Living with Sarah

Today is Hubby's birthday. Pagi tadi tepat jam 12.01am, I sent him a birthday wish. Of course he was sleeping at that time. Time zone yang berbeza :). He replied at 4.56am. Time Subuh sana. I am a light sleeper. Bila dengar bunyi WA masuk, I knew it was him. Cuma tak berdaya nak bangun saja. He'll be coming back next Friday. Tak apa lah. Lewat sikit celebrate. Jadinya, di Malaysia wifey dan dotternya yang celebrate. Hehe... I have promised to take Aliyah to A&W ever since I tasted that sinful cheesy nachos for my birthday treat last week. Sebelum ni tak pernah rasa. A&W ni bukan tempat regular kot. Lagi pun, dah banyak tutup kan. I wazed. The nearest one to us is at R n R Seremban. But not that far lah. Around 15kms saja. Janji dengan Aliyah nak pergi today. Masa fetch Aliyah from school she asked whether we'll be going to A&W for lunch. I said yup, straight away go home and get ready. She said, "Pergi terus boleh? Lapar lah!". Aik? Tak payah tukar...

I'm going to write this while I can still remember. And while the feeling lingers. Pagi tadi badan still rasa letih kesan pergi hiking semalam. Semalam tak take a nap pun lepas sampai rumah. Bila dah terlampau penat, tak boleh tidur sebenarnya. So pagi ni, lepas selesai settlekan my mother, balik terus lelap sekejap sementara tunggu jam 10 nak start kerja. Ada deadline hari ni. Before noon kena siapkan that last user manual. Tapi kena tunggu developer siap buat amendments. I dreamed of my father. Memang seminggu dua ni asyik teringat pada dia. His birthday was on 17 September. The dream was so clear. My mother got caught by my Kak Lang and her kid - she could walk. Terbongkok-bongkok sikit but she could walk. I can't remember how, but I was walking with my father towards the house at that time. And when my mother couldn't walk, she crawled. But she tried. We were then in my mother's room. I stood nearby  watching them. My father sat beside my mother and talked to ...

I went for a hike up Bukit Ayer Hitam Puchong yesterday with the usuals. Lepas siapkan my mother, Hubbs hantar terus ke sana. Main agenda sebenarnya ialah kawan-kawan seangkatan nak celebrate my birthday. Agenda sampingan - nak cari waterfall di situ. Bukan nak mandi ya, nak hiking. I can't really picture where the waterfall is located actually. Bila Jay cerita (dia dengan Ies kalau hike kat situ tak pernah guna trail yang sama!), I thought it's not far from the trail down to the car park. Dalam kepala fikir paling jauh pun setengah jam kot. Or not!  What a hike! Kalah our hike ke Sg Lopo okey! I lost count of the hills we had to climb. Semua jenis terpacak saja. Banyak simpang pulak tu. Risau juga takut sesat. Tapi banyak markers at the trees - blue, red and orange. No one knows what they mean. Yang pasti, we took the blue ones in and followed the red ones out. Orang yang kita orang jumpa pun tak ramai. I guess sebab Sunday kot. Now I can safely say - the usual trail naik B...

Hubby came back last Friday. As he promised, we went for my birthday makan-makan at IOI City Mall. Place of my choice. Anak comel dah agak moncong mulutnya sebab I chose Papparich. She said she doesn't know what to eat there. Ada... jangan risau. Why Papparich? Because they have the best kuey teow kerang goreng kering ala Penang in town. Nak lagi sedap? Order seafood - tambah udang dan sotong. Akhirnya anak comel dapat juga something that she likes. Ini sangat yummeh... That's one of the last Murakamis that I don't have in my collection. A birthday present from anak comel :). Hubbs added another present - Under Armour phone & key belt. Now no worries if I jog in pants without pockets. Love love love.

Sejak awal minggu Aliyah dah excited. Hari ni dentist appointment untuk remove braces. Dan penat simpan rahsia daripada kawan-kawan kot :). Sekejap saja procedure rupanya. Comelnya anak aku ni :). So, tamat sudah routine lawatan ke dentist setiap bulan selama lebih kurang setahun setengah. Ketat lagi. Cakap pun pelat!

Yesterday was my birthday. Well-wishers boleh dikira dengan jari :). Sejak meng-disable birthdate di FB, those who wished me are the ones who really are close to me. Yang ada initiative letak my birthdate dalam calendar. I feel genuinely appreciated, rather than getting a mere "HB" on my wall. Jangan risau, tak wish tak apa... It was probably one of the most boring birthdays ever. Hubby's not around. So, it really was a quiet birthday. Last year I received birthday wish and hug like every 2-3 hours :). But then, even if he's not around, I did receive his birthday present via Gdex. Pandai plan purchase date so that the present came on my birthday :). Walaupun tak beli pada launch day, as usual, dan walaupun secara verbal dan mental kuat mengatakan tidak mahu beli, tapi jauh di sudut hati kat dalam sinun memang nak sangat buku ni. Hubbs knows me very well...   Pagi-pagi bersemangat nak jog. Tapi sampai kat sekolah Aliyah, hujan pulak. Terpaksa balik semula k...

Sebenarnya sejak 2-3 bulan lepas banyak juga baca cerita pasal manusia penakut (atau lebih dikenali sebagai keyboard warriors) yang mengutuk jururawat. Dekat FB bukan main lagi mengata sampai keluar segala perkataan kesat yang tak sepatutnya keluar. Setiap kali saya baca kisah macam ni, the first thing that comes to mind is - kalau betul, kenapa tak complain? Terus jumpa nurse tu, cakap dengan dia apa yang tak puas hati. Dengar her side of the story. Kalau nurse tu kurang ajar, cari pulak siapa superior dia, kalau sama jugak cari kat mana nak buat complain di hospital tu. Itu cara paling logik untuk buat complain. Standard lah mana-mana pun. Yang bodoh pegi complain kat FB tu buat apa? Suka kot nak viral kan benda yang rasa dia betul sangat dan pandai sangat. Dan banyak kes yang lepas viral, bila selidik balik, rupanya orang tu yang salah. Lepas tu kena buat public apology. I have had my shares of dealing with nurses. Setakat ni, pengalaman saya temankan Mak dan arwah Abah (mostly ...

Hubby was back on Friday for my nephew Ijjul's engagement. Dia kena lantik jadi wakil keluarga. We call him Tok Sidang belah lelaki. Hehehe... Saturday, lepas selesai urusan biasa, berkumpul di rumah my brother Angah for breakfast. We left for Merlimau, Melaka at around 10.45am. The journey was quite smooth walaupun banyak kereta. Sampai rumah belah perempuan hampir jam 1. Altogether dalam 6 kereta. Family belah Kak Ros 3 kereta. Agak ramai jugalah yang menghantar :). Alhamdulillah semua berjalan dengan lancar. Hati sangat suspense sebab Hubbs yang muda remaja kena pikul tanggungjawab besar jadi wakil keluarga. Bila dia buka mulut bagi pantun, adusss... I tutup mata. Tapi pandai juga suamiku buat impromptu pantun rupanya :). Thumbs-up!  Hantaran...  Wakil keluarga berpantun dengan Tok Sidang. Tapi Tok Sidang kata - orang Melaka memang suka berpantun, tapi tak payah balas pun. Hehehe... Gambar ni boleh dilihat daripada sudut yang berbeza. Salam genggam yang sangat e...

My traveling friends Ies and Jay are now in Kuantan for a trip. Ies ada free stay at Swiss Garden from yesterday till Saturday. I memang tak boleh ikut. Tapi, oh blur nya aku 2-3 hari ni, I just realise I can actually go! Weeks before I told them I couldn't go because of school week day. Lagipun Sabtu ni my nephew Ijjul's engagement. Bila dua orang tu pergi semalam, I just realise - ni kan school holidays! Ok, ok, I still can't go because I have deadline to catch. These user manuals I'm doing kena hantar minggu ni. I set my own deadline - Friday morning, walaupun pagi tadi rasa-rasa macam nak je drive east to Kuantan. And then... I just read Adda's FB post (about her class being cancelled) - esok cuti! I should've just pack this morning, grab Aliyah and drive to Kuantan! Tak pe lah. Tak ada rezeki nak ke Kuantan. What Aliyah and I did yesterday... Semalam tukar card Bank Islam kepada MyDebit card. Walaupun ramai orang, it was over in about 30 minutes. Nak ...

Very low-key Hari Raya. Sejak jam 4.30 pagi hujan menderu-deru turun. Pagi yang sesuai untuk tarik selimut dan sambung tidur. Janji dengan my brother Angah untuk uruskan my mother jam 7.15 sebelum dia pergi masjid. Bawak sikit nasi impit dan kuah kacang segera untuk dia alas perut sementara nak datang semula. Lepas tu balik rumah dan experiment masak nasi minyak. Kali ni guna beras basmathi. Dulu-dulu main belasah guna beras biasa sebab anak-beranak saja yang makan :). Lawannya ialah ayam rendang hijau yang I pernah masak untuk gathering ke rumah Ies dulu. Masak tak kering sangat kasi kuah lebih. Dan acar timun dan nenas - tambah tomato dan cili api kasi merah telinga. Ni masa sedang dalam proses :) Dah siap semua, balik semula ke rumah my mother bagi dia rasa. Lepas tu ke rumah my brother Angah pulak. Memang dah siapkan bekal untuk makan sama-sama. Rupanya ada yang tunggu nasi minyak Ateh dia. Hehehe... Alhamdulillah sedap katanya. Petang Kili and family singgah rumah da...

Selamat Hari Raya Aidiladha to you. At this very moment, waktu wukuf baru bermula. Waktu mustajab untuk berdoa. Teringat masa muda dulu-dulu Raya Haji ni memang tak ada "feeling" langsung. Sekarang... bangun pagi tadi dah rasa excited nak tunggu waktu wukuf sampai. Jom kita guna masa ni untuk berdoa. Nak mintak memang malu kan. Sebab asyik mintak saja. Tapi Allah suka kita minta pada dia. Ok, sikit lagi nak update :).  Friday meeting. Friday? Isshhh... caterer hantar piring kuih untuk 19 orang. Silap kot? Yang datang 6 orang saja. Orang yang panggil meeting pun tak datang!  Minggu ni cuma dapat jog satu hari saja. Sekarang selalu hujan pagi.  On Friday - dinner @Nandos di klia2 sementara tunggu Abahnya sampai. This girl buat pose macam ni khas untuk Abg Ijam :). Sambil dinner, terbaca one of the 10 memorable quotes by Murakami. This one hit me spot on. I once endured a storm. It lasted for quite some time. And I am never the same.

Last day of our trip. Selamat Hari Kebangsaan (this was what it used to be called last time) or Selamat Hari Merdeka. Sangat rare dapat spend time with friends yang pernah sama-sama perform masa Form 4 dulu. Sambil tengok acara kat TV, reminiscence cerita-cerita lama :). Topik paling hot - bertapa buruknya baju budak-budak Sri Aman masa perform tu. Hehehe... Tengok perbarisan di TV. Merdeka! Lepas breakfast, again di Pasar Payang, sambung shopping lagi sikit. Ada satu gerai T Shirt yang nampak best tapi semalam tutup.  Ni lah gerainya. T Shirt design memang menarik dan kreatif. Sebelum balik semula ke hotel, singgah beli kuih kat gerai Pok Him. Punyalah banyak kuih kat situ. Murah pulak tu. I spent RM6 and got 5 types of kuih. Bagus juga beli kuih sebab sangat kenyang lepas breakfast we skipped lunch. Makan kuih tu dalam bas. We checked out at 12 and headed straight to the bus stand. Jalan dalam 200 meter je.   Tunggu driver pergi minum. Advent...

Already? Cepat sangat masa berlalu. Whyyy? We were having so much fun. Sigh... No activity for the day. Check-out time was 10am. Sebab nak kena ikut time feri kan. Lepas breakfast we packed our things. Pening kepala nak selesaikan masalah baju-baju basah. Lepas checked out, just hang out sementara tunggu feri datang at 11am.  Gambar macam ni kena ada...  Gambar macam ni pun kena ada...   Yang macam ni wajib juga...   Ini lah Redang Lagoon Resort. Highly recommended. Cuma jangan lah expect ada toiletries bagai kan. For 3D/2N full board was around RM290. Ferry ticket included.   Ambik gambar dengan guru besar yang garang. Hehehe... ni beach boy yang hari-hari bawak pergi boat trips. Kita orang panggil guru besar sebab dia suruh beratur 3 barisan lurus. Siap check lagi lurus ke tak! Fun and funny guys lah the beach boys. Mamat ni cakap Melayu bunyi Terengganu, sekali cakap omputih bunyi American gitu. Tunggu turn nak naik transit boat...