.. fresh scent of jasmine ...

It's Fated

2011-08-03T20:23:00.002+08:00

The doctor confirmed today that I had a miscarriage. My baby would have been 6 weeks 5 days today.

It's fated. We accept it, though with a heavy heart. InsyaAllah there are better things for us in the future, Ameen.

P/s: kena pantang apa ya?

P/p/s: if we meet, please don't ask me about this, at least not in public. I would't mind talking in private, but it's going to be a tearful one, I warn you :).

Update on School Meals

2011-05-19T09:43:00.002+08:00

A few days after I posted on my blog about school meals, the Deputy Health Minister announced that the Ministry will publish a list of 15 banned items from school canteens. The list will include nuggets and burgers. They will also come up with a list of healthy meals to be served at the canteens. Currently the Ministry is still working on the proposal.

This latest announcement sounds more promising than previous announcements made by the Ministry. I'm hopeful.

School Meals

2011-05-10T09:59:00.002+08:00

I was dumbfounded when the Health Minister announced recently that nasi lemak will be banned from school canteens. I went "hmm.. really?" I think Chua Soi Lek, when he was Health Minister, attempted to change the school meals too, but he didn't succeed.

I'm all for healthy meals for our kids, but I think the current initiative is a bit misguided. Why pick on nasi lemak? What about the other food options being sold at the canteens like nuggets, fried fish balls (God knows how much fish is really in there), keropok lekor, ice cream and Mamee? What about doughnuts and currypuffs? Has the Ministry conducted a research and found that nasi lemak is the biggest culprit, hence the reason for picking on it? I doubt that is the case...

If nasi lemak really is going to be banned, what is the alternative? I haven't heard any suggestions or advice from the Ministry on what kind of food should replace nasi lemak. If no healthy replacement is offered, then the children are going to buy the abovementioned food options that are not much better (or could even be worse) than nasi lemak.

Recently a reader wrote to the Star, commenting that for poor kampung children, nasi lemak provides a filling meal that can last them from morning till afternoon. He also commented that obesity is mainly a problem of middle class, urban children, not poor kampung children.

I have to agree with the writer. I don't believe nasi lemak is the culprit. It all begins with the parents, so if the Health Minister is serious about tackling obesity, they should engage parents first. Kids get fat because of a number of reasons: they eat too much, they eat the wrong kinds of food, they spend too much time watching TV and playing computer games, and numerous other reasons. And as my DH crudely puts it, "just close down all the fast food outlets!" Now, won't there be an uproar if the Minister said all McDonald's burgers will be banned? But I do believe that burgers are worse than nasi lemak.

By the way, my DD doesn't eat nasi lemak and burgers.

Happy Birthday Little Princess

2011-04-14T11:24:00.002+08:00

You're 8 today. Eight years of memories, and hopefully many more years to come...

Sometimes you're mature beyond your age. You're polite, considerate and generous. You share your stuff with friends and lend them money. You seldom make demands of us. When we dine out, your table manners constantly astound us.

But at times you're like a baby. You whine and whimper. You like to watch horror TV shows. And then, you refuse to go anywhere in the house without company. You even insist that I keep the bathroom door open.

You know you're special. You insist to be in the middle, always. When we talk, you ask "What? What?", because you don't want to feel left out.

You can ride your bicycle confidently now. You love your bicycle so much, you blow dust off the handles. You want to ride your bike everyday, but the weather has been playing tricks on you these days. Yesterday you had a little accident, a little boy on a four-wheeler bumped into you. You fell and bled your arm and knee. You cried, but Daddy said it's part of the learning process.

You gave us a scare recently. You've been sick so many times this year, we feared something could be amiss. The doctor assured us that you're alright. So far you've missed more than 10 days of school this year.

But you continue to do well academically, although it's a constant battle trying to get you to study. You always have something far more interesting and important... TV shows, computer games, art & craft, play.. the list is endless. It's a good thing that you don't know yet how to navigate the Facebook.

You're reciting juz 8 of al-Qur'an now. You completed Muqaddam a few days before your birthday last year. Your progress was slow last year, but you have picked up speed since then and I'm happy with your pace now. Over time, I've come to realise that it doesn't matter whether you complete Qur'an recital at the age of 10 or 12. The journey can just be as important as the destination.

Sometimes when I see your friends acting childish, I wonder if we've been too strict with you. We just want you to be independent, especially because you're an only child and we're not going to be around forever. I hope we're doing right by you. I certainly don't want to rob you of childhood. I want you to experience the joy of being young, the carefree world of childhood and keep that as a treasure in your memories.

Yet at the same time I want you to be ready for adulthood, to face its trials and tribulations head-on and to have courage in times of adversity.

I don't know how much of your childhood will stay with you in your adult life. I just wish that you'll remember that we're trying our best to be good parents to you.

Happy Birthday My Little Princess. I pray to Allah that you'll get the best that life has to offer, in this world and the hereafter, and you'll give the world your best in return.

Learning To Ride A Bike

2011-03-14T09:38:00.003+08:00

DD's best friend, Mia started it. Mia is an accomplished rider. The other day DD went to Mia's house and they had a lot of fun on Mia's new bicycle. Mia pedalled while DD was content to be a pillion rider. Together they rounded the neighbourhood, pushed the bike up a slope and then rode down the slope at mega speed.

So that was how DD finally relented to DH's wish to buy her a new bicycle. Last year DH wanted to give her a bike as a birthday present but she refused. She was just too scared to learn to ride a bike.

But I guess peer pressure changed all that...

I asked Mia's mom where she bought the bike. She gave a vague direction and I'm not good at directions anyway so the only two phrases that stuck in my mind was 'Sungai Buloh' and 'on the way to Paya Jaras'. Since DH had already enquired at nearby shops and found the price to be exorbitant, we decided to give Sg Buloh a try.

So we found ourselves scouring Sg Buloh last Saturday, with those two phrases and Mia as our sole guides. Mia was a confident guide, telling us to 'go straight', 'turn left', and 'turn right', peppered with comments like 'I remember this graveyard', 'I remember this school', 'I remember this hospital'.

And that was how we reached a dead end. Mia urged DH to turn back, telling us that her mom too had reached the dead end and then turned back. Needless to say, our confidence is our little guide began to wane. But she remained very optimistic, telling us to "go straight", "turn left" and finally "dekat sangat dah.. sikit lagi... sikittt je lagi." But as we reached the rows of shoplots, she too lost her confidence and muttered "Mia tak ingatlah".

DH stopped by the roadside and asked a guy for directions. As it turned out, the shop was about 2 km away from where we were. Once we reached the correct rows of shoplots, Mia got excited and exclaimed "haa kat situ, kat situ! Lepas kedai motor".

The salesman remembered Mia and decided to give us a good price, in fact even better than the price that Mia's mom got. He gave Mia a bicycle bell, as a gift for recommending a new customer. DD wanted a pink bike, the same colour as Mia's. We got the bike fitted with a pillion rider carrier and a water bottle carrier (I thought these things are standard features, but I was wrong). We also bought a safety kit for DD containing 2 knee pads, 2 elbow pads, and 2 gloves. Of course they had to be pink in colour. We wanted to get her a helment too but they were too flimsy.

We reached home at around 2pm, and the two girls immediately tried out the bike under the supervision of my maid. I joined them later on. It was not easy to teach DD because the road in front of my house was quite steep. And the glaring afternoon sun was of no help either. So the session was a fruitless one, ending with DD crying out of frustration and in pain from falling too many times.

After Asar, the four of us (DD, Mia, DH and I) went to the badminton court. There, DH taught DD to ride her bike. Before long, DH could let go of the bike and let DD ride without any helping hand. But DD was still fledgling. She struggled with controlling the handles. Once she almost squeezed herself and her bike between 2 poles that were about 1 ft apart. Another time, she had a head on collission with a pole. But as she practised, she became better at controlling the handles and the speed.

DH and I were so proud that she learnt to ride the bike within a day. As I recall, it took me a few sessions to learn. DH meanwhile, never had a bike in the family because my MIL didn't allow her children to learn to ride bikes.

Later on at home, she complained of pain from the scratches that she sustained. I turned into a lecture mode and told her, "What doesn't kill you will only make you stronger".

The next morning, we went to MPH. There was a campaign on story writing, where shoppers could contribute a line each to a story, continuing where a previous writer left off. The campaign just started that morning, because there was just a line in the open note book. The line goes, "Today is my good day because...". DD wrote "I learnt to ride a bike". And I continued with, "As my mother said, "The pain will go away, but the skill that you learnt will stay with you forever".

Yes, the skill will stay with her forever, insyaAllah.

2011-03-08T09:25:00.002+08:00

Yesterday we watched an episode of Awan Dania. In that episode, Dania received flowers and chocolates from her boyfriend after getting herself injured.

I asked DD, "Would you prefer to receive flowers or chocolates from your boyfriend."

She replied, "Neither".

I asked again, "Would you prefer flowers or chocolates from Mummy and Daddy?"

She replied excitedly, "Both".

She passed the test. He he.

The Spa Treatment

2011-03-04T09:21:00.002+08:00

DD has been unwell these past few days. Fever, flu, sorethroat and headaches come and go. Poor thing.. I still make her go to school (except for KAFA yesterday) because as it is, she has already missed school a lot this year.

I thought a little pampering would perk her up a bit. So the other I announced to her that I was going to give her home spa treatment. She got excited. I lined the bed with a batik sarong for a little bit of spa ambience.

As I started giving her a frangipani body scrub, I told her to close her eyes and imagine that she's at the beach. She promptly declared, "I'm in Hawaii." "Can you hear the breeze blowing the coconut leaves?" I asked. "No, I can hear the motorbike," was her response.

It was actually the newspaper delivery guy, who came around to collect the payment for February. I returned to the bedroom after making payment to the guy. I asked DD, "Are you still in Hawai?" Her answer was, "No, I'm in Disneyland!". I jokingly reprimanded her that Disneyland is for excitement, not for relaxation.

Later on I applied bedak sejuk on her face. Once the bedak became dry, she immediately sat upright and said "Zombe!!!" ala Awie in the movie Hantu Kak Limah Balik Rumah. By the way, we watched the movie on You Tube the other night and it was hilarious.

Next I clipped DD's nails. It was the first time in a year or so, because DD has been clipping her nails by herself. She became nervous, worried that I might hurt her accidentally. So much for trusting your mother!

I finished off the treatment by giving her a shoulder massage and a footrub. Then I declared, "You're as good as new now".

Overall, it was a good quality time for the two of us.

Evil Me

2011-02-28T10:18:00.002+08:00

Yesterday I went to the gym at the club. Noone else was there when I arrived so I had the entire gym to myself.

I switched on the aircond above the entrance door at 16C but the room was still warm. So I switched on the other aircond in the middle of the room. Now I could exercise in bliss...

Later on a guy came in. He proceeded to switch off the aircond nearer to me, the one in the middle of the room. I gave him my fiercest glare but it only pierced through his back because he wasn't looking in my direction. Since I almost finished exercising anyway, I decided to let it go. No point in getting my blood pressure hiked up right?

But then Mr Freezing approached the aircond above the entrance door and switched off that one too. Like, hello? Can't you see the lovely lady is almost swimming in her own sweat?

So I said to Mr Freezing, "Can you switch on the aircond, please?"

He mumbled, "Oh, yeah", like someone had just awaken him from his slumber and switched the aircond above the entrance door back on. I noticed the aircond fan was rotating very very slowlyyyy, so I knew he had fumbled with the temperature control.

I exercised for 2 more minutes or so and decided to call it a day.

Then I walked to the scale to weigh myself. It was placed near the aircond in the middle of the room. I switched on that aircond, glanced at Mr Freezing, and smiled to myself.

After weighing myself, I walked over to the bench near the aircond above the entrance door. I grabbed the aircond remote control and saw that Mr Freeze had changed the temperature to 30C. No wonder it felt like I was in a sauna room instead of a gym. So I changed it back to 16C, and then coolly walked out of the gym. This time I didn't look at Mr Freezing, but I had a wide grin on my face.

Muahahaha.

Singapore Getaway

2011-02-24T10:48:00.002+08:00

We just came back from Singapore yesterday evening. It was a last minute trip for DD and me. DH had known for sometime that he would be attending a course there, and he had pestered me to go along, but I was reluctant to make DD miss school.

Anyway, I made the last minute decision on Friday, barely 2 days before the trip. DD was excited. Flight tickets were expensive, so DD and I travelled by coach to Singapore and by flight on the way back.

We boarded Nice Executive Coach just after 3pm on Sunday. The coach was comfortable. We were given sandwiches, mineral water and hot drinks. But this is Malaysia, and if you expect to get what you pay for, you'll end up feeling disappointed. The stewardess (yes, there's a stewardess) apologetically told us that she couldn't give us blankets and pillows because the coach that we boarded was a bus sementara (temporary bus). For the same reason, we couldn't watch shows on the individual TV screen perched on the seats in front of us.

The first leg of the journey was smooth. The coach moved at a comfortable speed. We were overtaken by other coaches right, left and centre. We stopped at Pagoh at 5.30pm for a 20 minutes break.

The second leg of the journey became more arduous. Traffic moved at turtle's speed (or so it seemed) near Kulai for some unknown reasons.

Clearing immigration on Malaysian side of the border was a breeze. We hopped off the coach, got our passports scanned and hopped on again, all in less than 15 minutes. As we approached Singapore side, I began to understand why other coach drivers were driving at neck-breaking speed. There were so many buses queuing up to approach immigration. Our coach joined the queue and we waited in the coach for about half an hour. Finally we were told to gather all our belongings and enter the immigration check point. There were more queues inside. We got our passports stamped and our belongings scanned. Overall, it took almost 1 hour to clear Singapore immigration. We reached the bus terminal at 9.30 pm, 6 and a half hours after starting our journey. I felt so lucky that DD behaved throughout the entire journey.

Things took a turn for the better afterwards. The next day, I took DD to Sentosa Island, while DH was cooped up in the Conference. We had so much fun at Sentosa. We went there before, in 2006, but DD can't remember any of it now. I have to say though that I've had enough of Seaworld or Underwaterworld or whatever it is called. No more of sea creatures in the future.

Universal Studios is located on Sentosa Island too but we didn't go there. I contemplated taking DD on the following day, but DH was not too happy about letting us having all the fun while he was stuck attending the conference. So I took DD to Science Centre instead. And we had another day of fun.

The hotel that we stayed in was a bit far from MRT stations so we had to take buses and taxis between the hotel and the nearest MRT station. One thing I learnt about Singapore during this trip is how hard it is to flag a taxi if you're not at a Taxi Stand. DD was reduced to tears because she could not take the rejections from taxi drivers refusing to stop for us.

DD and I took Firefly for our return journey. I must say that the budget terminal in Changi is way better than our LCCT. It doesn't have the 'warehouse' feel, the airconditioner works wonderfully, it's not crowded and the departure gates are located close to the departure hall. DD and I had a ball in the Duty Free Shop, trying out all the perfumes. There are crayons and stone templates for kids to trace on.

My diet went out of the window in Singapore. We had McDonalds twice, not because I like it, but because it's convenient. Halal status was of paramount consideration, so during those few days, I stopped worrying about calories. We had the most yummylicous Sundanese food and Turkish fare as well, not to mention roti pratha and toasted bread with kaya for breakfast at the mamak stall.

I didn't get to do any shopping. As DD said it eloquently, kalau nak shopping, boleh shopping di KL. The most important thing is that DD had a good time, and that we certainly had.

Now is payback time for the both of us. DD has to catch up on school work and I have to restart my healthy lifestyle. Ouchh!

Sebuah Kisah Percintaan

2011-02-16T09:42:00.002+08:00

(terjemahan khusus buat IWA)

Kau membuatku tidak lena sepanjang malam
Aku berpusing berkali-kali di pembaringan, di sebelah suamiku
Kau berikan aku pemikiran yang jelas
Kau ingatkan aku akan hal-hal yang telah kusembunyikan di sudut mindaku
Kau berikan aku talian hayat kedua
Bila kurasakan tenagaku telah habis dikerah oleh cabaran kehidupan seharian
Kau membuatku berasa hidup
Aromamu menggamitku
Aku selama-lamanya tertarik ke arahmu
Kau hilangkan dahagaku
Kau buat jantungku berdegup kencang
Kau isi helaan nafasku dengan aromamu
Kau tinggalkan warnamu di dalam senyumanku
Kau membuatku nanar selepas semalaman tidak lena
Oh.. bagaimanakah aku akan berpisah denganmu, Kopi Kesayanganku

p/s: should I write the interpretation next? :p

A Love Affair

2011-02-15T11:49:00.002+08:00

You keep me awake all night long
I toss and turn, again and again, by my husband's side
You give me clarity of thought
You bring forth issues chucked in the far corner of my mind
You give me a second lifeline
When I feel that my entire energy has been sapped by daily life challenges
You make me feel alive
Your scent is inviting
I'm forever drawn to you
You quench my thirst
You keep my heart racing
You fill my breath with your lingering scent
You leave you hue in my smile
You make me dizzy after a fitfull, sleepless night
Oh.. how do I part with thee, My Beloved Coffee

The Culprit

2011-02-09T09:51:00.003+08:00

I've acquired a new habit. That is, checking calorie content on food packagings. For someone who never bothered about calories, fats, and the likes, it's a mind opener to discover that there's actually useful information on our standard food packagings.

The shocker happened at the grocery shop yesterday. While perusing rows upon rows of my favourite beverage (coffee, if you haven't already known), I found my usual 3-in-1 purchase and took a close look at the calorie information. My eyes almost jumped out of their sockets when I saw that a sachet of the said 3-in-1 contains about 350 kcals! My oh my, that's about a quarter of my daily calorie requirement!

In a way, I'm happy that the 3-in-1 boasts such a huge calorie count. I have now singled out one of main reasons for my bulging thighs. The right thing to do is to eliminate the offending item out of my shopping list right away. Since I'm not ready to forgo coffee altogether, I'm opting for alternatives that do not take up such a huge portion of my daily calorie need. I noticed that Indocafe has only 10kcals per serving. Even after adding 1 tsp each of sugar and creamer, I'm pretty sure the total calorie won't reach anywhere near 350 kcal.

As the saying goes, knowledge is power. Now I know that for sure.

The National Museum

2011-01-31T10:30:00.004+08:00

Last Saturday, DH decided to go to his office to get some work done. I didn't want to stay idle at home, so I decided to take DD to the National Museum. Actually the idea of visiting the Museum had been brewing for a long time, but museums are not exactly DH's cup of tea and I didn't know how to get there by myself. Anyway, since the Museum is quite near to DH's office, he dropped DD and I there first before going to his office.

Prior to this visit, the only time that I'd been to the Museum was in 1984, when I was still an impressionable 12 year-old. My memory of the Museum is mainly of long, dark corridors with mannequins wearing traditional costumes. It seemed like a large place then.

Anyway, back to the present. I thought the entrance fee was ridiculously cheap: RM2 for me and free for DD. Upon entering the Museum, the first view welcoming us was the Hall, where there was an exhibition on AFF Suzuki Cup 2010. In case anyone missed the big news, Malaysia won the Cup. There in the Hall, you can have a view of the Championship Cup and another Cup won by one the Malaysian players (I think he won for scoring the most goals). There were photos of the players and officials, and there was even a telecast of the final match! So if anyone wants to relive the glory of Malaysian football, you may pay a visit to the Museum.

The Museum has 4 galleries, 2 each on the ground floor and on the first floor. The galleries are: the Neolithic Age, The Colonial Age, Malaysia Today and the Malay Kingdom.

We saw lots of bones and tembikar in the Neolithic Age gallery, mainly excavated from sites such as Lembah Bujang, Gua Cha (Kelantan), Perak, and the Borneo. I felt quite proud to discover that Gua Cha is the most important excavation site because a lot of bones were discovered there (haha).

The Colonial Age brought us through the usual fare: Portuguese occupation, Dutch colony, English rule and finally, Japanese occupation. An electronic display of the trading routes showed ships and camels plying the sea and land trails. I almost shuddered when I saw the uniforms worn by the Japanese soldiers and the bicycles that they used to travel along the peninsula. There's a section on the country's main products then: tin, rubber, coconuts and paddy.

Malaysia Today was the least interesting for me. I mean, even the name of the gallery can induce a yawn or two for the average Malaysian. There were sections on communism, early Malay writers, early newspapers, the country's prime ministers, and finally our very own Angkasawan program. But the one section that touched my heart was called 'Pahlawan Negara'. I shed a few drops of tears when I looked at photos of Tok Kenali, Mat Kilau and others. There were lumps in my throat, making it difficult for me to explain the significance of these individuals to DD.

The final gallery that we visited, the Malay Kingdom was the most interesting for us. There you'll see the Perak throne, old coins (we were so proud to see Kelantan gold coins), the head gears of all the sultanates in Malaysia, and really old maps of the old kingdoms. We laughed when we saw that the Kelantan Sultan's head gear is called 'Dastar Budu'. It certainly beats the more melancholic name of Perlis' 'Tanjak Dendam Tak Sudah'. We also saw old wedding gears, keris, jewelleries and tepak sirih and such.

What surprised me the most about the Museum was it's small size. It even seems smaller than the Selangor State Museum. I would have thought that the National Museum should have a bigger collection, befitting its 'National' status. It saddens me to note that our country's history is reduced to such a small collection. We completed our tour of the Museum in just one and a half ours. And we really took our time going through the entire place.

Within the same compound, there's another museum called Muzium Ethnologi Melayu, but we didn't visit it. There was also an on-going exhibition dedicated to Pahang Heritage in another building. Free guided tours of the National Museums are held at 10am on certain days of the week.

Overall, we had a good time there and DD wants to go again. She's such a good girl, paying attention to items that many other kids would find boring. Since it doesn't take long to tour the Museum, we're hoping that we can drag DH along next time. In the mean time, the next place we plan to visit is the Islamic Art Museum.

Temptation #1

2011-01-27T09:55:00.004+08:00

My MIL invited us for dinner last night. Yesterday she and her lady friends had a mengaji session at one of the ladies' house. Such sessions usually end with my MIL bringing home lots of leftover home cooked Kelantanese food. Yesterday was no exception.

Before going there, I made a resolution to refrain myself from over eating. And refrain I did. I had a bowl of laksa Kelantan, loaded with generous amounts of ulam and 4 pieces of keropok. For desserts, I had a piece of kueh kaswi and a piece of talam ubi. MIL offered coffee but I declined. DD munched 3 kueh kaswi, 2 talam ubi and a kueh lapis. She has a sweet tooth, just like me.

Later on MIL and I packed the leftover for us to bring home. So now sitting invitingly in my fridge are left over laksa, kueh kaswi, kueh lapis, talam and 'kekah kekah cha' (for the life of me, I can't recall a more 'decent' name for this kueh). Oh dear, it's going to be hard to keep my hands away from the fridge.

Weight Loss Program (yes, I'm serious)

2011-01-26T09:36:00.003+08:00

Last night I went through my old copy of Dear Nestle Diary - A Healthy Start Begins Today. It contains articles, recipes and tips for a healthier lifestyle. Initially I thought I didn't want to bore my blog readers (ehem) with the details, but seeing that IWA and Nida are interested to compete with me (*panic mode*), I think it would benefit them if I share some pointers mentioned in the Diary here.

Firstly, Malaysian women require between 1,600 and 2,000 kcal per day. The wide range accounts for different factors such as age, height, weight, activity level and body composition. For me who never bothers about calories before, this means that I have to start watching what I eat, not just how much. For a start, I've begun to record what I eat at each meal.

The Diary gives some helpful meal suggestions, which total up to less than 1,600 kcal a day:

Breakfast
Option 1 (275 kcal): 2 pieces of toast with pineapple jam, 1 half-boiled egg, 1 cup of coffee with 1 tsp sugar.

Option 2 (290 kcal): 2 slices sardine sandwich, 1 glass of Omega milk, 1/2 apple.

Option 3 (318 kcal): 1 bowl of Nestle porridge, 1 cup of Nestle Bliss Yoghurt.

Lunch
Option 1 (418 kcal): 1 cup rice, 1 red snapper cooked in tamarind, 1/2 cup sawi, 1/2 cup cabbage, 1 apple.

Option 2 (426 kcal): 2 slices tuna sandwich, 1 cup nestle Bliss yoghurt drink, 1 apple.

Option 3 (434 kcal): 1 plate chicken rice, 1 cup Nestle Bliss yoghurt drink, 1 slice papaya.

Tea
Option 1 (131 kcal): 1 cup Nestle Bliss yoghurt

Option 2 (187 kcal): 1 Nutren cereal bar, 1 cup hot milo.

Option 3 (255 kcal): 1 curry puff, 1 cup hot milo.

Dinner
Option 1 (389 kcal): 1 cup rice, 1 piece steamed chicken, 1/2 cup kailan, 1/2 cup spinach, 1 pear.

Option 2 (519 kcal): 1 plate chicken & mushroom spaghetti, 1 slice papaya

Option 3 (562 kcal): 1 bowl mee soup, a pack soya bean milk, a cut pineapple.

Looking at the suggested meals above, I realise that it's doable. At the same time, I realise where I've gone wrong. My meals comprise a lot of fried stuff - fried chicken, fried fish, sometimes even fried squids and prawns. I also tend to overdo it at tea time. Instead of eating 1 curry puff as suggested, I would usually wallop three! And then I top it off with 1 full mug of white coffee. Oh, and I do love sweet drinks. I have tea in the morning, coffee at tea time, and another drink (tea/coffee/milk) after dinner. And I love tidbits too - nuts, chocolates, crisps. It sure looks like I have to overhaul my entire diet.

The Diary mentions that the best time to weigh ourselves is in the morning after we've gone to the bathroom. This is when we'll get our 'true weight'. Throughout the day, our weight fluctuates by as much as 2.5kg due to food and drinks, wet hair, and clothing.

Of course, a weight loss program wouldn't be complete without exercises. I'm aiming for at least 4 half-hour exercise sessions every week. It's not much, right? For me, the key word is variety. Otherwise, I'll get bored easily. So, here are the options that I can think of so far:
1. Cardio exercise (DVD)
2. Strength exercise (DVD)
3. Climb up and down the stairs
4. Book Maintenance Manual exercises
5. Dear Nestle Diary exercises
6. Jogging/brisk walking at the park
7. Play badminton with DD/DH
8. Exercise sessions with DD (yes, she's interested to be my fitness coach)
9. Go to the gym

The Diary mentions that a healthy weight loss is around 0.5 to 1 kg per week. Is it doable? Yes!!! Welcome to the ARAM Club.

Weight Loss Program (seriously???)

2011-01-25T10:04:00.002+08:00

I started watching The Biggest Loser show during the year end school holiday. I became hooked to the show for several reasons. Firstly, I think it's amazing that the contestants manage to lose a lot of weight during the duration of the show, and in the process transform their lives. Secondly, there's the drama. When you pit off a bunch of individuals against each other and at the same time put them through the grueling physical exercises, emotions are bound to run high. Some of them crack under the pressure of it all. Thirdly, although I'm not obese, I too share their desire to lose weight and have a healthier lifestyle.

As far as managing my weight issue is concerned, I've had several false starts, chiefly due to lack of will power. I came up with numerous reasons to not exercise. In the meantime, the waist continues to expand and the flabs become more prominent.

Watching The Biggest Loser, I become motivated to do something about my weight. A daily dose of the show serves as a constant reminder of my own weight issue (so TV is not that bad afterall, eh?). I pondered about it for days and weeks, and finally told DH unconvincingly that I wanted to start jogging.

Now, the problem was I didn't have enough track bottoms (there always are problems, aren't there?). So off we went to Jusco in Sunway Pyramid. The biggest size that they had was XL (are you kidding me? what about fat people like me?), and surprise surprise, it didn't fit me. I felt tears welling up in my eyes when the cold reality of my huge bottom sunk in.

The next day, I continued my search for the elusive XXL track bottom at Subang Parade, and thank God, I found them. So, I was ready to start exercising.

By then, the weather had become hot again after a brief spell of coolness akin Mediterranean weather, so my motivation to scale the outdoor plummeted. So for a week, I did nothing, except for wearing my new track bottom in the morning when I sent DD to school.

While the weather continued to be hot, I started thinking of an alternative plan. I rummaged through my old collection of DVDs and found 3 exercise DVDs. Now I can get started!

So, I officially began my weight loss program yesterday. I hopped on the scale and noted that my weight was 60kg. I think the scale underestimated my weight somewhat, but I gladly accept it. Afterall, I'll be using the same scale to weight myself throughout my weight loss program, so what if the reading is off by a kilo or two, right?

I plucked my Kathy Smith DVD from the shelf and put it in the DVD player. A reading flashed on the screen, "Not compatible". I replaced it with a Jane Fonda DVD, but again "Not compatible". Finally, I tried the Denise Austin DVD, and it worked.

I followed the 5 minutes warm up session. No big deal. And then it was back to the main menu, displaying a choice between cardio and strength. Now, I couldn't find the DVD player's remote control, and there's no button on the DVD player to move between the choices. And that was how I ended my exercise with Denise Austin yesterday.

Not one to give up so easily, I decided to follow the exercise steps in my Body Maintenance Manual book. It wasn't that strenuous so I managed to exercise in half an hour.

As for the meal, I think I ate well for the main meals yesterday. But I somewhat blew it with indulgences at tea time: I had 10 small pieces cekodok pisang (yummy) with with nescafe. And then after dinner I couldn't resist the Lay crisps that DH was munching, so I walloped a few.

DH atoned for his 'sin' of tempting me with the crisps by searching for the missing DVD player's remote control. He found it, so this morning I had a full cardio session with Denise Austin. It was tough. After 15 minutes of exercising, I started looking at the clock every 5 seconds. By the end of the exercise, I was sweating like a pig.

So, that's my weight loss journey so far. The real challenge is staying motivated throughout. I hope to see good results soon.

Minor Setback

2011-01-11T08:47:00.002+08:00

I was full of semangat to start DD on the new theme, but alas, it was not yet meant to be. Barely 3 days into the new school year, DD fell sick.

On Wednesday morning, she muttered 'rasa nak demam'. There was no temperature,so I sent her to school nevertheless. When I picked her up later in the afternoon, she looked such a wreck I knew instantly that she was sick.

I took her to the doctor on Thursday morning. The doctor gave her 2 days of mc. By then, DD had developed the whole package - fever, cough and the flu. She also complained of stomach pain. Worst of all is that she tended to purge after taking her medicine. DD spent almost the entire day sleeping. She was miserable and cranky whenever she was awake.

She looked better on Friday. She even played computer games. A good sign, or so I thought.

On Saturday, she had stomach pain in the afternoon. But later on she was cheerful and almost became her normal self. I felt sure that she would be able to attend school on Monday.

Sunday was the worst. DD coughed non-stop and threw up twice. We took her to a different doctor. The doctor said there was a lot of phlegm and her fever was caused by the phlegm. The doctor prescribed 5 bottles of medicines for fever, flu, cough/asthma, phlegm and antibiotics. Now that was a nightmare, because by then DD had developed a phobia of medicines. The doctor told us to take DD to the hospital if she doesn't get better after one or two days. She gave DD a day of mc.

Alhamdulillah, DD got better afterwards, despite continuing to purge after taking her medicines. She's still coughing, but not as bad as previously.

She's back at school today, after missing 3 days of school. There's a lot of catching up to do, but most importantly is that she gets well first. Fuhh.. it's been a nightmarish week..

On the Path To Independence

2011-01-04T08:59:00.002+08:00

DD is in Year 2 this year. Registration was held last Friday. I was out of town, so DH had to handle it. The registration process was simple and fast. Just pay school fee (RM50) and PIBG fee (RM50) and you're done.

I packed DD's school bag on Sunday. Oh, it was so heavy. Later on DD and I went through the contents of the bag together, so that she would know what I had packed for her.

Yesterday DH and I sent her to school. The scenario was different from last year. No more tears. DH and I stayed for a while to buy some books from the bookshop, and then we left. When I arrived at the school to pick her up in the afternoon, she was already standing near the school gate, waiting for me.

This morning I went to the Bilik Buku Teks (Text Book Room) and collected the Bahasa Malaysia Activity Book that DD didn't get earlier. Now that her book list is complete, I can have a peaceful mind.

Upon reflection on DD's first year of primary school, I realised that the general theme last year was 'Flexibility'. I felt sorry that she had to rush from one school to another (sekolah kebangsaan in the morning and sekolah agama in the afternoon), so I gave her some leeway. I let her complete her tasks in own sweet time. When she got tired, I let her skip her tasks (eg recital of the Qur'an, piano practice). In short, she didn't really have a fixed schedule, apart from attending school.

This year, I've decided to change the theme to 'Discipline'. Whereas last year the maid and I helped her a lot, this year she would have to take more responsibility for herself. This would cover areas such as:
1. Getting ready for sekolah kebangsaan and KAFA
2. Eating meals (last year she ate on the sofa in front of the TV most of the time. This year she should join us at the dinner table)
3. Packing her school bag
4. Following a more strict schedule - no more skipping on Qur'an recital and piano practice
5. Doing revision

I must thank her KAFA principal for making me realise that I was too soft on her. In his speech during the prize presentation ceremony last year, he stressed upon us the importance of instilling discipline in our children. He said attending sekolah kebangsaan is not an excuse for slacking at KAFA (ouchh! I guess many parents are guilty of this offence). He added that we should push our children so that they will excel.

Looking at DD now, I realise that she can do more than I give her credit for. She's grown so much from last year.

Welcome 2011. We're ready.

The Funeral

2010-12-16T09:11:00.002+08:00

The funeral was held yesterday.

Venue: Under the mango tree

Attendees: DD and the maid

This is DD's account of the funeral procession:

"First we dug a small hole. Then we put pandan leaves as a bed. And then we put more pandan leaves on the babies as a blanket. Then we sprinkled flower petals. We covered with soil. And then some more flower petals and water. Lastly we recited al-fatihah."

Oh well, that went well, I thought.

Later on the maid whispered that DD cried during the funeral. Knowing DD, I was not surprised.

But she's okay now.

Later on today, we'll send the hamsters to the shop. While we'll be holidaying in Hong Kong, they'll be holidaying at the shop. In safe hands.

8 - 3 = 5

2010-12-15T11:40:00.002+08:00

Yesterday evening, I found DD sitting on the floor on top of the staircase outside my room, her lower back leaning to the wall, her head buried in her hands on her knees. She was weeping. The maid sat quietly beside her.

The maid told me that three baby hamsters were dead. Two of them had the heads severed. We suspected Scaredy, the father was the culprit. He was rough with the babies.

The maid removed Scaredy from the cage and put him in the exercise ball. After Maghrib prayer, DD and I went to the pet shop to get a new cage for Scaredy.

While we were on the way to the shop, DD made a phone call to DH. Amidst her sobs, she managed to relate the incident to him.

At the shop, we explained what had happened to the shopkeeper. She said we must remove Scaredy from the cage immediately, which we had already done. Then she said we must not touch the babies, the mother or clean the cage for 8 days. Opps! The maid and DD had already touched the babies.

Apparently they had contaminated the babies by touching them. The mother, smelling a strange smell on her babies, must have thought that the babies were strangers, and thus, killed them.

We must also ensure that there's sufficient food for the mother, because she needs lots of nutrients in order to feed her baby.

Dealing with death, albeit of small pet animals, was tough on DD. Initially she played the blame game. "Why did K Ita touch the babies?" "Why didn't you ask the shopkeeper earlier on how to care for the babies?" Then she started accusing me and DH, "You two must be happy because you didn't want them in the first place." Finally, she cried herself to sleep.

This morning, she and the maid held a funeral for the babies under our mango tree. The babies were buried next to DD's fallen teeth.

I hope the funeral will serve as a closure of sort for DD.

We'll be leaving for Hong Kong on Friday. Initially the maid was supposed to take the hamsters with her to my in-laws' house. But now we're not sure if that's a good idea because there're 2 cages, one of which will smell terribly because the maid can't clean it. And there are cats at my in-laws' house. We wouldn't want DD to lose any more of her hamsters.

Today I'll ask the pet shop if they would care for the hamsters during our holiday in Hong Kong. Hopefully they will.

1 + 1 = 8

2010-12-14T10:12:00.002+08:00

Yesterday afternoon I watched The Biggest Loser with DD. The episode featured all the contestants that had been eliminated during the season making a comeback to the ranch for weighing in. The surprise element was that the man and woman who lost the most weight were absorbed back into the programme, joining the remaining six contestants to vie for a spot in the final. And lost lots of weight they all did! It was amazing to see that they continued their battle to lose weight even after they were eliminated from the show. For a while, I too got motivated.

Anyway, after watching the show, I went to check on the hamsters. Foodie was resting in the house and Scaredy was sleeping in the sand box. Nothing unusual.

And then I saw a tiny blob in the food container. On closer inspection, I noticed four legs protruding from the blob. At one end of the blob, a pair of eyes remained shut. My eyes were then riveted to another tiny blob lying on the floor of the cage.

I called to DD in excitement. She looked intently at the two tiny babies, not knowing what they were. Even after I told her that they were baby hamsters, she kept asking whether I was sure. Exasperated, I exclaimed, "What else could they be?"

Just as DD was getting excited with the new discovery, Foodie's movement in the house caught our attention. Lo and behold, we saw four more babies snuggling beneath her!

I began to panic. Six babies! What do we do with six babies? Scaredy's rough manner with the babies got us scared. DD made attempts to get in touch with her friend, Amelia, to seek advice. But her numerous calls went unanswered.

Amid the flurry of phone calls, I went to the bathroom for a short while. When I came out, DD was screaming because one baby had been thrown outside the cage. No one witnessed the incident so we still don't know how the baby got out.

The immediate problem was how to get the baby back inside the cage because both of us felt geli (icky) to touch it. After a lot of pushing on my part, DD used a tissue paper to roll the baby onto another piece of tissue paper. Then she lifted the tissue paper with the baby on it and practically throw it in the cage!

Then DD alerted the maid about the new additions to the hamster family. Together, the two of them watched the babies in awe. And then suddenly the four babies that were in the house with Foodie fell from the first floor (of the cage) to the ground floor! The maid decided to move the house to the ground floor. It was a good thing that the maid had no qualms about touching the babies. Satisfied that the hamsters were in safe hands, I left it to DD and the maid to look after them.

Later on DD sent DH a text message to tell him of the (good) news.

That evening after DH got home, he commented, "So the hamster survived yesterday's ordeal." You see, we received two groups of visitors the previous day, my dear niece Ummu Auni Afif and her brood in the morning, and my dear brother M and his family in the evening. During the visits, the kids (M included) played with the hamsters. Of course, no one knew that Foodie was expecting.

My initial thought when I saw the six babies was to offer four of them for adoption. But when I mooted the idea to DD, she refused vehemently. She insisted that the whole family be kept together. But later on after watching Foodies taking care of the babies, she commented, "Susahnya ada 6 babies" (It's tough to handle 6 babies). So I told her that the option to give away the babies will always be open.. until she and the hamsters are ready. Whether it will happen or not, only time will tell...

Year 2 Books

2010-12-13T12:33:00.002+08:00

I went to SKTM with DD just now to buy the workbooks and note books for next year. We got most of the books, except for Agama and Pendidikan Seni, which are out of stock. I didn't buy all the note books in the list because DD still has unused books from this year. The damage: RM145.05.

DD already received Year 2 text books and activity books last month. Lucky for her because this time, the teacher told the kids to queue and DD was in the middle of the queue. She got most of the books, except for 2 Agama text books. This is a vast improvement from Year 1, where she was the last person to receive the books. She only received half of the books and they were all very old.

I hope she'll make good use of the books. Correction: I'll ensure she'll make good use of the books.

Bukit Merah Laketown Resort

2010-12-05T07:27:00.002+08:00

I'm in a holiday mood today so I thought I'd write a post on my family's latest vacation at Bukit Merah Laketown Resort. The vacation took place right after our Hari Raya celebration in Kelantan. We broke our return leg to KL by making a detour to Bukit Merah.

From Kelantan, it took us more or less 3 - 3.5 hours to reach Kuala Kangsar. From Kuala Kangsar, we made a mini detour to Taiping for lunch. It turned out to be a less than fruitful detour. My plan was to try out a famous kuey tiow outlet located in the town of Taiping. Apparently the proprietor was still in a Hari Raya mood, for the outlet was still closed when we reached there, despite a notice hung on the front door stating "Di buka semula pada Hari Raya ke lima". It was already the 5th day of raya, so the proprietor must have made a last minute decision to extend her raya break.

We were famished, so we decided to stop for lunch at the next restaurant that came into our view. I ordered pasembor, DH and the maid nasi goreng, and DD ordered nuggets. I was a tad disappointed with my pasembor because a red sauce which looked (and tasted) like a combo of tomato ketchup and chilli sauce was splashed generously on it. I'm not sure what kind of sauce should be prepared to accompany an authentic pasembor, but I certainly thought that the combo sauce was not good enough.

Anyway, we continued our journey to Bukit Merah Laketown Resort and reached our choice of accommodation, the Suria Serviced Apartment at around 3 pm. This place turned out to be a nice surprise. For RM140++ a night for a 1 bedroom apartment plus daily breakfast for two, it exceeded our expectations. The apartment was spacious, clean, and has aircond and 2 bathrooms. The living room was furnished with a sofa bed (which was conquered by DD and the maid) and a TV. The kitchenette has the usual supply of tea and coffee, and there's a round dining table enough for a family of 5. The room was cleaned every day, and toiletries were stocked up on daily basis.

After a short rest, we made our way to the resort parks. We bought combo tickets for Eco Park, Water Park and Chair Lift. The combo tickets are slighly cheaper than individual tickets and can be used over a 3-day period.

Our first park visit is to the Eco Park. We walked on the wooden platforms into the fringe of the jungle. There was an animal show at around 5 pm, which DD somehow found boring. Overall the Eco Park was good, particularly because there were several animals that I had not seen before in my entire life. There's this one animal which had black fur and looked a bit like a combination of a sun bear (in appearance) and a koala (in manners). It was hanging lazily on the tree branch, just like a koala. Except that it was bigger, with a pot belly to match.

That night we had dinner at the cafe at the Suria Apartment, which was average. Then DD had a go at the Arcade games (spending limit: RM5).

Day Two
DH and I had breakfast at the cafe, making use of the two breakfast vouchers that came with the room. Breakfast comprised of Malay fare, which DH didn't fancy much but I thought it was okay. Then we made our way to the resort parks. DD and the maid had breakfast at the foodcourt located at the parks. I thought the foodcourt was okay. Prices are comparable to foodcourts in KL, and there were enough varieties to choose from.

It started pouring just as DD finished her breakfast. We took shelter indoors and DD had a go at the Arcade games again (limit: RM10). When it stopped raining, we made our way to the Waterpark. Perhaps it was the rain that never completely stopped, because I somehow didn't enjoy the Waterpark very much. And I thought it was overpriced, being the most pricey of all the parks.

Getting wet certainly can make you hungry. We had our lunch at the foodcourt again. And then we made our way to the Sky Cycle. This was a free ride, to replace a ride that was closed in the Waterpark. The track for the Sky Cycle is mounted about 3 storeys high (I'm making a wild guess) and makes its way above the fringe of the lake and a farm. It snakes through tall tropical trees. Each Sky Cycle vehicle can fit 2 persons, sitting facing each other. Between the 2 seats, there are two pedals that you're supposed to cycle using your hands.

I sat with the maid and DH sat with DD in the vehicle behind us. It was kind of scary at first, especially with the maid screaming "eeih, eeiih". I told her not to look down. And then it became tiring, because it was difficult to get it moving. DH and DD were much faster than us, and they kept banging the front of their vehicle against the back of ours.

After the tiring ride, we took the Sky Chair. This is a bit like the chair used at the skiing resorts. Each Sky Chair can sit 2 persons, sitting next to each other. I sat with DH and behind us on another Chair, DD sat with the maid. The Sky Chair moves slowly between 2 stations, never stopping at all. Getting on is easy, because you just need to stand at a marked place, and wait for the chair to come from behind you and you just sit on it. But getting off is a different story. You have to get off while the Chair continues to move (I jumped hehe), and quickly move sideway so that the chair won't scoop you up again or worse, bang into your head.

The ride itself? I was scared. We moved high above the Water Parks and coconut trees. I held on tight to the bar, barely noticing that peeled paint got stuck on my sweaty palm. When I looked back, I saw DD and the maid laughing merrily, not caring at all that the Chair was swinging sideways gently while making its way forward.

Later on we had tea at the foodcourt, and then made our way back to the apartment at around 3.30 pm. We went out again after maghrib. This time, our destination was Taiping Night Safari. But we made a pit stop first at a Tomyam restaurant, just before entering Taiping town. We ordered a tomyam set dinner for 3 persons, which saved us the hassle of thinking what to eat. The food was good and reasonably priced.

Then we were off to the Taiping Night Safari. We began our tour on a tram that went around the zoo, with the driver as our guide telling us to look out for the animals.
Later on we took a walk around the zoo. The weather was cool, making it a perfect night for a stroll. And walking beneath the canopy of huge trees, with the animals nearby, somehow heightened my senses. The otters looked so cute, frolicking on small tree branches above the pond. They dived into the water and made a quick swim across.

Certain animals were downright scary, especially the sun bears, which looked ready to pounce on us anytime. One bear walked back and forth on a tree branch located close to the fence, while eyeing us ferociously. The fence was not that high. We walked one, two, three steps, and then made a quick dash (buka langkah seribu).

A few times, I scolded DD and the maid for being loud. I didn't want them to agitate the animals.

We left the zoo at around 11 pm and went back to our apartment.

Day 3
Today is the last day of our holiday. DH and I had breakfast at the cafe again. DD and the maid had theirs at the food court at the resort parks. We bought tickets for a visit to the Orang Utan island.

We boarded a boat to the island. It was a short journey, perhaps taking 5 - 10 minutes to reach the island. We were given a guided tour of the island. It was interesting to watch the orang utan in their natural habitat, roaming freely in the jungle. Some of the orang utans were really huge. The leader of the pack was the heaviest. If I'm not mistaken, its weight was around 500 kg. When it walked around and met another orang utans in its path, the other orang utans would give way to it. It has 4 wives! Life must be good for him, eh.

One orang utan was quite a model. She loved attention and willingly posed for photos. She was manja-manja (pampered) by the staff there.

To cap our tour of the island, we were brought to the nursery and the school. There were 2 baby orang utans in the nursery. Each of them has a cot bed, and they were clothed in diapers. These babies were removed from their mothers who were unable to care for them. There were sighs all around as we and the other visitors looked at the babies, whose innocent eyes were wide open, staring intently at us on the other side of the glass wall.

The orang utan school looked like a fun one. Here, they have to go through several stages, from basic right to advanced ones, before they were released to the jungle. They learned to swing on ropes, search for food, and practically survive in the jungle.

To me, the visit to the island was the main highlight of the whole trip.

Later on back at the apartment, we asked DD whether she wanted to swim. The apartment has a huge pool, and they don't enforce a strict dress code rule. DD didn't want to swim so we made an early check out.

But we were not ready to head back to KL. So we decided to go to Kuala Sepetang to try out its famous mee udang. Just before we reached Kuala Sepetang, DD announced that she had to do the big one, urgently! Lucky for us, we came across Museum Long Jaafar in the middle of nowhere, and decided to let DD do her business there. The caretaker was helpful and friendly. In fact, he looked happy to see us. Perhaps we were his first visitors for the day. He was doing gardening when we arrived. Later on when we decided to tour the museum, he doubled up as the receptionist and a guide.

After that quick detour, we finally arrived at the famous Mee Udang stall. The weather was hot and we were sweating, but we were willing to sacrifice comfort for the sake of mee udang. I wouldn't say the mee was excellent, but it was good. The highlight was the huge prawns which were as fresh as you can get.

Having satiated our hunger, we made our journey back to reality in KL.

Overall, it was a good holiday. I didn't have high expectations because of the many negative reviews on the internet. But Bukit Merah turned out to be a nice surprise which the whole family enjoyed.

FAM Cup Fever

2010-11-04T12:02:00.007+08:00

Saturday 30 October 2010, 10.30 am
Stadium Merdeka Bukit Jalil

Football is for girls too...

Choosing Souvenirs

Clowns

Trojan Head

Just arrived...

So many buses..

...and cars too

Are you lost?

Discussing the game

Pets

2010-10-27T09:28:00.003+08:00

DD loves animals.If there's just one thing that could bring a smile to her face, that one thing would be an animal. A trip to the zoo is sure to make her a very happy girl.

She has been waiting to keep a pet for the longest time. But DH would always say no, citing inconvenience as the number one reason. I tried to argue in DD's favour on numerous occasions, but it didn't work. I don't know why DH was against us keeping a pet, but I guess it has something to do with him having to care for cats for an entire year during his first year at university. You see, he stayed at a family friend's house during that first year. He had to care for their pet cats as the houseowners were living in Malaysia at that time. Like, who would live their pets in the cold weather in London while they themselves frolic in the hot weather in KL, right? Well, that family would.

I on the other hand am neutral about pets. I like looking at them, but caring for them? We'll see...

Anyway, DD's BFF, Amelia got a couple of hamsters a few months back. DD went to her house to see the hamsters and came back to report that the hamsters would be getting married soon. Not long after the 'wedding', we heard the good news of new additions to the hamster family. DD and Amelia would play with the baby hamsters for hours on end at Amelia's house.

Another friend, Shakirah got a couple of those tiny tortoises from her parents, aptly named Lazy and Crazy. DD was envious. And then, when we balik kampung for raya, we found out that DD's cousin, Alisha had pet tortoises too.

When we were at my sister, Kak Nun's house, I saw DD playing with their beautiful cats. She didn't say anything, but I knew she was longing to have a pet of her own.

The turning point was when Shakirah announced that she had another pet. This time, it's a cat that took shelter in her dad's car engine. From the forlorn look on DD's face, I knew that I just had to find a way to convince DH to allow her to have her own pet.

That opportunity came through DD's friend, Ameera. Ameera is a generous girl who's always giving things to her friends at school. One day last week, she gave DD crystal balls. You know, those colourful gel-like balls that are used in place of soil for indoor plants. They come as tiny beads, and as you add water, the beads would expand into marble-sized balls.

Somehow those 7 year-old kids (including mine) thought that the crystal balls are alive. They would 'feed' water to the balls, watch them grow, and feed them more water because the balls are 'thirsty'. They keep the balls in small containers and take them everywhere. At one point, I caught DD talking to the balls!

Now, that was the last straw. I told DH about it and right away, he agreed that DD needs a pet. We took DD to a pet shop to see if there were any suitable animals for her. I was hoping that she would choose fish, but she chose hamsters instead.

Since the exams were ongoing, we told DD to wait until the exams were over before buying the hamsters. She asked for a specific date, and once I gave her the date, she started the countdown. Meanwhile, she's been changing notes with Amelia about how to care for hamsters.

That specific date to buy her hamsters is today. And she said she wants grown up ones so that there'll be babies soon.

Year 1 recap (Part II)

2010-10-26T10:11:00.002+08:00

Gradually DD started to adapt to her new environment. She made many friends despite her shyness. Over time, she began to enjoy school.

And so primary school introduced her to many new experiences. A fun sports day. Immunisation (I couldn't believe it that DD was given TWO injections in a single day. And neither could our family doctor!). A visit by exchange students from Australia. Free goodies from corporate sponsors (milk, juices, books, stationeries, toiletries. They do get lots of visits from sponsors). Being punished for talking during a lesson (DD blamed it on the other girl). First visit to the school library, which only took place during the recent fasting month (her friend got lost on the way to the library). Buying stuff at the canteen and school bookshop, which till this day remains a rare occasion. Playing imaginary games with her friends during recess. Losing stuff at school, which thankfully has not happened for a long time. Being bullied by a boy.

Academically, DD is doing alright. Maths is a bit of a struggle, but she copes. When she got number 1 during the first term exam, we were the proudest parents. But perhaps success came too early for her. Now all she wants to do is play, play and more play. The final exam began yesterday, but she doesn't really care. While the competitive streak in me wants her to focus on her studies, I keep reminding myself that she's only 7. Let her enjoy being a 7 year old. Position does not matter. What matters is that she learns to be a good Muslimah, a good individual and a good daughter. As long as she understands what she learns at school, I'm happy. I'll leave the pressure till she's in Year 3, hehe!

Year 1 Recap

2010-10-21T09:06:00.002+08:00

Time flies so fast, like dried leaves being blown away by the monsoon wind. It seems like only yesterday that I sent my teary-eyed Dearest Daughter to her first day of school. And now it's been almost a year since that first day.

Back then, she and her friends looked like babies. They've grown so much physically since then. And they look so much more mature, though traces of the wide-eyed innocence are still there.

Entering primary school is no small feat for a 6+ year-old. It's the beginning of many things: new friends, new teachers, new environment. It's a major leap from kindergarten where babyish behaviours were tolerated, the teachers were loving, and the environment was protective. At primary school, they are expected to be little adults who can take responsibilities for themselves. No one is going to ensure that they eat their meals. They have to make friends by themselves. They will be punished for wrongdoings. And oh gosh, they will have to change clothing after PE in the filthy toilets! Can their little fingers manouvre the small buttons and zippers?

Primary school is a first big step towards independence.

As parents, we worried about every little thing. Will she eat? Will she have friends? Images of her sitting alone, friendless, danced before my eyes. Will she understand her lessons? Will she be safe, being monitored by just a handful of teachers together with hundreds of other children?

Our foray into DD's primary education was filled will uncertainties and indecisiveness from the beginning. Government school or private school? National-type school of integrated Islamic school? Eventually, we walked the conventional path and DD ends up attending SKTM. Once that was decided, the next decision was between KAFA and private religious education at home. Which KAFA? In the end, we chose the KAFA near our home. Not because of track record of reputation, but simply for convenience.

And convenience is a major factor because of the tight schedule. There's barely one hour of free time between school in the morning and KAFA in the afternoon. And DD is a slowwwww eater. She takes forever to finish her lunch (why does this sound like I'm describing myself when I was a kid? Hmm..). Hence the logical decision is to enrol her in a KAFA nearby so that she could reach the KAFA on time.

DH and I had little inkling of what primary school had in store for our DD. We were shocked by the long list of books, not to mention the wide variety (hopefully our kids will become smarter after using those books), the fees (okay it's not much, but still ...), the lack of homework (DD had more homework when she was in kindy), and how mean a 7 year-old can be. On that last point, I constantly reminded myself not to meddle, or else I too might end up behaving like a 7 year-old.

DD being DD, she took her own sweet time to adapt to primary school life. She didn't care about making friends, never attempting to make the first move to introduce herself to the other kids. The first couple of weeks were the hardest for her, and DH! She would cry in the morning, her big eyes filled with unspoken sorrow. DH would clasp his chest in sadness. It appeared that I was the one who had the heart of stone. Not because I didn't care, but because I figured someone had to be the firm adult in the house and because I knew DD would be alright eventually.

To be continued ...

Fruit Feast

2010-09-02T15:17:00.002+08:00

Sunday: MIL gave me mangosteens and rambutans

Tuesday: My brother came for iftar and brought cempedak and corns

Wednesday: My neighbour gave me dokong and mangosteens. My MIL dropped by to give me durians.

I also have bananas, a papaya and pears, brought from the market.

Now, the only person who likes fruits in this house is me. Looks like I'm going to have a feast. He he he..

Samosa

2010-08-20T09:26:00.003+08:00

Ingredients:
3 potatoes - diced
1 onion - diced finely
2 pips of garlic - diced finely
1 tsp cumin powder (jintan putih)
1 tsp aniseed powder (jintan manis)
1 tsp kurma powder (mix with 2 tbsp water to make paste)
1/2 cup water
200g minced meat
1/2 can peas
chinese parsley (daun sup)- chopped finely
spring onion (daun bawang)- chopped finely
2 tbsp oil
1/3 tsp salt
Popia skin

Methods:

Fillings:
1. Heat oil. Saute onion and garlic till fragrant.
2. Add cumin, aniseed, kurma paste and salt.
3. Add minced meat and stir until the meat is cooked.
4. Add potatoes and water. Mix well and cook till the potatoes are soft.
5. Add peas, parsley and spring onion.

Assembly:
1. Cut each popia skin diagonally into 2 triangles.
2. Scoop 2 tsp of fillings (make sure it's already cool) onto the popia skin. Fold into triangles.
3. Use water to glue the edges.

Last step:
Deep fry over low heat till the skin turns golden. Eat while it's still warm.

I doubled the recipe because the minced meat that I bought came in a standard packaging of 400g. It was enough to make about 50 - 60 pieces of samosa. I followed the recipe exactly, and as I was fasting, I didn't even try the fillings to make sure that it tasted alright. But the samosa turned out tasting just nice. Although the wrapping with popia skin is kind of cheating, it didn't really matter because the filling was good. Just make sure you use low heat because the popia skin is thin. Frying over high heat can result in overly fried and too-crispy skin.

I brought 30 pieces of samosa to BIL's house for a buka puasa do. The rest are kept in the freezer for our own use.

p/s: You can rope in your children to help assemble the samosa. You may end up with samosas of different shapes and sizes, but it's fun!

Holding On

2010-08-15T18:15:00.002+08:00

Day 1
At 2pm, we just arrived home from school. "Lapar! Lapar!" "Sakit perut.. lapar!"
I told her to be patient, this is a test from Allah.. She held on till maghrib, alhamdulillah.

Day 2
At 5pm, when I picked her up from KAFA. "Today is the more tiring day. I became like jelly in class!" "I'm thirsty, thirsty." Again, I told her to be patient. I know how she felt, the weather was particularly hot that day. Being cloistered in class almost the whole day under this weather can be a trying experience.

Day 3
She fell asleep at 2pm. "Mengantuk.." So she missed KAFA. I already discussed this matter with DH before the fasting month began, and we decided that it's more important for her to fast than to attend KAFA. So I let her sleep and didn't wake her up for KAFA.

Day 4
It's Saturday! She went back to sleep after sahur and woke up at 9 am. She went through the entire day playing with her friend Amelia, doing workbooks, and playing PS2. She was so energetice, I couldn't resist from asking her "Are you sure you're fasting?"

Day 5
It's Sunday but she didn't go back to sleep after sahur. Amelia slept over at our house last night. After sahur, the two of them decided to play right away. She was energetic and chirpy.

We sent Amelia home at around 2pm. Afterwards when we reached home, she whined "Lapar.." Then she plonked herself on the bed and almost immediately fell asleep. She woke up around 5.45pm! Well, I guess that makes up for the lack of sleep during the past few days.

I know this is tough for her, juggling school, KAFA, fasting and tarawih. And 1 week from now, she'll be sitting for her exams. Oh Allah, please give her the strength, endurance, and patience..Ameen

Beading

2010-08-10T09:43:00.012+08:00

In case anyone is wondering why I'm spending less time blogging these days, the answer is that I've found a new hobby: beading. Actually I discovered the hobby accidentally, while browsing a bookshop. There on the bookshelf, was a book with the title Jahitan Manik: A-Z (Beading A-Z). I bought the book, and that night, read it from cover to cover in less than 2 hours.

The next day, I browsed the internet for more information on the subject matter. After spending a few days reading about it, I was ready to apply my new knowledge and show if off with a finished product.

I think it's apt that I found this hobby just before the Hari Raya season, because it gave me a perfect excuse to do beadwork on DD's baju kurung. So ehem, ehem, here goes ...

Flowers In My Heart

Love Binds Us Forever

Pink Blushes (my baju kurung)

This hobby is kind of addictive. But I'm forcing myself to take a break now because I'm down with an infection on my right eye (timbing).

By the way, Selamat berpuasa to all muslims.

Returned To Owner

2010-08-02T11:59:00.002+08:00

As promised, there shall be no negativity in my post today. What I'm going to write comprises three true short stories which show examples of human kindness, regardless of religion, race or nationality. And yes, bankers can be kind too...

Story #1
Manchester, 1994. My brother just obtained a place to study at UMIST. I accompanied him to Manchester to help him to settle in. As fate would have it, I became a victim of pick-pocket. I lost my wallet and all its contents: cash of about 10 quids, my NatWest Bank debit card, my student card, library card and some other less important cards.

I never thought i would see my wallet and its contents again. Imagine my surprise when about a week later, a package was delivered to my house in London. It was from the NatWest Bank of Manchester. Inside the package was my wallet and all its contents, except for the cash. A letter from the bank explained to me that a good samaritan found my wallet and turned it to the bank (I guess because of the bank's ATM card inside the wallet).

And the bank mailed it to me by registered post, free of charge. I love you, NatWest!

Story #2
Port Dickson, June 2010. DH attended a course during a weekend at a hotel in PD. While he was watching World Cup with his colleagues at around 10 pm on a Saturday night, he realised that he didn't have his brand new mobile phone with him. He searched for the phone high and low, but didn't find it. He then alerted the duty manager.

A short while later, a foreign security guard came knocking on our room door to return the phone to DH. He found the phone in the kids' play room (we were at the kids' play room earlier, before DH joined his colleagues to watch football). Thank you, Mr Security Guard.

Story #3
Shah Alam, July 2010. DH lost his mobile phone again, this time at the Golf Club. Again, he didn't find it. He alerted the Manager at the Club.

The Manager managed to get in touch with the golfer who found the phone. The golfer, En. Z, returned the phone to DH. He said he didn't give the phone to the staff at the club because he wasn't sure if they could be trusted. Thank you, En. Z.

These 3 simple stories remind me that there are good people out there. So, despite repeated unpleasant experience with customer service, I shall continue to have faith in humankind.

Of Banks Again

2010-07-30T08:53:00.002+08:00

Let me make myself clear, I am not against banks. In fact after ranting in my previous post, I thought of tutup buku (closing the case) against banks. Afterall, the matter has been resolved without me having to go to the branch or write to the bank.

But today I want to write about my DH's experience with another bank. Let's call it AXXXX Bank. It's not as annoying as CXXX Bank, but still...

Recently my DH obtained a HP financing from AXXXX Bank for the purchase of a new car. The car dealer made all the necessary arrangements for the financing. We collected the new car on Tuesday last week. The dealer told us that we would receive the HP documents in 2 weeks time and that the first monthly installment would be due around the 20th of August.

A couple of days later, my DH received a text message from AXXXX Bank, informing him that payment is overdue. He was like, what the ???? is going on? How can a payment be overdue? What payment?

Then he made a call to the bank. Oh yes, in this day and age, the only way to get in touch with a bank is through its hotline or customer care or some other similar sounding department. The hotline staff informed him that the overdue payment is for financing processing fee of RM30. Hmm, no one mentioned before that we would have to pay the processing fee. It's certainly not a nice feeling to be told that a payment is overdue when you're not even aware that you're supposed to pay it in the first place. But we thought, "fine, what is due is due, so we'll pay".

Before deciding to accept this bank's HP financing, DH hed already checked and confirmed that the monthly installment could be settled online.So DH intented to settle the RM30 processing fee online as well. Now, this is the good part. The hotline staff said that it cannot be paid online. DH must visit the branch to settle the payment.

DH was adamant that he wanted to settle the amount online. In the end, the hotline staff gave in. DH can settle online, but wait... this is the best part.. he would have to write a letter to the bank!

I felt sorry for my DH for having to go through the inconvenience, but at the same time I wanted to laugh because his story with AXXXX Bank is similar to my story with CXXX Bank. I mean, what is it about Malaysian banks and their tendency to tell customers to "visit the branch" and "write a letter to the bank"?

I feel like our banks are almost 20 years behind when compared to the banks in developed countries. When I was a student in the UK in the early 90s, banking was so convenient. I never had to visit my branch for anything. Even when requesting for cheque books (even as an 18 year old with very little money, I was entitled to cheque books), I could request that the cheque books be mailed to my house at no extra charge. Or I could simply request to collect the cheque book from a branch nearest to my house, again at no extra charge. And there were branches all over, I could just walk from my house to the nearest branch.

Try doing that here, and there'll be extra charges imposed. Recently I made full settlement of my car financing at a branch of AX Bank in Damansara. I requested to collect the car registration card at the same branch instead of at the branch where the financing was approved (in KL). My request was granted, but I had to pay courier charges of RM30. And I was told that it would take longer, about 2 weeks, instead of the usual 3 days.

In the end, it took more than 1 month to get the registration card. And that was after I made repeated phone calls to the bank's customer service and in the end 'threatened' them with "I'll write to the newspapers". Even then, they tried to place the blame on me, asking whether I'd paid the courier charges, which I had done so on the same day that I made the full settlement of the financing. They would know this if they cared to check their records.

Okay enough rants about banks. I guess I could go on and on about the state of customer service, not just within the banking industry, but in Malaysia overall, and the story will never end.

For my next post, I'm trying to find a nice story for a change.

Singa Lapar (A Hungry Lioness)

2010-07-20T09:46:00.004+08:00

I have an account with CXXX Bank. The account is mainly used for my rental income and some online payments.

I've been trying unsuccessfully to access the account online for the past few days. I found it perplexing as I was sure of the username and password. Finally, at around 8.30 am this morning, I decided to make a call to the Customer Care number.

After the routine "press this, press that", I finally managed to talk to a Customer Care staff. Upon checking, she found that the problem was caused by "non-payment of fee of RM8.00". The fee was supposed to be automatically deducted, but due to some system error, it wasn't. And to fix that problem, I was advised to visit a CXXX Bank branch. Now, that got me really upset. I mean, why should I "mengadap" the bank officer when the problem was not due to any fault of mine? When I voiced my unhappiness, the Customer Care staff advised me to speak to an officer from my branch. But she couldn't connect me to the branch because it was not yet opened at that time.

I waited until the opening time at 9.15am. Then I went to CXXX Bank website to find the branch telephone number. Well, the only number listed is the Customer Care number. So I called the Customer Care again and had to explain my problem before the line was transferred to the branch.

A lady from the branch explained to me what I already knew: "non-payment of fee of RM8.00" and "must visit the branch to settle the problem". I went ballistic at this point. So she decided to transfer the line to her superior, En. Z.

I waited for an eternity (almost), and then, the line went dead. Somehow, after numerous dealings with so-called "Customer Care" in Malaysia, I wasn't suprised at all. But I was more determined than ever. I thought, "this trick isn't going to work with me this time haha!!".

So I made another call to Customer Care, did the "press this, press that", spoke to a Customer Care staff, explained myself all over again, and finally managed to talk to En. Z. Obviously someone had briefed him because he already knew about the "non-payment of fee of RM8.00". And I couldn't believe my ears when he said that I wouldn't have to visit the branch afterall and the problem would be fixed by the end of the day.

I asked him, why is it necessary for a customer to be nasty in order to get good service? Why do I have to be a bitch to get my right? He asked me for the name of the staff who told me that I'd have to visit the branch, but I said of course I couldn't give him that because the staff never introduced themselves (note to self: always ask whom you're speaking to).

He promised to give me a call once that problem is fixed. Well, he has 14 hours before the days ends.

Note to CXXX Bank: the voice recording on your Customer Care line says something like "Your satisfaction is our priority". Now, that's almost funny. But after hearing it for the umpteenth time, it makes the listener wants to scream.

Census 2010

2010-07-13T08:57:00.003+08:00

Yesterday 2 guys from the National Statistics Department came to my house at around 6pm to conduct the Population and Housing Census (Banci Penduduk dan Perumahan) 2010. I wasn't sure whether I should let them in the house because at that time, DH had not come back from work. But as it turned out, it wasn't necessary to let them in. In fact, I didn't even open the gate.

The first thing they asked after greeting me was whether I have an internet connection. When I said yes, they asked whether I'd like to fill up the census online. I quickly agreed. They gave me a slip of paper which contains a unique code for my household and a brief instruction for completing the census online.

I have done the online census, called e-census this morning. It took me about 30 minutes to complete the questionnaire. It was easy to do because the information required is not that detailed, except for my maid's particulars (birthdate, address in Indonesia). Well, I suppose it would be more tedious for those who have many children.

If you'd like to get yours done online but have not received the unique code from their enumerators, you may want to make a call to e-Census hotline number at 1-800-88-7828. You may also obtain further details from the Statistics Department's official website at http://www.statistics.gov.my/portal/index.php?lang=en

Selamat menjalankan tanggungjawab anda!

@ Ali's Wedding

2010-07-06T09:25:00.016+08:00

The 3.. err 4 cousins

With the nieces as a background :)

2 sisters ...

Battle of the bulges?

Lovely ladies hehehe

Who's the lady in red..

"It's wayyy past my bedtime"

The Abdul Hamid clan..

One more time..

Ladies Club (the 2 little guys don't count)

Open Day

2010-07-05T15:04:00.008+08:00

DD's school held an Open Day last Saturday. It is the day for parents to meet the class teacher, discuss their child's progress with the teacher and collect the report card.

DH and I left home quite early, at around 7.45 am because we didn't want to end up joining a long queue. We had a quick breakfast at a mamak shop in Kelana Jaya. DH had roti telor and coffee, and I had roti canai and teh tarik. After breakfast, we headed towards DD's school.

We reached the school just after 8.30 am. We saw DD's class teacher, Pn. Aida, standing on a chair reaching for a wall fan switch. I greeted her, and she pointed to a basket placed on a desk near the door and said to me "Ambil nombor." I took a card at the top of the stack. My queue number was no. 1.

While Pn. Aida was getting herself settled in, DH and I busied ourselves reading the charts, timetable and notices that were pasted on the wall. Other parents of Class 1G had not arrived yet.

Then Pn. Aida called us to join her at the teacher's desk. She pulled DD's report card from a stack in front of her and handed it to me. She asked whether we'd like to know DD's position (as I wrote previously, a child's position is not written in the report card). We said yes we'd like to know, and Pn. Aida took a sheet of paper from somewhere on the desk and searched for DD's name. (Remember the feeling when the doctor asked whether you'd like to know your unborn baby's gender? It felt something like that. You're not sure whether you'd like to know, but at the same time you can't wait to find out).

After she revealed DD's position to us, we discussed with her about DD's progress in school. I was relieved to find that DD is doing well and as the teacher said it "tidak mendatangkan apa-apa masalah" (she's not a difficult child). She pays attention in class and asks questions whenever she doesn't understand what's being taught.

Anyway, let's take a look at the report card. Obviously I've left school a very, very long time ago because the report card used to be a lot simpler during my time. Now? The children are assessed on so many things. They even have to go through oral tests for Bahasa Melayu and English. If I'm not mistaken, I took my oral tests only when I was in Form 5. Well, certainly not when I was in Standard 1.

The so-called report card actually consists of 4 booklets:

From the top left, they are:
1. Buku Laporan Penilaian Kemajuan Berasaskan Sekolah (PKBS)
2. School Based Oral Assessment English Language Pupils Achievement Report
3. Rekod Pentaksiran Lisan Berasaskan Sekolah (PLBS)
4. Laporan Adab Belajar

The PKBS is an empty booklet with pockets to slot in each semester's results. Since this is DD's first semester at primary school, only 2 sheets of paper have been slotted in: 1 for the results and another 1 for teacher's comments and parents' signature. The results are in the form of grades and marks (where applicable) for the following:
Bahasa Melayu - Lisan, Bacaan, Kefahaman
English - Lisan, Bacaan, Kefahaman
Mathematics
Science
Pendidikan Agama Islam
Music
Pendidikan Seni
Pendidikan Jasmani & Kesihatan

At the bottom of the page, the marks for 4 subjects (Bahasa Melayu, English, Maths and Science) are totalled up and averaged. This average determines a child's position in his/her class and in Year 1.

The Pupils Achievement Report and PLBS show the grades for English and BM oral tests respectively. The students are graded on 4 dimensions: Grammar & Vocabulary, Pronunciation and Intonation, Fluency & Rhytm, and Ethics & Mannerism.

The final booklet, the Laporan Adab Belajar contains individual teachers' assessment of a child for the following 4 subjects: BM, English, Maths and Science. For each subject, the students are assessed on 8 dimensions which include homework, classwork, behaviour, attitude, mastery of subject, application skill, efforts to gather informaton from various sources, and cooperation with other students. The scores are totalled up and averaged.

I've signed all the reports in the 4 booklets. DD has returned those reports to Pn Aida today. Having looked at the reports, I realise that school life is much more complicated for kids these day as compared to during my time. I mean, they are being assessed on so many aspects. If we're not careful, school can be a stressful experience for the kids.

As for me, I'm glad that DD is doing well in school. But I'm reminding myself not to be too strict with her at home. It's hard enough going through so many assessments at school, I'm sure she deserves more leisure time at home instead of constant nagging to study. She needs a place to chill out, recharge and feel free to behave like a 7 year old child that she is.

A Maneuvre Of Sort..

2010-07-01T10:05:00.009+08:00

While waiting for her flight at KLIA, Mrs Shopaholic decided to browse through the shops at the Satellite Building. She entered a shop, saw a handbag, and immediately fell in love with it ...

Her DH offered to buy the bag, but at that time she had not turned into a shopaholic yet, so she declined the offer. She reasoned that when she arrived in Bandung, there will be more bags for her to choose.

Alas, the image of the bag was etched in her memory and nothing she saw in Bandung could erase that memory. A few days later, she returned to Malaysia without a new handbag. However, having just transformed herself into a shopaholic of sort, she was determined to get the bag of her dream.

A couple of days later, she made a booking to watch Toy Story 3 with her beloved Mr Shopaholic and Miss Shopaholic at Mid Valley Megamall.

Off they went to watch the movie that weekend. After watching the movie, she coaxed Mr and Miss Shopaholic to make a detour to Gardens. There in the shop, the bag was waiting for her...

After a lenghty discussion with the sales assistant, she reluctantly decided not to buy the bag. Apparently the bag gets dirty easily and the stain cannot be washed off. Knowing how careless she can be at times and how she just likes to throw her bag around, she opted for practicality instead of vanity and decided to purchase this one instead...

This is an advanced birthday present from Mr Shopaholic, to take advantage of the sale. Now Mrs Shopaholic is completely in love with it, and so does Miss Shopaholic. Once Mrs Shopaholic caught the little miss fiddling with the bag, so she asked, "Do you like the bag?" Her answer? "I love it. I wish I have it." Now be patient my dear.. not so soon..

Bandung Trip

2010-06-29T09:18:00.006+08:00

We went to bandung with two small bags and came back with...

Suffice to say, Bandung has unleashed the shopaholic in me.. and surprise surprise, DH too..

Mid Year Exam

2010-06-03T11:03:00.002+08:00

I didn't know that primary school exam is such a serious business these days. First, they separate the desks so that the kids cannot copy each other's answers. Then they tell the kids to leave their bags at the back of the classroom. There's a 10 minute briefing before every sitting. And oh, the invigilators are teachers who do not teach the class. I mean, even in my MBA exam, my lecturers were allowed to stay in the exam hall. And DD is just in Year 1.

DD's responses to my questions on the exam are mainly monosyllabic, "Okay", "Fine", "Easy", "Difficult". And I don't want to pressure her either while the exam is still on-going. On top of sekolah kebangsaan exam, KAFA exam is also taking place this week. So I had to cancel my plan to let her ponteng KAFA this week so that she can focus on sekolah kebangsaan exam (bad mum).

The plan to get her to study during the Wesak long weekend was mostly derailed. Friday was spent at her grandparents' house playing with her cousins. Half of Saturday was spent shopping. And Saturday night, my 'little' brother and his family slept at our house.

Fortunately, DD had started her revision much earlier. So overall, I'd say we've covered pretty much everything for sekolah kebangsaan exam. Not for KFA exam though. The KAFA school just gave the letter to inform us about the exam last week.

DD's primary school is a bit different from other schools where exams are concerned. The report cards for Year 1 - Year 3 students only show the students' marks, not the position. So your children are 'numberless', and the good thing about it is that it makes you feel less pressured. The bad thing? You may be under the false illusion that you child is doing well when she/he isn't. The reality will kick in once your child enters Year 4 because that's when they start streaming.

My DD puts herself under a different kind of pressure altogether. As I mentioned before, her BFF has a PSP. That gave DD the idea that she wants a PSP too. DH said to her "If you get all 100% in your exam, I MAY consider buying you a PSP".

Me? I'm just relieved that school holidays are coming.

A weighty issue

2010-05-31T09:07:00.004+08:00

Okay, so the scale lies. I've suspected that for some time. The physical evidence is too obvious to ignore. The clothes that feel smaller. The wobbly parts. The extra effort that it takes to get out of bed.

Now that I know my actual weight, I've officially moved into another category: the overweight. This is based on a weight chart in a book called The Body Maintenance Manual. According to this book, my weight should not exceed 59 kg. But I've surpassed that by 2kg, and this is one 'achievement' that I'm not proud of.

Coming out of my state of denial, it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out where I went wrong with my weight management, or lack there of. I've been abusing my body steadily over the years in various ways, it has become a hard habit to kick. So if you don't want to join the league, here are things to avoid:

1. Don't overdo the sweet stuff

I love my sugars, be it in desserts or in drinks. Chocolates, ice cream, cakes, sweet traditional malay kueh, nyonya kueh .. I love them all. When I go for buffet, I try out most of the items on the dessert counter.

And I love hot, sweet drinks. Coffee and tea are cravings that I cannot do without. Currently I have 1 or 2 cups of tea in the morning, 1 mug of coffee in the afternoon, and another cup of tea after dinner.

2. Reduce the carb

I'm not so much of a rice lover, but I always manage to sneak in carbs in my diet. I love bread and noodles. And potatoes too. And I buy white bread because if I buy wholemeal, noone else would eat it.

3. Stop the sedentary lifestyle

I've committed this offence big time. My lifestyle is sedentary in capital letters. I don't do any physical work at all. I've hated physical exercise for as long as I can remember. The only reason I participated in sports at school was because it was compulsory.

And my favourite posture is the horizontal position. I lie down to read, I lie down to rest, and I lie down to watch TV. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that my favourite place in the house is my bedroom.. my bed, to be exact.

I'm seriously considering going maidless once the maid's work permit expires. That way, I'll be forced to do the house work. But what if I decide to join the workforce again in the future.. who'll take care of DD? I don't want to trouble the inlaws.

4. Throw away the junks

Why are potato chips, cheesels, biscuits so great tasting? Once you rip open the packet, it's hard to stop munching until you've finished them all.

Well, finding out what went wrong is the easy part. Now the hard part is getting rid of all the bad habits. It's going to take a lot of willpower.

I must exercise. And I shall not make anymore excuses. This morning I followed the exercises in the Body Maintenance Manual. They are not so hard to do. And I must dust off those exercise DVDs that I bought some time back. And get the trainers out of the shoe cupboard. Wish me luck!

Friday, 21 May 2010

2010-05-24T09:53:00.003+08:00

DH is on leave today. Naturally, I'm happy whenever he's around. But I mustn't go overboard, lest DD gets jealous.

We leave home at around 7.10 am to send DD to school. DH and DD walk hand in hand from the car to the school gate. I just tag along from behind, marvelling at the close bond between them despite the little time that they spend together.

It is our routine whenever DH is on leave to go for a breakfast date after dropping off DD at school. Today is no different. But we want to be more adventurous. Hence, we're not having our usual fare of roti canai, roti bakar and teh tarik. Instead, we decide to hunt for nasi lemak in Taman Tun.

We find a Malay restaurant by the name of d'Cengkih. It has a nice ambience and deco. Most of the patrons are in office attire. DH has a plate of nasi lemak with sambal sotong and a runny telur mata kerbau that looks yummylicious. I have a plate of nasi lemak with sambal paru and half of a boiled egg. Both of us order teh tarik kurang manis. The total bill comes up to RM13. A bit pricey, but I suppose that's the price we have to pay for the nice ambience.

The nasi lemak is fluffy and fragrant with a whiff of fenugreek (halba). The sambal has the right balance of spiciness. We enjoy our nasi lemak tremendously but I cannot finish mine because the portion is just too big for my stomach.

The teh tarik is a let down though. There's a strong taste of milk which overshadows the tea.

Beside nasi lemak, other food sold during breakfast are ubi kayu rebus, pulut panggang, tepung bungkus, and a few other kueh. Rempeyek are displayed in glass bottles placed on the counter.

Having satiated our hunger, we proceed to Tabung Haji in Kelana Jaya. We arrive there shortly before 8.30, joining the small crowd waiting outside the locked door. The door opens at 8.30 sharp and I'm given my waiting number: no. 5.

We complete our transactions at Tabung Haji just before 9.00 and move on to Bank Rakyat which is located nearby. I wait in the car and DH goes in to withdraw his dividend.

Barely 10 minutes later, we are on the Federal Highway, heading towards a shop in a part of PJ to buy frozen food. Federal Highway is still jammed at this time. Well, I guess it is always jammed, regardless of the time.

This is our third visit to the frozen food shop. We are not as excited as during our first visit, which I guess is partly to do with our full stomach due to the heavy breakfast. We buy breaded chicken chops, fish n chips, curly smoked beef, black pepper sauce and papaddom. My family is a chicken chop and fish'n'chips lover, and this frozen food outlet provides a cheaper but equally yummy alternative to eating out.

Having done our shopping, we head home to store our frozen bounty. We reach home shortly after 10am.

At 11am, we head out towards Shah Alam. DH drops me off at Tesco Shah Alam and he proceeds to a Honda showroom nearby. I buy redbean pudding for Teacher's Day celebration at DD's KAFA this afternoon, dates and habbatus-sawda coffee. DH signs up an agreement to buy a new Honda. Yes that's right, we want to sell our 2005 Honda City. Anyone interested?

We leave Shah Alam shortly before 12 and speed off to Taman Megah to pick up DD. We reach there 10 minutes late, at about 12.15pm. I'm a bit concerned that DD might get upset. But there she is, nonchalantly sipping water from her waterbottle. Her class teacher, Puan Aida, is sweeping the floor. While waiting for us, DD and another girl have been helping Puan Aida to tidy up the class toom, in particular picking up pencils and other stationery items that the pupils have dropped on the floor.

I apologise to DD for being late. But she says she wants to be picked up at the same time next week because she wants to help Puan Aida to clean up the class room.

We reach home at 12.30pm. DH has rice and telur gulai, whereas DD and I have fish and chips that we bought at the frozen food shop earlier. Then DH goes off to the mosque for Friday prayers and DD and I get ready.

The three of us leave home again at around 2.30pm. This time, we are headed to the Immigration Office in Terminal 2 Subang Airport to collect our passposts. There are less than 10 people ahead of us in the queue.

From Subang Airport, we head back to our neihgbourhood to send DD to KAFA. We reach KAFA at around 3pm. I have already told the Ustazah earlier that DD would be a bit late. They are celebrating Teacher's Day today, so DD is not taking her schoolbag to KAFA.

After dropping DD off, we decide to explore the newly opened Empire Shopping Gallery in Subang Jaya. Parking is still free. The gallery is quite small, in fact I suspect it's even smaller than Subang Parade. There are a lot of food outlets though. There's Chili's, Tarbush, Italiannies and a few others. Looks like Subang Jaya folks do not have to drive out of their neigbourhood anymore to sample these fares.

We decide to have coffee at The Loaf. This is our first visit to The Loaf, and we just don't know what to choose. Since the outlet is just opened, there are a lot of pastries on promotion. In the end, we buy olive bread, a sweet bun (I can't remember the fillings), white coffee and caffe latte. The breads and buns are reasonably priced, but as expected, the drinks are expensive. I guess that's where all the margins are.

After having our coffee, we take a walk inside the mall, floor by floor. There are a lot of small shops. I notice there are quite a few are shops that previously occupy Subang Parade - Ms Read, Evita Peroni, Kenny Rogers, Toys'R'Us and a few more.

We decide to go inside Jaya Grocer's. The items there are slightly more expensive than Giant, but certain items offered have a wider selection than Giant - biscuits, fresh herbs and cheese, to name a few.

We leave Empire Gallery at around 5pm. It has been a busy day. My feet sorely need a massage!

Thank you Mr Mechanic

2010-05-18T10:21:00.003+08:00

The other day I went to Petronas station near my house to fill up the tank. But I couldn't open the fuel fill door. I pressed the fuel fill tab located near the driver's sear a few times, but nothing happened. I panicked. The low fuel indicator has begun to glow.

I tried to pry the door open with the car key, but to no avail. I looked around to get help from the pump attendants. Noone was around. So I drove home, all the time worried that the car would run out of fuel.

Back at home, I used the house key to pry the door open. It didn't work either. So I did what any other woman would do: I sent an sms to DH to inform him of my predicament.

His reply was short: "Noted. Dah merajuk sbb nak kena jual."

Obviously that didn't solve my immediate problem. So I sent him another sms to ask him what to do. I was hoping that he'd say, "Don't worry sayang. I'll handle it when I get home." Instead, what I got was "cuba minta tolong pump attendant tu."

It was a hot afternoon and I was fasting, so I was not in the mood to go back to the petrol station. I ignored his sms and decided to surf the internet instead.

My phone rang a few minutes later. It was DH. I explained to him what actually caused the problem.

About 1 month ago, as a pump attendant was helping me to refuel, he accidentally knocked the fuel fill door. A thin piece of metal, about the size of my forefinger, fell off. He struggled to put it back in place, and eventually succeeded.

Then about 2 weeks ago, the metal fell off again as I opened the the fuel fill door to refuel. I was in a hurry to send my nephew to a scholarship interview, so I picked up the metal and tossed it in the car. I didn't give it a second thought. Well, who would have thought that a small piece of metal would cause me misery 2 weeks later?
After I related the story to him, DH told me to go to a workshop near my house to get the fuel fill door repaired. I decided to be an obedient wife and did as I was told.

The workshop is located at an isolated corner of the neigbourhood. I've been there once with DH. Thankfully my memory served me well and I managed to get there without getting lost.

The mechanic told me to press the fuel fill tab near the driver's seat as he stood near the fuel fill door to inspect it. I pressed it once and walked around to the other side of the car to see what he was doing. Within that 2 seconds or so, he had managed to open the fuel fill door and re-attached the metal to its place.

I asked him the cost but he just shook his head and said "No need." It was a small help on his part, but without it, I would be in a lot of trouble.

Thank you, Mr Mechanic.

p/s: Remember to keep any fallen parts from your car. You might need it some day.

Thomas Cup Quarter Finals

2010-05-13T09:37:00.002+08:00

I didn't plan to watch the tie between Malaysia and Denmark last night. No, not because I didn't have faith in our boys. It's just that I'm not into sports and I sometimes can't bear the suspense of watching those heart-stopping moments when you wish so much that our team will win but you know the outcome could go either way.

And oh boy, there really were plenty of heart-stopping moments last night. It was nothing short of a roller coaster ride that left me dizzy with excitement.

So how did I end up watching the match? Well, there was nothing much on TV while I was waiting to watch Adamaya. I flipped to TV1, and the game between Lee Chong Wei and Peter Gade Christensen was on. While I was watching, DH arrived home early from his course at Bank Negara. Both of us watched the game in the living room. DH commented "Kalau Chong Wei kalah, habis la. Yg lain tak boleh harap." He was still frustrated about the embarassing defeat in the group tie against Japan. I said "You shouldn't be watching. Tadi Chong Wei main best. Now he's losing." Yes, Peter Gade started gaining points just when DH started watching. Of course that has nothing to do with DH. And as we know it now, Chong Wei did win the game.

While the game was interesting, I was more keen to watch Adamaya. So I flipped back to TV3 at 6.30pm and DH adjourned upstairs to watch the game on Astro. I forgot about the match completely, allowing myself to be carried away by Adamaya, sometimes thinking that "eh my husband is also patient like Adam. I should appreciate him more." Indeed, there are many screwed up men like Dani in the world today. I should be grateful that DH is nothing like him. Note to mothers, please bring up your sons to respect women.

Later on as DD and I were wrapping Teacher's Day presents in DD's room, we were startled by a loud yell from DH next door. Wong Chun Han had lost the first set of his game. At that time, Malaysia was leading 2-0 (courtesy of Chong Wei and the first double). Wong Chung Han only needed to win his game to carry Malaysia to the semi finals. DH was tense. I was miffed because I thought his loud yell almost gave me a heart attack. I gave him the 'look' that told him that I wasn't at all happy with his yelling.

He broke the ice by asking for his dinner. After a hurried dinner, he ran back upstairs to continue watching the game. Meanwhile, DD, the maid and I continued eating our dinner in leisure. I wasn't at all interested to watch the game.

Later on the three of us adjourned to watch TV at the living room. By this time, Wong Chun Han had lost his game. I became curious to watch the game now that the second double was forced to play. It was a new pairing. As the commentator said, Hoon Thien How is a 'bidan terjun' to replace Mohd Zakry's partner who was told to rest by his coach. That was the first time that they were paired. And they had to take on the much more experienced pair from Denmark. It didn't escape my eyes that the Danes were a lot taller than the Malaysians and hence they would have an advantage in the game. I also noticed that the Malaysians looked as if they've been frequenting mamak stalls on a nightly basis (I'm trying to put this in the kindest way possible).

Now, that was an interesting game. You have 2 fresh young faces who were playing as a pair for the first time against another 2 who looked like they've been playing together every day for the past 10 years. Their physical appearances alone gave me a clue as to which team was stronger. I suspect the commentators were trying their best not to sound too pessimistic. I thought the game would be a sure give-away to the Danes. I was just hoping that our boys wouldn't get a sound thrashing from them.

But was I in for a nice surprise. Our boys gave a good fight. No, they gave a great fight. My DD got excited, we all got excited watching the game. DD wrote 'Go Malaysia Go' on her white board and made the maid and me repeat after her. Soon all three of us were chanting together, with DD holding the small white board above her head. We cheered 'yay! yee hah' every time our boys scored a point.

Soon DH gave up wathing alone upstairs and joined us in the living room. He said "Tak best lah tengok kat atas. You all dah 'yay' kat bawah, kat atas baru nak serve." Hehe, the telecast on Astro was delayed by a few seconds. I didn't notice our cheering was spoiling his fun.

Now DH and DD started jumping up and down in front of the TV. I knew it was an accident waiting to happen. True enough, DH accidentally hit a corner of the coffee table and had a nasty bruise. Oh well, who would have thought that the game would cause a casualty outside the court?

Casualty aside, it didn't dampen the cheering. Due to his 'injury', DH resorted to cheering from the safety of the couch. DD stood in front of the TV in a pose similar to a goal keeper waiting for the player from the other team to strike. I said to my maid, "Kalau lawan Indon ni, mesti Ita tak sanggup nak tengok dgn kami."

The second double team won the first set. That was when I had to force DD to go to bed. She protested, but to no avail. The two of us went into the room, and DH went upstairs to watch the game on Astro. My maid quickly changed the channel to her favourite programme.

I joined DH after DD fell asleep. He was subdued, like someone in mourning. The second double was playing the third set, and they were losing. It was a tense moment. Gone were the cheers from the spectators. I said to DH, "Kalau kat Indon ni, mesti fans dia bising bersorak bagi support. Fans kita boring la."

In the end the second double team was defeated by the Danes. But it was a good game. As the commentator said, they lost dengan cara bermaruah (with their dignity intact). DH said, "macam ni la baru puas hati. Bukan macam masa lawan Jepun. Itu fans siap show fingers kat diorang, and dia balas balik. Itu yg kena rest tu." He was referring to Mohd Zakry's partner in the match against Japan.

Now it was all up to Hafiz. DH told me to go eat my sahur first, but my eyes couldn't leave the TV set. Hafiz played a really good game, but that didn't stop DH from worrying. He said Hafiz has a tendency to get 'lapses'. He lost focus easily and is mentally not strong. I asked, "Shouldn't the final player be someone who's mentally strong, because he has to carry such a heavy burden on his shoulders?" DH replied, "Well, many Malaysian players are not mentally strong." He then asked me, "Guess whom they're meeting if they win this game?" I gave him a blank look, so he said, "China. Tu la, kalah lagi dgn Jepun." China is the defending champion.

Kudos to Hafiz, he won his game in style. He played very well at the net. Many times, the shuttlecock just passed the net barely and by the time it reached the other side, it had lost the momentum so the Dane couldn't do much to save it.

The crowds were ecstatic. We were ecstatic. DH grinned at me and said, "Macam dah menang Thomas Cup finals. Padahal baru quarter final." And then I confided in him, "When you asked me whom they'd be meeting if they win this game, I thought the answer is the PM or Agung."

Anyway, congrats to the Malaysian team. We'll be in Genting on Friday night, but DH already promised that we will be watching the semi final match. Do your best! We will cheer you on.

Dear Diary,

2010-05-12T09:02:00.003+08:00

An old friend said this to me once, "You cannot please everyone." Those words were uttered a long time ago, but they stay with me till this day.

When I was much younger, I tried hard to please everyone. Coming from a big family, that was not an easy thing to do. But I craved for words of approval, so I tried to please them the only way I knew how: by excelling in my studies.

That was a long time. Since then, I've learnt that it's impossible to please everyone. And indeed, our utmost priority is to please our Creator. So I stopped trying, and started being myself, warts and all.

But that's not to say that I don't care for others' feelings at all. I do, and I still try to help when close ones ask for favours. But I usually do it on my own terms. Sometimes it's not easy though. Especially for married couples, they have two sets of families with different views and needs. And sometimes these needs clash.

The other day, someone asked for a favour, but I couldn't grant it. I do feel guilty and sorry that I was unable to help. I questioned myself, "Am I being selfish? What if I were in their shoes? Who would I turn to?"

But then I reminded myself, I cannot expect to be able to help whenever asked to. Noone should expect that. There would be times when I have to make certain decisions that seem selfish to others. And this is one of them. It won't be the last either..

I hope the other person understands this and won't hold it against me.

Today I encountered a similar request from another person. This kind of request makes me feel helpless sometimes. It makes me feel like I'm not in control of my life. I wish I don't have to spell out my constraints, because it really doesn't feel good to do so. It makes me feel like I'm mengungkit-ungkit (keep reminding others) of my good deeds. My inner voice started questioning, "Why can't people understand my situation? Why do I have to explain facts that are already known?"

Fortunately the situation resolved itself without me having to do anything. But I know, I will encounter this kind of situation again in the future. Oh Allah, please help me to do the right thing.

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-10T09:10:00.002+08:00

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers out there. We are wonderful moms, don't let anyone make us think otherwise. Real moms, step moms, foster moms, ibu susuan, we all have the role to nurture our children so that they grow to reach their full pontential.

I made a phone call to my mother on Saturday night to wish her Happy Mother's Day. That's it, just a wish. No presents, not even my presence. She was touched, nevertheless. I wish I could give her more of my time.

I received a hand-made card from DD. Last Friday, she came home from KAFA at around 6 pm. She immediately reached for her art-block, tore a piece of paper from it, took out her oil pastel set, asked me what are the colours of the rainbow, and sat down in front of the TV to start working on the card.

One hour later, she handed me the card. I told her to give it to me on Sunday. She sulked - plonked herself on the sofa in the living room and promptly fell asleep.

So I decided to look at the card after dinner. There's a huge picture of an rainbow in multi-colours. On the other page, she wrote down this message, again in multi-colours:

"Mummy, you're the best mother in the world. You make my heart colourful. You're colourful. I love you Mummy."

I gave her a hug and thanked her profusely. Now I don't know how I make her heart colourful or what it means to be colourful, but I'm touched, nevertheless.

Sukaneka 2010

2010-05-05T11:03:00.013+08:00

DD's school held a Sukaneka on 27th of March. As usual, I found out about it at the last minute. I was focusing on Sports Day, which was held later on in April. I didn't realize that Sukaneka is the event for Year 1 - Year 3 kids, whereas Sports Day is for Year 4 - Year 6 kids.

We arrived at the school before 7.45 am. The kids gathered at the field in front of the school.

One PE teacher, on behalf of the event organisers, gave a short speech. And Class 1M kicked off the Sekaneka. This was followed by 1E, and then DD's class, 1G.

DD's PE teacher was down with dengue and had returned to school just a few days before the Sukaneka Day. Hence the kids did not have enough time to practise. They all did well enough, except for the last part where the last runner for each team was supposed to cross the finish line. None of them did that. They kept returning to where their team members stood at the other end despite numerous prodding from the teachers and parents to run to the finishing line. Finally their PE teacher had to guide the kids, 1 by one, to the finish line. And because of that, DD team from the yellow house emerged champion. Haha!

Right after receiving their gold medals from the Headmistress, the kids were adjourned to the canteen where each of them was given a food packet. DD enjoyed her meals with her friends and played for a little while.

We left shortly after 10 am. To my disappointment, the kids didn't get the next Monday off.

H1N1 Vaccination

2010-05-03T10:56:00.002+08:00

DH’s company provides free H1N1 vaccination for its employees and their immediate family members. DH had his jab at the office 2 weeks ago. DD and I had ours at a clinic in USJ last night.

DD cried when DH told her about it. She ran to the kitchen and hid there while DH and I were getting ready to go to the clinic. But she calmed down after DH did a demo, using his fingers, to prove that the jab doesn’t hurt a bit.

To tell the truth, I was nervous too. But I had to keep a brave front for DD’s sake. So I maintained a straight face when the locum on duty poked the tiny needle into my flesh. There was a little bit of pain and my arm felt sore right after the doctor pulled out the needle.

And then it was DD’s turn. The nurse held her and DH stood in front of her, giving her words of encouragement. DD didn’t even wince. I must say she handled it better than I did.

We left the clinic with a bottle of PCM, just in case. DD’s dose is now 7ml. She’s been on 5ml dosage for so long that it surprised me when the nurse wrote 7ml. The nurse explained that now that DD’s weight is 20kg, the dosage should be increased to 7ml for it to be effective.

DD cried this morning because of the soreness in her arm. I told her to tell the class teacher if the pain becomes unbearable or if she develops a fever. It’s almost 11 now and I haven’t received any calls from the school, so I think she’s fine.

A First

2010-04-30T10:09:00.002+08:00

DD started reading earlier than me.

She completed Muqaddam earlier than me.

She learnt her doa earlier than me.

She attended school earlier than me.

On Monday, she kena denda for the first time at school. Also earlier than me. The girl who sits in front of her in class talked to her during Maths lesson (her version of the story anyway). Both of them had to sit right in front of the class, way apart from each other. She said she was so scared she almost cried. She also said "that's why I don't like the Maths teacher. She's soooo garang."

I told DD it's okay, it's part of learning. The teacher scolded her because she loves her, not because she hates her.

She's okay now. I hope she doesn't become quiter because of the incident.

Hmm, I don't remember kena denda when I was in primary school. Well, not when I was in Standard 1 anyway.

Birthday party

2010-04-27T07:58:00.003+08:00

We held DD’s birthday party on 24th April 2010. It was supposed to be held on the 17th but a few guests said they wouldn’t be able to attend so we shifted the party to one week later. But we later on found out that it clashed with Kem Bistari Solat organized by DD’s school. 24th also turned out to be a replacement school day for many schools.

This time around, only family members and DD’s friends were invited. The intention was to make it an intimate affair where we could sit down with the guests for small talks. But as it turned out, it was almost impossible to do that. There was always something to attend to – the food, the kids, the cake, and what nots. So to my dismay I didn’t manage to catch up with the going-ons in my guests’ lives (except that I found out that IWA had finally obtained a driving license. Bravo! Vroom! Vroom!)

Anyway, thank you very much for the wonderful presents, and most importantly, your presence. In this day and age, we are always pressed for time. The fact that you were willing to sacrifice your precious Saturday evening means the world to us. Without your presence, the party wouldn’t have been as lively. Adik & Co, Abg Mad & Co, Aini & Co, Kak Yah & Co and K. Long & Co – thank you very much from the bottom of our hearts. I’m not mentioning other guests as they are not readers of this blog, but we appreciate their presence too.

We apologize for any shortcomings. As I said, I wish I could chat more with all of you. I hope despite all that, you’ll come again next time.

I’m relieved now that the party is over, but my body is still aching from the long hours of standing and walking. But it was all worth it. To be honest, I had a couple of sleepless nights before the party worrying over the details. What I didn’t know is that my DD had her concerns too. One day before the party, I found a message that she wrote to Allah in her note book. It went more or less like this: “Ya Allah tolong lah saya. Janganlah cikgu marah saya kerana saya ada majlis harijadi. Ya Allah saya sudah sembahyang. Berilah saya kekuatan. Jangan jadikan saya malu. Tolong lah bagi saya happy di majlis hari jadi. Ya Allah terimalah surat saya ini.” I felt a heaviness in my heart when I read that note for 2 reasons. Firstly, I thought it was not a big deal for her that she had to miss out on the Kem Bistari. I didn’t know that she was worried that the teacher might scold her for not attending. Secondly, I had reminded her to greet her friends who would be attending the party and to play with them. I didn’t realize that it would be a huge effort for her to overcome her shyness. Sometimes I forget that her shortcomings are not intentional attempts to annoy me. Gosh as I’m writing this down, it becomes apparent how self-centred I sound.

Anyway, DD was a happy little bird that day. I wish I could freeze that moment in time and etch it in my memory. Like other mothers, the most important thing for me is her happiness.

After all the food were devoured, the presents unwrapped and the guests gone, I said to DD “next year we’ll just do this at McD.” But DD reminded me that we can’t do that because adults don’t like McD and Alim won’t be able to attend because he’s boycotting McD. DH then asked whether it is still necessary to have a birthday party next year. My response was yes, at least until she’s ll. So my dear relatives, please make yourself available during the month of April for the next 4 years. In the mean time, DH and I have to go find a suitable present for DD. We haven’t bought her a present yet although her birthday was almost 2 weeks ago!

Happy Birthday My Dear

2010-04-15T09:45:00.002+08:00

DD turned 7 yesterday. How time flies. As DH said to her, You will always be a baby in my eyes.

The day before her birthday, she said I should give her birthday present on her birthday itself. I went "gulp!" because DH and I had not bought anything for her. In fact we had not even agreed on what to give her. DH wanted to buy her a bicycle, but she said she wanted a scooter (her BFF has one). And then on Monday her BFF brought a PSP to our house. DD wanted one too, but sorry my dear, you ain't getting one soon. DH remarked that soon she will ask for a mobile phone. Hmmpphh, the joy of dealing with peer pressure...

Anyway, she didn't get her present yesterday. But she got 2 cards, 1 each from DH and me. I made those cards. She likes cats so my card has a cat theme and DH's card has a "How to train your dragon" theme. Ever the diplomatic one, she said she loves both cards equally (well, I made both cards). And then she commented that DH's cards should come in 3D.

I packed the card in her school bag for her to find at school. When I picked her up from school later, she was all sweet smiles and giggles.

Later on we celebrated her birthday at KAFA. It was a simple celebration with her classmates and Ustazahs. I baked a chocolate cake (DD said it didn't taste chocolaty enough). I bought packet drinks before hand for the kids, Crysanthemum tea and soybean (DD's favourites). Each kid gets a partypack in a pouch. There were extras, so Ustazahs get them too.

Last night we went out for dinner. DD said since she's the birthday girl, she got to pick where to dine. We were happy to oblige.

DD promised to be more rajin to pray when she turns 7. I hope she can keep to her promise. There will be a Kem Solat at school on 24/4, but it will clash with DD's birthday do. May be I'll let her attend for half a day and then come back for her party.

Happy 7th birthday my dear. I pray for your happiness.

2010-04-12T11:15:00.002+08:00

Yesterday marked another milestone in DD’s life. She has completed her Muqaddam recital. I could sense her excitement when I took the huge Qur’an out of its casing and laid it open in front of her. She was in awe when she started reciting Alif-Laam-Meem.

It took her almost a year to complete Muqaddam. Now that I’m putting it in writing, 1year seems like a fairly long time to complete just 1 juz of the al-Qur’an, but the truth is I didn’t realize that time was passing when I was teaching her the Muqaddam. It seems like only yesterday (almost) when she was reciting Iqra’ to me, and now, she can recite verses of the Qur’an with minimal interruption from me.

Overall, teaching DD Muqaddam was not that hard. Looking back, introducing her to Iqra’ was tougher. We had a false start 2 years ago when I introduced her to Iqra’ Book 1. She was simply not ready for it. I gave up after going through a few pages with her.

The real start was when she entered a new kindy last year. I enrolled her for a once-a-week Iqra’ class at the kindy. Perhaps it was the joy of learning with friends, or perhaps it was the teacher, or perhaps she was just ready for it, because I noticed she was making a good progress with Iqra’. And then I noticed that she also learnt to recite al-fatihah at the kindy.

Sensing her readiness, I decided to teach her Iqra’ at home as well because obviously, a once-a-week class is far from sufficient. That was in March last year. However, it wasn’t long before she started showing signs of boredom, so I attempted to make it more interesting by teaching her new things (Muqaddam) on top of Iqra’. It worked, so for a while she was learning both Iqra’ and Muqaddam, just as I learnt both mengeja and Muqaddam simultaneously when I was her age. But then a couple of moths later, she requested to stop learning Iqra’ at home as it was getting too repetitive for her. So we just focused on Muqaddam at home, and she continued with the weekly Iqra’ lessons at the kindy.

I was fairly consistent with her lessons at home. The lessons were usually held after maghrib prayers, every day of the week. But I was more lenient during the weekends, allowing her to skip the lesson if she was tired or when we had other things to do. Her lessons were kept short. The lesson started with her reciting al-fatihah, followed by revision (1 page of the Muqaddam), and finally recital of the surah that she was learning, which were kept at 3 times of recital at most (sometimes 2 times if she was tired.)

She made a good progress last year. But this year proved to be a bigger challenge. Schooling took a huge chunk of her time, so she got less motivated to learn anything at home, Muqaddam included. I wasn’t firm with her either, mainly because I felt sorry that she didn’t get enough time for rest and play. So her Muqaddam lessons suffered. Sometimes lessons were cancelled because she was tired, sometimes because her BFF was around, at other times for 1 reason or another.

But as March approached, I made a pact with her that she should try to complete Muqaddam before her 7th birthday. And that she did, 3 days before her birthday, Alhamdulillah.

Now I have to think of a strategy to keep her motivated to learn the rest of the Qur’an. Perhaps more importantly is how to plan her time so that she could have her fun time without compromising on her learning time.

Pocket Money

2010-03-26T10:30:00.003+08:00

Once it was decided that DD would be schooling at a government school, the next thing I pondered on was how much pocket money to give her. My main concern was that she shouldn’t go hungry at school (DD is a very, very picky eater. She’d rather go hungry than eat food that she doesn’t fancy). For that, I was ready to accept that she may not handle her pocket money well, as long as she finds something she'd like to eat.

Back when I was in standard 1, I received 20 sen a day from my mother. Now 31 years later, I think it is fair to give DD RM2 a day. Hmm, I wonder, what is the equivalent current value of 1979’s 20 sen?

DD had learnt a bit about money at her kindergarten. So she knows what is RM1 minus 40 sen, RM1 minus 50 sen etc. Before the beginning of the school year, we made her practice her skill through role play.

On orientation day, I surveyed the canteen and found the usual suspects being served.. nasi lemak, bihun sup, nuggets, sausages, fried fish balls , milo. DH bought a packet of plain nasi lemak for RM1. He thought it was too spicy. I was almost certain that DD wouldn’t go for the nasi lemak or bihun sup, but she might be interested in the fried stuff.

The orientation day gave us the opportunity to train DD to buy food from the canteen. Initially DD refused to buy anything. However, she changed her mind when her BFF, Amelia agreed to accompany her. We looked from afar as the two of them walked to the counter. Then they just stood at the counter for a very, very long time, not knowing what to do. Finally I decided to help them out. When I asked her about it later, I found out that she was too shy to talk to the counter staff. Because of the limited range of foodstuff offered and DD’s shyness, I decided that she should also bring food from home.

On the first day of school, one of DD’s friends took DD's pocket money right before my eyes. I waited for her reaction, but she just stood there, without saying or doing anything. I decided to interfere and told the friend that it was wrong to take someone else’s pocket money (she’s rich by the way. Her parents drive expensive cars). Later on at home, I lectured DD that she should not give money to her friends at school. I was infuriated when she said "But I didn't give her", "But what can I do?". The truth is, I was a bit concerned of her ability to survive school. It was obvious that her self defence mechanism was not up to par. At that moment, I was reminded of a newspaper article about schooling in USA where one respondent was quoted saying something like, "I hate it when my parents ask me "how was school?". It's like you just witnessed a shooting and they asked you how it was. Frankly, you are just glad to be alive."

Anyway, after a few days of school, it became apparent that DD was not interested in spending her money at the canteen. I asked her why and she said she didn’t like the food there. Now after almost 3 months of school, she rarely spends her pocket money. On the occasions that she spends, it’s usually for Kuntum magazine (sold by her teacher), stickers (from the school bookshop) or ice cream (from a pakcik who sells icecream outside the school gate). So the RM2 that I give her usually stretches for more than a week. When I told my mother about this, she said “Jimat la demo.”

But sometimes she can be over generous. Like the other day when she came back from school with a piece of stamp that she got from donating RM1 to a club. She got lectured a bit for that. Her defence for donating such a ‘huge’ amount is that she didn’t have any coins, so she had to give the RM1 note.

KAFA is a different story altogether. Initially I didn’t give her any pocket money for KAFA because the lessons are only for 3 hours a day. Instead, I packed her some biscuits. But before long, she started telling me that she and her friend are the only 2 pupils who didn’t buy anything because they didn’t have any money. I felt sorry for her so I let her bring RM1 a day to KAFA.

Her first spending at KAFA was for a piece of chicken nugget. That day, she brought home a balance of 80 sen. The next day, she brought home a balance of 40 sen. She said she bought 2 pieces of nuggets that day. I scratched my head. If one nugget costs 20 sen, how can 2 nuggets cost 60 sen? To this day, I have not found out the actual price of the nugget.

Lately she’s been buying ice cream from a makcik who lives near her KAFA. Again, the balance that she brings home never tallies. Finally I decided to give her 3 20 sen coins instead of a RM1 note, hoping that she would pay the exact amount. Last Monday she brought home 1 20 sen coin. She paid 40 sen for an ice cream, but she didn’t ask the price first before paying. I lectured her a bit on the need to ascertain prices before buying anything. Then on Tuesday she came back with a balance of 40 sen. Finally, after almost 3 months, she found out that the ice cream goes for 20 sen each.

I don’t know what else will happen later. But I know that this is all a part of the learning process..

Back to school

2010-03-24T11:45:00.005+08:00

I dread Mondays, especially after the school holidays. It’s hard to switch from a laid-back routine to a rushed schedule. But this past Monday was a blessing because DH was on leave. So DD had the privilege of having both parents sending her to school.And I had the privelege of not having to drive on a manic Monday.

DH told her on Sunday night that he would drive her to school the next day. “Won’t you be working?” She asked with skepticism.

On Monday morning, the first thing that she said to me when she opened her eyes was “Daddy will send me to school to today”. I asked if she would like me to tag along, and she said yes.

Later on when she was having breakfast, she asked why I wasn’t taking my breakfast too. I told her that I was not hungry as it was still too early for me. She just stared at me with those eyes that said I was lying.

The reason for her doubt was that a few weeks ago, she found out that DH and I usually go on a breakfast date after sending her to school whenever he’s on leave. She went ballistic upon discovering that her parents do have fun together when she’s in school. From that day, we learnt to keep our little rendezvous a secret.

Anyway, as we approached the school gate last Monday morning, I was a bit concerned that she would be reluctant to go to school. But she proved me wrong when she nonchalantly walked into the school compound after salam with us and waving us goodbye. Yes, she has settled in school comfortably.

That afternoon, the first thing she told me when I picked her up from school was that she had won a prize in a colouring contest that was held before the school holiday in conjunction with maulidur rasul celebration. I was pleasantly surprised, especially because I didn’t expect her to win at all. Sure, she told me before that she coloured nicely because she wanted to win. But as much as she inherits my passion for the art, she also inherits my impatience for tedious work. In fact, she never gets grade A for her Pendidikan Seni art work.

She said she was very happy when she was called to the stage during school assembly to accept her prize. At first the teacher said “Yasmin Z, 5G” so she thought someone else had won. Then the teacher realized her mistake and said “Yasmin Z, 1G”, and her friends started telling her “Go Yasmin! Go!” The prize is a Disney photo frame.

That was a little boost to her morale and a nice start to an otherwise dreaded week (her Ujian Bulanan started on Tuesday. This time, I found out way in advance!)

Lost and Not Found

2010-03-11T09:17:00.003+08:00

We have bundles of stationeries at home. You name them, we’ve got them – pencils, pens, erasers, rulers, staplers, paper clips. Don’t ask me where they come from. We never buy them, and we don’t steal them either

So we never had to buy stationery items for DD during the three years that she was in kindergarten. It also helped that the kindy had ready supply of stationeries for children who forgot to bring their own.

Primary school is different however. For reasons unfathomable to me, DD keeps losing her eraser – both at sekolah kebangsaan and at KAFA. Sometimes she misplaces her ruler too. And believe me, once they are gone, you’ll never see them again. I’ve resorted to labeling everything, but somehow it doesn’t help a little bit. The pencils? She must have been doing a lot of writing at school because they have to be sharpened almost on daily basis. Same goes to the colour pencils. At the rate things are going, our supply of stationeries would be depleted before the end of the school year.

Stationeries are not the only items that have gone missing. Back in January, she left her meal box at the canteen during recess. I asked her why. She said she was agitated by the sound of the bell. She rushed back to class and forgot about her meal box. We searched for the box after school, but it was nowhere to be seen. Not at the canteen, not at Lost and Found either.

Back in February, she left her PE attire in the washroom. It happened on a Friday. On our way back home from school, I asked her if she had packed her PE attire in her school bag. She said no. A few seconds later she said yes. A few seconds later, she asked me what would happen if she had left it at school. I said we would have to go back to school to collect it. I asked if she was sure that it was in the bag. She said yes. I made a mental note to check her bag once we reach home. But I forgot.

On Sunday, my maid mentioned that she had not seen DD’s PE attire. After much scolding (on my part) and crying (on her part), we went to school to collect it. When I explained to the school guard that DD left her PE attire in the washroom, he gave a knowing nod and said that it was still in there. Sure enough, we found it there.

DD’s friends have the same tendency to misplace their stuff. One morning during the first week of school, I saw the class teacher, Puan Aida, waving a stack of pencils while reprimanding the students, “ Emak ayah awak beli pensel ini untuk awak guna 2, 3 bulan.. bukan 2, 3 hari.”

Her good friend had also left her PE attire at school once.

Yesterday one parent told me that her son lost his shoes. You see, Agama and Arabic lessons are held in the school surau. One morning, he came out of the surau to find his shoes missing. He saw a pair on shoes left, but since it wasn’t his, he didn’t take it. So he went shoeless for an entire school day. Fortunately for him, his mom had written his name inside the shoes, so they found their way back to their rightful owners.

Yesterday also, DD told me her friend lost her balance and fell into the fish pond near the canteen. Fortunately for her, the water is only a few inches deep. But her uniform was drenched. She went to the school office to borrow spare clothing. She came out of the office wearing a long skirt and a nickelodeon t-shirt.

Now don't get me started on the boy who lost control of his bowels...

Year 1 Books

2010-03-04T10:49:00.003+08:00

DD's list of buku tulis (exercise books) :

Bahasa Malaysia - Book no. 2 (2), book no. 4 (3), book no. 5 (1), book no. 9 (1). Total = 7

English - Book no. 4 (2), no. 5 (1), no. 9 (1). Total = 4

Mathematics - Book no. 3 (2).

Agama/Bahasa Arab - Book no. 4 (4).

Science - Book no. 4 (1).

Music - Book no 5 (1).

PJK - Book no 4 - (1).

Total = 20 exercise books.

In case you're wondering, the numbers 0 - 9 are codes for the types of books eg. buku petak besar, petak kecil, 2 baris besar, 2 baris kecil, 3 baris, berbaris dibawah kosong di atas etc. Obviously they have to use codes so as to minimise students' (and parents' confusion).

On top of that, she's also using:

Buku latih tubi (4 books for English),

Buku rampaian (1 each for BM, English, Maths and Science),

Buku latihan (1 each for the aforementioned 4 subjects. Don't confuse this with buku tulis - they sound alike, the covers look alike, but the contents are different),

Buku monitor (BM),

Some other workbooks for BM and Agama/Bahasa Arab.

Also the big booklet for Pendidikan Seni.

Plus the free activity books and text books provided by the Education Ministry.

I was overwhelmed by the list of books. And did I mention that buku tulis, buku latih tubi, buku rampaian and buku latihan are all of the same size and have similar looking covers?

Add to that the other stuff that we had to buy such as buku rekod prestasi, buku peraturan sekolah, fail peribadi murid, buku adab belajar, buku NILAM, PLBS, sports t-shirts, track bottoms, name tags and badges.

DH's reaction: I thought education is supposed to be affordable to all?

My reaction: I only had 2 books at most for each subject in primary school. And I didn't have activity books, workbooks and what nots.

DD's reaction: I'm too busy ...

You feel like an incompetent Mom when ...

2010-03-03T10:17:00.002+08:00

.. You're oblivious of your Primary 1 child's exam dates.

The school takwim (calendar) states that the first Ujian Bulanan (Monthly Test) would take place during the week after the Chinese New Year break. But when I asked DD if her teachers had said anything about exams, she said no. Sure enough, the week came and passed, and there were no exams.

And then her BFF came to our house and mentioned that the exams will take place in March. I casually asked (read: grilled) the two kids about the exact dates of the exams, but they simply shook their little heads and looked at me with their wide innocent eyes.

I took another look at the school calendar and squinted my eyes real hard to read the words in miniscule prints. I noticed that there'd be another monthly test in March, right after the first term break. Hmph.. can I trust the school calendar or not?

I re-read e-mails sents by the school PTA, and the only mention of exams is about the new system of Pentaksiran Pembelajaran in Selangor where it explained that 80% of students ' marks will be from exams and the remaining 20% will be from other things such as student's behaviour, attendance, quality of work, participation, punctuality, homework etc. It did mention that the first assessment would be held in March but no dates were given.

Having exhausted my options, I somehow forgot about the entire thing throughout the long Maulidur Rasul (The Prophet's Birthday) weekend. Until Sunday, that is. We were having lunch with DH's family when DH's eldest brother asked me when DD would be sitting for her exam. His daughter, who is of DD's age and attends a religious school, would be sitting for he exam on the week beginning 1st of March and she had been studying during the long weekend. I casually said that DD's exam would be in March, but I didn't know the exact dates. Then my youngest BIL chipped in, " Tomorrow's 1st of March" and that's when I almost freaked out.

So what do you do when you're in my situation? I decided to ask another Mom whose daughter is in DD's class. Her reply to my sms was "sometime in March, we can ask the teacher tomorrow". Somehow the knowledge that she was just as clueless as I was had the immediate effect of calming down, and I managed to enjoy the rest of the blissful weekend.

On Monday morning, I told DD to check for the exam dates with her class teacher.

When I picked her up from school in the afternoon, she greeted me cheerfully with "I know when the exam starts." I asked her when and she said "Today!" The only word that came out of my mouth then was "Huh??!!" and then I saw a stack of exam papers on one of the desks in front of the class.

It turned out that this week IS the exam week and I did not prepare DD for it. My consolation is that other parents were caught unaware too. I heard from one parent that the weaker students would be moved to Kelas Pemulihan. As for DD? She said BM (on Monday) was easy but Maths (Tuesday) was tougher than the exercises she's been doing. She also took more time to complete the Maths paper and I found out it was because she read the questions in both languages (BM and English).

Last night I made her study English and Agama. That's when I realised I've no idea what she has learnt in Agama because she never brings the activity/exercise books home for the subject. So I told her to just read the text book.

Hmm.. it's not east being a parent to a Year 1 child.

Decision, Decision ...

2009-05-29T19:33:00.002+08:00

IPTA A:
Part time position for 3 months. If everything goes well, a contract position will be offered after the 3 months period.
Subject to be taught: Advanced Accounting for 2nd year students
Level of difficulty: tough
No. of teaching hours: 6 hours per week during the part time posting. For contract position, follow normal working hours.
Distance from home: 35 – 40 km
Student/staff mix: Malaysians, international

IPTS B:
Contract position for 1 year. Upon completion of the 1 year, will be absorbed into permanent position if I perform well.
Subjects to be taught: Accounting I and II, Financial Statement Analysis, and 2 more for freshmen of an American Degree Program
Level of difficulty: not tough
No. of teaching hours: 18 hours per week. Office hours 8 - 4, but there's some flexibility, depending on class schedule
Distance from home: 20 – 25 km but heavy traffic during peak hours
Extra Perk for permanent staff: Sponsorship to pursue PHD at the university
Student mix: Malaysians (mainly Chinese), international (20 – 30%)

IPTS C:
Permanent position
Subject to be taught: Finance !
Level of difficulty: hmm may be tough
Distance from home: About 15 km
Extra perk: Sponsorship to pursue PHD at the university.
Student mix: Malaysian (mainly Malays)

Salary wise, IPTA A offers the lowest because only 6 hours of teaching is required. But once the position is converted into a contract position, the pay will be similar to IPTS B. HR personnel of IPTS C promises to convince her boss to offer a slightly higher salary than what IPTS B is offering me.

Reputation wise, I would think that IPTA A has the highest reputation. IPTS B isn't too bad especially among the Chinese. As for IPTS C, I think it's not well known at all. But according to my cronies at MARA, IPTS C students get scholarship from MARA.

Where should I go? If I listen to my Mother's advice, accept the highest offer. If only it's that simple. I know I've made some pretty bad decisions in the past where my career is concerned, so I don't want to repeat my mistakes. Please Lord, give the best to me and may family.

Me, teaching to read the Quran?

2009-05-22T11:45:00.003+08:00

I always have the highest regard for the teaching profession. It’s one of the most selfless of all vocations, requiring a lot of efforts and perseverance, and yet generating little material rewards.

My perception of teachers was mainly moulded by the teachers that I encountered during my formative years. Perhaps I’m one of the lucky ones, blessed with good (and some great) teachers throughout my schooling years. One particular teacher even piqued my interest to become a teacher myself. Alas, that ambition has not materialized, but I’m still hopeful …

Somehow, I’ve always ‘known’ that I can teach. Some former colleagues raised that conviction when they praised my ability to explain and clarify matters. At the university, my presentations always managed to draw praises from the lecturers. One of the toughest lecturers even gave me two thumbs up for my presentation.

So it was with confidence that I took up DH’s suggestion to teach DD to read the Quran. Afterall, how tough can it be to teach your own daughter who is always eager to impress her parents with her academic achievements? Furthermore, I had introduced her to Iqra’ some time back, so teaching Muqaddam is just an extension of that, isn’t it?

Well, I soon found out that it wasn’t as smooth-sailing as I had expected. The student was eager, but I underestimated the possibility of getting frustrated when one is learning to read in a language that one does not understand. Iqra’ lessons do help, but I can see that she is struggling. She mainly relies on memorization instead of actually reading the words.

To encourage her, I update the log at the back of the Muqaddam whenever she progresses to the next surah. That helps a bit. It keeps her motivated. Now she insists to update the log by herself. It helps me to monitor her progress as well. When she seems to be spending too long on a surah, that means that either one of us has not been paying attention.

This method can also backfire. DH takes over the task whenever I’m unable to teach her. He’s a stricter teacher, insisting that every single word is pronounced correctly before allowing her to move on to the next level. It has caused frustration once. She thought that she was already good enough, but DH refused to allow her to move on. She ended the session in tears, disappointed that she wasn’t able to update the log.

Sometimes, she would yawn incessantly throughout the recital. At other times, she would tell me that she's tired. I understand, it’s not easy for a 6 year-old to keep her momentum on a daily basis. So one day I tried to make it interesting by relating to her what the surah was about. We were reading al-Fiil at that time. Her interest was piqued when I pointed out what it means and the similar sounds between the words ‘al-fiil’ and ‘elephant’. She recalled a story book she read about the ‘elephant armies’. Soon she started asking about the other surahs.

I can see that an understanding of the surahs makes the lessons more interesting to her (and to me too). Perhaps I should arm myself with the translation during the lessons. Who says that Quranic recital has to be boring?

I am happy that I'm able to address her frustration (for the time being). I know there'll be more challenges. Her interests (and mine) might wane, but till then, I'm content to count our little achievements.

Happy Teachers’ Day to all teachers (paid and unpaid, qualified and unqualified) out there.

Good Bye K

2009-04-28T23:01:00.002+08:00

It began shortly after DD’s birth. I was finding it hard adjusting to my new role as a mother. Time management posed a great challenge and I found myself squeezing whatever little free time I had for my newborn daughter.

Logistics were a nightmare. Every morning, DH had to drive me to the office and take DD to his parents’ house before proceeding to his workplace. The distance from one place to another was quite far. Add the chaotic traffic during the rush hour and we had a perfect recipe for disaster.

Most nights, we got home after 9 pm. I was reaching my boiling point, which by the way, was (and still is) at a low level. I strove hard and yet I couldn’t find the balance that I desperately yearned.

K entered my life in the midst of that chaos. K resolved my logistics nightmare. With K, I could leave for the office and come home without having to depend on DH. I could go wherever I wanted to, whenever it was convenient for me.

I have never been a wild one though. My adventures with K were confined to a few places: the office, the neighbourhood shops and a couple of malls not far from my house. Over the years, I became only slightly more daring. The furthest K and I traveled together was to the LCCT. It was raining heavily. I held on to K until my knuckles went white.

Towards the end of our association, necessity forced me to commute daily with K to the university. K was a most reliable companion, faithfully taking me 4 nights a week to a campus almost 40km away from home. Traveling home after 10 pm on most nights, sometimes close to midnight, I was reassured by K’s reliability.

K didn’t need much of my attention. K gave and seldom asked for anything in return. The association was trouble-free. When you have a companion that is not at all demanding, what else could you ask for?

Alas, everything must come to an end. Whilst it was DD’s birth that brought K and I together, it was her 6th birthday that marked our parting.

I noticed K had been acting strangely lately. It was ever so subtle, something like groaning sounds. It was few and far in between, but a sure sign that K was ageing. And yet, K was as reliable as ever, faithfully taking me to the campus everyday.

It was with a heavy heart that I finally let K go. How do you say good bye after almost 6 years of being together?

We sent K away on DD’s birthday on 14 April. My over sentimental DD almost shed a tear, whispering to me that she’ll miss K. I told her to pull herself together.

K’s replacement, HC, came home with us on the same day. HC is gleaming and shiny, and everything that K wasn’t. DD is smitten. DH and I love HC. But on some days, I still miss my old trusted K. Never mind that the salesman remarked that K’s engine is like that of a motorcycle.

Al-fatihah

2008-11-21T11:49:00.002+08:00

Last Tuesday, my cousin, Hasnah binti Ismail left this world.

The last time I saw her was in March at her daughter's house upon the demise of her son-in-law. She was still healthy at that time.

My Mother remarked that she has lost a niece who visited her regularly.

I have lost a cousion who always made me feel comfortable in her presence with her gentle smile and genuine small talks, despite our wide age gap of 31 years. When I told DH her age, DH commented that she looked a lot younger than that. Perhaps it was her easygoing manner that bridged the generation gap.

My BIL has lost his eldest sister, and my niece Nida has lost her Aunt.

May her soul rest in peace. Al-fatihah.

Detoxification

2008-11-17T10:00:00.003+08:00

Due to popular request (ehem ehem) I've decided to write a short note on the detox programme that I took recently. First, I'd like to clarify that it's not a slimming programme, so for those who're looking forward to shedding a few kilos, you may get disappointed with the detox programme. It may result in weight loss, but that's not what it is meant for.

I've been having lots of skin problems, ranging from acne to eczema to skin tags, which drew remarks from some people that I have 'darah kotor' (contaminated blood?). My readings on the subject of skin problems also revealed to me that I could have built up toxins in my system. I've done 'bekam' once and I know it's not sufficient, so I thought I should make more efforts to address or at least manage my problems. And it was during the stressful exam period that I suddenly got the urge to clean up everything, including my system. So, I couldn't wait for the holidays to get started on my spring cleaning project.

Anyway, I decided to try out Juvanex, which is a 7 day detox program. There are other programs in the market such as Tru d-tox, but somehow I got attracted to Juvanex. The normal price of 1 set of Juvanex is RM160 (at Guardian) but I got mine from Caring Pharmacy for RM128. If I'm not mistaken, Watson also sells it at a cheaper price than Guardian.

RM128 may sound expensive, but a detox programme is not something that we have to take continuously. In fact, it may even be harmful to the body rather than bring it benefits if taken continuously. It is advisable to detoxify the body twice or three times a year, so I thought when the cost is spread out over the benefit period of 4 - 6 months, it is actually quite reasonable.

The programme consists of 28 sachets of the detox thingy (it's powdery actually), a shaker and a booklet which explains about the programme and contains the recommended menu for the 7 days programme. I know all my readers are good in math, but I'd like to highlight anyway that 4 sachets are to be taken everyday during the 7 day period. You've got to take it twice a day, that is once in the morning (after breakfast), and once in the evening (after dinner). That means 2 sachets each time. To consume it, mix the powder with 200ml of water, shake it and drink it. The drink tastes like air limau (lime juice), so I kind of like it actually. If the effects are too strong, it is recommended to take only 1 sachet each time, but increase the frequency to 4 times a day.

It's not necessary (though recommended) to alter our diet during the programme, so I did not end up feeling famished. But if you'd like to extract the most benefit from it, you may want to follow the menu enclosed in the booklet. I tried it for 1 day (haha) which wasn't that bad actually. During the first 2 days, it is recommended to take only fruits and water, and honestly, I didn't feel that hungry. But I had a guest in the house from the 2nd day onwards, and that was when I threw the diet out of the window. So it is advisable to do the detox when you're not expecting guests or attending parties. The booklet also mentioned that it is advisable to start the detox during the weekend so that we can get enough rest and allow the body to adjust to the programme.

As for the effects, I found that I had to go the bathroom more frequently. The good thing is that it wasn't accompanied by extreme pain or stomach cramps, unlike some slimming programme. I felt slightly hungry but that was okay. It is actually recommended to keep ourselves slightly hungry so that the fats will be broken down and toxins within the fat cells could be released. As I mentioned before, if the effects are too much for you, you can reduce the intake but increase the frequency.

My skin problems didn't disappear, but I didn't expect to get cured after taking just 1 detox programme. I'm hoping that my system is cleaner now and that my skinwill get better, insyaAllah.

What I did during the break

2008-11-07T13:54:00.002+08:00

Today is the last day of my two weeks holiday. Last semester was a bit tough and a little tiring, so this holiday had been a much awaited break. Besides, as I mentioned previously, I was itching to do some spring cleaning.

Alas, my plans got slightly derailed. It’s not that I’ve had too many things to do, but somehow I got hooked on the health and beauty forum on Cari. All is not lost, however. In between surfing the net and watching sinetrons, I managed to squeeze in a little meaningful activities.

I’m quite happy that I managed to clean up the book shelves, my dresser, DH’s wardrobe, my wardrobe, the boxes under the bed and the shelves in my room. I’ve packed the things to give away – DH’s clothes, my clothes and my old bags. I’m finding it difficult to part with my things, so only a few of my clothes are to be given away. DH is more generous; he decided to part with at least 30 pieces of working attires, casuals, and track bottoms. He asked whether it’s okay to include neckties as well, and I said why not?

I have not managed to tackle DD’s room. Based on my last attempt to clean up her room, it proved to be the hardest. Perhaps, one of these days, the three of us should go through her items together and decide what to do with them.

DD had her exams this week, so I spent some time supervising her revisions. It wasn’t easy keeping a 5-year old focused for more than 20 minutes at a time, so I decided to just go easy on her. Also, since I heard DH’s remark that I was more stressed out than DD, I decided to chill out a bit.

To reward her for her patience with my hectic schedule last semester, I took DD to Subang Parade for some shopping. In MPH, I found that she was more interested in the art and craft kit than in books, so I bought her a DIY mirror. That kept her occupied for about one afternoon.

Yesterday we went to Subang Parade again, and this time we bought a painting kit. She opened the kit as soon as we got home. In fact, right after purchasing the kit, she insisted that we go home immediately because she wanted to get started right away.

We also went to the park near my house. I tried out the exercise equipment, but we didn’t spend much time there because DD couldn’t wait to go to the playground. Nevertheless, I can still feel the pain in my legs due to vigorous exercising on the stationary bike.

Today, I started on a body spring cleaning program; the Juvanex detox. I should have started earlier, but somehow I couldn’t find the time to purchase the thing. I hope I won’t get too tired when I attend class tomorrow. But then, the good thing about Juvanex is that it is not necessary to alter one’s diet. Of course it would be more effective if a strict diet is adopted, but for the not-so-strong-willed person like me, I think I’d do better with a moderate programme.

By the way, the exams results were released yesterday. Alhamdulillah, I got 3As and 1 A- for Fiqh Muamalat. I’ve had a hunch that FM was going to be the dampener because I had a lot of time to spare during the exam (ie I didn’t have enough materials to write about). I have myself to blame for not studying hard enough. Well my excuse is that the exam was held too soon after raya (I always have excuses :)). We took the exam on the 10th of October, which was actually before the exam weeks.

Enough about that. Now it’s time to look forward to the final semester. After a gruelling third semester, I think I’ll just enjoy this coming semester. Wouldn't want to think too much about the grades…

Weekend Retreat

2008-11-03T17:10:00.003+08:00

I think I mentioned before that we’re impulsive travellers. And last week, we did it again. Barely a couple of days before the weekend, we decided that we needed to rejuvenate before I begin my final semester studies this coming Saturday. Never mind that DD would be sitting for her exams starting from tomorrow (she’s in kindy for goodness sake), or that we didn’t even have an idea of where to go.

I particularly detest long hours of travelling, so we cut the choices down to three places: Melaka, PD and Genting. But then we realised that we had a problem. DD had to be back in KL early on Sunday because she had made prior engagements with my BIL (nowadays we have to make plans around her schedules). So we cancelled out Melaka, because we wanted to save on the travelling time.

And then DD gave us another caveat. She wanted the maid to join us on the trip. When I asked her why, she said it was because she wouldn’t want to follow us on our shopping and jalan-jalan trips around town! I wasn’t sure about taking the maid along, mainly because I wanted to have some privacy, and also because of the cost of renting an extra room. On the other hand, I realised that we had never taken the maid on our holiday trips, so perhaps it was time to give her a little treat.

With that in mind, we gave in to DD’s request. We may be fierce parents, but we do try our best to fulfil our daughter’s wishes. But we had our condition too. We would have to settle for a more affordable (read: cheaper) place. DD was okay with that, but DH and I were slightly disappointed. We had to forget our secret wish to go to Avillion. But perhaps that was for the better money-wise, because it would cost us close to an-arm-and-a-leg to stay at Avillion.

We asked DD to choose between a ‘cold place’ (Genting) or a beach holiday (PD). She chose PD. After numerous searches, finally, at around 10 am on Friday morning, we settled for an apartment. While I took my shower, DH made a booking through the telephone and asked the maid to pack her stuff. We planned to leave after Friday prayers.

After taking my shower, I went downstairs to tell the maid to pack some food. I found her sitting at the kitchen table instead of packing her clothes. I sensed that something was amiss. Then she dropped the news: she wasn’t joining us because she had already made plans with my BIL’s maid to go out on Sunday to celebrate her birthday.

I went back upstairs and duly to announced to DH, “She’s not going with us! Cancel the apartment. Let’s just stay at Avilion’. Judging from the look on DH’s face, I guess I must have said it with some drama, but that was because I was quite upset that the maid didn’t tell us about her plans in advance. She didn't realise how much time DH and I spent searching for a decent place for us to stay.

DH scratched his head, muttered something incomprehensible, and then made calls to cancel the apartment booking and make the reservation at Avillion. Then he cheerfully said, "Well, it's for the better. Now we can stay at a much nicer place".

So that was how we ended up spending the weekend at Avillion. Secretly, DH and I were happy because we eventually got what we wanted, but we were worried about how DD would react when she finds out that the maid wasn’t going afterall. So I said to DH, this time, we should follow DD’s schedule. Previously during our holiday trips, she had to follow our schedules. But for this time at least, we would try our best to accede to her requests. And that would mean more time at the beach and in the pool, and less time for shopping or jalan-jalan.

The fierce one

2008-10-30T10:39:00.002+08:00

The other day I found DD crouching inside her cupboard, tears streaming down her small cheeks. I carried her out and consoled her. After she had calmed down, I asked her why she was so upset. Apparently DH had scolded her for playing inside the cupboard in the first place.

The protective mother hen in me almost reared her ugly head. But I decided to calm down and think about how best to handle the situation. I pondered about it for a while, and then I approached DH who was happily playing a game on his PS2.

I calmly told DH that he sounded fierce when he scolded DD. I added that because he was a man, the impact of his voice might have been greater than he intended.

He was silent for a while. And then he calmly told me that I sounded fiercer than him, and not because I was a woman.

We argued as to who was fiercer, and all the while, DD was watching us intently. Finally I decided to consult DD. Afterall, she was at the receiving end of our fierceness, so I thought she would know better.

Imagine my surprise when she said that I was the fierce one. Aiyo, this cannot be true. I was not in any way satisfied with her answer, so I asked, “How come you never cry when I scold you? How come you always answer me back?”

She was quiet for a split second, and then the answer came, “Because I was too scared to cry.” Aiyoyo.

I was speechless. Then DH, with a smug look on his face, decided to chip in, “She responds differently to us. With you, she’ll answer you back. With me, she’ll cry.”

I could have extended that observation as to why she gives different responses to us, but I decided to let it go.

And then a few nights ago, DH said to me that DD takut (is scared) of him, so she always listens to him.

I just smiled. I rest my case.

Note: I used to be a lioness with DD. I’m trying my best to change for the better and I would like to think that I’m half way there.

Time to clean up

2008-10-29T10:37:00.002+08:00

While I was studying for the exams, I kept getting distracted by the urge to spring clean the house. I just couldn’t wait for the exams to be over so that I could start tackling the mounting heaps of junks that are scattered around the house.

So it was such a relief that the opportunity to de-clutter finally arrived. I started with the dresser in the bedroom. DD was elated. She wouldn’t miss the chance to go through my make up and toiletries for the world. Did I mention that she has laid claims of ownership on my make up kits? If it weren’t for her, I would have thrown away all the items.

The next item was the bookshelf. It took much longer than I anticipated, not because I had many books, but because of the unopened letters that I had to sort out and decide which ones to keep and which to throw away. DH has a system for filing our important documents, but often, we are behind with the actual act of filing. Yesterday it took me hours to get it done. It was such a chore, but in the end it was all worth it, because we know where everything is (well, almost).

I’m glad that now I’m almost done with the bookshelf. Three boxes of books, course materials and lecture notes have been transferred to the store room. Another box is in the guest room. The books and lecture notes in the box belong to my dear niece Ummu Auni. I’m sorry I’m keeping them for so long, dear. I’ll have to find time to return those books to you one of these days.

I’m yet undecided as to what my next target will be. DD’s room is such a mess with her clothes, books and toys. I attempted to clean up her room during my previous semester break but in the end I was overcame with emotional attachment to all of the items that the only item I managed to get rid of was one broken doll. How I wish that I could just close one eye and gather all those items in 1 big garbage bag. Alas, I somehow found ways to rationalise and in the end, the room just stayed the way it was before I cleaned it up.

So perhaps it’s not a good idea to tackle DD’s room next. Not if I want to see some results, that is.

Last month, DH mentioned that he wanted the top shelf of his wardrobe cleared. I bluntly told him it would mean getting rid of some of his clothes. He had agreed to that. So DH’s wardrobe is definitely on the agenda but I need him to be around to decide which items to keep and which ones to give away. So that will have to wait until he comes back from work.

Perhaps I shouldn’t be too ambitious today and just settle on the stationery boxes that we keep under the bed. I don’t know how it happened, but over the years, we have accumulated quite a large number of stationery items.. pens, pencils, paper clips, staplers, highlighters.. some in good condition, some are practically unusable.

I know this is so mundane, but somehow, I know I'll feel much better when everything is at its right place.

Al-Baqarah Verse 282

2008-07-31T10:43:00.004+08:00

"O you who believe! When you deal with each other, in transactions involving future obligations in a fixed period of time, reduce them to writing, let a scribe write down faithfully as between the parties; let not the scribe refuse to write; as God has taught him, so let him write. Let him who incurs the liability (debtor) dictate, but let him fear his Lord God, and not diminish aught of what he owes. If the party liable (debtor) is mentally deficient, or weak, or unable himself to dictate, let his guardian dictate faithfully, and get two witnesses, out of your own men, and if they are not two men, then a men and two women, whom you trust, so that if one of them errs, the other can remind him. The witnesses must not refuse when they are called upon to do so. You must not be averse to writing (your contract) for a future period, whether it is a small matter or big. This action is more just for you in the sight of Allah, because it facilitates the establishment of evidence and is the best way to remove all doubts; but if it is a common commercial transaction concluded on the spot among yourselves, there is no blame on you if you do not put it in writing. You should have witnesses when you make commercial transactions. Let no harm be done to the scribe or witnesses; and if you do so, you shall be guilty of transgression. Fear Allah; it is Allah that teaches you and Allah has knowledge of everything."

My lecturer shared the above verse with the class. All this while, I didn't realise the importance of my profession from my religion's point of view.

Obtaining the results

2008-07-22T13:42:00.002+08:00

When I was staying in the hospital with DD (and DH), I received an e-mail from the Management Center, informing me that the exam results would be announced by 3 pm on the next day. The news caused my heart beat to gallop for a short while, but I didn’t lose any sleep over it. It’s just the semester exams.

DD was discharged from the hospital on the next day. In between packing our stuff and collecting the medicines from the pharmacy, I completely forgot about the exam results. It was only much later, when everyone had settled in at home, that I remembered about it. So I checked the results online, nonchalantly asked DH if he was interested to know (I received an equally nonchalant response) and that was it. It was such a non-event.

It occurred to me how easy it is to obtain our results these days. Just log-on to the university’s portal within the confines of your own home, and then with just a few clicks of the mouse, you can obtain your results. It’s up to you how you want to respond subsequently. You can shriek in delight or scream in horror and no one would know. There really is no need for self control.

How times have changed. I recall the numerous methods that I had gone through to obtain my exam results in yester years.

The first ever significant exam in my life was the Penilaian Darjah Lima (‘PDL’). I couldn’t care less about the exams, much less about the results. I didn’t really feel the pressure to excel, except occasionally, and that was due to the eagle-eyed monitoring that I received from the school headmaster. Anyway, I didn’t look forward to getting my results. So it was just as well that nobody talked to me about it after the exam.

I got curious at times. The school holidays were approaching and yet the results had not been released. Then the prize-giving day arrived. This was usually held at the last day of school. There I was, standing in line, waiting for my turn to receive the prize for the school exams. When my turn came, the MC took the liberty to announce that I had obtained 5As in the PDL. So that was how I obtained my PDL results.

The next exam was the Sijil Rendah Pelajaran (‘SRP’). I don’t know why, but I really don’t remember how I obtained my results. I’m guessing that I might have called the school because the results were usually announced during the year-end school holidays.

And then it was the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (‘SPM’). It was announced on television that we could obtain our results on the next day. I couldn’t get much sleep that night. I told my mother that I would just make a call the school to obtain my results. My mother decided to exercise her veto power then. For reasons best known to her, she insisted (read: forced me) that I go to the school to get the results. I knew when to pick my fight with her, and that was not one of the instances that I could.

My sister, Kak Z offered to accompany me to the school, which was located about 40km away from home. So the next morning, we got ready early, and off we went by bus to the school.

As I walked into the school compound, I saw my schoolmates smiling at me. Some of them congratulated me. But I was always the blur type. It was only when I had the exam slip in my hand that I found out that I had obtained good results.

My A-levels exam was taken in a faraway country, so there was no way that my mother could insist that I pick up the results by hand. In any case, I didn’t even tell her that the results would be released on that particular day. So I acted as normal as I could during that day, which was no easy feat because of the long wait that I had to endure (try 8 hours time difference, and you’d be waiting almost the whole day before the school office opens for the day). It didn’t help either that most of my sisters were home (I think it was during the school holidays).

At around 5 pm, I discreetly walked to the phone which was placed at the staircase. I sat on the staircase and started dialing. I caught my sister, Kak B, observing me intently. She must have noticed how strange I had been acting the whole day, watching the clock every once in a while. The phone call was very short (I only took 3 subjects for A-levels).

I immediately tip toed to the bilik ujung (the room at the end of the house). Kak B followed me. She asked what the phone call was about. After I explained about my results, she said she didn’t understand why I had to be so nervous. She didn’t know that I had always had the fear that somehow I had failed my exams. This fear was not confined to the A-level exams, but to all the exams I had taken save for the PDL.

Final year of university exam results were released while I was in the UK. I spent the entire night prior to the day tossing and turning in my bed. I couldn’t sleep at all. The next day, the results for other courses were released first. The university posted the results on notice boards outside the Old Theatre (that’s our lecture hall, by the way). So I experienced more nervousness waiting for my results to be released in the afternoon.

Around noon, a friend dropped by at my house and told me that the results for my course had been released. She congratulated me. A few more congratulations came in but I had to see it by myself, so I took the train to the university to see the results with my own eyes (it took about 30 – 40 minutes to get to the university). The results were actually released on my birthday so that was one of the best birthday presents ever.

My professional exams results were released via archaic method: snail mail. I was already working by then so I didn’t have the time to worry about my exam results. Time just flew by. Before I knew it, a letter from overseas would be waiting for me in my mail box. This took place a long time ago. I’m sure nowadays the students can check their results online.

How times have changed..

The Passing

2008-07-20T17:21:00.002+08:00

A few days ago, it dawned upon me that among my sphere of family bloggers who are actively leaving comments in each other’s blogs, I’m the only person who was present at my father’s burial. I mulled the idea of writing about it, but I was not sure if it was proper or even necessary.

Finally I decided to write about what I can remember of the event. For those who think that they possess the Neng Yatimah trait (you know who you are), you may want to skip this post. It is not my intention to cause sadness to anyone. Rather, I just want to record it and share it with those who are interested to know. For that matter, I’ll try to be as factual as possible. But the event took place more than 10 years ago and as they say, we tend to romanticise our distant memories. Some parts of the event are just vague memories, but other parts are crystal clear, as if the event had only taken place yesterday. I can’t be 100% accurate, and it’s possible that certain parts are just a figment of my imagination which somehow I feel to be real. The time the events took place, in particular, was very vague. I guess it is normal to lose track of the time in that kind of circumstances.

So this is my account, based on my experience and from my perspective, of what happened on that day in November 1996. It began to unravel on an early Saturday morning. I can’t remember the date but what I remember is that it was on Deepavali Day.

The phone rang at around 1.30 am. It was my eldest brother, Abg M. His words were brief, “T, Abah dah tak de”. I found his words incomprehensible. I almost asked, “Tak de? Dia pergi ke mana?” And then he repeated, “Abah dah tak de. Pukul XX tadi.” Immediately, I understood. Abg M asked me to get ready. He was coming over to pick me up.

I went back to my room, sat on the chair and stared at the blank wall facing me.

The phone rang again a few minutes later. This time, it was my eldest sister, Kak J. She wanted to inform me of the news, not knowing that Abg M had called me earlier. I was already sobbing when I answered the call, so Kak J didn’t have to say much.

Abg M arrived at my apartment building. From there, we went to Jalan Gasing to pick up my nephew, L. Then off to Abg M’s house to pick up my SIL and their two daughters.

We were quiet throughout the journey. I played the memories of a few days earlier in my mind. About 2 or 3 days before that, I had called home. My father picked up the telephone and his voice sounded normal. And just 3 weeks earlier, I had gone home to visit him. He had just had his eye surgery then. Was that a sign?

We stopped for subuh prayers at a mosque that I can’t recall till today.

We got lost not long after passing Tanah Merah. Abg M couldn’t remember the way back to our parents’ home, a route that he had taken countless times before. We had to make a detour. I was growing impatient. I feared that we would miss my father’s burial. Unbeknown to me, the people back home were waiting for Abg M. Apparently they wanted at least one of the sons to be around. At that time, all my three brothers were away from home.

We must have reached home at around 10.30 am. I saw a lot of people in my parents’ house. There were many unfamiliar faces. My sister, Kak N and my cousin, Kak Mah, rushed outside to see us. Kak N hugged me and I sobbed uncontrollably on her shoulders. A moment later I was in Kak Mah’s embrace.

They led me to a single bed placed in the dining area, roughly at where the dining table is placed now. There I saw the jenazah on the bed, covered with batik cloth from head to toe. My father was a tall man, but that day, he looked small.

Kak Mah and I sat next to the bed. She removed the cloth covering my father’s face. I looked at his face, and it was as if he was just sleeping.

Kak Mah is my father’s niece. It was her who later on clipped my father’s nails. The two of them shared a special bond. When I was a child, I used to observe them in conversations and it was obvious to my young eyes then how close they were.

What happened next was a blur to me. I think the adults were discussing when to bury my father.

Then the bath ritual started. It took place at one corner of the bilik ujung (the room at the end of the house), near where a dresser is placed now. Kak J and Abg M volunteered to help to bath our father. The men in charge had to tell curious onlookers to keep away.

I stood at the door connecting the bilik tengah (middle room) and bilik ujung. At one corner of bilik ujung, near where I was standing, a few pieces of white cloth were laid down on the floor. I remember we used to solat jemaah there when I was a little girl.

After the bath ritual, the jenazah was carried to the place where the white cloth had been laid. A few men started to kafan my father with the white fabric. Many times, as the layers of white cloth were shrouded over his body, I had to look away. The feeling then was that with every piece of cloth covering his body, the distance between us was getting further apart.

Then they finished covering his body and part of his head. By then, only his face was visible. To me, his face looked soft, like a baby. Around me, people were whispering about how clean his face looked.

Someone told us, his children, to kiss his face. One by one we went. Once in a while I could hear reminders not to drop our tears on his face. My turn came. I walked towards him, crouched, and kissed him on the forehead.

I walked out of the bilik ujung with blurry eyes. I saw my sister, Kak B, sobbing at the door near the old bathroom. I rushed towards her. I tried to comfort her, but it was a strange feeling. For once, the roles were reversed. I, the little sister who was always protected, was trying to console my elder sister.

Kak B rushed away. Not long after, my niece, S, came near me. Her eyes were red. She too was sobbing. I suspect that at that time, she had just kissed my father.

The jenazah prayers were held in our living room. The room is huge, but it was filled to the brim. Many people had to wait outside. One person that I remember is my primary school teacher, Cikgu Hashim. I can’t remember the exact time when the prayer was held, but I think it was just after zohor. I think it was around this time that my second brother, Abg J, arrived from Kedah.

After the jenazah prayers, the jenazah was carried to a small lorry that was waiting outside. At this stage, I just stood in the living room, not willing to witness the final moments before my father left our house forever.

I think I went to the burial ground with my sister, Kak B. My father’s grave was located near the fence separating the burial ground from the area outside. Kak B and I stood outside the burial ground, just behind the fence, watching the burial process. Right now, that part of the memory is very vague so I can’t write about it in detail.

A few of our family members were not around when my father was buried: my sister Kak Y (she arrived letter); my brother M (he was in the UK); my nieces I (in the UK), Aini (in Melaka), Aida (in Melaka) and Kak Long (she was on a school trip somewhere in Melaka or KL). My uncle, Pak Cik Y, whose house was just a stone throw’s away, couldn’t make it either because of the extent of his grief. He was very close to my father. My grand uncle, Pak Cu Ali, who was already very old by then, came all the way from his house somewhere along the road to Tanah Merah by public transport. I think Pak Cu Ali slept at our house that night.

My family was concerned as to how I would cope with my father’s passing. I didn’t realize that I had been crying hard throughout the day. The truth is that I was not prepared for my father’s death (who would be?). His passing was so sudden; it was a shock to all of us.

As in the case with almost every death, there were regrets. I wasn’t close to my father. I stayed with my parents for only the first 12 years of my life and during that period, my mother was a central figure in my life. This was followed by boarding school, and then public school and university in the UK. I was immature throughout my adolescent life. It was only when I was in the UK that I started to think about our relationship. I resolved to try to get closer to my father.

I came back to Malaysia in July 1995. Almost immediately, I secured a job in KL, some 500km away from home. The resolve faded, I had other priorities. By November 1996, my father had left us.

I had planned to buy my father a few shirts, but I never got around it. There was one polo shirt that I bought for him in the UK. Whenever I came home for the summer holidays, he would wear that dark blue polo shirt almost every day.

Al-fatihah to our family members who had left us.

Mines Wonderland

2008-07-19T12:00:00.001+08:00

The other day, DH came home and told me that his organization’s Family Day would be held at Mines Wonderland. Upon hearing this, I went “Hah? But there’s nothing there”. Actually I was the ignorant one; apparently there is a theme park at Mines Wonderland afterall.

The park is open from 5 pm until 11 pm. Yes that’s right, they’re open at night, so if you have aversion to sunlight, this might be the place for you.

We parked our car at the building which houses the Giant Hypermarket. I’m not sure if there’s a different parking lot dedicated for the theme park, but where we parked our car was close enough to the theme park. The three of us got free tickets from DH’s organization. We decided to bring our maid along, so we had to buy a ticket for her. The price? It didn’t cost an arm and a leg, but it almost felt like it. We had to pay RM35 for 1 adult ticket. Talk about a rip off!

The theme park is smaller than Sunway Lagoon, perhaps half its size. First we went to see the animals: deers, goats (the ones with extra strong smell), rabbits, birds, and monkeys. Then we took a water ride then went around the compound where those animals were encaged. Initially DD didn’t want to try the ride because she said “malu”, but once we were inside the ride, she was all giggles and excitement.

Next we followed a trail on a hanging wooden bridge nestled among huge trees. Underneath the trail, we saw tigers that looked like they were too tired to move even one inch. Then we saw a lone bear in the last enclosure, circling the enclosure ferociously as if it was ready to charge at anyone who dared to say “hello”. That was a scary sight, so I urged my family to move on.

Right next to the jungle trail, there’s a field with structures shaped like mushrooms. DD had a fun time here playing hide and seek with the maid. At another section of the field, two huge inflatable slides were set up for kids below 12 years of age. My DD played there for a very short while, giving us the same old reason, “malu”.

We then proceeded to the Ice World. Each of us was given a jacket to wear. It was freezing inside, but the structures carved out of ice were magnificent. There’s the KLCC, Putrajaya mosque, and many other monuments made of ice. There’s also a living room with sofas and chairs carved from ice. We sat there for some photo-takings, but my, I believe I had just frozen all my rear fats solid! The final section was an attribute to the Olympics. We didn’t stay there for long because by then DD couldn’t tolerate the cold temperature anymore.

To me, the Ice World was the best feature of the theme park. The carvings are lovely and there’s a magical feeling to it.

We then took a tram that went around one section of the theme park. My DD was excited. The park looked beautiful with many structures glittering with lights. I suppose that’s another attractive feature about the park. They have structures that were shrouded with ‘lampu liplap’ (glittering lights), it’s a beautiful sight to behold.

We then stopped at a restaurant to watch a tribal dance show. Some guests were invited to participate in the game involving stepping between bamboo poles which were moved by the dancers. That was an interesting sight, seeing how first they moved slowly under the guidance of the dancers, and then gradually the beats became faster and before you know it, they were moving swiftly without the dancers guiding them.

Next was maghrib prayers in a small surau behind the restaurant.

We then took a ride in a vintage car. DD became the ‘driver’, the maid her ‘navigator’, and DH and I just relaxed at the back.

We then went to the mini golf section but we didn’t play the game because the equipment was held at the Ice World, which was just behind the mini golf field but down a steep slope. We were already tired by then so we decided to give the game a pass.

Our final activity was taking a train ride which went around the theme park. This was at DD’s request. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have gone on the rides. Honestly, how many rides can one take in a night?

I saw a small roller coaster near the restaurant but it was closed for maintenance work. You may also take boat cruises in the lake nearby but that comes at an additional cost. I think there are a few other attractions that we didn’t see or try.

My verdict:
My DD liked the place. The park isn’t that big and it’s open at night, so it’s not too tiring and it gives a different kind of atmosphere. I think it’s suitable for kids of DD’s age, but older kids may be disappointed.

My view: the place is so-so. I like the Ice World and the overall atmosphere, but cost-benefit wise, I think it’s not value for money. For a few ringgit more, you can visit Sunway Lagoon which is much bigger and has many more attractions. For much less, you can visit nice places such as the Bird Park and the National Zoo. I wouldn’t have gone there if not for the free tickets given by DH’s employer. However, I may change my mind if the ticket prices are slashed by 80%!

Ignored

2008-07-18T16:08:00.002+08:00

I've encountered some bad lucks with the computer today. First I wrote a long comment in my niece's blog, but just as I was about to publish it, the internet connection was lost. Not long after, the whole neighbourhood's power supply was cut off.

When both the power supply and internet connection were back on, I was back at the computer with a vengeance. Meanwhile in the background, a little girl was pleading, "Mummy, I want to play the dress up game!" (the online version).

I kept telling her to wait. So she stood by my side. It didn't take her long to get bored, so she began fumbling with the stack of papers on the desk and started reading them out loud.

At first, I ignored her. But soon I heard the word "Islamic", "banking", "finance" coming from her mouth. I started listening more attentively. Then I realized that she was reading the slide handouts from one of my classes.

The slides contain a section titled 'some pertinent questions'. DD started reading the questions listed on the slide and provided her own versions of the answers.

Some Pertinent Questions (from lecture slides "Building Contemporary Islamic Economics, Banking and Finance: Is Islamization of modern knowledge possible and viable?"):

1. Where are we?
DD's answer: Ara Damansara

2. What have we done?
DD's answer: Watching kangaroos

3. Where do we want to go?
DD's answer: SJMC

4. How to get there?
DD: By car

5. What are the challenges?
DD: What challenges?

6. How to overcome them?
DD: Use Touch n Go.

I just laughed out loud when I heard her answers. Hmm.. wish I could give similar answers to my lecturer.

Now as I'm writing this down, she is standing right next to me, reading every word that I'm typing. When she realized that it's about her, she said "What la you!", followed by giggle, giggle, and then "Mummy!"

Kids, aren't they cute?

Elephants

2008-07-17T09:39:00.003+08:00

I’m still in the mood to write about animal sanctuaries, so my subject matter for today is on the Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary. The Sanctuary is run by a government agency and it also accepts funding via corporate sponsorship and public donations.

The Sanctuary is located near Lanchang in Pahang. If my memory serves me right, it takes about 2 and a half hours to get there by car from KL. Just hop on onto the East Coast Highway, exit the highway at Lanchang and take the trunk road to get to the Sanctuary.

Admission to the Sanctuary is free (it’s nice to know that we still have freebies in this age of spiralling prices). If you’re there early, you may even register yourself for elephant rides. The rides are free but they are allocated to only a limited number of visitors because of the small number of elephants available. I was told that you may even pre-register via telephone, but I’m not sure if this is true.

The Sanctuary comprises a small but comfortable building which houses the registration counter and exhibition rooms; the elephant enclosures; an open field which is located next to a stream; and a surau. Notably missing were restaurants/eateries so it is advisable to bring your own food and drinks. I doubt that you could find restaurants outside the Sanctuary either because it is located quite far from town.

The exhibition rooms showcase elephant skulls and posters bearing information about elephants. One room is used for video shows on elephant conservation efforts in Malaysia. My DD and her cousins watched the video show but we adults decided to wait in the exhibition area because the video room was packed with visitors. If I’m not mistaken, the video show was run at around 1 pm.

Later on we ventured to the field and had our lunch at a wakaf there. Then we went to see the elephants at their enclosures. They were smelly so I didn’t spend much time there but the kids stayed there for quite a long time.

The elephants’ bath rituals were held at around 2 pm. The Sanctuary staff rode the elephants out of the enclosures, accross the open field, and down into the stream. There the staff gave the elephants a bath while we visitors stood close to the stream to watch the event.

The bath ritual was followed by feeding, which was held in a basic shed-like structure located at one corner of the field. Visitors are allowed to feed the elephants with the food that were provided by the Sanctuary such as bananas, papayas and some other fruits that I can’t recall. I gathered my courage and approached a baby elephant to feed it a banana. The elephant opened its mouth and with a swift movement, the banana (skin and all) was gone from my hand.

The next event was elephant rides, which we did not sign up for. So we decided to leave then.

Not far from the elephant sanctuary, I saw a signboard to a deer park. We didn’t visit the place though due to lack of time.

My verdict:
The visit to the Sanctuary was particularly fun for the kids. Besides, there’s the educational aspect in relation to protecting our animals and preserving nature. Its location makes it convenient for a day trip visit. Free-entrance is an additional plus point if you’re going in a large group.

Minor drawbacks are the absence of eateries, which could be due to the relatively low number of visitors; as well as the absence of signboards after the Lanchang exit (we reached a T-junction where there was no signboard to guide us. We decided to turn left; 5km later we came across a signboard to the Sanctuary which pointed in the opposite direction).

Overall, this is a good option for parents who want to introduce their kids to animal conversation efforts. So if you’re scratching your head, not sure as to where to bring your kids during the school holidays besides the obligatory shopping malls, this is a neat option which only takes 1 day of your time, at most.

Turtles

2008-07-16T09:56:00.002+08:00

We visited the Turtle Sanctuary on Saturday afternoon. It is operated by a government agency (Lembaga Perikanan if I’m not mistaken) and located right next to Club Med. Its blue wooden house structure looked unassuming, so I immediately revised my expectations downwards upon our arrival at the place.

Entrance is free, but donations are welcome. Inside the house, we saw exhibits about turtles that land of Malaysian shores. There were some preserved turtles as well which apparently were illegally killed in Borneo some years back. We also saw embryos ranging from 1 week old right up to 6 weeks old.

A little surprise awaited behind the house. There were 3 pools filled with turtles of various sizes and ages. We were particularly interested in the pool located farthest from the house: there were baby turtles inside. We spent quite a long time watching them spreading their fins elegantly to swim in the shallow water. Later on we found out that the turtles that were kept there are for experiments.

A male staff approached us and told us that we were welcome to watch 5 days old baby turtles which were kept in a room at one corner of the house. We followed his direction, and there, in a small container that looked like those Toyogo boxes that you can find in Carrefour, we saw tiny babies swimming and crawling.

A female staff joined us and shared some interesting information:

About 3.5 km stretch of the beach behind the house is cordoned off to visitors as it is the site where turtles land to lay their eggs. However, the Sanctuary runs a programme that allows visitors to watch the turtles laying their eggs. Hence, we may visit the beach, accompanied by the Sanctuary staff, when the turtles are laying eggs.
May to September is the peak season for the turtles to visit the beach.
A turtle spends about 3 hours digging the sand, laying its eggs and then covering the eggs with sand. During this time, the Sanctuary staff would check if the turtles are already tagged during its previous visit to the beach. If they are not, the staff would then tag them. The staff would also measure the size of the turtles.
Afterwards, the eggs would be collected and incubated at the Sanctuary.
About 2 months later, the hatchlings will come out.
The hatchlings would be released to the sea when they are about 1 week old.

I pointed to the babies in the container and asked the staff when they would be released to the sea. She informed that they would likely be released that night itself. Upon our expression of interest, she left us to check with her male colleague who would be working that night shift. The male colleague joined us and confirmed that the babies would be released at around 10.30 pm that night and we were invited to watch the event. What a lucky day!

We went back there at around 10 pm and saw that there were a few visitors already sitting in the waiting room. We joined them and watched a video about turtle conservation in Malaysia. I noted an interesting piece of information: that a turtle can lay about 80 eggs each time it comes to the shore.

We saw a chart in the room that recorded the number of turtles laying eggs at the Cherating beach in 2008. We noted that there was an increase throughout the year: from a lowly number of 2 throughout the month of January to a high 60+ in the month of June. On one particular night in June, there were 9 turtles laying eggs at the beach!

It was time to release the babies and we followed the staff to the beach. The beach was dark because the only source of light was from a torchlight held by one staff. One rule that we had to follow was that no torch lights or cameras were allowed so as not to confuse the babies. Apparently the babies followed the light coming from the torch to guide them into the sea.

Once we reached the water, we were told to squat in one straight line facing the water. Then to our surprise, the staff handed a baby turtle to each of us for us to hold and release into the water. The one in DH’s hand eagerly wriggled its fins as if it couldn’t wait to touch the water. However, the one in my hand barely moved and seemed content to seek solace in warmth of my palm. My DD was suitably wide eyed watching the turtles in our hands.

The staff shouted One, Two, Go, and it was time to release the turtles. DH’s baby moved quickly towards the water and soon disappeared from our sight. Mine seemed disoriented; it stayed immobile for some time and only started moving gingerly towards the water when the Sanctuary staff shone light upon it. Once it reached the water, a wave rushed up to the shore and pushed it backwards. And then, it was gone with the receding water.

I had a mixed feeling then, between hope that the turtle will survive the roughness of the sea and concern that it’s too young to face its adversaries. The fact that its mother was out there, perhaps waiting for the baby to join her, added to the mixed feelings. Such is a turtle’s life..

We said our goodbyes and wished the best for the turtles. To our surprise, DD shed a few drops of tears. We asked her why and she said “I miss my baby turtle”. Now, that’s my drama queen. But truthfully, I too was feeling overwhelmed by the experience.

We went back to the waiting room and had a chat with the staff there. We had the option to wait to see the mother turtles laying eggs, but apparently on the previous night, they only came at 3 am! Obviously it wasn’t practical to wait although the room was quite comfortable, given that we had a 5 year-old with us.

We were told that the turtles land at the shore during high tides. This happens to be at around 3am at this time of the year, but it will be earlier (closer to midnight) by August.

So we bid goodbye to the staff and headed back to the hotel. What an amazing experience!

The next morning, we decided to play congkak on a pangkin not far from the beach. It was followed by batik painting which cost us RM15 for a square cloth measuring about 1 ft by 1 ft (a bigger piece costs RM20). DH was still in awe of the experience of the previous night that he insisted that we choose a piece with the motif of baby turtles.

The three of us started painting right away. I was meticulous, but DD had less patience, so she just splattered the paint all over the cloth. Soon she got bored and off she left with DH to the beach. I did some patching up to improve our piece. It didn’t look too good when it was still wet but once it dried up, we found it looking quite acceptable afterall.

We checked out of the hotel at 1pm and headed to Monica Bay for our ‘shopping’. We bought keropok lekor (1 week supply), keropok ikan parang, salted fish, dried anchovies and dried prawns. DH bought some tidbits for his colleagues. I must say though that the fish and anchovies are not as fresh-looking as the ones we found in Lumut.

The journey back to KL took us 4 hours. Aggh, it’s time to get back to the reality and routineness of my life.

Cherating

2008-07-15T10:55:00.002+08:00

Malaysia is not huge, but there are many places in the country that I have not visited. Cherating was one of them; I passed by the places a number of times, but never stopped to discover the beauty of the place.

All that changed last weekend. We badly needed a breather before I resume my somewhat hectic life as a full-time student. We didn’t want to travel far because DH could’t get away from his office for too long. Besides, we’d rather not spend much time in the car.

A few places were considered: PD, Melaka and Cherating. We finally chose Cherating simply because we had never been there.

There was little time for planning. DH was busy with work so it was up to me to gather information on how to get there, what to do, where to eat etc. I searched the net a couple of times and with what little info I managed to gather, off we went.

The journey there took us more or less 4 and half hours. Getting to Cherating is fairly easy; the place is located on the road to Kemaman/Kuala Terengganu, so we just followed the signboard that says Kemaman/Kuala Terengganu. We exited the highway in Kuantan to run some errands so it took us longer to get to Cherating. I believe the exit closer to Cherating is known as Jabor exit.

Our choice of accommodation was so-so, but the beach was breathtaking. It’s true what they say, that the East Coast beaches are lovelier than the ones on the West Coast. And they are cleaner too.

Watching the waves making white bubbles in the ocean, with the wind blowing in my face and the clear water washing over my feet, at once I felt a sense of serenity engulfing me...

DD was ecstatic. She overcame her lack of confidence and shyness and just ran all over the beach with DH tailing her closely. We made sand castles and soaked ourselves in the water. All the while the sound of the waves splashing against the soft sand made gentle music to our ears.

We’ve heard stories about the high casualties at Cherating beach, so we took extra precautions. We stayed close to the shore and always kept a watchful eye over DD. We noticed that the waves there are higher than the ones in PD, but the water was relatively shallow even if you’ve walked some distance from the shore.

DD just couldn’t get herself away from the beach. She particularly enjoyed making sand castles. The sands there were wet and watery; you could dig them for just a few inches to make a well full of water. It was fairly easy to build our castles, complete with small canals surrounding them.

We had our dinners at a stall known as Warung Awang, which is located not far from Club Med and the Turtle Sanctuary. On the first day, we arrived at the stall at around 8pm. It didn’t take me long to realize why it is advisable to get there before 7pm. I believe it took almost 45 minutes to receive our order. But it was worth the wait. The food was marvellous, we just ate and ate to our hearts content. Even my picky eater (DD) had a good time tucking into the delicious morsels.

The food wasn’t exactly cheap, but they were fresh. We spent RM41.60 for our dinner on the following items:

3 plates on white rice
1 whole stingray (medium sized) – grilled
1 huge squid – fried in batter
1 bowl of sup tulang
1 plate of kailan fried with salted fish
2 glasses of sea coconut drink
1 glass of soya bean milk

The portions were so huge that I believe it would be sufficient for another 2 persons. The squid in particular really surprised us because it filled a huge plate to the brim. Even the sup tulang came in a huge portion, unlike the ones we usually have in KL. The sea coconut drink was white and refreshing, unlike the canned version which usually comes in brownish colour. And the stingray: it was almost divine. It was similar to one we had in Lumut. There was none of the fishy smell or sticky texture. Overall, it was money well spent!

We decided to have our dinner at the same place on the following night. Not that we were lacking in choice, but the food there was just marvellous. It is actually fairly easy to find eateries for dinner; you can find quite a number of stalls/restaurants lining up the road there.

This time around, we decided to be at the warung earlier. When we reached the stall at around 7.45 pm, there were relatively few patrons there, so our waiting time was shorter. Our dinner for that night cost us RM42.40. We ordered less items but they were pricier because of the method of cooking that we chose; grilled method is cheaper than other methods by about RM1 per 100g. Our dinner for the second night comprised:

3 plates of white rice
1 squid – fried in batter (on DD’s request. She really loves the squid)
2 medium sized chilli crabs
1 sweet and sour garoupa
2 sea coconut drink
1 cincau drink

The food was enough for the 3 of us. I must say though that the chilli crabs are different from the ones that we usually find in KL. Warung Awang’s chilli crab was cooked in eggs and quite watery and it wasn’t as hot and spicy as the ones in KL. I somehow prefer the KL version better. The garoupa was lovely, it was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.

Most of the seafood stalls are open only at night, so we decided to venture farther to search for good food for lunch. Besides, I wanted to get some kopi hai peng (introduced to me by my dear niece Ummu Auni). So off we went to Chukai (or is it Kemaman? I’m confused. Anyway, it’s the first town centre you’d find north of Cherating and took us about 15 – 20 minutes to get there by car).

The Kedai Kopi Hai Peng is a landmark of sort in the town. You’d see a huge signboard on the white building bearing the shop’s name. The shop is located not far from Hospital Besar Kemaman and The Store. We had roti kaya for lunch (a total of 4 rectangular slices and 6 buns), as well as 2 glasses of coffee. The damage? About RM11. I also bought some coffee and kaya to take home to KL.

On our way back to Cherating, we dropped by D’Monica Bay a.k.a. Pantai Teluk Mak Nik (I’m serious, that’s what the signboards say) to buy keropok lekor. This beach is located in Cheneh, which is not far from the town centre. I believe my dear brother took us there once to try the best keropok lekor and sata in southern Terengganu. We bought RM2 worth of fried keropok lekor and finished them in no time at all. Did I mention that keropok lekor is one of my perennial favourites?

Lunch on the next day was had at the stall near the entrance to D’Monica Bay/Pantai Teluk Mak Nik. I had a plate of white rice with medium sized grilled ikan kembung (mackerel?), pucuk gajus (cashew nuts shoots?), budu and sambal durian. DH had chicken rice and DD had chicken rice minus the chicken (that’s my DD). For drinks, we had 1 syrup, 1 lemon syrup and 1 carrot juice. The lunch cost us RM15.

Later on we bought sata from a stall at D’Monica Bay which was sold at RM1 for 3 pieces. We bought 15 pieces and finished 6 of them in the car on our way back to KL. The taste? Wow! I never knew that sata can taste so good. It’s definitely better than the ones we used to buy at ramadhan markets here.

To be continued…

Hospital stay

2008-07-10T16:45:00.002+08:00

Sunday 6 July 2008

DH came back to the hospital at around 9.30 am. He bought roti canai for our breakfast.

DD woke up from her slumber just before 11 am. Not long after, DH’s parents, sister and brother arrived with porridge and nasi beriyani.

Then Dr Sofia arrived. She prescribed the medications and ordered for a chest x-ray for the next day because of the lungs congestion. The drip would have to continue for the time being to address the dehydration. An eye ointment was also included because DD’s eyes were slightly swollen and she had what looked like conjunctivitis. At times, she could barely open her eyes.

DD took very little food for breakfast. She obviously didn’t have the appetite to eat or drink.

We decided to give her a shower. It turned out to be an arduous task because of the drip attached to her hand. DH pushed the pole where the drip and a small machine was attached to, and I held DD’s hand.

The rest of DH’s family arrived in the afternoon. They left at around 3.30 pm, and we had a brief respite to catch up on the much needed sleep.

We gave DD another shower at around 5.30 pm. Again, she ate very little for dinner so I ended up finishing her food. DD kept pleading to go back home. For whatever reason, she really didn’t like the hospital.

That night, the 3 of us (DD, DH and I) slept in the hospital room. DH had decided to go on emergency leave on Monday so that he could be with DD. I realized it would be very difficult to manage without him around, especially so because DD was still attached to the drip, which renders trips to the bathroom difficult. DD was also cranky, so it really helped to have DH around to help care for her. Thanks DH!

Monday 7 July 2008 (morning)

DD’s temperatures throughout Sunday fluctuated between what the nurses categorised as fever and no-fever. At least they were not as high as when we brought her to the hospital.

At around 9 am, DD and DH were wheeled to the Imaging Department. DD refused to sit on the wheelchair so DH had to sit with her. I suppose the nurse suggested DH instead of me to sit in the wheelchair based on our body weights. The staff who pushed the wheelchair must have been relieved with the nurse's choice.

Only 1 of us was allowed inside the x-ray room so I went in. DD wasn’t cooperative; she cried and refused to stand in front of the machine. In the end the technician chose an alternative method that is usually reserved for babies: make her lie down on the bed. That she refused too, so I had to hold her firmly. My DH, who was waiting outside, was concerned to hear the screaming coming from the room.

Soon it was over. The staff there gave DD a copy of the Disney magazine. I joked with her that that was the reward for all the screaming.

Back in DD’s room, we gave her a bath.

My SIL arrived with her kids just before 10 am. DD’s mood improved now that she had friends to entertain her.

to be continued..

Home Sweet Home

2008-07-09T16:39:00.002+08:00

It’s good to be back home. Life is going back to normal. DH started work today and I’m back to blogging :). DD is still staying home though, so that she could get some rest.

As I mentioned in my previous post, DD had been under the weather for the past few days. I took her to the doctor last Thursday but her condition continued to get worse as the days passed by. It was a case of relatively mild fever during the days but very high temperatures at nights, coupled with incessant coughing.

Her fever was particularly high on Saturday night, reaching nearly 40C. She didn’t stop coughing. We didn’t get any sleep at all. At 4 am, we decided to take her to the hospital. The medical officer (‘MO’) was busy with an emergency case in the ward, so we could not see her right away. Instead, the nurse took DD's temperature and case history.

And then she ordered for a blood test. That’s when DD started screaming “tak nak! tak nak!”. The technician kept saying “tak sakit adik, tak sakit adik”, which my DD promptly replied “sakit! sakit!” The technician poked DD's middle finger and squeezed some blood out to fill up 2 tubes. All the while DD was wailing “sakit! sakit!” despite our attempts to sooth her. 5 years ago, I would have cried along but now with experience, I’ve become a much calmer mom.

The blood test was followed by a suppository to bring the fever down. That prompted another struggle from my distraught DD, who kept crying “sakit, sakit”.

We got to see the MO at about 5.30 am. The good news was DD didn’t contract dengue. The bad news was that it was a bacterial infection. Her white blood cells count was 12.2 (the normal range is from 2 to 11). She was severely dehydrated and her lungs were congested. The MO decided that it was best to admit her.

The ER staff promptly processed the paperwork for admission. DD was called to another section to change into a hospital gown. Initially she resisted but half way through, she smiled sweetly to us. I guess she liked the gown. Then she lied down on the bed, looking calm and happier than she was when we arrived at the hospital.

I saw the glucose water hanging nearby. The nurse and I exchanged looks. I asked whether the drip was optional and she shook her head. We dreaded to think what would be coming ahead. The MO joined us and asked DH and I to wait outside.

I took a peek from behind the curtain and saw my DD smiling to the MO. Then DH and I decided to distract ourselves in conversation with the technician who took DD’s blood test earlier on. We heard muffled sobs from DD but soon after she was quiet. The nurse then called us in and we saw her smiling on the bed, holding a bravery bear sticker given by the nurse. The MO had already inserted the drip into DD’s right hand.

A wheel chair was brought in and a hospital staff asked DD to move the wheel chair. Gingerly she got off the bed and sat there. She was wheeled by the staff. DH and I followed them to DD’s hospital room which was located in another building.

Once in the room, the staff adjusted the head of the bed. DD was clearly amazed, judging by how big her eyes widened. She duly followed the nurse’s instruction to get onto the bed.

Soon we were left on our own. The initial feeling of novelty faded away abruptly and DD pleaded with us, “nak balik rumah. Nak balik rumah”.

After subuh prayers, DH went back to our house to collect our clothes and toiletries. After an entire night of sleeplessness, my DD fell asleep. I waited for the doctor’s visit.

to be continued..

The bugs strike again

2008-07-04T13:03:00.002+08:00

Just before last weekend, DD and DH started huffing and puffing. Oh dear, it’s the runny nose season again in my household. DD spent almost the entire Sunday afternoon sleeping, which was very uncharacteristic of her. You see, she usually resists any effort to make her take the afternoon nap.

YM wasn’t spared either. First I had the chill; then I started coughing sporadically. But I was back on my feet within a couple of days.

DD is not so lucky. From runny nose, she went on to develop coughs, and then mild temperatures. It got worse 2 days ago. Yesterday she missed school. She was miserable, so I finally decided to take her to the doctor (she had been using her left over medications during the past few days).

Dr Patrick thought she didn’t look that bad. In fact, she was quite cheerful in the doctor’s office, opening her mouth wide and saying ‘Aaa, aaa’ without much persuasion. Dr Patrick gave her the medications for fever, flu and cough. I told him that my DD didn’t complete the antibiotics that he gave last month. He went “Oh oh” and jotted it down in his record book. I felt bad, but my DD really hated the antibiotics. It was hard to force her to take it and after 3 days of cajoling, threatening, persuading, promising her the earth and the moon and what nots, I finally gave up. I know, antibiotics should always, always, always be taken completely.

While waiting for her prescription to be filled, I asked DD what she would like to eat. She requested for bubur ayam McDonalds. We then went to the nearest McD outlet to our house. It is located on the NKVE, next to a Petronas station, but we have a ‘back door’ access to it from our housing estate. We have to park our car at the apartment block nearby and climb a few stairs to get to the station, but it’s okay, because we get to save on the toll and petrol. Sometimes it does feel strange though, in that one moment we’re driving in our quiet neighbourhood, and a few staircases later, we’re at a Petronas station on a busy highway.

Anyway, the porridge cost me RM3.15. I took out 3 RM1 notes, 1 10 sen coin and 5 1 sen coins to pay the cashier. He looked at my hand with some sort of bewilderment. Then he said to me:

Cashier: “Kak, kita tak terima duit 1 sen.”

Me: “Kenapa?”

Cashier: “Sekarang dah tak boleh pakai duit 1 sen. Kita terima duit 5 sen je.”

Me: “Oh. Sebenarnya tak boleh charge customers 1 sen. Guna untuk buat bayaran boleh.” I pushed the notes and coins across the counter.

He took it but he didn’t look convinced. His colleague passed by a few seconds later. He asked the colleague if the 1 sen coins should be accepted and the colleague confirmed that they do accept the coins. I smiled and cancelled my plan to write to the Star to complain about a well known fast food outlet not accepting 1 sen coins (okay I like to pick an argument).

At home, my DD finished the porridge and took her medications. The cough syrup made her groggy; she slept for most part of the afternoon. Her temperature went up last night and the coughs worsened. She only got her relief after we gave her the medicines.

She’s still staying at home today. She was quite miserable in the morning, but now, after getting a phone call from DH, she’s showing some enthusiasm. She’s pestering me to allow her to use the computer, so I shall sign off now.

Tagging Game

2008-07-02T11:09:00.002+08:00

(I owe this to Aida)

Senaraikan 5 hadiah yang anda impikan:
1. Holiday package
2. Facials and slimming package
3. Cash
4. Diamonds
5. Handbag and shoes

Senaraikan alasan atas pilihan anda itu:

I love travelling. It would be nice to go overseas, but local destinations aren’t bad either. Asal boleh berjalan-jalan. (Ideas: Redang, Tioman, Cherating)
I’m dealing with serious skin and weight problems. (Ideas: Clarins, Murad, Slimfit ke apakenama yang Wardina jadik model tu)
I’m jobless now so cash is always welcome. I wouldn’t mind gold either :)
Diamonds are a girl’s best friend. Need I say more?
Ini saja suka-suka nak melaram.

P/s to DH: My birthday is in a few weeks' time. Pick from any of the above, and I’ll be a happy woman :)

5 impresi terhadap orang yang diminati:

Kurang faham minat dari segi apa? Minat itu dari macam2 segi.. love, admiration, respect etc etc.

Perkara yang paling hebat pernah dilakukannya untuk anda:

My DH? He accepts me for whom I am, warts and all.

5 ciptaan yang paling disukai (tidak semestinya melibatkan teknologi yang maju):

Internet. The whole world, real or imagined, is accessible from the confines of one’s home.
Instant coffee. Can’t survive without my daily doses, especially now that I’m attending night classes
Books and magazines.
Cars.. senangnya nak kemana-mana
Lip balm. I have dry lips. It’s a must in my ‘beauty regime’.

Apakah perkara yang paling dibenci?

Tardiness. I’m a stickler for punctuality.
Free riders.
Show-offs.
Arrogance.
Traffic jam.

5 Orang yang mahu anda tag:
Alamak I don’t have many readers, so I’ll leave this unanswered.

Going Marketing

2008-06-30T22:46:00.002+08:00

I’m not going to talk about the art of selling and promoting because my knowledge in that area is almost zilch. Enough of the torture of Marketing Management okay. What I’m going to talk about instead is about the places that I frequent for my groceries shopping. I’m not sure whether the term ‘marketing’ is appropriate in this case, but I often hear it uttered by my Chinese friends. Perhaps it colloquial, I’ve no idea.

Living in the Klang Valley, one cannot avoid hypermarkets that are mushrooming all over the city. In fact, Carrefour and Giant are within short distance from my house, and Tesco isn’t too far away either.

Somehow my top choice has always been Carrefour. In that moment of indecision when DH asks where we should go, I’d just day Carrefour. Don’t ask me why, but the reason that I often give is that I’m familiar with the layout, so I know where to find things in the shortest possible time. Usually I go there to buy detergent, condensed milk and such. I have to say though that they’re not that good in wet stuff department (I mean fish and vegetables). Perhaps it’s just the outlet near my house, I don’t know.

Not too long ago Carrefour made some changes to their layout. Shelves were rearranged, items were relocated. I almost went berserk when I went there for the first time after the changes were made. Carrefour was at a high risk of losing one of their loyal customers. So my trips to Giant became more frequent. And occasionally I’d go to Tesco eventhough somehow they have yet to win over my heart. My opinion about these two outlets is not much different from Carrefour: good for dry stuff, but not for wet ones. Or perhaps I’m generalizing. I do once in a while find good bargain at Giant like the other day, when ikan kembong was selling for RM4.80 per kg, and they were fresh too, which is not something one would expect to find at a hypermarket.

And then Carrefour introduced the UOB credit card which entitles cardholders to instant cash rebates. My DH is not the type who likes to entertain salesmen, but for once, his pushy wife won. The card is free for life, and the instant cash rebate does make it worthwhile. So our loyalty somewhat shifted to Carrefour again. But I was still miffed at the layout changes, so as a silent protest of sort, I made a point to frequent Giant once in a while.

Then last weekend DH noticed that Giant too had tied up with a bank to introduce a credit card similar to the one launched by Carrefour. I’d say this kind of competition is good for us customers, provided that we use the credit card wisely. We have not applied for it yet due to lack of time during our last visit.

Enough about hypermarkets. For our weekly supply of chicken, fish and vegetables, we visit a Pasir Tani which is held every Saturday in Kelana Jaya. The items there are fresh and prices are reasonable. DH usually buys kerepok lekor from the market for our afternoon tea. I keep an eye for cheaply priced mangoes to make into fruit juice. They are not as sweet as the ones you find in Mekah, but the taste is almost divine, especially on a hot day.

Last weekend we missed the Pasar Tani because DH had a badminton session with his colleagues. So we decided to go to the Pasar Tani Mega at Stadium Shah Alam instead. The word 'mega’ is aptly used here. The market is huge; you can do your groceries shopping and top that up with browsing for all sorts of knick knacks such as rattan baskets, wall hangings, clothes for kids, jamu and maajun, magazines, and even cars. Last time when our old house was infested with house lizards, DH bought the racun cicak from the market.

This time around we didn’t have enough time for other things beside groceries shopping. This market offers more choices than the one in Kelana Jaya. One can even find stalls selling ikan terubuk masin from Sarawak here. But I find that some items are more expensive than in Kelana Jaya.

We had breakfast there too. The teh tarik was just right for us, not too sweet and not too strong (we’re mild people you see).

Now that brings me to another market, which is the night market in Kota Damansara. The market is under a covered structure and is open every night of the week until about 4 am. We went there for the first time last month. No groceries are to be found here. Instead, one can find lots of stuff from Thailand such as blouses, watches, handbags and children’s stuff like the ‘Mickey Mouse’ and ‘Barney’ items. I fell in love with the trainers for children. They are so cute, but my DD doesn’t need them because hers are still in good condition.

My maid bought a wallet and a watch for herself. I bought DD a Mickey Mouse cap for her sports practice. I liked some of the blouses, but given my constant state of bloatedness, I was not in a mood to be proven that the blouses were too small for me.

We capped the night off with light meals at the row of foodstalls located next to the market. It was a Saturday and the stalls were alive with families and friends hanging out for meals. They even had karaoke session then. My DD was all wide-eyed watching people singing off-key.

When I don’t go around checking markets at other people’s neighbourhood, I usually settle for a Pasar Segar near my house to buy odd items which I suddenly find my household has run out off. The items here are slightly more expensive, but it’s convenient. Besides, I love the fresh vegetables and imported fruits that they sell. Sometimes they sell apples and oranges at bargain prices just to get rid of them before they go bad.

Now all this talk about food is making me hungry. It’s time to find something to munch.

KL

2008-06-29T21:55:00.002+08:00

The folks back home call us KLites. I suppose it’s not too bad an approximation, given that they live 500 km away. It’s like whenever someone is going to the UK, we’d say the person’s going to London. It doesn’t matter if the person ends up in Edinburgh or Aberystwyth; to the folks here, it’s London all the same.

The truth to the matter is that I seldom set my foot in KL. It's safe to say that I go there not more than 10 times a year. Once during the fasting month to search for baju kurung for DD, and that is if we have the energy to do so. Occasionally we visit KLCC. And at other times it is to visit my dear brother who lives somewhere near Keramat.

Anyway, we broke the norm yesterday. DH wanted to find a tailor for his baju melayu. Now, that itself is a break from the norm because it was the first time in our almost 10 years of marriage that my DH felt that he needed a new pair of baju melayu. All this while, he had been recycling the same ones that he wore during our wedding ceremonies.

I happily agreed that a visit to KL was in order. The last time we did our shopping there was during the fasting month last year and I sorely needed my dose of retail theraphy, soaring oil price notwithstanding.

We headed to KL at around 3 pm. Soon after, we joined the traffic crawl that was followed by a frustrating search for parking in the vicinity of Sogo. Instantly I remembered why we seldom go to KL but it was too late to change my mind. After what seemed like an eternity, we found a parking spot at an open parking lot not far from Odeon. As we walked past Odeon, DH and I peeked inside with a sense of wonderment that the place had survived the developments around it.

Walking down the road towards Medan Mara, I somehow felt that this part of KL had not changed from the mid-90s. Sure, there were additions like Maju Junction, but the atmosphere was still the same. The crowd eagerly crossing the road, the car drivers impatiently waiting for the light to turn green, the makcik sitting on the steps looking at people passing by; I felt like I was transported back to old times. The scorching sun above my head somehow added to a sense of nostalgia.

From Medan Mara, we walked through Pertama Complex to get to Gulati’s Silk House. I can’t remember the last time I went to Pertama Complex, and it is a lot brighter than it used to be. As we walked past Sogo at around 4.20 pm, we say police trucks lining Jalan TAR and police personnel standing nearby. A huge crowd was watching from near the lobby of Sogo. We walked straight past to Gulati’s.

We left Gulati’s at 4.45 pm. We saw that the crowd near Sogo had grown larger. DH saw some protestors wearing red shirts. Since he too was wearing a red shirt, he decided to avoid the crowd. Later on we found out that there was an illegal gathering organized by Geramm to protest on the oil price hike.

We went inside Sogo for some window shopping. There was a sale going on and DH remarked that the place was always on sale. Well, perhaps that’s their way to attract customers. I do find that Sogo’s children’s and household departments carry some nice items at affordable prices.

I bought some kitchen items from the fair that was held at the ground floor. The queue was not long but I found that the counter service was very slow. The lady ahead of me whispered that the staff were more busy chatting with each other instead of doing their work.

Finally my turn came. As I was about to pay for the items, a woman interrupted the cashier to ask why she wasn’t given a nice paper bag despite having purchased items worth more than RM100. The cashier initially didn’t understand her question, so a few precious minutes were wasted for them to try to understand each other. Finally the cashier responded that paper bags are not given during sale time. I was quite annoyed at the interruption so I shook my head as the woman was leaving (okay I do have an attitude). But seriously, isn’t it typical of Malaysians, always expecting to get freebies, even if it’s just one measly paper bag?

Later on I joined DH and DD for coffee at McDonalds. DD decided to have her new craze, fries dipped in ice cream. I had my favourite, apple pie and coffee while DH had fried chicken.

We finally left Sogo at around 6.30 pm. It was drizzling then, so DH had to carry DD to the car park. It was almost sunset, but KL was as alive as ever.

Our own mini Olympics

2008-06-27T10:29:00.002+08:00

We attended DD’s sports day as Stadium Juara Bukit Kiara last Sunday. 6 kindergartens were involved in the so-called mini Olympics. A torch relay lent the Olympics spirit to the event. I had tears in my eyes when I saw the little kids marching and standing to Negaraku song. My little girl is growing up so fast, I wish I could freeze moments like this forever in my mind.

Tan Sri Napsiah Omar was kind enought to grace the event and give away the prizes. DD and her friends were obviously oblivious that they were receiving their medals from a VIP. They just giggled and giggled while queuing to receive their medals.

DD participated in 2 events: Goofy Golf and another one that involved milking a ‘cow’. No prize was awarded for the second event though due to disputes among the participating schools. We also participated in a family event involving running in a hoola hoop.

I could see that the 4 year-olds and 5 year-olds were oblivious to the fact that they needed to finish first to be the champion. Instead they (my DD included) were more concerned with doing it right, regardless of the time that it took. While I was shouting ‘go Yasmin go’, she coolly tackled the ball with the golf club without any sense of urgency at all. She did get it right though and was among the better players from her school. I guess it's a good sign that she may not have inherited my 2 left hands after all.

The 6 year-olds were more competitive. And the parents.. oh well, obviously we played to win :)

In the end, DD’s school emerged second place. Last year they were the champion, and this year they were just 1 point behind. Oh well, better luck next year, may be. I have a feeling that next year the school principal will insist that my DH participate again.

The event ended at 3 pm. After that we went to Giant for lunch and groceries shopping. We finally reached home at about 5.30. What a day.

The Old Cellphone

2008-06-13T14:10:00.003+08:00

I'm not one who goes for the latest gadgets available in town. Budget constraints aside, the practical person in me is usually happy to make do with whatever I have.

Thus that partially explains that so far, I have only owned 3 cellphones. I bought my first in 2002, long after others had decided that they just could not survive without taking the cells everywhere. It was the basic Nokia model that cost me a princely sum of RM350. It served its purpose well, and hence was good enough for me.

Some 2 years later, I fell in love with a Samsung clamshell that a friend paraded in the office. My perfect excuse to upgrade came when the Nokia conviniently started losing its functionalities. So I used my bonus to buy my dream cellphone.

The buttons took some getting used to, but the good looks more than make up for the minor inconvinience. Besides, aren't we all creatures of habits? It was just a matter of time (and lots of practice) before I got perfectly comfortable with the functions.

Alas, the cellphone had a 'cleaning' session barely a year after being in my possession. I left it in my jeans pocket. The maid put the jeans in the washing machine. By the time I realised it, the washing machine was already at 'drain' function.

DH duly disassembled the phone and left it dry on a towel. I didn't work.

We sought advice from our friends. My staff came up with a more dreary story, about seeing a furry ball spinning in her washing machine. Apparently the very unfortunate cat was taking a nap, not realizing that her comfy 'mattress' was a bundle of dirty laundry in a washing machine. The cat survived, but my staff was shaken. Since then, as expected, she was careful to inspect her washing machine before pressing the 'on' button.

DH's friend was more helpful. He suggested keeping the cellphone with Thirsty Hippo in a sealed bag overnight. Apparently he had tried that method and it worked.

DH bought 2 Thirsty Hippo and kept the whole thing sealed for two nights. Alas, we were in no luck. Obviously DH's friend's cellphone was not washed in a washing machine like mine.

The next step was to bring the phone to the authorised dealer. After giving vague explanations about what was wrong with the phone, we left it with the dealer. He took it back to the manufacturer for repair.

Two weeks later the diagnosis came. They correctly figured out that the phone must have been immersed in water and gone through vigorous shaking, but they could not repair the phone.

So that was how I came to own my third phone, a Sony Ericsson, in 2006. The Samsung was relegated to DD's toy box. She happily played with it and banged it on every hard surface in the house, particularly on the door grill. She took it with her on our outings, and sometimes ended up leaving it in the car for days on end.

Then a couple of months ago DH decided to test the phone. To my surprise, it was working perfectly alright. DH claimed that he wasn't really surprised, that in fact he sensed that the phone was okay. Yeah sure, now that the phone is completely dry, why wouldn't it work, right?

My BIL borrowed the phone for a couple of weeks when his was broken. And now, my MIL is using the phone. As for DD, she hasn't complained about missing 'her' phone.

To the doctor again

2008-05-13T13:55:00.002+08:00

This time it's DD.

It started with coughing on Friday, accompanied with phlegm and runny nose.

She started vomitting after dinner last night, followed by high temperature. Then sore throat and stomach ache.

Dr Patrick said its bacterial infection. Seems that it's been going around for a while.

A total of 4 compulsory and 2 back-up medications were prescribed. DD asked me in the car, "Kena makan semua ke?"

She got better after taking her medicines. Had apples and some porridge. The she fell asleep.

DH called from Amman half an hour ago. When she woke up just now, I told her that Daddy asked me to kiss her for him. Tears started streaming down her cheeks.

"I wand Daddy", she pleaded.

I consoled her and fed her some more porridge. She's watching TV now.

Labour Day Weekend

2008-05-07T23:22:00.002+08:00

We can be impulsive decision makers at times.

DH was at home on Labour Day. He took the next day off so that he could have an extended weekend. On Thursday, he mooted the idea of getting out of KL. I was half-hearted about it. I had class on Thursday night, an exam this week (last night), and a few assignments which are not too far off from their due dates. But I knew it would make DD happy, so I agreed to DH’s suggestion on the condition that he should not get upset if all I ever did there was staying in the room with my textbook and lecture printouts.

When you make last minute plans, you’d better be willing to accept leftovers. As they say, beggars can’t be choosers. DH searched the net, made a few calls, and discovered to noone’s surprise that many places were already fully booked.

By Friday morning, he was ready to give up. But I was adamant to go ahead with the plan. Despite my apprehension earlier on, I was in fact looking forward to the get away. I still planned to bring the textbook and slides along, but I doubted very much that I could get much reading done.

We decided on Colmar Tropicale. The last time we went there was on our wedding anniversary on 11 September 2001 (yes I remember the year). A phone call to the reservation office was made and our clothes were packed, the only thing left to do was to wait till 12.00 pm when DD would get out of school.

We picked her up without telling her about our plan. She was hungry so we stopped at Giant Taman Samudra for lunch. After Friday prayers, we continued our journey to Bukit Tinggi. She started getting suspicious after noticing the hills along the way. I was not ready to let up so I just told her that we were on our way home (liar, liar!). She played along and said that she liked this alternative way home.

We reached the hotel at 3.00 p.m. When DH and I pretended that we were just passing by the hotel, DD innocently suggested that when we have enough money, we should stay the night there.

We parked the car and took our luggage out of the car boot. When DD asked, I told her that the luggage belonged to my friend who was staying at the hotel. After checking-in, she asked again about the owner of the bag. I finally told her that we were staying there and oh my, was she excited!

As we reached our room, I remembered that I left my glasses at the Chicken Rice Shop at Giant! Talk about being careless and forgetful.

We did the usual things at Colmar – visiting the rabbit farm, Japanese tea house and botanical garden. We also did some art & craft there and watched some shows. DH and DD went swimming at the outdoor pool. It was a sight to see some people wearing their winter gear when DH and DD coolly walked from the swimming pool to our room in their wet swimming attires.

We came back the next day amidst protests from DD. A stop had to be made at Giant to collect my glasses. Thanks Chicken Rice Shop staff for keeping them for me!

I didn't get much reading done at the hotel. So the rest of the weekend was spent studying and completing my assignment that was due on Monday. The exam was held on Tuesday night and admittedly I could have done better. But then as some people say, all work and no play makes Jane a dull girl (or something like that), so I'm ready to live with the consequences.

Exams

2008-04-26T12:40:00.001+08:00

I almost freaked out when I saw her message book the other day. The note from the teacher stated that the exams will be held from 6 – 8 May. She’s taking 6 subjects : Bahasa Malaysia, English, Mandarin, Maths, Science and General Knowledge. Enclosed with the note is a stack of sample exam questions to guide the parents with the revision.

My first thought was to put her on a revision mode right away. But then I looked at the innocent face looking at me expectantly, waiting to see my reaction.

DD actually looked excited when she showed me the message book. Before letting my competitive nature rear its head, I decided to ask her how she felt about the exams. She nonchalantly said that she was not worried and proceeded to explain to me that the questions are going to be on the things covered in her books.

I decided then that I was not going to push my 5-year old to slog it out just yet. It is so easy to let my competitiveness rule and succumb to the pressure to compete with other parents. But I remind myself that though grades are important, it is more important for her to learn and actually enjoy the process of learning. Sure, the grades will be a reflection of the amount of learning that she’s done but they are not the only indicators. At this age, I feel that it is more important for her to develop other ‘skills’ such as interacting with other kids, sharing and developing her self-confident. Having said that, I do appreciate the teachers’ efforts on academic learning. It’s just that I don’t want her to feel that getting a string of As is all that matters.

She’s only 5 and all I want is for her to enjoy her childhood while developing a positive attitude towards learning.

The family car

2008-04-21T11:10:00.003+08:00

The first car that we bought was a dark blue Kia Sephia. The year was 2000 and DD was not in the picture yet. The car was a fuel guzzler and despite the relatively low fuel price then, we were already feeling the pinch to our pocket because of the long distance from home to our work places.

The car met its first road accident in 2002. I hit a stationary car which was parked on the roadside while trying to find a parking spot. I was not familiar with the place and I was actually on attending a job interview there.

The driver was still in the car so he gave me a chase for about 100m until I could find the space to park my car. He said to me with a sense of wonderment that it was the second time that his car was hit by a young Malay lady, all within a space of two weeks. His Proton Wira didn't suffer as much as my Kia though. A couple of days after the accident, I received a bill for RM500 from a Proton Service Centre. My own car's repair cost was about 6 times as much. I didn't get the job.

The car's second road accident was much worse. It was January 2003 and I was 6 months pregnant. We were on our way home from our last holiday as a childless couple in Guoman, PD. The road was wet and at a bend near the USJ toll, the car spun out of control and hit a road divider. The tow truck came less than 1 minute later.

We were fine. And fortunately for us, the repair bill of about RM20K was footed by the insurance company. But the car was never the same again. On one occasion, we were stranded on the Lebuhraya Timur-Barat (East-West Highway?) for about 2 hours. On a second day of Hari Raya. With an 8 months old baby.

The repair bills and escalating fuel prices called for a major decision. We finally traded the car in for a Honda City in July 2005. Thus far, it proves to be a wise decision. The City is reliable and it's much more fuel-efficient than the Kia.

We have set a trend of sort in the family. Since then, a few other family members have become proud owners of a City: my younger brother, DH's SIL, DH's sister and the latest, DH's younger brother.

I used to hate the looks of the car's exterior. I often told DH that it looked like a retard (I'm not particularly good at using appropriate words). He consoled me by saying that at least we couldn't see it when we were inside the car.

Nowadays, I see past the looks and am happy for the fuel savings. This car is value for money indeed.

Not well

2008-04-18T11:28:00.002+08:00

Just came back from the Doctor. Prescribed with gastricitis medicines. I slept for less than 2 hours last night because of the pain. Feeling a little better today.

Been under the weather these past few days. Started with severe leg cramps on Saturday. But I plod on to celebrate DD's birthday on Sunday.

Monday was spent almost entirely in bed due to the heavy feelings in the legs. Walking and especially climbing the stairs became a huge chore.

I didn't attend class on Tuesday because of the pain and the dizziness.

Wednesday was better.

Then yesterday afternoon I started feeling pain in the stomach. My classmate commented that I looked pale and should see a doctor.

The pain worsened last night, I could barely sleep.

Went to the Doctor this morning. Alhamdulillah, am feeling better now.

IT SUCKS ...

2008-04-17T23:32:00.002+08:00

BIG TIME!

As I was driving to uni this evening, I reminded myself again and again to berlapang dada to any adversity that may come my way. Little did I know that I was going to be tested soon after…

You see, it’s week 5 of the semester and we’ve only had 2 QDM classes. Early this week, we received an e-mail from the Management Center, informing us that Dr J would be discussing about replacement classes in our next class with him this coming Monday. I wasn’t happy but I’d been telling myself to accept it. So for the past few days I’ve been training myself to berlapang dada..

And then tonight we were told that Dr J is leaving! Tomorrow is his last day. Who told us? Of course not the Management Center, but some seniors who got to know from their ‘sources’. We were, and still are, bewildered.

I couldn’t really concentrate in OM class tonight. Coincidentally during the class, Dr R asked us whether we’ve taken the QDM course. We all looked at each other before someone said, “We are. With Dr J”.

Dr R looked shocked. And he asked, “But Dr J is leaving! How are you going to complete the course?”

Someone mumbled that in fact we’ve missed 3 weeks of classes.

My classmate asked whether we should give Dr J a farewell gift. My cynical response was that perhaps we all should see him tomorrow to bid him farewell. And then someone else remarked that the most flexible aspect about this university is the students.

I don’t know the circumstances surrounding Dr J’s resignation or retirement or whatever. Perhaps it was not planned (but the 3 weeks trip to Jeddah was obviously pre-planned, and yet we weren’t informed). But what about us? They can say that it’s unexpected but it seems that at this university, the unexpected happens almost on a daily basis. Last semester was screwed up and it looks like this semester is also heading that way.

And where’s the Management Center? Why aren’t we informed? Are they going to wait until Monday evening itself before telling us? Or are they still clueless about the whole thing? Either way, it doesn’t speak well of them. Hello people, please get yourself reacquainted with the words ‘coordination’ and ‘communication’. And if you’re clueless as to how to go about it, may I suggest that you arrange for training sessions in that area? After all there all plenty of lecturers in this university who are qualified to teach you guys about the subject.

I’m beyond disappointed. In fact I’m beginning to regret pursuing my MBA at this particular university. I don’t think I can recommend to anyone to take up a full time MBA course here in the near future.

The Center charges us RM100 if we’re late in paying our fees by 1 day. But now the QDM course has been postponed by 3 weeks. Any rebates for us?

What I’m interested to know now is, what is the Islamic perspective about universities screwing students’ learning?

It's a new phase ...

2008-04-16T10:04:00.002+08:00

of reading everything in sight. On TV, in the newspapers, on the road, at the shops. Everywhere.

It's like a newfound freedom. Suddenly a whole new world has just opened for more exploration.

If previously she learnt to read by memorisation, now phonics has helped her to figure out the new words by herself. Nowadays she likes to sit next to me when I'm reading the newspapers and she tried to figure out some of the headlines. The other night she surprised me by reading the word 'hospitality' in the newspaper. And last night it was 'profits'.

Some of her pronunciations are not perfect, but I refrain from correcting her too often because I want her to be confident in figuring out the words. I notice that she finds it easier to read in Bahasa Melayu, perhaps because the pronunciation of the suku kata is somewhat standard. Unlike English where there are so many exceptions to the rule.

On a related matter, her school has introduced spelling and ejaan quizzes starting from this week. It's spelling on every Monday and ejaan on every Friday. Plus a reading programme starting from tomorrow, where each child takes a book home on Thursday and return it to the school on the following Monday. So it is timely that her reading skill has improved tremendously. Otherwise I'd be spending a lot of time preparing her for the quizzes and reading the books to her.

That's the challenge of parenting these days. And she's only in kindergarten...

Happy Birthday

2008-04-14T10:02:00.002+08:00

Yasmin is 5 today. Happy Birthday My Dearest!

The birthday party was held at home yesterday. Friends and relative joined us in our celebration. Thank you very much for your time and the presents! We apologize for any shortcomings. It's only when you have people around that you start to notice as to how hot it is in the house and how cramped the space is.

We didn't plan to have a party this year. But DD kept on requesting for it so we decided to give in to her. She didn't really get what she wanted though. If it's up to her, there would be 2 birthday parties (1 at McDonalds and 1 at home), and she'd be wearing a white dress with pink shoes and a tiara like Siti Nurhaliza's (she said this). She'd also be holding a magic wand. And she wanted a clown too.

But what she didn't get, is replaced by some better things I suppose. She had fun with her cousins, classmates and friends. Her bedroom and mine were turned topsy turvy. As of now, the rooms are still in that state and I don't really care.

And the presents. She loves every single one of them. There were toys, music boxes (ahh! even I love them), clothes, sandals, girls' accesories, stationeries, bags and her favourite, books. Someone gave her a particularly huge and thick book. Looks like I'm going to spend lots of my free time reading with her. I'm not complaining though. And as usual, many of the gifts are pink, which,of course, is her favourite colour. Thank you again everyone for the thoughtful gifts.

She wanted to look at the presents again before we went to bed. By then, DH and I were beyond exhaustion so we allowed her to go through her presents on the bed. She finally fell asleep at 10.30 while clutching a brand new pink pillow in the shape of a heart.

It was particularly hard for me to drag myself out of bed this morning, so I texted DD's teacher to tell her DD would be late! DD was uncharaceristically chirpy though, and in fact she was eager to go to school. Well, which child wouldn't, now that she has a brand new bag, water tumbler and sandals. She wanted to bring a pencil case too but I managed to convince her to postpone it to tomorrow.

We wish we could have a private celebration with her today, but I may have to attend class this evening. So we'll see.

Anyway, Happy 5th Birthday My Dearest.

Of being a student

2008-04-10T09:57:00.003+08:00

(Warning: criticisms abound. Don't read if you're not in the mood to listen to some whining).

I enrolled in the MBA programme last November. I like being a student. Perhaps because if there’s one thing I excel at, it is at academic learning. Or because I could ask the silliest question in the world and the worst repercussion is ridicules from classmates, which is fine by me. And I’ve been lucky to get to know some brilliant lecturers who are patient enough to entertain our questions, regardless of how nonsensical they may seem.

Being a student is not all hunky dory though. I hate exams. And one thing that my classmates and I are in total agreement of is that the organizing and coordinating part at the uni leaves much to be desired. Why am I saying this? At the risk of sounding whiny and bitchy, let me try to give some examples:

1. Last week, I drove almost 40km to uni in heavy rain and thunderstorm and the accompanying traffic jam, only to reach there and be told that the class was cancelled. The Centre Manager sent us a text message at 6.05 pm to inform about the cancellation (class was supposed to start at 6.30), but for someone who lives 40km away from the uni, that’s already too late. My reply to him: “Would appreciate advance notice. I live 40km from the uni.” His reply was, “Apologies but we only knew today. But I wonder why XXXX (the lecturer) did not inform the students?” Actually, the centre found out from one of the students who went to see the lecturer at his office, only to be told by his staff that he had left for Jeddah.

2. This week, 3 out of 4 classes were cancelled. We were informed in advance about two of the cancellations, but not for last night’s class. We all waited in the classroom, but the lecturer didn’t turn up. A query with the Centre yielded the response, “Wait until 7.30.” So we waited. I left at 7.29 because I figured that it’d be 7.30 by the time I reached the Centre’s entrance. I texted to the Centre Manager, “I’m disappointed that we weren’t informed that XX class was cancelled. We waited until 7.30. This week we only have one class out of 4. I’m not blaming anyone but clearly we are in need of a better system that’s fair for everyone.” His response, “I will check with XXX (the lecturer) tomorrow. He can’t be contacted this evening. So far he has never informed class cancellation today. I wonder what happened to him.” Clearly, he didn’t understand my message.

3. Now we’re told that the class for this coming Monday might also be cancelled because the lecturer will only be arriving from Jeddah on the same day. If the class is cancelled, we will be missing 3 QDM classes in a row. It’s almost mid-term, and we’ve only had two QDM classes so far. And the lecturer has not even briefed us about the individual and group projects!

In total, there are already 4 classes due for replacements (potentially 5 if the QDM class this coming Monday is also cancelled). It’s going to be tough to slot in the replacement classes. Now I’m reminded of the nightmare of the last semester. We had so many replacement classes that while other students were busy preparing for the finals, we were busy attending replacement classes. In one particular week, we had classes on every day of the week (including Saturday and Sunday). It was followed by another week of 6 classes, with only 1 day break. It was crazy, attending classes on daily basis while trying to do revision of past topics as well as reading on the topics just covered in the replacement classes. And some classes were stretched till 11.30pm because we were short of time to cover the syllabus.

I’m very very disappointed with the way things are going. And to think that we already pleaded with the Management to make sure that last semester’s experience is not repeated. I shudder to think how my international friends are feeling. Some of them quit their jobs (one even sold his house and uprooted his family to Malaysia) to enrol for the course. The point is, we all made sacrifices in order to pursue our studies.

I think it’s time that the Centre starts being more customer-centric. Yes, we are their customers. We pay them fees and we expect reasonable returns from our investments. And I know that the centre is rich because my Accounting lecturer told me so. In fact she said that the Centre is the richest among all centres/faculties in the university. So why can’t they use their riches to improve on their services? If the lecturers are stretched to the max (which I have a feeling that they are), then they should start employing more academic staff. Right now, the lecturers suffer, the Centre staff suffer (well, from our complaints, if that can be called suffering), and mostly, we the students suffer. How can we learn in an environment where classes can’t even be scheduled properly? Isn’t that one of the most basic things?

It’s time to come out of the third world mentality!

2008-04-05T15:31:00.002+08:00

DD's classmates are mostly Chinese. When previously she spoke English with Malay punctuations, nowadays she does so with Chinese ones.

So I asked her, "Why do you speak like a Chinese? Do you want to be Chinese?"

DD's response, "No, I don't want to be Chinese."

Me: "What do you want to be then?"

DD: "I want to be Malaysian."

The other day, I asked if she would like to have Chinese pancake for tea. She shook her head vigorously and said, "No! I'm Malay, so I want Malay pancake!"

And then on another day, when she told me she wanted to "bobok", I urged her to go the bathroom. She looked perplexed at first. Then she realized the misunderstanding and explained to me that bobok means "sleep", not "poo poo".

Life's never boring when you have a little one at home.

A Story For Reflection

2008-04-04T10:09:00.002+08:00

A friend forwarded the story below.

A long time ago in China , a girl named Li-Li got married & went to live with her husband and mother-in-law. In a very short time, Li-Li found that she couldn't get along with her mother-in-law at all. Their personalities were very different, and Li-Li was angered by many of her mother-in-law's habits. In addition, she criticized Li-Li constantly.

Days passed, and weeks passed. Li-Li and her mother-in-law never stopped arguing and fighting. But what made the situation even worse was that, according to ancient Chinese tradition, Li-Li had to bow to her mother-in-law and obey her every wish. All the anger and unhappiness in the house was causing Li-Li's poor husband great distress.

Finally, Li-Li could not stand her mother-in-law's bad temper anddictatorship any longer, and she decided to do something about it! Li-Li went to see her father's good friend, Mr. Huang, who sold herbs. She told him the situation and asked if he would give her some poison so that she could solve the problem once and for all.

Mr. Huang thought for awhile, and finally said, 'Li-Li, I will help yousolve your problem, but you must listen to me and obey what I tell you. Li-Li said, 'Yes, Mr. Huang, I will do whatever you tell me to do.

Mr. Huang went into the back room, and returned in a few minutes with a package of herbs. He told Li-Li, 'You can't use a quick-acting poison to get rid of your mother-in-law, because that would cause people to become suspicious. Therefore, I have given you a number of herbs that will slowly build up poison in her body. Every other day prepare some delicious meal and put a little of these herbs in her serving. Now, inorder to make sure that nobody suspect you, when she dies, you must be very careful to act very friendly towards her. Don't argue with her, obey her every wish, and treat her like a queen.'

Li-Li was so happy. She thanked Mr. Huang and hurried home to start her plot of murdering her mother-in-law.

Weeks went by, and months went by, and every other day, Li-Li served the specially treated food to her mother-in-law.She remembered what Mr. Huang had said about avoiding suspicion, so she controlled her temper, obeyed her mother-in-law, and treated her like her own mother.

After six months had passed, the whole household had changed. Li-Li had practiced controlling her temper so much that she found that she almostnever got mad or upset. She hadn't had an argument with her mother-in-law in six months because she now seemed much kinder and easier to get along with. The mother-in-law's attitude toward Li-Li changed, and she began to loveLi-Li like her own daughter. She kept telling friends and relatives that Li-Li was the best daughter-in-law one could ever find. Li-Li and her mother-in-law were now treating each other like a real mother and daughter. Li-Li's husband was very happy to see what was happening.

One day, Li-Li came to see Mr. Huang and asked for his help again She said,'Dear Mr. Huang, please help me to keep the poison from killing mymother-in-law. She's changed into such a nice woman, and I love her likemy own mother. I do not want her to die because of the poison I gave her.'

Mr. Huang smiled and nodded his head. 'Li-Li, there's nothing to worryabout. I never gave you any poison. The herbs I gave you were vitamins toimprove her health. The only poison was in your mind and your attitudetoward her, but that has been all washed away by the love which you gave to her.

HAVE YOU REALIZED that how you treat others is exactly how they will treat you? There is a wise Chinese saying: 'The person who loves others will also be loved in return.' God might be trying to work in another person's life through you.

My Daughter

2008-03-30T19:00:00.002+08:00

Sometimes she looks like me. Sometimes she looks like DH.

In some of her photos, she looks like Nani, my niece.

When she's being cheeky, she looks like Elfa, DH's niece.

At other times she looks like Yusuf, DH's nephew!

She has my eyes and DH's nose.

She has my lips, but DH's smiles.

Her hair is thick, like mine.

She's tall and dark-complexioned, like DH.

She can be fierce, like her Mok.

She absolutely loves tea, like arwah Tok Ayah.

She has a stubborn streak, like Abah.

She loves durian, like Mama.

Just like me, books are her sanctuary.

She watches golf games with Daddy, clapping and "ooh, ahh" at the appropriate times.

She's very sensitive, just like me.

She sulks when she can't get what she wants (me again).

She's extremely shy (blame it on both Mummy and Daddy).

She and DH share a love for music.

She's moody - my trait.

It gets very lonely when she's not around.

She's very much loved.

Poppy Seed Orange Muffin

2008-03-27T14:04:00.002+08:00

It is not my intention to transform this blog into an internet cook-book because I'm well aware of my limitations where cooking is concerned. I admit that I don't like cooking because my efforts, more often than not, give far less than spectacular results. Not that I always expect spectacular results, it's just that too many mishaps can sometime affect one's motivation.

Once in a while though, I do feel like giving my loved ones special treats. And because of my aforementioned limitations, those special treats usually require simple, idiot-proof methods that even a 12-year old could follow.

So yesterday was poppy seed orange muffin day in Yasmin's Mummy's household. My ever willing kitchen helper aka DD was very excited when I told her we were going to bake muffins. So she started arranging the muffin cups while I busied myself with the flour mix. It was a semi-instant pre-mix, which I had to add eggs, water and oil. DD helped to pour the mix in the muffin cups and there it went into the oven. 13 minutes and 200C later, the muffins came out soft and piping hot.

I took half of the muffins to uni to share with my classmates. Did I mention that our classes are from 6.30 to 10.00 pm? Usually my stomach starts grumbling half-way through the class. It is too early to eat before hand, but by the time I get home, I usually am too tired and sleepy to have proper meals. Food sold at the uni's cafe are not popular and in any case, the break is too short to accomodate maghrib prayers and dinner.

Anyway, I'm glad I found the muffin pre-mix. This adds to the list of simple items that Yasmin's Mummy and her trusted kitchen helper enjoy preparing (and eating).

Chicken Pie

2008-03-26T10:01:00.003+08:00

We are right for each other: he's not petty about food and I can't cook. He has a penchant for western cuisine and I prefer a one-dish menu. He eats whatever I cook, and never says a bad word about it.

Last weekend he requested for Chicken Pie. I didn't have the recipe, so I pretended that I was a superb cook who could simply throw the ingredients into the pot and marvelously turn them into exquisite dishes.

Well, the results were not perfect but they were acceptable to our palates.

Here's what I 'threw' together and turned them into the Chicken Pie:
Chicken - de-bone and cut into small pieces
1 onion - dice
1 carrot - dice
3 potatoes - dice
Green peas
1 packet maggi mushroom soup
3 boiled eggs - cut up into 4 slices each
Salt
Pepper
Thyme
Butter
Puff pastry (Pampas brand)

Method:
1. Boil potatoes, carrot and green peas until tender.
2. Heat butter in a saucepan. Saute the onions until fragrant. Add the chicken meat and fry until it's cooked. Add salt, thyme and a dash of pepper.
3. Follow the instructions for cooking the mushroom soup.
4. Mix all the items in steps 1, 2 and 3 together.
5. Roll out the puff pastry.
6. Arrange the boiled eggs in a baking dish. Pour the mixed items in step 4 on top. Cover with the rolled-out puff pastry.
7. Bake at 200C for half an hour.

Primary School Registration

2008-03-25T10:07:00.002+08:00

Yesterday, we registered DD for primary school for the academic year 2010. A phone call to the school was made before hand to find out what we should bring. Here's the list of the items required by SK Taman Megah (lists may differ slightly from school to school):
1. Original birth certificate
2. A photocopy of the birth certificate
3. A photocopy of one utility bill (electicity/water/etc)
4. Cash - 50 sen

We arrived at the school at around 1 pm. Traffic near the school was chaotic as most part of the road was blocked by cars parked haphazardly around the school compound. The Chinese school next door added to the traffic congestion. Parents and grandparents were waiting for their children/grandchildren outside the gate and in their cars. The uncles were selling ice cream and tidbits to the school children who were streaming out from the school.

The school session had just ended for the day so it was just as chaotic within the school compound. The children were walking towards the gate whereas we were walking against the traffic flow. The sight and smell of sweaty kids, the vibrant atmosphere, the noise at the school canteen, all of these evoked the memories of years ago when I was still in primary school. Inside the school compound, it was as if time had stood still, oblivious to the fast pace of change outside.

The registration process was completed in a jiffy. The headmistress greeted us and remarked how pretty DD was (she sure knows how to break the ice). DD's registration number is 8/2008. We were told to go back to the school in August 2009 (that's next year) to reconfirm her place. As for the letter of confirmation from the school (or is it PPD), they can't tell us when to expect to receive it as it will have to go through the PPD.

So Yasmin's Mummy and Daddy, mark it in your calendar to go back to the school in August 2009, please.

Short forms and names

2008-03-19T10:01:00.004+08:00

I attended my first MPCS lecture last night. By the way, it stands for Management Policy & Corporate Strategy. The lecturer has rebranded it to 'Management Strategy' and I like the new name better. Why use long words and sentences when you can convey the same message in a more concise manner, right?

If last night's lecture is any indication, insyaAllah we are going to have a good time with the course. The lecturer just joined the uni 4 months ago. Hmm, I wonder how a class of a brand new lecturer and brand new students (almost) will turn out? Hopefully we're in for something interesting.

Although brand new in the uni, the lecturer actually has vast working experience. He used to be a Dean at a university which has surpassed UM in certain areas. He's humble too. I always have a thing for a humble person (who wouldn't?). And he didn't grill me about my name. Now that's enough to put him in my good books.

That brings me to another lecturer, who asked whether I'm Malaysian. Not satisfied with my nod, he asked whether I'm Malay. Obviously he had trouble in pronouncing my name (most people do initially), but his accompanying remarks put me in a spotlight, which made me uncomfortable (did I mention that I'm shy?). Fortunately my Kyrgyzstan friend came to my rescue and said that it's a common name in his country. I suppose my parents went globalized way ahead of their time. But honestly, some people do not realise that your name is a sensitive issue that should not be made fun of. God knows how many times I smiled lamely when people seemed amused or worse, made fun of my names. I got into many fights and quarrels during my primary school days because of my name. Kids can be cruel I guess, but you'd expect better from adults, right? But then perhaps because they are blessed with such common names like Ali, Aminah or Zainab, that they fail to understand the predicaments of some of us who have unique names. Of well, life goes on. Why dwell on things you can't change, right?

First day of class

2008-03-18T10:46:00.003+08:00

Classes started yesterday evening. It's a big group in our QDM class as we were joined by the seniors as well as some part time students. Some old classmates were missing because they had decided to join the weekend classes together with the part time students. So it's introduction session all over again.

I had more than my regular quota of coffee yesterday - 1 mug at home before I left for class and 1 cup during tea break at the uni. I must say though that the lecturer looked more tired than the rest of us. He almost seemed too glad that the clock finally struck 10.00. Perhaps he had had a long day and it didn't help that his students were not that cooperative. Well, it's the first day of class, so what da ya expect aye. We were still in our holiday mood and for the international students who just arrived from their home countries, no doubt some of them were still suffering from jetlags.

DD as usual played her tricks. First she complained that I was leaving the house too soon (I left at 5.15 pm). Then she lied down in front of the main door to block me off. Then she got into the car. It took some persuasion from the maid before she finally relented. But by then I was already feeling guilty. Well nobody says it's easy being a mother. It's like your heart is always outside of your body, held for ransom by that little person..

The New Semester

2008-03-17T09:49:00.003+08:00

The new semester has begun and my first class will commence this evening. I've registered for 4 courses for this semester:
1. Quantitative Decision Making (QDM)
2. Managerial Finance (MF)
3. Operational Management (OM)
4. Management Policy & Corporate Strategy (MPCS)

As expected, I haven't prepared myself for the new semester. In fact, I only have somewhat vague ideas about the courses that I'm taking. Based on these vague ideas, I think I'm going to love MF. As for the other 3 courses, I'm already feeling some sort of trepidation for several reasons:

1. QDM - the course title sounds interesting but some people say this is just a pseudo name for Statistics. If they are right, I'm going to need lots of coffee on Monday evenings to last me till 10.00 pm.

2. OM - I took a similar sounding course back in my undergraduate days some 14 years ago. The course title was Operational Research & Management (ORM). I don't remember much about the course. What I do remember is that we all suffered through it and some students left the final exam hall without attempting the questions. In fact just a mere mention of ORM was enough to cause heart beats to pound heavily and gallop..

3. MPCS - the title is a mouthful and I never have a good first impression about courses with long titles. Beyond that, I have a feeling that this course requires a lot of reading. As some people are prone to say, you'd better boil the book and drink the water that's used to boil it with. In one of my previous posts, I said that I loved to read, but some text books really escape my attention. One case in point is last semester's Marketing Management textbook. This book is guaranteed to cure my insomnia which is very well when my intention is to get some sleep, but not when I'm trying to prepare myself for the exams.

Initial presumptions aside, I'm hoping for some surprises. I remember having some apprehensions about the Managing Corporate Resources course last semester, but in the end it turned out to be an enjoyable course. The lecturer was good (though unconventional for a Malaysian), the book did not cure my insomnia (which is a good thing) and the course handouts were excellent.

Obviously some adjustments to my schedule will be required. I'l try to update this blog if time permits.