My last day..

Hari ni my last day kat my Division. I have been rotated and will start in a new division (although same department) Thursday ni. Sedih. My boss satu hari ni ngan aku hari ni. His office is actually elsewhere, tapi dia datang tadi, guna meja belakang aku. We had lunch together, and sembang-sembang while we did our work.

Pagi tadi aku sampai dulu. Aku dah keluarkan kotak letak tepi meja. Selama hari ni aku sorok kotak tu sebab takut dia meletup bila dia nampak. Tapi dah hari ni last, mana nak disorokkan lagi. So tadi bila dia sampai, dia terus nampak kotak tu. Aku tengok muka dia berubah tapi lepas tu dia senyum tengok aku.

This division was my first assignment dekat company ni. Next month will be my third year here, actually. Dalam tiga tahun, aku merasa 4 boss. Aku ada ramai staffs yang aku sayang and ingat selalu. Alhamdullilah staffs yang dah lama left us masih sufi jawab phone calls aku. Some aku rasa still ingat aku boss dia orang sebab still very apologetic bila dia orang lambat jawab. Hahahha.

Yang mana masih stay dalam company yang sama tapi cuma tukar division or join operation masih nak instant message aku. Alhamdullilah.

My boss ni dulu manager aku. Lepas tu he was rotated to other division as head. Last January he was asked to take care of my division ni as head jugak sebab my boss, DX was transferred to join operation. Therefore I have been with him for 2 and a half years. Dia selalu cakap dengan aku dia suka sangat our team masa dulu-dulu, under our then boss RR and kemudian DX. We had a lot of synergy, he said. We were good with each other. Something that he still cannot re-create yet.

Sedih. Aku pun selalu rindukan apa yang we had dulu. Masa aku mula-mula masuk dulu as the 7th member our team kecik aje. Lepas tu add a few more and then things were so much fun, so nice. Lepas tu we changed office, our biggest client was sold and everything changed.

I too hope that I can re-create what we had last time. My team now is bigger. I have 18 staffs to supervise and 3 bosses to answer to, as oppose to 1 now. Hahah... dah start tension.

Takpelah. Toksah lah cakap pasal ni lagi.

Tendonitis

Aku sangat penat. Malam semalam balik pukul 12 malam lebih. Seriously I am not fit for all this, this balik malam malarky.  Anyway sebab tak cukup tidur semalam, hari ni aku banyak terlentang macam sotong. Takde tulang kan. Such a lazy Saturday for me and a painful one.

Sejak balik dari holiday aku dok rasa kaki kebas. Kebasnya pulak kat kaki yang problem tu, my gammy left leg. Lepas tu kenkadang sakit lak bila berjalan. The kebas and the pain pun macam biskut aje, so aku malas nak pi doktor. Buat habis duit company aje bayar. Hehehhe.... sayang company konon. 

However semalam pepagi dah sakit, aku takut gak. Sampai-sampai office terus buat appoitnment. My ortho is in a hospital where I live, so made an appointment with one near my office, SDCC with the ortho yang selesaikan masalah my purple toe dulu. However instead of in Subang, they sent me to Ara Damansara, their new hospital.

It was posh people. Very nice, very quiet just how a hospital should be. SDCC is too popular therefore ramai orang ergo bising. This one was plush and comfortable. You should visit this one.

Anyway jumpa doctor and he diagnosed tendonitis. Adoi la. Apa benda lak tu. I was prescribed therapy consisting of wax bath and a horde of other stuffs I have never heard of. Six courses pulak tu so I have no idea how to incorporate them in my schedule. Nampaknya aku kena korbankan my lunch time.

Other than that, nothing much to report. Apart from more trips to memory lane on my part. Entah macamana aku teringat pasal my Reebok shoes that Bapak bought for me for my music school concert that year. I was 13 by the way.

Anyway masa umur 12 tahun, aku dah pandai dah nak barang berjenama. I remember Bapak coming home with a shiny Casio watch for my birthday tapi aku chom sebab aku nak Swatch. Kalau ingat-ingatkan kesian Bapak. I am very sure he was excited during the drive home, to present me that gift, expecting aku suka. However anak yang ntah napa-hapa ni tak suka. Anyway, Bapak did take me to Pertama Complex, suruh aku pilih sendiri and banggalah aku ngan Swatch aku tuh. Tapi Casio tu simpan gak... hehehehhehe.

Berbalik kepada cerita asal, untuk concert tu we were asked to pakai overalls to be paired with sports shoes. So pegilah beli overalls ngan Bapak aku, a heavy one made of denim. Since aku dah ada kasut Power yang warna putih with pink linings, he of course didn't think that I needed a new pair of shoes. Tapi aku nak ! To be fair, kasut tu dah lama and dah start cracking and was rather misshapen. I stated my case with muka yang cebek-cebek, Bapak agreed. Dia memang tak tahan tengok aku unhappy. Hehehhehe....

Dia yang tak mengerti took me to Bata tapi aku tamau. Aku nak Reebok. Berkerut muka Bapak aku. Mana hang tau pasal Reebok ? Hehhehe... aku rasa masa tu kot dia sedar aku dah besar and dah pandai dah nak bergaya.

Kami pun pegilah kedai sukan and I choose one that was white with pink lining. Hehehhe.... Geleng kepala Bapak aku tapi memang dah taste aku, kan ?

So... hari concert, I was kitted with my overalls and my bright new Reebok shoes. We shared the same table dengan BFF aku punya family and naturally, she and I sat side by side. She asked to see my shoes, and I proudly showed it to her. However instead of delighting with my purchase, she was stumped.

Bila aku pointed tu the word Reebok near the laces baru she went Aaaaahhhhh..... Hehheheheh. Dah sama style kan ? Mesti Makcik tu ingat itu kasut lama aku.  My mom who was watching this exchange said, "Laaa.... nak kena tunjuk kat situ baru orang nak tau. Buat apa lagu tuh ?"

Hehheheheheh.......... 

Alahai. Nak buat macamana ? Dah memang taste aku. In fact my current sports shoes is a grey Reebok with pink lining. Hahahhahaha.

Sayang Bapak....

Kisah hari ni yang tak best pun...

Semalam I came home to be greeted by a hiccuping daughter. Aku biarkan age as I know there is no real remedy.  Went to dinner and we came home with her still hiccuping away. As Abang opened the car door, he said, "Pegi minum air. That will help to stop it..."

She made a non-committal gesture.

Masuk dalam rumah, aku terus nak naik atas but my son headed to the kitchen. "Adik, minum air...." he instructed. She obeyed and I followed. In the kitchen Abang dah ambik gelas and bukak fridge. Adik took out the water jug and poured her drink.

Adik minum while Abang simpan balik the jug in the fridge. He watched her drink it all.

Aku pura-pura kemas dapur when in actual I was surreptitiously watching them. Sebek kejap.

Aku dah start kemas barang kat office. Been visiting the shredder a lot. Sedih jugak dok berkemas and as always I am not sure if what I am doing is right. But my move have been decreed and there is nothing I can do about it. It is so nice and comfy to remain where things are familiar. Where the auditees know me and respect me. Now I have to start again.

Oh.. something horrible at the office. Dalam pukul 9 pagi aku nak masuk toilet tapi kena halau keluar sebab it was being cleaned.  Dalam 9.30 I tried my luck and managed to go. Masuk my favourite cubicle (I know everybody has one !) and there floated some nasty, nasty stuffs. Nak nangis aku. Bukan baru aje kena bersih ke ?

I went out of the toilet straightaway sebab semua plan dah terbantut and tried to cari muka orang yang bersalah. But... the office was rather empty. 90% of us dah keluar for fieldwork. Perempuan yang ada  cuma kakak secretary, N who had been with me for 3 years. For 1 and a half years there were just us 2 gals in the office and I tak pernah tengok dia membuat onar sebegitu.

Unless.... hmmm.... there is a big possibility there....

Semalam I was at the new place. Was briefed on new assignment and I addressed my new team sekejap. They look okay although they are rather wary of me. Some of my colleagues informed me that my new staffs had started approaching them to ask about me. 

They of course told me they say nothing but nice things... but ye ke ? Hehhehehe....

I miss my staffs. Last week, I bersembang with one of my ex-staff that has been sent to China. Aku suruh dia balik and instructed him to join me straight away. Gelak dia. Well, I hope he will.

I made sizzling yee mee for dinner tadi. Since I do not have any hot plate, aku celur yee mee tu dulu. Silap. I have forgotten that yee mee retained water somehow and when I mixed it with the thick gravy, the water diluted it and jadi tak sedap sangat. 

As I looked at my dinner in despair, baru teringat dah I was supposed to heat up a serving of the gravy in a small pan and add the yee mee then.

Must remember. Nasib baik Kamil wasn't home for dinner.. he was busy sweating it out on the court.... Kalau tak mesti dah dapat jelingan-jelingan tak best...

Weekend ni kena pegi Seremban. My sister's niece's aqiqah. I vowed to do up the present myself. You'll see, yeah ?

Ta-ra !

Macchiato and kenduri kawin

I am not a coffee drinker. I do however love the smell of it. When I was pregnant with Abang, I had to pass a coffee bar on the way to the shops. The smell of freshly brewed coffee would always catch my attention. So tantalising, so inviting.  In fact it  was extremely tantalising and inviting that one day I couldn’t resist it anymore and bought a cup. I inhaled the sweet, sweet aroma, took a sip and not liking it still. I was shocked cause I thought I would develop a taste for it since I like the smell so much but tak de jugak.  When the coffee cooled and I couldn’t really smell it anymore, I threw it away.

That started my bouts of buying coffee just to inhale it and throwing the full shebang in the bin afterwards. I would have survived Sadiq Sigaragar’s house.

Anyway, the reason why I am telling that story is because I have started to drink a coffee concoction called macchiato. I have no idea what it is but I love it. Don’t ask me of the difference of latte, espresso or what-not. I wouldn’t have the faintest idea but I absolutely adore macchiato. Problem is, it makes me sleepy. Coffee does have that reverse effect on me. Instead of making me jumpy and energise, it makes me sleepy and sluggish instead.

Saying that, I do drink coffee that my mom makes. She would always have a cup just for herself (us kids are not allowed) and whenever I have the chance, I would sneakily take a sip. Sedap sangat. Mak kita kan ? Rebus air pun sedap.

Yesterday which is a Sunday, Kamil and I took my mom to a kenduri kawin. Her cousin kawinkan anak. Usually attending kenduri kawins of the people you hardly know is boring. As soon as we arrived, Mom was whisked away by her cousins and expecting to be stuck there for quite some time, we people watched (accompanied with comments) to while our time away and have a good laugh.

Tengok orang pakai baju lawa, baju tak lawa. Kena ke tak tudung ngan baju. We also questioned whether the designer bags they toted on their arms were real or fake. We even tried to guess what car they drove from the clothes that they wore. It was so much fun. Seriously. It was.

That was the pro.

The con ? Well Kamil questioned my sanity when some of the bajus that I admired was something that he abhorred. He even took pictures of some to show me just how ugly they were, from another angle. That man has no imagination what-so-ever.

All in all it was an okay Sunday.

Aku yang ntah hapa-hapa

So we had our belated anniversary dinner yesterday. We went to Jojo's at Tropicana. The food was nice enough, I suppose, although my penne was on the hard side of al-dente. Kamil said although the food was nice, he had had better. Down side, the dessert menu wasn't that impressive.

So... what is happening now is.. Kamil and I will start on a journey to find good Italian cuisine in the Klang Valley. Our next one is Prego at the Westin. Besides, we kinda like having dinner somewhere nice, just the two of us. As I put it to Kamil, what is wrong going off to KL at night during the weekend ?

Heh.

Anyway, while there bizarrely we talked about our schooldays. And I told him this story;

Masa aku sekolah rendah, there was this girl who rubbed me the wrong way. Hell, she still does. We are FB friends and we bump into each other once in a while so I know she still has that power over me. I dislike everything about her. Her mannerism which I found brash, her demeanour which I found crude. I even found her face to be the wrong side of nice. I find it to be garang and unkind, tiada kelembutan whatsoever.

Anyway after years of harbouring this much contempt towards her, one day maybe masa kami darjah 4 I blurted out to her, "Kau ni memang tak ladylike langsung. Duduk mencangkung sambil makan..." It was sudden and unexpected sampai Minah tu tercengang tengok aku. Aku and kawan aku pun turut tercengang sekali.

Tercengang notwithstanding, I felt liberated after that. Aku tak rasa bersalah langsung sedangkan it was very uncharacteristic on my part. I don't do that you know, dispensing nasty stuffs to people like that but that girl really rubs me the wrong way !

Her comeback came 2 days after that. She caught up with me and tried to remind me of what I said to her, which I pretended not to remember. Silap dia lah. It shouldn't take you to 2 days, kan ? Anyway, she said, "Awak pun tak ladylike jugak sebab awak duduk terkangkang dalam kelas !"

Hehehhehe..............

Kamil of course asked what she meant by that. Well... apparently a girl called Jay (not her real name) and I are the only 2 girls in the school who failed to keep our feet together when we sit at our desks, exposing our errmmm.... little whities for all to see. Seriously, you couldn't see it unless you go under your desk and take a conscious look. In my case, only one boy bothered to look... and exposed me, no pun intended. Hell he even tried to shoot at me... there.... with a scrunched up paper using a slingshot ! I hate that guy.

So.... memori ini yang terkeluar during my anniversary dinner. Kamil of course tercengang-cengang dengar cerita ni and after a good 1 minute trying to take it all in, he said, "You know... masa I sekolah dulu I had fun. It was nice, CLEAN fun. I have never seen or did anything like that before ...!"

Believe you me, that was the very few occasion that I was unkind. And I didn't like myself for it. I also realised that I could actually be a snob. Why do I think that my demeanour and disposition is beyond reproach pun aku tak tahu. Sebab when I looked at her, aku rasa macam dia ni tak ada ... tak tau lah. Yang herannya she is the only person that made me feel this way.

There was another incident involving her which irritated me. This time we were in high school. It was hari sukan and there I was waiting for the next event (sebab my boyfriend took part... he was a sprinter you know... And nope, it was not Kamil...) and there she appeared with her own boyfriend who was from another school. When her friends saw them, they gave a loud whoop. 

"Ini lah boyfriend kau ye..." Ayat gempak macam tu pun dah boleh buat aku pejam mata therefore you can just imagine how I needed to restrain myself from blurting out more insults when she replied with, "Ye dan jangan rampas tau !" before smugly sitting down on the grass. Her equally smug looking boyfriend followed suit and I on the other hand groaned and wondered why I was put there, at that very moment to hear all that. Why ?

Of course I am kind to her now. But sadly... not without trying.

Why am I like this ? To her ? 

Karangan tension

Yesterday I was at Abang’s primary school for some errand. While waiting for the clerk to come and sort me out, I sat at there, looking around.. ho-humming, well you get the drift, I heard the Deputy Headmistress talked on the phone.

From the conversation I gathered that a friend, who I had the impression is also a teacher, is in a right mess. Her husband is having an affair and today is the day where she actually found out that it is true. The DH was consoling her, telling her to be patient, not to fight but talk to her husband nicely to ascertain her position in his life.

Kesian aku dengar. I couldn’t imagine what the girl on the other side is feeling. Itulah lelaki. Bila ada yang elok sikit aje terus nak. Padahal punya lah banyak orang lelaki lain yang tak kawin lagi, tapi depa nak jugak walaupun they are effectively taken. Tamak sungguh. Kalau hang betui-betui ikhlas, pi lah bagi kat orang lain yang belum ada sapa-sapa.

Heh… macam nak bagi anak kucing je yek… aku ni pun.

I feel that it is so unfair when men do this. They always say takpa I will be fair. Kita take turns. Tapi yang bestnya depa. Every day they will have a bed mate. Sedangkan bini akan ada masa tiduq sorang. Lagi lah bini pertama yang dok hari-hari ada kawan tiduq sebelah tapi tiba-tiba kawan tiduq tu kena catu pulak. Rela hati mencatu diri sendiri.

Adil kah tu ? Yang seronok laki tu saja, yang bini tak seronok pun. Itu yang namanya sayang ? Aku bosan bila dengar orang kata, well I still love my wife. Then, if you do love your wife, why do you this ? Why you allow her to berendam ayaq mata sebab hang ? Why you sampai hati biaq dia tiduq sorang while you berseronok-seronok dengan orang lain ? Aku tak paham. That is not love.

What is not love is also husbands that beat their wives. The one that I don’t understand is the wives that actually stayed. I still love him, katanya.

Ya tuhan. Sayang apakah itu kalau hang biru-biru lebam ? Setiap kali dia tumbuk hang, sayang kah itu ? Setiap kali dia sepak hang, sayang kah itu ?

Oh tak, lepas tu dia mesti menyesal and peluk aku balik. Lepas tu nanti dia akan letak ubat……

Oh bestnya.  You are so lucky to have a husband that loves you so much, he administered meds to your bruises right after he made them. Oh, please don’t forget the apologies and the hugs ! You are a lucky SOB.

Is it too much to ask for you to leave ? I am just afraid that one day while he punched you in the head with so much love, you actually crumpled and die. That is all.

Yeah, as you could have guessed, I am in a situation where I am trying to get somebody that I love and care about to leave the anak haram she calls husband.

Women, huh ?

Anyway once I attended a meeting with an American principle in Singapore. That was my third meeting with them. We first met in KL first, then in Bangkok where they have an office and then in Singapore for the Oil and Gas Exhibition. By that time, I have gotten to know the MD quite well. We were chatting during the exhibition and I don’t remember why the conversation suddenly turned this way, but somehow we discussed about fidelity.

He said infidelity is not a crime. Nowhere in the world is it a crime. It is just what society dictates but never the law. Nobody has ever been jailed due to fidelity alone. I remember this incident too well as I could see his big blue eyes boring into me, as if by doing that I would be convinced. His right hand was hitting his left palm as he was talking to stress his points.

I remember afterwards, we walked by the riverside to have lunch somewhere. His Thai secretary held my be the arm and whispered, “He has a lot of girlfriends in Bangkok. Before he goes home he always give me his condoms to keep for next time !” She giggled as she talked then she said, “Men… they can come from any country and all of them are the same…” she then stuck out her tongue to him.

Heheh…

Of course not all men are like that. However I pity those women who are unfortunate enough to be married to men like that. All those heartbreak and the tears and then the kids ! The kids will definitely be affected.

Yesterday, the papers in the UK reported of a suicide committed by a young lady. She threw herself from a high building, killing not only herself but the baby inside her belly. They then went to her home and found the bodies of her three children, aged 11 months, 2 and 3.

Why all this madness ? Because they man she loved and her kids worshipped left her (and in a way, the kids too) for another woman.

Tragic. Utterly tragic.

Tak habis lagi ni… one more. I have friend who was in this kind of mess about 3-4 years ago. Her husband had wanted to marry another and she was doing all her might to stop him. Well all her might worked because he broke it off with the other person. Do you know what her husband said ? “Sampainya hati tengok Abang putus cinta… Sampai hati tengok Abang merana macam ni… Awak memang tak sayang kat Abang….”

Can you guys believe this ? The cheek of that guy ? Tak payah lah aku ceritakan what the harassed wife retorted in return. I am sure you know what she said.

Ha ha !

Aku seorang petani berjaya... kuangx3

About last week I asked Adik what did she tell people I do for a living. She said, Auditor lah !

Okay, next time Adik tambah petani berjaya, okay ? Because....

Tengok ni pokok cili kat depan rumah...

Merendeh-rendeh dengan cili. Belum masak lagi.. ada satu aje yang dah merah.

Punya penuh dan bersesak-sesak, sampai ada yang terjatuh.

Depan rumah, ada ubi kayu. In the middle of my palm trees. Sungguh tak vogue tau !!

Depan rumah ada lagi cili dah daun kesum sebelah kanan nun.

Lemon tree ni aku tanam. Dah setahun lebih dah tapi tak pernah berbuah. Sebelah lemon tree ni aku tak tau apa benda.

Itu dia, more ubi kayu.

And in between the ubi kayus are more daun kesum and kangkong. And more ubi kayu. A baby one, though. 

In between these ubi kayus are more chillies and more ubi kayu... 

And more rows of chillies. No fruits yet, though.

The limau kasturis flanking the small pasus were planted by me. But dalam small pasus tu, I am not sure what they are... Hmmm....

Serai by me, pisang by me but the ubi kayu ? Nope, not me.

Inilah gambar pokok buluh si Kamil yang telah di massacred oleh Bibik. Masih togel macam tuan dia... kuang X 3. Karapule tu aku tanam. The rows of chillies at the back definitely not me.

Dah sampai balik dah pokok cili yang mula-mula tadi. Banyak na... ?

Ini pun telah ditanam oleh sesuatu. I have no idea what they are.

But budak ni macam bapak dia. Asyik-asyik nak membangkang. Tak mau langsung go with the flow sebab she said, "Tapi bukan Mummy yang tanam. Bibik. You didn't do anything...."

Setelah aku pejam mata erat-erat untuk mengumpulkan segala kesabaran yang ada di dalam dunia ini (especially sebab si Kamil dah gelak guling-guling), aku cakap, "Well, it is my house. And I paid her... So... the petani berjaya is me, okay ?"

Dia cebek mulut, langsung tak terima apa aku cakap.

Jaga kau...

Anyway, ini lah keje bibik aku. It seems that she really likes chillies and ubi kayu. One of the ubi kayus dah matang, so she made kerepek and rebus some. Bila aku balik, tu dia berbalang-balang kerepek. Next day came the ones yang pedas. After that satu periuk ubi kayu rebus siap ngan gula and kelapa dah digaul. Garam dia letak tepi because, "Bibik ngak suka yang bergaram tapi takut kakak sukak..."

Aku siap bawak pi office and makan sejuk-sejuk. Kenyang satu hari.

Kamil paling tension tengok ubi kayu depan rumah tu. Dia suruh aku pi cakap ngan bibik, suruh cabut. Tapi aku tak sampai hati. Penat dia tanam... Kang merajuk kang. Aku suh dia cakap sendiri tapi tak buat pun. Tak sampai hati kann... Hehehhehe.

So.. kesudahnnya, sesiapa yang tetiba takdak cili, mai lah rumah. Bawak lah bakul and berangan lah seperti memetik apples kat US.

Nak masak laksa, mai lah rumah dan cantaihlah daun kesum itu. Aku pun tak tau nak buat apa dengan daun kesum banyak-banyak...

Anyway aku dah encourage dia tanam sawi and more kangkong. And nenas. I love nenas.

Sekian, karangan bergambar ku.

PS : Ada tak ahli botanist yang nampak tumbuhan yang tak boleh ditanam, ie. ganja ka, ketum ka ... Aku bukannya kenai wei... Satgi tak pasai-pasai kena..

Boring Sunday wei !

I am in bed right now, watching Grimm and blogging at the same time.

Kids are in bed. It is after all 10 pm.

Kamil is downstairs with one eye watching the telly and the other doing his office work. Untuk pengetahuan, I just shut down my office laptop. Sigh... We are so busy with work this weekend, we didn't get to have our anniversary dinner. Insya-Allah, we will try next week.

I told Kamil that I want to go where I can have desserts. And the choice of desserts must be plenty. And it has to be Italian. Hahahah... biar lah dia pening kepala. There was one anniversary where he actually cooked. Pasta marinara he made which I have to admit was a rather good attempt. The only blighter was the sweetness that came from the apple juice. To substitute the wine required in the recipe, he said.

Hahahhaah. But it was nice, and romantic. We dressed up and all, which was rather comical because we didn't know what to do afterwards. Maybe celebrating anniversaries are not Melayus kind of thing. 

Anyway last night we had dinner with our uncle. There were 30 of us gathered together and it was fun. Only 3 of my cousins made it, plus their families and itupun dah 30 orang. If everybody could come, we might have to sewa the whole restaurant.

Alamak, seramlah pulak cerita Grimm ni. Pasal hantu perempuan culik budak-budak to replace her dead children.

Okay, averting my eyes away from the telly now....

After the dinner, kami adik-beradik pegi karaoke. I sent my kids and nieces home and off we went in one car. My not even 2 year old nephew ikut sekali. We had so much fun sampai suara aku serak-serak as usual. Melompat-lompat dan terkinja-kinja.... kalau nenek aku tengok tu mesti kami masuk Harian Metro. 

And today, a Sunday before Monday...? Well.. after Kamil and I lamented on why it is not Saturday, we went to pasar, had breakfast and then pegi Sunway Pyramid because laki aku nak pegi Marks and Spencer. Baru aje balik dari London dah nak pegi M&S lagi. I bought stuffs nonetheless, sebab tengah sale. It was cheaper dari London pulak tu because I managed to get Minimiser bras for RM70 a pop. And a very nice checked shirt for RM69.

I collect checked shirts. Not because I like them but because Kamil likes me in them. Seriously. Dia memang rimas dengan blouses yang embroidered and looked difficult. He prefers clean cut, straight to the point. That is why you will always find me in polo t-shirts and checked shirts. He tolerates my penchant for tunics, as long as they do not have much embroidery.

Okay, enough of that. Then balik where we both fired up our laptops. Then pegi Giant beli barang lagi. And now here I am.

Bosannya kan ? 

Anniversary of being together

Today Kamil and I celebrate our err... 20th or 21st year of being together. Not marriage, mind you.  Why 20th or 21st ? Well, we can't remember exactly when did we start our relationship !

Crazy, huh. Although I have to say that I have an inkling that it is our 20th. Girls know these things. Boys... not so much. Kamil wanted to go somewhere nice and Italian so we searched the internet and found quite nice places to go and eat.

However, semalam my eldest cousin sms-ed to say that his dad, my Bab wants to take us all out for a huge dinner. Nampak gayanya esok aje lah kami pegi.

Both Kamil and I have changed greatly. He lost his hair and put on 10 pounds. I still keep my hair but put on like 20 pounds... or even more ! Hahahha

I seriously don't know how we do it. But I am glad that we did. I love him so and I really hope he loves  me as much.

Oh ! Lupa nak cerita. About 2-3 days ago I called him during lunch to rant and rave about something. He cut me mid-rant to say he is having lunch and will call me after. Sekali malam tu dengan muka kesian nan penuh syahdu he told me, "I didn't have lunch or breakfast today... so I lapar....."

Aku pejam mata kuat-kuat sebelum aku bukak mulut. Kenapa dia masih buat perangai lama ? Apakah motifnya ? Ha ? Ha ? Ha ?

Tension tau !

Anyway yesterday my boss called around 6pm. He said he has something to tell me. Dub dab dub dab auk until he said, "Zaleha (his secretary) tumpang saya !" and promptly gelak. I could hear Kak Leha mengekek-ngekek gelak sekali. Aisehman buat lawak pulak. But still I laughed the loudest sebab I was so glad that he was not telling me something not good.

After his laughter subsided, he reminded me that I have only 2 weeks left with him. Then, "I am going to keep a vacancy for you, okay ? You and me anytime, okay ? Anytime, man. Manalah tahu you have no chemistry with your new boss ?"

Sigh..... parting is hard but I know he will be okay without me. After all he did manage his new team for a year without me.

And seriously, I know I will disappoint him one day so better I go while he thinks so highly of me.

Kan ?

Kan ?

Errr.....

Perihal masak

Cakap pasal masak (again..), the day we were scheduled to leave for London, we went around to visit our respective parents.

MIL asked me what we are having for dinner. I told her I cooked and she promptly said, "Ohh... kau tak kerja hari ni..." No... I told her, I went to work. But I still cook. I have always cooked for my children, mak no matter if I was working that day or not.

She knows me. I used to live with her. She knows that I cook. Sometimes aku tension bila orang yang sepatutnya kenal aku, macam tak kenal. My colleague at my old outfit pun kenal aku. She knows that I make my own bed. I am very anal about that really sebab mak aku kata malu kat orang kalau katil pun Bibik kemas kan. So I make my bed. Everyday...

Therefore hari tu bila ada orang yang sepatutnya kenal aku mencanagkan kat orang yang aku ni punya lah pemalas, katil sendiri pun tak kemas, aku nangis. Sebab aku tahu dia tu yang tak kemas katil walaupun dia tak kerja. Kenapa she chose to attack me with that pun aku tak tau.

Eh.. terkeluar tajuk.

Anyway, bila sampai rumah mak aku, I straight away asked, "Ada momom ?" Sebijik macam Bapak aku. He never asks is there food, or ada makan dak, or ada nasik dak ? He asks ada momom dak ? Hhehehe......

Mak aku looked a bit affronted because she thought she had nothing on the day her daughter asked to be fed. Then....she visibly brightened up and said, ada gulai nenas. Her body immediately relaxed. Hahhahah........

Sedapnya makan gulai nenas mak kita masak. It was ssooooo sweet, so tart, sooo sedap lah. The moment I clapped my eyes on the yellow kuah tinged with red aku dah rasa nostalgic sangat. I could already imagined its taste. Sedap mak kita masak. Rasa so well loved, so taken care of, so important.

Gila kan ? Tapi that is what my mom makes me feel.

Tapi aku ni ada kureng sikit perangai. Mak aku ni dia ada perangai yang orang lain rasa kelakar tapi kami adik beradik rasa sangat tension. Mummy kalau nak ajak kami pergi mana-mana, she would not say it straight. She will say things like, "Kau tak rasa nak pegi KL ke hari ni ?" or "Ada plan ke nak pegi Ikea ?"

Kami sangat tension because it is easier to ask, "Bawak Mummy pegi KL/Ikea/tengok Bab" dari buat kami terkedu dengan soalan-soalan yang begitu. Dulu-dulu, selalunya aku akan tercengang when she posted questions like that because it made me feel like I have promised her that I will but have forgotten all about it thus compelling me to take her.

Come to think of it, sebenarnya... trick bagus tu... Kuangx3. Tak plan nak pegi pun tapi terpaksa pegi.

Anyway, lelama dah biasa, aku akan saja cakap, "Tak." And this time dia pulak terkedu. Hehheheh..... But.. lepas tu aku akan say nicely lah i.e. Tak lah.. Ada hal lain... or Kalau nak jom lah... or whatever yang sesuai.... Don't worry.

Anyway, we arrived from Paris about 6 am and by 8 am dah sampai rumah. Tup tup pukul 1.45 pm her car drove in and out she came with my nieces, fresh out of school.

After aku dakap anak-anak menakan aku, my Mom who was walking slowly arrived at the door and said, "Laaa.... kau dah balik ke ? Ingat tak balik lagi...."

Sigh.... Ini pun nak buat trick ke ? She doesn't have to say anything, you know. She doesn't have to explain why she is there. She is my MOTHER  so she can come and go as she pleases.

So aku pun, being aku, saja said, "Dah tu buat apa datang ?" Hehhehe....

"Tak.. Mummy ni nak tanya Bibik ko ni ha..... pasal anak sedara dia yang nak mai kerja kat sini... Jadi ka ?"

Aduhai lah ibu ku. Awat lah nak kena berselindung macam tu. It is okay if you just want to come and see me, you know. Selalunya tak payah pun mai carik Bibik. Call aje dah boleh. Hari ni lak nak mai bersua muka.

So.. aku dakap dia pulak. So that she knows that I want her to come, and I am so very glad she came and so that she doesn't have to think of ideas to justify her coming... or asking us to take her places.

Sayang, Mummy. Malam ni buat sambal sotong yang ada kacang tu, boleh dak ? Ala lapaq...

Dah lama benar agaknya aku tak masak...

Semalam boss aku call dalam pukul 9 malam. Mengadu domba. Sian dia.

And then he came into the crux of the matter. He has spoken to my new boss and I think she wouldn’t allow him to keep me any longer. I have to move to my new division by 2 May.

Sigh… And then he started again. And I have to listen and was wrecked with guilt the whole night.

Pagi tadi dia call aku lagi. Mengadu lagi.

Yang heran, both semalam and pagi tadi he ended our conversation with, “Thanks for lending your ear..”

Eh ? Tak pernah-pernah pun cakap macam tu. Even masa dia tukar division lain pun, he still called me to talk and rant and rave. Tapi tak pernah lak dia cakap terima kasih. Ini bila aku lak yang tukar division, dia pegi cakap macam tu pulak.

Sedih aku.

Nak buat macam mana. Bukannya aku tak sayang dia. Aku seriously sayang all of my ex-bosses. Errmm… except for one. Penipu besar tu aku tak sayang. Oh.. hati ku masih panas membara rupanya. Tapi sesiapa yang pernah aku panggil boss (kecuali si dia yang botak licin dan mangkuk ayun itu), I have deep respect and love for them.

However, I have to grow. And this is the only way for me to grow. I am near 40 now (YIKES !!) and I have to move on.

I am thinking of leaving actually. I talked about it to another division boss but she told me I that I have to stay. I am very obedient. So I am staying. And declined the other job offer. The one that suits me more. Cuma.. well… heheheheh…. I am well averse of travelling to KL. Buang masa aku trapped in a jam, ber jam-jam on the road sedangkan masa tu aku boleh gunakan untuk masak ke, baca buku ke ….

Talking about masak, sejak balik dari holiday aku belum ke dapur lagi. As soon we entered KLIA, the first thing Adik tanya was apa aku nak masak hari ni. I needed all the strength I could muster to stop me from pelangkung kepala dia.

But then day after day they asked if I was cooking. Not even lunch at Mahbub could stop them from asking what I am cooking for dinner. I got the hint, so semalam I made a simple pasta with sundried tomato pesto. Aku rasa macam tak jadi aje tapi budak-budak ni berebut-rebut nak makan.

Bibik pulak bila tengok pinggan Abang dah licin, terus dia angkat basuh while Abang looked the other way to get something for Kamil. When he turned around, his plate was gone.  He saw pinggan Adik dah licin, he put his second helping on her plate while her head was turned. When she turned back, Abang was wolfing down spaghetti on her plate. She was confused. Then she looked in the serving bowl and confusion turned into dismay sebab there were none left.

Some body started pushing and then words were exchanged. Adik then stormed off and came back with a fresh fork. She started digging in from the same plate. Abang started to shovel food in his mouth.

I closed my eyes and started walking to my room.

Bila terkenang

My mouth is painful today. 3 ulcers yang tengah ranum. Satu tu location dia sangat strategic sebab asal aku bukak mulut nak bercakap, mesti terlanggar ngan gigi. Nampak nar kebonengan aku.. huhu...

To add salt to the wound, my tonsil is inflamed. Dah nak menelan payah.. And the combination of the ulcers and inflamed tonsil buat muka aku bengkak. Bulat habis. Segan aku nak keluar pegi kerja tadi. Tapi Alhamdullilah semua orang nampak it as bengkak and not tembam...

Anyway hari tu aku lalu satu taman ni... Sikit punya kotor. Ini lah anak bangsa ku yang tak reti-reti nak membuang sampah. I do not know about their parents, but I know our schools teach on the importance of keeping clean. Apatah lagi my religion yang equate cleanliness to holiness... or something like that.

I could never litter. I could never scroll down the car window to campak sampah kat luar.

Which reminds me of childhood.. as usual.. Haha.

Masa aku kecik-kecik, bapak aku selalu bawak kami adik-beradik pi tasik Shah Alam, to jog sambil kutip sampah. Armed with plastik sampah, we will go around the tasik collecting other people's litter, other people's mess.

Masa mula-mula dulu aku segan jugak, tapi dah lama-lama aku dah biasa. And even sekarang I wouldn't mind bending down and picking up any rubbish to be thrown in the bin. So, I was trained well by my bapak, who hates kekotoran especially at public places.

But.... this cerita reminded me of episode pilu kena kutuk and gelak ngan kakak ipar aku. When she found out about us going around collecting rubbish, dia kata rumah sendiri pun kotor nak pegi kemas tasik. Baik korang bersihkan rumah sendiri dulu.

Sedih kan ?

Dia jugak yang paling banyak kutuk aku bila aku start boikot barang-barang Zionist, 10 years ago. Bagi aku, suka hati lah aku nak buat apa. Aku tak pernah suruh dia buat sekali. Aku cuma tak nak be in a situation where bila Allah tanya aku, what have I done to help my Palestinians brothers and sisters, I couldn't give a satisfactory answer. Ini sajalah yang aku mampu buat. Furthermore, aku sangat-sangat belas dengan dia orang ni. So... aku macam tak sanggup if 10 sen duit aku is used to buy bullets to kill them.

But... itu lah orang.

Sekarang ni, dah makin ramai dah buat. Alhamdullilah. Tapi ustaz aku pesan, sebelum aku boikot, aku kena make sure betul-betul depa ni penyokong Zionist. Nanti jadi prejudis and timbul fitnah. Itu pun dosa.

Wokey, ustaz.

Merepek ketika semua orang tak bangun lagi....

Dah pukul 9.30 ni and seisi rumah aku belum jugak bangun lagi. Mak aku kata awat teruknya jet lag ? Sabik seminggu ? Hehehehhe.....

Aku sebenarnya agak terkilan that my trip kali ni tak dapat nak tunaikan pesanan quite a lot of people. Like I said, aku tak jumpa kedai. Not just because the shops banyak dah tutup and relocated probably, but also because the freaky cold weather (apparently, the prolonged winter is making a lot of people worry about the hibernating animals, i.e. hedgehogs and all. Takut tak bangun terus agaknya) made it impossible for me to go around and search for the stores.

Our trip to Oxford pun was cut short because there wasn't anywhere we can hide from the cold. When it snowed, haaa..... terus cari bas to take us back to the train station.

The kids weren't having much fun. Kat Eiffel Tower pun we spent a lot of time menyorok at a vending van, minum more hot chocs and eating belgian waffles. We admired the tower from the van. We forced ourselves to finish off the waffles sebab....

Kamil commented tu dia aiih.... 20 ngit punya waffles. The kids and I who are very, very conscious dengan Kamil yang tak suka tengok pembaziran, berusaha habiskan jugak. Resultnya, we all had chocolatey teeth and my white gloves were smeared with chocolate stains. Sungguh tak elegant. Sebab itu jugaklah aku malu nak tangkap gambaq ngan Liz Hurley bila kami terserempak dengan dia under the tower.

She is superbly gorgeous. Breathtaking. Malu aku dengan kependekan and ke-tak-vogue-an aku, seperti yang tertera di bawah;

See ? How can aku yang begitu, stand next to her yang begini ?

Okaylah, admittedly she had more clothes on, it was cold.. And she wasn't in that pose..... She was walking with her son... But you get what I mean...

Masalah makan

So... Hmmm...... Macam tak ada nafsu aje nak menulis kat sini. Kamil dah chop the telly, and I have nowhere else to go but here. So sad. Seriously, I can live without the internet. I only ever use it for reading the Daily Mail and here.. Other than that, well Wikipedia mostly. FB jarang--jarang...

So... here I am because the telly is boring, I have finished my book and my kids are ... hmmm.... where are they ? Probably hanging out with my cousin who is living with us. Kesian aku tengok sepupu aku tu kadang-kadang. Bila balik aje, sah-sah anak aku serbu.

Anyway, what to tell about our trip apart from its weather ??

London has changed. I couldn't find the shops I wanted at Oxford St anymore. Couldn't see a single Bally when dulu there were like 2 on that road. Boots tinggal satu aje. No Virgin Megastore nor Laura Ashley. No more Bella Pasta anywhere !! That was most disappointing.

Speaking about food, we had problem with our food from the get go. We stopped by our favorite patisserie on Regent St and ordered 4 hot chocolates. They were huge. All in all, I think the 4 of us drank the equivalent of 2 cups. So at the next stop for hot chocolate, we ordered 2 cups. And it was really 2 cups sebab tak cukup. Hahah...

Lunch at Leicester Square, we had individual pizzas with chips. They were huge and again we only ate the equivalent of 2 servings. We then had lunch the very next day at a fish and chips shop next to the pizza place and ordered 2 normal sized serving and 1 large serving for Adik and I to share. Since the difference was only about 2 pounds, aku ingat it meant the fish was larger. It turned out the fish was doubled. And the single serving ? They were huge enough for 2 to share. So we had the equivalent of 6  servings and only ate about 3.

Masalah sungguh. I hate to see wasted food.

Dekat Paris pulak, we stayed at a hotel that was about 10 minutes walk from the Louvre. It is situated in a very nice square where people milled about and socialised. We agreed that we will explore the square on our last day.

Eating in Paris wasn't easy, not because of anything but Kamil. There were so many nice and quaint brasseries, restaurants and cafes littered on the streets of Paris but satu pun Kamil tak mau masuk. We went to McDonald's and Hard Rock Cafe. Aku bukan apa, I remember the time we holidayed in Brussels, at a time Kamil was more adventurous. We found this restaurant that served the best seafood paella I have ever tasted ever ! And they also made the freshest and uber delicious grilled seafood. And I like that. I like us going around sampling local food (although agak tension making sure the paella does not contain any porcine-y elements).

Aku berjaya jugak beli cupcakes and cookies (tak sedap.. seriously) but those were the only closest thing I came to Parisian food. But...bila when we explored the square near our hotel, the streets were lined with shops selling baguette sandwiches, crepes and what-nots. And yang paling best, they were halal !

So our last dinner in beautiful Paris baru I had the chance to have crepes filled with delicious bolognese sauce (yeah.. a bit Italian, tapi tak pelah) and my kids had sandwiches, with authentic baguettes. Not saying that the baguettes kat Malaysia ni tak authentic.. (they probably aren't), tapi kalau dah diuli oleh French, surely I have to put the authentic there... heheh.

Sayang... I would have wanted to sample the rest of the menus.

Just checking in

Hello...

Baru balik....

Feels a bit sad. Rasa macam baru semalam I smelt London air... It was soo familiar. It was sooooo cold too. Too cold it harmed our skins. Abang had rashes all over his body, looked like he was used as an ashtray. Luckily Babah dia tak hisap rokok. Kalau tak free aje kena tuduh...

It was too harsh, the weather. We weren't expecting it at all. It snowed. Although it didn't stick but still it snowed. We couldn't do much walking or sightseeing because it was too much.

Paris wasn't better. We just had a cursory look of the famous tower before we rushed to find somewhere warmer.

The reason we chose March on account of it being spring. Who would know that it is still winter ?

I am knackered. We arrived at 6 am and at 2.30 we had to take Adik to sit for her piano exam. Hopefully she managed to do well what with her jet lag and all.

Until next time yeah ?

Maybe with pictures.

Yawn......