Living with Sarah

We spent the whole day yesterday at Sepang Go-kart circuit to watch Harith - my Kak Long's grandson aka my cucu sedara - race at the Yamaha tournament. He's a cadet - 8 years old. It was our first time watching him and know what, I actually have this new-found respect towards this boy. He is such a hyper and naughty boy but when he's behind the wheels, I was so surprised he could focus all his attention and energy. The race really drained him - it was so hot and there were 4 rounds - warm-up, time qualifying, and 2 races of 15 laps each. He got no 9 out of 12 racers which I think was such an achievement because he's quite new to the race and he's actually the smallest and youngest racer. Harith is sponsored by UUM, he's got this van to transport the kart and all the equipment and all races are paid for. My personal view - motor sports is very stressful especially for kids. Not to mention full of politics (the big sponsors). It's going to be a challenging jou...

We did it last year - but it was at my mother's place, so we couldn't really switched off all lights because my mother was so restless. This year I was prepared. At 8pm yesterday, I started making tuna mayo sandwiches and hot tea, and took out tealight candles and arranged them at the pond. That made Aliyah so excited. At exactly 8.30pm Hubby switched off all lights. We sat at the patio, had our dinner with candles around. But we were not in total darkness. There is a road light next to out house, so we were very well lighted. We talked and kind of played at the garden. It felt a bit different being under lesser light but I guess we were in high spirit for supporting the Earth Hour. Aliyah now is aware of the event and why it is organised. And me, I have always been a little bit environmental-conscious. I collect aluminum cans and plastics, and give them to my father who will sell them off to those lorries that buy such stuff. (And father will give me back those few ringgits he...

This daughter of mine has grown into an "anak dara" now. If we plan to go out, we'll make sure she takes her bath at least 30 minutes before the rest of us. She spends hours in the bathroom - especially shampooing and conditioning her hair. Then, getting dressed is another long wait - dry her hair, put on leave-on conditioner, choose what clothes to wear... and perfume is a must. She is using up all my perfumes - nak tidur pun nak pakai perfume! Her many faces from our Kuantan trip: Tutup hidung sebab kandang ostrich busuk! Aliyah is so "pembersih". She hates going to the market or the wet sections of a hypermarket. I like to drag her there just for the fun of it. I told her - since she likes eating fish, she needs to know how fish smells like before being cooked! A pose in front of the rolling waves before picking up seashells... Suka la nak buat muka macam ni!

Last Saturday, while we were still so very tired after the Kuantan trip, we headed south to Melaka for a day trip. My MIL wanted to belanja everybody ikan bakar after everybody's hardwork over Pijal's wedding last month. Yes, I am married to a guy from Melaka but have never been to Umbai before. So, after Maghrib, 5 cars headed for Umbai, well actually Alai. My MIL heaped up the baskets on various fish as big as half of Aliyah's body. And on top of that - crabs, prawns, pepahat and squids - all fit for the hungry stomachs of about 20. We were so very hungry, but then it was Saturday night after all, and we were there at peak dinner time, so the service was quite slow. But once the food started to arrive, they compensated for all the waitings. I can't say the cooking was so good - except for ikan sweet sour which was excellent - but the freshness of the seafood overrides the mediocre taste. Everything was gulped down with these little nasi lemak bungkus, which was surpri...

We came back last night and we are still very tired. Spent 4 days and 3 nights at Kuantan Tembeling Resort - at an apartment. We managed to get very good price as our client helped make the booking. Previously, my trips to Kuantan have always been about work. This time around, work + time off. But then, Aliyah was not so well. She developed a fever before we went and was still under medication while we were there. As for me, it was a good rest. I managed to catch up on my sleep, got to watch TV (I even managed to watch Private Practice!), and work but at a slower pace. The place was supposed to have Wifi but (as usual), line was down. So, for the first time in many many months, I was not connected! Oh my, the first day was horrible - I had to supervise this documentations for an RFQ and doing it over the phone was quite difficult. Then I got so restless. I kept walking all over the apartment, flipped the TV channels, sat mourning at the balcony... I need the Internet! By the 2nd day, I...

I actually don't know whether to call it a vacation, but I really really hope at least it'll be a vacation for Aliyah. We'll be going to Kuantan (again) tomorrow but this time we'll be there for 4 straight days. Our content interview session with the investors starts this week - Hubby's the interviewer, I am always the editor :). I already have a stack of files to review/edit for the portal. Anyway, we won't be staying at our regular business hotel. We managed to get our client to book a nice apartment at Teluk Cempedak. So, not far from town. I'll (try to) make Aliyah happy while Hubby goes to work. And hope, I can slot in some time to do my work. I don't really feel good as I'm leaving behind this unfinished RFQ which we are trying very hard to complete all we can tonight. And hope Linda will be able to put the documents together and send them to our partner by Wednesday.

My visit to NSTP yesterday brought 1001 memories. It was the place I considered as my first real job. My 2-month stint as an English teacher in Banting doesn't really count because I despised every single day I was there. And thank God I had the guts to resign and start a totally new career life, rather than simply go with the flow serving the mandatory 7 years of Government service and got complacent and ended up a bitter and couldn't care less teacher. NSTP was a dream came true. I had wanted to work with a publishing house - specifically newspaper ever since I was 14 years old. At that young age my dream was to become a photo-journalist - to travel the world, take pictures and write stories. I was inspired by a TIME magazine Vietnam War coffee table book - I had it under my bed which I read every single night over and over again. While I was job hunting, I interviewed for a job at a radio station as a news writer and as a feature writer for a travel & arts magazine, besi...

I was at NSTP, Bangsar this morning for a meeting. A place I have not set my foot on for the past 13 years. That long. And how it has changed. I walked, absorbing the whole scenario and remembering my 2 wonderful years there. Will talk about that later. Anyway, there we met our partner Shaji and his associate from Australia - YS - a Chinese guy. After the hellos and what nots, I remarked to Shaji how the place has changed. Shaji briefly told YS that I worked there before. And I told YS - 13 years ago. YS looked at me, gave me a surprised look and said, "You mean, you worked here when you were 5?". Hahahaha... he made my day!

I took leave last Friday. Really needed the break. Hubby was off for day trip to Kuantan with a colleague. I think I've had enough of Kuantan for while. Aliyah also took err... leave from school. There's Maulidurasul celebration where all students have to come in the morning. The event was just for about 3 hours - to me nothing much other than the teachers having major headache to control all students in jubilant mood. So, after my full morning banking chores, we did our mother-daughter routine - a trip to Alamanda (yang dah sangat lama tak pergi). At first Aliyah wanted to catch a movie but then there's nothing good being shown, so we ended up hanging out at MPH, ogle over the new mermaid Barbie, and finally did some grocery shopping. Not so fun actually. On the way back I suggested a haircut - about time for both Aliyah and I. So, we went to our usual "aunty" salon. An hour long of wash and cut for both of us with almost identical hair cut! That was fun. So come...

Things have been hectic lately but with no money in sight. I've worked for 14 straight days since last week including weekend I wake up each morning with body ache. Work with no money is such a challenging task. There were a lot of times that I literally felt like drowning. At one time, the only money I had was this few hundreds in my ASB which I dare not touch. And finally ego put aside, I borrowed some cash from my sister and two brothers. My AIA cheque finally cleared and what a temporary relief - I used it up to pay for my staff salary (some partial payments) and most importantly - company phone and Internet line. I pray payments will come in soon. We were promised next week. There is this bad habit by some clients (especially those in the Govt agencies) - they like to keep your invoices (or signed documentations) on their desks for God knows what reasons. Why can't they just forward it to the necessary people for processing? Those invoices will translate to payments and pa...

Last night Hubby finally succeeded in getting the kitten Jiji to eat. She is only about 1 month old but she's already big. And so very naughty. I don't feel like having another cat so Jiji stays outside the house. She and the mother only come in when we are home. It was a joy to finally see the kitten eat. We only bought Whiskas for them actually. So I told the kitten (yes, I do talk to cats, you see...) - "Nanti Mommy ada duit sikit Mommy belikan food yang bagus OK...". Having said that I gasp, this realisation and memory came flooding to my mind and tears started to pour out. After a month of hoping and praying, suddenly, reality sank in and I cried. Those were the exact same words I said to my furry good friend Bubu the last time I saw him. That Sunday night one month ago Bubu was sneezing. I scratched his head and said, "Minggu depan Mommy dapat duit kita pegi clinic OK?". Right after, he went for his usual outing and never came back. We were told by the...