Children Learn What They Live

If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive

If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence

If children live with tolerance, they learn patience

It was with these words repeated in my mind that I spoke to my youngest brother earlier this morning before he left for his two months National Service training.

I just told him that two months - not a long time! Before you know it, you are gonna be back home. But this is going to be something new, so while you are there, savour and enjoy the moment. Learn as much as possible, because you will never know when you are going to need the knowledge and expertise. There is no telling.

Yes, this is the first time he will be away from home for a long time. But by nature, he is cool and independent for a youngest sibling. And he is the first from our family to go to the training. Nobody from our family, no cousins from both sides have ever been called up. And I told him he was lucky, although he didn't really agree with me.

A few days ago, I gave him some tips to polish his military boots. Wonder where I got that from? Yeah, well from my university days. I was kinda pushed to take the extra curricular subject. Entah macam mana, our names were registered by the seniors to join it. Kejam betul. We, being the freshies had no choice but to join it. But yes, there's a blessing in disguise. Though we were (cruelly) labelled as "Bintang Tiga" every Monday as we were marching along the campus, the skills that we've obtained were too many.

Back to my story, so I shared with him a few more tips, like how to straighten the bedsheet so that when the person-in-charge yang periksa your bed, in case dia baling duit syiling 5 sen, the coin will bounce back. (just in case they use such method). Lucky him, because almost all my siblings have such training in university, so he would get the tips and know what to expect.

Yeah, I reminded him to remember Allah all the time, and berdoa. This is very important because praying must be wholehearted and not just a routine. I told him stay close to people.. kalau ada anything important don't wait for too long. Cepat-cepat alert instructors. Or, call the many 'talian hayat' kat rumah ni, if they let you use the phone. Nanti mana-mana "commando" kat rumah ni akan buat follow-up and rescue mission hehehehe. Just kidding.


But I have read about the modules of the National Service and I found them very good and useful.. So, Best Wishes, bro, we are going to miss you. Be safe. And hope you will have your CNY break.

Cookies, Gingerbread Man

Oh, I just love cookies. And I love these, too. They're cute and simply yummy.

Merry Xmas

To my friends and readers who celebrate Christmas, I wish you a Merry Christmas. And Happy New Year. Love from me.

My Brother's Birthday

this was the scene from my youngest brother's birthday last month. as usual, it was just all of us.. with some food and the birthday cake. this time, my mother ordered food from the catering service, the menu - briyani ayam and the accompanying lauk-pauk. the reason for the simplicity was because at that time my brother was still sitting for his SPM, jadi tak naklah too time consuming kan.

for a full story, you could get it from my niece's blog. Oh, but I do want you to look at the slideshow, at the end of this particular entry. tengok betul-betul... hehehehehe....

Thomas and Kampung Boy

You guys say what you like, but none of it will stop me from declaring that I am now a die-hard fan of Thomas The Tank Engine (Channel 613) and Kampung Boy Cartoon (Channel 611) in ASTRO. Oh, and Thomas in Kids Central in MediaCorp, too. (MediaCorp = Singapore Broadcasting Corporation).

At first, I cuma temankan my niece watch the cartoon and all. Tapi nampaknya sekarang I dah melampaui batas. Mengalahkan my niece la pulak.. I sampai hafal the schedules for Barney and Noddy, okay ('tak sengaja'ly).

Well, Kampung Boy tu memang tak payah katalah.. I've been reading LAT's since the age of three. By read, I mean READ. I could read since I was three, no joke.

Tak kisahlah, nak kutuk, kutuklah. Tapi sebelum mengutuk, cuba tengok dulu Kampung Boy, Thomas or even Noddy. Lepas tu, jangan addicted sudahlah. (But I especially like the singing part in Thomas, since I have great singing voice, ahem!)

Here's the link for anyone interested to see : http://www.thomasandfriends.com/uk/thomas_the_tank_engine_uk_website_homepage.html

They're two they're four they're six they're eight

Shunting trucks and hauling freight

Red and green and brown and blue

They're the really useful crew

All with different roles to play

Round Tidmouth sheds or far away,

Down the hills and round the bends

Thomas and his friends

Thomas he's the cheeky one

James is vain but lots of fun

Percy pulls the mail on time

Gordon thunders down the line

Emily really knows her stuff

Henry toots and huffs and puffs

Edward wants to help and share

Toby, well let's say, he's square

They're two they're four they're six they're eight

Shunting trucks and hauling freight

Red and green and brown and blue

They're the really useful crew

All with different roles to play

Round Tidmouths or far away

Down the hills and round the bends

Thomas and his friends

What A Sad Story..

"Any vomitting?"

"Yes, once. At around 3 pm."

"Then I'm gonna have to give you an injection for that. You okay with that?"

"Oh, no, no no. Not injection, NO."

"Alright, then you take a tablet now and do not eat for an hour."

So that's what happened to me on Aidiladha. I was really, really sick. Flat. (But still cool, alright). What happened was, I was suffering from Food Poisoning, NOT because of something I ate, but because of something my Mom ate during her last visit to KL. Oh, by the way, it can be contagious, and.. I just knew it! One by one, my family members got infected by it, until there were three people left. And.. I HAD to be the second runner up!! on Aidiladha!

And yes, people. I missed everything. I mean, EVERYTHING. Including my sister-in-law's yummy Lemongrass Rice and Blackpepper Chicken (my personal favourite). All my aunts from KL brought lots of delicious cuisines, and I missed those too. Huwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

The problem with me was, I was hungry but I am forbidden to eat all those spicy food, or anything with milk in it. Unlike my family members who couldn't eat anything because they will vomit everytime. And I had to eat all 6 types of medications that the doc prescribed!

So for the rest of that night, I cuma makan bubur nasi dengan kicap kemudian minum air sirap and Ribena alternately. No Nescafe whatsoever. (by the way Ribena is my all-time favourite daripada kecik lagi pun, so no problem!)


Alhamdulillah, earlier this morning I felt a lot better and stronger.

Job Interview

I went for a job interview on Monday. At a QS firm. It went quite well. Tapi interviewer taklah buat forensic analysis on my accounting skills. I did make some preparations - from accounting entries, adjusting entries and to the preparation of financial statements. Thank God banyak yang masih ingat walaupun dah lama tak practise (since 2002).

About the interviewer - yeah he looked like a younger version of Jackie Chan. Boleh plak time tu teringat citer Shanghai Noon (recently ada tengok lagi kat HBO), and it was really hard to keep a straight face during the interview. Asyik terbayang, cemanalah kalau aku kata "Howdy, partner?" stail koboi macam dalam citer tu hehehehe..

In the beginning, facial expression dia memang serious. Kira kecut gak la aku tengok muka interviewer tu. Sentap! Dah boleh agak, dia ni jenis professional and direct to the point. "Please sit down" dia cakap. Takde senyum-senyum bagai (jahanam betul.)

Lepas tu, I buat seperti biasalah - tidaklah I nampak takut atau cuak tapi taklah macam over-confident. As the interview progressed, dia makin lama makin friendly. At one point, dia tanya " Are you single or married?" Dengan muka innocent kancil aku jawab "Not married, single" Then he said "Boyfriend?" Laju je aku jawab "Not here, overseas". "Any plan to get married soon?" Aku kata "I really don't know, Sir". Mungkin selalu kena kerja long hours agaknya, sebab itu dia tanya.

I really like that firm punya style. It's totally professional and nampak sangat diaorang semua serious and job-oriented. I mean, dead serious. Interviewer siap kata, in the event of our QSs needing help in technical work, are you willing to learn and assist? I kata la, yes I am, no problem at all. I like to learn new things. Hahahahaha.. yang sebenarnya I memang suka buat benda yang tak ada bersangkut-paut dengan diri I ni i.e. not in my field of training. Kata orang tua-tua sepatah, kalau yang bukan-bukan tu cepat aje dapat.

Kemudian interviewer explain lah tentang firm dia tu.. and after he was finished dia tanya if I have questions about the firm. Lastly dia kata perlu notice ke sebelum mula kerja.. I said I don't need to serve notice but I hope to be given one week before starting my job. Dia kata no problem, sebab mula pun January 2nd. (Masalahnya tuan-tuan sebelum tu dia kata by next week baru tau results dapat ke tak, so I taklah consider yang I dapat).

Sebelum keluar tu, sempat la dia cerita, yang paling penting sekali is not qualification in hiring a candidate. But ATTITUDE. Which is exactly like what Jedi Knight told me. "Attitude comes first. If the attitude sucks, then it will be a big time loss". And I am in complete agreement with that. 100%.

Note : On the way back, seperti biasa hujan mencurah-curah turun. Sempat lagi singgah Bumbu nak beli Laksam sebab tengok Yati makan sangat sedap, dan dah cukai sikit pun. Tapi petang tu Laksam dah habis, hanya tinggal Laksa Johor. Tapi beli je, sebab dah terlalu lapar. Hujan katakan! Apa Bumbu? Nantilah kita citer kemudian... err tapi esok pagi rasanya nak beli Meehoon Goreng kat Bumbu. Nampak macam sedap...

Missing England....

Wave @ Riverside

Wave @ Hampshire

City Centre

Winchester

Stubborn

Sometimes being stubborn can generate positive results. But sometimes it could be a major annoyance.

People have described me as being stubborn (which i am not proud of, by the way). Kalaupun I ni dikatakan stubborn, it is due to a very good reason, or because i am defending my rights, NOT because I want to show people that I am stubborn.

My Mom used to tell me many, many years ago " Jangan degil-degil sangat, nanti berpadah". An advice which I appeared to take lightly but in actual fact, I did consider in depth when alone. But, what she said has some truth in it, yes. Memang berpadah kalau terlalu degil tak tentu hala.

So, kalau hidup sentiasa dilanda padah bertimpa-timpa, then perhaps we should review our own life. Chances are, we will find that apa yang berlaku adalah berpunca daripada diri sendiri. So sebelum menyalahkan sesiapa lebih baiklah 'audit' diri sendiri dahulu, without bias.

So, atas alasan ini juga kalau I nak take risk for anything, apa-apa akibat yang terjadi I akan tanggung sendiri, tak ada bising-bising punya.

Annoyed

I am extremely annoyed with someone.

I hope that person will change in time. For own sake. Kalau tidak, God bless. Tanggunglah sendiri.

I know that person try to make me look bad behind my back. But I am not worried. Allah knows. What goes around comes around.

Another trip to Festive...

Said I will be back last night. But I didn't. Cannot open my eyes.

Wednesday evening, Anis, Yati and myself went out to Festive. I konon nak beli something for my dinner. It's not that we don't have home-cooked meals, we do have that everyday. Tapi biasalah, mengada hehehehe. But Yati did not buy anything as she has some dinner plans that night..

We ended up buying something else too. While waiting for my Nasi Goreng Kampung, kita jalan-jalan from one shop to another. Kemudiannya beli blouse at one of the boutiques. Mine was a simple black one, memang nak cari yang macam tu. Hers was beautiful, ala-ala Laura Ashley gitu.

At that time, our parents and my two siblings were on their way back from KL.

Hai si Anis dia dah ingat sangat selok-belok Festive tu. On our last visit I took her to one of the crafts sho while waiting for her Ma, kemudian kali ini dia pula ajak Mama dia pergi kedai tu nak tengok pang pang pang (kompang). And she's only 1 year plus..... semua benda dia ingat.

Seronok bila keluar macam ni.. relax aje...

He Wasn't Man Enough For Me

He Wasn't Man Enough For Me
Toni Braxton

Who do you think I am?
Don't you know that he was my man?
But I chose to let him go
So why do you act like I still care about him?

Looking at me like I'm hurt
When I'm the one who said I didn't want it to work
Don't you forget I had him first?

Whatcha' thinking
Stop blaming me
He wasn't man enough for me
If you don't know now is your chance
I already had your man
Do you wonder just where he's been
And I'd be worried about him
Now it's time you know the truth
I think he's just the man for you

(chorus)What are you thinking
Do you know about us back then
Do you know I dumped your husband
Girlfriend
I'm not thinking 'bout him
But you married him :)
Do you know I made him leave
Do you know he begged to stay, with me (with me)
He wasn't man enough for me

Didn't he tell you the truth
If not, then why don't you ask him
And maybe you could be more into him
Instead of worrying 'bout me
And hopefully, you won't find :)
All of the reasons why his love didn't count
And why we couldn't work it out

Whatcha' thinking
Stop blaming me
He wasn't man enough for me
If you don't know now, now is your chance
See, I already had your man
Do you wonder just where he's been
And I'd be worried about him
Now it's time you know the truth
I think he's just the man for you

What are you thinking
Do you know about us back then
Do you know I dumped your husband
Girlfriend
I'm not thinking 'bout him
But you married him
Do you know I made him leave
Do you know he begged to stay, with me
He wasn't man enough for me

So many reasons why our love is through (yeah)
What makes you think he'll be good to you (no)
It makes no sense'
Cause he will never change
Girl you better recognize the game oooohhhh- yeah

What are you thinking (why did he ask me to come back oh)
Do you know about us back then (beggin' me to stay)
Do you know I dumped your husband
Girlfriend
I'm not thinking 'bout him
But you married him
Do you know I made him leave
Do you know he begged to stay, with me
He wasn't man enough for me

Note : Hehe, still here. As I was driving home this morning, I heard this song at Mix FM. It brought back the memories of TWO separate things.

1. This song has hurt the Mighty Jedi Knight of mine. While talking to him, entah macam mana I boleh terlepas kata "because you are not man enough for me". I was joking, as always.. biasalah mulut I mana ada filter. I cakap sebab I teringat this song. And he was sulking for days... Pujuk? Takde mananya.. Bila dia dah macam tu, I biarkan aje. Nanti dia pandailah dia okay sendiri. Nasiblah, orang main-main aje. Sapa suruh terpeleot.

2. This song reminds me of someone yang ingat I still have feelings for her hubby. Heheheheh. I think not many know about this, except maybe my siblings. Memang TEPAT SEKALI, especially those highlighted words. Memang he wasn't enough for me, and memangnya he's just the man for her. Hehehehehehehe.

3. (a) To his Mom ~ Hello Auntie, ATTENTION PLEASE. I am not interested, your son is pure crap.

(b)To his Wifey ~ Girl, he's just the man for you. [to be read with (a) above]

Kan BETUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Somehow Red Devil is right. Semalam I wrote the entry in the morning, late evening he called me (dah menjelma balik dah). Orang tak angkat, siap sms tu... SIBUK NAK SURUH TENGOK MUKA DIA KAT PAPER SEMALAM. What, you think if you wanna be like him, then I boleh jatuh suka kat you, ya? Please la.. just be your self, tak payah nak tiru-tiru. Even kalau you undergo cosmetic surgery tiru muka dia sekalipun, I takkan pandang pun. OKAY?

Because, it's totally different in every sense. And HE is not a cheapo like you. People HUNT him, to get his news, while he tried his best to avoid it. Kalau dapat tu memang dah nasib baik sangatlah. Itulah baru truly exclusive. You pulak, you siap bayar orang lagi to appear in news. Lepas tu paksa orang tengok pula. Please... don't annoy me more. Please.

I do not care how many takeovers and mergers you are doing. Because I simply don't care. PEDULI APA.

Alright then, I will be back tonight.. going shopping today... YAY !!!

Gone.. I hope

Looks like he's stopped now. Gone - at least I hope so. Janganlah hendaknya dia deliberately be silent for a moment and then ada balik in full force (making up for the time of his absence). Mintak ampun, mintak maap.. janganlah macam tu pulak. TOLONGGGlah... menyampah!

You know, there are people yang deliberately be silent for a while - either wanna make their absence noticed or simply tunjuk perasaan. Believe me when I say apa pun you buat, tak berguna. Because I pray wholeheartedly that you will be gone from my life for good, so why on earth would I miss your presence? Tak perlu nak pull a 'so-called merajuk' act or anything, sebab I PEDULI APA PUN. Lagi lama you tak ada, lagi bagus. And kalau tak ada call/sms terus pun berlebihlah membahagiakan. Aman damai dan sentosa.

Whatever it is I really hope dia memang dah faham 100% yang his presence is not wanted.

Oh, nasib baik my friend Red Devil is away on a training session. Kalau tidak mesti I dah kena marah dengan Red. Red selalu kata "Kalau dia dah diam tu, jangan sebut-sebut, esok MENJELMA balik, suwey tau". Tehahhahahhahahaha! Hmm, Red cepatlah balik JB. I hope you will get a much better offer.

Orang Dah Besar....

tengoklah orang yang dah semakin besar ni... semakin besar semakin bijak, semakin aktif dan semakin petah...dan ahem, semakin nakal! positive signs, though. Jedi lah katakan.. vocab dia pun dah bertambah, every day there's always a new word... and she uses it appropriately, pandai aje gunakan the new words yang dia baru dapat. Favourite cartoon list pun dah bertambah, the new addition being The Kampung Boy by Lat and Thomas The Tank Engine.

Danga Bay & Bay Leaf Food Park

The Beach Club - our place to lepak...

The Bay Leaf Food Park

Danga Bay

Outside the Bay Leaf complex... lotsa Koi Fish in the pond...

I always find water to have a calming effect..
probably it's something to do with my star sign.. Water Element.

Jom Pi Cameron!

She says : You, jom kita pi Cameron... jom la..
He says : Can... that's a good idea.. when?

She says : End of year? (and she goes on and on...)

"We could stay here...."

".. or here...."

"or even here...."

"...enjoy the cold climate, how refreshing...and peaceful"

"you could, you know.. buy me lots and lots of flowers..."

"and more flowers..."

"eat lots of strawberries (or go strawberry-picking).."

"buy some oranges (or tangerines or whatever...)"

"get some cacti for our place..."

"get one of these butterflies thingie"

".... and.. eat lots of these....err.. curry-puffs"

He says : Everything sounds great, Honey except the last one. Err.. What's with curry-puffs? They are available everywhere.

She says : I dunno, I just say it coz I see the photos in this brochure.. (and selambaly walking to the kitchen, totally non-caring).

He says : Hai... dia ni kan... (sighs)

The Istana Bukit Serene

Remember I told you, not to confuse the Istana Besar Johor Bahru with Istana Bukit Serene? Now this, is Istana Bukit Serene, the residential palace of the Johor Royal Family. Of course, the actual palace is way, way bigger than shown in this photo. It's MASSIVE. Not to mention the surrounding area. Believe me, it's endless. Very majestic, isn't it?

Alahai....

My longtime best friend called me tonight, and we had a lengthy chat. One of her latest updates being that she just went to a job interview with some "state-owned corporation". On the application form, when required to write down father's name, she simply wrote her father's name without any accompanying title. But unfortunately for her, apparently one of the interviewers did know her father well.

If you were to be in her place, what would you say when asked "Kenapa you tak letak Dato' dekat nama father you?"

A. Saja aje.

B. Lupa.

C. Tak apelah (while giggling like an idiot)

D. Rasanya tak perlulah.

Well, if I were to be in that situation, I guess my answer would be :

E. Itu bukannya nama dia.

Betul, kan? Dah kalau dia kata father's name, then it is presumably father's name as in NRIC lah kan? Or birth cert for that matter. Itulah dia kalau state-owned corporation, always care about these petty-petty irrelevant things... Alaaaahaiii.. ...

Winter Story : A Continuation

Hubs says : Let's go to our winter home for a few days....
She says : Sounds great... we do need a break from this city..

So off they go to a certain winter home somewhere..
That night, they dine out at a certain exquisite place.

Back home they sit by the fire while chatting over a mug of hot cocoa...

While the temperature outside dropped steadily...

and the winter night views are undescribably lovely...

The next morning the two of them go wandering to the wilderness hut.

and exploring the secret paths.. how lovely...

Allergic?

As of tonight, my eyes are currently red, itchy and watery. MAJOR IRRITATION, people! Dunno if this is an allergic reaction to the Kerang Rebus Serai that I ate at dinner. Selama ni okay je.. tak pernah pula macam ni... eeeeeee rimasnya! Tak taulah because of that or the weather. As it is, sekejap panas terik and the next moment hujan lebat, sudden drop of temperature... and really low. Sejuk tau..