Ramblings of a Mami of Two

Hello Hakimi.  Happy 15th Birthday. 

So it's 2020, the year most, if not all, 90's kids were made to sing about every week at the school assemblies.  Actually, when the fourth prime minister, the one who envisioned Wawasan 2020 in the first place, came into power and became the seventh prime minister, he realised that Wawasan 2020 was never going to take place and pushed the goalpost to 2030, this time calling in Wawasan Kemakmuran Bersama 2030. You know because the country was so divided that we have to make a point to makmur bersama sama. We had high hopes because we had just toppled a kleptocratic government. Things started looking up, although some of the new ministers fumbled, we were hopeful.  Now we're three months in, the envisioned 2020 is far from reality, and I am not even sure if the adjusted goalpost would become a reality either. Last month, in a historic coup, the seventh prime minister stepped down and the government that was supposed to take Malaysia to new horizons fell down. A new bac...

...since the last goodbye. I am not sure if I have made you proud. I am not sure if I have helped you much since you've passed. I am not even sure if I have taken care of my mother as good as I should.  I am not sure if I have led my life as you want it for me.  I am not even sure if I have moved on from being that daddy's little girl. I am not sure if I think of you as often as I should.   I have two kids now. If you were around, I am quite sure you will not heran much for my two boys. You'd love them, I know, but you know, I don't think you'd take them out for rides every evening. They are your 13th and 16th, after all. I don't mind, seriously. Bah, 16 years is a long, long time, Bah. Every 1st Syawal, on the first takbir, I would cry because I miss you. Every Syawal since you left.  I am now a grown woman, Bah. No longer the girl that you used to pick up from school, the one you send to extra classes at night. No longer the girl that you vi...

He left me 14 years ago. I still remember a year before that, I was in UM doing Asasi Program and Abah had just bought me my first handphone. Not quite knowing how to treat a handphone, I switched it off every night because why would you need the phone at night? Who is going to call you in the middle of the night? Obviously, I was wrong. At 7.00 am one day, I received many many texts from my family, one of them from my brother, saying, “ Ajan pergi mana? Kenapa tutup handphone? Abah masuk Hospital Selayang pagi tadi, pagi nanti banglang ambik Ajan .” My heart dropped. The simplicity of that text, the deductions I could make with that one text. I was such a daddy’s girl. I cried for days when he lost half his weight to thyroid. He wasn’t admitted or anything but I cried fearing the worst. On our way to the hospital, Banglang filled me in in a way that didn’t illustrate the gravity of the situation. I only found out how bad it was when Kakgah told me how Abah was d...

Before you read on, I will have to say the tips are based on my recent trip; I was travelling with a 2-year old and a 6-year old, with a two-day ticket to HKDL. Day to Visit Try to schedule your visit during the weekdays. We entered the park on a Friday and Saturday – on Friday, the park was kind of empty during rope-drop time (i.e. opening time), there was no queuing time for the first three rides that we rode on. The crowd built up after lunch time. On Saturday the crowd was significantly larger and most rides had at least 15 minutes waiting time. Avoid special dates like Christmas, New Year, Halloween (we went on Halloween, of course there were special attractions built just for the event, but the waiting time was too long, one went for as long as 2 hours, that we decided to skip them. Not worth tugging two children along for two hours).   Accommodation & Ticket If you’re traveling with children, I would definitely recommend staying at one of the two...

...you need something to help you to remember.  Which is why I love my photobooks.  I have many books on many topics. Yearly highlights, honeymoon, pregnancies, kids’ first years and birthdays. You see, when you get older (ehem), it gets harder for you to recall a specific moment. Pictures help trigger those memories, but not only that, they can also bring you back to that particular moment. Almost like teleporting.  Obviously, I have no scientific data to proof this so you’re just gonna have to trust me on this. =D When I flip through our honeymoon book, they remind me of, you know,  things . *giggles* New experience everyday.  When I flip through my first pregnancy book, I see myself in the white room I was in, feeling conscious of my bulging belly, unsure of how to pose in front of the photographer, the kinda fake smiles I did (because honestly I am the least photogenic person I've ever known). I also remember how fascinated I was with a curt...

Not that I'm complaining, I'm enjoying my freedom of maid-related problems.  For the first 28 years of my life I have NEVER lived without the convenience of a domestic help, except, well, few months gap here and there.  So when in 2011, the aChieaJanie family moved to a little place we call our own, I was, needless to say, VERY overwhelmed by the amount house chores, from being maidless had presented me. Pressure oi. The fact that my husband is a neat freak quadrupled my stress level.  But thank God he's not the lazy neat-freak. When there were just three of us the chores was manageable, each had his own task to do, Ach with the laundry, me with cooking and general cleaning, Kimi with keeping the house mess-free. At that time, the house was neat, well, most of the time.  Fast forward 2 years later when Hadi came into our lives (he's such a great joy!), I was having a hard time coping up with the house chores. Between changing diapers, work, dinne...

One fine morning, on the 1st of April, many years back, in Abah's bedroom: "Abah, Happy Birthday! Nah present." I said while handing over an envelope to Abah.  The envelope contained a piece of a badly-drawn map. It's the layout of our house with arrows leading to the location where I hid his present.  Rahsia konon-kononnya. Abah smiled and followed the map, which took him in circles, in and out of bedrooms, only to find another map. I, who'd been tailing behind him all the time, giggled and said, "Okay okay janji kali ni betul-betul ada." The second map took him back to his bedroom. Teehehehehe. I hid his present somewhere in his wardrobe, rasanyalah, can't remember the exact location because this took place many-many years ago.  Alah. Chocolate bar aje pun. I can't remember what he said when he finally found his present or if he even ate the chocolate because as far as I remember, dia tak suka manis-manis.  Oh well. ...

We made this for Idris' Clan 2010 Annual Raya Gath. I found this file while going through my files and thought I'd share it here for the Idris Clan. p/s: If any of you Idris Clan aren't comfortable with this being uploaded here, do let me know I'll take it down ASAP. 

In my last entry I told you that I like personalised stuff, stuff that tells stories. Charm bracelets do exactly that. They tell stories that only the owners can tell.  Earlier last year I stumbled upon Pandora & Thomas Sabo, and I fell in love with both ever since. I imagine each charm to represent something special in my life. They will look like ordinary charms to you but to me, they are more than just charms. They are stories. The reason I did not get them was because they are too expensive. Tooo expensive for a cheapskate like me. Fortunately, dear husband tau perangai aku and gave me one for my 29th birthday. I was happy. He gave me the "starter kit"; the bracelet, 2 spacers and 1 charm. Dia kata, the rest isi sendiri.  Baiklah! Sebelum cari my charms, I must first set the criteria: Since ada 3 column (2 spacers), my charms must fall in either one of these three categories: family, for family stories. One for each family member, signi...

I have always been a very sentimental person. I don't show my emotions on a daily basis but seriously, I am sentimental, to the point that it gets mental sometimes.  I adore scrapbooks - I keep things that may seem meaningless to others but tells  a thousand stories for me - I keep movie stubs for most of the movies I'd watched with Ach in RPI, I still have a piece of a Fall leaf from Prospect Park, when Ach and I did nothing but baring-baring on the grass, back in Fall 2004. I still have that piece of  receipt on which  Ach wrote "New York Spring 2003".  I am a sucker for personalised, handmade cards and craft projects - they show how much you care about someone, well enough to spend some time designing the cards. Bila ada celebrations coming up, I would be busy thinking what kind of card am I going to make. Beaded? Quilled? Felt? What design? What is the celebration? What does he like? What do I want to tell in the cards? I'll incorporate all of th...

In my last entry, I wrote about how my raya is defined by three days - the day before 1st Raya, 1st Raya, and 2nd Raya. Day before Raya because of the cooking, 1st Raya because of the emotional salam session and 2nd raya because of the Annual Idris Clan Gathering.  Selit sikit with the compulsory tidur petang on the first Raya.  So when I celebrated my first Raya away from Mak, it kinda, redefined the meaning of Raya to me. Everything that I had experienced about raya all these while was totally different that what I experienced on the Raya of 2008. Which, I still remember second by second until today. Not that it's a bad thing though. You see, my MIL is a super efficient lady who can get all the raya cooking done on the morning of 1st Raya itself. The first time, I remember I kept asking my husband, "Bila mak awak nak start masak rendang ni?" And I was very surprised when he said, "Esok pagi kot". True enough, when I woke up on 1st Raya ( whic...

Raya is only two days away, and I can't wait to go home and eat mak's raya food. It's Gombak's turn this year, babeh! Somehow, at 29 years old,  as much as I want to be excited about raya, even the hippiest raya song of all fails to get me hyped up about raya. As hyped up as I used to be kecik kecik dulu. Haih, age does wonders you know. Anyhoo, I still love raya. The food, the family gaths, the salam-salam peluk-peluk (probably the only time in the year when I would peluk-peluk my siblings). Based on my conversations with colleagues and friends, raya in KL is unlike raya in kampungs. Ours is... short. But meriah nevertheless. Here is my raya routine for 24 years (tolak 3 raya in the States and 3 yrs raya in Johor): A day before raya: Masak rendang Masak kuah kacang Masak nasi impit Kemas rumah, tukar all stuff that can be tukare-d Malam raya When abah was still around, I would help mak prepare tapai for that night's takbir guests. Where I live...

Alhamdulillah, all of my siblings gathered to bukak puasa at Mak's place today. Mak cooked my favorite gulai, I think the amount of rice I had today is more than what I have taken for the whole week. Everyone was here, except for my eldest nephew who's in Penang now, and Bancik who had to leave early because he wasn't feeling well. After a hugeee buka puasa, all of us did our Maghrib together with Abangah as imam, and everything was fine... Until we started Isyak. It was 2nd rakaat. Abangah sedang baca Al-Fatihah when suddenly we heard the voice of a second imam, reciting Fatihah at the top of his lungs. I smiled. Then a few seconds later the Imam went silent, and I heard a loud laughter dekat saf depan. Rupa-rupanya my youngest brother tak tahan geli hati and burst out laughing dengar suara second imam. Who happened to be, of course, si bertuah Hakimi. Habis semayang orang. Then okaylah lepas semua orang dah chill, we started our prayers again. Hakimi...

Without mak. Why does it matter?  Because I will be the one responsible to siapkan sahur for the family.  Yes, at 29, when others my own age are already waking up at 530 daily to prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner for the whole family, waking up at 5 am for 30 days in a year, is really, really a big deal for me.  Spoilt? Yes. Lazy? Yes. Well. Lately. Yes, I have been very very lazy lately. So for all the years that I have lived, I have never been the one to wake up early and prepare sahur for everyone. Okay prolly a few times, when Abah was in the hospital and mak wasn't home, but seriously, can't recall when was the last time I took that responsibility. Usually aku bangun je the maid and mak dah prepare sahur aku tinggal makan je. When I was in RPI  i would either have early sahur or skip sahur altogether, which was bearable sebab it was winter.  Oh my goodness writing this down is seriously painful.  Now that we are living in...

Yes, the title says it all. Nak tumpang glamor awan nano nano because my little brother appeared in the offcial MV yo! The only reason I even knew of the song is because of my brother whom immediately after the MV was released, gathered us all in front of his PC and proudly showed us the MV.  And mak memang proud habis. Padahal jadi budak jahat pegang kucing je pun.  Oh yeah lupa. My brothaahh is one of the three budak jahat, the one holding the cat, to be specific.  Ach also made an appearance in the last picture. In the form of a black t-shirt.  Anywayyys, okay I have to admit that Awan Nano is a nice song and I was rooting for it to win, eventhough I was secretly hoping that Abang Pejal would win. Just because he is Abang Pejal. But I was happy that Hafiz and M Nasir won, because i think they deserve it.

When I came across this article in New Sunday Times (1 January 2012), my first thought was, oh no wonder la I love reading the news as much as I love reading the sports section ( read: not interested at all )!  As far as I can recall, my parents seldom ( almost never ) asked for my opinion / how I felt / thought about things. It was like, I was a minion whose opinions do not matter. Alright, I am of course exaggerating but that is exactly how I'm feeling now.  Richard Addis  wrote in the article that discussing current events with your kids improve their reading ability significantly and make them smarter. Quoting Addis: Reading ability at 15 is a major predictor of success, happiness and wealth and one of the few controllable ways in which it is known that we can counterbalance those two great impostors in the lottery of life: wealth and genes.   In other words, if you keep them up to date, stimulate critical thinking by constantly discussing ( debating? ) t...

Welcome 2012! Time for new resolutions. Personal: Must, MUST, lose the 3 kgs ( ntah2 dah 5kg dah by now ) that I gained troughout last year.To do that, I MUST eat start eating healthily I must, must, must increase my monthly savings from almost nonexistent to xx. Must be a better Muslim by not missing my prayers and praying on time, to always think the best of other people i.e. reduce mindless gossiping.      Career: I must not procrastinate. I must be a good colleague (pun tak mau explain) I have a few that i dont feel like blogging on. Family: This one I must get back to you sebab this one kena jointly develop dengan ach. Ach: Must be a good wife to Ach. (too broad tapi takpelah, I dont have to explain) I must make my family eat healthily (which is why I WANT a countertop george foreman grill), less oil, less white carb, less fat, more fibers, etc.  Kimi: Kimi must be able to recognize all alphabets by ...

Yes. He's still my baby.  It's only the third year, but I'm already  running out of things to write! Macam mana ni? Alright, let's start with what he can do at 3 years old: He can ride his balance bike  on his own. Totally balanced. Siap boleh angkat both legs off the ground and not fall. Huiyo. I could only ride the bike without supporting wheels when I was 10. Yep, I wasnt born to be an athlete. Is seriously talkative. He can talk like an adult, that's why it is really fun talking to him. And the stuff he says nowadays are totally random. " Kimi baik, Kimi bukan girl! " Eh? Who has been feeding funny ideas to you baby? Or try this: Ayah: " Kimi, kakak sofiana buat apa? " Kimi: " Sapu sampah" . Ayah: " Mommy? " Kimi: " Mommy tido! ". Argh!!! He can pronounce L clearly but fails at S, F, H ("eh"), C ("ci"), K ("tay"). Eats like an Italian. Spaghetti aglio olio. Blegh. N...