March 30, 2005

Makan Angin Naik LRT

Perjalanan dari Penang ke KL smooth saja. Tidak ada apa2 kejadian yang tidak diingini berlaku. Cuma emak aku saja yang merasa agak loya dan dia muntah masa kami stop untuk beli buah2an kat R&R Bukit Gantang. Selepas tu dia tidur sampai KL. First half of the journey, PS kawan aku, yang pandu kereta. Kami selalu macam gitulah, drive half of the journey each. Oleh kerana emak aku ikut kami tak berhenti kat Tapah, tapi kami tukar driver kat Behrang saja.
Aku selalu drive the 2nd half sebab aku lebih familiar dengan jalan di KL. Tu pun selalu sesat jugak lah.

Semasa dalam perjalan tiba2 Wynn t elefon tanya boleh jumpa ke? Aku kata boleh lah tetapi kena hantar emak pergi Shah Alam dulu, dia kata OK dan dah contact the GLB (term si Wynn lah ni/Mak Andeh pakai supermodels hehehe) untuk beritahu. Plan tu nak lama sikit kat rumah abang aku di Shah Alam sebab dah lama tak lawat dia dan famili, tapi dek kerana dah janji duduk sekejap je lah kat Shah Alam tu. Lepas check-in kat Suitestay, aku, PS dan Kak Long pun drive ke KLCC. Cadang nak jalan kaki saja sebab dekat je Suitestay dari KLCC tapi hari hujan pulak. Bila sampai je, aku terus pegi jumpa the GLB yang lelain kat Warung. Yang kenal cuma Mak Andeh, Wynn tengok gambar dia kat blog dan YM, Kak Yan pulak walaupun dia senior aku kat JB dulu, dah lama aku tak jumpa (lebih 30 tahun). Kami dah tak kenal rupa masing2. Tapi aku tengok dia memang lain dari gambar masa remaja dulu. Rasanya sekarang dia lebih cun dari masa dia remaja dulu. Apa agaknya rahsia Kak Yan ni ye?
Riuh rendah kami seperti yang Mak Andeh cerita tu. Jadi aku tak payah cerita panjang kat sini dah. Terimakasih pada GLB yang lelain kerana memungkin kan pertemuan ini.
Untuk bloggers yang kami dah janji nak jumpa tu tapi last minit terkansel tu, mintak maaf lah. Bukan lah sengaja tak nak jumpa tapi belum diizinkan lagi tu. Insyaallah, bila aku ke KL lagi akan aku cuba jumpa dengan mereka sedikit demi sedikit. Jangan lah merajuk sampai nak terjun kolam pulak.

Esoknya hari Isnin, program aku memang pack. Aku langsung tak ada masa nak duduk mengadap PC/laptop. Mula tu server kami down, aku dah mula gelabah sebab hari tu aku memang memerlukan connection dari KL ke Kulim sebab kami ada external quality audit dan mungkin perlu pull out data dari network. Lepas aku dok ingat kalau aku dah senang sikit mungkin tak dapat nak surf internet pulak. Siap aku telefon IT manager kat Kulim tanya apa hal, dia kata Telekom's fault dan dia tak boleh buat apa2. Tak lama lepas tu OK lah server, lega aku. Memang aku tak ada time nak berinternet pun, cuma ada celah2 sikit masa petang, bila auditor2 tengah buat report. Sempat visit 2, 3 blog ajelah, blog aku langsung tak masuk pun. Audit in KL went well, but we they still need to audit Kulim tomorrow (Wednesday) to conclude the findings. Jadinya aku dengan PS masih belum free lagi lah.

Masa aku dan PS bekerja, Kak Long tinggal sorang kat hotel. Masa lunch aku ajak sekali dia pergi lunch dengan kami, dia jalan pergi jumpa aku, lepas lunch aku suruh lah dia pergi jalan2 kat Ampang Park. Bukan apa2 cuma nak latih dia bagi confident jalan sorang2, takut nanti bila dia masuk mana2 kolej tak reti nak jalan pulak. Tak kan awal2 dah nak cari boyfriend jadi bodygaurd. Kalau boyfriend baik tak pe lah, takut2 boyfriend makan diri pulak. Kalau dia independent sikit, tahu lah dia jaga diri dia tu, insyaallah.

Malam, kami plan nak makan nasi padang. Ada satu restoran nasi padang yang aku pernah makan masa aku kat Bali bersama arwah ayah dulu. Nama dia Natrabu, memang sedap masakan kat restoran tu, authentik dari Padang, Sumatra. Aku dan PS dah pernah pergi makan sekali tahun lepas, restoran tu just outside KL Sentral LRT stesyen. Hari hujan masa kami keluar dari bilik, jadi kena drive kereta ke KLCC, park kereta sana naik LRT pergi KL Sentral. Jalan keluar dari stesyen ke restoran, tup, tup, tengok dah tutup. Nampak macam dah tak beroperasi je. Frust betul lah kami. Dah pindah ke, tapikat mana ek?
Jadi kami pun ambik keputusan balik saja ke KLCC untuk cari makan. Dan dekat pukul 9.00 malam belum makan lagi. Jadinya kami ni jalan2 cari makan, makan angin, naik LRT sajalah malam tu. Kat KLCC, pi makan tomyam, punya lah pedas, sampai air mata dan air hidung pun keluar, telinga pun rasa berasap dah. Langsung tak habis makan. Aku memang tak tahan pedas sangat. Kami ingat nak minum teh tarik kat Boh Island tu tapi pasal dah lewat tutup dah. Lagi sekali frust.

Balik hotel, PS dengan aku dah tak tahan ngantuk, PS masuk tidur, aku pun masuk, solat lah dan lain2, siap untuk tidur. Kak Long masih tengok drama kat TV, syok jugak aku tengok tapi tak tahan mata, maka tertidurlah aku. Bangun subuh pagi tadi (selalsa), keluar kat hall tengok ada notis kat bawah pintu, aku ingat notis tu untuk susruh kami check-out awal sebab hotel fully book. Rupanya notis pasal gempa bumi. Aku terus on TV dengar berita. Kak Long beritahu aku memang dia semalam rasa hotel bergoyang, dia takut tapi tak kejut aku pun. Lepas tu tak rasa dah dia pun tidur lah. Bilik kami kat tingkat 11 jadi memang boleh rasa lah. Alhamdulillah tak jadi apa2, kalau tidak........

Kami sebenarnya dah plan nak naik sky bridge KLCC, pagi tadi. Semalam dah pergi check-out pukul berapa kaunter tiket bukak. Aku dan PS dah pernah dah naik sekali tapi saja bawak Kak Long naik je. Lepas breakfast kami pun jalan ke KLCC, sebelum pukul 9.00 pagi dah sampai kat tempat nak ambil tiket tu. Orang punya lah ramai, kebanyakan tourist, berbaris nak mengambil tiket, macam ular kena pukul pulak lah barisan tu. Tak kuasa lah nak join barisan tu, sebab kami kena balik Penang hari ni jugak. Lagipun aku kena singgah ke KL ofis sebab nak sign beberapa dokumen. Clerk kat Kulim dah pesan semalam suruh pi ofis sebelum travel balik around 10.00 pagi. Setiap hari ada courier document dari Kulim-KL, jadi tak kisah lah sangat kat mana ada boleh je sign. Katanya urgent tak boleh nak tunggu aku balik Kulim dulu.

Jadi lepas dah habis urusan, pump minyak penuh2 kat kedai minyak sebelah ofis tu, kami mulakan perjalanan balik ke Penang. Kami start perjalanan kami dari pukul 11.00 pagi, singgah kat Tapah beli buah Abiu kegemaran hubby aku ni dengan mangga 4 seasons (kata tauke tu lah). Kemudian terus jalan lagi sampai Bukit Gantang di mana aku dan Kak Long berhenti solat. PS ni berugama hindu tetapi aku dah kenal dia lebih 10 tahun dan kami respect each others needs. Kat Bukit Gantang aku beli mangga Okim 3.5 kg sebab hubby pesan. Hari hujan on and off, sepanjang perjalanan jadi tak lah berapa panas. Kami sampai rumah pukul 5.00 petang. Alhamdulillah sampai lah kami dengan selamat ke rumah

Aku apa lagi terus masuk bilik on PC, sebab Mak Andeh dah sms dia dah update dengan cite pertemuan tu. Tergelak aku baca dan tengok gambar tu. Namun kenangan manis bersama GLB tu tak akan dapat dilupakan.

March 27, 2005

Out of Office (Blog)

Aku dah tak larat dah ni. Satu hari asyik buat kerja rumah, nak pegi baca blog kawan-kawan pun tak sempat. Ngantuk sangat dah ni. Esok nak bertolak ke KL, so hari ni kenalah buat banyak kerja rumah. Masak yang best2, gosok baju yang nak tinggal, dan pilih baju yang nak bawak. Pergi ambik kuih yang emak tempah, cari jeruk buah salak kat pasar malam lah. Ni sebab ada orang KL pesan, so kenalah cari jugak. Ngidam kut makcik tu, sebab tu suruh aku beli ni.

Anyway, masa kat KL nanti aku rasanya tak boleh langsung nak berinternet. Bukan sebab aku tak ada connection, ada, tapi aku mungkin tak boleh nak duduk kat satu tempat lama2 nanti kat KL office. Program kerja kali ini pack sangat. Selasa aku dah nak rush balik Penang. Rabu pun akan sibuk juga.

Aku pun nak uji diri aku jugak sama ada aku ni dah ke tahap ketagih ke pasal blogging ni. Bagus jugak lah kan.

Hari ni aku masak apa? Aku masak nasi tomato, ayam percik /ayam golek (sebab buat seekor2), daging serai lengkuas, air asam tomato, sayur bayam (biasa saja lah). Ada yang dah meleleh air liur ke?

Nak resepi ke? Sapa nak, tinggalkan komen kat sini. Agaknya mesti ada anak2 dara yang nak main tunjuk2 je tu. Cuba2 lah try masak sekali sekala, nanti tak payah dah nak intensive training dekat nak kawin.
Nanti lah lepas balik dari KL dan dah tak sibuk sikit aku tulis. Kalau lucky mungkin ada gambar sekali. Tak tau lagi lah tu.

So dah nak tido ni, esok takut masa drive ngantuk pulak, bahaya pulak kan, dah lah aku bawak emak dan Kak Long sekali.

Good Night and Sweet Dreams.

March 26, 2005

Pertemuan Yang Tak Menjadi

Bagai nak rak kami dok plan nak jumpa hari minggu ni. Kami tu ialah aku, Mak Andeh, Wynn, Kak Yan dan adalah lain-lain bloggers yang dah kata nak join sekali. Tapi malam ni bila masuk blog si Joe tu ternampak pulak announcemant kata tak jadi pulak. Teruslah lah online dengan wynn tanya dia apa pasal. Dia pun explain lah, then lepas tu Mak Andeh pulak call, cakap dia pun ada hal jugak. Aku pun faham lah, semuanya ada famili committment, famili mesti didahulukan. Lega jugak aku sebenarnya sebab mak aku kata nak ikut pergi KL tu. Dia dah lama nak pergi rumah abang aku yang ketiga di Shah Alam. Dia tak sure nak ikut sebab abang aku kata nak balik minggu ni. Lastly dah decide kata nak ikut saja aku ke Shah Alam. So mungkin akan lambat sampai sana nanti tertunggu pulak diorang tu. Belum ada jodoh lah tu nak jumpa dengan diorang kali ni. Lagipun diorang buat gathering ni pun ikut time aku ni, sebab aku akan ke KL minggu ni.Lain kali bila aku ke KL, mungkin boleh kami buat gathering lain pulak.

Tak Dak Ayaq

Haghi ni aku nak cakap utagha. Sapa yang tak gheti pi lah caghi translator sendighi no.

Bangkit (atau mangkit, macam dalam kamuih Kak Teh) pagi tadi nak ambik wuduk, laki aku kata tak dak ayaq. La, awat pulak aku kata. Bil dah bayaq dah 2 minggu lepaih. Had baghu tak mai lagi pun. Ada paip pecah tang mana-mana kut.
Nasib baik ghumah aku tu ada tangki ayaq yang besaq. Lagipun kami ada simpan ayaq kat dalam tong plastik jugak la. Macam kata oghang putih "for the rainy day". Ni bukan untuk haghi hujan tapi haghi kerin.

Masa laki aku balik daghi hantaq anak2 pi sekolah dia habaq memang ada paip pecah. Tempat tu memang selalu jadi lagu tu. Depan ghumah mak dan arwah ayah aku lah tu. Depan sekolah ghendah tu. Tang tu selalu pecah. Awat pulak tak tau. Dulu-dulu bila pecah ayah aku lah yang dok buat repot. La ni dia dah tak dak ni tak tau pulak sapa nak repot. Abang Long satgi repot lah kut.

Tang tu memang selalu paip dia dok pecah. Jalan tu memang sibuk dengan lori-lori yang lalu nak pi aghah Sungai Petani. Pasai tu lah kut asyik pecah saja. Tapi kalu pecah selalu awat JBA ni tak tukaq paip yang tebai sikit. Gamak nya, tak buleh sambung kut no kalu tak sama saiz. Tapi sayang la ayaq dok melimpah banyak-banyak ataih jalan tu. Rughi sangat, dah la la ni musim kemaghau. Tak semena-mena depa kata kalu tak cukup ayaq dalam dam tu, depa kata nak kena catu ayaq. Nahaih la kalu macam tu. Pakat tak mandi satu haghi la nanti. Habih sangat tighu cagha P Ramlee, mandi mata saja!!!

Susah no kalu tak dak ayaq ni. Kalu tak dak letrik tak pa lagi. Buleh lagi dok kelitin kat luaq ghumah, sambil bagi derma daghah kat nyamuk-nyamuk. Kalu malam-malam tak dak lampu, buleh pasang lilin, romantik jugak la sekali sekala kan.

Haghu betui, kalu tak dak ayaq ni. Haghap-haghap sat saja la. Satni budak-budak balik sekolah nak makan tak buleh pulak pasai nak masak tak dak ayaq. Tapi nak buat lagu mana dah nak jadi lagu tu haghi ni.

Aku mandi tau haghi ni, jangan pulak hangpa mai sini dok tutup hidung hangpa tu.

Nampaknya ramai dah dok tegeliat lidah baca ceghita ni no.

March 25, 2005

My Pregnancies (A flashback)

When we first got married 19+ years ago, my hubby was working in KL. We discussed whether I should be moving to KL or he wanted to get a transfer to Penang. So in the end we decided for him to come back to Penang, since his family is here. His father had already passed away and his mother was staying with his younger brother.

We discussed about having a baby but he said that he was not ready to be a father. I did say that I was not that young anymore and would like to have a baby before I was 30. Those days technology was not as advance like now, I had been hearing about the risk of a late pregnancies (like after the mother's age is 30 years old). We did wait for almost 2 years before we had our first baby. My mother in law was a bit worried to see me not yet pregnant while my hubby's cousin had who had married later had already been blessed with a child. She was jokingly said that my hubby was "stupid" "hang tu bodoh", she joked with my hubby.

When I was pregnant for the first time my hubby was transferred to Ipoh from KL. So I had to go through the whole term on my own. I remember being sad when one day as I was shopping for baby's clothes, the shop assisstant asked why I was shopping alone and not with my hubby. I told her that he was not around.
My pregnancies had been easy so to speak. I had almost no morning sickness or any cravings for anything. No cravings for weird stuff like some people. I work the whole full term of my pregnancies until the last day before deliveries. So much so a colleague at work joked,

Richard : N, hang ni beranak macam pi berak je lah
Me : Ya lah tu, berak sembelit!!!


I was not a veggie person before I got pregnant. Like most teenages and young ladies, I did not like veggie at all. I would not even eat onions, will pick them out of any food or simply did not eat them. But when I was pregnant I stuffed myself with veggies of different kind and tofu was like a must have every week. The tofu (as in tau foo fah) was supposedly good for giving fair skin to the baby. (This was my hubby's "prescription"). I didn't really believe that tofu will have the effect of making the one skin tone fairer. I argued with hubby that if he believed that would be so, then an a****can with very dark skin will be fair if the mom drinks tofu during pregnancies. But I like tofu so I eat them a lot too. I don't think that my daughters' fair skins were contributed by the tofu alone though. But the vegies proved to be good as I have healthy children until now. I am counting my blessings, Syukur Alhamdulillah for since their birth I had little problems with them. That makes it easier for me to build up my career.


So, my four daughters were born naturally in 1987, 1989, 1992 and 1994. They are beautiful girls (at least to me they are). Walau pun pipi tak bak pauh di layang, hidung tak bagai seludang, they are still my beautiful daughters. You may ask whether I have regrets for not having any son, my answer would be, ini kurnian Allah, I did try to have another baby (even see a doctor for tips on getting the gender of the baby, but Allah knows best) I have no regrets whatsoever.

My daughters are growing up, they are teenages now, I have got to be in the same wavelength with them. To me communication is very important. I want my daughters to be able to talk to me on anything, I do not want them to feel that there is a generation gap between us. Alhamdulillah, so far I have been able to do that. I have also seen that they have respects for the elders since my mother is now living with us and how they treat her and their paternal grandmother with love and respect.

I do know that oneday some men will take them away from me but, still they will be my daughters. I pray though that whoever those men would be that they would love them just as much as I do them.

March 23, 2005

Crank Call

I was driving to work this morning when my handphone rang. I picked it up and said :

Me : 'Hello'
Caller : "Boleh nak cakap dgn N ?" (Can I speak to N?)
Me : "Saya" (Yes, it's me)
Caller : "Nama saya Roslan" (My name is Roslan)
Caller : "Awak bagi no telefon ni kat saya". (You gave me your number)
Me
: *Still thinking that this could be a business call. I am quite used to calls asking to see me on factory matters*. "Ye ke?" (Is that right?)

Sometimes my KL office or my colleagues gave my number to someone for business purpose, factory related matters.
Me : "Pasal apa ni?" (Why are you calling?) *Still in polite tone, I can't remember when I gave him my number and I don't recognise the voice*

Caller : Saje nak kawan2. (Just want to be friends)
Me : *Getting suspicious* "Bila saya bagi no. tel. kat awak?" (When did I give you my number?)
Caller : "Hari tu bagi". ( The other day)
Me: *Getting annoyed* "Awak nak apa sebenarnya?" (What do you want actually?)
Caller : "Esok ada ?" (Are you in tomorrow?)
Me : "Kenape?" (Why?)
Caller : "Nak ajak keluar makan2" ( Want to ask you out for a meal).
Me : "Macam mana kalau suami saya marah?" (What if my hubby gets angry).

Caller : "Tak payah bagi tau lah, bukan apa kawan2, makan saja". (No need to tell him, it's nothing just between friends and a meal only)
Me: "Takkan tak beritahu kat suami, dia mesti marah". (Surely I have to tell my hubby, he will definitely be angry) *Trying to get rid of the caller*
Caller : "Tak payah cakap lah" (No need to tell, OK)
Me : "Awak ingat saya ni umur berapa hah?" (How old do you think I am, hah?) *Getting exasperated*.
Caller hung up.
If he had continued, I would have said,
Me : "Aku dah 50 dah lah, awak ni tak malu ka nak ngorat pompuan tua yang dah kawin ni". ( I'm 50 years old and have you got no shame to pick-up an old married women).

The call reminded me to something that had happened many, many years ago. I had received obscence phone calls before. This happened when I was still staying at my mother-in-law's house. I already had 2 young daughters.
I had to have my home phone numbers available for the factory to call me in case there were problems at the factory. They were running 24 x 7, and I have to always be available.
The caller would call at any time of the day or even night. When a female voice replied be it my mom-in-lay or my sis-in-law or even my elderst daughter who was about 4 years old at that time, he would talk obscenities, telling them about how se*y I was, that he had slept with me and his p****s was how big, what he wanted to do with me etc, etc. I did pick-up the call several times, his voice was very familiar (like one of my subbordinates), so I naturally thought that was a call from the factory. (This factory is not where I am working right now. This was the factory where I started work. I have left the company almost 10 years ago).
I used to shout at him and threatened to make police a report. What made me angry was that he was so crude (that is too mild to describe him) to say such thing to an old lady (my mom-in-law) and to my young daughter. My daughter even told us, How come that man say all the bad words. I was so tensed-up that I even thought of changing the number. Didn't do that because it was mom-in-law's house and imagine all the trouble of telling all the relatives and friends of the new number.

After a few times of slamming down the phone on him, the calls stopped. Alhamdullilah.

So, En Roslan, I do know your number and if you try that again I will publish it here. I don't remember giving you my number, however way you obtained it, I'm not interested to have a meal with you. Thank you very much.

For Malcolm

My entry this time will have to be fully in English. I have written to Malcolm that I would be writing about him in my blog.

I first "met" Malcolm in 2002, although we were colleagues, at that point we did not meet, because I am in Malaysia and he is in the UK. We were working together 3 ways, Malcolm in the UK, Ashok was in the US and I was in Malaysia. We were preparing business case for work in Asia Pacific and my concern was naturally getting more work for the factory here in Malaysia. As time goes by, due to the economic downturn, Ashok had to leave, I was sad because I know I have lost a colleague, a contact person who may be able to bring this project through to sucess and at the same time I was thinking that I would have to start all obver again.
But I still have Malcolm at that point. Our weekly conference was reduced from 3 ways to 2 and that made it easier for me because I did not have to do the call at home and at night due to the time difference.

I was shocked when Malcolm dropped the bombshell so to speak. I was reduced to tears eventhough I had not met him. He told me that he was going to take an early retirement. He was doing it because he has a health problem. Much that I wanted to be selfish by asking him not to leave (purely on professional basis), I could not bring myself to say so.

I had the priviledge of meeting Malcolm when I was in the UK in 2003. We get on well and we are still friend untill now. I have sent him some tumeric (kunyit hidup) because I read it somewhere that someone had done a research and found that tumeric is one of the possible cure for his condition. I had also send a recipe for Rendang which he had done a marvellous job with it. I have a photo to prove it. That would be part of me to promote Malaysia overseas. We have been in constant contact until now. We are the best of friends, right Malcolm?

I have encouraged him to write his experience down into a blog and below is his story. I am doing this as a kickstart, I hope, for him to start a blog soon. I do hope if anyone has got any information anything cure, would come forward with suggestions for Malcolm.

He has asked me about Mangosteen juice, to help him reduce his eczema, and he has given me this website www.xango.net/index_flash.html

This is Malcolm's story:

Multiple Myeloma (Pre-diagnosis to current day)


Background
I had always been very healthy. The last time I can remember staying overnight in a Hospital was when I had my tonsils and adenoids removed at the age of 7. This good health I took totally for granted and worked very hard on progressing my career and renovating our Edwardian family house.
I am not sure exactly when, but in the late 1990’s I started to notice a lack of energy. I had always been a "morning" person, and the start of a new day I always felt invigorated and ready to go regardless of what had happened during the previous day(s). Now, some mornings I would wake up with less energy than when I went to sleep, and I began to realise that things were not right. Initially I put this change down to:


1) Reaching middle-age (46)
2)The frustrations of trying to guide 3 children through their teenage years
3)Working for a once great company (M******) that appeared to be in terminal decline and taking my career with it.

4) Close relationships that were not providing the nourishment that I thought I needed

In early 2002 I got a kidney infection. It was extremely painful and tried my usual trick of just keeping going regardless, but one night the pain was so bad my wife persuaded me to go and see the emergency doctor. He diagnosed the infection and said "Men (unlike women) do not get a kidney infection without a reason – it could be a stone, prostate or something else – you need to find the cause"
That was the spur I needed and resolved to sort this out. The GPs initially diagnosis was depression and some mild sleeping tablets were prescribed, despite the fact that I said I did not think I was the kind of person to get depressed. After some pressure, the GP agreed to refer me to a Urologist for further investigations. These investigations, including a rather uncomfortable cystoscopy, found nothing so the urologist referred me to another doctor who did some full spectrum blood and urine tests. These were all OK apart from a slightly elevated ESR and paraprotein, so he referred me to a Haematologist to "investigate this abnormality which was probably nothing to worry about"

Diagnosis
The Haematologist did some more tests including my first bone marrow (20-30% abnormal plasma cells in the marrow) and asked me to come back in a week for the results. At this stage I did not have a clue that there was anything really seriously wrong with me – let alone cancer. I had never heard of Myeloma before and the haematologist’s reassurance that although my cancer was incurable it was treatable did not make me feel any better! He also pointed out that I would be dead in a matter of months without treatment.

Hexplained it would be best if I had this treatment as near to home as possible, so he was going to transfer me to more local hospital under a different haematologist. This new haematologist did some more tests, decided I was "smouldering", that I did not need treatment yet and should be retested every four weeks. He also told me to expect infections and gave me various emergency numbers to call in case.
Initially I felt cheated that the treatment was not going to start immediately, but he explained that there was no evidence that early treatment improved survival and we should wait until the MM became active.
He also arranged my first bisphosphonate infusion (initially pamidronate and then zoledronate) that I have had every 4 weeks since.

Key Events:
Feb 02 - Kidney Infection
Oct 02 - Initial bone marrow and MM diagnosis
Mar 03 - First IMF seminar in Manchester, where I met my first other smouldering patient who told me about Michael Gerrin-Tosh & The Bristol Cancer Centre and made me realise that I should take control of what was happening to me rather than assuming that the hospital specialists had all the answers.
Apr 03 - Retired from M******. This was initially to secure the financial situation for the family - if I had been made redundant or M****** had gone under, my pension benefits would have been drastically reduced leaving the family with almost with nothing. I now realise it was probably the best thing I could have done – it allowed me time (I had been doing a 10-12 hour day) to find out more about MM and possible treatments AND perhaps most importantly lifted a huge hidden emotional strain from me.
May 03 – Attended the "Journey Intensive" weekend workshop with Brandon Bays and began my emotional detox process.
Found local therapist to continue this "detox" process and revealed a load of emotional baggage that I was carrying (and a lot associated bitterness and anger) and various poor mental habits that were exacerbating the problem. This therapist introduced me to the Sedona Method (for releasing fear and anxiety) and Byron Katie’s "The Work" (which can be summarized in the phrase "loving what is" - recognizing that suffering comes from expecting something {or someone} to be different than it actually is. This work included a firewalk – barefoot walk across burning embers a@ 1200 degrees C!
June 03 - Became increasingly aware of the importance of diet and nutrition through books by Patrick Quillan and the Bristol Cancer Centre recommendations. Started taking supplements, eliminated dairy & red meat and started buying organic produce. Totally frustrated by haematologist whose response to my questions on diet etc was that it was important to keep weight on during the treatment and that there was a special diet of chicken nuggets, ice cream and mars bars for transplant patients!!
Attended the Gerson Training Day to learn all about Max Gerson’s nutritional based cancer therapy – and found that it requires a strict vegan diet of organic food with no salt, nuts or fat, 12 freshly made juices and 4/5 coffee enemas a day. The trainer suggested that it was a full time job just preparing the food and juices so a patient would have to have a very supportive family or paid help – at a total cost of £18000 pa. Although very interested decided not to pursue on the grounds of cost and the feeling that it was rather old-fashioned.
Sep 03 - Introduced to Ayurvedic thinking by a Deepac Chopra trained practitioner. This really demonstrated the enormous significance of mind/body connection, and I really began to understand why meditation and relaxation is so important – and why Michael Gerrin-Tosh does his bone-breathing exercises
Oct 03 – Had all my amalgam fillings safely removed. Tests had shown that:
I was extremely sensitive to Mercury
The cell-mediated part of my immune system was only just working, partly due to being overloaded with mercury
10 times the EU limit of mercury vapour was "leaking" from my teeth into my body every time I ate
Nov 03 – Started metabolic therapy based on B17 (laetrile). This was initially by chewing my way through 50 apricot kernels a day and subsequently through 500mg B17 tablets and pancreatic enzymes (I stopped this after 3 months – it had no effect on my levels and I developed an ache in both kidneys which I thought maybe due to the B17 toxicity)
May 04 – Contracted my first bad infection that started as a cold and went to my chest. This, and some new back pain, made me think that the long awaited "active" phase of the myeloma had started. I had been considering doing the NCTT naturopathic approach (an updated version of Gerson designed by Lawrence Plaskett which uses special supplements and requires on 6 juices/day) for some time and this triggered my decision to start – I was concerned that I had left it too late?
June 04 - Based on my symptoms and a rather selective view of some test result changes, my haematologist did another bone marrow and arranged for my back to be scanned. The verbal feedback from him was not good – abnormality in marrow now 40-50%, and slight lesions on 2/3 vertebrae in my spine – and he wanted to start treatment straight away and told me to not to lift anything and to limit my driving. Fortunately he was due to go on holiday, and then so were we, so it was agreed to delay until after the holidays. While he was away I went into the Hospital for my zometa infusion as usual and tried to get a copy of the MRI scan. The hospital would not give me a copy but another doctor explained that my spine was completely clear of myeloma!!
I was both ecstatic and confused at the same time with this news. Why had my haematologist tried to trick me into starting treatment? I decided 2 things very quickly:
I would really enjoy my holiday with the family (swimming & surfing in France)
I would start the NCTT therapy immediately
July 04 - Having re-read MG-T’s book decide to try acupuncture and start weekly sessions with a Chinese trained doctor – ongoing.
Nov 04 - 4 months into the NCTT therapy and results are not getting better, but they are not getting any worse either

Key lessons (so far):


There is a huge amount of information about cancer and its treatments, but this takes a while to digest, piece together and relate to your own circumstances
Most specialists are blinkered and don’t know (or don’t want to know) about alternatives or their potential impacts
Diet, nutrition, emotional state, environment and lifestyle are the main factors that determine the incidence and progress of cancer
The emotions of the mind are stored in the body; toxic thoughts = toxic body
Feelings of isolation and suppressing emotions stop the immune system from effectively working

All I can give to Malcolm is frienship and encouragement for him to carry on with his life. I do want to see him get well. If you know anything, I do hope you could help out. At the same time, we also need to know that we should not take our health for granted.

Thank you

March 22, 2005

Entah Apa Hal Aku ni?

Tadi pagi2 masa nak keluar dari rumah hubby ada telefon tanya pasal borang something.
Sampil dok answer phone tu aku keluar rumah terus masuk kereta, start engine, reverse, keluar gate, tutup balik gate then terus drive to work. Di highway, dekat nak masuk tol, aku baru teringat, alamak, kasut aku semua aku keluarkan hari Jumaat hari tu. Aku drive pakai sandal je, selalunya aku ada 2 pasang court shoes dalam kereta. Hari Jumaat my brother-in-law pinjam kereta bawak pi KL so aku pun keluarkan kasut2 dari kereta. Pasal dah jauh jugak dari rumah aku dan kalau nak balik kena jugak lah masuk balik highway, aku decide pakai sandal yang aku pakai untuk drive tu saja lah. Nasib baik hari ni aku pakai baju kurung dan kain dia labuh sikit so tak berapa nampaklah. Lagipun sandal ni OK lah juga, ada brand jugak la cuma dah buruk sikit dah. Cuma aku nampak rendah dua inci dari biasa, itu je lah.
Tadi pagi pun masa dok cari baju nak pakai tu, makan masa jugak lah sebab baju yang aku plan nak pakai tu aku cari tak jumpa pulak. Aku nye favorite color tu biru, I usually start the week with something blue. Tapi hari ni cari tak jumpa. Baju tu ala-ala kebaya singkat pakai dengan kain potongan payung gitu. Nak tiru gaya Saloma lah ni... hehehe.... Tapi kain ketat tak boleh pakai dah nanti orang pandang2, senyum2, (senyum perli lah tu, tengok makcik cuba melaram....)
Tapi nasib baik tak pakai baju tu tidak nampak obvious sangat lah sandal buruk ku ini. Nasib baik jugalah hari ni tak tak ada important visit kat factory, kalau tidak hancur lah aku. Cuma kisah ni tak boleh bagi hubby tau. Nanti kena sound, dia memang menjaga ketrampilan diri dengan begitu teliti sekali. Mesti kena smart2, wangi2, kalau nak pi kerja. Dia kerja kat ofis gomen tak pe lah, aku keja kilang je, tak lah kisah sangat pasal pakaian ni. Cuma kalau ada important visit aku akan pakai yang businesslike sikit. Kadang2 overdress pulak dengan business suit tu. Selain tu kalau hari Jumaat tu pakai jeans je lah mai kerja.

Anyway, it does look that I'm beginning to perhaps moving towards senility. Adakah doa2 yang tak bagi nyanyuk ni? Kalau ada share lah...

March 21, 2005

Live Life To the Fullest

Each day is precious
And so full of wonderful possibilities.
Do not waste your day by worrying about your problems.
Leave all your worries behind.
Instead, fill your life with peace and serenity.
Enjoy the simple pleasures in this complex world.
Happiness lies within you.

Yes, I agree each day is precious
But how do I throw away my sadness?
How do I deplete my anger?
How do I protect myself?
Against this cruel world
So that the happiness can engulf me
And happiness lies within me.

Should I reminesce in my past?
Drown myself in my sorrow?
Or should I turn my life around?
Pray to Him to pull me out of my misery?
To be guided to the right and righteous path
So that happiness can again be mine
And happiness lies within me.

So as I repeat to myself those precious words,
Each day is precious
And so full of wonderful possibilities.
I make a little prayer for Him to guide me through
To turn my darkness into bright sunny day
I succumb to the possibilities to enjoy the simple pleasure
This cruel and complex world would offer
So that happiness can again lie within me.

Note : This is for whoever, who are in need of strength and courage to get through our daily lives. Be strong and always Tawakkal, Insyaallah things will look better. If we think that our problem is the worst, think of others who have worse problem than us.



March 19, 2005

Friendship - Would You Be My Friend?

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Friendship Means A lot To me

Since there were some people who were so "perasan" when I posted the poem There Is Greatness Within You with a dedication to someone, this one is dedicated to ALL those who have become my friends whether you have been invisible (reading in silence) or have left some comments. I do appreciate everyone of you who I am thinking of as very special friends.

As friendship means a lot to me..

Jadi semua tak payah nak perasan lagi dah OK, hehehe...

Budak Dalam Hujan

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Posting Gambar

I am keeping the above photo as a momento, because someone called Puteri has been kind enough to help me to post this.

Kepada Puteri, terimakasih daun keladi.

AuntyN

Mari Mengisi Borang

Semalam aku cuti sebab nak settlekan penghantaran borang IPTA kak long (anak dara sulong aku tu). Aku terpaksa tunggu kak long balik dari "kerja" (dia tolong jaga business arwah ayah yang sekarang di ambil alih oleh Pak Long nya, iaitu abang ku yang sulong). Minggu ini, kerani abang long ambik cuti bawak anak2 dia makan angin sempena cuti sekolah. Sambil menunggu apa lagi puaslah aku berinternet dari pagi ke tengah hari tanpa di ganggu oleh orang2 kat ofis.

Sebelum pi KL dulu dah go through dah dengan Kak Long mana kursus pengajian yang sesuai dengan dia dan juga keputusan peperiksaan dia. Suruh dia tengok betul2, then malam semalam tu discuss dengan baba dia tentang all the options yang nak ambik tu. UPU allows 8 choices being made within the form. Budak2 ni sebelum habis SPM dah kasi duit kat cikgu kat sekolah suruh beli borang UPU ni. Bila dapat result hari tu dapat sekali borang UPU, prospektif kursus yang di tawarkan kat IPTA yang di bawah UPU tu. Borang bank simpanan nasional pun di sertakan juga. Efficient sungguh dan sangat menyenangkan.
Dah isi semua, baba dia suruh aku check balik lah. Masa tu aku dok mengadap PC, ramai pulak yang tegur aku malam tu. Mula tu Puteri, then Omar yang tak nak tidor2, then MakAndeh sekejap. Lepas tu Delinn pulak. Terimakasihlah pada semua kerana menceriakan malam aunty.

Bila Kak Long balik dia nak mandi pulak, sekarang ni panas so memanglah asyik rasa nak mandi je. Lagipun kata dia kawan dia, Su nak join sekali, kena tunggu jap. Dah siap kami pun keluarlah. Mula2 pi BSN bayar duit UPU then pi post office nak buat Post Laju nak hantar borang. Aku biarlah depa dua orang ni buat semuanya sebab nak latih sikit jadi independent. Asyik duduk bawah ke***k je budak2 ni sampai semua nak suruh mama buat. Tak boleh jadi macam ni. So bila Kak Long tanya, Kak Long ke kena buat ni, aku jawab ye lah sapa punya borang? Bukan mama punya kan? Dia senyum je lah.

Lepas dah habis tu dia ada cakap Su apply polytechnic jugak.
Aku tanya : *Tak nak apply ke?*
Dia tanya aku balik : * Nak apply jugak ke?*

Budak bertuah ni ada ke tanya gitu, so aku jawablah.
* Apply lah, kalau tak dapat yang ni nak mengaji mana, spare je lah*
Kak Long kata Su apply online tapi kena bayar RM6.00 kat BSN.
Dah kena pi BSN balik, awat la jadi lagu ni anak aku ni. Poor planner betul!!
Nasib baik semua within same area je.
Nanti malam kita carilah website dia untuk buat application.

Selesailah sudah bab borang2, terus aku kata nak pi wet market, nak beli ikan dan sayur2, yang tak jauh dari situ.
That wet market is opened between 3.00pm to 7.00 pm. Yang ni orang panggil market orang kaya. Aku ni bukan lah kaya tapi pasal convinient and things are fresh, jadi kadang2 shopping jugaklah kat sini. Dulu selalu sebab ianya dekat dengan office. After office singgah market then balik masak.
Kat situ selalu banyak ikan siakap yang dah diap disiang, yang sedang tu RM7.50 seekor, yang besar sikit RM9.00. Aku beli 2 ekor yang RM7.50. Then beli udang 1 kati, kat sini mahal udangnya, se kilo RM25 ringgit tak berapa besar, cukup lah nak masak untuk hari ini dan esok.
Beli sayur2 pun dah dekat RM20, ni untuk 2, 3 hari stock jugaklah. Kat rumah ramai kena beli banyak sikit. Dua jenis sayur yang selalu aku beli ialah bayam dan kangkung. These are my family favourite vegies. Tapi hari ni beli kangkung kegemaran Kak Long tu saja.

Balik rumah solat zuhur kemudian tunggu solat asar sekali baru nak masuk dapur. Sempatlah bibik cuci semua ikan2 dan udang dulu. Baru dok start masak hubby pulak call tanya masak ke, I said baru start, dia gelak dan kata, dah expect dah pun. So he said that he will buy some nasi lemak bungkus kegemaran dia tu. I said OK lah, but still masak jugaklah.
By the time hubby sampai gulai udang dah hampir masak cuma dok tunggu ubi kentang empuk je. Sempatlah sendukkan untuk hubby makan gulai udang dengan nasi lemak dia tu. Nasi lemak tu lauknya macam-macam, sebungkus RM1.00. Hubby kalau makan 2 bungkus sekali. Tapi memang sedap. Orang yang jual tu pun dah kenal hubby dah sebab setiap kali beli 10 bungkus, tak pun 12 bungkus kalau ada anak saudara yang datang ke rumah.
Ikan siakap aku goreng garing dan buat siakap bercili, kangkung pulak biasalah kangkung goreng belacan. Sedap kan?

Malam, lepas solat maghrib aku baca Yassin untuk arwah ayah, ibu dan bapa mertuaku, datuk2 dan nenek2 ku yang telah pulang ke Rahmatullah. Aku harap Allah mencuri rahmat ke atas roh mereka.

Kak Long lepas tu tolong adik dia yang nombor tiga buat folio kat computer, aku dah ngantuk maka tidur agak awal jugaklah.

Aku doakan Kak Long dapatlah masuk mana2 IPTA yang dia apply tu. Insyaallah.

March 18, 2005

There Is Greatness Within You

Disclaimer :
1.This is dedicated to someone yang jauh di mata tapi dekat di hati. Hanya dia akan tahu siapa dia itu.

2. This poem was on the computer table when I got back, my hubby must have bought it from the bookshop. It was in a poster with a very beautiful view.


3. I thought that I would share it with you all because it is so beautiful and because I am a very sentimental person.

THERE IS GREATNESS WITHIN YOU

Throughout your life, always pursue
Sensitivity and kindness
As your chosen way.

A sense of humour is wonderful;
Hold on to yours,
Being able to laugh at the world
Will see you through many hard times.

Guard against bitterness and sarcasm;
They can destroy you. Be yourself;
The world will benefit from your talent.

Search for people who love and
Appreciate you for who you are
And who encourage you to improve

Don't be satisfied with less
Than all you can be
For you have Greatness Within You


Jom Masak-Masak Dengan AuntyN

Hari tu kata nak bagi resepi, ini lah dia resepi yang aku masak hari sabtu dan ahad sebelum ke KL tu. memang resepi orang kampung je. Kalau nak try sila lah. Kalau nak mai makan kena habaq awai, kut sat ni tak dak kat rumah ka, atau tak dak bahan2 nak masak ka.

1. Resepi Gulai Parpu Dengan Telur

100 g kacang parpu ( direndam sampai kembang)
2 sudu besar serbuk kari ikan
2 biji ubi kentang di kupas dan di potong 2 atau 4 (ikut sizenya)
3 biji telur
2 cawan santan pekat
1 biji bawang besar
4 biji bawang merah
1/2 inci halia
2 biji bawang putih
2 tangkai daun kari (karapule kata orang utara)
Sedikit jintan manis
Garam secukup rasa

Cara memasak
1. Toskan parpu yang di rendam tadi.
2. Masukkan ke dalam periuk, campurkan serbuk kari ke dalam parpu.
3. Masukkan air ke dalam periuk (2 cawan) dan rebuskan parpu bercampur serbuk kari sehingga parpu betul-betul kembang
4. Masukkan setangkai daun kari ke dalam periuk rebusan. Masukkan garam dan serbuk perasa (jika suka).
5. Apabila parpu sudah agak kembang masukkan ubi kentang ke dalam rebusan parpu tadi.
6. Potong atau cincang bawang besar dan "campakkan" ke dalam periuk.
7. Apabila parpu sudah kembang (dah nampak pecah-pecah dah) masukkan santan pekat. Adjust kandungan kuah mengikut citarasa masing masing.
8. Masukkan sedikit lagi air untuk membuatkan kuah agak cair sedikit dan agak sejuk (tidak panas menggelegak)
9. Pecahkan telur ke dalam kuah tadi, sebiji demi sebiji. Jangan kacau kuah untuk mengelakkan dari telur menjadi hancur dan membuatkan kuah menjadi terlalu pekat.
10. Apabila sudah mendidih dan telur yang di masukkan sudah masak, tutup api dapur.

Cara-cara nak menumis kari di atas.
Cara ini di utara dipanggil tumisan darat (tak tau pulaklah kot mana mai term ni).
Hiris bawang merah, bawang putih nipis-nipis. Halia di hiris halus memanjang.
Panaskan minyak masak (3 atau 4 sudu). Lebih enak dan wangi sekiranya ditambah sedikit minyak sapi (ghee, marjerin atau butter).
Goreng hirisan bawang, halia, jintan manis dan daun kari sehingga garing.
Masukkan minyak yang mempunyai gorengan bawang tadi semuanya (dan panas-panas) ke dalam periuk kari parpu tadi.
Tutup periuk kari sekejap.

Dah boleh hidang dah kari ini untuk di makan bersam nasi atau roti canai atau roti paratha.

Tambah enak kalau ada ikan masin goreng yang dimakan bersama kari ini.

Selamat mencuba. Kalau sedap beritahu kawan, kalau tak sedap diam je lah OK?

Note : For those who are not familiar with parpu it is actually kacang dhall. Orang utara panggil kacang parpu.

March 17, 2005

Jalan-Jalan Ke Kota Raya

Hari ahad, aku dan anak2 dara (3 sahaja) bertolak dari rumah lebih kurang pukul 10.30 pagi. Sebelum tu sempat buat breakfast untuk hubby dan anak2 serta masak pajeri terung untuk emak dulu.
Singgah sekejap ambik kawan yang nak bersama ke KL tu. Dia ini akan kerja dengan aku kat KL office nanti, dan akan jadi co-driver jugak. Selalunya macam tu lah, dia akan drive sampai Tapah, aku akan drive selebih perjalanan ke KL.
Hari memang panas terik, kenderaan pun banyak dalam perjalanan sebab minggu ni cuti sekolah. Masa singgah kat Tapah pun nak cari tempat nak duduk minum pun susah, terpaksa lah menunggu orang lain bangun. Kebiasaan kami akan singgah kat R & R Bukit Gantang untuk beli buah-buahan dan akan singgah sekali lagi kat Tapah untuk sembahyang jamak zohor dan asar. Kawan aku tu Indian lady so dia selalu kena tunggu aku solat. Tak jadi masalah sebab dah kenal lama dan dah biasa dah dengan skedul aku.
Dekat nak sampai KL, hujan turun dengan lebatnya. Dengar kata kat KL pun lebat jugak hujan masa tu. Tapi bila masuk KL, hujan dah berhenti (sereyat kata orang utara), so tak lah susah nak drive ke hotel We reached the hotel just before 5.00 pm. Checked in then, went out again. Masa dalam perjalanan tu dah dok plan nak pi mana bila sampai KL. I said, let's go to Putrajaya sebab I haven't been there and since it was still daylight senang sikit nak cari jalan. Kami pun bertolak ke Putrajaya dan bila sampai just pergi window shopping ke Alamanda. Nak shopping tu masa ni tengah bulan, tahu tahu je lah kan.
Around 6.30 pm kami pun kluar dari Alamanda, round-round sikit keliling Putrajaya tu, then terus cari jalan nak balik KL. Ni ada appointment nak jumpa Xman kat KLCC pukul 8.00 malam. Masa nak masuk parking lot di KLCC, jam jugak so aku call Xman cakap kata lambat sikit baru nak park kereta. Dia pun kata OK lah, dia akan tunggu kat tempat yang dijanjikan. Lepas tu nak redah orang ramai nak jalan ke KLCC pulak, aku jalan punya lah cepat sampai anak2 aku kata, mama ni jalan cepat sangat macam dah tak sabar nak jumpa "boyfriend". Gelak lah aku, mana pulak "boyfriend", nanti marah girlfriend abang tu nanti kalau dia dengar. Lagi pun, mama ni kan pangkat aunty dah dengan abang tu.
Dah sampai, ada yang kata nak pergi toilet, jadi aku dengan anak sulong (Kak Long) ajelah pi jumpa Xman. Sampai kat tempat Xman tunggu, dok tengok Xman asyik dok tengok sebelah escalator, jadi agak this must be the man. I approached him directly, sampai terkejut jugaklah dia macam mana I can recognise him. Instinct I said. He was drinking a glass of juice, I told him that I had not taken my dinner so please come and have dinner with us. X, setuju sajalah not knowing he will be dining with 5 ladies. I introduced him to the others and we sat down to order. Xman ni bersopan santun orangnya, berkulit putih and mukanya manis aje. Tak tau lah apa perasaan X masa makan dengan 5 orang "dara2 pingitan" tu. I hope he enjoyed the experience.
Kami borak macam dah lama kenal, bagai nak rak kata orang, sampai dekat nak tutup KLCC tu baru terasa nak balik. I enjoyed talking to you, X, maybe we can meet again some other time and the dinner would be on you, hehehe..
Next day, I had to work and the girls will be staying at the hotel until lunch. Told them to be ready around 1.00 pm, when I will fetch them to lunch and they can lepak at KLCC until I fetched them again in the evening. We had lunch a nd I went back to office with my colleague.
Aroung 4.30 pm, the girls called me and told me that they have already had enough of KLCC. Suruh depa jalan mai office aku je lah since aku tak mau nak keluar masuk parking kat ofis tu. Depa pun setuju, bila dah sampai kat lobby aku turun pi ambik depa naik atas.
Kena lah tunggu sampai ofis hour habis baru nak boleh balik hotel. lepak je lah depa ni sambil baca buku and majalah yang depa beli tadi tu. Ramai jugak my KL colleagues yang interested to see them. Sebelum kami balik aku bawak depa ni round ofis kat bangunan tu, introduce depa ni kat the ladies in the office. Ada juga yang depa dah kenal sebab masa ada sport karnival kat Kulim dulu pernah dah jumpa. Yang lelaki tu biasalah, sempat lah nak ushar2 anak2 dara aku ni, hehehe, sampai siap ada yang bachelor tu panggil aku mak terus dah.
Malam, my friend had another dinner arrangement, anak2 aku dah tak larat nak tengok KLCC dah so kami naik LRT pi Pasar Seni je lah. Dah nak tutup so kedai pun tak berapa banyak yang masih bukak. Sempat jugak lah beli trinkets untuk ke-empat2 beradik ni. Satu untuk adik bongsu yang tak datang KL tu.
Esoknya lepas breakfas kami siap nak bertolak balik ke Penang. My friend nak cari kawan adik dia yang hantar duit untuk dia dari overseas. Pusing2 jugak lah mencari hotel tu. Lepas dah OK kami pun bertolak ke Penang. Dalam perjalanan, kami singgah di R & R Sungai Buloh untuk lunch dan solat. Kat situ jugalah kami tukar driver. Kami sekali lagi stop kat Bukit Gantang to stretch our legs, toilet call and have a drink before terus ke Penang.
Alhamdulillah perjalanan kami semuanya smooth saja dan kami selamat sampai ke destinasi kami lebih kurang pukul 6.30 petang.
Walaupun penat semalam sempat berchat jugak dengan MakAndeh sampai pukul 1.00 pagi.

March 13, 2005

Hari-Hari Yang Ku Lalui

Sabtu dan ahad adalah merupakan hari-hari yang sibuk bagi ku setiap minggu. Pada hari-hari ini aku adalah isteri, anak dan ibu sepenuh masa. Jadi rutin ku menjadi seperti suri rumah yang lain-lain jugalah.
Selepas solat subuh, kalau ianya hari sabtu bekerja, aku akan sediakan minum pagi untuk suami. Dia minum nescafe O je pagi-pagi tu. Kalau tak kerja then full breakfast lah. Lepas dah hantar hubby pi kerja, nak kena hantar yang bongsu, Sya, pergi kelas mental arithmatic bermula pukul 8.00 pagi pulak. Kemudian terus ke pasar beli barang2 yang nak di masak untuk lunch & dinner nanti. Oleh kerana emak ku tinggal bersama kami selepas ayah pulang ke Rahmatullah, kami mesti mempunyai makanan tambahan just in case ada tetamu. Sebab week-end selalu lah ada sedara yang datang melawat emak.
Balik dari pasar, elok-elok pergi ambik sya dari kelasnya. Pukul 10.30 pagi kawan2 sya akan datang untuk tuisyen English sampai pukul 12.00 tgh.
Lepas tu barulah mula nak masak. Masak je lah apa yang patut.
Hari ni lain sedikit. Sebabnya aku nak ke KL esok sehingga hari selasa. Jadi aku siap-siap beli barang-barang dapur kat pasar malam Jumaat. Tak payah lagi dah aku nak pergi pasar pagi tadi. Boleh lah masak awal sikit pagi tadi tu. Dekat pukul 1.00 ptg aku fikir nak pergi basuh kereta sebab nak travel esok tak lah teruk Cik abang sayang aku kena basuh kereta esok. Dia memang macam tu, kalau aku nak travel outstation dia akan pastikan kereta aku diservis dan di cuci dengan elok. Sehinggakan ada sekali, staff aku tanya kat aku, "Cik N, tukar tayar baru ke?" "Tak lah, my hubby cuci tadi tu". Aku tahu dia buat macam tu sebab dia nak pastikan keselamatan aku, kerana dia sayang kat aku.
Hari ni pulak ada kenduri kawin so lepas dia balik kerja kami pun pergi lah majlis tu. Anak cousin hubby yang kawin tu. Hubby kata bawak kereta akulah boleh pergi servis sekali.
Dah balik aku pun ambik hos getah siram pokok sekeliling rumah. My hubby memang suka pokok so banyak lah pokok kat kawasan rumah. Pokok durian dah berputik tapi ada la yang jatuh. Tak tahulah banyak mana nak lekat nanti. Pokok rambutan pun kebanyakkan dah berbunga. Beberapa tahun ni kami dah tak payah beli buah rambutan dah. Malah banyak juga yang di beri kepada saudara mara. Kalau nak makan rambutan datang lah rumah.
Petang pukul 5.00, sya akan ke kelas tae-kwan-do. Selalunya aku yang hantar hari ni dia kena jalan kaki sebab kami tak ada kat rumah. Balik pukul 6.30 aku ambik dia macam selalu.
Malam, dah nak sediakan dinner pulak. Since nak tinggalkan dua hari ni, kena lah masak masakan kegemaran dia. Hari ni masak kari parpu dengan telur, sayur buncis dengan karot, ikan goreng, ikan masin, sambal belacan dengan ulam pucuk putat. Kalau ada siapa2 yang nak try resepi kat bawah. Lepas tu gosok baju untuk hubby pergi kerje pada hari isnin dan selasa. Dah siap aku packlah barang2 aku untuk esok. Dah tu barulah aku mengadap PC.
Sunday, lepas brunch, tengok dulu lah apa program. Budak2 yang akan mintak bawak keluar, macam-macam excuse nak keluar rumah. Nak beli itu nak beli ini. Esok ada 3 orang anak2 aku akan ikut ke KL, cuma sya saja yang tak boleh ikut sebab dia ada kelas mental arithmetik ganti untuk hari ini. Hari ini dia ke sekolah kerana program motivasi pengawas sekolah. Dia sendiri yang tak nak ikut, kalau tidak kenalah aku drive MPV hubby ke KL. Walaupun boleh tapi rasa besar sangat susah nak parking lah dan macam2 lagi. Kereta senang lah sikit.
Tidak pun my mom will want to go visit someone. Adik beradik dia tinggal dia dan adik dia saja lagi. Yang lain dah meninggal 3 darinya tahun lepas.
Hari2 lain selepas balik kerja, selalunya aku tanya hubby apa dia nak makan. Dia tak berapa suka makan nasi so buat benda lain lah, salad ke, bihun goreng ke, mee bandung ke, apa2 yang ringan je. Semua aku kena masak sendiri sebab dia tak makan apa yang maid masak. Jadi kalau ada lauk yang terhidang aku kena cakap yang mana yang aku masak. Cerewet kan? Tak kisah lah dah biasa dah, lagipun kata orang air tangan isteri tu lah yang mengikat kasih sayang suami. Betul lah gamak nya. Kalau tak tak kan nak bertahan sampai 19 tahun dah ni. Tapi ini suami yang jenis macam suami aku lah. Dia memang cerewet tentang makan dari segala segi. Selalu dia komplain masakan aku tak sedap, walaupun orang lain dah kata sedap. He is my biggest critic in everything be it food, the dresses I wear, the way I speak, etc. Tak ada berlapik2nye kritik dia ni. Kalau tak betul apa2 mesti akan merajuk. Tak makan pujuk pulak tu, jadi kenalah selalu berhati2.
Tak adalah apa yang interesting dengan hidup aku kat kampung ni, cuma aku dan keluarga je yang menyambung rutin harian dari hari ke hari.

Sapa nak resepi?
Dah tengah malam dah, nantilah balik dari KL aku tulis lah resepi tu.

March 11, 2005

Hati Dan Perasaan

Disclaimer : Ini bukan my original piece. Aku pun tak tahu siapa original author dia. It came into my e-mail through a yahoo group that I subscribed long ago. Sometimes there are good stuff like this, so I did not unsubscribe it.
Jadi, kalau ada di antara pembaca blog ini yang tahu origin tulisan ini, I hope he or she tak marah that I share this with all of you. Terimakasih kerana berkongsi dengan kami semua.

Mungkin Tuhan sengaja mahu kita berjumpa dengan orang yang salah sebelum menemui insan yang betul supaya apabila kita akhirnya menemui insan yang betul, kita akan tahu bagaimana untuk bersyukur dengan nikmat pemberian dan hikmah di sebalik pemberian tersebut. Apabila salah satu pintu kebahagiaan tertutup, yang lain akan terbuka tapi lazimnya kita akan memandang pintu yang telah tertutup itu terlalu lama hinggakan kita tidak nampak pintu yang telahpun dibukakan untuk kita.
Kawan yang paling baik ialah seseorang yang anda boleh duduk di dalam buaian dan berbuai bersama tanpa berkata apa-apa pun dan kemudian berjalan pulang dengan perasaan bahawa itulah perbualan yang paling hebat yang pernah dialami.
Memang benar yang kita tidak akan tahu apa yang telah kita punyai sehinggalah kita kehilangannya dan juga benar bahawa kita tidak tahu apa yang kita rindukan sehinggalah 'ia' datang.
Memberi seseorang seluruh cinta anda bukanlah satu kepastian yang mereka akan menyintai anda kembali! Jangan harapkan cinta sebagai balasan. Nantikan sahaja ia untuk mekar di dalam hati mereka tapi sekiranya ia tidak, pastikanlah ia terus mekar di dalam hati anda. Ia cuma mengambil masa seminit untuk jatuh hati pada seseorang, satu jam untuk menyukai seseorang, satu hari untuk menyintai seseorang tetapi ia mengambil masa sepanjang hidup untuk melupakan seseorang.
Jangan pandang kepada kecantikan kerana boleh jadi ianya palsu.Jangan kejar kemewahan kerana ianya akan susut. Carilah seseorang yang membuatkan anda tersenyum kerana ia cuma memerlukan sekuntum senyuman untuk mencerahkan hari yang suram. Carilah yang membuatkan hati anda tersenyum. Akan tiba satu ketika di dalam kehidupan apabila anda teramatkan rindukan seseorang sehingga anda ingin menggapainya dari mimpi anda dan memeluknya dengan sebenar.
Mimpilah apa yang ingin anda mimpikan, pergilah ke mana-mana yang ingin anda tujui dan jadilah apa yang anda inginkan kerana anda hanya memiliki satu kehidupan dan satu peluang untuk melakukan semua perkara yang ingin anda lakukan.
Semoga anda memiliki kebahagiaan yang cukup untuk membuatkan diri anda menarik, percubaan yang cukup untuk membuatkan anda kuat, kesedihan yang cukup untuk memastikan anda adalah seorang insan dan harapan yang cukup untuk membuatkan anda bahagia.
Selalu bayangkan diri anda di dalam kasut seseorang. Jika anda rasa ianya menyakitkan anda, fikirlah ia mungkin menyakitkan orang lain juga. Kebahagiaan seseorang manusia tidak semestinya dalam memiliki segala yang terbaik. Mereka hanya membuat yang terbaik dalam hampir apa saja yang datang di dalam perjalanan hidup mereka. Kebahagiaan terletak kepada mereka yang menangis, mereka yang terluka, mereka yang telah mencari dan mereka yang telah mencuba. Hanya mereka yang boleh menghargai kepentingan manusia yang telah menyentuh hidup mereka.
Cinta bermula dengan senyuman, mekar dengan ciuman dan berakhir dengan tangisan (Nota auntyn: tak semestinya begini). Masa depan yang cerah sentiasa berteraskan kehidupan yang lalu yang telah dilupakan. Anda tidak boleh meneruskan kehidupan dengan sempurna sehingga anda melupakan kegagalan dan kekecewaan masa silam. Semasa anda dilahirkan, anda menangis dan orang di sekeliling anda tersenyum. Teruskanlah hidup anda supaya apabila anda mati nanti,andalah yang akan tersenyum dan orang sekeliling anda pula yang akan menangis.

Sampaikan pada sebanyak mana orang yang tersayang, tanda peringatan anda pada mereka. Wallahu A'lam

Aku Masih Mampu Tersenyum

It is already 1.00 pm. I still have not received any call from my eldest daughter. Dah naik suspens dah aku ni ke tahap gelabah dah. I really hope no news is a good news. My younger sister had called me twice already. My two sisters' children and my hubby's niece are also waiting for their result. So i know that she is in the same state of mind like me.
My elder sister's daughter is well known for her good result. She got 7As in her PMR. My daughter and hubby's niece are equal (both got 5A in PMR). My younger sister's son is another matter. Noone is putting on hope for him. But I do know that he is intelligent just that he is really lazy to study. The mother (my younger sis) had told me he switched off his phone when she called him.

To all who have given me your kind words. I thank you very much. Biasalah kita sebagai ibu selalu risaukan anak2. I do realise that getting As in your exams are not the ultimate measure of one's success in life. But the reality of our current system and livelihood just could not be ignored. All I want for my daughters is the chance for them to be able to further their studies. I hope that what I have written have not sparked a misunderstanding that I only respect people with straight As. I am not a straight A person myself. I was locally educated and I am doing OK by any standard. I do not want them to have an inferiority complex and not enabling them to be independent and maybe even succeed in life. I will provide what I can, material and support, the rest is still up to them.

Cuma biasalah, ibu mana yang tak risau kan anak2..

A note for my eldest daughter,
Where are you girl? Jangan buat mama jadi tak tentu arah ni.. Dah berapa kali dah mama pi toilet hari dah ni..

Ya Allah, beri lah daku berita yang menggembirakan, Amin.

Alhamdullilah, latest news.
My daughter has got 3As in her SPM out of 10 subjects
My older sister's daughter 4As out of 12 subjects
The other two still unknown.

Insyaallah, she can still futher her studies. That's all I ask for

March 10, 2005

Italiano Anyone?

Buongiorno. * Direct translation Good day, can be used at any time of the as initial greeting*
Come'stai? * How are you? *

Bene, garzie * Fine thank you*
E tu? * And you?*

Non che male
. * Not too bad*
Scusi * excuse me*
Si *yes*
No *No*

Mak Andeh kata dia tahu satu perkataan italian saja "ciao". Dan sorang Italian saja "Sophia Loren"
Rasanya tak betul tu Mak Andeh. What about these words?
Pasta, spaghetti, macaroni con fomaggio (macaroni & cheese), espresso, cappucino? hehehe, orang suka menebeng kedai makan mesti tahu ek? Gurau je ek? Nanti Mak Andeh tak nak ajak aunty menebeng kat KL lagi dah..

Sophia Loren aje ke? What about Leonardo diCapprio, Sylvester Stallone? They are not Italian but of Italian Origin. Italian jugak la tu. Macam kalau kita duduk kat England ke kat US ke Melayu jugakkan.

Italian language ni susah sikit sebab ada male and female gender terms. Kalau kat pompuan kita panggil "cara" dan lelaki jadi "caro", lepas tu kalau plural term jadi "cari" The "c" is pronounced as "k". "Cara" tu macam orang putih panggil "love" or "babe" gitu.

When I joined this company, I know that I would have to go to Italy. Excited habis sebab, orang kampung sepanjang hayat pi oversea tu langkah Selat Tebrau je. Tu pun tak naik kapal terbang, naik bas melalui Tambak Johor. Pernah sekali masa kat kilang pertama tu pergi Medan & Lake Toba dengan Sports Club. Ni nak naik kapal terbang berjam-jam. Cramp kakai tangan dibuatnya.
Biasalah aku semangat lebih siap beli buku & kaset Italian lagi. So the first time I arrived in Italy was on Easter day (April 1998). Sorang je pi ni. Sampai kat the aeroporto Cristofer Colombo, si dogano (imigresen) tanya aku in Italian,

Dogano : Passaporto per favore * Passport please*
Dogano : Turista ? *Tourist*
Io (Me) : No, lavoro * No working*

Dogano ni tengok aku sorang siap dok tanya ada sapa2 tunggu aku dak. Ingat dalam hati gentleman jugak si botak ni. Dia tu botak, muka serious bukan main.

Yang aku faham masa tu " Ho fare aspettamente" *Siapa tunggu or fetch*
Io : Si, signore, colleaga * Yes, sir, a colleague *

Lepas tu masa dok chop passport tu tengok nama aku N binti H.
Dah siap tanya "binti" apa pulak. Dah la nak cakap tak reti dia ni tanya banyak2 pulak dah. Dok fikir pi mai, pi mai, last2 aku kata:

Sambil tunjuk nama aku : "Mia nome" *(My name)*
Sambil tunjuk nama bapa aku : "Cognome" *(Surname)*

Bila dah lepas baru aku teringat nak explain macam ni :
"Binti", *della figlia il mia padre* *(Binti tu maksudnya anak perempuan bapa aku) *

Tak pa lah asal kan dia lepas aku kelaur pun aku dah syukur.
Masa duduk sana 2 minggu boleh lah sembang sikit dengan Hotel staff.

Tiap2 pagi depa greet aku "Salve" Yang ni macam cioa jugak tapi lebih tertib, selalu orang yang kita tak berapa kenal. Kalau kenal rapat pakai cioa je lah.
Ada jugak hotel guest yang tegur aku sebab curious aku mai dari mana. Sekali dalam lift nak pi breakfast, sorang lelaki tanya :

"Dove" * Dari mana?*
"Malazie" *Malaysia*
"Vacanza?* "Vacation?*
"No, lavora" "No, working*

Kat mana so aku cakap lah company name. Memang famous pun company tu sebab founder dia an Italian scientist.
Second time I was in Italy, it was easier because I had someone who was seconded to our factory in Malaysia with me. Kali ketiga dua tahun lepas, aku ajak hubby sekali, sempat jugak kami pi Rome sebelum balik. Aku ada bawak hubby pi satu day market tu untuk shopping for souvenirs. Kat market ni lah masa aku pi second time tu aku jumpa buah rambutan yang dah dekat nak busuk tu. Excited habis aku terjumpa something familiar. Ada chance round-round Rome sikit2 je. Dah jadi macam tour guide pulak lah aku ni. Boleh jugak lah aku dok sembang dengan taxi driver masa dalam taxi without the use of the guide book.

Italian language ni susah sikit nak belajar sebab, masa dok cari dulu tu, only the embassy yang conduct class kat KL. Macamana nak belajar. I am the type yang kena belajar dalam kelas, belajar dari buku ni tak ada disiplin.

Sekarang ni Italian aku dah berkarat. sebab semua Italian dah boleh cakap English. Dulu-dulu, depa write e-mail pun in Italian. if you can't read you are in trouble. Yang simple-simple boleh interprete sendiri, yang susah tu kena jugak cari translator.
In Italy, kat kota2 besar like Rome, Milan, Florence memang ramai yang cakap Inggeris, tapi kalau factory kat tempat jin bertendang, on the southern part of Italy, susah nak cari orang cakap bahasa Inggeris, so kena manage jugak lah dengan broken Italian tu.

Allora (ini cuma satu expression yang aku suka dengar orang2 pakai,meaning dia macam *ok lah*

So until next time. arrivederci signori.

Exam Result Blues

Actually hari ni plan nak tulis pasal Italy and Italiano. Tapi, pagi2 tadi kat news ada cerita ada sorang budak Melayu pompuan dapat 17A from her SPM. Break record sebagai pelajar Melayu pertama dapat 17A. Last year there was a Chinese girl who scored 16A. Sekarang ni berlumba-lumba semua pelajar ni untuk score A in their exam.

What make me so scared is that my eldest daughter is also waiting for SPM result. Being in a kampung school with lots of limitations,(the school did not even have Physics teacher for more than 3 months last year!!!!), I am not that confident that she will do very well. We did our best by sending her to tuition clasess, motivational classes or any program that could be useful for her. We gave her all the encouragement any parents would give. We didn't even pressure her to stressful limit.

Last year was exam year for me. Three of my girls were sitting for exams. The eldest, SPM, the second PMR and the third UPSR. The good thing was we did not have to take them for holidays much to chagrin of the youngest, due to their busy schedule throughout the year.

Alhamdullilah, my third daughter got 5A in her UPSR. She was hoping to get into full residential school. Most of her friends received offers to MRSM, Sekolah Menengah Sains etc, but she only receives an offer to Sekolah Menengah Agama (SMKA). We don't mind her being there at all because this scholl is one of the best in Penang and by standard for SMKA one of the best in Malaysia. It is not full residential school, there is hostel facilities but she did not get it, she is very disappointed for not getting. We tried to console her by telling herall the "horror" stories of living on hostels since both me and hubby were staying in hostels during our schooling days. So, in the morning my hubby will have to send her to school and she will take a bus home.

My second daughter sprang quite a pleasant suprise to us with her result. This young lady, is always at the hockey field. Her English was so poor, she could not understand a single word that I speak to her in English. Not even a simple word. At the last minutes (3 weeks before exam) I tutored 6 hockey team girls (my daughter inclusive). They became part of my family, sleep, eat and learn English. All 6 got B for English, which was an improvement from D or below.
We actually did not have any good expectation for my second daughter in her PMR result, so it was really a nice suprice when she told us she got 6A & 2B. Alhamdullillah. Even my siblings when they knew of her result remarked " Pandai jugak hang no?"
But now the pressure is on her to get better result for he SPM next year.
She is still playing hockey, nothing will stop her not even after receiving stichess under one of her eyebrows. Or my threat that she will be so tan no boy will look at her. To that she grimaced that I need to buy her skin whitening lotion/cream. Girls will always be girls !!!!

Now, the time has come for me and my hubby to loose sleep over my eldest daughter's SPM result. I am praying hard but.... I really do not know..
I am praying for the best but I am hoping for a nice suprise like her younger sister gave us.

Please pray with me.

March 09, 2005

Learn A Language A Day Part 2 (Hokkien & Japanese)

The first company I worked with was a local company. Chinese management and most of the executives were and I think stillare Chinese. Masa tu hanya ada dua orang saja exec. Melayu. Aku dan sorang lagi admin officer. Kebanyakkan pekerja Melayu kat dalam production. Operator2 belaka. This is another story for the blog.

Being in Penang, Hokkien is the main dialect. Aku kerja kat lab (QC & RnD lab masa tu) Sekarang dah dipanggil Technical Dept. Budak2 lab ni kalau disuruh ajar Hokkien, perkataan2 lucah lah dulu yang depa nak ajar. Aku tak lah suruh, cuma observe, dengar dan tanya apa meaning perkataan tu. Selama 10 tahun lebih aku kerja kat situ boleh lah faham sikit2 bahasa Hokkien. Nak kena faham jugak kalau tidak depa kutuk kita kat belakang kita tak tau. Mula tu memang lah depa ni Qua bei ki (pandang sebelahmata je, tak respect kita).
Lama2 tu Ok jugaklah. Sampai hari pun, kalau jumpa masih riuh rendah lagi lah bersembang.
Banyak dah yang aku lupa perkataan hokkien ni. Sebab dah tak dengar selalu dah.
Setakat nak tanya *an cua? ho bo? * Apa macam, sihat/Ok ke ? still boleh lah.
Dulu2 pun petrol pump attenden pun selalu cakap hokkien dengan aku, aku masa tu boleh still jawab balik. Tapi kalau aku rasa geram ke bengang ke, aku jawab balik, Aku Melayu lah!

Kilang ni banyak supplier dia dari Jepun. Dah jadi tugas aku kena dok interact dengan depa. Sebab bila depa hantar sample aku lah yang kena evaluate and report. Kebanyakkan akan datang tanya discuss pasal sampel atau kalau ada apa2 barang depa yang tak OK. Dulu2 tak ramai orang2 Jepun yang pandai bahasa Inggeris.
So, at one time the management did engage an old retired man to teach a few of us Japanese. Orang tua ni memang lah bahasa Jepun dia OK tapi teaching skill dia punya lah teruk.
Kami asyik diajar nyanyi lagu Jepun je. In the end bila we all dah "graduate" kami boleh lah berbahasa Jepun sebanyak ini saja:

Hajimemashite * Selamat berkenalan (camtulah)*
Watashi wa N des * Saya N*
Anata wa? * Awak?*
O genki des ka? * Sihat / apa kabar?*
Genki des * Sihat*
Nihon-go o wakarimas ka? * Faham bahasa jepun ka?*
Sukoci wakarimas ne * Sikit2 faham lah*
So des ne? * Ye ke?*
Arigato gozaimas-shita *Terimakasih*

Lain-lain tu yang common greetings macam good morning, dll.

Semasa aku kerja kat sana tu, syarikat pernah commission 2 mesin. Satu dari Jepun dan kemudiannya kerana nilai yen yang melambung beli satu lagi mesin dari Taiwan. I really admire the Japanese work ethic. They work with a system. Setiap pagi datang on time. Kerja set-up machine, trouble shoot etc. Lepas dah habis atau bila dah tak boleh nak solve problem, sit down for discussion. Discussion mesti ada at the end of the day. Selagi tak habis, tak balik lah depa tu ke hotel. They will review the day's progress, lepas tu plan untuk tomorrow's implementation. So everything went smoothly and on target.

Taiwanese pulak, mai kerja dah lambat. Orang masuk 8.30 depa 9.30 pagi baru nampak muka. Balik mesti on time, habis ke tak kerja mesti balik. Tak ada review discussion at the end of the day etc. Tapi itu dulu lah, sekarang tak tau pulak la.

The Japanese Engineers tu bukan pandai sangat cakap english. Susah jugak lah production manager tu nak communicate dengan depa tu. Banyak pakai sign language and what little Japanese yang dah belajar tu. Ada satu hari tu, depa punya Marketing Manager mai lawat depa ni di kilang. English dia ni suprisingly OK jugak, mungkin kerana dia ni banyak travel jual mesin rata tempat. One day, Production Manager kami cakap kat aku this Japanese guy ni nak berkenalan dengan aku. Awat tak pernah tengok perempuan Melayu putih melepak kut (cewah, puji diri pulak aku ni, hehehe...)

Pasai aku ni peramah (macam Atenah tu), curious pun sama, aku sembang lah dengan dia kat bawah mesin tu. Dia kata dia nak ajak aku pi dinner malam tu. Aku kata, aku dah ada tunang, dia kata tak apa cuma dinner saja, dia pun dah kawin dan dah ada anak 2. Ya Allah, gatai jugak Jepun ni no? Aku ni, duduk kampung manalah open minded macam depa ni kan, dok ingat apa mak aku kata nanti, dok ingat jugak lah satni tunang aku (yang kat KL masa tu) kalau dia tau mesti jelesnye. Aku pun kata lah terimakasih, bukan aku tak sudi, tapi aku terpaksa tolah lah. Nasib baik dia sporting, kata OK jugak lah. Not bad looking jugak dia ni tau.

So after many years, I left the company for another Chinese company, so Hokkien was still OK lah until I have joined the current company. So domani parlare Italiano, no? *Esok kita bercakap bahasa Italy pulak*

Bersambung......



March 08, 2005

Learn A Language A Day Part 1 (Mandarin)

I am fascinated by languages. Kalau boleh nak belajar semua bahasa kat dunia ni. Of course when I was small kat rumah bercakap bahasa Melayu. Pure, pure cakap loghat Penang. Dah masuk sekolah menengah (boarding school kat Johor), tu dah kena bercakap loghat Johor pulak.
Budak Johor : * Awak dari mane ek?*
Budak Penang : *Saye dari Penang*
Budak Johor : *Name awak ape ek?*
Budak Penang : *Name saye, N* Awak ?*
Budak Johor : * Name saye D*
Budak Penang : * Awak suka main bole? *
Budak Johor : * Bole tu ape ek?*
Budak Penang : *Bola lah*
Budak Johor : *Oh orang tak cakap "bole". Bola jugak la*
Budak Penang : *Ye ke?* Dah Malu tak nak cakap dah.
Since the students came from all over the country, so we were able to later know other loghat as well.
Medium of instruction was still fully English, so my english was still quite powerful, still is. Bahasa Melayu pun boleh tahan jugak lah.

Masa sekolah menengah tu, aku ada pen pal dari Germany. Olaf nama dia. Tapi tak ada apa pun perkataan bahasa german yang aku belajar dengan dia. Last last dia punya english yang improve. Tak pa lah kira sedekah jariah gitu kut no. Dia pun ada datang Malaysia visit aku 2 kali. Rasanya mak aku pun panic jugak tengok mat saleh mai cari aku kat rumah. My mother memang takut anak dia ni kawin dengan mat saleh.

Masa dekat Uni, aku ambik option subjek Mandarin. Ramai sungguh student yang nak belajar bahasa Jepun masa tu sampai melimpah ruah. Aku tak berapa nak belajar Japanese sebab ingat Mandarin akan lebih sesuai di Malaysia. 1st semester, ramai jugak student yang ambik Mandarin. Ada dekat 20 orang. Aku pun tarik pakwe aku (la ni hubby I la) masuk kelas Mandarin sekali. Aku tengok lelaki ni seksa sikit nak belajar bahasa. I am sure not all are like that. If not, how come Mahadzir Lokman can muster 5 or 6 languages. Second semester, semua dah drop-out, ada yang fail, ada yang rasa susah, ada yang dah tak interested. Aku masih nak belajar lagi. So the teacher found a Chinese girl to be my companion. Since she is Chinese, she was not eligible to take the class. Not all chinese can speak and write Mandarin, so she was interested to learn. So I was saved for another semester. The 3rd semester, unfortunately for me, the Univ, made a new ruling. If there were less than 5 students in a class, the class could not be held. So, mana aku nak cari lagi 4 student. So kena lah drop out. Sampai hari ni Mandarin aku ni tinggal banyak ni saja lah:-

Boleh kira 1 sampai 10 (still boleh tengok calendar kuda tu tarikh dalam Mandarin)
* Ni how ma?* (Apa kabar?)
*Hen how* (Kabar baik) atau *Bu (pr as pu') hen how* (Tak berapa baik)
*Ni mang ma? * (sibuk ke? )
*Yau atau Bu yau* (Mau atau tak mau) Yang ni banyak guna masa pi Beijing dengan famili bersama arwah ayah.
* Wo bu shi tau * (I don't know)
Yang ni rasa nye semua tau, sebab aku tak belajar kat dalam kelas pun. Sinsei tu apek dah tua, sebab tu yang tak ada motivasi nak belajar ayat ni masa kat kelas. Kalau macam rupa si Jerry (singer kumpulan F4 yang anak sulung aku dok syok tu), mungkin ayat ni yang aku beria-ia sangat nak guna. Hehehe
* wo ai ni* ( I love you)
Tapi takut jugak sat ni ada yang nak balas balik
* Wo hein ni* (Aku benci kat hang)
So berkuburlah Mandarin aku sebelum dapat nak tackle pakwe Cina. Nasib baik lah aku dah ada pakwe masa tu kan. Kalau tidak habis lari semua pakwe-pakwe cina kat Uni, agak nya.

Bersambung........

Masa Mai Kerja Hari Ini

Masa mai kerja hari ini. Aku mengekori sebuah Isuzu trooper warna silver. Tiba2 driver dia aku tengok buang botol air kosong ke atas jalan. Dalam hati aku, tak ada civic minded langsung dia ni lah. Ni yang PM kata, first world country with third world mentality kut? Salah satu lah tu.
Aku selalu ajar anak-anak jangan buang sampah keluar dari window kereta. Walau pun jalan tu nampak kotor. Mungkin hanya jika tempat itu memang sah tempat buang sampah. Kadang2 sampai banyak kertas dan tisu ada kereta aku. (Tu kat dalam tray, tepi pintu tu lah). Bila tanya anak2 awat banyak sampah kat kereta mama, depa kata kan mama selalu kata ni dustbin mama.
Ya lah cek oi, dustbin pun dustbin jugak, bila dah keluaq tu angkat la sekali buang.

March 06, 2005

Lovey-Dovey In the Morning

Setiap hari, ritual untuk hantar hubby pi kerja ialah, cium tangan say bye, close and lock the door. Hubby akan guna pintu belakang bilik kami sebab pintu ini yang terdekat dengan kereta dia. Pagi khamis lalu, tengok banyak bunga melor kembang kat belakang rumah so, I went out to fetch them. Give some to hubby to put into his pocket. Dia pun jalan ke kereta.
Dekat nak sampai kat kereta aku panggil dia.

Me : Ba...
Hubby: *looking puzzled* Awat?
Me : * Cheeky smile* I love you... *smile*
Hubby : Smile back* La, ingat apa..
Me : Ok drive carefully, bye.

Aku pun masuk dan kunci pintu.
5 min kemudian, there was a knock on the door.
Buka pintu tengok hubby kat muka pintu.

Me : *Puzzled* Awat?
Hubby : Lupa benda ni.. * Ambik something from the table next to the door*.
Me : * Cheeky smile on* Ingat tak jadi pi kerja pasai I cakap I love you tadi.
Hubby : No reply, close the door after him.

Romantik tak?

March 05, 2005

My First Day As a Blogger

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim

After months of reading other people's blogs, today I have gathered enough courage to start my own. What I have found during those days of reading make me feel very small, so that was one of the reason for not starting my own blog. I do hope I will progress from today's post to something more meaningful. I hope that one day my children would read this blog and get to know their mother with a different perspective.

Insyaallah...