See ya, mate!

Ok, in case some of you are wondering, things look set to change a bit for kamidisini in 2008. we’ll be going flying home on Monday, and while the Hasbern returns to Perth in early January, Ilhan and I will be here to usher in a new member of the family (insya Allah) and stay on till….whenever…haha

Thing is, WA is experiencing a major boom sending living expenses for a growing family almost impossible to cope on a measly self-funding international student budget. The rental crunch is especially bad, with the rental agents and landlords going *ka-ching* and grinning evil-ly all the way to the bank. A 2-bedroom villa/apartment/house which was probably $160/week just a few years ago is about $260/week now, and it just keeps getting worse. Factor in the costs of childcare, groceries, petrol blah blah blah, there you have it.

And lest some people start extolling the virtues and benefits of being permanent residents here, we are not. Yet. Insya Allah that will come through sometime next year, tapi itu cerita tahun depan.  Even so, we don’t look at things through rose-tinted glasses. Nature’s nice, beaches are empty, space and pace is good, but survival comes first, no?

All our baby stuff are back home in SG anyway, so that’ll save us a lot. And you can’t beat good ‘ol mother, mother-in-law, nenek, nenek-in-law pampering that you’ll get…haha…:P

 
And so, Perth has been an amazing learning experience. We saw the good, the bad and the downright ugly. I am so going to miss my indon pengajian group, who (unlike some fellow countrypeople) sees me through thick and thin.  Yang baik jadi teladan, buruk jadi sempadan dan memang pengalaman ini telah mendewasakan. We are grateful for the nice people who touched our lives in our way or another, and the intangibles which have made the 3 of us closer as a family.

 

And so these past week has been a mad flurry of sorting and packing – apa nak pack, apa kena jual (sebenarnya bab ni pun ada orang nak ambil kesempatan...manusia eh? ), apa nak buang, apa nak kasi Good Sammy, apa nak minta tolong jasa baik orang simpankan. and making a list of what we shall eat when we get home…hehehe!

 

I’ve so many stuff to update before we leave on Monday, but our ADSL connection has been down for almost a week (biasalah tu, try get anything to move fast around here). Primus said something might be wrong with our cable – kena gigit tikus kot – so right now we are relying on s.l.o.w dialup. Jadilah.

 

KFC and SGD$1.20 masala thosai….here we come!

A Very Mild Guide to Halal Eating in Perth

As some of you would know, kamidisini likes to eat. And no matter how I’d like to think that my culinary skills has improved (out of necessity basically) since we got here, there’s only so much cooking (mis)adventures kamidisini can take.

 

Hence, after almost a year of being here, we present to you the Kamidisini’s Very Mild Guide to Halal Eating in Perth. Why mild? Because we erm…are quite mild people, and can’t bring ourselves to give scathing comments about food. Tak baik kan, orang tu nak carik makan (but then again kita pun memang tengah literally carik makanan eh? but nevermind).  Also, we are non-connoisseurs and taste-wise we are quite easy to please.

 

[Disclaimer: Some of these eateries are not ICWA-certified halal, but are owned by Muslims or are basically seafood)

 

Fish and Chips

Cicerellos (Fremantle)

This is probably the first place first-time visitors to Freo will head for, cos it’s more visible and..hmm..iconic? and it’s got this 22-m gorgeous aquarium which will enthrall kids and makbapak kids alike. But, menu-wise I think they have limited choices as compared to…

 

Kailis’ Fish Market Café (next door)

I love the market section where you see cooked fat red lobsters and prawns on display. The café side has oohlala cakes while their core business of fishchips has a better selection of sets.

 

Malay

Insan’s Café (Perth City)

One of the first Malay restaurants we went to. The owner’s from Cocos Island. Wide selection of dishes; boleh tahan jugaklah. I like to see the nenek cooking in the kitchen.

 

Al-Noor (Spencer Village, Thornlie)

Far from our place, but quite worth the drive there. Very friendly husband-wife team from Singapore. The first time we were here we wanted to order EVERYTHING on the board – macam-macam ada and the pictures are very tantalizing. Sedap jugaklah. Plus point: epok-epok dia gemuk dan sedap, dan ada kuih dadar. Cheapest kuih too, $1 each.

 

Makan-Makan Cafe (Vic Park)

Pretty overrated, we think, and standards have slipped, the Nasi Goreng Kampung used to be Nasi Goreng Kampung, but not anymore. Very good the-tarik (standard price here $3). Frequented mainly by students, the place to see and be seen.

 

Indonesian (we always love their keropok and iced teh sosro)

 

Latansa Cafe (Vic Park) – Aceh/Sumatra

I wrote an entry on them once. We used to love coming here, mainly because of the big LCD TV showing Indon sinetron. But hey..a dose of Hikmah can’t make up for the tiny portions. Sorry Ilhan.

 

Batavia Restaurant (Vic Park)

Very nice, macam-macam ada. Very nice Mie Ayam Jamur Pangsit Bakso (ha kau…triple whopper..haha…that’s Mee Ayam Mushroom Wantan Bakso for you). Very nice tahu telur, gado-gado, nasi kuning set with the balado and all, ayam penyet, you get the idea.

 

Bintang Café (Vic Park, next door to Batavia)

I personally prefer this tiny eatery. They offer the same thing as Batavia but they have this warung-feel to it. You’d almost feel like you’re in some warung in Jakarta complete with the 70-s Indonesian pop playing softly on the background. Very nice Mie Ayam Jamur Pangsit Bakso too.

 

Djumbaran Bali (off South Street)

Jauh (dah dekat Freo), and the one time we went there itu takde ini takde. Don’t you hate when that happens. A waitress hands you the menu which you drool over and then goes “Oh we’ve run out of that” to the first 3 things you ask for. So too bad, we can’t really comment.

 

Thai

 

Supreme Thai (Girrawheen)

The first Thai place that we tried. Thai-owned. Nice selection, but a bit lacking in the dessert department. And by dessert I mean my favourite pulut with mangga which I so love. Generally ok.

 

Sara Thai (Karawarra, very near Curtin Uni)

Just got to know this place, and we think we prefer this one. Owned and run by a former SQ stewardess. They have kick-ass tomyam and after eating our main dishes we didn’t have any room for dessert unfortunately. But I think they have my pulut mangga.

 

Indian

 

Singapore Indian Muslim

We come here only for the the-tarik and mee goreng mamak, which is the best mee goreng mamak we’ve ever tasted, even better than any in Singapore (and I’m not a mee/nasi goreng mamak fan mind you). Everytime we have the mee goreng here we’d be trying to guess apa dia letak sampai sedap macam ni, and try as we would, we couldn’t replicate it at home.

 

Sinbad Curry House (Spencer Village, Thornlie)

Also Singapore-family owned, and oh they’re really good! Worth the long drive, cos they really taste like mamak stall back home. Their the-tarik murtabak, briyani, prata cheese/banana (the whole range) and especially their thosai is wunderbar! And best of all, they are the cheapest of them all (eg murtabak $7)! And did I mention their masala thosai is as good as it tastes back home?

 

Maya Masala (Malaga Markets and Mirrabooka Square outlets)

This Northern Indian joint is quite good. The nasi+dishes sets are nice and the naan and butter chicken is yummy. And the Morley outlet baru buka and I have my $8.50 thosai fix there (cos it’s only 5 minutes from home and Sinbad is too far away).

 

Note: in all these mamak restaurants, do not order the prata. It’ll cost you like $2-$3 per piece while you can buy the frozen Kawanku-brand Paratha and fry them yourself at home ($2.50/pack of 5).

 

Chicken

 

Charco’s and Charcoal Chicken (Carousel, Inglewood, Vic Park, outlets)

I dunno if they are under the same company, but they all serve the exact same thing and taste so I guess they. Love their Portuguese chicken, and go for the Slimmer’s Pack. I have no idea why they call it the Slimmer’s Pack since the set consists of a huge quarter roasted chicken and your choice of 3 ‘salads’ which is really enough for 2 hungry people. For my ‘salads’ I love their crème potatoes (which I can’t replicate at home), seafood salad and Caesars salad. Their ribs set is nice too, but it’s an indulgence cos you’d probably need to swallow a whole bottle of washing detergent afterwards to get rid of all the fats and grease you can feel sticking to your digestive system afterwards.

 

Chooks (Mirrabooka Village)

Sells fried chicken, chicken burgers. The Hasbern loves it, but I find it a bit salty. But when the craving for KFC gets so bad, it’ll do.

 

Turkish/Kebabs and Pizza (they are everywhere here, so I’ll just mention the worthy ones. Oh..and our favourite sauces combo for kebabs anywhere is sour cream and sweet chilli.)

 

ISPA Kebab (Harbourtown)

The best kebab, I think. Wonderful after you feel spent (physically and economically) shopping at Harbourtown. Go for the baked potato combo..very worth it.

 

Istanbul Kitchen (Fitzgerald Street, Mt Lawley)

They’ve got nice pizza, especially the cheese pizza which I ate for the first time when Zaqy and Filzah were here (Filzah’s a cheese fan too, right Fil? She ordered this). It’s purely 2-3 types of cheese. But the downside is they use Turkish bread (which is thick and spongy) as the base.

 

Ali’s Pizzeria

The Kite Runner is one of my most fascinating reads, and Ali and his 3 brothers happen to be Afghans of what I think are the Hazara tribe. I read this book Tales from a Suitcase – The Afghan Experience which documents the survival stories of Afghan refugees in Australia, and the Hazara story rings a bell. Everytime I eat here I wish I could ask Ali and his brothers their story, but macam kepo kan?

 

Oh, anyway, their thin-crust pizzas are the best!! They serve very Italian-sounding thin-crust pizzas (not the pizza hut or Turkish varieties) and pastas like gnocchi and ravioli parmagiana which you can’t get halal anywhere else.

 

Ok, so that’s it for now. Hope you found this very mild guide helpful in some way :)

The Day I'm No Longer in My Twenties.

Start:

Jan 7, '08 02:00a

just where did 29 years go?

4th Wedding Anniversary

Start:

Dec 20, '07 02:00a

...and many many many more to go insya Allah :)

Balik Kampung

Start:

Dec 17, '07 02:00a

all our bags are (almost) packed, we're ready to go...
goodbye perth, we'll see you when we see you again :)

Face-Painting, Again.

by now you should now how Ilhan loves having his face painted. this was at Morley Summer Fiesta and we queued for a good half-hour to get him looking like one of the Turtles (i dunno which one).

khalidah and farah - 15 years on

it's been 15 years since we last met, so you can imagine how we were squealing and hugging and jumping when we finally met up again - here in perth. at farah's place in Canning Vale, under the pretext of a playdate for our kids.

goodness...15 years! that's 15 years of no contacts whatsoever mind you. we first met at a camp in sec 1 (farah says she still has that oh-my-god-that's-us-doing-the-running-man-at-campfire-photo!!!), were buddies until we got busy with O levels and all (i live in the west, she in the east) and then we lost touch.

until now. oh the wonders of facebook!

so anyway, since we are both well past our glorious slim shady days and are not very photo-worthy, here are photos of our offsprings instead. Ilhan was quite overwhelmed by Amara in the beginning ("I'm shy..." kata anak bujang aku) but they got along fine. and for those who knows farah talib, she's every inch still very much farah :)

oh very nigella lawson too!

here's to more playdates! :)

from Him we come and to Him we return.

i got this from huda's site, and it stunned me.

melihat gambar ini aku tersentak dan diselubungi rasa sebak, kerdil dan insaf tentang kewujudan kita sebagai insan yang sememangnya fana ini. mungkinkah kehidupan kita akan bernoktah begini?

betapa sayangnya Allah dengan hambaNya ini.

Here is a man who passed away while in sajdah in Masjidul Nabawi( Saudi Arabia )- Allahu Akbar - What a beautiful end!!! 
Prayer is the key to Paradise,there is no excuse to miss it .

If a praying person knew to what extent he was
surrounded by Allah's Mercy, he would never raise his head from Prostration.

Feel free to pass on this reminder to all ... Because the Prophet (sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) said:
'Pass on knowledge from me even if it is only one Verse'

can you tell me how to get...

this got me cracking early in the morning! surely the world has other things to worry about other than Cookie Monster's dietary habits or Bert & Ernie's living/sleeping arrangements? :P

*******************************************************************************************************

The New Paper

Monday Dec 3 2007

'Sesame Street: Old School' released with warning

(Dec 1) HOW to get to Sesame Street? Don't tell the children.

Recently, the earliest episodes, covering the decade from 1969 to 1979, were re-released on DVD. But apparently, the series that so shaped the young minds of millions worldwide - many Singaporeans among them - has been deemed suitable only for adults.

A warning by the creators on volumes one and two of Sesame Street: Old School said: 'These early Sesame Street episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today's preschool child.'

The New Paper could not find a copy despite calling several DVD retailers here. But each volume is also available online at store.sesame- workshop.org for US$39.95 ($58).

Sesame Street executive producer Carol-Lynn Parente told the New York Times that Alistair Cookie (Cookie Monster's alter-ego) used to appear with a pipe and eat it on Monsterpiece theatre and 'that modelled the wrong behaviour'. So the scenes were reshot, this time pipe-free, and then the parody was dropped.

Oscar The Grouch was another problem. The filthy, trash can-dwelling muppet was, well, too grouchy. 'We might not be able to create a character like Oscar now,' Ms Parente said.

Also, back then, Cookie Monster didn't care about fruits or vegetables, like he does now. Snuffleupagus was only a figment of Big Bird's imagination (he became real in 1985). And the unfathomably cheerful Elmo didn't exist.

It is understood that Sesame Street: Old School will be released unrated in Singapore. This means it is suitable for all ages. Singapore is typically seen to be more conservative than the US. A case in point: The temporary banning and M18 rating for the Xbox 360 game Mass Effect because of a lesbian scene between a woman and an alien.

But if even we found it okay, why did Sesame Street feel the need to add a warning? Perhaps it's because of the lawsuit-happy culture in the US.

Assistant Professor Bradley Freeman from Nanyang Technological University's (NTU) Wee Kim Wee School of Communication And Information, wondered if the label sounded like a legal disclaimer. 'So they don't end up sued by parents whose children end up getting fat after watching Cookie Monster,' he said.

Mr Caleb Liu, 26, a former foreign service officer, quipped: 'Far from being labelled 'adult programming' that is 'unsuitable for children', the DVDs should be labelled 'children's programming' that is 'unsuitable for adults without a sense of imagination'.'

Some parents also feel that it's a case of being over-protective towards youngsters. Mr Noel Tan, 37, a father of three, said it's ludicrous to say those episodes of Sesame Street are not suitable for preschoolers, when there are far worse programmes on TV.

Mr Tan, a programme manager and co-founder of Sanctuary House, a volunteer charity organisation which dedicates itself to saving abandoned babies, said: 'It is political correctness gone overboard.'

Educational psychologist Amanda Kok, from Dynamics OTC Therapy Centre For Kids, said it is difficult to gauge what is over-protection. It is up to the parent, she said.

EXPOSURE IS GOOD

Psychologist Daniel Koh of Insights-Tse said: 'Children who are exposed to both good and bad (situations) are much more equipped to deal with anything that happens in life, making them both socially and emotionally resistant.'

However, NTU's Assistant Professor Freeman, who has researched children's TV policy and programming, said: 'As a parent, it doesn't hurt to have a warning.' The father of a 1 1/2-year-old daughter also suggested that the target market may not be children but nostalgic adults.

Sesame Street is one of the most researched children's shows ever, he noted. He said researchers had found that Sesame Street wasn't really teaching children to love learning, but just how TV teaches learning. And that while children who watch Sesame Street have a better vocabulary, the advantage fades by age 6.

No one needs to be worried.

He doubts that old-school Sesame Street would be attractive to today's children, who are reared on fast-paced programming. 'They'll be bored,' he said.

------

REASONS:

OSCAR THE GROUCH

Too negative

COOKIE MONSTER

Binges on too many cookies

BERT

Has too-close relationship with male roommate Ernie?

 

Tentang Lalat

Ilhan and good mate Seth

Summer has kicked in, and all the lalats of Australia have come out to play. They are a.n.n.o.y.i.n.g I tell you. They are everywhere, not just near longkangs or rubbish dumps back home. They are buzzing everywhere, boldly landing on your face especially around the eyes and nose area. Urgh. Now that I’m older I know that, no, them landing on your skin (especially your face) will not leave you looking like Sharifah Aini, but still having a group of them vying for a spot in your nostrils is URGH!

 

Anyway, something happened at bedtime today. I was tucking Ilhan in and there was this persistent buzz in the room. You know what they say about how the buzz of a single fly/mozzie can be the most deafening sound?  Alamak...punya fed-up. I tried swatting it with a towel. Ilhan was giggling cos my swatting dance must have looked quite a sight. But when he realized that I was hell-bent on exterminating the pest, and when I said a triumphant “Ha..kau..kau…kau…” when my swat kena the fly, he sat up and said…

 

Ilhan: “Ibu jangan pukul lalat yah. Tak baik kan.”

Me: “Hmm? Tapi dia kan dirty and noisy.”

Ilhan: (at this point his voice and lips were quavering) “Tapi kan dia noisy sikit aje. Tak noisy banyak. Kesian dia. Ibu jahat. Tak sayang ibu.”

 

And he turned the other side and covered his face with his bambam (bantal busuk). Bukan main sedih lagi kawan tu.

 

At that moment I felt like Cruella de Vil.

 

I had to apologise to him and the lalat species in general. I was let off with a stern “Ibu jangan pukul lalat lagi. Tak baik kan.”

 

Crikey! Watch out mates...I might have the next Steve Irwin in my hands! J

 

The Day Ilhan Turned Twee

brought him to an indoor playground at Malaga, and hola...they happened to have face-painting that day. apa lagi...si face-painting junkie ni pun chose an ogre face and got transformed.

it was a very mini celebration after buka, just the 3 of us and a cake. ilhan added 3 toys to his collection - a set of Playdoh, another Transformer and Spiderman-with-web.

it's amazing how he has gtransformed from the pretty docile 2-yr old when we first came to a very interesting 3-yr-old 'big boy' now. some traits are showing, and he amazes me with his imagination and creativity when it comes to certain activities. and nenek, dia dah takde masalah posing untuk kamera :)

it's interesting observing his character and personality showing through. the other day we had an argument about something and i refused to budge and he crossed his arms and said:

"I'm angry. You don't understand me."

ait? a preview of teenage angst? i wasn't expecting that for another 12 years!!

Perth Royal Show

we went to the Perth Royal Show on 30th September 2007. it's an annual thing which started way back in 1894, and is a must for everyone - especially ride-junkies and parents of a budding ride-junkie. oh yes, Ilhan who was once afraid of the 'naik-naik' now wants to get on every single ride, many times over.

It was during Ramadhan and it was HARD cos they were sooooooooooooooo many junk food stalls and ice-cold drink stalls and well, you get the idea.

a new vice

these past month has been Submission Weeks for The Hasbern. taking non-exam modules this semester equals countless papers and endless assignments, hence the disappearance of yours truly as he uses both the laptop and desktop simultanerously. although i have absolutely no idea what his works are about, they're pretty interesting in that they make him sound like Horatio's IT-nerd-sidekick. stuff like 'computer forensics', 'network forensics'. i know this kakak doing her doctorate on 'accounting forensics'. i guess forensics is the in-thing now eh?

we've been doing quite a lot of stuff the past month, but hai....the photos semua bersepah-sepah all over - laptop, desktop, mobile phones, digital camera. i'll sort them out slowly.

my mak and brother were here for a good 12 days, and it's great to see loved ones from home. we had fun going down south to margaret river and doing the usual stuff around perth. my kitchen, especially my pantry and my fridge, has been 'spruced up' and inventoried as only a mother knows how.

 

i've also engaged in a new vice those precious minutes when the desktop is not in use. 4-letter word. Ebay. gawd...it's been so addictive, especially since the Oz ebay has maternity clothes with long sleeves and in real woman's sizes (and not those stick-insect sizes in singapore).the bids start as low as $0.99 and i give myself a maximum of about $15 (ok, ok, this one bedek, got a few went over the limit alreay) and i got my first item in a package today. wah so happy one.

for you sharp-eyed ones, yes you saw the word right. meet Ilhan's adik, akan datang 1 may 2008 insya Allah..

 

16 weeks now alhamdullillah. this blessing was totally unexpected, coming immediately after the miscarriage in July. thank you so much for your prayers and good wishes then - as you can see, wishes do come true :) 2009 will be a baby boom year in my family, with me, my dear sister, sister-in-law and 2 cousins all due to pop around march-april-may-june. ahaks!

 

big changes coming our way....watch this space!

bring it on

Misery is tiring. I’ve since snapped out of the boo-hoo-hoo-aku-nak-balik-raya mode and am making the best of the situation. It is, after all, what seems likely to be situation for the foreseeable future. My darling Hasbern had very touchingly almost booked 2 flights back for raya for me and Ilhan, but I graciously and and adamantly refused. Susah senang kita bersama…cedey bah!

 

On Sunday we went to Masjid Hepburn again, this time on the dot at 2pm, and guess what…..semua dah habis, the tables were all empty. Makcik Kuih kata pukul 1 petang orang dah tunggu – bila makcik-pakcik jualan keluar kereta terus kena serbu.

 

Oh piluku mengenangkan kuih makmur dan kuih tat yang tak kesampaian.

But Alhamdullillah, ini bulan Ramadhan, and miracles do happen. And somehow a container of kuih makmur magically appeared for me. Ilhan and I finished by by that night.

 

Remember how I said the makcik-makcik Melaka-Christmas Island remind me so much of nenek? I’m not the only one who think so. I met Kak Rani at the mosque (this PhD student from Melaka whom I first met at the ECU musollah), and she also said when she first stepped into the mosque, “berderau darah akak tengok nenek tu.” She pointed to this old nenek whom she said “sebiji macam arwah  nenek akak yang jaga akak dari kecik duluk.”

 

I went to my favourite asian grocery at Beaufort Street just now to get supplies. Ingat nak masak rendang, sambal goreng nenek, serunding mak, kuah kacang mak dan sate goreng mak lang for raya (ambitious betul cik kak). Kat sana terbeliak biji mata aku….

 

Cili hijau - $15.95/kg

Cili merah - $19.95/kg

Lengkuas - $19.95/kg

Bawang merah kecil - $20.95/kg

 

Mak oiiiii……memang ler aku tahu benda-benda ni mahal kat sini, tapi tak pernah aku tengok harganya naik sampai gini macam.  Aku pun ambil lah 2 tangkai cili hijau, 2 tangkai cili merah. Kat freezer tu aku patahkan sebuku lengkuas kecil. Tak payah ler banyak-banyak.

 

Cari daun kunyit dan kerisik takde. Alamak…macam mana nak buat rendang. (Pak) Brahim pun takde, jadi pakai Indofood Rendang Mix pun jadilah.

 

I’ll be working Thursday and Friday, so I guess I’ll start cooking on the day itself. Ni tengah sibuk telefon minta recipe ni.

 

Verily, necessity is the mother of invention, innovation and adaptation J

 

ps: i'm sooooo happy cos i just got a call from a very very old friend, Farah Talib, who's also here (been here for 10 years, apparently). we were close kakis during Mendaki days, but the last time we talked/met was early Sec 4 when living on different ends of the island (she was from TKGS, i was from bt panjang) gave way to the demands of the GCE 'O's. she's got a 2.5-yr old now, and lives in Canning Vale, and tadi dia dah masak rendang dah.....kerisik dia buat sendiri, daun kunyit dia tanam sendiri....Hail The Dewi Dapur!!!

 

pps: Lina...got old photos of us all tak? you, me, farah, farhan?

Ilhan Turns Twee!

Start:	Oct 9, '07 11:00p
End:	Oct 10, '07 12:00a

it's been three years since 10 October 2004!

Hello Tantrums and Tempers!

in a state of denial

I spent two good hours on Wednesday weeding. Baru-baru aja suka hati sebab ada garden and a small yard. I didn’t realize maintaining a garden is hard work. It’s spring now, and our garden look nothing like our neighbours’ garden with all their rose-bushes and peonies and azaleas and lavender and entah-apa-apa-bunga-lagi-lah blooming. Our garden looks more like a nursery/haven for lalangs and other pesky weeds.

 

       

 

I couldn’t stand it anymore, so I conscripted Ilhan to help. He plucked about 2 helai lalang before saying goodbye and parking himself on his ‘twee-house’ “Macam Bindi the Jungle Girl , ibu!”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And so there I was crawling on all-fours from 2-4pm uprooting all the lalangs with a vengeance. It looks a bit more decent now.

 

A pity I didn’t inherit atok and ayah’s green thumbs.

 

Anyway, I’m in a state of denial about Raya approaching. Ramadhan has simple and quiet save for weekends when we invite/are invited for iftar with friends. Apart from that I have not listened to any lagu raya and I don’t have the mood to bother with baju/kuih etc. This Sunday we’re going to Masjid Hepburn again to get our hands on the kuih makmur and kuih tat, which the makcik promised will be ready then. These kuih however, will be for our own consumption – I think they won’t even last to see Hari Raya…*gelak*. Kalau buat kuih simple2 like cheese/choc cookies pun untuk makan sendiri sebab….siapalah nak datang kan. Rumah pun tak payah sibuk-sibuk hias sebab…siapalah nak datang kan. Kebanyakan member Singapura kat sini pun balik raya kat Singapura sebab sekarang budak-budak cuti sekolah.

 

Besides, The Hasbern has to work on 1 Syawal.

 

How sad.

 

Ok, aku tak nak fikir-fikir lagi.

 

Oh wait….kalau sesiapa ada dvd recorder tolonglah rakamkan drama-drama raya kat TV3 tu eh J

 

     

sayonara!

My first class of pre-intermediates ended about 3 weeks ago, and we had a class barbie at Scarborough Beach. I really enjoyed teaching this class. They were a delightful mix - Japanese, Thai, Vietnam, Saudi, Korea, China, Taiwan, Indonesia and I learned heaps from them, like..

1) how a group of outspoken Chinese and a brash Taiwanese can be politically explosive (we had that uncomfortable indignant 'Taiwan is free!' 'No you're not!' moment)

2) how a young South Korean feels about Kim Jong Il of North Korea ("He's a crazy man. I want to kill him.").

3) in a lesson on superlatives, they had to grade a list of common animals according to the cutest, most gentle, fiercest, most dangerous etc. and the trio of Fawaz (Saudi), Joey (S.Korean), and Minh (Vietnam) unanimously named 'Man' as the most dangerous animal/creature. of course, 'man' wasn't in the list. very good, guys!

4) I've perfected my kawaii pose for the camera :)

I'm teaching an elementary class now, and it's *groan* so difficult... There're 3 Saudi guys this time, and Zyad - whose English consists of mainly computer terms, speaks Arabic to me macam aku faham. I'll try explain something to him and he'll nod and say "Taib, taib..blah blah blah blah (in Arabic)." so sekarang aku dah boleh jugak cakap Arab sikit-sikit..hahahaha

'kita kan oyang Iswam'

i'm feeling sad. went to Hepburn Mosque just now, there's this weekly mini-bazaar - as in very mini, 6-tables-only-mini - set up by the makcik-makcik melaka/singapura. well Masjid Hepburn is basically a masjid melayu set up by the singaporean/christmas island/melaka group who's been here for ages.

dan sebab itulah aku sedih sangat. because all the makcik-makcik remind me of nenek (yang sememangnya dari melaka). all with their floral baju kurung and tudung bawal, and cakap macam nenek aku cakap. and their cheap satay (only $1 secucuk, not overpriced 4-$10 in restaurants) and red kuah kacang (not the pucat ones at restaurant indo).

and the dodol. aiseyman...tengok dodol teringat arwah moyang kat melaka.

"Pakcik, wajik takde ke?"

"Alamak...wajik pakcik belum pass lah...insya Allah tahun depan pakcik pass buat wajik sirat."

aku pun belilah dodol tu.

Ramadhan has been a simple affair. last week we had friends over for buka, and yours truly managed to come up with Lamb Briyani and Roti Kirai plus Kari Ayam. best. tapi penat memasak dia sampai berapa hari.

i really really miss home. paling best sekali, members kat sini semua balik raya.

on a separate note, we have our own halal officer at home. we bought this mega pack of snacks, one of which was a small pack Twisties Chicken flavour. Ilhan was about to open it but I stopped him.

"Eh, yang ni tak boleh makan, tak halal."

"Kenapa ibu beyi yang hayam? Kan kita bukan oyang putih. Kita kan oyang Iswam. Tak ingat ke?"

ye lah tu. this coming from my turning-Three-in-2-weeks-time-and-recently-switched-to-undies son.

yep, you read that right. he's finally off diapers :)

get well soon sister. alhamdullillah everything's ok.

happy birthday brother. i baked a mixed berry cheesecake today. kita makankan ok :)

selamat menghayati Nuzul Al-Quran semua.

 

Ramadhan sejauh ini

Ramdhan started off with a bang for us here. literally.

the day before Ramadhan i was with ilhan at home when The Hasbern called just after 9am and said "B, i accident B."

gulp.

alhamdullillah it wasn't anything serious. no one was injured, but the front of his Nimbus was smashed and since he figured the cost of repairs would be more than the cost of the car itself (which we got for only AUD$1000), hantar scrap sudah.

later in the night was the dilemma of 'dah start puasa ke belum eh?'. haii....apparently this is the case every year here. satu puak kata nanti-kita-tengok-anak-bulan. lagi satu puak pula ikut kalendar. tak pernah sama-sama. malam tu sibuk terima sms sini-sana kata orang kat sydney kat belum nampak bulan. tapi kebanyakan masjid melayu dan komuniti melayu/indonesia pula memang dah sedia nak mula puasa Khamis 13 September.

jadi bertawakal dan puasa lah kita. true enough, keesokan harinya kita jumpa budak-budak lain dari UWA dan mostly the arab community yang belum mula puasa lagi - Jumaat kata mereka.

wallahu'alam bissawab.

hari pertama aku puasa aku asik pikir pasal roti boyan aje. hahahah...terbayang-bayang si roti boyan kat bazar ramadhan bukit panjang. astaghfirullah hal'azim. malam tu kita dijemput berbuka di rumah fazidah dan keluarga. oh, i forgot to mention, it was also The Hasbern's birthday, and since we aren't into all the fuss and hoo-haa and it was just a simple Hazelnut and Chocolate Torte surrounded by us and Fazidah's family. ilhan yang ghairah tiup lilin.

hari kedua kita dua kerja, sampai rumah jam 5 (maghrib jam 6) dan dah tak larat nak masak. jadi kita makan maggi kari dan belen kek semalam. lepas maghrib ingat nak belanja The Hasbern kat Djimbaran Bali. jadi kita pergilah tempat ni, 35km jauhnya. tapi sayang, restoran ni indah khabar dari rupa, indah rupa dari rasa.

moral of the story, buka dengan juadah yang simpe-simple pun kenyang dan memadai.

hari ketiga, kita jemput Ahmad sekeluarga buka bersama. Ahmad ni coursemate The Hasbern, dari Maldives. aku terbayang-bayang roti kirai dan kari ayam sebelum tu, jadi telefon nenek untuk confirm recipe. jadi jugak. roti kirai's very labour-intensive to make, but oh-so-rewarding.

hari keempat, kita tiga beranak je. menu: lamb chops, sour cream and chives mashed potatoes, salad, roti telur (yg ayah selalu buat), tom yum.

Ramadhan is a simple low-key affair here i guess. i guess for the first few days memanglah terbayang-bayang macam-macam. semua nak. but then, the brain tells the mind not to wish for what it can't get and instead focus on what's more important....hahha.

and seriously, the fact that there are no food bazaars anywhere, and the simple lack of cheap good halal food help. not much distraction - if i'm not working, i'll whip up something, on days i work, we eat out (eat out kat sini setakat mee goreng, pizza, fish chips simple2 je). hujung minggu kita menjemput atau dijemput untuk berbuka dengan teman-teman. semalam ke masjid di hepburn (ni kirakan masjid melayu ni), rasa semangat betul bila sama-sama menyeru "Aaaaaaamiiiiiinnnnnnn" selepas bacaan imam. it feels like home with all the makcik-makcik in telekung putih. terasa luas bumi Allah ni.

gitulah ceritanya. tak ada bazaar Ramadhan, tak ada geylang. rasa tenang sikit.

kalau mengidam itu ini pandai-pandailah masak sendiri.

uhm...ada sesiapa tahu macam mana nak buat roti boyan?

Ilhan's Australian Idol Audition Part 2

well the first audition didn't work out, so he's back again in Part 2. pun tak pass jugak sebab dia macam bulu sehelai.

Ilhan's Australian Idol Audition Part 1

this was taken in january 2007, and it features his repertoire of songs back then (sekarang dah lain dah). di Carta Hits Ilhan waktu tu - Hikmah, Pak Abu, Pak Mamat dan Pop Yeh Yeh.

like my mum would say, ilhan ni macam bulu sehelai (tak boleh duduk diam). masa ni dia tengah multi-tasking tengok kartun.

bahasa melambangkan bangsa?

sabtu lalu kami sekeluarga menghadiri sebuah majlis ulang tahun ke-5 anak teman. di majlis tu jumpa beberapa keluarga Melayu Singapura. aku tengok ada seorang wanita cina ni duduk seorang diri dengan bayinya, jadi aku pergilah berbual dengannya.

rupanya dia kerja kat Emma's Yong Tau Fu yang kat Northbridge tu. anak dia yang 6 tahun memang kawan baik dengan si birthday girl. aku pun memang selalu beli asian groceries kat kedai dia. berbual lah kami tentang budak-budak dan kehidupan di sini . dia berasal dari hougang, dan cara perbualannya memang sangat Hougang-heartlander. dia baru berada di sini selama 3 tahun dan baru dapat PR bulan lalu.

aku perhatikan anak dia gunakan Aussie English dengan selesa bila berbual dengan teman sebaya di majlis tu, tapi bila dipanggil maknya, dengan mudah dia bertukar ke bahasa mandarin. aku pun kata (dalam linggonya) "Wah, very good ah your daughter, can speak english and chinese so well."

jawabnya "oh, my husband and i very strict. in school and outside the house she learn english and speak english but at home must speak chinese. sometimes she forget she speak to me in english but i say 'soli hor, mummy no understand' so force her to speak chinese. i don't care one. i think very important hor, cannot forget own language. if not she think she ang-moh."

aku tanya lagi, "wah like that very good ah. then you teach her the writing also?"

jawabnya, "i try to teach a bit, and also every sunday i send her to chinese school to learn chinese. there she meet other children her age good lor all speak practice chinese."

sambungnya lagi, "eh, i think got malay school also you know. got write in the book (aku rasa ini booklet yang immigration beri to new migrants kot). later i find i give you hor."

aku terfikir tentang ironi di sekelilling kami, bahasa yang menjadi pilihan anak-anak melayu yang sedang sibuk bermain kejar-kejar/buka presents/makan kek. kadang-kadang aku sengaja berbual dengan mereka dalam bahasa melayu. terkebil-kebil dorang tengok aku.

ada seorang ibu ni kata "Eh cutenya your son cakap Melayu. i dengan my husband tried dengan our son, but we always forget and susahlah."

aku takde comment. to each his own.

jangan salah anggap...aku ni bukan Pegawai Pencegah Maksiat Bahasa atau language-police. aku pun bukan bilingual warrior. aku tak megah yang ilhan ni dapat menggunakan kedua-dua bahasa pada masa yang sama. pada aku itu cuma sesuatu yang natural. kita orang melayu, bahasa kita melayu, jadi kita tahu cakap melayu.

aku cuma kagum dengan sikap bangsa lain melestarikan bahasa ibunda sebagai wadah penyaluran nilai dan identiti sedangkan bangsa kita rasa ia tak perlu.

 

 

 

 

 

About a Boy

1)       is it just me or does anyone else find that ella ella ella song super annoying? Dah lah ella ella ella, she just has to continue with eh eh eh lepas tu. And it’s ilhan’s top car-karaoke song now. Di tangga kedua ialah Hey Hey You You I Can Be Your Girlfwiend, and these two has overtaken To The Weft To The Weft (something by Beyonce). Sometimes he requests for Siti Nayiza, and then the occasional Old McDonald/Pak Mamat (Pak Mamat tu farmer eh ibu?). of course, I’m the sing-on-demand jukebox.

2)       Overheard:

“Listen to me! Don’t make me angry ok!” plus wagging his finger at Bob The Weeder (or any toy) who refuses to co-operate in some Lego project. Aku macam pernah dengar line ni.

3)       Lepas kena marah….

Ilhan: I’m angry (frowns).

Me: Why? Why are you angry?

Ilhan: Because you are angry and me (he mixes up ‘at’ ‘and’ ‘with’ just like he confuses ‘dan’ and ‘dengan’).

4)       Auntie Bina says he’s been a good boy so far. He meets Nicholas (4 yo) and Eddie    (3 yo) twice a week at Auntie Bina’s house, and she says he’s the most active among them and he leads them in games and activities. And the poor boys listen to him.  I think, in teacher-speak, it might mean ilhan tak tahu duduk diam and he’s very bossy. *sigh*. But she also told me that on days when the other kids don’t come and ilhan’s on his own, he’s more focused on whatever he does and can spend hours playing lego. I so dread parent-teachers meeting when he starts school.

5) Meet his current best fwiends: T-Wex, Twi-cewatops, Stegosauwus, Pawasophowophus, Vewociwaptor and Petri (this last one aku carik nama tak jumpa so he calls it Petri after the flying-dinosaur character in Land Before Time. we got these figurines for 50cents each at the Good Sammy charity shop – can’t seem to find any small dinosaur figurines in any toy shop. As i struggle to even pronounce their names, he memorises them the first time round. i'm happy to say that i now know the names of 5 dinosaurs.

 Ok, this entry is slightly incoherent cos I’m pooped this week cos I had to teach 4 days tue-fri. i came to class on Tuesday with a few new students (on transit, on exchange, whatever possible mutations you can think of) – Jinho from korea, Thanaphat aka Boss from thailand, Arie from jogja, Mai and Mayu from Osaka, and funny ‘Professor’ Bo from China (not a real professor, just so serious and lurus).  And I’ll be doing 4 days too next week. Been sleeping at 2am every night…zzzzzzzzzzzzz…….

Kawaii

What happens when you goyang kaki for half a year and then you start work?

Fwah penat ah!

My first week as Mr Brown was a whirlwind. Classes were packed from 9am-4pm and basically you spend Week 1 assessing the level and aptitude of the students. The class is pre-intermediate, but I’m dealing with 4 different types of needs here.

 There’s the Kyoto University students here on a study-holiday so they aren’t in class after lunch. 7 kawaii girls who look like dolls, gothic dolls and harajuku dolls with their fishnet stockings and shorts. and yes, it’s still winter now.

There’s 3 the Shanghai Uni lecturers who are in their 40’s and are on a different wavelength.

There’s Saori from Tokyo who paid her own 1-month immersion here. There’s Tom, the jolly rich kid from Taiwan whose parents paid for him to do the 1-month English here.

There’s Minh and Thang, the Vietnamese. Thang doesn’t understand me and I don’t understand him.

And then there’s Fawaz from Saudi, who’s got the Arab-speaker traits all ESL teachers love and hate – he speaks well and confidently, but his grammar and speilign is teribel. Oh, and by the way, Fawaz lives in Makkah (!!!) and walks to Masjidil Haram for subuh and zuhur (!!!!). like wah!!

I have to do a lot of grammar and pronunciation for Thang, Minh and Fawaz cos they need to do a year of English before starting on their degree courses.

The kawaii girls-szu think-szu their Engrish is-szu aredi very good-oo. Plus they’re here for only 3 weeks so you can understand their mindset. So they-tzu think-tzu they aredi know the thing-tzu that I teach. Hence I get The Mirror Girl (aka Suzuka who flips open her mirror to study her blackheads) and The Face (aka Kayo who, well, gives me That Face). And I thought Asian girls are sugar and spice and all things nice.

But the rest of the Kyoto group. Sweet girls like Asuka and Tomoko and Mayumi who are really nice and willing to learn.

My celta coursemate cynthia’s joining me here in ECU this Monday! Ole!

She came on Friday to get some materials and we had lunch in the sun. I was starving, and with limited breaks. All I had for that 30-min lunch was a mushroom pie from home. I was a quarter way thru when a blardy fat and rude magpie swooped down and grabbed my pie!!!! But it was too heavy for greedy him so it fell. ANGRY kan? I was so hungry! And I had no time for lunch. And I can’t find halal food on campus, and that was my only sustenance.

Question is, hypothetically speaking,  if I were to tiup-tiup that pie and eat it, will I get bird flu?