Fatin And I ~ tolo

Fatin is very choosy about her food. Living with a grandmother (definitely not I) who is a wonderful cook, she has upgraded her taste buds to accept spicy food. Her current favourite is nasi lemak but dont you dare remove the sambal. She loves it hot and she must get extra boiled eggs.


One time when we (bangi family) were busy looking elsewhere, she went to the fridge and helped herself to the eggs. She thought they were boiled eggs. She tried breaking the shell and panicked when the runny egg flowed out. But smart girl that she was, she quickly put it inside a small basket (that I got from a wedding), and then said, "Fatin nak tolo".


Tired Mama had to get up and boil her an egg and cleanup the mess. After feeding Fatin the boiled egg, she asked for another. 


~~~~
Early this month, Azhar was recovering from his tonsils op and Mama had to work (assignments and datelines). Atok and Nenek were off to Indonesia, so Azhar brought Fatin over to bangi. 


My main worry was feeding fussy Fatin. Bought her nasi lemak but it remain untouched. I made her an omelete but she refused it too. Boiled an egg but that she turned that down too. 


Oma : "Oma give up lah. Tatau apa Fatin nak mkn"
Dengan selamba Fatin menjawab : "Baguslah!"
Ish..ada yang nak kena nie.


** After the nasty accident when Fatin helped herself to the raw egg, I installed a child-lock on my fridge. She was caught with her body pulled backward, trying to pry it open.

Maid Story - #4 Sarah

Just before Embah left, we had to get a new minder for Faizal. Azhar was living with grandma in JB, so Faizal was our main concern. 


We didn't have to look far. Hawa lived with her husband, children and her younger sister just next door. Since the sister, Sarah was not studying or working, we asked if she would like to be the children's minder. Sarah ended up working with us for almost 2 years.


She would hop over in the morning and go home when we return from work. She would attend to the children's needs. She also cooks for the family. Being a fellow johorian, I especially enjoyed her mean asam pedas.


The only problem with Sarah was, she is quite fragile in health. So whenever she is not well, her sister Hawa will take care of Faizal together with her own children.


But soon enough Hawa and family decided to move to Cheras. So we were maid-less again. Thus began our search and enduring the short stints of various types of maids.

Khairin And I - Kaeru

As I was reading, I came across an article which mentions "Kaeru" or japanese for frog. The frog is viewed as a harbinger of new beginnings since its name in japanese, kaeru, is a homonym for the verb meaning "change".

Baby Kero






My doter is sometimes called "Kero" and she so does love the frog character. This time round it really means something for her. We even bought Baby Kero (above) to mark the change in her life. A big move in her academic life. The move from being a student to being a siswi. From being spoon fed to having to do her own research. The move from sharing her room with mama to sharing her room with someone of her own age. This includes getting her own meals and washing her clothes, to taking care of her health.


I pray that Allah will take care of my darling baby..amin


p/s Bila nak bawak Baby Kero dok sama2..

Dont read and eat..or Dont eat and read

For as long as I can remember, I have this habit of reading while eating. It could be the nasi lemak wrapper, (when they use to use the newspaper to wrap the nasi lemak), any document that needs to be read (while in office) and if I happen to have the internet right in front of me, I will be browsing through. Nowadays I will put in a small magazine or a novel in my handbag, so that I can indulge in reading while waiting for my order to arrive or for my number to get called up (at the Post office or bank).


When eating at the mamak, I will first check my FB (most mamak comes with free wifi) and then open my novel and continue reading where I left off. When my mee goreng arrive, I will just squeeze the lime and start eating...THEN... I accidentally bite on the fiery cili api. Huhuhu..


On night, my doter and I walked into a restaurant to indulge in cakes. My doter, just before she left for college, said she wanted 'choc mud cake' (her favorite). Besides the cake, she also ordered the gourmet pie. My order was the chicken currypuff and durian cheesecake. Oooo..the durian cheesecake was to die for. It was like eating seedless D24 on a biscuit crust. Then I opened my book and started reading as I ate the currypuff. Halfway through my doter whispered, "Ma..what's that?"..pointing at the chicken in my currypuff. I put the book down and peered at the piece of chicken (I had put it aside as I don't like eating chicken that much). 


Arghhhh....horrors... I saw a few telur lalat on the piece of chicken!!


Called the supervisor and showed her the 'masterpiece'. She was all apologies and asked if she could give me a replacement. I told her to pack it up. All of a sudden, I lost my appetite. 


Had I been alone, I might have swallowed it all up and end up with an upset tummy. This act of reading and eating at the same time can be dangerous..hmmm..

Annie & The smart Alec ~ Peribahasa

Umie :  "Apa erti..'sambil menyelam minum air'.."


Afnan answers in english, of course.


Afnan :  "someone who is trying to drown himself".


Umie : ..sighhhh.. its gonna be a looooooonnggg school holidays.


Note from Umie.. I have gained unbelievable insights into how misleading our peribahasa can be by testing them on afnan..

Annie & The smart Alec ~ New Year

Ayah was explaining the difference between the chinese new year and the "normal" (gregorian) new year to Afnan (Note: Afnan is my 10 year old smart-alec-nephew) and how one calendar uses the sun and the other uses the moon but with an "adjustment" every couple of years. 


Then Ayah asked, "What is another calendar that we use?" (expecting the answer to be the Muslim calendar and wanting to explain the hikmah of the shifting seasons in which muslims perform puasa).

Afnan answered, "The Subway Calendar!!! Cause we tear out the free subway voucher every month and used it to take Askaree out to dinner at Subway".


Umie : Apakah????

Another one fly out the nest ~ Part 3

Before continuing on my doter's life in Puncak Alam, let me show the place. This is a snap shot of the infamous steps.. all 294 of them. Spanning from the hostel (orange color building) to the Academic building in purple. It is a covered corridor and there is also a jejantas/bridge crossing over a four-lane road. 


Phew..am I glad I am not a student there!


After sending her to register in her hostel (minus her tudungs, which she conveniently left at home), we left KA to begin her life as a siswi. She managed to get some shut eye before the long dragging taklimats began. By the way, the hostel is aptly name Rafflesia for the siswi and Angsana for the siswa. Girls live in the orange colored buildings and are warned against entering the red colored buildings belonging to the boys.


1st day, I sms-ed at 11.15pm to wish her goodnite but she replied that they are still in the padang kawad listening to taklimats. Her backside was getting numb sitting on the tarmac and it looks like the nite is not going to end too soon.


2nd day, At 1.50am, she sent an sms saying she was about to hit the pillows. 6.15am, I wished her a good morning and hope she enjoys the cold bathe. To which she replied, "Tak mandi. Kan dah mandi before tidor tadi kul 2 pagi".  Hahaha.. savings betul budak ni. Now she really appreciates food provided at PL*KN, as the food provided here is tasteless but nevertheless she eats because she is hungry. After that there was more taklimats indoor and outdoor. In the evening they have aerobics. Today she had the 1st taste of marching up/down the 294steps. Quote: "memang dah rasa kurus dah and terasa nak tercabut lutut". 


3rd day, I wished her good nite at 1am. She replied half an hour later, saying that they have just completed ragging. She's taking a bath and going in to bed. They have to be up by 4.30am. They have to compete for the bathroom and to wash their clothes, before going in for the early morning ceramah. Her legs are aching but on the plus side, she is convinced that her thighs are leaner! Hahaha.. After breakfast, she ran upstairs to get her washing/laundry. Said she felt awkward standing in the elevator with a pail full of wet clothes but she prefers to hang her clothes out to dry on the lines downstairs. The sunny weather ensured she gets crispy clean clothes. She still have not found where the illusive washing machine! Throughout the day, endless ceramah. She is fast learning how to sleep while sitting down although she did topple over twice! Hahaha..  She wish the week will just sweep over and orientation is over. Until late at night, we were passing sms-es discussing about her plans to get home this weekend.


4th day, midnight, she said "pelik lah iron baju atas meja, hahaha..". 6am, she said she is coming home by commuter with her roomate. 8.30am, she asked, "How do I go back by commuter? I forgot". Actually, she only goes out with her brother/s, so she has never travelled anywhere by herself. The plan was for them to go back after making the student card on saturday.


5th day, said she slept at 3.30am. Supposed to be up by 5am but all of them (in the house) only woke up at 7am! They missed the kuliah subuh and went straight to the dining hall. Only message at 11.00am, to confirm that she was coming home the next day.


6th day, HAPPY DAY.. she's coming home. After making the student card (luckily they were early), they went back and packup and took the bus to Shah Alam, changed buses to get to KL Sentral before hopping on the commuter. 2pm she sms-ed to say she is at Serdang station. Time for me to go to the UKM commuter station. My baby's coming home.


There she was, in her baju kurung, sports shoes and dragging the luggage bag. Hahaha.. what a picture! She stinks sky high so we headed home first for her bath. She was smiling as she walked into the house and I know she is happy to be home again. She miss her kero, her small pillow, her favourite bathroom, her bed.. everything in the house.