Living with Sarah

There is this opportunity. To diversify business. But involve a huge investment. Huge by my means, anyway. But very interesting. And exciting. When I'm excited about something very interesting, I can't really sleep. I get all these ideas. Unique ideas. I know I can do it. If I really put my mind into it. And efforts. But it's scary. But exciting. And interesting. I just need to be very brave. And find myself an investor!

I'm not a gadget person. Really. My mobile phone serves its purpose for making calls, sending SMS, reminders and alarms, setting calendar, putting notes and taking photos (2.0 MP). And my personal views - use it until it's no longer deemed useful (i.e. broken). Yesterday Hubby went out on his own and came back with an E75 as Mother's Day gift. Of course I am very happy but then now might not be the best time to splurge. But then, he insisted it's time for me to upgrade - Wifi, 3.2 MP camera, keyboard, GPS - to work better. So, I terima dengan tangan terbuka :). Thank you lurve.

I was still with this cough but I just needed some time with my daughter - like how we used to do ie spend a day during the week to go out for a little shopping and movie. Yesterday the afternoon session of her school was given the day off for Teacher's Day. I actually don't really understand why. So, I took Aliyah to Alamanda to buy presents for her teachers and then caught Shrek 4. The presents: Aliyah wanted to give presents to 4 of her teachers (the other one teacher she doesn't want to give. Well, her call...). We went around and finally settled with these retro-looking coffee mugs. The movie: I secretly booked tickets and told Aliyah there is a surprise for her :). Anyway, Shrek 4, if you ask me, is so-so. I think Shrek 3 was so so good, and so so funny, this final movie is a bit let down. Too high expectation. But still funny.

After just 2 days, it's being put on hold. I'm not well. I've been having this terrible cough for almost a month now. Problem is, whenever I get a cough, it really takes time to get better. However, this time around the cough has gotten worse. Since last week, when I cough, I can't draw a breath but continue coughing. Sometimes I'll be gasping for breath. Kind of worried. Yesterday after lunch, Hubby took me to the clinic. The doctor found that I do have difficulty breathing and gave me gas. It's supposed to open up my bronchi and make breathing better thus lessen my coughs. In other words, I actually have temporary asthma. Very not good. My cough got better yesterday but it's starting again today. I should do something. Anyway, my fitness program will resume when I get better. But I did get a bit of exercise today at Alamanda taking Aliyah for some fun time.

It takes a favourite jeans to tell me I have gained weight. I always gain weight when I'm busy with work. Spending 3/4 of a day in front of my laptop is seriously not good. Topped with hearty lunch, then back at the desk again... very not healthy. My gym membership? Have not been to the gym for ages. That guy at the counter called me a couple of weeks ago wanting to tell me about their promotions. A nice way of telling me - "Mam, you've not been visiting us for months!". I'm starting these baby steps to lose some weight. Ever since reading about how Enida fatted up and then lost it, I got so inspired. (You rock girl!) And how Yatt commented on my tummy last Saturday when I met up with her also gave me that needed knock on the head (tak sedar-sedar lagi?). So, starting from Sunday, I started walking. (Though, I dunno where my pedometer is... have not seen it ever since we moved to the new house) First day: 10 minutes (gimme a break, baby steps I said!). Yesterday:...

My brother Angah who went to perform his Umrah a couple of weeks ago told me stories of his experiences. Some are kind of funny - I guess the stories become funny when they are being told back here :). One of the stories is about how at times his solat became "sembahyang tenggiling (anteater)" due to lack of space. I can imagine him, so tiny, being sandwiched by Arabs. Anyway, he has a small mango tree in his garden. When he came back, the mango tree sprouted new leaves. A few days later he noticed something funny about the leaves. And Masyaallah, the leaves actually "sujud" and a bit bent - just like him performing the "sembahyang tenggiling" at Mekah. The new leaves are different from the rest - they are upside-down.

A warm Happy Mother's Day wish to all great moms out there... - to my mother, my MIL, my sisters, my SILs, friends... Being a Mom is just great isn't it? My family celebrated ours yesterday. My Kak Long informed everybody (she is so so good at this - everybody will surely come!) and quite a good turn out. Except for my brother, Angah's family, the other siblings were there. I have not baked for a while, felt like baking, and actually baked 2 cakes - for Mother's Day and another one for birthday - my nephew Miqdam. The food. The birthday cake was chocolate moist with butter cream and chocolate chips all around. The Mother's Day cake was vanilla (actually this very simple cake recipe my mother used to make - quite a heavy cake but I forgot to buy butter for the cake, so had to make do with this recipe) with lemon butter cream (my specialty). Everybody said both were yummy... :). My Kak Lang made meehoon goreng and her yummy karipap sardin. Kecoh before the party start...

We just came home from sending Aliyah to my Kak Lang's place. She's spending the night there as we are bound south early tomorrow morning for a presentation in Skudai. I'm quite worried for her as she has not been well - cold and fever. She's not been at school at all this week. Hopefully tomorrow. Our Latio must be groaning in pain and anger. It's long distance drive almost every other week, or at times, every week. We participated in this sebutharga for a CRM with our partner Shaji (the one we sent out during my vacation week in Kuantan). And tomorrow is the presentation. I am still down with this horrible and terrible cough, so I won't be presenting, but will try to talk whenever I can. They always say a female's presence at a presentation is always good. I'm always the calm one. My two other presenters - Hubby and Shaji - they are kinda fast. So, leave it to me to take these two back to mother earth, if they got too excited. Hubby always asks - what ...

I received my Mother's Day card and gift last Friday. It was not even May yet! But Aliyah was so excited, she couldn't wait. Both daughter and father went out to buy me a gift and some glittery stuff (I peeked!) and then retreated to the game room downstairs to work on their project. And that night, with lots of kisses and I-love-yous, I received a nice yellow hand-made card and a mug (which Hubby said is for my tea). Love you both lots! The card. The silver glittery stuff was used well :) The mug - specifically for my tea.

It started with just a simple statement from Hubby - "tak pernah tengok sekolah rendah lama awak yek". I said, "Sekolah Kg Tunku tu kan selalu tengok". He actually meant the school I went to at Sungai Besar for just about over a year. Suddenly all these memories came flooding into my mind and I said - "Let's go visit, just for my old times sake". Terus make plans and yesterday we actually went in a crammed car - three of us with my father, my Kak Long and Nizam. We spent the whole day traveling and visiting Sungai Besar, Tanjung Karang, Sekinchan and Kuala Selangor. Sungguh penat tapi sangatlah syok. A short history - I was born, raised and schooled in PJ. In 1982, my father was transferred to Sabak Bernam as the education district officer (he was the first batch). After my Penilaian Darjah 5 exams, we moved - only the 4 of us - my parents, Azlan my youngest brother and I. But I only spent my Standard 6 there. I then moved back to PJ for secondary scho...

We started our journey at 10am. My father started his history lesson from the moment the car moved till we reach Sungai Besar 3 hours later. Along the journey I caught the familiar and long forgotten landmarks. Aliyah was so excited to see sawah padi. Our first stop was the house of Wak Dawain - a family friend. My father first befriended him when he built the school surau next to our first house in Sungai Besar. When we first moved, we stayed at the principal's house of Sek Men Seri Bedena. A few months later we moved to the Government quarters nearby. Wak Dawain we found out was not well. Quite sad seeing him all sick like that because he was so good to us back then. In a lot of ways. We lunched to a peculiar yet delicious meal - masak lemak umbut kelapa with nasi impit, udang sambal and ikan kembong goreng garing. Surprisingly yummy. After that we went down the memory lane - our old house at the Government quarters. Our old house. It was a 4-bedroom house, huge. But now it looke...

Next we visited Sek Rendah Seri Makmur where my father worked. A building was dedicated for the office of the EDO. That used to be my father's office. This school is at Parit 1 and faces the sawah. Imagine having this view of the sawah from your office window. The sawah has just started to be replanted. But when it turns green and then gold... what a sight. Right after, we went to visit my old school - Sek Seri Utama. Nope, I didn't go to the school where my father worked. I can't remember why... But then, being the children of the EDO was not easy. My first day at the school was not so good. Naturally I was put at the first class (there were only 3 classes of Standard 6 compared to 14 classes at my previous school) but then without warning, I had to take 5 exam papers at one shot to ensure my seat in the first class, and in just a couple of hours. The teacher calculated immediately and surprisingly I got number 4 in the class - which surprised me as well because back in Se...

After a short visit to the town, we headed back with a short stop in Tanjung Karang for 2nd lunch. My daughter wanted KFC. My good friend Mas is from Tanjung Karang, and my father remembered her house as we used to give her a ride back to our hostel last time. However, she's now in Sudan and will only be back next month. If she's around, we would've stopped by and have her mom's Nasi Ambeng. Our last stop was Kuala Selangor's Bukit Melawati. Have not been there for years. Aliyah was so excited because we told her there were "meriam" (canons) at the top of the hill just like the ones in Pirates of the Caribbean. We took the tram/train to go up - with many people around you can imagine us having to fight our way up. The Majlis Perbandaraan should create some sort of queuing system lah. Anyway, the trip up was fun. We went down at the top of the hill, visit the museum before going down. My Kak Long, our walking history book err... my father and Nizam on the t...