usah buruk sangka

I drive a small car. A Viva to be precise. Senang kacang je nak parking, bak kata orang ni. Kalau ke MidValley, boleh selit-selit celah tiang atau temple-tempel tepi dinding time kereta banyak. Kalau kereta tak banyak boleh ambik masa buat side parking atau reversed parking. Dulu terkagum tengok orang park MPV besor gedabak reversed-parking some more with no hassle.  Sekali tu.. rupanya ada kamera.

Anyway. On one of those days that I drive to work, sampai awal so I took my time buat reversed parking. Ala keta kecik kan, senang je. Then a MyVi nak park kat sebelah. Punyalah lama si driver nak betulkan keta dia. Keluar masuk ntah berapa kali. In my heart, hek eleh, keta kecik je pon, itupun susah sangat ke. When she has settled urusan parking keta dia, I went out and took my things and walked away. Turned back to ensure that I have locked my car. Oh my, ai parking senget.. padanlah orang sebelah susah nak adjust keta dia. Ya, Salah sangka dan buruk sangka.

Entah-entah orang tu menyumpah-nyumpah driver Viva parking senget. Hek elek, keta kecik je pon, itupun susah sangat ke. Okay, salah sangka lagi sekali. Ntah-ntah orang tu tak cakap apa pun.

Moralnya. Jangan cepat buruk sangka dan ingat kita sentiasa betul. Bila mana kita rasa diri kita lebih dari orang lain, selagi itulah kita nampak orang lain tak betul belaka.

Saya akhiri entry dengan gambar pokok cili yang dah berbuah. Suka sangat ai tau. Konfem minggu ni buat sambal.

Ada 2 pasu sebenarnya. Yang ni kecik tapi berbuah. Yang lagi satu besar tapi kena serangan semut, sempat berbunga tapi buah tak menjadi. I googled tips on how to get rid of ants, tip-tip alami gitu.. chemical free. Tips nya – cengkih. Tabur je, insyaAllah semut lari. Mula-mula macam tak percaya, tapi try jugaklah. Alhamdulillah menjadi.

 

 

Ni pulak peach in raspberry jelly. Terlajak rajin buat dalam ramekin kecik-kecik ni. These are my first ramekins.. beli masa Metrojaya Sale, RM6 sebiji. Jelly tu guna instant jelly brand Nona. Just add water and bring to boil for few minutes. Senang.

 

of doing under 9

Yesterday Tebby and me drove separately to work. That means I’d clock out on time and if the traffic and weather permits, I’d have the opportunity to sweat out some fat and calories before fetching them kids from taska. Both traffic and weather were kind to me (Thank You Allah!). I have changed into my running gear before clocking out but had to wear those with pair of black court-shoes coz I left my sneakers in the car.

Under 9 minutes? You meant my 8.59 minutes?

My dinner later last night :P .. I don’t normally do rice for dinner. But sadin is always an exception. Too good to refuse.

On a more serious note, I notice every time I sweat myself out running or doing physical exercise activities, I’d more refreshed. This morning I woke up at 4:30am and had trouble going back to sleep coz I felt good and refresh.

But why don’t I feel the same after scrubbing toilets, mopping the floor or did a bakul worth of ironing?? 

nukilan 31.08.2013

terima kasih Tuhan
atas limpah rezekiMu
kami menyambut ulangtahun perkahwinan ke-13

terima kasih Sayang
sudi menjadi suami
walau diri jauh dari sempurna
moga kasih membawa ke syurga

terima kasih Tuhan
ku bernafas di bumi genap 39 tahun sudah
ampunkan salah silap ku
terimalah amal ibadat ku
berkatilah apa jua baki umur ku

terima kasih Ayah dan Bonda
melahir dan membesarkan sehingga ku mampu berdiri sendiri
jasa tak terbalas dengan apa jua pun

terima kasih saudara dan teman
atas ingatan dan doa kalian

nukilan - 31.08.2013

kitty ran, kitty sat, kitty rolled, .. kitty died :'-(

I love cats! I always do and perhaps I will always be.

When I was small, my brothers kept 2 cats - one was named Cicak (due to the color very similar to cicak's color) and the other one Hitam, for apparent reason! Both died and each time I cried my eyes out.

When I was in university, we have this resident cat that stayed in our hostel, which I always fed and she would always came running whenever I came back from classes. When I left university, I left her and I hope someone else had taken good care of her. 

My husband, was an opposite.
Note the tense was?
He has mellowed down as far as keeping cats is concerned.

I even caught him feeding them once in a while :D

Now we have few furry residents at home, but strictly outside. Well, two of them like to sneak in and one has peed and pooped on the carpet! How could I shoo them away when they are so cute? Too cute!

When we got back from Raya break recently, those cuties were at our porch. With big soulful eyes. Ever ready to give you good time playing with them.

Tap on your feet loudly, kitty scramble away in funny way.
Scratch their back, kitty sit.
Scratch their tummy, kitty roll.
Point your camera, I swear I see kitty smile!

But they like to play and stay under my car.
On one fateful day, I started my engine and I saw a kitty ran away. Thinking I had no other passenger.. I drove away.

Perhaps you can already guess what actually happened later :'(

Barely 20 meters, I heard a thumping sound and what I had hoped not to happened, had happened. I looked in the rear mirror, I saw kitty scrambled for his life. He dragged his hind to the roadside, perhaps in unimaginable pain and agony. Then he dragged himself right to the middle of the road on the hot tar and fell. Not moving anymore.

I killed a kitty!
That ran away when I tapped my feet loudly.
That sat when I scratched its back.
That rolled when I scratched its tummy.

I had to asked 2 boys passing by to move it to the roadside. I went and fetched newspapers and a plastic bag. Wrapped kitty and gave it a proper burial in a hole Tebby had dug earlier.

It was totally absolutely unintentional. But still, the guilt haunts me. It still does.
My friends assured me it was not my fault.
But the sight of his mother searching and looking.. *sobs*
And it looked like someone made an effort digging kitty's grave.
Someone with small feet *sobs*

I am so sorry kitty. I truly am.
And mummy cat,  I am so sorry too.

the month of August

I was born in August 1974

I reported duty for my first job assignment in August 1997
After 16 years, I reported duty for my 5th assignment in August 2013

I was introduced to my other half in August 1997
We were married three years later in August 2000
Our firstborn came a year later in August 2001

Indeed, it's a meaningful month.
Not too say the other 11 are meaningless, but we sure have more to celebrate this month..

I'll be one year less than 40 this August 2013
InsyaAllah

last (official) day

 

 

My last official day in current department, insyaAllah. Although it's comforting being here, it's time for me to step out of the cocoon and venture. Sometimes it gets too comfy, it scares me.

I hope my move will be blessed as blessed as Ramadhan itself. Wish me luck.

kepompong...

............. saya mahu jadi rama-rama yang indah. tolong bebaskan saya dari kepompong ini............

*ehem* dah ganti puasa?

Giat!
Marathon.
Dari Isnin lepas. Hari ni InsyaAllah berganti 4 hari.
Tinggal lagi satu, InsyaAllah minggu depan.
Kenapa tak puasa esok saja?
Esok cuti, Report Card Day.
Alasan saja bukan?
Bukannya tak boleh puasa kalau cuti kerja?
Bukannya cuti bulan mengambang pun...

Kali ni sengsara.
Terkena time jerebu.
Tekak perit dan batuk-batuk.
Orang kata kena minum air banyak.
Tapi saya puasa..
Nak tangguh ganti bimbang tak sempat nak kejar bulan puasa.
Tu lah.. sapa suruh ganti lambat-lambat kan.

Tahun lepas 5 hari saja cuti bulan mengambang bulan puasa.
Dulu kadang-kadang puasa 2 minggu saja.
Tanya doktor, apa saya ni nak menopos ke?
Doktor kata Ish.. awak muda lagi.
Nak masuk 40 muda lagi ke?

Apapun pengajarannya - ganti puasa cepat-cepat!
Suami saya baca mesti angkat kening sebab tiap tahun ni la pengajaran yang saya sebut-sebut tapi manjang lewat juga..

self-soother

Things been a little tense lately.

Tebby got me a new mobile phone (thanks Yang!) and after subscribing to additional services, it went kaput. I couldn't call out and people couldn't call me in. I told my friends, it's like giving birth. And soon afterwards your baby got admitted to nicu. You want so much to cuddle and hold but all you could do is, stare.

Of course a baby is not comparable to a phone in whatever sense. It's an analogy k. 

After 13 days (of 5 frustrating calls to careline, 1 web-complaint, 2 emails, 2 visits to Blue Cube, 2 SIM card change), they finally detected what was wrong with it. I knew it all along. When they upgraded me to their data plan (yup, baru nak subscribe), they accidentally 'closed' my voice service. I told my doubt each time via careline and Blue Cube. None of them admitted.

Finally yesterday (after bombarding the careline requesting for feedback and refusing for yet another 'escalation' anddddd 10 minutes of waiting on the line listening to Judika and whatnots), they admitted my doubt.

How could such a simple thing be missed during trouble-shooting?

And when I visited Blue Cube again yesterday, semua muka seposen. Tak reti nak mintak maaf, let alone admitting their fault.

And things are not going well either in the office. It is not as I'd hoped it'd be.

Last Friday we went to Midvalley during lunch time. I told my friends I want new shoes. The good souls layan me knowing my frustration over things above (thanks friends!).. after 3 kedai kasut, I couldn't decided between 2 shoes.

I ended up buying a lipstick instead!

That's how bad it was.

Today my phone is up and running and functioning as it should be. I made a call to Tebby. Then I called myself up just to hear the phone ringing for the first time. It was like hearing your baby's first cry (analogy, again). I was overwhelmed ha ha.

Alhamdulillah.

Things in the office are not of so much improvement though. As papers and files piling up on my desk, my motivation berkadar songsang. It drains up.

And today, I bought 3 scarfs.To sooth my mind. Well, perhaps that's just an excuse anyway ha ha.

But regardless. 

I hope I'll be happy again or I'll end up broke   ^_^

embrace motherhood!

:D

Happy Mother's Day.
Ya I know but better late than never, right.

How did mine gone?
Went to MV to celebrate and was given the privilege to choose where to dine.
But Iman insisted that we go have sushi.
I just had sushi few days before.
But a mother will do what she needs to do.
Sushi it was then!

Being mom is not always sunshine and roses.
Likewise many other things in life.
Being mom you know you are actually capable of loving other people more than you love yourself.
Being mom you know there's this kind of love that doesn't have boundaries, nor it is conditional.

Embrace motherhood.
It's a lifetime position.
With good rewards too, insyaAllah.

jumaat

 

A little tensed these days. Alhamdulillah masih ada selera makan and boleh tidur lena :D

starting over II

New boss reported in last Monday.

Asked. Boss baru macamana? Okay?

Well, having been in the working life for the past 16 years (Almost anyway. Has it really been that long?), reported to 7 different direct supervisors my answer would be - Everyone has his/her own style, strengths and weaknesses. Bear in mind one important thing - when you can't adjust the wind, adjust your sail.

My second lady-boss and my first younger-than-me boss. Yeah I am old. My last 3 series birthday this year! *gulp*

Had a makan-do at Al-Diafah the other day. Farewell for ex boss (and UPNM interns). The shortest period between me and a supervisor. Only one year and a half I think.

Lamb Mandy! Ai cinta! Al-Diafah has always been one of my favorites. From rice to kebabs to drinks (almond milk! I loike) - always just right.

Flowers for my x-boss. Either you beranak, pencen, or transfer out baru dapat these okay :D

UPNM students. Spent 6 months with us. Shy, these guys. Sometimes I forgot they were in my office. Very quiet okay. Now dah masuk kem balik kot. Good luck guys!

Kebabs! When I was having badddd spell of morning sickness when I was pregnant with Adam, ni je lah yang berkenan kat tekak. Gigih Tebby u ols membeli benda ni hihi.

My first serving. Had few additional that I lost count. But my colleague confirmed that I had at least three! Wei, aku nampak hang makan sampai 3 kali. Oh well...

Cerita pasal boss lama boss baru tapi gambar semua makanan? Motif? Hi hi..

starting over

mudah-mudahan..
*senyum*

tudung syria - Chenta Qaseh

While I was in Cameron Highlands last week, my tudung syria from Chenta Qaseh safely made their way to my office. Overwhelmed with my Brinchang experience, strawberry, keledek and jagung shopping, I had almost forgotten that I was expecting a parcel :D When I stepped in the office last Monday, my heart jumped with joy at seeing a Poslaju pack on my table. My heart always does that whenever I see one anyway hihi.

Did I mention their? As in referring to plural? :P

I ordered not one but four! You see, if I order 1 piece, I would still have to pay the same amount if I order 3 or 4 pieces. Let's save up on postage fee and I ordered 4. I know, I am merely justifying but still.. I loikeee!

 

Wrapped in the usual plastic cover. Neatly fold, every piece in similar manner, almost to same size. I have an eye for details you know. Little things matter to me.

Let me introduce you to these girls. From left to right - Khaki, Burlywood Brown, Crimson Pink and Deep Grey. Priced at RM35.00 each, with postage of RM8.00, these girls cost me RM148.00.

:: Made of Korean Lycra. Feels almost like stretchable cotton. Cooling and falls nicely.

:: The size is just right (at least to me) with bukaan muka approximately 52cm, back length 70cm and length from chin below is 50cm. Not only cover dada, when I had it on, the tip reached way down to my midriff. Perut oso cover hihi.. The width (from shoulder to shoulder) is also just right.

Free gift! With my previous order, I got a free ordinary inner neck in lilac. This time purplish, almost like the color of an aubergine.

 

ni lah rupa tudung syria yang ai beli..

photo credit to Chenta Qaseh

From the look of it, I think me and Chenta Qaseh shall have an everlasting relationship :D

Read:
:: my first purchase from Chenta Qaseh here.
:: my other tudung purchase from Shawl by V Snow here.

my Brinchang experience

Remember my entry about going to Cameron Highland (read here)? Alhamdulillah, safely gone (and had fun there!) and now safely back in KL.

We stayed for 3D2N in Heritage Hotel. My review? Well, let's just say some things are just not worth mentioning. Conclusion - not recommended.

I must admit that I am a 'penakut' person. When my colleague asked if I wanted a room with a forest view, I immediately declined. But look at the view from our room.. erk.. very inspiring :D No aircond since it was cold enough. But no fan (?). It got a little stuffy after few hours under the blanket.

Let me just tell the most exciting part of the trip. The rest were the usual stuff - presentations, discussions, Q&As. Trip to Mount Brinchang! But first, 'Best of Highlands' (BOH) tea plantation in Sungai Palas.

On our way up. Travel in style tu... in Land Rover :D If you think this road is narrow enough, wait until you travel further up. You'll have a bukit on one side and a curam on the other. Some stretch are without 'penghadang jalan'

After stopping a while at the foot of BOH Tea Plantation (hearing a short brief and loads of poses!), went to BOH's factory and later to its TEA Ria where we had tea and scones. The machinery in the tea factory dated way back to 1935 and still running good! It is in fact a very 'humble' looking factory.  That's Mr. K Achutan by the way. The Manager. 

View from TEA Ria. Breathtaking. Very fresh. Albeit cold. Spot the daisies atop the roof.

Had tea 'in style' :P I didn't know ordering tea can be as complicated as ordering coffee from Starbucks or San Francisco! We had 4 types (4 of us) of tea and 2 scones. Ahhhh... the very the inggeris okeh :P One of us had teh tarik. True, the taste is tad bit different. Little fresher and taste more 'leafy' I think.

After stuffing ourselves and visited the washroom (airnya sangat sejuk!), off to our next stop.. Mount Brinchang.

 

It got more colder and cloudier as we got higher up. It was raining. The road is narrower (and slippery) *gasp* It was a 'winding' experience hence we couldn't see any Land Rover in front. Neither we could see any car trailing from behind. As if we were the only ones there. For few moments, I even had doubts :P Nevertheless, we later arrived safely at the peak of Mount Brinchang - 6666f or 2031m above sea level.

I just had to sms Tebby on my whereabouts. When I came back to KL he asked if I was really sending from top of Mount Brinchang. Yang, kalau tak boleh sms, I donno la, look what we have there a transmission tower! On its right is a 3-storey viewing tower.

Durian Fest! A truckload of them. At 2031m above sea level, ha ha. Thanks to all the GMs for belanja-ing we alls. Since I can't have much back home (Tebby and the kids dislike the smell of it), I had quite a bit of them. And later that night, sakit perut kembung penuh dengan angin (combination of teh and durian)

Me! Luckily I have accumulated a bit of fat here and there after being married and pregnancies. After Durian Fest, we proceeded to Mossy Forest, 2000m above sea level.

Subhanallah! Beautiful.. with that ray of light. Moss everywhere. We board-walked from end to end. By the time we were nearing the exit, it started to rain. We basically got wet (but sempat posing dulu before balik) and shivered our way back to hotel.

It was beautiful experience. Close to nature. Seeing Allah's creation up close and personal.

Went home on Saturday. A bad bad congestion from Heritage to Tanah Rata. It took us about 2 hours inching the 20km stretches. Pit stopped at 3 places for little shopping and more tea at Bharat Tea Plantations and later at R&R Tapah for prayers and toilet break. Arrived to the arms of loved ones in KL at 8.30pm.

heliless helipad

Told ya! I went to TM's helipad yesterday with a bunch of loud and loadfulness-of-fun officemates and few budak askar (UPNM practical students). Having served the company for more than 15 years now, that was the first time ever jejak kaki ke situ.

Before we could even naik lif kat G-Floor to 54th Floor, there was a briefing and the emphasis was on safety. *gulp* The dont's, the precautions and all. I was thinking at the back of my mind that I haven't done my wasiat yet :D After the short briefing we all squeezed ourselves in two different lifts to 54th Floor. Then we conquered flights of stairs from 54th Floor to 59th Floor. Conquer la sangat kan, tercungap-cungap nak sampai kat situ sambil picit betis :D 

Sampai kat 59th Floor berehat sebentar ambik napas dan errr... picit petis :D If you look at the uppermost photo in this entry, you'll see that triangular-shaped structure behind the helipad. Yang macam tanduk shark tu. In this photo, we were in that very tanduk shark. Bare, with just metal and concrete structure.

Err... atap zink?

 

So, here's some of us on the helipad. Others were busy taking photos in their most macho-est post.. men.. *eyes roll*, some were edging the way along the tepian trying to peek how the world looks like from high above. Meremang bulu roma bila tengok bawah, seriously. There was this safety metal net attached along the edge.. but still..

Had fun 'sight-seeing' and of course loadfulness of ber-foto session. Can you believe I also did that jumping-pose? That was I could afford doing while the younger generations did some even more weird and difficult poses :D 

Tu pun, balik sakit belakang sudaa!

yellow kitty 'sewn with love' PJ bottom

Project took off!

Same day beli kain, same day terus potong and jahit *flips hair, blows nail*

But first. Pola jahitan. I was doing a PJ bottom for Kakak.. (or rather I am still on 'PJ Bottom' projects as I still have to do 3 more). I bought Kakak those beautiful knee length baju tidur that do not come with matching seluar. Seen above is pola jahitan seluar tidur.

Derhaka ilmu SRT.  (people my age went to kelas Sains Rumah Tangga during our secondary schooling, depending on the school. FYI). SRT will (supposedly) impart you with proper knowledge and skills to be good at all these ilmu rumahtangga *ahem* As for this project, it is supposed to be drawn on proper white/brown paper (I used a used-envelop), properly marked with seams and notch where-ever and when-ever appropriate (I skipped this). Then to trace using tracing paper onto the fabric Also derhaka - skipped this step. I drew straight onto the fabric using Adam's pencil. SRT has this kapur kain. Kapur kain ni akan hilang kesannya pada kain lepas basuh. 

During those days we have a kotak jahitan each. Inside - shears, jarum jahit, jarum peniti, pita ukur, tracing paper, kapur kain, tracing wheel, jidal, benang, lapik pinggang etc. Kelas SRT ada every week. Alternately between kelas jahitan and kelas masakan.Untuk kelas masakan, utensils disediakan so tak perlu ada kotak masakan with sudip senduk sudu garfu semua tu :D

singerrrr... menawan keluarga bahagia...

This project requires almost 100% straight line stitching. I was too malas to go out hantar jahit tepi kat kedai so I did double stitching. Can't remember what's the term. Kelim *something*. Supposedly kena pin kan and then jelujur dulu baru jahit. Jelujur ni jahitan tangan yang kasar-kasar. You must use benang kaler lain dari kain bila buat jelujur. I must admit it's not easy to master and comply to all these ilmu sains rumahtangga ha ha. Well, I skipped those :D Curve stitching at the crotch area only. When there's curve, kena snip to allow fabric to stretch nicely when diterbalikkan. As for jahit tepi, kalau tinggi semangat daya saing dan tinggi tahap ketabahan, buleh hand stitch juga *pingsan* Namanya ialah jahitan insang pari. Tak, I am not kidding.

A safety pin is a must in your kotak jahitan. Untuk kerja-kerja memasukkan getah kat pinggang seluar or kain. I saw my mom used this method. Kalau takde safety pin ni, dia guna sepit rambut kaler hitam tu. But sepit tends to tersangkut kat rumbai-rumbai kain nun, better guna safety pin. Anyway, SRT did not teach doing bahagian pinggang using getah, always guna pelapik yang keras tu. That, requires some calculation as to place correct measurement of lisu at the right place. Lisu ni pulak banyak kaum kerabatnya nya - lisu beriring, lisu bertentang, contohnya. Boleh jahit lisu mengadap ke dalam as well as ke luar. Selain dari nak hilangkan gelembung-gelembung, lisu pun buleh jadi hiasan tau. Too much eh? Bottomline, guna getah memang lagi senang. Anyway, ada ke PJ bottom guna zip dengan bahagian pinggang keras? Takde kan?

Done. Kakak in her home-made yellow kitty PJ bottom. Sewn with love *beams* Nampak cam senteng sebelah sebab dia terkepit seluar tu while trying to give the best pose.

While we were at it, Adam datang and insisted that I posing-posing kat mesin jahit tu. Layankan aje. So I gave him my best pose and Ummi senyum. 1,2,3....  Annndddddddd this is what came out..

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Mana Ummi Dik?
*huwa*