, for the fifth rule - I'm supposed to paste the Award to my sidebar. Hmmmmm...Nanti when I have figured it out how to do it, you'll get to see lah the award kat tepi tu, okay? ;) If the Award is not there, itu maknanya I still tengah terkial-kial nak figure out how to do it lah tu...

Cheers, you all.

Have a good week ahead! :)

Jalan TAR Escapade...

Today was our "Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman Day". One of the TWO days in a year that we go to that area. We normally would avoid going there UNLESS it is absolutely necessary. The absolutely necessary days would be, first - the day we have to SEND the kain to buat Baju Melayu for Ayah and Hilman to Om*r Ali in Wisma Yakin, and second - the day we have to COLLECT the Baju Melayu :)

The girls decided not to follow us this time, so it was only Ayah, Hilman and myself. Normally, we would just park the car at Taman Jaya and take the LRT to Masjid Jamek. But, with the H1N1 situation getting worse, we decided to avoid public transport, and took my Kembara instead. My cute car "is easier to park", Ayah said. You all know lah how parking and traffic in that area can be - sheer madness, kan? Anyway, we decided to park at SOGO today. Itu pun illegal after going round and round for ages looking for a parking spot.

Hilman and I wore our surgical masks throughout the day, and it was good to see that there were quite a number of shoppers doing the same, too. If only everybody would invest in surgical masks and start wearing them in public places. Who knows, this could be our little contribution in actually helping contain H1N1, kan? There were a few ladies who were selling surgical masks in front of SOGO, but, I didn't really notice how much they were selling them for. I just hope they have not hiked the price too much sampai put off people from buying and using them.

Anyway, back to the main plot (Hehehehe!) - if Ayah had his ways, he wouldn't want to buat his Baju Melayu for Raya at all. But, of course, I would always use Hilman as an excuse. My Little Man needs to have his Baju Melayu specially-tailored for him because he would not fit in the ready-made ones. The problem would always be his waist :) So, alang-alang buat Hilman's baju, might as well make Ayah's baju, too, right? Furthermore, this Big Ma'am insists that we have a theme for every Raya. The theme for this year is turquoise blue, and the last time I checked Ayah's wardrobe, nope, no turquoise Baju Melayu in there. So, no escape for Ayah this year ;)

Anyway, the turquoise theme is just for first day Raya. For the rest of the bajus, they are all charcha marba as Hanna and Hasya both have their own preferences, and their tastes are totally different from each other. I no longer can opt for kerja senang and make baju boria for them this year. So, shopping for the girls can sometimes make "my blood go upstairs". But, syukur alhamdulillah, the kain for us girls had been sent to the tailor last Sunday (finally!). Two each for Hanna and Hasya, and just one for me. Nasib baik jugak Kh*ti*ah still accepted tempahan last week.

We also managed to get a sampin for Hilman which would match both his Baju Melayu nicely today. He can no longer wear the ready made sampin for kids now. We also had to get him a new Songkok as the one we bought for him last year no longer fits him. He HAS definitely grown since last Raya :) He also insisted on getting 2 different sets of butang Baju Melayu according to the colours of his Baju Raya. Mengalahkan Normal Norell, you... ;) And alang-alang we were in Jalan TAR today, we decided to also go to Gulati's, and we ended up buying a kain each lagi for us girls (macam lah totally unexpected, kan?! Hahaha!)

We decided to have lunch at Coliseum. It was amazing to see the place. It was as if time stood still for them all these years. Same old waiters, same old captain, same old airconds, same unpainted walls, same tables and chairs. Ayah had his wajib Sizzling T-bone Steak, Hilman had his Sizzling Rib-eye Steak, while I had my usual Sizzling Lamb Chop. We also tapau-ed some Fried Chicken Wings for the girls. All so heavenly... Yummeh!

After lunch we slowly walked back to SOGO - kononnya nak terus get the car and balik lah kan? But, mana lah boleh kan when the SALES signs were everywhere, makcik oiii!!! Up to 70% discounts merata-rata. And we ended up buying a few Sa*il*e Ro* shirts for Ayah. Memang murah giler... Yang tak seronoknya, Ayah discovered that Size L2 is too big for him now, and his size is now L1! I think, for the past couple of years, Ayah has gone down 3 sizes! Ahaakkksss! I feel so tercabar and tergugat, okay?! Mana achiiiii!!! How come I'm still wearing the same size I've been wearing for the past 5 years?!! I definitely have to do something about my weight...Mesti! Mesti!

We left SOGO just before 5:00p.m, and reached home about 5:30p.m. I showed Hanna and Hasya the kain we bought for them, and both of them teramatlah sukanya their Mommy's choices for them. Ten STARS for Mommy! Yeay!!

I hope to send the kain to Kh*ti*ah tomorrow. Kena do'a banyak-banyak kiri-kanan-atas-bawah that she will still terima the kain. Amin. Insya Allah :)

More month at the end of the money?

I was just passing the time doing various quizzes on FB tonight, and one of them was on "What does your facial shape tell about you". And the result was :

+ Always work hard.
+ Handles financial problem smartly.
+ Has an outstanding will to succeed.
+ Has a clear plan for life.
+ Can be quite ego at times.

(Never mind the grammar lah ye? :))

As with most of the quizzes on FB, I had to ponder on whether any of the above actually rang true about me, and I have to say some of them are dead right, while some are fitnah semata-mata (but, I'm not going to say here which ones are which, okay?! Hehehe!) EXCEPT that in a way I somewhat agree with #2 (Well, at least NOT until about 5 years ago, that is). And I wouldn't say I'm 'smart' when it comes to handling financial problems or matters. Maybe 'prudent' would be a better way to describe me. So, bear with me when I share something with you all here, okay?

I'm also moved to share this after reading Meen's (JazzmaTazz :))post on her blog about how now she spends less on shopping as she becomes more contented with life :) And how all the unnecessary spending has dwindled down over the last couple of years. And I agree with her. When you're contented with what you have (doesn't have to be a material thing), you tend to shop less. And to add to that, I believe that once we shop less, we will be able to start saving systematically. And the result - we'll be more contented and happier with basically everything and everybody around us :)

I have to confess - before 2004, Ayah and I were not thrifty with our money at all. We never consciously saved our dosh, and we never kept track of where our money went. Whenever our salary came in, we would just withdraw whatever amount we wanted, signed our cheques freely, and we would just charge most of our shoppings to our credit cards. And normally, due to our free flow spending (of our chiput pay), most of the times we only managed to pay the minimum amount for the credit cards. And more often than not, there was "more-month-at-the-end-of-the-money" (rather than "more money-at-the-end-of-the-month" for us!) Ye lah kan...both of us kerja gomen, kan? So, you all can imagine how much interests we had to pay to the credit card companies on the never-ending outstanding amount! Scandalous, I tell you...

But, everything changed when we were in the UK in 2003-04, when we had to live on my meagre scholarship and on Ayah's pay as a fellow at a hospital in Middlesborough. There were six of us - we all anak beranak plus our helper, Cek Pi. We still received our basic pay in Malaysia at that time, but we decided not to touch our pay if we could help it.

I can't remember what actually happened which made us decide to start saving systematically, but, I think one of the reasons was that we realized that we had an opportunity to start saving seriously as we had a few sources of income then. And we set a target to settle all our outstanding credit card bills by the end of 2004. It was then, the "Demam Bajet" hit me :)

I actually went out to get a hardcover notebook one day, and started laying out the structure of our saving plans, and roughly decided to identify our two sources of income which we would have to live on while in the UK - my scholarship, and Ayah's fellowship pay.

And we started dividing allocations for our routine and recurring expenses between these two sources. I can't really remember the actual items, but roughly, for my own allowances and transportation costs, the rent, my study materials, and the utility bills - these would be paid with my monthly scholarship. And Ayah's pay would go towards payment of his petrol and toll money, his car maintenance, the groceries, clothings, anything that the children may need, for our travels, shopping, allowances for Cek Pi, and of course towards paying for the credit cards.

Whatever was left of my scholarship (which more often than not was nothing to shout about, as it would be gone even before I could shout), I would keep for myself, and normally that would cover all those petty miscellaneous expenses and shopping for me. And whatever left of Ayah's pay, we would transfer the money to our account in Malaysia.

So, throughout our stay in the UK, I kept a budget book, which I worked on at the end of each month, and also in the middle of the month (to modify our budget to accommodate any ad hoc expenses). And this was how I did it -

(1) I would look at how much money there was in each of our income sources for the month - my allowance/scholarship and Ayah's pay.
(2) Work on income source #1, and see how much balance would be left after all the compulsory expenses had been taken into account.
(3) Repeat Step 2 for income source #2.
(4) Set aside some amount for emergencies.
(5) The rest, we transferred to our Malaysian account and also to our UK Savings Account.
(6) We tried our best to stick to the budget.
(7) Failing #6, Step #4 would save us :)

Once we had got into the rhythm of saving, no matter how chiput the balance may be, we would save it. It just became a habit. And until now, I still keep a budget book with me all the time. The current one started with our December 2005 budget. So, you all can imagine how very the lunyai the book is now!

But, the division of expenses has changed somewhat since our UK days.

Now, MY pay goes to MY account.

AYAH's pay goes to OUR joint account. ;)

MY pay would go towards paying for -

* Our monthly grocery spendings (fixed)
* My own petrol/toll/meals allowances (fixed)
* The household utility bills (Tenaga, Syabas, Astro, TM, Maxis) - depends on usage
* My Kembara Car Loan (fixed)
* Standing Instruction for our Unit Trusts (fixed)
* The Home Guard Service (fixed)
* The Kids Piano Fees (fixed)
* The Kids School Allowances (fixed)
* The monthly contributions to my Abah and Mommy (minimum amount fixed, and insya Allah kalau rezqi lebih, will tambah accordingly :))

And whatever balance from there, depending on my mood - I would either put them in the savings account, OR spend it like there's no tomorrow! Hahaha! And let me tell you here - more often than not, it would be the latter ;)

As for AYAH'S pay, it goes towards the following -

* SD House Loan (fixed)
* BJ House Loan (fixed)
* His Naza Car Loan (fixed)
* His Accord Car Loan (fixed)
* His own petrol/toll/meals allowances (Yup! Fixed, too! Kesian kan? I ration his food!)
* Family outings (fixed)
* Shopping money (flexible :))
* All the credit cards (The amount depends on whether the wife goes mental during The Sales or not...)
* Monthly premiums for all the insurance policies we took up.
* Kids fees for Mengaji, Traditional Dance, Chess, Swimming, Guitar, Tuitions (fixed)
* Spending for various contingency/emergencies (fixed)

And whatever balance left, we would transfer to our Savings on the day our monthly pay is credited into our accounts. This is so that our fresh pay is not 'mixed' with the balance :) And if ada rezqi lebih, we will top up the kids' savings, insya Allah.

So, as you can see - yang had besaq-besaq punya belanja semua cheq pass kat dia.... Cerdik naaa?! :)

And this has been our practice for the last 5 years. And I still do it twice a month - the original budget at the end of the month, and the review in the middle of the month - to take into account any unforeseen expenses which may crop up for that particular month, and modify the budget accordingly.

And we make a point to pay our credit card bills in full every month as we don't want to fork out the unnecessary extras to pay for the interests! To do that, we REALLY have to discipline ourselves to spend within our means.

And syukur alhamdulillah, nowadays we see more-money-at-the-end-of-the-month, than more-month-at-the-end-of-the-money, insya Allah. Tak banyak, sikit pun - it is still our savings :)

Please don't get me wrong. My niat is just to share our system of saving money however little it may be, with you all, which works for us, and if you guys would want to experiment with it to see if the system may work for you all, too (IF you still have not found an effective system for you). And also, if you guys may also want to share your system here with us here :)

Personally, I feel that the things that we should always bear in mind are :

* We should always be looking out for any opportunities which come our way which may help us save more.
* We should always spend ONLY within our means.
* Do not mix the previous month's salary with the current one - ALWAYS save whatever balance you have IMMEDIATELY.
* We can splurge every now and then (but only when you feel that with whatever savings you've done, you deserve to splurge :))
* Jangan terlampau save duit sampai jadi kedekut, and tak spend on yourselves, your loved ones, and your friends, and of course bersedekah.

AND Yang paling penting for us para isteri - bila kita belanjakan duit gaji kita untuk perbelanjaan yang seharusnya ditanggung oleh suami kita, kita MESTI IKHLAS, SEIKHLAS-IKHLASNYA... Jangan ada rasa resentment walau sedikit pun. Insya Allah, rezqi kita sekeluarga murah... :)

Anyway, I thought I'd share with you how my Budget Book looks like here -

Nampak macam belacan, kan? ;)

Tapi belacan yang banyak berjasa ni... Hehehe!

Is it hard being a Mom...?

This has been the longest hiatus this blog has gone into, and I guess a few friends were beginning to get worried by my long silence.

Ibu left a comment on my FB - "What happened to you? Sonyap jo..."

Bella SMSd me yesterday - "...Lama tak nampak u update. I hope all is well..."

And even Ayah has been asking me a few times - "You've not updated your blog?"

Thank you for your concerns, my dear friends and hubby :)

I am fine, syukur alhamdulillah. Just that life (if it wasn't already hectic before) had been MORE hectic in the last few weeks.

For a start, the Uni's new Academic Year started early this month, and we had been busy briefing new students as to what the Department has to offer, etc. Instead of the usual congregation of all the new students at the Faculty's biggest Lecture Hall where all the departments take turns to brief the newbies, this year, due to the H1N1 threat, the freshies were not allowed to go to the main campus, and instead we had to go to all the residential colleges for the briefings. So, you can just imagine giving the same presentation over and over again, but to different sets of students? Aiyoooo...mentally exhausting, I tell you. Even though I was not doing the talk myself, going to the residential colleges, and listening to all the briefings itself was quite draining.

And of course, when class started, yours truly had to organize the tutorial groups, etc. And it didn't help when you've come up with the list of students for each group, and allocated the Tutorial topics for each of them, but, every couple of days, a few would come to you and inform that they either just joined the group, or that they had just dropped the course, and you would have to RE-ORGANIZE and RE-ALLOCATE the Topics all over again. And that went on until end of last week. Thank God, I only have a total of 76 students this Semester...

And the kids were ever so busy with all the activities Tok Nenek under the sun, kan? The last 4-5 weekends had not been true weekends for us because of that. I found myself driving the kids here and there for all their extra lessons and social activities throughout most of the Saturdays and Sundays.

And it didn't help when both Hasya and Hilman fell sick at the end of last week.

It started off with Hilman having a bad cough on Thursday, and I had to bring him to see Dr. Mu*a on Friday. He had to go on the nebulizer, and was prescibed with Tussidex, Prednisolone and of course his 4-hourly Ventolin puffs. Thank God, he was not having any temperature.

Come Sunday morning, his cough was not getting better, and Hasya was starting to have flu-like symptoms, and by Sunday evening her temperature went up to 38.4, and she had started coughing, too!

Monday morning, I had to bring both the kids to see Dr. Mu*a again. Hilman had to go on the nebulizer again, and Hasya was asked to take the 4-hourly Ventolin puffs, too, together with Tussidex cough syrup. She was also given a course of antibiotics (Augmentin), but ONLY to be taken if her fever didn't subside by the third day.

Monday night - her temperature was hovering above 38.4 throughout the night, and I was up almost half of the night, waking up every hour or so, checking on her, and spongeing her down. At one point, her temperature shot up to 39.7! We decided to just start her on the Augmentin and not wait for another 2 days.

I had classes until 6p.m on Tuesday, but, Hasya was keeping me in the loop on her temperature. She would call me every hour to give me an update of the thermometer reading. The Augmentin must have helped, as she recorded temperatures of between 37.3 to 37.6 through the day. BUT, Hilman's cough, on the other hand, was NOT getting better at all. In fact it was getting worse. His cough sounded so hollow and so coarse, and I could just feel how soar his throat was just by listening to his coughs!

Wednesday morning, Hasya's temperature went up to 38.1, and I decided to bring them to see Dr. Mu*a again. That was the third visit within 6 days. Those who are familiar with Dr. Mu*a's clinic would know that every visit would mean that half of your day would be gone. However, Dr. Mu*a, upon seeing us in his waiting room, immediately asked us to go to his room - no need to ikut nombor. He was quite happy with Hasya's progress - even though her temperature had not gone down to the normal level, she was getting better and was advised to just continue with whatever medications she was on.

However, after checking Hilman, he ordered for an X-Ray to be done on him, and lo and behold, it showed that Hilman had a lung infection and he was immediately put on a course of Klacid antibiotics.

Both kids were given MC until today.

So, you guys, the last one week had been quite a stressful time for me. What with the lack of sleep, my Florence Nightingale shifts, the running around, the start of my Lectures and Tutorial classes, and the rest of the unsettled stuff at the office. And it didn't help when I was getting the constant, "Are you going to work today, Mommy?!" or "What time are you coming back today, Mommy", or "Do you HAVE to go to the office today, Mommy?"!, either to my face or through the phone. And I was putting on my remote control mode from the office and kept on calling home to make sure the kids were getting their medications on time, and also to make sure that Dar was in fact giving them the RIGHT medication at the right time. And with them being sick and all, eating out or even tapau-ing food from outside would be a BIG No-No! So, that meant I had been doing the cooking myself for the last week or so, too.

It didn't help that we also had some problems with the piping of our nextdoor neighbour's aircond which led to quite a bad leakage in our Master bedroom and onto the plaster ceiling and wall of our living room. And Ayah had also been pretty busy at work in the last month or so, and have been coming back late most nights. But, being busy at the hospital is good for Ayah nowadays, so, I can't complain, can I?

Anyway, it must have shown on my face - the strain, because, while I was driving the kids home from the hospital that day, Hilman asked me what my schedule was after sending them home. Hasya was, by that time, already asleep on the backseat of the car. And I lined up my plans for the day, and said to him -

"First, I have to go back to the office as I have yet to clock in for the day, and I have to settle a few matters at work. Then, I'll be meeting Ayah for lunch. Then, I would be going back to the office to do some work. Then, I would be fetching Kak Long from school at 5:30p.m. Then, I would be sending Kak Long to Wan's house, where she would get ready for her piano lesson. Then, I would be sending Kak Long to her piano lesson, and I would wait for her to finish. (Hasya and Hilman were supposed to have their piano lessons at the same time, too, but this week they're excused) Then, I would be sending Qa*sa*a (his cousin) back to Wan's house (she also goes for piano lessons at the same place and time as the kids) And THEN only I would be making my way home to SD with Kak Long, and cook dinner for you and your sisters".

I said all that to him without a pause.

And after all that, Hilman looked at me and said,

"Is it hard being a Mom, Mommy?"

And suddenly I felt a lump in my throat, and my eyes were getting blurred by the tears welling up in them when all the built-up strain and stress seemed to be rushing in and hit the core of me in those few moments...

I was trying to compose myself, and after a few seconds, I said to him -

"Yes, It IS hard sometimes, Hilman, to be a Mom. But, you know what? I wouldn't change it for the world...NOT EVER."

And with that, all the stress and strain that I was feeling throughout the week, just evaporated away as I held his hand in mine throughout the rest of the journey back to SD...

Pizza...CGPAs...Sports...

I went back to my MIL's house this afternoon to fetch and send Hilman to school. He was all ready, sitting on the bench in front of the house, complete with the surgical mask on him.

I went in to have a drink first, and saw some leftovers of the Do*inoes Pizzas which Hasya brought back from her Do*inoes school excursion yesterday. I did not expect any leftovers from yesterday as I knew just how much Hilman loved pizzas, so I asked Dar if she had served Hilman with the pizzas. And this was what she told me -

Dar : Sudah, buk...Tadinya sememangnya tinggal 3 keping, jadi saya sudah hidangkan dan suruh Hilman habiskan kesemuanya. Tapi, Hilman 'ngabiskannya satu saja. Tinggalnya dua. Dia bilang sama saya - "Makcik jangan makan ni, okay? Saya tinggal satu untuk Kak Ngah. Lagi satu untuk Kak Long..."

I just smiled as I felt all warm inside thinking how thoughtful my boy was!

After sending Hilman, I fetched Hasya and sent her back to my MIL's place, where Dar served her the pizzas on top of the rice and lauk-pauk. I told Hasya how thoughtful Hilman was to have tinggalkan one pizza each for his sisters, and she just smiled.

I went up to solat Zohor, and fifteen minutes later, I went down.

The pizza plate was empty.

Kak Ngah had finished both pizzas, without leaving anything for her Kak Long...

Sigh...

I didn't scold her of course, because benda makan, kan? Dah masuk perut dah pun. And further more her Kak Long was not expecting to have pizzas today anyway.

But still...a bit terkilan coz' niat Hilman was for his Kak Long to have one of the pizzas... Nampak gayanya, this weekend nak kena order pizza again. I ni tak boleh lah benda-benda macam ni...Rasa macam ada benda tak settled. You know what I mean?

Pelik ke?


-------------------------------------------------------


Hanna's school had its Open Day on Wednesday. The plan was for both Ayah and I to go and see her Class Teacher to discuss her performance for her Mid-Year, but, alas, at the last minute, Ayah had to perform a procedure, so Mommy had to go alone.

Hanna warned me that there would be a huge drop in her position this time as the school has changed its ranking system this year. If before, students were ranked and streamed according to their total marks and percentages, this year it is based on their CGPAs.

For her Final Exam last year, Hanna got 3rd in class and 7th in the whole form, but, her Mid-Year this time, she dropped by quite a number of placings as she didn't get 4 flat.

Kesian Hanna...Her marks were not bad at all. All her A's were very high A's, but she got 2 B's (both missing the A's by only a few marks!), and because of that, she lost out to some of her friends who got all or more A's than her even though her total marks were much higher than theirs...

Anyway, I guess it is a good strategy and system the school is adopting because at the end of the day, it is how many A's one gets that counts when it comes to PMR and SPM, and not one's total marks, kan?

I told Hanna to improve on all her subjects, especially her BM and Sejarah, which gave her the B's. Because to me, as long as she aims high, and as long as she does her best, insya Allah she'll improve and get all A's at the end of the day anyway. But, I tell you...the competition kat that school....oh my...REALLY tough!

Hanna ni, selalunya Mid-Year Exam memang selalu gives us heart-attacks, but, when it comes to the Finals she always excels, insya Allah. This - since Primary School lagi :)

We can only do'akan the kids... The rest would all depend on their own efforts to better themselves, insya Allah.

-------------------------------------------------

A bit on the kids' sports activities - Hasya is now training for her school netball team. Tak tau lagi if she will be selected, or not, but she has been going for training for the last one month or so. She's praying that she'll be chosen!

Hanna pulak will be representing her school in Taekwon-do for MSSD this month. She has been a red-black belter since she was 11 and had not sat for her black belt grading as she has to wait until she's 15 to do that. She stopped going for classes when she was in her UPSR year, and only started again this year. According to her Master, next year she can straight away sit for her 2nd Dan Black Belt grading, insya Allah. So, we're quite excited about that!

Hilman pulak seems to exhibit some talent in playing badminton, and we're thinking of sending him for a structured lesson in the game, insya Allah. He enjoys playing with his Ayah and Mommy more than with his Kak Ngah, coz' his sister asyik tak dapat return serve ajer....So, their game together tak smooth sangat.

This was what he told his Kak Ngah -

"Kak Ngah, I play better with professionals..."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!


Sekian... :)

Bali Trip - 5th and 6th Day

Hi y'all. I'd better get the posting on our Bali Trip over and done with. The new Academic Year will start next week, and I would be pretty busy for the next 2-3 weeks, at least.

Anyway, the 5th day in Bali started off with Ayah and moi going for a morning walk around the hotel area. It had been quite some time since we last had a quiet alone time just the two of us, walking hand in hand, enjoying the fresh air and each other's company. We must have been the only people up at that hour as we could not see anybody else, except for the hotel staff that morning. So, that was nice :)

We went back to the villa after about an hour, hoping to get the kids up and join us for a splash in the pool. But, we had a tough time waking the girls up as apparently they stayed up until very late watching DVDs with the other girls the night before. No problem in waking their brother though, as Hilman being Hilman, he just loves the plunge pool. So, Ayah spent some time with his son dipping in the cold spring water that morning.

We managed to get everybody ready and have breakfast by 10:00a.m, and we then took the shuttle bus to Ubud Village for some shopping. Suffice to say, by the time we took the shuttle bus back to the hotel at 3:00p.m., everybody was exhausted. Nasib baik Ayah and I had booked a massage session at the spa for that afternoon, so from 4-5 p.m., we had a blissful time 'di-uli' by the Balinese masseurs with some Balinese music playing in the background for just over an hour. Best giler...

And while we were having the Balinese massage, Hilman was having his own foot massage session, which must have been so relaxing for him that by the time we were done, he was snoring away like nobody's business! Hehehe! As Hasya was having her final practice for the performance that night, we booked a massage session for her and Hanna for the next morning.

Ayah and I went straight back to the room after our massage as we had to get ready for the special dinner and performance by the students of DiDance at the hotel. They were to perform the Rejang Dewa and Legong Dances which Cok Ratih had taught them over the last couple of days. Everybody was excited and also nervous at the same time. Hilman especially - because he only had about one hour of lesson with Cok Ratih, and he was supposed to dance alone. The girls on the other hand had about 6 hours of lessons and practice, and they were not that pressured as they would be performing as a group.

All the dancers started to get ready with the make-up, hairdo, and the attires from 6:30p.m, and they only managed to get everybody ready at 9:15p.m. By that time everybody was already hungry, and all that waiting had made the little dancers a little anxious, I must say.

And when the time came for them to perform, they did REALLY well indeed, considering that they only had 6 hours of lessons over the 2 days. And Hilman amazed everyone present as he was SO, SO, SPORTING, and went on to perform his Tarian Baris with Cok Ratih's guidance, even though he was not sure of the steps at all! I had tears watching him perform, not because of anything but because I was so, so proud of him for giving his best that night even though he was rather sceptical that he could do it initially. Throughout the day, before the performance, he kept on asking/telling me, "What if I don't know what to do?". And I kept telling him, "It's okay. You just follow Cok Ratih and just have fun!". And I think he had fun alright that night :)

At the end of the show, all the students were presented with special certificates from Cok Ratih for attending the workshop and also for the public performance. The Dance Performance was the highlight of our Bali trip, and I think everybody had fun learning the new dances. And I think all the girls became so much closer over the 6 days of our Bali trip.

The next morning, Ayah gave a treat to his daughters by letting them go for a massage at the spa before breakfast. Even though Hanna had been to the spa with me before on previous vacations, it was Hasya's first experience, and I think she was a bit ticklish at first, but later found it pretty relaxing indeed. I think she was still feeling sleepy at the end of the session, and wanted more! :)

We checked out of Furama at 10:00a.m. as some of us in the group were flying back to KL on the 1:50p.m flight (which unfortunately was delayed until 11:30p.m that night!). After dropping them at the airport, the rest of us proceeded to Kuta, as we were flying on the 7:20p.m. flight later that day. Dida, who was extending her stay in Bali until the 20th June, was checking in into a hotel in Kuta for the rest of her stay, and we decided to tumpang our luggage at her hotel room while waiting for our evening flight.

We had about 5 hours to kill before our bus was to take us to the airport, and what better way to spend the time than shopping in Kuta! Hehehe! We also managed to jalan-jalan along Kuta Beach, and Hanna had a field day oogling over the Mat Salleh hunks there!

We managed to get changed and freshen up at Dida's room before leaving for the airport. Syukur alhamdulillah, everything was smooth (even though I rasa our luggage to dah nak macam terburai coz' sendat habis! Hahaha!)

The flight was on time, and we reached KLIA at 10:05p.m. No problems at all at the immigration and customs points (Syukur alhamdulillah! :)). Everybody was so tired (and I think was feeling sad because our Bali trip had ended) that nobody said a word throughout our journey home to SD...

We had a truly wonderful time in Bali, and insya Allah we'll return to the island again soon!

Here are some pics taken over the last two days of our stay there.

Enjoy!!!

And oh ya... I also got a belated birthday present from Ayah which he bought at Ngurah Rai Airport, in the form of this -








THANK YOU SO MUCH, DEAR!!! I LUUUUUUURRRRRVVVVEEE IT!!

MMMMUUUUUAAAAAAHHHHSSS!!!

:)

Bali Trip - Day 3 & Day 4

I have been meaning to post an update/continuation to our Bali trip postings, specifically on our 3rd and 4th days there, since the weekend, but, alas, I only managed to upload the pics to Slide.com today. Again I shall let the slides do the talking, while I just give a brief summary of what we did in those two days.

Did I mention in my last posting that the food at Diwangkara was nothing to shout about? Well, because of that, the kids decided not to have their breakfast at the hotel restaurant on the third morning, and instead they had their breakfast at the Villa. Seperti biasa, we normally bring our stocks of Maggi Cup Noodles of pelbagai perisa, packet drinks, kaya/tuna/ikan bilis buns, and a range of 3-in-1 drink sachets on our trips, and this time was no exception. So, while I had my breakfast eating the lumpy congee and condiments, and I-dunno-what noodles at the restaurant, the kids had Maggi Cups, some buns and Milo, which I'm sure was much tastier than what I had!

Straight after breakfast, we made our way to Cok Ratih's Puri again for the second day workshop, whereby this time the girls were taught the Tarian Legong, while Hilman continued with his Tarian Baris. After the lesson, we were brought around for a tour of Cok Ratih's Puri. Sorry - no pictures of the inside of the house. Didn't think it was proper to click away and take pics of the inside of somebody's house, kan? Hehehe! But, it was indeed a VERY nice house.

We were then whisked away to Warung Made at Jalan Seminyak for our lunch, which served a variety of Fusion Food. And Yeay!!! Within half an hour of us reaching the restaurant, Ayah, whose flight from KL arrived at 12:30pm, joined us there! Happy, happy, happy! Now we have somebody to take over the role of the family photographer...Hehehe! And of course, I was happy because I was missing him so, so much already. It's just not the same if he's not there with us on vacations like this. Rasa macam the "semangat" was not there. You know what I mean?

After lunch, we were given a couple of hours to shop along Jalan Seminyak, and we managed to get very nice blouses and dresses and also accessories for the girls (including me - the big girl ;)) Hilman, who was already contented with his PS2 Games CDs which we bought on our second day in Kuta, didn't ask for anything at all, but, by the second hour, he was already feeling restless and bored watching his Mommy and sisters choosing stuffs at the shops. So, he was really happy when we decided to go back to the bus at 4:30p.m, and made our way back to Diwangkara.

Back at the hotel, Ayah and the kids managed to spend about an hour at the Swimming Pool before they had to come back to the room to get ready for the programme lined for that night. Dinner was to be at Cok Ratih's Puri, whereby she had gathered her students to perform a few Balinese dances, accompanied by her own Gamelan group. The girls and Hilman managed to watch how exactly Tarian Rejang Dewa, Legong and Baris were performed that night to have some rough ideas as to how they were supposed to dance the dances when it was their turn to perform nanti. Dinner was held in Cok Ratih's garden, where the entertainment continued throughout the evening.

Back at the hotel, we invited everyone over for a lepak session at our Villa as it was our last night in Sanur, before we proceeded to Ubud. With our Villa being the biggest, with a huge living and dining area to fit everybody in the group, it was only natural and proper to have everybody over for a Midnight snack. What with our supply of Milo 3-in-1, and crisps, and cookies - all specially flown from KL, it was like a Midnight Feast for us, much to the delight of the kids :) I think everybody slept after 1:00a.m that night!

The next morning while yours truly was busy with last minute packings of our stuff, Ayah brought the kids to enjoy the beach after breakfast. We checked out of the hotel at 10:30a.m., and made our way to Ubud.

The journey to Furama Villa and Spa Resort, Ubud, took us nearly 6 hours, as we made a few stops along the way. We visited the Batik Centre, the Silver Craft Shop, and stopped at Padi Prada for lunch. The Crispy Duck at Padi Prada was simply heavenly... And, oh course, we also spent nearly 2 hours shopping at the Ubud Art and Craft Village before going to the hotel. Please don't ask how much the damage was, okay? Hehehe!

We arrived at the Resort just after 4:00p.m and were served with Balinese Tea with some local kuehs and snacks before we were shown our rooms. The kids were delighted with the Villa which was so much nicer than our Villa in Diwangkara, Sanur. The villa housed two rooms, and had it's own dining terrace, massage hut, and not forgetting - it's own plunge pool. And the Master Bathroom was of a semi-open concept, and was REALLY huge - bigger than our room in Diwangkara! It gave me the creeps every time I needed to go to the loo in the middle of the night while at Furama. The fact that the resort is surrounded by padi-fields didn't help much, either...

The kids managed to take a dip in the pool (fully-clothed, mind you!) before getting ready for dinner. This time, we were brought to Bebek Bengil (which literally means "Dirty Duck"), and we were given the choice of having another round of Crispy Duck, OR Crispy Chicken. All the kids opted for the Chicken, except for Hanna. While Ayah and I decided to take the Duck again. It's just that, we were so sure that we would never ever eat ducks back home in Malaysia. So, apa lagi...seize the opportunity lah, kan? And the Crispy Duck at Bebek Bengil was REALLY yummy, too, okay?

We reached our hotel at about 10:00p.m, and Hanna and Hasya invited a few of the other girls over to watch DVDs at their room. I think it was about 1:00a.m., when they finished watching the movie, and yours truly, together with Hanna and Hasya had to accompany the girls back to their respective rooms coz' Ayah dah lama sampai Dreamland masa tu. Bagi chance lah kan - cuti sekolah...and we were in Bali, kan?! But, seram jugak coz' it was REALLY quiet, and REALLY dark outside the hotel fence tu. (What do you expect - the resort is right smack in the middle of a padi-field!)

The kids went to bed just after 1:00a.m., while I found it really hard to sleep after that. It had been a long time since I last experienced a night so quiet, with only the sound of crickets continuously serenading the night...with the full moon shining bright, with the clouds weaving in and out in between...The feeling I had that night was indescribable.

I didn't know when exactly I finally dozed off, but, by 5:00p.m, I was already up - awaken by the sound of the roosters cockadoodle-do-ing away in the distance...It was so serene, and so calming.

If only the kids were up then - I'm sure they'd love the sound the roosters were making.

But, alas... they preferred their sleep more. This I know because I had a difficult time waking them up on that 5th day in Bali :)

To be continued...

Here are some pics.

Enjoy! :)

Bali Trip - Day 1 & Day 2 :)

Salams, and hello to all! :)

I'm baaaacccckkk!!!

My apologies for the 2-week hiatus. As most of you would have known already, we were in Bali from Saturday 6th June, and only came back last Thursday. Sampai KL I was down with a really bad sore throat and demam tak demam, while Ayah was down with very high fever and a tummy bug. Syukur Alhamdulillah, the kids were fine. Nasib baik jugak we didn't have any fever on the day we came back. If not, ada chance kena quarantined at KLIA on suspicion of us having the H1N1 virus!

For the next couple of days after coming back, yours truly had been catching up on the much-needed sleep and rest and was walking around like a zombie for most of the time. Pantang nampak bantal, mesti tido tak ingat dunia :) And we had a water crisis after Sya*as did some maintenance work in our housing area - our water tank ran dry, and our master bedroom floor was damp, and water was seeping through the floor right through our living room wall. Something to do with a leakage in either our, or our next door neighbour's aircond drain-pipe...So, we had to put up at my MIL's place for 2 nights. Sigh...

Anyway, I will let the pictures do the talking on our Bali trip. For this posting, I will only share on what we did over the first two days we were there. And my next posting will be dedicated to what we did with the rest of our stay in The Land of the Barongs, insya Allah :)

Our Bali trip was organized by Dida of DiDance Cultural House where Hasya and Hilman have been going for traditional dance classes for the last 2 years. The trip was meant to be a fun/study trip for Dida's students whereby they would be taught basic Balinese Dance by the Primadona of Balinese Dance herself - Cok Ratih. The dance workshop was scheduled to be held over three days, leaving us with only 2 days to do the touristy stuff.

There were 11 junior students altogether (with Hilman being the only boy), 3 adult students/parents, 7 parents, 1 sibling (Hanna) and Dida, altogether totalling to 23 of us in the group.

6th June 2009 - We left the house at 7:00a.m, reaching KLIA just before 8:00a.m., only to be informed that our 9:50a.m flight to Bali was delayed by more than an hour. But we were okay about it as it meant we could spend an extra hour with Ayah who had to stay on in KL due to his work commitments that weekend.

The 2 hours 40 minute flight to Bali was smooth, and we landed at Ngurah Rai Airport at 1:45p.m. (there's no time difference between KL and Bali), but the immigration people really took their time to clear everybody through! The last person in our group only got through the system at 3:15p.m!

Once outside the arrival hall, we were greeted by Nyoman – our tour guide, and were driven straight to Diwangkara Holiday Villa, in Sanur. The kids and I were placed in a villa which housed 3 rooms – one for us, one for Ai*i and her daughter Ri*qa*, and one room was reserved for Ayah when he was to join us on Monday. It has its own plunge pool, lounge, dining hall and a kitchenette. I would highly recommend this place if any of you are planning for a family getaway in Bali. But, be warned - the food served at the hotel restaurant was nothing to shout about. The hotel has its own private beach which we didn't really have time to enjoy, unfortunately :(

We had our packed lunch upon arrival at the hotel, and the kids later went for a dip in the plunge pool, before we went for dinner at the hotel's Legenda Restaurant. After dinner, we were then taken for a night drive around Kuta and Jalan Seminyak – the most happening night spots in Bali, and only got back to the hotel just before midnight. I think all of us fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillows.

7th June 2009 - the next morning, after breakfast, we headed off to Cok Ratih’s sanggar at her Puri (palace) for the first session of the kids’ Balinese Dance Workshop. Cok Ratih is considered as the Primadona on the island when it comes to Balinese dances, and she’s a Royalty. Her Puri was really amazing. Needless to say, the ladies in the group were in awe admiring the wood carvings around the place. Truly exquisite, I tell you… nothing like what we have here in Malaysia. Her Puri is divided into several quarters – the main family residence, the dance/practice hall, the main performance hall, their praying hall/temple, and the servant quarters at the back of the complex – all in true Balinese architecture.

The girls were taught "The Rejang Dewa Dance", while Hilman was taught the "Tarian Baris" - also known as "The Warrior Dance". The students spent a good 3 hours learning their steps and familiarizing themselves with the music and rhythm that morning, and the session ended at 12:30p.m.

After the workshop, we then proceeded to Restaurant Natrabu for our lunch. Apparently they serve the best Masakan Minang in Bali, and after tasting the lauk-pauk segala, I dare say, I would agree with that. And I'm sure Hilman would agree, too...because he finished 3 pinggan nasi that afternoon! Hehehe!

After lunch, we were dropped at Kuta Square/Discovery Esplanade for a bit of shopping, while some in the group opted to go to the nearby WaterBom (something like our Sunway Lagoon). No prize for guessing which option we (or rather, I) opted for. Hehehe! We were there until about 6:30p.m, after which we went straight to Restaurant Ketupat for dinner. We were made to understand that it's one of Mick Jagger's favourite restaurants in Bali, and it's very popular among foreign celebrities. The restaurant serves authentic Masakan Bugis, and has a very nice ambience. A must try for those who plan to go to Bali nanti.

We went straight back to the hotel right after dinner and the kids spent about an hour dipping in Teacher Dida's plunge pool, before calling it a day.

Another long day awaited them the next day...as they were supposed to polish their Rejang Dewa Dance before Cok Ratih started them on another dance - "The Legong Dance".

And the kids and I were especially excited because Ayah would be arriving from KL and joining us the next day!

YEAY!!!

Here are some pics of the happenings on the first two days of our stay in Bali.

Enjoy! ;)

5-Day Wrap-up...

Have been busy, busy, busy!

What with the school hols and all, and the kids are at home 24/7, and them asking me, "Are you going to work today, Mommy?" (like a dozen times a day - and that's just in the morning!), I feel like there aren't enough hours in a day this term break.

I've already stocked up the fridge, freezer and pantry to last the first week of the school holidays last Friday, but, I think the stock for milk and fish is already running low!

A lot has been happening, and I've been meaning to blog about this and that, but other commitments seemed to have a strong hold on me in the last few days.

So, now that I have the chance to write, I'd better do it immediately.

I guess I'd better do this chronologically.

Thursday, 28th May 2009

(i) Report Card Day for Hasya and Hilman.

Ayah couldn't make it for Hasya's report as he had a few patients scheduled for his clinic that morning, so, yours truly had to go alone. There weren't many parents when I reached there at 10:30a.m., and there weren't many pupils either as they were given the options of staying home or, going to school, and then following their parents home after the meeting with the class teachers. I guess most pupils opted for the former.

There were quite a number of prefects present though, and I guess they didn't have any choice but to attend school as they were given specific duties to help the teachers for that day.

Surprisingly, "Schoolaholic" Hasya opted to stay at home, and I could sense why. She knew she didn't do as well as the previous years, and she didn't know how to react if her report card were to be handed to her by her teacher personally that day. And frankly speaking, I didn't know how to react, too, when I was handed her report card.

Hasya got 5th place in her class, Syukur alhamdulillah. But, for someone who usually got 1st or 2nd place all this while, 5th place was quite a spirit damper - not just for Hasya, but also for her Mommy. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't upset, nor was I disappointed. I was sad more than anything because I knew she could have done better, and I guess I was partly to be blamed.

I admit that I had not spent as much time with the kids this time revising for their exams, as I did previously. And I had not been that strict with them when it comes to watching TV/DVDs, playing PS2 and reading story books. Hasya seemed to be ONLY doing just that two weeks prior to the exams. My bad. I thought she was ever ready for any exams thrown at her.

Hasya was using the excuse that all her classmates who had beaten her in the exam go for tuitions, and thus, they were more prepared and more advanced than her in all the subjects. Hmmmm, we'll see if that reason would still be valid for the next exams, okay, Hasya?

Because starting after the hols, we're engaging Hanna's former tuition teacher, Mrs Ya*un*ha to be Hasya's home tutor pulak. One thing we realized, the fees now is quite a bomb compared to Hanna's time 2 years ago! Well, for Hasya's sake, insya Allah it'll be worthed every single sen, insya Allah.

Anyway, for Hilman's report, I had to go again in the afternoon, and this time Ayah was there, too.

Hilman was jaga-ing a Std 2 Class when we arrived. There was no queue at his class and Ayah and I managed to see his teacher the second we reached there.

And as expected, Hilman got 1st place in his class. Syukur alhamdulillah. Yang kelakarnya, everytime he saw his friends along the corridor when we were going home, he would ask them their placings in class, and when they told him their placings, he would tell them, "I got 1st place", Hehehe! Those who know Hilman would know that he wasn't bragging or anything like that. To him, it was just an act of sharing information :)

(Come to think of it, Hilman watched as much TV as his Kak Ngah did, if not more, and in fact played PS2 MORE than her...So, how do you explain him getting #1, and Hasya #5?! Hmmmmmm....?)

Anyway, as a lesson, Hasya is not allowed to watch TV/DVD or play PS2 indefinitely. So, for the past few nights Hilman has been dilligently supplying her with all the details of the 10:00pm Naruto show.

And last night, as I was going to the Family Hall on the way to the Master Bedroom, I saw Hasya sitting on the sofa, facing the wall, with her back to the TV. Naruto was on. And I asked her -

Me : Hasya what are you doing staring at the wall?!

Hasya : I'm listening to Naruto, Mommy...

Me : What do you mean?! Hey! You're not supposed to watch TV, okay?!

Hasya : I'm not watching, Mommy. I'm just listening! You said I could not watch TV. I'm not watching, okay Mommy...you didn't say I could not listen to the TV...

I tak tau nak marah or nak tergelak, and I just walked into the room. Ayah who was lying on the bed, heard what Hasya said, and he was trying hard not to laugh. I locked the door behind me, and both of us just burst out laughing!

Hasya...Hasya... Sigh... :)

(ii) Kantoi

Anyway, that evening, Hasya and Hilman were supposed to have mengaji at 8:30pm at their Wan's place, and as usual, right after school all the kids were deposited at my MIL's house.

It was at 8:00p.m, when I received a phone-call from their Ustadz who apologized and told me that he was not able to make it to teach that evening as he had to attend to some "hal mustahak".

In a way, I was quite relieved because I was supposed to go and get the cards and gifts for the kids' teachers for Friday's Teacher's Day Celebration while they were having their mengaji that night. So, immediately upon being informed that the class had been cancelled, I asked the kids to pack their stuff and change their clothes, and off we went to One-U to get the cards and gifts together. Saved me the headaches of choosing everything for them.

Anyway, we reached One-U at 8:45pm, and we were making our way to Me*or* La*e at the Lower Ground Floor when we bumped into......Guess who?!!










Their Ustadz Mengaji!!!


He was outside a gift shop with his daughters and wife. His daughters were obviously looking for cards and gifts for their teachers, too!

Awkward, I tell you. Really awkward... Hehehe!

So as not to make him feel embarrassed, I gave salam to him, and said,

"Ustadz pun kena cari barang untuk Hari Guru, ya? Samalah Kak Shana. Budak-budak ni, selagi tak beli kad dengan hadiah untuk cikgu-cikgu dioghang, selagi tu tak senang duduk! Nak kena beli MALAM NI jugak! Esok tak boleh! Nasib baik juga Ustadz batal kelas malam ni, dapat jugak bawak budak-budak ni untuk pilih sendiri, etc.!


Ustadz pun tersipu-sipu malu. Kesian pulak kat dia. But, I hope he knows that I truly didn't mind him cancelling the class that night.

I'm also a parent of demanding kids. I understand ;)

Anyway, we managed to get 4 cards and 3 gifts each for the three kids to give to their teachers.

Nak harap their Mommy buat cupcakes for their teachers (like a lot of my supermoms blogger friends out there! Bravo!)? Errrrr...tahun depan pun tak leh janji, okay? Hehehe!


Saturday, 30th May 2009

Besides my normal supir duties - sending and fetching kids to/from Chess, Guitar, and Swimming Lesson, that night Ayah and I sent Hanna and her friend Mira to Bukit Jalil for the Relay for Life event.

We decided to while the time away by going to Endah Parade. We were there at 9:20pm and decided to leave the place shortly after that.

How do I say this? Errrr...that was the first and the last time we would go there. That place was so....errrr...so-NOT-my-cuppa-tea laah!

So, while waiting for midnite - the time we told Hanna and Mira we would fetch them, we decided to go to my Sis Lala's place in Keramat, only to find that the whole family had gone to have dinner at my BIL's Kak Ngah's place in Hillview. So, my BIL invited us to join them at his Kak Ngah's house. All the usual suspects were there. (They are actually our second set of Majlis Tertinggi - the family version, who meet nearly every Saturday Night for PotLuck thingies at my Sis Lala's place in Keramat).

We left Hillview just before midnite and went straight to Bukit Jalil to fetch the girls, reaching home just before 1:00a.m.


Sunday, 31st May 2009

Supir duty again!

Morning - Sent and fetched Hasya and Hilman to and from their Dance Class.

Afternoon - Sent Hasya and Hilman to Royale Bintang Hotel (The Curve) for a birthday party, while Ayah sent Hanna to Kg Tunku for her Taekwondo training. She's competing in the MSSD Sports Meet later this month, insya Allah.

Evening - I fetched Hanna from taekwondo training, while Ayah fetched Hasya and Hilman from Royale Bintang...(Hehehe! Saja tukar angin :))

After Maghrib, we left for One-U to watch the 9:30pm show of "Night at the Museum II".

I tell you, it has been quite some time since I last had such a good laugh at the movies! Highly recommended. Memang a great stress-buster that movie!


Monday, 1st June 2009

My Abah and Mommy are staying with us the whole of this week, as it is my turn to bring Abah for his radiotherapy treatment at GH.

Abah has been going to GH on a daily basis for the last 3 weeks for his radiotherapy treatment (except for weekends and Public Holidays) and all this while, my Sis Lala has been bringing him to the hospital. It has been quite a convenient arrangement as her place in Keramat is so much nearer to GH, and as Lala is a SAHM, her daily schedule is rather flexible. Abah and Mommy had been staying over at Lala's place, and she has been attending to all Abah's and Mommy's needs for the last three weeks. God bless her! :)

However, we have to make another arrangement for this week as Lala and her family have gone to Bandung/Jakarta (they left this afternoon) for a family getaway.

As it is already the Semester Break for the Uni, my schedule is also quite flexible now, and after seeking permission from my HoD, I've been allowed to take time off in the morning so that I could bring Abah to the hospital for his treatment, and only go to the office after lunch.

As I'm writing this, Abah has another 4 radiotherapy sessions to go to, before he starts on a couple of brachytherapy treatment sessions, insya Allah.

Abah is responding very well to the treatment, in fact, he's doing MUCH, MUCH better than he did when he had to go through the same treatment when he was dignosed with his first NPC in 1995. Syukur alhamdulillah.

His face does not have any burnt marks, and he has not lost the ability to taste food as he did in 1995. In fact, it gives me great pleasure to see him eat A LOT everytime I cook for him and the family :) My Mommy said he has been eating a lot more than he normally would when he was at home since he stayed at Lala's and now, at our place. I'm really glad :)

He spends most of his time on the sajaddah, berwirid and berzikir after solat, and other times in front of the TV, changing the channels every minute or so :) So, the kids have been warned by moi to NOT kacau Jaddi in the living room when he's watching TV (or most of the times, the TV watching him! Hehehe!) Anyway, as Hasya is OFF TV now, there's no risk of Hilman and Hasya fighting over which channels to watch on the upstairs' TV.

Next week, my brother Eddie will be bringing Abah for his final radiotherapy session on Monday, and thereafter for his brachytherapy as we pulak will be away for 6 days.

Where are we heading to?

Remember my posting on our planned Bali trip dulu? Yup! It's next week, and we're leaving this Saturday. Ayah will be away in Cambodia this Thursday and coming back on Friday, and he'll be sending us to the airport. Ayah will only be joining us in Bali on Monday, insya Allah.

So, in case some of you were wondering why laaaaarrr this posting is SUPER-LONG, this explains this longer-than-usual posting - I'm trying to make up for my possible non-blogging week the whole of next week. Takut ada yang rindu kat I pulak nanti...Heheheh :)

We are so looking forward to the trip, but I am so not looking forward to the packing, y'all. But, what to do? Can't rely on the kids to do it, can I? Nanti ada pulak yang tak cukup benda-benda kecik nak pakai kat Bali pulak nanti... ;)

See you all the later part of next week, okay?

Cheers!

(Land of The Barong!!! Here we come!!!!!!)