Nota Kepala : Hari ni mood sangat tak bagus, so tak sempat lak nak cerita pasal the awesome Redang.

Bukannya apa.

Saya ni takde la cemerlang sangat kat ofis. Boleh la cari makan. KompeniKedekutLetrik ni, saya dah lama dah putus harapan untuk di-reward atas dasar kecemerlangan. Dah bertahun-tahun dah. Even sebelum MissKLSentral resign lagi.

Tapi sejak dua tiga menjak ni, ramai pulak kawan-kawan saya yang resign. YY for one, has finally thrown in the towel and called it quits. Years of trying to weather it, obviously not working sunny enough.

Everytime, sorang kawan resign, saya termenung sendiri,

Kenapa aku masih kat sini? Adakah aku kurang talent berbanding dengan mereka? Adakah aku ni tak marketable langsung? Terlalu niche sangat ke kerja yang aku buat selama ni?

Nagai is out there menggeleng kepala sebab dah bertahun-tahun dia suruh aku resign but aku masih disini.

Let me tell you this. *cakap mat salleh la pulak, since nak tunjuk aku ni marketable, kalau x terer, goreng jangan cabar*

The only thing that’s keeping me here is my passion. I love what I do. I love doing the things I do. I love my job. I love my colleagues. I love the exposure I get from the job. I love that I get the opportunity to do what I thought I couldn’t but the bosses thought I could and I found that I could. I just love it. And I love my bosses.

Bukan la nak bodek. Boss-boss aku selama ni are the out-of-the-box types. Liberal ones and I love their outlook of life. Never bureaucracti, never picky and never ones to sweat over the small stuff.

Tapi kan, lately. It doesn’t feel that way anymore. Boss pun dah lain. *sigh*

In fact, aku today am in my lowest ebb that I think I’ve ever been in. Nak jerit pun ada. Nak nangis pun ada.

Moments like this memerlukan satu pinggan warm walnut brownies dengan vanilla ice-cream with 4 spoons to share among friends. Or Zen’s little cup of tiramisu. Or Chilli’s Molten Chocolate Cake. Kalau dah terdesak pun, that 5-minit chocolate cake dalam mug boleh la.

Sigh!

Nota Kaki : Takde motif langsung post ini hari. Rugi je if you’re already here. Mintak maaf la.

Have I?

Was doing some bloghopping and I realised that my blog has recently become boh-ring since i have not rant and I’ve not cuss-ed and I’ve not bi-atch in a while.

Hmm.

Progress?

Note: To you and you, apasal gelak guling-guling? Kelakar ke?

I’m back! We’re back from Pulau Redang. Arrived from KT at midnight and Aliya &Ayisha were up till 1am, finishing up homework and Adani was crying this morning for some unfinished coloring homework. I then had to call up Teacher Badri to warn Teacher Jeya to be “kind” to her today.

Have tonnes of pictures, some remnants of my horribly disfiguring heat rash and 4 very happy and tanned kids.

Tapinya.

Am swamped with work, right now. So will need to excite you guys later la.

Ciao.

*macam cicak kudung*

Uwarghhh !!!

Mana tak mengantuk, tido lambat.

Waiting for my meeting to start now. Uwarghhhh !!

Note: Must take a short nap karang since balik karang nak start journey to KT. Uwarghhh !

Pukul karang !

Heheheh

This morning, I thought I was late since when I glanced at my dashboard, the clock showed 7:28am (hampeh, lagi lambat from semalam by satu minit) and my fuel tank was nearning E, very very close.

So, I drove as usual, singing to Anuar Zain’s (after IKIM’s Ustaz Zawawi’s Major Signs of Kiamat short leacture). After Subang Toll, I stopped to refuel and traffic then on seemed a little heavy. But I figured, since I was already late, I might as well enjoy the morning.

Then it hit me, eh, takkan la Ustaz Zawiwi bercerita sampai dekat 7:50am. Check phone. Heh! Sapa pulak yang menekan-nekan jam dalam kereta ku. It’s actually 8 minutes cepat! Fooh, makcik terpakca mencilok sedikit sebanyak. So alhamdulillah, clocked in at 8:04am. Yay! FYI, kitorang now (atas kebaikan hati orang2 tingkat 3) ada grace period of 5 minutes before you’re officially late and screwed.

Anyhow. The story of this post is that, we have many many time-showing devices in the house. From watches (MrGart and the kids aje, since I stopped wearing watches since I carried Ayisha, about 8 years ago) to wall clocks, alarm clocks that beratur atas shelf, hand phones and the latest addition is a azan clock that my mum gave us.

There’s only one little snag.

MrGart is a believer in cheating time. He thinks that if he sets the clock 10 minutes early, he gains 10 minutes. I for one, NEVER subscribes to this school of thought. I in fact, have tried in vain to tell him that it doesn’t work like that. But I like said, IN VAIN!

So, now, the clock upstairs is 15 minutes late (which is seriously mengabui mata). The digital clock downstairs tells the right time (according to my phone, according to the RedFM), the azan clock typically is later than the azan from the masjid (this could be due to salah baca, bulan ni bulan berapa) and the clocks in 2 cars can vary between +2 to +15 minutes.

If my kids aren’t confused yet, I am so proud of them But I am confused.

Today was much worse, since ada orang fiddled with my car’s time yang +2.

The immediate concern is that upstairs clock has got to be fixed, but it’s so high and there’s a huge TV cabinet that I need to spread my thin self over before I can blardy reach it. So MrGart’s perfect for the job. It’s just that he doesn’t think anything is wrong with the constant confusion of what time it is now, at all times.

So, how now brown cow?

I hope not with a vengeance. *yikes*

But it sure was hazy when I set out for work this morning. Bkt Jelutong is quite green but I looked at the horizon and it looked awfully hazy.

Not unlike the cold fog in the frosty mornings at Crescent Park, Peterborough where I walked each morning to go to college which dissapeared when the sun warmed the air and thawed the frost. I half-expected to see the veil of fog lift before my very eyes but it just lingered on. I saw few joggers today, instead of a batallion of them usually. I did not envy them today.

Right now, Bangsar is shrouded in a thick haze. Good thing is that I don’t smell the smoke like I did in BJ on Monday. Yikes!

And reading the papers this morning further dampens one’s spirits too.

The haze is back.

WHO declared a pandemic on the flu.

Possible water shortages and rationing in store for us.

And the worst is that picture of the bini-pm dengan ex-president-singkapoh. That made the hairs on my back stand straight. Who’s scarier? Definitely the stodgy woman. *slaps hand*

Anyways. Late last year, I had the priviledge to sit through an Energy Lecture with the man in the picture, the slitty eyed, old man. And I was in awe of him. The minute he walked in, you could feel his presence, strong and unwavering. When you hear him speak and his gestures, he’s very commanding and very opinionated and very much influential. He spoke from his mind, never needing a full script like most politicians do. Even in his frail frame of an old body, his mind was ever so sharp.

But the haze is back, people. It’s back. *sighs*

Semalam (or was it the day before), front pages of the dailies were about whether English should be made compulsory to pass for SPM. It was a poll, I read and not yet a decision. Brickbats aplenty, I should think, for the one asking.

Personally, I think it should be okay. Walaupun saya cakap English boleh tahan la, tapi saya rasa English ni senang sikit la dari bahasa ibunda saya, dari segi SPM. But to make it compulsory for all walks of life, yikes!

Let me tell you this. The minute you make a subject a MUST to pass if you wanna pass the exam, you have problems.

Bahasa Malaysia is not a hard language, seriously. If you’re speaking it la. But if you’re taking an exam on it, I can tell you, it’s a killer. The objective questions can kill you, but the Karangan will just chew you up and spit you out. Mercilessly.

It’s oh so darn hard. Did I tell you that during my trial-SPM exam, I passed with Grade 2 (which is major sin because you a pass is Grade 1) because I got a C7 or was it C8 or F9 on Bahasa Malaysia. What made that especially hard to swallow was that I scored all As for everything else, including the killer Physics and AddMaths and just the blinking BM.

And to add salt to injury, my father is a BIG BIG proponent of Bahasa Malaysia. He used to mark STPM Bahasa Malaysia papers and I once peeked through the answer sheets and gaped, susah siot! Lepas tu gelak sebab bebudak ni desperate siap tulis note note “Cikgu, saya sudah 2 kali ambik STPM, tolongla passkan saya”.

Anyway, going through Aliya’s BM paper pun it’s quite tough. I’ve had to peek at the answers to confirm my guesses.

Sigh ..

And that ‘s why saya berazam nak blog dalam BM every now and then. Boleh ?

BTW, the title GUMBIRA is the state of me at the moment. Nak pegi Midvalley la ni. Ciao!

Pagi tadi, masa meeting, Yus instead of saying “idiotic move”, he said “tidak bijak”. And I thought that was really bright.

Hence, the “tidak rajin”. Positive!

Anyhow. Boss cuti semalam and hari ni, so saya sungguh kurang bermotivasi. Bukanlah sebab Boss yang memberi motivasi, tapi, dah dia takde, tak payah ler terkejar-kejar. Yes ? No? Maybe?

Eh, dah lima suku. Balik!

I feel bad.
I blew my fuse.
I lost my temper.
And that’s after much deep-breathing and telling myself that I would just listen and not take any position.
What how could I not?
And I lost it.

And this is what happens when you lose your temper.

First, you head spins.
Then your face feels like a massive aneurysm waiting to spurt dark red blood all around.
And then you have a out-of-body experience.
I heard my voice went sharp and deep.
Then I started to stress of every word and kept tapping my palm with my fingers. Very very firmly.

Then guilt will come swiftly, unlike anger which creeps up on you ever so softly. Guilt comes unannounced.

I feel bad.

The weekend was 2 real hectic days for us. Ceh ceh ceh .. macam AJK pulak bunyinya.

The Bukit Jelutong Karnival was held at the padang 2 blocks away from our house throughout the weekend. We’ve had a karnival almost every year but this year took the cake as it was significantly bigger with corporate sponsors particularly TM. There were many many white tents and there was a huge air-conditioned domed tent hosted by TM where there was a stage for activities.

Saturday.

We set out early. Had Mee Udang Banjir. Delicious! And wandered about. My excursion was cut short as Ariz saw a Kuntum mascot, then a Blue Hyppo and then a clown! Sigh. Even Teacher Badri couldn’t calm him down. He just wanted to go home. I obliged.

Aliya, Ayisha and Adani were freely going around meeting friends and playing games and stuff. I looked around and there were a lot of boys and girls, of whom I’ve seen them grow and I feel somewhat contented that this was why we chose Bukit Jelutong. The camaraderie was real and the community is so alive.

Neighbours and friends were abound. This is akin to Ramadhan at the Masjid. The air os festivities and the air of familiarity. And the venue was very very suitable. Apart from dekat rumah I ler. The newly built d’Bayu has great impressive toilets, I learnt. And because it was sited at a slope of a hill, it was instantly bayu-ed i.e. banyak angin.

The padang where the football matches were held. Saturday we had the MBJ United International Football Tourney 2009 for the Under-7s to the Under 14s. BTW, MBJ stands for Masyarakat Bukit Jeluong. Apt, isnt it?

Our very own Under-11 won. yay! I’m waiting for Ariz to be mature enough to participating before calling myself a SOCCER MUM!

I saw Koreans, Brazillian Football School, Vietnam or Laos and some other international schools participating. And all manners of coaches, many of them sporting huge huge pot bellies. Hahahah.

Sunday saw the many veteran matches for residents. MrGart spent the whole day at the field, plotting his fellow neighbours how to win. Hmm, they did win 3rd place, but not without injuries.

I was in blue tudung, sitting out waiting for MrGart’s tug-of-war event, with friends and beighbours. They girls have just spent a small fortune and had to sit out with us since Mummy’s completely dried up (money-wise).

Saturday night, we milled about there again, for performances and fireworks display. The weather was cool and kids were running around on the field, under the moon. Parents chit-chatted as usual.

There were a few Shuffle competition and I stood gaping. Fooh .. these boys sure have such hairstyles these days. Ruffled hair, highlighted and some have red hair. Hmm. BUt they shuffled well, I thought. Ariz was all eyes. The girls too. *rolls eyes*

Ooooo .. Sheikh Muzaffar, the astronaut was here too, for a few hours and I got to ogle and drool over him in person but not close enough to shake his hands, for fear of ter-hugging him. He’s really gorgoeous in person, no touchup!

Sunday morning, I was out at 7:30am with Ras for the Taichi, Line Dancing, Aerobics and Poco-poco. And I had BLAST!

Taichi was subdued and I was sweating profusely. Aerobics was great but the poco-poco was the best fun. We twirled and we whirled and we stepped and we spinned. The instructor was great and the participants were very cooperative. The Line Dancing was all over the place for us, non-line-dancers so we just danced freesstyle in the middle of the stage. It was truly fun.

BTW, I emerged from the 2 days of karnival, tanned and penniless. I had 4 new tudungs (damages best left unknown for fear of MrGart’s volcanic eruptions) and I spent a small fortune on some supposedly original crocs at half the price. For me and each of the girls. A neighbour was selling off her grown children’s toys and she;s known to inly buy original ones. Grab grab grab. I even got an IKEA kiddie round green table for RM45. Hahah. A steal, really!

So, to those *points to Combi & Elisa* who are still mulling over where to stay, consider BJ. Disclaimer: I welcome any commision.

Yikes!

I haven’t posted anything yet, though I’m dying to post pictures of 120 milk bottles cookies I made for Farida for her SHAQUILL’s 2nd birthday. Later kay folks!

Let me clear my in-trays first.

Anyhow, introducing

This is Nisa’s venture into business. I normally call her LazyDaisy as her blog was called that when I started blogging in 2004. She is one tireless gal, I tell you. She’s working fulltime and has 2 boys and a pair of seriously cute twin girls! Wow! I’m a twin myself so I can imagine the hectic and the chaos her house would be, if ever her twins are as boisterious and me and GartRed ever was. Haha

Anyway.

I thought this is such a great niche. Everybody makes cupcakes and cakes but no one does personalised gift tags and book marks. So there. I hope to work with her for my future cookies projects and I’m gonna get gift boxes and all. So keep tuning in people. More good things are in the pipeline.

Ciao!

Life resumes after I got back from Sing-ka-poh Friday night. Funnily the Changi seemed a little quieter than normal. There were less ppl around. Much less than I’ve seen Changi ever. Even KLIA. The Lounge was deserted. On my flight back, in the Biz Class, there were about 4 passengers. Hmmm .. takut nak travel ke?

At KLIA, we had to pass a temperature screening booth but these nurses in masks only were interested to screen you if your eyes were blue/green or grey and your hair was not black. Otherwise, you’re free to go and spread the germs! Hmm .. Discrimination tak habis-habis.

Anyhows.

Ayisha did have an athma attack on Tuesday night last week. Dr Rasool asked me to be alert anytime she complains of shortness of breath. Apparently if you have a family history, you’re at risk at all ages. Hmm I thought once you sail through childhood with no attacks then you’re fine. Hmm. Allergies too. Did I tell you that after Ariz weaned himself off me 3 months ago, he’s had 3 allergic reactions that needed Zyrtec intervention immediately? He’s never had any allergic reaction while he was on the breast. Now I’m feeling about him weaning.

Anyhow.

We were back at the clinic straight from the airport as Aliya was teary-eyed and coughing with headaches. She has very low pain threshold, even headaches will make her cry non-stop, but not whining, just sad tears. Found out that she has throat infection and apart from that was okay. The weather these days are seeing people and kids fall sick all the time. Adani and Ariz as usual, tried to fish for attention and tried to sound sick. Ish bebudak ni!

Well.

Today is super-hectic. I have a long list of things to do today and blogging ain’t in it. But hey! A girl’s gotta unwind. HOKEH?

Ayisha asked me what’s the difference between Orang Utan & Orang Hutan?

I said that Orang Utan is an ape, from the monkey family, large and hairy and very like you when you’re grumpy. hahahahha. *mummy ni!* Orang Hutan is someone who lives in a hutan! Okay ka?

Then I was reminded of Ariz. He now has this penchant for reading encyclopeadias and factual books. He’s not into storylines like the girls. He loves to flick through my 2inch thick of History of the Ages (from the Ice Age through to the Modern World) and finds much excitement looking at pre-historic animals and dinosaurs and mammoths and animals with at least 5 syllables to their names.

Anyway, we were reading a Two-Can Animals & Planet book one night and we’re at the Apes and Monkeys section. There was a picture of Orang Utan and Spider Monkey. And he took them in with keen interest.

So, when Ayisha asked about the Orang Utan. He loudly proclaimed that “Mana ada orang utan? ORANG MONKEY MONKEY HUTAN la! Macam SPIDER MONKEY”

[edited to reflect Mummy's failing memory, as highlighted by MrGart]

Errkk .. no amount of convincing him will do. So, we’re stuck with Orang Monkey from now on. Sorry Orang Utan, just bear with us a little longer.

Exams is over, folks!

Err only if you’re between the ages of 7 and 12 and schooling at Buikt Jelutong. And DAY, your ACCA is still not over yet. *hugs*

Anyhow.

Am so glad that it’s over. I don’t have to keep reminding (or rather shrieking to) the girls why are they watching TV and not holding a book. Or chase Adani & Ariz out of the sisters’ room. Sigh!

Insyallah they will do well. *sedapkan hati*

Meanwhile. We’re almost *pinches fingers* this close to getting the keys for our new abode err next door. And I’m thinking hard about the rooms’ arrangement.

Aliya is big enough for her to need privacy. From us and especially from the prying and nosey sisters and brother. I think she is brave enough to sleep on her own these days, provided that her room is decorated just straight off IKEA’s pages.

Ayisha may need to bunk in with Adani instead now that Aliya needs time to herself. Next year kan nak UPSR. I know both Adani and Ayisha play very well together, especially on their specialised topic of “alienating ARIZ”.

Adani has been pining for us to move her toddler bed to the girls’ room. BTW, she was there for a few months but walked in the middle of the night, every single night to our bed that we moved her back. Now she wants out. Pening! And her toddler bed. Hmm .. kena tukar tu.

Ariz. Talks about his room, his bed, his pillow and his everything but sleeps bawah ketiak Mummy. So not yet la. Maybe a play room just for him, for his cars and dinos and his many herds of animals and trucks and stuffs.

We’re also talking about converting the other kitchen into my Cookie Studio. Fooh .. bunyi mengancam siutt!!!

Last week we dropped by uninvited to Ninuk’s newly renovated place and ooohhh-ed and ahhh-ed. I love her renovation ideas. *must copy*

Hmmm itu la sahaja angan-angan di siang hari ini. Jom zuhur!

I should declare today as ROAD-HOGGER’S DAY !

I should also make cookies on a stick of a driver, in a car with elongated hands stretching over and under his car, hanging on to the road and fearing the car in front. All the while in the blinking fast lane.

Hmmmppttt!!

I never understand this. There are rules on the roads and there are more unwritten rules on the roads too. Let me make this clear. Crystal.

1. Close the gap. If the car in front of you moves, you move. If it stops, you stop. If it farts, you fart. Get it? So, why oh why do you have to move at 30kph and leave a gargantuan gap in front of you when the traffic was moving at 110pkh?

2. Drive please! Not read papers on the steering wheel. Not playing with your kid on the steering wheel. Not texting someone. Not on the phone with someone while you hands play charade. Just drive, will ya?

3. If you have some incurable disease of fear of driving, just stay off the roads during rush hour, please. Pretty please?

4. If you insist on driving at 30 kph when the traffic’s at 110 kph, please stick to the turtle lane. That’s on your leftmost lane. I know, sometimes even I confuse my rights and my lefts.

5. And please, if you insist to be unconventinal, if you demand to be different than the rest of the world and if you absolutely abhor organisation and conformity, instead of driving smugly, hand hung outside your window, looking absolutely nonchalant at the turtle speed that you are driving at on the FAST lane, go create a blog and tell people of how different you wanna be than the rest of the world.

Boleh tak??

Disclaimer : I am a veryu berhemah driver and I no longer drive on emergency lanes at Federal Highway in the mornings and that is because the police allows people to drive on emergency lanes in the mornings. Told ya!

I hope it prevails, though.

Not one to talk politics, I have been following the development of the Perak state debacle closely. Thanks to Google Reader and wireless, I get updates, even late at night and it’s exciting and at the same time you feel like banging your head against the wall.

Anyhow.

I hope peace and justice will be served.

Some people forget that life is indeed a test. As the lyrics in “The Heart of A Muslim” by Zain Bikha.

Looking up at the sky, searching for Allah most High
He rejected the way of worshipping Gods of clay
Prophet Ebrahim knew that Allah was near
And that the heart of a Muslim is sincere

Under the hot burning sun, he declared God is one
Though with stones on his chest, his Imaan would not rest
The Muadhin knew that right would conquer wrong
And the heart of a Muslim must be strong

Chorus:
It’s the heart of a Muslim through the guidance of Islam
That makes you fair and kind and helpful to your fellow man
So living as a Muslim means that you must play a part
Allah looks not at how you look, but what is in your heart

In our poor meager state, little food on our plate
Mother said she was glad, always sharing what we had
When I asked how can we share what’s not enough
She said the heart of a Muslim’s filled with love

He said its time you should know, you will learn as you grow
That some people around will do what’s bad to bring you down
Father said to be a star that’s shining bright
For the heart of a Muslim does what’s right

Chorus

So whatever you, make sure your words are true
Honesty is the best, because life is a test
Even if it hurts so much you want to cry
For the heart of a Muslim does not lie

Was it Mother’s Day yesterday? Cause I didn’t notice it.

Could it be because apart from the kids’ early Mother’s Day presents, I didn’t get anything else at all ?
Could it be because my special Mother’s Day lunch consisted of leftovers of MrGart and the kids? As usual.
Could it be because I was still the one ensuring that the kids were dressed, showered and fed?
Could it be because I didn’t get to spend some time on my own at all?
Could it be because no bouquets of flowers came my way? and no spa/massage either !

Well, I guess .. that’s the huge difference between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. On Father’s Day, the daddies get great lunches, some feet off time from your normal chores (now, that’s a real joke!) and great hugs and kisses to appreciate everything a daddy does and time off the kids and the whole day is spent reminding of what a Daddy means.

On a Mother’s Day, a mother gets to be .. tada ..a MOTHER!

It’s a never-ending thing. I get kids surrounding me everywhere I go. Even to the toilet sometimes. I find them upstairs when I want to pray. I find them at my feet when I’m cooking. I find them in the bathroom when I’m peering over the many ubans that’s colonising at my jambul. And wherever I find them, I sure hear them.

Heh!

If I sound a little dejected that my Mother’s Day was a dissapointment. I’m not.
If I sound a little frustrated and a severely little under-appreciated yesterday. I’m not.
If I sound a tad sad for not being seen. I’m not.
If I sound a little ungrateful for the beautiful children that I have. I’m not.

*lap air hidung* what?? I have a cold.

*reminding self that every little thing that I do, it’s “kerana Allah”*

p/s to all mommies-like-me, I urge you to get the Anuar Zain CD. It has proven to be an effective stress-buster, frustration killer and balm for wounded ego for me time and time again. He will sure make you cry and then he’ll lift your spirits high enough that you’ll find yourself belting out his songs at the top of your voice within the sanctity of your car and you will emerge a fresh and a new person. trust me. he soothed my nerves this morning and I was a wreck.

Tomorrow is Labour Day. I feel labour-ed enough today though. So, we’re looking at a particularly long weekend. yay!

Nothing much planned.

I have cookies to make and tudungs to sew and books to arrange.

I have excess fat on my girth needing a jog and a twist.

I have girls and a boy who are restless and needing a distraction. A cheap distraction’s the best. Ooh. You remember the Nik NurMadihah, the girl who scored 20A in the last SPM. I received a txt from Shah Alam Library inviting us to the LIbrary for her talk on Sunday at 8:30am. There! Cheap and informative.

I think we need a pool trip this weekend. Maybe early tomorrow morning, once we all wake up and before the hot sun shines.

I think I need an Orange Glow Chiffon Cake or maybe a Chocolate Souffle Roll with whipped cream filling this weekend. Oh oh oh, I know. A Cordon Rose Cheesecake with strawberry toppings. Or a Pavlova with strawberry topping. Or better, a tiramisu. Hmm .. decisions. decisions. decisions.

I think to think how best to get Ariz to get his haircut. Or not. He looks rather cute with his long hair. If only it’s not as itchy.

I think this weekend will be fun, family-fun. Insyallah.

Hope yours will be too.

I am still kicking myself for forgetting to watch Grey’s tonight. Grr!!

So, while I was busy downloading and catching snippets and spoilers of Season 5 of Grey’s, I found that a new character will emerge. Sadie.

I stared at her in scrubs and I knew I’ve seen her before. Not personally, within the idiot box.

A little googling and tada ..!!

I knew it! She was Angel in Home and Away. I should admit here that between 1991 and 1995, I was an ardent and fanatic fan of Home and Away and Neighbours. I was. these were soaps, mind you. Downright soaps. But once you get caught into its nasty web, you’re in.

I remember watching each episode in the evening or catching it at noon. And I remember Angel very well. And Shane and Shannon (Isla Fisher) and Ailsa and Alf and Fisher and Marilyn and Sam and Sally and OMG! I googled again and came up with this clip of the opening of the episodes in 1993. Click here and remisnisce over the good old days.

Good old days in deed.

Now, I should get into bed. Tomorrow morning it’s Pasar Tani and IceBlended Cappucino satu!

Just got back from a fun lunch with the gals and MrSarahPiss. And it was like a blitz. And everytime we lunch there, it’s always blitzy.

We would sit down, laughingly. Then we’d be ordering the one who sits closest to the belt to “quick quick, get the baby octopus”. There’s always “cepat, cepat, that wrapped unagi”.

And the plates would be piling.

Today, we measured the plates and they were the exact height of Hazel, sitting down.

I’m full and heading over to PJ for a meeting. Hope to keep myself awake.

Okay, I have a lot of work .. but I thought I’d spiced up MrGart’s nofrills birthday piccies last February 2009.

Hehe.

*suka*

Notekaki : I know I misspelled “birthday” but imagine that I didn’t. Boleh tak ?

Last weekend, my mom dragged all of us to my Mak Ndak’s place at Taman Rashidah Utama, Seremban to visit my bed-ridden Tok. Mak Tam from Kedah was there for the weekend too.

I made a Guilt Free Chocolate Chiffon cake as buah tangan. My mom has this rule that you’d better be taking something when you visit someone. Except her house as we always trot down to Gombak on empty stomachs and plenty of empty tupperware for takeaways, even frozen cucur udang for us to fry when we get home. I know. I know. Such spoilt kids!

Anyhow.

Gartred and me, Gartblue are such chatterboxes. When there are the two of us, anywhere, be assured that it will be merry.

Gartred works in a hospital and has been evern since she started working and she always regale us, the clan with stories of illnesses and dead bodies having to be brought downstairs via the stairs since the lifts could not accomodate a body lying down, before rigor sets in. She also tells of the people stories and it never fails to fascinate us. And of course, the boob jobs, the tummy tucks stories are always the best, particularly who’s who and how it’s down. We’d be oo-ing and ouch-ing and ehem-ing.

Our little sister, call her GartLilSis is also a pharmacist but she works at a drugs enforcement agency, a governmental body, if you may wonder. She’s not like Gartblue or me at all. She’s rather small-ish and a lot less talkative than us. But when she does share, we’d love to listen to stories of what drug will come in and what drug’s been taken off the shelves and sometimes she shares with us the samples which she gets by the bucket.

Anyways.

I work in a very boring industry, not worth mentioning to my clan, unless I want them to sleep. Face it! Compared to haunted hospital lifts and drug scandals, my coal and gas issues are rather bland, to say the least.

But I’ve found a new topic which caught the attention of my clan. Not that there’s any competition. Yikes!

It’s baking. My aunties still can’t believe for the lifes of them that I can bake. And teach people some more. So, everytime I bring a cake, they’d be peppering me with the questions of how, what and the rest. Finally!

Anyways.

Remembering the reason why we’re there, we set out butts in my Tok’s room, massaging her skinny legs and helping her to change sides to relieve her sores. And new topics began anew.

Mak Tam was talking about the current fave of “rebung madu” i.e. honey bamboo shoots. I love rebung and never made them. Gartred was dishing out how to make masak lemak rebung with only 3 ingredients. Kunyit, cili api and santan. Then the rebung and ikan bilis la.

Then Mak Tam said, “bawang takkan takde” to which a resounding no from Gartred, my mom and Mak Ndak. Mak Tam then said “la, Mak yang ajag ni.” She then turned to Tok and said jokingla ” Mak, mak cakap kat cek sekarang sementara mak ada lagi. Apa lagi ajaran-ajaran sesat mak dah ajag cek selain dari masak lemak”.

We all were laughing with tears streaming down our cheeks. Tok just smiled.

Dear all cookies-loving friendlies out there,

Due to my lack of creative juices when it comes it web designs, I’ve decided to host the website on blogspot, while i still keep my domain at http://razzledazzlecookies.com

So, enjoy!