New venture

Some weeks ago we planted some trees around the garden. Isn’t it just about time? The garden has been bare before and it could be so hot under the strong afternoon sun.

We feel we need to increase shades around the house. And additional greens too apart from the grass. What better ways than to plant tall trees. So we called some planters to plant a few trees.

I was thrilled when the job was completed but the next day I found lots of dried leaves on the ground. Well, there’re really lots to sweep and clean. Is this going to be additional work for me?

I was concerned though about the survival of the trees and thus begin to water the plants diligently twice a day.

Apparently they are not additional burden for me. The trees are not shedding leaves anymore. I have noted with sheer joy and deep satisfaction that those trees are growing well and have already produced new young leaves, shoots and some have formed small flowers. I have watched the trees development every single day so I do notice every single change.

With the exception of two trees which somehow failed to thrive due to some mistakes during the early days (I think because of the soil does not absorb the water) where the leaves have all turned brown. I have watched with concern on these two trees. I watered them everyday hoping they will flourish back to life again. Obviously I need help with these, maybe professional help.

This planting trees venture has somehow have positive and therapeutic effect on me. It delighted me to see these trees thriving well. No wonder some people are so into gardening and planting. I just couldn’t wait for them to grow bigger and bigger and could imagine seeing the leaves swayed to the movement of the wind.

After this success, I just feel good enough to want to plant more. Somehow the ridiculously high cost of buying trees to plant has somewhat lost its petrifying power to me as the outcome is just indescribably worth it. It thrilled me to see them.

The kids also love the trees. When we first planted the trees, I asked Fatini what does a plant need to grow. Fatini’s answer was so correct, “ Water, Sun and Lots of Love , mommy”.

Now it becomes everyday routine to water the plants and the kids help spraying the water around wetting everything including the porch and my car, and themselves….and sometimes me to my agitation!

Some thing that just define Malaysians

There were some less busy roads off Jalan Bkt Bintang which I took every single morning. I never had any problems. This morning was another story. I had a near miss. A what could have been a terrible incident that will mar my life to a certain extent if not for a life time. It was at a cross road. The bike didn’t stop at the stop sign. Luckily I was not that fast neither I was too slow driving. As I jammed by brake pedal hard in a sudden reflex action and the car stopped and I could feel the tyres dragged, and hoped against hopes that I could stop in time. By the time the car halted, I was just missing the bike maybe an inch that I could see the terror in the man’s face. He was right in front, so close, his eyes closed tight and face grimaced in such a way expecting some disaster to happen to him maybe death. And me, I didn’t even think whether there’s a car behind who will bumped into my car due to the sudden stop. Luckily the road was not busy and the car behind was too far and managed to stop.

The incredible thing was the biker started again, raised his hand to me as a sorry or thank sign and moved on. I could feel the relieve coming from him, maybe grateful for his life. As for me, I was so relieved too but stayed stunned there a minute unable to move, feeling white from the near miss and the what could have beens.

I could have hit the guy. He could have been hurt or died. Or I could have been hit from behind and get hurt myself. I really don’t want to be involved in any of those and have never had that kind of mishaps (God forbids) through out my driving experience.

Which reminds me of an accident happened to my sister when her daughter was only 5 months old and was in the car front seat. Her car was just a car passing through on the way for dinner with family and got hit by a car which was spinning out of control due to a drunk driver. The driver and the passenger in the car died, and this tells the extent of the accident. My sister at the time who was also 3 months pregnant was hospitalized and I cried for days for my niece who had head injuries and broken bones and had to go through multiple operations at one private hospital and we thanked God that she finally recovered. She was only 5 months old and now is a healthy 4+ year old.

Malaysian people are nice, polite to neighbours as well as friends. However I guess Malaysians are impatience and somehow when they want to go anywhere, they fail to plan the journey but they want to get there first. They feel good if they could outsmart other drivers and save a minute here and a minute there. They buy expensive cars but hate staying in the cars too long therefore will jump queue and if possible other drivers should stay away from their lanes because they hate to slow down.

It takes only two impatience drivers to do the same mistakes at the same time at the same place for an accident to occur. The probably of it happening is quite high, I would say.

Cowboy and cowgirl

On Saturday we went to the fantastic cowboy / stampede day. It coincided with the kids' routine saturday morning class but since the venue was quite close to where the class was, I did my magic by driving back and forth transferring each child to and fro. We arrived so early at the venue, the registration desk was just opening, however we won one the early bird prizes! I was ecstatically happy since I hardly ever get such luck of winning any prize easily from anywhere. Anyway , both kids enjoyed the event tremendously with so much activities to do. It was so much fun even though the weather was quite humid.

What! No water?

Yesterday, feeling exhausted I just wanted to reach home, cook dinner and just resting my body in front of the TV. But just when you needed the rest, the least expected happened. At home there was not a drop of water coming from the taps. I checked and checked the main tap with no positive result. I called the neighbour who said her water tank was giving her the night supply. I don’t know what happened to our water tank, but the maid came in this afternoon and may have used up all the water. Resigned with the fact and without any other choices, I used mineral water to cook rice and fried some chickens for the kids. Meanwhile I had let my husband knew about my sticky situation.

Once he arrived he suggested that we get ourselves overnight at the hotel. At first I was reluctant justifying that we could use the bottled water for minor wash etc. Anyway I just hated to waste money over an overnight stay at the hotel just because we didn’t have water supply. But when the kids started “ I want to poo poo, I want to pee pee” thing, that did it! I couldn’t imagine and couldn’t stand unflushed toilets. Telling the kids to hold on, we packed our bags and transferred ourselves to Hilton at PJ.

Fatini and Emir were happy to go out at night to the Federal Highway they forgot about wanting to go to the toilets just when an hour before they acted like it was so emergency.

The night was decorated with bright colourful lights coming from the streets, shops and the cars. I felt it was a nice view, maybe I haven’t been night outing for some time. The kids were so excited and treated last night as if we were on holiday. We checked ourselves in and got a nice room overlooking the highway. The kids were jumping around and finally once rested had their toilet routines. The bed and the temperature in the room were comfortable and after dinner the children fell asleep to my relief. I made myself a cup of tea, started on my novel again and finally dozed off to the slumber I had yearned.

Nothing interesting

I still have the hoarsy voice today even though it's much better now. But I feel so sleepy possibly due to the prescribed drug I took. Last Friday had been a pain to talk and the kids were not letting me go easy bombarding me with endless questions which needed to be answered. Instead of torturing myself to talk I reverted to whispers but that sounded so funny. The funnier think was that Emir started to whisper too when talking balk to me and I really don't like that to become his habit. We ended up seeing the doctor in the neighbourhood that evening.

Lately Fatini had quite a regular nose bleeds, it happened almost everyday and this began to worry me. I don't know what's wrong and the amount of blood sometimes scared me. I had a strange feeling that it might be the Ribena she had religiously consumed everyday. So I put a stop to it for the time being using the elimination and observe tactic. She's quite obedient regarding all these health issues and had changed her drink to milo now. Since I stopped her on Ribena on Friday, the nose had not bled. Maybe it's too heaty for her but I'll keep an eye on her anyway. I had her drink more plain water as well, as I said to her, it's the doctor's order. She complied quite easily. She had eye irritation as well which the doctor said was conjunctivis however her eyes recovered quite fast having applied the prescribed eye drops.

Since I was not feeling well what with the medication and all, I felt sleepy throughout weekend and stayed in and slept through the days or otherwise got myself immersed in a novel. Emir wanted so much to go to the shopping malls for lunch and kept saying " I'm so hungry..." thing but he was not! For info I have started reading a novel again after so long and surprisingly had been able to do so without disturbance from the kids. It had been a long time since I put my hands on novels. I used to love to read so much.

Last night my friend living not far away texted me, saying her toddler son was drown in the pool however he managed to be saved and was recovering at the hospital. Thank god for that. My heart skipped a beat at first, however was relieved when she told me God has given her a second chance. Her youngest and only son has recovered. I don't know the details but she promised to tell me as soon as everything settles. I couldn't imagine the scare that she must have gone through. I pray to God we'll never have to go through such horrendous trial. My friend's house has a small swimming pool where her other older children swim regularly. Only last week she asked me whether my children like to attend the swimming lessons at her home as she had called a swimming instructor to train her children. I had to decline as the kids spend the whole week at day care.

I have always been worried about children in or anywhere near water unsupervised. Even now I don't leave my children alone in the bath tub. I know lots of people take this easy but there have been lots in the news where toddler got drown in as much as an inch of water.

We went to the swimming pool on late Sunday afternoon and for the first time Emir had gathered his courage and went down the water slides. He had been very scared to do it by himself before. Seems he is growing up fast before my very eyes.

This morning on the way to school/work Fatini and I witnessed a small accident on our right lane but big enough to cause a very loud thump with broken lights and dented bumpers. A car had hit another car in front which had tried to slot in through the small space in between and the young lady driver behind was not giving him any chance. Anyway when accident like this happen everybody is at inconvenience. For sure it caused a traffice jam, money and certainly they'll be late to work. Moral of the story is no matter how a jerk you see another driver, just give in to avoid accidents. That's called defensive driving. Secondly I would try to stay away from young drivers, they haven't gotten enough experience to have a sound judgement and predictive instinct. And stay away from trucks and trailers!

What a weekend!

Babbling time

This morning I woke up to the ringing of the alarm clock, really wanted to continue sleeping but knowing better than that. I somehow lost my voice today since having a slight cough yesterday. It is really no fun talking today and when I do not have the wish to talk, somehow, there’s lot of things crop up, discussions etc and I just had to talk with this hoarse voice sounding very foolish indeed. However every now and then, it sounded like a romantic sexy voice though or I’m just trying to kid myself or dreaming perhaps in order to feel better about it.

This week it was a shopping season in KL and working in KL in a place that is within walking distance to the big shopping center, what else I could do but shopped. Truthfully said I found it to be a wonderful, wonderful experience to do this, it’s quite therapeutic in nature to be able to possess something new by just exchanging it with signatures on the credit card slips. It soothes my soul and makes myself feel good looking at the inventory of materials bought and it did not take a huge effort to just ignore the damages.

I can be compulsive to the extent of bankrupting myself but once I have done it to the extreme I will stop doing it for ages to come. It’s like when I have the urge to eat chocolate and I would buy the biggest box I could find of an expensive succulent chocolates that warmed my heart and soul as I devoured them and I would not stop until the whole box was vacant. But once it’s finished and I was fully satisfied, I wouldl remain so for the next couple of years and would not even look at the chocolate with any interest again. Until such time comes, when the desire returned but then the whole consumed calories have been wasted away.

There have been changes at the office as well and some are leaving to the greener side of the pasture. So there have been farewells at the office as well as after office hours. I don’t really like the after office affair except I felt compelled to celebrate for those who I have worked closely. Like yesterday, I went to spend some time with friends for a farewell of a colleague. I was there but my mind was in the state of hovering over the feeling of guilt for leaving the children behind and the need to have times for myself occasionally. However I found that I couldn’t wait to get home and once I reached home I was received by a beaming Emir who ran downstairs to greet me and acted so happily like he hasn’t seen me in months. My heart was filled with warmth of having seen him, gathered him in my arms and showered him with kisses as I carried him upstairs. I also acted as if I haven’t met him in months. Fatini was sleeping though. As I watched my kids I felt like I do not want to leave them for any length of time ever again.

The cute boy singing

Emir took a stool, put on the hat he made in the art&craft class, took the guitar and began strumming and singing with earnestness that he possesses. (look at the way he hold the guitar hahaha). He looked so adorable (to me) that I quickly grabbed the camera and took shots.

Actually Emir sings all the time, in the car, in school, in the house, while doing his work... I can see he enjoys singing tremendously and musics seem to be next to natural to him. He sings english songs and chinese songs he learned at school, on the player and on TV. He appreciate musics. Lately I have been looking for the CD from his musicgarten class which I had misplaced (or Fatini had misplaced) so that I can play it on the player. I still haven't gotten around to do this searching thoroughly so I still haven't found it

Emir started attending musicgarten since he was 2 1/2 years old and Fatini since she was 4 years old. This class is prerequisite for them before taking any musical instrument. They learn to appreciate instruments, musics, rythms, tones etc. Fatini is at the stage where she will start on the keyboard next week. However Emir is the one who I can see more musically inclined and seems to have remarkable enjoyment in musics and songs.

I believe musics is essential for children in their early years brain development. I can't explain it but maybe the experts can. As for me, I'd like to sing and play but it's all in my head as far as I can do. I don't have any talents nor the voice nor the tunes inbuilt in me.

and there are 3 little girls ....

There are three little girls Fatini, Mysara and Uzma who like each other so much but one of them live far away from the other 2 sisters. However when one knows the other was coming, they will feel so excited and will wait for the arrival of the other one. They are so excited to see each other and will play together the whole day long. They eat together and even take showers together.

There is also one little boy named Emir who always join the girls but since he was the only boy, he sometimes get bullied by the other three. He is always the one who has to become the monster and chase the girls who ran away in excitement. Emir is about the same age as Uzma. When they fight Uzma always win though and that's because Uzma is one determined little girl.

The two little girls called Fatini's mommy with "Mommy" as well which always melt the woman's heart.

The 3 little girls and 1 little boy will grow up and have many memories of times spent together.

Welcome to the world

We welcome the latest addition into our family from my youngest sister Azizah who gave birth last Thursday. An extremely adorable baby girl, resembling very close to her two elder sisters. Still unnamed.

Welcome sayang....may God grace you with abundance of prosperity and success.

Vanity keeps me alive

My genius conversation with hubby. Every time it crops up along this line.

Conversation 1

Me: I think I'm so fat now. What do you think? Am I looking fat to you? (me in front of the mirror in my new clothe)

DH: No...you're just fine ! (Lazy answer from him without looking)

Me: Come on…. Look at me and tell me the truth…(me scrutinizing my form)

DH: I like you the way you are (still not looking at me properly)

Me: Don’t say that! Just tell me the truth okay!

DH: Well, if you lose that flab a bit, it would be nicer

Me: Flab....? What flab? I don’t see any flab. (Now me twirling around really looking for those flabs he mentioned)

DH: Okay, No flab, you are just fine.

Me: Come on… tell me the truth….!!!! Am I fat or not?

Conversation 2

Me: Do you think I’m beautiful? (while checking my wrinkles and pores in the mirror)

DH: I don’t know

Me: What do you mean by “I don’t know”? You must have some opinion

DH: I think you are just okay

Me: What do you mean by just okay. I can’t be just okay to you..I'm your wife!

DH: Yes, you are beautiful, otherwise I won’t marry you (what a standard answer coming from him!)

Me: Why do you say that I’m beautiful, which part? (unbelieving but still want to probe further)

DH: Well, maybe your nose

Me: What! My nose… A nose cannot make someone beautiful. Come on why do you say I’m beautiful

DH: I don’t know, you nose, your mouth, overall maybe

Me: How can you say that? It’s illogical! Tell me truthfully, am I beautiful or not?

Haha, never get satisfactory answers until now. I’ll ask the questions again next time around.

Kuantan

(who's this guy?)

It was a lovely time spending the weekend away.

We went to Kuantan for the weekend. I thought it was only a two hour journey. It turned out to be 3 hours and we arrived in the evening. But just enough time for the kids to splash in the pool. It’s been a while since we went anywhere to the east coast. However the roads still looked familiar to me as I have travelled this way so many times some years ago. I was delighted to see the town and the beach. It was amazingly beautiful. The kids had a great time especially Fatini. Came night time, Emir wanted to go home because he missed home and he said he wanted to water the plants at home. Emir was such a homely person after all.

School, kids and others

Hahaha. I’m so happy. Yesterday, totally unplanned, I bought a digital camera. Not really unplanned as I have been thinking about it, it's just I didn't think it would be yesterday. (I’m really not sure whether I’d been conned on the price, I’m not normally a smart buyer. And since the shop wanted to charge me extra if I use credit card, I paid cash. Another mistake!)

But it’s been a while without me having a proper one since that fateful day when Emir dropped my RM1700 camera and stuck the zoom. Since then I didn’t have any. Instead I thought it was smart to combine a handphone with a camera and had bought my Nokia instead which has 5 MP camera. But now I want better quality pictures (my new one has 12 MP). And on top of the handphone I had bought a videocam which I regretted after because the battery life was so short. (Seems that I’m very good at wasting money!,)

Actually I have lots other reasons why I should buy a new one. My kids’ school projects, the holidays coming, my growing up children, etc etc. Lots of reasons….

Look like I’d be posting more pictures now. Not yet anyway, since I just fully charged it last night. This month it’s been shopping, shopping and shopping for me. The sales started everywhere and what else can I do during my lunch hour? The option is eat or shopping. I did both. So next month it will be a painful one for me when the credit card bill arrive.

Fatini has started her Taekwondo just after my posting on Emir’s last time. She wanted to do it. So both of them have been going to the same Taekwondo class twice a week and already have the uniform and white belts. So far they have enjoyed the class and never complain.

I have been busy checking private school for Fatini. I have actually registered her to the SRJKC because she wanted to do Mandarin at Chinese school, but thinking about long term planning and everything that going on now, I plan to send her to private school instead. It will be more convenient for me anyway since I’d be at work in KL the whole day. So I need a good, comfortable and a secure place for my children. Anyway Fatini and Emir are still doing the daily mandarin classes in the afternoon and I hope will continue.

Emir has made a major milestone. He has started reading three letter words. His phonic recognition is excellent. Mommy is so proud of you, Emir. Before this, Emir read a lot of books at a speed of 10 books within 15 minutes, Yes, 10 books! But by just looking at pictures and making up stories based on his imagination. He seems to enjoy reading which I hope it’s true. As for his pelatness, it’s improving a lot now!

As for Fatini, she has now become a fluent reader suitable for her age and can read books by herself. She can read English, Malay and Mandarin. Her Mandarin teacher really have good words for her. She said if you cover Fatini's face and ask her to speak Mandarin, people will think she's chinese from her pronounciation. Good job sayang.