Living with Sarah

I was driving back from KL to Bangi just now after our seminar and took the Sg Besi to Seremban highway. It was after 5.30pm and the jam is... as usual. Know that furniture expo beside the highway? I've always noticed the gigantic orange chair at the front, but only today I noticed there is a note there that said something like - Malaysian Guinness Book of Records for the Biggest Chair. I'm actually so sick of all these attempts to be the biggest, longest, highest, etc. Waste of money, effort and most importantly, not well thought of that in the end the attempts look really stupid. (Let's see how the jump at the artic/antartic - which one I don't remember - by the Putera UMNO fares. And while I'm at it, please lah don't waste my hard-earned money I pay for my taxes. Macam nak mati aku kerja pas tu bayar income tax, ko senang2 je spend juta2 buat benda2 tak berfaedah macam tu!) Anyway, back to the huge chair. The definition of chair is: a piece of furniture used ...

My last "visit" to the cinema was last year's Pirates of the Caribbean: A Dead Man's Chest . Didn't have time to go and also didn't find any movie worth to watch. Hubby downloaded The Devil Wear's Prada and with Sarah watching Tom & Jerry, Spongebob Squarepants and Dragon Booster all day, I watched the movie on the notebook. I'm not really into this kind of story actually. High fashion and too-good-looking-women wearing clothes that costs my whole year's salary is not my cup of tea. But surprisingly, amidst the scary Cruella de Ville kinda boss, lame foursome friendship and loads of beautiful clothes, I actually like the movie. I love the part when Andy managed to get the Harry Potter manuscript, got it photocopied (2 copies and nicely bounded for her boss' twin daughters), couriered to the copies to them (the twins were shown reading the manuscripts on a train) and threw one copy on Miranda's table along with a cup of coffee just in t...

I caught one show last Tuesday. It's the O magazine's 5th anniversary show. It's a re-run, so I'm not really sure how old the magazine is now. But for the hundredth time, I'd like to salute this amazing woman. She's so honest, approachable, warm, funny, brilliant, etc, etc... I was feeling a little bit down that day. Woke up from sleep and saw that I have this deep wrinkle on my forehead and my eyes are like a Panda's - there're dark circles around my eyes. Rasa so very unattractive. Biasa lah - women kan. But then watching Oprah just lift up my spirits. Know how we women always envy the covergirls on magazines? They always look so beautiful and flawless. Now, you can still continue being envy, but know now that you too can actually be that beautiful and flawless with help. Oprah, being her honest self, brought the viewers to behind "the scenes" of her photo shoot. So, I watched how she came over to the set without her make-up on (oh my!), how ...

We finally went for a short family vacation - to Federal Hotel, KL. That's the only hotel I managed to book using my FHI membership. Surprisingly, the hotel is very nice, despite the rooms being a bit smaller. Location is excellent, right next to Low Yatt and a short walk to Berjaya Times Square. We had a wonderful time taking Sarah around. We hit the pool first. The days were quite cool due to the drizzle. Sarah swam with hubby, I read my book - in peace. I even managed to take a nap. After that dinner and then the rides at Times Square. It was great because there were not many people. Best lah jalan masa Chinese New Year ni... We were there until 10pm - just before it closed! Then a nice drink at Coffee Bean before settling down for the night. Next morning, breakfast at the coffee house. Then, a lion dance troupe came over doing an ear-deafening dance. But Sarah was so thrilled. She loved the lions dancing and them grabbing the hanging salad, pretending to eat it and spitting it ...

Insyaallah from this week onwards, I solemnly promise to myself that I will work from home at least one day in a week. I promise that on that particular day, I will wait for Aliyah Maisarah in front of her school at exactly 11.45am. I promise that I will watch her come out from the main door with her pink Princess schoolbag on her back, taking her school shoes from the shoe rack. I promise I will watch her wear her shoes meticulously while brushing off specks of dirt on her shoes. I promise I will observe her getting into line along with the other kids while waiting for the school van to arrive. I promise I will watch her joyful facial expression when her teacher takes her hand and lead her to me at the gate. I promise I will give her a big hug and kiss before taking her to the car. I promise, if she has the appetite, to take her right after for a snack of roti canai empat segi at the Mamak restaurant nearby. I promise I will cook lunch, help her with her homework, get her to take her ...

Akak kat office ni stress je minggu ni. Bukan stress kerja, stress pasal orang lain. Sebabkan dah berbulan-bulan orang-orang tu buat perangai, minggu ni we all buat official complain. Dia ingat apa, company we all kecik sesuka hati nak pijak-pijak kepala we all ya. We all ni orang baik-baik tau, tapi sekali melenting siap kau. First one, our country's main telco provider, sapa lagi kalau bukan Telekom Malaysia. Haa, akak siap tulis nama lagi, ingat we all suka dipermain-mainkan? Macam ni, since October last year akak notice bil telefon office ni ada charge TMNET 1515 padahal we all pakai Streamyx. Buat apa buat kerja bodoh gi dial-up pulak. Akak ingat si Casfian or Eza tapi diaorg memang tak pakai. Jadiknya we all complain la kat call center no 100 tu. Mati-mati budak tu kata we all yg pakai siap tau ID & password lagi. We all kata tak pakai la mangkuk, nombor tu pun we all pakai utk fax je. We all tanya boleh tak bagi history of usage that ID, si mangkuk tu kata - login je la....

Believe it or not this photo was taken in 1950. This bunch of 15 or so year olds have just finished school and applying to become teachers. My father is the one standing 2nd from left. This is the earliest known photo of my father. A friend of his came over to the house and gave him a photocopy of the photo. Azah said he looked at the photo with tears in his eyes. My father is 72 this year. Still healthy with amazing memory. He's a walking history book. Ask him anything about the country's history and he can tell you in detail. He used to be a Bahasa Melayu and History teacher. He's a true teacher right till this moment. In this photo he looks a bit like my 2nd brother (Hello Abang Ben! Hehehehe...). My father wanted me to become a teacher. None of my siblings became one, so he thought I could be the best candidate. He was so proud when I enrolled in the TESL program. But I officially taught for 2.5 months. I didn't like it. He was angry. We didn't speak for months....

After days of TV craps, finally I caught something good on TV last night - Trek Selebriti on the late Sudirman. Who can ever forget him? The multi-talented singing lawyer. My one and only favourite singer. Sudirman passed away in 1992, that's almost 15 years now. The show was really touching. They showed snippets of his last performance before he fell sick. Being a true professional, there was no trace of him being ill. He was full of energy, very entertaining and really funny. He's the guy who sang the "rakyat" songs. And he's equally good in singing mushy love songs. He can dance, he can act, and a natural comedian. A true role model. The show interviewed his sister, the one who took care of him till his last days. How hurtful it was for her that people accused Sudirman contracting AIDS. She shielded her brother from the outsiders so as to protect his dignity. She wanted people to remember Sudirman as the joyful singer, not some sick and thin to the bone man who...

Hari ni TV punya la boringnya you all. Ingatkan hari cuti macam ni boleh la spend time tengok TV kan. Lagipun, client akak tu kan dah 32 jam tak call akak ni, jadi rasanya weekend ni kira selamatlah dari dia. Tapi bila scroll channels, satu benda pun tak da rasa nak tengok. Pas tu scroll lagi sekali, mana tau termiss, pun tak jumpa jugak. Tak de feeling langsung nak nengok TV. Akak start dgn TV1 - yang ada tu drama typical Melayu yang rasa nak muntah tengok. Pelakon2nya yang top masa akak sekolah menengah dulu, tapi berlakon jadik budak muda pulak. Sikat rambut belah tepi ingat boleh nampak muda? Pas tu dialognya macam biasa lah - dok "I", "you", tarik2 nafas, senyum sumbing, pas tu minum2 kat restoran. Fresh oren mesti ada OK. Tak kuasa. Bila lah drama Melayu nak maju? Akak teringin nak tengok one fine day ada drama Melayu yang simple but powerful mcm drama Korea, Jepun atau German. They have simple storyline - stories about normal people, tapi best giler. Cerita d...

One amazing thing about running your own business and depending on it for your income is that you can actually feel your grey hair growing. Serious. Or is that my brains actually at boiling point? I have not had a moment of peace for a long, long time. Every waking hour is spent being alert of the things around me - what business opportunities can this thing generate? Everything I see I analyse - a billboard, an advertisement on TV, an article in the newspaper... And I read articles about successful people with envy. I don't want to be that rich. I just want to have a nice little business that gives me a few thousands a month for my expenses. That's all. OK la, the words a few thousands can be a little subjective. Enough to cover my expenses. Anyway, I'm having a tough week. That new client who happens to be an ex-colleague is driving me crazy. Not to mention Casfian who has his way of working that makes my heart feels as if it's throwing itself from a cliff. I'm no...