Movie Review : Forbidden Kingdom

Feels like we have been doing nothing but sit ourselves in the cinema lately. So many delicious movies to watch… so little time.

Forbidden Kingdom is truly a delight. I, who have been a huge Jackie Chan fan (his Chinese movies only, I do not really like his English movies for some reason) was delighted to see him as the Drunken Master again (although not Wong Fei Hung).

Although I could only remember 2 of Jet Li’s movies, Bodyguard From China and My Father the Hero, I rather like him in Romeo Must Die and although I do not remember any of his signature moves was equally thrilled with his agility and his kung-fu prowess.

The Forbidden Kingdom tells the tale of the Immortal Monkey King who was turned into stone by the evil (and definitely penuh dengki) Jade Warlord (my son kept saying Gay Warlord). Before he turned completely into stone, he sent his staff (bukan pekerja tapi kayu… well not exactly kayu le sebab the kayu is made of gold… alahai.. weapon le) away to an unknown place.

Enter this mat salleh guy who is crazy bout Chinese movies. Bruce Lee and the lot was his movie genre of choice and got his fix stocked up from a Chinese antiquity shop. He saw a gold staff (maybe it is spelt with one f… I dunno) and the geriatric shopkeeper told him that his family, starting from his grandfather, had been waiting for the owner to claim it.

Then biasalah, he is actually being bullied (there is a bit of Karate Kid scene here, only missing is the evil sensei) and the bullies forced him to help them gain entry to the Chinese Antique Shop. To make the story short, the poor shopkeeper got shot, then the old guy gave this guy the staff and told him to find the owner (I think) and to leg it.

He did and somewhere along the way was transported into time. The Jade Warlord was still in power and was looking for the Immortal Monkey King’s staff. Ha !

It is a very fun movie. So much fun that Umar and Elsa did not sleep in the cinema even though it was way past their bedtime.

Jet Li was wonderful as the cheeky and playful Monkey King and Jackie Chan was faultless as the drunk… ha ha.. Their fight scene was excellent, the director cleverly decided to show that none were better than the other to maintain each one’s ego…

Ha…. Tengoklah… It is worth your RM 11 plus your kids RM 11 because for some reason there is no discounted price for the little ones.

Sebab asam tak sedap aku kena beli mesin buat mee...

I am like my mother after all.

Mummy is forever grumbling about how food doesn’t taste the same anymore. Whenever we ate asam, Mum would pinch a taste and moan how “Asam dulu lagi sedap. Sekarang punya tastes of chemicals !!” We used to roll our eyes and agreed she must be crazy because the asam rolling in our mouths tastes like heaven… He he….

Nowadays when I do indulge (whenever Dan is not around. He usually uses his body as a shield whenever we passes by asam or jeruk shops/aisle/counter – ooo…. I love the jeruk stall yang berlambak-lambak sekarang ni. Word of advice, kat Shah Alam Mall punya sedap. SACC punya jangan bau pun !!), I increasingly finds myself repeating her words. The asam on sale nowadays do not taste as good as the ones I ate during my school days !! They taste more of chemicals than anything.

So now I wonder… how good are good are the assams my mother used to gonyeh as a child ? Emmm…….

Breads also do not taste as good nowadays. Well first of all I think is due the declining number of Mamak roti on wheels. None passes my mom’s street anymore and none ever passes my in-laws. I haven’ t bought roti manis for a long, long time. My favourite was the triangular shaped, with sugar on top and raisins (kismis kata orang Melayu) inside. I still dream of their decadent flavour and how good they taste when dipped in coffee (since we aren’t allowed coffee, I used to steal my mom’s whenever she leaves it around the dining area. Typically early morning or afternoon when she makes us tea… Tea is okay with the roti but coffee is marvelous… Yummmm).

So apparently those breads are only sold by the mamaks on wheel. Those sold by premises that remained stationary only sell stupid breads from Yucksville. I dunno. Nothing beats bread from Ismailia in Penang, though. They maybe have ISO accreditation because the bread tastes the same as before...way before. The texture, the smell heck even the shop reminds me of my days with my cousins and my tok wan. Hmm….

What else, yeah ? Pisang goreng. Heard that pisang goreng is dangerous to eat nowadays. The added crispiness is due to cancer causing plastics bottles that they melt inside the hot oil. Only buy from your usual seller, I think. Somebody that you can actually ask, “Pakcik masukkan botol plastic ka dalam minyak tuh ?” and get a sincere answer. In fact, I nowadays I am struggling to remember to ask my waiters to ‘hold the bawang goreng’ because evil people use the same method to retain crispiness of the fried onions.

Even mee kuning would sometimes leave an aftertaste in your mouth. “Banyak sangat ubat dalam mee ni..” I once heard my friend say. Isn’t that dangerous ? But no fear !! A friend of mine recently told me of this wonderful pasta maker that can actually churn out mee kuning !! He he…. I wanna try that. Ermm…. Anybody interested to see the demo of this wonderful machine ?Call me … The supplier will only come to do the demo if I have 10 or more people.

Movie Review : Definitely, Maybe

As much as I hate sounding like a parrot, I still have to say it because it is true. This movie is really sweet. Hai…..

It is about this girl ( I have forgotten her name ) whose parents were divorcing. That day when her father picked her up from school, the uproar of the day’s sex education, sparked her interest about her father’s love life (in the process she found out her father smoked and is actually a slut).

The father agreed but decided to do it in love mystery format where he will change all the names of his past love interests. She has to figure out which one is her mother.

So that was what he did, narrated his love story, which was pretty dramatic because it involved a lot of cheatings and a betrayal thrown into it. The movie is really funny.

But the of course there is the but… You just can’t help but wonder what good memory the father has because he remembers every detail. Watch it and you will know what I mean. Also, the girl is really mature for her age. Mature because she really wants her father to be happy and urged him to find the only girl in his story whose name he didn’t change. I was thinking how disloyal could you be to your momma ? But then maybe that was just me…

Coincidentally the movie matched the theme of our conversation that day. We had lunch with Shazmi and he asked us how do we keep things interesting after 15 years of togetherness. Dan immediately launched into a very Fadhillah Kamsah’s speech. Me ? I sat there wondering like Shazmi.

We celebrated our 15th anniversary last week and I still do not know what is the recipe to keep us together for a further 15 years and beyond. How do I keep it exciting ? I dunno. DO you know ? Watching the movie with its divorce theme made me really wonder. Is it luck ? Or love ? Or laziness… you know you just can’t be bothered to start again and better the devil you know than the devil you don’t kind of thinking.

Divorces are sad. For all involved. If Dan and I ever go that way, we wouldn’t just be dividing children, but friends too. “Okay, I get Shah this week and you get Anu..” or something in that manner.

So don’t ever go that road ? But surely if you are suffering ( and I am not talking about sufferings due to your love for another. If you do love someone else, sacrifice your love okay and stick to your family. That is more noble ) it is better for you to leave, especially if you are married to somebody who abuses you ?

But in the movie it didn’t look like anybody was abused. Maybe they had irreconcilable difference, the trendiest reason nowadays.

Hmm…. I dunno…

Book Review : Queen Camilla by Sue Townsend

A hilarious book, dear friends. I was glued to the book, so intrigued and engrossed was I with the book that I had to check repeatedly if the English monarchy is still there, not holed up in a guarded housing area for criminals.

This book is actually the sequel to Queen and I. It is about the life of the Queen and her family (especially Charles) when the Republican won the election and overthrew the monarchy. The Republican Prime Minister, Jack, did not only do that but he installed Vulcan, a satellite spying program to chart all British citizen’s movements and implement crazy laws like banning stepladders and limiting 1 dog per household (an outrage since we are talking about England). The people are tired of all the stupid laws and out came Boy English, the new leader for Tory and promised to bring the monarchy (and common sense) back to England.

But the problem is, the Queen's plans to abdicate. Then Camilla and Charles’ ugly and a complete dickhead illegitimate son surfaced that threatens their comeback.

The book is great, depicting the Queen’s troubles and her troubled family. How Harry became a hooligan and William working as a scaffolder. How Sophie Wessex was hysterical because her daughter Sophie is becoming the estate’s slapper and all…

He he….. Good read.

Movie Review : 27 Dresses

This movie is so cute. About a girl who loves wedding ever since she was 9. She loves weddings so much so that she helped to plan 27 of her friend’s wedding and be their bridesmaid, hence the 27 ugly bridesmaid dresses ( they are really ugly… I can only honestly say the only nice one is the saree she wore to an Indian and Jewish wedding ).

During the 26th wedding, a journalist for a wedding column, the delicious, cyclopy James Marsden saw her changing clothes in a cab to go to a second wedding ( her 27th - she actually had to hop between the 2 weddings the whole night… very funny scenes ) and wondered what her deal was. He found out and decided to write about her instead, the girl who is addicted to weddings.

Anyhoo… in the process they fell in love and then of course there is a fighting scene which threatens to break it all and the ridiculous embarrassing thing that they have to do to win the love back… blah, blah, blah.. and well…. you could figure out the rest..

The movie is very predictable sure, but it is still nice anyway. It is sort of like the Wedding Planner, with loads of delicious bouquets and bridal gowns and other delicious wedding paraphernalia, but it has it’s own storyline and twists and turns. Well, she was in love with her boss who in turn fell in love with her awful sister and had to organize their wedding !! Ouch !

James Marsden and Ed Burns were good. Katherine Heigl… well I am not really convinced yet…..maybe because I am used to her Izzy alter ego. The actress who played her sister was totally rubbish but her best friend was superb.

Although the movie did not make us feel the way we felt after we watched Notting Hill… it is still worth to watch.

PS : Watching this movie, it had me thinking how forgiving these mat sallehs are. If it happened to me, I wouldn’t be speaking to my sister for a loooong time. Well maybe after I scratched her face and tore her hair for the 10th time…

Movie Review : Legend of the Water Horse and Nim’s Island

I love both of these films. Both of them feature watery locations and lovely underwater scenes.

The first film is about a boy during the first world war who found an odd looking egg. The egg hatched to reveal an adorable but unknown creature who grew at a very speedy rate. It was a water horse that would only hatch when it’s mother/father is gone as there can only be one water horse at a time.

Nim’s island is about a girl who lives on a secret island with her dad. She had to ask Alex Rover, an adventurer whose books she loves, to come and help her escue her island from intruders. It turned out Alex Rover is a lady who hadn’t leave her house for 18 months. Yikes !!

Both films are really good. Although Nim’s Island is funny and the scenes were really bright ( they were on an island somewhere in Fiji after all ) compared to LOTWH which was about the Loch Ness monster and therefore filmed in cold and dark Scotland ( I suspect it was just after winter ) but LOTWH had actors whose acting were really superb. Emily Watson and Ben Chaplin were amazing, including the little boy and girl ( I watched this movie quite some time ago and had forgotten their stage names ) who played siblings were simply marvelous.

The casts of Nim’s Island was heavyweights too what with the Breslin girl and Jodie Foster and the delicious looking specimen called Gerard Butler ( he he …) but I found I was more involved with the people in LOTWH. I feel without the remarkable animals in Nim’s Island ( the pelican, the lizard, the seal and the turtle ), the movie would not be quite there. Plus, I kept thinking how old Jodie Foster looked.

Watch both films. They are really good.

No white pillows for Umar...

My blog friend Konot told a story about her lovely daughter Balqis’ imaginary friend Gina. Her account made my goosebumps have goosebumps, really. Yikes !

The Malays have always believed that due to children’s innocence they are rather sensitive to spirits and the likes. That is why although imaginary friends are normal to the westerners, to the Malays it is quite daunting. Is it really an overative imagination or… ?

The Modern Malays are tolerating ( to me le as one of the Modern Malays … he he ) the idea of imaginary friends due to books and the very influential telly. I said tolerating because the first thing we will think when we hear about imaginary friends is “ Err…. hantu ( my family call it ee-eeekkk ) ke ?

Umar did not exactly have an imaginary friend. To categorise her as an acquaintance is also too familiar. It all started when he refused to sleep on white pillows. When I asked him why, he said something like “That girl kata white pillows are for hantu only.” Aaaa ? I did not prod further because Dan wasn’t home and therefore I am so not gonna go there. I told him there is no such thing as ghosts but changed his pillows to a coloured one anyway.

Sometime after that (this is according to my friend. I have forgotten the story but she reminded me of it) I saw him patting some pillows. When I asked him why he said it is for the girl. You just can’t imagine how I feel at that time. When I asked him of her whereabouts he said she is just right there !! Waaa…. !!!!

He last mentioned her a few months after that. I was bathing him and his little sister when we heard a loud thud from the bedroom. I went to investigate and found nothing amiss. When I re-entered the bathroom, Umar asked me, “Is she here ?” Aiseh.

For as long as we lived in that house he refused white pillows. When we moved back in with Dan’s parents’ he still insisted for coloured pillows because the white ones are for the ghosts. Reading 3 Qul in bed doesn’t help him. Until Dan placed buku Mari Belajar Sembahyang under his pillows. Then he started to be okay. I think as of last year he had stopped being scared of white pillows.

Kenapa ya ? Why is his imaginary friend a ghost ?

Maybe I am loony....

My good friend Kamalia ( I have known her since like we were 8 or something ) commented on my last posting. She rightly said that the chances of me being asked “What is magic in Malay” is very remote…

Well…. Sure… but when you are me…. Just ask my husband lah…

When were living in UK, I was an ardent fan of Marie Claire magazine. So ardent in fact that I kept on buying the magazine when we permanently parked our bottoms in Malaysia. It costs a bomb but I liked it. I only stopped when I realised, hey…. the Malaysian Marie Claire is good too, and the bonus point is they actually showcase all the goody shoes and clothes that is within my reach !!

Well anyway, I truly, truly love this segment in Marie Claire UK where they feature normal, everyday women’s wardrobe. I found out that I actually like looking and ‘belek’ing the contents of other people’s wardrobe. The rows and rows of shoes, and bags and clothes and knick knacks and what nots.

I love reading where they buy their clothes and why. Usually there is an interesting story attached to a piece of clothing. You know, its sentimental value or incidents that happened when they wear or buy that particular piece.

I also love they way they drape certain items of clothing attractively around the room, the way they susun the kasuts and bags or whatever. I just love it.

Well… of course I got crazy. I know the chances of them featuring my wardrobe is like nil (I think you have to write to them and ask them to come or something like that)… but I went crazy anyway. I started to susun my shoes ( when Dan wasn’t home of course because he would have a heart attack if he sees my collection all in one go. I wasn’t sinisterly hiding them from my husband, mind you. I just love him so much that I do not want him to have a seizure…, that’s all ) and my bags, and drape my bajus attractively around the room.

I also looked for pieces that have a story attached to it ( I have one piece that is connected to you though, Kamalia. The seluar I bought from you and tried it on in your curtainless store room… he he…. Takde orang duduk belakang rumah dia… so it’s okay… although there were chances of orang lalu … well…. ).

So… that is my perangai. Thank God that my husband layan je selalu… eventhough I know he harbours thoughts that his wife might be crazy.

One more contoh ? Well, the tube station near Big Ben ( I think Westminster Station ) right, has the longest escalator I have ever seen. To make it worse, to me the escalator’s gradient is quite high, maybe 35° even. I had nightmares of me falling down with my baby Umar. Well.. sometimes if I walked alone, I have daymares where I imagined me falling down. And I will have this pained look on my face, which Dan once saw and demanded for an explanation. I am sure he wished he hadn’t.

Ermmm….. better be prepared ? He he… or neurotic, crazy woman… don't judge me... if you can, of course.

PS : I would still like to know what is magic in Malay though…Anyone ?

I get anxious for nothing

Every time I saw the advert for Street Magic ( or something like that ) Asia : India, I will get apprehensive. Why ? Well you remember the part where one of the magicians asked the bystander “What is magic in Indian ?” and the quick witted lad answered “Jadoo.” ? Well… I do not know what is magic in Malay.

I can just picture it. “What is Magic in Malay ?” ask the Magician. “Ermm…. Silap mata…eh…. Maybe ajaib is more accurate. Hang on, hang on…. Kuasa sakti probably ?” And I will be red in the face (because I go red easily) and I will fumble and oohh…. the agony ! The embarrassment ! Malunya !!

So now, if they ever make it to our shores and I happen to walk past by, I will keep on walking because I do not want to look like a fool on telly (although I think I already look very much like one especially if there are people who know the answer at the tip of their tongue right now).

Bencinya !! Menyusahkan aku je dia orang ni !

Cerita merepek ku akibat demam he he...

After a long absence, I am succumbing to peer pressure. Okay, I will update my blog…

So very sorry, I am (not was still am) busy because I am involved in a project again. Then I got sick. Since Tuesday a fortnight ago actually and luckily because I was being a good girl and did my work, by the time I got the flu, I was way ahead of schedule. So my boss ordered me to go home and rest. He isn’t expecting me back at the office until Wednesday last week really but being a good girl ( and fearing it is actually a test ) I returned work last Tuesday after being absent since the Tuesday before ( well I did try to go to work on Monday and I could only manage to sit until 11 am –that is when my boss sent me home ).

Kindness like this makes it harder for me to actually attempt to find a new job. Why do I want to find a new job ? Well.. just for the heck of it…. He he… Okay, this is only my second job and don’t tell me I will keep this one forever ? Most of my friends have a colourful past and well, I am actually quite embarrassed to admit that my current boss is my second. I am not Japanese. Malaysians are not loyal… Even Dan has a lot of past employers in his list and I only have 2. Both of them coincidently suffer from receding hair line. Boring… I want to say that I had a boss who was this and that and this and that… Having to say “Well… both of my bosses were botak heads…” isn’t a recipe for an interesting conversation ( well yeah because people bonded by bitching about their superiors ) and furthermore I do not exactly have anything damaging to say about my current one.

So should I ? Look for a new job ? Live dangerously and actually start e-mailing my CV ? I have a very nice boss and should I risk that ? Should I ?

Eiii…. I though I was going to ramble on about my very terrible and long winded flu, why am I talking about this lah ? He he… adalah…. Nanti aku cerita..

Aku yang tak mengundi di Rembau

Ohh….. Penduduk Rembau….Tolonglah undi opposition. Tolong lah… ini rayuan rakyat yang tak mengundi di Rembau. Pleeeassee !!

Tak undi pun takpelah. Dok rumah diam – diam…

Jangan bagi si KJ (aku nak tulih nama penuh pun tak lalu) tu menang. Kalau apa-apa jadi kat negara ku yang merdeka ni sebab dia… aku akan blame orang Rembau solely…

The future of our country is in your hands…….

(Besaq tanggungjawab tu….)

Dah lah si Azalina tu dah menang… nampaknya plan nak buat sports center kat England tu menjadilah nanti… Rakyat Malaya tak makan tak pa asalkan kita menang pingat emas. Itu pun belum tau buleh ka menang…. Waaa……. !!

Kalau tak suka jangan pandang !!

The cerita benar I am about to relate to you happened to a friend of mine. I have no reasons to denounce his story as untrue as why would anybody lie about this. He said this happened when he was having his meal at a mamak restaurant ( don’t know where ) with his colleague. In front of him was a group of high school students, still garbed in their uniform. There was a couple amongst them and this couple, were having the time of their life kissing and necking and what-nots.

What would a responsible 36 year old person do ? Dia tegur. I do not remember the details of what he said, but he did say something. What happened ? The boy said “Kalau tak suka tengok, pandang tempat lain lah..!” and resumed what they were doing.

Oh man !! Coming from a girl that married her high-school sweetheart, I understand their need. Man, me more so because my boyfriend IS a total babe ( even more now…. He he… ). That kind of love is usually accompanied by this strange urge to touch and taste. But putting that aside, we have a thing called common sense and common decency, drummed into us by various parties in our life ( you know .. parents, teachers, ustazah, kawan-kawan etc ). Allah SWT also gave us a lovely brain to think. Use it. Even in that all consuming, heady emotions you have conveniently forgotten Him, but surely you have shame ?

If you do not feel shame, then what is the next progression ? Butt naked in public ? Contrary to what the telly had shown us, public kissing doesn’t happen at every nook and cranny in the west. Sure there were people who exchanged brief hugs and kisses but I have never seen couples sitting in a restaurant and had a go at it, oblivious to other people around.

I have seen though a young couple snogging in a mall however the people who happened to pass by (like meself and that gorgeous boyfriend of mine) looked twice, even three times at them, making me realised hey… it is rather uncommon there too.

Okay, can you imagine, this girl yeah, who was inspecting the inner tonsils of her boyfriend, looked up ( for air ) and say caught the eyes of another patron, what would she do ? Smile sheepishly or gave a sultry sexy look coupled with a wink… or two. Or would she get upset and ask bravely “Apa tengok – tengok ?”.

And say that very eloquent boy who after exchanging spit with his one true love saw his father standing in front of him with a disbelief look, would he say, “Hai, Pak. What’s up ?” Or what would he do if the Bapak actually ligan and balun him ? Tak malu ke ?

And then mulalah cakap “Korang tak paham…” like they were the only ones ever in love, the rest of us are simply kambings.

Apart from that, the thing that riled me up too is this boy is not scared of anybody. If it was me, a child in a uniform doing things I was not supposed to do being questioned by an adult, I would have legged it. A lot of things could happen, like he could go to school and complain to my teachers. Worst still if the police accompanies him with sirens blaring on and worse with JAIS’ lebai or two. Then of course the fear of me being hauled up to the police station ( with handcuffs no less ) where my parents would be waiting…. ! Oh man.. the agony of waiting for all that to happen !! But this guy is not afraid… Not at all. I am till today left wondering what does he have up his sleeves for that bravado ?

Is he even afraid of his parents ? His teachers, at least ? Hell.. would the sight of policemen cause his sweat glands to work ? I am too wondering what if it happened to me. What would have I done if the boy gave me his, “Kalau tak suka tengok pandang tempat lain.” Would I roll up my sleeves ( I am a Malay mother who usually wears long sleeves tops after all ) and pull the boy up by his ears ? Or would I call the cops and JAIS and demand they make a quick arrest ? Or would I berleter and berleter and berleter at the shop ? I hope I would never find out.

PS : I hope he would grow out of his setan-like perangai… like all of us did ( although I still retain a few unsavoury habits that is rather hard to ditch… In time…. Give me time…. I fervently hope that He has a sense of humour…)

Book Review : Ghost Children By Sue Townsend

This is a re-read. I was unearthing my collection to find something interesting to read and I decided on this one. It is a rather good book, I should say by the author who brought us the Adrian Mole series.

This book is about Christopher and Angela, who broke up because Angela aborted their baby. Chris became obsessed about his unborn child, always looking for a replacement and Angela got married to another bloke but never got over her baby in spite of being the sole instigator of the abortion. She keeps imagining her daughter Catherine was still with her, growing up and being the most perfect daughter.

They met again and rekindled their love with a lovely twist.

Storme, a baby being brought up by really stupid mother and Satan worshipping father is in the book too and I love the way their lives were intertwined with Chris and Angela.

It is a short book but if I say anymore then I will give the ending away.

I love books.

Main Badminton

Yesterday the 4B’s played badminton. For 2 hours.. Well Dan, Shazmi and myself played for an hour on our own because Anu and Shah were late and the next hour the 4B’s played together while I happily sat on the very high referee’s chair. Shouts of “I am not as agile as before !!” and “Oi !! I am not 20 anymore !!” was heard in abundance… he he…. Okay, okay… that is an exaggeration on my part (the abundance of it, that is).

Anyhoo… I played with Shazmi for awhile ( it was triple before. Dan who was playing singles managed to pulverize pasangan beregu Shazmi and Myra.. it was the lighting… trust me ) whilst Dan waited for Anu and Shah outside the Sports Complex. Our game was very interesting, Shazmi and me.… more languorously played than anything because we only played in front of the net. Shazmi said, “Just within this small box, okay ?” and I was happy to oblige.

After awhile ( of not really playing and talking ) I said to Shazmi, “Ever wonder why we are the fattest in the group ?” he looked at me with this look and said, “Fine !! Come on, Ala !” and I was fully regretting what I said when suddenly Dan appeared with Anu in tow !!

Yey !! Saved by the B’s !!

Hereditary trait

Aku balik kampong. Best…. Tapi yang tak bestnya bila my husband again found things about my family that made him… went "Ohhh…. Patut lah… keturunan….", while shaking his head in wonderment, like he was given the answers to the world secrets.

Sebab keturunan 1

My grandma bising sebab Harian Metro dah habis. She had to made do with Utusan Malaysia. I absolutely love the tabloid but Dan is always teasing me about it. "Baca cerita merepek aje..." he would say. So when my grandma made a fuss about Harian Metro dah habis at pasar Batu Gajah, Dan shook his head. “Patut le… Keturunan…” he murmured. Eiii … !!

Sebab keturunan 2

I am an IBS sufferer. Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I have to watch what I eat as a lot of food give me gas. Gas makes me bloated. Especially at the tummy area. Therefore when bloated, my stomach expands quite considerably.

Before, my tummy just got bigger. It’s okay. I can handle that. But nowadays it hurts when gassy. On top of that, remember Dan’s sympathy period zit ? Well now he bloats when I bloat. If it happened when I was not having my menses, he will ask accusingly, “You makan nasi ye hari ni ?” because nasi is the biggest culprit. So now we have one real IBS sufferer and one sympathy IBS victim ?

Well anyway, my aunt noticed the very little amount of nasi on my plate and the fact that I wasn’t consuming them. I was shoving the lauks instead. “Apa ke he tak makan nasi tu ? Sikit je… Tambah le lagi…” to which I explained my IBS thingy.

And then… “La…. Macam your uncle Kamal le. Uncle Kamal pun tak boleh… Kalau makan nasi je kembung….”. I stole a glance at my husband who was sitting next to me and saw that his lips were thin, arms folded.

“Patut le…. Keturunan rupanya…” said he out loud and began filling in the story to my aunt. Eiii….. !!

Sebab keturunan 3

Dan is always frowning at me for opening the door at the same time he unlocks it. I don’t know why but it happens a lot. I know, I know I am suppose to wait for the ‘tet tet’ sound before I even contemplate to touch the lever but tangan ni macam gatai… Don’t know lah.

Anyway, we took my grandma to pasar and when we returned to the car, belum sempat Dan ‘tet tet’ my grandma tried the door and at the same time Dan pushed the button. As a result all doors were unlocked except for my Wan’s. Dan smiled in recognition. He kept on smiling during the short drive to my Wan’s house. As I was exiting the car, I heard the unmistakable ‘ish ish’. Eeiiii….. !!

Book Review : The Morning Gift by Eva Ibbotson

*Sigh* …. What a great book. The Countess Below Stairs, which I read before, paled in comparison to this one. Don’t get me wrong, the latter is a marvelous book but this one is wonderful… It is romantic and dreamy and brimming with family values, complete with a villain.

Again the novel was set during the war where Ruth, the daughter of a wealthy scholar was accidentally left behind when her family fled from Hitler in Vienna ( lovely city. I love Vienna ). Help came in the form of Professor Sommerville, an old friend of the family who offered to marry her which will automatically make her a British subject. They were to divorce when she is safe in England, free to marry her pianist boyfriend, Heini.

But getting a divorce is not easy during that era. It especially became harder when Ruth became his student, and a bright one at that. And then of course the normal miscommunication, keen to make assumptions and reluctance to put forth questions to clarify those assumptions made things harder for the couple.

Eva had successfully written about human foibles. Not human exactly but couples. We so like to assume which will inevitably turns to hurt then merajuk came and when that happened.. usually all is lost. Even if it was saved,long period if time have been spent apart, nursing our feelings and relishing our wound.

So the moral of the story ? If what you heard is only hearsay… or you saw a woman swooning on your husband.. ask him first before you kapak’ed his head. That is all. Please read this one… kalau tak rugi…..

Book Review : The Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotson

Haii….. Well….. It is hard for me to find an opening for this review. It is a long awaited book. A book that I first saw in London, was about to take it when I saw another book on display that I was looking for at that time. I thought.. well I could always find this book in Malaysia but I didn’t and little did I know that was my last visit to London because I quit my job… he he… wasn’t anticipating that either… (well I was hoping I could but did not foresee that I would quickly find another job…)

Anyway, I fell in love with Ms Ibbotson when I read her Song For Summer. It is a simple book, rather short for a novel but was marvelous anyway. Then I bought Madensky Square, although not as superior to A Song For Summer but was better than most books I read.

Anyway, after much calling mph and Kinokuniya, I was truly blessed when 1 phone call I made out of boredom said “ Ada kak. Tinggal lagi satu. “ What ? I quickly enquired other titles they have and a week after that I was the proud owner of 3 Eva Ibbotson books.

The book is about Anoushka or Anna, a Russian Countess who had to work in a stately house of a British blue blood to support her family after they fled the war in Russia penniless. This story tells of a girl who was so humble about her noble birth, she didn’t mind the calluses and blisters on her hands in order to support her family.

She fell in love with the lord of the manor and he too couldn’t fight his attractions to her. But of course true love must follow thorny path to truly triumph and difficulties came in the form of the earl’s wicker fiancée and her struggle to keep her identity a secret.

Sounds simple enough ? It is, but the storyline is beautiful.

Hmmm……………….

Book review : Widow For A Year by John Irving

This is an interesting book. One of the best I have read so far and interestingly one I bought at a book sale, so really this book was a trial on the author book. However I did buy a book by the same author in another book sale before, called The Fourth Hand. It was an interesting enough book and I wonder why I didn’t purchase any other titles until this one.

A remarkable book with 2 protagonists, Ruth and Eddie. They first met when Ruth was 4 and Eddie 16. Eddie was working as a writer’s assistant to Ruth’s father Ted, who was a famous children's book writer. At that time Ruth’s parents were already living apart. Through Ted’s machinations, Eddie became Ruth’s mother Marion’s lover and the two had a passionate (on Eddie’s side. Marion’s feelings were not spoken of much ) affair. The sad thing was ( to me it is sad ) it made Eddie inclined to relationships with much older women. In fact, he only could fall in love with older women. At the end of that summer, Marion left leaving Ruth with her father.

The second part of the novel told how Ruth and Eddie met again after so many years. Both writers, Ruth a successful one and became firm friends. At this point I expected Ruth and Eddie to become lovers but they didn’t and I was not disappointed the book didn’t go my way. In fact I was very much intrigued and read on, curious what the writer has in store for them.

The final part of the novel described Ruth in her widowhood and when she found love for the first time. Eddie ? Well he got what he wish for ( no ending spoiler here ).

Although the book basically gave both characters happy ending but I was unhappy for Eddie. Here is this decent guy who is beautiful ( I imagined beauty like Tobey Maguire, the non-threatening like gorgeousness because Eddie is a decent guy and who is more decent that Spidey ? ) inside and out ( his character flaw is his nervousness and lack of confidence .. kinda weak really ) but his entire life is wasted on pinning for Marion. He doesn’t have children and none of his relationships lasted … well because by the time he was fifty. All his lovers were geriatrics !!

I like it because again the plot is different and yet the same. Different because it gave me a glimpse of a life without children ( by choice because they terrified Eddie and Hannah, Ruth’s best friend, just didn’t want them ) and without close family ties. It is also about a kind-hearted egomaniacal pervert cum adulterer ( yup.. that is how I describe Ted ), making me think.. WOW ! Not all perverts cum adulterers are all bad … ha ha…Well… not funny…. It has murder, love, right amount of tragedy and happy ending.

What a guy book. Anyway… read it…

PS :- I finally found the book I had been coveting for years !! I am reading it carefully, savouring every word and details, trying to make it last as long as I could. What a literary genius !! The review coming up next !

Telly Review : Brothers and Sisters

Every Tuesday night at 10 pm ( okay I am very much confused with hari Isnin malam Selasa or hari Khamis malam Jumaat business. Just to keep the record straight, to me malam Selasa is Selasa itself. When I sleep on malam Selasa, I will wake up on hari Rabu ) Dan and I will be glued to the telly watching Brothers and Sisters on StarWorld channel.

It is great series about Sally Field and her 5 children and how they cope after the death of their father. The most intriguing part of the story is the emergence of their father’s mistress. Calista Flockhart and Rachel Griffiths play the daughters and the lovely Rob Lowe is in it too.

What I love about the series is the honest portrayal of a real family. The drama is not exactly sugar-coated affair, as an escape from reality for the viewers but it is feel good enough for us to have some hope left. The writers and producers to me strike a good balance of reality and Disney happy-ever-after very well, sort of like there is a silver lining in every misfortune kind of thing.

It has enough romance and comedy and tragedy coupled with excellent acting to get us hooked.

I was having dinner with my family the other day when we realised that Brothers and Sisters would be starting in 5 minutes. We bid a hasty goodbye to catch the show and Shera too wanted to race home for it. My mother’s parting remark ? “ Keluarga ni dah cukup banyak borthers and sisters yang buat pening kepala semua, hangpa nak pi tengok pasal orang lain tu buat pa ? ” Yelah, yelah….

PS: Tapi tengok gak. Semalam punya best….

Book Review : If Andy Warhol Had A Girlfriend by Alison Pace

I love going to book sales because those are the only times I dared to buy books from suspicious looking and sounding authors. Those are the times when I am allowed to not judge a book by it’s cover because the cover is cheap. This is the only time I could gamble my money to buy works by unknown writers.

I have been successful a few times and there were times when I just fling the book out and cross the author from my list.

Anyway during the recent Times Bookstore sale in PJ, I bought the above-mentioned book by the above-mentioned author and I was captivated. This is definitely one of my success stories. The book was wonderfully written, the language simple. I hate books where the author tried to impress readers with their vocabulary prowess and difficult sentence structure. Usually we ended up confused and had to re-read the same sentence over and over again, to make head and tails of what was going on ( especially crucial when you read a whodunit book ).

I totally could relate to the heroine as we share the same fears and wishes and hopes. There are some weird Christmas scene about a game that involved the family schnautzer, but it was just minor part and excusable.

The book tells the story of Jane who worked for an art gallery. Her boss is difficult and rude and some of her colleagues came to work armed with knives specially designed for back stabbing. On top of it all ( plus being unceremoniously dumped by her Texan boyfriend ) she was forced to travel for 5 months with the country’s newest art prodigy and was dreading it.

But of course, never think negatively of anybody unless you know for sure he is rotten and totally deserves it. The book predictably ends with a lovely lovey-dovey scene, but that is what we always hope for, ain’t it ?

PS : Saw Sumolah again some time ago. Somehow, I was not as impressed as I was before. I was rather blah to me, the second time around. Apa jadi yek ? Maybe because when I saw it at the movies the first time, I was 3 seats away from the screen and developed a headache halfway through ? Possibly…..

Movie Review : Shoot ‘Em Up

This is a funny movie. It was made to be cheesy and over the top and it delivered. Clive Owen, Paul Giamatti and Monica Beluci was excellent. Don’t know how to describe it, really other than it is excellent and was meant to be stupid.

Watch it !!

PS: X-rated sikit so don’t watch with your kids. Nasib baik we screened it first because Abang so wanted to watch it.

Cuti ku

During my lovely cuti ( tak kemana pun. Sibuk prepare budak-budak nak sekolah ) I keep imagining the things that I want to write about on my blog. This and that. But when I am finally here, nothing comes to my head. Apa sebenarnya aku nak tulis ?

Anyway, we stayed at Shang-Ri La on Saturday with my brother. Watched Alvin and The Chipmunks ( Movie Review : Alvin and The Chipmunks – If you concentrate on the 3 chipmunks, the movie is good. If you watched it as a whole, you will find the story very cheesy and the actors bad. That guy from ‘My Name is Earl’ brought Earl into the movie. Alvin, Simon and Theodore very cute… Comel sangat…! ) and then my sister in-law caught a pick pocket. Kesudahannya they were stuck at the balai until 10 pm and we trudged back to the hotel without them. (PS :- Shera chased the pencuri with my niece Alisya in tow. Batwoman and Batgirl to the rescue ). On that note, please be careful friends when you shop. The girl Shera caught was either Vietnamese or Burmese and she was in a group of five. They used knives to cut a hole in your bag to get your goodies. In the girls’s purse there were like 8 handphones and a few purses… So beware.

Okay, allow me to moan about the foreigners who came here to steal. Please do it in your own country as we have our own baddies to deal with. Get out of my country !!

Went to Awana Genting with my in-laws on Tuesday. The weather was nice and because Abah used the Batang Kali Rawang route, we arrived there fresh with our wits intact. The food was good too and since it was Christmas the buffet had turkey with its trimmings. Nice. Nobody wanted to go up since Hakeem whose Mom followed the normal route vomited 3 times and therefore spooked all the other kiddies, so we went down to the flatlands again.

Dah cuti dari Sabtu sampai Selasa, both of us shed tears on Wednesday morning because work beckoned. Tak pa… nanti nak hantar Adik pegi sekolah, 3 hari aku ambik…. Ha ha….

Hmmphh

Gosh, I really do need to be inspired. Am really bored with the books that I purchased lately and have resorted to those that I know is good and could entertain me. So am reading the Chronicles of Narnia by the ever-brilliant C.S Lewis and will start on Tolkien next. Maybe my Austens would save me or even a Dickens. Maybe I will just read Lady in White again.

I love Lady in White, for some reason.

I don’t know what went wrong but I was even bored with the new Nicholas Sparks. I was even rather uninspired with Julia Quinn’s new book. Maybe Ms Fiona Walker need to get her new book out as soon as possible, to save me from my literary meltdown.

Have I turned into a cynic then ? I used to squeal whenever I read romantic scenes in books. Now I just read and went hmmmppph. Apa itu ?

However I was not disappointed at the cinemas though. Enchanted was enchanting ( for want of better word ) and The Golden Compass was intriguing and leaving me waiting for the sequel. Just like Eragon…when is the sequel coming ? Very interested to watch Mr Mongariums Wonder Emporium but that has to be at the weekend… so watched telly to make up for my book-less day.

However, the telly managed to fail me too, yesterday. Watched Monk. It was rather predictable though as I could guess the clue that will make him deduce that it was actually a murder and not an overdose. So, yeah… the genius Monk failed to entertain me. Rather insipid, I should say. Should have watched House instead but since I have seen the whole season 3, I decided on Monk instead. Last night was the only time he failed me though, that Adrian.

I do really need an aspiring book from new authors. My classical authors are well and good and I can’t keep re-reading them. I am up for suggestions.

Book Review : The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever by Julia Quinn

I haven’t done book reviews for some time. It is just that I have been reading books that were not worth a mention. There were about 3 boring books before I stumbled a new one by Ms Quinn.

Oh I do love Miss Quinn that I quickly finished the third blah book I was reading ( hell, I couldn’t remember the head and tails of it right now ) so that I can be literally entertained by my darling Julia.

Hmm…. It was okay, I suppose. Is it because it is not about the Bridgertons ( there are 8 of them and she has written about 7, so I am waiting for her book about Gareth ) that I feel … well lacking. It was fun but I feel bored all the same. I hunted for all my other books by her and could confirm that I only really enjoyed her writings on the Bridgertons. Don’t know why…

Anyway re-reading Splendid now ( not about the Bridgertons at all ) to further test the theory….he he

Cats

Two days ago on the way to work, me and my colleague, Jit, talked about cats. I told her about the numerous ones we had and about the ones that I love. Today, I read the entry of a blog buddy about her and her cat and I think, well I wanna share about my cats too. I was called to write about my Pit.

It all started with Nicky. Nicky was a lovely gray tinged with white. I dunno where he came from. Probably a stray, but he was attractive nonetheless. Ayah brought home 2 stuffed monkeys from one of his trips abroad, 1 pink and 1 orange and Nicky somehow liked the pink one. When he feels sleepy ( which was 70% of the time ), he would find the pink monkey, carry it via his mouth and would hug the toy while he sleeps under the organ.

Another quirky Nicky thing was he would wait for my return from school. Bukannya apa, he would wait for me to take off my uniform, I would then lay it nicely on the bed ( him waiting for me to do so on the bed, watching the ritual ) and when I am done, rolled all over the outfit, especially at the armpit area. We always laughed about how Nicky likes the smelly, salty odour… ha ha.

We do not know what happened to him though. One day he just went missing. I miss him still.

Then came Pit. If Nicky was the family cat, Pit was mine ( because boipren ku my husband yang bagi, we were in form 5 at that time ). Oh… what a mighty specimen he was. Pure white with yellow eyes, so handsome, my boy ( dah nak menangis ni.. dok teringat…. Alahai Pit….)

He was really clever. He never tried to leave the house at all when he first came. When Husband came holding a white fur ball in his hands, we grabbed him, hugged him and went head over heels in love due to his ultimate cuteness. He didn’t even try to run away as that afternoon he lepak’ed at our front porch. My father commented how nice he looked sitting there, with his white coat gleaming in the sun. “ Elok ja dia dok tang tu…” said he.

There were no other cats in the house, and he was a playful and energatic cat. So he decided to play with us and began chasing us around the house. We would run riot to try and escape him, screaming wildly. If we ever heard a piercing scream, we would join in the fun. Sometimes we would entice him too, stomping our feet in front of him or waving it madly at his direction and he never failed to take the bait. One night we woke our parents up because he has started chasing us and to escape him we had to climb up our parents’ bathroom table. On the occasion where he did manage to get us, he would just pounce on us with his un-clawed paws. Brilliant boy. I do have to admit sometimes he used his teeth too but it never hurt us. It was lovely. What fun...

A few months after his arrival though, Abu came to the picture. A scrawny Siamese like kitten given to us by my friend Isa. He was much loved too, not just by us but also by Pit. Pit stopped chasing us and started to chase Abu around instead. We were rather bereaved when he chose his own kind to play with but he was still around to hug and love.

Pit grew up to be so handsome and hunky, very much a male and that was part of the problem. He was a hot blooded chap, a warrior.. well actually more like pailang seksyen 8 than anything else. When he came of age, he felt that Seksyen 8 is his and terrorized any other male cats that dared to come near. Due to his many, many fights, he started to get dirty and would come home gloriously ( to him le ) adorned with battle scars. Then one day he came back with a wound the size of my palm.

How I wept and wept for him, knowing it was painful. I begged him to stay home, but then my inability to speak cat made it fell to deaf ears. He couldn’t understand my sobbing and begging and went out to stage wars every single day.

I would anxiously await for his return to inspect his wound and feed him ( because you know soldiers need sustenance to win and this guy was the general ) and when I can’t stand it anymore, locked him in my mother’s balcony. He was a huge guy and I just can’t put him in a cage and so my mother offered him the verandah.

Then our love affair with him really began. We loved him so much. His drinking bowl was always full and he gets visitors all the time. I would study for my SPM on that very verandah, keeping my darling Pit company. But how long could you keep him there ? After about a few months, we decided to just let him go and roam the country…you know … do his things ( I couldn’t deny him his conjugal rights too, I suppose ).

He became dirty again and the healed wound re-appeared. Since from the very beginning he joined our family, Pit slept with my parents. My father loved having him sleep on his feet because he loved the weight. When he got dirty, my mother banned him from the room. Oh, what agony that was for him. Every passing chance he got he would jump on my parents’ bed and watched telly or slept. But whenever my mother found him there, he would be chased out. The saddest thing he did was if the door was closed, he would just put his paws under the door, and sat there for hours at end. When we first saw him like that, we wept and wept for him.

One day though, my mother went away, I don’t remember why. My father… he he…. He was so sweet. He laid out his kain pelikat on the bed and called for Pit. Pit jumped at the chance and they slept together that night, man and beast.

After that apa lagi, whenever my mother was not home, we would make Pit his bed on the bed….. he he… Of course things you do behind your mother’s back would be found out and the inevitable happened. Mummy felt the reason why Pit liked to sleep in her room so much was because of the air-cond, so she persuaded my father to install a unit in our family room upstairs. But nope, none doing, Pit still loves to go in her room ( actually until now, the best place in the world to sleep is her room, I can vouch for that ).

After maybe 5 years with us, one day, he staggered home. He slept in long intervals and seemed to loose his energy and gait after that. He looked sick. The vet told us he had kidney problem. Our world dimmed, especially mine since he was mine and I think I loved him the most. My baby…..

He died after a few weeks being sluggish. He stayed at home, venturing out sparingly. His final days was terrible as he kept peeing and at times it seemed the urine river was non-stop. I couldn’t bear to look at his dead body. I dug out his grave and my sisters took his body to its final resting place. I never looked.

My heart still skipped a beat whenever I see a white cat. I would try my darnest to see what colour of eyes it got. If they were ever yellow, my heart would soar, filling in the gap a bit. I felt like I was looking at my lovely Pit.

I do not want a cat after that. Still don’t want one. They break your heart, they do and I do not want to experience that kind of agony anymore. So there….

Babah bagi kucing makan

I love my husband for crying while watching Bersama Mu. I love him for never failing to give money to those blind people who approached us while we ate. I love him for being compassionate to other beings.

A stray momma cat with her 3 kittens just took in residence at the area. Last week, the momma came to our kitchen looking for food. I love cats but dare not feed it because it is not my house and I know my in-laws do not like cats. Therefore if I feed it, it will move in with it's family and it will be my entire fault.

But if they decided to move in due to Babah’s actions, it’s okay because it is his family’s house. Anyway, Babah took pity on the starving momma and looked around for food.

Mula – mula he gave her biskut cream crackers. Of course le dia tak nak. Pastu came kerepek kacang hijau. She turned her nose to that one too. Then Twisties which she sniffed and decided not her thing as well. Then he gave her something else. She didn’t like it either because I heard him berating her.

“ Itu pun tak nak ke ? ”

“ Makan lah !! ” and things along that line. I went to have a look.

“ You bagi apa ? ”

“ Tu.. ” he said and I saw a few fish shaped biscuits. Budak – budak punya.

“ Itu pun tak nak makan ke ? Kan ikan tu ? ”

I laughed. I was so tickled pink by my husband’s errmm… ingenuity. I can’t stop.

“ Oi….” Said I between laughs. “ Itu biskut bentuk ikan …… warghh ha ha ha… Bukannya ikan !! ”

“ Yelah… okay lah tu…” He said. Punya tak nak mengalah. Tapi muka dah merah padam.

After I ceased my laughter, I gently suggested him opening a can of tuna or sardines to offer the poor cat.

Wa ha ha ha.

Which she accepted with gusto.

Wa ha ha ha.

My lovely salad

I made a lovely dinner last Friday. I had warm crusty garlic baguette, pasta with mushroom neopolitan and crunchy ceaser’s salad with lovely ceaser dressing. As we sat down to eat, Abang failed to appear and when called he asked us to proceed because he was watching a movie. He promised that the movie is coming to it’s end and will join us soon.

We started to eat but it was rather boring because Abang was not around and Babah kept calling for his son. After awhile, Babah who apparently couldn’t eat without his boy, left the table to get him. Adik and I stopped eating.

After awhile we heard them talking and laughing and surmised that Babah waited for Abang to watch his movie. Adik kept calling his father. “ Bah, hurry up Bah !! We are eating…! “ When Babah didn’t appear she became restless and wanted to be excused to join them.

I forbade her from doing so and told her she can only leave the table when her plate is clean. So she wolfed down her food, announced “ Dah !! “ and ran to be with her father and brother.

So I was left alone at the table, devoid of my family members and my lovely salad limping at every passing second. I sat there, a solitary figure, waiting. Just as I was contemplating to go and haul them back to the table, they came back. Babah picked up his fork again and resumed eating. I filled a plate for Abang and Babah passed him the garlic bread. Adik demanded for beverage and nibbled on a piece of bread.

Hmmm……..

So apa masalahnya ? Entah.....

A very emo day for me

This is my Yana, my niece. She is the loveliest thing on earth. I love her to no end because apart from her loveliness, she looks like me !!

See ? He he.....

This is my Isya, Yana's elder sister. She doesn't look like me but I love her to oblivion, too. Just because I do.

I love this photo, the love of my life and my baby girl, my future bestfriend.

And this is me with my boy, my son, the first one that made me went crazy with love.

Duit dalam Quran

Not long ago I chanced on a very interesting question in a Soal Jawab Agama column in one of our dailies. The question went about something like this,

Bolehkan saya menyimpan wang di dalam al-Quran untuk mengelakkannya dari dicuri oleh toyol ? Bagaimanakah caranya untuk mengelakkan duit dari di curi oleh makhluk tersebut ?

And the brilliant answer was something like below,

Al-Quran adalah sebagai penunjuk dan menjadi pegangan hidup umat Islam, oleh itu ia lebih wajar di baca dari dijadikan tempat menyimpan wang. Untuk mengelakkan dari wang di curi oleh toyol adalah lebih baik ianya disimpan di dalam bank atau Tabung Haji kerana belum pernah ada cerita wang di tempat – tempat tersebut berjaya dicuri oleh makhluk terbabit.

I am so sorry but I find this immensely amusing. I do not know which part is funny, the question or the selamba answer. Wargh ha ha ha ha ha ha.

Restaurant Review : Café Naluri Seksyen 9

This is a new café, next to Khalifah rasanya. It is Kopitiam concept with food like mee kari and roti bakar and nasi ayam.

The food is quite nice actually. I had the mee kari and it was okay. Babah loved the nasi lemak. I tasted my kids’ nasi ayam and it had my approval.

The limau suam was kinda weird, though. Macam ada honey. But all and all, we would definitely singgah again when we are stumped for food.

We went again last week and Babah again ordered nasi lemak. Tak sedap pulak katanya. I had mee hailam which I hardly touched because I actually ordered meehoon. Not a big fan of mee, myself. Didn’t notice the kuah though. My children had meehoon soup which was rather good.

Oh, Babah also ordered ubi kayu rebus which was kinda yummy. One problem though apart from the not so nice nasi lemak, the meat was a bit off when I ate it. Macam dah masam which is rather off putting.

One thing I like about the place is that they offer magazines dated from the 90s for us to read while waiting for the food. I really appreciate that effort because my children busied themselves with the reading materials and were quiet for a change.

Hmm………….

Movie Review : Beowulf

I read Beowulf during my teenage years, at that time very much intrigued by all the classics after my father went to Australia and brought us books by Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott and Hugo Bauchamp. And Dickens too, of course.

Sadly, Beowulf was hard to read as it was a poem, and a long one at that and was so hard to understand. Therefore I was very much curious to see what the story is really like and went to see the movie with my husband.

It is a nice enough story, very much a classical one filled with dragons and battles and witchcraft. Sadly though, it is an animation and I suppose only Disney could do animation ( although they have never attempted to really draw all actors that lent their voices ) as it was rather dreadful. Although Anthony Hopkins is easily recognizable ( and Angeline Jolie too… It was rather obvious that they spent more time drawing her than the rest of the casts ) but until today I do not know whop played Beowulf. I recognized Robin Wright Penn ( whom I especially love after watching her in The Princess Bride ) only because I knew she was in it.

Their faces was so badly drawn, John Malkovich looked like a sniveling drug addict instead of a warrior. All of them, and I mean all of them looked like they indulged in a tad too much Botox injections that rendered them totally expressionless. So sad when something as epic as Beowulf is destroyed by…. bad illustration ?

I just hope that it is a true and direct interpretation of the poem, of which author remained unknown till today, as I have no intention of attempting to read the very lengthy poem again.

Mind what you do in the car

I had a lot of fun with my Rihanna CD. I especially love the song she sang with Ne-Yo. So sexy and lively with beautiful melody and gorgeous lyrics.

I was driving and listening to it and of course when a song really fills your soul and a lively song at that, you just have to groove, baby. I was busy shaking it all up at the red light ( not red light district ) in Bangsar for god knows how long when I turned to look at the car beside me. And there he was, a bloke driving a silver BMW looking at me mischievously and was dancing. He was shaking his shoulder, copying my moves as my eyes widen and keep on widening. Luckily the light turned green and I gave him a happy wave and drove on, all coloured up.

How long has he been waiting for me to look at him ( as enquired by my colleague ) ?

Somehow, I did not learn my lesson as after awhile, the music’s allure was too great to resist and soon I started to get jiggy with it again. After awhile though I noticed a white car was cruising next to me and I began to realize that it had done so for quite some time. I turned to look and was greeted with an elderly gentleman who smiled at me. He beamed and raised his brows, sort of saying “ My, my what a fun time you are having… ”. Ha ha…. I smiled and waved and again accelerated.

I don’t know why it is unexpected as I have done that quite a few times to my fellow drivers. Well, not boogieing with them in a separate car but looking out at other drivers, snooping what they were doing.

Anu and I delighted in dramas that unfold in the cars. Couples fighting, some hot love action and of course our favourite, people making a fool of themselves, listening to the radio and singing heartily, pretending they were on stage entertaining millions. Well, sort of what I was doing yesterday….

Oh, malunya !!

Apa ada dengan baju kurung

Aku buat baju kurung lagi !! Ya Allah, help me !! I have to stop buying/making/ordering baju kurung !!

Yesterday I had to do some errands at Ampang Park and because malas nak biar my colleagues wait for me, went alone. I went with trepidation because Ampang Park has so many delicious stuffs on sale.

As I waited for my thing to be ready, I had a walk around and that was my biggest mistake. I should have stayed put. Because when my feet wanders, it wandered into SML, a boutique selling kain and baju kurung. And I of course picked up a kain and ask them to turn into baju kurung for me. Hai.....

I tell you, it is a gorgeous blue batik number and I so love batik. But why did I buy it since I have so many ? I still have loads of kain yet to be turned into baju kurung and there I went and bought another one.

Apa aku nak buat dengan baju kurung banyak - banyak ? In fact I have one kebaya waiting for me at another tailor in Kelana Jaya. What is wrong with me ? Since I started working, I sort of went crazy with baju kurung. I love them really. The play of colours, the design... well sebenarnya I love the kain lah and what else can I turn them into selain dari baju kurung ?

I remember attending a meeting in Singapore. I was to meet Mike Smith ( a lovely bloke from Scotland ) for the first time after talking on the phone and e-mailing each other for months. He knew it was me somehow when we first clapped eyes on each other ( chewah ) and the second thing he said to me was ( after the customary hello, you must be Myra ), " You should be standing next to the flower pot. What a beautiful and colourful outfit !! ". I beamed happily because I was wearing my lovely yellow baju kurung with the most delicious blue flowers with pink middles. What an ice-breaker. My baju sealed our friendship after months of being boring engineers ( he hates me now because whenever he comes over I will take him shopping and well because ... I managed to persuade him to part from his money to buy a gorgeous diamond ring for his lovely Julie at Habib, a new camcorder, shirts, ties and what-nots. So he swore never to go shopping with me again.... he he ).

So... maybe that is why I keep on kitting myself with baju kurung because it will make good ice-breakers ? Really ? Or aku sememangnya kuat belanja....

Nope... I have to put some blame on Amelia because I owned two pieces that she bought for me... Or maybe I should point my fingers to my colleagues who mostly wear baju kurung and making me felt oddly masculine in my shirts and trousers ? Is that it ?

What ever you do, don't put the blame on you, blame it on the rain... yeah yeah.....

He he....

Restaurant Review : Paddington Pancake House, The Curve & One Utama

For pancake lovers, this place is heaven !! I first stumbled upon it while out with my sisters, trying to locate a Thai restaurant in One Utama. It was next door to it actually. Since we were already salivating at the thoughts of Pad Thai, we had no choice but to have Thai main course and then went straight across for dessert. Oh, malunya !!

We didn’t know what to choose because the menu was so extensive. They have different kind of pancakes and each type has sweet and savoury menus. We liked what they featured on their banners though and ordered that.

Oh wow !! It was coin pancakes ( normal pancakes only bite size ) with loads of bananas, strawberries, peaches, plums and variety of nuts. Topped with ice-cream, of course !! Plus a small pitcher of delicious maple syrup. Ohh……

The pancakes are fluffy and gorgeous. And when you add a fruit, some nuts, a little ice-cream that has touched a little syrup… well no words can describe it.

Yesterday took my family there for dinner. The kids each had pancakes with bananas and ice-cream and babah and mummy ? Well we shared the same sweet pancakes I mentioned above and one savoury one. The savoury one includes pancakes that have been baked pizza like with beef bacon and cheese. Golden fried egg on top and mashed potato on the side.

Can’t finish them though as the serving was kinda huge. Furthermore the sweet one arrived first and we found out ice-cream and eggs go disastrously together. So next time will just share one plate….kay, Bah ?

Restaurant review

Nachos Nachos, SACC Mall

We love this place !! It is really good. The nachos are lovely ( if you like nachos, of course ). I love the fish and chips because they tasted like the frozen ones Dan and I used to bake for our dinners in England.

The tortilla sandwich is also rather good. We had loaded potato skins ( quite heavy though ) and chicken wings too. The only problem is that the chilli for the nachos was not coarse, pureed instead which is kinda funny. I like my chillie to be coarse really for easy scooping with the nachos but they are tasty nonetheless.

Haven’t tried the desserts though. Don’t be disappointed with the very small menu because what little choice of food they offer is good.

So go and give it a try. Support them because kalau tak ramai orang nanti tutup !!!! Jauh ooo nak makan nachos kat KLCC….. Lagipun it is a Muslim’s establishment. So give your support.

Next to it is Only Mee restaurant. Yuck !! That is all I can say. I only had soup because I was unsure of its halalness as when I asked the waiter told me their application is still under process. O-kay. Kat depan kedai ada gambaq perempuan pakai tudung ajak masuk....

I had wanted to get up and leave but then Elsa suddenly showed interest in food after a few days of traumatised meal times due to her ulcers. I had to stay. Fine. I had only soup and I could actually feel the ajinomoto rolling on my tongue. I tasted Umar's mee and yikes !! I tasted Elsa's and I felt like they murdered my senses.

Book Review : 2 books

Buku 1 : Pleasure Trap by Elizabeth Thornton

Not pleasurable. Mediocre book. Boring !! Menyesal beli. Will have to stop attempting to read Avon romances for awhile as they could be very similar.

Buku 2 : French Relations by Fiona Walker

Best !! I love Ms Walker. The book is so thick but it was worth it. It is actually a re-run. I’ve had it for years but it so lovely. This is actually a sequel to… well I have forgotten the title but it still lovely.

I started reading Ms Walker’s Snap Happy and was hooked. I have read them all and enjoyed all immensely even though their thickness rivaled my Engineering books. The other thing I love about her books is that they are all connected. At least one character from other books will make an appearance.

Re-reading Lisa Jewell’s Ralph Party now and enjoying it. Will re-read the pre-quel to French Relations after finishing this.

PS : Note that all are re-reads. Lepas raya.. no money. Nasib baik collection banyak and boleh baca mana yang dah lupa… Hmmm if only I was this studious and interested when I was studying….

Beraya di rumah Amelia

Amelia invited me to her house yesterday so as soon as Dan arrived home from work, we went straight to her house ( Dan wanted to go quickly as he hadn’t eaten yet ). Belasah kuih kaw-kaw sementara tunggu and we were invited to eat first. As soon as we were done and I brought our bowls ( Sib makan sate like me. Dalam mangkuk with sudu so that we can get maximum amount of kuah kacang with every bite… yummm ) back to the kitchen, Kamalia and hubby arrived with their little Ayesha.

The kids were left shrieking and caterwauling upstairs while the parents sat down for much needed adult conversation ( which also means conversation with few amounts of “ kan….” ).

Things that I learnt from our very intelligent conversation

1. Kelantanese eats sate during pagi Raya. The might have the odd ketupat palas manis too.
2. Tambun Waterpark is rather nice but smaller than Sunway Waterpark. Can’t compare or imagine as never been to either.
3. There is a guy called Alwi who lives near the zoo, a colleague of Sheik.
4. Sheik also has a colleague that commutes from Tanjung Malim to Shah Alam every single day…. Amazing.

5. Dan witnessed a jemaah got hit by a motorcyclist before sembahyang Jumaat. He also said the mob were angry with the injured mkotorcyclist and was more interested in pummeling him ( but they didn’t, thank Allah ) than giving him some much needed aid.
6. Ayesha eats sate perut… Bravo !! Now, if only my children are not as fussy. Umar only ate 1 and a half sate….

7. Ada orang jual Char Keaw Tiaw Penang sedap giler kat seksyen 7. Rasa sedap macam juai kat Penang. Tukang masak memang mai dari Penang and most of the sauces he bought from there.

Have I forgotten anything ? Anyway, when I got home, I got an sms from Amelia who found her son’s room clean and tidy. According to Amir, his friends helped him clean up before they left.

Good children…. We are proud.

Oh yeah.. Kamalia asked the most sensitive question to Elsa… “ Elsa bila nak pergi sekolah ? ”. Dan and I discreetly shook our heads and held our breath for her response. “ Belum lagi…, ” she said. “ Nanti… ”. We were relieved. Glad to know that she finally understands. Thank you Kamalia for the test… he he….

Penang food, my roots

Bestnya balik Penang ! This year we didn't celebrate Raya in Penang because since my grandma's demise, there is nobody there except for Mak Ngah, Pak Mat in Jitra and a handful of my dad's cousins and aunts.





For awhile now we have been doing our raya sakan-ing in Perak. My mom and my Maksu are the only ones who are not in Perak. My grandma, Uncle Kamal ( Ayah Alang ), Uncle E ( Ayah Uda ), Uncle Mat and Mak Nyah plus my mom's cousins and aunts are still there. Therefore Raya in Perak equals sheer exhaustion and near exploding tummy.





But going back to Penang has always been a pleasure. I love Penang because Penang is my childhood and my roots. It is hard being kids this age. I say I am a Penangite, but I have never lived there. But there was where I go for Raya and where my relatives are and hailed from. Also, I speak with most of my words ends with a q and rather bahasa baku like pronunciation. So I am a Penangite. But no, some said. You are a Selangorian because you live in Shah Alam ( some even dared to say I am a Terenganuian because of the 11 in the middle of my IC number ).





Eii ? I said ayaq ( sometimes even ayor ) most of times. Besides, what do the Selangorians eat ? The best food seems to come from Penang. Laksa, rojak ( even rojak buah is best eaten in Penang ), sotong bakaq, keaw tiaw goreng, cucuk udang.... Heck even the best keropok udang is sold at Padang Kota Baru.





Let me tell you. Penang is mamak country and you can only get the best mamak food in Penang. Don't believe me ? You try Kayu Nasi Kandar in Damansara and then try the one in Bukit Jambul. The food in Bukit Jambul would make you roll in gastronomical delight.





If you head up north a bit to Kedah, you would not be dissapointed too. Laksa Kedah and Kedah mihun sup are simply devine. Emm... the mihun sup daging with kacang... hmmm.... Lovely. The best kuah kacangs are usually prepared by the northern people too. Dodol ? Try the ones sold at Pekan Rabu... gorgeous. And let is not forget kuih peneram. Still hot from the wok, melt in your mouth heaven... Emmm

Jom pi Penang ( and Kedah pas tu na.... ).

Selamat Hari Raya

Selamat Hari Raya !!


So sorry that I only offer my greetings on the 11th day of Raya but I was busy. Busy celebrating and being with my family.



Had a good raya, albeit a rather sad one. But good nonetheless because really I have so many blessings given by Allah that I need to concentrate on, rather picking on all the bad things that happens to me.



Raya is special because it is the time to remember family. Either down under or still well and firmly on the ground. You could not help but cry during raya, thinking about the dearly departed.


Raya is also the time to mend fences and seriously to seek forgiveness without any explaination. A coward's way of getting forgiveness ( a non-muslim local dee-jay remarked that what he likes about Raya is that it is the only religious festival that has the tradition of seeking and bestowing forgiveness.... hmmm... )


Selamat Hari Raya, dear friends. Mintak ampun mintak maaf dari hujung rambut ke hujung kaki. Sorry yek ? Yek ? Yek ?

Book Review : When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro

I read this book years ago when I still resided in England. I was intrigued by Ishiguro-San’s The Remains of The Day and wanted to experience his other works. I liked it, as it was haunting, just like his Never Let Me Go.

I re-read it again about a month ago and just finished it. I don’t remember how I felt when I read it then as but now it has renewed my vigor for his books. I will endeavor to read all his writings.

Anyway, this book is about Christopher who lived in Shanghai in the 1920s with his parents. His father worked for a British company that surreptitiously sells opium to the Chinese. His mother hated the fact that they are doing it and is a strong advocate for the practice to stop. His mother held meetings in their house, fighting for the cause while pressuring his father to try and put a stop to it all.

One day his father disappeared. Sometime later, his mother too vanished. Christopher had to return to England to live with an aunt, leaving behind his still missing parents and best friend and neighbour, Akira, a Japanese boy.

After his parents’ disappearance and through out school, he developed investigative tendencies and to no-one’s surprise became the most celebrated private investigator in England. But of course, his biggest case would be to find out what happened to his parents.

This is a good book. I like the way the daily happenings in his life reminded him of occurrences and incidents in Shanghai, some leading to the fateful day his parents vanished, somewhat giving him more clues to investigate. I also, rather bizarrely I might add, like the silly way Christopher and the British government was portrayed during his investigation. His parents had been missing for a good 20 years, in suspicious circumstances due to opium trading and I think at that point, he had just returned to Shanghai to start his investigations. Imagine my surprise when upon his arrival, they were planning a party of Mr and Mrs Bank’s return. A notion that he did nothing to dispel. Even I was skeptical that he might ever find his parents alive. At that point, the only smart cookie who grasped the absurdity of it all was the wounded Japanese soldier that Christopher thought to be that of his friend Akira. Before they were found by the Japanese army, he tried telling Christopher that they could have been dead !!

But at the end, one guy held the answer. A person whom he looked up to, so much so that when his father went missing he thought things will be all right because uncle Philips is around. It turned out the Banks' disappearance was not sinister at all. Well, at least on his father’s side that is. His mom’s circumstances were pitiful and sad and he did find her in the end. 1 month before her death, he found his beautiful mother but sadly, she couldn’t recognise him. She was suffering from dementia and living in a care home. She couldn’t identify his name either, only when he mentioned his pet name, Puffin, did her eyes lit up and she was so happy, thinking about the little boy she had to leave behind, never realizing her beloved Puffin was in front of her.

Sad and haunting.

Book Review : Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows by J.K Rowlings

Haa……. Closure at last. I finally got the answers to the questions that built up since I read Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

Let me tell you this, although Ms Rowling definitely was inspired by works of J.R.R Tolkien, Eva Ibbotson and others, enough for some critics to accuse her of plagiarism, her books was a well thought one, and I am sure it was all done by her. As if, when she wrote the first one, she had already known what is the ending and all the small details in between and cleverly divided the concept into 7 installments and ingeniously add and embellish to make the books whole and the stories longer and linked. So that must be her own ingenuity then, yeah ? Just like Tolkien. Just like C.S Lewis.

What I like about her style is that her books are easy to read. I also love how she made her characters constant that we could predict how each and everyone would re-act. She had also cleverly developed the characters, not making them stuck to their childish behaviour, allowing them to grow and mature. She had skillfully maintained the essence of the books. Wonderful woman.

Of course there are aspects of this final book that I don’t like. Well one, is the body count. I have learnt to love the characters so much that I shed sad tears whenever one died ( especially since I already know what they are supposed to look like from the movies ). And I hate the ending… 14 years later what happened to Harry Potter. She allowed us a glimpse of his future, but it was so scant, that I thought, surely, there should be an 8th one ? I just want to know how Harry proposed to Ginny, their wedding and all and of course how did Hermione and Ron got hitched ? Also, who is the new Minister of Magic ? Where are they working now ? I mean what are they doing ? Is Harry an Auror ? A Quidditch player ? How is George keeping up with Fred’s death ?

I am not satisfied with the book because I want to know more. Damn !! ( what an oxymoron, closure at the beginning and its very opposite at the end…).

Oh... dear, dear Severus Snape.

Abang Ramlee

If you ask me whom do I really want to meet, I would say P.Ramlee. And if you ask me what questions would I ask him, I would say I am going to ask him if he heard beautiful music in his sleep, if when he bled did music flow with it and if his heart is filled with joy or sorrow. Then I would ask him to sing.

“ Sing for me abang Ramlee… “ he he…..

I was on the way to work when I heard the beautiful entry of Geteran Jiwa. P. Ramlee’s voice when it came stirred my heart and twisted my feelings. That voice….Oh man… menusuk kalbu ( if kalbu means what I think it means ). Suddenly the voice altered and I thought there was something wrong with the radio, brutally forcing me out of my reverie. Rosak ke radio aku ni ? Eh, bukan… radio ku okay. Suara KRU yang tak okay, destroying abang Ramlee’s soulful serenade.

Apa raaa…. Potong stim gila…… But when abang Ramlee sang again, it was simply marvelous. Lovely. The deep voice, unmarred by any glitches was just so divine. So smooth, a treat to the ears. And I of course wept, because it just touched my soul. Can you imagine him reading the Quran or even reciting Adzan….. ?


But lets concentrate on his talents, especially his song writing. Exquisitely composed songs. Calming but can jump-start your feelings at the same time. They are mostly romantic, making you ache for your lover. Tunggu Sekejap and Malam Ku Bermimpi were some of my favorites. How can he write such beautiful melodies and have the voice to sing them ?


Malam Ku Bermimpi

Malam ku bermimpi

Hai dengan satu bintang

Berkata-kata ku di jendela

Ku lihat kanda tersenyum memandang

Asmara bergelora

Meresap ke dada

Malam ku terlihat

Oh sekuntumlah bunga

Baunya harum menarik hati

Tak sanggup menahan rasa asmara

Meresap mendalam

Mengusik di jiwa

Sayang jauh di balik awan

Wajahmu tetap berseri-seri

Laksana bulan sedang mengambang

Menawan dan menggoncang dalam kalbu

Oh angin meniup

Bawa daku ke sana

Hasratku ingin bersama-sama

Tak tahan rasa hati menderita

Gelora asmara

Selalu menggoda

He actually sang this song with Saloma. I really love this one. It is so romantic. The yearning, the missing, the love… you can almost feel it. The melody is the best of all………. Beats Kenny G any time….. he he…. ( However I amnot sure about the lyrics. He did pen some lyrics but mostly they were penned by S. Sudarmaji ).

His movies are precious too. They engulfed our lives and shape the way we talked sometimes. Me, I love to use his “ Banyakk…., jarang – jarang and kadang – kadang “ as per Nujum Pak Belalang. What about his “ Oii orang sebelah !! “ scene in Masam – Masam Manis that became a sort of joke between a lot of married couples when they fight. Or his kutu babi stint in Bujang Lapok. There are too many to mention.

One of my colleagues doesn’t like his movies because she said they were filled with expletives, from bahlol to haram jadah. True, but well… that is P. Ramlee for you, I suppose. Level of censorship back then was not the same as now and to me it is just a reflection of society back then.

I love the way he looked in Sarjan Hassan and when he spoke in English, I almost swoon with pride at his intelligence. Come on, he didn’t sound awkward at all speaking English.

I remember reading the papers about one of the veterans lashing out at the reporter when they tried to interview him. He was angry because all the while all people would talk about was P.Ramlee and he felt left out. He said he is not doing any interviews as he felt it was too late. He asked the reporter to do another piece on P. Ramlee instead. Whoa !! Relax brother…

When I was working in Klang as a Trainee Engineer, a colleague of mine told us of a story that happened to her cousin. Her grandma lives in Keramat or Kampung Baru, I am not sure. One day her cousin was sitting outside their grandma’s house and she saw a guy walking by. He was clad in white suit and wore white shoes. It was P.Ramlee. She was frozen when P.Ramlee approached her and left a message to not watch his movies anymore because it hurts him every time his movies were being watched.

I told that story to my family and I remember saying that whatever it is we have to take that story with a pinch of salt. Ye ke tidak. But my mom and some of my sisters were really cute. If they happened to chance on a P.Ramlee movie on the telly, they would squeeze their eyes shut while attempting to change the channel. He he….

Nevertheless, the story is good for my Abang Ramlee. After that, my family and I would always mention him in our prayers. Praying for him to be saved from seksa kubur and api neraka. He died too young but I believe because Allah loves him. His generosity and kindness is wildly known.

Al-Fatihah.

PS : It is worth noting that P. Ramlee died on the 27th of May, 1973 in Kuala Lumpur and my abang was born on the 28th of May, 1973 in Ohio, U.S.A. He does look like him a bit.

Book Review : Nobody’s Baby But Mine By Susan Elizabeth Philips

This is quite a good book. It is definitely a romance, just like those Avon romances but set in current America. Sadly the plot is rather familiar, as I think I might have read something like it in one of those Avon romances. However the book is still enjoyable, even though it is rather simple.

Brainy Jane is broody but needs to find a partner that is stupid, to offset the intelligence her son/daughter would definitely inherit. Jodie conveniently knocked on her door while she was crying, who just so happened to be a groupie for the state’s football team, who happened to be looking for a woman for their star quarterback or something. Such luck.

Anyhoo, Jane was presented as a birthday present to Cal and did the deed and got pregnant and Cal found out and they had to get married because Cal doesn’t want his child to be born out of wedlock. That is the Avon romance bit. So of course they fell in love blah, blah, blah.

It is quite a good book because the reading was smooth and there were romantic parts that will make you go aaaahhhh………. The only problem is that it was kind of familiar. I said it is quite a good book but am not really singing its praises huh ? Well trust me, it was just the plot.

Dn't worry, I bought an interesting book already by Mike Haddon who wrote the lovely and smashing Incident That Happened In The Night. I am however reading Harry Potter, so the next review would be about that, I suppose. Where am I with Harry Potter now ? He just got captured... Wargghhhhhhhhhh.....

Okay, back to Ms Philips' book, since the cover girl was very pretty, si I magined her to be Dr. Jane. I couldn’t think of any huge football players so I imagined Brendan Fraser as Cal. It might work…

Book Review : My Best Friend’s Girl By Dorothy Koomson

This book is about Kamryn who left her fiancée and best friend when she found out they had slept together. For 2 years she had no contact with them what-so-ever when one day on her birthday she received a card from Adele to say that she is dying.

She had to return to London to see Adele, who was already in hospital, ravaged by leukemia. Adele asked Kamryn for a big favour, to adopt her daughter, the result of her one night stand with Nigel, Kamryn’s ex-fiancée.

It is a beautiful book. How can Kamryn adopt the product of a betrayal ? But under the circumstances she did and the story of their journey is wonderful and sad. Luke, her boss, entered their life and Nigel, who never stopped loving Kamryn also came knocking.

What a girl to do ? New daughter and 2 wonderful men to choose from ?

The book is wonderful, so much so, I wonder if Ms Koomson would mind writing a sequel. I want to know more. Did she have more children with the man she chose ?
As I read, I would try to put a face on the characters. And since I met Amelia and we had a session of trying to match the characters in Flowers in The Attic with the current movie stars when we were 14, I have been doing that on my own too.

I imagined Luke to be that handsome lawyer on The Practise. Adele I imagined her to be Dr Meredith Gray from Gray’s Anatomy ( maybe because of the hospital connection ) and he he…. initially Oprah as Kamryn… but I changed it that lady in Waiting To Exhale. The one her husband cheated on. Soft but feisty. Not easy to penetrate. And she looks better sitting next to my imagined Luke than Oprah. Nigel… well…. Ms Koomson’s description of him is rather vague, but I think the best candidate is a serious Ben Stiller. Take all his funny bones out, and make him a more serious actor.

There…..

Book Review : Be Careful What You Wish For by Alexandra Potter

I first read Ms Potter’s Me And Mr. Darcy. It was good and I enjoyed it immensely. I of course started to get desperate for her other books. I called MPH but they only carried that one title and then tried Kinokuniya. They have one other title called Be Careful What You Wish For. I asked them to keep it aside for me. Funny really because she has like 5 books under her name and they only carry 2 titles ?

Moving on. I like this one too. It is about Heather who likes to wish for things. Like a seat on the tube, or for her car keys which she misplaced… you know normal everyday things like that. But she also loves wishing for a thoughtful and romantic boyfriend and a job at one of England’s major newspaper, instead of just being an assistant wedding photographer.

On one rather yet unlucky day for her ( she was caught in the rain while her gorgeous neighbour was dry, sharing an umbrella with an equally gorgeous girlfriend ), a gypsy lady approached her and offered her lucky heather. Now if you have been to Europe ( and especially London ), these people are everywhere. Either they beg for money or try to sell heather bunches for a quid. She of course refused to buy them but the lady insisted and told her that she needs a bit of luck in her life. Entranced, she took it.

Almost immediately, her life started for the better. She got a new housemate, the gorgeous neighbour actually fancied her like forever and just got the nerve to approach her, she got a job interview with a big newspaper and bought a winning lottery ticket. Perfect ? So it seems…..

Her brother warned her that she should be careful with what she wish for… and did she listen ? Well…..

I like her style of writing and I like her ideas. However, the ending was rather predictable and she really should explore more on her relationship with the neighbour. It ended too quickly without delving deeper about her own feelings.

It is still a rather enjoyable experience.

Read, if you want.