the season for Holidays!!

It is coming on to the end of the year and plenty of holidays are on the horizon. For parents this can be a bit of a headache as the children are at home all day without the stimulation and company they would normally get from school. Hence comes the tricky job of keeping them entertained and keeping ones sanity intact. It has not been easy, I have to say! Parents, especially yours truly will be sighing a great sigh of relief once school comes around in January. My eldest daughter will be in Preschool or National Kindergarten for this coming year, and I am considering putting my youngest daughter in as well. She has been voicing out that she wants to go to school like her "kakak' and get to have her own schoolbag, bottle, etc! She is not quite 3 yet so, maybe another semester before I send her to join her sibling. Then their Mommy can have a couple of hours of peace for her to pursue some much needed activities!

life skills : carpentry...

I was trying my hand at some woodwork yesterday to fix up the staircase which was damaged by termites. After buying some wood at the hardware shop ( they always smile at me when I buy stuff there...must be unusual seeing a lady buying hardware) I proceeded to saw it to the proper length and then found out that I had to make a groove in the wood to fit it properly to the step. Thinking about how the heck I was going to do this, and also lacking the proper tools., I rummaged around the steel cabinet outside where we keep a multitude of stuff and found what appeared to be a chisel ( i don't really know what one actually looks like- last time I did any woodwork was about 20 years ago- how time flies!) Then I started hammering the wood. After some time, I actually managed to get system going and produced a decent looking groove ! Today, hopefully, I'll be able to finish it. Next step- polishing the finished job with some floor treatment!

beating bullies

I don't know what possessed me the other day when I was trying to find a parking spot at the local Giant. As usual, I prefer to wait by the side of the road hoping that somebody in my lane is going to pull up, putting on my signal lights to let people know I'm waiting there. Somehow, I have this uncanny (God-given ) ability to kind of sense when a parking spot is going to be available, and sure enough, a few metres away I could spot someone about to pull out. I waited patiently for the driver to start moving, not bothering to inch too much closer, so as to give them plenty of space to come out.I was pretty confident that the other drivers could see me waiting there as my signal light was on , and sure enough, they drove past me to look for other spaces. Lo and behold, a car suddenly pulled up right in front of me, seemingly to take the parking space I had so patiently waited for. I honked at the guy ( I could see two of them in the car), in case they had not seen me there waiting, but he didn't budge. I honked again, just to make sure and at the this point, I was getting pretty cheesed off. I knew this guy was trying to be funny and thought he could bully me seeing that I was all alone. I waited for it, and as the guy moved his car forward to reverse park, I inched my car forward so he couldn't get into the space. As expected, he wound down his window to yell at me. I yelled right back, knowing he probably couldn't hear me, since I didn't lower down my own window. ( I know, some of you would be thinking-what the heck are you doing, just give in and go find another space- there were two of them and I was by myself) but somehow I just didn't feel like giving into this bully and besides, there were plenty of cars behind me ( ergo, witnesses) to back me up in case something nasty should happen. He made as if to open his door, once again gesturing threateningly at me, and so I just kept yelling at him. Seeing he had no choice ( I couldn't and wouldn't move anyway, and the cars were piling up behind me) he slammed back into his car and drove off. Hurray!!!! I quickly reversed park into the slot and then went off into Giant, hoping he wouldn't be crazy enough to seek revenge by slashing my tyres or scratching the car, and thank God, when I came back out, everything was safe and sound.So much for men being the protectors for women- nowadays we have to look out for ourselves!

time to look good..( or try to, at least)

I have decided that it is time to take my beauty regime seriously, since I'm already in my early 30's (shock!horror!). Actually I think that I've passed the recommended age at which we must begin to take such things seriously, but what the heck, better late than never, I guess. I have tried to be religious about it, but inevitably I would falter when other things start taking up my time!! But after having a look in the mirror lately, and noticing some things which I have not noticed before (gulp!!) I resolve to do a better job. Thank God I have been good about going to monthly facials, that's something, at least. I have learnt that if we don't take care of ourselves, no one else will, and that by taking care of myself and thus making me feel better, it will only help in making this life less stressful and thus more pleasant for me and the other people in my life:)

a day at the movies with the kids..

I have just gotten back from the movies with my husband and two kids. The movie of the day was Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs...quite a mouthful, so I will just call it "Cloudy". As with the previous movie, both our two little girls were with us- my eldest Ikhlas,4 and my youngest, Ihsan, 2 and a half years old. I thought I had learnt my lesson with the previous movie ( which by the way was the very cute G-Force) in which Ihsan spent most of the movie running around the aisles with me frantically whispering at her to si down. her elder sister ,Ikhlas was unusually well behaved, which I attribute to the fact that she was sitting on her Auntie Nafis' lap. Otherwise, she would usually be questioning everything that she saw in the movie until at one movie some of the audience members actually shushed her! ( she DOES have a rather clear high-pitched voice!) And so, today, at the Cloudy movie, I was naively wishing that the two sisters would behave better as it was a fully animated movie ( as opposed to partially animated in G-Force). But of course-NOT! Little Ihsan started chucking of her shoes and found the crawling space under our feet and in the gap of the rows of seats in front of us more exciting then the movie.I lived in peril of losing sight of her in the darkened theatre. Thank God she only started acting up about three quarters way through the movie. So, in between catching whatever scenes I could, I was also frantically looking out for her as well as...you guessed it- shushing my other daughter! Sigh....movies with kids are ANYTHING but the relaxing enjoyable thing it ought to be (in my dreams....maybe in another couple of years,huh?) but at least we all made it back home safe and sound and most importantly, with all shoes accounted for!

another tragedy occurs...

Just barely a couple of weeks after the tragic death of little Aaliyah Aiman, another incident involving children occurs due to negligence of the responsible parties. Unbelievably, 22 pupils from various schools in the district of Kinta Selatan fell into the Kampar River while on a camping trip for a 1Malaysia themed activity. The suspension bridge on which they had been using for the duration of the camping to cross back and forth between their camping site and a school for the purpose of meals suddenly collapsed at 10.30pm during suppertime. A student witness at the time had said that some of the children were jumping up and down as well as shaking the bridge. Following this, the bridge shook and then collapsed with the hapless students on it. The students were reported to be hanging on for dear life onto the suspension cables. Most of them were rescued by a security guard and a teacher, but some unfortunately were swept up by the fast current and carried downstream. Search and rescue operations were initiated by police, army and fireman as well as Rela, but none of the missing were found initially. The next morning, about 12 hours after the incident the first survivors were found. At the end of the first day of search and rescue, 19 students were found to be safe, and the body of a 12 year old girl was found. Two other students were still missing at this point. Their bodies were later recovered far downriver- about 15-16km downstream a couple of days later. As with any high - profile tragedy, a committee has purportedly been set up to pin- point and punish the culprits who are responsible for this travesty happening. But the question is..will justice truly prevail?

latest releases

I have been trawling through the entertainment pages looking at the latest releases- seems to be quite a few choices. I was going to see Surrogates ( latest Bruce Willis offering post marriage to Emma Heming) but I think it's out of the cinemas. Next on the list was Jennifer's Body, a wicked looking movie about a man-eating (literally) high school reigning hot chick, played by the seriously foxy Megan Fox. Then it's back to remembering Michael Jackson with the posthumous release of the recordings made of his planned concert - This is It. Afterwards, it's a couple more weeks til the most anticipated movie of the year - Twiligt Saga-New Moon. So many movies, so little time...heheheh.

why why why....aaliyah?

Yet another tragic tale has come to our attention. An innocent three year old girl by the name of Aaliyah Aiman was killed after being horribly abused by her mother's foreign boyfriend. Even more disgusting, the mother tried to cover up the crime by reporting that a maid had caused the death to the police. ( later it was discovered that they never had a maid in the first place) What is happening to this world? That even the young and innocent are victimised in the very presence of the person who should have had her best interest at heart- the woman who brought her into this world- her own mother. Sadly, the statistics have shown that the people children should fear most when it comes to the role of the abuser are their own family members and close acquintances. sad, but true. It is these very individuals in the position of trust that are frequently abusing the privilege and the right given to them to care for and nurture children. In the case of Aaliyah, I can't even begin to imagine what kind of a mother she had - to put her own illicit relationship above and beyond that of her own flesh and blood. Taking care of children is not an easy task, what more of young children, but if that person is not willing or not able, then the child should be given into the care of other people ( eg. grandparents) who would be more than willing to care for them in the way that they deserve. Stop being selfish and start being responsible. May Aaliyah be at peace after her short and tragic life here on earth.Al -Fatihah.

...and now for a bit of patriotism

As I have proclaimed underneath my blog name, I like to think of myself as a patriot. Let me elucidate what exactly i mean by that- I like to ponder about things that can be done to make us a better people and a better nation as a whole. This includes how to improve our lives,live safer and to that end,for now, my one grouch is about.....cars. As a rule, I consider cars to be purely a mode of transportation that takes us from A to B. Nothing more,nothing less. Other people, of course ( including my husband) view them as something else entirely. An obsession doesn't even cover it. More like a lifelong unrequited Great Love Story...why unrequited you ask? Because of what I have seen my husband putting into this obsession , the rewards are few and far in between.Tak berbaloi!!.Anyway, I will continue ranting about that in another blog entry( of which I'm sure many will empathize with me) but for now, back to the topic at hand.

Cars- that thing which most of us take for granted and pay through our noses for the privilege of owning, driving,parading, modifying, etc..is something which most of us will agree is an essential piece of our everyday living. This is even more so for the urban dwellers, as the public transport system is still woefully inadequate for our needs. Which amounts to the ever increasing numbers of vehicles on the roads- this despite the fact that Malaysia rates as a country in which it's citizens have to cough up a lot of dough to own a car...hugely due to it's massive import tax imposed on the cars ( and hence buyers). I feel that it's high time the Government ease up on the import tax, and allow Malaysians to own cars at a much lower price. This not only makes cars more affordable to the general masses, but also allows consumers to be able to buy cars which are safer and more value for money. Think about specific groups where ownership of a car is not only helpful but is a downright necessity- families with small kids and school-going children, families with elderly parents, disabled or even the sick. It is definitely not ideal for these groups of people to go around in motorcycles, for instance. You could argue that public transportation is available, but these can be restrictive and unpredictable ( buses, for example) and if used often too expensive for people to afford. Hence the need for cars which are more affordable and for better cars to be more accessible than to just the high income earners.

Gastronomic delights...

I have just returned home from a dinner/supper with my family. My brother had asked me along to this Middle Eastern restaurant he had been to before. i though, heck, why not? I haven't had that kind of food in ages and hummus sounds really good to me. And so we went off to this place called Restaurant Saba' in Cyberjaya. Boy, was the place packed!! that obviously brooked well for the rest of the evening, and suffice to say, the food definitely did not disappoint. We ordered the lamb hanith, chicken kabash, chicken shawarma, lamb kebab and of course, hummus. All of the dishes which were gobsmacking delish. I especially liked the chicken kabash( i may be misspelling this) The service was a bit slow due to the crowd, but otherwise bearable. The lemon juice I ordered as an accompaniment was also satisfying. I heartily recommend anyone who loves Arabic food to give this place a go. Definitely warrants a return visit ( or two) Added to that the delightful company, and I would say the evening went well indeed. Thanks to my big bro for the belanja :)

my 'hot' little organic surprise

I was doing some washing up today when i noticed something peculiar...it seemed that the little plant I had noticed growing out of the sink hole out in the backyard had actually bore some sort of fruit. Instantly curious, i set out to find out what it was. Lo and behold it was a little cili padi plant! ( aka bird's eye chilli) There was a bunch of 4 little green chillies, looking absolutely gorgeous and ripe to be plucked. I couldn't bear to harvest it though, but took out the camera to record this little unexpected bonus. . As you can see, it really is cute!! I think it's doubly ironic due to the fact I did actually try to plant some chilli plants but they all failed to sprout..and here that little plant made it all the way just by being caught in the sinkhole...with just the right amount of light, water and nutrients form the drain water. After I ( mistakenly) told my husband about it, he went out and took out the whole bunch!!( which upset me a little)and when we ate rice he tried it....boy it was HOT!!! I think the next time it fruits ( if it can recover from the damage inflicted by the hands of my not too gentle husband) I'll give some to my father who absolutely loves hot cili padi.

Life goes on...and on...and on...

And so life goes on..no matter how many big or momentous or stupendous things happen to a person the world still goes on doing it's thing. Kind of makes you feel humble when you think that everyone is expendable. Was watching a tv programme today that dealt with the issue of inheritance and what happens to the family of the bereaved, the formalities involved in dealing with this highly sensitive and delicate topic as well as distribution of the deceased property etc. They even had a well-known actress up there who shared some of her own ,very private, experiences I'm sure.Also, they had an expert there who seemed to know what he was talking about , form this company called the Wasiyyah Shoppe, which specializes in helping people make out their wills and then how to execute it. Being a mother myself, I'm inclined to think about the possible futures of my two daughters and their well being. We none of us know our own fates and it would be really prudent to be prepared in this matter even at a young age in order to ensure that any dependents left behind have the appropriate guardianship and adequate means to continue on their own lives. Morbid as it sounds, as parents we can't afford to be anything but practical.

the season for Family

It is currently the 7th day of Raya, and as I am sure goes for everyone else, it has been a busy week indeed. For me, Hari Raya is mainly meant for family to gather round, catch up and in some cases patch up. We have been to both of our parents' homes of course this year supposedly my hubby's turn first, but due to his family's visiting plans, we opted to go to my parents' house first. The usual eating session followed and then the annual picture taking. Then off to the in-laws place in K.J. This year we were busier than usual as my two sisters-in-law were back from overseas to join in the festivities, as well as my hubby's niece, Iman. Of course , my two younger girls were thrilled to have a 'temporary' elder sister, and they spent a lot of time playing together. It's really great watching children enjoy each others' company. There were other houses which we visited of course, and all of them have contributed to expanding yours truly's girth...(including the famous 'sambal goreng' from Kampung Jawa...yum...yum....every single ingredient in this dish is pre-fried before they are all mixed in together to be mixed into a sublime offering...) My kids being the happy recipients of duit Raya have already anticipated spending some on toys...and today we're probably headed out to the shopping mall for that very purpose..!

get ready for Raya!

Well...after all the hullabaloo surrounding the spring cleaning episode, calm seems to have temporarily descended onto the homestead. (although I wouldn't hold my breath seeing it's two days to Raya!) So far, I have managed to accumulate the needed so-called 'essentials' for such an occasion - baju raya, kuih raya, Raya decorations... but there are some other stuff to be done, namely some last minute alterations to my daughter's baju kurung,. Other than that I need to put up some picture frames and mirror around the living room.Thank God I had the curtains changed while the D.H. (domestic helper) was still around. Seems everything is set, and as per usual I'm not too worried about having to have a large spread of food in the house because we usually do the feasting at our respective parents' houses. This year will be a larger gathering than usual as my sisters-in -law will be back from overseas, so it will definitely be more fun.Hopefully all will turn out to be well and good this Raya! For this , I wish everyone the season's greetings and for all Muslims - Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir dan Batin. Be safe and drive safe y'all!!

part deux of "trying to do a good deed..."

And so the saga continues.After launching a massive counter-attack on the termite colony(henceforth T.C.) , I was feeling justifiably smug..until 2..yes TWO days later my D.H. reported to me that the pesky 'terminators' had come back with their own form of retalitation. And they didn't even bother to hide their tracks. It was as if they were thumbing their noses right at me ( if they had noses, that is) My friendly neighbour Mr. Lee helpfully told me of his own plans to call the Exterminator for a routine maintenance spray session, so I gratefully asked him to call the guy and have him do my house. I was rubbing my hands with glee at the thought of soon getting rid of them. Of course , by now, my D.H. has already bid me and my family adieu for her said sojourn to her motherland. Which meant that I was , for now, the last man standing on the battlefield. As any good soldier would do, I manfully ( keyword: man , because the real 'man' in the house was no where to be found. He had helpfully instructed me over the phone to empty out the whole store after putting as many miles between him and the house ....Gee, thanks, sweetie!!) set about strategizing on how to best rid myself of this menace. I concluded that since I'm tad squeamish when it comes to anything of the creepy crawly kind, it would be a good idea to kill them first. Then I discovered the Ridsect was gone . Of to the nearby Petronas for some more ammo, and I was good to go. I went through two little cans ( that was all they stocked) before covering all of their tracks. Then came the torturous scraping, sweeping and bagging session. Pheuh,! Thank God my little girl decided to help Mommy out by not getting into too much trouble. Afterwards, grimy, dusty, and more than a little intoxicated by the insecticide fumes, I staggered to the car to collect my firstborn from preschool. Then off to my mom's to escape the fumes permeating the house.( and for some delish home - cooked food for buka puasa...yum!!!) Thank you Mak for helping me keep my sanity!

try to do a good deed....( and it bites you in the a**)

As submitted before, I was in the spirit of spring cleaning in welcoming the Raya season.And so I decided to , rightfully, tackle my storeroom. Little did I know of the 'delicious' surprises that awaited within. I had already ventured, tentatively, in the preceding days to stake out the possible condition of the store, which to be honest I haven't truly looked at for close to 2 years. At first glance everything looked pretty okay. The plastic boxes I had bought for the last spring cleaning session seemed to be neatly stacked, the odds and ends around it didn't look too bad. I was already imagining unpacking my 'arts and crafts' box in order to indulge in some seriously overdue glass and mirror painting ( a pet hobby I have not been at for ages) and I was already seeing the lovely ( I'd hoped) mirrors decorating my still-bare walls in the living room. And of course, the parquet tiles replacement I had bought beforehand on one of the numerous window shopping walks I take at my favourite hardware store - Ace...( I LOVE YOU ACE!!) was supposed to be replacing the ones which have mysteriously disappeared from the rooms upstairs. And lo behold! ( but you know by now that things didn't work out that way) my precious and not so precious things had been devoured by ferocious little white monsters. Arghh!!! The moniker 'white ants' just doesn't do these critters justice. I mean , come on!! That's like imaging albino ants innocently meandering along, minding their own business, not the actual reality of these highly efficient 'demolition experts'. Someone should really get into hiring these guys out for taking down structures( wooden of course) and they would do it in a fraction of the time for FREE!!! So, what it boils down to is this....no glass deco, no new parquet laid out , massive amounts of gross earthy clumps( that is virtually impossible to remove unless you take a Brillo to it) and loose sawdust. Oh yeah, I forgot about the gut wrenching and loud screaming guaranteed number of little brown black scattering resident German cockroaches that when stepped upon release a yucky black gooey residue. Do I really need to say more??? THANK GOD I still had my D.H. ( domestic helper) at hand to lend a hand ( ok, do most of the work). Just remembering all this is making me tired.Remember the proverb folks- "No good deed goes unpunished- Oscar Wilde".

Domestic Help!!

In only 4 days time my maid and her daughter will make their annual journey back to their 'kampung' to celebrate Raya. As usual, during this time I get jittery thinking about the time I will have sans maid...how will I possibly survive? You get so used people doing things for you that you've lulled yourself into a sense of inability. But, as happens every year, somehow I get through it, and sometimes find myself wishing I didn't have a maid( on VERY GOOD days, of course) Otherwise I usually find myself counting of the time..Pathetic,isn't it?So this time around I have resolved to make things as easy as possible for myself by making most of the Raya preps now , while the maid is still around ( because of this I'm sure the maid is even more eager to see the green pastures of home!) I take the opportunity to do spring cleaning, which I believe is essential anyway, at least once a year. Advice for the faint-hearted- be utterly ruthless! This will ensure you will not be left with unnecessary junk ( you know they really are) and maybe to give away things that you're not really using to others who might need it more. In aid of this I have been to Giant ( local retailer) to get some brand-spanking new boxes in which to stuff and organize the store. So, with all this clear space and neatly put away stuff, may I have the courage and fortitude to undergo this coming month.Amin!

one little lie..( among thousands of others)

Some people think it's ok to lie occasionally . Particularly in occasions where it would seem to smooth over situations instantly. I have to confess I occasionally indulge in that other form of lie- the omission of truth, but I'm happy to say it's not that often. However, if anyone thinks that it's okay to lie constantly, then think again. Almost certainly there will be consequences to this, not least of which is the erosion of trust of the person that has been lied to. Over time, the damage may even be irreparable and one stands to lose a close one over lying once too often. I myself hate liars. To me, they always have something to hide. And when they may rarely be found to tell the truth, you find yourself doubting them because of being burnt too often by untruths. It's a vicious cycle indeed.Lie once, then you might have to lie again to cover the first lie. Then it just goes on from there until the liar himself might have trouble differentiating which is the lie and which is the truth.As a Malay proverb eloquently illustrates - " Siakap, senohong, gelama ,ikan duri, bercakap bohong lama- lama mencuri " Translates to loosely mean if you make a habit of telling lies, you'll progress to doing other bad things. I find this to be very true for I find that liars in lying to others often lie to themselves about their own actions, hence allowing them to commit wicked deeds while shushing their own conscience with their own twisted perception of reality. I wager it will be very hard to find an 'honest' thief, albeit there being a saying about 'honor among thieves'. In the end, is it even worth it to loose the respect and esteem of those around you. What more of their love, which must thrive upon a bed of sincerity and honesty.