Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from December, 2012

Last Day of 2012 - Over a Bowl of Cendol & Mee Rebus

After the workers finished installing the access door system, Linda and I went downstairs to have lunch. Bawah pokok - for cendol and mee rebus. Seriously one of the best cendol and mee rebus around this area. Anyway, I have been friends with Linda since our hostel days. While we were not really in the same group of friends, we were in the same groups of notorious friends. At that time, some groups "overlap". After we finished school, all the groups sort of got "joined" together as ex-88ATPNers. Nope, we didn't reflect on the year. We just touched on issues that came to mind. Rule of thumb: there shouldn't be any serious conversations over cendol and mee rebus. Let's see - how we still can't understand why some women go gaga over tudung Fareeda which cost hundreds of ringgit per piece, how at this age the most important thing is to spend by our own means and not by what other people think we should, how ridiculous some people spend their money but

Last Day of 2012 - My Reconstructed Heart

On this last day of the year, I am at the office, buried deep in translation work that has started to make my back ache. These stinging sounds of the drill really disturbs. Some workers are here installing the access door system. It is high time we install it. The number of tenants has increased. One tenant actually broke the key of the glass door (leaving half of the key inside the keyhole) a few months ago and since then we have been having problems with the door. While doing this monotonous work of formatting the translated work into the format requested by the client, I try to recall what 2012 has been - for me, my family, my company. One thing for sure - it has been such a tough year. From all aspects - financially and personally. However, the challenge has opened my eyes to the true meaning of kinship and friendship. It has taught me that even in the tough test of times, there are generous and kind people all around us. That is such a blessing. And I thank Allah swt for such wo

It's a Sign?

Our office is due for new tenancy agreement. The whole 3-storey was bought by another party. We have been pestered on rent increment for months. Since early November, we have been trying to get the increment reduced. Hubby siap pergi jumpa lawyer dengan Robert - the real estate agent who handles our Puchong apartment sale. Alhamdulillah, dapat kurang RM500 than initial amount. Next, came the amount that we need to pay - aduii... punyalah banyak. We need to top-up the deposits, + legal fees, + 2 months advance rent. Memang tak mampu nak bayar. I was really down for weeks. Memang sangat sayang dengan office tu. Just a couple of weeks ago, I thought of offering the office for take over to our tenants. Mula-mula ada 2 yang interested. Agaknya bila tengok amount nak kena keluar, terus tak jadi. Seriously, ingat senang ke nak rent an office? The amount to fork out is over rm5K. It was back to square one... At one point, ingat nak offer to Bro Muzz. I don't mind losing on the amount tha

Dapat Cucu Baru

Alhamdulillah, my niece Titin safely delivered a baby boy today. Well, via cesarean. It has been quite a difficult pregnancy for her. And I am so glad that she and the baby are well. So, that's a new cucu sedara for me. A new cucu for my Kak Long yang I am very sure has been having sleepless nights for weeks.

Ready for School

Both Hubby and I had to go for a meeting in Bdr Baru Bangi after breakfast and had to leave Aliyah - somewhere. At first, plan to tumpang her at my Angah's office. We then remembered that she badly needs a haircut. Rambut dah panjang sangat. Sekolah pun dah nak buka next week. So, we parked her at Izzkin instead dengan pesanan khas kepada Ekin - potong rambut for school and nothing else - meaning no manicure or pedicure ya!  Sangat comel... 

Pisang Dah Nak Berbuah...

I wrote previously about this pokok pisang yang tidak ada harapan untuk hidup but we decided to plant it anyway. That the ones yang we all sangat berharap untuk hidup dan tanam di luar telah dikerjakan oleh lembu-lembu durjana. That pokok pisang dah nak berbuah... Yeay! Tak lama lagi, insyaallah, dapat lah makan pisang tanduk merah...

Chrismasy Lunch

I have been watching too much of Jamie Oliver these past few days. All those Christmas food he prepared looked so yummy and mouth watering. And he made it look like they are so easy to make. So, hari ini I dah janji dengan Aliyah that we will make Christmas food, not because it's Christmas, but because the food looks so tempting. Hubby pun tak jadi pegi ride ke Kelang yang jauh tu, so good day to cook something special. Hasilnya...  Roasted chicken with stuffing yang I suka hati buat - breadcrumbs, hotdogs, lotsa onions, some flour and an egg.  Roasted carrots and potatoes with the stuffing leftovers. Wanted to roast till crisp tapi perut dah lapar. Kalau  letak cheese kat atas lagi sedap nih... Then I made coleslaw (grated cabbage and carrots with mayo and black pepper) and gravy (heat what's left on the roasting pan and add black pepper, milk and parsley). And we have a complete meal... and 3 happy tummies. There's still half of the chicken in the oven...

Singgah Sebentar di Kopitiam

One of Aliyah's favourite food is roti bakar kopitiam style. I had to rush to the bank just now, somewhere near my Angah's office. Then, decided to drop by for a visit. And then a short stop at Bangi Kopitiam. Aliyah successfully memorised these few bacaan solat today - while in the car - and roti bakar is her treat. Bukan apa, last week during our meeting there memang teringat kat dia. Nak tapau nanti dah tak sedap pulak bila balik rumah.  Bangi Kopitiam has these "artifacts" of not-so-long ago. I explained to Aliyah the concept of typewriter. She looked at it and wonder how the ribbons can actually produce printed words. She said - tak sakit ke tangan tekan-tekan tu? Sigh... budak-budak sekarang main iPad mana ada tekan-tekan...  Now, this is called a "roller-skate" before the invention of roller-blades. I remember I was so good at this!  Where is my roti bakar??? She ate 3 of this double set. I only ate one and was so full!

Khamis-Jumaat yang Berkat

Alhamdulillah, syukur pada Allah swt. We just nailed 2 projects these 2 days. Semalam dapat request for quotation from our regular insurance company untuk translation work. They have new products to launch in February. Our contact said there are more to come. Should be the usual - policy, brochures, etc. Today, dapat confirmation to start work on the first batch of materials. Yesterday, setelah Hubby menunggu hampir 1 hari kat office Bro Muzz, akhirnya dapat PO for intranet & website development yang telah dipursue for the last 2 months. Next week start work. Alhamdulillah ya Allah. That consultation work masih menunggu confirmation. Which actually is a blessing. Sebab then we can focus on these 2 projects. Lagipun, I pening kepala pikir transport arrangement if we were to start that work immediately. Hope it will start after school commences so that we can better plan our time.

Lalalala in the House

Aliyah, walaupun seorang yang kuat makan, bukan seorang pemakan yang adventurous. She doesn't like to try anything new. She would eat the same thing over and over again. Like Tempura Udon... and Roti Telur... Kalau makan kat Nazeem, Jaafar the Cook akan geleng-geleng kepala tengok dia makan - telur goreng (or ayam goreng) + sayur + kuah kari + kicap manis. Never anything else. Dia selalu kata - "Aliyah, bagitau Acik Jaafar apa Aliyah mau makan. Acik Jaafar kasi masak untuk Aliyah." I cakap dalam hati - Aliyah order sushi nanti baru tau!!! Just recently I found that she likes Lala. Hari ni since duduk rumah, I pun memasak lah lala. Let's see - sweet and sour with chillies tambah telur. Macam chili crab kot. Entah... I kan masak suka hati. Ajar Aliyah masak ni. Hopefully, next time she can make this on her own!

Alhamdulillah... Masih Boleh Repair

I am not a gadget person. So, while everybody has started using iPhones and Androids, I still use my E75 Nokia Symbian. To me, as long as I can make calls, send SMSes, make some notes and use the calendar, very very fine with me. The past 2 days rasa so useless. My phone decided it's time to take a rest. Out of the cinema after watching The Hobbit for the second time, I immediately took out my phone. It's reflex, you see. 3 hours confined in a dark room will surely ensure at least a couple of missed calls and SMSes. But then, I realised that I could not scroll up and down, left and right either. Restarted the phone and can't even enter my PIN. Aduss... The drive home was one of the longest - my phone can't be used, Aliyah forgot to bring hers... Felt so insecure. What if something happen? Seriously, how did we survive without mobile phones last time??? Yesterday we scouted around, today finally got to send the phone for repair. Nasib baik lah tak mahal and siap in ha

Sanctuary

Everybody needs a sanctuary. A place he or she is comfortable at. A place where the person can go and be at peace. This sanctuary obviously differs based on a person's needs, personality, etc... even heart. I have my own sanctuary. I created it from scratch. And I don't want to lose it. Because it is not only my sanctuary. It is also Aliyah's. My little office is my sanctuary. I created it, yes, from scratch. The size and shape is a bit awkward. But that's what makes it special. It has my desk and Aliyah's. It has a sofa for my guests to sit. It also serves as the place for me to take a snooze if I go to work real early and gets sleepy by 9am. It is also the place where Aliyah takes a rest after school, or if she's not well, or if she just wants to rest. It has a huge desk with very comfortable chair. It is the place where I work best. Where I spend day and night working. At times even weekends. It is where problems are solved and projects are won. It is also

We Meet Again and Again, Hobbitses

Despite warning Aliyah that I would get migrain and puke if I were to watch a 3D movie - literally demonstrating to her how I would puke while she laughed and laughed - we actually went to watch The Hobbit 3D today. Sigh... demi anak tersayang. Aliyah was so determined to watch it in 3D that all was on her today - our tickets (Abahnya tak ikut), popcorn combo and even lunch! (But then, tak sampai hati la pulak nak "pau" anak sendiri kan, so I told her lunch was on me!). She really enjoyed it. She really is into LOTR. I remember she was 2-3 years old when she first watched Fellowship of the Ring and I was amazed that she could follow the story and relate to the characters - ie Atok Gandalf, Abang Frodo and Sam, Uncle Aragorn... And when she started to watch the DVD extended versions she could identify the added the scenes. Even The Hobbit ni pun dia dah start tanya I bila nak keluar DVD extended version!

Fikir Masak-masak...

One round of solat Istiharah completed. Rasanya solution ada tapi still goyang. Paling penting, sedang tunggu confirmation... Yesterday, Hubby and I met this guy - a friend of a friend. My friend Aimy suggested to me a consultancy work early this year but it didn't materialise. That person then requested for resume again a few weeks ago and we finally meet yesterday after months of email communication with Hubby. It's nice to meet someone on the same wavelength with possibilities of venturing into this new consultancy line of work that has started to grow in demand. The kind of work that we usually do in our projects but on a more professional and formal scale. And to be given opportunity to learn hands on this new line of work is very exciting too. We are now waiting for confirmation of the first project together. But it will start with only one of us first. We both are equally qualified. It'll be a 6-month project. The site office will be in KL. I spoke to Aliyah abou

We Meet Again, Hobbitses

Menonton The Hobbit seawal minit pertama! Jam 10.50am dah siap duduk munching caramel popcorns and sipping Coke waiting for it to start. Only half of the theater was filled. I'm sure they are just like us - die-hard fans. Now, I am skeptical actually. The Hobbit is such a "mini" book compared to the hefty LOTR. I read it years ago and I remember lending it to someone who didn't return it. Now I'm dying to read it again. Anyway, how can that 160++ pages of book become a trilogy? (Dalam kepala - saja la tu nak suruh orang tunggu bertahun tengok sampai 3 movie). The LOTR has set a standard so high that even Peter Jackson himself couldn't achieve it this time around. But the book was written for younger audience anyway, so, no scary and haunting characters. (I remember I had a nightmare after watching The Two Towers - I dreamed being chased by Uruk Hai who attacked the area where I used to live as a child and I can still recall that I ran and ran and ran but m

3 Things at Alamanda

Aliyah and I were at Alamanda today. Just for a couple of hours.  1. Main reason - to buy tickets for The Hobbit that opens tomorrow. Yea, yea, can always buy online. Just an excuse to go jalan-jalan. And as expected - I got tickets for the first show, got the best seats. People around this area don't watch our kind of movies lah I think. I'm sure queue at other places are really long. So, if you want to watch English movies at ease, go to Alamanda :). 2. I always say Aliyah eats a lot. Dia ni macam Abang Ijam dia. Kalau pergi mana-mana, perut kena isi dulu. So, after getting the tickets, and before going anywhere, it's early lunch first at Kenny Rogers. Kalau tak, baru nak tengok-tengok barang dia akan sibuk tanya bila nak makan. 3. All humans have this thing called "personal space" right? So, when you stand, even in a crowd, there is this  invisible circle around you, perhaps of about 12 inches in diameters, that others cannot intrude. I was standing wai

Just Some Pics

Just some pictures from last week...  Kittens tidur dalam laci. Their favourite place. So, laci ni memang sentiasa kena buka. We plan to keep only Nina and the rest to hand over to the Vet to get adopted. Hmm.. sedih jugak ni...  Aliyah & I had lunch at Sushi King last Thursday. Actually, only Aliyah. I tak larat dah makan sushi. She finished up the huge bowl of udon and the tempura. Lepas habis beli groceries, boleh pulak mintak waffle! Tapi kurus macam tu jugak...  This is Hachiko aka Chiko. So cute and naughty. Just now he tried to jump over this bowl used by Hubby to clean bike chains. Tak lepas. So, habis kaki kena turpentine.   Kalau jalan-jalan kat shopping complex dengan my Kak Long, memang kena ambik gambar parking bay. Semua tak boleh harap nak ingat parking kat mana. We went to Paradigm last Saturday. Spent the weekend at her place.   Beautiful fairy tale Christmas concept at Paradigm. Everthing is blue and silver. At one of the shops, jumpa pulak

3 Things Minggu Ni...

This week, I am so grateful for a lot of things... 1) Yesterday, I realised that no matter how difficult life can be, we are surrounded by many good, generous and nice people. A business acquaintance (whom we actually have no successful business yet together) offered me VIP passes to BBW book sale for today. I politely declined saying it's not the right time due to financial constraint. What touched me was that he replied my SMS offering if he can be of any help at all and knowing that I am reluctant to ask for help (bukanlah berlagak, tapi rasa boleh survive lagi) he said whenever I wish to discuss, can always call him. I just felt like a portion of the heavy weight being lifted from my shoulders. Such nice gestures offered in the name of friendship. 2) My ex-colleague Marina came over yesterday to adopt a kitten. She and her kids finally selected "Alfie" - which has since been renamed as "Fluffy Muffy". Such adorable name! It was just a 30mins meet with he

Little Reunion

Aliyah and I took a trip to Tanjung Karang today. My good friend from school - Mas - invited this lot of ex-ATPNers to her Mom's place for makan-makan before she goes off to follow her husband to Turkmenistan. Yup, Turkmenistan. Punyalah susah nak sebut! Our little group from Bangi set off at around 10am++. Naik kereta Ijun - Prius C. Dah lama nak try naik kereta hybrid ni. Very nice. (Ijun isi minyak 2 minggu sekali? Sangat jimat...). Sampai around 12.15pm. We were the first to arrive and terus dihidang dengan Nasi Ambeng Warung Ibu. Sangatlah awesomenya. Warung ni agak famous kat Tanjung Karang, within the compound of the house. Siap rumah tu jadi homestay lagi. Teringat masa Form 4 dulu - masa my parents pegi Haji - this big group of us of about 8 people spent a week at the house. Buat aktiviti kampung. Siap pegi sawah padi. It was such a fun meet up. I dah lama sangat tak join sesi jumpa-jumpa ni. I almost forgot how much fun such meet can be. Even Aliyah had fun :). Masa b