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Showing posts from 2014

What a Year

Everyone would agree that 2014 was such an eventful year. For our country. For me, as a person, a mother, a wife, an entrepreneur, a daughter, a sister... I sailed through the 12 months of ups and downs. Reflecting on the year, the downs that I experienced seem like a lifetime away. There was a time, about three months I think, that both of us had to endure such hardship in terms of our finances. The only source that kept us living day to day was from the shop. And our shop is just one year old mid last month. It is still new to generate much profit for us to even rake in some decent salary. But we endured. Alhamdulillah... I can also say it's been a boring year. Most of the time we spend at the shop. But you can be amazed at the many types and characters of people who patron our shop. The best are friends who come to support the business and strangers who later become friends. They make the shop lively and worth running. I'm not going to touch on the other type of people w

Sumbangan Kerdil

Alhamdulillah we managed to gather 248 little air kotak. The drive was too short a notice, and the items I insisted on collecting was simply air kotak. I got inquiries to send other stuff, but I have only 2 hands and an old body (cough, cough...). I can't afford the time, energy and allocate space to collect items. My friend Rose came after work to collect. She'll be joining a mission tomorrow to Kuala Kerai and Besut. Rose dear, saya doakan awak dan team awak selamat pergi dan kembali. Allah swt sahaja yang dapat membalas kerja-kerja kebajikan yang awak lakukan. Masa ni belum masuk kotak. We bought milo, soy bean and chocolate / strawberry flavoured milk drinks

3 Things These Past 2 Days

1) We closed shop for 2 days (Thursday & Friday). Dua hari yang terasa sangat lama. Rasa macam weekend, yang tentunya bukan weekend. For us yang waktu kerja tak sama dengan orang makan gaji ni, cuti yang jarang diambil ni memang digunakan dengan sepenuhnya. It was family time for us :) 2) On Thursday - keluar dating dengan Hubby. He bought 2 tickets for us to watch The Hobbit at Alamanda. Aliyah memang tak nak tengok for the 2nd time. Sedih, katanya. She insisted to stay home. Terserempak dengan Azam & Azura with their kids. Lama sangat tak jumpa. Lepas tu aktiviti mencari laptop baru for me :). I've been using my Dell Netbook since our days in Sek. 15. Bayangkan punya lama. A new laptop is definitely due. Finally settled on Lenovo Flex i7. Such huge laptop - 15.6". Tetapi laju macam lightning compared to my old Dell. I was poorer by RM2800. But it was so worth it. Semoga boleh digunakan dengan seoptimum mungkin untuk mencari rezeki :). 3) Semalam patutnya buka ked

Doa Untuk Mangsa Banjir

They say it's one of the worst floods ever experienced. For someone yang tidak pernah dilanda musibah banjir, the photos shared on social media sangat menginsafkan. Kat Bangi ni, paling teruk pun mengomel sendiri kain tak kering, pagi-pagi tak dapat nak ride sebab hujan, hujan lebat customer tak datang. Benda-benda yang remeh. Sangat remeh.  Tak dapat nak bayangkan macam mana orang-orang yang rumahnya di landa air deras secara tiba-tiba. Tak sempat nak capai apa pun. Lari ke bangunan tinggi atau bukit. Tengok rumah sendiri hancur dibadai air. Sejuk, dahaga, lapar sampai 2-3 hari baru dapat bantuan. Ya Allah, kau lindungilah mereka... Dalam hati memang ada rasa bersalah. Terutama sebab dah dua hari habiskan masa di shopping complex. Beli barangan yang sejak berbulan dulu dah plan nak beli bila dapat payment. Enjoy makan kat tempat yang dah lama tak pergi sebab keadaan kewangan tak berapa mengizinkan.  Hulurkanlah bantuan yang mana terdaya. Kalau ada duit, bagilah duit. Ka

Almost All Set for School

Time flies really fast this school holidays. It's Christmas tomorrow, New Year next week, then it's back to school for Aliyah. Then the normal routine will start. Next year, it'll get slightly hectic. We registered Aliyah for tuition yesterday. Three nights a week (Mondays, Tuesdays & Wednesdays), 6 subjects. We believe time has come for her to get a bit more serious with her studies. Professional help is needed. Form 1 was very relaxed for her. So much free time. On second thought, we, the parents, are the ones who need professional help. As much as we think we could help Aliyah with her studies (both parents ex-teachers tak kan lah tak boleh kan?), we just couldn't afford the time and being disciplined. Yesterday, settle beli kasut dan socks. Today, a stop at school to buy books. Quite a long queue. Then, bought tudung and kain sekolah. Now, tinggal tunggu my second sister siap jahit baju sekolah saja. Next - kena start buat daily schedule for next year.

One Day of Shopping

I had this plan with Linda - when we get M3, we plan to drive north to Penang, spend 2 days there and eat. That's the plan. Eat! But then, M3 came 2 weeks later than expected. This week dah Christmas, next week, New Year pulak. So, we agreed that timing is definitely not right. Perhaps the final payment - M4. So, we planned a day of shopping yesterday. I have put aside a small portion which, in a way, can be considered a small bonus since Linda has been with me for years and had endured all the hardships I've been through. Tak lah banyak. Boleh la beli 2-3 pasang baju. In the end, my teen daughter was the one who benefited from the outing. We went to Paradigm Mall - brave through the traffic jam. Plan asal was to go to SS2 and devour Nasi Kandar Kayu (feeling-feeling nasi kandar Penang). But then, it was almost noon when we reach PJ that we straight way went to the mall. Lunch at Chilli's (Aliyah's choice). Then shopping time - Marks & Spencer (that's the on

Our Day Out

Hubby took one day leave from work yesterday. He's been working daily for the past 3 weeks. A well-deserved leave especially that we finally received our M3 payment. Itu pun, pagi pergi kedai kejap siapkan satu bike. After that, a short meet up with my two sisters yang dah sangat lama tak jumpa. Then, off we went to IOI City Mall. Main objective is to get ourselves a new TV. Our current TV dah 8-9 years kot. Orang lain dah lama upgrade to flat screen, we are still watching the bulky 29" TV :). My philosophy - selagi boleh guna, tak rosak, why change? Now it's due to be replaced sebab the edge of the screen - I think a few inches in - dah start to get blur. Bila scroll info tak boleh nak baca nama program! Anyway, it's a belated birthday celebration for the three of us too. Lunch - Tony Roma's for the delicious ribs. Sampai malam kenyang tak habis. Then, HomePro. Actually memang dua tempat tu je. Jalan dengan Hubby memang macam tu. Less place, but more time spent

New Supervisor at the Shop

Chiko the kitten has promoted himself to become the shop supervisor. Typical morning would find him waiting for us at the front of the shop. Sometimes he made stops at the shop next door. Sometimes, he would sleep at Alif Tomyam until the boys open their shop at noon. Then, the supervisor would come over. He would eat, play, make a mess with the papers we crumple to become balls, bite us (playfully of course, but my hands get scratches), and when he's tired, he would sleep. He would jump on to our laps to sleep. Such manja kitten. There is a secret place he would go if he doesn't want us to bother him - under the big fork box under the stairs we use as storage. More often than not, our customers get very delighted to see a kitten in the shop, especially kids. I would always say that's our shop mascot :). It's really nice to have a kitten around even though we don't take care of him "full-time".  Pagi-pagi dah tunggu depan kedai...  Main dalam k

Farewell, Middle Earth

Aliyah and I watched the final Hobbit today. On the first day. As always. And as I was typing this, my heart is filled with great sorrow. That's when you know you've watched a great movie. Both of us almost forgot about today. How could we? The 18th of Dec is the D-Day which we have anticipated eagerly for the past months. But then, things have been quite hectic around here, and the date totally slipped our minds. Yesterday Linda came in and mentioned that The Night of the Museum will be on 25th. And I then wondered when The Hobbit will be. Aliyah's eyes suddenly went wide and she said, "18th!". Hubby couldn't join us but bought us the tickets. So, there we were, mother and daughter, kiasu I must say! It's such a sad story. Three of the dwarves died. The last 15 minutes just broke our hearts. I had tears running down my cheek. Aliyah said she cried a little and complained - The Lord of the Rings tak ada yang mati pun! Quite true. For such a thick b

New KTM Bikes in Town

Mysa Bike Hub is now officially the Authorised Dealer of KTM bikes. Along with 6 other dealers around. Just been brought in by our partner. So far, quite a lot of inquiries. Very positive response. What's so great about KTM bikes? Originated and made in Austria. Very sleek. Very sexy, kata Hubby. Price range a little bit on the high side but if you look at the specifications, the design, finishings and the details, they are so worth it. Check out our FB: www.facebook.com/mysabikehub for the models that we offer. Or just drop by Mysa Bike Hub in Bandar Bukit Mahkota, Bangi to appreciate their beauty :). We provide good packages. For Myroon 29ner carbon bike, we give away free Sports Cam worth RM429.00. Good deal huh! If you come and mention Living with Sarah, I guarantee you 5% discount on all KTM bikes :) The KTM Myroon 29ner Carbon

Astro vs HyppTV

We no longer subscribe to Astro. Mulanya oleh sebab-sebab yang tertentu. (Ehem, ehem!) We had a little family meeting and decided to suspend Astro for some time. Personally, I have grown tired of Astro. The programmes are being repeated over and over again and there are advertisements (sometimes too much!). If you subscribe to movie channel, you can see a certain pattern. Kalau holiday season eg Christmas, end of the year, then you can watch quite good movies. But certain months, the movies shown just menaikkan blood pressure. And yang tambah menaikkan darah is the Malay channels. Too much programme yang tidak berkualiti dan asyik nak buat orang ketawa tapi tak kelakar (to us lah!). Balik-balik muka pelawak-pelawak yang sama. Rasa buang duit je bayar every month. So we turned to HyppTV. For extra RM50 a month, besides Unifi yang Hubby dah upgrade that gives us Sports channel, we get almost all channels. Walaupun channels kurang dari Astro, tapi there are lots to watch. At any time ka

Day Out with Aliyah

Hari ni I cuti :). Dari last week dah plan nak check out the new mall in town - IOI City Mall. Plannya nak pergi sama-sama dengan the usuals. Tapi tak juga muncul-muncul, so pergilah berdua. Let's see... nothing much lah. Unless you are young and into activities like ice skating and doing dunno-what in District 21. Kalau zaman-zaman bujang dulu, maybe dah buat rombongan Cik Kiah dah :). I promised Aliyah to take her shopping. So, ke tempat baju-baju style dan saiz dia - H&M, Padini and Uniqlo. There are lots and lots of eating places. Very interesting. But then, we ended up at Kenny Rogers. Oh so boring nya. Reason being - we wanted to try the Korean restaurants tapi tengok the menus macam portion too big. Kalau tak habis sangatlah membazir. For such eating activities kena pergi dengan geng-geng yang boleh menghabiskan makanan walaupun perut sudah penuh iaitu Nizam dan Hubby. Ada a few places yang nampak interesting but the number of tables and chairs pulak macam tak bagi ora

Jaga Mulut, Jaga Hati

Hari ni I jumpa dua orang yang menjengkelkan. The attitude people have these days! Astaghfirullah... 1) I was lining up at KFC this afternoon. KFC sebenarnya tak ramai orang. Depan I di kaunter ada one family. Maknya tengah place order. Anak teenagers perempuan 3 orang disekeliling. Dia dok tanya sorang-sorang nak makan apa. Sorang anak yang umur dalam 2 tahun, kakaknya dudukkan atas kaunter. Kaki yang berkasut boleh Maknya biarkan di tempat orang sajikan makanan. Sigh... But that's not it! I was looking at the menu. Dalam kepala tengah plan nak beli apa untuk Aliyah. I can understand a mother with many kids needs time to order. And I am a patient person. Then, one of her daughters looked back, saw me looking at the menu, then pergi bisik-bisik kat Mak dia. The lady turned around, looked at me, jeling I, pandang depan balik and said, "Hai, kena sabarlah!". I was so sure she meant her words to me. Naik juga darah. I waited patiently in case she turned back. Nak juga

Chiko is the Name

The kitten has been with us for more than a week now. Rekod yang bagus. And a routine has been set too. The night before we close shop, we would put out food and water at the back, and lock the kitten outside, within the grill. He would stay there for don't-know-how-long, maybe play or sleep in his box. Perhaps until he got bored. He is very smart because he has found a way to escape. We guess he jumps on top of the cans of paint, grabs the plastic garbage bag Hubby uses to store old tube and tyres and then jumps out the grill. The next morning when we come to open shop, we will find him in front of the shop. Well, his presence can be in the morning or sometimes afternoon. I think he must have gotten a nice place to sleep. We will then feed him, and he will spend the rest of the day in the shop - playing or sleeping. I think this "arrangement" suits both parties perfectly. Well, as long as we don't have too high hopes of seeing him every day. Cats are, shall I say,

Cold Sunday

It rained almost the whole day yesterday. A cold Sunday. When it's cold, the stomach grumbles. I made simple bubur nasi ayam for lunch yang membawak ke dinner. And goreng berlada cili api ikan bilis dan bawang. Such a nice complement to the porridge. Bila makan, boleh berasap telinga dibuatnya. Sambil masak bubur nasi ayam, supervise Aliyah buat pai susu. The recipe was given to me by my Kak Lang. Once, I made small version of the pie using muffin pan. The taste turned out to be similar to Portugese Egg tart. Bila buat versi besar, lain sikit rasanya. Panas-panas terus potong! The three of us finished the pie off in a day. Compliments to Chef Aliyah.

New Cat in the Shop

There's a kitten that has been at the shop for 3 days now. On the first day, it came into the shop at around noon. We gave him food and he stayed till late afternoon. Then he left. We saw him playing next door. After Maghrib he came back. We decided to keep him at the back for the night. Since he's clean and cute, we suspect that he might be thrown out or perhaps got himself lost. The next day, he's still at the back when we opened shop. He stayed till late afternoon. Then he went around and didn't come back. I guess he knew if he sticks around, we would lock him at the back. But that's the safest place for him. No cars, very warm and comfortable place... Today, we couldn't find him anywhere. Hubby said - "Tu la yang malas bela kucing". Because we have started to feel bit sad as we couldn't be found. After lunch, he suddenly appeared. Now he's sleeping. For now lah. He's about 2-3 months old. Very active. Very manja... Nak bawak bal

Me - Social Media-ly

This is Me - Social Media-ly. I prefer blogging. Because I love to write. And I document things that happen in my life. Well, those that can be documented lah. This blog is my life's timeline. I started in 2005 and until now, I write at least 1 entry every month. So, my history in this blog is seriously long. And good thing about writing is - I can let off some steam, I can track things that happen in the past, I can look back at stories and photos. So that I will NOT FORGET. Get what I mean? I use FB to read other people's postings. Sometimes I troll people (hah!). I'm also on FB for business purposes as I manage a few Pages. But I don't really post much on FB. To me, posting on FB is like being in a room full of 200++ friends and shouting my head off hoping someone notices. It's just not Me. And a post on FB weighs such huge responsibility and expectation. What if nobody comment? Would I be offended? What if many people comment? Would I be able to handle? What

Kayuh After Almost 3 Months

I think I've not cycled for almost 3 months. After my fever, kena batuk yang teruk. Jenis batuk yang alternate. Sekejap problem tekak - throat inflammation. Lepas elok, bronchitis pulak. Then tekak balik. Then bronchitis balik. Last-last Hubby tengok The Doctors, one of the reasons for prolonged cough can be acid re-flux. So, I have started to control by having more alkaline food and not eating too late. Nowadays, walaupun kadang-kadang batuk juga, tapi much-much better. Anyway, for someone who has not exercised for almost 3 months, kira OK lah juga. Route road starting from Bukit Mahkota-Nilai3-Batang Benar-Sg Kembong-keluar Bukit Kubur Cina. Total 22kms. Kali ni Hubby paksa naik. Siap dia tolakkan basikal sampai start point on the right yang not too steep compared to the left road. Route made from cement, yang ada belok-belok, so psychologically, tak rasa steep sangat. The last few meters menolak juga. But I am confident, the next time insyaallah boleh kayuh naik terus!  Tu

3 Things Minggu Ini dan Lepas

1) I finished 1Q84 last week. Finally. Read it a few months ago, then I stopped. Mainly because it's such a hassle to read in bed without my specs. After Inferno, I picked it up again, and finished the remaining 2 volumes in under 3 weeks. This is the first Haruki Murakami book that I didn't straight away read the book again after finishing it. Nak kata tak best, OK. But not too intriguing as the rest of his books. Sekarang tengah baca Norweign Woods for dunno-how-many-times. Rasa macam nak pick up Kafka on the Shore back. And as predicted, Aliyah hasn't even touched The Hobbit! 2) Last Saturday, after I escaped from my own bedroom, went to have lunch with Aliyah at Subway, and then to Bangi Gateway. I ni kalau stress, I don't go shoes- or clothes-shopping. I go grocery shopping. After seeing Aliyah carrying 2 boxes of her favourite TGIF mozzarella cheese sticks, I thought, why not just buy something for us both to enjoy. So I picked up a lamb shank! The frozen one

Aliyah's Last Day of School This Year

It's a tradition that I take Aliyah's photo on first and last day of school. Today is the last schooling day for 2014. For her at least. Esok Form 1 direhatkan. She has been enjoying school. Actually, enjoy being with her friends. So, dia agak tidak happy now that the holidays are here. It's been a challenging year, for me as a mother, this year. Having a teenager in the house can be a pain in the neck. We started the year on shaky ground. A few times I got so frustrated that I cried. I guess, no matter how much I try to understand the new Aliyah, I got overwhelmed by other stuff that made handing a teenager such a difficult task. And on her side, I guess suddenly being a teenager with BFFs all around made her slightly arrogant. I call her treatment to me "the talk to the hand" treatment. But then, the 1st term of school holidays actually changed our relationship. When I dragged her to the shop every day, forcing her to spend time with us. I guess when she was d

Cleithrophobia?

I got locked in twice this year. Twice! Malang sungguh nasib. A few months ago terkunci dalam bathroom. Alhamdulillah Aliyah was in my room, so panggil Abahnya. Berlubang pintu kat tempat lock dibuatnya. Last Saturday, tengah siap-siap nak keluar bawak Aliyah lunch, pulas je tombol terus tau I was locked inside. Pintu bilik pulak. Tak kunci pun. Agaknya rumah-rumah zaman sekarang ni lock semua cheapo made in China yek? Bahaya tau. Aliyah call Abahnya. Abahnya mintak tolong Along Iwan fetch dia. Tapi Along Iwan dengan gagah berani datang terus. Zaman-zaman kat ITM dulu selalu bukak pintu guna metric card. Kad tak ada, swiss knife ada lah. So, sambil-sambil Along usaha, I pun usaha gak guna swiss knife. At one point dah nak terlepas. Tapi rabun punya pasal tak boleh betul-betul slide in the knife. Jadinya, Along keluar tingkap bilik Aliyah dan masuk tingkap bilik I. Bagus juga rumah corner lot ni. Atas bumbung je. Dia try 3 kali terus boleh buka. Fuhh... Anyway, I think I have cleith

Fed Up?

Seriously fed-up. Fed-up sebab semua benda kena buat. Company sendiri kena jaga. Company dan kedai orang pun kena jaga. Entah banyak mana sacrifice nak buat pun tak tau. Bodoh kan? Memang bodoh gila. Elok-elok ada office sendiri lawa-lawa, very comfortable, meja besar, siap ada sofa, tapi bodoh. Pergi sewa kat orang lain, sendiri duduk kat office kecik, meja pun goyang-goyang sebab dah pernah kena hentak sampai satu kaki plastiknya pecah. Share pulak dengan barang-barang stock. Tapi, kerja jugak. Redha jugak. Buat proposal, buat writing work. Sacrifice tak habis-habis. Bila sakit. Demam ke, sakit kepala ke... Still pergi kerja. Still hantar anak pegi sekolah. Still pergi beli makan untuk yang tersayang. Still ambik anak balik sekolah. Kalau weekend, still bangun juga buat breakfast. Tak ada siapa nak jaga. Kena jaga diri sendiri. Memang bodoh nak mampos. Sacrifice tak habis-habis. Sampai bila nak sacrifice macam ni tak tau la.

Dah Sampai Hujung Dah!

Our iBook is almost finish. Sikit... lagi. We presented to the grant committee last Monday. Alhamdulillah accepted. Siap suggest buat macam-macam lagi. Ye la, kalau ada fundingnya, memang macam-macam idea ada dalam kepala nak buat. Now is the wait for the disbursement. Katanya end of the month. Or may be first week of next month. I pray we will get it very very soon. This last mile is such a drag. So, after this we need to launch it. Hopefully we have enough spare to print the physical book as well. Hari ni gigih research cari software untuk buat AR. Apparently, now, there are free ones available. I created one and it worked! Cuma quality tidak berapa bagus. This means I can save at last RM5K from paying a mobile developer to create the app. Akak dah boleh buat sendiri uols. Akak suka, akak suka. (Tepuk tangan 10x!) One hour of hard work. Now I can take a break!

Final Photoshoot

Last Saturday morning we had our final photoshoot for our iBook project at our partner CODE's office. Ustaz Faris demo cara-cara betul dan salah rukuk dan sujud. Sambil demo dia turunkan ilmu sikit. Apparently, some of the ways yang kita label as salah are actually sunnah. Dulu-dulu Nabi saw kita buat. Tapi as time goes by, certain ways are recognised as more "correct" than others. Mengikut mazhab masing-masing, of course. Contohnya, berdiri dengan tangan in a certain way yang kitab-kitab kita belah sini kata salah, are actually correct. Just because mazhab lain buat, kita tak boleh kata salah. Ustaz guna perkataan "acceptable". Satu "majlis ilmu" yang ringkas tapi belajar banyak. Sempat jugak our photographer tanya soalan pasal duduk antara dua sujud. Dia kata badan dia besar, nak duduk macam yang disarankan memang tak boleh. Jadi Ustaz demo satu cara duduk yang orang kita kata salah, tapi sebenarnya sunnah sebab Nabi saw dulu buat. Ustaz kata kalau

Girls Baked Cake

Aliyah invited her friends to hangout at our house today. Dengar cerita aktivitinya adalah main playstation dan penny board. Itu saja? So, I planned an activity which in turned benefited me :). I got them to bake a cake! Bukan apa, dah berhari-hari plan nak buat trifle. Tapi cakenya belum juga dibuat. Since ada 3 orang anak dara in the house, bagus juga buat kerahan tenaga. Builds character OK. So, I wrote the recipe on a paper, put all the ingredients on the counter, switched on the oven, and let them do the rest. Well, I did come down once to have a look. Quite resourceful kids. Pandai cari sendiri hand mixer (malas nak keluarkan mulanya). Turned up quite nice. A bit sweet for my liking but dah lama nak makan old school cake yang panas-panas...

Fancy Beg Tangan Terkini?

I am in need of a new handbag. It must be of medium size, light, most importantly, safe to carry around. I have been scouring handbags during sale but me, being me, I always can't find the right one. So, senang cerita, check out lah Zalora. Sambil-sambil buat kerja, boleh shopping :). That's where you can find various  beg tangan terkini designs to suit your personal style. My style? I'm a simple person with simple needs. Anyway, let's check out several types of handbags first, shall we? Number 1 - the Shoulder Handbag. Very common for any women to carry. And my type of handbag. A shoulder bag is not only simply tailored but designed to suit many fashion taste and can fit all our belongings. Yup, (almost) everything! (That's why my handbags are always heavy!). Shoulder handbags are very versatile for any occasions and settings. For that professional look, opt for the classic leather bag. Or get a patterned colour shoulder bag for casual outings. I lurve the bl

A Nothing Much Sunday

Ever since I started working on my own years and years ago, there never seem to be any specific day to rest. Unlike normal people. So, Sunday is actually not so different from other days. Sometimes I work, sometimes I don't. Just like any other day for that matter! Let's see... nothing much happened yesterday. Nak pegi cycle, pagi-pagi sekarang hujan pulak. Hubby dah 100% OK. His bike pun tak ada apa-apa yang rosak :). Cuma weather belum mengizinkan. So, spent the time cooking. Anak dara yang janji nak tolong asyik mengelat. Turun dapur 10 minit, lepas tu hilang. Dia yang sibuk sangat nak masak trifle. Bahan-bahan dah beli... Aliyah actually cuti this week (since Friday last week). Form 1 direhatkan sempena SPM exams. Next week turn Form 2 pulak. Everyday I bawak dia ke kedai. As long as she's in front of me, hati rasa senang. Cuma assignment yang I bagi dia belum start lagi. She doesn't read much. That worries me a lot. I cuma bagi simple assignment - this short holi

Three More Merida Off to Cyberjaya

This morning we delivered 3 more Merida bikes to the Cyberjaya client. Sumbatkan semua dalam Sorento Along Iwan. Alhamdulillah, the bikes came a few days earlier than predicted. With additional order of 3/4 padded cycling pants. Also sold today is my Orbea 26" bike. Archot's friend bought it for his autistic son. So happy to see him riding around the parking lot trying the bike. Semoga manfaat :). Muat-muat saja masuk Sorento 

Another Slightly Big Order

We got an order from our partner's friend. Bikes for his soon-to-be-launched resort in Kuala Selangor. Today, the bikes were fetched by them. Seven Raleigh bikes plus a tandem bike - the two-seater bike. That is still with us. Hubby has yet to assemble it. But it sure is long! Alhamdulillah... it's been a good month for us.

Inferno Done

Finished reading Dan Brown's Inferno last night. So-so... At one point, the plot became stagnant it was a drag to finish reading the chapter. And I think, if certain text did not get repeated over and over again, albeit from different angles, the book might be just half thick.

Injured!

Hubby went riding with his usual pals plus my nephew Iwan yesterday. It's been raining real heavy for the past few days so surely bike trails would be slippery. I was worried about Iwan since it would be his furthest off-road biking - estimated 25km off-road. As I was preparing to go to the shop, I heard Hubby came back. It was only 10am. Ride that far would take 3-4 hours. My first thought was - Iwan "kepancitan" and they came back early via chicken loop. Bila sambut kat pintu, Hubby kata, "jatuh...". Huh? Terus panic tengok muka dan baju ada kesan darah. Off-road riding tak sah kalau tak jatuh. I pun pernah gak jatuh a few times. Paling risau kalau tertekan brake depan slightly terlebih kuat bila turun bukit. That's what happened to Hubby. Alhamdulillah nothing serious. Just one side of the face and neck bruised. Kena jab. Looks quite bad due to the "ubat kuning". I can't imagine the pain :(. But getting better. Hari ni nampak dah ker

Aliyah is 13

Aliyah my little busyuk Mommy turned 13 yesterday. Besar dah... Sigh... The night (morning) before, we surprised her with a cake at exactly 12.01am :). Berjaya seludup masuk cake ke rumah without her knowing. Yesterday, nothing much since Abahnya pegi ride kat Kemensah. Kereta pun tak ada. Malam baru bawak dia keluar dinner. Happy birthday my baby girl. Semoga dia menjadi anak yang solehah...  This is one yummy cake. Seriously... Dinner kat Wadihana Bangi Gateway. Siap order creme brule for dessert. Delicious.

Comeback Kah?

These few weeks found me getting a few opportunities in IT again. Of course the projects are not certain yet but still... Last week was the meeting with our east coast client. Yesterday was a meeting with a sister company of our client - the one we built intranet and inventory system for. Good thing Hubby was free to come along. After such a long time, there are things I actually forget. I mean, the things that normally are at the tip of my tongue, especially relating requirements to previous projects. I have been contemplating to sell my company. Ada a few interested parties. But no conclusion. In my prayers, I always pray that if selling it off serves to be the right decision for us, then please, please, let someone buy it. But if it is not, then please, please award us with something for us to work on. I guess, from the look of things lately, I should keep it.

Sama Tapi Tak Serupa

A few days ago, I was at Speedmart to buy some stuff. Upon entering, I saw a cat near a pillar. Subhanallah... he looked very much like Fabian. Since I was in a hurry, I got in the shop, bought stuff and quickly went out. The cat then was lingering not far from my car. I stopped, looked at him clearly and called, "Fabian?". He then came to me, just bermanja-manja near my feet. Hati rasa melonjak gembira. This could be Fabian! How on earth did he end up here? I took a few photos and sent to Hubby. Rasa macam Fabian tapi still had doubts. Hubby asked to take him home. But what if it's not him? I have all these "what-ifs" in my head. I decided, I need to check some old photos first. If it really is him, I would come back and take him home. Upon reaching home, I quickly search for his photos. My heart was crushed. It was not him. Very, very similar but definitely not him. Sedih...  Sama tapi tak serupa...

Meeting & Shopping

Our client from the East Coast came down to KL for a wedding and asked to meet up on Saturday. Katanya nak mintak advise untuk prepare budget for next year. Boleh saja... I took Aliyah along to KLCC for the meeting. Lepas meeting boleh merayau. Aliyah has been harassing me to take her to this store called Wicked Wardrobe at Empire. Malasnya nak pergi jauh-jauh. Dah duduk area south of Selangor ni, memang rasa tak nak tengok kereta banyak-banyak kat jalan raya. The meeting went very well. Tengah pokai ni client belanja coffee kat Aseana, sungguh suka hati. (Doa tau semoga Puan tu dimurahkan rezeki). Lepas habis meeting, baru round-round. I notice Aliyah shops like me - jumpa yang suka, harga OK, terus beli. Tak de nak keluar masuk kedai buang masa dan tenaga. Cuma I always emphasis that she follows her Abah when it comes to checking and inspecting items before purchase. I ni selalu malas nak check!  Aliyah in Converse heaven! I bought her this bag. Dia pilih sendiri dan Abah d

Bike Delivery

We deliver our first big order today to an institute in Cyberjaya. They ordered 10 bikes along with a few other accessories. Alhamdulillah... Yang pasti, my bike has successfully served its function as our shop's test bike. Setakat ni dah 11 dapat jual kerana "kehandsomean" basikal I :)  Hari ni deliver 7 bikes dulu. All 17". End of the month deliver lagi 3 sebab 15" tak ada stock. Besides the bikes, yang tambah front & rear lights, meters, also included are helmets, gloves, pumps, water bottles and T shirts.

Post Aidil Adha

Masa kecil-kecil dulu Raya Puasa is everything. Raya Haji is nothing. Dulu-dulu mana reti nak appreciate Haji. Ingatkan Raya Haji untuk orang pergi haji sahaja :). Bila dah tua sikit ni (sikit je...) baru belajar erti Aidil Adha. Subhanallah... Besar sangat ertinya. For the last few years, masuk Zulhijjah saja, selalu buka channel Al Hijrah atau Oasis, sometimes TV1. Dan dah 3-4 tahun tak pernah miss tengok kelambu Kaabah ditukar. Doa semoga Allah hantar jemputan. Mungkin duit belum cukup, ilmu lagi lah tak cukup, tapi kuasa Allah melebihi segala-galanya. Zulhijjah banyak mengajar erti sabar dan redha. Paling penting faham yang segala-galanya milik Allah. Insyaallah, kalau dapat tanamkan walau sikit rasa redha, hati akan jadi lebih tenang.  So, apa jadi these few days? Hari Sabtu, seperti Raya Puasa dulu, akak telah menjadi tukang masak. Simple je - rendang ayam, lontong dan nasi impit. Lepas Maghrib hantar rumah my father. Cukup untuk esok harinya. Hari Ahad, datang ambil daging k

Aidil Adha...

Insyaallah kita sambut Hari Raya Haji Ahad ni. Tahun ni (seperti yang dah jadi beberapa kali), hari Wukuf di Arab Saudi awal sehari dari kita. Jadinya, hari ni akak puasa (insyaallah) sunat hari Wukuf. Ikut hari jemaah haji kita wukuf. As I am typing this, mereka sedang wukuf. Ada orang kata, waktu ni Allah swt buka pintu langit. Doa-doa insyaallah akan dimakbulkan. Ada orang lain kata pula, itu untuk orang yang sedang wukuf saja.  To me, kita berdoa saja. Dengan rasa ikhlas dan yakin. Lepas tu berserah pada Allah. Last year, I prayed very hard for help in starting our bike shop. Alhamdulillah, Allah datangkan pertolongan dalam bentuk seorang business partner. Yang penting doa, doa dan doa...

Little Makeover

Hari ni dengan Hubby membuat sedikit makeover kat kedai. Dah pening tengok barang makin banyak, tempat display tak cukup. Paling stress, ada masa ter-order barang yang sebenarnya ada stock lagi, tapi tak perasan sebab tersorok. Jadinya, semalam telah mengajak Linda pergi beli shelves. Warna ceria macam kat tadika :). Hopefully, things will get organised and orderly. Items dalam shelves kaca still huru-hara. Esok lah pulak...  This sitting area proves to be a good idea (idea akak hokey..). Last week, one guy actually lepak here from late afternoon till after Maghrib. Katanya kedai basikal ni best. Dia pergi kedai lain kepala semak katanya :)  Counter alih ke depan. Shelves kaca susun sederet. More space nampaknya. But then the counter jadi a bit sempit. Belum biasa kot... The new shelves jadi tempat letak forks on top and other cheaper stuff especially for BMXes and Fixies. The glass shelves reserve for more expensive items. But then, have to be extra alert sebab senang sa

Batul Kokol

Akak tengah batuk. Sekali batuk sure lama. Tak main seminggu dua. Main bulan punya. This year rasanya second time. Last year kena 2 kali gak. Biasanya malas nak jumpa doktor sebab tau sure payah nak baik. This time around nak try doktor yang jahit belakang telinga Aliyah hari tu. First round pergi memang demam. That was 2 weeks ago. Plus throat infection. Ubat habis, batuk still tak hilang. Lepas tu macam biasa pergi cari ubat kat pharmacy je. Dua round makan ubat batuk pill tak elok juga. Bila dada dah rasa senak, tidur pun payah, terpaksa pergi visit doktor tu lagi. This time kena nebulizer. Bronchitis kata doktor. Plus throat inflammation. Nampaknya ubat dah susut ni. Batuk masih menjadi-jadi. Sigh...

Subhanallah...

Air mata baru saja kering... I have a story. Semalam, in my Telegram group of ATPN, a friend told about a lady living in her area yang ditinggal suami, sedang pregnant with 5 kids. The lady just lost her job. Barang dapur dah habis. Minggu ni anak-anak makan maggi je. Bila baca rasa terpanggil sangat nak tolong. Tapi sedar diri yang tengah "kering kontang". Next payment for project quite far off sebab kerja tak siap lagi. Balance di CIMB pun tak seberapa. Tapi nekad kan hati. The lady needs money now more than I do. So, tawakkal dan transfer saja maximum yang boleh transfer dari balance dalam CIMB tu. Insyaallah, our friend akan guna untuk beli barang-barang dapur for the family. Walaupun tak lah mengharap sangat, tapi selalu baca pasal hikmah bersedekah. Yang Allah janjikan 10 kali ganda pulangan. Lalu hati pun mengharap semoga dapat pulangan. Dalam kepala pikir, kot-kot dapat projek baru ke... Tapi Allah berikan sesuatu yang lebih manis. Dengan penuh pengajaran. Dekat 5

Happy Belated Birthday to Meeeee...

I celebrated my birthday on Saturday. My 43rd birthday. I got fewer birthday wishes this year because I disabled my birthday on Facebook. I really don't know how to respond to such wishes - err... TQVM? TQ?... It is also a test. To see who really remember my birthday. The verdict? Even though you might keep your friends' birthdates, nowadays people simply rely on FB notification. Seriously. Out of the many, many friends, only one friend wished me. And she wished me a day in advance, as she always have - Aida. I guess she has the wrong date in her calendar. Or she has the time zone wrong! Hehe... but it's nice to get a wish from a friend who actually keeps my birthdate in her calendar. How I spent the day? Doing nothing much. Hubby had to work. I stayed home with Aliyah. Thought of going out for lunch but it rained the whole day. Aliyah even dozed off a few hours and then came down looking really guilty. So I reheat last week's spaghetti sauce and we had spaghetti fo

Nak Jadi Apa Kita Ni?

Kertas Sains dan English UPSR bocor. Bila dengar news ni, my first thought was - about time someone make a noise out of it! Semoga tahun-tahun akan datang, tidak ada lagi kertas yang bocor. Dan semoga results yang anak-anak kita dapat reflect usaha mereka dan kemampuan mereka. Bukan sebab hafal jawapan. Alhamdulillah benda ni jadi tahun ni. Bukan tahun lepas. (Kalau tak, akak akan masuk dalam statistik ibu bapa yang naik angin).  Sebenarnya tak boleh nak bayangkan bertapa frustratednya anak-anak kita bila kena re-sit exam. Kesian. Penat tau amik exam ni. To all the mak bapak yang kiasu nak sangat anak dapat semua subject A - padan muka. Jangan nak komplen banyak kalau korang yang jadi punca. Sure sekarang buat-buat muka innocent kan? Seriously, anak baru darjah 6 dah diajar menipu. Mesti yang kaki FB dah plan - kalau anak dapat straight As, boleh ambik gambar, post kat FB dan tag semua orang dengan kata-kata syahdu macam: "Syukur Alhamdulillah, anak Mama/Papa berjaya dapat 4A1,

3 FB Posts Yang Menjengkelkan

FB users never mature kan? I have written about them so many times. And I still can find them everywhere. 1) I found one yang sangat menjengkelkan 200%. One post by my nephew about him riding his bicycle with us was responded by, I believe, his friend. That guy wrote: "Tak ajak pun!". My nephew replied: "Jom la, hari Sabtu depan...". That guy replied: "Aku tak ada basikal". How stupid is that? 2) You know those advertisements - jual produk kecantikan lah, tudung lah, jubah lah... You will find yang sangat menjengkelkan any day. Kalau akak la kan, nak beli barang la kan... I will buy from a seller who has (not perfect, tak apa) good grammar or tatabahasa yang elok. The language you use to promote your products shows the kind of person you are and the quality of product you sell. I will never, ever buy from those who use: "meletoppsss...", "gila kentang!", "terbaekk dari ladang!", "mantoopss"... 3) Those who nev

Us

Hari ni akak nak post gambar berdua-duaan ye. Selalu kayuh tak de nak amik gambar. Bila kayuh dengan Along Iwan, dia kaki bergambar :)  Us!!!

30 Years of Sisterhood

Petang tadi pergi reunion 30 Years of Sisterhood. Hi-tea di Bangi Golf Club. Memang dah berminggu-minggu agak excited nak attend sebab ramai yang dah bertahun-tahun tak jumpa janji nak datang. Dan nak jumpa my bestfriend Mas yang sedang pregnant almost 8 months.  It was such a joyous, full of laughter event. It's amazing that after all these years, the friendship still remains. Ada yang langsung tak berubah. Seriously. Macam mana last jumpa masa Form 5, macam tu juga lah sekarang. Ada yang totally different. Zamira, my ex-schoolmate yang memang last jumpa in 1988 said: "Semua orang lawanya sekarang!". Hehehe... We talked, laughed, talked some more and laugh some more. I still feel a bit sore at my jaws and I can feel a sore throat coming. Love them sisters!  Duduk dengan geng CBN. Tema - black abaya. On far left is another bestfriend - Mazni. Satu kelas dengan dia kat Sri Aman masa Form 1, Form 4 & Form 5. Still "leweh" macam dulu. Lepas dapat

Kayuh Lagi :)

Pagi ni kayuh lagi. Yeay, suka-suka. Aktiviti bertiga dengan Along Iwan. Route Bukit Mahkota, Nilai 3, Kg Batang Benar, Kg Pajam (Beranang - yang ni akak agak confuse sebab ingat Pajam kat Negeri Sembilan), Kg Sg Kembong (kecik-kecik dulu Raya ke 2 mesti pegi sini), keluar dekat Desa Mahkota, naik sikit bukit kubur Cina (akak sikit, yang lain naik), balik dan sarapan di Asik Maju. Total = 22.7kms. Ride yang lebih menarik berbanding Nilai Impian sebab lalu jalan kampung yang suci murni. Tapi sambil tengok-tengok rumah dan kebun orang, kena selalu melihat di bumi nyata. Hampir-hampir terlanggar tahi lembu setompok besar tadi.  Lalu bawah Highway LEKAS.  Tak kuasa nak naik bukit ni. Tunggu bawah je. Tapi katanya ada jalan kat belah kanan yang tak curam sangat. Next time! Cita-cita tinggi nak conquer jambul kat atas bukit tu.

Full House

Alhamdulillah, we got a job to do bike maintenance for this university that is located not very far, far away. The contact was our ex-neighbour when we were staying in Terrace, Seri Putra years ago. This morning, one lorry load of bikes came. All 14 of them for the 1st batch. Secara tiba-tiba, kedai terus penuh! Some of the bikes...

Kayuh Suka Duka Lara

Akak kayuh semalam. Satu hari baru hilang penatnya. Dari Bukit Mahkota ke area kampung di Batang Benar, masuk off-road sikit dan patah balik - 26.5km. Sebenarnya ada lagi satu kayuhan kat sini dengan YB ADUN Bangi. Tapi agak malas nak join sebab rasanya pompuan tak ada. Dalam nak mengelak dari join kayuhan tu, terserempak jugak. Hensem Ustaz Shafie tu kan :). So, akak panggil kayuhan suka duka lara sebab pergi suka, balik duka lara. Disebabkan orang tu dah apologise, tak yah la cerita kan. Tapi turun bukit jatuh dalam semak lah juga. I hate such off-roads - yang kena kayuh naik punya curam rasa nak terbalik dan putus nyawa. Bila turun pulak pun sangat curam, penuh batu kecil-kecil dan ada laluan air yang dalam kalau tayar termasuk dalam celah tu boleh tertonggeng. Bila brake pulak asyik slide. Dah la baru kayuh 27.5" ni dua kali. Dapat budget jatuh masuk semak tu safe lagi. Kalau jatuh atas batu-batu tu... ish, ish...    Anyway... I'm sticking to kampung roads dan off-

Kayuhan Perasmian

Hari Sabtu pagi basikal baru telah selamat dirasmikan. Kayuh ke Nilai Impian dengan Along Iwan sekali. Just the 3 of us. Almost 22km. Akak yang dah dekat 2 bulan tak kayuh ni pun berusaha keras agar tidak ketinggalan jauh. Verdict basikal baru? Best, best. Saiz yang betul, jadi bahu tak rasa sakit atau lenguh. Cuma pedal rasa macam narrow sangat sebab kaki kanan selalu terlanggar crank. Itu maknanya kena cari pedal baru yang lebar sikit macam basikal lama. Yang pasti, 27.5" memang much better than 26". Dan SRAM tak lah susah sangat nak get used to. Cuma sekali-sekala tersalah masuk gear. Insyaallah kayuhan Nilai Impian akan jadi aktiviti rutin hari Sabtu dengan Along. Hari-hari biasa nak cuba juga kayuh. (Angan Mat Jenin).  Ambil gambar penting... Stop jap kat Nilai 3.

A Day of Mourning

The first 20 of 43 victims of #MH17 came home yesterday. Hati dari pagi dah rasa berat. Kedai buka awal sebab ada customer request. Jadinya, the one-minute moment of silence pun missed. Susah nak express feelings sebab kita tak alami tragedy tu. Banyak suara-suara sumbang (keyboard warriors yang hanya berani di depan komputer tetapi tak ada balls) yang mempertikaikan upacara - sampai galakan untuk pakai baju hitam pun nak diputar-belitkan. Manusia memang tak pernah puas hati... Bila baca status kawan-kawan yang ramai "mata masuk habuk", rasa diri ini kuat semangat. Tapi, ada satu gambar yang buat hati rasa luruh. A 10-year old boy who lost his mother... Air mata mengalir tak boleh nak tahan. Tak dapat nak bayangkan kalaulah anak kita sendiri yang alami tragedi ni... Ya Allah, kau kuatkanlah semangat anak ini. Semoga dia membesar menjadi anak yang soleh dan akan sentiasa mendoakan ibunya. Al Fatihah untuk semua mangsa MH17 yang beragama Islam. Semoga roh mereka dicuc

New Bike! New Bike!

After thinking and thinking and thinking for about a week, I finally made the decision. I'm getting the new bike that came in the shop last week. The 2015 Merida 750. Red and matte black. Yeay! Setelah penat asyik kena tinggal sebab kayuh 26", dan dengan niat the bike will be also serve as our shop's test bike, I now own a new bike. An awesome one :). So, my old Orbea - will see if Aliyah will take interest in cycling (again). Semenjak naik Form 1 ni dah tak nak cycle lagi. Must try to motivate her. At least ada activity hujung minggu dengan dia.  3x10 speed SRAM. Oleh kerana dah biasa guna Shimano, nak kena start practice guna SRAM yang sangat lain. Semangat naik sebab Along Iwan dah start cycle almost every day. Nak kejar dia :)