They Come and Go....

All personality test that I have taken proved that I am a machine-gun when it comes thinking of new ideas and the least likely gonna finish them.

That translated to these:
1. big time day dreamer.
2. gung ho for like two weeks.
3. hangat hangat tahi ayam.

Very true, indeed.

I scrolled down all the entries (back from 2005) and felt like hiding myself under the carpet when I read all the 'big dreams' I've written.
From a believer of the right brain, positive energy, crystal-junkie,
loosing weight,
blogging everyday from my palm (which the Man was forced to buy me a wireless keyboard which is waaay not so good functionally)
thinking big in politics,
then loosing weight again,
then becoming a total fashionly-organized person,
a mom who reads to her children every night,
then loosing weight again,
photograph taking,
wedding photographs taking,
then children photographs taking,
then loosing weight again,
promising to always appear sexy to the Man,
then getting sloppy again the next few days,
then saving towards a million bucks goal by the age 34,
then shop frenzily at Niichi,
then vowed to blog in perfect English with perfect grammar and slotting in a few new and bombastic words here and there,
then curse and bitch again in the blog the very next day.

All sort of things I wanna be. I wanna do.

Turned out to be a good laughing-at entries.

Deleting

Korang dah abis baca pasal the list of shariah-endorsed unit trust that I cut n paste in the previous entries?

Kalau dah, am deleting it. Terasa malu lah pulak beria ria (kekekekeh). But you can always go to the net to look for it.

More on Unit Trust

People (and most of the books, and most of the personality test I've taken) said that I'm the kind that is so high geared for new initiatives and thinking out new ideas but the least likely to finish them.

This might be one of it.

Figured out that since I'm taking my money out from ASB and putting half of them in the Unit Trust, I might as well be a Unit Trust agent. (people who sell and do the paper work for those buy). The commission is actually very low (they said) but it 'll give me the freedom of monitoring my own fund. I have to go for a class and sit for an exam (which cost around RM250). In short, it'll let me explore the world of investment without feeling obliged to buy. Sebab aku cukup berminat nak tahu pasal mende mende ni, but ask any unit trust agent to come and explain, they'll end up with a push for us to buy. Tu yang aku menyampah. Hence came the urge to do that myself.

So blurted that out to an ex-boss and the next week, I got an email from him that he's buying from me, once I am licensed.

A friend who has been approached many times by many unit trust agent (and the one who cleverly always give wrong phone number to any insurance agents) happened to know about the exam I'm taking and told me to sign her up as my client as well.

I am yet to be licensed and there are people waiting for my service.

Fooh! This kind of pressure is putting me off, man!

Linda quickly put me for a test (knowing that I'll back off so easily) in August.

List of Malaysian Shariah Based Unit Trust Funds

Am deleting this but you can always go to the site to find out.

http://www.sc.com.my/

List of Malaysian Shariah Based Unit Trust Funds
(as at 31 March 2008)

Syariah Compliant Counter

http://www.sc.com.my/eng/html/icm/sas/sc_syariahcompliant.pdf

It is in pdf so I can't cut n paste them for you. But it is very comprehensive. It lists down all the counters that are shariah compliant.

Favorita Colora

Azeuchry have been singing song about our favorite colors.

My favorite: Orange! Red! (ending with high note)
Daddy's Favorite: Blue and yellow.
Mommy's Favorite: Pink and purple.
Adik's Favorite: Red.

Son, your flushed cheeks are actually my favorite. Love you!

Good Brands I'm Blessed With

Nikon DSLR (nice pix)
Selangor (bill air murah)
Medela (PISA)
TNB (pot)
MAC (the best foundation)
Artistry (kind)
Wacoal (supporter)
Kerastase (
Kellog's (breakfast)
Dutch Lady (lowfat)
Perodua (my MyVI)
Honda (saves fuel)
Faber Castell (nice pen)
O2 (masih hidup lagi Mini O2 aku)
Calvin Klein (for the Man's jeans. my perfume)
Niichi (fashion city)
Liz Claiborne (bloody nice handbag)
Coach (to-haves)
Hush Puppies (kind shoes)
Sembonia (goes with baju kurung(
Carlo Rino (kind heels)
In2It (nice eye colors)
Marie Claire (glasses)
Evita Peroni (nice hair bands)
Celcom (cheap charge)
The Star (superb online)
Petronas (next door)
Maybank2u (can check all credit card and accounts movement)
Public Mutual
MPH (best sellers)
Popular (for stationaries)
Streamyx (fast)
Ridsect (tsk tsk begone)
PLUS Highway (bring me home)
MNA (Nice pants)
Estee Lauder (nice perfume)
Jusco (cheap underwear)
Fujifilm (fastest pix developing, nearest to office)
SJMC (efficient)

A Blessed Income

(Rezeki yang Diberkati)

Been thinking about it lately. Well, it hit some of us early, and for some of us, it hit recently. I am thankful that it was never too late when it hits me.

So, why is it important to have a blessed income? What is , to begin with, a blessed income? A blessed income comes with the feeling of 'everything is sufficient for me'. I'd never feel that there are more things I can't have / I can't buy. A blessed income hits us in all sort of way. It gives us serenity. It made us smile, knowing that life has given us just as much as we need, instead of worrying whether our USD1 million is sitting in a correct investment portfolio.

For me, it means that my car never breaks down for some odd reason (unless I refueled it using diesel i/o minyak biasa.. seriously, the nozzle look the same).
It means that some idiots never hit me from the back, or my eyes stay on the road and prevent myself from hitting the cyclist (err.. pernah jadi, babe! malu nak tulih sini)
The maid never shove my expensive bras into the washing machine.
The maid, hopefully, never runs.
No misplaced keys. No misplaced belts. No misplaced of little tiny wedding ring.
Wallets never get snatched. Mobile phones never get misplaced.
Car never get broken into. House.
Good understanding boss. Good laughing colleagues. Good breakfast everymorning.
The clothes always fit me.
The shoes always are kind to my feet.
The husband never wanders.
The kids listen. The kids love.
The parents let me love them.
A good lung. A good heart. A good pair of kidneys.
Good, slurpy, stay-put, cancer-free breasts.
Hair masque that really works.
Expensive books brought home that are well read.
Good movies.

Little things that matter. That made me serene. That made me calm.

That made me thanking God.

Isn't that much wonderful than a million bucks?

Investment

(For those who have chosen ASB / ASN as their pot of investment, do not read further. Writer is not responsible for any resentment towards the portfolio mentioned)

(I say, DO NOT READ FURTHER)

I am a big believer in the ASB (Amanah Saham Bumiputra). Believed that is the best investment portfolio ever created in Malaysia. The return is very good, the best for the Bumis. About five years ago, people has started to write about shariah-endorsed investment. And ASB is not one of them. I took time to swallow that but decided to proceed anyway.

The reason that I was not so keen into believing a shariah-endorsed investment is the doubt I had that our system is so clean. I believed that somehow people who worked towards a shariah-certification over something must have been paid. In short, i believe whomever declared the halalility (if there is such word) can actually be paid to do so. So I couldn't care less whether this is shariah certified or not. I even opted for two conventional insurance portfolios. That was me.

However, I think that over years, I believe that the trust must be developed somehow, sometime. It is time that I start to believe in the people, in the work they have created. I started to read more and sadly, there aren't many writings about Islamic economic and financing. (or perhaps I have not done enough digging).

I started reading about zakat. Do you notice that the Quran always cite solat (prayers) and zakat together? I mean, we emphasize on the importance of five-times a day prayer but I never was bothered about zakat (except for Zakat fitrah done during the Eid-ul-Fitri). The concept of a halal source of income and the zakat imposed on it has somehow triggered me to think more of a halal investment.

I took opportunity of the long maternity break I have to do lots of thinking.

Thus, this is my action plan:

1. To withdraw all my ASB deposits and dump them into Tabung Haji for the low-risk portfolio. This account will act as the 'emergency tank' for me, sitting there for the rainy days yet collecting a good return. Tabung Haji did about 6% lasst year, which was as good as ASB.
(but I am yet to get my Dad do that paper for my Tabung Haji since it was opened on his name before)

2. Moderate-risk and high-risk portfolio is to be invested to a shariah-certified unit trust Fund. Public Mutual (PM) is the one actracts me most. Let me blog about PM a bit longer in different entry.

3. Cancel Azeuchry Investment-linked-education fund with ING. The return is not so good plus I opt to find him a better portfolio. I splitted my committment to him in two before: 50% to Tabung Haji and another 50% to that ING education. His dad dumped a few into Amanah Saham Didik. I am to withdraw that ING and dump them into a good perhaps moderate-risk PM shariah-certified fund. Will lose around RM2k like that but it is OK.

4. My life insurance (with HLA) for Alang's medical card is to be maintained. I am yet to find whether that was Shariah-certified portfolio and decide from there.

Grace Salon

Okay, so I never really blogged about what happened when I decided to change my hair stylist.

Read about this gorgeous woman who opens up a salon named GraceSalon (aku baru tahu IN pronounciation for Salon is Se-LON bukan salun). So I called up to book an appointment (masa hari pantang yang ke 45) two weeks earlier.

Can I have an appointment with Grace Leong?
You want to see Miss Leong izit?
Yes, I'd like to see Grace Leong.
You want to see Miss Leong izit?
Yes, (ape la amoi ni tak paham paham grr!)
Okay, next two weeks on Friday.
Okay, appointment with Miss Leong next on 28th June 10 pm. Thank you

So on the day, I went up to Bangsar Shopping Complex, walked into the Salon and had a shock of my life when an old woman greeted me.

"Hello I Miss Leong aaa. You want to do what aa.."

(Aku hampir pengsan) I stared at her face long and notice the resemblances the gorgeous woman I read in the magazine with this Auntie who must been like 58 years old. I said, wahhh what the wonder of make-up. Didn't wanna hurt her with my long stare, I said, "you look so pretty compared to what I've seen in magazine".

"Okay okay ,sit down here aa let me go take the book for you to see what style you want aa"

"OKay you do like this aa very prety verry stylish. Very modern."

Aku mengangguk saja. Just wanted to get it over with. Silently I prayed God will pay my adab sopan dan budi bahasa with gorgeous-but-please-not-auntie hair.

Then an hour later I saw that gorgeous woman I saw in magazine whizzing around. Damn!

So this AUntie kept talking to me. "This salon last time we had at PJ then we moved because people there not so modern. I named this Salon after my first daughter, Grace. That one la" The same gorgeous woman I saw in the magazine.

I held my breath. Because Grace does have gorgeous hair.

Still praying that God will pay me with my courtesy to this old Auntie.

Until two hours later, I finally breath properly when Auntie blurted, "Actually aaa Grace hair also I do".

Okay lah Auntie. I picked up my book and smile and relax and two hours later, I walked out with yup.. gorgeous hair.

Gracefully.

People is right. Do not judge the stylist's age nor her hair to know what she is capable of.

Aku Masih Di Sini (I'm Still Here)

It is now nearly 9 a.m.

I'm supposed to be at work, but here, home, e-banking, blogging, just because

...the damn bloody traffic jam is so bad!

Tot of working on something before I shoot up to Manjung in the afternoon, but the files are in my PC at work.

Perhaps I should now save everything in that small thingy where you can save lots and lots of Gigabytes in it and carry around (namely the portable hard disk).

I know I can bring this pink laptop anywhere (plus, it'll look gorgeous on the boring meeting table) however I have loads to carry now. I have the new LizClaiborne bag (RED, kau!) which is bulky but trendy and my PISA breastpump which I carry around together with the chill bag in PISA bag pack. PLUS, I don't wanna risk having the laptop everytime I opt to stop at a mall and look so not trendy.

So, gotta find that portable hard disk soon. (Macam la tiap tiap hari nak buat kerja balik rumah sejak ada baby kecik ni)

And a new sets of eyeshadow. I think I want silver and gray.

And a new sets of matching bra and panties.

Oops... remind me to seduce the Man more to make him refuel my MyVI tank (just because I am nearly red this month, baby)

...perempuan....!

About Kerastase, Wacoal and Medela Pump In Style Advanced

When it comes to beauty (and fashion), this is my latest statement.
Go with the updated ones. Spend less on branding but go on what is in the season. Choose your two high ends.

So I go with high-end stuffs when it comes to, Numero UNO: Hair, and Numero TWO: Boobs.

Hair.

The best salon will get you the best cut. My stylist know everything about my life style (yang pemalas gila) so he always refused to do style that I want. I changed recently to Grace Salon at Bangsar Shopping Complex.

The best hair care product should be Kerastase. I am a big fan of Kerastase. The shampoo is great. The masque is superb. Just bought night-treatment (rambut pun ada night treatment la). Pricey but puas hati. however, I'm sure other products would deliver the same result but until I heard a testimony, with Kerastase I'm staying and sticking (and zapping my credit card with)

Boobs.

I religiously believe that however good and expensive your dressing is, if you are not pairing them up with a good bra, it is USELESS. Good bra will hold the two sisters upright, for the day and the years to come. It'll make you look good and having a E-cup like mine (which I always tried to hide during high school, kan aku sekolah agama), I need to feel that my two sisters are not slumping away. Wacoal does the wonder to me and with Wacoal I' ve been sticking. And their products last too, I had mine as old as 5 years old (provided maid aku tak basuh masuk machine sekali ngan towel oh tidak!!)

I also got the most expensive breast pump because it delivers the best at the shortest duration. So far it had done my an average of 5 ounces for 10 minutes session and maximum it had given me 8 ounces for 10 minutes (okay.. others do better with manual pump but this is a bloody good Pump)

I justified all the money spent. :)

AZ at Dhillon's Wedding

A few of the pix that make you smile everytime you see it.

4 a.m.

(chehh... macam lagu Gwen Steffani pulok doh)

Woke up at 3 to feed. Gone down to express and salvaged 4 ounces for tomorrow.

(Ingat ke dah abis pantang tak payah bangun malam dah)

Anyway, yesterday was Gartblue's birthday. Happy birthday! Called her up and guess where she was? Bandung.....! Meninggalkan empat orang anak di rumah dan pergi bershopping dengan suami tercinta.

But Ariz is fully weaned so I guess, she deserves it!

Happy birthday!

my princess

Go Green

Would be lovely if you guys can visit Viza's blogspot. She is the newest greener in town and very gung-ho about it. I appreciate that she is blogging in Malay, she said not many blogs of greeners are written in Malay. All the best!

Talking about green, these are the things I've started doing.

1. Stop taking plastic bags from merchant.
I roamed MidValleyMegamall and the Gardens for a whole day and had only used one plastic bag. The rest, "Tak payah plastic bag, dik" and lump every of my purchases in to the one plastic bag. Some merchants refused to do so, since they wouldn't know where to place the tag 'Paid'. I simply asked them to stick the tag on my stuffs.

2. Close the doors of an air-conditioned shops / buildings.
The larger the area of an a/c gotta work, the more eletricity it consumed. Well, yes, my company will gain more if you consume more GWh. However, more eletricity generated means a lot more flue gas is emitted to the environment which contributed to global warming. (Boring pulak aku rasa topic ni)

(Macam banyak je yang aku buat, padahal dua ni je).

That 'd be all.

Breast Feeding

This is long overdue.

I thought hard through my wee hours of waking up to feed.

Have you ever woke up from your sleep for an activity yet the loneliness surrounded you felt so real. At times you feel that your soul is ripped off from your body and your body belongs to someone else. The thought of some one else claim his or her right on your body added to your loneliness. You become not you.

A mosquitoe went by and you can't kill it with both of your hands. Instead you were trying hard to become a frog, catching the irritating and pain-in-the-a-zzzz-sound mosquitoe with one hand. You become good at it but at the times you missed catching them, you got so angry that you felt like dropping the baby and run for the Ridsect.

You have the baby in your arms, you were supposed to be making connections and bonds and whatever great and loving stuffs they were talking, but you wonder how the bond is to be established when the baby is asleep with your nipple in her mouth? What on earth is bonding when you are stuck to where you are seated, feeling so not free?

You tried to read a book or a magazine but the baby moved everytime you flipped the pages. You tried to watch TV but you can't even extend your arms for the remote to change the stupid HOUSE show they are showing.

Your back ached.

Many times, this thirst suddenly hits you. You were reminded many times before like what is in the magazines, webs or books on breastfeeding, therefore you had a bottle of water by your bedside tables. Frequently, and sadly, refilling fairies were not around and again, you feel like dropping the baby and run to the kitchen instead.

You found the miracle of expressing breast milk and storing them. Read lots of stuffs about how to do it, how long can they last and what percentage of antibodies agents remain in the milk. You expressed the milk for the others to help you feeding. But you can't move freely either with the pump! (You thought you could, silly!) Double pumping was worse. A mosquitoe (again , the stupid insect, tsk tsk begone!) landed on your nose and you were again , mad!

So why on earth (just deleted 'the hell') are you so keen about breast feeding?

Numero uno.
You realy believe it is good for the baby. That they wil grow up brilliantly, healthily. You read thru and thru the stuffs about how good they'll become if they are fully breastfed. Just to keep you going. So, the mosquitoe is nothing compared to the fruits you'll reap in years to come.

Numero dos.
You really wanna prove the the bunch of other mommies. The competition of whose baby is the longest on BREAST FEED ONLY. Yup, that competition. So this is about winning and winning is what you craved for. Fair enough.

Tres.
Fuel price hike up will be compensated with the free milk. Yadda yadda yadda.

Quarto.
You smiled everytime you think of this. Breasteeding of 800 ml in a day will consume about 500 calories. So you'll lose weight. Accordingly. Until you found out that the Big Mac Value Meal alone is about 1800 calories BUT your milk production in a day is less than 800 ml, perhaps less than 500 ml.

Again. The mosquitoes. Shit!

The Office

Tomorrow is the day I'm supposed to be back at work. However, decided to take two more days leave. The thought of starting on Monday where everybody will be staring at my new waistline (ehm!), my new gorgeous hair whilst my boss will be loading me loads and loads is scary. So will start on Wednesday. The boss is okay with it. Plus the Man is asking me out (chewah!) for tomorrow, the whole day. Well, I practically pushed him to ask me out. Sort of.

However, saw Ida this morning at mamak, had my roti telur bawang and two cups of teh tarik (setelah 2 bulan 'berpuasa' kakakah), had long chats with her and laughed to bits. Then we went to the office. She had to open the door. They changed everything while I was gone. The keys to the office, to the toilets. They moved my stuffs to a new room, convert my room to a meeting room. One whole new unit has been established and lots of new people are in. Guess I am the newest! Kakakh

I was nervous.

Felt like stepping into the new world.

Kinda exciting anyway.

Ida helped me rearranging my new room.

See how I feel this Wednesday.

A Date with Ajin: Creating the New Me (kononnye lah)

What Ajin Said for Me to Remember (or what she hinted!)

1. Put on make up every morning (she practically made me promise her that): Foundation, blusher.
2. Shoes, if black must be shinny and tak ada kotor kotor (camne dia tahu kasut aku slalu berabuk ha?)
3. Cuba baik dengan orang yang tidak suka kita. (well , mady doesn't have an ex. But I guess I cud try to be nice to the kipochi new che pah, but must strategize how to be nice but still drawing a line sebab nanti aku jadi boss baru dia, nanti dia pijak kapla)
4. Hint me a lot : suruh kuruskan perut!
5. Dare to try new color (ada ka dia suruh aku try itu kuning karat! gua sangat tak berani)
6. Orang gomen nye style of dressing - i Must dare to stand out. cam kememek je muka dia bila aku still pilih the same conventional suit sama color atas bawah.

All in all, a nice day. Betul , as we go along the roads, we, friends, are growing towards different roads, tasted different spices of life, bit different heartaches, creating different memories, and of course, changes over opinion of fashion.

Glad to go out with her. She is one kind. Above all, I'm glad she 's still there, for me.

Efficient

from: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/110867/how_to_be_more_efficient_at_work.html

Ever have one of those days where closing time leaves you wondering how come you didn't get more done? Or has the to-do stack become three times higher than the finished one? Leaving a work day feeling like you've accomplished nothing never feels good. What should be a relaxing evening out of the office can easily turn into a few hours of worry and stress over projects you were unable to complete.

Efficiency in the workplace is important, not only to keep the company running smoothly, but to keep the individual employees feeling productive. In a typical day, a worker can waste precious minutes he or she didn't even realize they were wasting until the day comes to a close. Here are some hints to take control of your own efficiency in the office and give you that sense of accomplishment at the end of the day.

1. Separate your fun email from your work email - Even if you only take a few minutes to read joke emails and forwards that hit your inbox during the day, the time adds up. If you're work environment allows it, turn off your email completely and designate times to go through your inbox. If email is a main form of work communication, create a separate folder for all non-work related correspondence. Use your break or lunch times to go through those. By eliminating needless email reading, you'll save time to do things that pertain to your job.

2.Tackle your "frogs" - There's an old adage that says if you eat a whole frog first thing in the morning, everything else you have to do that day will seem easy. Consider big projects "frogs" and tackle them early in your day. Not only will you be able to spend the rest of the day finishing many smaller projects, but just knowing that you no longer have the big one hanging over your head will give you a lasting feeling of accomplishment and relief for the rest of the day.

3.Save the easy things for "slump time" - It seems like many workers hit an afternoon slump where the thought of a nap is much more welcoming than another dose of paperwork. If you've experienced this, you already know that it's hard to be efficient during this slump. Save smaller and easier things for this time frame. Bigger projects are only made more difficult by the fact that you're mind isn't at its most alert, so catch up on emails, make some less taxing phone calls, and stick to those tasks that don't need a lot of brainpower.

4.Cut back on socializing - Like email, visiting with co-workers can eat up a lot of time that could be used for getting things done. Leave conversation to your lunchtime. If you're the one who tends to want to talk more than others, make a concerted effort to hide yourself away until you get a good load of work done. If others are always wanting to talk to you, invest in a do not disturb sign or simply explain to them that you have a ton of work to do with the promise to chat with them later. If you find that talk of work tends to veer off on non-work related tangents, do your best to keep attention on the task at hand. By setting an example, others may follow your lead, increasing their efficiency in the workplace as well.

5.Forget about multi-tasking - In our technologically advanced society, people often think that being able to do several things at once means they're getting much more accomplished. The truth is, they're actually getting less done. Shifting your attention between a few different things can waste time not only in the changing itself but with the shifting that your mind has to do to switch gears. In fact, a constant multi-tasker may find that they are more exhausted at the end of the day than someone who focuses on one thing at a time. Keep your attention on one project. If you need to break it down, do so, then focus on each little part without moving your attention to anything else. Not only will the job seem less overwhelming, but you'll find that it takes you less time to do it, freeing up some more time to work on other things later in the day.

6.End your day with a to-do list - At the end of a long work day, the typical worker is usually too tired to focus on anything major and too short of time to begin a big project. In the last little bit of your work day, make a to-do list of things to get done tomorrow. Remember to put the tough stuff first on the list and the smaller things for later in the day when you're brain is starting to wear down. Be as detailed as you want, just don't overwhelm yourself. When you start the next workday, you'll feel more organized, more alert, and being able to cross each task off your list is going to give you a sense of accomplishment all in itself.

Though a little break to socialize here and there is fine, if you're spending more time doing other things and getting less accomplished, there's a good chance you need to work on upping your efficiency level. Give a few of these tips a try and enjoy finding out that there really may be enough hours in the day to get everything done.

Less than 10 Days

I'll be back to work in less than 10 days... :(

So, these are the xtivities listed

Friday 20 June:
Go do hair with Grace Salon (new hairstylist, aparently she does Nasha Aziz' Hair) at BSC.
Appointment made.
Have ararnged for a babysitter to watch the maid. (The Man, who else?)
Have expressed enough milk for Anna.

Satuday 21 June:
Go KLCC with Reen.
To shop at M.A.C. ( I deserve new foundation. Kulit putih sikit maaa.. duduk rumah 60 hari)
To buy one pair of nice creamy white pants.

The Boss

The boss had started copying me emails.

(Macammana dia tahu aku liat nak naik kerja ni ye..?)

I know I was so GungHo before the vacation. That I was afraid no one is there to help him. That I was feeling sinful things are not completed before I go.

However, after six months in peaceful rest, I started to feel that maybe:
1. He doesn't need me at all.
2. Therefore the work doesn't need me.
3. That the world still goes round without me.
4. That perhaps I am no longer matter.

Damn.

Feeling that I MATTER is what keeping me there.

(aku post natal blues ke?)

Fuel Price Hike Up

On a more serious note, (which made me regret spending RM300 at IKEA), I've been wanting to blog on the fuel price hike up.

Everybody knows we can't subsidize the fuel anymore. Watching the commodities closely for the past four years, I know that it is absurd that we are paying so low for the fuel while the other countries are suffering much.

What made me mad is nothing has been done to hamper the high cost for the rakyat. The government knows that for the past four years, in fact, since the Gulf War had started, the fuel price will hike up. What they have been doing is subsidizing it so that they won't lose so bad in the last election (tapi kalah jugak). When they can't no longer afford it, what they do is increasing it little by little.

Not telling the truth, or rather not facing the truth, will always backfire.

If Malaysian government was brave enough to face the truth, they would have buck up the transportation system, encourage more on non-fuel vehicles and other initiatives that people could use years ago. If these were done earlier, much earlier, people won't be suffering this bad.

And now, after a few weeks of announcing the hike up, I still DON'T SEE the real initiatives coming from the government. They still want to 'look good' by telling people that 'let's face it together'. Governemtn servant will be getting their monthly cheque splitted into two cheques which will only encourage them to spend instead of saving. Aku sungguh tidak faham.

None has been said about bucking up the public transportation. Could KL get as good as Sydney, where the routine buses came every 20 minutes during non peak hours and 10 during peak time?

Forget train. That will take up years. Dah terlambat kalau nak buat train lagi, yang subang jaya tu pun aku tengok tak siap siap lagi.

Buck up your buses routes.

Increase parking fees around busy areas so that people will take bus.

Encourage university students to use bike (BASIKAL, GEREK, SPEDA) by banning motorbikes and cars. I always feel that our local univ students are more luxurious that the overseas'. Omputeh dulu asyik kayuh basikal je gi class, kete tinggal rumah. Ini budak budak uni kita, ini lah masa nak cari awek kalau ada kereta.

Increase parking lots around train station. Or better still, increase (about 500%) the buses routes to the train station.

(I still regret that RM300 spent at IKEA. Should've spent that much on hair treatment instead)

Cincau

And Salman, I can now drink the air cincau tu!!

Tak payah nak buat gua jeles... Eish.. kawan macam ni pun ada ka...?!?!?!

The 44 Days is Over!!

Seronok tak terkata! I am over my head!

So on the 45th day, we went to IKEA. I spent on unnecessary little things that cost near RM300. (kegedush!). Little things like green light mugs that I always eye on but never get to buy because the Man said , what for?
Then little pie dish that I think is cool to serve single pie to one person, like when Murali (who doesn't take beef) came and I made beef pie for everyone, I have to do extra chicken pie for him and he had to eat a lot more than he needs.
Then Azeuchry's train rail extension because I think he's getting bored with the number eight, or rather Mommy is boring going around the circle of number eight. Then CD cover for the Man because he had stacked about knee high of our CDs down the floor.
Little colorful plastic spoons, forks and knives and also the little colorful plastic glasses for Azeuchry which I always wanted to grab but the Man always said, what for?
The Five ringgit wall clock that i think will be broken soon but I am buying that to teach my Son on time management.
Little baskets that can be hung next to the changing table so that I don't have to bend taking wipes and nappies underneath the tables which can deteriorate my spine (eventhough I never change the little baby's diaper . The Man or the maid always get to that)

And that all costs near RM300.

:(

All in all, it is still a good celebration. Retail theraaphy is blissful.

Daily Update

Okay, that was a lame post on the pantang period.

Then , new hot updates, othen than the story of my waist size reduction:
1. David Cook is the new American Idol!
2. I can't wait for the final of AF6. My favorite was Nadia but her performance lately have been same-ol-same-ol. Lagu dia kot tak best. Was hoping she'll rock during final.
3. I also think Riz is superbly handsome especially when he is very open about his feelings for Nadia. Aku suka kalau ada case cinta cinta ni.
4. I am hooked with CSI. Being home 24/7, the only informative series are just them.
5. I am wondering, is Miami in Florida? Is it the capital of Florida? or is it Orlando where Disneyworld is? HOw come a state has too many hot cities?
6. I still can't do reading! My eyes got tired very fast. And I have like 5 or 6 newly purchased books to read. Geramnya. They are sitting proudly and quietly in the newly constructed book case. Buat show je lah.

21 days done, 19 more days to go

21st May.

Marking the 3 weeks of the newborn.

Marking 19 more days towards completion of the 40-days confinement period. Or known as period of pantang.

Pantang literally means ban.

It means I am banned from eating certain foods / doing certain things all through this 40 days.

I can't eat anything 'cold', like all the vegetables and fruits (with the exception of apple because the Malays can't rule out whether it is cold or not, carrot, sawi).
I can't drink anything cold. Everything must be suam or tepid.
I can't eat anything hot and spicy. Since the spices will get into the breast milk and upset the baby's tummy.
I mustn't let my big toes stumbles into anything or else I'd get into high fever.

Plus, there are certain things that I must do daily. And I have been doing them daily, religiously. Tak tipu punya..
I start the day with bathing with some leaves boiled with water. It is very refreshing and smells good.
Then there is a hot stone wrapped in a piece of clothes with some leaves underneath the cloth that is as big as four times your palms to be pressed over and over again my tummy.
During certain days, there is this lady who'll came to massage me. The first three massage-series were good, the next were painful.
Then certain days, I'd go for a tangas session where they'll be steaming hot water with herbs underneath my two legs and the steam will detoxify my whole body.
A hot oil is then rubbed onto my tummy.
Then I'll get the routines finished with cloth binded tightly around my waist which I shall not take off until the morning after.

Fooh. typing all these making my eyes blurry and my arms prickling with pain, what more doing it.

19 more days to go.

Two Weeks

It's been two weeks that the pink bundle has arrived. I am blissfully happy. I am tired. I am contented. All the feelings are mixed and sometimes it feels gooey.

However, I do miss work.

Most I'm worried of how Baie is handling the stress. Just the other day a colleague called me up to tell that he was damn stressful and blurted that he is dissapointed with the coal manager.

Yup. That's me. And Sihin. He could mean Sihin alone. But he could meant both me and Sihin. Or ONLY me.

I have to admit that meeting his expectation for the past there months have been very, very strenous. I do this way and found out that it is only quarterly completed. I do the other way around and he'll say that is not the thing I should be worrying about for now. Juggling around doing the operational tasks and the other that are being piled up on daily basis on my table, more are being piled up. I know I should have stayed at work a little bit more to finish up but at 5:00, I just couldn't take it looking at more are being piled up. He continously said that spending more time at my table up to 8:00 at night doesn't mean that I am being efficient. He is right.

I blamed it on the fact that there are supposed to be two people doing the job and I end up being the only one completing the job.
I blamed it on the fact that it is a new job and I am not used to the managerial function.
I blamed it on the fact that logistics managers are not cooperating.

He is a boss that I look up to. The one that I respect. My loyalty lies with him. However, it is such a dissapointment to know that he is dissapointed in me. For all I know, I have not been meeting his expectations.

Here I am, succumbing deeper into the dissapointment, knowing that I have 6 more weeks to not being able to do anything but feeling guilty and helpless of not being able to prove that I can do much more than this.

The Stork Had Delivered

Baby girl is finally here!

It was a tough labor.

I got stain in the morning, however decided to wait until more sign. My sister Yan was home, so Azeuchry will be fine with his favorite aunt.

Went to the office and more stains coming in. Quickly wrapping up the meeting after lunch with Puru and the LEs for the 3 months plan then the Man came to pick me up to the hospital. It was around 4 pm.

Nurse took me for CTG. Baby heart rate was fine. Was just dilating 2 cm. She told me to better go home. However, when Dr. Delaila came, she asked me to stay and induced me with that pill that will soften my cervic.

Got my epidural at around 8:30 pm. The Man was superbly supportive when the anasthetician (how to spell? ) poke the tiny needle to my back. Then got that drip for induce. At 12:00 midnight, I was only dilating 4cm. Half a night and only 2 cm opening?

Dr. Delaila came in around 12:00 just to check and she said I was hydrated. Baby heart rate was also fast. They put the water into my body. She broke my water bag. Meanwhile, leg was feeling very very numb.

Both me and the Man slept around 3 hours but I regularly got up to see the heart rate graphs.

At around 4:00, they prepared me for labor since I was already 8cm. Baby, mommy can't wait to see you!. 4:30 a.m., start pushing. God! It was a tough job. After 45 minutes, I gave up and asked for vacuum. Dr Delaila came and 5 minutes later, the girl beautifully popped out! She was 3.13 kg but I really thought she was big at the first glance. She cried. Daddy hushed her softly and azam to her, when she stopped. She was pretty! Pretty little bundle! She suckled immediately when they put her next to my breast before pushing her to nursery.

Dr stiched me up. Back was terribly in pain. Both Daddy and Mommy stayed in the labor room until 8:00 in the morning to wait for room. Puked several time. Didn't dare taking any sips of water. But needed pain killer terribly since the effect of Epidural was already worn off. The Man slept , anyway. Geram betul, mentang mentang dah deliver anak dia, contraction yang lepas labor tu dia buat tak tahu....

Took my breakfast around 8:30 then ponstan did kill the pain.

So wasn't really a tough labor for some of the macho mothers. First was induced. Then requested for epidural. Then pushing for 45 minutes before gave up. Then requsted for vacuum. Ape ape je lah korang nak kata. Most importantly , the baby was safely delivered. Safely out of my womb. Back to my arms within minutes. Tak macam Azeuchry dulu, kena tunggu 24 hours baru boleh jumpa since the lung was infected.

Alhamdullilah for the safe delivery, safe baby.

Malaysian Media

I like the fact the stories about the opposition leaders / icons are appearing in our media, if not all. The Star, The Sun are amongst the leading, I observed.

Never mind if the stories are biased. Never mind if the stories are written with the little or lot of judgments. The stories are coming out.

The latest I read is the interview with Anuar Ibrahim in The Star's Sunday's column. Never mind if he did look he wanted to convey the message that Khairy Jamaludin is infact powerful (well, he didn't say exactly but the fact he went to see KJ to get his passport approved somehow managed the perception towards that.. clever huh).

It is a satisfactory feeling knowing that I can judge the stories rather than keeping it under the carpet all the time. I was getting sick reading the paper nearing the Election when all it came out about is the then current leading parties's news. The electronic were worse, both TV and radio. They advertised just like the shampoo brand. Was really sick. Towards the end, people who were thirst for real stories, turned into blogs. Then they started being mad at bloggers.

Well, if you asked me, the only reason why they lost is because they conquered the media. They thought by not giving airtime to the opposition, people won't know what were going on. Reality was, people turned to other sources to get the stories, and bad stories people were getting. Why not came clean? Let the opposition tell their stories, you tell yours and let the people judge.

It was only when people was not given the freedom to judge, then people will start thinking that there are things you wanna hide.

I am not at the opposition side. I inclined to believe that the current leading government was actually a bit better than the opposition side. However, I was glad that UMNO did given a lesson. A bitter one, but a lesson is yet to be consumed.

Coming back to the Star's Saturday column on Anuar Ibrahim, well it indeed gave water to the thirsty ones. Real water.

37th Week

Went to SJMC for check up this morning. The baby has turned, alhamdullillah, really drove me mad all these while knowing that her head was still up.

Been having contraction. Was at Armada with Baie, MD and a supplier when I suddenly stopped talking. Baie poked, laughingly, 'eh kau dah nak bersalin ek?'.. Orang tengah sakit, lagi mau buat kelakar. Apa punya boss...

But the contraction didn't last for more than one minute. Had another five minutes after but then dissapeared altogether.

Back to SJMC story this morning. SJMC is undergoing a major construction, which they will transfer the original car park into a five storeys carparks and three storeys new hospital wing.

My EDD has been moved from original 4th May to 29th April then to 21st April then to 10th May then today, back to 21st April.
Baby weighed 3.2 kg this morning! Eee besarnya.. rabak aku.
Dr Delaila will grant me a week medical leave starting from 21st April and I still have loads to complete at work. God, give me strength!

So baby, when are you coming out really? Can mommy request you to come out after mommy's birthday? So that mommy will have a good birthday meal?

Popeye

The Li'l Kiddo is hooked on Popeye.

My sister had this two DVD with like 20 short stories of Popeye (which we enjoyed when we were kids). Li'l Kiddo found it and has ever since been playing the two DVDs over and over again.

The Man kept saying that, 'It's just a phase. He'll get bored of it"

Until we heard from the Li'l Kiddo's mouth stuffs like, "Hey mi spinach!", "Oh My Gosh!", "Shimmer me timbers".

The English is driving me crazy!!!

When my Pink Laptop arrives, we could then finally watch TV because he played his POpeye DVD on my Laptop. Believe me, this is the third week the Pink Laptop arrives and is my second time used for Blogging, my only cyber activity nowadays beside M2u and face book.

So back to him speaking good English, I was looking for substitute. Bought Barney the DVD. No-uh, definitely not his type of series.

The Man had just came back from the Pasar Malam and found DVD of The Elmo's World. So whether he'll like this one.

About Who's Covering Me When I'm Gone

Okay.. it's me, again.

I have not been updating you guys. Guess was afraid that my pregnancy story is boring. But, it's not just about the pregnancy for now. Work has been hectic (so you'll say that hey my work has always been hectic). But it is super duper hectic now since I have about hmmm 8 more draft contracts to be negotiated, finalized and signed. Can't let Ida does that.

So , have I written about the GM is proposing Ida to cover me up when I go for my two months leave?

He said it'll boost up her confidence. That she is berkebolehan. That I have to trust in my colleague.

However, tell me, how can I trust someone to do my job if she herself can't differentiate from which contract is she executing the shipment ? If she herself can't be sure that she's taking the price correctly? If she herself can't count how many contracts are there in her basket?

I let her do the basket price calculation the other day. She just couldn't. Well, she sat on it, shall I say. It would be very simple for her if she would have tracked down all the contracts she have in hands since the beginning.

She is a friend.

But I just couldn't wait for the new guys to come and she can easily walk out from the Team.

I really hope Baie is right. I really hope Ida won't walk out on him when he needed help most.

Baie made the choice, anyway, why should I care huh?

Update

So update of mine:

1. I have not received my Pink Note Book from DELL. It had been two weeks they got my cheque and they said the part is not here yet.

2. I went to see the CEO for the second time last week and My No. 2 was not around. My No. 1, like always, fooled himself again. He simply pulled out graphs from my notebook when the CEO asked about the stock and not being able to explain the situation clearly to him later. Duhh! Apasal la bodoh sangat boss aku ni. Kot ye pun, study le dulu ape ke bende nye yang kau nak tunjuk tuu.... He came out from the room and said, 'I said exactly the same thing that you said but CEO doesn't believe me...! Why is he picking on me?". Urghh... I almost answered, because of your pea-sized brain, idiot.

3.I received four new younglings at work. Baie has implied that I should be training them, that he doesn't wanna have anything to do with them.

4. Baie is promoting my ex-boss and Ida. I told him that it is his choice and he should know who has stood by him during the crisis, who had walked out and who had acted that there's nothing to worry about. I told him to be aware since I 'll be leaving him for two months and he is to face consequence if these two are not performing.

5. Turned out to be my ex-boss did perform when Baie is not around! He prepared the slides himself, led the negotiation and went to see the CEO for the approval. Fair enough. Baie laughed around saying that today he feels that Sihin does earn his seniormanagership. I said you are happy because you have proven yourself right. So, I swept the dust under the carpet, hoping hard that Sihin won't fail Baie when I am not around.

So 5 updates about work.

I can't wait to go for my delivery and two months leave. BUT, what will happen at work scared me.

Update

Tot I owed u guys some updates of my life.

1. Abt two weeks ago, the Number 1, dragging No. 2, went to London and a crisis happened. So, during the CEO Update which No. 1 and No. 2 went weekly (well, No. 1 just kinda tag a long, it was No. 2 who took the heat and all), guess who went to take up the heat? Me! It was my first encounter with the CEO, who fired like machine gun. I knew the firing would come, prayed a lot that I won't break down and cry. Dah nak kena fire, nak buat camne. BUt the most important thing is, he approved whatever mitigation plan I put forth on the table. So that's kinda satisfying!

2. We went for check up to see the baby inside my womb. Yup. It's still a girl.

3. I got my Man a pair of Calvin Klein Jeans (which I never had one since the last two I bought cheap at Louisville Factory Outlet Store torn) and a shirt. He liked it!

4. We celebrated the Man's birthday (on Feb 4th) at his mother's place. (But of course, we met at home for me to give his birthday present and his birthday rompy-pompy session.... Yay!.. wife rulez). I bought Secret Recipe Choc Mud Cake (which I paid using Mastercard because the long line at ATM Machine near Midvalley and haven't paid, together with my lunch) and Mama had some lamb chop.

5. Right away after the celebration, I threw up twice at Mama's, and a few more times at home. I saw my breakfast inside the bowl, and everything I ate between morning to night. Was it gastric? Food poisoning? Overloading my own tummy?

6. Two weeks after, the same thing happen. I dragged the little boy's little chair into the toilet, practically putting my face into the toilet bowl until I saw my breakfast inside the bowl. Yuck!

7. The Man seriously and adamantly feel that the two series of face-inside-the-toilet-bowl is due to the carbonated drink. I think he is just jealous because his tummy can never take fizzy drink.

8. Still on celebration, we didn't celebrate Feb 14th. I silently felt good, thanking the numerous email we received through out the years on how Feb 14th was not supposed to be celebrated due to religious reason, that my Credit Limit is still below my alarming limit, after the bomb spent on CK Jeans. And Secret Recipe Choc Mud Cake.

9. Did I tell the last scan still shows that it's a girl?

Four Days, Fooh That's A Long Break!

We got Thurs and Fri off for the Chinese New Year (CNY) Celebration. We took off back to my hometown last weekend, so I thought we could go and roam the town during the four days break.

However, nicely, the Man had decided to play Badminton on the morning of the first day and his ankle decided to sprain itself.

There goes our four days break.

Quote of the Day

May you always be so busy blessing that you have no time to judge.

Updates

Last Thursday
We finally settled down all the Slides for the tomorrow's CEO briefing. The Man (my beloved Man) came to fetch me, only found out that he has to send me back to office to get all the Papers done.


Last Friday
Five minutes before the MD the Stupid Cow (My Man will kill me for swearing) went into the CEo room, he called up a few of us scolding that the presentation was not according to what he wanted. Hello!!! If you would have checked the presentation earlier, instead of early in the morning before the meeting, you would have been prepared. Idiot!
He came back from the meeting, lecturing us about how everyone shall start communicate to each other and tell each other that all Papers must be written using Arial 10. Duh! I really thought it was something to do with the contents or figures or graphs or something.
Baie was not back that quickly.

Last Saturday
I decided to still call him the Stupid Cow. Went to watch semifinals of Malaysian Open and witnessed Lee Chong Wei won. Great Kiddo was having fever, we dragged him to the stadium anyways and had to entertain him outside the stadium a few times. He, being cranky, said exactly the opposite of what we're saying, that plus cheering. We said, "maalysia boleh!" and he screamed "Malaysia tak boleh!". I dared not look around, people will be saying what kind of parents we were.

Last Sunday.
Stayed home. Watched finals and LCW won again. Started fever. Drank barley drink so that it'll cool me off.

Last Monday.
Two meetings that I had to attend going on at the same time. I had to go in the Supplier's meeting since I've not concluded anything for the new contracts awarded. Then the Customer's meeting, no other managers attended too, at last Ida had to drag Puru in. Ida was putting long big face, pretending that the world should know that her meeting was ignored. Typical! I asked her whether she wanted me in, she said, 'tak pe, tak penting pun customer meeting ni'. There you are, served you right. Ingat orang tahu ke apa dalam kepala hotak kau. Tell people what you really feel la, instead of keeping revenge afterwards. Geram betul aku ngan orang yang pretend that she in nobody but actually craving for attention ni. Kebudak-budakan!
It was a big day for Baie, the GM(O) interview was on so I really don't wanna bother him eventhough I was so itchy of knowing what really happened in the CEO's room.
I prayed hard that the Stupid Cow won't offend Baie in the interview.
Flu was really bad. I had difficulty breathing. Settled everything at four, drove back, went back to the clinic and got my ventolin nebulizer. Took flu medicine, slept until 6, woke up and called Baie to ask how the interview went.

Last Tuesday.
Ida (who is seated in front of me) kept making remarks the whole day about how unimportant she feels. She made remarks as though I was not even her friends anymore, as though I don't have a heart to get hurt. I held my patience, plus the Stupid Cow was demanding attention, too. He asked everybody to sit down with him to go through the last Board Meeting' minutes. Stupid! At the end, I asked everybody to fill up the spreadsheet, and I patiently sat with him going through the details to prepare himself for the Board Meeting. Ini ka orang yang dapat gaji beriban riban banyak dari aku? Nak baca minutes pun malas!
Then, LiKwoTei was pronounced as the Manager (Logistics) Ida had to report to. She walked off from the office as soon as the news leak. Everytime there 's a problem, you'll walk out. Walaupun kadangkadang I was in need of your work to be completed.
Then the smses started coming in. "you are in coal, you don't know how i feel being in logistics. Ignored all the time. bla bla bla". Hello! First , sicne when these two are separated functionally (since LiKwoTei came in). Second, I was in logistics for seven bloody years!
Aku malas nak cakap ngan orang yang pikir the world revolves around her whenever she had problem. I punched out the card for her anyway. Karang punch card tak punch out, dapat internal query pulak. Walked out from the office around 8 at night.
I ended yesterday, walking out at the park with the Great Kiddo with the big moon showing his face. A bliss! The Man cancelled his bowling and I felt so great seeing his face back home. So many things wanted to be pouredm, but all choked inside and I just could say, "I'm glad to see you home, today", repeatedly.
I really did.

Today. Wednesday. The Thaipusam.
Finally checked out the new restaurant called the Rain for dinner. Food was great, ambience was calm. Most importantly, I did have time talking to the Man about what happened at work.

Tomorrow.
Working day, lots to prepare, Board Meeting in the afternoon, Customer meeting in the morning.
Decided not to call MD Stupid Cow anymore. Few days is enough.
Decided to not interfere with Ida's business anymore. And not to be bothered with her whines and cries. She is too much pampered. At that age, at that position, she should be taking a lot more pressure.
Decided not to be the one who tegur Ida, anyway. Biar orang lain tegur, or biar ada satu event that make her realize that she needs to grow up. It'll be a tough lesson for her, but a lesson that she will never forget. If there is no lesson learnt, then too bad fo rher.
Decided to be her listening friend anyway. Listening I'll do, advicing I'll do not.

Tomorrow is a better day.
A lot more tasks will get accomplished.
A pink Notebook by Dell is coming.

Counting My Blessings

I should do this more often.

1. I am so thankful that my youngest sister, who was so adamant to launch herself into the career world before without a proper degree, is finally settled down in a public university, further from KL, further from all these attraction. Hope it's gonna be good for her.

2. I am glad that my tummy is finally showing now.

3. I am enjoying my new work, the new challenge. It keeps me busy. It made me important.

4. My new white MyVi is so cute. It's even cuter when I am in it.

5. So I gotta wake up at 6ish and drive away by 6:30, but it's okay. So many new thoughts came in early wee dawn hours.

6. The great Kiddo is constantly nagging me for attention. Which drives me mad most of the time, but it made me important.

7. My immediate boss is constantly reminding me to take it slow for now, for I am pregnant.

8. The Man took me out for a movie , supposed to be an anniversary date, we watched the Enchanted.

9. Oh oh oh.. you guys, my 5th wedding anniversary is a.... *drum roll* Tag Hauer!!!!

Guess I have a lot to thank for!

It's A ....

The Man and I had made a pact to let the gender of our second one a secret. I mean, how many times can you do that in a life time, if you want to have two pregnancies? I thought it'd look cool to look surprise when the baby come out and the doctor finally announced that to us.

Secretly, having a complete pair would be nice. But I would love them anyway if both are boys. Like I always said, as long as it is healthy and perfect, it'd be more than enough.

When three of us, The Man, me and the Great Kiddo went to Dr Delaila for our fifth-month check up (which is actually the second check up), we were very silent when she started peeking into the monitor. With the Great Kiddo inside me four years ago, she didn't bother to ask whether we would like to know the sex, instead she just blurted out, there are the scrotum, it's a boy!

As pesimist as she was before, she went down from the head. 'This is the line that divides the left and right hemisphere of the brain. No sign of extra fluid, meaning not a down syndrome baby".
She went down "this is the shoulder, no sign of hunchback". "This is the back bone, again no sign of hunchback. Looks like a tall baby".
She further went, "The four chamber of the heart... bla bla.. the lung.. the kidney... "
I was silent. Didn't dare looking at the Man. Knowing that she'll go further down.
"This is the pelvic bone, symmetrical, no sign of down syndrome". Again, what's up with her and the down syndrome thing? I go myself focused, again.
Held my breath hard. Cause I knew it was coming.

Then, that's it.
"You know what's that between the pelvic bone?".
I sillyly said, "It's a boy?". I avoided the Man's gaze.
"No", she laughed. "It's flat. It's a girl".

So, we both knew. I looked at the Man and mouthed, "It's a girl".

He didn't look surprise. But he always has that stoic face, anyways.

There.

We both know, for now.

*smile*

Welcome, Anna Zahara, Mommy can't wait to see you.

Too Late for A Nieeeeeewww Year

So the new year went by without me watching the concert, without me watching the fireworks (I was about to type firecrackers, shows how have i been forgetting how big a new year fireworks are), most importantly without me sitting back to view my 'what was working and what was not for 2007', and what's the next 12 months gonna be.

*sigh*

Mental note: To book a hotel room with city view on 31 Dec 2008 to view the firework.

The new job came with super duper extra responsibilities and much much lesser time to even think on what's gonna happen next. I used to enjoy the time during the weekly staff meeting mulling over my To-Do list and strategize on accomplishing them. But for now, I didn't even have time to list down my To-Dos.

Which is bad.

Which has made me feel not in control.

I however get a few things done:

1. I managed to open the Amanah Saham Didik account for the Great Kiddo.
2. I opened up the Yippie Account for him too. The beauty of it is I can maybank2u money to him at any time I like, then when there are enough units opened at Amanah Saham Didik, I can easily go to any maybank to transfer the money to there.
3. Fund a few hundreds for my sister who just got rolled into a public university, I also helped her doing all the medical check up things.
4. Funded my parents for their yearly shopping. Okay, it's not like I funded them for the whole vacation, but it made me feel good.
5. I managed to revamp the whole new tendering process.
6. Finishing up the fuel committee for tbp.

Happy New Year to me.

(I know it's late).

*sigh*

Yesterday

It is a bliss that both bosess are away, I could blog, blog , blog!

I went to SJMC to see an ENT specialist who took out a large clump of fungal-do inside my right ear. I was glad when I was pronounced 'not deaf', decided to celebrate it and went to Subang Parade, alone, determining to do things for my son, instead of for myself.

So I decided to check up Tumble Tots. Found out they do a few classes. Quite pricey, I calculated, around RM50 per class. Classes are more like phonic reading and gym toddling. I was looking for more things like drawing, coloring, craft. Decided to check out the drawing class I saw in One Utama new wing. (Have you guys seen one?)

After I have completed my motherly obligation, decided to roam for one pair of comfortable pants, since my waist line is dissapearing ( I am by now have finished my fourth month of pregnancy). Just one pair and my belly won't feel so tight when I drive. Just a little pair.

So hopped into Modern Mom, paid for two blouses, one jeans and one pair of black pants. That is around RM400! When I was sitting recording things into my CashOrganizer the Man had just re-installed to my pda-phone, I casually asked whether they have cardigan, and you just got to see their cardigan! It is way too cool, it's like a wrap, but it's a cardigan, it's warm but trendy. So I swooped one, cost around RM100.

There, half a thousand spent on one day, less than one hour.

Didn't I just do re-evaluation of my spending habits for 2007 and vowed to save more for 2008?

The Do's and Don'ts

Lots have been offered on advising me handling the new maid. Lots of them went undone.

 

1. We were advised that the market rate is RM400 per month.

But she had demanded RM450 since the sister-in-law was also paid RM450.

 

2. We were advised that the monthly salary is not to be given to her hand.

But she insisted on sending the money back home, and she had a three years old Kid who is about the same age of AZeuchry and it just broke my heart to know that her kid went unfed. So I obliged.

 

3. We were advised to keep the passport with us.

She is on her visiting visa which we are to renew on working visa later. So she is keeping her own passport.

 

4. We were advised not to let her mix with her own clan.

But she had demanded to go to her sister-in-law place who worked in Kak Ina's house at Pantai Dalam every fortnight. Kak Ina is Mai's (The Man's Technician) sister.

 

5. I was advised not to let her cook.

They said mom should cook, but she is way too efficient. When I came back, the foods are all prepared on the table.

 

6. I was advised not to let her come into my bedroom.

Did I mentioned that she is way too efficient? She mopped my bedroom floor and collect all my dirty laundry. The other day she WASHED my silk kurung in my washing machine with my detergent!

 

So lots of them went undone.

Congratulations me!

Yesterday was the day my promotion (or shall I say acting promotion) is effective.

 

I didn't notice about it until a few girls at the office come around to say hi to the new manager.

 

Smiled. Anyway.

 

Have been doing the job since early this May. Guess it takes months for the Management to give me due recognition. Better than nothing, consoled myself away.

 

So what do I get together with the promotion?

 

Pay rise of around RM400 (which all will go to hiring the maid)

Travelling by business class for overseas trips (which I don't think I want to go whilst I am pregnant nor when I am breastfeeding)

A few RM rise in subsistence allowance.

A room (which have not been properly built for me, but I don't care since I like my working station now)

and of course

responsibility,

much work,

and a few people to train/develop.

 

Congratulations to me, anyway. Like I wrote, better late than nothing.

 

 

 

My Helper is Here!

Okay.. So we decided to hire a helper once the new baby is here. BUT I didn't expect it to be soon.

She was picked up last Sunday. Seemed nice.

I , however, had some issues.

1. I didn't like going into my own house on Sunday. It seemed like somebody else's house seeing someone else mopping the floor.
2. My son took only 4 hours to warm up with her.
3. She has all day long with my son. I didn't.
4. She is to super hardworking. She ironed all clothes until there are no more hangers left.
5. She can make 'goreng pisang' which is a suprise to me!

Guess I'm still getting used on mommy is not the only woman in the house.

Co-mmu-ni-ca-tion

I never really write on how did I left my phone at the Sydney Airport. (I've come to terms that I didn't lose my phone, I had just ridiculously out of my mind leaving it there).

Two doors away, in our new 100% malay neighbourhood, lived a couple with three kids. The wife, Joned is a doctor at GH and the husband,Bo is an engineer. We knew Bo long time ago, we went to his wedding, and The Man and Bo kinda chose the house together. Not close but not so distanced.

So when we are practically neighbours, we thought it is fun to be chosing house together and our kids could grow together, and we will grow old together.

But then, the other neighbours (remind you again that I now live in a 100% malay neighbourhood where housewives chat at the playground and over the fence) started talking to me of Joned's problem. Joned apparently had visited them and told them (the women) about their marriage problem. She never came to me, but my heart goes out for them and the kids. It must be real tough raising three when you don't know who are you marrying to. I sometimes prayed that things are going smoother for them.

So Joned talked to the teacher on my left, to the laywer on my right, to the banker across the playground, but never to me. I didn't intend to talk to her about it either. When we visited her for her third new born, everytime she tried to give the impression that she was so thin because of what she went through during the pregnancy (ada masalah lah, tension lah ) I quickly brushed them away saying that I can't imagine how stressful it is working at an ER at GH.

I don't know, I just don't want to know. I however did pray for her marriage, for her solace.

Until the SMS came in. She said , out of sudden, in a text message, that she wants to divorce Bo but she thought about the kids. I didn't reply that one. She send another one within 10 minutes saying that Bo is not a kind of good husband because Bo never read the Quran. I wondered what that made my Man because Bo solat at the Masjid for Maghrib and Isyak everyday. I replied saying that reading the Quran doesn't determine a good husband. Then she said Bo used her like a hooker, and she didn't get paid.

I thought that was it.

The day after, she started forwarding me texts that she wrote for her friends, expecting me to understand.

The week after, she started forwarding me texts that she wrote for Bo, asking for money to buy something, then something about tolak duit nafkah? What?

So when I turned on my phone at Sydney airport during the transit to call up the Man, suddenly about 7 or 8 text messages appearing in my phone. I really thought they were urgent, stupidly scrolling them while trying to unzip my pants at the toilet with one hand.

That was how I left my phone at Sydney's airport restroom.

So I was furious. I still am.

I don't mind if you pour your heart out to me. However, being an adult, a married adult with a kid, I will promise you that I will be nothing but a listener. Until you give me the impression that you want me to be taking sides simply because we are both women. Then I will stop listen, I will go away. In this case, she drove me away before I was even a listener.

True enough, coming back from the Australia trip, Lisa next door , over the fence was telling me how scary it was when Joned came around 10:00 at night with Bo watching over the fence to pour her heart out. She said that both The Man and Me didn't want to listen because we are taking Bo's side. There! It's true that she thought all adults do is taking sides.

Fooh....

So people, stay away from your neighbour's marriage problem.

Why Linkin Park

Okay, numerous reason on why do I love Linkin Park to bits.

First, they write their own songs.

Then, they produced their songs.

They collaboratively worked on every songs together. Taking everyone's ideas.

Chester is totally a rock star, Mike emerged from hip hop-rap-kind a thing but put them together, it is awesome.

Their songs are all about expressing anger, which is good because it let you find an avenue to let the steam off.

They are one of a kind. There was never a band combining rough-low-then scream songs with raps before.

Most important thing, after all this time, they stay on together.

And together is what important. Together makes you feel that they are loyal to each other, and make you loyal to them.

I just hated it when they claim it's Hani-AC-and-Kieran on ERA the radio but you can actually calculate how many times do they actually appear in that combination. Most of the days, one of them will not be around, and the most sad thing shall be when there's only one out of three. So called good marketing huh.

Lois, You are an Angel!

My Stylist (Lois, at A Cut Above Sunway Pyramid) is totally a granny. He won't let me have style that I want. When I wanted it permed, he said it'll be a total mess because I need to apply gel daily and knowing that the Kiddo at that time had just started crawling, he was actually right. When I wanted it short, he refused saying that it'll frizz up and I have to come by a lot to touch up the root. He NEVER abide what I wanted.

That is because he knows my hair more than I do.

So when I really want it short this time, (shorter from the shortest he had allowed me), I practised hard on what to say to him. It goes like, "Lois I'd do everything that you want me to do, I can come by every month to touch up the root if that's what required, I religiously will not skip my home treatment just let me have one short hair".

When I actually saw him at the new re-do saloon, I said Lois come here and sit, I need to talk to you. He actually smiled and said what you want? (of course, the old man knew). I told him I really want it short this time, and he simply smiled and said, "of course, cannnn...."

He let me have it short!!

Of course he chucked the idea of the boy-cut. He never stopped being a granny.

The Head, The Hands, The Feet and the Spine

You know that I have not been posting much about my pregnancy, eventhough the morning sickness (or shall I say the all-day sickness) hit me bad almost everyday. I have also not been telling around much. There's something in between everything-can-happen-during-the-first-trimester and what-can-peed-on-stick-really-tell-of-what's-in-my-womb.

So, the week we got back to work after Eid-el-Mubarak, I randomly picked a day and decide that day to be the day to see Dr. Christina Tai at SJMC. My appointment was at 12:10, we went late, around 12:00, got in around 1:30. As she rubbed the cold thing on my tummy, it was clear on the monitor! As clear as the white cloud during the clear sky. We saw the head, the hands, the feet and the spine! Both The Man and I wondered whether we really saw the Kiddo when he was in my tummy because we never really see the fetus as clear as this one.

It hit both of us to know that it is actually alive in Mommy's womb!

People, I am pregnant! Really....!

Orient the Watch

Syclone wrote and yes, it was actually Orion's Belt i/o Orient's (as in the watch). You see when you have been humiliated by your own dream, you tend to try to forget everything about it.

I was thinking to start reading star gazing again.

Dream On

How many of you remembered what you filled up for your ‘cita-cita’ (ambitions) when you were standard 1?

I remembered mine vividly. I remembered the feeling of trying to fill up the three lines when they asked to rank them. It was exciting, much more exciting than walking up the stage to get the best student prize. I never filled them up honestly.

My dad, who is an ordinary secondary school teacher, was not born as an ordinary thinker, I think. When I haven’t started schooling, he bought this encyclopedia about star gazing and everything else up in the sky. He then sat down with me during cloudless, clear sky trying to make sense of the constellations on the sky to match ones in the book. His favorite, which is then mine, is the Orient’s Belt, three stars lined up perfectly. Of course we got to see them only less than half of the year. Once we could locate Orient’s Belt, we could easily find Taurus the Bull (which by then I didn’t know it is my zodiac), the Plaeideus (seven princess who actually are not really seven), the Zeus and his wife, two Orient’s dog which resides two Ursula (major and minor, which I think the minor is brighter than Ursula major, weird huh?)

Orient’s Belt remains my favorite, till now. You could only see them from October onwards in Malaysia. Orient’s Belt still be the reason of me gazing out to the sky on the cloudless clearly. Orient’s Belt is still the reason me falling in love with the stars.

So there I was, a seven years old girl, dreaming about owning a real telescope just to see the stars clearer. Dreams of owning a real telescope developed more each years, rapidly. Gazing made me wanting to see more, wanting to experience more, to go up there and see how’s it look like.

The last chapter of the book, which has already lunyai (‘meshed up’) by the time I turned 10, was about the adventure to the space. I always read through that very quickly, for I know it won’t be true for me. But from star gazer, I grown to like astronomers, then astronaut, then by the age of 12, I really thought I would settle for astrophysicist. I asked a relative who studied astrophysicist and bluntly he said, there is no job prospect for that in Malaysia. Fine enough, being rejected by the first guy I had crush with since I was seven, I thought I might wanna migrate to the States and stay there forever, mending my heart while working my ways through to NASA.

I read about the space more. I had Valentina Tereskova, the first woman to space, as my idol, secretly signing little V in my signature. When I was 15, I then fell in love with Physics which then I think I want to be an aerospace engineer. Anything to do with the space. I figured out that to get my way to NASA, I at least have to have two degrees, then one master then join their training for an average of three years. So I thought of having degrees in Mathematics, then Aerospace Engineering, then Physics, then Astronomy (okay, so that’s four, figured out that I can do two at one time), then a Master in Astrophysics, then three years of training, by the time I am 29, I should be able to pass the training at NASA and ready to go to the space.

I thought hard about the job prospect thing. I though hard about not leaving Malaysia since the puppy love doesn’t turn out to be the real love anyways. Thinking that Malaysia would never set up a space center, by the time I sat for my scholarship interview, I had settled less to an aeronautical engineer. Flying to the space is not gonna be a reality, then flying or assisting with flying a plane might be good. The scholarship gave me a mechanical engineering degree, which I did with so not flying color. The case study about the O-ring failure of a rocket back in 1990s which then killed a kindergarten school teacher then confirmed that I am not ever going to the space.

So here I am, a mechanical engineering graduate who dreamt of going to the space, who then settled down as a fuel procurement manager doing commodity trading and contract at the age of 29. Funny enough, when I was 29, the aerospace program was introduced in Malaysia. Many applied, a few went through when they managed to settle down for 2 candidates. I bit my teeth browsing through the papers, pretending not to be interested whilst in my heart, I thought about the dreams I had all these years, the Orient Belt, the Astrophysicist degree, the NASA and how stupid the dreams felt like a few years ago, and how stupid am I today to let go of the dreams.

When Dr. Sheikh Muzafar’s Soyuz blasted off, I prayed hard that his O-ring went well, then he will finally see the earth from the space, then he’ll see things that I never get to see. I still bit my teeth with jealousy but deep inside, I know I was the one who killed my own dreams. If only I stayed on dreaming, I know I’ll be the one who celebrated Hari Raya in space.

I never shared this with anyone, not even The Man, the dreams about going to the space, the passion about star gazing (except with my dad who then thought that I have grown up getting bored of the Greek’s Gods History), about how I killed my own dreams. I guess it was embarrassing to be wanting to be out to the space, but it was more embarrassing to let people know that big dreams were crushed by the very own dreamer.

But would I wanna go back in time to change what I have now? Guess I wouldn’t, looking at the li’l Kiddo playing with my parents, I’d rather have Hari Raya here with them. But one thing stays, I would let li’l Kiddo know that never crush his own dream, for one day, it might come true.

Perhaps I’d really go out and buy the telescope. Back to star gazing, yeah.

Should I Not

We had Iftar with a supplier, which is a good friend (because he went to Kinabalu with us) at Toh Yuen Restaurant. It was nice.  The Man was there too.

 

However, we spoke about Brucelee. More like gossiping. Nothing detrimental to the business because we didn't talk about his stupid decision or his market unintelligence.

 

When we came back, I somehow felt that it was not proper for me to talk bad about our own boss, how bad our own boss is, especially in front of a supplier. Eventhough character gossiping doesn't somehow damaging the business.

 

I should not talk bad about him, anymore.

27.7.2007

I was around! I was around!

 

Been busy running the yearly retreat. I wrote about that two years ago, I wrote about another one last year. This year, I think, is the most efficiently organized.

 

I wrote Sihin a speech for dinner. In the dinner, I made him thank Ida. Both were thrilled. Ida was thrilled. I think she deserved that.

 

I look fabulous during Dinner! hehe.. Ajin came over to do make-up for Ena and I joined in afterwards. She only spent like, twenty minutes, on my face and voila! I looked different. Everyone stopped (even the VIP table) talking and looked at me when I came in. I think I look too white and my hair was funny. Enjoyed it, anyway.

 

Jalilah (not a real name) was a realy bitch to us. First, she didn't help at all. Then, she didn't allow her staff help. Then she made us do that stupid 5S meeting and urged us for a minutes of meeting to be delivered to her on Friday, the day where we ran like cicak kudung making sure all the papers are organized accordingly into the folders.

 

Hodilay Villa Hotel (not a real name) was also a real pain to us. First, they told us that there will be a wedding a night before the conference. I always spent the night rearranging the laptops and wires and testing the AVs and all, but told my guys that we'll start at 11 pm after the dinner is over. However, at 9pm, we realized that there wasn't any dinner! I didn't want to fume much, we started right on and stopped at 2:30 something. I made everyone rehearsed and went through the programme over and over again.

 

I thank God that it went smooth, anyway.

Most Sad Thing of the Year

Visited nurinjazlin.blogspot.com and broke down several time. I broke down on the day of the funeral too. Was driving back to Lenggong while listening to Aznil on ERA. He totally was at loss of words.

 

Anyway, it's a sad thing. It's the most sad thing of the year.

 

I urged the police to expedite the investigation. I have a few theories though:

 

1. Killer is definitely wealthy. He can afford to keep her in a house where nobody knows or can hear, must be a bungalow.

 

2. Killer definitely an educated man, who watched CSI too much because he knows how to clean. He is definitely an Astro subscriber.

 

3. Killer knows how to cut hair. I bet he cut her hair the very day he kidnapped her. He knows how to make her hair curls (by the way of cutting) whilst the original hair is straight.

 

4. Killer is also hygienic because he has some spares plastic / rubber gloves around. He used the gloves while handling the body.

 

5. Killer lives alone. And operates alone.

 

 

Whomever he is, I prayed hard that God will reveal him. I know that if it takes more than 2 months to catch him, chances are he'll still be around. So, cops, move your butt and catch the fella before he flees off and hurt another innocent girl!

Harry Potter : THe Deathly Hallows

I have just finished Harry Potter the 7th Book after someone got for us for a mere RM30! Lucky eh..

 

Anyway, this is what I thought about the Deathly Hallows!

 

Awesomely written! Brilliant!

Ending is like always, is as expected. The Man has always been saying that I spoilt few movies too much, that I knew the endings too soon. He emphasized on enjoying the journeys than the endings, but I laughed. But this is one book whose journey I enjoyed reading.

 

We knew very well Harry will live and marry Ginny. We knew Ron will Hermione. We knew very well that Snape is actually a good guy eventhough he appeared bad (and at the same trying to appear bad) since Book 1. That is the ending, people, you knew it since Book 3. But read Deathly Hallows and it is much more than the ending that you are seeking.

 

Technically, Rowlings presented us two to four chapters of the kids being idle, then one chapter full of battle. The constant ups and downs of the battles between the good and the evil are beautifully mixed and climaxed at just the right time. Made you feel the way you feel when you first started reading The Sorcerer's Stone a few years back.

 

I sort of gave up on Rowlings after Order of Phoenix and worst, Half Blood Prince. For me, Half Blood Prince (that I paid more for being in the waiting list before the pre-release) was badly written. None of it made sense. Little things happen didn't get to be explained towards the end. But the Deathly Hallows explained it all. Deathly Hallows even made me wanna read Half Blood Prince all over again, even so I despised Half Blood so much before.

 

Rowlings does get her claws back!! And I have no surprise that people will ask her to write for more.

 

(For you who are not the fan of Harry Potters, this is the list of the series)

 

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (or some titled it the Philosopher's Stone) - movie made but go read the book. It is less than 1 inch thick but it is the most wonderful book. Made you think of sekolah asrama for those who have been to boarding schools.

 

2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - movie made but I still like the book

 

3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. - movie made, thickness still less than an inch

 

4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - thickness start coming in, I did start getting bored

 

5.Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix. - still thick, more boredom, movie made, not yet seen

 

6. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - like I said, the worst of all

 

7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - i'll write as how Rowlings ended it, All is well.

What's Happening

I know. I know.

I know I didn't get time to blog about the vacation in Sydney, the work I did in Brisbane and both Newcastle outback.

I didn't even blog about whether I think Terengganu was ready for 2008 Year of Visit Terengganu.

There have been so much things happening around, with work, with bosses, with my family, with me. I'll list them down on point form, just to keep you in the loop, you know.

1. The shortage of fuel had made me work up to midnight at the office together with my boss. I basically cramped up all the things I've planned to do within 3 months into two weeks. Days were filled doing meetings, and the only time we can work is after 6. It was crazy, but it worth every effort. Things going on smoothly.

2. Bruce the Big Boss is totally losing focus of the time. He choses to chill out at Jakarta doing work that is supposed to be done by people three level lower than him, instead of staying here in the office completing a few more negotations. I wonder, what made him want to travel that much. It is sickening.

3. I figured out that I didn't have my sinus when we were in both Sydney and Brisbane. Think the air is much cleaner. And obviously, KL air is polluted.

4. I have 15 more days puasa to qada. I know. The number was 30 before, than I manage to reduce them to 15 just before I figured out that I am two weeks late!!

5. I did home test yesterday and figured out that, yes, I am pregged!!!!

There. Quite a news to you, eh..?

Happy Ramadhan.

Kudos to Sydney Airport!

Was away for two weeks working trip at the Down Under. Was at Brisbane for 5 days, then last week was at Sydney (travelling into the bush in between the cities' stay)

The flight to BNE transitted at SYD, which we were forced to go out to the transit lounge and underwent the tight security check. That was when I lost my mobile (not really, I 'll write about how I lost it next entry).

When I was taking the flight back to SYD, didn't get to check the Lost and Found cause I flew domestic.

Then, on the day going back to KUL, we plopped into Lost and Found at Sydney airport Level 3. Went in, the girl checked the computer and went into the store and came out with my Mini O2!!!! Don't know whether I'll find it again in another countries.

She was too busy then afterwards attending to other people. I didn't get to ask her who found it but to whoever found it, many thanks! To Sydney Airport, kudos!

What A Journey

First, I lost my passport. Didn' tknow where I put it.

Lodged a police report, then went to immigration, got the commission of oath thing, then found out that immigration needs my original cert berth. Which i misplaced, too.

Went back. Next morning searched for my birth cert. I found my passport. Cool.

Flight to Sydney then Brisbane. Strip searched at Sydney, lost my hand phone there!

I am homesick. It's no fun traveling alone. :(

And maybank credit card sucks! I ask for a temporary credit limit of a top up of RM7000, which means from RM5K to RM12k, and the girl had nicely put it as new credit limit is RM7k...

Penning off now..!!