Selfish Parents

I can’t imagine parents who would use their children as an excuse to hurt his or her spouse when their marriages are in turmoil. I hate that. Pity the children. No matter what ages they are. The younger ones will hurt the most, as they don’t understand what’s happening between their parents while the older ones resorted to ‘unhealthy solicitation’ with things that we don’t even want to comprehend.

A friend of mine (Firah) is having the same problem. Well, not her exactly but her cousin. Her cousin is married to a lazy, younger man. They have a cute 3 year old girl together named Balqis. Because the father didn’t want to work, the mother would be making kuih and selling them to people. The father stayed at home and slept until the sun was on top of his head, metaphorically speaking. When she got home, he’d be asking his wife for food, drinks, and the list goes on and on. This cousin of hers relented to all his whims. I guess as she is older than him, she tends to ‘mother’ him sometimes.

Firah’s mother couldn’t stand to see the man bossing her niece around that she took the family under her wing so that they could work; well basically to force her husband to work. Firah’s cousin was asked to help cook for Firah’s mother’s food stall. At first it went all right. The husband was working as a driver, Firah’s cousin cooked while Balqis went to kindergarten. But it was too good to be true. Soon after, the husband began giving all sorts of lazy reasons and stopped working. He went back to his hometown in Thailand and forced Firah’s cousin to come back with him. At first she didn’t want to, but because “cinta itu buta”, she went back home leaving her daughter behind because she was schooling. Balqis had come to love staying with Firah and her mother. From a thin toddler, she had grown to be quite chubby. Firah’s mother adored her.

One day, Firah’s cousin came to the house to fetch Balqis. What does a 3-year old toddler knows? She was just excited to see her mother so when her mother said that she wanted to take her back to Thailand, she didn’t mind. Firah’s mother was crying because she couldn’t believe that her niece had given in to her lazy husband’s whims. So, both mother and daughter went back to Thailand and rented a small room with her husband that only has a mat for sleeping (previously they stayed with Firah’s grandmother, but her grandmother couldn’t take it anymore – because of the lazy husband – and kicked them out of the house). People knew where she stayed and tried to take her back to her grandmother’s house, but her husband blackmailed her saying that if she leave him, he would keep Balqis and she will not get to see her at all. So, there was nothing much that she could do.

Months passed by and one day, Firah’s mother went back to Thailand to visit her mother. Word got round to Balqis. She cried wanting to see Firah’s mother. So, the mother gave in and allowed her to see Firah’s mother (the husband wasn’t around; Firah heard that he has become a “pengedar” for ecstasy pills – easy money). When Firah’s mother saw Balqis, both she and her mother cried; Balqis was thin and burning hot with fever. From a chubby toddler, she had grown thin. And she was sick. Firah’s mother took her to the clinic. Balqis didn’t want to go back to her mother. She was so happy to see Firah’s mother that she hugged her like as if she didn’t want to let go.

When Firah told me, I was angry. Angry at Firah’s selfish cousin and her husband. I can’t bear to see a child get hurt while the parents squabble, at HER expense. I mean, she didn’t have much to eat and she was sick, but did her mother send her to the doctor’s? Nooo!! She didn’t. Now how selfish is that? I know that a wife’s position is next to her husband but at the expense of her child? …[sigh]… I don’t know. I guess I’m being a little paranoid because I myself am a parent. If I don’t have Marsya, maybe then I wouldn’t be so emotional about it. Some people may think, “Alah.. anak baru sorang dah nak emosi lebih-lebih pulak,” well what to do. That’s parts and parcels of being a parent. I mean, who would have thought that I would have this sort of compassion for other babies and children that are strangers to me.

Firah told me that her mother was returning to Malaysia tonight. Balqis was putting all her clothes in a plastic bag and was carrying it around Firah’s mother, hoping that Firah’s mother would bring her back. But Firah’s mother sent her back to her mother’s before she left. She couldn’t bear to see the child cry. I can’t help but feel an awful pain for Balqis. I don’t know what’s going to happen to her. I told Firah to bring her back home to Malaysia, but I know that is not possible. Not when her father is in control of the situation. It’s just so sad.

Paheli

I haven’t been watching any Hindi movie lately because none of them seems appealing enough for me to spend about three hours of my time in front of the TV. Besides, the new actors these days are just so new, hence, I have no interest to watch Hindi movies.

However, I was reading the entertainment section a few days ago and the movie Paheli (which was aired on RTM 2) caught my eye. It starred Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukherji. “Now, here’s a movie worth watching”, I thought. Since my Astro is still a bit off due to last week’s thunder and lightning, I couldn’t very well watch Lost on AXN. So, Paheli was just the right thing to see.

The first thing which made me attentive was the colours. Paheli which was based on an Indian folk tale, used a lot of wonderful striking colours and these made Paheli even more interesting.

The movie was about a young newly-wed who were on their way back to the bridegroom’s house after the wedding celebration. The entourage stopped at an old monument for a break. A ghost took a liking in the pretty Latchmi (Rani Mukherji) but when he learnt that Latchmi was married to Kishenlal (Shah Rukh Khan) and about to move over to Kishenlal’s house, he suppressed his interest.

Kishenlal is only interested in making money, due to his greedy father’s influence. Though he took a liking to his new bride, he had to restrain himself from touching her as he had to leave the next morning to the city to make more money. So, poor Latchmi, cried herself to sleep, feeling neglected by her new husband.

The next day, on the way to the city, Kishenlal took rest at the old monument. The ghost saw him and was surprised that he was making a trip so soon considering he just got married. So (taking on a physical form of a man) he asked why Kishenlal was leaving his new wife behind. Kishenlal replied that he had to make money and could only come back after 5 years as that was the opportune time to make a lot of wealth, as had been told by his father. The ghost realised the opportunity, took the form of Kishenlal and returned to the village to see Latchmi. Everyone at the village was surprised that Kishenlal had returned especially his father. But Latchmi was over the moon.

When fake Kishenlal finally got to meet Latchmi, he couldn’t believe his eyes. He also felt guilty as he wasn’t the real Kishenlal. But love got the best of him and thereon, the ghost lived with Latchmi as husband and wife; a very loving and romantic husband.

The real Kishenlal worked in the city to make more money for the father. He also felt weird that his father didn’t send him any news. Whenever he tried to send a letter home, there was no reply. The years passed by and one day he realised that he missed his wife. He felt bad about leaving her behind and wanted to make things right. So he made the journey home.

Meanwhile at home, Latchmi was pregnant much to the bewilderment of the fake Kishenlal. He was afraid at the prospect of the baby to be born but he was also happy as he had this love child with Latchmi. Happiness got the best of him until the day the real Kishenlal stepped into the house. It was such an awkward moment when both Kishenlal’s met face to face. Kishenlal’s family was shocked. Latchmi wasn’t aware of this as ironically as it seems, she had to go into forced labour.

A decision had to be made to decide who the real Kishenlal was. This prevented the ghost to see his newborn baby as the villagers were adamant that a decision on the real Kishenlal be formed first.

The villagers met with a shepherd (Amitabh Bachan) who offered to help them. After a few tests, the final test made the fake Kishenlal gave up his true form. The shepherd asked that whoever was the lover of Latchmi must go inside the water bottle. The ghost couldn’t help himself. He knew it was a trap but he was too in love with Latchmi that he surrendered himself and dispersed to enter into the water bottle. The truth was exposed and all the villagers were shocked.

Back at home, Latchmi cried after learning the news and flashes of images of her and the ghost played in her head. When the real Kishenlal finally met up with Latchmi, he hugged her and promised not to leave her again.

Call me a sucker for romantic movies, but yes… I have to admit that I am.

Paheli is very different than any Hindi movie. Unlike Devdas which was so serious and heavy, Paheli is light and entertaining. The songs in the movie were not presented in a typical Hindi movie and the choreography of Farah Khan made the dances unique and interesting to watch (especially at the end of the movie). Paheli illustrated the old culture of India. The clothes they wear, the sport that they used to play, and the close-knitted culture of an Indian family, are all portrayed in Paheli.

This is not a Yash Chopra movie with music composed by AR Rahman, but it had all the ingredients that made it the best movie as at to date. So, go ahead and watch it. For more information, go check out the website http://srk.bollyvista.com/ and scroll down to Paheli’s official website. You won’t be sorry.

Confrontation

I read a friend’s blog the other day about confronting a certain someone about something. She’s not much of a verbal person, but she went on ahead and confronted it anyway. I applauded her for that as I think it takes a lot of courage not to mention guts, to confront someone, especially if that someone is very dear to you.

Well, I had the opportunity to be confronted recently. A friend of mine, someone quite dear to me confronted on something I said. Considering that I am a ‘tak kisah person’, I didn’t think what I had said would actually created a huge impact on him. Well, he was quite upset and called me up to clarify the matters. We talked on the phone. He was where he was, while I was at the Putrajaya Mosque attending a friend’s akad nikah. It was terrible. I have never engaged in such heated arguments with him before. I raised my voice at him. I couldn’t control my temper. I could sense that he was trying to control his temper by not raising his voice. But the tone of his voice reflected the anger that he had towards me.

I paced up and down the aisle of the mosque while looking out for Marsya (she was enjoying the huge space and was running here and there). The phone was in my left hand. I guess that friend of mine was hurt. I was hurt too. I hated that he accused me there and then. He made me look like a culprit of something bad. I guess I was being a little defensive. I couldn’t help it. He questioned my doings like as if I did something terribly wrong.

Him: What did you tell her? Now she has a bad impression of me

Me: Well, we talked about you. I told her stuff about you just like I would have talked about you to another friend.

Him: But you don’t know her as well as you know another friend.

Me: Yes I do. She’s my friend. I was just trying to be nice to set you up with her. But since you didn’t even have the courtesy to call her after the first date, that created an impression by itself. Don’t accuse me of saying bad things about you.

Him: What else did you tell her?

Me: I told her that you went to the wedding with N. And that you fetched N from Klang and bring her all the way to Seremban just to attend Lin’s wedding. Which by the way she already knows. She even knows that you’re going out with N.

Him: What else?

Me: And that she wasn’t aggressive enough like N, and that’s why you prefer her to N.

Him: Some things are being told to you in the strictest confidence. You have no right to talk about me with her.

Me: Well I’m sorry. I didn’t know that it was supposed to be a secret. Besides, who told you? I bet it was N.

Him: You don’t have to know who told me. That’s not important. What’s important is now that you talked to me behind my back.

Me: I know that it has to be N. Who else? How did N know about this? How do you know that she wasn’t exaggerating it? I know that you’re now going out with N, but that is no reason for you to believe everything N said? She knows you for only a couple of months. Whereas you have known me for more than 10 years.

Him: But that does not give you the right to say things about me.

Me: So I’m sorry. What else do you want me to do? The damage is done. Do you want me to say sorry to you for like a lot of time? Go on, tell me what I should do? So, I have admitted. Is that it? You want me to feel bad, right. Well, I’m sorry. What else do you want me to do?

Him: You shouldn’t have talked to her about me. The thing is, if I don’t tell you, you’ll be asking me a lot of questions. But when I do tell you, you just had to inform her.

Me: Look, we weren’t badmouthing you. Why don’t you call her herself and asked her what we talked about concerning you. Don’t talk to me about it.

Him: I hate it when people have bad impressions of me. Now she’s thinking I’m like that, when I’m not.

Me: So, what did she think of you? Is she wrong to form her own opinion of you?

Him: Yes if it’s based on the wrong perception. You have no right.

Me: Why do you care what she thinks anyway? She’s no concern to you.

Him: That doesn’t mean that you can talk about me with her.

Me: You know what. Fine. Don’t tell me anymore anything about you. I’m not interested. You can go out with anyone you want or marry N for all I care, but I’m happy with life. I was only interested in your life coz I thought we were friends. Well, you can forget about telling me stuff already. You can just keep it to yourself. I don’t have to know what’s going on with your life now coz I don’t want to. I have a husband and a baby and that’s already quite a lot for me to handle. So I’m a blabber mouth. Fine, then don’t tell me anymore coz who knows whom I’ll be spilling your stories to next. Look, I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I want to hang up. You need to cool down and I don’t feel like talking when I’m like this. Maybe we talk some other time.

Then I hung up the phone. I was mad (and sad too). I’m sure he was mad at me. [sigh]… I don’t know. Sometimes I talk without thinking, I guess. I didn’t expect the conversation with her was actually being relayed to him through N..!! I admitted to being a bit defensive. But the damage is done. I was truly sorry for saying things that was supposed to be ‘treated in the strictest of confidence’ to the girlfriend of mine. I was just relaying to her my conversation with him just like I was relaying to another friend.

Now we aren’t talking. I don’t know whether we’ll be talking again. Though I told my friend (the one whose blog I read) that we’ll move on, especially if we’re close friends. But in this case, I don’t know. I just don’t know.

A Daughter At The Workplace

From the moment that the HR department announced that a new executive is joining the company, my colleagues never grew tired of teasing me. They would tease me when they see me, when I’m at the ladies and when I was about to go home. So, when the executive finally joined us, everybody smiled at me in that teasing manner.

The new girl sits in front of me. She’s young. Only 27. She was previously attached to a property development company and now she’s joining us. My colleagues would go up to me and ask me, “So, how’s Marsya today?” and I’d be smiling and saying, “She’s fine”. You see, this new girl bears the same name as my daughter’s. Except that hers is spelt with the letter h.

Marsha seems nice. Soft spoken and well…, nice. I don’t know. Maybe because this is her third day here. But I do have a common platform with her. She used to live in Seremban and she used to study at the Sekolah Rendah Convent Seremban before schooling in TKC. Her older sister was also in Convent primary school. Hhmm… perhaps her sister would know some of my friends as I only joined Convent during the secondary era.

Anyway, considering that she’s still new, I am expecting a lot of teasing from my colleagues here until…, I don’t know, perhaps for another month… [sigh]… What to do. I can’t put a patent to Marsya’s name. After all, Marsha was born BEFORE Marsya. So who am I to complain?

Italy Oh Italy

In January, my dearest Bie went to Italy for a 'working trip' with his boss. Well, here I'd like to share some pictures. The above picture is of Bie with his 'entourage' in Milan.

That's him in a water taxi in Venice.

That's him in Venice, in front of some church or something.

This is in Rome. I can't remember what the building's called though. He told me numerous times.

That's him at the Leaning Tower of Pisa (pronounced as pizza... honest)

The one above is of him in front of the Colleseum (not sure about the spelling).

Another Friend Got Married

About two Saturdays ago, a friend of mine, someone quite close to me, got married. I remember when I got married three years ago, she told me that she would not attend the last friend that was getting married because she didn’t want to go alone. She saw herself as not being able to find a boyfriend, let alone get married. I brushed it off almost immediately as I know that she’d find someone in her life. When that time would come, I wouldn’t know as that is Allah’s will.

Well, she met her boyfriend about a year after I got married at a friend’s wedding. She didn’t think that it was serious. But serious or not, she got married to him after two years of seeing him. She was so beautiful on the day that she got married. During her akad nikah, she wore this short blue embroidered kembaya, with a head veil. When I entered her room that night, I couldn’t believe my eyes. She was truly beautiful. She is actually a simple girl, small in size with straight, rebonded hair. But that night, she looked stunning. When she prepared herself for the majlis berinai after the akad nikah, she was even more beautiful. Unfortunately, I didn’t take those berinai pictures. As her grandmother is a traditional mak andam, she had the opportunity to wear a huge headdress and went through a few traditional ritual where mak andam-ing is concerned. And they made her look good alright. Even my Ibu admitted it.

I knew Lin back during my Convent days. She was one of those goody-goody girls, who was quite clever in class. She liked reading. So, I would see her with novels ALL the time. With her spectacles and curly hair, she would sit and shove her nose into the books without really looking around her to see who was actually sitting next to her! After SRP, she went to MRSM Taiping, and thereafter, she did her A-Levels in the UK (even before the SPM results were out) at this girls’ school somewhere in Scotland. We maintained friendship (surprisingly) and when I went to the UK to do my degree, we kept in contact. As she was in Norwich, and I was in Newcastle, we couldn’t really see each other a lot. So we were constantly on the phones. As Telewest and other telephone cable operators had this cheap weekend rate, we would always ‘date’ on the phone. I did get to see her when I went to Norwich. We stayed in her room and because it wasn’t a planned sleepover she had to scour her friends’ room to look for extra lenses holders! It was funny.

We remained close friends even after we got back to Malaysia. We would meet up for dinner, breakfast on Sundays, meet after work, or I would go to her Ampang condo, just to hang out. It was wonderful. As I used to work at the KLCC, she would drop by KLCC and we would have dinner there. And we could chit-chat for hours. I know a lot about her love stories, which I think I should not dwell into.

When I got married, she was among the girls who stayed back to do my inai. They had to wait for me until 1in the morning as I was busy posing for the cameraman during the ‘tukar-tukar baju’ event. Lin and the other girls later slept at my house as it was too late to go back. There we were on the tikar at the living room, sleeping. It was good.

When she got married, I had wanted to do the same. In fact, I had taken leave a day before the wedding so that I could help out wherever necessary. But alas, I had to work so I couldn’t attend her wedding. She was upset with me but what could I do. So, the day the akad nikah was held, I left the office at 5.45pm as I needed to go back to Seremban immediately. I had to be there when the akad nikah was being carried out. I was lucky as I reached her house at 9pm together with the groom. So, I managed to be there for the akad nikah.

I’m happy that she’s married. And I truly hope that she’ll be happy with her husband and have lots of wonderful children.

Some Pictures At Frasers Hill

The family at Jeriau Waterfalls

Marsya just woke up (dah kena mandi in the cold weather) so she's not very happy

Marsya and I while waiting for our turn at the poison box game

Marsya all smiling at the open space near the Frasers Silverpark

This is my dearest Bie with Marsya at the clock tower

The Trip To Frasers Hill

Last Saturday I went to Frasers Hill with my colleagues. It wasn’t an official company outing. It was just an informal get together with my friends at work. A friend of mine arranged it. Yants arranged the accommodation, the BBQ dinner (she got another male colleague to help out) and the telematch games. They were really good. I couldn’t attend the telematch though because I came in a bit late that Saturday. We got up at Frasers Hill at 5pm; that’s when the gate opens to go up. If I had arrived at 5.41pm, the guards wouldn’t let me up because that would be the time that vehicles from Frasers Hill were coming down. The road was just a single lane.

The weather was wonderful. It was cool and not hot. As I arrived at 5pm, the temperature hadn’t fallen that much. So it was alright. Marsya was excited to get out of the car. My colleagues saw the car stopped at the reception of Frasers Silverpark Resort and they started to wave like mad. I quickly opened the car door and the cool wind brushed my face. I picked Marsya up and placed her on the ground. She started walking even before I could say the word “Marsya, stop…!!”. I guess she was just too happy to be walking about.

There were about 30 of us. All with maids, children and mothers. Not long everybody was touching Marsya’s face, arm and hand. Since Marsya wasn’t afraid of strangers, they enjoyed playing with her. Zaili led Marsya to the slides, and believe me, Marsya kept on asking for more slides! After the telematch, everyone retired to their rooms to get ready for the BBQ dinner. I finally had the opportunity to check into my apartment.

My first reaction was, “Is this it? Why is it so quiet? Where are the rest of the tourists?”. Kim and I were the only ones staying at block A1. The rest was in A2. I had an eerie feeling as I stepped out of the lift. As Bie opened the door, my mouth couldn’t stop reciting the Kursi. I entered the room and inspected its contents. It was just like any normal 1-bedroom studio apartment. There were two sofas, a large cupboard, a double bed, and the kitchen. I checked the bathroom. Not really something that I expected. It wasn’t as cozy as any other hotel bathrooms that I had been to (I loved Equatorial Bukit Jambul in Penang. Best..!). But I had to make do with it whether I like it or not. I quickly unpacked and bathed myself before I bathed Marsya. At 8pm, we went down for the BBQ dinner.

The dinner was good. The selection of food was nice. There was lamb, chicken, prawns, fish, sausages, coleslaw, fried rice, spaghetti, and corn. They were good. But I couldn’t enjoy them as much as I had wanted to because Marsya was walking everywhere. My dearest Bie and I had to alternately feed ourselves so that we could look out for Marsya. When the group photo was taken (well, I would say partial group photo as not everybody was in it), I was breastfeeding Marsya underneath the stars behind a fir tree! It was 10.30pm and I guess Marsya’s tantrums meant that she was sleepy. So, we retired to our room.

In the room, I had to slowly take off Marsya’s pants and jacket because they were dirty. Luckily she didn’t wake up. After that, I thought of watching Cerekarama with Bie, but soon after, I was nodding to sleep myself. So, I went to bed. I slept until about 7am. In fact, I had a good sleep, despite the initial eerie feeling I had when I entered the room. Marsya also slept soundly. She woke up twice for her morning breastfeeding, but it wasn’t such a sleep-disturbance because I just fed her naturally (the beauty of breastfeeding).

The next day, we went down to the café for breakfast. The selection wasn’t really happening. I still remember the Istana hotel breakfast buffet. The selection was among the best. A friend of mine vomited because she had too much to eat. Anyway, the morning scenery at Frasers Hill was breathtaking. It was cool and there was mist everywhere. After breakfast, we went for sightseeing at Frasers Hill. We drove to the Jeriau waterfalls (and climbed the long steps down just to touch the waterfall water) and stopped by at the clock tower to take pictures. Then we went back to the room to pack our stuff.

At 2pm, the gate to go down Frasers Hill opened. I was kind of sad. I loved the cool weather. Leaving Frasers Hill meant that I couldn’t breathe in the fresh air anymore.

Back at the office, my colleagues shared a story that made some of us here tremble. Fadz brought along her mother to the trip. At 2am, her mother was rudely woken. She stared at the foot of her bed and saw two figures, clad in white telekung looking at her. She was shocked and screamed, “Allahu Akbar!”. One of the specters disappeared. She screamed again, repeating Allahu Akbar. Then the remaining specter disappeared. Apparently, that was the only incident that took place among our small entourage. I was thankful. My family had a good sleep and we were lucky because those night visitors did not visit us at 2am to say hi…

Will post pictures soon.

The Many Faces of Marsya Hazirah

Tengoklah tu. Orang naik basikal, dia pun nak naik gak. Here she is with Yana on the bicycle.

This is when we went to Aunt Yamm's house for raya. She was just so eager to go to the camera and grab it off my hands. She is wearing a baju kurung here, dijahit khas oleh Uwan Cik dia.

Nie lagi satu tengah protest. She didn't want to sit in the pushchair so here, she was screaming her heart out.

I was washing the clothes and tengah sidai baju kat balcony. Dia sibuk nak ikut aku sidai baju sekali. And lately, she has a thing for this small baldi. So without I realised it, she fell into the baldi (takde air tau). At first she cried, then she stopped crying (meraih simpati jer sebenarnya) and enjoyed the scenery while eating a biscuit sambil kaki goyang2. As you can see, siap jilat tangan and jari tu...

Baru-baru ni, when I got back from work, Marsya was wearing Nurul's tudung. She looked happy in it and Bie just couldn't resist but take her pictures. Here she was waving to her Abi as her Abi takes her picture.

There are more to come.. latest ones... tungggguuu...

The Fours That Came And Went

I have been tagged by a friend to actually list down all the ‘fours’ that I have done throughout my entire 29 years of life. Well, here goes…


Four Jobs I Have In My Life

Currently working at a property development company (not listed by the way) in a department called Corporate Planning and Business Development. I have been here for more than 5 years now. Maybe it’s time for me to move on. To greener pastures and hopefully better pay… considering that petrol price has increased by 20% and my pay isn’t really heading towards that direction. But we’ll see. All in good time (what am I rambling about…)

Worked with an advisory company somewhere in Maxis Tower, KLCC. I did a bit of corporate finance. I find it highly fascinating. Not only was my office kind of cool, but the work was also very challenging. But alas, I couldn’t stay there long. Some people there made me want to bring a gun to work (joke lah…). So I resigned.

As a highly respected cleaner at ETAM, Eldon Square in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. It was a 3 times a week job which started as early as 6am. So I would wake up at 5am and walk all the way to the City centre and enter Eldon Square through a backdoor. There were two cleaners there. There was me, and a local lady (who wasn’t very friendly – she didn’t talk to me much). I usually alternate my duties with the local lady. If she did the top floor, I would be doing the ground floor. But I don’t know why I had to clean the toilet all the time. What to do; makan gaji lah katakan.

As a temporary teacher in a primary school in Seremban. I was only 19 so my students (the standard six ones) were very nice to me, especially the boys. They would wait for me after school and carry my books and walked home with me. And when I finished teaching there, they bought me gifts.

Four Movies I Can Watch Over and Over

Sabrina – starring Harrison Ford, Julia Ormond and Greg Kinear. I love this movie. I know that it’s actually a remake of the old one, but I guess I love this new version.

Pretty Woman – starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gear. I LOVE this movie and can watch it over and over again.

The Wedding Singer – starring Drew Barrymore, Adam Sandler and a few others. I like the 80’s setting and the big hairdo and Sandler is so funny in the movie

All the Bujang Lapok series (especially Bujang Lapok). I can watch all of them over and over and over again.

There are actually many other movies that I can watch over and over again. For example, Dil To Pagal Hai and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. But the above are currently at the top of my head. They’re light and entertaining and are highly suitable if you just want to rest your mind and head.

Four TV Shows I Love To Watch

CSI Miami (I like Horatio) and Vegas (I don’t like CSI New York).

Charmed – what to do. I just love all the three sister. The Power of Three is waaaayyy coool. I sometimes wish that I myself am a sexy witch.

Lost – Except that I didn’t see the last episode of the first season and dahlah nak tunjuk the second season. I know that AXN kept on showing re-runs but I always seem to miss it.

Sitcoms like Friends (my favourite), Everybody Loves Raymond (I just love Marie and her superiorness but I hate the father; obnoxious giler..!!) and That 70’s Show (but it’s not shown now.. too bad)

Four Places I've Lived

Seremban, Shah Alam, and Kuala Lumpur tu considered as one place ker? Well, if yes, then I have stayed there and am currently living in Kuala Lumpur.

Fenham in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne (that’s when I did my degree and is one of my favourite living place)

Saltley in Birmingham (that’s when my Ayah did his Phd – I loved staying here. Wouldn’t mind staying here again)

Can I just have three as I don’t think I have lived anywhere else except for the above.

Four Places I've Been On Vacation To

Nearly all of the places in the UK except for the Northern Ireland. From Scotland to Wales to Land’s End to the Midlands, etc. I love all places. So yes, I consider myself to have gone on vacation on all those cities and towns.

Bits of Europe. This was during the time when Ayah did his Phd. It was just before the end of the summer holidays back in 1988. We drove to Dover and got on the ferry to Calais. From there onwards, we went camping to various parts of Europe. We went to France, Amsterdam, West Germany (at that time East Germany was still a communist country), Luxembourg and Switzerland. The best place was Switzerland. We camped near the Lake Geneva and the view was tremendously beautiful. I loved it very much. We also managed to go to Mont Blanc (not all the way to top; just at the foot of the hill). The holidays were fantastic. We learnt a lot of things especially about the European people and their culture. Heck, we even dropped our pillows whilst on the way to Dover and we only realised it when we reached Calais.

Concorde Hotel in KL on new year of 2003. It was one of the best vacation ever. I suppose you can call it our honeymoon because we just got married a few days before.

Sutera Beach Resort in Terengganu. It was alright.

Four Places I'd Rather Be In

At this moment, right now, I’d rather be at home with my Dearest Bie and baby, just lazing.

Otherwise, I’d rather be in a first class plane to Spain for a 2-week holiday with my Dearest Bie and baby.

Or, be sitting on the pathway of the Great Wall of China while watching Marsya running here and there.

Or take Marsya on one of those baby rides in Disneyland, California.

Four of My Favourite Food

Chicken Monterey at Chillies.

Thai Food at D’Cheng Mai in Sungai Buloh (the best Thai food in the Klang Valley as agreed by my Thai friend).

Mud Pie at TGI (fantastic I tell you. It’s all chocolatey with bits of oreo in the centre…pendekata, the best dessert I have had so far)

Curry laksa at Little Penang.

Actually banyak lagi, but the above 4 are among the best. In fact, my friend’s baked macaroni pun best.

Four Websites I Visit Daily

Google.com (very effective search engine).

The Star online.

Virgin radio – the music that we all love.

Pah’s and Yamm’s blog.

Four Victims To Do This Tag

No one in particular coz if suruh pun, I doubt whether they’d do it. But these are the people that I want:

Murni

Min.

Makcik.

Zha.

Sometimes Having Relatives …Sucks

Ibu called me yesterday and told me that an aunt of mine has defaulted on her JPA loan, which she used when she furthered her studies (thank goodness, locally). And as Ibu was the guarantor, the lawyer’s letter went to her. Apparently, no one knows where Aunt MU lives now. Since her husband passed away more than 3 years ago, she has re-married (she’s now a second wife to some KP in Perlis somewhere) and we all have kind of lost contact with her. Even her kids do not know where she is. You see, the kids were closer to the arwah as opposed to her. I pity her children. All three girls are fully grown up now. The youngest I think is 18 years of age (I think so. I mean, I haven’t seen them for ages). And they are good girls. Recently, the grandmother who took care of them passed away due to heart complications. Now, I don’t know what happened to the girls. It’s lucky that they’re bright. So I think they would do well and prosper in life, Insya-Allah.

Ibu expressed her sadness and disappointment that Aunt MU defaulted on her loan. She was worried at the thought that she may have to start paying for the loan. I advised her accordingly (and hope that Ayah finds Aunt MU to give her his piece of mind). When my Uncle passed away, she was worried that she couldn’t get her hands on the EPF money as she had these girls to care for. I can understand her worries because education is expensive these days. Ayah did the necessary and the EPF monies were given to her, as custodian for her kids. Ibu was there to console her. She was constantly on the phone with Ayah and Ibu seeking comfort and advice.

But now this happens. I am very mad.

Bila nak kita tolong, sungguh baik hati, tapi sekarang..??

I am seriously upset at own relatives doing these sort of things. In fact, this issue about default on loan is just the tip of the iceberg. There are many other issues but I don’t want to touch on them. Let them be embedded in my head for me to think alone (well, I sometimes let it out at my Dearest Bie or friends. I can’t help it. I’m like a pressure cooker – sometimes).

Well, whatever it is, I truly hope that Allah will always protect me and my family. I pray that Allah protects my Intan Payung 14 month old baby from any harm and misgivings. I also pray that Bie, my parents, my in-laws and my siblings are sheltered and always in the protection and guidance of Allah, Insya-Allah…

He Is Back..!!

At the time that you’re reading this email, my Dearest Bie has already returned to Malaysia. Cuma malas nak update. Anyway, he's jet lagged and all and very tired. He came back on Wednesday, 8 February 2006, instead of the original Tuesday. He and the gang decided to extend one more day in Amsterdam because when they reached Amsterdam, it was already late and the shops have already closed. Not wanting to miss the winter sales in Amsterdam, his boss decided to extend one more day which was of course unanimously agreed with the rest of the gang. I was a little upset when I learnt that he was only coming back the next day, but as the day picked up, I was alright with it. As long as he came back, then I was fine.

The morning finally arrived. I was a little excited. At 7.30am as I was waiting for the red light to turn green at the Stadium Paroi junction, I received a phone call. My Dearest Bie has checked out and was currently having coffee at Delifrance. I was ecstatic. I drove rather quickly (BUT still within the speed limit) and reached KLIA around 8.20am. I parked my car at the side of the road where the arrival hall is and went out. I scoured through the crowd looking for him. But I couldn’t find him. As I walked to and fro near the car, I saw him. He was wearing his Mickey Mouse t-shirt and grayish bluish pants. I maintained my excitement. In my head, I saw myself running to him and jumping on him with my legs entwined about his waist. BUT, that didn’t happen. Of course I wouldn’t do that. Not with my 3 inches new high heel (I recently bought to make myself feel better at the thought of Bie enjoying himself in Italy). He pushed his trolley towards me and asked me to open the car boot. I did so and he arranged his luggage in the car boot. I went back into the car and he joined me at the passenger seat. Then I salam his hands and said, “Welcome home”.

I took him for breakfast at the mamak shop in Senawang. He had roti telur while I had roti kosong banjir. It was fun seeing he ate. He seemed to enjoy the food. Yerlah, more than 10 days of just eating pizza is hardly something to brag about. Although he did tell me that he had kebab and a briyani sort of rice in Amsterdam (a lot of Moslems there) so it wasn’t entirely pizza all the way. When we got back, Ayah bought soto lagi for breakfast. And surprisingly, he ate the soto as well. Like as if he didn’t have any breakfast already, walhal dah makan roti telur earlier on.

After showing me the handbags that he bought for me, he slept and didn’t wake up until 5.30pm. Marsya was happy to see him. She didn’t want to let go of him when he picked her up.

We went back to KL the next day. He sent me straight to the office. In the car, he spoke a lot of things that he did and saw while he was in Italy and Amsterdam. I did feel a little jealous with all his stories, but I tried to suppress it. It wasn’t healthy.

So there you have it. Bie is back. He bought a lot of stuff. Well, basically they’re for his parents, my parents, my siblings, his siblings, Maksu’s family and little trinkets and souvenirs for his friends. The nice part was that each time he bought something, there was always an extra. He knew that I would have wanted it for myself as well, so he bought an extra for me. So, I got an extra of everything (except for the green scarf which I didn’t like. He anticipated it and gave it to his mother).

His boss liked the Italy holiday. And in June, his boss is thinking of going to the States. That kind of worried me because there is a small possibility that his boss will invite my Dearest Bie to this trip. However, this is not confirmed yet. It’s all too soon to say anything. My Dearest Bie dah pening kepala. Not pening at the prospect of going to the States, that one, he said it’ll be cool. But the thought of my antics is what he is worried about. This means that he would have to layan my antics which would probably be a lot worse compared to the time he went to Italy. What to do. Anything to ambil my hati. And he knows that.