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