Naughty Orange Cat

This is Tigger. Tigger has been with us for about 10 years. When I was pregnant with Abang and was in and out of the hospital, we entered him in a Cat Competition at Subang Jaya Municipal Council Building… Bangunan MPSJ dekat-dekat ngan Taipan tu lah. She did very well, that darling girl as she won a few prizes.

After Pitt died, I didn’t want to love any other cats so I had always looked at her from afar. Takut ter-fall in love lah ni.

Tengoklah muka tu... Cengei semacam...

This is Moggie. Well New Moggie really as the old, sweet Moggie had joined Pitt. Now this guy had been terrorizing the house since he came. And for some reason, Tigger rubs him the wrong way.

I have seen him chased Tigger, growled at her when he passed her. Nasty, nasty cat.

However, Mummy told me a shocking story that left me gobsmacked and shocked and astounded and just plain terkedu…. If terkedu means what it means in my head lah….

Mum said one day she was sitting nearby Tigger downstairs when Moggie came down. The little orange devil (not to mention a newbie, baru jadi family dalam 1 year ni dah berlagak) stopped in front of Tigger and as my mom put it, “Dia pi sepak-sepaknya kawan tu 3 kali. Piap, piap, piap…”

“What ? He bitch slapped Tigger ?” Tanya ku yang tak sayang mulut. Bukan apa punya terkejut tak sempat nak pasang filter. Nasib baik Mummy was still reeling from her experience and didn’t register my very rude words (or she chose to ignore it). She said, “Ha ! Paih tu dia pi… Teruih belah. Tigger tak terkata apa….”

We were in the car at that time and I was too shocked to say or do anything. I keep trying to conjure up the scene in my head and it wasn’t nice… but also very funny… he he.. I looked at hubby but his face was unreadable. Maybe he is thinking no way is Mummy baby-sitting his precious Gizmo ever. He he…

The next time I went to Mum’s house, I asked my sister Marlin, the owner of all the cats in the house. I tell you, 1 or 2 is fine, but 5 ? When Ian came to the house for buka, one by one came down. Moggie, and Bubu and Max (I will tell about Max later…) and Tigger. When we came, Esya was holding a new cat that I have never seen.

“Look, Mummy ! This is my new cat, Carlos !”

Pulak… I sighed. Apa ni banyaknya kucing…. It turned out he is a stray and Esya pun dah confused yang mana satu kita punya.. Keh keh….

Anyway, back to the story. I asked Marlin about the slapping incident. She laughed. “Selalulah…. Moggie selalu buat macam tu kat Tigger. Ko letak lah dia orang dekat-dekat, mesti Moggie sepak-sepak Tigger….”

I was even more shocked. Tak habih terkejut hari tu, tambah terkejut lagi. Kucing spesis apa ni pandai main sepak-sepak ni ?

“Tigger pun dah boring… Malas nak layan.. Kadang-kadang lepas Moggie sepak dia, dia menguap....”

He he…. Bloody funny, okay… Keh keh…. Shock wore off and things became funny…. He he…. I have to catch him in action. I have to.

Naughty lah Moggie ni ! Moggie lama punya baik, punya sweet... tak dak perangai pailang lagu hang ni tau dak. Maybe he is feeling superior because he is an expensive Persian cat and Tigger is just... well a normal moggy he he... (moggy means cat... a British slang). Well, if you ask me, that is money down the drain, buying a mat rempit cat.

Huh..

PS : Nothing funny about Max, really. Max belongs to my other sister Ita who lives elsewhere. If she and her husband Daniel are not around they would always send Max to my mom’s. One day I saw Max was still with Mummy eventhough Ita has been home from her last trip.

“Awat kat sini ?” I asked.

“Dia tak mo balik….”

He he…. “Laaa… macamana dia habaq dia tak mo balik.. ?”

“Huh… dia balik rumah depa dia buat perangai. Tak mo makan, tak mo main… Dok sengap. Mai tang ni, elok ja dia main. Dok berlari merata… Nih… dia sunyi tak dak kawan tuh… Dia dok syok main ngan Bubu….”

Hmmm…. Gelak je lah… Keh keh…

My Thursday….

By all accounts, it was a very busy Thrusday.

I went to SACC Mall after work to bersenda gurau dan bersuka ria with my blogger friends. Well… knv and I are actually old school mates since we were in the same class for awhile in form 1 and Kamalia and I go waaaay back since we were classmates in Darjah Dua. Kotnya… don’t remember. They just happened to have a blog. Desert Rose on the other hand is a real blog friend in the truest sense and we have become firm friends since. Alhamdullilah. Tambah lagi satu kawan yang sama kepala.

Kamalia called to say she has arrived and is waiting for me. When she called I was cruising for a parking space and I spent like another 10 minutes to look for my white parking ticket that conveniently fell on the white lines of the parking divider lines. Kenapalah tak jatuh kat yang warna hitam ? Lama aku dok tertungging-tungging cari hang tau dak ? Bodoh punya tiket.

Anyway, jumpa Kamalia and Ayesha dengan kasut mengerlit (mana Ayesha beli ni ?) dia in front of Nando’s and when we walked into Secret Recipe, knv and Desert Rose yang tak pernah berjumpa dok duduk bersembang !. Bagusnya.

We were expecting Anna Maria (not blogger but how she got into the picture is very, very hilarious, okay people ? But cannot tell sebab nanti ada satu lawyer ini bagi surat saman….kah kah), making us a party of 6. But since the interior of the restaurant only sits 4 for some reason, we had to sit outside with the smokers.

Anyway we talked and we laughed and we exchanged stories and simply had a marvelous time. A lot of gossips exchanged and stories told and tak puas hati informed. Anna Maria couldn’t make it though as she was stuck at work. knv had to leave by Maghrib and we made plans to berbuka together before she leaves for England. The four of us stayed for another half an hour before we rushed home for Maghrib.

It was too short as there were many topics needed to be discussed and I feel bereft somehow. So people, jom kita pi buka !! Buat plan oiii !!! Kena bawak husband kot supaya depa tak chom. Anyway, after that meeting, I was glad because it cemented my suspicions that all of us can become great friends.

Please don't mind my pic. My tudung were pushed back from my face without me realising it. Making my round face looking even rounder (if that is possible..ha ha )

Went home but hubby’s car and the children were missing. As soon as I entered the house, they arrived home with smiling faces, glad to see me. Hubby tak buleh chom because I was home at the promised time. The kids quickly ate before mengaji and hubby wanted to go to my mom’s to borrow the printer. They were at the PIL’s because FIL needed a document to be printed out and theirs was broken.

Went to my mom’s, did my Maghrib and lepaked on Mummy's bed with my sisters. Mom was on her sejadah on the floor. Sorry, Mummy. Ijat came into the room, took a look at us and asked, "Kenapa semua anak perempuan Mummy duduk atas katil ?"

Kenapa, Jat ? Dengki ?

Bid our goodbyes and drove to Bali 13 for dinner with Ian. Ian ordered Ayam Golek which was super delicious. I remembered hearing my family discussing what to have for dinner and quickly called them. They were on their way to Cili Merah and quickly changed their route at my invitation.

So they came and we had dinner and we had fun and we laughed and we were just us. The food was good. Apart from the ayam golek, the dishes worth mentioning are nasi goreng kampong, nasi goreng lemon chicken, pepperoni pizza and their honeydew juice. Yummm…

Ian sms-ed to thank us for, as he put it, “The best malam Jumaat ever….” as apart from dinner, we did something that he and my husband are passionate about.

Notice my baju ? Tak mandi lagi as was busy zipping around Shah Alam, having a good time.

Mummy dah makan karipap orang putih kat Secret Recipe so when Esya came, Mummy gave her Mummy's almost untouched nasi goreng lemon chicken which she polished off. Sayang Esya...

My puasa weekend

It is Monday and I am not one to defy my routine, so here goes my weekend. Actually I have pictures of my Thursday, funnily enough, but my husband has so far failed to give me the cables for me to upload pictures. So wait you must, Kamalia and DR and knv ! Sorry… Satu ja gambaq pun….

Oh yes ! Selamat berpuasa !! I came home on Friday to a waterless house. Burst pipe and so put back the beef that Neti left to thaw in the freezer and ho-hummed for food. It was late and we have no food and I so wanted to go for terawikh so at the end went out to eat (cannot eat kat rumah lah since air nak basuh pinggan tak dak) and terawikh at home. Sad….

Saturday started very, very early on account it being first day of Ramadhan. Went back to sleep after soq and Subuh and woke up again in time for piano classes. Hubby took leave (yeay !) so I had somebody to help me while the time away.

We did not have a very industrious Saturday as while waiting for the kids to finish art class, we did nothing. I slept again for some reason. I felt so lethargic and unmotivated. I wasn’t hungry but I just didn’t feel like doing anything. I once got glandular fever and it felt something like that.

Anyway, hubby and I slept in front of the telly which was nice as the window was opened and the day was cool. The rhythamic tap tapping of the rain falling lulled us to deep sleep. But not deep enough to make us forget our kids as I woke up with a start 5 minutes before their class ended.

I decided I had to do something so I made hubby stopped by a bakery shop, bought some ingredients to try a new recipe I found. Black and white brownies. Came home at the same time as Ian’s arrival. He was inflicted with the same disease as us, plenty of time to waste. Hubby and Ian talked cars while I baked. The brownies were a disappointment as the chocolate layer was good but the ¾ of the white layer disapperead to a place that I have not managed to identify yet.

We parked ourselves in front of the telly and channel surfed. It was soooo boring Ian went to have a lie down. Went to Mum’s house for buka which was great. Crispy cok udang, bubuq ubi, sup tulang, sambal ikan bilis kering, sotong kunyit, mee goreng. Evrything was so darn good, even the tea. We had to teach Ian to eat the coq udang with kuah kacang, Penang style. Hubby was quite poorly at that time so we sat down for quite some time too as the day was nice and cool. Sans my family though as they went for terawikh. He he…

Helped Kak Idah to clean up a bit before we went home. Kak Idah is my mom’s maid and she is really, really nice. We were busy pouring out drinks and preparing plates for the kids (yang tak puasa pulak dulu….) while she was hovering near the drinks. She tapped me on the shoulder and showed me a mug, “Mummy nak minum ini….” She said so I gave her way. Mummy was in the kitchen tasting the soup. I follwed her to the kitchen to bring out the soup when I saw my mom’s surprised and grateful face when Kak Idah gave her the drink. I love Kak Idah for caring for my Mummy…

I did my terawikh at home again as hubby slept with a panadol in his tummy.

Sunday after soq and Subuh, no sleeping for me as Amelia came to pick me up at 6.15, swung by Jubei’s house to pick her up and these three hot mommas (humour me, okay ?) went somewhere not cool, pasar Kelang.

The market was already in full swing and we joined in the throng of people looking for fresh fish. It was a good day as we bought enough for 2 weeks at the price of 1 (if we got to Pasar sek 6 lah….). After the wet market, went to the dry one for veg where we bumped into Nani !!

Minah tu perasan kita orang pun sebab dia dok kutuk sorang minah ni, as she puts it, who pakai skirt putih pegi pasar. Bila tengok muka, macam kenal aje… Aku le tuh… Nani, aku memikir lebih kepada kesentengan kain dari warna, kay ?

I was met with a very dry tap when I got home to clean my purchases. What the… ? Dahlah sahur tadi pun tak dak ayaq. Awat depa ni ? Called Syabas and they promised the water will be back on by 3. Hmmm…. a bit of a nuisance really since I promised to cook for the in-laws.

Luckily I checked the tap again at 1 and water came pouring in. Times like this makes me appreciate every drop of the precious element. Cooked and cooked and cooked and by 6 pm, went to PIL’s after giving the neighbour some of my Cek Mek Molek…

MIL hearing that we have no water assumed I won’t be cooking so she bought loads of lauks. The table was groaning with food. I managed to surprise my husband with air selasih which I found in the Market. Funnily enough air selasih is a rarity now so hubby was very, very happy. Luckily Jubei taught me how to make my own so I bought some dried selasih seeds to help hubby get through the whole of Ramadhan. Heh…

Did my terawikh at home again and sleep. And hating the fact that I have to work today !!

So there you go.

Cerita sedih hari Jumaat

Tadi aku pi tapau. Masa aku pi gerai ni, ada lah kakak-kakak dua orang ni dok menunggu. From their cara pemakaian and anak-anak depa yang berderet, aku anggap depa ni housewife lah. Desperate ka tak desperate ka aku tak tau sebab tak kenai…

Tidak lah terlintaih di pikiran ini untuk meng-eaves drop tetapi ia tetap berlaku di atas sebab-sebab close proximity nya di antara kami dan juga sebab aku kena tunggu makanan aku. Lapaq weeii… esok dah start posa… Alasan….

Anyway, aku agak kurang senang dan kecewa dengan bahan butiran perbincangan mereka. Cerita mereka lebih kurangnya begini.

Cik Kiah (for whatever reason…aku bagi nama ni… jangan ada Kak Rokiah yang dok kat Shah Alam pulak terkecik hati…) ni ada adik ka kakak ipaq ka aku tak sure. Adik/kakak ipaq dia ni anak dua pastu wanita bekerjaya lah gitu…

“Pemalas betullah Ani tu (nama samaran). Rumah tak bersapu. Tunggang langgang. Apa salahnya balik office tu sapu-sapu sampah pun jadilah. Adik dia duduk dengan dia tu. Sambil-sambil tengok tv tu, lipat-lipatlah kain. Anak baru 2 pun tak boleh nak handle. Aku kan anak 5, keluar masuk, keluar masuk hantar ambik sekolah lah, tuition lah pun rumah boleh kemas.”

“Kak Kiah kan ada maid, memang lah rumah kemas kak oii…” Kata kawannya Cik Piah… he he… sungguh takdak imaginasi nak bagi nama.

“Eh… maid aku pukul 8 dah tidur.. Aku jugak yang jaga budak-budak… Masalahnya begini. Kalau dah malas buat kerja rumah, ambiklah orang gaji. Ini kedekut semua nak buat sendiri…tapi tak buat pun. Lebih rela rumah berkubang. Semalam aku pergi dia sibuk pegang anak… Asal aku pergi pegang anak… Yelah, alasan tak nak berkemas kan.. Orang malas je yang keje pegang anak. Tak payah menyapu, menggosok...”

Cik Piah diam. Agaknya dia rasa no point kot nak bertekak dengan Cik Kiah yang sangat determinenya nak mengutuk ipaqnya tersebut.

Part ini yang paling aku marah. “Dia tu pun kerja duduk aje.. mengadap komputer satu hari… Apa yang penat ? Duduk aje .. penat ke ?”

Aku lempang jugak perempuan ni.

Aku kalau jahat le macam ko Cik Kiah, aku pun boleh cakap kalau hang ni terer le bebenor, yang hang pi tapau makan buat apa ? Masaklah. Orang tu agaknya pegang anak tu sebab rindu. Mana lebih penting, kemas rumah ka, belek anak ka ?

Kalau dia sibuk dok mengemaih anak terbiaq, pun aku sure hang kutuk punya. Bagi aku either way, is your own choice. Hang buat yang ni hang terlepaih yang lagi satu. Whatever you like lah… Nak juggle dua-dua bukannya senang. Mungkin Ani ni memang tak pandai berkemas tapi dia ibu mithali yang tahap gaban punya, salah ke ?

Granted that I do not know the full story but I am actually very sad that this woman has no love lost for her ipaq. Aku kakak ipaq aku sorang saja, dah tak dak dah pun.. Hari-hari dok teringat. 80% benda yang aku buat setiap hari mesti buat aku ingat kat dia.

I love Shera very, very much. Even masa dia hidup aku sangat-sangat appreciate dia and banyak benda yang aku buat untuk menggembirakan hati dia. Bukan berlagak tidak, tapi kita dah jadi keluarga, kita acceptlah dia seadanya. Kita nak cakap banyak sangat pun adilkah ? Perfect kah kita ? Sempurna sangat kah kita ?

Masa Shera hidup, aku rajin pegi rumah dia. And aku tak nafikan rumah dia memang kurang kemas. Tapi kakak aku kerja, dia maid pun tak ada. Hari-hari, dia hantar anak-anak rumah Mummy and petang karang baru balik. Masa tu pulak, I was living with PIL. I have no maid sure, but my PIL ada maid. Walaupun maid tak berkerja untuk aku, tapi aku tak payah buat kerja rumah. Setakat kemas bilik, gosok and susun baju and jaga anak bila aku balik. Masak pun untuk kami 4 beranak aje sebab my PIL suka makan luar.

Sebab itu, setiap kali I am over at Shera’s, kalau dia kat atas, I will quickly sweep the floor and basuh pinggang kalau ada. She knows Minah tu, what I was up to. Setiap kali muka aku terjojol kat pintu dia, she will warn me, “Jangan sapu sampah tau… nanti I buat…” Aku sengih je tapi buat jugak. Bukannya apa, aku kesian. She is tired. Nak mengadap anak lagi, nak masak lagi, rumah tunggang langgang lagi.. aku tau dia mesti runsing punya. Apa salahnya aku menggembirakan dia sikit, kurang kerja dia sikit ?

And tak pernah lah dalam aku dok curi-curi tolong dia buat kerja rumah, aku cerita kat orang betapa kotornya rumah kakak ipaq aku dan betapa malasnya dia. Lagipun sebelum aku duduk with my PIL, aku pun duduk rumah sendiri tanpa maid. Ada Abang and baby Adik. Yang penting masa tu spend time dengan Abang and Adik and buat laundry okay ? Karang bogel lak kami kalau tak buat laundry ha ha...

Mummy pun selalu masak siap-siap untuk menantu kesayangan dia and offer untuk tapau bawak balik. Semua untuk menyenangkan kami anak-anak dan menantu dia yang bekerja. Kadang-kadang bila dia sampai rumah Mummy nak ambik anak, she will watch the telly first, rehat kejap. Selalunya dia mesti tertiduq dengan Yana atas dia, Esya kat sebelah. Mummy kalau nampak tu, mesti dia angkat Yana supaya mak Yana boleh rehat kejap tanpa gangguan.

Kadang-kadang dia terjaga masa Mummy ambik Yana and she will always gelak and say, “Tak pa, Mi.. biar Shera jaga…” tapi Mummy selalu suruh dia tidur balik and bawak Yana lari. Jangan kacau ibu, okay Yana ? Esya jangan bising.

Mummy suka sangat kalau weekends ajak breakfast rumah Shera. Aku nanti akan borong makanan dari Cili Merah (mana lagi ?), enough to last until lunch usually, and kami makan ramai-ramai. Shera suka sangat kalau kami buat macam ni. You can see how happy she was, dengan gelak dia and senyum dia tak lekang. Pastu kalau dia bercerita… ha ha…

Kalau aku sayang kakak ipaq aku, awat hang tak buleh sayang ipaq hang. Kita semua cara hidup berbeza atas sebab environment, experience and ajaran mak bapak kita. Benda-bend kecik macam tu, tak payah cerita tak payah kutuk lah. Kalau orangnya baik and subject kutukan mu hanya benda-benda bodoh macam tu, then kita concentrate aje lah dengan kebaikan dia.

Kalau adik, abang or kakak kita boleh sayang bini or laki dia, apa salahnya kita pun sayang sekali ?

Aku rindu dia sangat-sangat, Shera ni. Aku sebenarnya malas nak tulis pasal dia sebab aku mesti nangis punya macam sekarang ni. Tapi aku tension dengar orang kutuk adik-beradik sendiri (ipaq pun adik beradik kan…) pasal benda-benda yang tak penting macam tu. Kalau bercerita tu lain, setakat macam tak paham ka tabiat orang tu and kita macam nak cari pendapat kenapa orang ni lagu ni, itu lain tapi ini kutuk… Aku rasa mungkin yang membezakan kutuk and setakat nak bercerita is your tone. And memek muka mungkin. Ada my friend baru-baru ni bercerita jugak pasal adik ipaq dia... tapi aku tak pulak panaih telinga sebab tone dia tu ikhlas. Dia cuma tak paham kenapa adik ipaq dia lagu tu. Bila bercakap pun muka berkerut-kerut sebab tak paham... Itu bagi aku okaylah.

.

Ye lah... mungkin tone Cik Kiah tadi yang penuh ... er... apa ya ? Penuh perasaan yang tak best lah yang buat aku tension

Plus Cik Piah tu tadi cuba bagi alasan kat dia kenapa rumah Cik Kiah buleh kemaih berbanding dengan rumah Ani tu tapi langsung tak mau terima.... still insisting Ani tu ntah apa-apa. That in my book is kutuk, kay. Kalau dia tak buat salah kat hang… cerita baik-baik saja, sudah lah….

Kalau dia jahat, aku pun nak tumpang dengaq… he he…

Handphone ku yang bodoh dan menyusahkan...

Okay, this is my real story. I will endevaour not to veer off my storyline again.

So, I went to change my pre-paid line to post-paid one on Monday, innit ?

The lady at the counter opened up my mobile effortlessly to look at the SIM. She put it back on then instructed us that we are not to change to our new SIM until we do not have a network anymore.

Got it.

By 4 pm I noticed the SIM Inactive written on my phone and made my first attempt to take my old SIM out and replace it with a new one.

Pushed down the back cover and nothing happened. Studied the phone a bit but couldn’t see any markings that could even suggest “Here, push/whack me here if you want access to your battery.”

The cover is just suppose to slide down when push, I am sure of it but why nothing is happening ? Pushed the back of the phone again but it didn’t budge. I have no reason to look at my battery or SIM before this so I admit, I don’t know how to open up the phone. Theoratically and from experience, I should just push the back cover, yeah ?

Err….okay.

Shoved the phone to my boss. He pushed and pulled. And did a bit of digging even but to no avail. I looked at him with a frown. If a guy can’t do it, there is no hope for me. Went back to my desk and Sam called. She quickly came over to help but the phone remained stubborn. Pok satgi baru tau.

I carefully scrutinized the phone again, looking for any hidden lever or button to release the door but there were none, okay ? I hailed Haji as he passed my table and gave the phone to him. He did all he could while I googled the manual. As suspected, I do not need to be a rocket scientist to have access of my SIM. I only have to slide down the cover. The diagram made it look easy enough.

Yeah right. The cover remained stucked to the phone.

“How lah did the kakak did it yesterday ?” I asked over and over again, regretting the fact that I did not see how she did it.

Sat tekan, sat picit, sat gigit… Rasa nak kapak pun ada….

Awat ni ?

My worry ? If my mom get the ‘Nombor ini tiada dalam perkhidmatan…’ I know she will freak out and will make phone calls sampai ke Perak nun to ask for help.

At 5.45, after almost 2 hours of hard labour, I was ready to go home. Before I did, my boss and I made plans for lunch the next day. On the way out, ss I stopped to get my boot checked, I noticed a commotion from the corner of my eyes. The guards were flailing their arms and what looked like my boss sprinting down the steps. Is it really my boss ? Not 2 minutes ago he was ensconced comfortably in his chair, I am sure.

Ei ? Apa hal ? Aku pun dah start panic. Fire ? Gun wielding robbers ?

Then I heard my car being knocked and saw a guard looking at me with his palm up, a sign for me to wait. I scrolled down the window and looked at my boss worriedly. He panted awhile before saying, “Esok tak jadi… I baru tahu I got a lunch meeting with H*** ****g..”

Macam apa punya kalut turun sebab nak bagitau itu aje ? Baru nak tanya awat tak call je, seeing as he ran down four floors okay if he didn’t wait for the lift in order to catch me, still panting he answered before I even asked, “Your phone tak boleh bukak kan ? Inactive kan ?”

He he… yelah En Azman… Sorry….

Ha… ini yang buat aku marah ni.. Menyusah kan betul, okay… Nasib baik boss baik gila… Kalau dapat yang kaki jerit sure dah kena maki.

I resumed my hard work in the car. Dekat traffic light pertama I can see it has slid down a bit. Yahoo ! Pulun lagi aktiviti tolak-menolak. Still quite hard and needed a lot of effort to push it down.

Second traffic light, dok ketap-ketap gigi while pushing the damn cover. Bodohnya.

Third traffic light, I gave one hard push and tiba-tiba the cover slid down to reveal my battery.

Berjaya ! Success ! In the euphoria, I raised my arms and lompat-lompat a bit, gelak-gelak. Punya lah happy.

Pandang kanan and ternampaklah muka driver kete sebelah yang tengah tengok aku dengan muka yang berkerut-kerut.

Malu kau sebab abang hensem….

Kalau tak hensem tak malu kot...

Itu lah cerita ku… Errr…macam tak best je. Dalam kepala macam kelakar sangat… Dah tulis, ntah apa-apa pulak…

Tapi kesimpulannya adalah begini... sila pilih henpon yang tak menyusahkan dan menyebab kan boss anda lari 4 tingkat untuk bercakap dengan anda....

Mobile grouses

My friends, I have finally succumbed to peer pressure and … well common sense… and of course, financial sense.

Monday, I finally switched my pre-paid mobile to the more (at current moment) sensible post-paid. Dulu-dulu, mana ada prepaid nih. It was popular in the UK sure but when we returned home, we both took up post paid.

But the bill ! RM 300 hanya untuk bercakap ? I put on a limit, but Celcom dengan senang hatinya kata “Kami naikkan limit puan sebab penggunaan puan sebenarnya melebihi limit ni…”

Sebab itu lah aku letak limit mangkuk !! Nak control namanya. What is the limit for ?

So kami laki bini pun tukaq. Dulu nomor kami best. Yang pompuan 019-2265988 and yang jantan 019-2265977. Bila dah tukaq pre-paid, dah hilang nomor2 manja itu….

So last Monday, kami berdua pun sama-sama pi tukaq balik. Nasib baik sekarang keadaan dah advance, nomor lama kami yang fofular masih kekal kerana kalau tukaq orang mesti hilang arah dan tujuan tak dapat nak bercakap dengan kami. Jangan tak tau..

Anyway peer pressure came from Shazmi after I couldn’t call him back after his missed call. When he called me like after an hour wondering why I didn’t return it, my sheepish admission of, “Credit I habis le…” was met with, “Bukan budak-budak je yang guna pre-paid…?” Where did I put the kapak just now ? Gone missing pulak di saat-saat crucial ini.

Or when I was yapping away with Anu and our conversation was cut mid-way and when he called back and I explained, his very polite, “It’s okay, Ala…” and little laugh said it all.

Or when again I was yapping away with Ian and our conversation was cut at a very critical moment, my explaination was met by the briefest silence but I got what it meant. Especially after hearing the jokes that came after it.

Or when Kamalia and Amelia and Noreen called and I answered like the day after.

Financial pressure when I found out post-paid charges 13 sen to pre-paid’s 38 sen. Mak aiii…. Itu pun I tanya after Kamalia said she has both packages and found the post-paid is cheaper.

Common sense.. My car journeys became a bit dangerous when I have no credits left. The constant nipping to the shops for the credits. And the inability to just get the credit and not the magazines on display or the Slurpee. Oh, that come under financial sense… and fat content sense… He heh..

My time alone at home became a wee bit risky without any connection to the outside world. Sure I can e-mail HELP ! or put my FB status as “Ada orang nak masuk rumah aku weii… Tulung call polis…” but it might go unnoticed.

But then, all is not a bed of roses with post-paid, surely ? Masalah-masalah yang akan timbul that I foresee are, post-paid ada bill and laki aku akan nampak bill berkenaan. Haru lah bila dan tika ia berlaku. Habih lah aku sebab evidence akan kerajinan ku pot-pet pot-pet dan pot-pet pot-pet ada di depan mata. Pastu sapa yang nak pi bayaq bill ni ? RHB online buleh ka ? Dah tu, kalau pre-paid dah habis, aku masih buleh pi 7-11 pukui 3 pagi pun takpa. Tapi kalau dah kena bar hari Sabtu petang, Senayan baru boleh bayaq dak ? Bilanya depa nak sambung balik ?

Dan yang paling penting dan utama dan foremost is bisa kah aku guna below the RM 150 limit ?

Buleh ka ?

Can I ?

Will I ?

Aiseh.... actually I have another story to tell when I typed the first sentence... But it took a different turn pulak akhirnya.

Will sambung esok lah...

Keh keh

Here goes my weekend...

Okay, it is Tuesday and I know I owe my weekend updates… Keh keh…

When I reflect, it was quite sedate, my weekend. No rescue operations or surprise trips… Just a nice, normal weekend.

Saturday, well…. Can’t quite recall my Saturday apart from the usual routine. Oh, Mum called to say Mail is home with some friends and she made nasi ayam. Yum-mee ! Hubby came home early so we fetched the kids and went straight to Mum’s house and duduk mengadap the steaming hot food. Hubby had 3 huge helpings, I had 2 and it was delicious.

“No dinner for me, tonight…” He declared, unbuttoning his trousers.

Yeah right.

Sent the kids to their paternal grandparents’ house as we had to borrow Atuk’s big car to return our new kitchen stools that was made not to our specifications. Strict specifications, okay ? The details were jotted down, I saw it as it was reflected in my copy of the invoice but still came to us 6 inches short. Spent some time at the furniture maker and returned to the PIL’s after an hour.

Ate some dokong with MIL and went home.

By 7 pm at my daughter’s “I am so hungry, my tummy hurts ..”, took out the chicken wings I marinated the day before and started the grilling process. Made potato and sweet potato rosti, helped by Adik and some pasta salad.

“Mummy, why is this potato ada orange bits ?” Asked my very fussy Abang.

“Makan sajalah…” Said Mummy.

“It is sweet potato lah, Abang.. I know.. Tadi saya tolong Mummy….”

Dengar saja a foreign ingredient, Abang put his rosti back. Gatal lah ko, Adik…

Went upstairs to watch err.... oh yes, Angels and Demons and slept.

Next morning, picked up Mum, left the kids at her house and went our way to Pasar Kelang. Mum bought loads and loads of fish. It was super cheap. Had breakfast with my family then balik.

I had warned hubby not to bring the kids with us to the pasar. “Nanti budak2 nangis…” said I because the condition is horrendous. Me who is a staunch advocate for clean environments straightened up my back, forced a steely resolve and determination that nothing can break me before I entered, knew however that it could break my kids. SO tak payah bawak.

From the gate, I saw hubby stiffened. He who actually doesn’t really care, stiffened. O-kay….. Before entering, he said, “Ini bukan budak-budak aje nangis, I pun nak nangis…” Ha ha… so you can just imagine how bad it is.

But the fish and crustaceans are cheap and fresh, so you have to do what you have to do, yeah ? We spent a good hour or so, trying to keep our feet dry but it was a losing battle. Lost one, to be precise. Saw a couple in their matching butcher’s boots and vowed to get one too if trips to this pasar is going to be frequent.

He he…. Kamalia picked me up at 11.30, sent her kids to her mum’s pulak (we are so lucky mak bapak keliling saja…) and off we went to a pampering session at Kaki Ku, SACC Mall.

40 minutes of reflexology and heart to heart sessions, 20 minutes of hand and shoulder massage, no chatting this time as we were taken to separate rooms then a spot of light lunch at Nachos Nachos. By the time we got into the car, it was pouring. Kamalia fretted about her laundry and I fretted about hubby not answering my phone to open the gate. I suspect he was just being impossible because I went out for 3 hours.

Luckily after 5 minutes waiting outside, he answered the phone. Kamalia drove in and he came out with umbrella ready.

“Nasib baik Ya ! Aku ingat dia nak chom dah........” Kamalia laughed. Husbands….

Watched the telly a bit with a husband who was trying his darnest to be cordial to me (dia sebenaqnya memang dok chom…. ) then got ready for Elyas Azrul Fizal’s party at A&W Subang Jaya.

“You are not happy with me, are you ?” I asked dear husband in the car.

“No lah …” He said, eyes crinkling with relief that I actually noticed and kepura-puraan.

Sighed….. “Oh please…..” and that was all he needed.

“I lapar tau ! You didn’t feed me. You pegi lama… 3 jam…” With a pout… So childish. “Eleh, you kalau pegi main bola tak ingat rumah tangga, tak pe….” Kata ku… dalam hati… he he….

“Hubby… we had a big breakfast and a late one at that… I know you are not hungry….” I reasoned gently. “And besides, you bangang ke sampai snacks pun tak leh cari ?” Not so gently this time. As expected he laughed happily.

Saja je….

The kids had fun, the parents happy with the excellent food (A&W is the best, okay ?) and friends to socialise with. Hubby and I took turns holding Emir, Ami and Nikman’s youngest and just had a good time.

The birthday boy likes Transformers and we were shocked to see Nikman’s family were kitted out with Transformers’ themed outfits. The Autobots’ logo were on every family member’s clothes, even Emir ! What a nice gesture for the birthday boy, you guys.

Thanks Nadia and Azrul. Happy birthday, Elyas.

No dinner as we ate close to 5 so just settled down watching telly.

So, it was okay and quite relaxed. Not too busy with the right amount of friends and family.

Bliss…..

25 things I owe my Mother for

A friend e-mailed me this. I love it ! I have to admit, I taught my children about 50% of the things listed. Am I a bad mother ? Hope not...


25 THINGS I OWE MY MOTHER FOR

1. My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE .
'If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I've just finished cleaning.'


2. My mother taught me RELIGION.
'You'd better pray that will come out of the carpet.'


3. My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL .
'If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!'


4. My mother taught me LOGIC.
' Because I said so, that's why.'


5. My mother taught me MORE LOGIC .
'If you fall off of that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the shop with
me.'


6. My mother taught me FORESIGHT.
'Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident.'


7. My mother taught me IRONY
'Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about.'


8. My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS.
'Shut your mouth and eat your supper.'


9. My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM .
'Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!'


10. My mother taught me about STAMINA.
'You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone.'


11. My mother taught me about WEATHER.
'This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it.'


12. My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY.
'If I've told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!'


13. My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE .
'I brought you into this world, and I can take you out.'


14. My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION.
'Stop acting like your father!'


15.. My mother taught me about ENVY.
'There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful parents like you do.'


16. My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION.
'Just wait until we get home.'


17. My mother taught me about RECEIVING .
'You are going to get it when you get home!'


18. My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE.
'If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to freeze that way.'


19. My mother taught me ESP.
'Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you are cold?'


20. My mother taught me HUMOUR.
'When that lawn mower cuts off your foot, don't come running to me.'


21. My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT .
'If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up.'


22. My mother taught me GENETICS.
'You're just like your father.'


23. My mother taught me about my ROOTS.
'Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn ?'


24. My mother taught me WISDOM.
'When you get to be my age, you'll understand.'


And my favorite:
25. My mother taught me about JUSTICE
'One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you.'

Announcement

Dear Friends,

First of all I have to apologise if any of you thought that I deemed your comments not fit for publishing. Please do not think that is so as Blogspot hasn't been diligent in giving me indications that there are comments to be moderated.

I actually rely on Blogspot's notification via e-mail for comments that come my way but it seems thay have been lacking in that area. For the past few months I have been seeing unmoderated comments at my dashboard that I knew nothing of. So now I vow to check my dashboard every so often to check on comments that escaped my notice.

Second of all, a few requests were made for a blogger get together.

I love the idea.

But since Ramadhan is just around the corner, we do not have much time. Plus, KNV is leaving for Birmingham soon. Would any of my blogger friends be interested to meet up, say on the 15th of August (which is this Saturday, short notice, I know !) somewhere in Shah Alam ?

Or else, we can always meet up for buka puasa before KNV leaves our shore ?

Tell me !

Thank you.

Muaahhh !!

Of bird crap and mistaken car..

Okay, here we go again.

It was at a time that I was legally allowed to leave the office premise last week (after office hour lah tu…) and went straight to my car.

I was dismayed when I saw a few splatters of bird crap on the hood which I swear wasn’t there in the morning. I remember hubby saying that bird crap left too long could peel the paint off. Plus I could already hear my husband’s bebelan if he sees them, so before he starts I’d better do something about it, yeah ? Therefore I took out my trusted wipes and started scrubbing.

I started with the one nearest to me first. Then went up a bit then up a bit until I was about to attack the one near the front screen. As I reached out my hand, I was shock to see McDonald’s VIP sticker on it.

“Eh ? Sejak bila ?”

Looked up a bit and noticed that my other stickers were gone and were replaced with a few unfamiliar ones.

What the… ? Darn it. Looked to my right, not there.

Looked to my left and there it was. My real car in its pristine glory (from bird crap lah… not from dirt though….). Looked at the soiled wipes that I have accumulated and sighed. And almost cried because I do hate crap.

Then….did a quick scan to make sure nobody (especially the lucky, lucky owner of the car) were there to witness my… well… stupidity is all I can think of at this very moment.

Rubbed my fingers furiously with the wipes to cleanse myself from the very acidic crap. If it can peel paint, it could probably do some damage to my skin.

Damn !

Drove home blaming my husband for it all. What else can I do ?

But whatever it is right, no matter how elaborate the story I just told, it is just the opening. The real story I want to share happened when I told my husband of my little escapade that very night. I expected a laugh and his normal “You are so stupid…”, a bit of a head shake and his leteran. I fully anticipated his very narcisisstic, “Itu lah.. lain kali tengok dulu plate kereta tu…. Awak tak pernah tengok, pakai hentam aje… blah, blah, blah….”

I mean, the thing I did well… I do them often. And him being my partner for 16 years has seen and heard it all. So I was gobsmacked at his gobsmack reaction. His eyes widened, his mouth hung open in apparent shock.

Eeii ? This is me what. I do that all the time. Sure situation differs but this particular situation was just bidding its time to coincide with mine.

Errmm…. So does this mean that this one, this mistaken car thingy is a bit too much ?

O-ohh….

My weekend.. Jangan marah

Are you bored of hearing about my weekend ?

Well sorry, I still have to write about it.

Hmmm……..

Woke up very, very excited as I have a mini reunion going on at 2. As usual, the flurry of classes in the morning then went straight home to prepare. Not much to do actually as I made the Prawn Mee broth the night before.

I have a bit of time before the guests starts coming (being Melayu I made allowances that people would be late….) so I made cream puffs.

Right on the dot, Noreen came with her delicious chocolate cake. She is Melayu but a very rare breed as she was punctual.

Ian came with a flurry of apologies for being late with ice and bottles of soda. Ian, you were only 10 minutes late, so if you were a full Scot, maybe you would have been early but since you have Melayu inside you also, 10 minutes is amazing okay !! Relax lah, I am Melayu too, what… So being late is not an issue for me lah. I am always late ! Always ! Ha ha…

Noreen had to leave early so both of them ate first. Then slowly people trickled in. Jaja, Azlin and Ida in one car. Fid and her son, Aiman. Nadia and Azrul and their adorable kiddies. Kamalia, Sheik and their own bundles of joy. Ami, Nikman and their lovely progeny.

Citer apa ko, Ja... Aku tahu.. Citer pasal ko punya... keh keh.... Don't worry. Rahsia mu aku, Dan ngan Ian simpan. Wah ahahahahha

Noreen kusyuk dengar Sheik punya story. Were you listening in, Ida ?

Took group pictures kinds early because Noreen had to leave. She left with enough hugs and kisses to last her a life time.

Us...

We resumed our eating and talking and laughing and ooh-ing and aaah-ing babies. In the midst of it, Kamalia asked, “Mana dia ? Tak mai ka ?” No name need mentioned as I know who she was talking about. Sent an sms and the receiver replied that she will make an appearance soon.

Pastu, tu dia !! Never met before but I knew it was her as soon as my eyes clapped on her.

Cik Rose !! A.k.a Desert Rose (or as Sheik calls her Mawar Gurun Sahara.. penat je orang tu bubuh nama lawa-lawa Sheik oii…)

Punya peluk sebab rasa macam dah kenai lama. He he… the power of blog, okay peeps ?

Bloggers United... Hang dah tengok aku Cik Rose, hang masih kata aku besaq kuaci ka dah tukaq jadi besaq gajah ?

She came with her very adorable daughter Aufa dengan rambut ketak-ketaknya… Comei… And the best news, Aufa will be attending the same school as Adik. So Adik dah ada kawan. And I pun ada kawan nak tulung buat hingaq kat PIBG. Yahoo !!

Talk resumed and Cik Rose dove right in. She can talk to my friends eventhough baru sat-sat tu ja kenai… At the end of the day, dia dah buat orang gelak dah. He he… Puji ni…. hubby siap tanya kat Cik Rose kita kalau dia boleh handle case saman. He he… Cik Rose yang sangat bijak kata, “Kalau laki bini punya case tak ambik….” Thank you, Cik Rose !

Hubby contemplating sebab Cik Rose tak nak represent dia. He he..


Ian somehow became my bartender and my kawan-kawan punya lah mengada dah tak reti nak tuang ayaq sendiri. Member tu dok diam-diam kat living room tapi dak… depa panggey jugak suruh tuang ayaq. Merapu sungguh…jaga hangpa..

Dan kata sapa suruh Ian duduk kat situ... Terus terjadi bar tender... Keh keh

Then Ian, I have no choice but to engage your services whenever I have a do at home… Ha ha.. Apparently, you pour drinks just right….

The house was empty again close to 6 and I deemed it a very successful gathering. Thank you all for coming. Really, really appreciate it.

There was a birthday party scheduled for the kids the next day so we went to Subang Parade after Maghrib in search for a birthday present. Stopped for dvds and we spent the rest of the day watching Blood (bad acting all around except for Saya, the heroine… not Saya as in me. I am not in the movie…)

No tennis in the morning so we went to the park in front of the mosque to throw Frisbee. It was a good exercise but Abang as usual got a bit upset because his aim was haywire. We just need more practice lah Abang. That is all. And anyway neither Mummy nor Babah could give you useful tips as we are clueless ourselves. Babah is not an Australian with a washboard tummy okay. And Mummy is not… well you know what Mummy is not.

Jauh nun di sana. Adik lah photographernya ni...

Lari deraih sikit, Abang !

Hubby made me his target practise. Kurang asam sungguh.

But we had fun anyway. Adik came not dressed for the occasion, the silly monkey with her sling back and all but we still managed to have fun and worked our sweat glands.

Roti canai...

Breakfast at you know where afterwards. Went home to clean up and Mummy spent some time worrying. Well… what to do….

By 12.30 we sent the kids’ to their cousin’s house for the birthday party and we… well went to watch GI Joe with Ian. Bloody fantastic. Tatum Channing is oh so hot. He he… That is first and foremost. Second, well as agreed between Ian and myself, it is a mindless flick with loads of guns blazing, bombs exploding and some really sophisticated weapons that we do not want the terrorists to have. The power of imagination is fantastic, I tell you.

Ian though managed to doze off amid all the noise which was amazing on its own. Hubby and I laughed when we saw his nodding head. Had lunch, came home and I did a bit more worrying.

Made dinner. Kids went to sleep. Babah went to play football with Shazmi and Anu and Mummy settled down in front of the telly watching Brendan Frasier going down to the centre of the earth which was very entertaining. Although it was a bit predictable as I have read the book. But I have always liked to see thousands and thousands of words that took me like a week or two to finish being translated on the screen for a mere 2 hours and a half. Paragraphs after paragraphs were painstakingly constructed to describe a scene was done in 2 seconds on the telly. Interesting. I love books and I love the telly. A good marriage.

What a weekend.

Aku yang ntah apa-apa

Stupid and stupid and stupid.

Embarassingly so.

Okay, you who know me, know this. If ever I have to share sejadah, I will usually measure where I should stand by doing a test sujud.

Just want to make sure my aim will be correct, that is all. Well you know, I would only be happy if my head is placed neatly on the middle of the sejadah. I do not want to worry about it and gauging if the distance of my feet from the sejadah is correct while reciting my prayers. Nak kusyuk ma…. Anyway I paling tension if my head overshoot the sejadah and landed on the fringes. Keraih !

Anyway, last time, at my old office the first time we had to share the sejadah, I did the distance test to the amusement of my colleagues. When I explained, mampuih kena gelak. “Ko memang giler, minah…” Proclaimed Sue. Takpa, Suriani. Aku dendam ngan ko pasal tu.

The same thing happened when Kak Ra came back from performing her Haj and bought all of us the small sejadah just enough for our head. Of course I started to worry and as soon as I got the chance, I did my sujud test. Shifted the distance a bit and finally got the right distance.

Kena gelak lagi. Kureng sungguh.

Those who know me also know about my semi-aversion towards things being dirty. Spoons at restaurants will be wiped by tissues first and what nots (Semi-aversion because Ian watched me polishing the cutleries of a restaurant we went to, yeah and he was bewildered when I let some cats ate the leftover food on the plates. “Your spoon polishing has no use if you let the cats eat out of your plates…”he said. Well yeah, he actually made sense…. So bukannya le aku ni pembersih sangat… Tika dan masa yang sesuai aje… keh keh…)

Anyway, I was doing my Zohor prayers last week and soon as I put my face on the sejadah for my sujud, my nose caught the urrrghhhh smell of saliva. Man……. Babah said it only happens to me because I actually look for it. Ada ka ?

I immediately stopped my prayers and switched prayers mats. I went a few steps behind a bit from where I usually stood so that my head touched where knees usually landed. No chance of smelling air liur basi there kan ?

Get it ?

I remembered about Kak Ra’s small sejadah and so today I brought it to work. It will go on top of the big sejadah ensuring me of sweet smelling and definitely clean sujuds. I was lucky to get the surau all by myself. Performed my abulations, susun the sejadahs, put on my telekung and, since I have never done this before, to make sure my aim is correct, I tested my sujud.

Obviously.

It was off a bit and as soon as I was back on my knees and was about to scoot back a bit, somebody opened the door. For the love of God I do not know why I suddenly felt self-consious.

Very, very self conscious.

Like I was caught with my hands in the cookie jar kind of embarrassment. Of course the ladies looked at me and I had this huge feeling that they’d be wondering what I was doing if I suddenly got up. They had caught me getting up from my sujud ain’t it and then tiba-tiba nak bangun ? Nanti depa tanya, Sembahyang apa ni ? pulak.

Errr…. Why am I me ? Why am I like this ? Like they were gonna laugh at me if they know.

Would they ?

I had no time to loose really. I have to make my decision fast as my duduk antara dua sujud cannot be that long. Don’t know if they noticed my flaming face. Anyway, my ustaz Osman once told me that we have to elakkan fitnah. Jangan bagi orang ada reason nak fitnah kita. Karang makcik2 tu fitnah aku sembahyang Ayah Pin lak kang. Dah dosa….

With that in mind (yelah tu…alasan aje), so I did another sujud (position still tak betul.. my head landed still not quite right on the sejadah) and masuk tahyat akhir. And bagi salam. And bangun. And lipat telekung. And left.

Took the stairs up. Waited for 30 minutes before I went down again and actually performed my Zuhur. Landing betul tak betul be damned. There were too many people in the surau anyway so I can’t do my stupid distance test.

So Sue, ini semua salah mung !!

Waaaa !!

PS : Cerita benda bodoh ni kat blog tak malu pun… Apa ra….

Kampung ku ? Errr..... let me think sat...

Once I was complaining to a friend of mine. I complained about Abang’s inability to speak Malay. I brought up the subject after his class teacher confided in me that Abang has a hard time mixing with his classmates because his Malay is bad. Super duper bad. Apparently this causes him to have very few friends. There is Daniel who can also speak English very well like him, Imran who is a nice boy and doesn’t care what other says and a few bit more.

I feel for my son. I really do but there is nothing I can do save from talking in Malay with him. And buy more Malay books. Anyway, like I said, I was complaining to her about it and you know what she said, “Akak rasa akak tahu kenapa. Sebab A cakap Melayu pun pelik jugak..”

Errrmmmm….. AAaaaaa.... Hmmmmm...........

Okay, tak pe lah kot. Anyway, I relayed the story to my friends, they laughed tetapi my husband said, “You memang cakap Melayu pelik sebab you cakap Penang…”

Ha ini nak kena. Ghoplah jingga sungguh. Seluloi dok gelak-gelak pasai orang Penang, this.. this… Selangorian. (nak kutuk susah sebab anak2 aku kiranya orang Selangor …)

Hello, awat pelik ka loghat Penang ?

Anyway that is not the story. That is just the introduction to a memory the above conversation ignited.

It was 2000 and I was in Malaysia working as a trainee engineer in a cable factory in Kelang. As the norm, people asked where am I from in the form of “Kampung kat mana ?” Me being me, said Penang and Perak or Penang/Perak. It so happens that one guy is memang orang kampung my grandparents in Perak and one other guy knows my gandma’s house in Penang (I am not orang Tanjung but orang Bagan…).

I have never lived at either places sure but those places are where I balik kampung. For Raya and kenduris and school holidays etc. So that is my kampung lah. Dah tanya kampung kat mana, kan ? Kan ? Kan ?

Is that wrong ?

Apparently it is because one day I heard one said, “Budak baru tu orang kampung aku tuh….”

Nak jadi cerita the other guy was also there. “Eh takdelah. Dia orang kampung aku… Rumah dia depan surau blah blah blah….”

Err… Not my house but my grandparents’ yang kat depan surau.

“Eh tak lah… Hari tu dia cakap rumah dia dekat dengan Sekolah St M*****.

Err…. Again not my house tapi rumah Tok Wan.

I flamed up for sure. Then jalan laju ! Laju ! Yah ! Yah ! Hilangkan diri ! He he….

So next time people ask me where is my kampung, I answer Shah Alam, is it ?

But that is not my kampung, really. This is very confusing. I understand my ex-colleagues to tell you the truth. Most of them did the merantau bit on their own. Left their kampung to look for work in the big city. Me, my parents did the merantau and I just happened to be born where they stopped.

Then, I cannot say I am Shah Alam-ian too because I was born in Kuala Terengganu.

So, what do I tell people ?

Ini yang nak meroyan balik ni.

Things that I learnt as I mature...

AS I MATURE

I’ve learnt that you cannot make someone love you.
All you can do is stalk them and hope they panic and give in.

I’ve learnt that no matter how much I care, some people are just assholes.

I’ve learnt that it takes years to build up trust, and it only takes suspicion, not proof, to destroy it.

I’ve learnt that you can get by on charm for about fifteen minutes. After that, you’d better have a big willy or huge boobs.

I’ve learnt that you shouldn’t compare yourself to others – they are more screwed up than you think.

I’ve learnt that you can keep vomitting long after you think you’re finished.

I’ve learnt that we are responsible for what we do, unless we are celebrities.

I’ve learnt that regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades, and there had better be a lot of money to take its place.

I’ve learnt that 99% of the time when something isn’t working in your house, one of your kids did it.

I’ve learnt that the people you care the most about in life about are taken from you too soon, and all the less important ones just never go away.

If you tell this to your friends, I am sure they will appreciate it and who knows something good might happen.

If it did not… tought shit.

A friend sent me this. I love it. So true, so true...

Ha ha..

My weekend again... this time with a rescue mission..

Cor ! What a weekend. It was nice one, not so tiring but a memorable one. Wish I had me camera with me.

My Saturday started very, very early. 6.55 am Jubei called to say that she is in front of the gates. Opened the door to a fresh morning which was nice, and started our journey to pasar Kelang.

It is not that far, really as it took us about 10 – 15 minutes to get there. Why the distance ? Well because food is cheaper there. The wet market in pasar sek 6 is way too expensive. I bought enough for 3 weeks at the cost of 1 week bills from sek 6.

Sorry, I can’t seem to write properly. My head is a bit heavy from my constant yawning.

11.30 am I met up with Amelia when we sent our kiddies to art class. I parked my car, hopped in her car (the second Honda City of the day for me) and off we sped to SACC for a massage. Alas, all the masseuse had clients so we abandoned the idea and went for a slice of cake at Secret Resepi instead. We talked, and talked and talked and went back to sek 9 to fetch our kids.

I bought breakfast with Jubei in the morning but we didn’t have the time to eat it as had to rush out for the kids’ piano lessons as soon as I got home. My children had stuffed themselves with cereal anyway so breakfast became lunch. That was easy.

Watched telly a bit before Babah asked me to watch Quantum of Solace upstairs. Of course Daniel Craig watched us sleep instead and when we woke up, the kids had switched to Star Trek and Adik, I swear she did this with sarcasm dripping from each word she uttered, asked. “Did you have a nice sleep, Data ?”

Cess… After that I was no more Mummy but Data (Mummy you know Data kissed that funny lady (Borg Queen)… Eeeuuwwww…. He he)

We had dinner at Tony’s, bought more cds and went home to sleep.

Now, Sunday was nice. He he…

Sent the kids to play tennis, Babah and I had breakfast at where else and then we went to his parents’ for buah manggis. While we waited for the gate to open, we saw a revolting sight of a bitch (and I do mean a female dog, you all..) with all her udders hanging out and apparently swollen with milk. Next I saw her puppy which was oh so cute and Babah and I went ‘Awww…. Look at him…’.

I stayed at the compound and watched out for the dogs as something just doesn’t seem right. However at that very moment, I just couldn’t put my finger into it. As we drove out of the house with the mangosteens, it struck me that condition of the bitch’s (still talking about the canine variety) udders didn’t gel with the amount of puppies she had, which was one.

The mom looked distressed, going up and down the length of the drain next to the house and were whining and all. The little kiddo was yelping and came close to our car. I scrolled down the window to say goodbye. He barked and I heard like a hollowed sound of yelping at the same time.

I looked at Babah and said, “Something is not right. Did you hear more yelping ?”

He agreed and then there it was again, a very distressed sound of puppies whining and yelping coming from the drain. I got out of the car and looked but it was empty. Then I heard more yelpings and it seemed to come from underneath the neighbour’s driveway. Peered inside but it was too dark to see.

I gave a rather self-conscious hello. Soon I heard the sound of footsteps, sloshing in the very black air longkang. And there from the dark emerged 3 little adorable puppies yelping away. Oh….my. They were gorgeous, and cute and little and everything puppies should look like. Bless. The mother came then, plus the sensible one who was not in the wet drain like the rest of his siblings, barking madly.

The poor babies were shivering and they barked and yelped frantically, trying to climb up the drain. Babahand I were besides ourselves with worry, didn’t know what to do. I thought about just picking them up, but I was quite wary of the mom and I do not know about dogs much and I do not know if she knew that I was trying to rescue her litter and not abduct them. Well, I think she probably would have understood with dogs being clever and all. But it didn’t cross my mind at that time, of course.

There is a construction site at the end of the road and so I suggested that we go and choose a plank, to fashion sort of like a ladder for the puppies to climb on. Babah said okay and we drove there. While choosing and Indonesian worker came our way and Babah asked for his permission to take some. He generously agreed seeing that his employer paid for them.

Anyway, I asked if he is a Muslim ? He said yes and I explained the situation to him. Then came a voice from my right and when I followed it, saw a guy covered in bubbly soaps, apparently bathing. Oh dear, it was an open bathroom and this sudsy guy and girl were showering (nope, not together…). Went red a bit and pointedly looked away. Well I should be looking for a suitable plank really and not at people in their minimal best. Ha ha.. When I say minimal, I mean in number of skin covered by clothing.

Anyway, they exchanged words and the dry guy informed the wet one is a Chirstian and would help. I thanked both of them (while keeping my eyes trained on the fully clothed one). Babah saw a plank that he deemed suitable, so we returned to the puppies again after showing the Indonesians the location of the poor babies.

We arrived with burning tyres because we saw the puppies were shivering from the cold beforehand. The sky had considerably darkened and rain was expected. The puppies were huddled together, looking for warmth. Awww man… I should have had my camera with me. The dry one (this time I meant the puppy) came to Babah and started barking. “Be careful Babah, or he’ll lick you..” I warned. Babah teared his longing gaze from the puppy to say, “I don’t mind..” and crouched to say a few encouraging words. Keh keh..

He then propped the plank slanting and as securely as he could, paving a way for them to climb up. The puppies looked at us and I realised well, they couldn’t know our plan could they ?

So I began my quest to make the puppies see what we were thinking.

“Naik ni…See ? See ? Naik ! Cepat ! Nak hujan ni….” While pointing to the ladder. 3 pairs of brown, beautiful but mournful eyes looked at me. Awww…..

“Cepat ! Naik sini. Ni ? Nampak ni ?” Gesturing madly at them and the plank. No reaction what-so-ever.

“Na-ik. Nam-pak ni ? Ma-cam tang-ga. Ce-pat ! Hu-jan..” Like talking slowly would make them suddenly understand what I said. My fingers were pointing to the sky and making rain signs. I swear I could hear them laughed at me.

Or maybe that was my husband.

Then I thought, hang on these are puppies so maybe they don’t understand Malay. Well on account of Malays are Muslims so maybe they understand English. Don’t start snickering okay, just read on…

So I switched to English with no success, too. Hmmm….

Babah tried whistling and I jumped and jumped (like that was going to help) and started to despair. Luckily when I looked up I saw the Indonesians making our way and I sighed with relief.

“Do you know that Indonesians eat dogs ?” Asked my husband.

Eh ? Really ?

He who now I can look at because he is fully clothed went down the drain and in a thrice the puppies were safe on dry land. At the same moment, the heavens opened up. One was clever enough to join his mother. One took cover at a neighbour’s fence and the last one, the only one who is black barked at the drain.

What the … ?

“What are you doing ?” Asked Babah.

He leaned so far into the drain, we feared he was going to fall down again. Huh. I could see now that it was his idea to jump in the drain in the first place. “Weii… go back to your mother… Kat situ !” I pointed. He kept on barking. The Indonesian went to him and patted his head and that little rascal bared his teeth. Sungguh kurang sopan.

It had started to rain heavily and we went inside the car before thanking the two men profusely. We made our way to Kamalia’s house. Stayed for about 30 minutes then picked up the kids.

“Abah nak ambik lah doggy tu…” Said Babah wistfully after regaling the story to his kids.

“Ye ke, Bah ?” The kids asked eagerly.

“A-ah… They are so cute…” He he… I could see that my husband has fallen in love.

“Bah, I am cute, too….” Said Adik… Keh keh…

Anyway, went to Subang Parade for lunch with PIL. “Mummy, I want to go back with Atuk…” Said my daughter. “I think I still have a few things left over there….” was the reason she gave. Hmmm…. Whatever but just don’t bring home toys that I have never seen, okay ?

So what to do ? What to do ? We wondered. To go home and you know what is impossible because you know why. Ha ha…

So we went to look for furniture. Pusing Puchong then went to our favourite furniture place in Kampung Melayu Subang. Went home to pick up Adik’s music bag, fetched the kids from PIL’s house (no sign of the puppies at all. Damn !) and sent Adik to her piano replacement class.

Came home and planned to go for a jog when Noreen sms-ed to warn us of her impending arrival. The wonderful girl came bearing cupcakes. We settled for a chat and even listened to her newly bought CD which I have to admit is quite good. A Malay singer whose name has left my 3 pounder (what is new). Her songs and singing reminds me of Norah Jones plus Lisa Loeb and Jewell. A bit folksy, with excellent guitar playing. I pictured her music video to be black and white and her driving a huge American coupe cabriolet, singing away. She reminds me of a singer but I just couldn’t think who at this moment.

Anyway, had the kind of dinner that I call ‘Clear the fridge and larder dinner’. We had mushroom soup, garlic bread from leftover pita bread, some leftover mac and cheese and corn on cob.

Then sleep, thinking about those puppies. As we were drifting to sleep, I asked my husband again, “How did the puppy’s face looked like Babah, when he barked at you ?” I am so jealous, people.

My husband made a sound of a puppy with a sore throat, pouting his lips and screwed his eyes half shut. Keh keh….

Uber Amazing Award

I was given a very nice award from my fellow blogger Konot, the Uber Amazing Award. I am supposed to paste the award somewhere on my blog, but I can't seem to do it. Just know that the award is super cute and in pink.

This is what Konot wrote about me:
dia ni kawan kamalia sebenarnya.. never met her personally.. kenal pun thru blog. suka baca blog dia, especially pasal anak2 dia yg comel and cheeky.. bila la kita nak jumpa cik myra oiii..

Aku mmg nak giler jumpa hang Konot oiii....

so these are the rules..
# Write five (5) interesting facts about the person who gave you this award.

# Jot down ten (10) interesting facts about yourself or your hobbies.

# Pick your ten (10) most deserving recipients and describe them.# Leave a comment on the recipients' blog to tell them they've been tagged

# Paste the award badge in your sidebar

5 interesting facts about Konot:

1. Have never met her before. She is my old friend's Kamalia's friend (he he... tak cukup vocab) and we met through each other's blog.

2. Have never met her sure but I like her and I think we could be good friends.

3. She is one lucky gal because her husband is one of the kindest person I have ever read about. And I have told her this.

4. She is blessed with 2 lovely daughters. Balqis who is just lovely and rather mature for her age. And oh so adorable Koala Bear.. he he..

5. She once sms-ed me to ask about something funny before flying off to UK... keh keh... Aku hari tu mmg tak gelak kat hang tapi dah lepas2 tu aku bantai gelak habih. Jangan marah... Atau aku yg silap baca hang punya sms hari tu ?

10 interesting facts about me ? Hmmm.... I lead a very boring life, so this is gonna be hard.

I love having friends popping by. Tuesday Ian came and stayed until 1 am. Yesterday Noreen came and stayed for almost an hour. I love that.

Am in baking mood. These past 2 weeks my kitchen have churned out 4 type of chocolate chip cookies and 2 batches of brownies. Then when I finally exhaust it out of my system, I will stop. Don't know when it will take off again.

Tengah tension pasal kerja. Don't know where my job will take me to.

Kuat mengusik and kuat bergurau. Just ask my poor children who sometimes have to face objects jumping at them from the dark. Aku le tuh...

Suka cari gaduh dengan laki. Sian dia. I am sure he is tired by my antics now. Dah kuruih dah pun. He he... I got to get my adrenalin fix from somewhere...

Ulat buku. Can read and read and read. Prefers British authors though. Don't know why.

My dream nak peluk Harrison Ford, Colin Firth and Keanu Reeves. Dah siap susun ayat dah. "Hey Harry/Keanu/Colin, give us a hug, then.." He he...

Nak beli rumah kat London. Poodah chit. Rumah kat Malaysia pun sesak napas, kat London konon.

Susah nak buat aku marah sebenarnya. I am very easy going. It is very hard for me to merajuk or marah lama-lama, it will take some time for me to keraskan hati but once I do, there is no going back. Am trying very hard unharden my feelings for someone but I just can't. Aku memang relak aje but I surpress semua inside and remember everything. Unfortunately, there is somebody else that I just had enough of. Can feel my heart is slowly turning into stone. Hate is not dangerous, nonchalance is.

Loves watching whodunnits like NCIS, CSI's, Without a Trace and the likes. Also loves sci-fi.

Am under a lot of stress. I miss my late sis-in-law so much. Friends asked why there was no entry about her on her sort of 1 year of passing. Well because I do not want to be reminded that she is gone. I miss her, I miss her and I miss her. I yearn for her because she is my kakak. I am the eldest girl so I need my kakak. Shera... Ha... kan dah nangis !

I have to nominate 10 people now but I do not know many, so here goes.

Sheik - hubby of my friend Kamalia. Very kind and helpful and senang je nak masuk dengan kita orang. I consider him one of my friends now. Kamalia tak leh nominate dah sebab Konot dah buat.

Sib - husband my best friend Amelia. Aku tau hang ada blog Sib hiding soemwhere, so walaupun aku tak leh baca hang punya entry, hang buat sajalah. Blog pun mau sorok ka ? Can't nominate Amelia though because she ain't got no blog.

Ana Miraa - My classmate sementara masa form 1. Terjumpa balik in FB. Always smiling and I love her mad, mad blog !

Dessert Rose - Baru terjumpa blog dia and it is fun and hilarious. I love her attitude and courage. Really DR it takes a lot of courage to write like you. Keep it up ! Bila nak jumpa ni ? Dah dekat sangat dah kita.

Kak Puteri - Arwah Shera's friend. A teacher like her and whom I like very much. The first thing that came to my mind when I first met her, "Aiseh, lawanya perempuan ni !"

Maya - My brother's oldest friend. Someone that I knew since I was small. Always smiling, suka buat kelakar and very relaxed.

Kak Ezza - I love her blog. Tried her recipes dah and it was superb. An amazing woman who has 8 children and still cooks and sew ! She reminds me of my own mother.

Lyana Mauseth - Dessert Rose's cousin. I tell you hilarity is a trait in this family. Loves her blog because it always makes me laugh.

Nuyui - another blog friend. A sweet girl from Brunei. She came to Malaysia early this year and we promised to meet up. Masa tu jugaklah telepon ku hilang !! Kalau tak dah jumpa dah !! Tension den. So very sorry Nuyui and please come again and akan ku sellotape kan tepon ku kat dahi nanti.

So there you go. Ada ka 10 ?

And thank you, Konot ! Muah !!

SO now my Sunday

My Sunday….

Hmmm…..

Okay.

Woke up early as usual but no tennis class to send the kids to. Coach has a tournament. Nice… can golek-golek while making plans for the day. It involves Pasar Kelang, SSF and then the Jati furniture shop where we bought our coffee table.

As we talked, the phone rang. Hubby said Abah ajak pegi jalan. Okay, sure. No problem. Where to, I asked Hubby and I don’t think I am being impossible by asking that. If we were to go on a trip, it would be nice to know where it is.

Subang Parade ke, Pasar Tani ke, Port Dickson ke.

Hubby said he doesn’t know but being his companion for 16 years, his flared nostrils and red skin tone didn’t gel with his I don’t know.

Hmmm……

I really thought somewhere near so I didn’t pack anything. Imagine my surprise when arriving at FIL’s house I saw pillows and a bag filled with knick-knacks for long travel. I heard Gerik was mentioned. My brain scanned the length of my bumi bertuah’s map and located it somewhere in Perak.

Okay….

I am game though, but it would be nice if I had brought my camera, said I to MIL. Ada ni ha, I bawak, said the husband of mine. Hmmmm….. He said he didn’t know where we were going then why the camera ? Surely he had already known about our destination but why he concealed it from me ?

I started to get annoyed because even though it is a day trip, I still need stuffs !! Like;

1. Wet wipes for dirty toilets
2. Plenty of tissues
3. Extra pants for me
4. Change of clothes for my kids

I gave him so I was duped look and he responded with a nervous one. Just tell me lah ! He knows I like traveling so why the covert operation ?

It’s okay. Cannot fight in front of PIL because I will surely lose. It’s okay, Hubby. It is okay.

But like I said, I love traveling so I looked forward to the trip while I was already on it because I had no time to look forward before the trip as I wasn’t given ample time to prepare. In fact I was given no time to prepare at all. Sarcasm to the max.

It is fine really.

We stopped for gas and my Mum called. Am on the way to Gerik, Mum, said I. Gerik ? That is far tu.. Masuk jauh ke dalam…, she said. Err….. never mind lah.

Anyway, the journey was uneventful. The day wasn’t hot and the kids behaved. Plus I can’t cubit my husband until we get to R&R Sungai Perak.

R&R Sungai Perak. Gelak takut. "Betul I tak tahu kita nak pegi Gerik.."

R&R Sungai Perak very nice and clean.

Drove past the exit to my kampung. Then passed Ipoh then Abah said take the exit to Kuala Kangsar. I was happy because Adik who was on my lap started to grow spikes on her butt during the journey. Abang asked “Dah sampai ke Atuk ?”, something that I dared not asked and my heart sank when the answer was, “Jauh ke dalam lagi…..”

Err… almost 3 hours already and I started to think about all the clean and dry pants I left at home. Damn !

Passed by Tasik Raban which was really nice. FIL asked to singgah sekejap to see the place.

Tasik Raban

Then we went on and on and saw signage to Kota Bahru. Waah… there is Kota Bahru in Perak also. But then started seeing stalls selling nasi kerabu and nasi dagang. Errm… what ? Kota Bahru, Kelantan or Kota Bahru, Perak ? Sweat trickled out.

It is not that I don’t like it, it was just

1. I need a fresh pair of pants
2. Adik was on my lap. She has been there for almost 4 hours

Adik dah boring.

Luckily when we finally got there I forgot my petty grievances as the place was awesome. Beautiful. Surrounded by trees is this one huge lake. So beautiful and calm. There were plenty of foreigners there eating, checking in and what nots.

From the hotel we found out that there are the occasional elephants who like to bathe in the lake. There was a picture of one happily doing this and it was truly majestic. I was in two minds to ask FIL to wait for them to come. Yelah tu.

Rafflesias and hornbills which I thought were indigenous of Borneo Island only could be found in the Belum Rainforest.

Thailand is like 2 hours away. Kelantan about the same. (Waa !! I traveled that far without wipes and fresh pants !!)

Thailand dah dekat sangat. Bawak passport pi Danok kalau aku tau..

After a quite a good lunch, we started our journey home. It was faster this time because we know the way already. However we were stuck in a jam before Behrang exit due to an accident. Arrived home at 9 pm.

Lunch

On the way home.

Hubby got out off the car with a very sore arm from driving. Me ? I can’t lie on my back. I had to sleep on my tummy (meniarap lah tu…). We were too tired too sleep, we laughed about our day. Dari terpinga-pinga tak tahu our destination to where the bloody hell is Gerik, to waaa ! Nak balik !! Jauhnya !! Panties ku basah !!

I called my mum and mum laughed out loud. Hubby was giggling and grinning beside me. “Mummy… Hubby promised that he will take you anywhere you like from now on. No muncung no nothing…”

“Ye ke ?” Mummy laughed.

“Right, Hubby ? Say Yes Mummy…”

Hubby smiled sheepishly and went “Yes Mummy…”

He he… my trump card for Raya…. Evil, I know…. Keh keh…

We were too tired to sleep.

“You knew where we were going right ? You saja je tak nak bagitau I…” Finally after 12 hours of keeping that question inside. Well not really, I did manage to ask him in Sungai Perak but being me, I just have to ask many, many times for his answer to be true..

“Tak… Sumpah ! Mak cakap nak pegi jalan je… Kat rumah baru dia cakap Gerik…”

“Then why did you take the camera with you ? You should have known we were going somewhere far ?”

“I knew from the way she said it we were going somewhere but I just didn’t know the location !! I tak tahu pun Gerik. I ingat Gerik dekat aje. Sampai Kuala Kangsar terus sampai…”

“It doesn’t matter. You should have told me of your suspicions because I need dry and fresh pants !! I don’t mind going just I need my stuffs !!”

“I tak tahu….!”

Aiyoo !! Why lah this guy ?

“You owe me big, Hubby…” Said I.

“I know….” Was the sleepy reply.

Good. He he….

Only my Saturday...

I have always regaled you about my very busy weekend didn’t I ?

Well today I am going to tell you about my very, very tiring weekend. Kamalia had always asked where did I get all the energy to do the things I did, well Ya… finally I admit defeat. I am so darn tired, I .. well… Babah and I spent a good hour laughing about out creaking bones and stiff muscles before we went to sleep last night. Funny ? Read on.

Saturday was okay. Quite relaxing actually. After the kids’ classes, lunch with PIL then dinner with Ian at Tanjong Harapan. The food was good. My family has never eaten ketam out of the house before. We only ever have it at home or other people’s. Had never experienced eating ketam in restaurants before. Never placed any orders for it.

Until 2 years ago that is when I went to Kuching for work, Ezam ordered black pepper crabs and it was heaven. When the ketams came, I looked at it in wonder, wondering how to attack it with my very inefficient cutleries.

I looked at Ezam and said, “Ezam, I don’t know how to do this…”

He raised his eyebrows and said, “Follow me….”

.
And I did, matching his pace… and quantity. I have forgotten if the rest of our party followed suit. He he…

Anyway, ordered black pepper ketams which was really good. Abandoned cutleries and used our fingers. Babah who couldn’t take spicy food surrendered after 3 pieces so it was all up to Ian and me.

Apart from that we had Jenahak 3 Rasa, Udang Nestum (something new for me too) and Mixed Vege. Kids had Lemon Chicken as usual.

Lovely.

Went home, watched Mummy’s Return to China or something with Ian, drinking tea and eating cookies. Babah snored on the sofa next to Ian, pretending to be awake once in awhile, jumping in our conversation and joining our laughter when he did. Funny guy. Nak tidur, tidur je lah.

Ha ha..

Went to bed, with fires in our belly and sore, red mouths.

Then… well.. Wanna know something even funnier than my butt busting Sunday ? I errm… have to continue tomorrow because I haven’t downloaded the pics to go with the story yet…

Sorry…..

Funny kids, us...

This morning on the way to work, I saw a middle aged lady walking. Her gait was slow I think due to 2 heavy looking bags she had on each arms.

I stopped and offered her a lift. She assessed me for a few minutes, to see if I am a knife wielding material I suppose and agreed. Her journey wasn’t far but she was glad anyway for the help.

Today’s episode reminds me of my mother from whom I learnt to do just that. She would forever stopped her vehicle to offer lifts to ladies and children walking at the road side, sending them to their destinations. She would be extra generous if it is in the middle of the day when the sun shines directly above your head.

“Kesiannya…” she would say before stopping her car.

Anyway, whenever she offered anybody a lift, us kids would always and I say always gather around to look curiously at our passengers. Don’t know why we did so unsmiling, with our eyes never leaving their faces.

They would be further puzzled because as soon as the car stopped, we would be waving and saying goodbyes like old friends. As the car moved on, they would hear snickerings. He he…

One day yeah, we were on the way to seksyen 11 and Mom stopped to pick up an Indian lady about 40. She was on the way to TNB so in she entered. So there we were, like the natives of a remote island who had never seen other people before, gathered around looking at her solemnly.

The woman looked at us and broke into a smile. She was not intimidated or got self-conscious like other passengers before her (ha ha) but smiled and smiled and smiled. In fact her smiles never faltered at all.

I have to say, we were rather taken aback by her demeanour. Usually the hitch-hiker (can I say that when mom is the one who offered the ride ? I just don’t want to use passenger anymore is all) would give an initial smile then would look away when they do not know how to handle being put on exhibition by 5-6 children.

But this lady took us in the eyes, one by one and beamed. At the end, somebody started to laugh and collectively we sighed in relief and guffawed and snorted and giggled too. It turned out she had the upper hand and managed to unseat us instead.

She got out of the car still smiling and waved about with us chorusing our goodbyes.

What a woman. Must be a mother...

Heh..

Where Andrew Zimmern took me.

I watched Bizarre Food yesterday. As a family we love it. We love him grossing us out… he he… Anyway yesterday he was in Korea and he said the beef soup he was eating reminds him of his mom’s pot roast.

I had always been an advocate of mums to cook because a lot of things that associate with food take me home. The sound of the pestle and mortar reminds me of home, the smell of curry and sambal reminds me of home, the sight of sayur kobis masak lemak reminds me of home. And all these reminder of home makes me happy, and warm and I feel loved.

All these reminders of home would make me see my mother in various stages of her age. When she was younger when she would cook in stylish trousers with aprons tied to her back. Her in kain batik, a bit older with her curly hair in a neat bob with an apron tied to her back. Then her now, much older with loose trousers and baggy t-shirts or embroidered blouses still there, standing in front of the stove, cooking for her children. Apron a permanent fixture.

Recently I got upset with her. She had wanted to cook rendang for me to buka. Around 5 she called to say that she can’t make the rendang after all as she had just returned home after one whole day at her shop. Can I just make ayam masak kicap instead, she asked.

“Mum… you sound tired, Mum. Don’t cook. I’ll be fine, I can just eat outside…” Said I.

“No… no…. Makcik Idah took out the chicken already, so I can just cook now. Just want to ask if ayam kicap is okay for you ?”

“Mum… you are tired, please go upstairs and rest. Please don’t cook…”

“No lah…. I still have to cook anyway. Mummy masak aje lah …”

“Mum ! Why you bother ? I will eat outside !” I was so rude. She sounded tired, and I mean well. I just want her to rest.

“Takpelah… the food outside is not nice lah A…. You can eat here or just pack the food bawak balik. If you don’t want pun tak apa, I will still have to cook….”

Regret and exasperation mixed.

“Mum… why can’t you just ask Makcik Idah to cook… Kan senang….”

“Alah… budak-budak won’t eat if she cooks. Alah senang aje, she has prepared everything, I just cook… I don’t have to do anything….”

With that she bid a hasty goodbye and I sat on my chair, stewing with worry and regret and frustration.

When I go home and I mean my home with my family in tow just before adzan, there were fishball soup and ayam kicap and sayur kobis goreng and bubur kacang.

She was so happy to see us, her face lit up.

She sat with us, made the drinks, pushing food to my husband and my kids and talked a mile a minute.

The food was good and I went home a much chastised daughter. But I just don’t want her to trouble herself. That is all. But she knows eating her food makes us happy. Even my husband sometimes asks if Mummy is cooking anything that day.

So again, food reminds me of home. The sight of chocolate eclairs and cream puffs reminds me of my mother bending to pipe the pastry. Puris and murtabak reminds me of her with her rolling pin, cross-legged on the kitchen floor with her pastry table. Bubur gandum reminds me of happy afternoons with my siblings as she walked past us, busy doing whatever a mum has to do.

So a mother has to cook. It doesn’t matter if you suck at it because your kids won’t know, won’t care plus, their taste bud is developed by you. Whatever you cook would come out amazing because they are used to your brand of cooking.

Adik and Abang love it when I cook. “You are a good cook, Mummy !” Adik would say every time and I mean every time she ate anything done by me. Bukannya sedap sangat pun but she is used to it.

Like when I was pregnant with Adik, Kak Jo the cleaner at my first outfit asked her mom to make some pecal for me. She oooh-ed and aaah-ed her mom’s kuah pecal so much that the sight of the tupperware with the much raved about kuah pecal in it made me want to swoon.

Anyway, Kak Jo was the first to take a bite and she closed her eyes, and went ummmm….. in ecstasy. I quickly took a bite and … it sucks. Because makcik tu letak belacan and I dah tergigit belacan yang tak hancuq. Ok, never mind. Washed my mouth and took a belacan free bite but I failed to be swayed by its beauty. Because to me the beauty isn’t there. Nak kata tak sedap, tidak lah pulak but I have had better. Namely my mum’s.

Disappointed, I complained to my mom. She laughed. “Memang lah dia suka mak dia masak… Dia dah biasa. Kalau dia makan Mummy punya pun, I am sure she will say not as good as mak dia punya.” Never ! I said and my mom just laughed.

So …. What is the point of all this ? Masak lah… Hancus macamana pun anak-anak need the memories. Surely you can manage fried eggs ?

Macam pandai aku ni… he he… To each his/her own lah kan… ?

PS : My pot roast is very dry. How can that be ? 8 hours of roasting in the pot and it came out dry… Any ideas ?

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PS : Tak berterima kasih langsung kat mak Kak Jo... Sorry makcik...