The Good Old Days

Tenah blogged about her dancing days, Kak Yan blogged about the good old days at school, PE classes (including dancing and teachers etc). Then when I visited Makandeh's blog she made comparison on the old school days and current ones.

Kak Yan so much as to "pecah rahsia" about me being once a upon a time a dancer in the school. Yes, I loved dancing, especially the tradisional Malay dances like Inang, Zapin, Joget, etc, etc. I started dancing when I was in Primary School. Whenever there was any stage show I would be on the stage. At that young age, the word "malu" was not in my vocabulary. My mom did not approve of this but, I didn't take heed to that at all. I was so very engrossed with my practices and dancing classes. I am not a bad dancer actually.

When I entered the all girls boarding school, there wasn't anyone to disapprove so, definitely I would be on the stage at any given opportunity. There used to be inter-form or inter-house competition or stage shows held by the school for some occasions. Me and my "troupe" would be dancing to the traditional or the modern dances, really enjoyed those days. Carefree and no worries.

In my class there was a girl from Trengganu, she was the best dancer in the whole school. Because she was trained as the gamelan dancer in Trengganu, you should see how her fingers can be flapped back to the wrist effortlessly. She was really good. She is now a Prof. Madya in one of the local universities. The other good one is my friend who is now residing in Kulim. She is patite (even smaller than me) and quite soft too. So the 3 of us usually will be representing the school for any outside dance competition.

I do remember we were also taught by Johore choreographer by the name of En Wahi who was so soft (as in lembut) when we were entering a certain competition, can't quire remember what by now. He was supposedly the best in the Johor at that time.

My dancing days ended when I entered ITM. The last time I was on stage was during the performance of Boria (since I am from Penang) during the orientationn week. After that I sort of hang up my dancing shoes. Even during my working days when we used to have annual dinner and dance, I would pretend to be "kaki kayu" whenever my colleagues invited me to dance. I would stand so still on the floor long enough to give them the message. That stopped me being so "popular" and being asked to dance with different partner. I guessed I must have Taubat already by then.

I did remember an incident during the bording school dance night (similar to the prom nite in TV). Since it was an all girls boarding school, the men available were teachers, lab staffs, office boys etc. During a slow number, we girls would dance "peluk" with each other lah. At that time, no such thought of le****n ever got into our heads. We were such innocents. The lights would be dimmed and there were also the disco lights to bring in the mood.

Of course there were some daring kakak2 senior who will also dance the slow dance with the men (teachers etc, etc). I and my friend while dancing "peluk2" turn to a guy and keep on encouraging him to ask another friend for a dance (waltz lah ni). We even thought him to say "excuse me, may I have this dance". Little did I know that it was going to backfire, because he turned around and used the statement on me. Waaaahhh!!!, I panicked and run out of the hall. I did come back later to apologise to him saying that I was not used to it. Luckily he took it sportingly.

Let see if you can spot me in these old photos. To those who know me, please don't point me out, syyyyyyyyy !!! If NOT NO MORE friend you..... hehehe

Jeng, jeng, jeng



Me and friends (+ a teacher) in front of the school



My German pen-friend and his sister, way back then




Lastly, my sailor friend

Petua Sakit Tumit

Bila aku post pasal aku pergi urut kaki tu, ramai yang komen. Terimakasih lah yang concern pasal my health tu. Tapi satu petua yang diberikan oleh Ogy yang nampaknya bukan saja senang tetapi katanya mujarab. Sebab dia dah try tu. Senang saja bunyinya tu. Kat rumah aku pun ada pokok betik senang nak buat ni. Cuma kata dia, lepas dia buat tu dia mengandung. Dia happy sangat dapat baby sebab dah lama try. Ni yang aku risau ni sebab, satgi aku pulak terdapat baby, macam mana tu? hehehe. Nak kata tak nak, rezeki Allah bagi tak lah nak tolak kan, entah2 dapat baby boy ka (isy belum apa2 dah berangan aku ni, belum buat lagi dah macam-macam aku ingat, :-))

Aku post kat sini petua ni untuk sapa-sapa yang sakit tumit tu supaya boleh amalkan. Manalah tahu kan, ada yang dah lama menderita sakit tumit tu, dah cuba macam-macam tapi tak menjadi kan. Sama-sama kita cuba dan bertawakal kepada Allah sebab Allah yang menyembuhkan, petua ni hanyalah ikhtiar dari kita dengan ilmu yang di beri kepada sesiapa yang DIA mahu.

Petuanya adalah seperti berikut :-

1. Ambik betik muda. (betul-betul muda)
2. Letak atas api dapur dan bakar hingga hangus (bakar one side. dah letak atas api, jgn di balik-balik, biar jer gitu)
3. Dah hangus sebelah, angkat dan alaskan dengan kain. (beberapa lapis)
4. Letak kan kaki atas betik. (Jangan sampai kaki terbakar, kalau panas tambah kain lagi)
5. Biarkan kaki atas betik sehingga betik tu suam. Alihkan kain.
6. Tekan lagi kaki sehingga betik berlubang. Dalam lubang tuh ada air, rendamkan tumit ke air ni.
7. Siap dan lapkan kaki dengan kain kering.** Kalau ada gout atau toksin, akan terdapat lebam-lebam dekat kaki. Mungkin juga akan kena cirit-birit.

Nota dari Ogy : Selepas 9 biji betik, tumit kaki saya (Ogy) tidak lagi sakit sehingga hari ni. Dan paling seronok, 2 bulan selepas tumit saya baik saya mengandung (selepas 5 tahun cuba nak mengandung).

Ogy terimakasih kerana berkongsi dengan kami petua ini, cuma tolong clarify betik tu masa di bakar tu, di belah atau tidak. Kalau mengikut fahaman aunty tidaklah dibelah, bakar atas dapur dengan kulit2 sekali.

Siapa-siapa yang ada petua-petua yang senang dan mujarab silalah beritahu kita kongsi bersama untuk kebaikan semua.

Urut Kaki

Hari Ahad baru ni, Abang Long ajak kami (aku dan hubby) keluar makan katanya. Kak Long (my SIL) pun ikut, adik aku S pun join kami jugak. Actually, abang long dan kak long ni nak pergi mengurut kaki diorang. Aku plan suruh abang long ajak hubby sebab aku nak suruh dia pun urut jugak. Hubby memang dah lama sakit kaki, susah sangat aku tengok dia jalan tu. Blood circulation is poor I guessed. Tumit kaki aku pun terasa sakit jugak sebenarnya. Aku suruh abang long ajak tu sebab, hari tu dah plan-plan, tiba2 hubby tukar fikiran tak nak pi pulak, jadi trick dia sikit lah hari tu. Tapi masih dia tak nak urut tu, dia ni jenis yang pemalu nak tunjuk kesusahan dia (Aku tak nak lah pakai ke****an dia, macam setengah orang pakai tu :-) ). Hari tu orang pun ramai, agaknya sebab hari minggu. Jadi dia tengok kami diurut dan ambik business kad bomoh tu saja lah. Aku nak jugak ajak dia pi urut kaki dia tu lepas ni.

Pak Ya ni dia urut cara reflexology. Dia urut kat kaki, tapi dia "diagnose" penyakit kita dari urutan kat kaki tu. Kalau kita ada penyakit sakitlah masa dia picit jari dan bahagian kaki kita tu. Abang Long dah 3 kali pi urut tu, jadi dah OK banyak dah. Memang abang long ni ada kencing manis dan darah tinggi jugak. Jadi untuk abang long dia suruh pi dalam sebulan sekali saja lah lepas tu. Maintenance engine badan kata Pak Ya. Kak Long pun dah dua kali pi urut tu, Pak Ya suruh dia bawak halba dan asam keping. Entah aku pun tak pasti khasiat halba dan asam keping tu. Tapi mengikut Kak Long Pak Ya suruh rendam dalam air panas dan minum. Maintenance jugak lah kut sebab Kak Long tak pulak ada penyakit kronik. Yang aku tahu halba memang elok untuk pulihkan peranakan untuk orang yang lepas bersalin tu. Sebab dulu ada seorang makcik yang kerja dia jadi confinement lady tu memang pernah cerita. Halba kalau di jemur bagi kering, ditumbuk halus minum dengan susu, baik untuk mencepatkan sembuh sistem peranakan dan menambah air susu badan. Dah macam bidan pulak dah aku ni, hehehe.

Aku pun sua jugaklah kaki aku untuk di urut tu. Adoi, sakit bukan main lagi. Meletup-letup aku dengar jari-jari aku bila dia picit tu. Nasib baik dah kencing awal dah sebelum masuk jumpa dia, agaknya boleh jugak terkencing tu, kalau tak tahan. Tapak kaki aku sakit jugak kadang-kadang ni, terutama bahagian tumit. Since aku first time datang tu Pak Ya kata, mai dia nak tengok dulu apa penyakit, jangan habaq apa penyakit aku. Akupun bukan tau aku sakit apa, jadi nak habaq macam mana kan. Yang aku tau, kencing manis, darah tinggi tu memanglah tak ada pun.

Pak Ya kata, my digestive system tak bagus. Dua tahun lepas masa kat Beijing, kami ada di bawa melawat hospital yang practise traditional Chinese Medicine, memanglah tujuan tu nak promote the Chinese medicine. Over there, the singseh diagnose melalui tapak tangan. Sama jugak masalah aku masa tu. Tapi aku tak pulak beli ubat2 Cina tu. Mahal sangat tu. Dah kali ni Pak Ya pun cakap yang sama jugak tu. Kata dia simptom dia, constipation (Tok bomoh ni speak London you!!!), hela nafas macam tak puas ( I don't have that), tidor tak nyenyak (now hubby knows why I am always online untill late hours, I told him I can't sleep he couldn't believe me, memang aku ada imsomnia sikit ni). Lagi kata dia nanti telinga akan rasa berdengung ( I have this), sakit pinggang ( sometimes), moody - cepat naik marah (cepat saja hubby aku mengiyakan cakap Pak Ya masa ni). Adalah lagi lah simptom yang dia cakap tu.

Aku ada cakap kat dia, tumit kaki sakit, dia cakap ada 3 area bagi tumit kalau perempuan menunjukkan fungsi organ mana yang tak baik tu. Untuk lelaki lain pulak lah. But tumit ni nampak nya macam berkenaan dengan reproductive system, untuk dua-dua jantina. Untuk perempuan macam aku ni, kalau tengah tumit tu, something is wrong dengan ovary, fibroid etc. Keliling tumit, bahagian tapak kaki tu kata dia overweight problem. Kat sebelah tepi tumit tu aku dah lupa apa masalah tu. My problem yang mula2 tu lah. Nampak nya memang nak kena pi buat medical test ni. Bila tu entah lah pulak no. Procastinate lagi........

For the man, very similar, jugak tapi ada bahagian yang kena dengan the actual private part and the kilang sperma tu. Jangan pulak orang ingat apa yang aku tulis ni lucah pulak. I am trying hard to be very intellectual here.

Pak Ya suruh aku pantang dari memakan daging, sotong, sayur-sayur yang menjalar seperti kangkung, kacang panjang dan sejenis dengan nya. Selain dari tu, buah-buahan yang bergetah seperti nangka, cempedak, dokong, pisang. Aku suka pisang emas, dah kena makan as cokodok lepas ni tak boleh makan mentah dah, sama dengan cempedak. Generally, untuk semua orang katanya, patut pantang atau elak makanan-makanan ini.

Daging
Sotong
Ais
Minuman bergas
Kulit ayam (especially untuk lelaki) - sebabnya kat kulit lah segala sisa2 ubat-ubatan ayam yang dicucuk tu akan berhimpun.

Aku nak kena pi 2 kali lagi untuk urut kaki aku tu. Nanti nak tanya lagi lah apa2 yang perlu tu. Aku pun dok plan nak ajak hubby pi urut tu. Masa balik Pak Ya ada bagi garam yang dijampi dan di campur dengan sedikit herba untuk kami tuam behagian badan dan kaki. Garam ni kenalah digoreng sampai panas dan di balut dalam kain. Aku tuam badan hubby dulu, lepas tu gilirang dia pulak tuam belakang aku. Dah dia kata sedap pulak lah buat treatment macam tu, nak buat hari hari. Kalau baik OK lah.

Pak Ya tak specify berapa kita nak bayar dia, semuanya atas keikhlasan diri kita. Tapi yang aku tengok rezeki dia murah, ramai orang datang berurut, dia kerja sebagai gaurd saja tetapi boleh bela 3 isteri yang tinggal sebumbung dengan dia. Kata dia (melalui adik S, yang rekomen Pak Ya kat kami ni) Pak Ya tak pakai apa2 ilmu pun nak pikat isteri supaya boleh duduk bermaufakat macam tu. Aku rasa Pak Ya banyak pakai psychology tentang perkara ni.

Ada ka yang teringin nak berurut dengan Pak Ya ni? Dia tak advertise kat paper service dia tu. Jadi iklan tu from word of mouth sajalah ni.

Mengigau

Dalam family aku, yang paling sering mengigau, ialah mak dan hubby. Mak aku kalau mengigau dia nanti meraung macam orang kena kejar hantu. Dia selalu ingat apa yang dia mimpikan yang buatkan dia mengigau tu. Selalunya, ada lembaga hitam datang pada dia, atau ada ornag botak nak cekik dia dan seumpanya lah. Kira cerita seram lah tu.

Lagi sorang, my hubby tu. Selalu jugak mengigau. Dia selalu tidor lebih awal lagi dari aku. Tak kira lah tidor malam atau siang. Tiba-tiba terdengar ada orang meraung. Tahu dah aku yang hubby lah tu. Jenuh jugak kejutkan dia kalau mengigau tu. Kadang-kadang, kejut, lepas dia lelap dah mengigau pulak. Tapi dia tak pulak pernah cerita kat aku mimpi apa dia tu sampai mengigau tu. Jadi aku pun tak pernah tahu pasai apa.

Ada sekali aku baca kat blog (entah sapa tak ingat dah) seseorang tu. Dia cerita pasal mengigau jugak. Dia bila mengigau akan bangun tepuk dinding. Gelak jugak aku baca tu. Macam-macam response tentang mengigau ni yang lucu tu. Bukan lah nak mempermainkan sapa2 ye? Harap jangan terasa hati OK?

Aku ni yang aku tahu jarang sekali mengigau tu. Tapi mana aku tau kan sebab aku bukan dengar kalau aku mengigau kan? Ni cerita pasai aku mengigau lah ni. Semalam petang lepas kerja, aku dengan hubby pergi ke Penang. dalam kereta hubby tanya aku.

Hubby : Semalam mimpi apa?
Aku : Mimpi? Tak mimpi apa pun?
Hubby : Tu sampai mengigau sebut "Baby, baby"?
Aku : Hah?
Hubby : I bangun pukul 3 pagi dok dengaq cakap "baby, baby".
Aku : Entah lah, tak ingat pun mimpi apa, rasa nya tak mimpi apa pun.
Aku : Selalunya you yang mengigau mana I mengigau.
Hubby : Tak percaya ka? Lain kali I will tape lah.
Aku : Tak tau lah pulak sebab I tak ingat mimpi apa. Macam mana cara I sebut baby tu? (* senyum penuh makna*)
Hubby : (senyap tak jawab pun).

Aku pun heran pulak pasal apa aku boleh sebut "baby" tu. Yang aku ingat paling last aku tengok gambar anak2 Alex Lacey kat blog dia. Tapi bukan baby. Banyak hari dah rasanya tu ada lah aku tengok gambar baby cute-cute dari email seseorang yang hantar kat aku tu. Tak kan lah sampai terlekat dalam minda aku sampai mengigau. Isy, tak kan kemaruk baby kut aku ni hehehehe. Dah tua dah ni, mana nak dapat dah tu, walaupun belum "pencen" lagi ni hehehe. Sat ni orang ingat baby tu cucu aku lagi haru lah no.

Kalau you all ada cerita mengigau pelik-pelik tu mai lah share sini tu.

Anyway, Have a Nice Week-end ALL

Bila Marah, Ini lah Akibatnya

Pagi tadi masa breakfast sesuatu telah terjadi yang membuat kan aku langsung putus selera makan.

Seperti biasa, aku ke kantin waktu morning break untuk makan pagi. Kami ada 15 minit morning break. Di meja yang aku duduk tu ada lagi empat orang yang lain yang makan bersama aku. Di antara kami ada 2 orang staff (officer level) di bahagian akaun. Keharmonian pagi tadi tiba-tiba dinodai oleh tokey kantin itu yang datang berjumpa dengan officer akaun. Tokey ni berdiri di belah tempat duduk aku sambil bertanya kepada officer tu,

Tokey kantin : Mr L, mana duit saya? Bila saya boleh dapat itu duit.
Mr L : Nanti dulu lah, minggu depan lah, saya belum check lagi, boss pun tak dak.
Tokey kantin : (Makin tinggi suara). Minggu lepas lu macam tu, belum check lagi berapa lama mau check. Saya ada masalah kewangan ni!! Lu ingat mau beli barang dengan pasir ka? Nak bayaq upah orang dengan apa?!!!
Mr L : Mana boleh cepat siap, kena check satu-satu, tu yang lambat tu. (Muka dah merah tapi try to maintain cool).
Tokey kantin : (sambil hentak kerusi kosong kat sebelah aku). Saya dengar akaun dept sini banyak kuat, makan besi ka? Berak emas? Kentut wangi? Buat ni pun tak boleh.!!!! Nak cakap bahasa apa? China, Mandarin pun saya boleh (start talking in chinese - kuatnya bukan main lagi rasaya seluruhkantin boleh dengar)!!!!

Aku dah tak tahan nak dengar, sedangkan aku duduk kat sebelah pun dia buat tak heran. Jadi tanpa menghabiskan makanan aku, terus aku bangun, bawak mangkuk dan gelas ke tempat letak mangkuk pinggan kotor, dan terus meninggalkan kantin. Terpotong terus selera makan ku pagi tadi tu. Biasanya kalau aku makan waktu tu, sampai lunch aku masih boleh tahan tak lapar. Hari gayanya kena keluar lunch lah tu. Malas aku nak makan kat kantin hari ni.

Nampak sangat tokey kantin ni tak boleh nak tahan marah dia. Kalau iya pun marah, janganlah marah depan orang ramai macam nak pukul orang. Gaya tu macam samseng saja tu tadi tu. tambahan pulak hari ni hari Jumaat, kan elok kalau dia panggil Mr L, selepas orang dah keluar habis dari kantin untuk bincang. Kan ka tak menjatuhkan air muka dia dan Mr L tadi kalau conversation tu berlaku secara private.

Setelah aku masuk ofis, terus aku call HR manager. Aku pun cerita situasi tadi pada dia. HR manager ni kata terkejut jugak dia, tokey kantin tu buat macam tu kerana dia kenal tokey tu dan katanya perangai dia tak macam tu. Aku kata aku tak kenal dia dan apa yang berlaku HR manager boleh tanya semua orang yang kat meja tu tadi. Aku bagi dia nama semua yang ada kat situ tadi tu. HR manager tu kata dia akan siasat.

Tengah hari tadi, sebelum Jumaat, tokey tu masuk jumpa aku. Dia mintak maaf atas apa yang terjadi. Aku tahu dia dah jumpa dengan HR manager tu lah. My colleugue mesti dah cerita kat dia apa yang aku komplain tu. Tokey ni kata dia marah sebab dia rasa dia di tipu, janji tak betul gitu. Aku jangan takut kata dia sebab dia sebenarnya bukan macam tu perangai dia. Muka dia memang nampak menyesal. Aku cuma kata, aku tak kenal dia, aku tak tau macam mana perangai dia yang sebenar, tapi apa yang aku tengok tadi aku rasa terkejut dan aku tak suka. Walaupun marah kenapa bersikap kasar sampai macam nak pukul orang. Aku ingat bila aku bangun dia akan perasan yang aku marah. Rupanya tidak. Aku pun cakap aku sesal jugak sebab, kita Melayu, Islam patut lebih sabar. Terdiam dia tu, lalu dia pun keluar dari ofis aku.

Tak lama kemudian, Mr L datang apologise jugak. Aku kata bukan silap dia. Mr L kata dia tadi rasa nak buat report polis takut tokey ni pukul dia tapi setelah dia bincang dengan HR manager dan boss dia (he is attending a meeting in KL office) dia tak jadi nak buat police report tu. Cara tokey tu cakap selepas aku keluar tu katanya memang buat dia takut. Ini lah kali pertama aku tengok tokey kantin kami bertindak aggressive. Kontrak kantin ni baru lagi sebab kantin operator yang lama berhenti tak nak sambung lagi perkhidmatan dia tu. Sebelum ni pun dah ada beberapa operator kantin kat sini, tak pernah jadi sampai macam ni.

Itulah manusia ni kalau dah marah, syaitan makin dok bisik macam-macam kat telinga dan hati supaya lagi membuak nafsu tu. Jadinya sapa yang rugi. For sure, aku dah rekomen yang kontrak dia tak di sambung. Takut pulak aku perkara macam ni terjadi sekali lagi. Entah2 akan melibatkankan perkelahian.

What Is Your Colour?

Masa aku blog hopped tadi aku jumpa quiz ni kat cempakabiru. Saja seronok buat kuiz. Ini lah hasilnya. Entah betul entah kan tidak. Aku akui, kadang aku ni jenis gelabah juga. Nak kata selalu calm and cool tu mungkin tak berapa tepat. Tapi semua manusia begitu kan, ada time happy, ada time sedih, ada time cepat sangat terasa hati, ada time yang sabar dan selamba je kan. Apa-apa pun aku ni selalunya positive and happy memanjang. Senyum sentiasa, tapi, jangan ada ingat aku sewel sudahlah, hahaha. Senyum tu kan ibadah (sedekah). Sebab tu aku ni awet muda (kalau sendiri tak puji sapa nak puji kan?)

Life is too short to be negative. Even if we are sad or angry, life goes on, we can't turn back the clock. Yesterday is gone, today is here, tomorrow is still a mistery.

Entah apa-apa lah makcik ni membebel ni hehehe.

Green You are a very calm and contemplative person. Others are drawn to your peaceful, nurturing nature. Find out your color at Quiz Me!

Maybe you all can tell me your perception of me when you read my blog. Is this colour and its meaning really me? Let's have some fun with what you guys going to say. So be absolutely naughty about it. I am in a very naughty mood. Hehehe.

Angah dan Telefon

Aiyoh, anak dara aku yang sorang ni. Baru 16 tahun, sekolah pun tak habis lagi, dah aku nak kena kelepiaq (tepis) panggilan telefon dari boyfriend ni. Masak nasi pun tak reti lagi, goreng ikan pun mungkin hangus lagi dah ramai dok usyar ni. Amboi, budak ni laaaaa.

Bukan apa nya, anak dara aku yang nombor dua ni outgoing sikit, jadinya terlebih friendly lah ni. Senang buat kawan, senang cari kawan. Dah tu dia tu kan main hoki, jadi selalu pergi training, match dan aktiviti yang serupa dengan nya. Week-end lepas dia ada tournament di Ipoh. Pergi Jumaat balik Ahad malam.

Bukan aku dan hubby tak bagi berkawan, siapa pun tak apa, lelaki atau perempuan, tetapi mestilah ada batas dan adap sopan. Angah pun tahu apa yang kami marah dan apa yang kami benarkan. So far tak lah ada apa2 yang major issue dalam hal ini. Cuma bergayut kat telefon tu yang sikit tidak menyenangkan ni.

Aku selalu jugak intercept incoming call untuk angah dari budak lelaki, katanya kawan dia. Selalu kalau aku angkat cepatlah budak tu akan letaknya. Kalau adik-adik yang angkat macam macam the boy akan tanya (bila angah not around or not available lah ni). They always got fed up with the call and can get very cranky. Si angah ni pulak melayan call lama lah sungguh. Tengah malam kadang-kadang tu orang dah habis tido dia masih dok bergayut. Macam hari ahad lepas dia sampai rumah pun dah pukul sebelas lebih, lepas midnite aku ke dapur tengok handset telephone tak ada kat ganggang (kami pakai cordless sebab nak elakkan mak dari banyak bergerak), aku masuk bilik member ni syok saja dok bergayut. Dah warning sekali, tak dengar jugak, akhirnya hubby yang ambik telefon tu dari angah bawak masuk bilik kami.

Semalam, hubby awal-awal lagi dah bawak handset masuk bilik. Lepas aku sembahyang maghrib dok baca Quran sikit telefon bunyi. Aku angkatlah.

Aku : Hello
Pemanggil : Hello, boleh cakap dengan Angah (using her real name lah)
Aku : Sapa ni?
Pemanggil : Kawan dia.
Aku : Nak cakap dengan dia pasai apa?
Pemanggil : Hal negara
Aku : Hal negara apa ni kecik lagi ni cek oi? (Sarcastic)
Pemanggil : Ada lah, dia ada dak?
Aku : Angah mandi nak sembahyang.
Pemanggil : ohh, Kakak dia tak sembahyang ka, cek oi ? (Balas balik sarcastic aku tu )
Aku : (Dalam hati, amboi nak kena budak ni!!) Ni bukan kakak dia lah, ni mak dia tau dak?
Pemanggil : Tipu !!!
Aku : Kakak dia mana ada sini, dia di.......
Telefon : tut......tut....tut.

Aku cerita kat hubby yang dok dengar conversation tadi, kami gelak sakan. Hubby kata, ni macam mana nak buat menantu, nanti habis kita di "goreng" tu. Amboi hubby ni tak dan apa-apa dah nak bermenantu. Isy, isy, tak nak lah aku lagi.

Entah lah budak-budak zaman sekarang ni.. Sapa-sapa yang ada anak dara sebaya dengan angah atau adik-adik yang perangai macam ni ceritalah sikit pengalaman tu.

Bagaimana Akhirnya Saya Bertudung

Minggu lepas, Anne ada buat entry pasal niat dia nak pakai tudung. I commented to her asking her to go read anedra 's story on this. From anedra's comment box, there were others who shared their experiences on the same issue. I hope both of you are not feeling uncomfortable by me quoting your blogs on this topic. If you do please let me know.

Aku ada membeli sebuah buku bertajuk "Bagaimana Akhirnya Saya Bertudung" Kompilasi cerita dan pengalaman wanita-wanita yang akhirnya bertudung atau cerita pengalaman mereka menhadapi cabaran semasa bertudung. Buku ini di kompile oleh Ir. Endok Sempo Mohd Tahir, seorang jurutera yang sekarang mempunyai firma perunding beliau sendiri. Ramai jugak yang berkongsi penaglaman dalam buku ini, dari Noorkumalasari ke doktor, engineer, usahawan, pensyarah. Salah seorang darinya adalah Dr Katherine Bullock seorang revert yang menulis tesis PhD beliau tentang hijab betajuk " The politic of the Veil" . Menarik jugak buku ni sebenarnya.

Kebanyakan cerita-cerita mereka ini ada persamaan dengan zaman aku. Seingat aku semasa aku di sekolah menengah dulu (tahun 70an), bertudung memanglah sesuatu yang janggal. Unifom sekolah adalah pinafore biru dan baju kemeja putih berlengan pendek. Baju kurung kalau di pakai pun hanya pada hari Jumaat sahaja masa dinner. Kami sekolah asrama penuh ada special baju kurung untuk hari jumaat. Semua pelajar kena pakai. Mula sekali, ada seorang kakak senior yang start pakai tudung. Lepas tu ada sorang kawan kelas aku ni yang pakai tudung. Heran bin ajaib kami seluruh kelas masa dia tiba-tiba masuk kelas pakai mini telekung labuh menutupi sehingga paras pinggang. Mana tak nya, sebelum tu dia ni adalah di antara yang boleh tahan jugak seksinya. Aku walau tak pakai tudung bila berskirt tak lah pendek, blouse pun tak pernah yang sleeveless. Tapi Z, selalu lah sleeveless kalau berblouse tu. Aku dan kawan2 lain ada jugak yang tanya, betul ka hang ni (dia orang utara). Heran kami jangan hanya jadi ikutan saja, nanti pakai sat kemudian bukak pulak. Alhamdulillah dia tak bukak walaupun lepas SPM. Seingat aku dia sorang saja yang bertudung sampai kami habis SPM dan meninggalkan sekolah.

Dah masuk ITM dan USM pun aku masih tak bertudung. Agaknya aku ni tak kuat iman, walaupun masa kat ITM ada jugak join usrah dan biasalah selalu kena "sound" dengan kakak dan kawan sebaya yang bertudung tu. Kami yang tak pakai ni walaupun join usrah tapi masih jugak dengan pendirian kami tu. Kat USM aku dengan kawan aku sorang tu selalu kalau bulan Ramadhan tu kami akan join majlis bukak puasa kat rumah Bilal masjid USM. Semua yang hadhir melainkan kami bertudung labuh. Pada kami, tak salah kalau kami masuk "geng" depa ni pun. Kalau diorang terima maknanya mereka berfikiran terbuka. Buka puasa sama orang-orang "dakwah" (dulu pakai term ini lah) jenis yang makan se dulang tu ramai2. Aku pakai baju kurung, kawan aku lagi kahaq kata orang sini, dia tibai pakai seluar yang faded saja lah. Bubuh jugaklah selendang atas kepala tapi tak lah labuh sampai ke pinggang tu. Lepas buka puasa kami solat tarawikh kat masjid. Dok fikir balik walaupun kami join diorang tu tak ada pulak rasanya yang betul2 melekat jadi kawan rapat kami. Agaknya depa tolerate saja kami yang entah agaknya cari peluang makan free kut :-).

Lepas kerja beberapa tahun masih jugak tak bertudung aku ni. Masa ni dah masuk tahun 80an. Banyak dah perubahan dalam negara, rata-rata pemakaian tudung sudah di terima dalam masyarakat. Sebelum tu macam-macam tohmahan yang di beri pada wanita2 bertudung, ada yang di panggil jumud, kampung, hantu kumkum lah, macam-macam. Aku masa tu masih dok merasa kurang senang nak bertudung. Aku kerja dengan swasta, kebanyakan bukan bangsa dan sama ugama. Macam-macam aku fikir masa tu, salah satunya, boleh kah majikan aku terima aku kalau aku pakai tudung. Nanti kena discriminate ke masa nak naik gaji dan yang serupa dengan nya. Lama kelamaan, akudah tak dapat nak lari dari hakikat menutup aurat itu satu tuntutan Islam. Jadi sedikit demi sedikit aku mula membuat perubahan. Dari memakai skirt dan kemeja berlengan pendek (uniform kilang masa tu) aku tukar ambik kain/seluar panjang dan kemeja berlengan panjang. Heran jugak kawan-kawan bangsa asing aku tu. Habis diorang dok usik aku, dah tak boleh tengok betis gebu aku dah. Depa rugi katanya. Aku senyum sajalah, dalam hati aku kata aku lagi rugi, dok bagi depa tengok tu. :-(

Aku dah set date nak bertudung masa tu. Jadi pada 1 Ramadhan pada tahun itu, masa tu aku pregnant anak ke-empat, aku pergi kerja pakai tudung. Kat hubby pun aku tak cakap niat aku, takut dia tak bagi, dia tak pernah menyuruh dan dia tak pernah menyekat. Aku takut nanti kalau aku beritahu niat aku mungkin dia kata tunggu dulu, jadi bila dah pakai macam tu dia tak boleh kata suruh bukak pulak. Dah terkomit macam tu lah kan. Balik petang baru dia tengok aku pakai tudung dan aku cakap aku nak pakai tudung mulai dari hari tu. Dia tak kata apa2 pun, jadi nya aku rasa dia tak lah menghalang. Kawan-kawan kat ofis ingat aku ni nak pakai tudung masa bulan Ramadhan saja. But I proved them wrong. Alhamdullillah sejak dari hari itu aku terus bertudung. Ada sorang kawan aku bila dia jumpa aku bertudung dia pun mula memakai tudung. Aku happy tengok dia macam tu.

Allah yang menentukan rezeki seseorang, apa yang aku takutkan sebelum bertudung semuanya meleset. Rezeki aku lebih murah selepas itu. Boss aku sikit pun tak discriminate aku pasal aku pakai tudung. Lepas aku keluar dari kilang itu pun senang jugak perjalanan kareer aku. Sampai pada satu ketika aku merasa menyesal tak lebih cepat pakai tudung. Procastinate terlalu lama tentang perkara wajib macam tu. Walaupun sekarang ni pun aku bukanlah yang terbaik tetapi aku masih cuba untuk memperbaiki diri aku dalam segala hal.

Salah seorang dari penulis cerita dalam buku ini memberi tahu kata-kata hikmat dari guru beliau yang menjadi pendorong kepadanya:-

" Wanita Islam adalah ibarat permata di sisi Allah. Kalau memiliki permata yang tidak ternilai harganya dan istimewa, pastilah kita akan menyimpannya dengan sebaik mungkin, di tempat yang selamat lagi khas, di tutupi rapi daripada dilihat orang sesuka hati terutama yang berniat jahat, Ini bagi memastikan batu permata berbeza berbanding batu murahan di tepi jalan. Jadilah permata yang berharga dalam pandangan Allah"

Aku harap tidak ada siapa-siapa yang terkilan. Dan jika boleh di jadikan ikhtibar, Alhamdulillah, yang baik itu dariNya semata-mata.

Do Not Use Handphone While Charging It

I am guilty of this as well. Sometimes I do just that, while my handphone is being charged then I would still be using it. Today I received an email from my nephew on this. I have no idea whether this is true or not. I am quite sure that a few of you would have received it as well. If anyone of you know the authenticity of this claim please share with us. If this is TRUE somewhat, please take this as a precaution.

Subject: FW: Do not use your phone while charging.

Dear All,

I send this message to make you aware of the danger potential
of the commonly used cellular phone. A few days ago, a close relative of mine
was recharging his cellphone at home. Just at that time a call came and he
attended to that call with the instrument still connected to the mains.


After a few seconds electricity flowed into the cellphone unrestrained
and the young man was thrown to the ground with a heavy thud. His parents
rushed to the room only to find him unconscious, with weak heartbeats and
burnt fingers. He was rushed to the nearby hospital, but was pronounced dead
on arrival. The cellphone is a very useful modern invention. However, we
must be aware that it can also be an instrument of death. Never use the
cellphone while it is hooked to the mains!

This is my humble plea.

Sincerely,

Dr. D. Suresh Kumar R&D

Of Dinner and Movie

I was at home Thursday. I took a day off to finish up a presentation which a friend asked me to do. We were supposed to go to his client's place that afternoon. Appointment was set at 3.00 pm. I was supposed to meet him at McDonald around 1.30 pm to go over the presentation before heading to the client's place. I slept late the night before to try to finish it but still couldn't finish it.

Although you hadn't got enough sleep the night before you still need to wake up at your usual time for subuh and wifely duties. After my husband left for work I set myself in front of the PC to finish off my presentation. I was getting exasperated actually because I thought I may not have finished in time. Wanted to print something but the printer ink was finished. So resorted to opening a few windows for references.

Finished up everything at about 10.30 am and called my friend to re-confirm. He said OK and I had then a chance to chat with some friends online. Nearly 12.00 noon, my friend called again to tell me that the appointment was cancelled. Alamak, pulak dah.. What else makin rancaklah berborak tu.

I was contemplating whether to go back to work to save a half day leave, but in the end the hibernating "MALAS" virus engulfed my whole body system. So in the end I decided not to go back to the office. Instead, I called my hubby and persuaded him to accompany me to Penang after work. I had to go to the college for something and he said that he could go check his digital camera which he sent for repair last week. Good excuse to go dating actually right? That's what we did, we went off to Penang, had a simple dinner for 2, near the Jalan Kilat stadium, the stalls on Jalan Perak. After that we went to Gurney Plaza for the digital camera and was told it was not yet ready. Actually the guy was supposed to check for us whether it is cheaper to repair or to buy a new one.

While we were there, hubby asked whether I wanted to watch a movie or not. It had been really long time since we watch a movie. I couldn't even remember the last movie we watched as well. We did plan a few weeks back to go to a movie but had to cancel it. While debating on which film to watch, would it Mr & Mrs Smith or the War of the World, I remembered that someone said he slept thru a scene in Mr & Mrs Smith so I said let's watch War of the Worlds. I don't think I have to do a review here. Most of you have already seen it by now. But I think it is an intruiging movie, you need to think hard to actually get the conclusion of the movie. Two of my staffs told me they don't understand the ending, when I told them I had watched the movie the night before.

We arrived home by midnite and it was thunder and lightning after that followed by heavy rain, which reminded me so much of the film we just watched. Takut pulak ada alien space ship tertanam kat bawah rumah aku ni hehehehe.

On the whole, I had an unproductive day but did fill it up with something beautiful.

I hope you all have a beautiful week-end as well.

Monkey Business

Wednesday evening when I arrived home, I saw an unfamiliar figure outside my back door. I usually enter the house through that door but since the animal was right infront of it I hesitated for a little bit. It has an unfamiliar shape, because it does not look any of Sya's cats. I went closer and to my suprised it was a monkey. I know, perhaps you may think why suprise because I am staying in a kampung. But we have never had a monkey coming to the house before. We don't have any bushes or hutan behind my house. In front is jalan raya, so where it came from puzzled me. It might have been lost I presumes. With the rambutan ripening on the trees and the other plants around the house, my compound may have been a haven for it to stop by.

It looked at me, seemed to be quite tame, and I am not about to try and get hold of it because I don't want to be beaten. I couldn't tell whether it is someone's pet because it did not have any chain around its neck. I don't know, if any of my neighbours who may have got a monkey for a pet.

When I shooed it away what it did was to climb up to the roof. It stayed there for sometime. My maid was trying to lure it to come down and move out of the compound. She used a ripe papaya, but still the monkey would not come down. I then told my maid to just ignore it, place the papaya where it can see it on the fence, it may come down later. My hubby was concerned because it uprooted some of his palm trees, to eat the bulb (umbut). I was concerned that it might attacked any of my girls, when they go outside playing. I asked them to stay in door.

The next morning (Thursday) I saw it was sitting on the cement road where my hubby always parked my car. It saw me prying from my window pane looking at him/her (how to tell the monkey's gender?) and came closer to the window. I didn't open the window for fear it might just leap into the house. It then climbed the rambutan tree just next to the window, still looking at me. It really was one curious monkey. The tree is only 2 feet away from the window pane. It was the last that I saw of the monkey. Later I was told by my maid that some neightbours were saying that it was disturbing the school children. Wonder where it came from, because a jungle is a few km away from my house. I think the effect of man clearing the jungle to make way for the housing areas and other development has taken toll on these animals. Poor them not to have their natural habitat to live in.

Besides that, I just want to "mencecer" sikit about my foreigner colleague. Last wednesday, there seemed to be lots of activities within the factory. So many groupss of visitors were around. Finance had one, Quality had one, Production had one. My mat saleh colleague was here for product prototyping, so he was working with the production people. He is from the KL office. Since so many people were around the visitors rooms were all taken up. He is a plumb man, not relly good looking, don't like him that much too.

I went to perform my solat and came back to a stinko office. My phone was turned from its original position, the chairs were also not pushed back from the table. Slightly disturbed. My office is always open, I usually let them use the phone if there is no other alternative, he is also of the same rank as me, and I am not one who is so impolite to turn away request of using the company phone. But he is surely one stinky man. Ni mesti kes tak mandi pagi ni. Dah lah mai guna ofis aku dah busuk dah, I had to sembur some air freshener to diffuse the smell. Then when I picked the phone, yerrrrkkkk, I almost puke.
So far he is the only mat saleh who have been here who has got foul (sorry lah if this is a bit strong) body adour. My boss is also a mat saleh, but he does not generate strong and bad body adour, thank God!!! I have got other mat saleh colleagues who were here before, but he (Mr SS) must be on top of the list on stinky man. I wasn't sure that it was him because I wasn't around when he was using my phone, so I asked my clerk to confirm. Sure enough it was Mr SS who used it. He came again to use the phone after that, I just said be my guest and left the room for quite some time. I turned the aircon up and later spray the air freshener again.

So tell me lah your experience with stinky colleague.

Maknenek Buat Hal Lagi !!!

Sila oh sila. Masuk, masuk pi sampai dapuq tu no...

La awat aku ajak orang masuk sampai dapuq ni? Selalunya kalau tamu mai depa duduk di beranda atau serambi saja kan. Ni aku ajak masuk sampai dapuq no. Ada buat kenduri ka? Dak aih, tak dak buat kenduri lah. Nak buat kenduri apa anak dara2 aku kecik-kecik lagi, kanyiaq lagi tu. Nak masak ayaq pun tak reti, nak besiang ikan telah lah pulak tu.

Tu apa no? Bukan apa pun, kan aku hari tu bukak blog baru? Tiru si Ely bukak blog resipe-resipe tu. Jadinya dah ada blog kenalah ada banner kan. Kat sapa lagi kalau tak mintak maknenek tolong buatkan. Nasib baik maknenek belum tutup kedai masa aku ngendeng kat dia tu. Kesian kat maknenek, penat agaknya dia tu kan, siang malam bersengkang mata nak habiskan order yang datang bertalu-talu tu.

Aku kata kat maknenek suruh bubuh kat photobucket aku, jadi masa dia bubuh pun aku tak sedar. Dua tiga malam lepas aku dok download gambaq family kat situ, sebab my anak Kak Long nak gambaq-gambaq family tu baru aku sedaq ada something new there. Aku tengok, bukan main lawa lagi tu, siap ada serai, lengkuas, halia, lesung batu pun ada. Duduk ataih tikaq mengkuang pulak tu. Dah dapat banner dah pulak nak cari orang nak tolong pasang. Kak Teh aku tengok dah tak menang tangan dok buat kerja lepaih London bombing tu. Tak kan aku nak suruh dia pasang pulak tu. Kesian sangat kat dia tu, letih dan sedih lepaih kejadian tu. Nak suruh anak2 teruna yang pandai2 tu aku segan lah sebab banyak gambaq aku dan family kat situ. Sat ni nampak pulak gambaq aku yang "montel-montel" tu kan. Malu lah!!!!

Jadinya aku try lah godek-godek sendiri, sekali try tak jadi, bubuh punya bubuh, refresh lah macam-macam tak keluaq-keluaq pun. Pernah aku tolong bubuh kat blog Kak Yan dulu tu, pun keluaq tak elok. Kak Teh yang tolong repair tu. Macam mana pun aku, nak try pasang sendiri jugak, kalau tak boleh jugak baru nak mintak tolong sapa yang pandai2 tu. Hari ni aku try sekali lagi, tup-tup menjadi lah pulak. Cuba lah pi tengok tu. Sungguh cantik sekali banner tu.

Jadinya, maknenek buat hal lagi lah ni. Bukan hal tak elok, hal baik-baik ni.
Di sini nak ucap terimakasih untuk maknenek yang bersusah payah buat design banner kat aunty ni. Kalau ada apa cara nak balaih budi maknenek tu habaq mai no kat aunty ni, jangan segan tau. Insyaallah, akan cuba sedaya upaya untuk penuhi permintaan mu itu. Kalau Kak Teh mai melawat, round-round kampung tu tolong tengok2 kut-kut senget ka no.

Terimakasih sekali lagi.

How To Stay Young

Once in a while one of my nephews will send me e-mails of various subject, inspirational quotes, jokes, new car models, something useful, amusing etc. This is something that he sent to me quite some time ago. I find it inspirational and help me look at life positively, because it helps me to stay and look young (cewah perasan ni!!). Whatever it is, I would like to share this piece with all of you so that everyone can look and stay young. Even if we die at the age of 100 years, we should still look young. Some I have written before so take it as a reminder OK.


1) Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height.
Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay " them "

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening,
whatever. Never let the brain idle. "An idle mind is the devil's
workshop." And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person who is
with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets,
keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable,
improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9 Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next
county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.
AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,
but by the moments that take our breath away.
We all need to live life to its fullest each day

Ibu Ayam Hilang Anak

Pernah tengok ibu ayam hilang anak? Tak pernah?
Ibu ayam yang hilang anak akan, mengekek (betul ke term ni?) ke kiri, mengekek ke kanan, cari anak dia tu. Habis anak-anak yang lain kena ikut dia mencari yang hilang tu.

Apa pasal aku pakai perumpamaan tu? Sebab macam tu lah aku rasa hari aku kat ofis, Jumaat lalu. Terlari ke sana, terlari ke situ. Dah tu sempat juga dok update blog buat Birthday Dedication untuk Kak Mutiara, sampai ejaan pun tonggang terbalik tu. Kenapa ye? Sebabnya, hari Jumaat tu aku ada 2 set atau kumpulan visitors datang kat kilang. Bulan ni jadi macam bulan melawat kilang pulak lah. Siapa mereka tu ? Customers lah, from different region camtu. Some come for training, some just want to visit an extension of another agenda etc. Why last Friday was extremely hectic for me? Here's the story.

On Friday morning, a bus load of the customer from the central region arrived at 9.00 am. OK, I had assigned some of my staffs to welcome and arranged for the factory tour. etc, etc. Arrangement all made to almost perfection. But I still need to give them a welcome on behalf of my management. So after the welcome, I let the others take over, while I get prepared for a more important visit in the afternoon. I went back to have a brunch with the group at about 10.30 am before they leave for the island of the legends.

In the afternoon we were scheduled to receive a very important customer. Due to that my boss would come along to the factory from his KL office. I was fine, I am used to this, Boss came earlier, he arrived from the airport around 11.30 am. And this time he came lenggang kangkung, without his laptop. Apa lah boss oi, awat buat cek macam ni, kan susah ni...
Since he has no laptop with him he was all the time in my office. We have an extra office for bosses and visitors to use, with connections etc. Since he got nothing to occupy himself before the arrival of the VIP, he was all the time behind my **s. Adoi mak oi, dah lah dia asyik dok check dengan aku pasai presentation, dah tu the room preparation, lepas tu pasal bila nak bubuh refreshement lah, blah, blah... Semua dah siap cuma kami nak tunggu masa yang sesuai je tu. Sat gi kami buat lah. Semua dah aku atur tu, percaya lah, bukan first time ni pun...

Sambil tu dia kata nak check internet pulak tu. Dia tanya boleh tak pakai one of my clerks' PC. Memang lah boleh tapi kesian kat budak tu nanti, tangan jadi kaki lah nanti tu, sebab big boss duduk tempat dia tengok dia buat kerja kan. One of the girls yang dok susun cawan pun ada habaq kat aku yang dia pun susun cawan kat atas piring kuih instead of piring cawan tu. Punya lah nervous bila asyik di tengok oleh boss masa dok buat kerja tu.

Dah tu dia suruh aku download satu presentation dari KL ofis ke laptop aku. Aku pun dok buat tu, dia dok complaint PC yg dia guna lembab semacam. Punya lah lambat nak keluar internet home url tu. Since dia dok complaint aku offer pakai laptop aku saja lah, sebab aku ada bubuh kat favourite the intranet home company aku ni. Yang aku tak sedar tu ialah leased line down. Patut aku masuk server KL ofis dok kena deny. Dia pun duduk kat tempat aku dok masuk kat internet. Lama pun tak boleh jugak, aku ni pun betui bendul lah sangat, aku tak delete pun history blog2 yang aku surf tu. Lepas dah dok cuba tak boleh tu, dah give up dia pun, aku baru realise aku tak delete semua tu. Alamak habis agaknya dia nampak segala2nya masa dia scroll down tadi tu. Tengoklah nanti, apa dia nak kata tu, kalau ada memo tu, tahu lah aku dari mana puncanya tu.

Masa dia pergi lunch kat kantin aku tanya IT manager apa hal dengan server, baru dia cakap kata line down. Aku habaq kat boss lah, tak lah dia blame PC aku lembab ke apa. Kalau dia blame pc lembab bagus jugak sebenarnya, ada peluang nak dapat pc baru ni hehehe.

Dah pukul 3.00 petang baru VIP visitor sampai, aku buat a quick presentation bawak tour kilang then kami semua pergi supplier's factory. Aku balik semula ke factory pun dah pukul 6.00 petang. Line masih down, tak boleh nak internet, tak boleh masuk server KL ofis, jadinya aku balik rumah je lah. Dah lewat dan aku pun dah penat melayan boss aku tu dah. Lega dia terus balik dengan VIP tu.

Cahaya Dari Syurga

Hidayah datang dari Ilahi
Menusuk kalbu hati nurani
Tiada siapa dapat tegahi
Kudrat penentu sujudnya diri

Berbagai cubaan harus di tempuhi
Menguji keimanan dan ketakwaan diri
Namun usia bukan pengukur ciri
Penerima cahaya Nur Ilahi

Tiada gusar di dalam hati
Untuk kau tempuh dugaan begini
Ibu dan ayah belum lah pasti
Memberi restu se rela hati

Masih jauh perjalanan yang menanti
Ranjau yang penuh onak dan duri
Takwa dan doa pencekal naluri
Merempuh segala yang merintangi

Namun yang pasti kau dilindungi
Di bawah Arasy yang paling tinggi
Jika inilah kudrat yang di beri
Cahaya syurga pasti kau perolehi

Istimewa untuk Fatihah, aku kagumi kecekalanmu
Pastinya engkau adalah antara yang terpilih.
My doa is with you. May you find happiness in everything you do

HappY Birthday Kak Mutiara

Masih dengan nostalgia kawan-kawan lama, semalam masa tengok TV, ada berita pasal bomb blast in London. I went online to find out how Kak Teh and family would be doing. Send her an offline message with no reply. Leave a message at her comment box, and Alhamdullilah this morning I saw her reply, she and her family are all OK.

I was thinking of Kak Mutiara she was my senior at school and her family home is so near my kampung as well. I haven't seen her online for some time. I know she is due for a small operation, getting a bit worried about her. I remembered that she gave Joe her phone number. Went into Joe's blog and saw him there. Sweetly, I "forced" him to call Kak Mutiara to find out how she was doing. Thanks Joe, you are sooooooooo very sweet (kena puji sikit ni, lain kali nak mintak tolong senang sikit, hehehe). I went offline after that, since hubby is back, not knowing whether Joe had managed to get Kak Mutiara.

As usual this morning, between morning coffee and putting make-up on the face, I would be surfing the net. Merayap dulu kat cyber space ni. Tengok Kak Teh OK, then went into Joe's to check the result. Then baru tahu it was Kak Mutiara's birthday yesterday 7 July. Ni nak ucapkan selamat untuk Kak Mutiara ni.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, DEAR MUTIARA
MAY ALLAH BLESS YOU WITH GOOD HEALTH
GOOD FORTUNE AND LOVE
MAY YOU ALWAYS FIND HAPPINESS UNTIL YOUR LAST BREATH
MAY HE SHOWERS YOU WITH HIS REDHA IN THEREAFTER
MANY HAPPY RETURNS OF THE DAY

(sorry terlambat satu hari, it's all your fault for not telling us, hehehe)

Terkenang Kawan-kawan Lama

I don't know why, deja vu maybe, but these few weeks, I have been thinking of old friends. So much so I guess the energy created had been pulling some to me. Let's start with when I was in KL 2 weeks ago. While there I had an sms from a friend giving me someone's house phone no. The number belongs to a former classmate (one of the 5T '76), AJ. I gave her a call, we talked for a long time. She was in the US for quite a number of years, she came back to Malaysia last November. She went to the UK to do her first degree, came back to work in Malaysia, went through a divorce and the next thing we knew of her was, she was in the US furthering her studies. She did find another love there, was working and staying in Florida and now has come back to Malaysia with her husband (a foriegner) and a 6 year old daughter. She said although she may be getting her green card this year, she may be back in Malaysia for good. She missed home so much. She said she was fed-up of working there in the US and now under semi retirement. She is doing some business of selling things from the US and gold ornament from Trengganu in KL. She also said that the reason for her to come back is that she wanted her daughter to go to school here in Malaysia. It puzzles me a bit there, because normally many want to have their children schooling overseas, but she is just the opposite. Different people with different opinion. I haven't seen her for more than 10 years.

2 days ago, another friend, NS, called me while I was driving home. She asked me about the reunion she was planning for the 5T '76. We talked about it when she was here a few months back. I told her the date should be fine with me and she just need to find the venue. I may be able to kill 2 birds with 1 stone, since my Kak Long will be coming back for a holiday and we can send her back to MMU the week-end planned for the reunion. I really hope it will happen and I will be able to see as many as possible. I haven't seen most of them for 29 years.

Yesterday, I met Richard. Richard was the HR manager at the first factory where I used to work. He was a dear friend as well. I used to turn to him when I had problems. Although he is a Chinese, he speaks fluent Malay, likes Malay food especially the ulams. He used to tease me as being a Melayu murtad because I don't eat petai, jering etc. He used to share his marrital problems with me too. I used to "kutuk" him last time when he told me his excuse for having an affair because he did not love his wife. He said that he married her because his mom liked her. "Nonsense Richard", I said, "It was meant for you to marry her. It was your destiny, how can you hurt her like that". You would not allow anyone to influence you to marry a girl if you didn't want to" I used to argue with him about this issue and he used to ask me on how I view polygamy. In the end I would tell him to be kind to his wife, take her and his 2 daughters for holidays etc. Told him to appreciate his wife because she is a good wife. I think he did realise what I said was true. I saw him with his wife yesterday. He said he is 62 now, retired and travelling between Sg Petani (his holiday house - his mom's house) and Penang. I like Richard, I felt easy talking to him, he is a friend. The last time I met him was when he was still working in Prai, I think 8 or 9 years ago, when I was finding someone to talk to about a career move.

Yesterday, I posted my sailor story, I haven't seen MT since 1978.

Semua ini bagaikan Mengundang Nostalgia. I'm sure it is a sign that I am getting older, when we were young relationship with friends and family seems to be loose. As we grow older, we want to get closer to the friends we may have lost contact with or relatives we haven't seen for years. Wouldn't it be easier if we have always kept in touch, at all times.....

My Sailor Story

Dok pi dok mai blog Kak Teh, baca her Malay sailors' story, reminded me of my own sailor story. But then again, my story is not as good as Kak Teh's. Just a matter of putting it down as a remembrance of the good old days.

When I was in form 3 (I think, it seems such a long time ago *sigh*), one of my senior kakak, said to me that he would like to ask his younger brother to be my pen friend. Aku agak Kak Ram ni berkenan kat aku yang masa tu cun melecun kut. Mana lah tau entah-entah dia nak jadikan aku ni adik ipar dia, hehehe. Actually she wanted him to improve his English thru writing, that was what she told me anyway, why she chose me over the other girls, I have no idea lah. I said OK to her, I didn't really mind to make new friends. I thought it would be fun as long as the content of the letters were clean and friendly. Back then in the hostel, we were not allowed to seal our letters when we want to send out, the teachers assigned would first screen the content before sealing the letter to be sent out. In-coming letters would also be opened first before we received it. Anedra, was it the same during your time?

She gave me his name and address. Weeks passed by, there was nothing from mamat adik Kak Ram, she asked me, whether I had written to him. Aku jawab sajalah, "Kak Ram, takkan saya yang perempuan ni nak tulis dulu. Dia lah kena tulis dulu". Jual mahal pulak aku ni, masa tu , tarik harga konon...

One day, I was taking a nap and someone woke me up and said Kak Ram wanted to see me. I was like "what, me with the muka bantal to go to see her?" "No way!" Since she kept on calling, I went over to the window to look down. My dorm was on the 3rd floor. She just came back from her hometown, she was unloading her things from the car boot. There was a guy standing beside her at that time. I called down to her, she and the mamat looked up. She said, "N, ni my brother MT" I waved at him and said hi. He smiled and said hi back. Not bad, tall, dark and not hodoh (tak lah handsome macam Brad Pitt or Keanu Reeve, but pleasant looking). Friendship started from there, we wrote regularly and when he came to visit his sister, we had a chance to talk. I was like a very shy, shy cat kind of gal, he was really friendly and pleasant.

After his SPM, he went to work with the MISC (Malaysian International Shipping Corporation, is it?), working on board ships, cargo ships, freights etc. We kept corressponding, he even taught me how to look from the paper when he would be on shore. He would write to say which Bunga ship (MISC's ships are named after the Malay flowers like Bunga Raya, Bunga Melor etc), he was working and how I could trace his landing ports for the journey. I used to get excited when I knew when he would dock in Port Klang or Singapore, because I knew that he would come by to see me. It was nice to hear his adventure stories then, because I was like a katak bawah tempurung and here was a guy who had been travelling all over the world, seing foreign places. Had to smile and interject comments once in a while to stop the drool from flowing and not to look stupid.

Our friendship continued until I was in ITM. I remember, when he came to visit we were talking on the top of the stairs overlooking the hostel. He was at that point was telling me of a girl he knew and I got the message that he was very much interested in her, although he said he was treating her like a sister. I had always treated him like a friend, never more than that so I told him to go ahead and get serious. Sort of give him the blessing.

Don't really remember how we finally lost touch. Maybe he stopped writing or I stopped replying to his letters. I wish right now I have kept his contact, maybe now we could e-mail rather than write a letter. By now he would be in his 50's. Retired from his wandering days perhaps, settled down somewhere with kids and who knows grandchildren. He sure would have lots of stories to tell them all. He could talk for hours, when we met, and me the normally talkative one would just be gaping (almost opened mouth) listening to him.

MT, I don't know where you are, I hope you are well and happy right now.

Sunyi

My hubby is out station from yesterday, Monday. Sometimes I like it when he is away for a short while. I don't have to cook or prepare food for him. We just eat what we have at home. Cincai sikitlah, ala kadar saja lah tu. Kalau dia ada kena "beghadon" sikit kata oghang utagha ni. Tau ka apa "beghadon" tu? Maksudnya kena siap semua dengan elok-elok macam tu lah. Kan aku ni isteri mithali ni, hehehe. Anyway, when he is not around I will miss him and he will miss me. Rindu-rindu ni bagus at least we know how much we will miss our loved ones when they are away. We sometimes take their presence for granted, so much so that we tend to overlook the fact that we marry him/her for love in the first place right.

On Sunday, since he knew that he was going away for a few days, he spent his entire day tidying up the bedroom. Not that I can't do it, but most of the things in the room are his and they were all over the place. He will never let me touch them, so I won't touch them at all. He messed up the room, he will clean the room, that's our normal practice. Hubby, is the type who can and will help with the house work. So we usually share work, but since we have a maid he will leave most of the kitchen work to the womenfolk. He still wash dishes anyway. Now, the room is clean, tak semak dah kepala aku tengok buku, newspaper, DVD bersepah kat atas lantai. Nak jalan pun susah tu.

He said he was fed-up of eating rice, I looked up for the recipe and I cooked Curry Mee for him. Alhamdullillah menjadi pulak lah Mee Kari hari tu. Nasib baik menjadi, kalau tidak he will leave with a very sour face, hehehe. Sampai malam pun dia makan mee kari tu, from ther aku boleh agak lah yang dia suka tu. I know he likes Curry Mee, I am not into curry mee that much, in fact if we eat out, I won't even look at the dish. I did try twice before but, last Sunday was the best so far. I will put up the recipe in the recipe blog later OK.

Malam, lepas solat maghrib aku sediakan pakaian dia untuk bawak tu, sambil tu dok sembang jugak on the phone dengan seseorang tu. Multitasking jugaklah sambil menyelam minum air gitu kan. Biasalah aku ni kalau sembang bukan boleh sekejap-sekejap pun. Tapi lepas jugaklah rindu rasanya dengar suara orang yang dah lama tak dengar tu. Senyum memanjang aku jadi nya sepanjang malam tu. Memang dah lama kawan aku ni tak call, aku agak dia pun rindu nak dengar suara aku tu.

Although, I do like a bit of the freedom of not having hubby around, there are lots of things which I don't like when he is not around. I have to send the girls to school. The morning traffic is terrible, I really hate it, I have to be extra careful when driving. I have to water the plants, I have to go to Sya's school to get the report card this week too,and of course I get lonely at night. He jokingly said before he left to me, "malam ni kena peluk bantal lah". Apa lah pulak orang tua ni, masa dia ada pun bukan peluk dia pun hehehe. I responded to him, "same to you" Gelak jugak lah dia tu.

At the end of this week, I am going to have a VIP visitor to the factory. My boss will of course be coming down too. So, I am all tensed up to prepare presentations and trying to get data for the presentations. I don't like the stress because I sometimes get on the wrong side with my boss whenever we try to prepare something like this. Tak lama pun sebab, bila dia datang everything will be OK. Tak kan aku nak biarkan dia marah kat aku lama2 kan.

How long will I be lonely, perhaps until end of the week. Kesian kat aku kan huhuhuhu....
I can almost hear some people will say, betul lah tu, berinternet memanjang sunyi apa nya kan, kan....Pagi2 dah ON pc, petang, malam, sampai nak kematu b*nt*t, sunyi konon. Betul ni sunyi lah wei....
Hehehehe...

New Blogs on the Blogspot

I have been toying with the idea of creating another blog just to put recipes and perhaps ingredients in the Malay cooking. Before I could do it Ely had beat me to it. I am sure Ely's recipes will be a blend of east and west. It will be a very interesting blog for food lovers and cooking enthusiasts.

Anyway that should not stop me from creating one right? We share our experiences and recipes as well. Positive blogging right Kak Teh and Nazrah? Starting from 1st July 2005, I have created a new blog titled Dari Dapur Makcik Kampung. There are not many recipes there yet, mostly those that I have posted in this blog. But it will be much more systematic now. Having said that, it will also mean that I have to update 2 blogs, oooppppsss what have I done? There will be other recipe blogs link there if I have their permission to do that. I am also trying to place as many photos possible, but bear with me I am not really a good photographer, neither I am a good cook. There are better recipe blogs on the net, but if you think you will benefit from the blog please feel free to use it. To those who have a recipe to share or a recipe blog to share you can leave me a note in the comment box for your url to be linked.

This is another case to request from Maknenek for a banner, still can eh maknenek? Maybe something with the rempah ratus melayu would be nice..

The blog is dedicated to my daughters, because, one of these days they are going to need it. When they do I may not be around to teach them to cook, so I do hope that it will help them to create better food for their family.

The other thing that I am going to announce here is that I will be deleting most of the links found here in my blog. This is because I will be using Kak Teh's Sentraal Station. Only those stations not listed in Kak Teh's map will be linked here. To those who suddenly discovered that their links are not here anymore please do not feel hurt, because they will be found within the new blog.

I am all for sharing new ideas, positive things with all of you. If you have something new, share it out OK.

Enjoy the new blogs.

Happy Birthday to Anak Menakanku

I wasn't sure it is your birthday today.
So this dedication comes a little late.
It's better late than never people say
So here's a wish from me for someone as special as you.

J,
I knew you when you were just starting into your teen
First time we met, I was just got into your family circle
Your family engulfs me with kindness and love
A happiness that seems to last a lifetime.

J,
We went our different ways,
You to faraway land to find knowledge and wisdom
I started career and family
almost 20 years, we never set eyes again

Funny isn't it J,
When suddenly a 19 year old boy
A young person with great talent
Was the person responsible
For our meeting after almost 2 decades long

So today J,
As you journey into another age dimension
Whatever age you are, to me you are still that 10 year old
A young man with great loving heart
Full of kindness and responsibility

My wish for you,
May Allah shower you with Happiness
May you always be under HIS protection and Blessing
Many Happy Returns of the day to J
We love you so very much

AuntyN and family