The thing about travelling abroad for work is that it’s always a break away from the typical daily grind of work. No doubt that being in one of these trips mean having to prepare for the meetings and remaining alert through it all.

When the kids were younger, particularly during the nursing stage which in my case lasted from 1998 and only ended in May 2009, these trips abroad would send me into a panic mode. I’d be freaking out how Aliya, Ayisha, Adani and Ariz as clingy, breast-loving babies would sleep at nights under the watch of MrGart who is a deep-sleeper.

I’d be worrying about what if the babies could not sleep at nights and be fussing away and considering MrGart’s tendency to fall asleep the minute he’s lying down. I worry if the kids would cry themselves to sleep and would wake up in the wee hours in the morning, looking for me and MrGart would not be awake for them.

Mommies have perfected the art of waking up instinctively at the slightest whimper and comforted the baby, or nurse him before they launch their I-need-attention and refuse to go back to sleep again.

I’d be worrying too if the kids are feverish or they have nosebleeds or they cough which can turn into croups because I worry that MrGart would miss all the warning signals and not take the necessary action before things get worse.

I’d be worrying too that the kids would be consuming too much of take-aways, pizzas and burgers and fried kuay teows and twisties and mamees.

You see, we mommies regardless if you’re working or not, shoulder such huge responsibilities subconciously and have not batted an eyelid at having to do so.

We go around the house, making sure the kids blankets are okay, the air conditioner’s not set at the crazy 16C like the kids think they like and making sure that tomorrow’s school clothes are ready and that t-shirt is washed and ready to wear.

We think about the school and the daily worksheets and we cry ourselves to sleep thinking how do we manage a child who comes home crying because she is last in her class in the last exam and how do we keep excited for the child who comes home too excited that she in the top 10 in her exam and just made Class Captain, without being too excited.

The thing is that, just because I’m far from home, the mind and brain still revolve around what goes on at home.

Although I have all these doubts, I know MrGart is more than able to make sure the kids are well looked after. *muahs*

p/s this is long, but pardon me. I’m sitting in a large room with little ASEAN country flags on the tables with men and women in business suits looking “ketat”. So, I blabber.

Jeepneys, the bigger version of the Tuk-tuk in Thailand. One of the candidates of the Presidential Election’s jingle is being played by a lot of the jeepneys on the streets and it’s stuck in my head right now. very very catchy.

Cebu City on the map.

The streets at Cebu City

And the name is pronounced as ser-boo and not si-boo, like I thought.  Its colonial name is Zzubu.

Anyhow, I’m here for a series of meetings for 4 days and my first time in Philippines.  The first drive from the airport to the Marco Polo hotel reminded me on Bandung, very similar, minus the numerous presidential campaign posters plastered all over Cebu City.

I hope the kids are okay too btw. At the airport, Adani was about to tear up and Ariz put on a brave front. I thought MrGart wanted to cry, with the prospect of having the kids all to himself and the tasks of feeding them, entertaining them, getting them dressed to school in the mornings and tying the girls’ hair for school and the general bickering management. Yup, he’s crying, for sure. I’ll be home very soon, before you guys know it, of course.

Anyhow, arrived yesterday, after half an our transit at spankingly new airport at Kota Kinabalu. Hotel’s fantastic though no wifi in the room was a little damper. I’m sharing the room with Ayu, and we’re here with Yus and Walterloo.

Last night us, girls called a taxi and hopped over to a massage place and it’s darn cheap. A great scrub and a wonderful balinese/thai massage cost me RM45 for 3 hours long self-pampering session. Bliss!

This morning, we scoured the city for its historical tour, going down the Magellan’s route and Fort San Pedro and down Colon street. There’s a Carbon market here, named especially as coal was the first resources found and its called carbon or uling. And the name stuck. Who wouldve though this island has coal?

Finishing that, we went back to the Ayala Centre for more shopping. I’ve spent all my pesos there. Something unusual happened while we were buying dried mango at the market. The crowd suddenly stopped and stood still, we were unaware at first, but I realised that the PA system was not playing any songs but more like saying prayers. The amazing this is that everyone stopped and listened. When it ended, then business resumes.

I’ve just woken up from about 2 hours nap. It’s very hot here. Nearly missed my Subuh prayer since the sun’s up at 5:15am and by 8am, it felt like noon already. It’s 5pm here and sun’ll set in 30 minutes time. I’m still getting used to it.

Well, gotta go, need to get ready for dinner and we’re going out again. By tomorrow, all this relaxing will end as the meetings will begin and we have official dinners every single night. I’m dreading the networking. But I think another round of massage tonight should soothe my nerve for tomorrow.

The day before, I spoke to the kids that Rex was doing very poorly and he’s not getting any better.  I explained to that that we might have to decide to put him out of his misery and pain and let him be with God, in Paradise, where all animals belong.  It will be painless to him as the vet would make sure he would be comfortable.

Asha immediately had tears in her eyes and Adani was asking whether it’s okay to kill him.  I knew Adani would be asking these questions and I was glad I asked a lot of opinions from friends about it.  I’ve also come to the conclusion that it might not have been ideal, but it would be merciful to let him out of him pain.  We’ve done all that we could and there wasn’t anything else that we’ve not done, apart from waiting for him to die naturally.

So, yesterday, we’ve planned to bring the kids over in the evening, say our goodbyes and the vet could administer the anaethesia overdose so his heart would stop.

But Rex left us before the kids could get to see for the last time.  I was there 2 hours before he died and I sort of knew it wouldn’t be long and I said goodbye.  I said to him that it’s okay to go, we’ll be alright.  Then I left.

So, the situation’s changed.  I brought the kids over to stroke him lifeless body for the last time.  Asha was sobbing loudly from the minute she stepped into the car and got worse when the vet laid Rex on the floor.

Goodbye Rex.

This is closure.  Rex’s chapter has ended but his memory lives on and we too.  I guess this is a great lesson for the kids that every living thing dies.  As painful as it is, we must be strong as it’s God’s will.  And although your little brother is so annoying and your sister is bickering with you, you must always always remember that we are family and we must rise above the petty issues.  Life’s not permanent, but family unites.

Edited at 4:41pm.
Dr Tan called to say that Rex has passed away as he simply stopped breathing on his own. Rest in peace, Rex.
—————————————————————
It’s 2:24pm, close to a week after Rex dragged himself home from whatever that has happened and caused this heart-wrenching injury.

I’ve visited him at the hospital almost everyday since he was undergoing treatment and day by day, he responded less and less. A week ago, he was in the prime of health, fur so fluffy and creamy with his majestic stance. Play is his niche and he played and played and played.

We have a sail at the porch to shade the area and countless times, Rex would climb up the roof and hop on the sail and bob himself silly on that sail. I would be under all that ruckus, with dust raining down on me. Everytime I yell his name, he would peek under the sail and start again. Cheeky, cheeky cat.

But today, his cheekiness is gone. Just sadness and exasperation. When I stroked his body I felt his bones sticking. His fur is no longer shiny, instead limp and flat. His cream long tail, once very bushy now lay near the cage, flat and lifeless.

And the worse was that he no longer lifts his head up when he hears my voice. The sadder truth is that his neck seems to have seized up and he’s in an upturned position with his eyes open unable to do anything else. I turned to look at him and he stares and stares, too far ahead. His eyes looked lost and beaten and almost like he’s out of hope. I feel like he’s given up completely and that tears at me violently.

Dr Tan, the vet said that he has to be frustrated, a young cat, so full of life, now trapped in a body he no longer controls. I tried to close his eyes and felt his tear.

So, here I am, holed up in my office, waiting for MrGart. We have prolonged this long enough and I think today is the day we let Rex off his misery. Please do not judge me. Today I think is the day that I’m letting him rest, relieve him of his pain, free him of his broken body and ease his breathing.

Rex, I love you. Daddy loves you. Asha adores you and she’ll be so heartbroken that you’re no longer be around for her when she comes from school. Adani will miss her buddy when she talks incessantly about what bugs her. Don’t blame Aliya for shushing you around, she has real fear for ALL cats, it’s not personal with her. And please do forgive Ariz for all his antics, like chasing you through the house and making you the aliens he’s fighting with.

Please forgive me too for being angry at you when you try to bite me at my every step and when you scratch at my new sofa. I miss you already. We all do.

Go to your Creator, Rex love. We love you.

Innalillahiwainnahirajiun.

We have a vet at TTDI Jaya called Lyn. But that fateful night when Rex was seriously sick, her clinic’s closed, so we went to a newly opened vet nearer to our house.

After a consult and 7 huge syringes of saline, she said not much could be done for Rex. We were shattered.

We then went to Lyn again for a second opinion. She didn’t think it was poisoning as Rex would’ve been throwing up and bubbling up at the mouth. She suspected some trauma probably a fall from very high places. But she didn’t think there was any broken bones. She sent Rex for an x-ray as he was showing difficulty in breathing.

At the Animal Hospital. After the x-ray was taken.

Rex was sent to an animal hospital in Petaling Jaya and was diagnosed with a spinal cord injury. He’s currently boarded at the hospital with steroid treatment to try to reduce the inflamed injury. We’re not too sure how long he needs to stay there but the vet’s giving 3 days.

Do pray for Rex. I hope he pulls through this.

Adani defied the Frog

Ariz in all of his chubbiness glory

When I started blogging way back in 2003, when Adani was a month old and the house was devoid of any Ben10 aliens, writing was a natural thing to do.

I’d spend the evenings and nights tending to the kids and reading to them and keep a mental note of what to blog for the next day. Mostly kid’s stuff, like Asha’s ghastly tantrum or Aliya’s umpteenth tooth came off and Adani’s first bowl of solid food.

I remember the excitement when I blogged expecting a girl when I was carrying Ariz and to be told that I’d be having a boy 2 weeks before popping was too big a secret to hold. So I blogged about it.

You see, it was easy then. It was exciting. It was hilarious when Nina and Moshie and Lollies split themselves laughing over my absolute disasters, time and time again. Notable was the unfortunate event of leaving sleeping Adani in the car for 10 minutes when we completely forgotten about it.

Now, the house is devoid of diapers, littered with Aliens, scattered with daily homework I assign the girls and books everywhere. And I find that it’s slightly harder to blog. Bigger kids have different milestones than babies and that makes it slightly hard to blog about.

Anyhow. It’s late. I blabbered and I should stop boring you folks, lest you abandon me for good.

We have 2 cats. Both are of pure bred Maine Coon. Both are brothers of the same father but different mother.

Bubbles the older cat is Siberian Silver and somber and the observer type. Looks for attention but very composed. He’s about 2 years old and being Maine Coon looks really big. Bubbles has eczema and has had to go through a lot of medicines.

Rexstallion or Rex is only a year and half old. When we were finding a name for him at 3 months old, Ariz wanted to name him Optimus Prime to which I vehemently objected. And Rexstallion he was called. He’s cream and reddish in colour and he’s the real fun cat. He’s active and he’s naughty and he’s very openly loves attention.

The night before Rex didn’t come home at night which he’d never done before. And last night at midnight I went to check on him and he looked different. Something ain’t right with his leg.

Tonight we brought him to the vet and prognosis is really bad. He’s severely dehydrated. Cats don’t eat and drink well under stress. He didn’t have any open wound to suggest that he fell off anything. But the worse part was his leg seemed to just lost it. Very rigid. His paws were in a crunch position and when he’s lifted, his neck made an odd movement.

The vet suspected that he’s poisoned. Based on our story and since it’s contruction next door, he might have licked off paint or cement or something he shouldn’t have.

The vet told us too that she suspected that toxin has already gotten into his blood system and caused his odd neck movement. Not much she could do except rehydrated him and some medicines.

We could send him to the Animal Hospital but there’s not that they can do too. I’m not sure what we could do. I’m praying that he would pull through this.

Throughout the rehydration of 7 huge syringes of saline, I held his face in my hands and he looked into my eyes while I calmed him down and his eyes looked sad.

O Allah. Make Rex better. If he’s not meant to survive this, make him comfortable. Let him not suffer, let him feel no pain.

Amin.

As easy as it looks, I think I need to raincheque on the Pecan Torte cake for the week’s Bake Through.

I am able to sit down, calm and composed at the moment which is a far cry from a frazzled me, scurrying here and there, counting pens and feverishly going through list of names and amidst phonecalls.

I had a dream team and we put together the largest gathering of the Division at the Impiana Resort Cherating of 90 people. That should explain the frenzy I was in. There was a lot of drama and everything that could go wrong, did go wrong and somehow magically turned right again.

We came, we played, we thought, we prodded our minds and souls and we came home in 2 huge buses, anew.

And at the moment, I’m beyond relief that it’s over and that everyone had a jolly great time. Our facilitator team of 10 was just AWESOME! You guys rocked !

Gotta go. Promised the team a lunch. On me.

I don’t mean to be mean to my girls, but they are the most fickle people on earth.

Come on girls! I’m talking Adani and Ayisha here.

We watched Alice in Wonderland yesterday in 3D and it was alright but Ariz was fidgety in his seat and loudly pointed out to me that I dozed off half way. Yikes! Anyway .. I thought the fighting scene at the end was worth it. The rest .. yikes!

Anyhow. Ariz is currently in this frenzy of collecting Ben10 aliens and it’s a scam that everytime he thinks he got them all wired, they came out with more aliens. I for one am just lost at these aliens. I thought I was doing okay with the HeatBlast and the FourArms. Now they’re at EchoEcho and AlienX and whatever else there are these days.

Ariz has a mission. An alien a week. Although his understanding of a week means every day or every waking hour. So yesterday was a EchoEcho.

After the movie, we hunted and within 3 minutes of entering the Toys section, Ariz emerged triumphantly with an AlienX. Not an EchoEcho which he claimed he will get tomorrow after he buys the SpiderMonkey.
*rolls eyes*

Adani and Ayisha meanwhile whined and sighed that they never get anything. *rolls eyes again*

I said they could get one treat each. That started an hour long of searching and it always come back to some glittery-girly bags with all manners of handles. Grr!

I told them NO in my nicest voice that we havea storeroom full of THOSE pink bags and I ain’t adding more bags. Get something a little functional or something different.

Over nachos later, we had a teary-eyed Adani and a suprisingly composed Ayisha with no treats in sight. Adani wanted to get those flat pumps to add on to her 231 pairs of shoes she already has. Ayisha wanted something a little more palatable, fancy shoelaces.

I stood my ground like most mommies do but daddies are such suckers for these tears-streaming cheeks and statements like “I never get anything*

Anyways.

The point is that, for Ariz, it was really easy. I want this and I get this. After he has his hands on the AlienX, all he wants to do is to go home and start a war with those aliens on some eerie planets fighting bad aliens. And the best part is that toys bought for boys are really worth buying since they play the thing until it’s faded and the head is completely torn off.

Girls just like to keep them and look at it for about 1 week and then they’ll just want to have a new one. Grrr!!

Like I said, having children is such an experience. Having a boy after a girl is an eye-opener too. Ariz now refuses to follow me anywhere and he’s only 5. My girls would jump if they hear the car keys rattling.

The girls

I was at famy‘s aqiqah for little baby Nuaym this afternoon and had a very pleasant time catching up with old blogger friends, the old part was the friendship, the people are still 28. Hahahha.

I met ery, bear, butterflutter, ondeonde and nisa and even ninuk. Gosh ! It’s been a long time since I last met all of them. Of course it would’ve been much much nicer if nina would hop along too, and moshie and screw. Anyhow.

Nuaym was cute and a little drunk from an overdose of pure, unadulterated breastmilk, which is a great state to be if you’re 49 days old and your mommy is your everything. Thanks famy for having, a large crowd, not to mention noisy and jumpy. Last verb was specifically for Ariz who did somersaults instead of walking.

Well. Got into talking with butterflutter and it hit me that none of the above have managed to update on regular basis, like we used to. Maybe the exception of OndeOnde and Nina. But the rest do a spurt updating, INCLUDING myself.

While stuffing myself with scrumptious mutton dishes, we had chat with famy’s neighbours and I explained that I first knew famy from a blog and to have her as neighbours just proved that the world is getting much smaller than we thought.

So, I may be sleepy since it’s about 2am and I’m still doosy and cooing over Hugh Jackman from spending 3 solid hours of drooling over him watching AUSTRALIA and even shedding odd tears when Drover, Nullah and Mrs Boss finally reunited.

But I’ve resolved to start blogging regularly again. There! Like I said I may still be doosy but I’ve resolved to start writing again. Blogging grounds me. Keeps me on top of things that are circling over my head and my mind. It’s great to sit back and mull things over. I couldnt have inproved myself if I do not realise what it is I mess up in the first place, aye?

Anyway. Sleep beckons.

p/s To all the Bukit Jelutong hip people, don’t forget to join us at the d’Bayu for a community aerobics session with Jeffrey at 7:30am. Let’s sway those hips and shimmy those chests and salsa away. Yeehaa ! *opps wrong expression, I’m still at AUSTRALIA. Crikey!

Ariz has morphed into a full-fledged Ben Tennyson .. he thinks about what alien he would turn into in every situation .. the night before, we read the Prophet Ibrahim’s story when he was about to be burned by the disbelievers and he lit up and jumped up the bed loudly declaring he’d turned into HeatBlast.

The night before he whizzed into XLR8 when we were reading how the ‘Ad suffered 7 nights and 8 days of violent wind.

But the worse is when he’s CannonBolt. He throws himself on the floor, walls, doors thinking he’s a powerful destructive CannonBolt. I cringed everytime I hear a crash and I pity my bed’s headboard. It’s been crashed into so many times.

But eating times are a little easier when I ask him to be UpChuck who eats rocks and stones 10 times its size. Hahaha ..

Having scraped through my teensy-weensy baby food processor, I’m finally ready to move up the bakers’ ladder and get me a real, full size food processor. *don’t I just sound baker-ish already?*

Whatever I decide or I find will be replacing this baby. *blows kisses*

So, I’ve been google-ing and bing-ing and amazon-ing, reading thousands *exaggerating* of reviews and forums and been writing down little notes and addresses and I’m down to these 4 models.

Mind you. I’m right here in Malaysia, not that far from Singapore but the prices are sure exorbitant, enough to pop your eyeballs.  Easily 3 times more expensive if I were to get it in the States or the UK. Blame it on the excessive import duty they slap on us, mere poor citizens needing some sane powerful food processor.

I digress.

Option 1 : Magimix 4200.

I called Eurochef this morning and behold! they carry the brand. Not so sure if they have the right model that I want. Am excited to go check it out soon. This doesn’t appear in most reviews but I’ve read blogs and forums discussing it and they’re quite loyal to it too.  Nicola is advertising this too.  I think Rose too once mentioned Magimix.
Price is gonna be at least RM 2000, I think.

Option 2: Kitchenaid KFP770 (in black or chrome)

Now.  Now. Now.

I’m a great KitchenAid fan and am still kissing my sexy red Artisan Mixer. This model comes head to head with Cuisinart and it should be a no brainer for me. Except that I read a lot of comments on the way the small bowl sits inside the big bowl and spewing processed food all over BOTH bowls. Yeah. Stuff like that. And something about the blade come whirring out and stuck permanently. Apparently Kitchenaid’s support is superb wherever I’m not which is questionable right here in Kuala Lumpur.

Apart from that, I really want this for its kneading muscles and looks. Price wise RM2399 for a white and RM2699 for the chrome. Which is very very disheartening when it retails at just USD170 and converts to RM578. Mind-boggling! I know. *pulls hair out*

Option 3: Cuisinart Data Prep 11 Plus.

So, according to the review, it’s either KA or Cuisinart. According to the prices, both will kill me. I can’t find Cuisinart anywhere except at Robinsons and they only carry the rollsroyce of cuisinart i.e. the chrome-plated machine with 20 year warranty at a whopping RM2999.

Trust me. I’ve been to Robinson’s 3 times in this week alone touching the sleek machine, imagining it sitting right next to my red KA mixer and it works for me.  And it breaks my heart to leave it once I realise the salespeople have started to congregate near me, like vultures ready to strike.  *rolls eyes*

My only problem is that Robinsons don’t carry the more practical and cheaper DataPrep 11 Plus instead of this RollsRoyce. After-sales service would be tricky I guess. Kitchenaid is more well-known here than CUisinart, I guess.

Last Resort : Kenwood KFP 925

This is by far the cheapest at RM 1099 and widely available here. Opss I take that back. Not that widely available but I found 2 places that carry the model. But at least Kenwood is very well known here so service would be okay, I guess.

But I need a food processor as I want it to knead dough too and I have a feeling that that could be tough for the long run for this machine. And the last time I checked the thing, the stick that the bowl needs to sit on comes loose i.e. can easily be misplaced. KA and CUisinart have their sticks (for lack of a better word) fixed but rather precariously placed as it can be snapped broken.

For all the good reasons for researching any topic, it sure beats me when I’m back to square one, still unsure.

So there. I’m confused. And it’s so hard to get it here anyway.

Yesterday I decided to just get the Kenwood but today I learned about Eurochef carrying Magimix. Back to square one.

Help?

Hanis is my cousin, the youngest in my MakLang’s family.  Shaiful meanwhile is attached to cars and sun glasses.  Opps, sorry !! Is a looker and adores Hanis.

And last weekend, we the clan of Tok & Wan drove up north to help out and be there for the wedding.  A tiring event indeed.  We had a homestay for some and some took refuge at the nearby hotel but we all pulled our weight during the nikah ceremony, the tahlil ceremony and the main event i.e. the big kenduri when we had close to hundreds of friends and neighbours come to pay visit a visit.

Here’s Hanis is her resplendent nikah attire waiting for the groom for the put the ring on my finger ritual.  It was held at the new, huge and uper beautiful new Al-Bukhary Mosque.  There was a fountain and we later found the kids, all wet from the knee down.  Obviously they’ve been dipping their feet in the fountain.  Unfortunately, my only hero Ariz came up wtih his jeans dripping wet from the butt down! Sheesh!!

Adani, Annissa and Ayisha at the masjid’s compound.

These are the cookies that I made for the wedding, meant as doorgifts for close family and friends.  Her theme was silver and I was short of time, so I hoped that she was happy with these.

We’re at Kedah at the moment. This is one of the states in Malaysia located at the northern part of the country.  A state where it was famous for its laksa and its paddy fields.

Another wedding we’re attending, but this time it is a very close cousin’s of mine. Hanis. We’re a very family with many aunties and uncles with respective children who quickly become our cousins and second cousins and whatnots.

Kedah is also the birthplace of my mother and when both my grandparents were alive, we came home for Eid every year and it was a blast, year after year.

The Kedahans too, at least the ones I’m related to by blood are great cooks. You will not get through a day without stuffing yourself silly. The Laksa Teluk Kuchai, white plump noodles in spicy fish broth, served with shredded vegetables are by far my favourite. As well as fried ikan pekasam and kacang poi and ubi kemili and a myriad of other dishes.

All of my aunties and uncles are generous people and the dinner tables seem to refill itself all day long.

I can’t wait.

We’re going over there tomorrow to join my clan.  The kids are whining that they should spend a night here when their cousins are already there.

BTW, a little note on the cookie picture.  It’s one of my favourite cookie design and cutter too. I love the Topsy Turvy Wedding Cake .. but sadly it’s not a typically common choice.  So, when Azzu requested for them, I chanced upon it.

It took a bit of time to make since I have to fill in the different colours in the bottom tier, one by one. But the rest were so much fun to make. She wanted lime green and purple and the rest was up to me, she said. Whoohoo!!

It’s been close to 3 months already since the day she left us. My grandmother, Tok passed away of old age.

It was hard as she was bedridden in the last few years and I could see her slowly slipping away. Her cushy body shrivelled and her bones went crooked. She used to be very fleshy, a great big bear huggy kind of a grandmother. The kind that cooks your favourite dishes for you, at the mere mention of you coming to visit.

Not one to sit still for longer than 5 minutes, she used to drive my mom crazy whenever she came by and rearranged her cabinets. I was more than happy to have Tok at home with us when I was growing up cos it meant more food, even in our plentiful food state already as my Mak is as good a cook as my Tok was.

I cannot remember when was the last she came over to my house and fussed over the kitchen and rearranged stuff.

And I cannot remember how she used to sound like.

That makes me odd and saddened to realise that I’ve forgotten how she sounded like. Is it always like this? Does moving means forgetting?

Well.

We, the clan held a little kenduri for her, where we read Quranic verses and made a lot of du’as that Allah will forgive all her sins and bestow her His blessings.

I brought the Classic Carrot Cake I made and since it was a grown up cake (even I don’t eat carrot cake) and Ayisha’s birthday has passed without me baking a special cake for her, I made this.

My very beautiful Ayisha, who is finally 9 years old! We waited THAT long.

A German Chocolate Cake with Dark Ganache as a filling and frosted with Peanut Butter Whipped Ganache.

Ayisha and cousins and aunties all gathered around the cake. Truth be told that I was supposed to level off the tops of the cakes before filling them, which clearly I didn’t do. So the cake kinda tilted to the right, very visibly too! Arghhhh!!

Since a few well-meaning relatives asked, I just came out with it can called it the Senget Chocolate Cake. Senget means lopsided in Malay.

We sang the Birthday Song and Ayisha blew her 9 candles, 3 times.

The similarly decorated cake. See the but bits in the frosting? I was supposed to use creamy peanut butter but only had the chunky jar. Haha.

Senget Chocolate Cake. I really like the whipped ganache and peanut butter gave a great zing to it. I will surely make it again, but it kinda melted a bit in the hot weather.

The cake was a success. The even crumb told its story alright. AT the insistence of the girls, I made MrGart went and got me a bunch of bananas and put some slices in.

Happy Birthday AYISHA!

It’s a pretty laid back time of the year, this is.

I’m finishing off remaining leaves and having completed the school stuff shopping weeks ago, we wanted to go and watch the Dolphins and Sea Lions ..

But a little googling later, I think not! It’s like RM50 per adult for a ticket and RM30 per kid. And it’s not like it’s a proper place. It’s a makeshift tent at the open car park. Unbelievably expensive! I can’t believe it’s so exorbitantly priced.

Last week we went here and it set us back about RM200, and that, mind you is already very much discounted as I had some discount cards my brother gave me. It would’ve cost us actually double that, seriously!

But the kids had tremendous fun. Ayisha was upset tough. She’s 9 and at an awkward age where she’s too tall for the kiddies rides and still shorter than she wants to for the big rides. So, she was refused for the rides that she wanted. A few more years, dear!

Aliya in the meantime had a blast. I learned from my previous mistake that I should bring some daredevil person like Aliya along too. So, we brought along Nor, her cousin. That saved from from having to ride those white-knuckle rides she longs for but Daddy refuses to and Mummy has no choice but to comply.

Well. Off to the zoo now!

I think we’ll go to a zoo instead or get some stationeries.

Alhamdulillah.

It has been quite a whirlwind, this girl of mine.

She’s passionate. She’s highly temperamental.

She’s kind to animals.  She’s intense.

She’s quick to smile.  She’s quicker to lose her temper.

Regardless. We love you just the same. Even more.

Ayisha is just the most vivacious girl I know. Her name is borrowed from the Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) wife, ‘Aisha (ra) who was known for her great personality, a joy to be with as well as a great scholar among many other great qualities of a muslimah.

Our Ayisha meanwhile is very bubbly, a joy to be with with her bright smile and her oh-so-wide eyes. But those same round eyes can turn to slitty, don’t-mess-with-me eyes in an instance, if things don’t go her way. I’m happy to report that those days are defnitely far and few in between these days.

She’s more agreeable and more accomodating these days, being easier and more able to reason with.

She’s grown taller but still as slim as always. She complains that no matter how much she eats, she never puts on any weight. I keep telling that most people would love her weight. Like me, for instance!

This year, she gets a phone all to herself and she’s busy texting and calling her friends more. Something she really wants for the longest time and we succumbed to it.

Ayisha is a cat’s champion. Always. If we’re away from home, she talks about missing Rexx and Bubbles and how she thinks Rexx is missing her too.

Ayisha dearie. Happy 9th Birthday! Mummy loves you very much.

btw, This is a belated entery as her birthday fell on the 1st December 2009. She came into our arms on the 4th anniversary of our wedding and that make sthis year, our 12th! WHoohoo!!

We would be walking in ..

233 combs and hairbrushes,
45 thought to be lost swim goggles,
4326 colour pencils,
12 sets of water colour sets,
176 erasers,
561 pencil sharpeners,
431 bags of various sizes and shapes,
551 bracelets, chains and necklaces of different shapes, colours andn materials,
423 arms/legs of some batmans, spiderman, ultraman etc ..
145 wheels of a car,truck, planes, fighter jets ..
56423 hair clips and hair bands and those stuff.

sigh!!!

If you live in this particular latitude and longitude as I do, you’d notice how it rains a lot the last few weeks. In case you’re not sure where I am, I live in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia in the region where monsoons are rife.

It rains in the mornings.

It rains all through the afternoons, ripping branches off tress and sent them sprawling on the roads, stalling traffic.

It rains at nights, ever so welcome so we all can climb onto beds, into our plush comforters and turn on the air-conditioners for that continued creature comfort.
Note: Duvets aren’t entirely welcome here cos even the lowest tog is too warm.

And for house owners, these rainy season is about discovering new leaks on your roofs. Sigh!

We found lines of slowly dripping rain water on the walls of our master bedroom. In the girls’ room. Next to the PC. Even one drip managed to soak through a whole box of non-stick grease paper, I use for my cookies.

They’re everywhere. Sinister lines. You just have to go and touch them and hope that it’s dry and not still drippy-drip.

Sigh! I guess the house does need a makeover. It’s after all 12 years old and it’s high time for a major overhaul too.

Well. Must keep an umbrella at all times now.

Note: I pray for the folks up north in Terengganu and Kelantan and Kedah and Perak for their flooding woes. Here I am complaining about dripping, leaky roofs while they have their houses being swept off by gushy and rushing floodwater, parking itself some 200m away from its original location. *eyes buldging*

And the stories about a housewife killing a large snake just sent shivers down my spine. I wouldn’t want to wade through the floodwater imagining of what sort of creatures are swimming to save themselves in that murky water. But if you’re stricken by the floods, you have not much choice I guess.

And the boy and the girl who drowned. How sad it must have been for the parents and relatives.

I pray for you and for your losses on your house, livelihood, ruined paddy fields and the hardship in these coming months. Amin.

I had a blast. These were the girls I hung out with some *counts* 19 years ago.

Somehow, it didn’t feel like 19 years had passed. Felt like we’re 17 again and we rocked!

The CBN’ers 1990 batch, you girls were just amazing!

Before things got crazy!

In fake lashes and all. I’m the one in the middle.

Batch of 1990. Let it all out !

Let me tell you this.  Friends all around me have all succumbed to this game called CafeWorld on FB.  Raise your hands, people, if you’re one of them !  Now, tell the truth for I can tell if you don’t.

*wags finger*

Anyhow.  Tales such as of a friend cringing through a signing ceremony of a very important interconnection all because her roast chicken was ready and cannot be served since she has no access to the FB.

Stories too of a friend attending a course and mourning over her stale 3 dishes, unattened.

Gosh!

These people are obsessed.

Now, should I join them ?

p/s think Ayisha’s internet priviledges need to be curtailed since she left an honest but rather crude remarks on my FB picture .. trust a 9yo honesy eh?  something about me and fake eye lashes.  go figure!

I can’t believe how fast time flies.  And Adani’s graduating from kindy already ?  In 2 months’ time she’ll be walking in a real school, making her mark in the real world and before long I’d be making her bunga telur for her wedding.  Arghh!!  *freaking out bigtime*

*breathing in.  out.  in.  out*

Okay.  One day at a time, woman!

In her robe, face a little made by the teacher.
Note: I would never put blue eyeshadow on my kids. Ooh! I don’t have blue eye shadow, or red or orange. Ah well!

This year the graduation ceremony was done separately from from te concert which was held last week. We were a bit late and I had time to do 4 braids on her hair. She wanted all her hair to be braided in at least 8 braids. I wonder if people get pinched nerves from braiding hair ?

Adani’s class HMS Bounty was up first and alphabetically, she was the 3rd. She walked up very gracefully and salam-ed the hands of the teachers and walked out. Face gleaming out of pure excitement, she asked if she would be attending school on Monday. Hmm. Patience, girl!

It was a very hot day and although it was held indoors, it was hot nevertheless. Adani and 2 of her BFFs. Eyes squinting from the hot sun.

The heat apparently did nothing to dampen these boys’ spirit. Ariz and his classmate, Jed were happily runnning around their school, proudly showing off to us, parents. Seronok!

Adani, MrGart, Ariz and Ayisha. It was so hard to get Ariz to get into the frame and this is the best I have. Aliya’s not around as she’s attending her rehearsal for her Khatam Quran ceremony next week.

Ayisha carrying Arissa, with Adani and Annissa. Both Annissa and Arissa are GartRed’s daughters. BTW, GartRed’s my identical twin, but I guess you guys know that already.

There! I’m gonna go now and continue freaking out.

This post will convince Mosh that I miss him.  But let’s not give him that pleasure.  Maybe I do, or maybe I just miss my lunch buddy.  He’s been seconded to a place where yuppies congregate and my only advice to him was :

If you get cocky when you come back, I’d skin you alive.

See?  I do love him.  In our crooked, wicked ways.

Anyways.

He smokes, you see.  The kind that never walks into a building without first lighting up a cig, not unlike a swimmer taking a long deep breath before that dive.  But he makes no qualm over the fact that it is bad and that in Islam, smoking is forbidden as it is harmful to the body.

One lunch date, he regaled us with the conversation he had with one of our ustaz (religious scholar) at the office.  This guy is very diplomatic and he started by saying that smoking is the only act of putting something is your body without saying Bismillah (In the Name of God) which Muslims are stronghly recommneded to do before any act.  I thought he did great but not going straight for the gut, but beating round the bush before he nails his point.

Mosh could only smile his plastic smile and nodded.  He told us, he simply had no answer or could  not even come up with any plausible argument to counter that.  True.  True.  True.

Then he said, after that, every time he feels like smoking, he feels that he should recite Bismillah.

I burst out in laughter because gosh, mosh!  You’re completely missing the tree for the forest.  You’re not supposed to baca bismillah before smoking, you’re supposed to stop it altogether.

But then again, he’d smell like a normal person.  What fun would that be eh?

Borrowing from Screw‘s words, the burial for our former CEO, Dato’ Pian alhamdulilah went well yesterday.

I personally never knew him but most of my bosses did and my colleagues too. At the Kiara cemetary, scores of people thronged the burial plot.  And it was a sad event indeed.

I hitched a ride with my old friend, Idham and after all was done, it was time to catch up with everyone since the industry we’re working in is pretty small and everyone and anyone knows almost everyone.

I caught up with the KLCC boys, both from the oil and gas and the not so oil and gas guys.  It was kinda refreshing to meet these people over the many years and to find out that they are still the same souls they were before, even when they have moved up the ladder.  A tad of envy though, but that was quickly squashed by the thought of life ends, anyhow.

Ah well.

Al-Fatihah.

I could’ve been in Hanoi today.  In fact, I should be in Hanoi today in a posh hotel, travelling business and this morning should be decked out in my full business suit delivering a presentation to a roomful of ASEAN delegates and that should elevate my reputation professionally.

But.

I have forgone all that to attend my 4yo Ariz and 6yo Adani’s annual  kindy concert.  Well, the decision to not attend the meeting has not come without a price to pay.  But after yesterday’s outstanding performances of my beautiful kids, not price is higher than missing it.

My mom and my niece, Nor came for a sleepover the night before the concert and the house was extra meriah.  MrGart is in Bandung for a golfing trip and missed it all.  I hope he can live with the guilt.

Anyhow.

We got there and waited and waited.  The thing about kindy concerts is that it takes forever to set up.  Finally when the curtain was raised, the show began.  Kids in all manner of colourful costumes danced and moved and jumped or stood there, too lime-light struck.

Ariz’s class of Brittania did a Kadazan dance, involving the boys in black and headgear holding green bamboo sticks.  The girls will then dance in between the bamboo sticks the boys are holding and clapping on the ground.  The dance didn’t bring the boys out, just the girls.  Am a bit dissapointed.  Ariz and his friends were so focused on not hitting the girls’ feet that they just zoomed out of focus.

This is the best I could snap of him.  He waved and smiled sheepishly at me when he spotted me in the audience.  Oh!  Anak jantan ku!  I’m so proud to see him on stage.  He’s only 4 but suddenly he appeared big.

*choking on emotion*

Ariz then had fun zipping here and there with his friends.

Adani’s class performance was the finale of the concert and what a FINALE it was.  Gosh!

When she came out to introduce the class, her costume was really nice.  A tad too fleshy for my mom, but she’s 6, I argued.  She spoke eloquently and held the mike well.

Then when she came on and gracefullly twisted and turned and glided in her contemporary Indian dance, she mesmerised me.  It was really good.  The steps were very complicated and the moves were challenging but the 6 girls (the rest of the class did Malay dance and a Chinese dance) were really really good.  The choreography was superb and my baby was so beautiful.

*eyes glistened with tears*

Since it’s so hard to get Ariz to stay at one spot for 3 seconds to snap pictures of him, I thought this picture is enough to silence people who think I am biased towards Adani.  That’s to you, you and you.

This is Adani, who really really loves to pose, with her favourite Teacher Jaya and her best friends Nabihah and Nabila.

I am, going off now to cry over how my babies are growing up far too soon and far too fast.

*srooottttt*