Kisah Si Hang Kebun.wmv

This one's for the neneks! dia SENGAJA tak nak cakap....tsk tsk tsk

The Adventures of Hang Kebun

It was a not-so-hot Friday afternoon so we decided to transplant our seedlings onto the tiny garden patch. I had two Hang Kebuns working for me, one very productive while the other, well, did his own thing.

a day at work

The Sister just sms-ed me a laugh, saying ashri just delivered the line "Kau ni Leman, macam cikgu melayu aku ah."

*chuckles* somehow i get the idea that that's not a compliment. wonder what poor Leman did to warrant that comparison.

Sweet Madness says:
now what did poor leman do to deserve that? tsk tsk tsk...
[-magkaifa-] Mr body massage says:
HAHAHAH
[-magkaifa-] Mr body massage says:
yalah, you know lah
[-magkaifa-] Mr body massage says:
confusing stuff

ah. i see.

anyway, this one's for the Neneks. Ilhan has made progress on the makan-sayur front. now he eats tomatoes (grilled and hidden under the tuna and cheese), carrots (started soft and mashed, now ok with carrot-circles cos he's now into shapes), and most recently, broccoli! yeah! he's had this thing against green stuff ("takmu green eh"), but somehow few days ago we had lamb chops with blanched broccoli-and-carrots on the side and we pretended he was a giant makan pokok broccoli. it works, and he chomped down about 5 pokok broccoli. ok lah kan?

tuesday's playgroup with the muslim mums and kids is going great. i love the company and the conversations i have with the ladies. we had 3 new mums joining last tuesday -

1) Sandra, a young convert and her toddler Dania. she gave us the contact of a lady hairdresser who converted and now also cuts hair for muslim ladies in the privacy of her home. thank God! i've been all over one!

2) Sabah, a funny and bubbly Eritrean and her 2 daughters. she's so chatty and friendly and i told her if she wants to teach Arabic (she used to a while back), I want to be her student.

3) Pinar, a beautiful Turkish lady who teaches the Quran but what a pity her schedule's full! she's got a collection of Islamic children's book at home and invited us to drop by anytime to borrow the books.

and hmmm...Ilhan switches to calling me "Mummy" whenever we're at playgroup. pelik.

ok anyway, interestingly, i started on a 'job' today. *chuckles*. it's very flexible, cos i turn up for work for about twice a week and bring the rest home to finish in front of the tv.

what do i do? well...i help this couple with their home-based greeting cards business. it's run by David, mostly, cos Annie has her montessori pre-school running too. i basically help him pack his orders, and most importantly slot envelopes in between the cards.

*grins*...it's a no-brainer, i know! even David was somewhat apologetic at the non-trauma of it all...hahaha! we do the work mostly in their garage and living room, and he was bent on making me feel comfortable, "Fan? Cushions?" so as to achieve the optimum conditions to do the enveloping.

and as we were enveloping we talked about a range of topics, all while listening/watching a dvd collection of Hindi music videos (well actually it was supposed to be Devdas but he couldn't find the dvd).

yup...my 'boss' is a Bollywood fan. a huge one. He and Annie stayed in a hill-station in northern india for 6 months right after their wedding over 20 yrs ago, he goes to India a few times a year to buy exquisite textile and home decor items to be sold here in perth, he goes there for family holidays, and he's travelled to most part of India.

he's rather well-travelled, having backpacked through afghanistan and iran (saying how these places are grossly misunderstood and have been demonised by the west). we talked about southeast asia and i got him interested in Laos. and he said if i go to Laos and bring back stuff he'll buy them from me. hmm....just like Gorgeous Inc's Grand Business Plan when we went there in 2003, isn't it?

so yeah, it was an interesting arrangement. ilhan with Baba while i get to be on my own for a few hrs each week and earning a bit of cash in the process. i'm not a huge Bollywood fan, but it's something familiar.

i think you'll love him, Salma. he says Kerala is beautiful :)

Parsley Sage Rosemary and Thyme

first of all, did anyone catch ashri on this new Suria drama, Danielle or something? darn i wish i can watch it over here! to ashri, The Accidental Actor, you've certainly come a long way from your days of broken Malay and an exasperated me threatening you NOT to speak Malay to save your life cos it won't. ashri's my first batch of students whom i followed from sec 3-5 and are hitting 21 this year *beaming with pride*.

anyway, bedtime was hilarious just now.

Ilhan's nursing a runny nose, a cough and a raspy voice. yet he insisted on singing himself hoarsely to sleep. and this time it got both of us hysterically giggling. why?

the 2 top songs on his charts right now is the Hikmah theme song, and Pak Abu Ketuk Satu. so he sang those on repeat mode. and when he got to the 3rd cycle of Pak Abu, it became:

"Pak Abu, ketuk Barney

Dia ketuk belakang pintu

tang ting tang ting tang ting tang tang tang

Won't you say you love me too!"

and he got a high from the giggling and changed the lyrics a few more times before he fell asleep.

anyway, i'm been finding a lot of stuff in the fridge lately. things like coins, a comb, Green Ranger's torso, a play-walkie-talkie and stuff like that. wonder who put them there.

i learnt a few things about gardening today. was wheeling Ilhan on his trike when the neighbour across us who was gardening waved at us. so we walked over and said hi, and told him how i've been admiring his garden cos it's so pretty. he's Louis and his wife's Karen and they brought me to the back for a closer look. gorgeous! apart from the beautiful flowers they've got an orange tree, a mango tree, and a herd garden from which Louis petik some rosemary and chives for me to take a whiff of the fragrance (kebetulan i had a cheese-and-chives scone for breakfast and it tasted heavenly!).

so Louis sort of gave me a crash course into aussie gardening - the soil, how to break it up so it can absorb stuff better (use soapy water. really?), what's mulch, what's pruning etc etc. wonderful. and being the typical australian passionate about nature he talked about the weather and climate changes too.

those rosemary he gave me i crushed over my lamb chops marinating in the fridge and it tasted and smelled great when we had them for dinner.

ok, it was a wonderful day today :)

The Last Supper and Airport Send-off

very basi already, i know, but gotta put these up for posterity's sake. the night before we left we had my birthday dinner at earl swensen, and then on monday morning we had a very low-key farewell at the airport. very sad that ilhan's Nenek Eunos couldn't make it cos she had school, and i felt the morning goodbye before we left for the airport was too hurried. these photos are for her :)
oh and thanks Aai for these shots. again, priceless :)

A Picnic to Remember

over Xmas 2006, while his parents had their Ritz weekend, Ilhan was whisked away to Changi Beach while still asleep and in pyjamas. Aai captured these shots, which are of great value to us because it captured precious time spent with precious people. in particular atok and nenek.

Melayutopia

http://www.happeepill.com/cartoons/enjetsemut/enjet.htm
a brilliant guy came up with this melayu-anthem, a tongue-in-cheek look at the Malay outlook on life. and i have to say i identify with a lot of things sung here :)

one for thing for sure, the aussie lifestyle i'm seeing now - working 20-30 hrs a week, everything shutting down on-the-dot at 5pm (dah standby abt 15 min earlier), barbecue invites every other weekend, lepak by the beach - sounds as close i can get to melayutopia :)

of leaking showers, driving and fitting in.

guess what. apparently there's a leak in the shower (there is? how come we don't notice any?). got a letter from the agent saying they're sending a Megasealed guy to come and seal it up (are we on remote cctv or something?).

so just now the guy came and did his thing and well...the sticky (quite literally) thing about the whole thing is we couldn't use the shower 24 hrs prior AND after the sealing work.

that's 2 days, man. in this heat.

The Husband and Ilhan took their shower kampung style in the backyard out of a baldi and gayung. demi kesejahteraan bersama, i shall not post their pictures online. me? i can't bring myself to do it...wet-wiping's fine for now.

ilhan started his playgroups this week. both start at 9:30am and had to wake the lil guy up gently cos he's not really a morning person. i must say the 2 groups are an interesting study in contrast.

the monday morning one was a mat-salleh one at the Morley family centre. we turned up early and was greeted by one of the mums, Nadia and her 2-yr old Ariana. they are Italian-Greek so little Ari's pretty much bilingual too. and then there were 4 other mums and their bubs.the centre has a huge play area which Ilhan loves. the group is pretty much unstructured - they play outdoors for an hour, and then go indoors for indoor toys and tea while the mums talk.

the sticky part is being the different one. maybe it was the first time, but i feel they were not very forthcoming. while the kids play some mums sat and talked and well...i sat in and tried being 'sociable', asking a question here and there, smiling, nodding. they couldn't get past the "What was your name again?"

and then during tea-time each mum brought some snacks for the kids to share. i brought the Wiggles Alphabet Cookies and there were anzac cookies, bananas, raisins, apples, and Arnott's chicken-in-a-biskit. which ilhan took and munched. uh-oh..i thought. when they were not looking i took the chicken-in-a-biskits from his plate and threw them in the bin.

si budak-kuat-makan-savoury-stuff ni pulak tanya: "Mana biskut an-an?"

me: *whispers* "Ilhan, biskut tu kita tak boleh makan tau. tak halal. ada babi. kan kita tak boleh makan babi kan?"

Ilhan: (nods solemnly)


*wince*. how else could i have handled it? i see more of it coming.

the next day....oh wait before i continue let me shout this out. I DROVE!!! ON MY OWN!!! all the way to south of the river, that's about 45 minutes away, on an ageing Hyundai, MANUAL amidst all the sloping roads. weeehhooooooooO!

oh ok, back to the story...The Husband had work at 7am, and playgroup started at 9:30am, so we sent Baba to the city and then over the Causeway to the south. reached Bentley way too early, so Ilhan and I had brekkie at Macca's (aha..aussie lingo, go figure). killed time at the macca's playground and went to Carousel's parents' room to change diapers (that's the sticky part..Ilhan never misses his morning 'yak').

drove on to Langford and went a couple of rounds along Brookman Avenue before i saw an suv with 2 hijabed ladies. they could tell i was lost so they waved at me and i followed.

this tuesdays playgroup is under the Muslim Women Support Committee one and the leader is Julia, a Cocos Malay. there are 2 indonesian ladies, 2 ozzie muslims, a very cheery and jolly Lebanese lady whose kids have 'graduated' from the group but still turns up weekly for the company, and...and...the best part of it all...is Sofia from Pattani!!! it is a beautiful coincidence or what?? we clicked instantly. she did her Masters at UIA so speaks good Malay as well. and she speaks English Thai and Malay with her daughter Wafa. now i've got someone to help me with my letters!

this playgroup's better i think. they have fewer toys but there's craft time. they did print blocks and paper-folding. Julia had some butterfly cut-outs done, and the kids done overalls and painted their butterflies. she then attached 'feelers' to them, and wrote their name on their pieces.

most of the ladies here married arabs/locals and it's interesting seeing their kids and the languages of choice. they're so friendly and i feel welcomed instantly, although i'm the new one in a group formed 2-3 years ago. i'm included in conversations, they ask abt me and my experience. i dun mind making the long drive every week for the company.

i ask myself sometimes, am i being insular and anglophobic by preferring the company of my own kind. but i did try. maybe they are the insular ones. maybe the ice needs more breaking. how?

we decided to continue with the Monday group, since Ilhan loves their playground. i'll continue smiling and nodding, and in the meantime, look forward to Tuesday's sessions.