Closing of July 2010

End of July 2010! Tujuh bulan sudah. Ini bermakna sudah kira-kira 28 minggu daripada 52 bagi tahun 2010 kita dah lalui.

Ingat ini? Senarai resolusi yang saya buat pada awal tahun 2010? Lihat juga tracking saya bagi January di sini, February di sini, April di sini dan May di sini. Somehow, I forget to track my March and June.

Unlike my previous entries on tracking them all, I'm just going to ramble about my resolution numero dua only. That's where I did my best anyway heh heh.

Here goes...

2. Saya akan membaca sekurang-kurangnya satu buku setiap bulan tanpa mengira genre cerita tersebut.

I can pat meself on the back when it comes to this. Up to end of July 2010, I have read not 7, but 31 books (well.. almost as I am still reading the 31st book). In July alone, I read 6 books (June takde baca buku langsung!). I am bad at giving review. Let's just note whether I like em or not shall we? Here's my list for July..

1. TAPAI by Hishamudin Rais. Entertaining short stories about food and eateries which the writer went. Yeah, entertaining altough I don't quite agree with certain things that he practices.

2. CINTA SUFI by Ramlee Awang Murshid. The last addition to Laksamana Sunan series. Among all 4 in this series i.e. Bagaikan Puteri, Cinta Sang Ratu, Hijab Sang Pencinta and Cinta Sufi, I love Hijab Sang Pencinta most. As if, his writing matured as he got along from the 1st book to the 3rd. I expected something 'more' in his 4th but just could not find it. Something is just lacking. But I like the tagline on the cover - sekali kurebah, sejuta kali kubangkit.



3. A RELIABE WIFE by Robert Goolrick. My first english novel for July. If you ask, I concluded this novel amongst 'sederhana'. The plot is predictable and the story is a bit 'too young' to my age.


4. THE LAST SONG by Nicholas Sparks. Again, I am way too old for this kind of I-love-you-you-love-me kinda. I might enjoy it (and book no 3, A RELIABE WIFE) if I am in my late teens or early twenties. But now that I am 36... I'll just leave it on the shelve for Kakak when she's old enough for these.


5. BERCINTA SAMPAI KE SYURGA. Sambungan kepada buku pertama, Aku Terima Nikahnya by Hasrizal Abdul Jamil, better known as Saifulislam (web here) in the cyber world. Light reading, soup for the soul I'd say. The writer should be careful as ada isi yang bertindan dengan buku pertama. Buku ini menyentuh isu-isu perhubungan kekeluargaan, sebagai suami isteri, sebagai ibu bapa, sebagai anak. Cukup mengingatkan saya walaupun sudah berumahtangga hampir 10 tahun, itu bukan jaminan bahagia sepanjang hayat dan walaupun sudah bergelar ibu hampir 9 tahun, masih terlalu banyak ilmu keibubapaan yang harus saya pelajari!

6. THE HUT OF LEAPING FISHES by Chiew-Siah Tei. I am only quarter-way through and enjoying every page of it (so far).


So, what have you read? Care to share?

Ultraman Adamon

Ada berani? Nanti kena fire heh heh.

Fibrecomm's Family Days 2010

Pinjam belakang suami sapa ntah ni. Sorry ye bang, kak..

Dates: 23rd - 25th July 2010

Venue: Bukit Gambang Resort City.

Event: Family Day Fibrecomm Network (the company Tebby works for la, I am not working kan now ni)

All Fibrecomm staffs were given a day leave on Friday but we departed KL well after Jumaat prayer. Iman's class ended at 12.30pm and as usual, only at 12.45pm was he 'released' out. We could not departed any earlier than that. Journey was OK and after cleaning up Adam's vomit somewhere near Karak hiway, we arrived in BGRC at almost 6.00pm. The pool closed down at 7.00pm sp my kids just drooled from the balconi.

First event was BBQ Dinner. BBQ-ed udangnya sangat sedap okay. I just had to have more and more. Got BBQ-ed lamb as well. My kids gawked at the whole-lamb being grilled. Food? Terlalu banyak untuk dihabiskan. Entertainment on the first night was a karaoke competition inter-house (depa siap ada rumah merah, kuning, hijau bagai u olsss) and a clown doing that balloon thingy. We all tak tunggu sampai event habis, anak-anak dah tangkap lentok nak tidor.

menu.. yang panjang berjela..

Ada one girl tu siap order camni 'badut, badut.. anjing putih satu'. The clown had hard time (but he was patient enuff, I must say) coping with demand. Kids from other events swarmed him as well hu hu.


Second night dinner was nasi putih with lauk-pauk. Entertainment was Fuyoo Magic, specially brought from KL. Dik, your last show tu kan, pretty obvious sangat tangan hijau tu tipo punya. Tapi yang lelain tu was really entertaining. I like your dotted card most. There was also live band (comprises of staff and children of staff). Rendition included lagu-lagu dari seberang (ai loikeee) and dari tanah air kita jua.

Atas - Baju belang tu anak ai. Adam.

Bawah - Ni semer harta peribadi staff. Jimat belanja..

Other than that they held telematch and paint-ball. Telematch tu we all pegi tengok aje, tak join. Anak-anak pun taknak join. Paint ball Tebby pegi, while me and kids had a dip in the pool. I am all burnt and dark.. pasni kena tempel lah segala krim pencerahan dengan gigih sekali heh heh. Kali ni tak pegi pon wet-park nya walaupun dah dapat tiket. Main kat pool hotel jekk.

Tangan Iman.. besau kan?




Iman dengan Kakak, sempat lagi bergaduh kat pool *sigh*

Adam. Berenang la sangat tuuuu!!

We departed BGRC after lunch. Stop kat Temerloh for short family affair. Then headed to KL at 6.00pm. Jem sangattt.. sampai BTHO at almost 9.00pm already.

That was our second Family Day with Fibrecomm (probably the last as Tebby's contract is expiring soon). Last year they held it at Pangkor Laut Beach Resort. I did not blog about it for I just had a miscarriage soon after the event.

But anyway, read our short vacation end of 2009 at BGRC here, here, here and here.

Good News!

Days before, a colleague sent me a text messages, asking me how I was doing being TSAHM. I replied back, it was okay (still is!), less pressure, cuma tak masyukkk. She replied back, takpe kak, rezeki itu luas. Bukan letak pada duit saja.

Hati yang tenang, masa yang lapang, anak-anak yang berjaya, rumahtangga yang bahagia - semua itu rezeki. Cuma kadang-kadang kita (saya juga!) menyempitkan istilah rezeki sebagai duit sahaja.

Alhamdulillah, we're hearing some good news now but I can't say much until the papers arrive. Syukran, rezeki..

Thank You Perodua

Hari ni Iman school off day. He's still going cuma tak belajar hari ni. Dyslexia Association of Malaysia is receiving Perodua Alza from Perodua as part of Perodua's community and charity programs. The kids were in Rawang this morning as part of the ceremonial program. Sometimes I wish the company I work for does more things of this kind. Raising kids with special needs has never been easy. At least for me. It's neither cheap too.

Anyway, we had to be there in Ampang Hilir the latest by 7.30am. It was raining and a little dark when we left Cheras. Iman ni pulak memang jenis budak yang tak miss breakfast so singgah kedai jap tapau roti canai which he ate in the car. At 7.15am I was still somewhere along the road depan Cheras Leisure Mall. The traffic was congested. Iman looked forward to this trip, I was hoping we could make it in time. Eventually masa sampai kat Ampang Hilir around 7.45am, I saw the gate was still open and the bus was not even there yet. Alhamdulillah..

When I fetched him in the noon, he was all excited. Sampai malam tak habis cerita lagi. Pasal kereta kaler coklat and another in pink (pink??). Pasal lunch ada ayam goreng. Pasal makan jelly. Pasal ambik gambar etc. Last but not least the goodies bag he got. Iya, anak saya sudah boleh bercerita!

To Perodua, thanks a lot. Maybe one or two cars are insignificant to such a big company like Perodua but I am sure such gestures mean a lot to people like us.

More on the event here and here.

Goodies from Perodua.

Laman Lagi!

Laman la lagi you olsss!! Boring huh? Nak buat cemana, this is my life for now so just bear with it. Seberat-berat mata memandang, berat lagi bahu memikul OR it may be a totally opposite situation. If you see me enjoying myself doing all these, yes, I am. But like I had said before, I may change my mind in few months to come heh heh.

So, introducing new members of the laman. Ni satu bahagian. Yang barunya ialah pasu bulat rendah kaler hijau itu. I loikeee sangat. Jatuh cinta pandang pertama. Pokok dalam tu pokok lama, cuma dah re-structure semula.

Ni plak pandangan sebelah lagi satu. Yang barunya ialah pokok pegaga dengan pokok ros putih tu. Tak sure kalau pegaga jenis ni boleh makan ke idak. Daun cantik, bulat-bulat bentuknya. Pasu comot ya amat ya kawan-kawan. Rustik la konon..

Ros putih ni si Kakak yang nak. I prefer other color, kuning ke, merah ke, dark pink ke. Tapi dia nak putih so putih it is then. Memang ambik pasu yang paling rimbun bunganya. Kalau ambik yang gondol, belum tentu berbunga bila sampai kat tangan saya! Beli dah siap berpasu gitu.

Ni plak bahagian dekat pagar depan. Previously ada pokok dedaunan yang dual-tone tu.. And ada sebaris pokok iris yang sungguh cantik. Pastu semuanya mati sebab kurang kasih sayang dan perhatian. Pokok pun cam orang gak ye kawan-kawan. Ada keperluan emosi selain kena kasi minum air dan makan baja.


Belah ni lah yang dulunya ada pokok dual tone tu. Mati. Then saya letak batu-batu kat sepanjang alur ni. Sudahnya sebab boring petang-petang la ni, saya tanam pokok renek ni kat situ. Memula beli 5 pokok.. tak cukup. Separuh je cover. Then beli lagi 6 pokok. En Tebby tak terkata apa dah... Ni masih kecik amat lagi. Pulak tu si Adam dok pijak-pijak suka suki dia ajer isk.

Bahagian ni pulak, betul-betul kat tepi pagar. Dulu ada barisan pokok iris bunga kuning. Sebab banyak yang mati, pastu yang tinggal pon rupa tak semenggah, saya cabut semua, ganti dengan hak ni. Belah ni seksa sikit nak gali tanah sebab dekat dengan pagar. Tapi En Tebby dengan gigihnya melayan wife nya yang tengah kemaruk berkebun ni, galilah jugak. Nak cari batu besar bubuh kat depan barisan bunga tu lah pulak. Tapi... pokok tak cukup, ada space sikit lagi. Kat situ lagi susah nak gali sebab terkepit dengan pagar dan satu slab batu yang berat, susah nak alih. So, letak aje bunga dalam pasu. Beli sepasu, masih tak cukup. Ada part yang rongak lagi tu ha... Jap lagi nak singgah beli sepokok lagi.

Yang ni pulak hak Iman. Iyer... dia punya pokok. Katanya Iman nak kaler perper (purple).. layan je lah. Tapi nama aje pokok Iman, tukang jaganya Ummi ni jugaklah. Samalah si pokok ros putih tu, acik gaklah jadi mak angkatnyaaa....

Kalau gini gayanya, agak-agak lepas setahun apa jadik kat laman Kak Mon yaaa??

Date Night - Inception

Went dating last night. Tengok wayang cerita Inception (official web here, info from wiki here). It's about going into someone's dream and steal thoughts or planting ideas into someone's head. Umpama mimpi dalam mimpi lah nih. The last part was, as always, leaves us thinking (and then comes part 2 pulok la kan).

The show started at 10.30p.m and ended at about 1.00a.m. My hp plak takde battery, nasib baik terjaga jam 6.30a.m pagi tadi. Lepas tengok Inception, buat inception sendiri sampai tak sedor hari dah siang!

Next in line - Salt!

Iman Kawan Soffeyyaaaa Ajerrrr

Today is the 9th day Iman at Ampang Hilir. Unlike Kakak, he makes friends fast, can put names to faces. He knows that Arish has been absent for 2 days due to fever. He knows the one who sits beside him is Omar (Teacher Sharifah has to seperate these boys as they get too naughty when they are together). He showed me a small birdy sticker which Sofia gave him few days ago. I am glad his social skills has improved a lot. In his previous kindy, he often spent time outside the class, alone.

I make small conversation during our journey back home. You know, about school, about friend, or if he gets a star sticker that day (that is given as a rewards btw).

Hari ni Arish datang? me asked
Datang. Dua hari Arish demam.
Iman main naughty dengan Omar lagi? (they were caught playing swords using pencils the day before)
Takkkk...
Who's your friend? Omar? Arish?
Takkk... Iman kawan dengan Soffeyyaaaa jerrrr.
Kenapa?
Sebab Soffeyyaaaa bagi Iman tiker buyummm (sticker burung)

Owhhhhh... anakku.... bertuah sungguhh!!

Iman's First MC

Iman's first MC! Since last night he has been having diarrhea like nobody business. He vomitted and pooped for so many times, even in his sleep. Habis seluar, selimut, tilam that Tebby put him in diapers!

Dr said he's not having food poisoning but berjangkit dari orang lain. Logic enough as I had the same symptoms the day before (tapi acik tak pooped in sleep ok.. semua sempat pi toilet!)

So today, he's enjoying his first MC. Sayang juga terpaksa miss class...

Cepat sembuh ya Iman!

Gardening La Pulakk!!

My 9th day of TSAHM. Not really staying home but staying away from the office as a matter of fact. This new thing (of TSAHM) bores me and excites me at the same time.

So, what have I been up to today? Garderning! Among the thing I love doing. Jom tengok gambar..

After fetching up Iman from Ampang Hilir, we made a small u-turn at a T-junction near Cheras Perdana to get to this small nursery. Small but enough. The name's ARTECH Home DECOR. As what is written on the signboard, it sells plants, water feature, garden's ornamental, wood carvings and some other items. Dekat belah-belah depan tu, all you can see is pokok-pokok, too beautiful to refuse. Bila masuk dalam, banyak ornamental for gardens yang sangatttlaaaahh menawan daku and finally wood carvings for wall deco. The one I like fetches RM1.8k in price. So, just forget it lah kan.




I bought 3 hanging pots of pink petunia (rasanyalah, kalo tak silap) color of Iman's choice. Now hanging on the left side of our porch. I used to have these before but they died in no time. Hope these, panjang lah umurnya..



This one is bought from Carrefour. Beautiful isn't she? Sold for RM9.90.



I also hang a new wind chime. In blue porcelain, onto a carved, wooden wall hanger. Jenuh nak menukul ke tiang tu.. At one point, the nail refused to budge at all, I may have hit the steel rod inside kot. Tu ada gap inbetween tu.. such an eyesore kan.



This bird cage has had some carving at the bottom part but was ruined lepas jatuh atas porch during heavy rain. Acik buang semua bahagian bawah and alihkan kat pokok kemboja. We keep the closure open, kononnya nak kasi burung datang... tadok sekor pun berminat heh heh.



This is my small garden. Nothing much has changed since the day we upah orang to do it. Tu kain langsir acik tengah sidai kat pagar, lepas berbulan-bulan tak basuh. The same old curtain since the day we moved in 7 years ago. Wahh... tak sangka acik ni ekonomikal jugak orangnya heh heh.




Yang ini pulak kumbang di taman acik ya. Kumbang kecik yang kuat menyengat. Tengok dahi nun, dah bertampal pasal terhantuk kat meja akibat menbuat lompatan-lompatan terlarang... :P

Mari Menghias Rumah

My timing went wrong today. I ended up back in Ampang at 11.45, about 45 minutes - 1 hour before Iman class ends. Today, after sending off Kakak to sekolah kebangsaan at 10am then went shopping (only the necessaries nowadays peeps!) in Carrefour, I had meant to singgah at a nursery pokok. The nursery pokok rupanya tutup on Wednesdays. It was messy to turn back home as I have to get on the hi-way to do so. So, pegi jugaklah ke arah Ampang. Boy, it was so hot yesterday, at times I had to squint my eyes eventho the I am using that transition glasses.

Lucky thing, there's this KK Home Deco (web here) in Ampang, situated on the left hand side as I exit from MRR to Jalan Ampang. KK Home Deco is not really my cuppa where decorating is concerned, but hey, I need things to do to kill time. So KK Deco it was then. Kalau dah menyinggah, tak sah tak membeli apa-apa kan. I had this tempat gantung pinggan. You know, kalau konsep ala-ala English tu kan, hak pesen gantung pinggan bunga-bunga kat dinding. I bought yang ada 3 slots, straight down. Ada lagi pesen-pesen lain tapi cam complicated je untuk selera deko daku ni. The price tag showed RM19.90 but after some discount I got it for RM 7.15. Terkejut acik tapi tanpa segan silu masukkan semula duit RM10.00 sekeping dalam beg heh heh. So here's how it looks in No. 49..

tak cukup 3 pinggan so letak frame gambo satu.
ni seme Iman yang buat, gantung kat paku dan susun pinggan tu..

p.s: -

Anyway, I need some fact and opinion on something. Can we put animal figurines as hiasan rumah? There's this 3-in-a-group super cute black-and-white cats made from wood but obviously they don't have the sifat-sifat yang betul. No tail and the feet are in in fact, cuma dilukis saja atas kayu tu. Drop me some messages ya.

Second Day in Ampang Hilir

Second day went smoother than I had expected. Had some time with Iman makan nasi lemak bawah pokok in the compound area. I asked one of the teachers if I should wait. She said I should go so I went off, balik rumah.

At 11.30am I went again to Ampang Hilir to pick him up. He was all smiles and looked happy. Great relief. Just that he went wetting his track bottom and underwear while doing his business kat toilet heh heh. Lucky thing there was a spare track bottom he could fit into (sans undewear he he). En route back home, we chatted about how his days was. And today, he was so excited about doing his homework that bugged me until I accompanied him doing so.

I drove some 80++ km today coz I made two trips. You see, my situation is, too long too wait but to short to go home and come back. But by going back, I have like 2 1/2 hours to do lunch and some me-time at home (since I can't be seriously lounging around in shopping malls since am not earning own salary he he)

Anyway, I made friends with one or two mothers. It's easy to strike a conversation when you have things in common. It made me realize how lucky I am in certain ways. I may not as lucky as others in other ways. But life is like that and Allah is fair. I believe we all have our own share of plus and minus.

Iman's First Day in Ampang Hilir

Iman's first day at Persatuan Dyslexia Malaysia, its Ampang Hilir Center.

Me and other hopeful parents sent our kids on their first day. Contrary to what I had earlier expected, nobody shed tears. The kids had fun running around and played. Iman made new friends. There were few students from the last batch still there. Bubbly Suraya and Afina greeted me and we had good kiddy chat. You know, kids say the darnest thingy. At exactly 8.30am the kids were ushered into their respective classes. Iman is in the Beginners (Longgg way to go but insyaAllah. We've made small steps along the journey, InsyaAllah).

Before leaving for class, Iman had specifically told me not to leave and to stay around. When he's in the class, me and Tebby took our leave and detoured Ampang. Went to Jalan Memanda for brekkie then to Ampang Point beli tights for Kakak (dan tolong tokey kedai bukak pintu kedai, it was da** early). Then we headed for Plaza Ampang City. When it was almost 12.30pm (his classes enf at 12.30pm), we went back to Ampang Hilir and waited there, as if we haven't moved a muscle! When he was me, Iman demanded explanation right away as to where I've been all the while! He must've been taking peeks from time to time. Told him, I had to go to the toilet and there's no toilet there except for budak kecik. He seemed to be buying that idea (I need more excuse for days to come!).

Iman, gigih buat homework. First day, momentum is good. Hopefully remains.

Friends, please pray for our success. I pray to Allah to bless us with smooth easy journey and to bless us with endless patience and passion.

Mat Iji? Mat Iji Who??

Last week, when I was still working, I got a phone call. Blackberry showed a prefix of 016.

Hello me said
Hello voice from the other end said. a male.

Ni Kak R******** ker?

Iya.

Ini Mat Iji.

Ha... Mat Iji? the way he spoke, as if, I should know him.

Matttt IIIIjjiiii.

Sapa?

Ni xxxx (his real, full name) dari MYEG.

Ohhhh, sorry.

Ni akak punya road tax. Saya ada kat bawah, kat lobi. Boleh akak turun?

Dik, alamat tu kalau tak silap tingkat 14 kan?

Yelah, saya naik (ada sikit irritated suaranya)

That was my 3rd renewal. The first time was in July 2008. I took all the trouble going to AmBank in AmCorp Mall to do my insurance and then climbed up the hill on the opposite of AmCorp to JPJ to renew my driving license and road tax. Masa tu, my confinement was just over. In 2009 I decided to out-source all the trouble to Jah. Everything went smoothly. Insurance renewed. Road tax renewed. Minus the hassle. For 2010, obviously I'd gone and asked her once more heh heh.

So, this is my car, parked in front of our gate. VeeVaaVoom yang berjasa selama 3 tahun dah. It first made its way into our home gate on 4th July 2007. Born on the 4th of July, as I always put it. Happy 3rd Birthday lil fella!

* Read all my entries on this little fella, here.

On a totally unrelated matter, for lunch today, I prepared Beef Chop Suey (recipe here), ikan gelama goreng and the infamous budu.