My mother's kari kuting

Kenapa aku masak tak sedap macam mak aku masak ? Why ? Why ? Why ?

I cooked kari kuting for Saturday lunch and although it was nice in its own right (chewah), but it not near as lovely as my mom’s. If my mother made it, the kuah would be so lovely, we could eat it on it's own...hirup santan... he he....

Sunday dinner I made mee bandung. My kids slurped and slurped and had seconds and my mom-in-law polished her bowl, but I know if my mom made it, my kids will have a third helping and so will Dan’s mom. I am sure I will re-fill my bowl 5 times, at least.

She taught me how to cook so I know I didn’t do anything wrong, well… basically lah. What didn’t I put enough ? The tomato sauce ? The kuting ? Should I rebus the daging longer ? Would it make a difference if add in the ketchup towards the end ?

The last time my mom made mee bandung was about 3 weeks ago. We ate greedily and Shera shouted between mouthfuls to my mother who was cutting fruits in the kitchen, “Sedaplah, Mi !” repeatedly.

Let’s not talk about her cok udang lah… I mean.. it is just simple ain’t it ? But why is hers so crispy and light and anggun to the tongue ? Why ? Why ? Why ? Ijat’s friends once even asked my mom to bungkus some for him to take back to college. He he…. Sebelum dia datang pun he would ask if Mummy would be cooking….

Kalau mummy masak, all of us would go to her house in droves. Some would tapau and some would just eat there…Telur goreng pun cantik. The edges brown and crispy and the yolk not too runny but definitely not firm either ( she knows if the yolk is firm, we would only eat the whites. She would find yellow eggs as leftovers ). Kadang-kadang bila aku ke atau adik2 aku ke yang goreng telur (even ikan bilis), my dad would take one look at it and said, "Ini mesti Ala yang goreng ni...." Cess !!!

Dulu my friend Shazleen selalu datang rumah and one day after eating my mother's chicken congee she whispered, "Your Mummy masak apa pun sedap kan ?" I know !!

Jadi kenapa aku masak tak jadi ? Kenapa ? Kenapa ? Kenapa ?

Camana nak buat ni ?

Cerita pukul 2 pagi

I am fasting today… Because this is only my second day, I need to bangun for soq. Dah lama sikit karang I can do without pre-Subuh eating. Am hungry by the way, if you wanna know.

Anyway, things were just dandy when I got down to fix my plate, at 2 am. Scoop up the nasi (which my mom-in-law cooked for me when she heard I would be waking up for sahur… Thanks, Mak), offload the kari kuting from the tupperware. Now the soup su-un.. be careful don’t put too much soup nanti tumpah. Then in the plate go in the microwave. Blitz for 3 mins.

While waiting, fix beverage. Sirap… yummm…. He he… batal posa.

Anyway, when I returned to the microwave, there was 1 minute left so I hovered near it. And in that 1 measly minute, my mind managed to wander of to the unpleasant, very spooky story I heard from my sis-in-law. I managed to imagine it, get even more spooked by the second and when the microwave gave a PING!, snatched my plate and legged it upstairs.

Hmm…. Macam budak-budak.

Ceritanya begini… Abang Kamal is working at a certain tower (have to protect the said tower’s reputation), at Level 20. Last Friday, the very big conglomerate who owns the premise organized a tahlil to rid the building of e-ek (hantu le). Wargghhh !!

According to abang Kamal, the building is rather haunted. He himself would always bump into a small boy waiting to enter the lift whenever he arrived at the basement after a late night at his desk. Sometimes the little person (I forgot to ask gender because after Ju-On, I always assume a boy) would be accompanied by a lady.

Once, when he was alone on the entire floor and was in his room, he heard a furious rustling of papers and when he went to investigate, found he is very much alone but a lone paper that was gradually falling from a height and rested on the floor. Yikes !! My goosebumps have made an appearance again.

But what made them seek help last week, to rid the office of unholy presence was rather…. terrible. There were 3 ladies burning the midnight oil at the office when one, let’s call her Kak Anis, went to the surau to pray. Kak Anis said while she was praying she heard people shouting her name, but it was so faint, she ignored it. When she opened the door to the surau after she was done, she saw her 2 colleagues were shaking and looked like their blood have been drained from them. They were white, with fear.

They told her that while she was praying, a lady floated past them… not once, not twice but numerous times. Being girls they screamed (am very sure non-girls would scream too) and screamed and screamed. He he…

So aku yang terpengaruh pun mencanak-canak naik atas, tak perasan pinggan tu panas bila ter-imagine ropanya. Eiii !!!

Book Review : Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾ by Sue Townsend

I have seen this book on the shelves of the countless bookstores I went to. I have taken them down, read the synopsis at the back of the cover, put them back and picked another book instead. I have even bought 3 other titles by the same author but somehow I never picked this one up. What a fool I was because when I finally had the courage to do so, I was mesmerised by it. The book was really good. It was funny. And funny is very important.

It gave me an insight of the mind of a 13 year old (oh, yeah and ¾) which I should say seemed familiar (oii…! It was only 19 years ago for me okay… Man…. 19 years ago doesn’t sound recent does it ? Maybe a miscalculation… 32… minus 13…. Calculator !! God !! Who am I kidding ? It was a long time ago … What was I doing when I was 13 ?).

Anyway, for a 13 year old male, Adrian is quite a disciplined journal writer. He poured his heart out on the angst of being a teenager, like zit (he obsessively checks his face in the mirror and wanting to eat good food to promote good skin…) and girlfriend (Pandora but sometimes people call her Box, which Adrian finds funny and I find totally hilarious).

He also wrote about his mother’s meetings with their next door neighbour, never realizing that his mother was having an affair with him until it was too late. He also talked about his father and grandma and the senior citizen he helps in a Help the Aged program. He actually recommended quite a few good books actually, interesting books that he read in his attempt to be an intellectual. Expect a very observant, cynical, compassionate and bright young lad, surviving life.

It is a wonderful book, cleverly written, making me think that Ms Townsend was actually 13 when she wrote this. There is more to Adrian. His diary didn’t stop at 14. In fact there are about 3 more of his diaries being sold at bookstores.

But alas, I shopped for this month ration at MPH Shah Alam, which is rather small. That means they didn't stock up on any of Ms Townsend's books (I really should sit on MPH advisory committee or something like it). I might have to go for another shopping trip next week if my literary purchases were bad choices.

Read it.

PS : Nuyui, I wonder if you ever take up any of my recommendations ? Just wondering…. because I could see we have the same taste in books…

That reminds me of….

You cannot live your life without memories. If you have no memories I will assume that you have been living your life stoned. Either with alcohol or drugs, it doesn’t matter… you were stoned during the course of your life if you have no memories. Well of course this theory doesn't apply if you sufferes from amnesia or drugged due to illness or something like that...well... you know what I mean.

I am sure everybody is like me. Certain things will evoke certain memories. Be it by smell, by touch or mostly by sight, some things can trigger memories.

Sometimes when I see a deodorant, especially blue Rexona ones, I will inadvertently think about Abe. He he….

For as long as I could remember, I have been very conscious about my B.O (body odour). Mummy selalu pesan to tempek our ketiak with bedak ketiak… he he…. Malu je kalau orang bau ketiak masam…. Said my mother. Dulu-dulu we used the ones dalam peket warna putih and ada gambar orang angkat ketiak dia kat depan….

Jenuh le aku dok menempek my own armpits with deodorants that promises sweet smelling experience for myself and people surrounding me….ha ha.

Come high school, I kept a bottle of blue Rexona inside my bag for emergencies (I still have an emergency bottle in my drawer at my office). The powdered ones are hard to keep because it kept spilling in my bag so I switched to Rexona for bag devoid of powdery substance experience.

One day, during form 1 when our school was terrorized by the ketua pengawas, I entered my class to receive news that the prefects did a spot check in our class. Fine. As I walked to my place, Abe intercepted me.

“Myra. Kak Asni ambik barang ko lah….” Said he, face all serious.

That didn’t sound too good. My heart quickened.

“Ambik apa ?”

“Alah… dia ambik benda tu….” Said he.

“Benda apa, Be ?” I asked again. His reluctance to mention what was taken from me made me more scared.

“Alah…. Dia ambik barang ketiak ko….” Said he, still serious. What made it terrible was (apart from he is a boy) that he raised his arm and showed how it was done… the applying of the Rexona to the armpit, that is. I immediately could feel my face heated up and I know my face had turned red.

“Itu pun nak ambik ke ?” I hid my shame behind anger.

“Itulah… aku pun tak tahu….” Said the very helpful Abe.

I said my thanks and valiantly tried to appear nonchalant.

Sebab itulah kadng-kadang bila aku nampak deodorant, especially yang brand Rexona and colour biru… aku ternampak si Abe dengan mukanya yang serious itu…

He he…

Movie Review : Speed Racer and Iron Man

Spectacular ! Speed Racer is a fun movie. I was thoroughly entertained even though I did came out of the wayang a bit dizzy because of the high speed racing and the cars going round and round. You won’t feel sleepy watching this movie because of the bright colours. I mean really vivid colours as the sceneries were all computer graphics. Bright blue skies, dizzyingly white puffy clouds, too pink and too yellow flowers… well.. you get my meaning. Therefore the chances of the movie inducing epileptic seizures is there, I think. You have been warned..

Susan Sarandon and that guy from Rosanne were really good and so was that cute doctor from Lost … although you can’t really judge because he wore a mask 90% of the time. Christina Ricci was okay too although her playing a sweet girl needs some getting used too. Apparently I haven’t seen much of her other movies because I keep seeing her as the morbid Wednesday Addams.

That Japanese/Korean/Chinese (he looked like that fella Rain… but I don’t know) was really good. His anger and his shock when Mach 5 entered the Grand Prix (some Grand Prix.. Michael Schumacher wouldn’t set his pedals on that circuit) looked well placed and well timed. And I so love the monkey…

Some review I make since I only know the name of 2 of the actors…

The theme is good. Something that you could watch with your kiddies and explain about cheating and fixing sports results and such. It is also about family sticking together, and fathers’ holding grudges (this is good to discuss with your spouses.. something you can say to him/her if ever your unfortunate turn comes.."Ingat dak cerita Speed Racer kita tengok dulu-dulu tuh ? Bapak dia kata kalau tak ikut cakap dia jangan balik lagi… haa…. Lepas tu anak tu tak balik terus… Ndak jadi macam tu ?…"). So you know.. it is good… he he…

My son thoroughly enjoys it. He was gripping his seat when the races were on and was shouting encoragement to the Mach 5. So, good yeah...

Iron Man is also a good movie even though I feel that Robert Downey Jr doesn’t make a convincing Iron Man/Stark. I dunno… I expected more from him I suppose. Maybe because he doesn’t look the part. Maybe the too blasé attitude ? I just didn’t feel that he was really into playing the part. Dan said Iron Man is like that.. you know very nonchalant, looks bored 24/7… well okaylah I suppose.

Jeff Bridges playing a villain is something that I need to get used to but he was excellent. Gwyneth… well… Okay maybe as a whole the movie is good but… if you scrutinize it, things just don’t gel.

Put it like this lah… I watched it the first time with my family and it was good (although I was already not really convinced with Robert Downey Jr then) but when I watched it for the second time with a colleague, I was watching it critically. Don’t get me wrong, the fighting scenes and the gadgets and the whatnots that make a good action movie is there… but something was missing…..

If you are a comic fan or somebody who loves the idea of superheroes, watch it. But if you want a truly great movie, well…..

But whatever it is, the war scene looked too real for comfort. The scene where they were ambushed and the soldiers died one by one, with explosions and gunfires aplenty was rather scary. Come on America, bring your boys and girls home. Vote for Obama and you can have your young uns back. Nobody likes to be invaded. Nobody….

My mother's cooking

Some weekends, like last weekend, I thought about my mother’s weekend mamak fare. Dulu – dulu, when I was a wee lass my mummy would open her Indian kitchen. Out came the flat pan and we would be whopping in delight.

Roti canai today, murtabak next week and my favourite puris the week after. Let’s not forget her delectable chapattis… Yummm… And her curries… wow… for a Perakian, her curries are really good (especially kari kuting – kuting is udang as per Umar’s dictionary).

Her murtabak mostly contained ground beef instead of onions as per those being sold at mamak restaurants. We could only stomach her red onion chutney as we would always throw those that came with store bought murtabaks.

Her puries ? Soft and crispy at the same time, small and inflated in the middle, just the way I like it. It is hard to find puris on sale here in Malaysia. I could only find them when I attend Indian’s kenduris really and nowhere else. Oh… well… I am quite able making them on my own but it is not the same as my mum’s. In fact, nothing I make could taste like hers…. Why ?

So last weekend, while my children were eating roti canai at Cili Merah, and while I tucked in my assortment of kuihs, I missed my mother’s Indian kitchen and its gastronomical delight.

Hmmm………..

Eeeeuuuuueeewwwwww !!

Oh Tuhan ! Dan and I were attacked yesterday. Well not really Dan.. but me !! I was the one who was actually attacked. Dan was spared 70% of the horror while I experienced it all.

Ya Rabbi !! Tension den.

I was sleeping in the wee hours of this morning, and strangely was dreaming of Jon Favreu ( he is a good actor (and director) and all but he is no hunk. Am wondering about that actually ) when I felt something licked me. It felt cold and was without a doubt a lick that I jumped up. I literally jumped and yelled “Oi !!” and in that process woke my husband up.

“What ?”

“Dan ! Something licked me !” I scanned the bed looking for the culprit, wishing and wishing that it was not a ..*gulp* snake. Dan didn’t bother to get up but he did say, “Itule… you tadi pecahkan remote ….”. What does that got to do with something licking me is beyond me. My heart was beating really fast because it was really weird. I didn't buy Dan's "It was just a dream" crap because I was dreaming about Mr. Favreu and the bloody cold lick was all too real.

I scooted to Dan’s side and tried to sleep. As I was willing my self to slumberland I heard a sound. It sounded like something fell on the floor. I jumped again and alerted my husband. He went to look around the house but found nothing. Since he was awake already, he switched on the light and the telly and that was when I saw it. Two strips of black thingy that looked so horrible and disgusting.

“Dan look !! I told you there was something and there it is. What is it ?”

“Myra you pegi mana ? That is lintah !!”

Lintah ? Immediately my hair stood on its end.

“Are you sure ? Why are they dead ?”

“Itu bukan mati tu. Dia org kenyang.”

I whipped off my clothes and started checking my whole entire body. I was panicky and almost in tears. I felt weird. Repulsed mix with wonder mix with dread mix with 1001 emotions, each one more negative than before.

“But where did they feed ? There is no blood anywhere !!”

Dan took some wipes to throw the …. can I say carcass ?… out. We changed the sheet because of the slime (yuck !!) and went to bed once more. I couldn’t sleep because the situation was just too horrific and incredible.

I kept asking why they were there and whence they came from. Their presence is so illogical that I couldn’t even think properly while I tried to soothe the awfulness that I was feeling. I just had too many unanswered questions and my mind was busy that I couldn’t sleep. Dan kept repeating this is the balasan of orang yang pecahkan his sacred Astro remote control when we heard another bump in the night. I said we because I could feel his eyes flicked open when the sound came.

“You hear that ?”

“It is not outside, it is in the room !!”

I leaped out of the bed and switched on the light. I stood on the doorway and waited for God knows what. I then decided to look into my children to make sure they are okay. From where I was standing I could see our room when my eyes caught the sight of a huge mouse came out from underneath our bed, ran out of our room, shot past the kiddies’ room before disappearing from view.

I was hysterical. I dived on the bed and jumped up and down… ( wow !! The cartoons are not all fictional after all ). I was shouting in no particular order “Dan !! Tikus !! Tikus !! Dan !! Help !!”

My husband ran into the room and jumped on the bed with me. I looked at him incredulously. He looked like he was coming to rescue me from Mighty Mouse but as he jumped on the bed and bounced up and down with me I was confused. Then confusion turned into disbelief.

“What are you doing ? Dan ! What are you doing ? Oh my God Rashdan !! What are you doing ?” I kept shouting at him as we bounced up and down on the kids’ bed. My Superman-William Wallace-Indiana Jones-Hans Solo-James Bond of a husband clutched my hands. Luckily Elsa slept on Umar’s bed or she would have woken up and join in the melee too.

“You should save me !! What are you doing ?”

“I geli ! I hate rats !” Was his answer and we stopped bouncing. He grinned at me and I just looked at him. What can you do but laugh because the situation was ridiculous. It was 4 am, damn it !

When we returned to our room I stupidly asked the connection between the lintah and the tikus. Dan said, “Ermm…I think it makes more sense to say that they were not lintah but poop.”

I blinked and blinked and blinked while I looked at him stupidly.

“He licked me while he pooped ?”

And Dan convulsed into laughter.

“Ini pengajaran untuk you. Semua nak kena bersih. Ini tak boleh itu tak boleh, kotor sikit tak nak makan… Ha… Tuhan dah bagi you something yang paling kotor. Dia bagi you Jerry !!….Haa….” and he emulated how the stupid tikus pooped while licking me.

He looked so ridiculous I forgot to defend myself. Then he added, “And because you pecahkan remote I..”

I vowed to pecahkan the next one he buys too…

Hmmm………… and eee….. geli…. Uwekkk !!

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….