Sing 'em praises

My day was so packed, spending hours and hours assessing and marking, chasing deadlines upon deadlines, whizzing in and out of the room to the main office to fax documents and submit this and that. Whew! The office hour is almost over. So, here I am, hurling out everything I feel like today.

Hmmm... let's talk about expression of approval and commendation, a.k.a praise. Why praise? Bcoz that's one of the things that I received recently. Hahaha (gelak Salleh Kamel).
The usual ones would be on my scarves/shawls (on how I lilit them), my slender figure (despite having a kid) and my ordinary clothes (who never realized they aren't new actually). The unusual ones would be... ermm... I'm not gonna reveal it here, else it wouldn't be unusual anymore :P

Praise makes us on cloud nine. But I always don't know how to take 'em.
At most, I'll blush (a bit) and say "Thanks". Better still, I'd grin and say "Really?" or when I feel naughty, I'd pose excessively sampai orang tak larat tengok!





My hubby (since the dating years) was so lokek at praising. He would never speak up to tell me that my outfit was fabulous (if) or to express that I am gorgeous or such when I put extra effort to look stunning. Worse was when I was positively sure that I deserve a commendation.
So, I once complained to him “U don’t have to spend a single cent and u don’t lose anything if U praise somebody!” and now I am glad he is finally able to tell me that deep inside, he is proud of me.

Dr Wan is another expressive man I know on this earth. I am glad to have such a boss/mentor/friend who is not always concern about my job, but also my appearance. He’ll praise me if I had done a pretty darn good job and would also tell me if I looked so pale (time to touch-up a little bit so I don’t look like a buruh kontrak!). He knew I wanted to be like him and he must have noticed that everything I did, I’ll try to match the precedent he had set.

As for me, words of praise come out easily from my mouth, even to strangers. I even praised a lady’s lovely skirt when I was once traveling in the KTM Commuter, and I can simply tell people that their outfits/make-ups are gorgeous. Well, I have nothing to lose! Why worry?

In contrast, my parents are the last people to talk about me. Malay parents, as I was told, say little about how cool their kids really are. What a waste!
How on earth am I supposed to know that I am doing good enough or not? Lucky me, I have a very high self esteem.

Well, at least I have Mak Ngah who always tells me to become the best in everything. Fashni and Fashah must be very contented having her as a mother.
Apart from her, I have my godmother, Mary the motherly and expressive figure. Jennifer, David and Sally must be blessed to have a mom who lives to appreciate and tell ‘em how great they are.

Nothing validates and intrinsically exalts u to a greater place than a word of praise from the ones u love… and oh, from strangers too! So, move around and make up other people’s day!

Procrastination is my middle name...

There u go!

I have lotsa 'things-to-do' in mind right now. That urges me to be very efficient at work nowadays. Hehehe.
So, fancy entries will have to wait. Hold on. I'll write something when I am world-weary.

What? Unrealistic deadlines? No lah. It's my fault somehow.

Oh... perhaps we can blame it on my parents?! Bcoz they put 'procrastination' as my middle name. Uhuk! Uhuk!

Mind boggling

While having a breakfast with DrWan this morning, we had a long talk. Apparently it has been so long since we last sat together for a meal and chit chat about various topics. And I love talking to this man... bcoz with him, I am free to express my happiness, worries or sadness. I can share guilt and innocence, boredom or excitement, etc.

This time, it's about the past 72 hours (over the weekend). Suffice to say, he gave me a good advice to get rid of the mind-boggling thingey. Yes, struggling emotionally could be more difficult, and would only leave me an emotional wreck. So that's the best solution.



Well, when some big things are taken for granted (seen as small)... some tiny things happened to big actually!

Quoting my beloved Mak Ngah "slowly... slowly... catch the monkey"... I know, it will come to the finishing line, it's just the matter of how long would it take.

Warm session

Alhamdulillah...

After a long wait, I managed to grab the opportunity to polish my tajwid skills. It's sorta rusty already, except when I revised with Abah informally.

There's a tajwid learning session with Ustaz Taha (the son of the renowned Quran guru, Datuk Hassan Azhari). Twas an interesting slot. Halfway, I was in a hurry for a lecture, but I managed to ask for a book on Qiraat Sab'ah, that I have been looking around for so long. Dunno why, I never managed to find it in any Islamic bookshops.

Few days later, we met over lunch to discuss more. There were so many questions and invigorating issues discussed.





To Taha,
Thanks for spending your time entertaining us. U're such a warm person that I never felt the gap between an 'angel' and a so-called-setan-yang direjam. Hehehe :P





Oh yeah...and thanks for the CD too. Hehehe... See, I even have it autographed! Ngeee :P

The passenger that makes a remark...

Ayat-ayat Cinta


Desir pasir di padang tandus
Segersang pemikiran hati
Terkisah ku di antara cinta yang rumit

Bila keyakinanku datang
Kasih bukan sekadar cinta
Pengorbanan cinta yang agung
Ku pertaruhkan

Maafkan bila ku tak sempurna
Cinta ini tak mungkin ku cegah
Ayat-ayat cinta bercerita
Cintaku padamu

Bila bahagia mulai menyentuh
Seakan ku bisa hidup lebih lama
Namun harus ku tinggalkan cinta
Ketika ku bersujud

A gift from Egypt

This would be another precious & memorable gift to be put on my book cabinet in the office.

A beautiful pearl in a clamp of crystal shell. Gorgeous isn't it?

Aku dan Dirimu

Tiba saatnya kita saling bicara
Tentang perasaan yang kian menyiksa
Tentang rindu yang menggebu
Tentang cinta yang tak terungkap

Sudah terlalu lama kita berdiam
Tenggelam dalam gelisah yang tak teredam
Memenuhi mimpi-mimpimu malam kita

Duhai cintaku, sayangku, lepaskanlah
Perasaanmu, rindumu, seluruh cintamu
Dan kini hanya ada aku dan dirimu
Sesaat di keabadian

Jika sang waktu kita hentikan
Dan segala mimpi-mimpi jadi kenyataan

Meleburkan semua batas
Antara kau dan aku, kita...

U don't wanna know...

Talks at the IOS and INTEC yesterday went smoothly. Soon after, I brought 'em to Restoran Tasik Indah (near the Shah Alam Lake Garden) for dinner. Apparently, they said it was a good choice of place- a floating restaurant!

While waiting for the guys, I gave Lesley & Jeanette some gifts- including these scarves that they liked so much.


Lesley was bz taking some photos of the surrounding- the mosque, the tortoises, etc. We were later told that her dad was a photographer. No wonder the camera she's holding is worth thousands of dollars!

I also snapped one, of the view from our table.

One for the camera, before it gets dark. Shortly after this shot, the table was filled with black pepper crabs, butter prawn, ginger onion venison, mutton curry, broccoli and mushroom and kangkong belacan! Voila!


Guri's peek-a-booing at cheeky little Adam who's on Jeanette's lap. Adam really had a good time, unlike during their last visit in February.


Prasad, who's gonna be the Tarzan at Taylor's dinner tonight is adapting to the nature by having all types of juices on the menu board.






We chitchatted about so many things that the restaurant lurched into a madhouse scene of undulating guffaws. We talked about jobs, travelling, research opportunities, me going back to BNE, Don the Nostradamus (yeah, he's Guri's best friend) and the best part was about Melanie (Prasad's boss) who's kinda senile at her 40's.

p/s: It's Melanie, dear... not Milenia! :P

She's weird in her own ways that she (may be purposely) keeps changing schedules set up for her and urging people to do impossible things with unrealistic deadlines. She even once took a fortnight off, leaving her work behind while they have just started up a new programme. Hello! It's a new programme! And u can't leave it simply like that to the wrong person!
Prasad was

At one time, Prasad got the chance to talk with her... and came up the question "Melanie, what's the task of a Programme Director?"

With a serious face, she answered "U don't wanna know..."

Again, we burst into laughter. The hee-haw was so loud and grabbed the attention of the other customers around us. They might wonder what the hell were these multi-racial chums talking about.

Hahaha! I bet if he insisted her to answer, she might have to admit it "Okay... okay... Actually, I don't know."

And Jeanette...
My hubby's name is SAM, not Charlie.
If U call him Charlie, he might strangle me for having an affair with another man! :P

My oh my... I really felt good laughing until the back breaks, until the stomach muscles cramp, and until the belly button pops out!

Tracking back old friends

This morning, on our way to the office, Sham & I reminisced on the primary schooldays. Surprisingly this time, his ability to retain and recall such old stories is not as mediocre as before.

He mentioned a few names... Mukhriz, Zaidi, Afendi, Suria, Afzanizam...yada yada.
Some are successful, some are not-so, one is away in the Middle East, one has died (in an accident), etc.

As for me, recalling teachers' and friends' name is a piece of cake. Even with their Bins and Bintis! I could even remember my Year 1 teacher's name- Faridah binti Ahmad, and my kindy's teacher is Rohani.

Okay... back to the friend who died in an accident. Sham told me about the friend's love story who was rejected by the girl's parents. In the beginning, everything was smooth-sailing. until they managed to tie the engagement knot. However, not long prior to the wedding, the know was untied by the girl's parents, with the excuse that the boy was not as pious as they are. Heartbroken, the boy lived in sorrow for so long before he finally met with an accident.
Poor boy! He has lived a miserable life and finally ended up that way.


How on earth people are so easy distracted from their faith, without a firm ground to stand on? What about u out there? Do u have problems in solving such problems too?

Moi : Ahh... what's so difficult? Just go back to the God, seek for patience and peace of mind. Move on!

Hubby : U see, not everybody is like that... fully holding on to the faith.

To those who know me, they might think love comes and goes like the wind.
No! I took all previous relationships seriously, but they just didn't work. So, why should I cry a river of blood? Things will never change, though. So, life must go on.

So, still dissatisfied...

Moi : It's not difficult. It's basic! Beriman kepada Qada' & Qadar.

Hubby : Bcoz it's basic la, people take it for granted. Otherwise, there'll be nobody who purposely or unintentionally do not perform their prayers.

Moi : (after a while). Oh yeah, that's right.

Hubby : That's why even as simple as saying Astaghfirullah (at least thrice a day) is kinda burden to some people. If people are aware of the rewards that Allah has promised, we'd never forget it.

Moi : Yes...yes (betul jugak ye)

Cameron

Back from Penang, we drove up to Cameron Highlands for a 3d 2n vacation. I thought it is a wise decision to go there during the off peak season (I hate big crowds). Unfortunately, the night markets are not open...and so are some shops around.

With the Bank Islam vouchers, we got good price for staying at Equatorial. This was the view of the foggy Cameron Highlands from my room.

The next morning, I had a long hot bath and we went downstairs for the breakfast buffet. W

The charming red rose in the vase on my table.

After enjoying the spread of breakfast, we started to make a movegoing around to cactus shops,

Adam was so excited riding the Doraemon outside a tea shop.

He gripped even harder when I wanted to get him off the ride!

So, when we found another similar one, we allowed him to go for another ride. It's cheap, though! See, he chuckled every time the Doraemon went boing-boing. Look at his cheeky face!


Cacti of various species. I don't really fancy cacti, as there's plenty back in hometown. Sampai tak terjaga!


Help!!! I'm stuck!
This venus flytrap looks eerie! Do u have the temerity to grow them? Though I know it'll never snap my finger, I didn't dare to put mine in. Hehehe. Sham tried... well, not bad. It closed slowly.



The next day, we packed our things up before checking out for the final shopping. While bz packing, Adam was occupied with the phone and the strawberry balloon.


Hmm... I wonder where did he learn dialing the phone whereas we only have handphones. The last time I brought him to Dr Wan's room, he also said the same.
Nowadays, when we give him our handphones, he'll put it near his ear and start babbling (as if he's on the line).


Sorry, no pix of the veges/teas/flowers/strawberriesetc, as we were so busy picking which one to buy and trying to get the cheapest we could.

We haggled at some selected shops for the best bargain they could offer. As the shopkeeper is an Indon, I tested my skills in Indonesian dialects, arguing over the price. Guess what? She's impressed! Hahaha. Practice makes perfect!
Thanks, mbak Inten & Desi. Without u (and Boboy), I won't be able to practice it on daily basis when I was in BNE!

There I was pleasantly surprised to hear her hailing in a fluent Chinese dialect at two Chinese ladies who popped into the shop. And this coming from the Indon immigrant whom I believe had discovered a surefire way of getting to the purse strings of gullible tourists like me! Whew!

Then, at the market lane while browsing the colourful bouquets I heard again another voice of commerce drooling away, once again, but this time in unmistakable Chinese...
Ahem! Apparently she thought I was a Chinese. Ngeh ngeh ngeh... :P

The coffee aroma

To those coffee addicts out there, u may have had your cuppa dripped, percolated or French pressed. U may have tried all beans, just name it- Arabica? Ethiopian? Jamaican? Or U may prefer the beans roughly ground that one could mistake them for gravel.

Perhaps U have tried everything on a menu board of Coffee Bean, Starbucks, Old Town White Coffee and other local coffee houses.

Delving into the types of coffee, there are espresso, cappucino, frappucino, macchiato (Maya's front-runner), affogato (adri's all-time fav) and other words-that-end-with-o's.

And those who are not coffee lover might drop their jaws upon hearing that U can enjoy ur caffeine with sugar, brown sugar, honey, two-percent milk, non-fat milk, cream, double cream, half and half, and black. My goodness! What a variant! Whereas we might have simply grabbed a cup of our favorite over-caffinated, over-sweetened, and over-priced coffee withour knowing the difference.

Last holiday, before we left BM, Abah brought us to the old coffee factory in Berapit. Actually, I had to buy some for K.Nor, as she likes the coffee I made when she came to my house that day.

From the outside view, I could hardly tell that's a factory- it's just like any other old shop lots by the roadside. But mind u, it has been operating since decades (almost Abah's age!).

So, I got off the car to snap some pix. I was told that the beans were from Indonesia. Hmm.. what happened to the Arabica, Jamaican, etc?



The roasted coffee.


Finely ground into powder.


...before they are packed into plastic bags (or big tins as I purchased).


It was nice to see the friendly Chinese towkay who even jumped in joy and stood next to Abah, when I wanted to take his pix. No discrimination, no racist issues, etc. Unlike some Malays, Chinese and Indians nowadays.

Well, back to coffee, the aroma is the most important attribute to specialty coffee. Even instant coffee has the components responsible for stimulation of our taste buds.

Sipping coffee to send a wake-up call to the brain? Or just smell its rich, warm aroma? A research found that coffee aroma orchestrates the expression of more than a dozen genes and some changes in protein expressions, in ways that help reduce the stress of sleep deprivation. Uh-oh! This is a bit scientific (I don't wanna open my Master's books just to explain on this).

Ahh... I remember my undergrad days, when I had to stay up so late, that I'd go for strong coffee shots. It worked sometimes, but there were times when I just dozed off. Apparently, nothing could cure the exhaustion, but closing the eyes and start dreaming.

And if u ask me... I prefer tea. Coffee smells better than it tastes!

Oh yea..BTW, I managed to capture this pix (thanks to FE320 for the multiple snaps at once).

Everytime we passed by this shop (which is near the coffee factory), we'll laugh bcoz of the long name of Mr Nasry's father. Hj Mahmud Pembekal Dan Pengedar :P


Aiyaa... bisnes dah bagus masa musim raya pun, takkan takde duit nak letak full stop kat signboard tu...

Love your pets

I'm sooo happy! My article in the Mami & Baby magz (Oct issue) came out in the VoxPop column! It's about "My kid shows interest in...."

I wrote about how keen Adam is on animals, particularly cats! Well, maybe what the old folks used to say was right..."Kalau budak-budak ada ekor rambut (mcm ekor kura-kura) kat belakang kepala, tandanya diorang serasi dengan haiwan."

That day, when Abah & us were at Lrg Kulit, we stopped at a stall selling pets. There were cute little fish, hamster, rabbits, etc. I showed Adam the colourful fish and his eyes were also looking at the rabbits.

I remember Along, Acik & I used to have rabbits when were were so small (I was only 4 years old, or maybe younger). Along's rabbit is the white one, Acik's is the patchy (black & white) one while mine is black.

Those days, vege were quite expensive. So, we didn't have the chance to buy food for the pets. I remember, if Mak cut some carrots in the kitchen, we'd patiently wait to get the unused parts, so we could feed our rabbits. (We didn't know that rabbits eat other stuff too). Hehehe...

I asked Abah what happened to the rabbits? I reckon he told us a white lie, bcoz I don't remember crying when losing them.

Abah said that actually he had given them away to a neighbour, bcoz the rabbits ate their youngs right after they were born. What??? How brutal! Lapar sangat agaknya...

Hmm... apparently, haruan is not the only one who eat the youngs! Maybe Malays can vary the proverb with "Arnab makan anak" too!

O-ga-wa !

Acik, Intan & us have developed a crazy interest on massaging machines this time. Whichever shopping complexes we go to, we'd stop by at the health & fitness shops selling various massaging chair like Osim, Gintell, Takasima & Ogawa and try 'em all.




In fact, Adam has tried once too- and he enjoyed it beary much!

However, the one that Sham really fancies is the Ogawa Mobile Seat. It has moveable rollers and vibration motor at the cushion to massage us while sitting on it.


The best part is during this promotion period, they offer a special package together with a foot massager. Hmm... that sounds worthy to pamper yourself huh!

Next time, may be we'd argue to be the one who drives although it's a long distance journey. I think I'd rather drive and being massaged by the miracle-of-modern-science than sleeping on the nothing-special-co-pilot seat.

Bcoz of that, whenever Adam and Iman got ang pau from relatives or friends, the first word we'd utter is O-ga-wa! (in a melodious way like in the ad). Hahaha.

So, dear.. if we happen to buy this indulging luxury, will I still get my daily manual massage? Above all, I prefer that one, coz it's with TLC. Tender, love & care.