Oh My Doter..

Doter came back from camp for the Chinese New Year break. From the time she sets foot in the house, she got her hands on the notebook and only comes detached when its time to eat, sleep and 'doing-business'. Otherwise she swings from FB to YM to Blogging and probably various other places on the WWW.

She was supposed to check on her UPU application but couldnt find the slip with the "NO UNIK ID". She said, just before she went to Camp, she left the slip on her study table (which is actually the small folding table with the pictorial alphabets) by her bed. Opps.. after she left for Camp, I did a major cleanup and everything on the table ended up in the rubbish bag..and that was 4 weeks ago. Oh maaann.. I made her search all over the room and as expected she couldnt find it. Not when her eyes and heart is on the note book that is pinging away with chats from her old school friends as well as her new found PLKN friends.

Once the break was over, off she went, back to Camp but not before I made her call her teacher to find out if she can get a copy of the "no unik id" from school. Mana lah tahu if the school ada simpan a copy. But nope, teacher said they dont keep a copy and that doter should try the bank. (Later I found out, another (rural) school made the students write the number on a list prepared by the school. I guess this school is better organized!)

So, I made an effort to go to BSN (the issuing bank) to find out if they can give me a copy. But the officer at the bank said, I should get the date as well as the exact branch that issued the numbers to the school. Then I have to write in the request. IF and ONLY IF the copy has not been sent to the main office for safe keeping, a search will be made. Otherwise the request will be chanelled to the relevant department (tempat archive tu lah) to look for the copy. And the officer fore warned that that will take a long, long time.

I tried another angle.. "Err.. can I just buy a new number", since it cost only RM10.60. But the officer said, they have closed sale for the session. Aduhhhh...

So next, I have to go to school and get the relevant information and then write the letter. Planned to go the next day but I got a terrible backache overdoing housework. So I just texted doter a message asking her to call the teacher instead. And the message was KIVed because the handphone was switched off and kept by the Camp authorities.

Today I decided to cleanup the cupboards (inspired by Noha..hehe). And guess what.. I found the slip in my box of bangles and bracelets in my wardrobe. Now I remember asking doter to put it there and asking her to remember because I know I will forget. True enough, I forgot and so did she. Haish...

I have put in the number into MY handphone and Faiz has taken a pix of it on his handphone.

At the same time Faiz has also taken a pix of doter's birth certificate number (for something else). Thanks to technology, hopefully this time nobody forgets.

p/s Doter called this evening (using the public phone) telling me not to come next weekend as they have shooting practice. Yah right!! No way I am coming close to where they are letting loose kids with weapons... Secretly I still have hopes to marry again before I die.... Hahahahah... just joking!

Not on speaking terms..

My son received a 1st reminder from his alma mater (a university in the northern states). He has to pay RM1370 ASAP, else he cant seat for his exams.

Firstly, my son graduated last year.

Secondly, my son is already working.

So, what on earth is this?

Called them up and asked for some clarification.

Me: Anak saya..... dpt surat dr pihak university, mintak bayaran.

Puan: Boleh bagi nombor matrix dia. Saya periksa dulu.

Me: [matrix #]

Puan: Dia nak grad bulan 8 nie ka?

Me: Haa? Dia dah grad tahun lepas dah, tapi dia tak sempat pergi convo. Baru je dapat scroll dia bulan lepas.

Puan: Boleh dak fax kan resit bayaran scroll tu?

Me: Aikk? Kan dah fax kan. Scroll pun dah dapat.

Puan: Tak dak dalam file. Boleh tak puan fax kan sekali lagi. [hehe.. dia dah keluaq accent north dia]

Me: Sat nooo.. kalu makcik jumpa resit tu, makcik fax kan nooo...

Ish.. depa nie ingat kita tak dak keje lain ka. Sib bek [baik] la, makcik nie efficient, sampaikan surat anak2 pun makcik simpan dan failkan.

Fax lah sekali lagi ke Cik Puan Bendahari dan call balik to confirm yang dia terima.

Me: Makcik yang call tadi pagi. Makcik dah fax kan resit tu. Dah terima?

Puan: Ha.. dah2. Kami baru peksa dengan bahagian pendaftaran. Memang dah keliar [clear].

Awat lah buat haghu. Check lah dulu baru hantaq surat "reminder". Dan awat lah bahagian pendaftaran dan bahagian bendahari tak communicate and update each other. Perlis tu bukan besaq mana pun.. kalu jerit kuat2, bule dengaq..

My son said to ignore the reminder. I told my son, I want closure. I dont want to receive a 2nd or third reminder.. not unless it comes with cash.. hehehe

The Potato Game

A Kindergarten teacher has decided to let her class play a game. The teacher told each child in the class to bring along a plastic bag containing a few potatoes. Each potato will be given a name of a person that the child hates, so the number of potatoes that a child puts in his/her plastic bag will depend on the number of people he/she hates.

So when the day came, every child brought some potatoes with the name of the people he/she hated. Some had 2 potatoes, some 3, while some up to 5 potatoes. The teacher then told the children to carry with them the potatoes in the plastic bag wherever they go (even to the toilet) for one week.

The days passed by and the children complained about the unpleasant smell let out by the rotten potatoes. Besides, those having 5 potatoes also had to carry heavier loads. After one week, the children were relieved because the Potato Game finally ended.

The teacher asked :
"How did you feel while carrying the potatoes with you for one week?"
The children let out their frustrations and started complaining of the trouble they had to go through having to carry the heavy and smelly potatoes wherever they go.

Then the teacher told them the hidden meaning behind the game. The teacher said :
"This is exactly the situation when you carry your hatred for somebody inside your heart. The stench of hatred will contaminate your heart and you will carry it with you wherever you go. If you cannot tolerate the smell of rotten potatoes for just one week, can you imagine what it's like to have the stench of hatred in your heart for your lifetime?"

Moral of the story :Throw away any hatred for anyone from your heart so that you will not carry the burden for a lifetime. Forgiving others is the best attitude to take! Love others even if you dont like them. True love is not loving a perfect person but loving an imperfect person perfectly.

Duyong ke?

Halfheartedly planned for an Ikan Bakar dinner in Malacca. First we had to wait for lil princess to wake up and makan.. then we had to wait for lil princess to nap AND wake up after lunch. Adeh..

Meanwhile I hurried off to get the boys their lunch altho' ada diantara mereka yang sedang breakfast. Dah settle lunch (nasi briyani mamak with chicken nuggets and rempah ayam kapitan), everyone was online on the various laptops, notebooks and handphones, waiting for the lil princess. Ini lah gara2 ada budak network dalam rumah. You can even go online while waiting for the gates to open!

Princess arrived and while we are getting ready, she had a go on her slide and swing. Actually, I had KA start getting ready as soon as I received the message from Azhar that they have just left home in Ampang. KA takes 10minutes just to adjust her tudung, ok!

All 6 adults and princess loaded up into the Al*za. The journey was smooth altho' traffic was quite heavy (no jam). Jam at all toll exits only. As we reached the Air Keroh toll exit, called and confirmed with the orang Melaka if they want to join us. PakNgah's back was still 'out' and he was supposed to be resting only. So that allows us to go direct to the Ikan Bakar place.

We have stopped going to Umbai (overrated, over priced and jam packed at all times). My adik will head to Alai(?) but my kids wanted to go to their usual place in Muara Sungai Duyong. Ahhh..mama ikut saja.

Puhh.. ALL cars seem to be heading in the same direction and as expected the place was jam-packed. We decided to park oh-so-far-away and walk to the restaurant. The first restaurant even had a queue to wait-to-be-seated as well as a queue to choose fish. So we trudged on to the neighbouring restaurant across the single lane bridge. Place was quieter but not for long. As soon as we had chosen our fish and seafood, more people started coming in.

Nevertheless we still had to wait for dinner to be cooked. Princess was already agitated. The only way to keep her still was to say "Fatin posing!". Instantaneously she will stop whatever she is doing and pose. Not camera shy, my grand doter.

Food finally arrived.

Nasi lemak - sambal sedap, ikan bilis sikit benar.

Buttered prawns - not like MatChanDollah though. No sarak telur and no butter taste at all. Neighbour's udang bakar looks nicer! But prawns was very fresh, crunchy and big.

Sotong goreng celup tepung - Ina says not up to standard. Methinks mamak's sotong goreng taste better.

Ikan Jenahak goreng sweet sour (I think) - very nice.

Ikan siakap bakar - very nice.

Kailan ikan masin - biasa je.

On the whole, gives a thumbs up for the freshness of the seafood. They way it was cooked was nothing to shout about. Slightly less than rm150.

Walked back to the car. It definitely was more than the necessary 40 steps walk after a meal. Hahaha

Stopped by to visit PakNgah. He can walk around dah. Takde lah macam orang dalam pantang pun. Adik made sushi (more fish??). Sorry, I dont eat sushi, so no comment there.

Lil princess was more excited about the tanglong and fireworks. My sister is the ONLY malay family living there. And the chinese was having a door-after-door-lightup-firework session. Something like having the marhaban group doing the takbir from door-to-door in a muslim community. Tahan telinga saja lah. Fatin wanted to see but at the same time, she is scared of the loud noise. So she peluk Unc Faiz dia kuat2 and jerit "Takutttt" but peeked to see the fireworks.

On the way back, she was pointing out and shouting "Tanglong ni, tanglong ni, tanglong ni..". Banyak tuh.. since every chinese house have tanglongs hanging in their porch. Cantik sangat.

I dont know about the journey back. I guess everyone slept except the driver. Sedar2 dah sampai toll bangi. Tired but happy.

Start of the day..

Doter woke me in the middle of the night, coughing. Aikk.. macam orang balik Mekah pulak. Bad, loud cough. Dah suruh makan ubat batuk.. tapi degil. Handed her the chest rub.

Woke up with a startle. Pikir sekejap.. Thursday- MPKj rubbish collection day! Took out the garbage and started off 2nd round of camp washing. Went back to bed, not to sleep but to check out FB. Hahaha..

Doter said she missed mamak food. They never get roti canai in camp but they do enjoy kue teow/nasi goreng, mee hoon/kue teow soup, soto and there was one time that they got 'koko krunch' and milk. She complain that food is bland in camp. Even biskut marie taste so wonderful there. Hahaha.. baru dia tahu!

She gave a list of things to bring back to camp..among others.. megi in mug, biskut etc. She breaking out bad. Apa nak buat ek? Macam bad case of after-chicken pox.

Petang ni plan nak pergi Alai for ikan bakar. No we stop going to Umbai.. too many people go there (over rated, I think). Food tak ada lah sedap mana pun. Fatin (my cucu) kata dia ok jer nak pergi Melaka.

What I did on 2nd feb 2011

Early morning and I was ready to head off to BootCamp to get my doter back for the CNY. But first I had to wait for her BFF, QuYa. Faiz drove this time. Smooth journey and not so many cars.

BUT just as we were 10minutes away from the camp, we saw a policeman waving a red flag. Oh dear, kena saman meh.. Kesalahannya : salah lorong. Huhuhu.. Faiz moved into the right lane too early when he wanted to make a right turn. Bukan nya menghalang kenderaan mana-mana. Tapi just an over enthusiastic policeman, at the wrong time and wrong place. Redha aje lah.

Doter was already waiting for us and the checking out was swift. Faiz (still unhappy about the summon) needed to get something at Low Yat. Yes.. we went to jam packed Low Yat. We were lucky to get a parking space! Stomach growling and eyes sleepy.. finally he came back to the car.

After dropping off Rai, we headed home for a quick shower and started off doter's dirty washing. Then we all headed to Alamanda for lunch. Since there were 6 of us, it is worth going into Johnny's.

Hehe.. I always keep the bill from the last visit to J. This saves time in placing the orders. I think the staff there pon dah kenal sangat dengan Mdm Efficient. The staff are not local, so language is a barrier. So as to prevent getting our orders wrong, I just present the old bill and make whatever necessary changes.

Must say I always enjoy eating there. To save a bit more, we always share the (refillable) Thai tea or plain water. I know of some people who even go to the extent of buying fish ball or crab stick from the nearest supermarket and sneak the food in. But they wash it first ok.

Back from Alamanda, we were all poofed out and took a nap. But managed to get doter to hang out her washing first. She was already connected to her FB and YM. Teased her about having withdrawal effects staying in the camp and not having access to her handphone and internet. She said her camp is so deep in the boon docks that to access internet, they have to be at the highest possible location. Use of handphone on weekends, is only at strategic places. The yellowman phone does not have any line there.

Faiz came into the room and asked what's for dinner. Since doter mentioned about missing Yassir's pasta, we headed there first. Unfortunately Yassir overdose on the chili padi and the pasta (carbonara and olio) were extremely HOT.

Now I am going to sleep. Nite world..zzzzzzzzzzzz

Aikkk..

Time was 12.27.

Date - 2nd february 2011

Location: I was deep in the bowels of Low Yat (parking lot, meh!), when this message came in..

"Ni ayah guna fon police tlong bgi credit maxi$ 50 ringgi ke nombo bru ayah 0128114817  Ayah lgi ada msalah kat blai police. ta payah call, sekejap ayah call."

Ya right!

1.  Sejak bila my dad bahasa diri "ayah".

2.  Sejak bila my dad (if it was my dad) guna handphone. Phone telekom yang biasa tu pun dia dah potong sebab dia guna Wifi**

3.  Dad doesnt know text shortforms...tlong, bgi, lgi, msalah, blai, ta.

4.  Dad would speak in english.

5.  Beware of the word maxi$.. people who use $$ in place of 'S', must be after your $$$.

6.  Cant even spell ringgit properly.

**Dad, in his own world can make calls without even using the phone. All he needs to do is to tip his head abit and he gets his 'calls' through.

Tak kuasa nak layan. My son told me NOT to even try calling the number because apparently there is a program that will suck ALL your credit dry.

I do wish these people find a job and purchase their own phone credits. Tak selamat hidup menipu nie.