Bab 2: Ke Damansara - Jalan-Jalan Cari Makan

From Tangkak we left for KL, though technically we did not go to KL. Lina was in Taman Tun, and Zarina was in Kota Damansara and The Curve was in Damansara and One Utama was in Bandar Utama, so...why go KL right?

Thanks to Shariman for letting us spend 2 nights at his parents' home in Kota Damansara (ok, you get the idea, we were only in Damansara), and Lina, who acquainted us with Taman Tun and mana-makan-best. The trip was mostly a Jalan-Jalan Cari Makan one - I will gladly move to KL/Damansara JUST for the food. It was like we had died and gone to Maria Tengku Sabri heaven where everything is HALAL!

Highlights:

Carl's Junior - the fact that it had turned fast-food like made it lose its appeal somewhat. I was expecting a diner-like joint. Anyway, the array of mega burgers were amazing, but the sheer size of it too buat senang jelak dan muak.

IKEA - The Hasbern finally got his Swedish Meatball fix.

Paddington's House of Pancakes - the menu was *THIS* thick, with 905 (read: nine hundred and five) types of pancakes. Oh.My.God. If i have the moolah I'd buy the franchise and bring it over to Singapore.

Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant - a super cute restaurant with Forrest Gump as its theme. EVERYTHING about the restaurant is about Forrest Gump and his friend Bubba and their shrimp business. very cute!

Note: 3 days is not not enough for a Jalan-Jalan Cari Makan Trip. We suggest making it a 7-day trip, and planning in advance where to eat for breakfast, coffee break, lunch, tea break, dinner and supper. And, jangan tamak order banyak-banyak. Eat in small portions ; this way you can check out MORE eating places...muhahahahahaha!!!!

Bab 1: Balik kampung...oh oh oh balik kampung...

This is the first leg of our recent Singapura-Tangkak-Damansara trip. A wonderful trip, I must say, for being all about Family, Food and Friends.

We left for Tangkak on a Saturday afternoon. It was our first time to Mak and Mak Uda's houses (feels good to own your own land, really) I love the fact Gunung Ledang is only 10min away and that you can see the peak shrouded in mist from our windows. Ilhan slipped into his Budak kampung mode really well. Went for a dip at the air terjun Gunung Ledang on Sunday whwre Ilyas got more than just his feet wet.

Qurban was on Monday, and there was a lot of food going around. Caught up with sedara-mara yang jumpa setahun/dua tahun sekali.

Bake Fest!

Today was Ilhan's third playdate for the hols, and something different from what this little dynamo is accustomed to. Filzah and I arranged a bake session for the kids, and while they had fun, I must say we mummies find cookie-icing pretty therapeutic.

Anyway, the Cast of Characters...

Filzah - Bakemaster
Me - Bakemaster's sidekick
Afrina and Ilhan - ground-testers and have-fun-ers
Aqil - Mat Rempit
Ilyas - Mangsa Mat Rempit
Zaqy - Encourager and the Occassional Ilyas-Carrier
Bibik Ina - The Indispensible Help, one who's luring me to the dark side (of having a helper..hahaha)

Anyway, in between maintaining order, checking the oven, settling disputes (between Afrina and Ilhan) and preventing accidents (between Mat Rempit dan Si Mangsa), we managed to sort of plan our calendar for 2009. Watch this space for exciting news! :)

And oh..somehow I couldn't do the click-drag to put the photos in order, so enjoy the disorder!

the difference a year makes

we just got back from a week-long Family Food Friends trip, and will be putting up the photos soon. but what struck me most was how fast little boys grow in a space of 12 months.

From these two cheeky Thomas and Friends fans having a barbie and playing frisbie at King's Park in Summer 2007...

Ilhan and best mate Seth, age 3, Nov 2007

to these 2 Ben 10-crazy abang-abang, age 4,  with little adiks in tow, meeting again in Dec 2008

at Carl's Junior, The Curve Mutiara Damansara

meeting over orange juice no-ice at Spize Simpang Bedok, Singapura

 

don't grow up too fast boys!

 

Playdate II :Jacob Ballas Childrens' Garden

Hariati and I signed the boys up for a treasure hunt-nature tour on thursday morning, and we had a great time catching up while they had their productive and learned morning. Really nice nd educational place, this garden, definitely must go again. Ended the day with Maccas and Island Creamery!

Playdate I : Safra Kids' Adventure

Am on a playdate-planning frenzy currently. What better way to spend the hols than to let the kid meet other kids and tire them out while I catch up with ther friends? This first one was with Risna, Azidah and Sukesy at Safra Kids' Adventure. Not much pix though, cos between us, we had 11 kids, of which 9 were boys. Gamat!

An Evening With Anuar Zain

Last Saturday night, lelaki ini...

 

Got to meet Lelaki Ini...

 

 (promotional poster courtesy of playpause)

Yup, finally found the perfect belated birthday gift for The Hasbern. The Krups Espresso Maker was too expensive, he said; my humble Nescafe-tarik would taste much better :P

Yes, so anyway, we spent An Evening With Anuar Zain. You see, The Hasbern is a HEEYUUGEE fan. Our car is our private karaoke box where the driving gets to sing and try out vocal acrobats, and of course, the oft-playes CDs would be Anuar Zain’s. From the first album to the latest, The Hasbern has it all covered, and I must state here for the record – he’s got an amazing voice. The Hasbern, that is. Even Ilhan loves crooning “Mencinta ibuuuu tak mengenal waktuuuu…” (notice the honest mistake; it should be mencintaimu, not mencinta ibu, but a lovable mistake nonetheless J ) and warbling “Lelaki ini yang selalu mencintaaamuuu…selaaaaaluuu….tanpa raguuu..”

So that night, with the kids at their nenek’s place, we dressed all spiffy and made our way to The Esplanade. Did some nonchalant celebrity-spotting “oh that’s so-and-so”, entered the hall, and waited for the night to begin.

 

And what a night it was. Aku tak rasa ada orang berani kata suara Anuar Zain tak sedap; “jiwang lah” is as far as they’d go, but let them listen to him live and it’d bring them to their knees. His rich and impeccable voice almost made me weep. He didn’t have to resort to dancing (he’s a self-confessed kaki bangku) or costume changes or anything. It was all about his charm and The Voice.

 

To me, the most memorable pieces were Jangan Bersedih Lagi – my favourite, and the most difficult to sing, according to him – and Mungkin. Goodness...he scaled the notes effortlessly and the soulfulness gave me goosebumps. He ended with my current favourite Teman Terulung, and teased the audience by pretending to end the concert, only to return with the wajib Ketulusan Hati and Lelaki Ini. Simply brilliant! I feel apart from The Voice, the lyrics of his songs are what makes them really special. Sure, they are about love as all songs are, but somehow the words are more so beautifully and thoughtfully picked and woven into sentences. When sung with The Voice, cair beb!

 

                                     My Lelaki Ini with Lelaki Itu

 

We enjoyed the concert, had a great date in a long while and topped it off with a grossly overpriced Brownie Explosion at Haagen Dazs. A measly brownie with 3 scoops of ice-cream is grossly overpriced i tell you.

 

My main grouse were Suria-worthy kakak-kakak and makcik-makcik who heckled shamelessly at the most inappropriate times. Behave lah kakak…save your heckling for your tkc karaoke idol or something, not at the Esplanade Concert Hall with Anuar Zain, who, so politely laughed it off.

Check out pujanggamalam for a more complete and proper review. In the meantime, I shall pop in the CD and melayang-layang di awang-awangan……

 

Halloween Party

We were invited to our first Halloween Party by one of The Hasbern's colleague at work. A last-minute rush for costumes didn't really work out so I fished out Ilhan's $10 pasar-malam Black Power Ranger costume/pyjama (lucky the mask was still around) and got him a ranger sword from Toys R Us as an accessory.

Being halloween virgins we were unfamiliar with the trick-and-treating part - some greedy Singapore kids were just grabbing candies from our bowl - apparently you have to say the trick-or-treat password beforeyou are given some. And most of the potluck food wasn't halal, save for the satay we brought and some cheesecake. So we left just before maghrib to and grabbed some dinner at, where-else, good ol' Maccas.

Those days.

I was at Cold Storage over at Rail Mall looking for ingredients for The Hasbern's tak-jadi strawberry swirl cheesecake. And then wherever I turned I saw things which reminded me of a lot of things....

used this for my creme potato au gratin and baked potato...i'm such a potato person, can you tell?




somehow this just didn't grow on me, but it's so Aussie nonetheless...

aaahhhh......i used this on pasta, lasagna, bechamel sauce, mornay sauce, salad, sandwiches, everything! and this was when i learnt that 'tasty' cheese, is really, very very tasty...

Tim Tams dan rakan-rakan Arnotts yang sewaktu dengannya were our weekly treats.

Suddenly I got this sense of deja vu, of wheeling my trolley through the aisles of Woolies/Coles with Ilhan in the trolley ( those days we were joined at the hip), having a serious discussion with him on what to cook for lunch, scrutinising labels to look for non-halal
stuff. Simple stuff like that.

I so miss Aussie living.

Ilhan is 4!

Our families have never really been that big on celebrations and parties, but we thought it’d be nice to celeberate Ilhan’s 4th birthday on a slightly bigger scale this year. 10th October had been falling in Ramadhan since he was born (meaning no chance for a fancy celeb), and last year it was just the three of us in Perth. This year’s timing’s slightly better, although being the 10th day of Syawal means a party would have seen zero attendance since members semua sibuk jalan raya.

Not that we are bent on having a party either. This mum is birthday party novice who remembers almost dying of embarrassment at her own 4th or 5th birthday party (the one and only party she ever had) decades ago (yeah, she hates being thrust in the spotlight like that).


This mum also dreams of baking that perfect cake, but since she botched The Hasbern’s Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake (made with lots of help from her nice younger brother…see icu..i acknowledged you hokay), she thought maybe save the trouble and just outsource lah. The cheesecake was so pretty tapi pahit nak mampus cos dunno what possessed her to add one TABLESPOON of vanilla powder instead of the standard one teaspoon.

So outsourced it is - a Power Ranger Mystic Force one for school of course. And yesterday we had an adventure of sorts looking for goodie bags at The Concourse. I didn’t know that The Concourse was no more, and the 3 party shops have moved to somewhere in Middle Earth.Middle Road. But oh…how we love the shops! So many fun stuff to choose from to put in the goodie bag.

Happy 4th Birthday baby!

Doncha...

Don’t you just hate direct-selling/multi-level-marketing people who hold on to their Rich Dad Poor Dad book like it’s a bible and think they’ve stumbled onto Life’s Greatest Secret which they just HAVE to share with you? Don’t you just hate their let-me-help-you(help-me)get-richer spiel? That look of utter concern they have? And how condescending (grossly misguided so) they are that you are not part of this Secret to a Greater Life and that tsk tsk tsk…you must be saved and not miss out on this opportunity.

 

to quote lina......POOODDAAAAHHH!!!

 

 

aha!

i can't resist posting this. ok..ok..i'll return to blogging and all soon but read this first (taken from msn website).

The 10 Most Overrated Products

Hype springs eternal. Lots of technologies, products and services don't merit the praise heaped on them. Here are 10 tech items that don't live up to their billing -- and 10 that deserve respect that they don't receive.

The 10 Most Overrated Products

Facebook.com (© Facebook); Multiply.com (© Multiply)

 Overrated: Facebook; Underrated: Multiply

Everyone seems to be on Facebook at this point. But to what end? Countless free applications of dubious value, plus scores of plug-ins and games that draw you deeper into the Facebook rabbit hole until you're spending hours a day befriending complete strangers with whom you have nothing in common be­­yond a shared love of Raisin Bran.

Ready for a little quality control? Try Multiply.com, a social networking site that's less a landing page (à la Facebook) than a series of feeds. Share various as­­pects of yourself with people in different spheres of your life: Have a drinking-buddy list for happy-hour up­­dates and a family group for Aunt Helen sightings.

hooray for us Multipliers and Facebook-Resistors!

nothing much, really

aku ke pasar semalam. sejak tinggal dengan mak ni jarang sebenarnya ke pasar, tapi semalam rasa macam nak makan baked pasta, jadi pergilah cari daging kisar.

biasalah, bad habit, ambil dulu tak tanya harga. sekali rupanya 2 kilo daging kisar $18. mak oii...sekilo $9? mahalnya. or is that the usual price (memandangkan aku ni dah lama tak ke pasar)?

anyway, it's been a long time since i've updated this blog. nothing much to say, really. been busy with the boys, and, nothing, really.

but oh...was pleasantly surprised on T-Day, when an ex-student from yonks ago came back alone to school. to look for me. she heard from the grapevine that i was back, and she took the effort to squeeze in some time from her packed SMU timetable to drop by and see me. you made my day fazlina :)

apart from that, and watching my baby grow, nothing, really :)

About a Boy

My firstborn, who in just half a year, has left his babyhood and toddlerhood and has not looked back since. it's quite scary seeing how fast he is growing up, how I should not take every moment for granted. Because he seems mature for a 3-year old, I'm quite harsh and hard on him sometimes. I have to constantly remind myself he'll be turning only FOUR in October. Sorry baby.

Anyway, he's been up to a few things these days. He was in a silat class for all of 2 sessions. I thought it was a great way to channel all his energy and let him learn to listen to instructions...hajat di hati nak jadi Power Ranger, tapi macam bulu sehelai cik abang ni. he said it's "Too long, ibu,". OK lah, so he was the youngest in the class, and being the tight-knit group that they are, I think he felt left out. Plus, hand-eye-leg coordination dia ada off sikit..hee hee!

He was, also, let loose at vivo, where he was public entertainment.

so they want us to multiply eh?

I’ve been following the Singapore Still Needs More Babies issue with much interest (cos yeah, I do want more babies :) ), hope (usually what The Old Man says goes) and cynicism (cosmetic and monetary incentives won’t really work unless structural changes are effected). I really miss the family-friendly and pro-family lifestyle and culture in Australia, where working part-time or freelance is  always possible and  where family support is lacking, community-based support is always available.

Apparently the gahmen had recently sent a delegation to Sweden to follow the day-to-day activities of a typical family at home and at the kindergarten. Let's hope  some sense is driven into their policy-making brains.

Check out France’s and Norway’s parental benefits. Lovely.

Anyone read Saturday’s ST forum pages? This guy wrote in and boldly suggested that child-rearing and parenting should be recognized as a valued sacrifice/career in itself, and that if working mothers choose to stop working after having their second child, and choose to have more children, then the gahmen should pay them their last-drawn salary for the next 10 years. !!!

Oh alangkah indahnya! Please please please make that happen!

On a separate note, I was talking to Ilhan about not wasting water.

Ibu: Ilhan tak boleh bazir air ok? Planet Earth is sick and it does not have enough water anymore. Without water we’ll die.

Ilhan: Kita doa untuk Planet Earth ok? (with raised palms) O Allah, tolong jaga Planet Earth, jangan kasi Planet Earth sakit. Jangan kasi air habis. Amin.

A simple reminder and innocent manifestation of iman -  turn to Him.  it's the simple answer to everything.

On another separate note, anyone watched the debut episode of 1988...Segaris Sinar? Brilliant show with a brilliant cast. i think it herald a new standard in local malay drama. And of course, the eye for detail in portraying life circa 1988 with the coin-phone and old bus-stop and kedai bawah blok. the emotions and pain are all emoted so well, even by the kids. don't miss it.

on the opposite side of the desk

I can’t quite pinpoint when it happened, but suddenly it had.

My (first) baby is not a baby anymore.

It seems just yesterday that he was as small and cute as  he was in this picture which the Hasbern says is one of his favourite.

I’ve always enjoyed Parents-Teachers Meet as a teacher – seeing the clowns suddenly turning all meek and pijak semut tak mati in front of their parents. And then now I was on the opposite end of the table. We attended the Iyad Parents-Teachers Meet recently where we got updates on his progress. We’re generally happy with how he’s bloomed these past 6 months.

His teacher, however, did mention some behavioral changes after he got his baby brother. My sweet baby needs a little help with anger and conflict management. A phase that he’s going through I guess, and something we think will pass.

I must admit I was squirming at my seat. And this is the very first of many many more Parents-Teachers Meet to come in the next errr…..12 years or so….

Anyway, here’s cik abang posing beside (the picture of) his ‘girlfriend’ Qistina.

ambil gambar dengan gambar pun jadilah...

Ayat-Ayat Cinta -- Why Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Romance

I must be the last person around to watch Ayat-Ayat Cinta. I had originally wanted to drag The Hasbern to catch it in a theatre for the full cinematic experience, but plan tak jadi-jadi. In the end had to settle for a ciplak dvd. [Disclaimer: I hate watching pirated movies but curiosity got the better of me this time]

Our take on it?

To The Hasbern, Fahri’s predicament is such a oh-so-wonderful problem to have – having 4 admirers and oh…getting to marry The One With The Eyes – Aisha, the rich, intriguingly niqab-clad one - only to have her forcing you to marry the equally gorgeous lovable one – Coptic-Christian Maria. Who, by the way, are both luuk kreung (Thai for ‘anak separuh’ or half-caste), with Aisha being of Turkish-German descent no less. Oh..what a wonderful headache to suffer from.

Men.

Why must the 2 girls who win be the gorgeous half-caste ones eh? Apa…kalau good old indo girls tak layak ke? Menyampah. Turkish-German lagi. Hrrrmmpphh.

But that aside, I think Fedy Nuril played Fahri very well. He’s not devastatingly handsome in the usual Indo sinetron sort of way. He’s just right for the role with that lost hapless look. Dan dari dulu nenek cakap cari lelaki yang beriman kan. Ha…the scene when he looked down and gulped seconds after seeing Aisha’s face was so cute and awwww. And while slowly he revel in the fact that he’s got both chicks, he did act all awkward in the beginning.

On a more serious note, watching this movie as a married woman, the main p.o.l.y.g.a.m.y issue hits closer to home than say if I’d watched it as a dizzy dreamy-eyed anak dara. The emotions that Aisha went through upon discovering Maria’s diary and realizing that her husband shares a longer history and probably more in common with this woman is quite a lot to bear, what more realizing that this woman really loves your husband. And when discovering that she is pregnant, you can understand the reason behind her altruism and magnanimity when she told Fahri to “Bilang dia kamu akan nikahi dia.”

And the subsequent nikah at the hospital bed when it was then halal for him to hold Maria’s hand and wake her up from that coma, and the parts when she bumps into their intimate moments (same house lagi!)…sakit, beb!

Which is why on her deathbed Maria thanked Aisha for making her see “beda antara mencintai dan keinginan untuk memiliki.”

That scene when Fahri was acquitted and he sujud shukur while Aisha fell to her knees and held his face in her hands between the bars is kinda touching too.

There’s the usual sinetron-style melodrama, but overall the cinematography is beautiful and with such eye-candy and the overall Islamic feel/theme, I like it. Oh, and the haunting song by Rossa too.

Now I think I’ll go get the book.

morning rush

Main Entry: rush

Pronunciation: \ˈrəsh\

 intransitive verb

1: to move forward, progress, or act with haste or eagerness or without preparation

transitive verb

1: to push or impel on or forward with speed, impetuosity, or violence

2: to perform in a short time or at high speed

3: to urge to an unnatural or extreme speed <don't rush me>

4: to run toward or against in attack : charge

saya setuju dengan semua takrifan di atas! may I add another definition, Merriam-Webster?

morning rush

Pronunciation: \ˈmȯr-niŋ\ ˈrəsh\

 : the act of dragging oneself out of bed, expressing one’s baby’s feed for the day, getting oneself and one’s very grumpy 3.5-year-old kid ready for school, dragging a grumpy 3.5-year-old while balancing a sleeping baby and bags to the car and transporting all to the babysitter and schools by 0730 hrs.

That about sums up the past week. Ilyas has started going to Cik Ani, Ilhan’s former fantastic babysitter and he’s settling in well. He’s such a darling for sleeping through the night now, waking up only once at night only occasionally.  So beauty sleep masih maintain.

I’ve started doing flexi-adjunct teaching again at my alma mater/former workplace. I sense a different climate here now under new leadership – if I had still been in service I probably would not have left. But well, cest la vie. I’d be lying if I say I’m not tempted to re-join the service for the money – just take a walk round the school carpark and you’ll see all the gleaming cars with SJ_ license plates – but..nahh…

Which reminds me…the 11 July deadline is looming near, and I’ve finally decided that I’m not going ahead with the speech therapy MSc at NUS. With our whereabouts for the next 5 years still undecided, a course costing $50,000 and a bond worth 4 years and well over $50K is not something I think I should commit to. Plus, after doing the sums again, it’ll be hard to get by on the allowance they give. And all these IF I get the sponsorship in the first place.

Anyhow, the same course at La Trobe or Macquarie will cost a third of that for permanent residents, which makes more sense. That is again, IF we decide to go back.

*sigh*. So hard to plan amidst all IFs.

So I’ve decided to prioritise and be practical; now is neither the best time to be having a quarter/mid-life crisis calling for a career switch, nor is it the time to be a pseudo tai-tai/SAHM. For now I’ll just stick to what I’ve been doing while crafting a gameplan for the The Hasbern to try usurp his boss John Thain’s cushy job.

In the mean time, I’ll savour watching the antics of these two :)

Dak Ilhan

i was supervising his shower yesterday, going "Don't waste water..." "Don't forget your armpits.." "Scrub your neck..." "OK enough..tutup air.." ad nauseum just to have him ignore me. So I asked "Why aren't you listening to me?"

To which he answered, "Because you called me Ilyas."

Oooopsss...ok. Ouch. Scatterbrained ibu.

I'm still trying to get the hang of being ibu-of-2 and we bring Along Ilhan out once in a while, just the 3 of us. Went to Snow City recently where we really had fun at tumbling down the slope - we promise we'll bring you to a real ski place one day baby!

Also went to check out Charco's - our favourtie takeaway place while in Perth. I've tried to replicate their creme potatoes countless times with no success. and unfortunately when we went to the Ang Mo Kio outlet they had just popped a new batch of spuds in the oven - took a long time to cook so we didn't get to have some. bah. the ribs are quite nice and aren't as artery-clogging and heart-valve-choking as the Perth version.

I love you Ilhan :)

Ilhan + Artplus Workshop

Over the weekend Ilhan attended the Artplus workshops conducted by Art Loft. It was an enriching weekend for him, a break from the usual cartoon marathon. The workshops infused basic principles of mathematics through creative activities like story-telling, cookery and craft, and Ilhan and I were fondly reminded of the playgroup sessions he used to attend in Perth. He made a puppet, playdough and shortbread (which he gulped down within minutes).

Maria (afzalmom) was one of the organiser/educator and has great ideas and pedagogy on teaching mathematics to pre-schoolers. Being mathematically-dysfunctional and numerically-challenged, I would definitely need tips and a crash course from you too, Maria! :)

Oh, and I got to meet Afzal too, who was probably wondering how come this 'makcik'/'kakak' knew his name :)

perfecting multi-tasking

I think Ilyas is getting the hang of day and night. He naps in the day and – bless him – sleeps for stretches of 5-6 hours at night. But the question is, when I get that 30-40 min respites in the day, do I

a)      Pump?

b)      bathe/answer nature’s major call?

c)       Eat?

d)      Multiply (as in blog ah, not whatever it is you were thinking)

e)      Dabble in a bit of housework

Decisions, decisions. Tough call I tell you, especially when I need to do all (a)-(c) urgently.

It’s amazing watching him grow from this…

to this...


to this...



(notice jeans dah tak boleh butang)

to this...

he has earned himself some nicknames...takpelah, janji sihat eh nak?







Watched SATC with The Hasbern recently. I’ve never watched a single episode of the show in its heyday (fashionistas out there, go ahead, gasp…I thought the title itself was unacceptable…yeah I’m a prude like that). But hey…I thoroughly enjoyed it! Reminds me of a lot Gorgeous Inc. and how much I miss them – maria, yan and zetty and their quirky idiosyncracies – and our heyday of doing pyjama parties and traipsing around backpacking in weird places.

But The Sister and I did venture out to get ourselves some caffeine fix (poser aje these 2 non-coffee drinkers) at the newly-halal Coffee Bean. We had the luck of dragging The Brother along, and as expected, got our fair share of “Congratulations” and “Twins eh?” and looks which say “Wah-this-guy-very-terror-ah-got-2-wives-and-2-babies-at-the-same-time”. What else will they think when they see a malay guy with 2 malay women with 2 strollers… muahahaha!

ok ok gotta go. fyi, this entry was typed with 2 milk breaks and a diaper change and this time round someone dah tak sabar lagi.


The Abang & The Baba will be home from their Barney outing soon too...ciao!

Abang (1981)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Classics

Suria did something right last night, by showing this. I remember watching this when I was a kid ; secretly in envy of Dila (Ogy) who was so lucky to have so many abangs and THE enigmatic eldest abang as personified by Rahim Razali. You see, as a kid I always fantasized having an abang (one at least), instead of being the eldest with a pesky wailing younger sister (sorry aai..haha!) whom I had to always keep an eye on when all I wanted to do was play.

Being a kid then, I didn’t really remember all the other family intrigues that greeted Fuad upon his return. I remember instead the kampong scenes – him drifting on the rakit, main tarik upih, and the kenduri at the end. Oh. And of course, that scene when he rescued Dila from some junkies in a science lab and knocking over all those bottles in the process *cue: swoon, brave abang!*.

Interestingly, new perspectives emerged when watching it through adult eyes. I was amazed at how Noorkumalasari could walk around with such bouffant frizzy mane (among other fashion faux pas circa 1981) and chuckled at her and Ogy’s OTT acting, but that aside, the movie was an interesting sociocultural reflection of Malay society back then. The lives of the nouveau riche and their social parties and drinking juxtaposed with simple kampong life.

Love the soundtrack too.

Anyway, that movie made me a fan of Rahim Razali and the kind, menyembunyikan sejuta rahsia smile of his unlikely, reluctant hero persona. His subsequent movies like Anak Sarawak and Tsu-Feh Sofia were similarly reflective. And then suddenly he disappeared and then resurfacing again in Cinta (2006), tugging hearts as at dignified cikgu pencen with Alzheimer’s. He sure ages gracefully.

I was just thinking of the movie the other day, wondering if it’s on DVD or CD or something, so thank you for playing this Suria. Now if you could just play Anak Sarawak and Tsu-Feh Sofia again, I’ll be eternally grateful.

It's Time for Sayang Sayang

With the arrival of 2 babies in the household, someone and something have been feeling slightly left out lately. Not only do I have to deal with a memendam-perasaan Big Brother, there's also the emotionally-needy and suicidal cat to pujuk-pujuk.

We've been spending more time with Ilhan prior to Ilyas' arrival, and he now gets his own Ilhan-time with Baba and that special tuck-into-bed-and-read-doa with Ibu. That's when one night he put his arms around my neck, gave me a kiss and sang "It's time for sayang sayaaaaangggg..." with a cheeky grin.

This coming after the Mumbai India episode, I really should cut this cheeky boy's TV time.

Meanwhile, Cici Omok has been repeatedly attempted suicide and running away from home. He'll' be gone for the night and be found hiding in the longkang downstairs all comot-momot, or contemplating to jump-or-not-to-jump on the window ledge.

Haiiii......

twins eh?

that's the typical question we get whenever we take these 2 for their jaundice checks. presenting Ilyas Izzuddin and Amir Hamza, cousins born 10 hours apart.

Thanks for all the well-wishes!

And so the story goes…

It was Friday 25 April 2008, the day of my and The Sister’s respective check-ups at our respective hospitals (ya, choosing different hospitals, we are wicked liddat). Since The brother had an off-day he volunteered to ferry both sisters to both check-ups. Upon reaching The Sister’s place, she looked kinda funny, and that’s when she told us she’s been in labour since the night before. At 37 weeks. So we sent her to NUH and wished her and the hubby good luck.

01030 hrs: So there I was for my 39^th week scan and appointment at KKH. The estimated birthweight was 3.1kg, everything’s going fine and I was already 3cm dilated. Weird…I didn’t feel anything. The doc said why not be admitted and try have this baby by tonight. Ahaks…already imagining the kecoh/kelam-kabut us sisters have put our mother in . and so I called The Hasbern who took the day off and got myself admitted.

1700 hrs : Got into the delivery suit, got to know my assigned obstetrician Dr Arthur Tseng – he’s really nice and kind; would recommend him to anyone. Had surgical induction done, and waited and waited. We watched An Inconvenient Truth on HBO and got depressed over the state of the environment (and all those drama questions about the kind of world we’re bringing our kids into) and waited and waited some more.

2330 hrs: Met Dr Fun, the anaesthetist who administered my epidural (yes, I’m one of those with really low pain-threshold, definitely not Superwoman amterial) effortlessly and painlessly. Like, really, I didn’t even know she was done since we were talking about the prices of diapers and all as Nurse Low held my hand.

2400 hrs : the doc broke my waterbag, and I was still only 4cm dilated. Waited, waited waited…told The Hasbern to catch some sleep. The Sister safely gave birth at 2345hrs.

Sometime in the wee hours of the morning : the epidural wore off and I felt the contractions coming fast and furious. While waiting for the top-up I concentrated on that baby heartbeat/contractions detector and took deep breaths to tide over each contractions. Cannot tahan. Nurse Low gave me the gas mask. Had blocked nose so gulped the gas by the mouthful. I felt high. The Hasbern helped me focus with some zikir.

0900 hrs, 26 April (a new day!) : Dr Tseng said I was finally 10cm dilated. Time to push!

0906 hrs : 1...2…3…4 pushes…

0912 hrs : and Ilyas 'Izzuddin slid out! Alhamdullillah! 

it was a wonderful experience since I felt more in control and lucid throughout (as compared to the long labour and long and exhausting 3-hr push in the case of Ilhan which left me delirious with pain). Dr Tseng was kind and wonderful, as were my 2 midwives who showed great care and warmth through the whole experience (my first experience @ NUH was not as pleasant, nurses quite garang and kena marah for crying...hhrrmmpphh!!). I felt l-u-r-v-e-d and it made the whole thing so much easier and memorable.

Jadi itulah cerita saya, dan inilah buah hati pengarang jantung kami yang kedua :)

meet the newest member of the clan

this has got to be the most boring birth announcement ever, but here goes...

Alhamdullillah, we welcomed Ilyas 'Izzuddin into our lives on Saturday 26 April 2008 at 9.12am. Despite the l-o-n-g wait for the 10cm dilation, Ilyas slid out easily after 5 pushes in 5 minutes. He was 3.8kg (i know, a 39th week scan in the morning estimated him to be only 3.1kg).

Alhamdullillah all is fine with him and me, but we had a scare of HFMD/chicken pox with Big Brother Ilhan. with a temperature and ulcers in his mouth it was a real scare but alhamdullillah it was a case of sore glands - and probably stress jadi abang.

The PC at home's crashed too, so no time for updates. Iwe're also trying to get used juggling a sensitive, sometimes-jealous Big Brother, a sweet infant and, oh, a jealous attention-seeking fat cat. oh, and did i mention that my sister also went into labour the same day i did and gave birth the same day? so it's quite a busy time in my mum's household with Ilyas 'Izzuddin and Amir Hamzah around.

ok, we'll be back with a more detailed entry and pictures!