Pre-Raya

Selamat Hari Raya !

I do this in batches okay ?

Pre-Raya Eve

My family stayed over at the house since mom’s house is under renovation and berabuk berbagai. Dah ramai-ramai tu what to do except mengukur jalan ? At 1 am after making sure the kids were all tucked in safely in bed, we adults hopped in 2 cars and made our way to Jalan TAR.

I was a bit apprehensive for some reason so when I heard a lot of commotion as we walked to the famous street after parking our car, I was jumping with nerves. I heard what sounded like, “Lawan ! Lawan !”, asked out loud, “Wei ! Ada perang ke ? Macam orang gaduh aje…” In my head, I imagined a bloody clash.

Nobody heeded me and walked on. Oh… “Lawa ! Lawa !” Cess !!

Ha ha… The pictures. Mail and Ijat nak beli baju Melayu…

Masa ni aku ngan Ita dok check dresses for our 3 little girls

Nasib baik ada Daniel nak tolong... Kalau mintak Hubby tengok kan alamat kena kutuk dulu sebelum dia buat... Itupun belum tentu dia nak buat.... he he....

Penat menunggu jantan2 itu menerai baju... Tengoklah betapa ramainya orang pukul 2 pagi...

Mail dok try baju. Ijat dah siap bayar dah... Warna putih lak tu. Gatal..

Cover muka... Dah tak larat ngan papparazi yang dok mengekor kita orang..

.

Balik dari Jalan TAR adalah dalam pukul 4. Stopped by PJ to buy nasi lemak and sampai rumah terus sahur. Bagus betul. Then tiduq and tiduq and tiduq… He he…..

Raya Eve

So work started early since mummy is in residence. If it was up to me.. well… ha ha cengkerik pun berbunyi lagi, since we slept at an ungodly hour kan. Hubby kept saying that he is not meant to have a night life. This was further cemented when he suffered from a slight flu and stomach bug, due to him being out of the house past midnight, he said. The flu I could agree, but the stomach bug ? More the nasi lemak then then embun pagi, if you ask me.

Anyway, left mum and Neti and my many, many siblings to do all the work as I was on a mission… He he…. We came back victorious and I was soooo happy. Singgah Tesco for green apples for our traditional apple cake. I do not fancy it myself. Actually last year I suggested banana cake but it didn’t work out too well as the bananas made the cake a tad too moist. So back to apples this year…. Yuck !

Started menganyam ketupat at 2, so you just can imagine what time it was all done, nearly 7 pm. Ordered pizza for our last buka as no one wants to eat the rendang and kuah kacang as want to save it for the big day tomorrow. The kitchen was abuzz with activites and excited chatters.

At 3 am, mum woke me up and ordered me to my own bed. I was asleep on the sofa, waiting for the ketupat to be done. I was a bit reluctant sebab kesian dekat Mummy but Ijat and Mail promised that they will stay with her, so I went up and snuggled close to my hubby (had to as all the rooms were taken, including my children’s. So the bed was a bit full already.. ha ha...)

Selamat Hari Raya

Selamat Hari Raya, people.

Please thread the traffic carefully and plan your travels wisely. Jangan lah balik kampong masa dah dekat-dekat nak raya, sure jammed up the jalans.

I started getting busy yesterday. Made the kuihs with my sister and hopefully other family members will join in the effort tonight. Dah pasang pelita, which I really love.

Sat lagi nak cari cd lagu raya. Every year beli.

Baju raya siap esok, as per usual. Sebab sayang kat tailor, tak pe lah. Dia buat baju lawa. And kemas. And also Jubei dah cut queue. Jaga ko Jubei.

Maybe balik Batu Gajah, maybe not. There are issues to be weighed. Knowing my mom, it is gonna be a last minute decision.

Already in raya mood and therefore there is no space for work mood. Nada. Dah hilang.

Hubby bising macamana nak tengok conclusion Kasih Iftitah being tomorrow is the last day to bangun and watch the telly at 5 am. Last year, Qasih Sesuci something something aka Eja series came to its conclusion at the same time as the last sahur. He he… Tahun ni hubby tengok Kasih Iftitah and Nur Qasih. Kasihan, kekasih ku hubby.

Keh keh…

Selamat Hari Raya, again.

Take care.

Kantoi, okay ?

Last Monday was one of the best days of my life. Nothing much happened but simple things can make me feel warm and fuzzy and loved.

No wonder I never want to leave Shah Alam. I have everything I need here, my family and friends.

Semalam lunch time, hubby ajak pegi test drive kereta. I need to change my car and we have been going round and round the showrooms in the Klang Valley. Guess who found out and wanted to come too ? Ian lah. And I am glad he came, because I welcome his 2-cents worth and seriously, enthusiasm.

When it came to the nitty gritty, of course these 2 boys gave the poor sales lady a hard time, asking questions that made me blink rapidly and scaring her with their knowledge. Well, they are from the same line aren’t they so they know the trade secrets.

Ian made the necessary phone calls when it came to pricing and I am grateful for the effort. After that went to Audi to admire the Q5 then to Porsche where we were treated with the sight of 2 Panameras entering the vicinity. Lovely, lovely car !

At night, we went to Shah Alam Mall to meet Amelia, who has kasut raya for me ! Yeay ! She was waiting for her Amir to finish his class so hubby and I settled down with her on one of the benches to keep her company.

This is the time when I love my husband the most because he is okay with my friends. I know some guys would be fidgeting, wanting the conversation to end ASAP but hubby sat with us and talked and gossiped. Punya berapi-api hubby bila ber gossip sampai I cuit dia sikit. Ha ha...

The funny part was I went to see Amelia with Adik first, leaving hubby and Abang at the pharmacist’s. I didn’t want hubby to see the shoes… ha ha… biasalah. We sat on a bench, while I tried them on. As I was admiring them on my feet I saw Abang coming from the left. I panicked and quickly tried to take them off.

“Dah mai dah Amelia. Mai dah… Mampuih I.. Bukak, lekaih-lekaih…” Said I in alarm.

Amelia dah start gelak and tried to help me. Actually you know when you watch horror flicks, the victim’s means to escape is always hindred by the car that refused to start and the door that refused to open ? And you will be shouting in frustration of the bloody cliché of it all, because before the crazy loony murderer appeared, the car could start just fine and the door never worked better ? But at that very crucial, life and death moment, they didn’t ? And we cry foul because almost all horror flicks incorporated that scene in. No more ideas ke ?

Actually whatever it was, things do fail to work properly in real life at that very crucial, life and death moments. There I was trying madly to undo the clasp of the lovely, lovely shoes before my husband sees it but it didn’t happen. It remained stubbornly ..errr… clasped (ha ha). I kept looking to my left where Abang came from, anticipating my husband when Amelia who was trying to help me gave a shout of laughter.

Hubby appeared on our right, not from the left like Abang, saw everything (our kelam kabutness to sorok whatever were doing), stopped in front of us with his arms folded and raised eyebrows, looking at us from his height.

Amelia and I just grinned at him. Kantoi ! Kantoi !!

I recovered quickly and showed him the shoes that were still on my feet.

“Cantik tak ?” I asked brightly, faked one okay.

He gave a small nod and remained impassive before offering Amelia some chewing gums. We sighed in relief. Ha ha….

As usual, my weekend

Nothing much to tell about my weekend. It was bo-ring.

Ha ha…

Seriously, there was nothing to tell. So maybe… this entry would be very brief…

Let’s try.

Okay, Saturday hubby had to work full day. I malas balik while waiting for my kids, so went to the car wash. Not 5 minutes driving my clean car, it started to rain. I tell you, if there is a drought anywhere, just ship me and my car there, give my car a good wash, and 5 minutes after the job done, rain will definitely come. Even better, treat me with an expensive wax job, as it will be pouring as soon as I start the engine.

Picked my kids up, picked my nieces up and ensconced ourselves in the house. I locked myself in the room and had a luxurious time with the internet, facebooking and all. Started baking chocolate cake to take to my sister’s when hubby got home. While waiting for the cake to bake, bathed the girls (Abang bathed earlier, around 5 pm. When I asked why, he answered “Saja, sebab saya panas sangat…”), battled with Ana as she didn’t like the outfit I chose for her, waited for Tia to come, iced the cake and got ready myself. Hubby watched the telly all the while.

I know I sound bitter but it is okay really as he was tired from working the whole day. Ha ha…

Went to Ita’s house for iftar. She served nasi briyani (very good okay, the one on sale at Bazaar Ramadhan Kompleks PKNS. Especially as the nasi came with complimentary sirap limau.. It was utterly delicious, okay.. Tak masam sangat, just a hint of limau…), murtabak, roti jala, karipap and cara berlauk. Tia generously brought Big Apple doughnuts with her.

Abang, hubby and myself did our Maghrib membelakangi kiblat. Baguihlah tu.

We left for Subang Parade after Isyak, in search of baju kurung and baju melayu for Abang and Adik. Tak jumpa. Dah last minute memang lah tak banyak yang cantik. However, while at Ita’s house, Apek suggested going to Anggerik Mall.

We started Sunday very late as hubby and I talked and talked in bed for like 4 hours before we drifted off to sleep. So we slept until very late after soq and Nur Qasih re-run. Err… 10 am… ha ha…

Anyway, so that was where we went yesterday. After going to PJ on a mission, stopped by Anggerik Mall and my brother was right. There were plenty of shops and stalls selling stuffs for raya. Bought Adik’s baju kurung at the first store we visited, the same brand we found at Subang Parade. But 30% cheaper.

For the first time ever, hubby bought Abang baju Melayu with stripes. It was cotton and again we bought the baju at the first stall we visited. Hubby was too lazy to look around. I knew him too well to argue. I did make a feeble protest though, stating that we should really look around, but I know a lost case when I see one. There is no point.

Nak jadi cerita, lepas beli, baru nampak kedai Bak’s. Could you believe it, the famous baju Melayu tailor opened up a branch in Shah Alam ? My happiness was two-fold because after this, we do not have to go to Jalan TAR and because I get to say my I-told-you-so’s with a good dose of triumphant looks. Ha ha… What a day…

My boss En Azman loaned me a lot of cds to occupy my weekend, so we settled upstairs watching Red Cliff, a bloody good Chinese movie by John Woo. Tony Leung and that Japanese guy Takashi something were in it.

Finally made carbonara for iftar, to the delight of my children. Want to know what they say ? Visit their blog, ha ha ! Plus garlic bread, cucuk udang and cokodok.

The kids buat fashion show, trying off all their baju rayas. Adik looked super lovely in her baju kurung, macam wanita Melayu terakhir, gitu. Very demure. Sopan anak mak jalan malu-malu. But as soon as she tried on her jeans and what nots, out came the pout, the strut, the dramatic pose and the lenggang. Funny girl.

Went to pick Neti up, then to Mum’s to pick up sup tulang and sambal kacang and ikan bilis kering for soq, pegi kedai to buy minyak tanah for lampu pelita and a secret Slurpee. Nak jadi cerita, buleh habih penutup Slurpee tu kat 7-11 sek 8. Ada ka ? Dah tuang baru tau penutup tu dah habih. Patut lah banyak abandoned Slurpee keliling. Bila aku merepek kat cashier dengan, “Macamana saya nak sorok Slurpee ni dari anak saya sekarang ni ?”, she put it in a plastic bag and tied it up. Okay lah. Hubby raised his eyebrows when he saw me trying to camaflouge it but at the end, he was the one who slurped it to oblivion, to nothingness.

Tidur…

Pendek kah ? Pendek kot kalau compare with my previous entries.

Sapa-sapa yang penin kepala lepaih baca, sorry...

This is another long one... Sapa-sapa yang tak larat, tak yah lah baca... Sorry...

I am soooo exhausted today.

Late night yesterday. Buka puasa at home was nice as mum had to cook in my kitchen because hers is being renovated. Kelmarin was meehoon goreng Singapore which hubby commented after the first bite, “Ini baru meehoon…”. He hates my meehoon goreng. Ibu ku yang sungguh baik itu jawab, “La… dok sibuk belajaq… mana nak sedap meehoon dia…” Thank you, Mummy… But my laksa, and mee kari and mee bandung good you know… Just my meehoon goreng ntah apa-apa. Hubby said dalam bab goreng-goreng ni, aku memang fail. Poodah.

Yesterday Mum cooked mee goreng which was superb. Hubby said my mee goreng sucks too. Ian apparently had never had mee goreng, gave his thumbs up. It was lovely. Tia, my cousin who also was present yesterday, yang tak suka mee goreng pun suka Mak Long dia punya. She and Makcik Idah joined our club yang tak makan mee goreng, tapi makan Mak Long/Mummy/Aunty Norli punya saja.

I baked butter cake with chocolates which didn’t exactly turn out as how I imagined it should be.

My siblings all came of course. Ha ha.. Makcik Idah, my mom’s maid however refused to come. Merajuk ke ? Entah. She usually buka with the family so mum is fretting, worrying about her. I suspect she just wants to clean the house as she is a clean freak. I am sure she hates the thought of all those dusts that are scattered all over the house. Tackling that is more important that eating. Ha ha..

As iftar goes, it was a noisy one but I am used to it, coming from a big family. The kids buat perangai, refusing to eat what was offered and insisted on cabanora. My fault that one really as I promised them I would whip out a mean one since last week. Adik started the revolt and Anna and Esya followed happily. Abang luckily just ate whatever although I could see he was sulking a bit.

After my family left, I quickly prayed and got ready. “Let’s go…” I ordered, pointing to my husband. That is the only way to get him to follow my orders. Catch him off guard so he could not refuse. I was on a mission okay to find a piece of furniture. Nothing big, just a small cheap one to make cooking easier for my mammy.

Went to sek 9, then the other side of sek 9 then Tesco Extra where I found an okay piece. Bolehlah.

Then 7-11 sek 11, 7-11 sek 3 and then finally at 7-11 sek 2, I got my Slurpee. New flavour people, Dragon Juice. Yum-mee.

Funnily enough, Ian had never ever tasted Slurpee. So he was a bit excited, asking questions as he made his cup. Large, pulak tu. His verdict after the first sip ? “Feels like sex for the very first time…”

Hmmm….. I really should get him to prepare my Slurpee next time.

Going to sek 2 always makes me feel weird. Weird is just putting it mildly. It is more like a rush of a myriad of emotions. Happy, love, quesy, sexy but I think lost and sad are the most poignant. For my youth ? For carefree days ? For one hell of a good time ?

As I walked to 7-11 (Hubby pulak pegi park depan sekolah), I felt like I was tracing my steps during my youth. As I crossed the small drain, I saw me, Zaza and Amelia giggling while making our pact. Oh the pact was stupid. Shows what kind of a mind we had when were 14.

Our pact was that if ever any of us fell into the drain (jatuh longkang yang kita orang risaukan... ntah apa-apa ntah) while everybody who was anybody was in plain sight, the victim will crouch as low as she could to avoid recognition, or even better to avoid notice; one would stand guard to ensure minimum crowd awareness (do not know how to achieve that) while the other one would go and organize transportation. Discreet lift off from the longkang is of utmost importance.

However since the three of us were joined at the hips at that time, I am sure people would have guessed who was in the bloody longkang by doing a simple deduction. Kah kah… Tak payah deduction pun, one look and the masses would know.

Ha ha… bangang.

Standing on the sidewalk next to the shop reminded me of another incident that showed how stupido de dodo I was at that age. You see, I love Ginger Ale/Beer. My absolute favourite. Usually after school right we would troop off to 7-11 to hang out or be seen and socialise. Me, I just want to get my drink. Sometimes I go alone. I don’t care. Other kids would be going with their mates and their cliques, well not me. I just want to get my hand around a can of Schwepps’ Ginger Beer.

Don’t know why yeah, most of the times when I open the can, some bubbly liquid would burst out and hit my face. Hai... Why me ?

.

I always, always forget to pull it away from my face. Amazingly though, I always got away with it as nobody ever saw me. Or I would like to think, since it is so bloody impossible for people to never witness it since it happened like a lot of times and in plain view, that people did see but they like and respect me enough not to make a fuss about it. Ha ha.. Allahualam. Perasan… Okaylah.. Maybe I was that lucky..

Apart from this one day, really. The last person that I want to witness me in my wet face glory actually was in the vicinity and saw everything. Everything ! He saw my tightly closed eyes when I realised what was happening, my expression as the cold liquid hit me right in the middle of my face, me colouring up while my eyes still closed, me looking tentatively around to make sure nobody saw me. As I wiped my face, I heard a hoot of laughter and looked up and my heart sank when I met my brother’s widen eyes. And very much amused face which turned into uncontrollable sniggerings. My mortal enemy, my eldest brother.

He was there with his cool friends and I was so mortified. I couldn’t think of a way to look nonchalant. I was at fault. I never learnt ! However I must say, the worse part was not his mirth, my friends. It was his pity.

.

Arrrghhh ! After laughing, he came over to me, took out his hankie and wiped my face for me. And took a huge gulp of my drink. Damn ! Him buttoning up on the incident from my family didn’t help my monstrous ego either as I didn't want his pity. Him re-enacting the incident in front of my puzzled family and refusing to share the joke was well, what made me jumped on him to scratch his eyes many, many times. Those were dark times indeed.

Sigh… nostalgia.

Went home, slurping my delicious Slurpee. Watched a bit of telly while cooking for soq. Hubby was too knackered to wait for me so he bid his goodnight and went upstairs.

So alone in the kitchen, watching the telly at 11.30 pm, waiting for my pasta to cook. Not 5 hours ago the house was filled with people, I had to turn my 6 seater dining table to accommodate 8. Even all the seats at the kitchen table were taken up.

The house feels so empty.

Come back, family !!! Even you too, big bro.

My merajuk story...

Don’t know why I suddenly remember satu incident aku merajuk. Punya teruk aku punya merajuk tu, 2 tahun kot baru aku terpujuk.

Merajuk ngan Jacket Potato kat Beeston, Nottingham.

He he…

Kat England, gerai-gerai juai makanan tak banyak.

Sometimes you could see the odd burger van, or vendors selling hot dogs or hot chestnuts and my favourite, caramelized peanuts. But those vendors are only special to London. Tak dak pulak aku jumpak kat Nottingham or Leicester. Or kalau pi car boots sales there will be vans selling hot sugared doughnuts, or coffee or ice-cream. Tapi kat tepi-tepi jalan tak dak. Tapi yang selalu ada is jacket potato stands like below.

These jacket potatoes memang wonderful. Hot, baked potatoes in aluminum wrapper taken out fresh from the portable oven. Especially in cold winter months, it will fill your belly AND warm your hands. Amazing kan ?

Kebanyakkan Brits suka makan ngan beans....

Mula-mula kita beratuq, pastu when it comes to our turn, kita habaq berapa kita mau. Pastu nanti makcik tu (well, masa kat Nottingham our local is this makcik and 2 assistants kat tengah-tengah Beeston Market Square) akan tanya, “Butter ?” (kalau ikut slang Nottingham, butter disebut sebagai boot-ter) and kalau aku jawapannya sudah tentu, “Yes, please.” She will cut the butter from a huge block (Farmcows yang 500 gm punya size...), put it on the potato that was cut in the middle and lenyek-lenyek a bit. I love watching the butter melted from the heat. She will then close the box.

Pastu kita habaq lah filling apa kita nak. Kalau aku, my favourite is cheese and corn (aku akan tunggu lama sket sebelum I open the Styrofoam box bagi cheese tu melt sungguh-sungguh. Kat Leicester pulak macam style sikit so depa ada garlic mushrooms. I will eat it with corn, too of course.. (and minus the cheese kay, melampau lah tu kalau tambah cheese lagi…), Dan, Tasren, Ishraf and Zul selalunya corn and coleslaw, pun yummy gak.

Pastu bawak balik rumah makan or belasah kat situ gak or makan sambil jalan-jalan like most people do.

Anyway, one day while we were still in Nottingham, hubby said dia teringin nak makan jacket potato. I wasn’t that hungry so I asked can we share ? Sebabnya hubby ni jenis tak nak makan sorang. If I tell him I wasn’t hungry, sure dia pun tak nak makan punya. Tak sampai hati, kan.

However he replied, “I nak makan sorang… I lapar…”

Okeh, no problem as I wasn’t that hungry anyway. So I said, never mind lah, I will just go without. For some reason he took it as I merajuk when honestly, I wasn’t. I wasn’t hungry, kalau share okaylah. But tak nak share pun tak pe because aku tak lapar. Paham ?

But apparently he didn’t understand. He made such a fuss during the 10 minute walk to Beeston town, pestering me with, “Makan lah…” and “You mesti nak punya…” over and over again. I refused all the way because aku tak nak makan lah ! But dia ni tak reti-reti.

I thought he would stop after he bought it but he didn’t. In fact while queuing up he was literally begging me to get one for myself too. By that time I was darn tired and rimas and annoyed but aku sabar je lah kan.

He resumed his entreaties when we retraced our steps back to the house. This time, he had wanted to share. Ya Allah, I was out of ideas to make him understand without being rude and seriously the energy to keep up and then the inevitable happened. I just couldn’t take it anymore ! So I snapped, “I tak nak makan lah ! I tak lapar, faham tak ?” And I started crying. Aku rasa masa tu I really resisted because I had wanted to make a point. Jangan paksa ! Haa.....

Only then he became quiet. I looked at him and said, “I don’t want to eat jacket potatoes ever again !” and stomped my feet the rest of the way, hiding my now very cold face because of the wet tears behind my scarf and shoving my hand in the deepest recess of my lovely red coat… he he… sempat tuh.

Anyway I didn’t eat anymore jacket potatoes after that. Not from that makcik anyway as setiap kali aku tengok jacket potatoes and makcik tu, I got all rimas and annoyed. It was like my own time machine that transported me back to that very minute, to that very incident.

As time goes, my anger gone, and my resolves faltered a bit. Truthfully I just plain missed it. But pride… ahh….the root of most heart breaks (and war) did not allow it. I tak pernah curi-curi beli and makan sorang-sorang pun even.

Hubby of course tried to entice me many, many times. He went for jacket potatoes a lot after that, trying to break me but no can do. A few times he threatened me with, “If you love me, you will eat it…” but no way Jose… no can do. This is super merajuk, mother of all merajuks, okay ?

Until I got pregnant with Abang, that is and cannot tahan anymore. Out of habit he offered to buy me one eventhough for the past 2 years I politely (or impolitely) declined. I finally said yes. I remember that day so well. We were at the Leicester City Park, the sun was up and the day was cool. Winter was approaching fast and the day was dim and short and the night was.. well even dimmer lah I suppose, kah kah… and definitely longer. So the sun brought the population out, including us.

So there we were, Hubby and I. Me very much embarrassed, blushing unnecessarily and him with widen eyes. But he quickly schooled his face to normality and asked me cautiously if I wanted the usual. It was the best day of my life. Actually when I said yes, it felt like saying yes to him on bended knee. Malu-malu bagai. My ego was of epic proportion, kay.

With flared nostrils sebab segan kan, bodoh kan merajuk lama-lama sebab aku yang rugikan, I quickly explained only because sebab pembawakan budak. Abang yang nak… not me. Kalau tak bagi karang, meleleh je air liur dia nanti…

Hubby sengih and decided to believe me.

Ha ha…

Damn it, I cannot write short ones. Sorry…

My weekend...

Okay since I had a three day weekend, this is again gonna be a long one. Sit tight.

Friday night hubby took me out for anniversary iftar. Plus 2 more. Yup, the kids tagged along and decided to be extra noisy and boisterous, like they knew what the occasion was and were deliberately being romance killers. Well, I suppose any notion of a romantic dinner was dispelled at the very beginning since we took them with us.

I had expected this weekend to be extremely boring indeed as hubby had to work. Pusing-pusing SA Mall while waiting for the kids to finish their classes when I remembered inviting my sisters over to make kuih raya. Pegi Giant to buy the ingredients then called them and pleaded boredom with the very insignificant mall, asking “Can you fetch my kids before you come over ?”, went home and waited for them to come.

Marlin came with Mail and my nieces. The kids played, Mail did his homework while Marlin and I made semprit. Hubby arrived home about 5.30 and us 4 watched telly together. I am still amazed that the kitchen sofa can fit me, hubby, Marlin and Mail. Besaq jugak no sofa tu ? Ha ha..

Piping the semprit. The one I bought from Giant keluaq bentuk bunga dahlya yang terencat. Nasib baik Marlin bawak yang real punya... kah kah

My semprit aka dahlia... Bentuk semprit asli kami tak buat sebab tak lawa and tak leh letak ceri.

Anyway, they went home about 6, we got ready, by 7 Ian arrived, 7.15 my family arrived and by 7.19 we walked to Intekma for buka puasa, courtesy of my brother-in-law Daniel. Makan….

Berjalan waktu Maghrib nak pi berbuka.

Sejak pindah aku tension dengar orang berkaroake bulan puasa. Kuat tau boleh dengar sampai my house. Tapi tahun ni as Dan puts it, "Kita pun join buat benda yang kita tak suka...." Ha ha... Mail and Daniel's sister Nina singing Kuch Kuch Hota Hei... Mail banyak orang bagi bunga masa dia nyanyi solo... Belajar dulu Mail !! Jadi doktor dulu kalau dak Ala pok sebijik..

Balik and tried the semprit, not quite happy with the result, though. The taste is there but the texture is not up to expectations. Will call my Mami Ela, the semprit master and ask. Ha ha…

The walk home was nice as it was full moon. Aku of course bukak cerita pasal werewolf and my children started howling to the moon. Esya unfortunately got spooked and started wailing. Sigh...

Planned to make the fillings for chicken pie for next day, but was too tired. So trudged upstairs lazily after Ian went home to catch some snores. Luckily had done my Isyak first when I tucked the kids into bed. I know myself too well to never lengahkan my solat, especially Isyak…

Woke up at 4 am, bundled the kids inside the car and sped off to A&W. Finally ! The rest of the gang arrived soon after. Funny, eventhough the crowd was little, A&W staffs still failed to deliver. At 4.30 am, they were still lembab nak mampus. Maybe it is the company policy to work at such a pace, I dunno.

Mum and Ijat.

Mail, Ita, Daniel and Marlin. Daniel is very generous. Dah lah belanja kita org buka, sahur pun belanja lagi... Sayang adik ipar aku yang sama umur ngan aku nih... Ha ha...

Abang and hubby. Why hubby looked so good...

while I look like this ?

Went home, sleep and woke up hubby close to 10. He had to be at work like right now. Pity him. Took out the chicken to thaw and peeled potatoes, while watching the telly. Adik who was playing computer games with Abang upstairs suddenly was next to me, face a bit pale. She asked me to lie down with her. I complied when a few minutes after that, the most awful pong escaped and disturbed my deria bau. I sat up with a start.

“Was that you, Adik ?”

“Yes…. My tummy hurts….” I urged her to the bathroom and that was the first of my many visits there with her. She purged and vomited and purged again. It was worrying to see such a small body hacking out that amount of liquid from her body.

Gave her a warm cup of tea and dry toast. “Saya tak puasa ke ?” She asked.

It was horrible. She kept running to the toilet with me tailing behind her. I kept forcing liquid down her throat to keep her hydrated. Called hubby and he had wanted to come home but I told him not to. By 3 she had stopped purging and the vomiting happened within longer intervals.

I had forgotten all about my annual iftar buka with my friends so quickly sms-ed the hostess to inform of our absence. I feel really sad because this tradition we started last year is my favourite. Every household will contribute a few dishes, then we buka together, then maghrib, then eat some more, then isyak and straightaway terawikh before we polished off the remaining food. Then pictures !!

I fondly call it my Pesta Bersuka Ria Sambil Beribadah and I had to miss it. Called Mum to moan and being my mother, she offered food. By that time, Adik was already very clingy and pining for her Babah. I had never left her side so cooking was off.

Hubby arrived home near 6 with mangkok sia from Mum and took over taking care of his precious princess. At that point, Adik had managed to keep down her cookies and chocolates.

“Wow ! Chocolates and cookies ni macam ubat bagi baik sebab saya tak muntah pun…” Banyak le kau punya ubat.

About 6.30 Kamalia arrived with her laksa and black pepper chicken from Jubei. I was so touched to be cared and loved by my friends. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Around 9, Adik pleaded boredom for being stuck in the house the whole day. Babah took pity on her and took the family out to PKNS. Saja jalan-jalan. Mummy armed herself with soap and wipes and was immensely relieved that she didn’t have to use it all. Ha ha….

I was tired from taking care of Adik and hubby was tired from no rest at all during the weekend so we slept after sahur until about 9. It wasn’t that good, as far as sleep is concerned as we woke up with headaches. Too much sleep, I suppose. Badan pun sengal-sengal. The kids were already up and about, doing their own things. Abang barged in our room after 5 minutes we were awake, demanding us to get out of the bed. Hai….

By 11 am we were already in Ampang Park to order new specs for hubby and I found a beautiful kebaya sulam for my Adik. But Adik tak nak ! She looked gorgeous in it when we put it on her but she didn’t want it for some reason. I was disappointed but also secretly relieved as the whole outfit costs RM 149, a bit too much to be worn once. And don’t think Ustaz Naza approves it for mengaji. I however did find a gorgeous kebaya for myself, though. Ha ha…

After that we headed to Kajang, to well…. there was something we had to do there. Got lost a bit and after 30 minutes of going round and round Kajang, we got to Ian and the thing that we had to do. It was okay, I am glad we went and well… we’ll see.

Sampai rumah about 3 then Mummy came about 5 to cook for iftar. She is having her kitchen renovated so for a few weeks, she will be cooking at mine. The best arrangement ever !

Adik woke up at 3 am to vomit which worries me so no puasa for her for awhile. She had been good, my little girl so takpelah. Sakit, kan ? Then I had to wake up for work. What a let down.

Sigh…..

10th Wedding Anniversary

Sungguh tak lawa tapi ini aje yang ada... ha ha...

What is today ?

Today is our 10th wedding anniversary. Me and hubby. Hubby and I.

After 6 years and 5 months of being together, today 10 years ago, he took the akad to take me home.

You know… there are a few things that I don’t like about our wedding. Sometimes, and I know this is bad, I still get annoyed about it. Well…you can see the lack of past tense in my sentences.. ha ha…

But, whatever grouses I had about that day, the most important thing is what I get from that ceremony, my hubby. I get to be with him. I get him as my bedmate. I get to have beautiful (albeit merepek) children with him. I get to eat, and bathe and watch telly with him. I get to hold his hand when we walk. I get to tuck my cold feet under or in between his’ late at night. I get to hear him call me Yang (which amuses me to no end….).

I get to hear him ask, “What’s for dinner ?” every day between 4-7 pm every day.I get to him hear sigh when I announced I am making mee hoon goreng for dinner and a hint of excitement when I say we are having carbonara. That is special to me.

I get him…

All in all, I love him, I do.

He has his idiosyncrasies but so do I.

There were times when I imagined wringing his neck, but I am sure he daydreamed a far more elaborate scene to top me off. Ha ha..

I love him and that is it.

When I think about it, he is actually not bad. To be honest, he is rather wonderful.

And so very pleasing to look at.

He could be couture in the Husbands Department.

And so I love him, no matter what.

I just do.

Pembantu rumah ku

I want to talk about my maid, Neti today. Bukan apa, rasa tak best kalau besok-besok I mention her nama dengan perasaan amarah. Masa dia dok elok tak mau cerita, cerita buruk mau pulak canang kat orang. So not nice lah kan...

Neti ni is only 1 year younger than me. She is divorced and childless. She did mention to me that she wishes to marry because she wants to have children and I accept that. She is young still with plenty of opportunities to start a family. So well... I won't be having her for long then. Never mind lah..

Anyway, truth to be told, I like her. I really do. She is not the best housekeeper in the world, well… neither am I really but I she is a loving bibik to my kids and a bloody good cook.

She can make santan-less curry beautifully. Her asam rebus is to die for and her tom yum is much coveted by my children.

One thing I really, really really appreciate though (and this I say with my hand on my chest, eyes closed with so much emotion and feelings..) is her inability to gossip. Sure she can participate when instigated by me, but never would I come home and she would be having kittens waiting for me with a piece of juicy news..

This trait to me is important as well… my first one was such a gossiper, sampai hal aku sekali dia pi cerita kat orang. My mummy memang dah pesan, maid kalo rajin cerita pasai orang, pasai kita pun dia rajin cerita jugak. Pok sekali baru tau. Menyampah. Kalau semua true stories, well… walaupun sakit okay lah jugak but kalau 99% cerita merapu yang direka-reka untuk bagi orang ternganga, itu yang buat my blood go upstairs, okeh ?

.

Dah lah tu punya tak puas hati, dah balik tanah tempat tumpah darahnya, she still stirred things over here by writing a letter to the orang jahat to further stoke the fire. And orang jahat being orang jahat, well... percaya aje. What to do. My stance is, kita jumpa aje di akhirat, na ? Habih cerita.

My second maid, which is actually my first really because I employed her as soon as I returned to Tanah Malaya but then I gave her to my mom after a few months sebab we do not really like having a maid. But she worked with me again after I sent the sort of first maid home. So all in all she worked with us for a bout 5 years. Anyway, number 2 ni was treated like family. Handphone hilang, mak aku ganti. Kena demam denggi kita orang ke hulu ke hilir bawak hospital. Siap muntah dalam kete and atas my sister’s lap lagi tapi tak kisah. Kalau bertekak ngan kita orang, nombor satu but we took her as family so tak kisah lah.

Dia ni pun kuat bergossip gak and 5 tahun duduk dengan kita orang langsung tak dikenang after kena hasutan for 5-6 months. All our kindness was forgotten. If we truly were bad, why you stayed with us for 5 damn years ?

In my time of need, when I needed support the most, number 2 turned her back on me and feed the orang jahat stories about us. Motif orang jahat tu toksah ceritalah… dah namanya orang jahat kan ? I do not know cerita apa yang keluar, but I was ostracized, well not to my face but you can feel it and stories do get out.

After she was sent back, she did attempt to see my mother once but my mom refused to see her as according to my mom, number 2 hurt her precious and oh so angelic daughter. Aku le tuh.

Ha ha.. sorry… Masuk bakul suruh hubby angkat… kah kah..

Insya-Allah, Neti won’t do the same. She’d better not. I could be wrong but oh please, don’t lah Neti.

Once I came home early, about 12 I think and found the house empty. I wondered where she had gone to but thought nothing much of it. Soon I heard her talking outside. I was at the kitchen sink, washing my hands when she passed by from the outside and almost went into cardiac arrest when she noticed me.

“Saya dekat sana kak… Sama pembantu orang sebelah….” She stammered.

“Err… okay….”

“Saya pergi kedai kak, beli top-up….” She added nervously.

“Err…. Okay….”

Her guilty look irritated me more than anything.

“Neti… kalau awak nak pegi kedai… pegi lah… Saya kan tak apa-apa… Awak mau cakap-cakap sama orang sebelah pun okay… Asalkan majikan dia benarkan…. Takkan lah awak nak ke kedai nak berkawan saya tak bagi, Neti… Awak kan tahu.. ?”

Sengih je dia.

People always asked me why I give my maids so much err… muka. Well, coming from a worker myself, I would go bonkers if my boss banned me from talking to my colleagues or talk on the phone. And I would definitely go nuts if I am not allowed the liberty to merayau sekali sekala.

If she ever decided to go to the other side and be the source of my heartache and anger, well that is her choice. I cannot stop her.

But for now, she is okay and I like her. But if later on you hear me raving and ranting, well at least, I had been fair and acknowledge her plus points first.

Here is hoping for me to like her forever !

Ha ha.

My very looonnggg essay about my weekend.

To recount about my weekend is gonna be loooonnggg people…. Brace yourselves and get your reading glasses ready… I am not doing this in installments …

Friday first. The Bs and girls went for buka at Sahara Tent. We have been going there for years for our annual buka thingy until last year that is when we, hubby and I suggested Planet Hollywood instead. Good food and at RM 35 per head, very cheap.

The initiated loved it and we were glad but alas, this year we reverted back to Sahara Tent because Planet Hollywood KL is no more. Luckily the food was still good although a bit pricey this year at RM 45. The falafel was amazing, okay ? I foolishly called it wade because it tasted almost like one. Luckily Anu knew the right name but the damage was done. Amelia kept calling it wade… he he…. Sorry….

I love my friends so eventhough Anu did a naughty thing by taking my picture on his iPhone and pasted it in a boxing game so my friends (including my very excited hubby) could hit me and watched my face get bruised and swollen after each punch, I smiled beatifically. Although the sight of Shazmi concentrating with his tongue out threatened my calm reverie, but love them I do … so… I endure… with revenge not far from my mind. Jaga korang…

Amelia, Anu and hubby. Look at the gorgeous falafel on Anu's plate.

Shazmi, Nadia and I. I do not want to sit next to Nadia for pictures again as this lady is so gorgeous, she makes me look extra frumpy and plain.

Amelia left at 9.30 but we stayed on for mint tea and shisha, the only time my hubby allowed nicotine to pass in and out of his mouth. Anu informed me it was just burning molasses, not nicotine … Is it really ? Hmmm… Will google it later. The B’s chose orange this year, leaving me smelling of Tang… which is not a bad thing.

Us enjoying the cool night air, mint tea, orange shisha and our friendship.

Don't want to disturb the very busy waiters and waitresses again so took this on our own. Can see a little bit of hubby on the right hand side (and apparently my set of chompers too....)

Left the premise at about 11.30, very much happy. And oh, they served the best lime juice ever. Sweet and a bit tart with chopped mint leaves floating about… Yummm….

Saturday was easy as no piano classes. Slept till about 9 am… he heh…. Sent the kids to their art class, parked my car and hopped on to Amelia’s. Where to ? SACC Mall for reflexology of course. Bliss.

Went home, waited for Babah to come home. Waited again for Babah to sleep then off we went to KLCC for baju raya. Met up with Ian and Haziq but before baju raya, can we nip to Pesta Buku ? Babah grudgingly agreed. Mummy shopped first.. kah kah…

What is nice at Pesta Buku was they took our temperatures first before we were allowed in. Quite reassuring really especially since Adik started coughing as soon as we parked our car.

Mummy loves Esprit for her children so we trooped there first after pesta buku. And after watching Adik cried pitifully for her Babah who went to the car to deposit the books first. And after watching her clutching the railings mournfully, waiting for her Babah to return while Mummy, Uncle Ian and Haziq looked at her worriedly first. She has separation issues, that one. Unfortunately, I only found a pair shorts for Abang and a cute top for Adik. Not much choice there this year. While we paid, Ian sat with the children, minding them.

“Hmm…..” I observed, “Bagus jugak bawak Ian, ye hubby ?” He he…. I need not yell for them to stay within my eyesight. I need not widen my eyes whenever they misbehaved, while trying my darnest to keep my eyeballs in their sockets. I need not… well bother… Kah kah… A novelty indeed.

Went straight to Chakri Palace after that and waited for buka. I am glad we went there as it was lovely. The food was excellent with generous offerings at RM 39.90 for adults and RM 19.90 for children. The tomyam was filled with prawns and squids, the tako was oh so lovely with a hint of vanilla which surprised and delight me, the fish cakes were a treat for the tastebuds and I who loves pineapple almost swooned at the sight of pineapple fried rice.

The mangoes were lovely too. So lovely in fact that Ian took the whole serving plate and put it on our table. He even did the same with the takos. Again, another plus point to have Ian around. Ha ha..

I can’t abide wastage and therefore made sure the kids finished off their plates. Even I only took 2 plates. You wouldn’t find me paying RM 60 for a buffet.. that is too much and not in the spirit of Ramadhan at all. There must always be a limit.

Went around some more and bid our goodbyes to the MacQuistans around 10 pm… I think.

Sunday we woke up late again. Nice…. Since we only managed to get 1 item of clothing each for the kids, we went to Mid Valley at around 11 am. Where else but Metrojaya, the best shopping department ever. Found loads of stuffs for the kids. I found stuffs for the house, found Krispy Kreme for buka, found more stuffs at Marks & Spencer and went home.

Went to my mom’s for buka. She made delicious nasi lemak. It was heaven. Abang had 3 plates of nasi and ikan bilis goreng. My mom is a wonderful cook, sigh. After much hype, Krispy Kreme is a disappointment as well… bukannya sedap sangat pun… Biasa aje…

Went home to mandi (I can’t imagine why hubby and I didn’t bathe before we go to mummy’s. It wasn’t like we did anything apart from lounging around the house…). My siblings fetched me around 9.30 for a spot of window shopping at SACC Mall. There is nothing like late night window shopping during Ramadhan. Loads of people were out of the house, the shops opened till late, the stalls offering goods available only during this holy month and the air crickled with festivity. I love it.

We didn’t buy anything, hence the window shop. Just looking at the wares offered, especially the very, very expensive baju kurungs off the rail. I am so lucky that I had mine made way before puasa.

Balik and tidur, excited at the prospect of sahur at A&W with my siblings. Promised that I would call them at 4 am but we woke at 4.30 ! Put all the blame on hubby, the official alarm clock keeper. It was too late already as the nearest A&W is PJ. With no food at home, we went to McDonald’s… yuck…

At McD.. Urgghh.. not my cup of tea. Hubby snapped a picture of me and Abang but I didn't put it in. Although Abang looked lovely, I looked like a fright at 4 am. So no can do. Do not want to scare the masses.

I didn’t call my siblings though as they were very sceptic about driving to PJ at 4.30. Hence was surprised that Mummy called at 7.30 to check on my health. Apparently, despite their misgivings none of my siblings had a good night sleep, waking up every few hours to catch the 4 am call ! Kah kah ! When none came, they called me repeatedly but I as usual had misplaced my phone.

But why oh why oh why didn’t they call hubby ? They know the drill.. I am hopeless keeping my phone near to my person during the weekends. Hubby is the best way to get to me. Do they never learn ? Or I should learn to keep my phone near … ha ha….

Marah-marah pun… they followed us to Subang Parade. It was filled to the brim, my Subang Parade, but we soldiered on as Abang only has 1 pair of shorts. After a strict instruction not to buy anything else for Adik (ha ha… but girls clothes are soooo lovely and fancy and cute….) Hubby took Abang to the boy’s section while my sisters, my daughter, my niece and I chose some clothes for Esya. Managed to persuade hubby to buy a cute top from Benetton for Adik and then….it was time for the ladies to shop.

Eleh, bukannya beli apa pun… just one top each at Dororthy Perkins well…. because hubby is there as financial controller. For that, we give our Alhamdullilah…. Seriously. Because if left to our own devices, we would have maxed out our cards and emptied our bank accounts. A gaggle of girls out shopping is a serious matter indeed. Alone, we are manageable. In a group, we are a force to be reckoned with.

In the car, Ita raved and raved about nasi briyani on sale at Kompleks PKNS bazaar Ramadhan. Therefore hubby gave her money to tapau for us and his parents. I baked while waiting and by 6 pm, she came to deliver the goodies. It smelt sooooo good …. The last few minutes is the most agonizing part of Ramadhan… he he… Speaking from the tummy of course. And indeed the briyani was good. Not at all sweet like most Johor briyani gam.

Buka with the PILs, stayed awhile to sembang-sembang then went home.

And cried inside because well… I have to go to work the very next day and the kids have to go back to school. No more staid and relaxing day. No more sloth and gluttony (which isn’t a good thing it being Ramadhan and all). Back to being a bee…

Hmmm…………

I am being brief...

Okeh… hari tu ada orang bagi comment cerita aku panjang berjela…

(Takpa… takpa…..)

So today I will try to make it very short..

Went to a birthday buka do yesterday. Family only.

Kids happy playing with cousins.

The vanilla cupcake was super delish although a trifle too sweet.

Hubby's mom gave a green light for something that I have been waiting for since I married him. So in a very happy mood now.

Buka with the Bs today. Sahara Tent of course since Planet Hollywood has gone kaput.

Long weekend, here I come.

Yiiihaaa !

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…..