En route to Hanoi

Yes, I am flying (again) and this time is to complete my odyssey of ASEAN 10. Going to Hanoi means I would finally complete my visit to all ten of them.

Tapi sebelum fly tu, makan nasi kerabu puas-puas dulu kat Golden Lounge ni. Sampai sana takut susah nak cari makanan halal pula walaupun masa surf kat ZABIHAH tadi, dah jumpa dua Malaysian halal restaurant, Nisa and Warung Sri Belango.

Tadi naik satu train dengan angkasawan kita from KL Sentral. Hensem lah. Tapi Mak Lijah control macho... maintain cool... Buat-buat malu konon...

OK lah. Got to go. Lagi setengah jam nak berlepas, nak jalan slow-slow to Gate 02.

See u in Hanoi...

Sophie

Molly

Kat rumah Cathie with her adorable girls.

This is my super-extended Australian family. Photo taken after dinner at a lovely seafood restaurant.

Hello, Sydney...

Visiting Sydney again after two decades was yet the best thing for me this year. Not only did I get to meet my foster-exchange-student-sister, Cathie, and her family, I also got to honeymoon with Pak Lijah (wish it would be an annual event ;) ).

And so I booked my Qantas ticket from Sydney to Brisbane online in order for me to arrive at about the same time as Pak Lijah would arrive from KL on that Sunday morning. I was impressed with Qantas's online services (bagi Mak Lijah yang perak ni, lah). Booking online was normal, but what surprises me was the fact that you can request your meal preference, choose or change your seat as you wish depending on the availability, and the best part... produce the boarding pass well in advance, ALL ONLINE. Senang, kan? So why didn't we think of that back here? Oh.. terlupa, nanti orang tak ada kerja pulak.

.
.

Mak Lijah landed in Sydney and met Pak Lijah kat international terminal. Tunggu punya tunggu, telefon punya telefon, akhirnya kamipun naiklah kereta menuju ke hotel di The Rocks tu. Nak dijadikan cerita, drebar kereta tu was an Indonesian who migrated some 20 years ago.

We got to the beautiful hotel about half an hour later just to find out that we could not check-in yet walaupun nama kat reservation dah ada and that we didnt get the room we asked for. That's a bit weird sebab masa buat booking dulu, diorang responded that as member of the group of hotels, we got the priveleges of early check-in, late check-out, free internet access, breakfast at the club, bla..bla...bla... Dipendekkan cerita, we were referred to at another floor. Di situ, tengah dok sibuk-sibuk explain sana-sini and Mak Lijah already had this in mind that it was not a good start for me at that moment, the Manager on Duty, Baron, asked if we were from Singapore [WHY MUST IT BE SINGAPORE?]. Half disappointed, I guess, he responded that he's from Singapore.

"Ayah saya Chinese Singaporean, mak saya orang putih."
(Erkk... Yikes...! Nasib baik tak ngutuk lebih-lebih. Patutlah rambut dia hitam tapi still look like mat salleh)

"Laa... Ye ke? Lama dah kerja sini?
(Kononnya nak cover kutuk tadi)

"Lama dah. Dah migrate pun"

"So Baron, I tell you what, we let you settle this confusion about our room first, while we go and kill the time at Darling Harbour. OK tak?"

...dan dipendekkan cerita juga... we just walked down to the quay to look for the ferry to Darling Harbour. It was a warm, sunny day and we were happy to make that decision. The ferry ride cost only about AUS$5 each and worth every single moment of the time. We managed to capture a photo (pictured here) of our hotel while on the ferry. Sampai jer kat Darling Habour, Mak Lijah pun called rumah Cathie and spoke to Andrew, Cathie's husband, to confirm our dinner that night.

We strolled along the harbour taking our own sweet time, took lots of pictures, had Indian lunch, took a ride on the 'train' to go around Darling Harbour and ended the tour at Paddy's Market at nearly 3 pm.

Bila sampai hotel, Baron told us that the room for us was not booked as what we had requested for but he was kind enough to give us free internet access. Now.. is not that nice? Brotherly ASEAN...(walaupun half mat sal, kan?).

That night we met Cathie and the extended family at a lovely seafood restaurant. We had a great time going down memory lane. And that moment was one 'accomplishment' that I have always wanted to do for the past two decades.

Yes, it was 4 degrees celcius as we were driving up Blue Mountain on a Cherokee, Monday, 28 April 2008.

Bye bye Brisbane

And so my days in Brisbane were over. Tak dapat nak snap banyak foto while we were here sebab masa sangatlah mampat. Letih betul this time around, melebihi keletihan di Jakarta dulu.

At one of the sessions, we finished at 0015. Yes, it was past midnite. Kalau Mak Lijah ni Cinderella, harus kasut kaca tu dari Nine West. Tapi it's not just about past midnite..it's about Mak Lijah being LOCKED-OUT OF THE HOTEL (de-ja-vu pulak). It was all because the meeting habis after 12 lah..and one of the hotel's rule is that the side entrance will be locked at midnite.

Habislah... And so Mak Lijah yang jahil ni terpaksalah mencari jalan lain untuk masuk ke hotel sampai terpaksa pergi dekat train station. By then it was nearly 0030 and I still could not get into the hotel. Pintu kaca banyak, but they were all locked.

Berjalanlah lagi Mak Lijah di kedinginan seawal pagi dan kesunyian tu.. Rasa suspens tak payah nak ceritalah. Manalah kita nak tahu apa nak jadi kat kita di negeri orang... Akhirnya Mak Lijah sampai jugalah ke pintu utama hotel pada pukul 0100 dan terus ke bilik dengan fikiran yang kosong.

Kalau dah macam tu punya meeting, bila masa nak amik gambar? Anyway, gambar kiri tu, was taken at the pancake restaurant which was actually a church dulu. Interesting, eh? Gambar kanan, obviously was where we had the meeting. It was a very big place, rasanya macam kena jalan dua batu baru sampai hujung... Dan pengalaman Mak Lijah di Brisbane pun dah sampai ke penghujungnya....

G'day, mate...!

It was nearly 23 years ago since I last step my foot here. Tapi masa tu Mak Lijah pergi Sydney saja dengan status masih student lagi. This time around Mak Lijah berada di Brisbane pulak, since 18 April 2008, for another series of negotiations.

Sepanjang tujuh hari lepas Mak Lijah berada di sini, saban hari Mak Lijah hanya melihat bilik hotel, bilik mesyuarat, fish and chips dan lauk kambeng di restoran Ahmet. Semalam sempat juga pergi makan nasi ayam di Litttle Malaysia kat Boundary Street. Pergi berjalan kaki saja, sebab it was not that far away from our hotel. About 15 minutes of really, slow walk.

Dengan angin sepoi-sepoi bahasa, jalan yang tak sibuk dan udara yang nyaman, it was quite a nice evening. It would have been a completely boring trip here if we had not tried to walk beyond the boundaries of our meeting venue.

Two nights ago, we went a little bit further to Charlotte Street untuk makan pancake, reason being, that's the only restaurant yang buka 24 jam. We had no choice sebab meeting habis pukul 9 malam and all the 'normal' restaurants would close at 9 or 9.30 pm. Not a bad place, tapi kami bertembung pula dengan Aussies dan NZs yang kami 'perangi' saban hari.

Mak Lijah peratikan di kawasan South Bank dan West End ini, terdapat banyak sekali restoran Asia dan dikunjungi pula oleh Mat Salleh. Restoran Vietnamlah yang paling banyak, diikuti oleh restoran makanan India. Restoran Cina, tak yah cakaplah, manakala restoran yang serves makanan berasaskan Arab seperti kebab memang banyak sekali. The nicest part is the fact that ada jugalah 3-4 restoran Malaysia di Brisbane ni.

Tomorrow would be our last day of meeting and Mak Lijah would be flying to Sydney on Sunday morning. Di sana Mak Lijah akan bertemu dengan adik angkat omputih Mak Lijah yang pernah tinggal dengan kami di Pulau Pinang selama setahun kira-kira 20 tahun lalu. Looking forward to see her and her extended family.

Nanti Mak Lijah update lagi, ok?

Alhamdulillah....

Remember this photo?

....................................

...................................

Suatu lewat petang, sambil memandu, membawa Kakak pulang dari mengaji.

..............

Kakak : Mama... masa Mama tingkatan satu sampai enam, Mama tak pakai tudung, ek?

..............

Mak Lijah : Erk... (sambil menelan air liur)

.

Kakak : Mama pakai tak?

.

Mak Lijah : Errmm... Kenapa Kakak tanya? (Malaikat lalu kejap. Sambil dapat mengagak what's coming after this...)

Kalau Kakak nak pakai tudung, pakailah. Mama suka. Baguslah kalau Kakak nak pakai tudung. Memang perempuan Islam kena pakai tudung. Tutup aurat.

.

Kakak : (Pause. Thinking, I guess) Nanti masa Kakak tingkatan satu, Kakak nak pakai tudunglah.

.

Mak Lijah : (Sekali lagi menelan air liur) Alhamdulillah...Kenapa nak tunggu sampai tingkatan satu baru nak pakai?

.

Kakak : Errm... Sebab sekarang Kakak malu lagi. Malu kat Aunty N.

(Aunty N takes her back from school every day and she is a Hindu)

.

Mak Lijah : Betul ke Kakak nak pakai tudung? Tapi kalau Kakak nak pakai tudung pergi sekolah, Kakak kena juga pakai tudung pergi mana-manapun, macam Kak Farah (our neighbour). Janganlah pakai tudung sebab nak pergi sekolah saja.

.

Kakak : Ye lah... Memanglah pakai tudung pergi mana-manapun. Takkan nak pergi sekolah jer... Apalah Mama ni...

.

Mak Lijah : Baguslah. Kenapa Kakak tak cakap awal-awal. Boleh Mama belikan Kakak tudung cantik banyak-banyak masa Mama pergi Jakarta hari tu.

.

Kakak : (Tersengih) Heh... Lambat lagilah, Mama... Masa tingkatan satu nanti.

.

Mak Lijah : (Harap-harap tak lupalah masa di tingkatan satu nanti). Tak apalah... Bila-bila pun nak pakai.

//

...

By then, kami dah sampai rumah. Alahai anak daraku... Agaknya dapat inspirasi selepas Mak Lijah belikan dia telekung comel bercorak butterfly di Tanah Abang haritu. Sembahyangpun dah tak payah suruh. Masuk time jer, dia dah kat sejadah.

jj

Alhamdulillah...

Home Sweet Home

It really feels good to be back home.

No matter where you have been around the globe, kita akan merasa lega dan puas bila dapat berjumpa kembali dengan ahli keluarga dan kucing (yes, we have adopted a cat, Felix) yang dirindui. I really missed them all. I missed the clamor in the house.

I am finally back home in KL after ten-tough-days of negotiations. I don't know if we could conclude in the next round!

Nevertheless, berjuta-juta rupiah duit Mak Lijah terlabur di kota Jakarta. Aduh... rasa macam jutawan pulak bila sebut juta-juta ni. Kenyang perut menjamu macam-macam menu di macam-macam restoran yang namanya sangat pekuliar bagi lidah perempuan Melayu Malaya ni. Yang paling Mak Lijah puas hati ialah dapat buat cream bath (bukan mandi, ya, tuan-tuan dan puan-puan) dan potong rambut untuk dua orang = Rp150,000 aja dengan hasil yang stupendous. Hah...tuan-tuan dan puan-puan, hitunglah sendiri berapa reganya dan bandingkan dengan reganya di Kota KL ini. Ingat, untuk dua orang dan jenis perkhidmatan dia.

Apa-apapun, I welcome myself back to my house in the state of the opposition party, now. I missed my right to vote but nevertheless was regularly updated in advance of the shocking result via ym and sms from Pak Lijah and Dai. So much so, I could not pay attention to the meeting (we were still negotiating at 2130 hrs Indonesian time, 2230 Malaysian time, on SATURDAY..!).

Ah well... let's see what's in store lah then...! Let's see the changes... Let's see....Let's see...

What Wat?

Lama gak tak update kat sini. Heavy office workload is to be blamed. By the time I reach home, dah sibuk nak menyibuk dengan homework anak-anak dan macam-macam lagilah dll nyer. Ye lah.. ye lah... kena lah blame it on something kan?

Anyway, supaya Mak Lijah tak terlupa about my trip in December 2007, I need to upload the photos and story here.



When I was told that I had to go to Cambodia for this meeting, I was like WHAT? But then, ok, it's in Seam Reap. And yet, this question came about --> Why have it in Seam Reap and not the capital itself? I have always think that the capital of any developing country would be more advanced with all the modern facilities and tall buildings (with decent shopping complex) and a lot cleaner than other cities/town in the country.





I have never been there and never in my dream that I would actually get the chance to visit the famous Angkor Wat. And Angkor Wat is in Seam Reap, not in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. It was an amazing experience dan patutlah ia cuba disenaraikan sebagai one of the THE SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD, malangnya ia tidak berlaku.

Sebelum pergi situ, we were made to wear this boring white-colored-T shirt sebab katanya senang nak identify group. Tak per lah, since the trip was sponsored (harga tiket di quote in USD) dan dapat free Tshirt lagi, belasah jer lah...

It was really hot and the sun was burning my skin. Nasib baik ingat pesanan kawan to put on the sunblock. Nevertheless Mak Lijah berpeluh bagai masuk marathon. We had to walk on oneven blocks on the causeway. It was a long walk, believe me.

Once we were inside the complex, it was really cooling. Maybe the stones that made up the building berusia terlampau lama, maka suhu agak dingin di dalamnya.

The interior was so incredible. Ukiran-ukiran halus atas batu-batu yang amat keras. Namun bila dapat melihat the Jungle Temple, I rest my case lah. Imagine how old the Wat is. Akar-akar kayu melingkari struktur bangunan. Patutlah Kak Jolie datang sini dulu.

For those yang ada hati nak tengok Angkor Wat, we do fly directly to Seam Reap but only on selected days. I suggest that you bring your own food walaupun ada sebuah restoran halal Melayu, D'Wau, dan beberapa lagi restoran yang halal, tapi travelling in the tuk-tuk to and fro would not be a good idea. Nevertheless, there are plenty of hotels there yang almost all (3-4 star rated) bernama ANGKOR.

http://www.angkorwat.org/

Angkor Wat has a long history. Daripada the Kingdom of Funan to the Spanish invasion dan from agama Hindu to Budha, it captured a lot of historical events yang sangat amazing. It is believed that it was built during AD616 - AD635. However, by the 18th century, Angkor Wat dah ditelan hutan rimba dan tidak lagi dapat ditembusi hinggalah Kak Jolie menemuinya semula. Are you kidding? It was Henri Mouhot, a French botanist who discovered the Angkor ruins. This led to an intensive research and restoration program throughout the later half of the 19th and 20th century. Some details of Angkor Wat:


The temples at Angkor are spread out over some 40 miles around the village of Siem Reap. They were built between the eighth and 13th centuries and range from single towers made of bricks to vast stone temple complexes. There are two main sites where the Khmer temples are located. The first is at Roluos which is about 10 miles south east of today's village of Siem Reap, where only a few of the earlier temples were built. This was the first Khmer capital in the Angkor area. In the late ninth century, Yasovarman I moved the capital to the immediate vicinity of Siem Reap. It is officially known as the City of Angkor. There are other temples located in the area, some up to 20 miles away from Siem Reap. Khmer temples can also be found in many other parts of Cambodia, as well as China, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.

Wat Album

Peristiwa M*din - Revisit

Scroll down to revisit


Danisy panggil dia May-Den. Dia memang suka ke situ. Ada-ada saja nak dibeli. Selalunya barang yang tak masuk dalam senarai. Co*kies cri*p lah, vitag*n lah, yogurt lah, fresh milk lah bla bla bla. Kebanyakannya yang berkaitan dengan makanan sebab Danisy suka makan. Dia juga suka ke situ sebab May-Den is just a 5-minutes walk away from our home.

Tapi apa yang nak Mak Lijah nak citer di sini is not about what we buy in M*din.

...However, sebelum Mak Lijah buka cerita, Mak Lijah nak minta maaf banyak-banyak dulu dari Pak Lijah sebab menyebabkan dia tensen pada skala richter di tahap optimum (rasanyalah) gara-gara dua peristiwa yang berlaku di M*din.




Suatu lewat petang tu, Mak Lijah rasa nak singgah sekejap kat M*din on the way back from office sebab Kakak ada pesan macam-macam barang sekolah plus nak beli barang-barang dapur sekali. Pusing punya pusing, akhirnya dapat lah parking agak jauh sikit, depan stesen minyak M*bil.


By then dah pukul 6.30 petang dan awan dah mula berkumpul plus setitik dua titik air dah jatuh
atas kepala Mak Lijah. Tapi Mak Lijah dah determined to buy barang-barang Kakak hari tu juga sebab she needed them for the next day. Lagipun Mak Lijah estimated that the most I would spend my time there would be only half an hour including the queueing.


So Mak Lijah grabbed all the needed things within 20 minutes which include sotong, ayam, sayur and a few more perishable items... and mula berjalan ke arah kaunter...Sambil mulut terlopong... Dah hujan rupanya. Hujan yang amat lebat pulak tu. Oh...oh... Macamana ni? Kejap lagi nak Maghrib dah. Tak per lah. Tunggulah 15 minit lagi.


Selepas 25 minit.


Hujan masih lebat. Tiada langsung tanda-tanda nak reda apatah lagi nak berenti. Jam dah pukul 7.30 malam.


Kring...kring...(bunyi standard telefon, walaupun handphone tak bunyi lagu tu)


Mak Lijah : Pak Lijah... Dah sampai rumah?

Pak Lijah : Dah.

Mak Lijah : Mak Lijah terperangkap ni, kat M*din. Hujan lebat sangat. Parking keter jauh plak tu. Harus basah kuyup kalau berjalan ke keter (hint..hint...). Bla...bla...bla... Tak bawa payung. Bla...bla...bla... Depan M*bil...

Pak Lijah : bla...bla...bla...

Mak Lijah : Sigh.....



Kring...kring.. (hujan masih lebat)


Pak Lijah : Mak Lijah ada kat mana ni?

Mak Lijah : Depan pintu M*din.

Dipendekkan cerita, Pak Lijah datang dengan kereta, hulurkan payung sambil Mak Lijah hulurkan balik barang-barang yang dibeli tadi. Maka berjalanlah Mak Lijah ke keter dalam hujan yang lebat itu, berpayung, dalam kegelapan malam. Mujur tak kena dinner di kedai mamak kat situ.


Terima kasih Pak Lijah...






*Sambungan* - A Revisit


After that peristiwa, I went back to M*din about a week later sebab nak buy some stuff since Mak and Ayah were coming over from Teh's house. This time around, I decided earlier that I would be spending just a little bit longer in M*din sebab ada banyak barang dapur yang nak dibeli. Lagipun the weather looked clear and tak ada tandapun nak hujan.

Alhamdulillah, kali ni dapat parking betul-betul depan pintu keluar M*din.

Among others, Mak Lijah beli ikan, sayur, cili, ulam, bihun, roti, calci-y*m, dan macam-macam lagi benda yang berat-berat lah, and tak lupa juga susu pekat sebab Ayah takes tea like five times a day, an old habit which he cannot give up since as long as I can remember. He is addicted to having tea every single day.

So when I was satisfied with everything that I needed, Mak Lijah pun berjalanlah ke kaunter untuk membayar. Sambil cashier dok scan barang-barang tu, Mak Lijah menyeluk-nyeluk my Co*ch handbag to look for my car keys. Senang... pegang siap-siap kunci, tak payah nak tercari-cari masa nak ke kereta nanti. That critical time could be the time when a peragut would grab the opportunity to start work.

After paying, sangkut handbag kat bahu, cop resit (I don't know why they have to do that), Mak Lijah pun pergilah ke kereta carrying all the heavyloads with both my hands, with much difficulties. Oleh kerana beratnya itu, lima langkah dari pintu keluar M*din pun rasa macam berjalan 5 kilometer... Mujurlah kunci keter Mak Lijah ni yang jenis boleh buka boot kereta dari jauh.

Sampai jer kat kereta, cepat-cepat Mak Lijah push-opened the boot dengan siku, lifted all the stuff dengan saki-baki kudrat yang ada (lepas ni sure dah build-up muscle) dan GEDEBUM... Mak Lijah lepaskan semua barang dan terus SLAM...! Fuuhh.... Lega....








Kring...kring....

Mak Lijah : Pak Lijah ada kat mana?

Pak Lijah : Dah nak sampai. Kenapa?

Mak Lijah : Erk... I think I am locked-out of the car.

Pak Lijah : Huh? Laa.... Macamana... bla...bla..bla...

Mak Lijah : Entah... Lepas tutup boot tadi, cari kunci dah tak ada.

Pak Lijah : Mak Lijah kat mana ni? Dah cari dekat-dekat situ?

Mak Lijah : Baru habis shopping kat M*din. Rasanya kunci termasuk sekali dalam boot masa (GEDEBUM...) masukkan barang-barang tadi. Bla...bla..bla.. (excuse....excuse...)

Pak Lijah : Ingat tak kunci spare ada kat mana?


Dipendekkan cerita, Pak Lijah came to pick me up kat M*din so that we could go home and look for the keys together although the custodian of any keys is solely Pak Lijah.

Half an hour later we finally found the keys somewhere and we drove back to M*din together. Nasib baik Pak Lijah insisted to park and help me with the keys, walaupun Mak Lijah dah kata that I would be fine because... the keys couldn't work! Puas tekan sana sini, ketuk-ketuk dan macam-macam kaedah lagi... sampai Pak Lijah dah almost run out of patience and decided to call his mechanic-friend from the service centre that we visit frequently.

While he was busy dialling, Mak Lijah grabbed the keys and decided to do it my way. Masa tu, we were at the side of the car, dekat pintu drebar and as I was walking towards the boot, La illa ha illa anta sub-haka inni kuntum minnazzolimin... tekan-tekan the button of the keys and.........

...the lights flashed twice...

And since then, Mak Lijah dah fobia about going to M*din. But then again, that's the best place to stop after work sebab sangat convenient.

How lah, then?

Oh, I am so sick!

oo
Semalam Mak Lijah dapat MC sebab demam, sakit kepala, pening, macam-macam ada. Sebenarnya demam ni sejak first day of school lagi. Tapi Mak Lijah buat-buat tak tau jer sebab agenda sekolah lebih penting during those two days than my health.

So pergilah jumpa tuan dokter pagi semalam.



"Have you been coughing a lot lately?"

"No."

"Do you have difficulties in breathing?"

"No."

"There's a lot of phlegm in your lungs."


Blink...blink...


"Do you need MC for today?"

(You bet I need it. It's already 10 am. Don't expect me to drive to work NOW.)

"Yes, please."


RM35 untuk tujuh jenis pills and capsules plus a bottle of cough syrup which I don't really need, and... MC for the day.





"Mama, Kakak kena salin nota dari buku Kajian Tempatan. Cekgu nak esok. Tapi Kakak tak ada buku tu."

Off to kedai buku kat Jalan TAR. Kena balik cepat sebelum 1230, takut terserempak dengan colleagues yang MAY be "berjalan-jalan" kat that area for lunch break. What would they think? Dapat MC tapi pi "melawat kawasan" pulak.



"Mama (dengan muka monyok), Kakak rasa bukan buku Kajian Tempatan lah. Kena salin pasal 'bengkel'. Kajian tempatan ni tak ajar pun pasal bengkel(?)"

Vrooommm... This time around, park kat belakang Semua House. Bayar RM6 untuk 15 minit.



Today:

Terngiang-ngiang kat telinga soklan ni "Do you have difficulties in breathing?"

Sepatutnya Mak Lijah jawab YES. Memang Mak Lijah tak rasa sesak nafas i.e. tercungap-cungap macam baru lari lintang-pukang, tapi dada Mak Lijah rasa sebak. You know... rasa tight chest... Macam baru menangis (walaupun tak nangis).

And today, I accepted the fact that I was sick because I was a secondary smoker...

READ: People who do not smoke directly and inhale smoke from a cigarette smoke by his/her neighbor is known as passive smoker, secondary smoker or indirect smoker. According to the American Heart Association, nearly 35,000 passive smokers die of smoke inhaled from a lit pipe, cigar or cigarette. Among the passive smokers, women, children and infants are at a higher risk. The symptoms experienced by secondary smokers are coughing, excess mucus formation in the airways, chest discomfort, chest pain, and lung irritation. They even feel irritation of throat, nose and eyes. If the passive smokers experiences chest pain, it can be an indication of a heart disease.

So, how did Mak Lijah actually make use of the one-day MC?

Dua hari yang sibuk

Hari itu datang lagi. The first day of school. Dah selamat berlangsung semalam.

Bangun pukul 5.50 a.m., Abang yang mandi dulu dengan liat sekali. Too long dah dok bangun lambat. And then Kakak. She's calmer now, compared masa dia di Tahun 1, 2 and masa di tadika dulu ketika dia kuat mengamuk waktu bangun pagi.

Bila dah siap bersarapan dengan mushroom soup (yes... that's their favourite breakfast. Nasib baik Cik Campbell tolong), masuk keter pukul 6.40 a.m.and started off. Tiba-tiba, "Alamak..."

"Hah... apa yang tertinggal?" (Macam dah tahu)

"Kasut"

"Laa... Abang ni... First day dah lupa. Pot..pet...pot...pet..."

Selepas hantar Abang and Kakak, Mak Lijah rushed back home to uruskan Danisy pulak. Sampai rumah pukul 7.35 a.m.

Danisy pun macam good mood jer bangun pagi sambil suruh Mak Lijah cepat sikit buka baju dia sebab nak mandi.

Seperti tahun lepas, Mak Lijah hantar sendiri Big Baby Danisy ke tadikanya, for the first two days, walaupun dah masuk tahun ke dua dia di situ. Dah senior, lah konon. And yet I am still pampering him. I am still not ready to let him go on his own. Not yet, not at least until he is in Tahun 2 nanti.

Can't help but teringat kisah dia tak lawan budak yang cubit dia di restoran Salero Negori dulu tu.

Mak Lijah usik-usik dia juga, tanya dia tak nangis ke, macam budak junior yang menangis-nangis nak ke mak dia ataupun macam yang sorang lagi tu, siap lari keluar nak kejar mak dia. Danisy cuma tersengeh dan cakap, "Apalah Mama ni".

Hari ni dia komplen kasut dia ketat dan strapnye dah terkoyak. Looks like kena beli another pair for him. Kakak pun komplen kasut dia dah ketat. Adeh...

Petang ni Mak Lijah dah bayar the last yuran of the year. Thus far, the expenditure on fees, books etc alone :

Yuran pelbagai : RM141 (Abang); RM84.90 + RM121.00 (Kakak) RM210 (Danisy)

Buku : RM 22 (Abang) RM33.60 (Kakak) RM 50 (Danisy)

Pengangkutan : RM 85 RM (Kakak); 60 (Danisy)

JUMLAH KESELURUHAN RM 807.50

Woweeee....!!! Boleh beli sepasang Nine West tu...

Begitulah investment kita kepada anak-anak, kan? Demi mereka.

Year 2008

While the date is still there,

Happy New Year, everybody...!!!

Happy Anniversary

` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

It has been 15 years of :


chocolate

strawberry

chilly




honey

vinegar

pepper





AND YET, IT ALL TASTED SO SWEET...

Hap...pening Penang!

Dah nak masuk tiga malam Mak Ljah sekeluarga berada di Pulau Pinang (or easier to say "Penang") for our much awaited end-of year holidays.

Last year at this point of time, Mak Lijah dan Pak Lijah were in LA. Baru balik dari Universal Studio and looking for tempat makan yang "sesuai". By that time, nafsu makan dah tertutup sebab dah tak ada selera langsung dengan makanan barat (masa tu dah dekat 10 hari away from Malaysia, on my way back from Venezuela). I missed nasi and sambal tumis. I missed nasi goreng kampung, asam pedas, ikan puyu pekasam, teh tarik, bla...bla...bla...

Back to Penang...

Bila berada di hotel ni on the Christmas eve (di pinggir pantai), rasa pelik yang amat sangat dengan lautan manusia bertopi merah yang membuat bising, menjerit-jerit, diiringi bunyi muzik yang amat kuat (we are on the 17th floor).

Jalan kat depan hotel tu memang dah jammed yang amat perit dengan manusia yang menyembur buih sabun (yang diperasankan sebagai snow) ke atas kereta yang terpaksa dipandu ultra perlahan dek lautan manusia di atas jalan yang tidak memkirkan keselamatan sendiri... Yang teruk tu, tulis perkataan-perkataan lucah pulak. Kesian pemandu kereta yang tak boleh nak buat apa-apa sebab takut dengan lautan manusia yang macam tak boleh mengawal diri.

Apa nak jadi daa... Ke... aku yang perak?

Pendek kata, happening betul lah kat Penang sekarang ni...
Macam-macam pe'el manusia.
Nak sangat tiru barat, sampai over lah pulak. Kat LA pun tak der kejadian-kejadian pelik macam ni. Orang putih tak lah behave macam ni.

Apa nak jadi daa... Ke... aku yang perak?



. . . . . . . . . .

Breaking News

It's finally here. The announcement was made through a third party. So how am I supposed to feel? Dissapointed? Confused? All in?

The news is that Putihah has finally decided to go back to Indonesia for good in August next year when her permit is due.

She said she was going to Johor to marry, yesterday. But the sms today said that she had forgotten her passport and that the ceremony will now be in Kajang at her adik's house. Previously she told Kak Ani that her Kakak lives in Kajang. And what has her passport got to do with the akad nikah? They all have KPT don't they?
What's new in her dongeng story?
(By the way, we are all in Santan since Wednesday.)

Anyway, we have to be prepared for her depature, next year. First I have to brain wash Kakak and Danisy about the situation. They have known Kak Putihah almost all their life. It would be strange for them I supposed, for the first few months. Then I would have to brain wash our new maid about the house chores not as to be that of Putihah's.

Now about this future maid-to-be. For the past two days, we've had two "part-time" maids who came to our house to help with the house chores. They worked like machines! No need to tell them what to do, they just clean-up the whole house like they've lived here forever. Now, that's the kind of maid I want to have. I'd probably use the agency in getting one next year. But how do I know if I'd get a good one? Macam beli loteri kan?

Rumpun Bak Serai

Source : Wikipedia

Junjung bak sireh

Tapi sekarang ni Mak Lijah amat kurang selesa dengan frasa berikutnya:

Itu lah kita di Nusantara



Menurut Wikipedia (and it is most likely true) :

Nusantara is a geographical concept of Indonesia which refers to all Indonesian regions from Sabang until Merauke. The word Nusantara was taken from an oath by Gajah Mada written on a Javanese old manuscript of Negarakertagama.



So what's this about irama Nusantara? Has it any elements of Malaysia? Dulu hot sekejap this so-called irama Nusantara bila M. Nasir composed Mustika. And then there's Sheqal's Cinta Nusantara and suddenly Manan Ngah has a "Nusantara" as his middle name.

Just forget about Nusantara. Forget it because WE ARE NOT FROM NUSANTARA. Don't compose anymore songs that says it is irama Nusantara. Let them have it all. Let's just have irama Malaysia.

Dangkalnya! Apa lagi yang kita ambil dari dia? Udara tak nak claim? Air hujan tak nak tuntut? Awan berarak tak nak digapai? Bintang-bintang tu... pergilah amik, simpan dalam lemari nkorang.

Batu-batu kecil yang kat pantai Johor sana or mana-manalah persisiran pantai di Malaysia ni, partially mungkin datang dari tempat diorang, kan? Tak nak saman ke?
What are we going to do with the batu-batu yang mengikut ombak laut dan terdampar tu? They are going to be there for long, right? We don't even know the difference - whether they came from accross the sea, or if they've already been there for a long, long time. They just become a part of our shore. They become ours. So what are we going to do about it? Or what are THEY going to do about it?

Nanti tempe pun kena pulangkan. Not to mention pegedil, meatballs and what else? Nanti mi bandung, mi jawa semua kena tukar jadi mi Perlis, mi Kedah. Itupun kalau diorang tak claim copyrightlah.

And is anyone also going to claim dikir barat as theirs too? Oh come on... That would probably mean boria pun akan di claim by God-knows-who and would the Portuguese sue us for joget?

Protes lah...protes...
Demo lah...demo...
Itu jer cara nak cari makan...
Dapat 30,000 rupiah sorang, blah lah diorang.






Sayang wangi serainya tiada
Tinggal bau di alu lesung
Apalah serumpun tiada bermakna
Andai pekerti sudah terpasung