mmmmm.... malasnya

the title says it all. This so-called blogger is so darn lazy to layan this blog. If not for an email from a friend, asking me if I will ever sambung my funny story part2, I would not be signing in to this site at all.

Anyway, this friend of mine wants to know the other tickling story of mine but aku malas lah.... nanti ya.. i promise...

But just a quick update ... oh no.. tak jadi. A friend just called and she's coming over! Nasib baik I have dusted the house this morning.....

Tada!

When I need to laugh - Part1

Whenever I am down and in need of a real good laugh, all I have to do is remember the two funny incidents in my life and I always will laugh. Guaranteed punya. I thought I might as well pen them down before old age steals the memories away from me.
But I will only share the first story. Second story later.

Story 1 :

I was a cikgu sandaran in Kuching High School (a Chinese-based school) in 1993. I was the form teacher for a Form 4 class, the class that was most likely will not do well in their  SPM and sorry to say, in their  future careers!! (er, if any of them accidentally found this blog, pls do leave a comment and tell me what you do right now, ya cos I might be wrong about you guys back then. )
Anyway, one fine day I was asked by the headmaster to update these kids' information cards - you know the ones where one of the questions were about our ambitions etc.
Apparently, some of these kids' infos were not updated for like 2 years or so.
One girl, I asked her what clubs she was in that year, she said nothing. I was about to dismiss her when she quickly told me there was one club she would love to be in but had no confidence to join.
Me : which one?
She : Moo-gic
Me : What? You have that club here? (I was thinking Magic)
She : Got but I scared one.
Me : Well, you should be. My school never had that club. (and out of the blue, I just laughed!)
She : Teacher, apa lu ketawa?
Me : (trying to be serious) Ok... so you want to join Magic Club but you scared. Mmm.. I wonder why (and I laughed again!)
She : (laughing too) No, teacher. Moo-gic, not mayy-gic. MOOGIC.
And then it dawned on me what she was saying : MUSIC!!
Both of us laughed!

My next student was a boy named Alex. And my God, this one was one naughty boy. He and the other one (I forgot his name) never got along. All they did was FIGHT. But I tolerated Alex better than the other one because he can be funny too.

Me: So Alex, what is your cita-cita?
Alex : Security
Me :  ???
ALex : like itu guard but jaga swimming pool
Me : Oh, lifeguard. (I could already hear laughter at the back of my own head! And out of curiosity I asked why he wanted to become one)
Alex : Macam bapak saya ma....
Me : But you can do better than that what... (that was me trying to become an encouraging I believe-in-you teacher)
Alex : No lah. Saya tidak pandai. (and in a very broken english he said... ) .... if itu (pointing to his enemy at the back of the class) punya anak mahu drown in the pool, saya no help. Ha... ha... ha  (sinister laugh some more from that Alex!)
Me : (stiffling a laughter, I had to excuse myself from the classroom. And in the school balcony, I could have rolled on the floor laughing! I did not roll on the floor but I laughed so hard, , my eyes were all wet!)

LOL.... those moments in that school will never be forgotten. Too many hilarious stories during my 2-month stint there. :) And sometimes I wonder what happened to some of the kids in that class. The MOOGIC girl had potential if only she socialised a bit.
Alex....I hope he has quit smoking....and not become just a lifeguard. And his enemy, I hope he was never jailed because man, he was Trouble!

How to deal with a tween???

Nina has been giving me pains in the heart lately -- and I have been quite Bersabar until today. Today, I broke down because I feel like I am at my wits' end. If I do A, she might do this, if I do B, she might do that.

When I was 12, I don't think I had given my parents too much trouble. I was a reasonably good girl. I stayed within limits of my parents' rules and regulations.

Sometimes I wonder if things would have been different if we had remained in Malaysia. I think it would but we are here already so I really can't dwell on that.

Maybe she is going through a phase and once she's gone past it, things would be better.

Sometimes I feel like I want to blame my husband for "spoiling and indulging" her. Her clothes are from branded stores, her shoes are way too pricey for her age, and just because all her friends in school have BB, she wanted one too and darn it, she eventually got one too! At the same time, he imposed a lot of don'ts in her life. And given her "savviness" in IT,   it's easy for her to "manipulate" us parents in thinking that she is observing the don'ts when she is really not.

I had tried my damn hard to become an understanding mom. To become her friend whom she can talk to about everything. I was young once too, I would tell her. I thought we were okay ...

When she used to have a diary, I gave her all the privacy she wanted and never once I read the contents. Even when I came upon them accidentally, I kept the contents to myself and never judged her. But this time around, I "hacked" into her laptop and what I found, I don't like and I am finding it hard not to judge her.

But it's her exam week and I can't be emotionally stressing her. But I am sad, dissappointed, angry ... I want my sweet child back! Ya Allah, please give me strength .... and show me the right way.

Nina, if you ever read this one day... you really made me cried today.

Amir's "fashion" show

School is almost out here. Four more weeks to go. And only today, for the first time since I got here, I went to Amir's school to give him the much needed moral support a child needs from his/her parents. Finally! I had missed his sports day, international costume day, and his swimming gala and I am so ashamed to admit this really. Especially, when I had never missed any of my children's school activities back in KL,came rain or shine. Even when their sports day was held on a working day, I applied for leave. I NEVER missed any event. But since I came here, I became very calculative that  I had chosen not to attend any activities in their schools just because I can't stand the crazy, unreasonable taxi fares.

Like today, I spent 100 riyal on taxi!! Gila you! That's like a third of our weekly grocery spending. I knew it would cost me but I had enough of "hurting" my children's feelings. My excuse for not attending Amir's other  school event before this - what I told him lah - was because of Imran. He would be running around here and there out of boredom and in the end, I would not be able to focus on his big brother's main event. And most of the times, Amir and Nina would say they understand.

But for Amir's school assembly where his class is doing some songs and dances on fashion and Amir being given some lines to recite out loud (listening to him practising the lines this past week and sounding very British at it!), I promised him I would not miss it for the world.

And I am glad I did. As the kids appeared on stage I could see how their eyes and faces lit up when each of them spotted their parents at the back of the hall. I got teary-eyed a bit actually as I was overwhelmed with guilt for missing his previous performances/participation. And at the end of the show, when all the kids ran down the stage to hug their parents, I am HAPPY that I did not let Amir down.

A few of the pupils did not have their parents there and they looked so heartbroken, I felt sorry for them. One Malay girl, upon noticing that I am Amir's mom, came to me shyly and I felt like hugging her! She told me her mom can't come because "adik demam." I hope it's true because from what I heard, her parents hardly never turned up to other events too. Well, they missed quite a show because her performance was better than Amir's!

Next week is Nina's swimming gala. She said she wants me to come and I said, see first lah. I have to fair what? I had missed Amir's swimming gala but have attended Nina's choir show and Alice the Musical play (both were held at night and the ride was FOC of course courtesy of Papa).

But I told them, next year I will try not to miss anything more. Because Imran will start his school next year and I will ride the FREE school bus at 7am even if the show/event starts at 10am or 12pm, I would not mind the long wait because I am a caring and cheap mom!

My kids

Amir woke up this morning and immediately told me of this "dream" (err, no, no, it's a nightmare, he quickly said) last night. Being a long-winded person that boy is - he tells stories from L to W, before going back to A to K, then jumped to almost Z before he realised he missed X and Y! - so you must really have great patience and a lot of time to listen to his stories. And in the morning, when I am busy in the kitchen, rushing to make breakfast, I ain't really the best listener but I gave my best.

His dream or nightmare as he said : (after mummy edited to make it coherent)

Amir mimpi Amir dengan papa and mummy kat Jeddah airport nak balik Malaysia. And then bila sampai Malaysia, Amir nampak Azri kat airport (Azri is his most closest cousin). Ok lagi tu. Tapi Azri tak de kereta, so we walked lah to rumah kita. Masa walking tu, Amir nampak Burj Dubai! (Of all the things! he spends too much time on google earth that boy). After that, we reached home but it was Jeddah, not KL. Tapi bila Amir tengok kat luar, ada pulak KLCC. (at this point, I was like, mana nightmare ni??) And then mummy and papa hilang, and I searched everywhere tapi tak de. Amir takut. Amir cari-cari lagi sampai Amir reached KLCC tapi mummy papa tak de. Lastly, I went home and bila masuk rumah tu, it looked exactly macam rumah kat Jeddah. Suddenly, nampak mummy and papa, keluar from that! - (he pointed to the washer in the kitchen!) It was so scary... "(itu rupanya nightmare dia. Ha.. ha...) Like that Japanese movie where the ghost comes out from the tv set, except we probably came out all twisted or mutilated from all the spinning and rinsing in the washer! I can't help but laughed when he finished his story. For the first time, I did not mind his incoherence in telling his story because this time around, he did leave the climax bit until the end.

An update on Imran :
He turned four a few weeks back and since then he hates it when we say things like "Imran kecik lagi. Tunggu Imran besar ya?" He would loudly say that he is a BIG boy and to stop calling him budak kecik.
Last night I told him, being budak besar, it's time he sleeps in his own bed. (As it is now, he sleeps in our bed and once I am sure he is deep in his slumber, we move him to his bed, which is just next to ours. Occasionally, he will wake up and climb back into ours, much to my annoyance.)
Anyway, back to me telling him that big boys don't sleep with their mummies, he just smiled sheepishly and said : But why? Papa dah besar, why papa sleep with mummy?
:)

An update on Nina :

I never liked helping her out with her homework unless it's really necessary. Last week, when she came home from school and said rather dramatically that she could not believe that her geography teacher gave them only six days to do a news writing on the 2004 flood in Bangladesh and create a newspaper to fit that story in, I could not believe myself when I practically jumped from my seat and said, "hey, I can help you!"
Ha.. ha.. If I had my way, I would have written the entire thing myself but fearing that the teacher might suspect something (ce... I perasan I am a good journalist lah ni!), I asked her to give me her own sentences and I help edit them.And the amount of time I spent editing it felt like I was back at work doing my centrespead for Business Times (coming in to office before 7am etc!). Doing that homework of hers, I was transported back to my life as a reporter and for that few hours, I felt alive. :)

Morning Coffees

IN my previous life, my morning coffee referred to my quick sip of hot nescafe in the morning before I rushed to work and let me tell you, I was always rushing for work (no matter how late work started!), or if I missed that, it would mean nescafe ais in the office canteen with a plate of very oily combination of mee and bihun goreng, reading my favorite newspaper Harian Metro (yes, we got it early but only if I get to the office by 9am or else all free copies would have been snatched by the morning cleaners!). Or it could also mean, coffee in hotels waiting for my press function to start.

In this current life, morning coffee is a gathering of a group of ladies for 2-3 hours, eating away various kinds of food, courtesy of the ladies of course, and the host of the event. In my case, it never involved any coffee. It does involve some cooking/baking, arrival hugs, eating, chatting, eating, pictures taking, eating, laughing, eating,tapau-ing and lastly departing hugs.

This month, there have been too many of them. (May has always been my favourite month cos I am a May baby, and back in college, it meant summer holidays around the corner and a road trip was going to take place.) I think almost every week, got morning coffee. I have attended three, and declined two and it's only middle of May! And I wondered if the two invitations I declined, the host felt kecil hati. I hope not because it was really nothing personal. I had promised myself to go to the gym three times a week since April and more than anything else, I want to stick to it. Morning coffee kinda spoiled this plan of mine. So I said no to two.

One thing I noticed here is there are some ladies who never went to any morning coffees that I have attended. And from small talks and whispers, I kind of assumed they are a) not coffee drinkers, b) they'd rather drink coffee at home, c) they're not the pot-luck kind of people or d)they're just not game for the hugging, the eating and the picture taking thingy.

I wonder about these ladies...why are they a no-show? Maybe they have turned up at some events where I was a no-show but at events/gathering where I have attended, I have seen their husbands and children but never the wives.

I wonder about them... are they not happy here and their absence is like a sign of protest? Or are they too happy that they don't need to be around other people to feel more happy? I just wonder about them and sometimes wonder if I could be like them? Because sometimes I do like being all by myself. Can I be like them?

Now, let me get myself another cup of coffee, log on to Harian Metro website and as Ella the Rocker would say, ENJOYS my time alone.... one thing for sure... I miss my morning coffee at News Cafe. Alone.

DIFFERENCES

Sometime back, I was reading the Quran, wearing just my t-shirt and jeans, sitting comfortably on the sofa. Nina asked me why am I not covered (referring to my aurat) and I said I am in the comfort of home, plus I was too lazy to wear my hijab but quickly added, Allah will understand. ??? Why did I say that, I don't know. Not really a good answer to an 11-year old who was to look upon me as a role model (of some sort)!

A few weeks later, the same question was posed by a viewer of a talk show on the London-based Islamic Channel and the Ustaz responded it was ideal for us to cover our aurat out of respect for ALLAH as we are reading his BOOK. Just like we cover our aurat when we bow to Him in our prayers. He said IDEAL, he did not really say it is a MUST.
I still think I am not wrong in reading the Quran, uncovered. Maybe I am just being jahil here, but Islam does not burden its followers. I mean, there are times when we are in our own house and we feel like reciting some surahs that we know by heart just for the sake of it or before we go to sleep. I know I do. Do I have to reach for the hijab each time I want to do that? I don't know...

It's like when some of us commented how weird it is to see some women praying with their faces covered when in Islam, the aurat for women is all her body except the face and the palms of her hands. And then somebody commented to me once, what about when we wear our telekung, which most of the time is very long, thus covering our palms? Is that not the same as those heavily veiled women? I don't know... does anyone know if that's the same thing?

Since living here, I had begun to look at all this differently. We can't pass judgement on the way other Muslims conduct themselves. Here, come solat time, they pray regardless of where they are. They can stop the car by the roadside and do their prayers if they want to. I have seen that. Or on the roundabouts, or in parking lots. Or even in the aisle/hallway leading to a shopping mall's toilets! Or even in front of the entrance of a department store, despite the surau just a five-min walk away.

It's really interesting the way they carried on their lives as Muslims. Back home, outside our homes, we'd look for a clean place. preferably a surau to perform our solat. Some would prefer to Qada instead when they can't find the surau in a shopping mall or restaurants. Here, everywhere can be your praying ground. It opened my eyes to the beauty and simplicity of Islam and I love it!
In my compound gym, quite a number of times, I see the ladies, in their exercise gear, tight leotard and all, reading the Quran, while walking on the treadmill or cycling the bike. It's a refreshing sight and even that I loved!

Talking about refreshing, I want to digress a bit.
Amir came home from school today and immediately did his homework!! I was shocked. Rupa-rupanya he has a group presentation tomorrow in class and he is the group leader! The way he told me that he's got a presentation tomorrow like it's no biggie gitu! Like he has been doing this all his life... lol! Kat KL dulu, mana ada?
This compared to Nina who had her first solo presentation just two months after coming here and boy, was she a wreck!! She was so nervous even when she was preparing it at home. Even worst when she first stood in front of the class. Nasib baik the English teacher was so understanding and asked her to go back to her seat and make her presentation when she's emotionally ready. 20 mins later, she recovered from her shyness and fear and triumphed! Her "bravery" won her the Student of the Month award for Year 7.....

What's the point of this entry? I don't know but it feels good writing it all down.....:)

Minum Petang

Finally made those kueh keria............
From these :



to :



And since I am on the Food subject, my other favorite kueh minum petang is :



I could never get enough of cinnamon rolls, and ....... a simple marble cake....



Now, who said I am lazy??? :)

Home is where the heart is

A month ago, Amir asked me how long are we going to be here. I said 3 years maybe, or even 5 years. He did a mental calculation and said, can it be just three years because he wanted to go back to his old school in 2012, when he will be in Standard 6. If 2013, there is a possibility that he might not see his old school friends ever again especially his best friend, Luqman who is now in Perth but will come home next year. He sounded a bit sad when he said all this that my eyes got welled up a little bit.

Then a couple of weeks ago, Nina told me that she has an essay to write about DILEMMA for her Local Studies Education. So I asked her what her dilemma was and she won't tell me. Then I said, :If it was me, my dilemma would be whether I want to stay here or go home. And she said, "That's what I wrote!" I looked at her face and I know she's missing home.

Even Imran sometimes, out of the blue, would say home-related things/stuff, like the tv in the family hall where he watched his Ultraman dvds, the playground where Bibik took him, the noisy dogs behind our house, mummy's car yang best.

Relocation for kids are only easier if they were younger like below 8. That's my opinion.

As for me who is way above 8, I don't understand why it's so hard for me this time around. Di US dulu, tak missed home this much pun!

It gets harder today when my neighbour told me that the property agents were in my house compound today ... I did not expect to hear this this soon. I was expecting May or June, so at least if there is buyer, it would probably take a few months before the house changed ownerships, so that we still have a place to stay this summer.

Now, how am I to tell Amir?? There will be no more Adam, no more Lokman, no more Faiz, Amrin, Ikram for him to play with. And Nina will miss Aqilah, Afiqah, Allyssa and I will miss being so near KL....

I remember Nina when she was 5 and we sold our first house in USJ. When the house was all empty, I saw her standing in my room as she sadly and slowly said, "Bye,bye House.I will miss you."

But if all goes well, my dearest kids, Nina and Amir, our next home will be nearer to where your placentas were buried ... if God wills.



My favorite part of the house, the living room and the very cooling wood floor (this was taken just a few days before we left for KSA)

Am just saying - not really complaining

When I first got here, the first 3 months, each time I opened my FB account, my friends and family back home would want to chat and their main query was how was I settling in. Sometimes, I will be FB chatting with 2 to 3 friends at one time, re-typing the same responses over and over again. Until at one point, I decided to turn off that chat room because it can be quite distracting as it stopped me from doing other online things like reading the news and checking my emails.

Come this April 22, we would have been here 10 months and honestly speaking, I feel like I have been here way longer than that! Macam dah rasa lebih setahun.

In this entry, I want to briefly describe my life here - in the land where women are forbidden to drive and taxi fares are so damn Mengarut!

Last weekend, I bought some very good looking sweet potatoes. I told myself that sometime this week, I would make kuih keria, one of my favorites local kuih. I did not really know when exactly I will make it but will buy the keledek anyway because in my household, following the rule of the man of the house, barring any unforeseen circumstances, grocery shopping takes place only once a week. So, I kinda have to plan ahead which involved stocking up the fridge, the kitchen for any sudden craving.

Last Thursday, I "planned" that I will crave for kuih keria. Six days later, the craving never made its appearance. So the sweet potatoes are still there, in my rattan-like basket, on the kitchen counter, next to the sink. Each time I stand by my sink, I would glance at them, asking myself : "would I end up throwing them away soon as they slowly rot away?" like most of the veggies I bought a week ahead but never got a chance to cook them. Even if I did cook them, there will always been one or two tomatoes, one cucumber, half a packet of bean sprouts, that ended up all soggy and thrown into the trash bin!

Last Thursday too, I "planned" not to want to eat taugeh or spinach. But by Sunday, I want to eat taugeh. And today, I wished I had some spinach so I can rebus it together with the good looking keledek. But this is not like back home where I can easily grab the car keys and drive to the nearest grocer.

It is frustrating. Really. This lack of spontaneity. The overdependence on the man of the house who even back home hardly liked going to supermarkets and I personally never minded this. I loved doing grocery shopping alone but since Jeddah, that feeling has waned.

So that my dear friends, in a nutshell, describes my life here. My experience may differ from others so please don't assume that life here is a pain for everyone else too.

If only this city has good public transportation system, like public buses or light rail transits (I wish!), no doubt, I would find living here more bearable. When I was working my butt off in England, I did not drive. I cycled or took buses. Money was tight but heck, I was happier because I can go to the market or shops anytime I wanted.

(Some of you may say now, buatlah keledek goreng ke, mee rebus ke (but mee kuning tak de??)etc but, if I am not in the mood to do it, what to do? But I promise myself, that sweet potatoes will be consumed one way or another!)

There is a quote by Charles M Schulz "I think I've discovered the secret of life - you just hang around until you get used to it."

And I think I am going to do just that. He... he...

Naked in the Abaya

The title above says IN and not UNDER. So.... I was not wearing nothing underneath my abaya, ya?. But yesterday, I went out alone. No mahram, no girlfriends with me. And I felt like I was walking around naked pulak, despite the oversized abaya, no thanks to me being perasan that every other men was looking at me!

Back home, I never felt uncomfortable being alone in public places. I can have my meals all by myself in warung, kedai mamak, fast food outlets or even good restaurants. I have no qualms of being judged by strangers of my decision to dine alone. As long as I have a good book to keep me company, I am fine. Unlike my two close friends, who pergi canteen office pun will rasa like they are being scrutinized by others. Not me. Never me.

But last week, I felt what they felt and it really is not a great feeling.

This is what happened. I had a dentist appointment and to avoid taking a cab, I took the shopping bus which was going to the same district where the clinic was located. So I had to do a bit of walking. It was only 9am and it was already HOT! I was not so familiar with the place and got a little bit lost. It did not help that the roads here are not very pedestrian friendly. What I thought was a shortcut had a dead end. What I thought was the clinic building was not. So I had a few u-turns before I finally found the place but I was way too early. The clinic was still closed and next to it was like boys' college of some sort and yes, I became a bit conscious. Nasib baik I had a book with me.

Walking all by myself, no other females in sight, was a bit awkward. No wonder the women here cover themselves head to toe. It's better to be unrecognisable. Maybe I was being perasan, but I could feel being looked at by men who probably was thinking why is this girl/woman out alone? (But I must say, the sight of female beggars is common along road junctions in this city.)

Then I went to a mall. One man, I think followed me at the supermarket. I was sure he did because I was looking at pots and pans, cookery utensils, baking dishes and he was at the same section too? Seriously?? Then I moved to the ladies' clothing section and he was there too! I gave him a look and he got the hint.

Then at the food court, one young man kept looking at me and gave me THAT how-u-doing smile!!! I rolled my eyes in disbelief and he got the hint too. Soon after, I saw him changing what I believed was his hp number with two well-covered young girls. Then another young man smiled at me and when I went to get my food at the counter, he left his no on my table!! I took the paper and crumpled it. Seriously lah... macam tak pernah tengok pompuan! Dia ingat pompuan sorang2 is easy..... What amazed me is I am bukan anak dara. Surely I look old? Maybe I don't look THAT old, eh?? But honestly, I did not like the attention.

So yep, one might be wearing loose clothing here but if you are out alone, it's like you are wearing one skimpy clothing!

Significant or Famous

Last week Amir told me that one of his classmates have a very significant grandfather. So their teacher googled the said grandpa's name and Amir was so amazed/impressed to see his friend's grandpa's name on the Internet. "There were many but too bad it was all in Bahasa Indonesia, so my teacher did not understand," he said.

So I told him to google my full name. He had a shock! He... He...:) So he asked if I am significant or famous or I am both. Mmmm... I said I could not be famous because I am not in Wikipedia but I could be a bit significant, maybe not me per se but what I had written in the paper could have been considered by others as significant enough to befit some mention in the Internet. I'd like to think lah...

I remember when I was working dulu2. Whenever I felt bored sitting at my tiny desk and when no one (read BOSSES) is looking, I would start googling. Not just my name but anyone's name, from my old classmates, former teachers, lecturers, colleagues, my husband to even my parents' names. When Facebook was non-existent, my siblings' names were non-existent too while my dad's name, thanks to me, was of course in the Net. But to see Google does its search and came out within .35 seconds of over 6,000 of my name is not impressive. What impressed me is when I googled someone's name and I see he/she is in Wikipedia.... NOW that's something else!

A guy in my office, he sat just about 10m away from me and he's in Wiki! And for a while there, I was in awe. Not of him but more of the fact that I was working with someone who is in that free encylopedia! So I was in awe of myself?? Ha..ha..

Then a week later, Daphne Iking walked into the newsroom and again out of boredom, I googled her and found out she's in Wiki too! And I was like : WTH?? What has she done to deserve a mention??? My colleague tu I can so understand why... he wrote a book and can be considered "Malaysia's prominent writer" (and it was him who taught me that it is "nerve RACKING" and not "nerve WRECKING"). But Ms Iking?? Mmmm...

Back during the pre-Internet age, an Encylopedia was, in my opinion a very reliable and valuable source of information to me. Then came Wikipedia and for a while there, I thought, this maybe not the best thing ever, but it is the quickest site for fast information to find out about something/someone significant. Not anymore.... not after Ms Iking is in it too (By the way, I have nothing against this lovely lady). Now you just need to be famous, and you're in!

I just found out that my former colleague/prominent writer is divorced, for the second time! Was that info really necessary??? So tak class this Wikipedia!

Istanbul Delights

We just came back from beautiful Istanbul a few days ago. Our first holiday overseas with Imran, who is almost 4. I considered it first after substracting the Singapore holidays because that island is just too near to be considered OBERSI. And I must say hyper Imran, although a handful was quite a delight!

We flew to Istanbul, via Arabian Airlines, a 3-hour flight from Jeddah. We read that the temperature would be in the teens so we did not bring with us any proper warm clothing. Just normal jackets for me and Nina, a windbreaker for husband and Imran, and denim jacket for Amir.

But it was cold... for the kids at least (between 8 and 12 degree during the day). Well, not for Amir who claimed he loved the chilly weather but guess who had to frequent the loo way TOO often??

It was a short trip, 3 days and 2 nights but I suppose enough to explore Istanbul. On the first night, we stayed at Best Western, St Sophia, just next to Hagar Sophia, which we did not enter because we figured since we have seen the interior of Notre Dame in Paris, how different can a church be? he.. he.. Plus, images of the interior can easily be viewed on the WWW. (Hagar Sophia was a church turned into a masjid then a museum and there was a long queue outside the ticket counter).


Hagar Sophia

Just across it is the Blue Mosque. Magnificient landmark no doubt. We also did not go in because moi was not in the "clean state" to enter a mosque. We planned to go again on our last day but we ran out of time so had to give it a miss. Next time lah...


The Blue Mosque at night

Next on our agenda was the Grand Bazaar. There was no plan to shop because just like any bazaar, items are not price tagged and showing a bit of interest would mean haggling for the best prices and I was really not up to this. Plus, I have been told by friends that what's being sold there ain't that cheap.



But I was so tempted to get my hands on those colourful Turkish lamps and Iznik handpainted ceramic ware but since we were flying back to Jeddah and not KL, why bother? Again... next time lah.





Nightime -- Nina went straight to bed which is very typical of this girl while Amir finished off his writing homework. Itulah dia when pergi bercuti time sekolah still on! Imran was glued to Tom & Jerry on Cartoon Network so, me and hubby went out for some night sightseeing, drank tea which came in very small glasses (not enough, if you ask me) and bought pizza and kebab for dinner.


Tea in tiny glass

Next morning, we went to Tokapi Palace - home to all the Ottoman sultans for nearly four centuries. Very Majestic and huge, one of the world's largest and oldest palace. I think it could easily take one whole day to explore this site, so we selected which sections we wanted to go and was done in nearly 3 hours.


Spring in Tokapi Palace


One of the memorable section was the Pavilion of the Holy Mantle, located in the palace's 3rd courtyard. Here contained belongings of our beloved Prophet (Peace be Upon Him) such as his robe, his two swords, his embedded footprint, hairs from his beard, and his letter to the Egyptian ruler. To see all these was enough to bring tears to my eyes. (Camera was forbidden in this courtyard but I saw a man using his mobile to capture pictures!)
There were also swords of the Caliphs and Companions and some pages of the Quran verified to be written by the Caliph Osman and Caliph Ali.

Our next stop was the Basilica Cistern. Entrance fee was 10TL (about RM20) for adults and of course, typical of us, we had to tell the ticket guy that our Nina, who is 5ft 4 inches- is only 12 so that she can go in FOC! This cistern, also known as the Sunken Palace was built in the 6th century during the Byzantine Empire which provided water to the palaces.


The Sunken Palace

Then we walked all the way to the other side of Istanbul, to the Galata Tower on the European side of the Golden Horn. It was quite a walk - fun to me and Amir but too exhausting for Nina. But going back to the hotel proved to be quite a challenge. After a stroll down Taksim St where we did some shopping, we kinda got lost and walked for miles, up and down some very STEEP roads, before we finally took the advice of two good Samaritans who said where we were heading was TOO far to walk but with the bus, it would take only less than 10 minutes! Lenguh kaki. The bus took us back to Eminonu jetty, across the Yeni Mosque and once there, the two boys wanted to pee and with our very lenguh kaki, we ran and ran looking for WC. And believe it or not, nak masuk kena bayar 1TL - toilet belakang pasar je tu! (that's like RM2 and I complained Sogo's 30 sen is WAY TOO mahal!)

From Eminonu, took a train back to our hotel, which is just two stations away. We stayed in a different hotel because Best Western's Thursday's night price is not as cheap as Wed's night so we checked into a cheaper looking hotel -- lupa dah nama -- for the same price as Best Western's Wed night price - 70 euro for a 3-bedded room).

Next day, our last day, went out early to buy the tickets for Bosphorus ferry tour. We were at the jetty 2 hours earlier than any other tourists!! Dah lah sejuk. The ferry "sailed" at about 10.30am and we reached the final dock of the tour 90 mins later, at Anadolu Kavağı, on the Asian side which was about 10 km south of the Black Sea. Along the way, we passed by some of the other Ottoman seaside palaces (very photogenic) and experienced two "false alarm" from Imran who said he wanted to poo-poo but it didn't happen! Not an issue if the toilets were cleaner and not the squat type!



One of the Ottoman mansions along the Bosphorus

Dah sampai Kavagi, we were given 3 hours to explore the small fishing town. 3 hours!! Nak panjat a fortress, ada orang tak keen sangat cos tak larat so we ended up killing time going in and out of souvenior shops, having lunch, berkejar ke toilet twice, once another false alarm from Imran and the other one, finally, for real! Again, it was a squat type toilet so really a big dugaan for a parent whose anak tidak tahu mencangkung!


Patiently waiting for the ferry

Imran, after one of his many bathroom stops.... :)

Then, it was time to fly back to Jeddah ....... back to wearing the abaya....... So impressed I was with Istanbul and its rich history, I bought Orhan Pamuk's Istanbul Memories and the City at the airport. Great book this one from a great writer ...

For more photos of Istanbul, you can click on this :

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=51983&id=1014574505&l=51f15b348a

Ada Bakat ke?

In Amir's last report card, his Art teacher wrote that Amir has quite a talent for drawing. "A budding artist in the making," he wrote. I don't know about that. But I do know he is very good at copying other's people drawings and he is very detailed. He said he did a Van Gogh painting in school last month and since I never saw it, I have to take his word when he said, it was SOOO NICE.
The picture below is an example of his copy-cat work of art. I have to say they are very good. For a second I thought he'd traced those pictures from a book but he said he didn't and his sister vouched for him.

This talent, I am certain he didn't get it from me because I suck at anything that requires creativity. Back in school, Art is never a favorite subject but always a favourite class period because it was when I did nothing when others were intently drawing. My excuse : I focused better at home. The teacher knew I lied because I always ended up with a C or D anyways! So Amir must have gotten it from his dad? Maybe because when it comes to the art of precision and detailing, HE is the man!

Now my other offspring, who a week ago turned 12, claimed she is a musician whose talent is ready to be unleashed and wanted nothing else but a guitar for her birthday. She got a Sony MP4 from his dad and a "Fendi" look-alike watch from me. Well, we know, they were not guitar. His dad promised she'll get one this coming summer when we are in KL, a remark that almost "killed her" apparently! (Her facebook status right after being told that was : I AM SO HAPPY I COULD DIE.)

But does she really have a talent? If she does, where did she get it from? I am not musically-inclined although I do love listening to music. At her age, I was happy listening to English songs from Barbara Streisand and Roberta Flack, then writing the lyrics down and checking the dictionary to make sure my spellings were right. That was as good as I got. No desire for a guitar ke, a piano ke or an organ. Her dad meanwhile claimed he can strum an electric guitar like a pro. Yeah, I'd believe it when I see it!

I personally believe, Nina's current craving for a guitar is a result of "peer" pressure ...... from Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift!

As for their mom, who is not creative nor pandai main muzik, she "scored" another D for this following incident:
(Look carefully at the picture and ignore the very careless "painting" I drew over the other kids' eyes.)


Got it? No? Then take a look at this:


LOL! this was taken the week Amir told me that his socks were not matching and I told him that they are not THAT obvious what! I was wrong....

Grumpy Young Mummy

I will soon celebrate my 12th birthday.............as a mother. And being only 12, I must say I am still a young mother. So I must forgive myself if I still lack patience, maturity and wisdom. If I don't learn to forgive myself, who would? My children? Of course not. They probably think I am a monster, disguise as a mom. My husband? Not! He thinks being a mom is the most natural thing for a woman. Says who? I was only born nearly 12 years ago. my dear. Motherhood is SO not easy. If it was, FATHERS would gladly take over the job.

When I was a working mom, I think my children loved and appreciated me more. I think now that I am always home, their love and appreciation for me have lessen. They don't say it, of course but you can see it in their eyes and actions.

When I was working and taking time off during weekdays (thanks to the nature of my job which allowed me to do so), Nina and Amir loved it. They loved coming home from school and see my car parked in the porch.
"Mummy tak keje ke?" they would asked in unison. And when I nodded, they would acted so manja and Nina would said, "Can you drive us to sekolah agama?" And Amir would added, "And fetch us back too?" And I would smilingly agreed.
(Okay maybe the above "flashback" is an exaggeration but I did occasionally smile!)

I usually don't tell them when I was on my off days from work because if I did, they would asked me to send them to and fetch them from school, which I always declined because Pakcik Ariffin, the bus driver, HAS BEEN PAID to do that bit. But sometimes I relented and would fetched them instead.

Even if it was on the days of my late shift duty (2pm or 5pm), I would make it a point to send them to agama school just because I loved being with them, even if just for 30 mins or so.

If I was working on the weekends, they would called me many times just to ask what time am I coming home. Their dad called many times too and we all know why lah kan? Remember, if being a mother is EASY PEASY, all dads would willingly do it.

Flash forward to present times. If there was a Mothers' Anonymous meetings, I would gladly sign up! Help sober me up ladies! I am too intoxicated by my 24/7 motherhood chores/responsibilities. Seriously.

I personally believe some women have it. It here means being a full time mother. I am definitely not one of them. I get pissed too easily. I am impatient. I am reckless too (with my choice of words.) I am NOT FIT to become a SAHM. Really.

The other night, Nina asked me : "What is a natural satellite?" Bad mummy responded (while mopping the kitchen floor), agitated no less, : "As opposed to what? A not natural satellite??" Nina shrugged off. Mummy, still annoyed continued :"If you can google your songs on you tube, u surely can google natural satellite! When I was in school, I did not study satellites. Even if I had, I would not have bothered nenek to find out what it is. I would go to the library because BACK then we did not have the Internet ...." and I went on and on and on without realising Nina had left the kitchen! Probably with a smirk on her face!

Amir gets it from me almost on a daily basis. And I pity him. Really I do. Last night, he asked me what's the meaning of lighthearted. I said :"Ever heard of a dictionary? Look it up. I want to be like nenek (my mom). She did not help me with difficult English words."

All the the cooking, the cleaning, the washing, the dusting, the bed-making, the laundry, the laundry folding, the vacumming, the teaching, and the wifely duties are really stressing me out. Masa kerja dulu-dulu, at least I have an excuse to skip some of these but now, what is my excuse? Well, I do make excuses (like I need to read the online news NOW, or I have to watch my fav tv shows NOW), but deep in my heart, I find these excuses lame.


So, should I be worried if my children now love me less? Not really cos truth be told, I don't really fancy myself now.

Now, let me get to folding the two baskets of laundry, while not enjoying the view outside my house which has been blanketed by a shroud of dusts. Dust storm, two days in a row already! STRESS nya ...................


And if one day my children read this entry, please remember :

Some mothers are kissing mothers and some are scolding mothers, but it is love just the same, and most mothers kiss and scold together. ~Pearl S. Buck

Cekik Darah

A week ago I came upon a website on expatriates living in Saudi Arabia. It had interviews with a number of orang putihs and there was one which I found to be quite interesting. She's an American who apparently enjoyed her stay in Jeddah despite the many restrictions. That's fine with me. What shocked me is when she said her family spent between 4k and 5k riyals in grocery shopping monthly! and that amount, she said was "reasonably not bad!" And that was in 2007. Wow!

We spend WAY less than half of that amount and even that, we feel that it is too much compared to our spending back in KL. Here, one hour of grocery shopping can easily cost us SR300, sometimes SR400, double what we usually paid in KL. I have lived here 9 months already and I still cringe whenever I look at the receipts.

While I am on this $$ talk, the kids' schools are also ridiculously Pencekik Darah. One class photograph costs SR50 (for Amir) and SR70 (for Nina) and whylah the photos must be in 8x10 size?? To justify the crazy price tags?? Wouldn't it be easy if they just email us the pics and let the parents do the printing? You'd think this would be a better option in today's world but NO. They'd rather go a step backward so they gain a bit of profit for themselves. I mean seriously, do you really have to hire a professional photographer to take the photos? Surely, the teacher who teaches photography classes in THAT school can do it for free? Back in my school years, I think our photographer was our PE teacher, or was he our Arts teacher? Whatever, but I think we paid only 50 sen for the photos. Or was it free? Back in my kids' school in KL, the photos were FOC.

And then there is the exorbitant taxi fares. It just does not make sense. Their petrol price is lots and lots CHEAPER than a price of 500ml bottled water but a five km ride can easily make me SR20 poorer. That's like the fare for my 17km taxi ride from my house to Jalan Riong, Bangsar.

Nina oh Nina

Nina came home from school yesterday with a note from her school nurse. The note read : "Fainted after deep breathing exercise. Bruise with swelling to right side of head. Cannot remember the incident. Awake, alert response at all times. Pupils equal, reacting, light." (the last two words were my own assumption as they were rather ineligible)

Being a rather blunt person I am, even in my role as a mum, my immediate response was : "Mmm... that shows life is short. Anything can happen, we can die anytime. So it is important that we don't miss our solat, we don't show disrespect to our parents ......"

She looked rather upset that I did not sympathize. So I reminded her of what had earlier happened in the morning before she went to school.

Her dad gave her a 100riyal note to pay for her Alice in Wonderland "party" tomorrow and told her to be careful with the money. Her reaction was very nonchalant with her eyes glued to the tv, like her dad was not talking to her. Papa repeated again what he said and again, this anak bertuah continued to be deaf. Then she said something that was not making sense to us mature we-have-lived-longer-than-her adults like we her parents were stupid or something.

That really ticked me off. And understandably, her dad too. Of course, she was scolded by both of us. And as she put her $$ into her bag, she looked pissed and kind of shoved her bag angrily.

My last words to her was to stop her rude manners because what goes around comes around and not to forget Allah, The Almighty.

So when she related her fainting incident later that day and how her friends thought she was going to die because her eyes were all white etc, all I could say, yet again, Allah is Great.

I don't know why she fainted really. She wasn't in her PE class, and it was after lunch hour. Since it was a Music class and the teacher was teaching them how to breathe correctly when singing, I figured she must have done it wrongly, causing a sudden shortness of breath.
Alhamdulillah, it only caused a small swelling in her head. It did not kill her appetite! :)

My latest toy

I bought a pasta machine two weeks ago and has since then, used it once. Made mee kuning and it turned out great. Nothing beats fresh noodles, the soft texture makes it so darn delectable. I loved it.



I remember my mom used to have a noodle machine but back then, it did not come motorised. So it was a bit troublesome really, with one hand holding on to the flat dough sheet and the other operating the rollers. But this one only needed a touch of a button, and the dough sheet turns into noodle strips. Cool. The funny thing was, I almost contemplated to get a refund upon finding out the instruction leaflet was all in Arabic! I was like, oh no! how on earth do I operate this?? But thanks to You Tube, I got the hang of it in a second!

So now I have a pasta machine. It's cheap and it works. Next on my to-buy toy list is this :




Currently I have something that looks similar but it ain't THE ONE.

Sometimes love, Sometimes loathe

Cooking and I do not really go so far back. It is still a novelty to me really. Growing up, I hardly cooked. Blame it on my mom or was it just me? I knew how to cook rice with the electric cooker when I was 11 or 12. Then I was taught to peel onions and that kinda the only thing I knew up until I left home for college! Yeah, sure I cooked the occasional maggi mee, fried egg and that tasty sambal goreng kentang my big sister concocted but that's about it. In my household, cooking was more my parents' forte and my big sister's too and in later years, my other sister (who's 6 years younger) would follow suit. It was never me. While THEY were in the kitchen, one can find me either in front of the tv doing my homework or in my bed, reading a book. To say my mom was accommodating to my "lifestyle choice" is an understatement when she was quite a nagger back then. But my absence from the kitchen never bothered her. As long as I have done my onion peeling duty, I can be excused from the kitchen!

So I left for college and the first two years in Shah Alam, I did not have to cook. Warung food everyday! Then came the US and I finally cooked! Strangely I don't remember much what I cooked back then but I knew I had a few recipes I took with me to the new land and I think I cooked a really tasty ayam goreng tomato. But other than that, I could not, for the life of me, recalled what else had I cooked during that time. Ayam goreng, ikan bilis goreng, ikan goreng etc .... were they nice or not, I don't remember.

Working life in KL, I ate out most of the time but I did remember cooking beef paprik and one my roomates commented " mmm... this is good Rozi. Tastes like the one we buy in warung." Mmm... was that a compliment?

Anyways, then I got married and cooking was yet to become a fav pastime. I mean, cooking for two ain't easy. Most recipes are meant for 4-6 people and that would meant a 2cm of ginger needs to be divided by 4?? And I hated Maths.

Fast forward 6 years, my daughter was 6 and boy she loved to eat. So eating out is not really a good option anymore as it can be quite costly. Living in the UK at that time did not help too. So I had to cook. No other choice but that. And thanks to the Internet, finding tried and tested recipes was a breeze. So my culinary journey began in a foreign land ..... and surprisingly I enjoyed it very much. You can say I kind of fell in love with cooking and even baking.

And that continued when we came back to Malaysia. Cooking for four is easier than cooking for just hubby and myself. And I kinda enjoyed it especially when you have a child that was quite the Alam Flora! But living in our own homeland, we are spoilt with a lot of warung choices. There are days, we can opt not to cook and just tapau. No harm there what.

But now? I HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO COOK!!! EVERYDAY! And it is making me SICK! Seriously. A stay-at-home-mum in Malaysia would be a different story. A SAHM in a country where women can't drive is a torture. Day in and day out, I have to think of what food shall I prepare for my loved ones.

Imran just asked for nasi 30 mins ago and I told him it's too early for lunch. So he asked for milk and I scolded him because he has had too much milk today. But I made it anyway and he drank it and now he has dozed off, probably dreaming of his nasi! Kesian.

I have thawed chicken and calamari but I still have no idea what to cook .... I love cooking really but there are days I just LOATHE it to bits. And that day is today. Help!

I am back!

See, I knew it! I know keeping a blog is not such a good idea because I lack discipline! It has been three months and I have been neglecting this blog. But that's just me. Times I do have ideas on what to write, I am too lazy to go the laptop, or too lazy to on it or when I do on the laptop, I get engrossed with reading online news or I simply got stuck on the Facebook page. Then all those IDEAS I had in my head to blog about just disappeared into thin air.

And today, I thought I'd give my blog a check, a bit hoping that after three months, the page may had just been closed due to inactivity. But oops! it's still here! and now I feel obliged to write away..... and Imran keeps saying he is hungry. See.... the time to blog for me is never right.
So I will make this quick. And I will be rambling, most of the time, I anticipate...

My in-laws were in town last month for three weeks. So I got off cooking for yes, three weeks! MIL cooks and hubby, being mama's boy loves mama's cooking. So I let him have his way and I had mine. :) Thanks MIL! When they were here, we went to Mekah twice and Madinah once.

I have been busy with the Internet - watching my fav tv shows online, learning to improve my recitation of the Quran online etc. Sounds blissful eh? Maybe but if you ask me, I'd rather do all this in Malaysia. Gosh. I so miss my country.

I began this year - 2010 - with a promise to myself that I will become a teacher to Imran, to prepare him for his reception year this September. It's almost the end of February and I am nowhere near to becoming Imran's teacher! Supervising the homework of the older two pun dah pening kepala....

I also wanted to lose weight. By end of June this year, I want to lose 8kg! Yes, I said it. 8kg you!! Its February and I have less than 5 months to lose the unwanted, undesirable fat. So I had started a 3-day/week walk brisk regime since two weeks ago. Not sure if I had lost weight or not since then because eating is still a big yes in my life!

Okay.. what else is new? Oh, the past week I have had a Meryl Streep marathon week of some sort. It's Complicated, Mama Mia, Doubt, Julie Julia --- Ms Streep has been wonderful and I am a big fan.

So, I have to go now before Imran dozes off while waiting for his rice with telur. Gosh, it's good to be back. Not back blogging but just back typing away like this .... (sometimes I just miss being in the newsroom.)