white canary

why??

2011-04-02T14:32:00.001-07:00

why did I back down? Why did I let you walk all over me? Why did I let myself think that you are special when you are clearly NOT!!!

eid mubarak

2010-11-19T14:12:00.001-08:00

eid mubarak everyone!

?

2010-11-19T14:09:00.000-08:00

Why? how? when?
....hmmm

ramadhan kareem

2010-08-09T11:20:00.000-07:00

Dear All, we would like to wish everybody a wonderful and blessed month of Ramadhan! Untuk Atuk and Mai in Melaka, aunties and uncles in Malaysia, Melbourne, Dubai and Singapore and cousins and friends wherever you are...Ramadhan kareem

monologue

2010-03-19T06:29:00.000-07:00

I am at work now... curik tulang nih... relax sat... takpe takpe... boss tengah meeting...students plak gi trip to Lincoln...wahh heaven...

alamak assignment bebudak tak abis mark lagi... bile due reports ni ahh... let see... alamak yesterday ...mampus.... ok ok... relax...jangan kantoi... antar email kat helen cakap tak siap lagi by today mesti boleh complete nyer... sorry helen...

boring lah plak orang takde nih...well ...I'll make myself another cuppa!!!

anecdotes

2010-03-19T06:20:00.000-07:00

Ihsan, on the way back from a friend's open house, asked his babah. "babah, hari raya ada dua jenis kan, one is hari raya aidil fitri and another is maaf zahir batin"

Kakak farah's million dollars question, "Ummi, is it hard being a woman?"

Iman, talking about his ambition, "I want to be a celebrity hairdresser!"

And the best of all, my youngest, Fatihah looking at me with her wide innocent eyes and said, " I love you and you love me!" and smothered me with wet kisses all over my face. Sweet!!! Previous darlings!!!

Happy new year

2009-01-05T05:27:00.000-08:00

Selamat menyambut tahun baru hijrah 1430. Selamat tahun baru 2009. May this year bring more health, wealth and an abundance of Iman and Taqwa, insyaAllah.

Hopefully this new year also brings hope and peace to our brothers and sisters in Gaza. The genocide must stop!

Tag-

2008-12-08T15:24:00.000-08:00

Again, what a pleasant surprise... Well, nani these are my answers! here goes...

What were you doing 5 years ago?
Arrived in Leicester and embarked on a long and lonely educational journey which I do not care to repeat..

What were the 5 things on your list to do today?
-prepare lunch/dinner/supper
-job hunting
-post "the" letter
-day dream for things to shop on boxing day!
-and of course, simpan sumer pens and pencils for teehah's sake!

What are the snacks that you enjoy?
-Panini
-Jacket potato
-maggie
-chocolate
-Doughnuts buatan kak zu..

What are 5 things that you do if you were a billionaire
-Hire many many maids....
-Beli sumer rumah Justin, Steven and Whitfield and rent them all to fellow Malaysians with cheaper rents
-Charity
-Invest in Trust funds
-Shop till I drop! hahahahaaa I wish!

What 5 jobs you've had?
-Keje McDonald's Kajang - p.s. Faiz, makan sini ker bawak lari! Ring any bells?
-Minah kilang
-Cikgu sekolah in Seremban
-Lecturer IIUM
-and of course the latest- floor manager

Who are the 5 person you want to tag?
Ayu (gerenti Ayu tak buat nih....)
Normi
Kak Faiz
Shidah
Anis

Teehah and the pen

2008-12-03T13:32:00.000-08:00

Today, something happened that really shook me to the core.

Teehah tripped while she was holding a black ball pen in her hand. I wasn't really paying attention to her as I was sweeping the bread crumbs off the floor. Just a minute ago, she was happily playing with her playskool castle and the next, she was lying on her face, screaming in agony! I turned towards her and to my horror, I saw the black devil pen penned under her tiny beautiful face, next to her right eye. Immediately, I knew something was wrong...I lifted her up and blood was trailing off from the wound underneath her eye. My panic button went off! All hell broke loose!

Then the paramedics came and we went to the hospital in the ambulance and Jill (one of the paramedics) was really sweet and she helped to calm me and teehah down. Kak zu was there as well. Midah and Marlina helped to look after the children (mine and kak zu's) while we were at the hospital.

We waited and waited and waited and waited for the doctors. We reached the hospital at half past two and we went home at half past six. Imagine that! It was indeed a very very loooong wait at the A&E. Auntie Zu left at 4.30 because she had to go to work. Then Rohaida and her mum came and they brought along some popias and nasik ayam ...Yummy!

Nevertheless, thank you Allah, Alhamdulillah everything was okay and according to the doctors, the cut under teehah's eye is superficial and it will heal on its own... well, we will have to wait and see, won't we.

Then babah came and took us home. The end!...

The moral of the story is.... buang semua pen hitam!

the children's anecdote

2008-12-02T08:27:00.000-08:00

Satu:

Minggu sudah, farah cirit birit and because of this she was off school for two days. I had to go to kak amy to help her because she was moving. Hence, I had to take farah with me. When we were there, farah went to the loo and while we were busy unpacking and packing things, we heard her shouted, "ummi ummi, tomorrow I can go to school, kakak dah tak sakit perut dah, berak kakak dah kuat!"

Dua:

Today, the kids ada ceramah dgn ustaz maszlee about the differences between raya org islam and raya non-muslim... Ihsan was excited about it and when he got back from school, he confidently told me that, "ummi, ummi hari ni ada curabah ummi, curabah ustaz maszlee kat rumah aunti ayu"

Tiga:

A few weeks back, iman was helping me in the kitchen. He was peeling the onions and garlic and was trying to make small talk while doing the chore, "ummi, you know ada cerita melayu pasal these onions tau ummi"
"Ye ker, how do you know"
"Yes, my friends (his Malaysian friends) told me"
"what is it called then"
"bawang besar and bawang putih!"

Alhamdulillah

2008-11-18T16:09:00.001-08:00

Today I received the much awaited letter from my Uni. Alhamdulillah, it brought good news. Ailong was happy too. Alhamdulillah...Thank you Allah.

Dear Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood.

we meet again

2008-11-15T15:39:00.000-08:00

I am so glad that I have managed to hook up with many of my long lost buddies. It has been ages, 12 years to be precise. Many of these friends have secured well-paid jobs, some assume influential roles at Ministries, others have traveled around the world, a good friend has successfully set up his own company and many have been religiously teaching the younger generation to be aspiring leaders.

This reunion was unexpected, yet I knew somehow someday, one of us would do it, to become the string that binds us all. And my thanks goes to a lovely English language teacher in Keramat. Well done! And I continue to hope that many more of these friends, especially those who are lost and not yet found will be reunited.

Welcome back folks!

Interview session

2008-11-13T14:41:00.000-08:00

Ijjou came to our house today because she wanted to interview the Malaysian children. I managed to assemble 13 youngsters (imagine having 13 boisterous children in the house) and the focus of discussion was on the group of teenagers who had been terrorizing them. These unruly yobs enjoyed tormenting and bullying the children wherever and whenever they had the slightest opportunity to strike.

Although the session ended when most of the children somehow managed to lock themselves up in the living room, the interviews went well...Alhamdulillah. Ijjou got what she came for. Ailong had to use his breaking and entering skills to wedge open the door.. Alas, all was safe...Fatihah was among those who got locked in, but I was not that concerned because I knew Ailong could unlock the jammed door. Budak2 nih, macam2 lah...sabar je lah.

What have we been doing?

2008-11-08T12:14:00.000-08:00

Nothing...nothing...nothing...the one week mid term break went as quickly as it came. We stayed home and we stayed home and we stayed home.That was what we did. Imagine how boring it was! And the feeling continues....

Tag- you're it

2008-11-02T14:22:00.000-08:00

I am surprised, well pleasantly surprised actually (ihsan's favourite word). I have been tagged by Nani. I have never done or received any tag before, so advanced apologies if I somehow fail to appropriately respond. Well, here goes:

The Who’s

Who Was The Last Person You Talked To? Ailong zul

Who Was Your Last Kiss? Ailong zul ahaks (turning bright red now, malu!!!)

Who Knows The Most About You? Ailong zul

Who Can Make You Laugh No Matter What? Not sure, but most probably Teehah kot

Who Can You Always Count On? Ailong zul

Who Has Your Heart? Chua @ ZY

Who Is or Was Your Favorite Teacher In School? None. I was the mischief maker.

Who Is Your Best Friend(s)? Lees, faiz, zu, ainul, cat, nadia, shin, kenny, fatma, zahra, irene and of course, chua...

Who Loves You? Ailong zul, my children (well sometime when they are not cross with me) and my family, I hope (*winks*)

The What’s

What Is Your Favorite Song At The Moment? Bubbly, Mercy, and Big girl don't cry

What Are You Looking Forward To? Getting a job!!!

What Is Your Favorite Color? It used to be blue, but now anything goes!

What Website Do You Visit Most? My blog and my Yahoo mail and of course, jobs.ac.uk

What Is Your Favorite Smell? Teehah, right after her bath.

What Is Your Favorite Movie? I am a romantic fool, so romantic movies lah like Just like Heaven and Nottinghill (Ya, ya I know, I suck!)

What Makes You Mad? Mengemas rumah- it's a never ending job (modern day slavery nih)

What Curse Word Do You Use A lot? &%$#***, &&^%%%!

What Kind Of Phone Do You Have? Nokia N95 (but secrectly wishing for an Iphone)

What Was The Last Song You Listened To? Believe it or not, westlife - pathetic ain't it!

The When’s

When Was The Last Time You Went To The Mall? The mall? - my memory fails to serve me. I do not remember the last time I shopped there. Btw, it's a luxury that I can't afford anymore.

When Did You Talk To Your Crush Last? Before he went to zzzland

When Do or Did You Graduate? Which graduations? I got loads hahahahaa (alhamdulilah!)

When Is The Next Time You’ll Do Something Fun? Who knows what the future holds...

When Was The Last Time You Ate or Drank Something? Ate Chua's birthday cake 3 hours ago, he turned 36 yesterday...happy belated birthday dahlingg!

When Is Your Birthday? I refuse to remember my birthday. I am aged concern!

When Was The Last Time You Went To The Movies? Harry Potter- the last movie

When Is Your Parents Birthday? Honest to God, I don't know.

When Were You In The Car Last? A couple of hours ago, picking Ailong from the Airport

When Will You Be 21? Next week!!!

When Will You Be Taking Your Next Vacation? Not sure...maybe during the Christmas break ho ho ho ho!

The Where’s

Where Do You Live? At home

Where Is The Best Place To Be? Kedai mamak 24 jam

Where Was Your Last Vacation? Malaysia...balik kampung!

Where Were You Born? Melaka, negeri yg bagi Shah Rukh Khan pangkat Datuk tuh. Terrer kan Melaka?

Where Is Your Best Friend? Sleeping upstairs!

Where Was The Last Place Your Were Besides Your Own House? Newcastle Airport Long Stay kapak!

Where Do You Think You’ll Be In 10 Years? Sending the kids off to college!

Where Is Your Cell Phone? On my study table (I think!)

Where Are Your Parents? With their Creator

Where Was Your Display Picture Taken? Kat mana yek? Farah yg amik gambar teehah tuh!

Achtung! Tot, myza, hassan, inafauzi, yazmin,- you have been tagged.

Take a lesson

2008-10-19T15:11:00.000-07:00

There is a lesson to be learned here.

Congratulations

2008-10-19T14:32:00.000-07:00

We would like to congratulate

1. Pak ngah Hassan for tying the knot with mak ngah la (finally!). May your marriage be blessed with many happiness (insyaAllah). Tahniah pakngah! Don't forget to send the wedding pictures! Can't wait to see them.

2. Auntie nani and her family for the new bundle of joy. Bak kata Babah, berakhirnya satu penantian, bermula satu perjalananan.

And, we also pray that babah is alright over there...Take care. We miss you. And ermm ermmm please jangan lupa all the important jajans.

A big thank you

2008-10-02T05:38:00.000-07:00

Thank you Mak Teh and Busu for the raya card and the lovely kuihs. Iman was thrilled to bits. The package arrived today. It so happened that iman was off from school because he was poorly. So he was around to receive it. Perfect timing!

Thank you Mak Teh and Busu.

p.s the kuihs did not hancur, they miraculously survived the journey.

Eid mubarak

2008-10-02T02:03:00.000-07:00

::Kad Ucapan Raya Percuma

We would like to wish a happy and blessed Eid mubarak to

Mai and Tok (Tanjung Minyak, Melaka), Mak long and Pak long (Pekan,Pahang), Pak ngah and Mak ngah (Setiawangsa, KL), Mak lang and Pak lang (Manjung, Perak), Mak teh and Pak teh (Bangi, Selangor), Pak tam and Mak tam (Selayang, KL), Mak andak and Pak andak (Seremban, NS), Mak su (Melbourne) and Pak su (Singapore), Pak ngah and wife to be (Melaka) Mak wan and Pak wan (Shah Alam) Pak sau and Mak sau (Sri Damansara, KL), Pakthe (Shah Alam), Pak sid (MRSM Muar) and to all our cousins (especially Kakngah Safinah)

Aunties, uncles, and dear friends in Bowburn, Newton Hall, Keenan House, Langley Moor, Gilesgate, Darlington, Teeside, Middleborough, Seaham, Leicester, London (Aunti Anin and hubby), New Zealand (Auntie Zuwati), Coventry (Auntie Dij),Kajang (Auntie Faiz), Gombak (Auntie Ainul), Temerluh (Auntie Lees)

UPM TESL class of 96 (you know who you are)

ELD and QLD staff, CELPAD, both at Gombak and the Matriculation Center, International Islamic University Malaysia

To all Muslims, wherever you are

May Allah accept our fast, forgive our sins, grant us mercy and wisdom. Blessings to you and your family.

Love from all of us here...

Happy birthday

2008-09-18T22:27:00.000-07:00

Teehah's first birthday makan2 at Riverside Park, Chester Lee Street.

Kuih raya

2008-09-16T21:43:00.000-07:00

While the children were at school, kami buat kuih raya. Me, kzu, ayu and marlina. Penat banyak buat kuih raya ni. Selalunyer kat Malaysia, buat kuih tunjuk jer. Kat sini terpaksa le buat sendiri kalau nak makan. Masa bakar kuih tuh, terliur jugak sebab harum semerbak bau dia.

I was certain that the kids will love the kuih raya.

True enough, balik sekolah jer Farah terus bukak posa and gulped a few Almond London, makmur and some chocolates. The boys, though, were not the greatest fans. The kuihs were not tempting enough, especially for Iman. Ihsan, at least makan jugak a few makmurs and Almond London, but Iman had none. Instead, dia targeted the hazelnut chocolate. Hmmm penat masak kuih tapi tak laku plak...

Ailong makan gak kuih. Tadi lepas tadarus jer, belum buka lagi, dia terus capai sebijik makmur and makan. Lepas tuh baru teringat dia puasa. Apalagi, terus dashed to the kitchen sink and gurgled.

Fatihah plak, makan jer semua. Lepas tuh poo poo. Aduiiii!

Family

2008-09-15T16:39:00.000-07:00

Family...
trust
love
compassionate
united
care
....and the list goes on.

One of my favourite pics, taken at Newcastle University...a few days before Ramadhan..

Akhirnya 2

2008-09-15T16:31:00.000-07:00

Akhirnya.... after three weeks into Ramadhan, Farah finally managed to fast for the whole day. Alhamdulilah...Well done! I was immensely proud of her. Though she almost bukak posa for a few times, I managed to cajole her to remain strong and wait until maghrib and plus, I promised to give her 3 pound if she posa. So, that was a good enough motivation for her to persevere.But after buka jer, terus tido zzzzz....kesian kakak!

Akhirnya 1

2008-09-15T16:26:00.000-07:00

Akhirnya...

Selama ni ihsan asyik merengek jer nak ikut me and farah to the swimming pool. Good news, sekolah dia ada buat swimming lessons for year four students. He was excited beyond words! So, every Thursday, he will have his lessons at the Swimming bath in Durham city Center. Seronok lah tuh...smiling from ear to ear..hmmm

lagi gambar camping

2008-09-13T22:26:00.001-07:00

camping snapshots

2008-09-13T21:32:00.001-07:00

Gambar2 masa gi camping kat Ashfield Caravan Park, Hartlepool. Khemah besar warna biru yang glamer tuh ours lah...

One week into Ramadhan

2008-09-07T20:54:00.000-07:00

Last night, during sahur, ihsan, in his half awake state, asked me, "have you updated your blog about Ramadhan? "No", I said. "I have been busy". "Well",he continued while drowsily chewing his food, "you should". That was the end of the our conversation. Well, I think ihsan is right. I need to replenish my blog with new entries for his grandparents, our relatives and friends to catch up with things.

One week into Ramadhan, iman and ihsan are fasting every single day, masyaAllah...Diligently, they fasted without much complains. They even seemed to have all the energy to bound about in the house though it was time for iftar. Farah, up to now, has yet to fast. Every day, right after zuhur, she would whine to break her fast. Unable to cope with her insistent whining, I relented.

So far, Ahamdulillah, Ramdahan has been good. But I must confess, after almost five years of experiencing it abroad, I really miss performing the terawih prayer among families and friends, having iftar at my sisters' or brothers' place and most of all, food shopping at bazaar Ramadhan. Home sick la ni....

First day of Ramadhan

2008-09-01T20:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the first day of Ramadhan. The first night of Terawih and makan sahur. Fajr was at 3.48 am, while Maghrib was at 7.59 pm. So, more or less, we had to fast for almost 17 hours! Iman and Ihsan managed to complete the first day without any hiccup. So far so good, alhamdulillah. Farah, on the other hand, only managed to persevere until mid day. She caved in to the temptation of a cheese string and plain water. Imagine that! Nonetheless, she promised to fast the following day. We just have to wait and see!

The boys followed ailong to the mosque for terawih, while Farah accompanied me and teehah to auntie midah's place for ours. Teehah also seemed to understand that Ramadhan is a special month because whenever we wanted to pray, she would be the first to que in the saf and repeatedly said in her ever so adorable baby talk "Awahh abat" (translated as Allahu Akhbar).

We would like to wish Mai, Tok, aunties, uncles, cousins and everyone else a blessed Ramadhan. Ramadhan mubarak!

p.s. iman and ihsan and farah and teehah would like to receive some musical raya cards and of course the usual duit rayalah...

Swimming

2008-08-28T14:21:00.000-07:00

I took Teehah and Farah swimming tonite. Farah, as usual, was overly excited and couldn't wait to swim. This was Teehah's first try. At first, she was scared and clung to me for dear life. Gradually, she began to loosen her grip and instinctively began flipping her tiny little feet. She was kicking about as if she knew what to do. Some friends called it survival instinct. Whatever it was, she seemed to be enjoying herself, but she looked and felt cold. She was trembling and her pretty pink lips were turning blue. I became anxious. I asked the lifeguard whether the water temperature could be raised because I felt it was quite chilly. She couldn't do anything about the temperature. It was beyond her control. With that, I took teehah out of the pool and we changed into dry clothes. I wrapped her warm and gave her a long cuddle. Then, we waited for Farah on the bench.

Farah was splashing happily in the pool. Occasionally she approached me and confidently showed off her swimming skills or rather her thrashing ability. "Ummi look! look! I can swim!" she was beaming! Good girl..She was thoroughly having a lovely time.

Ailong called and we had to leave. This was the last session before Ramadhan.

Iman and Ihsan had to stay home because the swimming session on every Thursday night is exclusively for Muslim ladies. So, every Thursday, without fail Ihsan would whine, complain and sulk because he could not join me and Farah. Farah added salt to the wound when she deliberately and annoyingly sang "I am going swimming! I am going swimming!" to Ihsan's face. Kids!

Keukenhof Gardens in the Netherlands

2008-08-26T08:54:00.000-07:00

These are some of the old pictures kept in the laptop. It's about time that they are shared with families and friends.

A trip to Kinderjik

2008-08-26T08:43:00.000-07:00

Ralat

2008-08-26T04:30:00.000-07:00

1. Farah made two Ramadhan cards, one for ailong and another for me. But she drew another card last night just for her ummi.

2. The 'air hitam' comment was intentionally done. Saja jer nak test kak amy hehee. Thanks for cendol and the dessert. Yummy!

3. Kamera masih lagi okay and the camping snapshots were brilliant. So, no hope of getting a new state of the art camera...alahai!

first try of designing the slide

2008-08-26T03:55:00.001-07:00

Fatihah when she was a few days old...how time flies

2008-08-24T17:31:00.000-07:00

Forum perdana

2008-08-24T15:56:00.000-07:00

Last saturday, we attended a forum perdana on israk mikraj at keenan house. To me, the speakers were eloquent and their elucidation on the matter discussed were clear, concise and thought provoking. The talk reminded me of the things that I am already aware of and also the things that I do not know. It was good.

The food was excellent as well. Varieties of dishes were prepared and they were simply delicious.

There was also less interference from the children during the talk as they were well entertained by Ustazah Hamidah and her advocates. Though the children were assigned into groups, each child was asked to design a greeting card, as an act of welcoming the holy and blessed month of Ramadhan. Guess how many cards I received? Mind you, the cards (iman's, ihsan's and farah's) were all for me, none was for ailong...kesian! Farah made three, Ihsan created two and Iman's designed one big black card. Ahlan ya Ramadhan!

p.s. My buddy, Nadia and the rest of the clan came to visit. It was good to see them again.

eid mubarak 2007

2008-08-22T15:49:00.000-07:00

Camping

2008-08-17T15:46:00.000-07:00

The much awaited camping trip had finally arrived. The kids were over the moon about it. They had been talking, visualizing, arguing and even dreaming about it. They were so thrilled that they were bugging me with endless and temper provoking questions the minute they woke up on that day. It did not really help improve my patience as I had to pack, clean, cook and made sure that they were all set when ailong arrived from work (he took a half-day off). So, you ladies out there, especially those who experienced a similar predicament, I am sure that you would understand how I felt when you were trying to manage everything and at the same time, being bugged with annoyingly innocent questions...e.g. how are we going to 'mandi' there? Is there a swimming pool there? Is there a toilet? etc..I realized that these were all legitimate questions, but when I needed to accomplish so many things in such a short time, my temper flared easily. It did not help help that three days before the trip I was down with a fever that left me bed confined.

The original plan of going to Lake District was thrown into the drain because of severe weather forecast and strong gales. I was a bit disappointed, but as for the children...nothing could dampen their spirit! Instead of the breathtakingly beautiful Lake District, we had to contend ourselves with Hartlepool. But it was not that bad. In fact, I dare say it wasn't bad at all.

I could tell that the kids enjoyed themselves. Iman made some new friends and so did Ihsan. Farah tended to click with those younger than her (aged around 4 -5)and of course, she became the ring leader. She was their queen bee!

The first day was okay. We were busy (the men actually) setting up the tents while the spouses (kita orang lah tuh) were chatting away with each other. The kids were running about in the field.

I considered the second day relaxing. Why? Because the kids were no where to be seen. I had the whole day to myself and teehah. Ailong, too, was occupied with his mates. The children left the tent and went about their own merry business with their new friends and only during lunch time did I see them, all hungry, tired and dusty. Boy, they were having the time of their life. After lunch, things were still quiet with the children wondering about in the camp area. In the evening, I joined in the orienteering activity, it was fun...except for the part that we lost! Later, that evening we had a BBQ competition. As anticipated, we did not bag any price...no surprise there huh! Nonetheless, we enjoyed eating either the burnt or half-cooked chicken, burger and the slightly odd looking sausages.

The last night was miserable. The strong wind made matter worst. I was worried sick that our tent might be blown away, but alhamdulillah we persevered. Then it began to pour. It rained and rained and rained right through the night and the following day. It was wet, wet and wet. The children were covered in mud, even Teehah. Imagine all the cleaning and scrubbing that I have to do sob... sob... sob...

Buat masa nih gambar-gambar camping tak dapat dimuatturunkan (betulke perkataan nih)sebab kamera masuk air. So, tak sure lagi gambar gambar tuh boleh tengok ke tidak. Tapi, insyaAllah akan diusahakan jugak. I promise! Maybe ada rezeki boleh beli kamera baru...ahaks!

How time flies

2008-08-09T15:41:00.000-07:00

When we first arrived here, Farah was only 14 months old. Iman was five and ihsan was three. Farah could barely walk without clinging to chairs, tables or shelves in our run-down rented house in Leicester. Last 17 July, she celebrated her 6th birthday. This year Iman is ten while Ihsan is eight. How time flies! They grow up so quickly. It's like one minute they are infants, the next they are already that difficult teenagers. And before you know it, they are off to a college or university. Fateehah is now 14 months old. Last year during this time, she was only a tiny baby. Now, she is walking about in the house while trying to communicate with her siblings using her baby language. Googogagaa...well she can say "ummi, abah, tatak (kakak referring to Farah) anah (angah- ihsan) and awong (along -iman), hello, tejuk (sejuk) and dirty".

Sabar je lah

2008-08-07T03:03:00.001-07:00

The kids are fighting again. As usual, they bicker over small things e.g. whose turn was it to play on the computer. Iman always dominates the computer while Ihsan usually lets him does so (unwillingly of course!). But once in a while Ihsan whines to use it, but his requests always fall on deaf ears. The disappointment and dissatisfaction of not being able to use the computer always lead to a fight between the boys. Normally, Ihsan will end up crying while Iman put on his tough look and sit quietly somewhere, mostly at his favourite corner, a small space between the tv rack and the sofa. This special place has also become the bone of contention between them because whoever gets to sit there, has a full view of the tv. Farah tends to stay away from the boys and chooses to watch girly cartoons instead (e.g. bratz or barbie etc). But when the boys are bored with the computer, or told to switch it off they grab the tv remote and change the channel. Farah will immediatley start wailing! Now, everybody is angry at everybody.

They keep their distance, Ihsan will tend to his borrowed hamster and Iman will sit at the corner. Farah will continue whining until she gets hold of the remote again. Nobody is talking to anybody except for Farah who is still crying.They are driving me mad! But sure enough, after five minutes of dead silence, iman and ihsan are best pals again. Fateehah cool ajer. Her siblings constant bickering does not seem to have affected her at all. The world is her playground...

Nessie hunting

2008-08-05T14:18:00.000-07:00

Last year we went nessie hunting. Armed with a digital camera and picnic-packed lunch, we headed towards Inverness looking for the Loch Ness monster. The view along the way was magnificent, but the road was too windy and narrow for my liking considering the state I was in, I was heavily pregnant with Fateehah (32 weeks to be precise).

Anyway these are some of the pictures of the hunters while taking a break from the hunt.

This is the head hunter!

Mai and Tok

2008-08-05T13:40:00.000-07:00

It has been quite some time since the kids talked to mai and tok. Ailong has been pestering me to call them. I know I should have called them more often. It is just that I get tongue-tied when I talk to my mum-law. But I am aware that I need to make the effort. As they say, what goes around come around... I do not wish my children to bear a similar attitude towards me in future. Mental note: must call mum tomorrow.

The children love their mai and tok very much. It is no surprise because they tend to spoil them rotten and the kids could even get away with murder. Though I sometime disagree with their actions, I am happy that they love the kids. I can see that the kids too, enjoy the attention and care from their mai and tok to bits. And most of the time, they tend to take their grandparents for granted. Well, I guess that is what grandparents are for!

Take a lesson

2008-08-05T03:01:00.000-07:00

The kids are bored beyond help. With one car broken down, Ailong has to use the other to get to wok. So, the children are confined at home. After almost three weeks of summer holiday, PS2 and the computer games do not appeal to them (especially iman and ihsan) anymore. Instead, they channel all their energy to themselves and start bickering and fighting with each other. One minute they are best buddies, the next they are mortal enemies. However, when they get into a fight,they can simply patch things up and be friends again.

Somehow, their 'lets be friends again' attitude amazes me. There is a lesson to be learned here. Children can be friends and foes within minutes. What about us? Adults? Can we act the same? Can we simply forgive and forget?

Summer

2008-08-03T15:57:00.000-07:00

Summer updates:

The kids are enjoying their summer break. We enjoyed the must have summer BBQ at Hamsterly Forest. It was a great success. The kids enjoyed themselves and so did we. Ailong was busy showing off (hehehe) roasting and barbecuing those scrumptious feast. Ihsan busied himself playing in the shallow cold stream while iman occasionally was missing in action when he went down stream to catch fish with some buddies of his. Farah was also whining to jump into the creek but she was scared of falling onto the sharp edged rocks. Ihsan had some nasty bruises when he fell on some. Fatihah, too was enjoying the summer sun. She giddily walked everywhere and sat herself among the overgrown grass and bushes nearby the creek. She was lost in her own little world. I could tell she was happy.

Hartlepool beach

2007-11-23T03:07:00.000-08:00

These are some of the photos at Hartlepool beach. We rarely go to beach here for numerous reasons, one thing the water is forever cold (even during the summer), the black sand (which fails miserablely in comparison to our white flour-like sand in Malaysia) and the people, some of them find staring at other people (especially us women yg pakai hijab) polite and acceptable.

Mula2 ihsan je yang nak mandi and main air, iman was reluctant. Farah pun excited macam Ihsan. Tapi bila lama2 Iman tengok his brother and sister were having fun, he could not resist the temptation anymore, so apa lagi, join inlah... Mind you, the water was freezing!!! Fatihah lepak jer dengan ailong.

Well, atuk and mai and uncles and aunties, enjoy the pics!

worrying wednesday

2007-11-22T02:13:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday morning, with a few friends, I went to see Mrs Lyon again. It was settled. Our children are excluded from the christmas performance. Then it was decided that some of us would have to help out at the school. So, three times a week I have to supervise the children with with their project for creative curriculum subject. I had to teach them about India. Quite a difficult task to execute as I have left teaching for almost five years.

Yesterday, Ihsan told me that somebody kicked him on the way to school. The boy was in iman's class, while another boy, a year six student just watched and laughed. The one who kicked Ihsan is notoriously known in school. The other boy hit Iman with his lunch box. The other Malaysian children who were walking with iman and ihsan did nothing. I am really worried about this. This is serious bullying. Mrs Lyon was immediately informed and she promised to investiagte the matter. Ailong was also concerned and suggested that maybe Ihsan and Iman be pulled out from the school. Too drastic a measure, I should think. As a preventive step, on Thursday and Friday I walked them to school. The two boys were no where to be seen.

Anothet two fish died today. This time they were Farah's. She was quite upset this time. Baby is attacking the other fish, if this goes on, there'll be no more fish left.

troubling tuesday

2007-11-21T01:39:00.000-08:00

Today a lot happened. In the morning, I received a call from Ihsan's headteacher, Mrs Lyon regarding his or rather our decison, not to join the Christmas performance. I was asked to see her at 3 p.m. I consulted a good friend of mine, ust midah, because her daugther also attends the same school. We decided to meet Mrs Lyon together.

At 3, we met her and she seemed concerned with my decision of not allowing ihsan to participate. I got the impression that she wanted ihsan to join in, citing the excuse that other Muslim children are doing it. You see, the main problem was the discrepancy between us muslims, some parents allow their children to take part in such religious performances (e.g Christmas, Easter celewbration) while others like us, do not. The meeting did not manage resovle anything as it she had other important matters to attend to. We would have to see her again on Wednesday. *sigh*

On the way back from the meeting, the three of us (me, ustazah midah and hubby) decided to call for a meeting for parents whose children are involved in the Christmas presentation. Tonite, most parents came and have unanimously agreed that their children cannot take part in religiously inclined activities.

On a different note, Iman developed rashes all over his body and he can't stop scratching himself throughout the night. Farah pulak, for the past two nights, has been coughing while sleeping and as a result, ermmm you guess it, muntah lah...Yuk slimey and yellowish substance..... Kesian princess ummi. The smallest member of the family, Fatihah has started coughing with a worrying deep crackling sound. Ihsan, so far, alhamdulillah... It's the weather. It's making everybody sick. Even kakngah...she is downwith a cold and sore throat.

Bad news. Another two fish died today. They were iman's. But he was too distrcated by his itching rashes to pay much attention to his dead fish. I'll have to fish them out and flushed them down the toilet. Yes, again....We found out who the culprit was, the one that has been attacking the fish in the tank. It was baby (Fatihah's fish). She has been aggressively attacking the other fish and something needs to be done. I might take her out of the tank. But where to put her? Flushed her down the toilet...ermm tempting! Tapi sian Fatihah kan, the fish is hers!

Another troubling news. I received the much awaited nerve wrecking mind boggling sleep depriving temper flaring email from Diane. Die lah.... nervous giler. InsyaAllah everything will be okay. Please dua for me...

mundane monday

2007-11-20T01:54:00.000-08:00

Nothing much happened today. Iman was off school because he was still feeling poorly. Farah and Ihsan went to school as usual. Ihsan was a bit concerned about his Christmas performance. He wanted to be a part of it and yet at the same time, he knew it was religiously innapropriate for him to join. After careful consideration and some private talk with me, he decided to tell Mrs Clarke that he will not be joining the performance. Good boy!

On Wednesday, Farah will attend her Autumn dance festival in Spennymoor and she's extremely excited about it. She is involved in her class performance and she plays the part of a leaf, dropping from its branch. Last night, she showed Ailong and I her dance movement. It was soooo cute.

I learned how to make karipap pusing today and Ailong was quite pleased because after 11 years of marriage, this was my second attempt. The first was a complete failure. Well, better late than never right! This time around, the expert (kzu) came to the house and skillfully demonstrated the fine art of making it. My attempt was commendable.

Winter is here. The days are shorter and the nights are longer. The days are gloomy, wet and cold. The weather is really depressing.

weekend blues

2007-11-18T13:46:00.000-08:00

Last Friday we picked up Farah from Anna's house. She was ecstatic and couldn't stop talking about her tea party. She told us that she fed Anna's horses and cat and had a lovely time there.

Another fish died on Friday. This time it was Farah's. But suprisingly, she was not really upset. Maybe because she was still excited about her tea party. She talked so casually about her dead fish called Melanie (all her five fish share the same name) with her friend who came to visit. I expected her to start wailing the minute she found out about her fish, instead she asked for a cat. The next day, kakngah helped her to take the fish out from the tank. Then Farah flused it down the toilet.

Last saturday nothing much happened. Ailong and I went to Sunderland to buy some pyrex. The kids stayed home and played games. They looked extremely bored. Iman complained that he was not feeling well. He has a fever. So, that night he slept with us. Fatihah was also getting worse. She has been coughing throughout the day.

Sunday was another bleak day. We didn't go anywhere and did some winter cleaning. It was really tiring. Iman was still sick. Some friends came over for tea.

Tonite, I guess it's Farah's turn to be sick. Dia muntah habis duvet and selimut. She was coughing throughout the night. Kesian princess babah. Alhamdulillah Fatihah looked settled tonite and iman did not seem to have a temperature anymore.

lagi pasal baju

2007-11-16T00:59:00.000-08:00

Earlier, I mentioned that iman and ihsan have to wear customes that depict a character from a book. Ihsan could not find his dark vader cape, mask and sword, so I cajoled him in putting on baju melayu and kain sampin as jeng jeng jeng...Hang Tuah. He looked confused and asked, "but why?', people will laugh at me". Then I explained Hang Tuah was a legend and infamous Malay warrior and to save me from giving a lengthy explanation, I just said, "well, hang tuah is like Robin Hood.". He nooded his head and looked please. Well, that settled it then.

Hmmm iman is another headache. First he said he didn't want to wear anything but when he saw Ihsan wearing his custome, he changed his mind. So, I went searching for his dracula cape. It was hidden in their closet. I handed it to him and .....he accidentally ripped it. I was really really annoyed. I had to sew that plastic cape in my attempt to salvage it. Then he put on black trouser and top, and you could tell from the look on his face that he was really pleased with his custome.

Farah, on the other hand, was an angel. She woke up, washed herself and straight away put on her pink pyjama, then ate her breakfast. It was one of those mornings when she did not make any fuss or throw tantrums. Fatihah was still sleeping and oblivious to her surrounding.

Buaian oh buaian

2007-11-15T14:27:00.000-08:00

Teehah was a bit crancky today. Well, she has been restless for a couple of days now. She refuses to go to sleep during the day and we (me and kakngah) have to dukung her all the time. I guess she is feeling a bit under the wheather, she has blocked nose which makes it difficult for her to feed. Tonite, her sleep is also unsettled because of her constant dry cough. I hope she gets better tomorrow.

I told ailong to buy a buaian for her but then how and where can we find such a thing. I have noticed a few so called buaians at carboot sales, but most looked dirty, used and unkempt for. Some were quite okay but they were too expensive for second hand items. No value for money.

Masa masa macam nilah got me thinking kan best kalau duduk kat Malaysia. You can get any types of buaian that suit your preference. Paling paling kurang pun, pakai kain pelikat aje. But the most important thing is the tempat nak sangkutkan kain tuh, you know, the besi tu lah. I don't think they are available here. But I could be wrong you know, maybe they are sold somewhere...who knows. Ermmm rumah mai ada buaian ke? Yes?

non-uniform day at school

2007-11-15T11:57:00.000-08:00

For the past few days Farah, ihsan and iman had been telling me that this Friday (12.11) is their non-uniform day. Farah will have to wear a pyjama to school, while iman and ihsan have to depict a character from a book. Ihsan wanted to wear his dark vader suit while iman ermmm he has not decided on what to wear. Farah has been very clear which pyjama she wanted to wear and had chosen her favourite pink pyjama. The two boys, always take things for granted, only tonight have started looking for their costumes. I am quite annoyed with their attitude. Dah pukul 8 malam, iman and ihsan masih lagi tak jumpa baju apa yang nak pakai. Esok pagi mulalah kelam kabut.

Tomorrow evening Farah has been invited for tea at her friend's house, Anna who is a good friend of hers. Her mother has been kind enough to send an invitation card and she even volunteers to pick Farah from school and send her home after the tea party. Farah, apalagi so excited lah. She can't stop talking about it. Anna seems like a nice girl. I reminded Farah not to eat any meat, sosej, burger etc and I even told Racher (Anna's mum) that Farah is a vegetarian. To our luck, Anna's family also does not consume meat as they are strict vegetarian. However, they have a dog at home and I have explained to them that Farah is scared of dogs to make thing simple. Rachel promised to lock her dog in the garden. I hope everything goes well for Farah. I am still worried though.

tulip

2007-11-15T08:33:00.000-08:00

Ni salah satu gambar kat tulip garden in Amsterdam. Cantik kan? Actually I was trying to upload images onto my blog, so ni kira practice lah ni. Not bad...not bad at all for a novice blogger like me. But the picture was supposed to be at the center, somehow it didn't turn up the way I wanted it to be. Never mind, practice makes perfect.

pet fish

2007-11-15T07:29:00.000-08:00

The kids have been asking for a pet fish for quite some time now. Ailong tak tahan dengar hari hari mintak pet fish, so last weekend we bought them 11 small tropical fishes. Punyalah seronok. Fish tank dah dapat, ailong ambik from freecycle. When the tank was washed and cleand, we put all the fish in plus the gravel and some ketam batu inside it . Boy, they were thrilled to bits. Farah jadi cnn sekajap, she went round the neighbourhood telling everybody about her fish. So, almost everyday ada lah visitors (their friends) yang datang nak tengok fish. But yesterday, one fish died, semua sedih and their friends pun datang nak bagi last respect to the dead fish. Farah was not really upset because the dead fish was not hers, it was kakngah's. You see, masa beli ikan tu, everybody had to choose one fish. Farah took 5 gold fish, ihsan had two stripey fish and iman took two black fathoms. Kakngah chose the smallest fish and I bought a Gaurami (not sure abt its name though) for fatihah. Everybody was pleased except for ailong because it cost him 22 quid.

I took the dead fish from the tank and flushed it down the toilet. Kejam? No....

First try is the most difficult

2007-11-15T07:13:00.000-08:00

This is my first attempt to post a blog entry.The idea of setting up a blog was instigated by the desire to describe the daily events in my children's life to their grandparents in kampung and also because of my son.. My eldest, iman was fascinated and thrilled with the idea of having his own eversince he saw his friend's blog. He has been pestering me to teach him to create a blog page. Well, I got me thinking. I don't have any knowledge whatsoever to create a blog since I don't fancy blogging. I do enjoy, however, reading other people's blog like a good friend of my, D. I promised him that today after school, I will teach him. So help me God.