Expose Mistik

Okay, remember I had wanted to tell you a story about HEE HEHEHEHE HEEEEEE….?

Well here goes. You might be aware that my normal jogging kakis are Amelia and Kamil.

As it so happens I never do the deed with these 2 people, at the same place. Kamil likes the tasik and Amelia and I we like… somewhere else.., which for the purpose of this entry, I will call XYZ.

Anyway, last Saturday I went jogging with Amelia kan ? We went dah petang, where there were still a lot of people, and even more nyamuks.

We left when the sky was rosy and dusky, chit-chatting all the way, happy with the amount of sweat we produced.

While waiting for Maghrib, I tried to watch the telly with my family when Kamil who just have to channel surf kalau dak dia mengigau malam-malam, stumbled upon Expose Mistik, Abang’s favourite. So Babah drew down his remote and we settled to watch.

As the presenter talked (Pakcik Kopratasa tu rasanya….. Terus teringat Uncle Zubir Ali. Al-Fatihah kat dia, okay ?), I looked at the surrounding which from the very beginning looked familiar.

As I began to recognize a few features here and there, I heard Pakcik Kopratasa mentioned Langsuyar, immediately making my senses go haywire.

“Amelia ! Tengok channel *** (sebab aku dah lupa bukan sebab aku nak protect identity channel terbabit) kaih ! Depa buat cerita pasai tempat jogging kita !!” I sms-ed quickly.

Pelan lama tengok, pelan sure this is the place that not an hour ago I parked my car. And the story is nooooot good. Apparently that very place is haunted by 2 adik-beradik langsuyaq. Ada ka ? Pernah kah hangpa dengaq langsuyaq ada adik ada kakak. Ada ka ?

Of course they re-enact the scene and seeing the long hair and what nots walking on the recognizable jambatan, passing the well-known trees and the big boulders that I myself just went by, buat aku rasa macam nak pitam. Pastu buatnya depa bercakap dengan sora yang sugguh tak best, aku pitam sungguh. Eh dak aih…. Keh keh.

Amelia, the voice of reason was unperturbed. She gave me a “he he he”, and “takde lah…” as well as “kita kalau jogging selalu ramai orang…” brought me back to reality. I do need people to take me back down a notch a bit because I see everything in epic proportions. Think big they say and so I do everyday single day. Walaupun perkara merepek.

When I looked at my children, both of them were watching with wide eyes. He he… Just so happened, that night we went out for dinner and Kamil saja je lalu XYZ.

Remembering my childhood, I said, “Okay… pandang tempat lain… Pandang tempat lain….”, myself turning my head away from it. But my kids ! They were so brave ! Instead of looking elsewhere, like my siblings and I did yesteryear, they truly looked eagerly towards it, Adik pressing her nose to the windscreen even.

He he… Baguslah anak-anak ku… Jangan jadi takut macam Mak hangpa ni and your pak and mak menakan….

Al-kisahnya dulu-dulu, when my mom first started her business, we always have to go back to the shop to collect the periuks and the belangas for mom to use the next day. We usually go after dinner, so about 10 pm we would all climb into the van and Bapak (if he was back from work lah) would slowly drive to our destination.

We always take the same route, out from sek 8, through sek 6, passed sek 4, passed XYZ (he heh), roundabout, etc. etc.

Then one fine night, we kids who as usual were creating a ruckus at the back suddenly became silent upon hearing mom said, “Awat perempuan tu dok sorang-sorang lagu tu ?” She then went quiet and we went quieter still, the van moving on slowly. I dunno bout the rest of my family, but my hair stood on its ends, prickling with awareness. Hmm.. why lah Bapak didn’t just floor it ?

We didn’t see her sure. None of us did, except for mom but we understood what she saw. Oh boy did we understand.

After that, whenever we passed that place, at that very spot, we would look away. All heads will simultaneously look to the left at the start of the journey, and to the right when we returned home.

As time goes by, we would still studiously ignore it you know, maybe busied ourselves with conversation or just look at our laps but we never, ever dared to look. At least I didn’t lah.

Okay, sekarang aku tengok but rasanya siang aje kot. Malam-malam ? Entah … maybe unconsciously, out of habit I still don’t, I can’t tell you right now.

So seeing my children bravely looking at XYZ, made me laugh thinking about our (including lah my Bapak, the biggest penakut ever.. the road ahead of him never looked so beautiful okay… ha ha) foolishness. Kalau apa-apa hal pun check lah dulu kan….

But well actually we did ask mom about it as soon as we got home. She maintained that she saw a lady just standing there. If it was Bapak I would have pooh-ed pooh-ed it and went pfffft.. But this is mom. Mom doesn’t do kelakar bangsat.

Cerita darah ku mendidih... 3-4 minggu lepas...

Remember one Wednesday when I was like tak tentu arah about Abang ada kat rumah ke kat sekolah ke ? Well something else happened that very Thursday.

(Why aku ingat sekarang ? He he... sebab something happened yesterday and dia punyalah tak mengaku versi cerita aku betui..... sampailah aku teringat benda lain pulak... he he.....)

I got a call from Kamil while I was waiting for my kids to finish their class. His, “WHERE ARE YOU ?” was very disconcerting and scary. It managed to rise my irk too because it was so bloody accusatory.

“Awatnya ? I dekat depan kelas budak-budaklah …”

“No ! They are not in class….” Tang ni aku dah confuse. I just spoke to the teacher announcing my arrival and the teacher’s assurance that my children will be sent out in 10 minutes time doesn’t match Kamil’s very authorative‘They are not in class’.

I tell you, nothing could vex me further.

“I am here lah. What are you talking about ?”

“Bibik kata BUDAK-BUDAK TAK BALIK LAGI ! WHERE ARE THEY ?”

Astaghfirullahal-adzim.

“Hello ! They were at mum’s house. Then mum sent them to class. Apa yang tak baliknya ? Bag kelas dekat rumah. Depa balik mandi, tukar bag lah !” Aku punya angin. because he scares the hell out of me. I was perspiring from his ‘WHERE ARE YOU?’ I really hate worrying for nothing. I mean I do that a lot on my own already okay, concocting tragic scenes and scenarios at a whim. I do not need him to add to that.

His deflated “Oh…” was .. hmmm …well… maybe not deflated...more relieved than anything, was met by my scowl. Pity he can’t see it.

Hang kalut lah… Apa kes (ini aku pinjam hang, DR) Mamat ni tak leh tanya baik2. Hang tau aku ni cepat kalut, so please... don't make me more kalut, okeh..... Tauladan tak elok untuk budak-budak kalau hang kalut, aku pun kalut...

Nasihat ni...

My uncles

As I mentioned in my previous entry, last week was quite an emotional week for me.

It started of with an sms from one of my uncles in Perak. I am actually in 2 minds about copying his message here. Manalah tahu he has been silently reading my blog all this while and therefore am very sure he wouldn’t appreciate me exposing his thoughts in public.

However, and this is a very realistic fear, I am afraid that I would lose that precious message somehow and duplicating it here will ensure that I have access to it, to be read again and again as I grow old. On that thought, his sms went like this;

Yesterday 3rd Safar is de 12th year of your Tok Wan’s demise.2morrow will be my 55th year on planet earth and that means….my days r numbered,pulak. D’know whether to look forward to my retirement or fear it !

I was more than shocked when I first read it. Stunned is a more appropriate description. Terkedu dan terpegun seribu bahasa. I could feel my insides grew cold my face got warmer by the minute. Butterflies and birds and unicorns flew in my stomach.

I of course cried, right there and then at my office desk, not caring if anybody, even the dreaded HR, saw me.

I felt so sad. I don’t know for whom or what but my heart just broke. I thought for the longest time what would be the best way to reply it. I mean I would rather if I did not reply as I have nothing to say to that. I couldn’t come up with anything clever and a stupid reply would be anti-climatic.

But a non-reply is rude and he would think that I feel nothing for him which is of course untrue. I love him sooo much, I call him my own Taliban… He he… very religious, very strict. But every bit wonderful.

As I had feared, I botched my reply. I would have needed not a Herculean effort to pen a reply but a Shakespearen one to concoct a lovely prose to ease whatever that was troubling him.

And therefore I chose not to share my stupid reply because I literally want to forget what I wrote. I winced everytime I remember it so you know…. Uurrghh… I just want to put it behind me. Let my aged brain remember things differently, that I wrote back a reply so beautiful, so tender and poignant that he shed some fond tears for me.

Aku memang kuat berangan.

Anyway, not a few days or weeks after that, I received a call from my cousin Zuri.

“Ni nak tanya are you doing anything on Saturday ?”

“Why ?”

“Because Bab said dia nak pi tengok Myra…..”

“Oh ?” Dah start sebek.

“Will you be around ?”

“Yes ! Of course. Please come. What time ?”

“We are coming at 1, for lunch….”

“That would be lovely Zuri, please come okay ?”

We were driving along the KNVE highway masa tu, it was dark and it was drizzling, the perfect situation for this kind of melancholy drama that was unfolding. It should be joyous really, my Bab wanting to come over for a visit, but I felt soooo sad. Sedih and sayu…

I called my sister and started bawling. Finishing that, I looked at Kamil with watery eyes.

“Inilah awak… Suka pikir yang bukan-bukan aje…”

So he came, my Bab with Zuri, his wife Kak Hanim and their kids Adam and Rashid. Mami Ela is in Mekah with her brother Mamu Zed.

We sat at the dining table until 3 pm, talking and laughing with Bab reminiscing about this and that. I smiled tenderly at him when he talked about taking Zuri to school in the middle of London’s winter one day. As Bab put it, “The visibility was so terrible, when kita sampai kat sekolah Zuri kata, “Bab the school is gone. Let’s go home..”” And he laughed, thinking about an eposide maybe 40 years ago when his little boy was half his size. Zuri is like 5’11” now….

He talked about Taiwan, and how much he loved having my mom around when she came for a visit. I know… my mom constantly talks about Taiwan. Even the United States pun cannot compare to Taiwan… Apa ntah yang best.

I recalled when Bab and Mami came home for a holiday while they were living in Japan. Bab, my brother Syafiq and I were sitting on the grass in our front lawn, waiting for the ice-cream man to come. If people saw the 3 of us then, they would have thought, "Awww... sweet... pak menakan and anak2 menakan dok gelak-gelak... sembang-sembang..." when in fact... he he... Bab was teaching us how to swear in Japanese. It was still sweet really, because it was entertaining and we had sooo much fun. Kah kah…. but then we started throwing ‘kuso’ and ‘boke’ around after that.

Ha ha.

Bab just smiled when I muse over that day. Especially the part where the lesson ended with him buying boxes of ice-cream for us when the “ketung” “ketung” “ketung” was heard. Okay… it was definitely not “ring” “ring” “ring” okay.

At 3, it was time for Bab to go home. It was his nap time so Zuri helped his lovely dad up and put him on the sofa while he rounded up his family. Kesian Bab, he needs a cane to help him walk now. He struggled to stand, even with Zuri’s assistance, his pace slow. As I hugged and kissed him goodbye, he said “This morning I could walk quite fast… I was walking all over the house…” chuckling happily. I of course cried inside.

Before he left, Zuri whispered to me, “Dia buleh la jalan pagi tadi because he was happy about coming to see you. Now dah nak balik, he is sad… so that is why dia tak buleh jalan ….”

Oh dear.

When they left, I went upstairs with the ruse to teman kan budak2 main Wii… when in reality I needed to cry on my own.

Eating desserts.



My Bab.


The kids were not interested in food at all. Sebab dah ada guests, Wii pun muncul...


Eclairs orang order. Jangan tanya harga per piece okay as aku kira per batch. This is because, size cream puffs/eclairs aku tak pernah sama.... kira pakai batch baru adil. This one is one batch and dapat 55. Ada yang one batch dapat 25 pun ada... Okay... I will endeavour to find a metal nozzle instead of cutting muncung plastik saja....



Peanut butter cheese tarts.

My weekend

As far as weekends are concerned, the one that I just went through was quite emotional. Maybe a different entry on the reasons I got all emotional… But then really, it probably was just PMS…. Sigh…. Hard being a girl….

Anyway, Friday I had lunch with my kawan ketat. Went to DR’s office for a very official reason. Of course dia ajak lunch but memandangkan I was there at 12, I was asked to go jalan-jalan kat Giant. And because of that, I terjumpa one gorgeous thing that has sapphires on it. Dah tak leh lena… Hang punya pasailah DR oiii….

The four and a half of us, Jubei, Kamalia, DR, myself and Ayesha had lunch at Thai Village. The food was good, the portion was enormous, the patrons were just us ….

Made crema e spinachi for dinner, Kamil’s favourite during our days in England and had a looong talk with a kind hearted stranger. Well almost stranger. Zaman-zaman World Wide Web ni, we suddenly find ourselves with almost strangers and I-sort-of-know-her kinds of thing. But it was good, it was uplifting, it was sweet.

Woke up with a heavy heart because I had to work. I started clanging in the kitchen at 6.30 because I had an order of tarts and cream puffs to fulfill. Panicked at around 7 when I realized I was out of custard powder. Raced to the local grocer but only found a brand that I have never tried. Tawakkal jelah as cream puffs without custard is like errr…… chicken pie without the chicks… Boleh lah…

Anyway, it turned out to be bad. Despaired for awhile but there was nothing I could do really. My mistake was I left it too late before making them custards. Dah saat-saat genting, mana sempat nak pi kedai lagi…

So I brushed some chocolate on the puffs and they now became chocolate éclairs… Hope they tasted okay.

DR came bearing nasi briyani which was fabulous but since we had a kenduri kawin to go to, kept it in the fridge first. She arrived seeing me in Baju Kurung. "Laa... hang nak keluaq ka ?" He he.... "Dak aih... aku kat romah memang pakai baju kurung... Melayu kan.." Mungkin aku punya kelentong jadi kalau Bibik tak mengekek tang tu gak saying, "Mera buat kelakar ini...." Cess....

.

The kenduri was at mom's next door neighbour's. Some of the khemahs were at mom's house and the caterer was stationed at rumah neighbour depan. The day was hot and just our luck, we had to sit at the edge of the khemah. We ate with the sun shining directly on our backs. I had never eaten and perspire profusely at the same time before. Well now I have....

Up until 2 pm I was waiting for the call, summoning me to a meeting place but it never came. Finally when I called to ask, the meeting was actually cancelled. Well yeah, thank you for telling me ! I made plans to be elsewhere okay, but canceled it because I was told I had to work.

“Tomorrow lah….” Pulak.

Went jogging with my BFF at our usual place. More story on that in a different entry… he he….. Or should I say, HEEE HEEE HE HE HEEEEEEE….

We had a very late dinner because… sedangkan lidah lagi tergigit, apa pula suami isteri.. It didn’t happen in the kandang kuda though neither it was because my father had wanted to sell Kamil… Anyway, fights are very exhausting as well as an appetite suppressant. Didn’t eat much, just habiskan Adik’s fishball noodles soup and shared a plate of fried calamari with the whole gang.

As soon as we got home, we prepared our bed in front of the telly upstairs, switched on Sherlock Holmes, switched off the light and I went ZZZZZZZZZZZ immediately. I woke up once in a while seeing my family engrossed in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle punya temberang. I haven’t slept with the telly on in a very long while so I had a rather restless slumber.

We woke up early next morning for tennis class. Sent the kids, I went jogging again, with Kamil this time, had breakfast then rushed to Giant. Last night my cousin called, asking if we will be home for lunch because, “Bab nak tengok Myra….”

I cried after I hang up the phone. I dunno know why I felt so sad… Dah lah last week my other uncle’s sms made me cry too….

Anyway, had rice, chicken curry and teloq dadar. Mom fried kobih bunga. I made cheese tarts and chocolate cake with strawberries. Or whatever lah that cake is called. Ita and Danial brought sate. All Bab’s favourite food. Sian dia, Mami Ela is in Mekah right now, bayaq nazar… so dia sunyi kat rumah kot.

After Bab left, we cleared up the house. Then the kids asked me to temankan dia orang main game and when I sedaq, I heard Abang said, “As soon as she came up she fell asleep… She didn’t even say anything….” He he…. Dah terlena rupanya…

Had A&W for dinner, much to Adik’s annoyance. We share the same taste in food, mother and daughter, which is Malay ones please. Tak mainlah fast food ni. Pantang fast food in fact. Dia chom dalam kereta tapi bila tengok Mummy and Babah shared a banana split, dia pun order ice-cream, chom disappeared between the swirls of chocolates fudge sauce and vanilla ice-cream.

Balik the kids went to sleep but Kamil and I watched Sorrority Row for awhile. Looks good but since we were super duper sleepy, to be continued today… Kalau larat.

Oh yeah… Tak kerja pun… penat tunggu tau !!!!!

Hari melepak tak berapa jadi

Last Wednesday, I went out with my girlfriends.

Wednesday is also Dan’s futsal night so of course when a girly night was planned, I threw everything else to the wind and terkinja-kinja nak pi.

He he… sad life, I know…

But… I do have 2 kids that needed me to feed them. Malam-malam Bibik doesn’t eat. “Gemuk Bibik sekarang... Takut...” so malam dia puasa and if I don’t take the initiative to feed my kids, they will puasa too.

So they came with me, armed with story books to occupy them.

Huh… Tak jadi okeh as not 5 minutes, okaylah… maybe 20 minutes, Adik started whining.

“ I am bored !”

“ I am itchy ! The nyamuk got to me !”

“I want to go home… Where is Babah ?”

When I see Edelweiss’ daughter, so baik, so sweet… sengap aje…. I of course despaired.

Threatening them with syurga didn’t work. Sah – sah Wii dah disimpan so, what else do I have up my sleeves ?

So aku chom when I had to go home earlier than the rest.

Yang buat aku extra angin was Kamil who had dinner with Ian after his futsal promised to come and get them off my hands. Tunggu punya tunggu, tak mai-mai. When I had lifted my butt to leave then he deemed it suitable to call and ask, “You nak I berhenti kat mana ambik budak2 ?” Poodah !

Don’t blame me if he was treated with the longest chom in history !

Anyway, Wednesday was here again and knowing that his futsal was confirmed, I rounded up my kakis. This time the destination is Famous Thai. Aku dah kemaruk makan SEAFOOD TOMYAM.

He he…

Ada orang tuduh aku pregnant, but of course itu semua dusta yang sengaja mahu membuat aku sasau. It is not orang mengandung punya mengidam, okay. Just teringin yang terlalu kuat untuk dipendam. Plus it is all Ian’s fault.

Really it was.

Ceritanya begini.

One fine Monday we had dinner of Chicken Cordon Bleu (sebutannya seperti Blur, omit the R okay ? Definitely not Blue as in Biru…). Kamil’s complaints of it being too dry last time, made me served it with gravy and boy was it lip smackin’ good. We ate loads. And I mean loads, y’all.

While we were clearing the table, Ian called and asked whereabouts he can eat in Seksyen 2 ? Kamil took pity on him so he offered to teman Ian for dinner. Being a Melayu he is (although half, it is enough), he didn’t want to eat if we are not, so we assured him that we will accompany him by having desserts.

So we went to Famous Thai where Dan had Longan jeli and ayaq nyok (Air Kelapa), I had Honey Dew Ice Blended, which although was good tasted a bit like durian… hmmmm…. Ian after tasting my Ice Blended ordered one too, plus nasi and SEAFOOD TOMYAM (which I had to help translate to the waitress that he wanted it with santan and not too hot…).

Anyway, our drinks arrived first and while I was all happy (albeit a bit suspect what with the durian tinge and all) with my choice, out came Ian’s SEAFOOD TOMYAM, completely annihilating my contentment. The aroma was captivating, the soup looked delectably red and then the bloody dish got to me hook, line and sinker when Ian scooped out a piece of ketam. Then huge prawns and lovely curled up squid pieces.

I was satiated with my dinner sure but then the sight of all the crustaceans swimming about then plopped into an artful mess on his plate managed to make a gap somehow. Noreen came and ordered mee hoon goreng but it did not have the same effect on me. I wanted the bloody SEAFOOD TOMYAM but I was too full.

Aku pujuk Kamil pi the next day but he said malu nak pi for 2 consecutive days (Apakah ini ? Tak pernah dengaq pun jenis protocol ini ?) tetapi aku berjaya meng-chom kan diri sehingga dia tak tahan and bawak aku pi the day after (This is all lies. In truth I hinted to Ian and him being a good friend to both of us went to Kamil and said, “You had better take your wife for her glass noodles tonight…” Thank you, Ian. Aku pulak pi kelentong dia kata aku nak makan Yam Woon Sen when sebenaqnya aku nak makan SEAFOOD TOMYAM. Kenapa aku kelentong ? Entah… another protocol kot….).

And it was superb, people. The ketam tu yang aku paling geram sekali. Aku tak makan dengan nasi pun. Hirup saja.

Dah melalut (Terkeluar topic… ). Aku nak cerita benda lain sebenaqnya (sebenaqnya is the Northern sebenarnya. We Northern people like our Qs. And just in case if you are not familiar with this word, sebenarnya is actually….).

Okay, back to my real story. So my friends and I planned to have dinner at Famous Thai. I as usual was the first to arrive eventhough one actually said she will be there at 7.45. Tipu ! At 7.45 I was there alone until about 8. Ha ha.

Nevermind. Nevermind.

I had arranged for Kamil to take the kids out for dinner as I had wanted a peaceful girly talk. Mummy need some good conversation, okay ? I didn’t dare order my beloved SEAFOOD TOMYAM though because as I was flicking through the menu, alone… please take note of that fact, while menggonyeh nanaih and kacang, I suddenly felt a bit of a throbbing pain at one of my knuckles. Mild sure but it was decidedly there.

Ayoyo…. Gout kah ? Adakah gout boleh naik ke jari ?

Kamalia did order one though with kangkung belacan. DR ordered this lovely pumpkin custard and meehoon goreng. I of course asked for my Yam Woon Sen and sizzling tofu. Edelweiss who arrived late just ate what we ordered.

Anyway, as I was eating and conversing (which is very important to me), I saw a guy walked in and I went like, “Comeinya…” He still had his work clothes on but he looked really nice. The shirt was well tailored, wrapping his lean body nicely. But hmm… the baju looked a bit familiar. Maybe Kamil has one.

Then I thought, oh I think I know this guy because his kids looked familiar, as I was busy flicking my gaze between him and my friends when suddenly, “Mummy !!” I looked at that guy who now looked so bloody familiar and he in turn looked at me and smiled sheepishly.

“Oh my god !”

Mataku terbuntang luas.

“I tak nak balik !” Came out from my mouth automatically.

Why lah Kamil kutip aku balik ni ? I immediately went red from embarrassment at the thought of him purposely coming to take me home and from terkejutment for seeing him at all.

But then the triumvirate moved on, with my kids terkinja-kinja, happy to see me. He said, “Err… we don’t know you…” and proceeded to sit behind us.

When Edelweiss arrived, she asked, "Eh ? Tak bawak anak2 ke ?" Aku tak bawak, tapi pak depa bawak kan.....

"Eh, apa tangkap-tangkap gambar ni ? Kami nak makanlah... Jangan ganggu..." Poodah Kamil...

Lega sat. (Lega – relieved, sat – sekejap). Confused sat.

Puas aku kena gelak dengan kawan-kawan aku.

Awatlah Kamil bawak anak-anak makan kat sini ? WAAAAAAA ! Actually bukanlah tak boleh, boleh aiihhh…. Tapi aku terkejutlat sat…

Ya said janganlah husband dia mai bawak sate kambin’ sekali… He he…

Okay, why I thought he was taking me home ? Because I had a bad memory of this okay. I had the right to be anxious as once dia kutip aku balik after aku keluaq dari pagi sampai dekat pukul 7 malam, melepak ngan Amelia and Shazleen. It happened before so I know I was right to feel worried. I really thought he was dragging me home, making a scene at Famous Thai and buat aku segan al-malu nak pi balik.

Err…. I didn’t have any children that time okay, masa adegan kutip-mengutip itu berlaku. We were just married and I had no child waiting for me at home, menangis kelaparan. SO aku tak tau apa masalah dia.

Hai… my Wednesday friends, our future Wednesday meeting will have to be at a secret location !

My attempt to take picture on my own. Nampak DR saja... He he... Anyway masa nilah aku tau depa ada simpan durian so probably my honey dew from last week disimpan dekat2 ngan durian..

Selepas mendengar cerita va-va-voom ! He he...

Sunday

So Sunday…

Woke up with tummy still full. I could feel the food swimming in my belly. Mouth tasted funny as brushing teeth the night before made me gag. So I abandoned it. Night brush that is… I did in the morning okay….

Got the kids ready and was grateful that Bibik, knowing they would be needing their energy, fried some rice. Kamil and I went jogging at the tasik, me willingly doing 5 laps this time. On and on we go, willing the fats to fall away…. Were we succesfull ? Dunno.

We went to Cili Merah for drinks and I bizarrely ordered Fresh Orange. Can’t finish it though as half way through the glass, the beverage suddenly tasted so rich and nauseating.

Abang Mail of Cili Merah was shocked to see that we didn’t eat anything so come to think of it, it is quite economical to eat at William’s as one meal covers 3. Hmmm….

Watched the kids at their class for awhile before taking them to Pasar Tani. I had wanted to show Abang this one particular stall dedicated to Ben 10 stuffs only. We are going away on a holiday in March and the kids will be needing jackets. I thought the exact replica of Ben 10’s jacket in Ben 10 Alien Force would be great for Abang but it turned out to be rather heavy. Kamil was not so keen.

Pasar Tani at 11 am was sweltering. I kid you not. I scoffed ais krim potong eventhough I felt like heaving. Then we bought drinks. And despaired at the amount of garbage generated and strewn about.

To say there were no bins, there were aplenty. To say cikgu tak ajar, well my teachers taught we well. I could never, ever litter. I would rather just hold whatever it is in my hand than desecrate the earth. These people haven’t met Klaatu yet… Eventhough he is a mighty fine specimen, I don’t want him parking his space ship here. Get it ?

Went to visit PILs for awhile and when we got home, there were kacang buncis goreng, hot ikan goreng and ayam masak lemak kunyit underneath the tudung saji.

Awww man… now we HAVE to eat. Not 20 minutes ago Kamil and I decided against food, but when the piping hot dish with its fantastic aroma presented itself, you just have to eat. Well…. tak makan karang Bibik kecik hati…. So we had to really… Even Kamil’s second helping of nasi was forced. We only thought about Bibik’s feelings…. The sacrifices we make….. We deserve a medal. Each.

Went to Giant for our monthly shopping. We piled loads of stuffs in the cart, Kamil started sweating like we were still in Pasar Tani. Nevermind darling, once a month ma…. Nobody ever said being a man is easy.

At 5 he went to his parents to help shift some furniture. Adik followed Babah so Abang had his arms around me while we watched the telly. Susah nak dapat peluk Mummy lama-lama as Adik gets jealous and would throw herself on top of us. Berat wei so Mummy usually push them off. Sian….

I had wanted to make meatballs Minestrone and baguette for dinner but Abang wanted meatballs pasta. Well you dictate and I comply… what to do. I didn’t feel like pasta as we had rice in the afternoon, too much carbs in a day but takpelah….

I had wanted to bake a cake but I was too darn lazy. Couldn’t find the motivation at all. Maybe it was all the carbs making us sluggish. When Kamil left the house at 10 pm for work… at Mid Valley ( very legitimate I assure you…), I climbed up to bed. I can’t seem to get enough sleep nowadays. No matter how early I went to bed, once as early as 9.30, I will struggle to wake up the next day.

Body is old I suppose. Maybe I should stop saying I am old. Maybe me repeating it over and over again made my body believe it has aged…. Hmmm….

Anyway woke up with a start at 2.30 am from the rain and from realizing that I was alone in bed. I got so panicky, I called Kamil but he didn’t answer. Went down and I almost didn’t see him asleep on the sofa, telly blaring.

I lay down next to him for awhile, relieved to see that he was home. Watched a bit of telly then led him to bed.

Can’t even describe how hard it was for me to wake up and ambik wuduk for Subuh.

I can only manage my Sunday for now

It is Monday. Sadly the weekend failed to rejuvenise me. I have been yawning as soon as I woke up and my head hurts from it.

I must stay awake. Must.

Nothing much happened on Friday… My memory failed me again as I could not remember if we had dinner at home or makan kat luar…. Of course the memory is trivial but I just would like to remember is all….

Saturday was quite busy. The day started earlier than usual as the kids had their tennis lesson. For years I had been paying for a 2 day a week lessons….but only sending my kids to 1... Bangang lah yang amat... Trying to shift their piano classes proved difficult but luckily coach agreed to start the class 1 hour earlier. However, to mobilize the kids waaayy earlier than before proved difficult. Takpelah, pelan-pelan, eh ?

*Pelan-pelan = slowly

*Amat = very so banganglah yang amat is very stupid

When we returned home (earlier too as shifted the art class to another day), Bibik had lunch all nice and ready. Nasik of course but I ate nonetheless because she once admitted that dia segan Kamil and I never partake any of her cooking.

*segan = embarrassed

I explained of course about my bowel problems but don’t think she could really comprehend what it was. So I ate and it was delicious. Gulai sotong that tasted like something Sari Ratu offers plus simple ikan goreng but it was heaven.

*If I have to translate gulai sotong, I will kick you in the nads, okay…. You know I’m talking about you….

Kamil came home sniffling. I did wonder of it was just a ruse to back out of our plans for the night. Which then reminded me of something sneaky that I had to do so called my co-conspirator to.. well laid out the plans.

Watched the telly while waiting for him to sleep it off, if it was real lah… Should be genuine as even I could not fake the red nose and watery eyes… Although the less than peachy attitude is all him, 24/7…

We got ready by 5 to go to Min’s house. With Ian because we were going somewhere together afterwards. Min was celebrating her dad’s birthday so it was nice. We ate loads. Soto, spaghetti bolognese, lovely fruit tarts, kole kacang, kuih tako, garlic bread and copious amounts of goreng pisang.

The goreng pisang is truly nice, okay. Sweet and crispy and initially quite unreachable, in the middle of another guests’ table. Noreen took pity on Kamil salivating from afar, got up and took some for him, and for us to share of course. Since they tasted really good, Ian used his talent to transfer the whole thing to our table, which we much appreciated of course. I was full the the brim when we left, announced that I would not need dinner, a statement that Ian chose not to believe.

Oh… aku kantoi while we were there. All my tembelangs pecah and it was all my fault. I had forgotten to include the most important person in this very feeble attempt to cover Kamil’s eyes from the truth.

*Tembelang pecah = lies and cover up blew up on my face

The truth to how much our tickets cost.

It all started like 3 weeks ago. We had collectively agreed to go and watch Men in Tutus at KL Pac. I read about them and was intrigued, so when Noreen suggested going, although I was ecstatic, I had to watch for Kamil’s reaction. When he nodded his head in agreement, I jumped for joy, with glee and however else I can jump due to happiness.

I had always, always wanted to see a ballet and to see men as ballerinas sounded fantastic. Then Noreen sms-ed asking if the RM 130 ticks are okay. That was when all the problems started. Kamil had a lot to say to that, and “Am not paying that much money to see balls dancing on stage…up close and personal..near my face…” was the one that he repeated over and over again. So Noreen was to get us the cheapest one at RM 88. But the show is popular and the number of seats dwindled fast.

Noreen managed to get the RM 111 tics, which was like the 2nd cheapest one but I know Kamil would still be unhappy. That was why I needed to discuss with Ian, to let Kamil think the ticks cost as much as he deemed acceptable. He he…. The bummer of it all was, I had forgotten to tell Noreen. Well, it didn’t matter really as my nefarious plans with Ian came to naught because I didn’t take into account my Adik who showed Babah Aunty Noreen’s “I bought the RM 111 tickets” message.

There were so many sms-es in my keeping and I just do not know why my daughter chose that one to show her Babah. I must have done something wrong to be punished just so. Everything unraveled in the car, on the way to Min’s. That guy can be soooo cruel. Why didn’t he confront me earlier ? Why at the last minute when I was agonizing about the ways and the hows to not let him get his hands on the tickets and inadvertantly see the price ?

He of course kept making evil references about it while we ate at Min’s, in front of our friends. I was rather zen through all the teasings as I know my revenge will come in the form of him enjoying the show, when he realised that the depth of the hole the show created in his pocket is immaterial really (funny as I didn't even think to offer paying my own way.....very mysterious that) because it was worth it. And seeing balls tightly encased in spandex (or whatever material ballerinas like to wear) is just collateral damage. Okay, maybe collateral damage is not the right word, but you get what I mean.

KL Pac is lovely. It is situated in the middle of Sentul (Kamil got us there in 20 minutes… Well done…) but as soon as you drive through the pintu gerbang, you are transported to a different place, brimming with colonial history and promises of the future. I love it. You have to drive through a charmingly winding road to get to the KL Pac building and we were ooh-ing and aah-ing the whole 5 minutes (or less).

The building itself was nice, very well refurbished to still retain its original historical shape. The interior was classy, modern and comfortable. I can't find words to describe it really as I have used up my entire decorating/architectural vocab. Ignore my bumbling attempt to illustrate its beauty and splendour, just take my word that the place is gorgeous, in its own rustic charm.

Anyway, we were ushered in by the crowd and the lady with the mike warning us that we wouldn’t be allowed in if we were late (until there were appropriate pauses during the show) and again were wowed by the studio theatre. The walls were of somber colour sure but the seats were an explosion of colours with alternating blue, green, red, yellow, orange and black covers. Again, have to stop now as had run out of words.

I got boring yellow though. Kamil got a nicer red. Oh yeah, Kamil showing off his RM 111 ticket. Get over it !

Noreen sat on a very nice shade of blue and Ian's orange made me craving for fresh orang juice. I ordered mango though for some reason.....

The show was superb. The ‘ballerinas’ were beautiful and oh so graceful. I kept looking at their legs moving about, marveling at their strength and ability to twist that way and that, that I missed a lot of the comedy, acted by their hands and faces. Eventhough some had a decidedly male height (and Kamil said he could see their Adam’s Apple), but they moved like women, so lithe, enchanting and… feminine….

I love it.

Kamil laughed often enough so I know that he thought highly of it too. Plus, I have the evidence, please see below.

Look at that, my hubby berpeluk berbagai dengan 'Italiano ballerina' which Ian thought looked hot. Well he is. I was a bit put out because my husband gatal....

When in truth, I was the itchy one as they are all men.... Looks can be very, very deceiving. After Kamil snapped this, I turned to Swan Lake's Odette, and said, "You are lovely...." with so much feeling. And he went "Awww hon, thank you..." and as I walked away, he didn't let go off my hands....

The wizard and one of the swan maidens. They were one of the 4 ballerina divas in the first act.

He wouldn’t have taken the pics if he loathes it, okay… So I win. All his superior teasings earlier meant nothing as he reluctantly agreed that the RM 130 seat would give us better view AND we can’t see their balls, which is of utmost importance to him. Well except for the male dancers with masculine roles.

“Is that padding or real ?” He whispered during the 3rd act.

“What do you think ? Reallah...” And he slinked back to his seat. Kah kah….

We drove out of KL Pac with smiles on our faces (okay, I did… Didn’t know about the rest. I just assume they did…). We drove to Up Town because Ian needed a pharmacist and Kamil wanted rojak buah. “Very healthy…” Said Noreen.

But when ada orang asyik mention William’s berulang-ulang kali, Kamil got the picture and drove to William’s sebab takut orang tu chom. Because of that we came home fat and full and didn’t have breakfast and jogged around tasik 5 times the next day.

*Chom = I already expained to you, yeah ?

How can I describe Williams ? Good food that came in epic proportions probably is the best way I could word it. I didn’t order anything as was still full from Min’s. Noreen ordered Cantonese Kuew Tiaw that came sizzling in a clould of smoke, meant for 3 people. Ian ordered garlic naan with chicken that was really, really good but could clog your arteries because it came with slabs of butter and caramel sauce. Kamil ordered roti canai wrapped around delicious aloo gobi with lamb kebab that was indeed a delight to the tastebuds. The same one which the 4 of us failed miserably to finish off. It was waaaayyyy too much.

I wasn’t hungry but I had to help out my comrades. I had too ! The kuew tiaw came with loads of prawns and squids enough to open up your own fishmonger (okay lah… exaggeration but at RM 25 a pop, just imagine the number of the tasty and gout inducing crustaceans there were in the plate ?), the lamb kebabs went very well with the roti canai and aloo gobi, and the garlic naan ? Soft and crunchy at the same time. I really do not know how that was possible.

At the end of the meal, big bellied Kamil whined, “I had only wanted rojak buah…”

He he….

We arrived home very,very late, waddling to the door. The boys switched on the telly and watched football.

And because this entry is like super, duper long, I will continue tomorrow about my Sunday.

Who knew maintaining a blog could be draining ?

Who knew indeed…

Tengok tv pagi2 boleh angin satu badan....

Nowadays since I have to send Abang to school, I have like 30 minutes to spare in the morning so I spend it with my mom.

We were watching the telly on her bed when suddenly adalah minah ni keluaq menyanyi.

Aku tensen tengok dia. Okaylah, dia nak kawin ngan laki orang lantak lah.

Tapi aku sangat sedih bila pada satu hari tv interview anak tiri dia, budak tu cakap macam ni, “Tinggal dengan Ibu X best sebab kami di jaga. Makanan disediakan. Tapi kalau tinggal dengan Ibu Y (berani dia panggil mak dia Ibu Y and bukan Ibu sahaja…) kami tak dijaga.. makan tak terurus… Kami kalau balik pun hanya untuk tengok adik-adik.” or something of that effect. Bukan word for word budak tu cakap yek.. You get the gist, yeah ?

Aku marah sebab she stood beside them tersenyum simpul dengar budak2 ni dissing mak sendiri. Yang lagi aku tensen Ustaz tu pun ada and angguk2 kepala bila dengar anak kutuk mak.

Hang kata hang ustat, awat hang biaq anak hang cakap tak elok pasai mak depa ? Bukan dosa ka buat lagu tu ? Last time I checked, hell yeah ! Syurga di bawah tapak kaki ibu. Ada 20 perkara yang anak tak buleh buat and membuka aib mereka is one of it. Aku yang bukan ustazah pun tau. Awat hang tak tau ?

Mak aku cakap, yelah mak tu kerja dah bapak kononnya dah berbulan tak balik, mana sempat nak bagi makan, nak pi kerja lagi. Nak teriak lagi, makan hati ulam ngan jantung lagi. Busy tau…..

Sebab itu aku tak suka. Yelah, hak hang lah nak menikah lagi satu. Mungkin lah perempuan tu punya salah tapi awat hang biaq anak hang cakap lagu tu pasai mak sendiri ?

Not cool dude, not cool.

Trip to Jakarta ages ago...

Somebody unwittingly reminded me of my Jakarta trip.

And therefore I am duly reminded that I haven’t blogged about it.

He heh… it was not on purpose, me not blogging about my trip, since aku kalau kucing aku kentut pun aku nak blog gak kan (Damn… Gizmo gave birth like 2 weeks ago and I haven’t blogged about that yet !), but because of well…sigh… I’d better not explain as nobody would understand the inner workings of my brain…And aku malu nak explain my thought processes … He heh..

Anyway, pada satu hari, Kamalia sms ajak pi Jakarta. Her sister is getting married and nak pi Tanah Abang cari barang.

I of course melompat-lompat kegembiraan. My last girly trip was to Bandung with Amelia like 2 years ago and I seriously needed another one. But then when I asked for Kamil’s permission, he said, “nanti kita bincang..” which secara halusnya means, a big fat stinking NO.

I of course chom, especially when day by day, mereka-mereka yang berjaya mendapat permission bagi update selalu. Pastu pancing-pancing aku. Of course I took the bait and terjadilah satu showdown dengan Kamil on one peaceful Friday, waktu Maghrib. It was a diplomatic one though, as far as showdowns are concerned, because my BFF Amelia dah pesan, jangan paksa, takpa kalau dia tak bagi.. next time ada….

.

Aku yang sasau dengar perkataan next time kerana masa kecik-kecik my dad's next time became never, used all my wiles and charm to get him to say, "Okaylah darling, nah duit berkepul-kepul... pergilah... I am so sorry sebab I buleh terpikiaq tak nak bagi you pi... It would not happen again. Here is another wad of cash for your choms...."

Akhirnya aku berjaya jua (sadly he refused to repeat the above sentence that I have so thoughtfully prepared for him) and the next day met up with Amelia and I bought the tics ! Yeay !.

It was to be a one day excursion, to Tanah Abang only trip at that. I have been to Jakarta before on a family vacation but never to Tanah Abang. And because of that, Kamil’s sole condition for me to join this trip was to singgah Mayerstrik, like me and him did before, for his office wear material.

Cakap ngan Kamalia we have to singgah Mayerstrik, she said takut tak sempat.

Cakap ngan Amelia, takpa Myra kita satgi pi dua lah kat Mayerstrik.

Cakap ngan DR, macam-macam benda ada kat Tanah Abang. Mak ngan Pak saja yang takdak… Don’t worry. Sure ada...

Cakap aku, okay. Tapi hangpa kena ingat, future aku mengikut hangpa merewang ini bergantung kepada kejayaan aku membawa kain baju kerja si Kamil pulang. Kalau dak, sure tak dapat pi dah lain kali… WAAAAAA!

Kuku besi jugak si Kamil ni yek… Hmmm…. perubahan yang separa drastic perlu dibuat….

Anyway, flight was like errr…. 7 pagi kot. So, the plan was for Amelia to pick up Min at 3.30 am, then moi, then Ya and last sekali DR. Syu since she lives in KL would make her own arrangements.

DR said she was gonna sleep in her traveling clothes, then terus bangun into Amelia’s car, that is why aku macam ada segan-silu nak peluk dia when finally picked her up. He heh… Dak aiih…. Tipu ja….

We had a very smooth drive. We chatted and were merry in the car, talking about the trip and all. We got to the airport about 4.45 am I think, if my memory serves me right and we quickly checked in. Ya, DR and Syu sat together since they booked at the same time. Me, Amelia and Min were scattered all over the plane, which was fine really as we needed sleep.

Before that, since Air Asia adalah cekik darah, and tak soka tengok orang bawak bekai, we bought rolled roti canai for breakfast which was superb okeh. I gobbled it up while the plane was… er… lifting (can aar ?) sebab masa tulah stewardess are seated. Takut sungguh aku kena sergah sebab bawak bekai... Tak sempat rupanya nak makan before naik kapai. Punya lah tak sempat, we were called via the PA system and we ran like there was no tomorrow for the plane.

Banyak cakap sangat, beginilah jadinya. Oh Ya and Min were already in the plane waiting for us, so aku tak paham sebenaqnya how the 4 of us boleh tertinggal. Oh ya lupa dah tulih dah tadi, kerna banyak cakap.

Anyway, the plane ride was smooth. The landing was superb because I didn’t even realise we have landed so kudos to the pilot (as oppose to my flight to Perth where not only did I know that we have landed, but I heard and felt it too…..). A slight glitch in the plane when we had to fill in the Immigration Card. I had no pen on my person and to ask from Air Asia, was scary since I either have to buy the pen at 100% over the normal retail price or they would charge me per alphabet. “Sekupang satu huruf ye dik…” Jenuh aku.

Or kak probably... not dik... perasan sat.

The couple who sat next to me had a pen between them but I had a problem identifying their nationality. Again, it is the mysterious inner workings of my brain, stopping me from talking to my fellow passengers until I can determine if they are Indonesians or Malaysians.

Maybe because I have to decide on the language to use kot. Finally, dah plane nak landing dah sat-sat tu gak, I spoke in English mintak pinjam pen. Mesti depa kata awat ni orang ni cakap omputih ngan kita sedangkan sah-sah rumpun yang sama. He he…

Hai… panjangnya… Belum sampai Jakarta lagi nih…

Anyway, DR yang super efficient dah book supir awal-awal so kami dijemput mesra oleh… err… boss supir itu. And off we go to Tanah Abang. Yiiiha ! The traffic was okay, prossibly because we arrived during working hours.

Sampai je Tanah Abang, kami ber-enam mengamuk sakan sebab orang Jakarta tak paham tulisan ‘Drop Off Zone'. Kalau satu Jakarta tak paham, kenapa tulih na…? Very puzzling.

We entered the air-conditioned building, masuk dalam lift to go down to Basement or the lowest ground and the shopping frenzy started.

Aku yang claim I have nothing to buy and bawak bag kecik sandang kat bahu aje as oppose to my friends yang bawak beg beroda, was the first to part with my money. Jenuh aku kena kata. Takpa, takpa… Aku beli tudung untuk katup aku punya aurat tau dak… Nyampah !

Sigh… this is gonna be long, so why don’t I say it with pictures ?

In the car... Kijang... DR sat next to the driver, Min and Kamalia in front of us.

Smiling happily because Kamil slipped some rupiahs in mybag.

At the shop selling materials. I couldn't function properly until I get Kamil's stuffs sorted out first. I had to because the success story of this trip would ensure me hassle free future trips with my friends. DR and Amelia pun borong sekali. The materials were soft and very err... manly (can't say pretty nanti Kamil tak mo pakai..).

DR... why only now I notice that lovely purple lace behind you ?

Tengok banyaknya kain on sale... cheap cheap ones... I bought a very good Japanese cotton that would have cost like RM 30 per metre here but only RM 5 per metre there. Dah selamat dalam tangan Kak Mazlina dah to be turned into a tunic.

Semua orang separuh sasau and super busy nengok barang.. So I dare not interrupt their concentration. Much safer to take picture of meself by meself. Ha... sure aku kena fire lepas ni...

This is the only time everybody dok sengap and mata tak busy melilau, tangan tak menggeletaq pegang barang, iaitu ketika tunggu lift. So good picture opportunity. Please zoom in on their giant bags.... Ha ha...

Food was good. Although the sup yang ada jagung setongkol buat tekak aku kembang for some reason. Plus the fact that kedai sebelah juai kodok goreng, which I have the suspicion does not mean cekodok but... well you know..

Min sleeping. Amelia with her V sign. What have I bought by this time ? The lovely embroidered kain for my sister and me (Amelia bought loads of the said kain. Somehow at one point she and the lady behind the counter changed places. The Ibu stood beside me, Syu and DR watching Amelia sifting through her mountain of kains... It was a sight to behold... Should have taken the pics....)

New friend. He he.... Popeye's as background. Big mistake because I was drilled by my children on why I went to eat Popeye's without them. I didn't but they refused to listen as as fas as they are concerned, evidence was in front of their eyes. Funny how even pictures can be very, very deceiving. Nampak tak that nasi and ikan bakaq in front of me tu ?

Tergolek dog kepenatan. It was 5 pm and shops closing soon. Abang supir to arrive soon. Plane home was at 8 pm. Sesiapa yang menuduh aku sopping banyak.. sila tengok size bag aku okeh ? I stopped because money failed to flow anymore. He he... Please look at my inelegant footware. Shoes in bag and out came my trusty Crocs as soon as I arrived at the mall.

At the airport..... Using Kamalia as a cover because DR nak sangat gambaq abang Jaboy. Sayang... I didn't manage to get a good one.




Atas usaha Min. Thank you laling. The one that gave us sleepless nights is that funny black thing, melendut in between the sparkly sequinned... area. What the hell is that ? Nampak macam ada isi tau... EEUUUUWWWW !

How can I describe how Abang or Mas Jaboy came into the picture and became an integral part of our lives as a weapon to usik mengusik membawa bahagia ?

Of course, they passed him to me but in my recollection, DR yang teruja sangat...

Hmmm.... We were at the airport, queueing up to check in when I noticed this person, wearing... well this eerrrr... very interesting... nope the word is arresting.... yes arresting hat. Topi koboi yang telah diglamerkan.

I saw him sure but aku sengap aje. Tak salah aku lah, and I am not pointing fingers here, after I returned to the queue after my prayers, DR pointed to him and said, "Cuba hang tengok tu..."

And I said, "Itulah... kalau bapak aku tu, dia sure habaq sampai hati dia beli topi tu...."

Keh keh...

And DR said... apa hang cakap cek ? Aku dah lupa...

Pastu tak pasai-pasai depa pi pass dia kat aku...

Kebetulan while waiting for the plane, we sat next to him and I wasn't the only one who was valiantly trying to stifle laughter. EVERYBODY did !

Ha.... Tapi depa pass jugak kat aku...

Luckily abang-abang immigration at Jakarta was pleasing to the eyes. No harm in that but it made us forget about that hat. Err.. correction. Actually, adik-adik immigration. Jangan perasan muda...

Had frozen yoghurt and currypuffs before take off. Kamalia, Amelia and DR sat in a row and chatted. Min got a seat all to herself so she slept. I sat with Syu who had a headache and was sleeping it off. I read leftover Harian Metro left by previous passengers so yeay !

Anyway arrived safely in Sepang about 11 pm. A bit sad because my friends' girly trip was not over yet as Amelia sent everybody home. Mine though stopped at LCCT because Kamil insisted to pick me up. But I was glad to see him and the kids.

So... I had a good time. I had a smashing time in fact. Syu and DR buat perangai lagi some time in February but sadly I can't go as I already have a trip planned in March.

So kengkawan, bila nak pi lagi ? Vietnam again, maybe ? Or China ? Lagi best... he he...

Kamil.... I nak pi China boleh tak ? Ngan kawan-kawan I.... Please......

Hal Bibik Lagi

So… nak cerita apa hari ni ?

I want to talk about my maid because I am al-tension and also al-kesian.

I got a temporary maid. 2 weeks after Neti left, this lady wanted to leave her 1 month employer. Tak tahan katanya. Aku malas nak nilai mau percaya ke tidak apa dia kata kan because I only heard from one party only.

So she is only temporary while Kak M proses kan her niece punya papers at the other side. Mahal kan, ada maid ni ? Itu aku baru bayar RM 3 500… Kalau yang bayar premium price sampai RM 7-9 k, pengsan agaknya.

Nak dijadikan cerita, when Kak M's niece’s bio and passport arrived before Christmas we found that she is underage at 18. Calling and begging Immigration kat Malaysia came to naught as they insisted that maids should be at least 21.

Anyway, when the bio came, Dan was a bit disinclined. “I suka Bibik yang ada ni….”

Pulak. I don’t mind her really but the only problem is dia rajin bersembang. And aku tak reti sangat. I know susah nak percaya considering the length of my entries kan, but if I have nothing to say, why should I find something to talk about ? Memadailah dengan senyuman ku menandakan aku diam bukan kerna marah, but because I just have nothing to say.

Kalau dia cakap aku layan le, tapi nak cakap lama-lama, aku tak reti. Last-last aku sengih aje sambil angguk2 kepala.

In a way she is better than Neti. She worked in Kedah before for 2 years so she adopted her previous boss’ ways into my household. Aku tak kisah sangat. Asal ada orang teman budak-budak.

With Neti, if Kamil and I ever wake up late, memang budak-budak will be late for school or paling senang, tak pegi sekolah langsung, as we are the ones who prepare the kids for school kan. We passed them to Neti for breakfast aje while we prepare for work.

With her, the second day of school Kamil and I both terlajak (baru second day… hancuss betul…). When Kamil tore down the door to wake the kids, their beds were empty and after a mad dash looking for them upstairs and screaming for his kids, he found them eating breakfast in the kitchen.

“Tadi Bibik dah ketok pintu, tapi Kamil tak bangun….”

He he…..

So now, our mornings are easy because she made sure the kids prayed and clothed and eaten. A bit sad jugak because I am used to doing that. I do not get to see the kids much kan so I actually quite like spending the wee hours of the morning with them.

Where Neti is better is well.. she can read. So I can always sms her to thaw chicken lah, apalah. Bibik ni tak reti baca pulak. To swicth on the telly pun jenuh aku ajar. Siap tulis channel Oasis, lah TV3 lah and stick it to the fridge supaya senang dia tengok tv.

Kamil proclaimed that the house is cleaner. I have not formed any opinion on that so far. But all in all she is quite all right.. until last weekend that is.

Well… no biggie kot but ….. I don’t know her and Kak M also doesn’t know her as she is from a different kampong. Same town but Kak M doesn’t know everybody does she now, so this lady is a stranger to her. I had no trust issues with Neti because Kak M ada sebagai cagaran kan… Ha ha ... so from the very beginning I was a bit guarded, a bit wary with Bibik...

Anyway, Mum called to say that Kak M heard her talking on the phone to her son last week, telling him the whereabouts of Kak M’s house. And Kak M doesn’t like it one bit. First, Kak M doesn’t know her so she cannot vouch for her characters.

Therefore neither can she vouch for Bibik’s son’s characters too. When she first came here, her daughter who is working for a family in Shah Alam also came for a visit. Kak M is okay with that. But apparently Kak M is a bit suspicious of the the male species of her countrymen and she is a bit nervous to let the son to know where she lives.

“Kalau datang sorang tak apa, tapi kalau dia bawak kawan susah. Saya pun takut…”

Pulak. Kalau dia takut, aku apa lagi. So mum said if she wants to go and visit Kak M this weekend, say no.

Hmm…. I really hate this sort of thing.

Kebetulan I had lunch with Amelia last Saturday so I only came home close to 4. Seeing her expectant look when she saw me made me wanna hide. But foolishly I didn’t and therefore she approached me when I was reading my very much loved Harian Metro in the living room.

“Mintak tolong Mera (Kak M, nenek aku and ramai lagi orang pronounce my name as such… terima jelah dengan hati yang rela…) hantor kan (she speaks like orang Minang for some reason..I could understand if she adopted the northern accent since she was there for 2 years, but to speak like orang Nogori… well I couldn’t find the connection..) Bibik poie rumah M. Anak Bibik yang jantan nak datang….”

Here we go.

“Kak M bagi ke anak Bibik datang ?”

“Bagi….”

Hmm… aku adalah tidak suka. Janganlah cakap macam tu dengan saya Bik…. Please do not kelentong… I know I do kelentong my boss from time to time but aku tak duduk rumah dia… But to have somebody who lives in your house buat macam ni is a bit off-putting and frightening…

Err... so aku counter kelentong, saying my PIL are expected so I can’t go out.

Malam tu, I sent her to mum’s for mum and Kak Idah to have a bit of talk with her. Rupanya, apart from not trusting Bibik’son, Kak M’s worst fear is if the son whisked Bibik away. Since Bibik do not want to work for her real employer, and had taken salary advances before she even came to our shores, Bibik has to pay the advance and the cost of getting her here, meaning the RM 3 500 to the agent.

Plus, the agent yang garang macam singa tu has to find replacement for the employer she absconded kan so Bibik definitely have to find either a new employer or berhutang dengan agent tu.

So if I decided to take her then pay the RM 3 500, then the agent can use that money to find a replacement for her previous employer. But if she ran away from me to be with her son, then I have to fork out about RM 1 500 – RM 2 000 to get another maid.

That is why, kata agent itu pada mak aku satu hari bila mak aku berperang dengan dia on Kak M’s behalf, agent kat Malaysia sepatutnya charge RM 7 k so that bila maid lari ada “uang untuk dicari ganti…”

Itu yang Kak M beria benar tak bagi anak lelaki dia datang rumah… sebab takut dia bawak mak dia lari and things will be messy.

Hmmmm…

I got a bit takut lah of course when I hear all this. Takut anak dia datang buat kacau… Yelah, we don’t know him kan. I also takut if she runs away after I paid for her. Itu more aku takut kepada si Kamil lah. I am sure it will be my fault walaupun dia yang beria suka Bibik ni..

But, of course aku kesian. Anak kan… Rupanya dah lama dia tak jumpa anak dia yang ini.

Mum pun kesian jugak and when she suggested for the anak to visit just once pun Kak M tak bagi. “Saya tak mahu rumah ini jadi tempat perjumpaan lah, buk… Nanti jiran-jiran marah. Kalau di panggil Immigresen dan ada yang tak ada permit, ibuk jugak yang kena saman..”

Hmm… betul jugak. Ntah-ntah anak dia illegal.

So sekarang macamana ?

Mum said, let her talk to the son lah once in a while. Itu I have no problem, as Neti has her own phone tapi aku takut lak dia nak bagi alamat rumah pulak.

But…. she doesn’t know how to read kan…

I took the easy road and told mum that I do not want her services as I cannot handle these uncertainties. But mum said she likes working with me. Plus, since Kak M’s niece is only 18, I have to wait 2 more years for her to come.

Hmm…

This is hard. I am afraid that she would run, that her son could be a problem, like being perampok instead of kerja kilang etc. etc.

But then, how can I deny her seeing and hugging and kissing her little boy ? Buatnya sekarang aku serba salah nak peluk Abang and Adik kat rumah.

Dilemma. Dilemma.

My weekend

It was a very tiring weekend.

And a very trying one also.

Let’s see…. Friday aku chom dengan Kamil. And him knowing aku chom lari naik atas to read bed time story to the kids. It was 10.30 pm and I decided to retire jugak, well… chom sengsorang tak best. Chom yang successful ialah chom yang dirasai oleh orang jahat itu. Chom yang tak dak witnesses… no point.

Anyway baru nak naik atas, my mom called and it wasn’t pretty. The fuse box dekat luar terbakar. Then chom tak chom aku lari naik atas gerak Kamil because mum said, “Mummy takut…..”

Kamil was upset because mum was alone.

We arrived in 2 minutes to see the house dark and my family outside the house. TNB was on their way. Mum looked okay although she looked tired. Esya was bawling her eyes out which is very typical of her. I barked for her to quit it and she did. She wasn’t alone actually, there were plenty in the house but she was scared all the same. Poor mum.

TNB came, had a look and promised to come back as they received another emergency call somewhere.

I of course ordered mum to pack up and follow me home. Esya of course made noises again but one warning look from me was enough. My younger siblings followed Ita home.

Masa ni I thank Allah for mum’s lovely menantus.

Yang kelakarnya Ita and Daniel came for their usual night visit. Sampai-sampai tengok semua orang lepak kat luar, so dia orang pun join lah. Dah lima minit baru tau sebenarnya rumah tak dak api... Keh keh....

Dah mum in house, aku of course tak tiduq but berlengkor with mum, sembang-sembang until about 2 am. Next morning, Kak Idah (mum’s maid) had walked home, anxious about the house. Again, thank you Allah for Kak Idah. She is a rare gem. She likes to walk this one. Sometimes aku menjerit terkejut tengok dia yang tiba-tiba muncul kat rumah aku., saja nak melepak… keh keh.. Nak hantar tak nak… “Biarin aja aku jalan, ngak apa-apa….” Suka hatilah ko Bik….

Went to send the kids to their classes, then off to sek 13 for a bit of spa treatment which was nice. Oh, macam nampak si DR lintas jalan depan opis dia about 11.15 am. Hang ka tu, DR ? It had better be you because I honked and bagai lambaian sungguh mesra.

Picked up the kids, and Amir too. Amelia ajak lunch. Her sister is home and haven’t sat down with her sister in a looong time since she moved to JB. Had lovely mee kari. And jeli kelapa which is Amelia’s favourite. Sembang-sembang until 3 pm when it was time for her son’s class. Since I was leaving, I sent him (and his dad has to send his glasses afterwards…. Ha ha) to his teacher. And ada orang tu jelir lidah kat aku from the safe distance of the third floor…. Cuba ko buat bila kita sama level... Aku malas je nak larik naik atas, okeh... Ha ha…

Kamil had to work full day so we watched the telly at home and baked cupcakes. Kids had a great time loading the icing and sprinkles on top…

Adik loves the purple icing.

Abang loves the green one.

Tension dengan Bibik baru kejap… well not kejap but lama. Mail was home because his birthday is today. Mum made nasi ayam which was super delicious. Seriously it was really good I kept eating.

Mum said that 6 TNB men came to repair her fuse box. Kamil said, “Yang kejenya satu, yang lain claim overtime…”

Ha ha… Mum said, “Noo….. masing-masing ada kerja depa… Sorang buat yang ni, sorang buat yang lain.. Depa semua tunggu turn buat what they specialize in…” Ahh… so all this while aku dok kutuk TNB lah, MBSA lah dan badan2 yang sewaktu dengannya hantar reramai orang buat kerja tapi yang actually buat kerja 1 aje...adalah tohmahan semata-mata ? Mereka ini sebenarnya buat pengkhususan ? Oh tidak… Ampun !

Sunday Kamil pulak chom. Well he said he had to be at the office by 9 am, so I asked him to send the kids to class. How would I know he had the time for breakfast with me ? After locking himself in the bathroom (we never lock the bathroom. Never… so serious jugaklah chom mengada dia ni…), and the kids laughing madly, sent the kids then had breakfast with him… Manja lah tu..

Sampai rumah aje, Amelia pun sampai. She was picking me up for a trip to Pasar Tani. Yeay ! I love Pasar Tani trips with girls. Boys susah… Budak kecik lagi susah… But Amelia’s niece behaved really well I should say. As usual I claimed I had nothing to buy but I still brought home 2 tudungs and cute t-shirt for Adik. Hai….

Picked up the kids with Amelia. And since Babah wasn’t home, we watched the telly and ate junk food. Nothing much to do really. I kept calling mum making sure everything was okay.

Made 2 batches of cream puffs for a regular customer. Sent it to her, sent some to PIL then we went to have dinner where my hubby spilt Abang’s drink on us. Satu gelas besar tumpah okay. Dah lah tempat tu sejuk. Abang and I were shivering at the end of the meal.

I was upset because none of us had it in us to membebel. I kept telling the kids to “please bebel sebab kalau kita yang buat ni Babah bebel sampai esok pagi…” but they didn’t. I didn’t either because I am not a nag. So … he managed to get away with it with minor comments like, “Bah !” and “Kamil ! What have you done ?” and plenty of laughter.

Aku tak puas hati sebab kalau one of us buat, mamat tu mesti berleter panjang-panjang okay ? The injustice of it all. Must learn to nag. Must !

Plus, he had done this to me before. Way when we were about 18 or 19, he spilt a glass of coke on me. Pastu when he went to get another glass, he spilt that one on me too ! Percaya tak ? I remember our friend Shahrin’s horrified face the first time and him cupping his face with his hands the second time. I remember Jin Hun’s giggles the first time and his incredulous “Alamak, Kamil… Again ?” the second time.

Can you believe that guy ? Can you ?

When we got home, Kamil ada hati ajak pergi re-fill Touch and Go. So after tukar baju and mandi sedikit sebanyak again, followed him out. Aku berletiaq tak tau, tapi chom memang expert. Tapi takleh chom lama because he filled my car with gas and refilled my Touch and Go too…. Mudah di beli rupanya aku ni…

Hai… What to do…

Watched ‘Ghost of Girlfriend Past’ sekejap because Abang said the movie is about “This guy kan Mummy, he has a LOT of girlfriends…He has like 30 aah.. or something. So one day all their ghost came to haunt him….”

Ha ? Ye ke ? I thought it’s a romantic comedy ?

“Yes… one kan mati kena makan dengan bear… and another one …”

Wait, are you telling me all his 30 girlfriends are dead and he is still alive ? Eaten by a bear ? Really ?

“Yeah…. Ermmm….. maybe lah… Err… I don’t remember anymore….”

Since I have never seen it, I was very much curious. So far, belum lagi ada yang kena makan bear, so will sambung tonight.

Hmmm…..

Why you so like that, ah ?

I don’t know why I suddenly remember this.

This story happened when we were living in Leicester then and Abang was about 6 months old. When we were living in Nottingham, our local supermarket was Sainsbury’s and therefore when we moved to Leicester, eventhough there was a perfectly nice Tesco in the middle of the city, we still walked past it to go to Sainsbury’s, situated at the fringes of the city, near the bus depot.

This is Beeston... To go to Siansbury's we have to walk past Dixon... maybe about 3 minutes walking. However, Dixons seems to be on the wrong side to me... Gambar tahun berapa ntah ni.

I suppose we were used to it, familiar with the products and all. Plus we do have Sainsbury’s Loyalty Card.. Ha ha…

So anytime we needed to stock on supplies, we would wheel Abang out in his stroller and the 3 of us would walk through to the city, sampai Sainsbury, do our shopping and pay.

It is not that far really because we ourselves lived in the city kan, but then to walk for like 30 minutes (more if I decided to look in Next or Dororthy Perkins or H&M or worse masuk The Shires, the only mall there, mau jugak 2 jam.. kah kah…), hands laden with goods, that is another thing.

Leicester City.. although I cannot remember that clock tower... Hmmm.... But it looks like to be near the Haymarket....

Luckily we have Abang’s stroller and what could a set of parents do but hang some of the bags at the stroller’s handle … or whatever it is called lah, a normal practice kan, done by parents all over the world.

Anyway, pada suatu hari, we went to Sainsbury’s as usual. Kamil stocked up on bottled water sebab air kat UK tak sedap. Well tak sedap untuk tekak Malaysian lah. I saw him piling both handles of the stroller with the water bottles. As I was busy transferring groceries from the cart to the counter, I pointed it to him, requesting that he transfers some in the basket underneath the stroller.

“No lah… okay tu… Tak berat…” Jawab laki ku yang tak mo percaya kat bini.

Tak sampai 5 saat, stroller tu terbalik dengan anak ku yang tembam membam sekali kat dalam tu.

Tak menjerit. Dengan aku dengan shoppers lain dengan pekerja Sainsbury’s.

Gambar hiasan. It didn't happen in this particular Sainsbury's.

I got to him in lighning speed. Not Edward Cullen nor Superman could have done it better than me. I plucked him with my heart already at my throat, only to be greeted by his smiles. Suka lak dia. Si Kamil *&&%**## pushed back the stroller up right and it fell again. The crowd gasped. Bangang lah mamat ni. As I have said earlier, the back of the stroller is too heavy from the weight of the water bottles. Saja je nak tambah drama.

After assuring the concerned mat sallehs that my baby was fine, Kamil paid up (red faced of course) and mulalah sesi aku mengamuk sakan sambil gelak. I dunno why I do that sometimes. Aku panas hati ni but aku gelak… Stupid really because it lightens the gravity of the situation somehow and therefore Kamil escaped lightly.

But he didn’t. A week after that, a mere week after that in the local newspapers bahagian Surat Pembaca, a reader from LEICESTER wrote a letter warning parents against hanging their heavy shopping bags on the stroller as last week he/she saw a stroller terbalik kat Sainsbury. He/She then advised that it is prudent for parents to carry the bags on their own as they safety of baby in the stroller is at risk.

Korang rasa Mat Salleh tu cakap pasal sapa ?

Sapa ?

Sapa ?

Kamil tak mengaku.

It has been a week, he said.

Sayang aku dah hilang that piece of newspaper.

Hmmm… hilang ke atau sengaja dihilangkan oleh seseorang yang sekarang dah separa botak ?

So sekarang, malu dak ? Tak pasai-pasai kami pi Tesco lepaih tu.

Tak mau dengaq cakap lagi !!!! Tak pasai-pasai masuk paper.

Tesco. Sainsbury's is nicer, really.

How A Mom Can Go Crazy

Things are hard nowadays. The kids are getting bigger and therefore they have more activities to be done in school.

First day of school Abang returned home with the news that teacher has assigned him to be in Kelab Permainan. “So every Wednesday which is tomorrow kan Mummy, I have to be in school pukul 4 sampai pukul 6 to play.."

Ha ?

First question is, sapa nak hantar ?

Second question is, will he be safe ? Since Abang’s school is a 1 session school only, petang-petang takde orang kat sekolah.

Third question is, my children are busy. I mean, I know that their time is filled with activities but this year, I find it hard to juggle their schedule. Logistics is a nightmare and then nak tambah lagi ?

“But Mummy, cikgu cakap I must go… I want to go ….” My son said.

Babah asked, “Sapa nak hantar Abang ?”

“Hannah pun pegi so saya ikut Hannah lah, Aunty Wawa ambik…”

Pandai je kau.

Abang loves to socialise and he loves to play. So this Kelab Permainan is like a dream come true for him. That night when SIL sent her kids over to the house for mengaji, I asked if indeed Hannah is going. Plus she has two elder children and therefore has experienced all this before.

She said, no Hannah is not going. Eventhough it is compulsory, but after spending tones on Hakeem’s Scouts gear and him losing interest after 4 meetings, she doesn’t want to go through it again. Plus, she said the teachers were never punctual.

So I worry. I know I was given a free reign when I was smaller but I just can’t seem to allow such freedom for my son. When I was 8, I walked from our house in Sek 8 to our old house in Sek 6 to play with the ex-neighbour kids. Alone. Hell, my friends and I jogged early in the morning to Taman SUK to catch ITM students berendek subuh-subuh hari. Ha ha….

But my son ni boleh ke ? I felt I was street wise at that age and looking at his very baby-ish attitude, well aku just tak percaya. My fault really for mollycoddling him then. But after Nurin and Asmawi and that other girl I have forgotten the name, aku tak sedap hati.

Kalau ada Hannah takpelah jugak. Buatnya dia pergi and there was nobody in school, macamana ? Tak senang duduk aku.

I tried explaining and his very resigned “Okay……” was very sad. So I asked for Kelab Permainan's teacher’s number and assured him after talking to the teacher then I might make a more favourable decision for him.

So yesterday was hari Rabu. I was obsessed about Adik and about Abang. When I sent him to school, I gave him RM 2, something which I have never done before because dia bawak bekal, to his delight. “Just in case if you go to the meeting…”

At the office I realized I left my mobile at home.

I quickly called Kamil, asking him to call my sister (who had agreed to send Abang to the Kelab Permainan meeting) to not do so.

Afternoon, I called my mom to sembang and she said she was with Marlin at Abang’s school. Ita sakit mata. Time Adik balik sekolah I called my mom again to ensure she has my daughter with her. Hearing Adik’s voice at the background was a relief.

I was busy therefore was surprised when I finally looked at the clock, it was already 5.20. Kelam kabut turun for Asar, and because there were loads of people in the surau, I was at my desk again 5 minutes before office hours is over.

I was rushing for some reason. I quickly packed my stuffs then I rushed to the car and my wheels were screeching. Sampai dekat Brunsfield Apartments, I who was still confused with my need to rush, saw Tesco Extra and decided to stop to buy ingredients for lasagna.

While I was paying, I was still stemming this need to rush home when I noticed something that Abang loves to eat and then realization hit me.

Abang. Where is he ? Did my message to not send him to the school was relayed to the right people ? Aku takdak phone. Maybe that was why I was rushing to get home. I had to check on Abang. I have to make sure he didn’t go to school. It was already 6.10 pm and if he really went, I am already 10 minutes late. But then Kamil did say he had informed Ita about not sending Abang but it was Marlin who picked him up from school. What if Abang dah pesan kat Cik Yin suruk ambik pukul 4 and Cik Ta terlupa nak bagitau Cik Yin jangan ?

Aku berpeluh-peluh tang tu jugak. It took all my might not to dump the groceries and race home. I calmly paid for it, calmly walked to my car, banged my head on the steering for forgetting my mobile then zoom-zoom.

In the car, I was cursing myself for having the nerve to pay for the groceries. I should have gone straight home. I didn’t know whether to go to school first or home first but then decided that I can only be sure when I get home. Buatnya aku meraung menjerit-jerit macam orang gila cari Abang kat sekolah tapi alih-alih tak pegi, buat malu aje.

As soon as I opened the door, I heard what sounded like Abang’s voice saying , “It’s Mummy !” but aku tak puas hati. When my eyes finally caught his face, then I allowed myself to relax. And breathe.

Yang bestnya Abang cakap, “Mummy teacher said hari ni takde perjumpaan. We start next week…”

I can never, ever leave my mobile at home again.

Tak pasai-pasai sakit kepala.

Cerita lambat 2 hari...

Happy New Year, peeps !

Sorry, lambat sangat nak update… I had a very, very long weekend. Too much to tell, well more for my own reading really as I treat my blog like a diary. SO this is gonna be long.

Tuesday right after work, I went home to pick up hubby and kids and then straight to my BFF’s house for a small birthday party. Hers. Ha ha…. Aunty Gini made laksa and it was delicious. There was keropok to be crumbled into the laksa, cendol and excellent keropok leko. We ate loads.

We were there from 6pm till 11pm. It was heaven. Kamalia and family balik awai, but the rest of us tak reti nak balik. Kah kah…

Wednesday while I was having lunch, my sister called to say that my mom had collapsed and was in a small hospital in Shah Alam.

I was calm for some reason. I finished up my lunch before I went to the hospital. And then I panicked. First because the calls from Perak started. Her brothers and my grandma were firing questions about her condition. Since I just found out myself, I had nothing to say. But their calls suddenly made me a bit scared. And all, I mean ALL of her brothers were already on the way.

Second, seeing my mother on the hospital bed made me even more scared. My mother was awake but she couldn’t talk. She didn’t seem to recognize me either. It was scary. My brother and sister who sent her to the hospital were crying their eyes out. My dad was rushing from KL, he was in a middle of a meeting but left it to be with my mom.

The doctor told me that she needed a neurologist ASAP. Called my dad and he wanted to send mom to UH. My parents do not trust private hospitals as they believe private hospitals only have interests in money. But the doctor doesn’t agree as my mom needed to be under an MRI machine like 2 minutes ago. Going to UH would put her in a looong queue. So I asked for mom to be sent to SJMC.

Bapak climbed in the ambulance with her, Kamil and I went home to send Adik then we rushed to SJMC. At SJMC Kamil said, “Now we wait for your uncles to come…..”

Sigh. My uncles are very, very protective of their siblings, especially my mom, their Yong. To me, if the Perakians come, then things are definitely serious. Uncle Kamal arrived first with his wife, 2 daughters and his son Farhan who himself is a doctor.

Uncle E arrived like 20 minutes after that with Mak Nyah and my grandma. Uncle Mat who was on the way from Penang (he was on holiday… sian dia), called like every 1 hour.

Looking at my very worried realtives, Kamil remarked, “Tak semua orang boleh buat macam ni… Your mother has really good adik beradik….” I agree. That is why, I love my siblings with the same fierce intensity. And I love my uncles the same way.

Sebelum apa-apa, sempat jugak aku sms DR and cancel aktiviti merewang kami… Takpa laling, minggu depan kita buleh cuba lagi sekali, okeh… Ala… dah tak sale lah tapi….

Marlin stayed with Mummy in the hospital as I had to take my Uncle, my Aunt and my Grandma home. Uncle E walked to his car first. He has never been to my house and therefore had to follow us from behind. I was delayed at the lobby talking to my Bapak. When we drove out, saw Uncle E’s car, waved at him to make sure he saw us, he did, and we drove off.

Nak dijadikan cerita, as we drove pass seksyen 11, Uncle E called me. Heran gak.

“Err…. Uncle ada big problem ni….”

“Why ?” I asked.

“Uncle tinggal Wan dengan Mak Nyahnya kat spital !” And he chuckled, then laughed.

WHAT ?

“Uncle ingat Girl bawak Wan, pastu tadi Wan call Uncle tanya kenapa lama sangat….”

Apa lagi, aku pun gelak macam orang gila. Mati le... Wan aku dah tua-tua ni sensitive Ya Rabbi. Mesti merajuk maksima punya. After assuring Uncle E who was laughing hysterically (I think more of fear than mirth….) that I will pusing and pick her up, I called my brother who was still in the hospital to take my Grandma and my Aunt home. Left Uncle E at home and straight away went to Cili Merah to tapau dinner. It was about 11 pm. Nasib baik I called earlier to order. Wan arrived with muka 5 duit (I would too kalau kena tinggal anak and cucu…). Mak Nyah gelak aje… Keh keh…

I had a sleepless night. Worried about my mom, about my Wan who hated my house (Sunyi sangat rumah ko ni…..) and just about everything.

Early morning I went to tapau breakfast for my family before going back to the hospital. Alhamdullillah, my Mummy was better. Since the MRI showed nothing, they wanted her to do MRA. Didn’t know that MRA even existed so Kamil started asking around. Went home to get the kids and when we returned to the hospital, my brother Mail was there. Oh joy, oh elation, oh happiness.

Then, my uncle Mat muncul. Alhamdullilah. Sian dia, had to cut his holiday short.

Next day, pagi-pagi lagi I was already at the hospital. It was New Year but it meant nothing to me. It is just another day. I was happy to see mum well, up and about so I lay down next to her and we watched the telly while I had my arms around her waist. That was how MIL found us. She was at the hospital for FIL dialysis so Kamil went to fetch her from the Dialysis Unit to my mom’s ward. Kalau ya pun si Kamil ni, bagilah warning awal-awal.

Mum was discharged that very afternoon after the MRA failed to show anything. I was both relieved and scared because if it was not stroke, then what is it ? I wasn’t with her though when she was discharged. I had to rush home to make 300 cream puffs. Waaaa !!!! Nak cancel tak boleh, my mum wouldn’t let me. SO I had no choice.

Luckily I already have a temporary maid to help me. While I piped the pastry, Kamil filled them up with custard and brushed chocolate on top. We made it just in the nick of time. I hate working against the clock with that perfectionist husband of mine. Tak cantiklah, why lain-lain size lah… Wei, aku tak de masa nak ukur ni ha…. Asal sedap okay. Luckily customer called to rave about its taste and made no mention about its shape. Ha ha…. Sorry.

Saturday Kamil had to work and I went around the usual flurry of classes. Afternoon we took my mom to Subway for lunch (she had a sandwich with nary a dollop of mayonnaise nor a slice of cheese. I was being strict. We then went to Cheras to visit my mom’s cousin and stayed till late afternoon.

Had dinner somewhere, I just don’t remember anymore. Kamil announced that he was playing football with Anu and Shazmi, I decided to follow as… well…. kelmarin I watched Jennifer’s Body. Halfway sure but still… well…. Kalau Edward Cullen ngak apa-apa… ini bukan Edward Cullen, tapi hantu syaitan… Err… ignore that…

Anyway, it rained in the afternoon, so the padang was wet. They played at the field in front of the library tu, tempat mat-mat kerempit (mat rempit yang naik kete….) melepak so it was crowded. The air was nice and cool and people were aplenty eventhough it was like 10 pm. Ian joined us so the four of us watched Dan and his friends played while scratching our bodies.

By 11 pm, the kids dah mula merengek, so I counted on Ian’s kindness to take us home. Now, here comes the problem. I needed access to my house yeah, so the house key is important. But since Kamil parked the car in front of the masjid but played in front of the library, Ian sent me to the car then sent me back to Kamil as I had to give him back the car key. As I walked to Kamil, he asked “You ambik tak sekali remote gate ?” Damn !

I trudged back though the very wet grass, practicing a sheepish smile that I hoped would not irritate Ian (he was very gracious….Alhamdullilah), went back to the car, grabbed the bloody gate remote, masuk balik dalam kereta Ian and when we got to the boys, padang dah kosong.

Cess.

Sampai rumah, Kamil mandi and what not and the kids so wanted to see Jennifer’s Body. Okaylah. Aku tak tengok so concentrate mata tang lain. I did ask them to wait for Aunty Noreen though, tapi depa tengok gak. But when Noreen came, suddenly the movie was played at the very beginning again.

“Rosak ke Abang ?” I asked.

“Taklah… I rewind it so Aunty Noreen can watch it from the start….”

Awww…… what a sweetheart.

Tapi Aunty Noreen tak nak nengok sebab dia selalu balik office malam-malam… Ha ha…

Ian and Noreen left about 2 am and we went to sleep.

When we woke up on Sunday, it was already pouring so no tennis for the kids. I baked a chocolate cake which turned out beautifully I must add. I will definitely keep the recipe and bukan campak dalam tong like I did with some. Ian came with Haziq. So the kids played Wii and we talked and watched the telly downstairs. Called Domino’s for pizza. I didn’t cook because I was busy preparing for my friends who were coming after Maghrib.

So while I surreptiously watched Paranormal Activities (bloody disturbing… not scary but very, very disturbing…) and All About Steve, I made cream puffs again (with chocolate cream this time) and spaghetti carbonara.

Ian and Haziq left about 6.30 pm and by 7.30, Lina, her daughter Isha, Kak Liza and Fid arrived. Makan and sembang. The kids played upstairs.

It was tiring, running about and doing this and that, but that is life I suppose. I was very upset and worried about my mom, but I had my friends who made me feel better. Thanks to my friends who called and asked about my mom. You know who you are. Thank you from the very bottom of my heart.