Monday, December 22

Meat Loaf

I was sitting in HRC with the usual suspects when the band played the song, "I would do anything for love...but I won't do that"

What exactly wouldn't he do for love?

Kak Idah answered murder (or I will not stay home when others are out having fun :-)). Is there anyone out there who would like to contribute his/her thoughts? Of course we had several other possibilities that were discussed, but can't be brought up in an open forum such as this.

Wednesday, July 16

To Ebi...with love

Not much to say...a picture is worth a thousand words...







Tuesday, May 6

To die for or can die one - Part 2

And this is Mrs SRK....on the cover of Vogue (Indian version)

Monday, May 5

To die for or can die one?

I've got so many possible posts just waiting to be released, but I always seem to be giving the same excuse...no time. Truth is, the last thing that I would like to do when I get home is get in front of the computer and start blogging.

But this picture I just have to share with anyone of you jhoras who love this man. I am currently going through this Shah-maniac phase. Duk sibuk tengok all his movies, when I manage to find the time. So gurls....enjoy this picture (as in the words of Kak Ana...SLURP! SLURP!)

Thursday, April 24

Since then

I texted Kakak when Kak Adek fell. Told her that Kak Adek has to undergo surgery as she fell face down. Kakak's response was, "What's wrong with her?"
And I thought, what a weird response, then I told her she fell....again. Kakak called me soon after and explained what she meant. She wanted to know why Kak Adek fell. Is there something wrong with her?
Now we know that something might have been wrong.

Yuz, please update your blog

Okay, after endless nagging from Ebi, I've decided to put in a few words. As you all know, our family has just gone through a very compelling and traumatic event in the past one month. It has been very difficult for me to get back to some form of normalcy, but I'm better now. The previous post is actually stuff that I had started but not completed because I just didn't feel like it.

Friday, March 21

I love you Kak Adek

Note: This blog was written on the 19th of March but completed and posted today (24th April).

By now most of you would have heard of Kak Adek's freak accident. But here's a summary of what actually happened, from what I've gathered.

It was 6.30 am on Wednesday morning, and Kak Adek had to give training to OCBC. She was wearing a red top and white pants, carrying her Bally handbag. She decided to leave earlier to stop by the kedai rambut that we both frequent near Lebuh Ampang.

She had to step down a step to get to her car. She was looking up at the moon as this was happening. At the same time she was thinking of what was discussed on Oprah the night before about rigorous exercise/movement. Then it happened, it happened so fast before she knew it she was face down on the tar. Nothing broke her fall, not even her hands.

Abang Talib was in the kitchen drinking and he heard sobbing sounds. He wondered, "Budak mana yang menangis ni?". Then he heard someone meraung, and recognized the voice, it was the same sounds that he heard when Kak Adek fell in the toilet. He went down and found her face down, face and baju drenched in blood (okay this blood part could be me overdramatizing it). A neighbour who also heard her (Pakcik Daud, according to Imran, I think), also came to the rescue. Both of them helped pick Kak Adek up, and they went back to their condo. Kak Adek tukar baju (sempat lagi) and Abang Talib took her to Gleneagles.

I don't know what happened in between, until I received a call from Kak Ana. I was just about to start a meeting then. She told me that both Nani and Kak Adek are in hospital. As I was conducting the meeting, Abang Talib called. I excused myself and picked it up, usually I would not have done so, its a good thing that Kak Ana got to me prior to the meeting. Abang Talib told me that 1 gigi tercabut, and 2 lagi patah. He aslo told me that Kak Adek will undergo surgery at 5 pm.

I quickly concluded the meeting, and passed over all the paper work to our Tender Coordinator (who by the way is very efficient and without her we would all be running around like a headless chicken). Called Kak Idah on my way there and she told me that they would all wait for me for lunch (makan still important). I got a message from Kak Idah at the car park..."We are at Dome" (makan is obviously very important). So off to Dome I went. Baby held back her tears when we hugged each other, and Baby is one of the strongest person I have ever known. Sean shared some enlightening stories about Baby's plastic surgery (he spent 12K on Baby, for those yang tak tahu :-)) I ate my salad and went up to meet Kak Adek.

Most of you know that I am a cry baby. I cry very easily. But I learnt from Papa's cancer episode and Kak Adek's ordeal that I have this amazing strength to hold back when I'm faced with the victim. Kak Adek cried when she saw me. I tried my very best not to. I was not prepared for what I saw. I cringed each time I imagine what she went through. It must have been very, very, very painful.

Kak Adek was wheeled into surgery at about 3 pm. Fortunately, Kak Idah was around. We are so blessed to have a sister who made it through Medical school and is a radiologist to boot. I had to go back to the office. Kak Adek was back in her room by 5 pm. I went back to the hospital and was so amazed at the strength that Kak Adek demonstrated. She ate and drank and did everything that Kak Idah asked her to do. It looked very, very painful. The bad news is, the skin between her upper lip and nose was totally scraped off and they couldn't stitch it. They have to do skin grafting, and cut of a piece of skin from behind her ear and stitch it there when the swelling has gone down a bit, probably next week.

Tuesday, March 18

I Miss You Kakak

Kakak,
Although we hardly* met/talked when you were around, it now feels different when you are not. I miss you.

*Not more than one week

This special bunny is for you...

Thursday, March 13

Yesterday....

Yesterday was a historical day for me. Before I share, I have to say my thanks to a few people (macam Oscar pulak).

I'd like to thank Kakak, for being there for me, for cheering me on, and giving me the courage...and the strength to remain focus, although there were many distractions along the way.

Kak Adek and Kak Idah for your show of concern (when I told you that I lost money)....unconditional love (for being more than willing to lend me money..without even asking me what it was for) and support (for being excited and happy when I told you where the money went)

Yana, for your short-term strategy (she will show her distaste to all of us until the situation is rectified). That's what she said.

I think we really should start our new party...Party BAG, along with the agreed manifestos. For there are not many things that can give one this euphoric feeling. Like when one buys her first LV bag. I'm not a virgin anymore.



Monday, March 3

Three Blind Mice




Cheer up Yummy Mummy. Think back of Hindi moments in a train station. Of generously proportioned ladies behind the glass door. I think I'd better stop now.

Happy Birthday Dania



Dania celebrated her 8th birthday yesterday. As Kam is busy with the election watch, we decided to postpone the party, so watch out for the announcement (note to Intan...yes I will call you this time).

Sebab kesian, I told her that she can invite some of her closest friends for a sleep over, so she invited three of them Nayly, Nafisha and Olivia. Dania wanted Japanese food, so I took them to that place in Great Eastern Mall (the one that Cik Mi likes so much). Olivia said, "Aunty, this is the bestest day of my life". Olivia is 9 and won an award last year for being a promising gymnast...I'm sure that should have been the bestest day.

Happy Birthday Dania...you are a star in every way. It doesn't matter if you don't get to be a brain doctor (her Mama aka Madam Curi thinks she can), or a doctor for kids (her own words and what she wants to be) or that you don't know how to find a good husband like Daddy (her words)...but Mummy loves you very,very much, come what may.



From bottom (clockwise) Nafisha, Dina, Nayly, Oliva and Dania the birthday girl.



Her first competition!! She was the first gymnast to compete for that day...and she came in first for that routine.



Poised and determined...that's Dania

Wednesday, February 27

Sail away...never know where you're gonna end



Ebi starts his new job on Friday (update, he starts today with the new CEO) and mentioned to me that he is feeling a bit nervous....or something like that. I told him that I was excited when I started my new job back in 2005. Left my company of 9 years for career advancement ($$$). Advanced I did...in a year the company got bought by the biggest and oldest service company in the Oil & Gas industry. All worries about being in a small company vanished. All the memories about being in a big company reappeared. The past 2 years since the buy out has been so draining, but has paved the way for me to grow in leaps and bounds. But I've lost a part of me amidst the drainage, but that's part of growing up. No regrets, don't look back. The original team's disbanded, all in different parts of the world...quite sad really but that's part of growing up. No regrets, don't look back.



Point is Ebi, you know as well as I do that friends and colleagues come and go, but people like your wife's father's elder brother's youngest daughter and family will always be around. And in the case of your wife's father's elder brother's youngest daughter, being around for more than half your life can be excruciating.

To Ebi, all the best in your new job. Hey, its not the first time that you have to start all over again right? All the best, may the force be with you. Will you impress them? Impress them, will you? Impress them, you will! You will impress them!! The choice is yours...

I am so tired

I am so tired,
The body sighs,
But no! You can't give up,
Not now, not ever,
No! No! No!
The brain screams,

I want to cry,
Wait a second,
I am crying...

Why?
Why is there only one of me,
Why can't there be many?
First, second, or third order derivations?
Who wants a third order derivations of Yuz?
Why stop at three?
Why not have the nth order?
Will you settle for an approximation of Yuz?

Clone her, clone her,

Monday, February 25

Jem and Training

Its been a loooooooooong time since my last post. So first thing's first. I was away at an internal training course that lasted for two weeks. It was really heavy but we enjoyed ourselves, amidst all the course work and homework.



We had hardcore Pak Arabs who talked about blowing oneself up (which was disturbing) and 26 year olds "House" fan...guess which one? We had belly dancing Libyans (very obvious from the photo) and DJ wanna-be (guess which one). All in all, I enjoyed the course, and hope to apply everything effectively..and will miss them terribly.

Going off tangent, I also saw the need to respond to comments in my last posting about Jem. Not Jem my kitten, but "Jem and the Holograms" the cartoon. I loved it too....still sing the song sometimes...Jem is truly outrageous, truly, truly, truly outrageous...ooohhhh Jeeeemm, our music's contagious, outrageous, Jem is my name, no one else is the same, Jem is my name..JEM!! Apparently you can get the DVDs from Amazon...I'll probably do just that.

Tuesday, February 5

My Long Week-end Part 2 - Saturday and Sunday early morning

Ahh....Saturday, the big day, the day of the much awaited concert. I wanted to go do my hair (after procrastinating for almost 2 weeks). Must go! Must go!
So I woke up early konon-kononnya nak gi KLCC early to go to the salon. Then while I was in the toilet, I heard Danial shout, "Mummy, Yara tunggu nak mandi! I take out the towel ya?" Then I remembered that I promised him that we would mandikan Yara and Jem.

So after my shower and breakfast, I mandikan the cats. Yara was asleep, so I decided to work on Jem the kitten instead. Jem turned up at our door a few weeks ago (pretty much the same way Yara turned up). And the poor kitten was meowing away, more like crying away, sampai hilang suara. Sampai sekarang suara dia tak berapa ada. Mula-mula we all tak layan, then we realized that she was not going away, and just stayed either bawah tempat kasut, dalam kasut, or behind the bicycle. Walaupun Yara kept on hissing and pawing at her, she still stayed. Kam wanted to send her to the pasar, but I decided to keep her instead. Anyways, I suspect that the mandi session on Saturday was Jem's first experience. Luckily she is small, she tried to claw her way out of the sink, but between the four of us (Dina, Dania, Danial and I), we managed...Dina to pour water, Dania to put shampoo and scrub her, and Mummy to hold her down. Danial just guarded the door and scolded her for not keeping still.

Next was Yara, who was still asleep. Carried her to the toilet and asked Yani to help me as Ustaz baru sampai and the kids had to mengaji. Anyways they would not have been able to help me with Yara as she's bigger and heavier..need big hands. Yani poured water, and I scrubbed. It amazes me how Yara can keep still waktu mandi and allow us to touch her body (including stomach) but at other times, try stroking her perut, sure kena cakar punya. So Yara's mandi session went okay. After that wrapped her up in the towel and started on towelling her dry. Baru sentuh kaki sikit aje, she hissed at me...Fine, I'll leave you alone. One thing about Yara, she will stay in the house after mandi until she is totally dry, smart cat, so I don't have to worry about her picking up dirt on her wet hair.

By then it was already 11 am. No time to go do hair. Got the girls ready for ballet, and picked up their gym friend, Athiyah at Menara Polo. Athiyah's mum had to go to the US and her dad was busy, so I took her to Lot 10 as we were heading to gymnastics straight after that. Went jalan-jalan at Lot 10, bought the girls a new gym diary. They have to keep a log of what they did in gym, their weight before and after training, and what they've eaten the entire day. And it works, they see the correlation between their weight and what they eat. Dania can predict if she will be heavy or not based on what she eats. Dina who loves to eat is always on denial mode...No I did not put on weight, and always writes things like bread and soup instead of what she really ate. Anyways, I told her to be true to herself and write truthfully. I'll upload a video of what happens when her weight is "abnormally" high (which is about 400 - 500 g).

After buying the diary, I ventured into Aussino...great bargains for members, less 70%. I went there to buy a gift for Ja'far but ended up buying the gift and sheets (DAMN!!) Then it was time to pick the girls up and we headed to Bukit Jalil. On the way, the girls ate a nugget each (Athiyah brought four nuggets) and shared an apple. I went through McD's drive thru but both Dina and Athiyah asked me to buy Prosperity Foldover which they were going to eat AFTER the training not before. Dania asked for one piece of chicken and Danial had nuggets. On the way home I stopped over at Petronas to fill up and also isi angin. Only managed to isi angin in one side (both front and back) as it started to rain. I noticed the back tyre hardly had any air, and suspected that there was a paku or screw or whatever. Seems to be happening a lot to me lately because of the construction sebelah rumah Papa/Mama. Pergi check tyre and the guy did npt even have to dismantle the tyre as we could see the paku.

Straight after paying him, I sent Danial home and went to KLCC to do my hair. Did my hair, nails, threaded my kenings and upper lip. Rushed home, Yana was already there. Quickly changed and showered and went down. Nani dah sampai, but was putting on her fake lashes. Yana and Rahimi were eating. Soon after, we left for KLCC on the elevated highway. We rushed towards the tunnel to KLConvention, and saw Ebi and Kak Ana eating at KFC. Made a pit stop and curi some ayam. Kak Ana told us to wait as she wanted to walk with us but Ebi said, "I want to eat with my wife, never mind you all go first, I'll send her" So okaylah we continued on our way. Met the rest of the jhoras and we went in. Duduk-duduk aje, Kak Idah and Alwi called me over to their place to do the ultimate test, to see if I was Cinderella or the ugly step sisters. I could fit into the Ferragamo shoes that Alwi bought for Kak Idah. This is my birthday present for the next 3 years.

Concert started and I immediately stood up....and started to fart. I farted throughout the night, didn't I mention that I had a perut kembung problem. Nani was worried that the stranger next to her would think that she's the culprit. Yes, a stranger joined us because it was not fun sitting with her husband. She wanted to dance. 45 minutes later, Nani turned to me and asked me if her eyes were still brown or blue/ or grey or whatever colour that she was wearing that night. I could not see, it was quite dark. She used her handphone for some form of illumination...yes, it is still there. A few minutes after that she asked me if her lashes were still intact, "No, dah nak terkeluar", so she pulled them off. She then used her handphone again for some light "Nampak tak glue dia?" "Dak" The concert was really great. Really, really enjoyed it.

The night was made perfect with our stop at KSS and HRC. Alwi got us a table as usual...he even took his shoes off that night and walked a few steps barefooted at the Lobby of the Concorde. Don't ask me why, I have forgotten.

Monday, February 4

My Long Week-end Part 1 - Friday

The week-end started on Friday for the KLites. I woke up early and told Yani not to bother with preparing breakfast, we will have nasi lemak instead. So after saying hello to Yara and Jem (pronounced "jam" and stands for Jemuan) I went to Pasar Muhibbah to buy nasi lemak. I saw a lady dressed in baju kurung (Friday kan...) walking top the main road. Mesti office kat Selangor, I thought. Kesian :-). Then I saw a mother dragging her not so enthusiastic pre-school son. The tadika is on one of the houses at the main road. And I thought, apa lah sekolah ni, hari cuti pun nak buat aktiviti. Or maybe they still provide child care for parents yang kerja kat Selangor kut....And I continued with my drive to Pasar Muhibbah. Then whilst parking, I noticed ramai prnag yang berpakaian kerja having breakfast...that was when it dawned on me.. "Oh no, this is Selangor, and that means that schools are opened, and that Danial has school!!" Called home, Danial dah mandi and was busy playing Power Rangers. Kesian pulak nak suruh dia pergi sekolah when we were all home. So pontenglah Danial hari tu.

Balik dari pasar Mama telephoned, "Dok buat apa?" "Tak buat apa-apa, baru balik pasar, beli nasi lemak" "Huh? Kenapa beli nasi lemak, kan Mama masak nasi halba" "Lah...ya ke? Ingat kan Mama jemput makan lunch". But I did go later for lunch, after Dina was done with her homework.

Afternoon sent the kids to their gymnastics training at Bkt Jalil. Then we went to Shah Alam..ada warehouse sale on printers and such. Almost bought a " wireless refrigerator printer" (u know printer macam fridge kecik)...but didn't because we did not need to spend that much on a printer. Not until we can find space for it.

We then picked the kids up (they finished an hour later). Dania actually did finish earlier but she had to teach two visiting gymnasts from Perlis. The girls are on a one month's training gig with the KL team. Sekolah kat CBN and staying with one of the CBN parents. Kelakar sangat, after Dania was done, one of the Japanese coaches took over and asked me to translate all that she is saying to Perlis language. Not that the girls did not understand English, but it takes a while to understand orang Jepun punya English. Sometimes she was even speaking to them in Bahasa, but they looked confused..."Lahhh, dia cakap apa pulak ni?"

Sampai rumah Dina complained of feeling sick (she gets car sick). She vomitted then told us that she was hungry. So we went to Cozy Corner for dinner. She vomitted again there. But she finished her Cantonese Fried Kuay Teow. That night, she slept with me, Kam on the floor....and she vomitted again in the middle of the night. Don't think that it was just car sick...I too was feeling a bit bloated but will talk about my perut kembung when I update what I did on Saturday.

Wednesday, January 30

Old photos

Last night I decided to actually start putting some of my old photos into an album. There were so many....I started with photos from USM. Reckoned that that would be the easiest. I realized that I have more photos of my performances (menyanyi, berlakon dan menari) and fun time (picnics, Penang bridge escapades etc.) then of me doing activities related to my actual course work. Field trips adalah a few, even then it looked like we were clowning around. No wonder lah my dean then (Prof. Aziz Tajuddin) was so worried about me and my extra-curricular activities.

A few weeks ago I received a USM Alumni magazine and I found out that two of my ex-lecturers have been appointed Deputy VC. I sent them both an email congratulating them of the new appointments. Both responded asking me to keep in touch but one of them even said, "Yes, how can we forget you, with all your singing and dancing, furthermore your sister is in UKM". He even asked if I was involved in any recent Drama Minggu Ini.

When I was in school, I grew up being in the shadow of Kak Idah..."Are you Yang Faridah's sister?" Aiyo, pressure, pressure. Now its "Are you Yang Farina's sister?" Nasib baik zaman dok kat Uni, Kakak tak famous lagi, kalau dak sure lagi pressure. But if I were given a chance t go back in time and relive my Uni days, I wouldn't change a thing.....will share photos when I get a scanner.

Tuesday, January 29

You Angry ah?



Sometimes when you are angry it's good to just sit down and think about the problem. It pays to not react immediately....

Divorce rates would definitely be lower if every married couple practise the above. "You angry ah? Nemain lah, sit on me"

Friday, January 25

Resolution No. 2

I'm doing resolution no. 2 today...work from home. So lega...I get to complete all the little things that have been on my to-do list that seems to have taken forever to cross out.
Amazing how much you can accomplish when you're not physically in the office where people bug you all the time. Amazing how people seem to be able to get things done on thier own when you are not around. Best!!!

Tuesday, January 22

Assalamualaikum

Assalamualaikum all u beautiful people...
Its been a long time since my last post, hence I've chosen a title that's very apt. (Note to Alfy, i also like the other meaning of the word)

It has now been 2 weeks since I started my new job. So far so good. My previous job still hunts me though, can't seem to shake people off. Tapi tak palah, kita mesti tolong people who are in need.

I've also been good at keeping to my resolutions (please see below) apart from number 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 (He!He!)


1. To not stay in the office till very late. 7 pm latest only if necessary.
2. Really work from home on Friday.
3. Exercise regularly, like twice a week.
4. Plan my vacation...there are three types, family break, spouse break and personal break.
5. Cook more, start with twice a week.
6. Lose weight
7. Play golf

I'd like to think that I have lost weight. Almost everyone at Shariman's wedding (those yang dah lama tak jumpa) told me that I've lost weight. Ada yang tanya kalau I dah kahwin, normally yang ask those kind of questions are old makcik-makciks (obviously asking for their anak etc) but sad to say this time it was a pencinta wanita (Aku memang pencinta wanita, dan aku memang buaya).



I also graduated from my Bullet Proof Manager's course today. Although I've missed 2 out of the 12 sessions that I am supposed to attend, I am the first to graduate from Schlumberger, the rest have missed the 10/12 chance. Today's session was held at Carcosa, instead of the usual Renaissance. We covered 2 topics presented by Lisa Ford and Zig Ziglar. Both were great, but the one given by Zig was called Establishing Goals and Priorities. And one of my Personal Action Plan is to come up with a list of Wild Ideas. Will share that assignment with all you beautiful people. Okay, got to go now.

Love y'all.

Tuesday, January 8

Red FM, good start, but you can't have it all

Okay, I just had to share this with all you beautiful people who will appreciate music from....the past two decades..age shall not be mentioned. Anyways, Kam has programmed Red FM on my radio baru-baru ni, and I just love the songs. Don't remember the frequency, but try to find it if you can. Yesterday on our drive home from her school, Dina kept on asking me this question, "Siapa nyanyi lagu ni Mummy?" As I sang the "oldies" that was played...Most of my answers were, "Entah Mummy dah lupa, Kenapa?" and she'd say, "Best lagu ni".

Yesterday was my first day at work for 2008. It also meant that it was my first day with my new role in the company. I also discovered this restaurant in Kampung Baru that serves masakan kampung. Memang best. Went with my new boss and two clients. I think I'm going to enjoy this new job.

Yesterday I also received good news. I received a Letter of Award on behalf of my previous segment. That was the final bid that I worked on last year, the person that succeeds me (still don't know who, the guy from the Houston office not coming after all) is now closer to the target.

Yesterday, Linda (a childhood friend and ex-neighbour) lost her baby boy. She was 8 months pregnant. Still born. This was her third child. Makcik Amah and Uncle Fudzil invited us over for a doa selamat. Linda was supposed to have given birth at 6.30 pm, and had been induced, but as of 10.30 pm when we left, she still hadn't given birth. Sleep well Mohd. Firdaus. Al-Fatihah....

Breaking News

NEWS JUST IN
At the Greater Cincinnati Airport today, an individual, later discovered to be a school teacher, was arrested trying to board a flight while in possession of a compass, a protractor, and a graphical calculator. Authorities believe he is a member of the notorious Al-Gebra movement. He is being charged with carrying weapons of maths instruction.

Friday, January 4

Pandora's Box

Kak Ana spent practically half of her day with me yesterday. One of the things she did was lie down beside me as I sorted out my accesories...we enjoyed ourselves, she laughed till she teared. She laughed so much when she realized that I have a disease...the "menyimpan" disease. She was shocked to see that I still kept ear-rings that I've had since we were in our teens. As I was going through them, she'd say things like "Remember subang yang macam pisau or arrows..." and I could actually show her a sample. Some she forced me to throw away, I would put them aside, and then after contemplating, I'd kutip balik and kept them all in our box. So I have a box of huge bling-blings from the 80s right up to th 90s, sesiapa yang nak pinjam for a theme party you know where to find me :-)

She also looked at old photos, we were trying to figure out if my convo was before or after she got married...she looked at the gold medallion cap tali kapal that she wore and immediately said, "Definitely lepas kahwn sebab aku dapat tali kapai tu just before kahwin!!". She is so funny.

By the way, just had to add that I actually have costume jewellery that once belonged to Kakak, Kak Adek, Kak Idah and Baby. Some of Kakak's beads are now back in fashion, but my daughters dah kebas.

Thursday, January 3

Happy New Year

Hello all you beautiful people...
I've been busy settling into the nirwana house. Taking a break now interspersing mengemas and blogging and "ym"ing with yummy mummy. Amazing what you discover when you spring clean...forgotten handbags, boxes of Tupperwares (the real thing), my stage make-up (complete with fake eye lashes, eye putty and false hair for buns) and old photos that have not been "album"nized. I'll definitely share some of these old photos with all of you (Yana, watch out! Even found our away netball photos, for those yang tak tau, Yana terror main netball and basketball).
Okay now back to storing. Love you lots.