Living with Sarah

Honestly, I have not ridden my bike for months. Yup, despite my pledge that this year I'm going to get myself healthier. It's always - weather's too hot, not well, busy, got deadline, it's raining, and many, many more reasons. Today, after days of planning, I finally went out for a ride. It was supposed to be in the morning but it rained. After sending Aliyah to her tuition at school, we went to the office for a while. Work. Never ending. There's this new thingy that we are doing. I believe this will work. Because our partner offered to develop it and do profit sharing. This stuff must be good then! Anyway, we rode to my favourite route - Sg Buah. I love that route, despite having to pass through a stretch of small road by the river heavily filled with garbage to get straight to Sg Buah. The place is still a traditional kampung - single lane roads, with orchards - durian, rambutan..., a bailey bridge to cross Sg Langat, a small stream along the road, kandang lembu a...

There was a fatal accident involving some UMNO people on Wednesday in Putrajaya. Hubby and I missed it by merely minutes. We were on our way back to Seri Putra from Cyberjaya after a meeting. That stretch of road at Desa Pinggiran Putra is notorious for being a hot spot for fatal accidents. I've seen a couple of accidents there before - one of them the horrific one involving a Kancil. So, every time we use that road, I always have this not so good feeling in my gut. That Wednesday, I saw from a far a blue Estima already blocking the road. A couple of cars already stopped and a few people were seen making phone calls. We passed the nearest lamp post - there was this wreck there which I first thought was a motorbike. Apparently, it was the side door stuck to the lamp post. We slowed down. Two men were lying motionless on the road with blood starting to stain the road. They were obviously being thrown out of the car. Two men were sitting at the curb with their heads bleeding. Then I s...

The next day after the koi tragedy, we went to the fish shop nearby and bought 3 little kois - for each of us. I picked an orange fish, Aliyah a silver one and Hubby a gold one. They are named: Mommy, Aliyah and Abah. What else! They are the butterfly kind - their tails are long and wavy like goldfish. Good thing we bought the fish fast because the surviving sole fish was already in distress. I think. It kept swimming around like it's searching for something. When the little kois were brought in, they because fast friends. And the bruises - I think they have started to heal a bit.

We usually reach home from the office around 6pm++. Today terlajak sikit - around 6.40 and were faced with "the koi tragedy". As we walked to the side door, we watched in horror - the fish pond was dry! Ok, not completely dry. There was I think less than 1 inch of water. The big kois were still. The smallest one was struggling to breathe. Even the whole lot of the little red fish were gasping for air. H ubby quickly refilled the pond and found the problem. The pipe that brings water to the filter was disengaged. Something - most probably a cat - must have jumped on top of the filter and pushed the pipe. Perhaps. How that happened, I still wonder. Quite sad actually. The kois were already big. Most were Hubby's birthday present from Aliyah. Only one survived, with bruises. They are as big as Hubby's crocs and heavy too. Taken just before "burial ceremony". Poor kois.

I'm currently reading Eat, Pray, Love. Yup, I'm wayyy behind time. It's just that I don't read books based on fad. I read when I want to read, no matter how far off or newly-released a book is. When the time is right, I get my hands on it. Except for Harry Potter, of course. I've just read less than 1/4 of the book. So far - not so impressed. No connection. This is a book about a woman's depression and trust me, I know about depression. I connect more with Sophie's Bakery for the Broken Hearted . Maybe this book is similar to Under the Tuscan Sun. I had to read it twice to appreciate it. Or maybe it's because I'm no longer depressed. That phase in life is over. Maybe...

School holidays almost over. Travel di sekitar Putrajaya and KL sahaja. On Tuesday, we went to watch The Lorax. So-so saja lah. Ok but got no impact. Flashback menjela-jela... Comel la jugak Lorax ni, kata Aliyah... Yesterday, we went to Petrosains. Aliyah memanglah sangat lama nak pergi. Just that both of us really hate to go into the city - unless untuk aktiviti mencari rezeki. Too many people, too many cars, too noisy, too expansive... But then, as long as she's happy, we are happy... We had fun :) At lunch hour, while waiting for 2pm to get in, we went out to the park for a picnic. It just stresses me out to see people queuing outside of restaurants for lunch. It was so nice outside with the two towers at the background, even though the fountains are out for major renovation. There was this bunch of girls practising choral reading. Teringat zaman sekolah dulu! I saw this - teringat Kiki our cat! Aliyah with the Dino the rapper. Turun dari slide...

We took the day off today to take Aliyah out for a movie. She quietly said to me yesterday, if possible, can she stay home on Wednesday. She must be so bored spending time at the office. My poor little girl. We decided, instead of spending Wednesday at home, let's take today day off to watch a movie. Deep inside, I proposed that because I don't know what our schedule will be like this week. Don't want her to be frustrated... Anyway, after the movie (which I will talk about later), we had late lunch at Sushi King (where else?). I noticed a few seats away, an ex-colleague during my ex-company earlier days - Anita with her two kids. She was then our legal officer. She was about to pay when I caught her eyes and waved. Her face lit up and she came to our table, happily asking about us. She has always been a warm person. We exchanged name cards. She now operates her own Montessori at the kondos at IOI Resort. I know she has always been a person who loves kids. However, what made...

Last weekend was so cool. It rained both days. Alhamdulillah duduk rumah sejuk... Kucing-kucing akak pun mengambil kesempatan untuk melakukan aktiviti favourite para kucing... Tidurr... Tak boleh harap langsung, makan tidur je kerja. Bila hujan, perut pun lapar kan. So, akak pun masak. Untuk tengahari - spaghetti bolognese recipe sendiri favourite Aliyah. On Saturday we went grocery shopping, had dinner at Tesco food court (mana lagi nak makan kat Tesco Nilai tu?). One bite of her spaghetti, Aliyah said - "Mommy punya lagi sedap...". Terus request masak spaghetti. Let's see - mine is very simple yet yummy sebab I tak guna tomato puree, but I use canned whole tomatoes. Sweeter and bit fresher in taste. But colour is a bit pucat, so letak cili sos sikit. Also, no canned mushrooms - I hate those funny looking and funny smelling brown stuff. I use oyster mushroom because that's Aliyah's favourite. Petang masak kuah kacang and nasi impit. Macam nak raya pulak. Akak seb...

Boleh tak the next person who whines about having so much work to do on FB, Akak nak baling kepala dia dengan senduk besi? Dah tau kerja banyak yang kau sibuk melayan FB tu buat apa? Seriously I am so, so angin. Know what - bersyukurlah awak ada kerja. Hujung bulan tentu-tentu dapat gaji. How about those yang unemployed? Or yang kena laid off? Or terpaksa berhenti kerja atas sebab-sebab yang tak dapat dielakkan (seperti...?). Or orang macam Akak yang gaji tertakluk kepada project payment? Kalau kerani akaun yang proses payment Akak tu orangnya asyik komplen kerja banyak tak sudah-sudah kat FB, itulah antara punca payment Akak lambat dapat. Kalau dia focus buat kerja, settlekan semua invoices dalam file atas meja dia, tak pegi makan sampai 3 jam, tak de nya komplen kat FB. Sah-sah masa cukup nak buat kerja. So, bersyukurlah pada Allah sebab ada kerja. Kalau tak, resign je dan bagi peluang kat orang lain.

Last week, we were at that potential client's office in KL to discuss our proposal and managed to catch up with our ex-colleague, or rather, one of my ex-bosses. He was in such a hurry, apologising for not being able to talk long due to abundance of work on his shoulders. He mentioned about having so much work that he usually comes back home at 11pm-midnight - daily. And while about to walk back, he said that we are lucky having a business that allows us to spend time with our family. I told him - it comes with pros and cons. Yeah, he said with a smile. Just minutes ago, my Jobstreet email suggested a job vacancy that I so, so, so qualify - Masters in Corp Comm. It's for a agency, with job scope that I so, so, so have the expertise in - strategic comm planning, writing, website & intranet, budget monitoring, corporate governance... I seldom even glance at job vacancies, but this just grabbed my interest. Location = the heart of KL. Salary = I calculated, with my current spe...

Oh my, holidays already? I still have no idea on what to do this one-week school holidays. There are just too much work to do. Not that I'm complaining. So much work to do = good for business. But pity Aliyah... We know she will not complain. She can quietly do her stuff, play games, read, draw by herself at the office. I'm thinking a short jalan-jalan in KL or Putrajaya or a splashing time at a waterpark or pool nearby... Let's see if my Kak Long's grandson, Harith, comes down from Alor Setar. Then can arrange something. It'll be havoc when he's around.

At times, when stress is high, when things look so bleak and though, when cash is low and the next payment is weeks away, it is easy to forget how lucky we are being bestowed with His gifts. A friend posted this on her FB. Made me feel better :) BUKAN SAJA-SAJA ALLAH meletakkanmu dalam BIDANG itu.. BUKAN SAJA-SAJA ALLAH mengurniakanmu KEPAKARAN itu.. BUKAN SAJA-SAJA ALLAH memberikan UJIAN sebegitu.. BUKAN SAJA-SAJA ALLAH membiarkanmu mengemudi dalam KEADAAN sebegitu.. MELAINKAN ALLAH tahu kamu akan memberikan sesuatu dalam bidang itu.. MELAINKAN ALLAH tahu kamu bakal membiakkan ilmu-ilmu itu.. MELAINKAN ALLAH akan temukan kamu dengan insan-insan ikhlas membantu.. MELAINKAN ALLAH mahu menguatkanmu.. MELAINKAN ALLAH mahu kamu tahu betapa tingginya kasih sayangNYA padamu..

The 3 little kittens have found their new homes. Alhamdulillah... last time we visited, they looked so cute and adorable. Tahan sabar untuk tidak membawa pulang ke rumah. After 1 month at the vet's, Mimi has gained some weight and we could bring her back. Along with a big cage to keep her for the time being. Just some pictures of our other 3 cats. They are a handful! This is Tabby, the wakil rakyat of Jalan 3/9. He visits the neighbours as part of his routine. Quite smart though. When we reach home, he would quickly come back, walking into the house together, as if he's been out for just a while. Fatso. This is BoboiBlur. Sangat blur. Muka pun blur. He lives in his own world. Very manja tapi malas nak layan sebab sangat suka kan comfort - our bed. We always have to close the bedroom doors because he would quietly go upstairs to sleep. And this is Eecah. Another fatso. And "eksyen" sangat. If you call her, she would look at you with this look that says - "what???...

I was opening my old files to search for photos to put in our newly-revamped website when I found some photos of Aliyah at the old office. They were dated 2006. It just struck me that Aliyah has been with me in forming up this company from the very start - through thick and thin, good times and bad times, laughter and tears... She has been a loyal "employee"! She spent so much time at the office - more than any other staff. She's the main reason for me forming up this company - to be able to spend more time with her. I guess that's mainly the reason why women set up their own business. I watched Best Food Ever on TLC last night of the top 10 bakeries around US and most of the owners are women, and at least a couple of them said the reason for leaving high-flying jobs to set up their bakeries was to spend more time with their children. I specifically bought her a low table - a mini version of our office tables. She was really into drawing and writing at 5 years old. Th...