Punyalah panjang, gambaq pun tak dak... Sorry...

So Monday is here again.

Sigh…

I wasn’t prepared for today because sleep has not left my body yet. It is hovering around, especially around my eyes and my mouth, which kept opening to emit oxygen into the brain.

Yawn…

There I go again.

So it is Monday huh ? Well then I have to tell you about my weekend, even if it was a boring one. But my last weekend was definitely not.

A good friend of mine, one that I have been friends with since we were 5 asked me to cater for her party. Errk !

When I was living in sek 7, I did that a lot. All of my clients (tu dia… clients tuh) only ever asked for 1-2 dishes. Usually a pan of lasagna or cottage pie. Or my beef casserole. Or meatball pasta bake. Cream caramel, orange caramel, normal butter cake or trifles are popular when it comes to desserts. Although a lot demanded cream puffs but because to make them is quite difficult, I usually mengelak but I did make them for close friends.

Nevertheless I have never been asked to cater for 30 people all on my own. People usually ordered from me to compliment their main dishes, but to cater for the whole party ?

Aku terduduk kejap sebab panic.

She ordered lasagna, chicken pie, cottage pie and one pasta bake. For desserts, trifle.

It seemed a lot and I was quite scared. But I was rather intrigued too, I must say. So I kept on talking to her. Okay, lasagna minced beef, cottage pie minced beef so the pasta bake must be without beef. So I suggested penne sausage bake.

Trifle aku suka sebab senang. In my head I planned the normal fruit trifle with custards and strawberry jelly. Plus my favourite blackforest trifle which I haven’t made in a long time. The blackforest trifle is truly decadent okay. We start of with chocolate sponge at the bottom layer, then black cherries on top, swiftly followed by chocolate custard and finally a layer of light mascarpone cheese.

Yummm….

Walaupun seram-seram because I haven’t a clue how to do it, I told her that since the party is at 8, I will prepare the food and she will bake it at her home. However and this is a very big however, they are having the party at a rented apartment with no oven even a micromave in it.

Errr…..

So I scoured my recipe books and had a long hard think but I could think of nothing that would taste nice after being cooked at 5 pm and consumed 3 hours after that. Especially with baked food, if not eaten immediately some would turn soggy and some would be dry.

I was in two minds about it as I am not expert enough to put all the problems into consideration and incorporate them in my food, ie. the ones that would be soggy I should make them dryer and those that would be dry, well… I’d have to make them soggier… he he… Kalau nak, mee kari boleh lah… Nasi goreng ke ? He he…

I told her so, fearing my cooking would fail me and her, but she still wants me to do it. And seriously I do not need much persuasion as I do love to cook so I said yes. She must have read my blog, the naughty girl as she changed the dessert menu from trifles to fruits tarts.

Okay. Therein lies the problem as to make the shortcrust pastry ain’t easy and to make 50… well I need time. So I asked somebody else to make the pasta bake, the easiest one on the menu.

Second problem, price.

Ha ha… I don’t even know the amount of ingredients needed to master this feat let alone the prices ! Thirty people requires 5 kg of minced beef for lasagna ? What about the chicken pie ? Is 1 whole chicken enough ? Luckily Bei came to the house to learn making cottage pie the week before so I used that as a basis.

But still I was riddled with doubt.

While seriously not knowing if my raw material calculations was even remotely adequate, I just ploughed on and quoted a price. That after going around Giant and Tesco with a long list to jot down the price of each ingredient first. It looked so bloody expensive when I sms-ed it to her, I winced. Ayoyo… the food had better be good, okay. And enough for 30 people as aku pakai taram aje…. Minced meat banyak ni, ayam banyak ni, ntah apa-apa banyak ni. Yang aku confident is the tart because she specifically asked for 50 pieces.

Friday, my day started after work. Swung by Tesco Extra and bought loads and loads and loads of minced beef. Plus other stuffs. Got home and started preparing before going off to Tesco for stuffs that I couldn’t get at Tesco Extra. I really do not know what the Extra was for as Extra it was defintely not.

Made the sauce for lasagna and the chicken filling for the pie. Hmm…. After that is done, I took out the aluminuim foil pan and tried to see if it is enough for 1 or 2 pans. I then turned my attention to the tartlets.

Saturday is the day of reckoning. I still send the maid away as she wouldn’t know what to do anyway. Replaced her with my sister and was very relieved when mum came to assist. Kamil also took leave. Wonderful, wonderful boy.

I started with the béchamel sauce first and that was the first thing that went wrong. I love mushrooms and over did it a bit with the fungi and therefore the sauce tasted like mushroom soup. Woopsy !

Took out the rest of the minced to thaw while I prepared the pastry for the pie. Sungguh I was so shocked as 2 ekor ayam can only fit in 1 pan. 2 ekor !! Hmmm….. I have no time to make some more and besides the price that I quoted was all used up for that one pie. I sweated a bit at the thought of the lasagnas so I started layering it up first. Hmmm…. I got to 2 pans worth.

So… lasagna is cheaper than the chicken pie then.

Second thing that went wrong happened when I fried the minced for the cottage pie. I don’t know if you could relate to this but it just smelt too beefy. Even my mom looked inside the huge wok to see what was wrong. Hmmm…. discussed and agreed that I cannot risk the health of my clients so my sister was dispatched to get fresher beef. And she came back with frozen beef that made me cry once because of its tastelessness.

All the fresh ones were gone, apparently. Ah… today is the day when the entire damn minced beef in Shah Alam laku. Everybody and their aunty are stocking up on minced beef. Discussed again and agreed tastelessness can be repaired but sakit perutness can result in a lawsuit. I fought valiantly to cajole the beefy taste out and eventhough my mum and my sister said it turned out okay, I was disappointed. Tak baca Bismillah ka aku pagi-pagi tadi ?

By 3, my sister was mashing the potatoes and Kamil hampaq tikaq on the kitchen floor to pipe the custard and chocolate filling for the tarts. Strawberries for the chocolate and blueberries for the custard. Kamil did a good job as it was neat and oh so cute. I started baking everything at 3.30 and at 5.10, my client was at the front gate. The cottage pie was still browning in the oven.

Kelam kabut sikit when Kamil managed to house only half of the tarts. "You beli tak cukup..." he said accusingly. Mana mungkin, I thought, as I tore down the house looking for the plastic packagings for the tarts. I remember buying 20 pieces. When I returned to the kitchen empty handed and half crazy, I heard my sister and my mom laughing and saw my husband grinning at them while separating the double layer from each packaging. Buang masa !!!!!!!!

I have to agree that the house smelt heavenly. E**y and his wife who came to pick up the food commented on the lovely smell, ooh-ing and aah-ing at the sight of the cute tarts, but I waved them goodbye with knotted stomach anyway. My sister turned the earlier beef with the suspicious smell into cottage pie for our own consumption. She didn’t want to waste so I just let her. We ate it and well…. nothing happened. Maybe.. and this is just a big maybe, lembu tu tak mandi kot…. Hmmm….

By 6 I was so darn hungry but there was nothing to eat except the tarts. And that was when I remembered about the food that was sent to my by an angel pukul 11.30 pagi tadi. The angel (hang jangan kembang, satgi jadi belon susah nak tangkap) said she knew I would be too busy to cook while cooking (he he……) and was she right. I was too hungry beyond words so while waiting for our own cottage pie to brown in the oven, kami anak beranak shared the fried macaroni. Yumm ! Thank you….

It was hard to pry open my eyes Sunday morning but we had to as the kids had to be sent to their tennis class. Fetched my mom and drove to pasar (Bei now I understand why you called it Pasar Meru because the name is Pasar Besar Jalan Meru). Kamil ordered us to get in and get out of the extremely dirty and watery and urgghh pasar quickly because the stench that very day was unbearable.

I tried making butter prawns for lunch with little success. The hard part, which was the egg floss, was quite a good first attempt (he he…) on my part, but the actual udang didn’t turn up like the ones I paid for. I fried small bawal-like fish which was a big mistake because Umar was still at the table long after us 3 settled on the sofa to watch the telly. How long ? Well about an hour because we managed to watch 2 sitcoms.

I opened the fridge to be greeted by now empty Tupperware of leftovers tarts. Looked at my family and my husband gave me a sheepish grin coupled with his very flared nostrils, guilty of scoffing down the whole lot (there were like 10 pieces) the night before. He, at that very moment, was dunking strawberries into the chocolate creams, resolutely ignoring Adik's “Bah ! Give me the whole box !”, while waving her spoon angrily.

Tak reti kenyang dia orang ni. We then settled upstairs to watch The Ugly Truth and then Taken. I do not know why I always get a botched Taken CD. This is the third attempt to watch the damn movie. Hissh !

I settled to read instead and promptly heard my husband snoring. By 6.30 he was still making horrible, horrible noises so I went to fetch Neti and singgah beli dinner for the kids. On the way home, dear husband called and demanded of my whereabouts. Panic pun kan… Janji nak pegi ambik Neti, last-last aku pi sorang. Hampeh sungguh.

When I got home, ada hati dia kata, “La… I kan kata nak bagi budak-budak makan nasi ayam…Awat you beli ni ?” Hiiii… banyak lah songeh so aku bagi dia cubitan yang tak manja langsung untuk memuaskan hati.

We got ready and by 8 Noreen came knocking on the door. We drove to Kokopelli to celebrate her birthday. Ian was joining us from Putrajaya. The food was good, I have to say and I really recommend it. The owners, a Malay artist whose name I have forgotten, turned a small bungalow into a restaurant and the ambiance I have to say, is wonderful.

We raced home because we have 2 Man U fans with us and so Noreen and Kamil settled on the sofa to yell at Liverpool. I went up to pray then went down for awhile and talked to Ian a bit before remembering that I have an sms to answer and went up again.

Tiba-tiba dah pagi.

Ha ha… sorry Noreen and Ian.

Tapi yang bestnya, this morning when I went into the kitchen, and saw the bread tray was filled to the brim again. Ha ha.. nampaknya ada orang pergi kedai sorang-sorang…. Tulah….

Ya Allah Ya Tuhan ku… panjangnya….

My attempt to dispense advice on child rearing... Ha ha

Sometime during this week, I had a conversation with a friend during lunch time about this and that.

I like her, I really do but aku a bit bosan sebab she likes to talk about her children a trifle too much. Of course I do not mind listening to her stories, but since as time goes by, her children's milestones resembled that of Clark Kent, aku tension gak.

But as Dan always said to me, dengar sajalah. Tak larat, don’t go out with her anymore.

Sure, sure.

The other thing yang aku a bit tak larat is her penchant to criticize other people’s parenting as oppose to hers. Anak Superman, mak Jor-El lah kan… Hmmm……..

Plus her children are oh-so perfect, nobody can say or do anything. Dia cakap pasai anak orang takpa, siap bagi nasihat lagi. Tapi kalau pasai anak dia, baru nak ambik napaih, telinga dia dah berdesing dulu. He he.... terrible ain’t it ? Me that is… As… right now I am about to do something I really dislike about her. But of course, aku buat di belakang takbir. Ampun.

It was a bit shocking listening to this story because she had always liked to paint ridiculously glossy pictures about her family, telling me about her daughter being kicked out of the clever class seemed a bit surreal. Maybe she was pissed off so she had for that one moment, let her guard down.

Probably. Hmmm…

Anyway, as I already and should know her daughter is a bloody gifted 10 year old and is in the advanced class. However recently she was asked to change class because the teacher feels the daughter could not cope with fast paced learning and would fare much better in the second class.

This is what she said, “Mana boleh anak aku masuk kelas bodoh ! Aku yang paling banyak menyumbang kat PIBG, senang-senang aje nak tolak anak aku pegi kelas bodoh….Banyak tau aku bagi kat PIBG. Ada cikgu cakap aku penyumbang paling banyak dalam sejarah sekolah ! Dia orang tak boleh buat macam tu kat aku !”

Pulak.

Hmmm....

Okay.

In my dream, this is what I told her.

Eventhough my son is not stupendously clever as yours but he is the advanced class too. However if he is ever kicked out, I will ask him first. If his studies are suffering due to his laziness, I would get angry (Tunjuk baik... sesungguhnya aku akan marah tanpa usul periksa dulu… Naik hantu dulu, ask questions later). But if he said his teachers teach too fast and he couldn't understand his lessons, then it is better for him to move to a slower class to have better understanding of the subjects. He is not ready to move on to a new topic, but his mates are .. do you think the teacher would stop for him ? And thefore, apart from past lessons that he couldn't make heads and tails of, he has to learn new things ? By the end of the year he will be totally swamped and left behind. There will be too many for him to catch up on.

By forcing your daughter to stay in an advanced class, her studies could really suffer. What is more important ? Your pride or her studies ? Plus, if I am not mistaken, something I caught during her spates of bragging, there are about 4-5 classes of Year 4, so it does not look like second class is kelas bodoh. Plus... err... they are not doing anything to YOU but to your daughter. Why is this about you ?

Of course, I can’t say that well because first she was so fired up, I fear she will be spewing fireballs if I open my mouth. And I did have my favourite tudung on. Plus, well if she had been talking about clothes or some other stuffs I would have given her my opinion. But since we are talking about her children and she is very, very sensitive on that subject, well… I chose to save myself.

And therefore I dispensed my 2 cents worth via my blog that she doesn’t know existed.

Hopefully.

Weekend baru-baru ni...

Okeh… what did I do during my recent weekend ?

Jumaat my colleagues and friends came for raya. I made mee kari and baked penne meatballs (I know my guests would be expecting pasta and I had to have a long hard think of the pastas that I have yet to make for my friends). Kamil loves my chocolate tarts so I made those. I found some strawberry chocolates so I turned half of the chocolate cream to strawberry. What a waste as it wasn’t good. It was so horribly pink, even dressing it up with plump strawberries didn’t diminish its garish pinkiness.

What do you think, Um ? Do you think she will notice if I take one chocolate tart ? They are my absolute favourite.

So what do I do with the rest of the strawberry chocolate ? Hmmmm… That to be talked about later.

Made blueberry cheesecake walaupun aku bosan giler dengan blueberry cheesecake. I want to try strawberry next.

Oh of course cok udang with kuah kacang. I love those. Aku selalu buat tak jadi macam mak aku buat tapi Neti and I really gave our full concentration when we make the batter, deep in discussion while feeling the batter with our hands and then VOILA ! Jadik okay. Kalau orang tengok kami, mesti depa ingat kami tengah nak operate orang.

Sam, Farah and her cute baby Farrel arrived first. Then Zurina came in her motorcycle. Ian next. Then Eja and her family came. Terima kasih, no… mai rumah aku. And then the rest trickled in one by one.

Sam and Farah. Amelia and family on the way. And my very pink strawberry tarts far right.

One thing I am very proud of Adik, walaupun anak bongsu and cucu bongsu belah abahnya, she really has love and patience for children.

Terlupa nak ambik gambaq mak pak, nasib baik anak aku tangkap gambaq anak2nya.

They will be classmates come next school term. Amazing isn't it ? Adik tu boring kat sebelah... sian dia.

My friends.

We had a good time talking as the guests tak ramai so I do not really have to spread myself thin. I have learnt my lesson and that is why this year we opened our house more than once. Especially when my friends came, I can have a nice, leisure talk.

The kids played football and after kena marah, naik atas to play whatever. Min and Farid went home for awhile before coming back to sambung bersembang. Jubei tak dapat mai sebab it was her last mengaji class. Sheik tak mai because dia kata dia kena jaga Mohamad yang tiduq although bini dia kata dia kejut tapi orang tu tak buleh bukak mata. He he…

Noreen came at about 11 after her dinner at the Curve. 12 am/pm, everybody made their move except for Ian and Noreen who stayed until 1.45 am.

Tiduq.

Bangun pagi it was Deepavali so no classes for the kids. 11.30 I opened cottage pie cooking class for 1 student only, my darling Jubei… He he… It was really fun as apart from the talking, teaching her was very rewarding because she was a good student and very, very appreciative.

Why I say that ? Sebabnya pernah sekali this one lady asked me cara-cara nak masak nasi ayam. Bukan resepi okay, but cara-cara. After that, I went off somewhere and then I remembered that I had forgotten to explain making the chillie sauce. I went back to see her again late afternoon, ready with apologies and the recipe at the tip of my tongue when she got defensive for some reason and went."Ni.. dah buat dah ! Dah buat sendiri dah !” She disappeared and came back with a pot of her own sauce, showing me the contents proudly.

No need for me to explain lah. I know you can guess her intentions already. I do not want any recognition, cuma jangan tiba-tiba naik sombong, wanting to proove that she too knows how to cook. Kalau dah tahu, tanya aku buat apa minah ? Aku pulak rasa bangang.

So anyway, we didn’t do anything the rest of the day. Duduk rumah saja, eating the leftovers.

Sunday morning Mummy came over to cook nasi ayam. He he… kebetulan saja okay. It was nice, Mum’s nasi ayam. Kamil had 3 huge helpings. But at 2, his sister called asking him to tapau food from their mom’s. Apparently they had a makan-makan. Kamil went up to bathe, I waited and waited and after like 1 hour, went to check only to find him sound asleep. He has been a bit tired the whole week so I just let him be. Sambung makan nasi ayam for dinner and then tidur.

This is the male hamster that has been separated from the female and her many, many babies. Apparently the males eat their youngs. Hmmm... No lah, I wasn't thinking about it. Barbaric I am not.

My weekend … 2minggu sudah... bukan baru2 ni... He he

Ha.. sorry. Was waiting for the pictures. I know, same ol’ excuse but it is true… Sampai sekarang gambaq masih tak dapat sebab aku pinjam camera adik aku.... So ceritalah keluaq dulu na...

Saturday Kamil invited his staffs over for Raya. I seized the opportunity to invite my ex-colleagues too. Therefore, Friday was already a very busy day.

Pasar malam, then Subang Parade then home. Mummy cooked all the main courses as I, as always, dealt with the desserts. Should have taken the pics of the food, kan ? Made the tartlets, then the chocolate cream for them. Mum was busy with the kuah kacang and the sambal ikan bilis and the bumbu for rendang. I rebus ketupat.

Saturday morning rushed to pasar then started toiling. Made the cheese mixure for the tarts then the custards then left the choux pastry for last. I like people eating my cream (or more appropriately custard) puffs while they are still hot.

Luckily Kak Ra and Jit from my last outfit, came when the first batch of the cream puffs were ready. The table was groaning with chocolate cream tarts, creamed cheese tarts, cream puffs, my mom’s amazing nasi lemak plus all its condiments, ketupat, rendang and breathtaking kuah kacang. Selagi tak penuh meja, aku tak puas hati.

Slowly people trickled in. I haven’t seen most of my ex-colleagues for a long time so I felt very honoured that they had wanted to come.

Kamil's colleagues showed their faces by 4. Ian lead the way. And his son. My friends from school, Wan Rita came with her children, with Johan in tow. While I was busy catching up with them, my mom came to me excitedly, “CP Kamil ! Hamsters ko beranak !!”

What ?

Excuse me, but WHAT ?

WHAT ?

A crowd had gathered in the kitchen as I made my way through, watching the female hamster doing the most yucky natural thing on earth. Trust me, it wasn’t a beautiful experience. She was frantically moving about and pushing all her bedding to one side of the cage while 2 of her very pink and hairless babies squealed and wriggled about. As I looked on, with I am very sure a horrified look on my face, I saw what looked like a pink tail underneath her. She was dragging the tail along, while she busied herself with God only knows what.

“I think she is letting out another one !” I said semi-hysterically. I am very proud of the fact that I managed to stay somewhat calm (hence the semi-hysterics) since we had guests. I know I would have gone ape-like if it was just us at home.

Ian’s son was the happiest as he was the one who first to notice them babies. He approached my mom and said, “The baby hamster is very cute..”

And my mom went, “No… they are just small… That is their normal size…”

And he went, “No, it’s a baby !”

My mom who at that point thought nothing much of it asked, “Okay, how many are there in the cage ?”

“Three !” and barulah mak aku melompat.

I need not say how rude I think that particular hamster is, making a spectacle of herself masa orang dok ramai-ramai.. In actual truth is… I was gelidotcom. That is right. Geli geleman. Urgghhhh….

After the crowd dispersed (read : went home), I packed the leftovers and sent it around to my friends, with Dan and Ian of course, leaving our children watching the telly. When I got home, I looked at the many, many hamsters in despair as.. well what am I to do with all of them ? Bukannya boleh makan pun. Kalau anak ayam tu, I could fatten them a bit and wait for them to grow before sharpening my parang. Or I could start collecting eggs pagi-pagi starting from next year.

But ini hamsters !!

Hamsters !!

Bulu adalah.

Do you know they could not be spayed or neutered ? I mean, What The … ? During this very, very modern times with advanced technologies being created and found every single day, we cannot find a way to control the population of hamsters ?

Really ?

Nobody shouted Eureka yet ?

Okay, no point going crazy now. Seriously.

Woke up in the morning after a tiring day only to be slapped with a bad news. There are 7 baby hamsters all in all, announced my husband.

??????

There were like 4 yesterday. Mana datang ramai-ramai ni ? Counted myself but only got up to 6.

The kids said there are only 5.

What the…. Sigh.

I need to calm down.

Didn’t succeed though as the tell tale signs of a migraine that crept in while I helplessly looked at the hamsters, became a full blown one. Took a couple of panadols and was transported to Dream Land in mere minutes. Woke up with a start as remembered neighbour’s open house to attend (we missed it) and Dessert Rose’s invitation to hers. Promised to make some rostis for her but since I was drugged to REM, filled an empty jam jar with some homemade chocolate fudge and presented it to the hostess. Sorry, okeh bebeh.

DR made cucoq udang which is my favourite, meehoom soup and a lovely multi coloured butter cake. Kamalia and her family was busy eating when we arrived. So I sat down for a chat with my friends while my head was still hazy from the pain.

Then…. Jeng, jeng, jeng…. Ha ha… ! I was about to leave DR’s house when she announced Kak Ezza from Salam Dari Kelang dah sampai ! Seriously rasa macam nak jumpa celebrity punya seronok.

And she didn’t disappoint people. We hugged and laughed and I was introduced to her darling daughters. So nice, so warm… As I walked outside, caught a glimpse of Kak Kay of Kay_Leeda. He he…. Bloggers’ day…

Went home, and had a rest as you know what ? The bummer of it all ? Monday is a working day.

Sigh…..

AAAARRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH !

Okeh… forget about my boring description about my weekend as aku tengah super duper angin sekarang.

AAAARGGHHHHH !!!

The story goes like this. As you know, my mother has a cook that has been working with her for the past 15 years. And apart from cooking, she also played a hand finding most of our maids for us. Plus for our close friends and families.

The charges are cheap as there is no middleman to pay. Tak mahal pun aku kena gak RM 3000 when I took Neti. Some of my friends too have enlisted Kak M’s help via my mom. And my mom had been happily helping my friends with the nitty gritty of dealing with immigration because her frequency of taking cooks and maids for herself and her own friends and families have garnered her the experience and the ways and the hows. It also kept her up-to-date with the current rules and regulations.

My mother had never taken any money for herself because she is not an agent. She doesn’t want to be because she does not want the responsibility that comes with it. Maid jahat ke, lari ke atau apa-apa ke… She doesn’t know these people and kalau dia ambik duit that she would feel responsible.

Aku pun kalau ada orang nak, I would explain that we are not agents but we are willing to help. Therefore you need to deal with immigration yourself and we have no guarantee that the person you get will be good. Kalau lari pun, we cannot help.

Sanggup ?

Okay, then I will call my mom and my mom will call Kak M.

Tak sanggup, then we part ways here lah…

Anyway, hari tu a lady called me up and asked if I can help her. She got my number form her officemate, whose wife was my ex-colleague. She needed a maid badly because she is planning to send back her current maid back to the agent that very night. Reason being ? Well macam-macalah perkara yang tak enak didengar. Aku pun seram.

Punyalah merayu nak maid masuk sebelum raya, aku call Kak M straight away. She said she would do her best sebab bulan puasa kan… Susah sikit. Dia pun kesian bila aku ceritalah benda-benda tak best yang kak Kiah (bukan nama sebenar) bagitau kat aku.

Dalam dua tiga hari dok exchange calls, it transpired that she paid her agent about RM 6-7 ribu. I urged her to get her money back. Full. But agent cuma bagi dalam RM 3 – 4 if I am not mistaken. I told her she needs memo keluar kalau tak immigration would not approve her application, and the agent slashed a further RM 1500 for it, sedangkan memo keluar is free.

Okaylah. But when she showed my mother the memo keluar (this after she said she do not know how to isi the borang so I sent her to my mom), it was a different one. One that my mom had never seen. My mom urged them to check with immigration and you know what, in immigration’s system, she is listed as without a maid. So, maksudnya the maid that was at her home was actually not hers. Or even worse, an illegal.

Dah sah kena tipu kan ?

Buatnya pulak 2-3 days after talking to me, so said she still need to discuss with her husband and asked me not to proceed pulak. Kelam kabut aku call Kak M to ask her to halt the process but unfortunately, the agent over there dah bertenggek kat Medan dah. He had found a person and was already in Medan to do her passport and what nots.

Berpeluh-peluh aku ngan Kak M sebab once dia hantar biodata , he would want a deposit and eventually his RM 3500. Kalau minah yang beria dok memujuk merayu kat aku sebelum ni tiba-tiba kata tak nak, aku nak buat apa ngan biodata tu ?

Aku bukannya agent. Kalau agent tak kisah jugaklah, I can still use it for my other clients. Tapi aku ni buat atas orang mintak tolong, itu satu je orang yang ndak pembantu rumah at that time.. so kat mana aku nak jaja bio tu pulak ?

Aku memang panic sebab agent belah sana tu a bit garang. Furthermore we need to maintain a good relationship dengan dia for our own future need. Mana tahu maid mumy kak Idah nak berenti ke nanti. Plus Neti pernah bagitau aku she only wants to work for 2 years as she wants to get married. So kalau agent kat sebelah sana tu bengang dengan kita orang, sapa yang nak tolong buat passport untuk orang baru nanti ?

Aku memang tak tidur malam. Luckily she called a few days after that and said she wants the maid after all. Earlier, when she called me the first time, I told her I would be needing a deposit of RM 1500. But she only gave RM 1000. So my MOM paid the RM 500 with her own money.

Lepas tu dia dok merayu-rayu kan nak sebelum Raya kan ? That is what we told the agent. But after 1 week the bio sampai, borang masih tak berisi. By that time, the agent kat Indon dah memekak sebab he wants his money plus dia takut maid tu karang boring menunggu, pi ikut agent lain.

Ding dong ding dong… Dah dekat nak raya pun nothing is ready. Meanwhile, agent kat Indon mengamuk sakan sebab kata hari tu nak cepat sangat, so mamat tu pun kelam kabut pi cari orang, tapi sampai nan la apa pun tarak kan… Kak M berendam ayaq mata sebab itu orang kampong dia jugak. So, last-last mak aku dulukan duit dia lagi.

Finally, minggu lepas budak tu sampai. And Kak Kiah ni mai ambik Sabtu baru ni after 2-3 days budak tu dok rumah kak M. Bila dia mai, mak aku mintak RM 40. Sebabnya feri depa delayed lepas tu bila immigration lepaih kan, dah pukui 2 pagi. Selalunya Kak M akan bawak naik komuter aje, tapi pukui 2 pagi mana ada komuter ? So terpaksa lah Kak M ni naik teksi. Itu yang extra RM 40.

Hangpa tau ? Dia bising. Dia kata aku janji RM 3500 aje and kenapa ada extra charges. Bila mak aku explain dia kata dia pun buleh pi tunggu sampai pukui 2 pagi tapi sebabnya anak dia demam dia tak pi.

Habih tu awat hang tak pi ? Orang yang kenal dengan mak aku, tahu mak aku jarang marah orang. Tapi hari tu mak aku punya mendidih tengok kak Kiah ni tiba-tiba naik sombong, mak aku tengking balik. Terkebil-kebil pekerja mak aku tengok majikannya mengamuk sebab mak aku tak pernah mengamuk. Marah pun jarang.

Minah tu dah kena tipu beribu-ribu, haram dia tak buat apa. Mak aku suruh report kat immgration pun dia tak mau. Tapi sabit RM40, bukan untuk suka-suka, tapi menyenangkan dia pun dia buleh kurang ajaq. Macam-macam lah dia kata, malaih aku nak cerita tang ni. Whatever it is, cukuplah untuk buat mak aku yang selalunya cool and collected and jarang marah, teruih naik angin, and of course aku turut serta (aku tak dak tang tu… bila mak aku call aku mendidih jugak lah).

Masa dok hangat tu, mak aku terlupa pasai passport maid tu, so mak aku mintak lah kat Kak M. Uihhh… hangpa tau dia kata apa ? “Mari sini passport tu biar saya pegang…” . Laa… tak dak sapa nak pegang passport tu lah… Berlagak.. Bak kata kawan aku yang bagi phone number aku kat dia, “Mentang-mentang dah dapat… berlagak…”

Aku sungguh heran tak terkata. Sebelum ni punyalah baik, berterima kasih memanjang. Pembantu dah mai, jadik lain pulak. Akhir sekali mak aku kata kat dia, “Saya dah tak mahu berurusan dengan awak lagi…”

Lepas tu dia dengan angkuhnya jawab, “Saya pun tak nak berurusan dengan kakak lagi…”

Pastu mak aku jawab, “There is no reason why we should…” Pastu mak aku belah. Dia ada pesan dengan Kak M, dia pesan maaf dia dengan mummy but my mom said NO ! I will not forgive her. Mak aku ada cakap ngan pompuan itu, “sebab awak… saya dah tak nak tolong orang lain dah…”

Ialah, mak aku banyak tolong. Depa mai rumah 2 kali untuk isi borang. Mak aku satu sen pun tak mintak. Dia buat atas ehsan. Tapi kalau dah macam ni… buang masa… Baik mak aku charge. Kalau mak aku ada untung, boleh jugaklah absorb RM 40 tu. Ini, kita kena guna duit sendiri pulak nak bagi kat dia. Apa cerita ? Husband dia ada offer nak bagi jugaklah RM 40 tu, tapi mak aku tak bagi Kak M ambik.

She called Kak M, mintak kirim kan salam dia kat aku with her apologies… well… until she calls me, I will not do so. Aku tak suka orang attack mak kau tak pasal-pasal…. Okeh ?

9 Words Women Use

A friend sent me this... Whether this is true or not, it is still very, very debatable.

9 WORDS WOMEN USE

1. Fine: _ This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up.

2. Five Minutes: _ If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.

3. Nothing: _ This is the calm before the storm.. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end in fine.

4. Go Ahead: _This is a dare, not permission. Don't Do It!

5. Loud Sigh: _ This is actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing. (Refer back to #3 for the meaning of nothing.)

6. That's Okay: _This is one of the most dangerous statements a women can make to a man. That's okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.

7. Thanks: _ A woman is thanking you, do not question, or Faint. Just say you're welcome.

8. Whatever: _Is a women's way of sayin F@!K YOU!

9. Don't worry about it, I got it: _Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking "What's wrong?" For the woman's response refer to #3.

PS : But it feels sooo true...

Happy Birthday !

Last week was Ian’s birthday. (Ha ha… still no pictures from the weekend. Sorry…)

Mum made roti jala which he ate with gusto. “This is very nice….” He kept saying to my mom. Kembang lah orang tua tu, answering with a modest, “Ye ke ?”. Ha ha.We bought Baskin Robbins ice-cream. And candles.

Then Noreen called and said she will be bringing cakes. So we simpan the ice-cream and the candles sebab Noreen brought something so much better, delicacies from Delicious. Seriously, I find Delicious’ main courses nothing to gush about, but the desserts on the other hand are worth mentioning.

The wonderful girl came with 2 chocolate Brownies, Lemon Meringue Pie and Strawberry Pavlova. Yummy !

Especially the Meringue Pie because the Lemon curd was soft and delicate and wow ! Ha ! I will endeavour to make my own.

We talked until waaaay past our bed time and the birthday boy and our friend left the house at 12.40 am.

We had wanted to take him out for a proper birthday dinner the very next day but Kamil was tooo tired to go out of Shah Alam so we took him to Nachos Nachos at SACC Mall. Sans the kiddies, of course.

Ian was waiting for us at the kitchen with my children before we left. As he got up to leave, he asked Adik, “Don’t you want to come with us ?”

Adik leaned forward to her Uncle Ian, nodded vigorously and said, “I do ! I do want to come !”

Hehehhehe…

No can do. Little boy and girls need their sleep. Sorry.

I suppose the 3 of us were tired from the day before as Ian went home as soon as we finished dinner.

He he… Senior Citizen kan…

Sadly no pictures.

Happy 3* th birthday, Ian !!

PS : Umur adalah rahsia...

Raya Ketiga and the Rest Of It...

Woke up late. Very. Then lazed around in our respective kain pelekat and kain batik makan breakfast and resumed our gossips. Hai…. Luckily it was not Ramadhan… err… if that is any consolation lah. Ian we thought was already on his way to his son and he thought we already left for Raya elsewhere. Ha ha...

My Uncle E dah chop raya ketiga waktu pagi. Turn rumah dia, he said. So everybody went to his house in droves. More food.

Menu : Mee soup, chocolate cake, fruit cocktail jelly, tonnes of kuih raya

He he…. It was fun. Sambung gossip…

Baru nak mula makan...

Makan sambil bergossip.

Dan makan lagi... Why am I wearing jeans ? Because my baju raya terbakar then berlubang when I ironed them ! Waaaa !

Stayed awhile, sembang-sembang then head back to Uncle Mat’s house for lunch.

Menu : Kari kepala ikan, kari sotong, sayur kacang goreng, broccoli and black mushrooms in oyster sauce, fried chicken.

Ana makan.

Kamil makan. Ermm... there are no other activities to be done ?

In order for his family to eat in comfort, my Uncle placed plastic tables all over the kitchen so much so when Umar entered the area he exclaimed, “Wow ! Macam restaurant !” Ha ha….

Kamil had agreed to leave Perak late afternoon, at my aunt’s behest. She dangled the promise of sup ayam masak dalam buluh which intrigued us but sadly at 2, Mail who was already on the way home (as he has to report to Hospital Muar the very next day) called to say he had left his white lab coat at our house. Sigh…. Had to leave early then.

Perak is actually very pretty, with the rolling hills and greenery.

The journey home was not that smooth as certain highway exits were jammed up.

Home sweet home but sad thinking about my lovely family in Perak. Had KFC for dinner !! Ha ha….

And the Raya yang seterusnya

My mom’s cousins Mak Teh and Mauk Unggei came one afternoon. Mum cooked lovely Meehoon Singapore.

Mak Unggei and Mak Teh and their families.

As they were about to leave, my cousins Shah and Boy came for raya with their families. Sadly their mom, mak Ngah was still in Penang.

Boy and Shah and their families.

Had shisha Raya with the Bs. Belum beraya together yet tapi shisha raya dulu. It was really cosy, the way Anu made up his harem… he he…. When we got there, Shazmi dok terlentok, punya relax. Kah kah… Kamil bengang sebab dia kena bawak bini. B yang lain tu flying solo. Sorry aaa… They are my friends, too.

Anu served us lovely tart nenas but I was too full for some reason and could only manage one. Told my friends the sweet thing their friend did for me. He he…. They congratulated me for having a bloody wonderful husband. Shazmi said, “Kamil… please do not up the husband ante any further….”

Bro, this is after 10 years of marriage, okay. Lagi haru kalau cakap after 17 years of being together. So the Best B Husband award is still up for grabs. But no, he is quite wonderful (at the moment lah…).

This picture reminds me of the kekecohan that ensued when Saiful Apek was photographed smoking shisha. He was branded a drug addict. Don't know if it was really drugs he took then but ignorance can actually breed fitnahs. This one is lemon flavoured, okay ?

Finally ! Pics for Second Raya is here

Just got the pics, okey ?

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Please read like this is a direct sequel and not after 3-4 irrelevant entries.

Anyway, bangun pagi-pagi in anticipation of balik Perak. Yippee ! Ha ha... truthfully my uncle called me at 6 am to make sure we balik kampong. Thank you because I didn't miss my Subuh.

Made breakfast out of rendang and ketupat and kuah kacang of course and tried our best to keep all the food in my very overflowing fridge.

Note to self : please merengek mintak fridge besar sket dari Kamil.

Note 2 to self : Sian Kamil. Tak yah lah.

Seperti biasa, pergaduhan hari raya berlaku bila dah ramai-ramai ni and by 11, bertolak to Perak. I was so happy along the way, I love balik kampong and luckily my husband also likes to balik my kampong because he is rather fond of my family.

Arrived in Ipoh around 2 pm. Not going to Batu Gajah this year as Wan’s house was closed the whole of Ramadhan sebab maid dia balik kampong (tak jauh, Kg Kepayang je, kat Simpang Pulai.. ha ha). Actually bukan Wan aku ada maid, more like a companion, macam Mat Salleh kat Britain zaman dulu-dulu.

Sampai Ipoh, si Kamil lupa lak cara-cara nak pergi rumah my Uncle Kamal, so called my cousin and he asked us to wait after the third traffic light for him to come and fetch us. Tunggu punya tunggu and when he finally arrived, he parked behind us much to Kamil’s consternation. “Dia park buat apa ?” He asked me. Entah le, mana lah aku tau. Rupa-rupanya dia stop to salam Raya, sepupu ku itu sebelum membawa kami ke rumahnya.

I love going to my uncles’s house in Taman Istana. Walaupun dia adalah garang, I love him because he is kindness itself. Keduanya, aku sayang akan bininya iaitu Aunty Ana ku yang sangatlah sporting, understanding and penyayang.

Menu : Nasi lemak cun, rending daging hitam, laksa and mee sup. Of course kuah kacang and ketupat and lemang and kuih raya.

Us eating. The one in white shirt on the sofa is my uncle Kamal. Next to him my Aunty Ana. Please note Kamil with a balang of kuih raya next to him. Hisshh.....

The food was really good. Kamil belasah satu balang chocolate cookies which he informed my very impressed Aunty, is made of Cadbury chocolates. He apparently loves the kuih goyang too and kept the 2 balangs close to him. Sembang and sembang and melingkor and tunggu Ian datang.

Kamil with balang kuih goyang which my Aunty Ana thoughtfully kirim for him when my cousin Fathiah balik Shah Alam. Ian who is going to Perak next weeks wanted to find the same kuih. Hmmm....

Ian sampai and Tok Su datang and Pakcik Zul anaknya Opah Tom datang and berlambak-lambak lah lagi orang datang. Murah rezeki rumah Taman Istana tuh. We planned to stay over at my cousin Linda’s house somewhere in Simpang Pulai, but at Aunty Ana’s insistence we changed plans and crashed at her house instead.

Tired after the 2 hour journey and playing with his aunts and uncles. At the end of the day, you will always look for your Mummy...

Next trip was to my Mak Nyah’s house. I love her house because it is the only kampong house that I am able to visit. Ian loves it. He toured the house, led by my son funnily enough and had a good time conversing with my grandma.

Nampak macam kena lecture aje. Or... boring listening to Wan singing the moon and the stars about Ian.

“Suka Wan dengan kawan si Kamil tu… Cepat mesra orangnya…” Said my Wan, big smile on her face. Mana dia tak suka. Nak tahu kenapa Wan aku gemor sesangat dengan si Ian tu, sila baca conversation di bawah di antara Ian Rashid McQuistan dengan Wan ku.

Wan : Bla blah blah… Kampung ni… blah blah blah… luas tau…. Blah blah blah

Ian : Ada sungai ke kat sini ?

Wan : Sungai ? Ada tapi jauh ke dalam kat tanah Mummy Meyra (that is how she pronounced my name) sana.

Ian : Apa lagi ? Jom lah kita mandi sungai…

Mana tak suka Wan aku. Kami pun idak le peronah ajak dia mandi sungai. Baru beberapa jam jumpa, Ian dah ajak Wan aku bersuka-ria… Mana demenya tak gemor… Kah kah…

Eventhough Ian proclaimed that he had never had his Raya in a kampong, but half Malay he is and therefore what do anak-anak bandar yang perak balik kampung buat, belasah motor sedara and bawak keliling kampong. Keh keh…

IIan having a feel of the motor first. 'Clutch dia rosak sikit..' explained my cousin Hafiz.

My aunt was a bit apprehensive to let Ian drive the motor because the clutch is a bit off, but my cousin gave the keys to him anyway and off Ian went. He was having a jolly good time on the bike, ronda-ronda kampong but back at Mak Nyah’s house, the situation is different.

Tau ke dianye jalan balik kemari ?

Kalau sesat nanti tau ke dia alamat kite ?

Biasa ke dienye naik moto ?

Kalau dia jatuh ke nanti, reti ke kamu nak bagitau mak bapak dia ?

Dan answered, “Pandailah dia, Mak Nyah. Kalau tak balik tengah malam nanti, pandai-pandailah kita cari dia…Telipon polis ke” keh keh…

Tapi, keluarga aku masih kerumun kat pintu tunggu mat salleh separuh itu balik. And when they spotted him, everybody gave a loud cheer, clap-clapping their hands. Tergelak teman… Tak jadi loghat Perak aku rasenye… Ha ha

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While waiting for Ian to return, we borak lah.

Success !! Safe return. My relatives can now breathe in relief. Ian busy telling about his experience. Keh keh.. Alahai, mamat ni dah biasa bawak high-powered motorcycles lah... Risau bebenor...

Before I forget, menu : Mee kari sedap giler and of course kuih raya.

Eventhough we were full, we still have to eat a little so not to dissapoint the host. jamah sikit kata orang Melayu yang penuh sopan dan adat budaya. Especially if she is family. Didn't regret it though as it was super duper delicious.

Next stop, rumah Uncle Mat near the Ipoh Airport.

I love Uncle Mat’s house. A good sized bungalow at a very windy location. So peaceful, so cool, so … nice. Ian loves this house too. Especially now since Uncle Mat extended the kitchen and his dining room. Plus a patio at the side of the house, adjacent to the dining room.

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Berebut masuk dapur baru yang exceptionally beautiful and bright and airy. Baru siap tuh. Sejak Gong Xi Fa Cai hari tu...

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Sayang sungguh Uncle Mat kat hang Mail... Buat curtain pun nak matching ngan baju hang. Patutlah hang beria suruh aku basuh baju tu selepas terkena gasoline..kah kah

Menu : Mee goreng, kuew tiaw goreng, kuah kacang excellent, ketupat and lemang.

I who loves kuah kacang, tak pi mana dah, mengadap kuah kacang aje, sambil makan kurma and dried fruits yang cousin aku Syazwan bawak balik dari Mesir (my Wan’s fourth doctor grandchild. Farhan, Marlin, Mail and Syazwan are doctors and future doctors. Aku jugak tumpang gumbira sebab mudah-mudahan, mereka akan bermurah hatilah dengan sepupu dan kakak mereka… Medical planning bagus).

Ian too was busy slurping the kuah kacang, so we sat side by side kemaruk kuah kacang, while my Uncle E ate kacang Ngan Yin in front of us. What a very nutty affair. Kamil and Uncle Mat sibuk berbincang pasal kereta. The rest of the family were all over the house.

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Ian and me were still there long after everybody had left and did other things. The one in cream jubah standing next to my brother is my Uncle Mat. Next to him in the white jubah is his son, my cousin Syazwan.

Note : Why do I have to be so detailed ? Why ? Why ? Why ?

By 11 we left the house. Kesian kat Aunty Aisyah, who thought that we were gonna crash at her place like last year. Sorry Aunty ku sayang, segan sebab last year dah sepahkan rumah Aunty, tahun ni kita orang sepah kan rumah Aunty Ana pulak ye. Tahun depan, rumah Mak Nyah kot… Tapi, thank you so much for wanting us to stay over.

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The male cousins and 1 nephew. My brother menyorok kat belakang buat kelakar bodoh but was not captured by this camera.

We sent Ian to his friend’s house. Aunty Ana had wanted to take us out melepak makan puri somewhere, but when we got home, weariness took over so we settled down for a chat instead.. until 4 am !! Wahahahahahahahah ! That is what I call lepak.

Raya 3 sambung yeah.. ?

Mama Miaow

I had luch with my mom and sister today and somehow I was reminded of an incident that happened when I was ooh…. I don’t know…9 ? 10 ?

Well anyway, Mummy made chillie corn carne that day. I remember sitting down, just me and her having lunch. She had chilli dog and I chillied a burger. Yumm…. Fat kidney beans, glistening diced onions mingled with beef and tomato sauce.

Lovely.

I remember sinking my fork in the burger and my knife poised to cut when I heard a miaow. Looked at my mom and she was already looking at the source of the noise, somewhere behind us.

I turned and there it was, Mama Miaow a stray cat that mum 2-3 days ago sent to the market (kes buang kucing lah ni).

Well we call her Mama Miaow because she likes to breed and mum must have had enough of her litter… errm… littering around.

Anywhere, there she was, mewing at us, announcing her arrival home.

I looked at my mom, she sighed and we resumed eating.

Then mum took out some ikan bilis, fried them and mixed them with rice before giving it to the stubborn cat.

I tell you, I thought she would get more food at the market, wouldn’t she ? Why did she come back ?

So that is why, every time I had chillie (even bolognese) I would suddenly think about that day with my mum.

He he…

My weekend, part 100

My weekend was busy (Please ignore my still missing Second Raya report. Got the pics already, just that it is not in the right computer… Ha ha).

Early morning was busy preparing for Abang to go to Genius camp, organized by his class teacher and the Physics Faculty of UiTM at Bukit Cherakah. Therefore it was just me and Adik in the car to Cili Merah for breakfast. But luckily when we parked, saw my siblings waving excitedly at the sight of us, having their breakfast so I had a jolly time gossiping. Left it to the very last minute before I dashed to Adik’s piano class.

While she was doing her art, I was having the time of my life at Kakiku with darling Jubei. Tension wei pegi ngan Jubei being as soon as the masseuse touched my feet, I was jolted with pain. Jubei pulak masih boleh gelak-gelak.

“Tak sakit ke Bei ?” I asked.

“Tak de…” and I screwed my eyes at her enviously.

She was happy, talking and all, not even once wincing in pain. Until finally when Sarah touched her calf. He he… baru aku happy sikit. Keh keh…. I do have a mild sadistic nature apparently.

Picked up Adik, waited for Kamil to come home, then we went to Kamalia’s house for Raya. Met Bei again and hubby plus children there and had a happy time talking. We left their house close to 4.30 and headed to Nadia’s house pulak. I called darling Nadia on the way, asking for directions to her place. However when she slowly told me, I gasped and apologized for not being able to accept her invitation after all. She was very sweet and understanding and I sighed in relief.

At home, Kamil was antsy waiting for his son to return. Hmm… The number of ants in his pants must have doubled by 5.30 as he went earlier than it was stated in the programme. And came home an hour later. Itulah. Ha ha…

We actually were invited to an open house being held at Concorde Hotel, KL but Kamil was too tired to drive all the way up to town so we went up halfway until Uptown and had dinner. I was really hoping to go to Concorde as from previous years, I know they serve ketupat and lemang . I was so craving for them. I don’t think I have had my fill of them yet. Emm…kuah kacang…. lemang.. But what to do. It was not meant to be. Seems like I have to make them on my own lah… But to find the dauns is a bit hard, okay ..

We had a late night Kamil and I, watching the Proposal which was quite good. Sandra Bullock looked old sadly. I think you could never be too thin as a little fat makes a woman looks younger. Look at Madonna and Dana Delaney. Same age, but one looks miles younger than the other. Deeply hollowed cheeks is not sinonymous with youthfulness. Blue veins, protruding from your skin aren't either. I was too busy looking at Sandra, trying to remember her as she was in Speed or While You Were Sleeping. She definitely looked healthier then. It is a good movie although again, the ending is a bit too predictable.

We were aiming for a lazy Sunday, rolling around the bed reading newspaper and being logged into the net when my cousin called early morning to announce his intention to visit. Called my other cousin and so a makan-makan was planned. I was very ambitious, wanting to this and that but when cousin Zuri arrived 1 hour earlier than expected, all hell break loose as I only had the crème caramel in the oven, the pasta cooking on the stove and the meehoon for my mother to turn into Meehoon Singapore soaked. The cake and the carbonara sauce and the cottage pie for Mail were still raw ingredients.

Never mind, I ploughed on doing things one by one and by 6, everything was ready except the cake that was still in the oven and the cottage pie still very much minced meat.

Noreen came too, bearing Rojak Karim (Hmm…. She must have read my previous entry…) and delicious pineapple tart. So I had a nice time really, in the kelam kabut-ness, cooking and talking while my cousins and my friend peered over my shoulders.

Then my siblings descended upon the house and everything was just lovely. While my family ate, I sat with Noreen in the living room and when the carbonara was gone, panic set in amongst the merrymakers but there was nothing I could do about it anymore. Mail came and demanded for cottage pie so Noreen and I entered the kitchen again.

By Maghrib, my cousins left so we settled for a nice chat while slowly polishing off the food. The cottage pie was delicious while piping hot so I encouraged everybody to eat right there and then. Mummy by then was upstairs in the blue room, beradu as she put it to Noreen, tired from her day.

My siblings and my Mummy slowly left the house and then it was just Noreen and Kamil, alternately watching football and cerita hantu while I cleared the kitchen. Noreen went home about 11 pm.

So it was good. Again I slept with very tired feet but I am happy.

Sorry

There is this person who is waiting for my Second Raya description. Ha ha... not entry anymore as at the rate I am going, it ceased to be anything but that, or worse it has become a report.

I have written everything so as not to forget the details (yikes !) but am still without the pics to go with it.

When I submit a report, it has to be complete, so wait for the pics I must. Sounds a bit like Yoda, I know.

Sorry, yeah kawan ku ?

By next week, with or without the gambars, I will post it.

Gerai-gerai yang perlu dielakkan

I know I owe you my Raya story, but the pics tak daklah to accompany the story. Semua gambaq dalam tangan adik aku si Mail kat Melaka nun. Nanti aku tunggu dia e-mail buang kat aku na…

So, sementara itu, sila baca essay di bawah yang telah aku karang sebelum posa lagi tapi belum post and tambahan cerita baru di perenggan-perenggan yang terakhir. Minta ampun kepada kawan ku yang separuh Melayu separuh Scottish kerana this entry, I wrote in a mixture of English, Malay and Penang. Words you don’t understand, you can always ask me for clarification.

Masalah-masalah yang timbul bila masa aku pi tapau kat Giant.

There is this one stall that sells popiah basah. Very suitable for me who has problem digesting carbohydrates. The filling is nice enough but the skin is a bit tough and chewy. But since I do not exactly have much choice, I find myself frequenting them, the budding entrepreneurs of 2 young boys and a girl.

Initial visit I ordered 2 pieces but found it was not enough for my, well… I have to admit, extended stomach. I should really make do with 2 since I am desperate to say goodbye to the flabs, but…. If I go hungry, then… I will start reaching for more forbidden stuffs… Alasan….

So next visit, I ordered 3. “Alah, kak… tambah lah lagi satu sebab 4 keping RM 3…” Siap dengan muncung-muncung lagi, head to the side, kata si dia yang kerjanya membalut tempahan pelanggan.

“Errr… tak pe lah… karang tak habis pulak….”. And I meant what I say as my tummy is happy with 3. However after that everytime I go and order 3, the muncung will come and the head tilt will swiftly follow.

I resisted and resisted with the same excuse. So one day, which was last week actually, I closed my eyes and said okay. Balik office, and I could only manage 1 piece of the very much pushed 4th popiah.

Next trip ? Well before he could say anything, I told him, “3 je ye adik, 4 tak habis … buang aje….” And the boy said nothing.

Success ! Well I have to wait for my next purchase lah kot to see if it really works. (Latest update : It didn’t. I still have to endure his …. ermm….manja-manja persuasion. Yuck.. Tapi kalau yang perempuan tu punya turn bungkuih membungkuih or budak laki yang lagi satu tak pa... depa tak serve pelanggan dengan muncungan manja... He he)

Masalah kedua came from this new stall selling Sarawak food, which I adore. I love Mee Kolok and Laksa Sarawak, which this stall sells. So tak nyempat-nyempat, I ordered 1 Mee Kolok. It all looked innocent enough initially. She prepared the noodles and the condiments and put them in a huge bowl. Then the dressing for the noodles. In went kicap, chillie paste, 1 spoon of garam and…… 1 equal sized to the garam spoon of ajinomoto.

I gulped. And began screaming hysterically….inside. Err….. manyaknya mak aji dia letak. My head in a frown as I watched her stir the dressing and then dump the whole lot on the noodles. Dah lah banyak, pastu tak masak pulak tuh ?

Shall I remain courteous, maintaining my smile or do I say something ?

Watched her packed it all up, passed it to me and I in return paid up without saying anything. Went back to the office and opened up the package and looked at it for the longest time, daring myself to eat it. When I finally did, I was wholly disappointed as bukannya sedap sangat pun… Actually it was quite tasteless…. Laa… kalau tak letak mak aji tu ntah apa-apa rasa ntah..

I threw it away, turun bawah and made my stomach larger by scoffing down pisang goreng. Damn !

Now talking about that reminds me of something that happened ... well more happened because my lil bro Mail was the perpetrator. Ha ha... it is funny...

Anyway one day Mail and another sibling went to a gerai somewhere in Sek 8 to buy mee goreng. The scrumptiousness of this said mee goreng has traveled far and wide and reached our ears. So we dispatched Mail and another one (sorry whooever you are.. Ala cannot remember because Mail was the one who told the story...) to bring it home.

Mail said while there, he observed that the tukang goreng mee was so Ajinomoto happy, he has no doubt now why people has been raving about it. Mail, bless him tried to be sarcastic.

“Bang, saya punya ajinomoto lebih ye….”

Abang tu punya jawapan ? “Okeh…” and double up his msg, khaaaaaaas untuk Mail.

Kah kah ! Padan muka ! Buat lagi, adik oii…

Mail tak terkata apa, diam seribu bahasa…

Untuk menambahkan cerita sebab ada kena mengena dengan karangan ini, Monday kelmarin, my first non-puasa day after Raya, where else to go except to Giant for lunch. Pusing-pusing and spotted a new stall selling pasembor. Don’t know whether my family being Penangites has anything to do with it, but I do love pasembor (and I also love Sarawak food kan ? Banyak cerita sungguh aku ni, Kesudahannya, I love eating… he he…)

Again, tak nyempat-nyempat I asked for one pasembor. Sian jugak tengok pakcik tu bila dia cuba nak ikat kuah rojak. Beberapa banyak kali pusing, tak jugak jadik. Rasa macam nak mintak bagi aku ikat buang pi untuk dia. Last – last, dia berjaya jugak lah ikat, although to my very expert eyes (he heh) it was a rather flimsy tie.

Anyway, brought it to the office, had a taste and closed my eyes. As I put it to my mom later that evening, “Sapa lah habaq kat pakcik tu pasemboq dia sedap… Depa saja kenakan dia tuh….”.

Menyesal okeh sebab punyalah tak sedap, aku tutup mata kerana tak sanggup melihat dunia ini yang sungguh kejam. Sampai hati dia juai pasemboq dia yang manih and cayaq tu kat aku. Sapa yang tipu hang kata kuah pasemboq hang buleh buat juai ni pakcik weii....

So, don’t say that I never warned you !!

Satu hari di Hari Raya

I know I should make an entry about my second Raya. But I have this story to tell that superceeds my need to regale you guys about how I spent my second day of Hari Raya. That I can do tomorrow.

Anyway people, yesterday is Tuesday and therefore a pasar malam day for residents living this side of Shah Alam. As usual on a pasar malam day, the protagonists of this story, a set of husband and wife would be calling each other to discuss if they are going to pasar malam together-gether or indeed if they are going at all.

Wife : Dah nak balik ke ?

Husband : No, still kat office.

Wife : Oh. Err… pasar malam hari ni. Nak pegi ke ? Should I wait for you ?

Husband : Well, I baru nak keluar.

Wife : So, I wait for you ?

Husband : Ha… you balik dululah, then tengoklah macamana nak pegi ke tak nak. I am having a bad day here….

Wife : Okay then. Tell me later lah….

Tapi this wife as soon as she switched off the phone, baru teringat the pot of beef broth burbling (supposedly) on the stove (as per her sms to her maid in the afternoon), to be turned into minestrone soup for dinner.

She also then remembered that she needs a few veg to complete the soup and so decided that since they are definitely not buying dinner at pasar malam, she might as well just swing by to get celery and tomatoes. To wait for hubby to come home first would delay her dinner preparations and furthermore, hubby’s voice and proclamation of a bad day could make him a bit malas to go out of the house again.

All options weighed, she decided to go ahead with the plan.

And that is when it happened.

She was cruising along the main road of Seksyen 6, passing balai polis, Petronas and nearing the pasar when her calm reverie was jolted by the sight of a man clad in a very familiar t-shirt. She recognized it as her husband’s own company t-shirt that he frequenly wears to work, black with grey sleeves.

Then she saw what promised to be a bald patch attached to the body, and she suddenly found her nerves jumping, her heart beating faster and accusations creeping in. "Kata tadi baru nak keluaq office. Awat dah sampai dulu dari kita ?" The figure now looked so much like that of her husband that her crazily beating heart almost stopped when she noticed her supposed husband was talking animatedly with a woman who walking beside him.

“Is that my bloody husband ?” She asked herself.

The bald patch, the t-shirt, and although only the couple’s backs were in her view, she could see that the guy was wearing glasses. And he certainly was thin enough. The bald patch was the tell-tale sign, really. And the t-shirt.

She slowed down, trying to get a good look, her heart now was threatening to jump out of her body from the start and stop and start again actions. Her hand was gripping the wheel so tightly, her knuckles went white. She knew because she saw them.

“Sapa lagi orang CC* yang duduk kat Shah Alam ? Botak pulak tu ?” She started accusing, convinced enough that she is seeing her husband. Her head could not compute anything else. As per her temperament, her head started playing one after another impossible and sad scenarios. One of it involving her husband lying on the dirty pavement, her leg on his chest while the blasted woman he is having an affair with was conveniently sprawled inside the very polluted longkang, while the bangaus pecked at her, the result of a very violent slappings and pushings.

The sad one involves her wailing, heart-broken children and her husband again on the floor, hands clutching her legs in an act of repentance, trying his darnest to stop her from leaving while she stood with defiance, body ramrod straight, very much sombong one.

A car honked from behind, taking her back to present day and the problem at hand. She was driving too slow and there was a trail of disgruntled drivers behind her. So she sped up a bit, trying to maneouver her vehicle from knocking the cars parked illegally at the side of the road while craning her neck to get a good look.

“Cilakak punya Kamil (name had been changed to protect indentity) suruh aku balik rumah dulu. Rupa-rupanya sebab nak pegi pasar malam dengan pompuan lain…”. Tears that was threatening to come, finally trickled out. Her face was flushed and she was going crazy by the minute. She imagined ramming the car onto the couple . Baru puas hati.

When she finally managed to get ahead of the couple and saw their faces, no words can describe her feelings. Bukan laki dia lah ! Hawau ! It was actually her husband’s colleague, walking with his wife. She met this guy and his kind wife when they visited her husband in the hospital when he was in to take his appendics, eh bukan… appendics tu laki aku, ini laki orang lain, to get his stones out…. And she had forgotten that this guy lives in Seksyen 6. He he…

She went from relieved to happy to down right mortified. She laughed out loud. She was flaming in anger not 2 minutes ago, but now she was flaming with embarrassement. Keh keh… She looked again to make sure, and there it really was, her husband’s colleague whose name had left her memory was walking with his own wife. Nobody was having an affair. Everything is actually right in the world. Pheww….

The wife went dizzy a bit, what with trying to calm her nerves and stemming the explosion of emotions inside her. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to collect herself. She never felt so foolish. Especially when she thought about the scenes that played in her head. Sorry....

She suddenly felt tired.

She called her husband to tell him of this story and really, just to hear his voice. Alone. In the car. With no one beside him. She just have to check. The husband predictably laughed out loud. “Karim tu lagi pendek dari I lah ! Dia pendek giler….” Again, name had been changed to protect the identity of the character.

Really ? She mused. Looks tall to me.

She went red in the face again when she turned around after paying for the celery and daun ketupat palas and saw En. Karim leaning against a tiang (damn it, I still cannot think what is tiang in English. Somebody actually furnished me with the right word last time, but it has slipped my mind again).

She can’t escape from talking to him as their eyes met and she smiled despite her vow to run away if she saw him. Tak sanggup cek.... Segan... “En Karim ye…” He looked at her with a puzzled look. Probably he didn’t remember me, being we met only once, she thought. “Perempuan Kamil (ai… why all the character’s name start with a K ?)..” she said, pointing to herself. He smiled in recognition, but his face still has that funny look. Why, ye ? Since it was Raya, she invited him and his wife over to the house and quickly left, seeing that she had started to go red with embarrassment again, and he for some reason, looked uncomfortable.

When her husband got home, he laughed at her face happily. “ I mana pakai t-shirt company weekdays. I only wear them weekends aje. I kan pakai tie ….” He he… sorry darling, jealousy overrode logic and experience. “ And besides, Karim tu pendeklah dari I. Pendek giler....” Husband said again.

Wife was very confused. He looked tall enough to her and told the husband so. “Ohh…. Itu Khairul lah…. Yang duduk kat Seksyen 6 tu ?”

And the wife flamed up again. “I called him Karim !!! Patut le muka dia semacam bila I panggil dia Karim !!! Waaaaa !!!! You kata nama dia Karim !!” Husband bantai gelak berdekah-dekah and berguling-guling. Damn !

“Dahlah nama aku dekat-dekat dengan merah…. Merah memanjang muka aku hari ni … !!” She wailed to her puzzled children (as by that time she cannot tahan kena gelak by the husband and ran to seek comfort elsewhere….).

“Please Ya Allah, don’t let En Khairul took up my invitation and actually come over for Raya. I cannot face him again !!!!” Was her fervent prayer that night.

Bini sapalah yang bangang tuh ? Ish, ish ish….

Ha ha…

PS : Pada malam itu, bini tersebut tidur tak lena bila masa dan ketika terlepas pegangan laki dia. Kena pegang jugak.... Dakap erat-erat.... Kah kah

First Raya

Woke up with a start. Raya !!! Wee !!!!! Ran down and saw Mum and Neti busy with the morning preparations. Woke up the kids and hubby and start to bersiap. Before that tolong-tolong lah apa-apa yang patut.

Left the house to go to the in-law’s first. Aku makan sikit je sebab nak belasah mak aku punya kuah kacang yang sodap. I love kuah kacang, okeh ? My favourite way to eat my raya dish ? Himpun palas/lemang and ketupat and tuang kuah kacang on top. Then some timun. Kalau aku ada hati, ku letakkan lah rendang.

After that, raced home and aku pun start makan. Kuah kacang ibuku adalah sangat superb, okeh ? Oh, terkenangkan rasanya yang sungguh indah itu.

Pastu makan soto lak. Neti made the bergedil and I have to admit, it was really nice. Makan kuih raya buatan sendiri dulu seperti semperit yang jadi melt in the mouth selepas masuk angin, chocolate chip cookies and the very crispy oat cookies.

Kanak-kanak rinag - ria. Ada dua yang tak posa tu. Abang Alhamdullilah start posa umuq 7 tahun and tak pernah tuang. Adik tuang 11 hari. Kebanyakannya adalah kerana cirit-birit. I will blog about her hilarious puasa..

Meh Abang tolong Mamu...

Posing anak aku...

Tapi posing ini lebih dahsyat.. Abang keeps saying that Ana looks like she comes from the 60s... he he... Macam Beetles lah Ana ni..

Kami tak sempat bergambar raya kat rumah tahun ni. So many things happened. First, Marlin lost her handphone. Handphone pulak boipren bagi. Because they stayed over at my house and kept going back to Mom’s house for stuffs, Marlin went back and forth to look for her phone. Daniel and Ita helped too so a lot of time was wasted there.

Then, I asked Mail to hang the ketupat around the kitchen. Aku pun tak taulah macam mana ia boleh terjadi because alih-alih dengaq “Prangggg !” and Mail masuk rumah bau gasoline. Pulak dah. Bukak lah pulak baju tu untuk aku cuci bagi hilang bau. Nak bergambaq pakai baju besa tak mau, nak ndak jugak baju melayu yang had tu jugak..gatai… ! Sudahnya, bila dah kering and berbau harum, sudah tiba masanya untuk kami bertolak ke Seremban, to visit Daniel’s parents. And I tell you, the kuah kacang made by his mom was super duper delish, too. Had laksa, and tonnes of candy kelapa and kuih makmur. Must remember to order from Aunty next year.

Aku suka pergi rumah mak bapak Daniel ni sebab dia orang layan adik aku macam anak sendiri. Daniel’s mom is a great mother-in-law to my sister and for that we are very grateful.

With Daniel's family.



Mula-mula makan kat luar.. (Awatnya buat muka gaya huduh boipren aku nih)

Pastu Aunty ajak sambung kat dalam pulak. She said untuk makan kek. Kami pun kalau pasal makan, ikut ajelah. And memang betul, meja penuh dengan cakes yang Aunty dah slice cantik-cantik. Ini style orang Sarawak, she explained. Dia orang tak dak kuih raya, cakes aje.... Okaylah... belasah aje. The chocolate cake was superb. Adik mintak tambah to our relief sebab kami segan nak mintak.. kah kah. Itu tengah gelak besar sebab gumbira guling-guling nengok kek banyak2..

Ini posing "Eh ! Apa tu ?" bodoh favourite abang aku.

Gaya bebas. Oh yang warna coklat tu segan nak berposing... nyampah.

Sementara nak assemble semua orang Nak kena buat head count gak dah tua-tua ni.


Balik from Seremban, we straight away went to Bab and Mami Ela’s house in Bangsar. I love my Bab and Mami and seeing their happy faces when they saw us, made me teary eyed a bit.

Menu : Ketupat palas and bloody gorgeous rendang daging and kuih raya

Mami’s rendang daging was oh so good, Hubby forced me to ask for the resepi. Sama je bahan-bahannya, it is the jumlah of the ingredients yang membezakan the taste. Kena berguru ni ngan Mami.

A bit of tragedy happened when we were about to leave. Bab is not well, and walks with a cane so we were much surprised when we got up to take our leave, he hurriedly went upstairs. I proceeded to peluk, cium and salam Mami when we we heard a loud crash. Zuri, my cousin and Bab’s eldest son, raced upstairs with his niece Zafira.

Note : Zafira’s parents, my cousin Zaf and his wife Kak Zu lives in Dubai now plus their 3 other children (Zarifa, Zaid and Zaim. Seriously when Kak Zu was pregnant with her third child, I was nervously waiting to see if it was a girl as my head computes they only have Zirafah left to name a girl. Luckily Zaid came out… he he…). Zafira has to stay in Malaysia to take her SPM.

They took Bab downstairs again and put him on his favourite chair and we queued to kiss his cheeks and salam his hand. My brother Syafiq who was first in line however found his hand had bled. He had managed to cut his palm when he fell. Luckily we have 2 doctors with us and Marlin advised Zuri to take Bab to the clinic as it will be needing stitches.

Awat dia kalut naik ataih ? Sebab dia sebek tengok kami nak balik. He cannot tahan to see us leave, so dia nak teriak kat ataih. Awat lah Bab ni….

So aku balik rumah sedih sebab kesian kat Bab. Kesian kat Mami sebab takdak kuih semperit for raya. Aku buat kuih semperit belajaq kat Mami. Kuih favourite Bab ni. Last year we went, Kak Hanim yang tulung buatkan sebab Mami dah tak larat nak buat. Tahun ni aku memang ingat nak bagi sikit for Mami to rasa tapi aku segan lak sebab rasanya tak sesedap yang Mami punya. Tapi bila tengok tak dak pulak semperit dalam balang, aku jadi sedih bebenar.

Sayang Bab nih.

Turn aku ngan Bab..

Us..

Raya kan, senang buat orang teriak.

WAAAAAA !!!!