Serabut

Suddenly I feel so damn serabut.

- I've to sit for a penterjemahan exam tomorrow at 9am in the morning. Apparently, last time more than half the class failed the paper. *cringe*
- Woke up at 4am to study but Sarah wakes up like every 15 mins. So I've been spending more time going up and down the stairs and breastfeeding.
- At 5.30am I've just realized that Mr Mogan gave me Kamus Dwibahasa tahun 1992!!!!!!!!! Argghhh!!!!!!Nooooo!!!!!! Tulah tadi diorang gi beli Kamus takmo beli...Pegi beli novel and buku Thomas The Train... :p Tried to find Kamus Dewan in the house but it's nowhere to be found.
- Now at 5.45am I'm contemplating to go to the office as early as 7am to search for the latest kamus and be at Legend Hotel by 8am so that I could study just before I sit for the exam.
- Just now at about 5pm, the Minister's office gave a confirmation that he could launch the branch in Song on the 6th-7th of August!!!That's just a few days away!!!
- I've to go to Sibu on the 4th/5th of August and be there till the 7th to prepare for the launch.
- I've to prepare the Minister's speech and send to his office by this Friday.
-I've to meet the supplier, discuss changes and settle a photoshoot for the festive collaterals before I go to Song.
- K.Arida and Sally are going to Bandung this Friday, leaving me alone in the office...huhuhu
- I'm sleepy!

Serabut giler!

Superwoman vs Superman

Last weekend when I felt so burned out with Amir jumping on the bed smelling stinky sebab baru lepas uk-uk and while my husband was busy 'farming', I looked at him and said, "Nyet, u think you've married a superwoman, eh?" and he just gave me the smile.

When I was single, I used to be a lazy ass. Really, ask any of my friends. I seldom do any housework. I don't cook. On weekends I would wake up at 11.00 am, read newspapers till late afternoon, take a bath and then be a couch potato or go out to watch movies. At night, I could stay in my room for hours even sometimes skipping dinner just to read or be on the net. No obligations. No worries. For probably like what.. 25 years this is how I was! Simply put, I was definitely not the epitome of Perempuan Melayu Terakhir lah...

But gosh.. the paradigm shift after a marriage and most of all parenting/motherhood is just unbelievably intense. The things that a wife and mother has to do.. the expectations..the emotional roller coaster..the pain of childbirth and waxing.. :) Yes, it's a bittersweet journey where most of the time when I'm burned out, I am comforted by the silly lil' things that the kiddes do or comforting words and gestures from my dear hubby. At all other moments however, I am overwhelmed by the physical tasks that accompany motherhood and the misconceptions which awards the ability to withstand physical strain only to men. Is it because we women have the drive, passion, ability and strength to push out a baby from a hole originally smaller than its eye, that men would think that we can practically endure / do anything in the whole wide world?

Really I don't know how our mothers do it. But these days, whether you're a housewife or a working mom, it's just tough being a woman. If you think that you can be a housewife, a carreer woman and a working mom while everything else remain constant. Woman, you're just sooo wrong. Well, maybe these multiple roles would have been perfectly alright and democratic, as long as women have democratic partners as well. If not, yes, a woman will just have to develop her own super powers and in her best ability be a superwoman. Because if she does not, then consider this:

1. Without a superwoman, men wouldn’t be able to flaunt the status of having an educated, opionated wife with whom they can discuss the intellectual depth of the Da Vinci Code, have arguments that involve cutting edge brain theory, rather than the best type of diapers.

2. Without a superwoman, men will not be able to get their children raised in a better environment with minimal health crisis which are prevented because the mother is educated and remembers all the dates for the kids to get their shots.

3. Without a superwoman, men will not have the right to reject a meal if something is off, even though the woman preparing it has less time and more worth on her hands.

4. Without a superwoman, men will not be able to opt out of washing the kiddies' poop, changing diapers on the count of being unskilled, though the woman who does it had no such skill before either.

5. Without a superwoman, men will not have their leisure time with the guys, watch whatever tv programs/be on the net/do work at home for as long as they want.

Me? I'm most definitely not a super woman. Yes, it would be good if I've super powers. To be able to juggle 5 things at a time without having to feel drained or tired. If I have the power like plastic man then I could watch Desperate Housewives and yet stretch my hands to save Sarah from falling down the stairs or maybe Flash Gordon so that I could do the laundry, clean the room, bathe the kiddies in just secs, the talent to cook like Jamie Oliver or paling tidak pun Chef Wan to serve excellent meals for the family... but hmmm.. I'm an ordinary wife and an ordinary mother with ordinary abilities and well, the need to once in a while scream for help or take a break for her own good. So yeah, it would probably take another 25 years for me to be a true superwoman.

Thank God, unlike men, women aren’t that difficult to please kan? At the end of the day when a woman feels tired, stressed out, burned out, with over 10 more tasks to be accomplished before she goes to sleep, all she asks for is a bit of a helping hand, a companion to listen to her whine about the day, a kind gesture, a considerate word or two and a reassurance that she is always loved and that her man would always be by her side. She does not need her man to be a superhero. She just needs her kind of man. Someone who would be adorable and a source of endorphins, and the one that she can depend on as her only source of recharge of a tired day.

Do you think men worry as much as we do? Do you think they too wish to be Superman, to have superpowers for the right reasons i.e not to get hot chicks but to multitask around the house? ;)

Masih Suami Isterikah di Alam Akhirat?

1. Wanita yang meninggal dunia sebelum berkahwin.
Wanita yang meninggal dunia sebelum berkahwin akan dikahwinkan oleh Allah SWT di syurga kelak dengan seorang lelaki di kalangan ahli syurga.Rasullullah SAW bersabda ‘ Tiada si bujang di dalam syurga’ (Muslim).Ini kerana ada juga lelaki belum berkahwin yang meninggal dunia.

2. Wanita yang meninggal dunia setelah diceraikan dan tidak berkahwin sesudahnya.Wanita ini juga akan dikahwinkan oleh Allah SWT dengan lelaki daripada ahli syurga.

3. Wanita yang meninggal dunia sedangkan suaminya tidak masuk syurga.Begitu juga wanita yang meninggal dunia yang masuk syurga sedangkan suaminya tidak masuk syurga, akan di kahwinkan oleh Allah dengan serorang daripada lelaki yang masuk syurga.

4. Wanita yang meninggal dunia setelah berkahwin.Wanita ini akan berada bersama suaminya di syurga kelak sekiranya suaminya masuk syurga.

5. Wanita yang kematian suami dan tidak berkahwin sesudahnya.Wanita ini akan tetap bersama suaminya yang dikahwini di dunia sekiranya suaminya masuk syurga.

6. Wanita yang kematian suami dan berkahwin sesudahnya.Wanita yang kematian suami dan berkahwin lain akan bersama lelaki yang terakhir dikahwininya di dunia tidak kira berapa kali dia berkahwin. Suami yang terakhir adalah suaminya di syurga sekiranya suami itu menjadi ahli syurga.

Rasullullah SAW bersabda.. ‘wanita adalah kepunyaan suaminya yang terakhir'.

God is fair..there is hope for everybody...

Hantu

I was telling my colleague today about a very bad dream that I had last night which had made me screamed in my sleep. The main character in the dream was a makcik with long hair and mata yang tak ada anak mata... I sort of ran her over with my car as I was reversing and when I checked her body she said this "Makcik tak ada apa2...Ada 30 jin dan hantu dalam badan makcik ni pun tak ada apa.."...I freaked out when she said that and ran.. as I was about to run she grabbed my legs! So I could not move.By then I was screaming Astaghfirullah and the 2 kalimah syahadah.. I was like half awake.. I could hear my hubby snoring! Wanted him to help me, so I screamed some more but he snored some more! Haiyoo! I read the ayat kursi and entah macam mana the makcik let go of my legs and I woke up!

Maybe this is the classic case of kena tindih..not my first time..I dunnola maybe it's because I've just watched a hantu movie last weekend.. Now that we have a house, our weekend getaway means lepakking at our Bangi house catching up on the movies/DVDs. So far we have managed to watch quite a number of DVDs Angels and Demons, Dark Knight etc. Anyway, the most recent is 'Histeria'..cerita Melayu...to be exact, cerita hantu Melayu. The movie was about a ghost at a boarding school which had gone on a killing spree because it found a new 'owner' that has not been 'feeding' it properly. When I watched the movie I was really not scared of the hantu. Yes, the killing spree was gory. But the storyline was kelam kabut..i.e love triangle, lesbian issue, scandal with cikgu, kids neglected by parents... yeap! All these issues in a ghost movie! So of course the hantu yang siap bertanduk and muka horror gile was overshadowed by all these elements, causing it to lose its 'charm'.

Maybe because I said the hantu was not scary la..eksyen kan..amik ko kena tangkap ngan antu.. Ye la.. Why can't they make a simple ghost movie aaa.. like Nightmare on Elm Street...Exorcist..that's super duper scary sampai kalau nak tidor pun rasa macam takut je nak tutup mata even with the lights on! And actually, if dekat boarding school, from my own personal experience, the simple ghost stories are much much more scary than a hantu going on a killing spree.

When I was in TKC, I had a ghost which played a trick on me. One night, when I was just about to doze off, there was water trickling INTO my ears... and bila bukak mata of course la tak nampak apa kan.. so I closed my eyes...and again the water! After like the 4th time and rasa nak terkucil thinking that there is actually something next to me, with my eyes closed I tried the usual petua from our seniors la...baca ayat kursi,fatihah and then sapu satu badan from the bottom to top... pastu baru okay. And there was this one time during bulan puasa, I came back late from bukak puasa with my parents so had to go and get signature from the warden at this room (can't remember the name)...while I was walking, I could see on the ground the shadow of something flying above me okay! It was just following me! Of course I ran! Nasib baik dia tak ikut lari sama! Cam siot je kan!

Back then I also wondered why nobody ever dare to mention about a white dove which will bertenggek in the shower during Maghrib and Subuh..or why most of the time when we go to the loo at 4am in the morning mesti akan ada toilet yang berkunci macam ada orang kat dalam tu tapi tak pernah dengar pun bunyik orang buat apa2 no matter how long you are in the toilet.

But I think masa kat TKC the scariest was Lisa's experience. It was Maghrib. She was alone in the praying room, tengah ambik air sembahyang. And she realized 'someone' walked in to ambik sembahyang next to her. After she's done, she turned to look at the 'person' next to her, and that 'person' turned to her as well. Guess what? That 'person' looked EXACTLY like her and was smiling at her!

Thank God at that time memang nobody at the school kena histeria..except for one lah..tu pun pretending to jadi hantu and have a histeria.. pastu her bed was just next to mine! I shall not elaborate... Only those in the same dorm and who have had the 'privilege' to experience this would know.... :)

Gosh! I really hope tonight I can sleep peacefully and the damn makcik won't be in my dreams!

Sunat

When I gave birth to Sarah the dr had reminded me to do it cepat2 before she grows up and understand the meaning of pain and takdelah nak ganas sangat. But we procrastinated. So now not only she understands the meaning of pain but she is already a toddler who is known to be grumpy and well you certainly do not want to mess with her or put her in a bad mood!

My other half refuses to go and be part of the gory stuff. Not the operation. But Sarah's wrath! So I went with Sarah's favourite person in the whole wide world, her Datuk and her 2 cheerleeders tagged along.

Had to bribe her with her favourite drink before going in.

It was very fast. The dr was really friendly with her and made her comfy by giving her toys and all that. Of course Sarah threw the toys bawah meja la.. nak tunjuk dia ngamuk... but the whole thing ended in less than 3 mins. She cried but so far she still has not broken the record in Penang. Tu 10x lagi bingit!

To calm her down after, Datuk gave her favourite sweets.

And she was all okay!

Maybe in 20 years Sarah would be mad at me for blogging about this but this is considered as a one time very very important event what... :)

Hopefully lepas ni dia jadi baik sikit and kurang cranky.. Aminnnn...

Good, clean, fun!

Took a day off yesterday and spent time with the kids. Amir went to the movies for the first time with my other half. No, not for the movie 'Obsessed' .. :) they watched Transformers. Amir came out with a big benjol on the forehead sebab tergolek dog kat dalam wayang... :p




While they were at the movies, I was left to entertain super cranky Sarah. To avoid crankiness, I kept her occupied with food.

And thank God for the creation of this push candy which looked like a lipstick. This kept her quiet in her stroller throughout. I was window shopping and book browsing, peacefully.

We also brought the kiddes to Megakids. It was our first. I think it's really good la to have such a place. I see mums dropping off their kids with the maid and boleh pegi jln2. For those without maid, they can still leave their children there and the staff will take care of the kids.

Teka siapa yang paling banyak berpeluh? ;p

We had fun and yeah again.. to hell with the diet.. I had strawberry cheesecake at d'licious.. ate Cheese Fries and Nachos at Chillies!

Petty conversation

I've gone off rice for 2 weeks and coffee in particular, Mocha Ice Blended for 3 weeks.

Today I could not resist an invitation to eat Nasik Ayam Chee Meng..it's not any DJ's nasik ayam..it's THE nasik ayam hainan okay... so yeah.. that is a good enough justification to break the main pantang!

And because of that I decided to just break the coffee pantang on the same day and rush to the nearest Coffee Bean after work.

As I was making myself feel at home with my legs up on the chair, enjoying my Mocha Ice Blended, browsing thru FB and well blogging this, somebody next to me who is probably bored of waiting for his friend decided to strike a conversation with me.

Haiyaaaa... I'm really not someone who is up for petty conversations with strangers no matter how good looking you are ---- not that he was la --- but that would have at least given me a motivation.

I just want to enjoy my Mocha especially after my 3 weeks pantang!

Stranger: Are you local?

Me: Yes I am -- no elaboration.

Stranger: After work?

Me: Yup -- no elaboration.

Stranger: What do you do?

Me: Corporate Affairs -- no elaboration

Stranger: What organisation?

Me: BSN -- no elaboration

Stranger: This is your 2nd home, is it? You look very comfy.

Me: Uh-huh..I'd like it to be.

Stranger: Nice phone..

Me: (???!! I'm using the old blackberry which does not even have a camera!) You like? I bought it cheap.. can sell it to you and buy myself a nicer phone.

Haiyoooo...can't you get the message already aaaaa... I want my 'ME' time!

Since I was already holding the phone I kinda went like a cuckoo talking to myself pretending like I was answering a call.. konon phone was on silent.. nasib baik the phone did'nt ring when I was talking la kan .. and thank God right then the friend came and he left with his friend.

Unless I'm in a foreign country where I find it interesting to chat with a stranger over coffee about cultural differences, places to go, good food to eat etc, really I'm just the type who can't be bothered with making petty conversation.

Would this mean that I'm a snob?

Fruit diet..my toooot!!

The consultant had asked me to go on a fruit diet.

Fruit diet = u eat fruits ONLY aaaa...

Day 1

Breakfast : Pineapple

Lunch: Papaya

Dinner: Pineapple

Note: Eat as much as possible

Day 2

Breakfast,lunch,dinner: Watermelon

Day 3

Breakfast: Prune (not more, not less than 8 oz)! That's freaking a lot of prunes!

Lunch: Strawberries

Dinner: Baked Potato and green salad - acceptable because the prunes will make me go to the toilet 10 times so I need energy. (WTH?!)

Day 4

Breakfast, lunch, dinner : Green grapes

Why I need to go on a fruit diet?

- Pineapples and strawberries contain an enzyme called bromaline which interacts with and activate the hydrocholoric acid in my stomach to help burn up the fats.

- Papaya contains an enzyme called papain, which interact with and activate the pepsin in my stomach to digest all the extra protein and surplus flesh (pekebende surplus flesh tu?).

I got so mad they gave me this diet when I have already stopped eating rice for 2 weeks that I went to the nearest Theobroma Chocolate Cafe and had a very thick chocolattie frappe + an ommelette (even though it was tea time) to calm myself down!

Would anybody in the right state of mind follow the diet religiously???!!

Fruit diet konon! :p

Where is the love?

I've been reading the messages in my FB from friends about the meltdowns that they've had...It saddens me to know/see that wives/mothers are subjected to all these ritual meltdowns......I often wondered, why in today's society, when you get married, the bond, the love, the commitment, the fun, the devotion, the friendship, the comunication and many other things that would strengthen a relationship seem to be non-existent or not that important anymore.


What change?


Is the concept of being ONE so hard to understand?

When we all took the akad/nikah vows does'nt that mean WE are now ONE and from that day onwards we have made a promise to each other and to God that WE will make that conscious effort to nourish the marriage with lots of love and build a family together. For a good life di dunia and akhirat?

In my years of growing up I've witnessed my parents arguing,buying things together,being the architects of our family home, saw them celebrate birthdays and anniversaries by buying one another nice gifts etc. I could also still remember, when I was in standard 5, my mom was crying while washing the dishes because of a fight she had with my father over our cat's poo. When I was in Form 4, as I walked with Fad to Lot 10 behind my parents, Fad went like .. "Ji, your parents still hold hands?" Yup! Even until today okay! Yeah, In today’s society where divorce and separation is all too frequent it leaves me wondering, how did they do it? How did they survive the good and bad times together yet maintain their flame for more than 30 years?

How come the friendship is still there, the love, and the passion? These days you would be lucky to get a good ten years out of a marriage. And if you're a celebrity it would be what 2 years tops? Why is it so hard to find that special someone that you can spend the rest of your life with? When you were dating, in love and can't wait to get married would’nt that be the period where you so-called have an awakening that you have indeed found your soul mate? Someone that you want to grow old with?

I guess the possible reasons why our parents', the much older generation's marriage / relationship last this long because they truly understand the concept of a marriage and they both have the drive to keep the marriage. Nowadays people use anak2 as the medium/reasons to keep the marriage. Then it would be an unhappy marriage consisting of unhappy couple with happy kids? That does not seem quite right. Looks like, it's the love and friendship after marriage that seemed to be so hard to nurture..not the kids.

My parents have always been good friends to one another and they have always been able to communicate / talk things out. And each is always ever so ready to help the other. The best is that, it's like one hand always knew what the other hand was doing. Granted that their relationship is not always smooth sailing. There were moments of petir and kilat sambar menyambar but I guess that’s when they would then learn to be more patient and understanding of each other’s ways and needs.

These days there is too much of individualism in a relationship, and that's not good. Couples are not willing to conform to the commitment of communication. Try and remember what you talked about with your loved one last night? How many words/sentences as compared to your colleagues/friends etc... I once read an article by a famous motivator about relationships.. and he asked the simplest question... does your spouse ask you “dah makan ke belum?”... if yes, how many times in a day and week.. because if it’s less than 5 times, then well sadly that is one of the signs to show that love is just slipping away each day...that he/she just do not care anymore about what's going on with you. Realistically, can a relationship blossom like that? I don't think so.

Now, apart from being ‘tortured’ by their ‘kids’ and cucus, my parents take comfort in one another and enjoy simple things like dengar lagu keroncong together before tidor, watch TV and gardening (though this activity could sometimes lead to small fights.. :))

Really, when we made that promise to be together till eternity, did’nt we actually mean it? Don’t we all long for the same kind of comfort and happiness? Don't we all want to have a trail of anak, cucu, cicit together?

My mother getting the birthday donuts ready for a suprise b'day party for my father..

The trail of cucus..

My dad blowing the candles on his 71st b'day last month...

Exam fever

It's 3.00am. I can't sleep.

I tried to but I kept on having this recurring dream as to which of this is correct: memperbaharu or memperbaharui. It became too irritating that I decided to just get out of bed and find the answer.

Why am I like this? For the past 3 days I've been attending a BM course i.e Kursus Bahasa Malaysia Berakreditasi Sektor Perkhidmatan Kewangan. Modul II: Penggunaan Bahasa Malaysia dalam Penulisan Rasmi. The course is conducted by a Munsyi Dewan from Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. At the end of the course we have to sit for a 3 and a half hours exam: 1 hour (objective questions), 2 and a half hours (subjective).

The exam is tomorrow as in another 6 hours. And here I am still confused about Kata Kerja Transitif and Kata Kerja Tak Transitif, trying to make sense of the Morfologi and Sintaks and cursing myself for not taking notes when the Munsyi told us who should be using the gelaran Yang Berhormat Mulia when he had said that it would come out in the exams!

Do you know?
- Ada 2 jenis sebutan 'e' .. one is e taling and the other is e pepet -- no I'm not swearing here.
- Dash panjang is called a sengkang. This is used for i.e 6 - 9 Julai or Iran - Iraq. Kena ada spacebar before the sengkang. Dash pendek is called a sempang. This is used for Kata Ganda i.e anai-anai, kura-kura. -- all my life I've been referring to both types of dash as sengkang.
- Kalau Kata Adjektif tak boleh ada 'kan' di hujung perkataan. i.e mempercepat not mempercepatkan, memperbesar not memperbesarkan. -- I usually put 'kan' because it makes the word sound nicer.. :p
- It's mencolok mata and not menjolok mata, salin tak tumpah and not saling tak tumpah.
- Oleh kerana is wrong it should be Oleh sebab.
- Menemui is for benda bernyawa and menemukan for benda tak bernyawa.
i.e Sarah menemui Amir di kedai Pak Ali.
Amir menemukan kereta Sarah yang terletak di belakang rumah.

BM rasmi / baku is tough man.
Attending this course, I've discovered the many BM bloopers that I've done in the press releases/speeches that I do. Ikut sedap je buat padahal tatabahasa semua hancus. Kalau fail ni malu siot.. especially if one of my staff who is also attending the course pass..

Oh God... I feel feverish... really... this is like SPM revisited man...tak boleh tidor.. peluh sejuk dah start keluar...mind mapping punya notes dah bersepah..

With the lack of study and sleep I'm sooo prone to answering the questions like this...



Huhuuahuhu!

Trip to Penang

Had an event in Penang last weekend so I thought we might as well make it a family trip. Did'nt have the heart to leave them over the weekend with their grannies anyway.

Both kiddies had flu but when we reached the hotel we serbu the pool first.. Amir who was super excited konon before the the trip to jump into the pool, as expected, takut nak masuk dalam air... "Nanti wet baju", he said.. haiyaa.. he was very the skema one... but Sarah..huiyoo..for a first timer she was everywhere man.. not scared at all... siap nak masuk adult pool lagi taknak main kat kiddies pool... she swam like a fish..

K. Arida brought her hubby and kiddy yang suka bergaya and berposing.. the kid I mean, not the hubby.. :)

I've always liked Penang.. the beach.. the hotels.. the food especially la kan.. but then we did'nt have much time to explore Penang this time..lagipun Oh God! Sarah was super duper cranky throughout! On the night that we wanted to go makan at Padang Kota she cried non-stop for almost 45 mins in the car! Dahlah traffic jem teruk..lapar pulak tu.. and then ada background budak tantrum.. I think she probably had Kama and Suzie who were with us in the car swore not to have babies!

Food at Padang Kota was not that great la..Or maybe it was because super cranky Sarah made us all lose our appetite.. :p I pitied Amir who seemed a bit neglected because we were concentrating on Sarah..but he was being a really good boy throughout the trip.. like my other half said.. sian Amir ni kena jadi macam budak 17 tahun because of Sarah.. padahal baru 2 tahun.. still nak manja2 lagi...

Since semua orang dah phobia ngan Sarah dalam kereta that night we ditched the idea of going up to Feringghi beach and went back to the hotel.

Instead we went up to Feringghi after checking out from the hotel the next day. Of course the DVD stalls were all closed and small food stalls with nice seafood pun tutup.. yang bukak banyak kedai Arab... so we all decided to eat seafood at Eden Seafood Village (yes, yes yang kat KL ada taknak pegi..pegi gak yang kat Penang which would obviously be more expensive)..the place was pretty cool...by the beach where there were lots of activities going on.. siap ada horses lagi..

This is the biggest ikan kerapu that I've seen and eaten! It's almost as big as Sarah! All 4 adults were at first very doubtful that we could finish this but ..

yeah.. in the end we whalloped the ikan, finished the yummylicious buttered prawns tapi did'nt quite enjoy the crabs..

Ni budak naughty nak makan tomato sauce aje.. pastu dengan tangan penuh tomato sauce celup tangan kat dalam Apple Juice..

Arrgghhh Sarah..dahlah tu.. pening.. pening...

Despite the kiddies' crankiness in the hotel, restaurant and car I'm still glad that we made it a family trip because we seldom do it.. nak pegi shopping mall pun dah takde idea nak buat apa dah.. balik2 beli Ultraman..since I brought the family together when I work kan.. here's hoping that my other half will also bring us for the next working trip (sarah included okay!).