IbuNim

24th November 2011

2011-12-28T23:10:00.004+08:00

It was on the 21st of November, my family and I went to Alor Setar, my hometown, to pick up our new maid. But first, we decided to drop by my parents' house. Both my parents were there..It was just like any other visits to their home. My dad will sit at his chair and chatting with my husband while my kids did their own stuffs. And me, I will follow my mom wherever she went. So, I follow her to the kitchen. She was chatting all the way and told me about her sprankled ankle. I can see the bandage at her ankle. "Did it still hurt,mom?" She said no but she told me that at that point, she could here and loud "pop" when it happened. She planned to go for "urut" and wanted to asked my youngest brother to pick her up. But since we were there, she told me she planned to go the next day. That day we left their house at 6.30pm. Why did I felt like hugging her when we were leaving?? I was looking at her face..and there was something different which I cant put my finger on it. I really wanted to hugged her but I did not...Now I wish I had....:( That was the last smile I see on my mom's face and will always remember that last smile...

We picked up the new maid and went straight home. I received a call from my sis in law - my mom has to be admitted and later fell into coma..My husband and I rushed back to Alor Setar that same night and when we reached my mom was already in coma and to be taken to the Hospital Sultanah Bahiyah, Alor Setar. I rode the ambulance with her. God only knew how I felt at the time..Just a matter of a few hours ago, she was all smiles and now she was lying so still in the ambulance.

I prayed so hard for her to open her eyes and smile at me again. I guess I was hoping for a miracle...After tests were done, the doctor told me that she had a massive brain haemorrhage and there was nothing that can be done anymore...

On 24th November 2011, I was so tired and sleepy and left the hospital at 3.20am. I told my son to call me if there are any changes. I received the call at 3.30am saying that my mom's pulse was slowing down. My mom left us at 3.57am on 24th November 2011. Al-fatihah..

Mom, I love you..and missing you every hour of the day..You touched so many hearts and left happiness in them. You are loved by every one who knew you because you have a beautiful heart.

Ramadhan 2011

2011-08-23T20:05:00.002+08:00

It is now 23 Ramadhan 1432 = 23August 2011. Seven more days of fasting. We have bought "Baju Raya" for the kids, my mom and for MIL. I got mine at one of the bazaar at Prai, Penang. At this age, I dont need expensive new clothes any more.

I remember those days when I will go to the boutique for my baju raya. I was single then..Now I cant afford to dress lavishly. Let the kids enjoy themselves.They will soon grow out of it.

Kad Raya...nowadays it is almost extinct. But it would be great to receive one once in awhile especially from someone special.

Kuih Raya is a must.I will bake a cake and make some cookies but majorities especially the traditional cookies will need to be bake using my fingers..hehehe..at the office.

Open House Raya...it has become a tradition to visit relatives' and friends' houses during this festive season. Now, invitation was sent out to invite friends and families to their house.

Ketupat, be it ketupat pulut or ketupat nasi will be served together with Rendang ayam or rendang daging. Now they even have Rendang Ikan. Ketupat also can be eaten with serunding daging or ayam.

Duit Raya ..this is a time of giving and celebrating the end of fasting.Those days, duit raya was only 10cents or 20cents. Now, it went up to RM2 to RM10 each. Some even went up to rm50 to RM100. No matter what, we cant compare with the Chinese New Year's ang pow..Huge amount!!

WISHING HERE TO ALL MY MUSLIM FRIENDS AND FAMILIES..SELAMAT HARI RAYA. MAAF ZAHIR AND BATIN..TO ALL MY NON-MUSLIM FRIENDS, HAVE AN ENJOYABLE RAYA CELEBRATION AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS....KEEP SMILING:)

Safety Comes first...do you care?

2011-07-10T20:56:00.007+08:00

Safety of our loved ones is usually upmost in our mind...but does it always the most important matter in everyone's mind?

Well..every morning I send my kids to school and I usually took the shortest and yet the least busy route to their school. I timed all the possible routes and found one which is the fastest time to reach their schools. But...I had to passed through one kampong road..What I experienced every morning, makes me wonder ..Do these people care about their kids' life?

3 small children about 8 to 10 yo crossing a busy road, carrying heavy bags, without any adult supervising them. I've seen the cars had to break hard to avoid them..God forbid..if something should happened ...
A father riding motorbike with 4 children-(one in front and 3 at the back)..only the father is wearing a helmet...Wonder where are their bags??
A boy in school uniform, about 9yo, riding his bicycle on a narrow road (usually Kampong road is quite narrow)..without any light. Every time there's a water puddle, he would just swerve the bike to avoid it..mind you, there are a lot of water puddles on this road...you can imagine the car behind him had to slow down to a crawl to avoid hitting him..

How could any parents put their children's life at risk or are they just couldn't be bothered? These are some of the examples that I've seen on the road every morning..Not to mention the older boys with their motorbikes ( without helmet) racing with friends on the road...There was an accident which costs one life due to these boys about a year ago. An old man was hit and run by them. The police manage to identify them when one of the name tag with the school badge was found at the scene..Crime doesn't pay..

To all parents out there..children are god's gifts to us...Love and care for them..Think of their safety above anything else..

21 JUNE 2011

2011-06-21T08:14:00.013+08:00

Today marked the 47th year of my life...That is a big number..3 years to be half a century..I'm almost ancient..hahaha..My mom was the first to sent me Birthday message..but my husband wished me my first birthday wish....Then my 2 little ones..

My colleagues gave me a cake at the office. And surprisingly I received a bouquet of flowers from my old buddy fro

m schooling time,,It was definitely a wonderful surprise...

Well...I wonder what I have achieved for the past 47 years...??There were a few good memories

and quite a number of not so good memories..These events made us what we are today..more colors gave more personalities traits..Wiser? I guess some would still question this ability..especially after what I have gone through these past years. Greater patience? Well, most would definitely agree to this trait.. Matured? maybe..Complacent? That's

a definite NO!! More things to do and explore...

Thanks to my 3 children who has given me enough colors to my life...Without them, I will not be as strong as I am now.They are my strength and wisdom. They reminde me of who I was before. There are times I wish th

ey could be like me..more independant and strong minded but I cant change them. They are what they are. I just hope that they will grow to be strong in bo

dy, mind and health. It take times and experience to be what I am now.

My past experience had me strong minded and almost heartless..These could be good or maybe bad. Depends on how some look at it..Some even said I am too "degil" never one to listen to other's opinion or advices. Some even questioned me.." seriously you dont feel anything??not even anger??" Somehow..heartless people seldom hurts especially the strong-minded-heartless person.. We just dont care and couldn't be bother to think or consider things that cant be changed..That should be a good thing. right?Less heartache and worries...live longer..

So, the day is almost over, finally, I've received birthday wishes from my eldest son.. Frankly I thought he would be the first to wish me (feeling quite disappointed that he didn't even send me a tinkle) but unfortunately he was ill today. Get well soon dear boy...

Hubby gave me perfume..does it mean I dont smell good enough for him??hehehe

Happy birthday Auni...

2011-06-18T10:26:00.007+08:00

12 June 2011 - Auni's 11th birthday..The number added another one year but she is still the baby girl..I told her that she is going to get her I/C next year..She asked me back.."I/C tu apa ibu?"

My sister-in-law and family came to our house for her birthday bringing along my MIL (whose birthday a day earlier). So, I planned with my maid, since they are here, might as well we had a small makan-makan for the occasion. I bought blueberry cheese cake from Secret Recipe and my maid cooked fried bihun..

Auni with her cousins, sister and her sister's friend....

Where's Amir? He is somewhere at the back of the house

..sulking- because it was not his birthday...and attention are all for his sister...

Auni's presents from ibu, Amir, Ayah Kak Ika,

Kak Alia and Ayah Yan...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNI....

You will always be my lill innocent girl...Love you always! (Hangsang salang - in Korean)

Penang 2011

2011-06-05T08:49:00.016+08:00

School holidays has started..The kids are so happy but the mom...? Busy with budget for the holidays. We will be having our family gathering at Bayview Penang (as always, since I am a member of Bayview) from 31 May 2011 until 3 June 2011. Managed to booked 6 suites and 1 sea view deluxe..

Holidays started with sending my maid to her sister-in-law's place in Ipoh on 29th May. We left in the morning and headed to Gopeng ( my maid claimed their house is in Gopeng) Stopped by Bukit Gantang for lunch..

When we reach Gopeng, we realized that their house is in Ipoh. Actually she went there sometimes last year and the bus stopped at Medan Gopeng in Ipoh. And this clever girl thought, she was in Gopeng. We turned back to Ipoh and stopped by Kellie's Castle for a tour. Frankly, there's nothing much to see there and it was blazing hot...in the afternoon.

We, finally dropped her off at Ipoh and headed back. My son wanted to go to the Zoo...so we took another detour to Taiping. Here we are at Taiping Zoo..watching the animals and them watching us , too...hehehe..

After the train ride within the zoo...Amir wanted to

go back and watch the snakes..so, we walked towards the direction showed by the guide..after a few minutes wal

king...we still hadn't see any snake cages..Finally...we turned back as everybody was so tired... This is the last place in the zoo - the elephants..see the kids' ti

red faces plus their father's too....

We returned home straight and the kids slept in my room that night..dreamless hopefully...

The next day, we started for Penang to my MIL's house but this time

, we headed straight to Bayview Beach Hotel to check in for my sister whose arriving that day...Once settled, we headed to Balik Pulau straight...and stayed overnight..The next day we went to Prai first to collect my Ipad2 at DHL office. I was very excited...Unfortunately, it was useless because I

cant download iTune since there's no pc around.

After getting our ration at Tesco, we headed to Bayview Hotel at Batu Feringhi. My parents and younger brother has arrived and gotten their room. I checked in for our room and my elder brother who will be arriving much later...

These are some of my nieces and nephews and my kids

sunbathing by the sea....I had my feet massage (for the first time in my life)

Then, I had half body massage...My sister has feet massage but she claimed she felt the pain in her neck and worsen when she got home...

We had our sightseeing in Penang...The Herb Garden.. We were given anti-mosquitoes spray to avoid being bitten by one..

Everybody was exhausted half way through...Blame it on the heat and we had to go uphill most of the time..We stopped by the restaurant and quenched our thirst...I even bought some fresh vanilla which is still

in the packet until now...hihihi...

Amir, as usual wanted a horse ride.

And he got one.......

We all stayed there for 4 days and 3 nights. The last day, all of us received bad news - my sis in law's dad admitted to ICU..All of us then went straight to Sg Petani to visit him after checking out........

2011- Year of Rabbit

2011-01-17T15:15:00.003+08:00

2010 went by..now we are moving into 2011..Things have changed, feelings for things differs, beliefs deepens and interests moved perspectives...

However, we remained the same self. My kids have grown and their priorities have changed. What can I expect? They cant remain as my little girl or boys forever..As they grow, there'll be no more tickling and giggling any more..they become too adult too fast.

Even my youngest 8yo is too shy to let me kiss him goodbye at school. My 11 yo is talking about boys at school. Not to mention my eldest..hmmm..My kids are my mirror. They show me who I am. They remind me of who I used to be. I hope they can be as strong as me to face all the life challenge...never say never..and nothing is impossible..

2011 brings a few changes in my working life as well.. I have different post and more responsibilities came with it. I will have to work beyond normal hours and will have to go out more often. New perspective, new priorities. then came new challenges.

I am a Wood Dragon and in this Metal Rabbit year the chinese horoscope predicts that I would have a better luck and a change in career, better health-wise..well, we'll just have to wait and see.

My youngest son berkhatan...

2010-12-25T21:43:00.005+08:00

It was 23rd December 2010..The day my youngest son finally agreed to have the circumcision. He said on one condition.: "amir nak tidor masa dia potong" so I looked up the hospitals and clinics in Sg Petani but none have it done under anesthetics. The only place that I could find is Kedah Medical Centre (KMC) in Alor Setar. So, off we went there and had an appointment made.

On the 23rd, we left for KMC for the operation. At 10am, he was pushed inside the operation theater. It will only take about half an hour. Since I haven't had any breakfast yet, we went down for som

ething to eat at the cafeteria.

We went up at 10.20am but he has not came out yet..At almost 11.15am , he was pushed out from the operation theater. He was all smiles and chatting with the male nurse.

I asked him if it hurts or not..No, he said..That's a relief...

Amir after the operation in the ward at KMC..

He complaint that he was hungry. I realised that he hadn't had any food since the night before. The doctor told him to fast for at least six hours before the operation and he hadn't had any breakfast yet. So my husband went down to the shop to get some bread for him first, then we went out to buy lunch.

He was discharged around 2.30pm and we went straight home to Sungai Petani.

Amir is a man now....

Amir at home......

Holiday 2010

2010-12-12T19:09:00.005+08:00

My younger children has never been to oversea for holidays. In fact never even got in a plane before..One day they look up to me and ask me..."How come everyone has flown on the plane but not us?" My first thought was to take them to KL or maybe Langkawi on their first ride on the plane..but that will be cheating..Their eldest bro has flown to Australia and even Korea for holidays, the second bro has flown to Mecca for Umrah and their elder sister has also flown to Australia as well..So why not them???

The first thing that came to mind was "Can I afford taking all my three children for an oversea trip?" I have always wanted to go back to London for a holiday but it will cost me a fortune to take all with me. So I looked up the internet and there it was...Singapore!! I have never been to Singapore before. So why not??? It's not that far and will not be as expensive as London.

I looked up the calendar and planned my leave a few days before school holidays coz I dont really want to get stuck with lots of tourists during those time..Then I went to the kids' school and informed their teachers on their absence later and gotten their consent. All done and I booked the tickets for the flights and hotels..Later I looked through the internet and found out that I can booked on line for the Universal Studio and I booked that as well. Now we are all ready for the holiday of their lifetime. Oh yea..of course I need to change for the Singapore Dollars as well...

The kids are all excited when I told them about their pending vacation. They cant talk about anything else but Singapore and Universal Studio. Since this is their first oversea trip, I wanna make it a memorable one for them...

By the time we got back, I booked another holiday again for them..This time to Medan. They are so excited...At least, my kids will not look at me and ask me again " How come not us?"

One thing for sure..I am happy for them to be happy..

Puasa 2010

2010-08-12T21:24:00.003+08:00

To all Muslim wherever you are...Happy Fasting and may this Ramadhan brings us hidayah and may our prayers are answered.....

Puasa this year, 1st Ramadhan..Kedah Cuti !! At least, I dont have to apply for leave to greet this year's Ramadhan.. I called home on the 10th August from work and told my maid to pack our clothes. We are going to "Balik Kampong" to start the Puasa this year.I called all my brothers and asked them to break fast at our parent's home on the first day. All done..I called my mom and told her we are going back on the night of 1st Ramadhan. In all the excitement, I've forgotten that my husband is working on the 1st day of puasa..Well, sorry..you gotta stay back..

We slept at my parent's home and surprisingly, both Amir and Auni woke up for Sahur the first night. The next day, I started hearing complaints from Amir.."Amir Haga la Ibu.." That was around 3pm..Auni started complaining around 5.30pm to 6.00pm. Anyway, things changed when their cousins arrived.

It was a great 1st day Puasa where everyone gathered at my parent's house. Well, almost everyone, except my sister. Unfortunately, she's very far from home..

The menu was gulai lemak udang and kacang panjang, udang and sotong goreng tepung, telur masin, ayam goreng special, daging goreng and kentang, ulam-ulam and air asam and sup ayam for the smaller kids. As for dessert..it was cucur cempedak and fruits..which consists of grapes, oranges, and buah "seghalat"..Not many younger generations knew of this fruit. It is like a tennis ball , hence the name, but tasted more like apple..very sweet, indeed.

Well to all ...SELAMAT BERPUASA.................

My "OLD MAID" came back...

2010-07-23T21:36:00.003+08:00

I used to have a maid , Rika Fatmala. She took care of my youngest son since he was a baby, for 5 years. During the 5 years of her stay with me, we had our disagreement and share some moments of joy. She loves my children especially my youngest. That was where we usually had arguments. She pampered him to the fullest and whenever I disagreed with her, we will have arguments.. Throughout her five years, she went home a few times. first, she went home to get married. The second time, she went home to take care of her ailing father for two weeks. Her father died in her care. The last time she had to go back was when her mother was sick. We had to let her go and recruit another maid. Her mother also passed away in her care.

We had a new maid for two years. During the time, she kept contact. When I asked her whether she wants to come to Malaysia again, she told me that her husband will only allows her to work here if she works with us. So, she came in and here she is ..our maid again.

Pigeon Lagoon Town Fish Pond

2010-05-09T15:03:00.009+08:00

It was a small corner. My maid used to parked her bike or some unused stuff there..The idea of a fish pond came by from my husband's friend. He was a kind of constuctin worker and he told my husband that fish pond would look nice at the corner there.

My husband liked the idea and the work started. I didn't bother to watch the progress of the pool. After a few days, my curiosity got the best of me and I took a peek at the corner.The first thing that came to mind was....."urrrrghhhh...that was ugly..!!" But kept my mouth shut..

One day, as soon as I got back from work the kids were shouting excitedly..."Ibu! Ibu! Bestla..kita ada swimming pool..." So they pulled me to the pool..it was better than the last time I took a peek. The pool had some tiles in it and looked okay but still ugly tomy eyes..But the kids were so happy..

" Ibu..macam ni kita tak payah la pi hotel pasal rumah kita pun dah macam hotel..ada swimming pool, bilik ada air-cond..Taman mainan pun dekat..." said Amir. Auni nodded in agreement. A few weeks passed by. Yhe pond almost finished. It was time for the fish toget into their new home but the kids refused to let the fish get their new play pool..

Finally after 3 weeks, they most probably lost their enthusiasm over the pond and agreed to let the fish into the pond...

The fish get to try their new home. My husband went to get more fish. One of the big Koi was getting over excited and jumped out of the pond in the middle of the night. We found it dead the next morning in beside the pond.

More decorations went into the pond. And now it was quite nice and soothing to hear the running water from the "water fall" created by my husband's friend. They were rather creative in choosing the colour scheme.

My husband added a small pond for the guppy fish. Firstly, we had the donation from our old friend, Syed Mokhtar. Later, we took some from my mom's place.

Here's Auni ....She wanted her picture to be in this blog.

The D Day - SP here I come

2010-04-10T15:44:00.004+08:00

The date was 5th April 2010. The new trade hub was finally being set up and running at Sg Petani, Kedah. Finally I've got my wishes to transfer back to my hometown after 11 years of travelling to work.

I was pretty excited cum nervous. Bearing in mind, that I will be facing new customers, handling new systems and working with new staffs....well what can I expect..To top it up, we dont have any support from the headoffice nor the regional office at SP. We were literally on our own on day one.

I worked all through the weekend prior to the set up meaning I did not take any rest day at all. Lucky for us the volume was manageable for the first 2 days. On the 3rd day, we had a massive increase in volumes and we had to cut short our lunch hours and going back real late to complete the job.

Frankly, the job was really interesting and I really enjoyed them coz the demanding nature of the jobs made my andrenaline pumped up real fast especially to meet the dateline and cut off times. I have not felt so alive and enjoyed my work. I supposed I have been handling one post for far too long and the challenging nature of my previous post has lost its appeals to me. With a new surrounding and job scopes, I've gotten back the challenges and looking forward to start a new day everyday.

True to what wise people has been saying..."In order to move on, you need to change first.." The workload was heavy but I enjoyed the work. That's what counts....

2010 - A New Year, New Place and New Determination

2010-01-02T20:35:00.002+08:00

2009 went by and 2010 just started it's new life. My family and I finally went back to our own house in Bandar Laguna Merbok, Sungai Petani before the year end. It was a tiring days with all the moving out from the old home and moving in to our new/old home. I've always love this house.

Before we move in last year, I noted that the termites has started to land on the kitchen door. The termites extermination has caused me RM1,200.,,Then the renovation due to the extermination process has caused me another RM7,000.00...Finally we moved in before the end of 2009.

2010 started with fire works near our house...the "dushhh....bangs!!!" seems to go on and on forever. Then, when I was about to fall asleep, the phone rang...My son calling me about some internet banking...At 2am!!!!Then when I finally fall asleep it was Suboh time....The alarm woke me up at 6am. It felt as though I did not sleep for 2 years...Lucky me, new year is off day for Penangnites...

On the first January I did our groceries shopping at Tesco...and later cooked lunch. I was so sleepy that I took a nap at 2pm My daughter woke me up at 4pm. She wanted to go swimming. I lied to her saying that it looks like it was going to rain since it was rather cloudy. But as usual Auni is very determine to go swimming (since I promised her the day before)..I've got not much choice, so I got up gather all the swimming gears and off we went to the club. I let Auni and Amir play in the water for awhile and packed them back home. I was so tired that I fell asleep around 9pm.

Today, the 2nd of January, I was awaken by my children's excitement at 6am. Amir's registration day at his school, Sekolah Kebangsaan Ibrahim. I told them to go back to bed since it was too early...At 8.15am we reached the school and after all the speeches and paying the school fees, we left the school around 11.30am.. Now we had 2 kenduri invitations today. One in Sg Petani and another one in Alor Setar...We went to the SP first and around 2pm, we left for AS. we finally reached home around 6pm...

Now I'm going to bed early again tonite...Tomorrow is gonna be another hectic day since the schools will start tomorrow. My destination is Auni's new school, Sek Keb khir Johari, special school...

But tonite, before going to bed, I've gotta finnished writting Amir's names on his exercise books. He need to pass all the books to his teacher tomorrow...Gotta start now...

Amir's graduation day

2009-11-08T09:23:00.007+08:00

31st October 2009 - Amir's Graduation Day

Amir has been practising his lines for a few weeks. He's been chosen to be the main story teller in an english theater for his graduation day. It was held in Dewan MPKS at Holiday Villa Hotel. It was pretty exciting...!!We bought 6 tickets for the show which all of the family members will be going including his grandma.

The D-day arrived. We are all as excited as he was. He wore a t-shirt and Jeans. When we arrived there, most of his friesnds were wearing their uniforms. Alamak!! So when I asked him about it, he said the teacher told him to wear t-shirt.

Amir and his teacher before the show.

His show was the 2nd last performance. He was great but unfortunately my camera ran out of battrery.. Here's part of the show:

The ceremony ended around 5pm. It was tiring but he made me proud, dear son.

We had the whole table for us..

Amir 6th Birthday

2009-10-24T22:48:00.010+08:00

23rd October 2009. Amir Zikry bin Rosli, my youngest child, turned 6. As usual, he demanded so many things.First, he wanted Ben 10 cake. Then, he asked for remote controlled helicopter. Then, transformer toys..

Hmmmm...these are expensive stuffs..Anyway, I did get him Ben 10 cake which costs me RM87.15.. As for the other gifts, I haven't got around to look for them yet... Anyway, I'm still thinking of whether to get him these toys or maybe something else...

As usual, the photo taking on birthdays. He put on his new birthday t-shirt and pants...off to the photo shop..Bee Bee (our family's photo shop) And here's the result:

Somehow..he looked much-much older than his 6 years..He looked more like 8 yrs than his actual age..Dont grow too fast, Amir..

I threw a small party for him, in fact his first actual birthday party since his birthday usually fell on Puasa month. Invited family only..

Amir with some of his cousins and sister, Auni and his Auntie. He loves the cake..It was really delicious....

Happy Birthday Amir...Hope you have a wonderful years ahead and may success be with you ...Semoga menjadi anak yang soleh and peroleh kejayaan dunia dan akhirat..Aminnn...

Beware...Women in danger

2009-08-20T21:31:00.002+08:00

Last Monday nite, I had to take the bus home from work. My hubby had to work late because of the election at Permatang Pasir. As usual, I took the 6.30pm konsortium bus from Butterworth to Alor Setar. I called my mom to pick me up at City Plaza around 8pm.

I reached Pekan Rabu, Alor Setar around 8pm and started walking to City Plaza...I heard someone honking so I turned around to see if I knew anyone but No one that I could recognise there. So I kept walking. It was not far and since it was still early, there were still some crowd in town. Then, a car went passed me. A man in the car kept calling me. So when he stopped by the roadside, I look into the car...

"Hai..buat-buat tak kenal ..no..(You pretend not to know me?) Mai la naik, boleh pi hantaq balik.(get in..I'll sent you home).."

I stared hard at him trying to remember if I knew him or not..realizing I definitely DO NOT know him, I said..."Tak palah..abang dah tunggu kat sana..(It's okay my hubby is waiting over there).."

"Oh..Abang dah mai ambik..Tak palah kalau lagu tu..(Oh your hubby is picking you up.It's okay then)" and he left..

I was wondering if I managed to get away from a posibble danger.. what if another girl fall into that trap..what will happened..? I just wouldn't want to find out..

Happy birthday Ja....

2009-08-16T13:20:00.004+08:00

August is definitely celebration month.. Firstly. my parent's anniversary falls on the 6th..then my mom's birthday on the 8th and yesterday, on the 15th is my "lil sister"'s birthday...

Ja..Happy birthday to you from all of us here..You are my one and only sister..We've shared soo much secrets together since childhood days and even till now...there were untold stories which are still remain as secrets between us..That's the beauty and the luxuries of having such a wonderful sister like you...

Thanks for being such an understanding and loving sister..Thanks being who you are..

We all love you..

HAPPY 62nd BIRTHDAY MOM

2009-08-09T13:03:00.004+08:00

Dearest Mom,

Have a very happy birthday today..P bukit kayu hitam tu..beli apa? Whatever u do or wherever u are..have a wonderful time today and forever..You brought me into this world through pains and labour..You care for me with love and never asked anything in retun...

Here's wishing you a wonderful life filled with happiness and full of takwa and iman from all of us..Hanim, Zhafri,Auni, Amir and Rosli

HAPPY ANNIVERSARRY MOM AND DAD

2009-08-06T21:26:00.002+08:00

Happy 48th Anniversary mak and ayah...Semoga kekal bahagia for years to come...dan dipanjangkan usia dalam keimanan dan kesejahteraan dunia akhirat...
We all love both you....

Children of the future

2009-07-18T00:33:00.002+08:00

I was reading through one of the magazines about our children and the future. It was both scary and disturbing. There were articles about “teens and porns”, “bullies”,”fighting” and other unnerving topics. Basically, the blames goes back to the parents and their parenting ways.

My husband and me visited a friend last Monday and he was telling us about another old friend of him and my hubby who had an accident in Sadao. They joked around about this guy who (what I could gather from their conversation) is a bully and loves to fight. The friend told us that he was bragging about his son involved in a fist fight with his friends. Imagine, the father is encouraging the son to continue his bad behavior and to top it up; is showing his son the very same example by involving in the same unsightly behavior as well.

Kids will watch and follow their parents behavior. To make it worse, they could mixed with the wrong group and became worst than their parents. Someone told me a story about a man whom started stealing since kindergarden time, The first day he started stealing was a pencil case and his mother praised him for being so clever taking whatever he wants. Being proud with the praised, he started stealing more and stuff. Being a man he started robbery and took a life. He was caught and later sentenced to death. His final wish was to meet his mom. On the last day, his mom went crying to see him. He hug his mom and bite off her ears. He said before he left “Mom, you should listen to me when I first took the pencil case and scolded me but you didn’t want to listen that I was heading for trouble that first day. If only you would listen….”

Just a few days ago, there was a report on Form 1 girls fighting in the school’s surau. Whatever happens to self-respect and dignity. Kids nowadays, wanted to grow up faster than their age..It could be seen that teenagers around the age of 10 to 12 years old hanging out at taman selera or shopping complex. Where are their parents? Did they know where their kids are??

I was walking from my office to the cobbler’s place last week. I had to passed through under a flyover to get to the other side of the road. Dewan Bandaran Seberang Prai had planted lovely plants under the flyover and made a walking/cycling path to the other side of the road. I could see about 6 to 8 boys in school uniforms hanging around there at 10 am. Definitly, they skipped school just to “lepak” there.

Are parents too busy making money to notice their children needed their care? I knew one guy who had never been to her daughter’s school except the first day of registration. He never knew when her daughter had exams or never even met the teachers. He never even signed the report cards. The daughter will skipped school and wrote the letter herself to the teacher. And the guy had never known that her daughter was lying to him all his life. He trusted her 150%. Once, the daughter was caught bringing a boy into her room and she started lying that the boy was her cousin’s friend and came to her room to pick up something. And he believed her….I was shocked when I found out that he believed his daughter than a neighbor who caught her red handed. From what I heard, the boy left through the back door at the time when nobody was at home and she was only 16 yo.

One thing for sure…no matter how busy you are, always take time to talk to your kids…Listen to them, especially those unspoken words..A mother especially will know what in their children’s mind. The special bonding between parents and children will help to nuture their identity and self respect to become a respectable adult in the future…Insyaalah…

Rain..Rain...

2009-07-13T15:28:00.003+08:00

Raining season is here again. They forecasted that the rain will stay for the week in Alor Star. Lucky me..now that I don’t have to travel by express buses anymore. Else it’s going to rather wet.

Five-day forecast
Today
Jul 13 Tuesday Showers Hi

Jul 14 Tuesday Showers

Jul 15 Wednesday Thunderstorms

Jul 16 Thursday AM Thunderstorms

Jul 17 Friday AM Thunderstorms
Jul 13th Hi: 86° Lo: 75°
14th Hi: 87° Lo: 76°
15th Hi: 84° Lo: 75°
16th Hi : 85° Lo: 75°
17th Hi: 85° Lo: 75°

Same goes for Penang and I wonder if it’s going to be fooded again at the bank’s area in Prai. Previously, we had to wear slippers and rolled the pants up to our knees every time going to and back from the office. The road job nearby has clogged the drain so bad that even a short heavy rain will flood the area.

That reminds me of my school days at Sulatanah Asma School. Those days whenever there’s raining season, the water will rise. I used to be amazed at the rate the water rose..One minute the area was clear and the next, it was flooded up to our knees. I love looking down at the water (since our classes were on the upper floor) . It felt as though we were on a big ship cruising to nowhere. And of course, there bound to be a few classes cancelled..Yippee…!!

A Bus Trip to BP

2009-07-08T21:59:00.002+08:00

Last Thursday, my husband told me he had to work late on Friday night so we decided to 'balik Penang' on Friday. Early friday morning, both our kids and the maid followed us to work. After breakfast at my office, my husband called his brother to pick the children and maid at the airport (hubby's workplace). Later after work, I took the bus to the ferry to cross over to the island. I left around 5pm from my office and lucky me I got the bus straigh away and as soon as I reached at the terminal, the ferry arrived.
I called hubby and he said he may not be able to make it so I thought why not I try the bus...I went to the bus terminal and unfortunately the bus to Balik Pulau just left. "Nampak "bontot" bas baru keluar",the inspector said. But another bus will be arriving in 10 mins. He told me to take bus no 403 or 403E. After a 5 mins of waiting, I saw bus no 403 came in. I got on the bus...feeling rather nostalgic.
It reminds me of those good ol' days when I dont have my own transport. During my student days and then when I started working in KL...I usually enjoyed the bus ride. I loved watching people and the scenery. Anyway, the bus took a long way to Balik Pulau. It was fun and enjoyable.
There were still a few good young ones who's willing to give away their seats to the elderly. I couldn't help eavesdropping to some conversation behind me about a guy flirting with two girls. I looked outside the windows and there's so much happenings around us which we hardly noticed if we ride in the car. I saw an old man sleeping on the bench at the bus station at Komtar and everyone pretended he's was not around. There was a mother carrying lots of plastic bags of goodies and her small son following besides her. She cant even hold his hands and the child had to hold her hem to keep up with her.
The scenery turns lovely when we reached the hills. I salute the driver. He's really good. The road was winding around the hill and there are a few sharp turns, but he was a real pro. My husband kept calling me a few times asking me where I was. Finally I arrived at balik pulau. And goodness ..guess what time was it? I arrived at 8.30 pm. It took me 3hrs and 30 mins from my office to my MIL's house in Balik Pulau...!!But time flies when one is having fun...Well..I might do it again next time. This time I might take bus no 403E and see where it will take me for another round of tour. And the best thing about it is it only cost me RM3.00 for the trip.

Amir tak nak ngaji...

2009-06-17T23:29:00.003+08:00

I came home from work one day and Auni started her normal "CNN" even before I managed to take off my shoes. She will relayed the whole day event in 10 minutes non stop..Then she told me" Ibu, tadi Amir tak mau ngaji" So I looked at Amir...(at this point I had manage to take off my shoes and put down my handbag in between Auni's reporting.) Amir...Apasal tak nak ngaji? He juz kept quiet....So I asked my maid and she told me when Ustazah came that day, he refused to read but he was all in his baju melayu and sat in front of the ustazah. Guess what he did? He juz sat there facing ustazah face down for an hour. Kesian Auni, she had to ngaji for the whole hour since Amir refuse to open his mouth...As soon as ustazah left, he took off the baju melayu and started watching TV...Later he told me that he was watching his favorite series BEN 10 when ustazah came..That's why he didn't want to ngaji..So I made a deal with him...If he mengaji, I'll take him to watch Night in The Museum 2 during the weekend...It worked..he started to mengaji from then on...
Sometimes bribery works....

Auni is 9 today

2009-06-12T14:03:00.009+08:00

My sweet darling Auni is 9 today. She woke up real early and wanted to take the shower on her own. Unfortunately, I had to clean the shampoo from her hair as usual..
9 years ago, I was driving home from work (from Prai to Alor Star).It was already 7pm, when suddenly I felt some contraction. I had to make a very quick decision. Should I stop or must I drove straight home. By then, I had reached Sg Petani..So, I decided to stopped by the clinic juz in case I couldn't make it home.

I remember going to Klinik Dr Rama nearby Central Square. The doctor told me that it was already 2 cm and I shouldn't be driving as he said I could deliver at anytime. But I told myself and the baby that I can make it back to Alor Star. I drove slowly and counting the contraction as I drove...

I reached home safely without further incidents. At 2am, I woke up and notice something was not right.. The water bag has burst..I woke my husband up and got ready for the hospital...We went to Pusat Pakar Utara , now known as Kedah Medical Centre. I was taken to the room while waiting for the time to deliver.

I had to be induced as the baby could have suffocated. It took the baby about half an hour from the first serious contraction to come out..

It's a girl...

Auni Zulaikha, born on June the 12th...at Pusat Pakar Utara, Alor Setar, Kedah at 1.45pm. My only girl and have given great joy...You are so soft and that's why they said you are "perempuan melayu terakhir" You love music so I bought you an MP4...TokWan gave you a set of girls stuff..You had never ask for much except a birthday cake...

Happy Birthday Auni...May you find happiness in everything you strive for...

Zhafri into the new world of UIA

2009-06-11T23:52:00.003+08:00

On June the 6th ,2009 I took a long holidays until 15th June. It was school holidays and I planned to take my kids for a fun time since the last school holidays, they had to stay put. Well, dear mommy couldn’t get any leave the last time. So, since the compulsory leave is at least 5 days over the weekend…why not make the most of it…Who knows I may not be able to get another long leave next school holidays…
Mainly, the reason for this break was to send off my eldest to UIA. He’s registering on the 7th June 2009. He’s taking Foundation in Engineering. We took off from my brother’s house, Benjie at Kelab Cinta Sayang around noon to Bukit Merah Laketown Resort. We left in 3 cars…KCF 530 (my mom’s), KAL 121 (Benjie’s) and KCB 48 (my husband’s). The plan was to leave my two kids and the maid with Benjie at the resort. We cant take them to my sister’s house in USJ coz her kids juz recover from coxsackie. After checking in around 4pm there, we made a move in 1 car. Juz me, my son, my husband, mom and dad.in my husband’s car. Zhafri is one step away to a new world…
We reach USJ around 7 pm, had our dinner and took a rest. It was tiring ..Oh no..I’m missing my kids already..I couldn’t stop wondering what they do and how they behave…etc..etc I slept after wishing them good nite.
Next day, we made a move to UIA around 9am. Ja and family followed us to UIA. After a hot day of registering and opening of accounts with Bank Muamalat, Zhafri finally got the key to his room.
Fortunately, we met our cousin there, sending his daughter as well. But unfortunately for Zhafri, both cousins are female…The other cousin had already registered much earlier.
Off we went to send his stuff to his room.
The room number is 425C, Marhallah Umar Al-Khattab. It was situated at the old building. Room 425 consists of 4 cubicles. Each cubicles consists of a bed, a new mattress, a locker, a table and chair and a whiteboard. The paint on the wall was very old and rather depressing. The only good thing was the new mattress. Anyway, that’s student life…
When I look at Zhafri’s face, I could see the disappointment but he has to face it. This is reality and he is entering a new phase in his life towards adulthood. I’m sure in his later life, he will look back and remember everything fondly….juz like we did now. Students life was the best….The hardship…The tears…The laughters.. The failures..The high scores..The criticisms from the lecturers and the tonnes of compliments as well…Looking back, I wish I could be a student all my life…
We left him there around 4 pm.We stopped by my sister’s house for a quick shower and off to Bukit Merah again…I looked at him before we left and saw sadness in his eyes…At least, that’s a normal feeling…

Balik Kampong

2009-05-25T21:29:00.008+08:00

10 years ago, a new beryani shop opened in Taman Sejati Indah. When I first went there, I was rather impressed with the cleanliness. I could see my own face at the floor...it was so clean and shining that it could be used as mirror. Not to mention the counter and the pots..All were shiningly clean..There were always lots of people queueing for the rice..The food usually finished before 1 pm..
Last weekend, I went back to Sungai Petani. It has been almost 4 months since we went to our home there. First, we got to get something to fill our rumbling tummy first. "Nak makan apa?" I asked the kids. "apa-apa pun tak pa..Dah lapar sangat ni" my eldest son said. Then I remember the beryani shop..and drove straight to taman sejati indah. Phewww...luckily it was still opened. Well, it was only 12 noon...The queue was still bearable. There was about 10 persons in front of us. The shop was still as clean as it was 10 years ago. The floor may not be shiny as before but it was still very clean. The pots and the counter were still shiningly clean. The owners, one aged couple was the same and like 10 years ago, still were not smiling. I have never seen them smile. Who cares, I made my order and chiou we went back to our home.
I was anxious to get back to the house. The grass has grown up to the waist. There were dust and dirt all over the place..Oh my God!!I could see traces of white ants...We help to clean the house after we had our fill of the food.
It was always good to be back. I really love the house. The wind was soothing and it was very calming and quiet at night. I remember sitting on the swing beside the house in the dim garden light listening to the wind... Once in the while, there were cars driving past the house.
We left the maid to finish cleaning the house and we went to pick my nephews at Cinta Sayang. We, then, left for Sunway Carnival Mall, Prai. Zhafri manage to get some of the stuff we needed. We came back to Sg Petani around 6pm and stopped by Central Square where he bought his watch. By the time we sent my nephews back home, it was already 8pm. The house was clean again. We headed back around 9pm and God..I was tired...

Happy Mother's day

2009-05-11T21:47:00.001+08:00

There were stories about how a mother left her children just to have “fun” with her life but later, trying to buy back their love by showering them with luxuries. But there were more stories about how a mother sacrificed her life especially as a single mother to give her children a good life. A mother’s love is unconditional and borderless.
Mother’s day falls on the first Sunday of May every year..We celebrate this day to show our appreciation to the person who sacrificed her life to give us a better way of life. All was done for free and a mother has never asks for anything in return except to be respected and love.
This year, Zhafri wished me at midnite..just to be the first to give me the wish..Amir made me a card at school and can’t wait to get into the car to passed the card to me. Auni had to copy Amir’s card (since she can’t spell herself).With a wide guileless smile, passed the card to me as soon as she finished it..(although there were a lot of spelling errors…it’s the thought that count).
Unfortunately, I had a migraine attack and had to sleep it off the whole day. Auni has been singing happy mother’s day the whole day and refused to leave my side.
TO ALL MOTHERS OUT THERE…HAVE A WONDERFUL MOTHER’S DAY AND MAY YOU’LL FIND ALL THE HAPPINESS AND DUE RESPECTS AS YOU DEARLY DESERVES…

Little thieves

2009-04-15T21:43:00.008+08:00

Last Saturday, I called up mom asking her to accompany me to buy some cakes baking groceries. Since it was still early, she wanted to go to the market first..

We went to "kedai bawang" where we can get onions and groceries at a cheaper price. And nearby, we stopped by "kedai beras" to get the supply also at a cheaper price. Then off to the market to get our supplies.

By the time we reached home, we were too tired to go and get the baking stuff. So, while we were taking all the shopping out of the car boot, I saw 3 little kids, one girl and two boys, around the age of 8 to 9 yo. At first glance, I thought they just got back from mengaji al-quran. They were carrying some papers. Well, I didn't give them a second glance until my mom's neighbour started yelling. I was shocked and asked her why..She said the kids took all the letters from the mail boxes from each house. I rushed out the gate in time to see one of them took the letters from the neighbour's letter box.

"Mak, tolong jerit sat kat bebudak tu" I called my mom. She started yelling at them. One of them, the girl threw the letters by the road side. I started the car back and asked my mom to get in..They ran off the corner, and by the time we found them, the three of them were sitting under a tree surrounding the loads of letters they took from the houses.

I stopped the car by their side and they took off through the back alley. My mom went down and collected all the letters. We continued our search and saw them coming out of the alley. Unfortunately, the road was closed due to "kenduri kahwin" At least it was still early and there were no guests arriving yet. Both of us went down and talk to the people there and showed them the bundled of letters these little rascals had taken. We spread the letters on the table and saw mine was also there. One of the guys volunteered to delivered the letters back to the rightful owner. We took those letters addressed nearby and put them back in the letter boxes.
Gerammmnya...If only I could get my hands on them, I'll make sure their parents knew what their kids were doing.
What if, my son's offer letter was taken by them and he lost his chance to further his studies just because these rascals wanna have fun...God forbid..Now, I'm still looking for these little thieves...

Blueberry muffin day

2009-04-11T16:41:00.003+08:00

Today is Saturday and Auni has a replacement school day. She couldn't opened up her eyes. So in order to motivate her, I made a promise to her...."Auni balik sekolah nanti, kita buat kek, ok?" That really got her attention.."Buat kek?", "Kek Apa?" and etc..etc..She was finally got ready at 7.30am and off to school at 8am..Luckily, she's attending special school..or else..off to detention class.

Anyway, when she got back this afternoon, I make sure she had her lunch first. The menu today..Nasi Ayam with Ayam Madu..and for my husband..cabai solok and brown rice..all home cooked..

Around 3pm, I announced that it's time to bake a cake..so I called dear mom..get all the stuff ready and by the time mom arrived the cake is ready for decoration...

Well..this was what's left after Auni had her share...A bit brown ..but nice..

Spending quality time

2009-04-06T22:24:00.003+08:00

Well...I've been neglecting my kids and depriving them of their long deserving holidays. Even though they have never complaint about it but I felt kinda guilty. Every little time I had, I will definitely try to make it up to them ..well..unfortunately my weekends and their weekends do not concide. Mine falls on Saturdays and Sundays while their's falls on Fridays and Saturdays.
Anyway, I took them to play rides and games at the shopping complex, or juz went for shopping.

I'm lucky that my kids are not the demanding type. Whenever I spend time with them, they will enjoy just about everything we did together. Last week end it rains heavily. I just dont feel like going out..then I remembered DDI's cupcakes. Why not give it a try??

I announced to the kids.."who wants to bake cakes??" Both of them started to scream excitedly...well..that's it..I took out the ingredients but still I was still short of a few stuff..No choice..Gotta go out and get them..Rain or no rain..

I ended up buying more stuff than what I needed. That's not unusual for me.I called my mom since she was alone at home (dear daddy went to KL for a meeting). She came and we started the baking programme..The kids were excited..Both were busy helping us with the cake mixing and their favorite..cake batter tasting..Finally, it's baking time..all was set and the first batch went in. Auni keep asking "bila nak masak??" "dah masak ke ibu??" questions all the time..After Putting in the last batch into the oven, I notice something was wrong with the cakes..They did not rise as they should..Alamak..No electricity..The plug was not properly plug in.."Terbantut kek tu" mom said. I plugged back the socket and on with the baking..

Decorating was the best part for the kids. I made chocolate toppings and most of the toppings went into their mouth rather than the cakes..what mstters was that they enjoyed the day..They finished 12 cupcakes in 2 days .....between the two of them..

World Earth Hour 2009

2009-03-29T22:42:00.003+08:00

Earth day falls on 22 April this year. But last Saturday night was Earth Hour. Billions of people around the world switched off their lights to help save the planet.

Our house was no exception. I almost forgotten about it until I opened up Facebook and saw an entry by one of my friends, saying how excited her children was waiting to switch off the lights.

I started taking out candles and their holders. "OK kids, time to light up the candles and switch off the lights" My two young ones were so very excited. Amir kept asking who's birthday it was since we were lighting up the candles.

Then...Lights off...But the TV was on since the akademi fantasia was already on. So all of us stayed in the dark watching TV. We even swithced off the air con and the fans.

Around 9.15pm..we heard someone knocking at the door. My MIL and Brother in law juz arrived with his family. "Awat..Tak dak karan ka?" Amir juz replied, " Tak..Ibu kata hari ni birthday dunia..sebab tu lah kena pasang lilin.."Then, my brother in law juz laughed and explain to my MIL. So we continued staying in the dark for another 15 mins before I started announcing to my kids to start blowing off the candles and switched on the lights again. My kids were happy blowing off the candles and enjoyed the 1 hour earth hour...The only person complaining was my husband..since the air con and fans was off. He stayed in the room with the fan on.

It was a good hour for my kids.They never complaint. They treat the one hour as a game in the dark...

Happy Birthday Zhafri....

2009-03-23T22:28:00.001+08:00

Finally, my eldest son is 18yo yesterday...I asked him what he wants for his birthday..Guess what his answer was???Satria Neo!!Ever since he got his license, he has been eyeing that car...Well, he got to work real hard if he wants that car..Anyway, I took him and the whole family to Pizza Hut for dinner last night.We were celebrating his birthday yesterday and belated birthday of my step daughter(on 19th March).

Tomorrow, I'm taking leave again for my daughter's hospital appointment. I thought of converting all my son's accounts to his name, now that he has come of age.Killing two birds with one stone.

Well son...You are an adult now legally...You are moving to a new era now. Schooling age is over. Now college time..You gotta work harder now...Your future starts here. Think well before taking any actions. Each steps and each decisions will move you closer to your future. The outcome totally depends on your actions. Take life seriously. Think about your future seriously..

Whatever you do..dont look back. unless you need reminder of the rights and wrongs of the past. The past was just a reminder for you to move forward and dont drool over what should have been...There's no point in living in the past..
Whatever you do always move forward..Think positive and remember there's always reasons for every happenings.

I will always be here if you need me...Always remember that..All the best in your future...So Happy Birthday, Zhafri...May your wishes come true..(maybe not now.. yet.)

Zhafri - Creating his future

2009-03-14T23:35:00.007+08:00

SPM result was revealed and Zhafri got 6As and 3Bs. I'm happy for him but I can sensed his frustration. I knew he's expecting better results. Anyway no point drooling opver the past, what matters now is the future.

Both Zhafri and me are both busy searching for the courses available for him. He's interested in Computer Communication Engineering (something to do with network communication). He wanted to join Communication company like Maxis, Celcom or Telekom. What do I know of Engineering....I've been searching high and low for the appropriate courses and I think we managed to get a good list of courses. Juz hope he do gets what he wants.He surely deserve it.

Sometimes I can hardly believe that my son is going to be an adult very-very soon. It also makes me feel so old..He..he..I do hope he knows what he really wants. If he wants to be an engineer in network communication.. So be it....I can only pray that he will succeed in whatever he plans for his life.

No one knows the future but the future always starts with small steps like deciding what we want it to be and move on from there. Well Zhafri..You gotta work hard if you want to succeed. Who knows next step..you will be going to UK to further studies. Hardwork and patience is all it takes...

Year of OX

2009-01-26T19:49:00.012+08:00

Happy New Year to all my chinese friends...May these year brings ample happiness and good health to all.

I started today with a Malay kenduri at Kangar, Perlis. Then, we move down to Kedah for CNY celebration..Got to visit friends who had been calling since yesterday. Not to mention the boxes of oranges..Our house is now looking like a fruit stall selling oranges. I had to give away few boxes to colleagues and family. In fact, I still have 4 boxes left and I guess I had enough oranges to last me at for the rest of the month.
As I said earlier, not only the chinese celebrating CNY but the malays are also using this long leave apportunity to have the Kenduris. We have been receiving a lot of invitiations and fortunately, I dont need to cook since Saturday. My kids loves nasi kenduri and they really "pulun"...There goes my diet...Anyway, I need to cut down on my meat intake...Unfortunately, all the kenduri have more meat than chicken. So, it helps me to eat less since chicken is not my favorite either.

Year of Ox
THE METAL OX 1901 AND 1961
It is said that people born in the Metal Ox year are the most hard working of all and most trustworthy although not the one who will show their emotion well. Their feelings are usually kept well hidden within themselves.

THE WATER OX 1913 AND 1973
Water Ox are the quickest thinking of all the Oxen and also very hardworking.The water elements gave them more flexibility and liberty. Thus they are good businessmen as they are more open-minded of all the oxen.

THE WOOD OX 1925 AND 1985
Wood Ox are more receptive to new ideas and are more apt to changes. Thay are usually have high self-confidence which gave them a sense of higher authority thus are more respected by team members. However, they are rather outspoken and have short tempered compared to other ox.

THE FIRE OX 1937 AND 1997
My father was born under this sign and being a fire ox gives these Oxen dynamic qualities. Their leadership capabilities are tremendous, and they have to desire to be in charge so they generally hold positions of status and importance at work and in the community.

THE EARTH OX 1949 AND 2009
Earth Ox are the most loyal and diligent amongst all. Those born under Earth Ox are usually looked up to because of their reliability, sincerity and their modest ambitions.

I love reading through the chinese astrology and it is rather interesting to find out how much truth is when they describe people we know.

The year of Ox seems to promise a good year ahead and hope it will become true till the end of the year.....

Welcome 2009

2009-01-11T10:52:00.004+08:00

It's been almost a month into 2009. Life has become monotonous again. Weekdays, I'll be travelling to work and weekends, will be looking out for kids at school. No more lazying around or holidaying during weekends.
This year there hasn't been any changes in my daily chores except I dont have to rush to my eldest son's school anymore since he had finished his form 5. My son is saving to get his SONY ERICCSON C902. At the rate he is saving, it will definitely took him at least a year..hehehe..well he juz have to work harder...
My daughter is starting her swimming lessons every Sunday this February. I'm having a hard time looking for someone to pick her up from school since her current driver has moved to another place. Well gotta keep looking....
My youngest is 6 yo now and is currently loving all the attention he could get from everyone around him. He's getting quite good with his studies now and can read much better now.
My hubby is still at the same place and nothing has changed for me as well...
My wish for this coming year...
I hope I could lose some of this extra flesh..
I hope my son will get good grades and able to fulfill his dream
I hope I will get my transfer back nearer to home this year
I hope I will stay healthy and get my voice back without the need of an operation.

Insyaalah....

Good bye 2008

2008-12-31T16:15:00.000+08:00

Today is the last day of the year. We are leaving 2008 in a few hours time. Early this year, I was told that 2008 will be a good year for me. Well, I do read through my horoscope (the problem is I can’t be sure whether I am a Geminian or a Cancerian) and also Chinese forecast (definitely a Dragon). Just for the fun of it. My wealth is on the positive side but my health will be on the negative side. Looking back the year 2008 there were a few things which had a major impact in my life and my family as a whole:

Well, this year I had good luck in my fortune/wealth side in terms of bonus, increments and salary adjustments. However, as forecasted I underwent an operation that resulted with me losing my voice.

My daughter, Auni, had been registered as “OKU” and able to enrolled into special class in Sekolah Kebangsaan Suka Menanti. She is happier there as they have swimming lessons every Sunday and the teachers are very helpful. I can see vast improvement in her studies and communication skills ever since. She even went to Terengganu through her school trip. She was also taught gardening. I remember the first time she came back from school and gave me “kacang panjang”. “Cikgu suruh ibu masak sayur ni”, she said. I found out from her teacher that they grew all these vegetables at her school and distributed to the students once they ripen. She also joined “pengakap” of which the smallest size uniform is still too large for her.

Amir, joined Tadika Kemas and has learnt on ways to make friends beside learning to read, write and count. He has shown his true colours in his class…Being an “Emir”, he’s becoming a leader in his class. At 5 years old, he would go up to his teacher and report what his friends had been up to…”Kuat mengadu” that’s what his teacher said. I remembered the teacher told me once when she told the kids, “ kalau siapa nakal nanti cikgu panggil polis” So Amir stood up and said;”Cikgu, ayah saya pun polis” During his birthday, I managed to persuade his brother Zhafri, to give Amir his PS2. But for a price…gotta give him RM300 so that he can top up with his saving to buy PSP. At least both of them got what they both wanted. Since then, Amir didn’t want to go anywhere. He would rather stay at home and play with his PS2 rather than going shopping.

Zhafri, has ended his form 5 and heading for another era of his life….outside school days. Sometimes, I forgot that my children are growing up very fast. Soon Zhafri will be off to further study and later will start working. He is going to be an adult…!!Sometimes, I’ve forgotten that I’m getting old…but my growing up children will keep me in check. Zhafri is already getting so tall. At 17 yo, he’s already 5’10” and still growing. Perhaps, he’s going to be taller than his father who is 6’ 2”We’ll have to wait and see…

As for me…nothing much changes. Just hope that 2009 will be a good year for me and my whole family…Happy New Year!!!

Driving school - Zhafri

2008-12-30T14:20:00.002+08:00

Zhafri had completed his SPM and now on a very long holidays, while waiting for his result. No point worrying yet since the result will come out in March next year. Still a long wait..
Anyway, I've asked him to get some job for side income...but he's been procrastinating until now. But one thing for sure, he's itching to learn driving. Well, better than just sit and lying around doing nothing...
Good grief!!The driving school cost RM650. I remembered it only cost me Rm250 the last time I took my licence. Everything sure is expensive nowadays.
Anyway, he's been pestering me to give him driving lessons which I did. We took my mom's car because it has manual gear. He drove through the highway to Bandar Darulaman. After a tour around Bdr Darulaman, he asked me whether he can learn reversing. So I told him to give a right signal at the entrance to lake recreation park there. After giving a right signal, I took a back glance and saw that it was safe to turn right.
Out of nowhere came 3 motorbikes from behind and took over from the right side. None of them were wearing helmets. "Samseng betoi..!!" Zhafri brake suddenly but not before the last motorbike brushed the front right side of the car, leaving a mark there. He stopped the car and we changed driver. I didn't see the bikers anywhere. So we headed home. On the way to the highway, I saw the bikers from my rear mirror. They were following us. I told Zhafri to take their bike numbers and they left as soon as we swerved to the higway.
The bikers were young guys about 16 to 17 years old. They drove real fast and couldn't give a damned about rules and regulations. What I'm afraid is that they could have marked my mom's car. Things like this could happenned to anybody.
Since then, Zhafri dare not asked for a ride again. He took the professional driving class and just passed the written test today.

Rapist

2008-12-23T14:59:00.003+08:00

After lunch , my colleagues was so emotional after reading the paper today. When I asked her why, she told me about an article in Harian Metro North. It was about a man and his son raped a 20mth old child. I went to look for the paper and read it. It was reported that the child was sent to the baby-sitter’s house and was later being raped by the husband and his 16yo son.
What is happening to the humanity nowadays??? A 20mo girl is so small and innocent and yet the adults have no brains in their head. I supposed they only have nuts up there. The world is no longer safe nowadays, especially to girls. Where are the “9 akals” of these people?? God gave them akal to be used, and not for safekeeping…
I just couldn’t understand how these criminals think…
Pity the young girl. The lusts of these maniacs have caused her trauma for the rest of her life…
I am so worried about my girl, Auni..I guess we should let our girls to take up defense classes for their own protection. We cant be around them always..
At the same time, more severe punishment should be given to the rapists. The current punishment doesn’t seem to frightened them any more…

Selamat Hari Lahir Ayah...

2008-12-19T10:27:00.004+08:00

Buat Ayah....semoga di panjangkan usia dalam keimanan dan keberkatan Illahi. Kupohonkan agar dikurniakan rezeki yang berlimpahan dan dijauhi dari kepayahan dan kesengsaraan. Semoga hari-hari mendatang, memberi kebahagiaan dan sinar keceriaan berpanjangan..

Ayah,
Kupohon jutaan ampun dan maaf kiranya ada tekasar bahasa dan tersalahlaku. Tidak ku sengajakan...Halalkan segala makan minumku sekeluarga dan akhir kata...semoga beroleh lebih idea-idea yang bernas di dalam penulisan...aminn..

Cuti-cuti family gathering

2008-12-09T11:01:00.007+08:00

On the fifth December 2008, all my family except my sis's family gathered at Penang for holidays. We used to have this routine every Hari Raya Haji but somehow it stopped a few years back...I supposed all of us having bigger family members and we are getting heavier to move anywhere in a group.....Anyway, last month, I invited all to join the gathering in Melaka but was rejected..too far...they said. So, I figured out, why not having it in Penang...Since I have a membership of Bayview Hotel, I booked three suites for the family....

We left at 11am to Prai...There's a good food stalls at Inderawasih where they sell nasi hujan panas every friday...Really yummy..!!They started at 12 noon and the "nasi" will finished by 1 noon. If you are late, you will only get the nasi putih...People basically rushed for the rice every friday...

Later, the guys went for Friday prayers and the ladies went window shopping at SSF.

We left for Ferringhi beach around 2pm...and reached Bayview Beach Hotel after 3pm ..due to the jam on the bridge, as usual. (Who said Penang Bridge was not making money???)

When we reached the hotel, only 1 suite was ready and available. Since all of us was rather exhausted from the travelling, we cramped into the one suite first...

Later, we went to our own suites around 4pm.

As normal, my parents' suite is where all the foods and junkies are...They are sharing the suite with my second brother...

We went for a walk by the beach the next day, kids having fun playing by the sea, horse riding( including my hubby), parachuting for the big boys and sand castle for the smaller kids...Later after lunch, we took a dive in the swimming pool...And as usual, I was the baby sitter while the others went out shopping...but it was fun..and all of us were burnt by the night time, especially me...

We had tomyam dinner at the nearby restaurant; belanja by my eldest brother..after which we went shopping at the side road stalls along the road..I managed to get a good LV wallet for RM28.00 which was initially offered at RM55.00

We checked out the next afternoon and went our separate ways...My family went to my mother -in-law house at Balik Pulau for Raya Haji and my brothers went back to their own places...

It was good to gather again....Hope next time we can all have a full family gathering again...

I've gotta start planning from now.....

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Adha to all muslimin and muslimat...Semoga tahun ini membawa perubahan ke arah keimanan yang sejati...aminnn.

Parathyroid

2008-11-24T10:45:00.008+08:00

Having too much of anything is not really good for your health. It is a fact of life. Everyone needs calcium for stronger bones but too much of calcium can leads to serious illness as in the case of parathyroidism.

Every year, I'll be having my annual check up (especially now that I'm turning 40++). I've had the same result each year..I'm perfectly healthy. It's just that I had too much calcium in my blood. The doctor would advise me not to take too much milk or reduce my calcium intake. That's all.

When my youngest son was born in 2003, he had to be hospitalised due to lack of calcium when he was 2 weeks old. The hospital took my blood sample and discovered that my calcium was high. Since I was not the sick one, no one bothered to check further. My son was fed with fluid calcium daily and after 2 weeks, he's back to normal.

As for me, my life went on as usual. Early this year, I started to have high blood, shot right up to 170/140. My blood fluctated inconsistently. Every now and then I started having migraine and I knew that my blood must have shot high. The doctor prescribed me high blood medication but I refuse to take because it did not jive with my symptoms. I did an early checked up in March this year and the result was as usual, healthy except for my high calcium. When I asked the doctor if there is anything wrong with me that caused the high calcium, he advised me to do another test on PTH (Parathyroid hormone test). The result came out positive. I have a case of hyper-parathyroid.

What is Hyper-Parathyroid? Everyone has 4 to 6 parathyroid glands in their necks. These glands function is to control and monitor the calcium flow in your body so that the muscle and nervous system can function properly. Once the glands detected low calcium level in the blood, they will disperse parathroid hormone(PTH) into the blood which will subsequently break the calcium in the bones to be dispersed into the blood and also promotes calcium intakes by the kidneys.

In the case of hyper-parathyroid,at least one of these glands is hyper-active and produced excessive PTH into the blood and causes serious calcium imbalance.The doctor used to tell me that the symptom is known as "moans, groans,stones, bones and psychiatric overturns" meaning moans -feeling ill,hyper tension, groans - abdominal pain(gastric), stones- kidney, bones-bone pain and psychiatric overturns-lethargy, fatigue, depression, memory lapses. And I had most of the symptoms.

The bad news is there is no medicine/cure for this illness. The only cure is to remove the over active parathyroid galnd. So, I had it removed in May 9,2008. The operation was done in Putrajaya Hospital because no other hospital has the specialist for PT cases except UKM and Putrajaya Hospital. Well, I chose the best doctor. Since then, no more high blood, lesser bone pain, better temperament or gastric.
However...the bad news is the operation had cause an injury to my voice nerve chord. The gland was on the nerve and resulted with me losing my voice..That is another story...

Auni the invincible

2008-11-21T17:58:00.005+08:00

"Ibu!!! Kepala Auni berdarah!!" my maid screamed from the hotel's bathroom. I rushed to the bathroom and saw Auni holding her hand full of blood while my maid is trying to put pressure at the back of Auni's head.
"Apa dah jadi?" I asked my maid while looking at Auni's head and saw blood oozing out at the back of her head.
"Auni tergelincir dan kepalanya terhantuk kat tepi bathtub, ibu" answered my maid. I went back to the room and get ready with jeans and told my hubby to do the same. We went down to the lobby and I stopped one lady, Puan Nora, the hotel staff, asking if they have an in-house doctor. When she heard about the accident, she told us the hotel will send us to the nearest clinic.
They drove us to Sg Ramal and Auni got 3 stitches at the back of her head.
Through out all the incidents, she did not shed a single tear. Not only that, she was so cool all the way.
It was amazing!! Everyone was amazed at her. They said they had never met a child who stayed so calm like Auni....When I asked her if it was painful, she said "no".
By the time we got back to our hotel room, she was back to normal and chattering away....boasting to her brother that I said that she is a supergirl and so brave....as though nothing had happened.
That night, the hotel treated us very special...the gave us extra mattress, help to launder and dry our clothes and gave us a plate of fruits...not to mention the courtesy calls from the manager that night and the next morning...enquiring on her condition...

Anugerah cemerlang Auni

2008-11-13T10:35:00.005+08:00

When I reached home last Thursday, my Auni came running to me with all smiles...."Ibu, Auni nak dapat hadiah hari Isnin ni. Cikgu nak bagi" shoving a piece of paper to my face...It was a letter from her school inviting parents to the "Hari Anugerah Cemerlang". It said that she was one of the recipient.I asked my hubby..."Auni cemerlang apa?" "Tak tau, cuba tanya cikgu" he replied...

But I was so proud of her...I call my mom and told her about it...Then, I remembered...alamak!! I got to take leave on monday...I dont have a lot of leave left but for Auni...I will take leave..

The next day, I sms'ed my boss who was away attending meeting in KL. She gave a go ahead. Thank you...

On Monday, Auni got up very early...we sent her to school and I asked her teacher reasons for her receiving the award....The teacher, Puan Rosni told me that she had showed tremendous improvement compared to the first day she came to that school. She's now willing to participate in the classroom activities and answered when spoken to...

We took photos of her receiving the award...as usual she made her "selamba" face when spoken to...we stayed for the show for a while and I took her home. She started showing off her award to her brother and sister...and whoever came by the house that day...

I'm proud of you Auni...Keep up and Success will be yours one day.....Insyaallah..!!

Prince of the night

2008-11-08T11:09:00.003+08:00

Zhafri is prince of the night at GALA dinner organised by his school...

Zhafri injured

2008-11-07T13:57:00.003+08:00

On wednesday nite, my mom called me when I was on the way back from work..She said Zhafri wanted to came back. His ankle is hurting again..(too much sports) It was already 8.30pm. So I told her to wait for me. I dont want her to drive all the way to Pokok Sena alone at that hour. I reached Alor Star around 9pm and called my mom. She told me that the teacher refused to let him come home when she called the warden for permission. Since it was already late, we let it go for the night.
Yesterday, I called my mom again to find out if Zhafri came back or not..He's already at home with cast ankle which had already swollen. He needed to use "tongkat" to walk. My mom told me that the warden did not bother to give Zhafri a visit at all that nite...
When my dad found out about it the next morning, both my mom and dad went to his school and took him home and straight to the clinic... He got 4 days mc.
Now, he's at home and I'm worried of all the extra classes he had to miss...SPM dah dekat and he had sprained ankle...!!Being a mom, I cant help worrying how he's going to the exams if he cant even walk properly. The distance from his hostel to the exam hall is quite a distance and going down hill..
Dugaan...

Growing up

2008-10-25T09:14:00.005+08:00

Parents are usually over protective over their children especially special ones. My Auni is 8 yo and she is a special child. Even now, she needs helps with her daily chores. She is still learning to comb her hair or even brushing her teeth. She cant pronounce properly and currently is undergoing speech theraphy at the child phsychitarist on how to pronouce certain words such as "k", "s" and "r".
Early last month, my hubby called me at the office; "Cikgu Auni tanya whether we can allow her to join the school trip to Terengganu or not." My first reaction was .."NO!" She's too small.. It's too far...She wont be able to managed herself..blah..blah..blah..So we said no to her teacher..
When I reached home that night, she was all smiling, Auni nak pi Terengganu dengan kawan-kawan...So, I told her, "Not this round Auni..Nanti kita pi duduk kat hotel di Terengganu cuti sekolah ni, ok?" Her face changed..She refused to talk, to eat or even sleep...I noticed that she was crying silently...
It broke my heart to see her that way..So, I called her teacher asking about the trip..It seems that all her friends will be going..and not to mentioned almost all her teachers as well...A teacher will took care of 2 students each..Well, that should be a relief..After some discussion with the hubby, we decided to let her go...
It was indeed a very difficult decision to make..But the teacher told me something which opened up my mind..These special children are really special in thier own ways but we had to let them grow by letting them go. They need to learn to survived themselves. These were the main reasons why her class had organised this trip..to see how they can managed without their parents around....
Sometimes, no matter how hard it feels to let go of your kids, it is actually the only way to let them matured and be who they chose to be in order to survive later in life...Life experiences are precious and the only way to get it, is by trying and going through the ups and downs of life itselfs.

Happy Birthday, Amir!!

2008-10-23T08:41:00.005+08:00

Today is my youngest son's birthday.. Amir Zikry 5 years old..Born at 10am on 23rd October 2003. I remember it was Deepavali's eve. You have bring great joy to our life...The most manja of all my children..being over spoilt by the maid and usually gets what he wants.
Amir means Leader and Zikry means remembers...I gave you this name so that when you grow up...and become a leader who always remember your roots and Allah...
Although you are the youngest, I can still depend on you to give way to your special sister. You understood why she needs extra attention.
Thank you for being a sweet and loving child...
I love you dearly...

Happy Birthday...

Boosting marriage life

2008-10-21T10:40:00.004+08:00

My friend sent me to the bus station last nite. It was soo dark and yet the time was only 6 pm. I dont feel like walking to the bus stop in the drizzling rain and in this kind of weather. It's not because I was afraid of getting wet but it was also very dangerous to wait alone in this kind of weather...
Anyway, we were chatting in the car and I was telling him that it was my hubby's birthday.
"Why didn't you take leave?" he was asking. "I'm taking half day leave for my son's birthday on the 23rd. Furthermore, I dont have much annual leave left"..
Frankly, I can spare a day leave for my hubby, but I was still mad at him for forgetting our anniversary last month. Imagine....I took leave to spend time with him and he was off to work on his rest day for the whole day...Leaving me with the worst anniversary celebration I've ever had...! To top that up, I bought him a nice gift which he couldn't be bothered to acknowledged...
My friend told me that he wanted to take leave for his wife's birthday but it was too close to Chinese New Year. Being an Indian, he had to give way to his Chinese friends for their New Year celebration.
"I used to give her presents for her birthdays b ut I don't know why I didn't now...I think I'll start back giving her presents."
"She'll be pleased if you do. I guess it's life that people take for granted after few years of marriage and people tend to forget the importance of cherishing little things like birthdays and anniversaries"
That starts me thinking...We haven't had a proper anniversary since ages ago...Why do people changed after marriage?? They took each other for granted and it is driving them apart..
Time to think of a way to boost the marriage life back.....

Happy Birthday, Abang

2008-10-21T06:42:00.000+08:00

Woke up this morning and I looked at my hubby. He is 50yo today...Took my bath and solat Subuh and got ready for work...By the time he finished his solat, I was already patiently waiting for him downstairs. He sent me to the bus station every day. Before I got down from the car...I looked at my hubby, give my sweetest smile..and wish him "Happy Birthday". His face light up...