Not easy to keep a lasting close friendship

"Treat your friends as you do your pictures, and place them in their best light."
- Winston Churchill's mom

Sometimes I feel guilty - for not keeping in touch with people I once call 'close friends'. It's true - it's one thing to start a friendship, it's quite another to maintain it and to keep it. I must admit that I haven't been in touch with most of them as often as I would like to.

 With Lina and her lovely daughter Amirah

Take one of my buddies from university days. I've not yet meet up with him and his family since I came back from Japan. Not even a phone call. I suddenly thought of him a few days ago when I was in the vicinity of his workplace, so I called him up. No answer. Texted him to let him know that I was in the neighbourhood and would like to meet up. No answer.

Rudy and the boys - please don't mind the messy background. Ehem, people with young children can't help having messy homes in order to let their children express their creative nature. Alasan!

Called up another old friend. No answer too. But when he called me up later, I explained that I was nearby his office when I called earlier on and thought of meeting up for tea if he was free to do so. Turned out he was away from the office, having to attend a meeting up north.

So, I confessed to him about my feeling of guilt - of not keeping in touch with old friends. We used to move in the same circle - so as I confessed about my 'crime' of not contacting my old friends, he would prod by asking if I have been in touch with this friend or that friend since I came back.

"Juz?"
"In touch - met her for a short while during a gathering and we both have each other's number"
"Ainita?"
"In touch - usually by phone. Nita came to visit after I gave birth to Asim"
"Rahim & Azian?"
"I've called Yan before, and she has my number too. I think"

He knows that I've been in touch with Sue Hani because we almost had lunch together once. But as it happened - he had lunch with Sue and had to make his excuses before I arrived to have lunch with Sue.

Funny how - as an undergraduate I would travel the long distance by bus or train just to visit friends, to be with them. Now that I have a car and have friends who live in places not as far as they used to, I can't find time to visit or meet up. Yes, I guess I am guilty of taking good friends for granted. Like a comfortable pair of gloves, old friends wear well. I know that they will always be there for me, that I can always count on them - but on the other hand, I am also aware that friendships need renewal. They can't remain being neglected for too long.  hence I can't blame anybody but me when an old friend not only did not answer my call, but did not even reply my SMS or call me back

Thus I must admit that I was so happy to have a dear old friend, Lina who came to visit us all the way from Singapore. When I went to Singapore in 2008, I could not contact her earlier to let her know that we would be coming, so we didn't meet up then. And we haven't seen each other since 2005 - making the meeting an even more meaningful because it was the first time we got to see each other's children - her Amirul & Amirah and my three 'ultramen'.

I can't even thank Lina & Rudy enough for bringing nice gifts - Thomas the tank engine t-shirts& pants for both Huzaifah and Humaidi. They both love them so much that during the first week both of them insisted on wearing their respective pair daily. Daily. As in - I had to make sure to wash them as soon as the boys took the outfit off because they would be wanting to wear them again as soon as the shirts and pants dried off. and all I could offer in return was a preloved story book that Amirul seemed to enjoy, plus some mandarin oranges. Lame, I know.

It was a short meeting - but long enough to know that we still click. Enough to know that we both care about each other deeply - even if we seldom get to see each other. We both know that we probably should meet up more often - but that's quite impossible with our busy schedules and distance and all. Yeah, I guess as adults, it all often boil down to our busyness. Busy, busy, busy, bzz bzz bzz... But yeah, it will be really cool if I get to see my friends - the good ones I consider gold - at least more than once in a year or two.

Now, now, when will I get to meet up with you, and you, and you - all silent readers of my blog but really close friends to heart ? you know who you are, right?

Kata kawan saya...

1. Kalau kawan mahu mengadu tentang suaminya yang buat dia pening, bengang, rungsing, marah, sedih dan/atau kecewa, tolonglah jangan mula bercerita tentang suami kita yang hebat, terbaik, paling rajin dan paling mithali di alam semesta.

2. Kalau kawan mahu mengadu apabila merasa kelemahan dan kekurangan sebagai seorang ibu, tolonglah jangan mula bercerita tentang kelebihan sendiri dan tambah membuatkan dia terasa sakit hatirendah diri.

3. Kalau kawan mahu mengadu tentang ibu atau bapanya yang buat dia pening, bengang, rungsing, marah, sedih dan/atau kecewa, tolonglah jangan mula bercerita tentang ibu atau bapa kita yang hebat, terbaik, paling memahami dan penyayang di alam semesta.

Ada ketikanya
apabila seorang kawan mengadu,
sekadar mendengar,
mengangguk,
mencelah sesekali tanda sedang mengikuti ceritanya penuh perhatian, 
lebih berkesan dan membantu
daripada bercerita panjang,
memberi pendapat/nasihat yang tidak diminta
dan/atau menambah 'perisa' dalam perbualan.

Kindergarten

Huzaifah attends the Tabika Perpaduan in Presint 8, which is located just next to the school where hubby is teaching. Hah, I could almost see some frowning at me, "What? You are sending your son to a government kindie?!"

Yes.
Not REAL kids, or Smart Reader, or Q-Dees or Genius Aulad or PASTI or TASKI Abim.
I send my son to a good ol' tadika gomen.

And contrary to the old belief that "budak-budak yang pergi tadika kerajaan ni reti nyanyi-nyanyi, menari-menari saja", the syllabus they use there is similar to the one used in pre-school classes organized in primary schools. Tadika Kemas, Tabika Perpaduan and Pra-sekolah are all using similar syllabus which had been vetted by the Ministry of Education. Of course, the quality of teaching varies from one kindie/pre-school class to another, as the teacher themselves play a great role. Still, Huzaifah gets to learn Bahasa Malaysia, Mathematics, English, Pendidikan Islam, and on top of that, he has Iqra' class from 12.00 to 1.00 p.m. from Monday to Thursday. Alhamdulillah, the teachers are more keen on making sure that the children could recite their do'a and ayat-ayat lazim better than training them to sing and dance.

Both hubby and I both went to good ol' Tadika Kemas too - and we thought, why not try sending our son to one too? Granted, Tabika Perpaduan is not exactly a Tadika Kemas - but it is much or less of the same standard. Nevertheless, we also have to keep Huzaifah's own interest in mind and we think maybe next year, we'll try to enrol him in the Pra-sekolah class in the school where his father is teaching (both secondary and primary schools are on the same compound). Huzaifah himself had already indicated to his Ayah that he would like to go to "sekolah yang besar tu" next year, insya Allah. And we are aware that there are some differences in the quality of teaching, and that is only to be expected what with teachers in pre-school classes in primary schools being graduates with degree in education (DG41) as opposed to grade17/26 'teachers' in other tadika gomen

There have been studies that show that the differences between the facilities, tools, learning environment, teachers' qualification et cetera between those provided in government kindergarten and private kindergarten is not that significant. Try reading this for example - on the differences between private kindergartens and Tadika Kemas.

I'm not saying that there is no point in sending kids to expensive private kindie - a lot of my friends do just that and I have nothing against it. To each their own.

The primary care-givers to the children are us, the parents. The bulk of education responsibility should sit with us - not sub-contracted to the school, the teachers. For some 'reasons' that appear to be myths once I get to know the kindie and teachers better, sending kids to government kindergartens is not a 'cool' or an 'in' thing to do. I don't mind not being seen as cool, but I must insist that government kindergartens are not as bad as many deem them to be. They might not be great - but they are okay. And there's nothing wrong with letting kids play a lot. Kids learn while they play, we just have to observe them closely to realize that.

So, I guess more need to be done to highlight the fact that government kindergartens are not a bad choice either when it comes to sending our children for pre-school education.
Not bad at all.

When he cried at school

I've heard of how sometimes kids have a bout with scholl anxiety after holidays or vacation. Since Huzaifah's first day at kindie was a breeze, I thought it would be another smooth process for him to return to kindie after more than 2 weeks leave due to his chicken pox.

Normally he goes to kindie with Ayah, but yesterday since I was on leave, I sent him instead. There were signs of him not being too keen to go back to school - he dilly-dalied during the shower, dilly-dallied after breakfast and even reluctant to put on his school shoes. But I dismissed the thought of him not being eager to go back to school, in fact was pretty confident that he would be excited to meet Cikgu An and his friends - Aida, Zafran and the triplets - Amin, Iman and Aman(?) I'm sure about Amin and Iman but not too sure about the third triplet, duh!.

 

During the early days of kindie - before he got his uniforms

Huzaifah sounded chirpy enough on the car - made me promised to let him play with his current favorite toy as soon as he come back from school. I said okay. His new 'toy' is actually an educational game - to which he channels a lot of time and energy and from which he derives positive attention as opposed to negative attention when he jumped around and created a big mess in the living room with all the trains and cars and wild animal figures   

I must admit that I was completely taken by surprise when Huzaifah stood still at the entrance of the kindie. Cikgu An came to greet him - class was about to start and I wouldn't be surprised if Huzaifah was the last to arrive.

"Ujai dah ok dah?"

I explained that not only he got a bad case of eczema break-outs, it was followed by chicken pox, hence the long break. But things seem to be fine now, alhamdulillah.

 

Huzaifah in his current uniform. It is almost a ritual for him to watch Little Einstein while waiting for his Ayah to get ready to leave in the morning

Huzaifah kissed the back of Cikgu An's right hand - the normal routine for all the students - when prompted, but still showed no signs of wanting to join his friends. I asked him to take off his shoes and put them on the rack like he usually does, but he remained standing still. I took the shoes off his feet and pushed him inside the classroom. He started to fight me back. 

One of the triplets - was it Iman or Amin - came to the door and took Huzaifah's hand, "Ujai marilah masuk". Another triplet picked up Huzaifah's shoes and put them on the shoe rack.

And then the waterworks started. Just like that. tak ada angin, tak ada ribut Tiba-tiba 'hujan lebat'.

Huzaifah started crying and struggled as I pulled him inside the classroom. Cikgu An reserved a seat for him at a strategic place - right under the fan - so that he would not get so itchy due to being all sweaty. Huzaifah struggled even when his peers tried to console him.  

Huzaifah didn't cry on his first day, and I haven't pick up on any clues that would make him anxious to go back to school. Yes, I was perplexed and confused, but I knew that I must leave him in school.

Cikgu An assured me that this is normal, "biasalah budak dah lama tak datang sekolah, dah seronok main kat rumah..." I told him firmly that he would be fine, that he has his friends and Cikgu An around and that Ayah would pick him up later. He must be a good boy and stay in class until his Ayah come and get him.  

I looked up to Cikgu An and she gave me a nod - a sign to let me know that it was really okay for me to leave. Nothing to worry about. "Nanti dia reda sendiri, jangan risau"

I left.

Huzaifah ran after me to the door, which was quickly locked up by Cikgu An. My son continued wailing, "Ujai tak nak sekolah! Ujai tak nak sekolah!"

I walked back to the car. Took a deep breath once I was seated on the driver's seat.

Despite the closed door, I could still hear Huzaifah's plead "Ibu, Ujai nak balik. Ujai tak nak sekolah!".

Took another deep breath.

Huzaifah needs to learn that he cannot get things done his way all the time.

Huzaifah needs to learn things at kindie that he otherwise doesn't really learn at home.

He needs to socialise with children his age.

I was convinced that I'm only doing this for his own good.

But still - for a second or two - I almost felt like giving in.

Weak moment, I know.

But it was really heartbreaking hearing him cry.

For the first time, I realised how difficult it must be for parents whose children plead with them not to be left at school on their first day.

I left after taking yet another deep breath, telling myself to be firm, that he will be fine. Just wait and see.

And he was fine by the end of the day.
When asked what did he learn in school - he responded cheerfully.
It was almost difficult to believe that the same kid who cried so hard in the morning was the same kid who happily reported what they were up to in class that day.
I felt like simultaneously strangle and hug him geram, ok?
I gave him a tight hug.

Main masak-masak

*I support Earth Day Every Day*

It's not easy to stick to a diet - especially so when my officemates decided to have a pot-luck breakfast/lunch eat all you can, all morning long from breakfast until lunch

Kuah Mee bandung

A bowl of mee bandung

Nasi goreng kampung Emma

Nasi goreng CC

Bihun goreng Nori

Roti Gardenia and 'condiments'

Sambal sardin CC

Sambal bilis Ernie

Baked beans

Chicken pepper sausage and scrambled egg Nabilah

Tuna sandwich Anizz

Karipap sedapp Ridha

Kek Lapis (samudera) Emma

Keropok Hairi

Semua sedappp!

CC: "Bila nak main masak-masak lagi lepas ni?"

  

I'd wanted to wake up extra early this morning to prepare mee bandung - but failed to. No thanks to the fact that I didn't sleep well last night (and haven't slept well for the past few weeks actually) what with having 2 sons still feeling very uncomfortable due to their chicken pox. But I carried out the plan to make mee bandung anyway. Good thing I got an extra helper this morning since Mak's helper Mira stays with us while Mak and Ayah are on a trip to Indonesia.  

Ever since I found out that Humaidi is confirmed to be normal "definitely not ASD", I'd wanted to treat my officemates to some homemade mee bandung, sort of sharing my 'kesyukuran" with others. I first learned making mee bandung back when I was an undergraduate in Leeds, back in those days when recipes either were obtained from buku resipi or seeked from others, not yet readily available on the internet. I must admit that I'd gone through many trials and errors before finally coming up with my own recipe which others have said to be 'sedap' ehcheh. It is my signature dish of sort perasan lagi in the family and something I really enjoy cooking for others.

Because one of my colleague in the office is allergic to black meat, I didn't use beef for this morning's mee bandung - cutting the cooking time by half since I usually boil the beef first and use the broth instead of plain water to make the kuah, giving it an extra 'kick'. Still, it was a labor of love  ehcheh! and even if I said so, the end result was satisfactory, alhamdulillah.   

There's going to be another makan-makan session coming up real soon, insya Allah. This time because 4 of us in the office had just gotten confirmation letters for promotion, including the sector's big boss. So, yet another round of kenduri kesyukuran of sort.

With feasts like this - wonder what will happen in the next weigh-in at our Klinik Citra Sihat (there are four from our sector who are participants in the program). And we are due for a weigh-in next Monday... 

Duh!

Low Energy Office

* I am promoting Earth Day Every Day *

Since today is Earth Day, let me share some stuff I learned a long time ago back when I used to be one of the 'tourist guides' in Low Energy Office (LEO)  so named partly because the former Minister was Leo Moggie building in Parcel E, Putrajaya.

LEO building was built at an extra construction cost of 10% compared to 'traditional' new office buildings in Malaysia with promise of energy savings of more than 50% , giving a payback period of the extra investment in less than 10 years. It was supposed to be the benchmark of energy saving for government office buildings as it demonstrates integration of the best energy efficiency measures, optimised towards achieving the overall best cost/effective solution.

How do they save energy in LEO building?

The west facade - allowing little direct heat from the sun to penetrate into the building in the evening

Longer and more windows on the south facade - to allow more natural light in minus the heat.

Yes - this photo was taken back in the good old days when Parcel E was not yet as congested as it is today

* Building orientation

The north and south parts of the building is longer than parts facing east or west and most of the windows face either north or south to minimise heat gain from direct sunlight. Work areas are designated near the facade to maximise the use of daylighting and less artificial lighting.

The solar chimney - allowing daylight deep into the building 

* Building envelope
Walls are constructed from 200mm autoclaved light concrete blocks, generally with insulation value 2.5 times better than traditional brick walls of 115mm thickness. All exterior surfaces have been painted with light colours to reduce the absorption of heat.
The roof has been insulated with 100 mm of polystyrene foam and the installation of a second roof provides shade to the building.
'Punched hole' windows with 'light shelves' and glazing keep the sun from shining directly on to the windows, allowing 65% of the light and only 51% of the heat through, to save on both lighting and cooling bills.

*Natural ventilation
The Atrium is not air-conditioned, but cooled by natural ventilation, the water wall, assisted by a 'solar chimney' which also provides daylight deep into the building;

The water wall

Then - there are more technical aspects - like using photo-occupancy sensor (light is automatically off when there is nobody in the room), energy efficient lights (instead of traditional bulbs), energy efficient office equipments, light - medium shaded furniture, light colored wall, et cetera.

Oh - and there are plenty of indoor plants to help improving overall aesthetics and environment. Plus the fact that the sound of water dripping on the water wall is a lot more soothing than the normal exhaust fan used for ventilation. 

So there, an entry on Low Energy Office building  which used to be my 'playground' and fond and not-so-fond memories were created in conjunction with the Earth Day yeah Kit, I know you might deem this boring but I still feel like sharing anyway 

Peace!

Daun semambu in Putrajaya

Just in case others like I did before  wonder where to find daun semambu - or neem leaves - in Putrajaya, fret not.
Easy peasy lemon squeezy - there are plenty of them in Taman Warisan Pertanian!

Neem leaves a.k.a. daun semambu

Image taken from here

When I was first advised to find daun semambu as an alternative treatment for chicken pox, I immediately queried - where can I find them? The popular answer seemed to be - "rumah orang India selalu ada."

Turned out semambu is neem and it is common knowledge that neem is a famous ayurvedic medicine, so no wonder it's very popular with Indians. But still - where to find the elusive pokok semambu in Putrajaya, what with Putrajaya being more than 90% filled with Malays?

When CC told me "Puan, pokok semambu banyak kat Taman Warisan (Pertanian)", I immediately asked back "Kat belah mana CC? Pokok dia macam mana?" Yeah, beats me - I am a disgrace for a girl who hails from kampung pokok semambu pun tak kenal. haiihhh

Okay - there are plenty of pokok semambu in the parking lot in front of Taman Warisan Pertanian. If you decided to park at the parking lot behind Taman Warisan, near Penanggah area - there are no semambu there, only bamboo trees.

So, how does this pokok semambu look like?
They are tall, shade-giving, evergreen trees. The leaves are quite small, bright green with 'bergerigi' edges, quite similar in terms of shape and size to daun kari. The whole parking area in front of Taman Warisan are filled with pokok semambu, it's quite a common 'tanaman hiasan'.

Be warned - the trees are very tall and it could be quite difficult to reach for a branch to pluck the leaves. I had to use an umbrella as a makeshift 'kayu pengait'. Upon noticing me with all the leaves and the umbrella, a couple I passed by as I walked to my car commented that they did the same - used an umbrella as 'kayu pengait' to get at the leaves. They too needed the leaves to treat their kids with chicken pox.

So, what should we do with the leaves?
I've been asked to scatter the leaves on the bed (under the bed sheet) and on the pillows (under the pillow case) so that the boys will sleep on those daun semambu.
It was also recommended to me to bath the kids using water boiled with daun semambu.
Others recommended to grind the leaves, turning them into paste and to apply them on the skin areas afflicted with chicken pox sores.
There are various articles on the net on benefits of daun semambu a.k.a. neem leaves, especially on their antiseptic. anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties.

While I don't remember Mak bathing me in air daun semambu (although I still remember being fed young coconut juice) when I was down with chicken pox a long, long time ago, many seemed to testify that it worked for them. So I guess there is no harm in trying them out for my kids, right?

Tigers don't bounce, they crouch

here's an old Malay proverb that goes "harimau mati meninggalkan belang, manusia mati meninggalkan nama", literally translated as "when a tiger dies, it leaves behind its stripes, when a person dies, he leaves behind his name".

On one hand, it's good to keep reminding ourselves that we should do good so that we would be remembered for all the good things after we are gone, you know, being remembered for leaving behind good name, the way tigers will always be remembered for having fiery stripes.

On the other hand, it's also a reminder for us not to appreciate good things only after they are dead and gone. Tigers are one of these good things that we need to preserve for many generations to come, insya Allah. For one, I would like the children and grandchildren of my children to be able to appreciate tigers the way my children do.

"Harimau mati meninggalkan tulang..."

Sumatran tiger skeleton as can be seen in Zoo Negara

How do my kids relate to tigers?
- One of the earliest sound-related stuff Huzaifah and Humaidi said was "roaarrr..." when they were showed the picture of a tiger or a lion, but I digress.
- One of Huzaifah's favorite cartoon character is Tigger from "Winnie the Pooh and Friends". Yes, the one who loves bouncing instead of crouching.
- One of Huzaifah's favorite snack which he brings to kindie  is "Kek Tiger" (Kraft's chocolate layer cake similar to the popular "Kek Apollo")
- Both Huzaifah and Humaidi love the "grrreat" Kellogg's Frosties. If I'm not mistaken, Huzaifah was the one who insisted on me picking up a box of Frosties as he chanted "nak tiger, nak tiger" because he was attracted to Tony the Tiger.
-When Humaidi was younger, he created a term for tigers (and lions), referring to them as 'ballu'. I'm quite jealous of tigers because my son had a word for them even before he started calling me and every other authoritative adults - his father, grandpa, grandma, even bibik, as 'abah'. He still calls me 'ayah', and only ocassionally 'ibu'. But he calls tigers - 'tiger', and ocassionally 'harimau' jadi semestinyalah ibu cemburu dengan harimau, ok?

"Tigers roaarrr"

Humaidi roaring excitedly in the tram at Zoo Negara

A long time ago when I was a young officer, I was sent to a rural kampung in Kuala Lipis as an 'anak angkat' of the Tok Empat of Kampung Lubuk Kulit. There were several other officers sent as 'anak angkat' at other villages in Kuala Lipis. One of our activities was to conduct a motivational camp for students in Sekolah Kebangsaan Lubuk Kulit. I remember prompting the young kids to roar "MAAUUUUU" like a tiger instead of shyly meowing "mawwu" like a kitten in asnwer to "Nak berjaya tak?" (do you want to succeed?) to emphasize that they must have passion in life. That they must be inspired and strong and courageous to move forward, to move ahead.

Ever wonder why so many kids opt to be face-painted as tigers in the zoo?

I want my kids to be able to get to know and appreciate the real tigers. You know, the admired ones for their strength, ferociousness, beauty. The type that crouch not merely the happy, bouncing type they see on Playhouse Disney channel. I want them to be able to appreciate why tigers symbolize all the great traits that they are often recognized for. I want them to be able to understand the significance of featuring tigers as part of our national emblem.

So yes, my kids and I'll roar "MAAUUUUU" to the call to "Save our tiger, Save our heritage".

Message from Planet of the Monyets, :

"The tiger is our national animal. Our heritage. But today only less than 500 of them remain in the wild. As Malaysians, we need to stand up and protect our heritage. Speak to your children. Speak to your leaders. Everyone of us can make a difference.

For further information, please visit
MYCAT (http://www.malayantiger.net/) ,
WWF Malaysia (http://www.wwf.org.my/)
Department of Wildlife & National Parks (http://www.wildlife.gov.my/) "

An evening in Wangsa

Met some ex-schoolmates on Sunday at Bangi Kopitiam next to Wangsa Walk. My first time there - but I did not get lost driving there, alhamdulillah.

Some 'worthy' mentions:

- "Consultant - to con and insult..."

- "Ada maid pening. Tak ada maid pening. Tapi lagi baik pening ada maid daripada pening tak ada maid."

- "CM tu Central Market lah, bukan Chief Minister. Hisy, hang ni betui ka budak SMAP?"

- "XXX tu mestilah tak lawa sangat kan pasal tu aku tak ingat" statement "apakah?!", especially so since XXX used to be one of the prettiest girls in the class

- "Siapa ingat budak lelaki kelas 5M yang main chess,  aaar, yang baik dengan si A, aarrr dan budak A ni minat kat KA..." - after a while we found out that while the girls usually won the matches at the chess tournaments, the guys pretty much sucked, so the school team lost due to point system. 

- "Lain kali nak jumpa, kena bawak ILHAM (our school magazine). Senang sikit nak ingat balik..."
 
- "Siapa ada kawan, kerabat, cousin yang single lagi? Ni kami ni ada lagi yang single ni. Mana tau, kot-kot ada, bolehlah kenal-kenalkan" a statement which immediately reminded me of Wali's song "Cari Jodoh"

-"Anak kau memang aar - semuanya ultraman. Ultraman Cosmos. Ultraman Neo. Yang seorang lagi Ultraman apa pulak? Yelah, kena marah pun, cakap Jepun baru faham" - referring to who else? my kids of course.

- "Ada masa macam menyesal tak cari partner masa sekolah dulu. Paling-paling pun depa semua dah ada basic agama. Bila isteri yang lebih bab agama, suami bukan nak ikut kita lead. Susah!"

- "Aku nak menangis pasal kau juga macamana Y menangis pasal S bertudung balik. Dulu masa kau bukak tudung, L menangis sebab dia sedih sangat kau bukak tudung. Aku nak menangis happy sebab kau pakai tudung balik"

It was an evening filled with light moments, and later, after all three guys left, leaving just us girls, heavier points to ponder upon. Understandable - what with realizing that there are more old friends of ours who are now 'single again' - a term that no longer refer to the state of being boyfriend-less, but referring to those who used to be married but now divorced.

It was nice to catch up with old friends - some of them my best buddies at different periods of my life. These are the people who have seen me in huge plastic frame glasses, with a broken half front tooth and 'tudung tak  kelepet' and when I was in the 'making up stories' period of my life. No, I'm not particularly proud of the 'story making up' part, just admitting my weakness. And pray that my ex-classmates and Allah will forgive me for my weaknesses (Yes Zarin, that's why I had to drag you and Ira in when I shared about the 'incident' involving your ex-classmate - just for verification that it was not a made-up story)

Anyway - I had a kelam kabut moment after the meet ended. Forgot where I placed the parking ticket - maybe because I was so excited to see Ira just before I parked my car. I usually insert parking tickets in the small compartment at the back of my handbag. But that day I simply forgot to do so. It was already dark when we girls finally said good bye to each other, so it was not easy locating the missing parking ticket in the dark.

Groped under the driver's seat. Groped under the passenger's seat. Looked under all the floor mats - at the driver's seat, the front passenger's seat, the rear passengers' seats. Examined the center consoles oh-so-very-closely. Explored both dashboard pockets even though was pretty sure that I did not open them before exiting the car. Checked the drink-holders. Grabbled in the door pockets.

Found nothing. Okay, found other unimportant stuff, but not the parking ticket

Went to the the pondok pak guard, asked the boy in charge if anybody had found a lost ticket since I could not find mine.

"Tak adalah kak."

Oh, if that is the case, how much do I need to pay for a loss ticket?
"Kalau tiket hilang kena bayar RM50 kak. Kalau tak, parking hari ni, sekali masuk RM2 ja. Akak cubalah cari lagi"

Asked for permission to search for the ticket in the pondok pak guard because it was well-lit, definitely brighter than in the car. Emptied the whole handbag  quickly put all the spare 'woman items' back into the handbag and examined all the content oh-so-thoroughly, but to no avail.

Went back to the car. Repeated the whole process of looking for the parking ticket in the dark. Found more rubbish in addition to those already found earlier on - leaflets for "pinjaman mudah!" usually left on the windscreen at parking lots, postcard-sized colored pamphlets, even a plastic "Committee Member" tag usually worn during expos - but no parking tickets. Groped, grabbled and fumbled about in the dark even more - and finally my fingers came into contact with a piece of paper the size of a name card under the front passenger's seat after I rubbed the center console from the back of the seat.

Found it! Alhamdulillah!

Phew, at least I didn't have to spend RM50 on a loss ticket after spending nothing at Bangi Kopitiam and Secret Recipe since the tab was picked up by others, thank you Zarin, Topex and Ira *winks*

Note to self - always, always put the parking ticket in the compartment at the back of the handbag right away! No more spending one hour berpeluh-peluh groping for a parking ticket in the dark car!

Ada gambar satu keluarga tak?

Very unlike when it was just the three or four of us - it was a lot easier to take a photo of the whole family.
Now that I have two always-on-the-go pre-schoolers and a demanding toddler - it is very, very difficult to get them all to stay in one place at the same time to pose for a family photo.

Hmm, anybody knows how long does this kids-can't-sit-or-stand-still-for-a-family-photo period last?

*This photo was taken in Zoo Negara last February, just before Asim turned 1 year old.

Imad and Atie - 110410

* Yet another entry especially for our 'jauh di mata dekat di hati' cousins Hafiz in Australia as well as Syifa' and Farid in Egypt, dengan ucapan - "best ooo cookies dalam goodie bag tu - kalah Famous Amos!" *

When Mak Tam asked me to be the 'back up photographer' for Imad's wedding, I absent-mindedly thought "okay, Pak Ostad can do it. He loves taking photos anyway..." quickly followed by "OMG, he won't be there because he has commitments in Seremban. I'll have to do this!".

"Mak Tam takdak ambik professional photographer ke?"
"Tak dak. Adik Ijan (another cousin, Nyah's youngest son) ja. Ni nak minta tolong Kak back up sama..."

When I showed up earlier than Mak Tam did at the Dewan Serbaguna Presint 9 in a pair of pink pant suits last Sunday morning, Mak Tam commented, "Laa... awat Kak tak pakai baju lawa-lawa sikit? Nanti orang tak tau Kak tu family pengantin"

"Takpala Mak Tam, senang sikit pakai seluar bila jadi photographer."
"Hisy, pakai baju kurung pun senang apa..."

I grinned. Of course at that point of time Mak Tam was not aware that being a photographer means I sometimes would resort to standing on a chair to get a good shot. And no, I wouldn't dream of doing that in a kenduri while wearing baju kurung. No. No.

Anyway, just want to share some photos taken on Imad-Atie wedding last Sunday.

And here's making do'a for my cousin Imad and Atie to have a blissfully blessed, warm, loving and strong marriage, filled with rahmah, mawaddah and sakinah, all the way to the hereafter, insya Allah.