Living with Sarah

Sekarang tengah suka tengok "River Cottage". Tak kiralah spring ke, autumn ke... (Dulu tak suka sangat sebab orangnya berserabut). I just love how Hugh work on his lands - the vegetables, herbs, trees, animals, etc. Kalau dapat catch "Jamie Oliver at Home" lagi lah hooked. His vegetable garden is so amazing and beautiful. Just nearby, I am a follower of my Abg Ben's friend - Kak Rusilawati of Suria Helang Lui - a modern day farmer who left her corporate job to work on her passion - organic farming. Amazing farm! It is my dream to have such a farm like hers... I love gardening. But more of "kitchen plants" kind of gardening. That's why I have 2 separate "gardens" at home. The front part is the "halaman rumah" with palm, frangipani and other flower bushes and trees. It is very messy at the moment. Both of us can't really spend much time on maintaining the garden. Hubby just sprayed the uncontrollable grass a couple of weeks...

Yesterday was our 13th anniversary. However, it was not much of a celebration. Hubby was down with flu and stomachache at the same time. He was on MC since Tuesday till today. He wished and kissed me "Happy Anniversary" in the morning and then was back to sleep. And to add to the hectic time of taking care of a very sick person and Aliyah, I had to finish up that translation work which was due this morning. Adoiyai... Good thing that translation work was an extension of the policy that we have done before - this time around it's the policy contract. So, I could dig back the previous work as reference. Then, baru nak tarik nafas lega dan take a nap (since last night slept late to finish up the work), there is a new batch of translation work for that East Coast client. Just a few pages more to review. By then it was time to pick Aliyah from school and after lunch and rest, took her to Tesco to buy supplies for her Khemah Ibadah (Friday & Saturday). She'll be spend...

This morning went for the first off-road ride of the year. Sememangnya sangatlah malas nak berexercise. Tapi, one thing about riding is - once dah start memang rasa nak ride je... (ye lah tu...). Masuk dekat sini-sini je, tapi in the end dapatlah 13kms. Bila panjat bukit barulah rasa yang memang sangat tak fit. Ni sedang kumpul azam nak ride to office on daily basis (hah!). Riding techniques rasanya dah OK, tinggal stamina je pancit.  There was this one of the last bukit kecil yang kena panjat. Sangatlah steep. Menengak je... Tengok dari bawah macam boleh. Tapi, rasa setengah mati kayuh. Separuh jalan tergolek ke tepi. Hubby suruh turun balik dan naik balik. Kaki dah set nak sorong je ke atas. Tapi Hubby suruh jugak turun. So, turun, pusing-pusing cari momentum, nafas pun dah pendek-pendek... Then, terus naik dan kayuh dan kayuh terus kayuh walaupun hati dan kaki kata "stop!", tapi set pada otak - "go, go, go!". Sampai atas, rewarded by a most beautiful view ...

I am a proud "siswi" of Universiti MKI . Each day, there will be at least one "nota kuliah" to read. Saya doakan Prof Kamil sentiasa sihat dan bersemangat untuk menulis nota-nota kuliah setiap hari. Dan semoga Allah swt memberi ganjaran sebaik-baik ganjaran kepada beliau dan keluarga. Hari ini topik "Bersyukur" - which hit spot on. Sebagai manusia biasa, kita selalu beranggapan "the grass is always greener on the other side". Dulu-dulu, masa jadi manager di company lama, ayat keramat ini selalunya akan keluar bila staff nak berhenti untuk berpindah ke syarikat lain. This is actually applicable to a lot of situations. Garden jiran depan lebih cantik dari garden kita. Kereta jiran sebelah lebih besar dari kereta kita. Gaji dan pangkat orang tu lebih dari kita. Kehidupan orang tu lebih bahagia dari kita. Unsur-unsur cemburu pasti ada. Saya juga manusia biasa. Bila waktu sedang susah, masa itulah selalunya perasaan itu akan datang. Pernah saya ke...

I'm starting a new label named "Little Steps". No matter how young or old you are, each day, there are little steps that we make towards becoming a better human being. A better Muslim. I take little steps each day towards that...

I'm starting with selawat dan salam ke atas junjungan kita Nabi Muhammad solla Allahu alayhi wa aalihi wa sallam. Yesterday was such a glorious and generous day.... 1. Tak terkira dan tak terkata bertapa bersyukurnya pada Allah swt. I got a phone call informing that we got the writing job for that agency I went to last week. Registered with sennago and now waiting for formalities. Managed to arrange with Linda on days that I need to be stationed there for her to take care of Aliyah. Praying that I can negotiate to come in 2 days a week instead of the requested 3. InsyaAllah... 2. Our video project with that favourite agency got dragged but the client is willing to pay for the additional days. Allah permudahkan urusan. Mula-mula recalculate lebih dari ceiling price. Dok pikir-pikir, dapat ilham untuk separate into 2 quotes and accepted by the client. Sedang bercakap on the phone tu, that favourite contact person terus dapat idea for another small "project" - casing f...

Yesterday was Hubby's first day being posted at client's office. Suddenly, I was transported back to that time 4 years ago - me being sole consultant. Except this time around it was worst because I was car-less. I just knew it would be a hectic day. Alhamdulillah dapat arrange for Ejat's Kembara. So, early morning dah ke Bro Muzz's office for a meeting which lasted 2 hours. I had 2 banks to go to (counter service) and it was already 12.15pm. Aliyah finishes school at 1.10pm and I have to arrange for Aliyah to get on a van. Which van? I had no idea. All I know from Hubby was - grey van. At the 2 banks, dok zikir minta Allah mudah dan cepatkan urusan because I need to get to Aliyah's school and also that I promised 2pm to return the car. Alhamdulillah orang tak ramai sangat and I managed to get to the school 5mins before the bell rang. Drive pulak Kembara manual - let's see, the last time I drove a manual car was like... ages ago? Anyway, after much difficulty m...

Aliyah was so excited telling me her encounter with the novelist Ain Maisarah yesterday. The novelist visited the school to launch Program Nilam - program membaca. She came to the school last year for the same event. In all her frenzy of telling me the bits and pieces of what happened at school, one thing struck me - "pandai anak aku ni pasang strategi!". And a good one too! Last year, Aliyah came back telling us that after she bought a novel, she found the line of students queuing up to get the novelist's autograph was so so long. Siap cerita berbelit-belit panjangnya. She didn't get her book signed. This year she came prepared. The night before dah siap masukkan 2 Ain Maisarah's novels in her bag. Then, she scrutinized the brochure and selected the book she wanted to buy. I actually tak tanyalah kenapa dia bawak novel lama. I ingat it's for the spirit of having the novelist around. After school yesterday, she excitedly showed me the 2 novels nicely signe...

Syukur pada Allah swt. The project that we were supposed to get mid-last month is finally confirmed. Dan susunan Allah swt sangat cantik. Hubby will take this job for the next 3 months with options to extend another 3 months. He is paving the way. So, I will take care of our existing projects which will take about 2 months to complete. Just in time insyaallah for the next project (closer to home) to start. Whatever we have now must be completed within these couple of months. There is this writing job for an agency somewhere near KL Sentral with quite high chance of getting. If we get that, it means immediate appointment. So, Hubby will go across the world to Kota Damansara daily while I'll be here across the other side of the world - 3 times a week in KL and the rest of the days at our office. Transport will be a problem especially Aliyah will start her ko-ko in February. She will start taking a van back to the office starting tomorrow, while I need to get back on my bicycle. Cyc...

Terjumpa ini ketika sedang sibuk menyiapkan material untuk meeting esok dimana contoh bahan-bahan tulisan sebelum ini perlu ditunjuk sebagai bukti pengalaman. Buku dah terima tahun lepas tapi tak pernah belek-belek pun.   We wrote articles on Setsu and Tan Sin Lian

Hari ni, seperti hari-hari lain (cuba untuk ingat, kadang-kadang lupa juga) seawal pagi dah doa minta Allah swt permudahkan segala urusan. Rabbi yassir wala tu 'assir, rabbi tammim bil khoir. Ya Tuhan, permudahkanlah urusanku, permudahkanlah jangan disulitkan. Dan sejak malam tadi banyak status FB yang share stuff related to "marah" dan "sabar". Pagi-pagi dah ada situation yang buat hati panas. Potential rezeki terbuka tapi orang yang patut pergi untuk "menimba" rezeki tak pergi. Memanglah tak tentu lagi dapat tapi hati ni berkata - Allah mungkin nak uji sejauh mana kesungguhan hambaNya nak dapatkan rezeki tu. Lalu terus sejukkan hati dengan mandi dan keluarlah lightbulb atas kepala - mungkin ada hikmahnya. Hati dah kurang marah tapi cuak lah sangat. Kadang-kadang sebab terlalu sangat letak "mungkin ada hikmahnya" dalam pelbagai situasi, rasa macam dah jadi alasan pula. Allah nak uji terutama masa sedang susah. Entah-entah hari ni Dia nak...

Hari ni ada Majlis Jalinan Kasih di sekolah Aliyah. It's a 2-in-1 event - meraikan those yang dapat 5A dalam UPSR tahun lepas dan briefing untuk parents yang anak-anak akan ambil UPSR tahun ni. Aliyah went to SK Bangi less than a year and a half before transferring to SKBSP in 2009. Since I've been observing from the school site was just a flat land full of bushes to its construction to its completion to it opening its doors on its first day, I do feel some kind of attachment to it. Fondness if I may say. (Walaupun tak pernah pergi meeting PIBG! Opps...). Today I have this new found respect for the teachers of the school especially the ones teaching Year 6. Such highly dedicated teachers with energy and drive to make sure the students excel. It is such a proud moment when it was announced that the school was 7th in rank in Hulu Langat for UPSR performance ie 90% out of 60++ schools. And mind you, it only started UPSR exam in 2010. The Penolong Kanan shared her story when she ...

1. This year sangatlah malasnya nak balut buku Aliyah. School has started but still ada lagi buku belum balut nih! Yang ni baru dapat. Tapi exercise books banyak lagi belum balut. Nasib baik betul-betul belajar will only start next week. Must finish all this weekend! And - I don't like using the self-adhesive ones. Old school style - plastic in roll yang kena potong dan lipat dan tape. Tapi puas hati. 2. Kittens rumah ni sangatlah naughty. I took this from upstairs. Dah kenyang baru senyap sikit dan cari port bagus untuk tidur. Port tidur favourite kat tangga... 3. Just nak bagitau to whom it may concern. Life I ni bukanlah exciting sangat. Blog I ni pun bukannya ramai followers pun. Yang ada kat sini cerita-cerita hidup I yang boring ni. So, tak payah lah datang sini cari bahan untuk jaja cerita keliling kampung ya. Bukan apa - kot-kot orang tanya - "iye ke? mana kau tau ni?". Nak cakap apa yek? Tak malu ke nak cakap - "baca kat blog dia". Kalau I ...

I ni bukanlah peminat AJL. Semalam masa AJL27, tak lah tengok pun. Tapi pasang TV dengar lagu. Once in a while masa lagu yang macam best tu I tengok lah. But, I was waiting for Yuna's song. Curious siapa yang akan perform ganti dia. I love Terukir Dibintang. Classic sangat. When Aizat came out - oh wow, ni dah macam cerita P. Ramlee. Then the whole set started to open up - the backup singers and the band and the images on the background. Macam kat French cafe. And you can actually feel it. The song was so, I don't know, "inviting"? Very comel, relaxed and can feel the storyline. Hari ni je I dah dengar ni 5 kali! Yuna - she is such a music genius. (And to think that I once attended our client ie that Kuantan agency's Raya open house and her father sang a Raya song...)

1. A pleasant surprise from our clients sempena menyambut tahun baru. Love the gifts. Tapi minta maaf lah, company I belum mampu lagi nak buat corporate gifts. Islamic table calendar from Muzzam Tek. Very useful. Our regular insurance company yang we all selalu buat translation work tu couriered notebook & diary. Thank you, thank you :). As usual, Aliyah pantang jumpa notebooks. But this time around, Mommy wants this. So, dia ambik Abah dia punya. 2. Project wise - Siap translation work. Alhamdulillah... sakit belakang tak berapa severe sebab tak lah banyak sangat. Hopefully we'll get another batch very soon. We are monitoring another translation work. The client has not uploaded the contents on their website yet. Please la cepat sikit. Boleh cepat-cepat hantar invoice. Kerja dah lama siap ni... That video work pulak - errkk... my favourite contact person in that favourite agency tak berapa happy with the result by the team. Aisey... I know he knows that I can't do m...

Those 3 little kitties which we thought of handing over to the Vet to find adopted families are still with us. Yup, delay dan delay dan delay, akhirnya tak hantar langsung! Sigh... they are just so naughty that rasa beratnya sangat nak lepaskan. Walaupun rumah agak huru hara dikerjakan, tapi dah sayang nak buat macam mana yek. Alhamdulillah, my Kak Long each month sponsor cat food. (Semoga Allah rahmati dan murahkan rezeki dia. Amiinn...).  Selalu meneman/mengacau Hubby kat workshop Oh ya, untuk perkhidmatan service mountain bikes, boleh lah datang ye. Hubby sekarang specialised service basikal "Specialized". Baru 2 months plus tapi dah besar. Tidur nak tempat best saja. 

Aliyah on her first day of school. All went smoothly as expected. Cuma lambat sikit keluar sebab adjust strap beg baru. Her BFFs tak sama class this year. So dia agak anxious sebenarnya. Semoga semuanya dipermudahkan for her. Semoga dia jadi anak yang solehah, berakhlak mulia, cerdas minda dan terang hati.  Suka sangat kasut strap yang simple ni...  I love this bag that she chose. One strap pink stripes, the other black with little white bows. We actually don't buy her new bag every year. She has been using the Nike bag we bought her for the past 2 years and it is actually still in very good condition. Hubby and I agree on one thing - for her school bag, must buy something of very good quality even though it may cost us an arm. It stood the test of time and weight for 2 solid years. Not even a single tear. Now, I will wash the bag and use it!

I was switching channels just now when I managed to catch the last song of a concert by Nidji. My favourite song of all time - Laskar Pelangi. I would have tears in my eyes every time I hear this song. It has "saved" me numerous times these past years. It would seek me when I most needed it. I know it sounds crazy. I guess Allah has many ways of reaching His hands to us. And one of His many ways of reaching to me is through this song. It started just like any other songs I have in my laptop. A nice song to listen to. And came that dark time in my life. That one particular time when for the first time in my life, I have no where to turn to, no one to turn to and didn't know what to do. Literally, I didn't know what to do. I remember driving along that quiet road with my mind blank. And this song came on the radio. That was the moment when I actually understood the meaning of the song and slowly strength came back to my numb body. Since then, I would listen to it when...

That fine point between 11.59pm of 31st December and 12.01am of 1st January every year always brings this tremble to the heart. That second separates two years - the previous with experience and memories, the latter with hopes and uncertainties. I guess this applies to a lot of people and is a universal thing. Perhaps that's why people celebrate that second with cheers and fireworks. Because they know that come tomorrow, life is totally changed. The cheers and fireworks are just disguises of fear and anxiety. I don't know, that's just my mind rambling... How I spent the day? Early morning, after Subuh and my usual preparation for the stuff to send over to Nazeem, sent off Hubby for his ride. Then, caught a nap. Then, went for breakfast with Aliyah. Then, went to Tesco and Giant Nilai for groceries. More of saja jalan-jalan buang masa. Aliyah is starting school tomorrow and I am the one having butterflies in my tummy. Why? Because she is Standard 6 this year! Standard 6???...