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Showing posts from July, 2016

Harry Potter 8

The latest Harry Potter book is out today. For the first time since I started reading the books, I didn't grab my copy on the very day it's being launched. Should I? I don't know. Still thinking. Harry Potter is supposed to end at book 7. That's it. No matter how successful it has become, that was the promise made by JK Rowling. This new book is not a novel. It's the script of a play. I was at MPH this afternoon and I did have a look at the book. Quite pricey at RM119 if I'm not mistaken. And yes, it's a very thick script. I read some reviews and it's supposed to be quite good. But it's not really written by JK Rowling, even though the story is based on her ideas. I don't know whether I want to read about what happen 19 years later. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna and the rest will forever be kids/teenagers to me. In Book 8 they are adults with kids. I'm still thinking. Should I?

Not Well...

Adoii... have not been so well for the past few days. Flu lah kot ni. Running nose, kepala berat, rasa macam demam tapi tak ada temperature sangat. Paling tak best early morning and at night. Hubbs has been worry sick. Kalau dia ada memang terus masuk kereta pegi klinik. Since ikut kepala sendiri, memang malas betul nak pegi. Insyaallah esok. Anak kesayangan kata esok dia nak bawak Mommy dia pergi klinik. Ye la tu... I think what makes it worst is that I'm still doing this system testing. Memang mencabar kesabaran betul. Things yang dah pass previous test, bila test balik fail pulak. Give up betul. Sample test data ada banyak numbers yang kena double check every time before submit. Those numbers yang buat juling mata. Maklumlah, nak cater for juta-juta punya projek. Kita yang tak dapat projek juta-juta yang kena sediakan system :(. Aliyah will start her ujian lisan and oral test next week. There are 3 sessions altogether. Risau juga ni. I hope she can overcome her shyness and s

Makan-makan With the Gang

It's Hari Raya makan-makan time with the usuals and a few more sometimes usuals :). As usual (berapa banyak usuals?), we do it on a working day. Alhamdulillah I didn't have to attend any meetings today. It's potluck and I volunteered to bring rendang hijau ayam. Terjumpa resepi viral di FB. Macam senang. Tapi still tak juga pedas menyengat. Kena tambah cili api lagi! Food lain sangat awesome. At this moment, I am still very full. But the best part was - I was told - hey, kau dah kurus! Yeayyy... walaupun the weight loss is not so significant, I guess puasa month, a bit of food control, water laced with lemon or pomegranate vinegar (supposed to buy apple cider vinegar tapi jumpa pomegranate yang nampak lagi menarik) and my jogs/walks did help to tone the body a bit. Tapi kalau nak kira dari awal tahun, I did actually shed 3kgs. Dapat lagi 2kg pun dah cukup :) Rendang hijau ayam or rendang cili api ayam yang pedas light-light saja. Juri-juri kelas masakan kata sedap. Al

Makan-makan Weekend

Hubbs was back during the weekend. Kali ni rasa lama sangat nak cukup 2 weeks :(. Sigh... It was a weekend of makan-makan. On Saturday, we started with lunch at our new neighbour's house next door. Nama pun Jimmy, sama macam neighbour lama. Lepas tu hantar Aliyah ke Anjung rumah terbuka kawan dia. Then, at 6pm we went over to Kili's house. Hubbs dapat juga makan rendang itik hasil masakan Nor :). Others were there except Pijal. Food sebagai bekalan pun agak plentiful. Today I just reheated the food we got yesterday - satay, rendang itik, nasi impit... Masing-masing ada deadline for tomorrow so focus on work lah. Hubb's flight was 9.50pm but then 6pm dah kena ada di airport sebab ada meeting. So, it was touch and go sahaja. See you in 2 weeks' time...

Finally Started

I finally realise that I have a 30-minute window between sending Aliyah to school and going to my mother's place. How come I didn't see it before? Usually, I would go home after sending Aliyah to school. I then spend the 30 minutes preparing food for my mother (if I'm cooking her something). Or if I plan to buy, I would use it to watch the news, or even catch a few winks. This morning I started my walk/jog. I just needed to adjust my time a bit. Start 10 minutes earlier than usual. So, while I prepare breakfast for Aliyah, I also prepare food for my mother at the same time. Then, a dash upstairs to get ready while Aliyah take her breakfast. Hasilnya? Yup! A good 27-minute of exercise. And amazingly, after Ramadhan, quite good stamina. I actually ran half the time (well, tak aci sangat sebab ada time turun bukit!). Must be because I've lost some weight :).  Setelah 2 bulan, kasut ini bergerak juga akhirnya! I parked my car just down the road at Legundi. Then

Tak Jadi...

I'm supposed to be in Melaka right now. For that workshop. I was supposed to handle one group of SMEs for this module I am very familiar with. I am one of only 3 people who are familiar with the module apart from the developer and the team leader. I don't think the others know the module that well. All was OK until the last minute. I didn't feel good inside. Aliyah has been sulking every time I brought the subject up. On Monday, when I told her the things she needed to pack and do when I'm not around, still she sulked and started to act cold. I even got a bit angry that I asked her to please give me some support. I told her things are difficult for me now and I don't purposely want to leave her. I needed to work. She was OK a couple of hours later. It was then that I knew I couldn't go. I have learned to appreciate my daughter's instincts. And I know how uncomfortable it would be for her to stay at someone else's house even for just 3 days. I have ar

Touched...

Jaga orang tua bukan senang. Paling penting kena sabar. Banyak-banyak sabar. Selalu cuba jaga mulut jangan sampai terkeluar perkataan yang mungkin boleh sakitkan hati my mother. No matter what she does and say, sabar. Kalau rasa macam nak terkeluar tu, tutup mulut rapat-rapat. Jawab pun jangan. Pandang pun jangan. Just ignore. This story has got to do with the pisang tanduk yang Hubbs turunkan last week. Setelah seminggu lebih, satu biji dah masak. So, malam semalam I masak pengat. My mother memang sangat suka makan anything yang berasaskan pisang. Lepat, cekodok, pisang goreng, pengat pisang... Pagi tadi bawa untuk dia. I tak panaskan sebab she likes to eat little by little. Kadang-kadang dari pagi sampai petang dia ambil masa nak habiskan food. I guess the best way is to keep the pengat pisang chilled. Takut basi pulak. So, I was at the living room having short chat with my brother, as usual, when my mother called. She called my SIL's name first, then my brother's name,

Sekarang Baru Nak Tengok

I was serious when I said I don't watch Malaysian TV anymore. I terminated my Astro account that was used by my arwah father just weeks after his passing. What you read about how Astro bullies people is true. I had to pay one extra month even though I gave one-month notice of termination, and it was such a waste because the line was disconnected anyway. Until now, the account is still not fully terminated (I checked online!). Macam saja je tunggu waktu sesuai nak sambung semula, which actually happened once. Astro called Hubbs and offered 6 months of free service. They took Hubb's response of "need to discuss" as "Yes" and connected the line, and charged RM20 for connection fee. Jahat sungguh Astro ni. I then transferred the Astro account I'm using at my house to my mother's house. I suspended the account because I was so sick of Astro. But I was not allowed more than 3 extensions of suspension. We then turned to HyppTV which I am quite happy with.

Our Weekend

It's a working weekend for me. Nothing new. Yesterday Aliyah went to her friend's house and together with her gang, they went to complete their PT3 Geography project paper. Gave me a few hours of peace to work. Bukan apa, nanti asyik nak tanya dia - "Aliyaahhh... you hungry yettt?" Other than that, it was work, eat out, nothing much. After Raya I haven't started my walking routine yet. Nowadays, weekend pun have to go to my mother's place. I don't have the luxury of Saturday and Sunday mornings to exercise anymore. Tak apalah, selagi ada kudrat cubalah sedaya-upaya. Kena tabahkan hati dan kuatkan semangat. Insyaallah.   Monthly dental appointment. One of those rare Saturdays yang orang tak ramai. Was told that Aliyah can be off the braces in 6 months' time.  Saturday night dinner at Grato. Kuat makan si kurus ni lah! Today's lunch at Nando's Alamanda. Now I know how to get Aliyah to eat veges. She loves the Caesar Salad. P

Felting Again

Ya, kerja saya sangat banyak sekarang. Next week ada workshop. Satu benda pun tak ready lagi. Still doing testing for UAT (final kah?) the week after. By now patut tengah study business flow for the workshop. Bukan patut study, patut dah hafal. At the same time, that translation work yang sepi tanpa berita berminggu-minggu baru hantar latest English version. Nak kena compare word for word, page by page. Banyak lah pulak changes. Deadline? Monday. So, what do I do when I get swarmed by work and stressed out? I distract myself doing other things! Ya, tindakan yang sangat tidak bagus dan akan mengundang masalah besar. But then, just before Raya, I got this payment for my felt craft I put at my nephew's spa. While it's not much, but I actually sold quite a few. Bila kira balik rasanya paling kurang 15 kot. Jadinya, sebelum jari-jari menjadi keras, I start felting again. Baru siap 3. But good to release stress :)

Home Sweetlah Sangat

The newly planted pearl grass is looking good. Setelah hampir separuh mati masa mula-mula dulu. Hubbs berjaya menyelamatkan keadaan dengan membeli water sprinkler. Masa Raya Ijjul tolong datang 2 kali sehari siram rumput.  Rezeki pergi beraya ke rumah Kak Rahmah di Melaka dapat hadiah pokok balung ayam. Bunga merah katanya.  Pokok mangga yang baru 2-3 bulan tanam dah berbuah? Let's see if the fruits stay put :) Hubbs buat ni untuk tempat bakar sampah. Nampak organised sikit :) One of those rare times yang pokok pisang tanduk berbuah setandan sahaja. Hasilnya, pokok tak patah (selalunya patah sebab buah pisang berat sangat!), buah pun besar.

The Day Before Raya

On the way nak balik Melaka, lepas singgah rumah my mother, ziarah pusara my father... Hias sikit sempena Raya :) Rindu. Sangat rindu.  At times like this, I feel so thankful and blessed. Allah swt has given and shaped me to be the person I am today. I do listen to people's opinions but in the end, I do what I deem fit and right. And I was so glad that in the last days of my father's life, I was there for him. I was there during his last Ramadhan, during his last Hari Raya. I was there at New Year's eve when fireworks sounded from a far, checking him in to the hospital. I was there when he spoke his last words before he lapsed into on-off coma. And I was there holding his still warm feet when he breathed his last.  I am not the perfect daughter. I might be absent at times of need. But I pray, always, that when he last saw me that day, he forgave me for all my wrongdoings and the disappointments that I might become. Time can never heal this sadness inside my

Selamat Hari Raya 2016

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri. Maaf zahir batin. Halal makan minum :) Tahun ni raya di Melaka setelah tahun lepas tak balik. We went back the day before Raya. Sempatlah projek masak-masak dengan adik ipar. Malam Raya ke 2 balik semula ke Bangi. Meh akak belanja gambar :)  Goofing around dengan anak dara tersayang.  Warna tema tahun ni? Kena ikut Aliyah. Blue and brown. I kat tengah-tengah jadi penyambungnya.   Tahun ni berjalan raya secara berjemaah :)

Kerja Keras

The project I'm currently doing is now at UAT stage. Dah masuk kali ke 4 dah ni. Final katanya. Tapi tak final pun. Ada je yang tak kena. Elok-elok test semua OK, bila user test jumpa pulak benda lain. Dugaan betul. Minggu ni memang really tied-up. Isnin buat report from home, Selasa-Rabu stationed at Bangsar South office buat walk-through. Selasa tu sampai rumah ngam-ngam ada 10 minutes to sit down before going out again to fetch Aliyah from school. On days yang I had to work late Aliyah will stay back at school. Bagus juga sebab ada kawan dia yang stay back every day to study. Rabu pulak got stuck in the jam for 1.5 hours at Sungai Besi on the way to office. Perjalanan selalunya 30-40 minutes. Petang baru dapat tahu rupanya ada kes orang kena tembak. Patutla ada ambulance dan polis. Teruk betul sekarang kan? Asal jealous je tembak. Anyway, lepas siap kerja di office balik sambung lagi kat rumah sampai jauh malam. Semalam was the UAT day. Masa buat UAT script dah budget sure hab