Sweet Dreams of Isya

Isya woke up from her sleep, screaming and crying. She screamed for help..and she didn’t ask for Emi but she asked for me.

“Tolong Isya…mummy….tolong Isya….” She sobbed in a state of half asleep.

Quickly but very gently, I woke her up.

(Has to be very gently because Mak always said that if you wake a person up suddenly, then the spirit my not return to its body properly. But that’s another story…)

Isya sat up..still clutching her dear teddy bear and bantal busuk. She looked at me in her most tearful face and asked “Why didn’t you come earlier? I needed you in my sleep…”

“What happened? Come and share with Mummy, meh?”
“Isya jumpa ular…besar sangat”

Oh my God…is this one of those ‘benda-benda’ that follows her home…oooooo….I was getting the creeps.

“Apa ular tu buat?” I asked cautiously.
“Ular tu ular tua...”
“Ok......then apa ular tu buat?”
Isya started sobbing again...Emi was already trembling......
“Ular tua tu takde gigi…dia tanye Isya nak belon tak….tapi Isya tengok-tengok…Isya takde duit…Isya cari Mummy….tapi Mummy takde…apasal Mummy takde….penat ular tu tunggu tau……”

Emi rolled on the floor, laughing.

Ciss...no wonder she asked for me...I'm her walking ATM counter...........

Time flies when you're...

I foresee that this coming week will be very hectic. Subconsciously I'm running a virtual planner in my brains - what to do, when to do and how to do. Not just that, I'm trying my best to juggle the children's times as well.

Let me give a run-down of the things-to-do / events for the week.

1. Monthly grocery shopping is due. Monday - have my Fear Factor, Tuesday - my pasar malam night, Wednesday - my CSI: Miami night, Thursday - still empty and Friday - Husband's convo dinner. Ok Thursday then..Alamanda's Carrefour.
2. Husband's birthday on Wednesday. Again my ethereal question - where do one shop in cyberjaya? In fact - what to get him? Dinner...like where?
3. Husband's convo dinner on Friday night. Its not that Husband gets his MBA every year and call me insecure, I'm not going to let him go off to some dinner alone. So we forked out RM60.00 for me. Yup! Its that expensive to bring a guest. So I gotta go after office. I can shower in the office but like helllooooooooo....who's gonna do my hair? Or do I have time to do my hair? What am I gonna wear? Dammit......
4. Husband convocation on Saturday at 8.00am, Renaissance Hotel. Now - who in the right mind who be able to get ready (note: gotta do my hair, make my face up) and be seated by 8am! No children below 12 are allowed so Opi and Isya cannot go...how can you deprieve these two angels from witnessing their daddy's graduation?? But wait - these two angels can also be the never-before convocation destruction machines......
5. The convo should end by noon and we'll zoom back home to pick Opi, Isya and Emi and off we'll go my my mom-in-law's house. So that will be Bukit Mahkota to KL, KL to Bukit Mahkota, Bukit Mahkota to Sri Damansara and Sri Damansara to Bukit Mahkota. All in one day. And from 8am to 12noon, I'll be sitting properly watching the graduation procession...back and forth, back and forth... No offence, dear Husband - but I couldn't stand my own graduation! But I promise you, I'll behave. No nasty comments...no eye-rolling...no heavy sighs...
6. Then on Sunday, Mak is holding a doa selamat cum sambut ramadhan kenduri. It'll be at 1130am but obviously we have to be there earlier to prepare all the necessaries. Then the basuh pinggan...kemas rumah...then have to travel again to Bukit Mahkota!

For the first time, I'm actually looking forward for next Monday....

Silent Luncheon

Husband joined me for lunch just now. No..that's not right. He didn't join me for lunch. We had a date...in Street Mall.

I just want to say a great thank you to my dear husband for being able to converse with me...without me having to say anything!

We had a fantastic silent lunch!

Silent memoirs

I'm voiceless. I'm not having the froggy-croaks day, I'm simply...voiceless. I'm now communicating with unintentional breathless whisper, and a piece of paper and pen. Not so easy especially when I've to chair a dispute meeting this afternoon. How does a voiceless person dispute?

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I'm tired...physically. Had a full weekend...which was rather exhausting. On Saturday morning, Opi and Isya had the experience of wet market. I never realise how a smelly, noisy, congested place like that can truly fascinates the younger ones. I think I'm just too jaded to stop, observe and learn..especially the smaller thing in life. Isya was totally mesmerised with the whole de-feathering (of a chicken) process. My 2 1/2 year old girl thinks that the men should use a shaver (just like her daddy's) to shave off the chickens' feathers...and not yank them off! Opi was more 'environmentally-friendly' and concerned about the coconut sellers who dumped the empty shells into the nearby river. "Nanti anak ikan sesat..banyak sangat kelapa tu..how nanti Opi ikan or Isya ikan nak jumpa mummy ikan??". And he repeatedly pestered me with the question while I've to fight with 3 other makciks for the biggest prawns!
"Well Opi...nanti mummy ikan jeritlah panggil Opi ikan...ok?".
"Well Mummy (following my earleir tone of voice)...what happens to Isya ikan? They are still babies, you know..how to answer-lah?"
"Mummy...mummy...chicken nak beli cukur janggut daddy ke? Mummy nanti bagi chicken cukur yek?" Isya had to shrill her squeaky voice in-between.

I was ever so relieved when I reached home. Peace and quiet......because Opi and Isya changed their attention to 'bother' Husband, who just woke up then.

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Went to my colleague's wedding on Saturday night. A beautiful inter-racial wedding between a Chinese girl and an Indian gentleman. Husband pointed out, "Why are the two families don't sit together? Why the girl's families at one side and the guys on the other?"

To which I answered "Dear...it happens in almost all weddings. The bride's and the groom's families hardly mix with one another. Its normal to keep within the comforts of the people you know.."

Husband gave me a weird look.

"I was not talking about us-lah!!" I quickly went on (blabbered, actually) and on about what I exactly meant.

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Bang Long Ali fed us with sate on Sunday - Ayin's 10th birthday.

Goodness...so much food! Mak prepared nasi ayam and mee bandung. And the ever famous choc banana cake, courtesy of Secret Recipe.

A Sate Sunday, indeed!!

Husband and I went rounds and rounds of Ampang Point and I couldn't find anything suitable for Ayin. So we setteled with a box of Dunkin Donuts, instead. But I will try to get one before this weekend....hence the great question, where do one shop in Cyberjaya??

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I'm so voiceless now................

Husband's back....!

My dear Husband is back from Toulouse, France yesterday morning.

I woke up at 530am to drive to KLIA, stood for 1/2 hour at the arrival hall just because I hadno idea which flight he was on. And even from where exactly - Frankfurt..? Amsterdam..? Geez..it was much simpler when I picked him up at KL Sentral previously. All I have to do was just sit at McDonalds until he comes. Reminder: Need to check his flight number the next time he goes away again.

He brought back lots and lots of bonbons...I guess he must've remembered how I salivated over the ones Dodik brought back from London. He said now I can cocmpare whether French bonbons are better than the British bonbons...hmmmph...

I missed him alot when he was away. He's like my 'mengumpat' friend, you know. The type that would listen to all my yappings and still be on my side no matter how 'wrong' I am.

Having a friend whom you can spend time with, complete with all your imperfections is a total must. But having more than just one, is even a lot better. I've a few...depending on what I want to talk about. If its about work and people at work - definitely my husband. If its about everything else under the sun, its definitely mak. But there are no fine lines.

I find talking to Dodik about her life as very refreshing. In her stories, I see parts of me which will never materialise. The places she goes to, the people she meets and the work that she's doing. When there's a situation that has the elements of panic, anxiety, excitement or even anger - the best person to share it, is Pona. Pona has this magical aura surrounding her which is similar to the mood ring. The one that can easily changes colour according to the situation...and Pona can do that in a snap of the finger!

Jim Bob will be the first I call if the situation involves my parents or the other siblings. Like if mak is upset and I'm not sure why. Or Odin was in a fight. Or if Bang Long Ali will attend a certain function. Jim Bob is like the family's resource center.

So..Opi and Isya, what I'm trying to say is that I'm very lucky that I have 3 elder brothers, 2 younger sisters and one 'baby' brother. You two only have each other. I hope one day, despite all the fights and tears and laughters, you'll realise that 'air dicincang tak kan putus'.

I'm babbling now..but you know what I mean.

Fuck Problem explained....

It was a typo error. It was supposed to be "Fork".

How can you messpelt something into "fuck" and presented in worldwide??

Worse...none of us audience said anything.

Fuck??

Was in this high priority / urgent meeting on a global back office asset refresh project. The situation was intense, the discussions were thought-provoking, timelines were laid down, argued upon and discussed. After two days of arguing, agreeing, delegating, accepting and planning, the project manager started his wrap-up session.

I was already rather tired but this is going to be one of my main tasks in 2005, hence all my attention and commitment.

I looked at the projected slides…and jotted down loads of notes.

Came the third slide – wait…what was that again?

“The unavailability of site access may lead to serious fuck problems.”

Did I get that right? I never knew that data centers have fucking problems!

I stared around and nobody even bothered.

Did I mention that I was the only woman there? And there were about 15 guys.

So I’m thinking now…was that a typo?

Opi's Merdeka (Mahathir) Parade

I have vowed not to write / talk about Anwar’s release. But I just have to share this one. I thought it was uproariously comical. Husband thought it was just plain suicidal. Isya enjoyed every minute of it.

We were at the airport on Saturday night. Husband’s flight to Frankfurt. Everything went on as per normal until Husband said “let’s go outside, I need my ciggies before going in.”. Off we went…..into hundreds and hundreds of Keadilan/PAS/Anwar’s supporters! They were chanting his name and screamed “Reformasi”!

“Is Anwar traveling tonight?” Husband asked me.
“Eh..mana I tau?”
“He’s going to Munich…hey…maybe the same flight as I..” Husband hurriedly searched for his wallet and let out a huge sigh of exasperation “ Shit! Didn’t bring my name card”.

While he was looking for anything to scribble his name, I noticed Opi and Isya were jumping with joy over the whole entire demonstration. They’re totally mistaken this for the recent Merdeka parade, I thought.

Suddenly – “Hidup Mahathir!” Opi screamed.

“Mahathir! Mahathir! Mahathir!” Opi screamed again and again. And Opi can really scream.

Everyone nearby stopped their chanting and looked at him, hard. Then with killer looks, they stared at me – the mother of a hardcore Mahathir’s supporter.

I laughed and I laughed. Husband pulled Opi aside. “Jom masuk”. Opi protested “Tapi Opi tak pernah tengok Mahathir!”

We had to pull him inside.

He’s still upset that we didn’t allow him to look at ‘Mahathir’.

My Yellow Tarzan

Sent dear Husband off on Saturday night. Every time he goes away, somebody will be sick / something happens. Well – that record stands.

Opi is having major case of mouth ulcers. The house is so quiet without all his screams. To add more pain, he’s also suffering from this bad bout of rashes and itchiness all over his body. The rash looks like mosquito bites, only bigger and terribly itchy (judging from the way he scratches!).

“Apa ni?”
“Gegata. Memang gatal.” quipped my dear sis-in-law, Sarimah.
“Kutu air. Kat Indonesia selalu dapat” replied Emi, my maid.

Now I have 2 self-proclaimed doctors in the house. Amazingly both had the same remedy – lumur with grated fresh turmeric.

Jim Bob quickly offered assistance and off he went searching for the biggest, most yellow kunyit he could find. Emi prepared the grater, Aboy and Ninie took off Opi’s t-shirt and pants, Isya tried her best to fan her brother with a magazine…and I chewed my nails…I could feel my migraine coming…..

Jim Bob came rushing back. I grabbed hold off the kunyit and started grating. I grated and grated like a crazy maniac. Then I held Opi (who was still scratching himself silly) and started scrubbing the grated turmeric all over his face, head and body.

Digress – At this point or later; don’t ever ask me why did I not go to the doctor!

There you go – Opi stood in the middle of his grandma’s kithcehn with only his underpants, his body all bright yellow and swollen lips. Goodness! He almost looked like a scrawny yellow tarzan with Angelina Jolie’s lips!! What have I done???

The results?

He received two jabs in Ampang Puteri. And a bottle of calamine lotion.

His lips are still swollen.

And he is still very yellow.

Mak's many hats...

Mak never fails to amaze me. She plays the part of all characters and fit them in her 24hours/day life. Just like Eddie Murphy in the Nutty Professor.

That lady should own her own set of iPac…yet she has all the details down in pat. Let’s try to go through her life for a day.

She gets up at 6am to pray, shower, get the breakfast ready and tend her garden. In between, she’ll make phonecalls to all possible people in getting me a new maid. That lady definitely is the epitome of ‘networking’! She will know someone who knows someone.

She is also the shaman who knows everything about all the traditional medicine..the herbs..the dong qwai..spirulina..daun jambu…belimbing besi…minyak gamat…you know the sort.

Then she plays the architect cum interior designer cum accountant part. She starts designing the house, estimating the cost, re-designing the house, re-arranging all the house beams, tiling works, piping works then estimate the cost again.

Somehow, miraculously, she finished sewing the curtains, the pillow cases and Isya’s baju kurung! And magically – the lunch will also be ready!

Mak hardly misses her afternoon naps. She’ll snuggle on the sofa with a Mills & Boon (Did I mention that she’s also a hardcore romantic?) and dozes off to sleep.

Abah will always get his Milo and some cookies/kuih around 330pm. And Mak will sit with him, filling him with all the details of what have all their 7 children up to. Just like a Personal Assistant…in fact better…she never misses any details.

By night time – she accomplishes so many roles…a pharmacist, a chef, an architect, an accountant, a PA – who sews, cooks, cleans, gardens…and still manages to sneak out to her Avon/Cosway shops.

But her best role remains a Mother – we, the children can call her anytime and she’ll come up with the best advice and ever ready to lend both her ears. Errr….did I mention that she’s also a psychologist?

Gothic Blogs..and cheap read!

I've been kept 'busy'....

Husband knows how much I enjoy a good read...its just that..it can get a bit pricey.
So ke gave me this instead...and I'm hooked!