Piala Malaysia 09 - my experience : So many of us

The red warriors telah tewas di kaki anak-anak tambatan jurulatih Wan Jamak Wan Hassan pada dua Sabtu lepas di Stadium Bukit Jalil. Pasukan Hobin Jang Hobin nampaknya telah bermain dengan lebih baik. Walaupun di kala saya menulis pos ini pelbagai cerita kedengaran kenapa skuad Kijang tidak bermain dengan baik pada malam tersebut, sebagai seorang yang sangat meminati Sukan, saya sentiasa percaya “Best team deserves to win”.

Perasaan saya begitu berbelah bahagi untuk bersama-sama pergi menyemarakkan suasana Stadium Bukit Jalil bagi menyokong pasukan bolasepak negeri saya yang telah kesekian 39 tahun tidak dapat memasuki peringkat akhir Piala Malaysia.
Pertamanya, saya tidak pasti jika saya pergi menonton perlawanan tersebut perlukah saya membawa sekali Si Kecil Embun. Tidak sampai hati untuk ditinggalkan tetapi dalam masa yang sama begitu was-was dengan keselamatan di stadium yang saya pasti akan dipenuhi dengan pelbagai ragam manusia.

Keduanya, memang benar saya seorang peminat Sukan… segala jenis sukan tetapi Bolasepak agak tidak menarik perhatian saya. Secara jujur : “I only watch World Cup for football, not even EPL”, pergh… itulah kenyataan berlagak saya.
Oleh itu, saya kurang kenal dengan pemain-pemain bolasepak liga kebangsaan kecuali yang ada skandal atau gosip-gosip hangat dengan artis-artis tempatan dan cerita-ceritanya seringkali keluar di akhbar sisipan Mingguan Malaysia, Pancaindera. :P. Contohnya, yang kahwin lari di Siam.

Saya diyakinkan oleh ibu saudara, Cik Ra supaya tidak membawa Si Kecil Embun dengan kata-katanya – “Ish…. Tok soh laaaaah bawok Nada, awok tahula penyokong Kelate.. jenih palo anging-anging belako. Kalu jadi gapo-gapo gak mudoh sikik kito nok laghi ko… teghejung ko…” bermaksud – “Ish… jangan bawa Nada, awak tahukan (karakter) penyokong Kelatan, jenis kepala angin semuanya. Kalau terjadi sesuatu (yang tidak elok) mudah sikit, nak lari ke … terjun ke…”

Ia diputuskan – ya, saya tidak membawa Si Kecil Embun ke stadium. Jika diingatkan, saya memang jarang benar meninggalkan Si Kecil Embun jika hendak kemana-mana kecuali bekerja waima kepada neneknya sendiri. Saya fikir sehingga umurnya hampir dua tahun ini, tidak sampai kiraan jari yang sebelah tangan dia ditinggalkan. Saya tidak betah memikirkan orang lain akan terpaksa bersusah menjaga anak kesayangan ketika saya bersuka-ria kecuali orang tersebut dibayar atau dibalas secara berpada.

Perjalanan ke stadium sangat menyeronokkan apabila saya dan Harris memilih untuk menaiki sistem transit aliran ringan STAR. Sesampainya kami di stesen Ampang, kegembiraan mula dirasai dengan hanya melihat ramai yang memakai baju berwarna merah dan bercakap di dalam dialek yang begitu sedap di halwa telinga saya. “Gu gak naik gha, ‘jadi!”

Kami ketika menunggu tren, terpaksa beralah kerana sangat padat dengan sengaja membiarkan beberapa tren lebih awal berlalu pergi.

Apabila gerabak STAR yang menuju ke Sri Petaling tiba, sorakan WWWWOOOOO bergema seolah-olah ucap selamat di antara yang berada di dalam gerabak dan di atas platform kerana rata-ratanya berbaju merah menandakan “KITA DARI KAPAL YANG SAMA”.

Tren yang sesak seperti waktu puncak di hari-hari bekerja

Ya, saya memang suka diambil gambar... walaupun dalam tren yang bagaikan tin dipenuhi makerel.

Meriah suasana di stesen-stesen STAR sudah tentu tiada tandingan dengan suasana di sekitar stadium. Saya terpesona kerana dari dalam tren sudah kelihatan betapa ramainya “set-set” penyokong skuad Gomo Kelate Gomo yang kelihatan bagai semut merah menghurungi gula batu.

Saya tidak berbaju merah, begitu juga pasangan saya..........

Ulat-ulat yang menjual tiket secara “pasaran gelap” menyambut kedatangan kami. Tiket berharga RM 20 dijual RM 50 ~ 60, yang mana sejam sebelum perlawanan bermula dijual pada harga RM 5!
Dalam keghairahan yang hadir untuk menonton perlawanan bolasepak, saya kagum pada yang mengambil kesempatan untuk berniaga, seperti Bangla di belakang saya di dalam foto ini!

Harris berkeras untuk tidak membazirkan RM 1 duitnya, walaupun saya bersunguh-sungguh meminta dibelikan kain lilit kepala. Saya lagi-lagi lah tidak ingin membazirkan RM 1 duit saya sendiri. Betapa kedekutnya kami berdua! Walau demikian, kami tidak lupa membeli untuk Si Kecil Embun sehelai kemeja T putih dengan nombor 23 berharga RM 15 sebagai cenderahati walaupun ia sebenarnya adalah untuk merawat rasahati yang bersalah. :)

.........bersambung...

Something new

Oooo, I am so excited. Earlier today, I finally got hold of the good that I ordered through the internet. This is really my first time buying stuff online. Honestly, it is something rather unusual to me. Yes, I do source for information from the net but buying online ? I was skeptical about it. To top it up though I am an internet user, I wouldn’t categorize myself as an I.T savvy which can be judge by my attestation that I only familiarize myself with blogs & forum for about a year or so.

The purchase was done almost last two weeks and to my surprise the delivery was speedy fast which I was supposed to receive the next day. Unfortunately, we were not home that Saturday when the parcel arrived. So, I was only left with the notice by Pos Laju pasted to my house door. The same weekend, I went back home town until middle of the week and was not able to collect the parcel at collection centre. The working days later do not allow me enough time to make the tour to pickup the item either. Came last weekend, it was 1st Saturday of the month and Pos Laju collection centre was not in operation.

Today, by so having a meeting near to the collection centre made the parcel finally succeeded to be in my possession. I was surprised that it actually came in a nice flower prints paper box.

Another bonus, the purchased item inside was neatly folded and being wrapped with yellow butter paper. I imagined the sender took an extra mile to make the receiver happy by putting personal care for item delivered. Indeed, she made one mommy very happy tonite.

Little dew had the honor to unwrap the parcel. It was intended for her anyway….

I bought her a smocking dress from Little Girls' Closet which I found out from a friend of mine. Lovely, isn’t it?

She twirls.

Ahhhhh, how I ‘llllllloveee smocking details. This reminds me, I've yet posted any entry on smocks that I made for my girl. Hhhmmmmm.

Mommy is tired

I am tired.
Could somebody tell me how to get money flowing in without having to work my ass like a donkey or by just shaking legs?…. besides being married to a rich old man or to a rich old man’s son. Too bad, I have passed the period of courting!

I am so tired that I feel like taking an unpaid leave for a month and fly to Arctic to join the polar bears hibernating in the caves. It is so overwhelming to reach home after work even though the time shown is 9.00pm by having lil dew running towards me with her arms opened wide wanting me to pick her up.
But…. I felt so helpless that all I did was give her a big hug, lots of kiss and carry her for not more than 60 seconds because I was tired.

I am so tired, still I do not want to restrict my little darling having fun with her toys just because I would get scorching head to tidy up the mess she’d make. Dew’s favorite is ransacking my handbag looking for my purse and stationary case which if full of colored pens, pencils, markers, art liners, scale rulers, rubber erasers, cutter and little stapler – I am an Architect maaaaa….. YES, I carry all these in my bag. Upon finding the two, she’d take out everything inside on to the floor. She’ll be VERY happy exploring.
I am so tired, I wanted to shout at her – STOP! Mommy has no energy to pick up the mess…. But I didn’t because I am too guilty to stop her.

I am so tired, though I know my dearest other half loves real hot Darjeeling tea with slight lemon juice and slice to be accompanied with IKO biscuits for supper, I only served him 3 in 1 instant coffee mixed with semi-hot water which already been kept in the trusted thermos for more than 24 hours.
I am too tired to fill up the jug kettle to boil water, too tired to prepare the tea, too tired to cut the lemon and squeeze for it’s juice! I am so tired – I just did the extent that I could.

I am so tired, I dozed off on the sofa in front of tele while entertaining my love dancing knowing loads of chores to be done at the back of my head.

Nada dancing her part Sarawak Sumazau and part Maori Hakka dance………..

My sleep on the sofa hardly continue past midnight, I reflexively wake up after close to couple hours of nap nearing to 12 night not surprise with the house condition which is like a tongkang pecah or telah dilanggar garuda. Sigh! Leave that a side first. Turn on tele channel 702, ahah! Have a laugh with The Nanny & Friends, if it’s Thursday… 107 for Grey’s Anatomy re-run and make sure a box of tissue is by my side.

I am so tired, I have no choice but to resume with the mundane things though it’s 1am. I’d start with laundry if any of the two laundry bags (one for Harris and me, one for Dew) is shouting that it could no longer hold, washing Dew’s bottles and food thermos, sterilizing, preparation for breakfast, tidying up the messy house, vacuuming if need be (well, no neighbors yet complain) watering and talking to my cute little pot plants, hanging dry the laundry and thousand and one others to do until I decide it is enough for the day and to stop for hot shower.

All the necessities had been done.

I am so tired, sometimes I find myself crying on prayer mat.

Still I am so thankful that after a long tiring day, I took a peep to Dew’s room to find out that my dearest husband had done a good job by nicely tucked our baby girl for sleep. I kissed my girl and could smell the Pureen baby toothpaste. Harris abide my instruction – Make sure get lil dew to brush teeth before sleeping! I am happy and whisper to her ears “Ashhadu allailaha illallah, waashhadu anna Muhammadur rasullullah. Aku naik saksi tiada lain yang disembah melainkan Allah dan Aku naik saksi Muhammad (s.a.w) itu pesuruh Allah”.

Again, my tears flow…. how I regret the much that I let pass my darling day-by-day growing up. I know No numbers of videoes or pictures will be enough to capture her antics. But until I am senile, I would always trust myself that I have enough memory of my little girl to remind me that she has a vast space deep in my heart.

I decided to lay next to her, hold her close to me, smell her nice jasmine-like scent.

Mommy is just merely tired.

Weekend morning at a neighbourhood park

1st hair cut

Disregard the bold shaving for 7 times before her age is one, lil dew had her first proper hair cut or I would say hair trim on 04 October 2009. And this was how it went .....

BEFORE HAIR TRIM

The jaggy fringe

DURING HAIR TRIM

Keep still, keep still..... (x-cuse my husband's 'tone' arm, i've trimmed off his tummy from the pix, but you just got to bear with the arm!)

AFTER HAIR TRIM

Yeah!!! the helmet like hair-do. Uncle Brad Pitt said - she somehow looks 'rounder'

and, she's not NADA if she doesn't think she could it herself. To those whom are concern,... she's holding a blunt point scissors with cap by NUK German designed for child use. :)

Leave us alone

I bumped to a friend whom I’ve not met for more than a decade. It was long enough that I almost did not recognize her, definitely contributed by her being so well groomed. She was a tall, beautiful lass then and now she is even more than gorgeous and charming. I got to know her for a very brief period when we both attended an induction program, Petronas organized for their scholarship holders during my first year in uni. Even though we were from different courses, we got acquainted well at the time may be due to many interests that we shared. So I would say, she and I can’t be considered as best or close friends but fair enough to be able to sit down for more than 2 hours to just talk and talk despite not seeing each other for so long.

My friend is now married and not working as she follows her husband almost to every corner of planet Earth due to his nature of work. She wore Nicole Miller, Christian Lacroix, Jimmy Choo and a diamond beaded Rolex. Carried YSL tote. What she had on her when I met her sums to no lesser than 30 grant and with no shame, I told her I was jealous of her. I had on me not more than 3 grant, most I had on my watch only . :( So jet-set la her! PHD – perasaan hasad dengki!

I came to know she’s been married for five years, but yet with any child.

After quite long chit-chatting, she asked me how come I never asked her ‘when’ would she want to have a child. Hmmm? I asked her back – Would she want me to ask her the question? Answer was, not that she wants but at the norm event people would ask.

I am now blessed with a joyful daughter after close to four years the age of my marriage. Before the arrival, I vomited blood every time people asked me the question. And years before, I vomited blood mixed with phlegm every time people asked me – “When are you gonna get married ?”

Are you married ? and When are you gonna get married ? are the kind of questions that very vast different interpretation one could make when being asked in different circumstances.
If I want to know a friend’s status when I really do not know, I’ll ask are you married. When I know and very sure a friend is planning to get married, I’ll ask when are you gonna get married.

But if I already know a friend is NOT married, I won’t ask just for the sake of asking.
When I know or don’t know if a friend is not planning or planning to get married, I won’t ask when are you gonna get married either.

Same thing with having a child. If I know or don’t know a friend is not planning orplanning to get child, I won’t ask when are you gonna get a child.

What I mean here is, I won’t simply ask question in the situation that I am not certain of the other party’s circumstances. I guess, it really ties back to the intention of the people who is asking and the way one asks.

I have had enough of people asking me these unanswerable questions.
If only to me, getting married is as easy as finishing up two plates of Lamb Chop at Victoria Station or if only getting a child is as easy as buying Happy Meal over the Mc Donald’s drive thru counter, I would have answered many people.

Now that I no longer being asked these questions, I am now frequently being asked – Bila nak dapat baby lagi? I would like to say, Sudahlah… Leave us alone, go find something useful to read on.

Hopefully, it's never too late

My friend posted an entry in her blog listing a planner checklist for herself prior to Ramadan. I realized that I missed out a lot of things and sort of made a little wish inside me – to have a better Ramadan this year. I know I am no pious person but I want to put extra effort comparing to former year. That brings me to constant Tadarus after my prayers.
Again as I started, I realized I have no less than three Qurans in my house.. but all are so new and crisp with no folded ears. I am shame to admit that they are hardly used, only about once a week on Thursday nights for reciting Surah Yassin.

The recite of the first page left tears at corner of my eyes, how I read the Aliflaammiim in such difficulty. I braced to recite further bearing in mind the Hadith I learnt from my friend’s checklist. (TQ Uji.)
“He who recites the Quran fluently will be in the company of the noble and virtuous angels, and he who recites the Quran haltingly and with difficulty will have a double reward” – Al-Bukhari & Muslim

I was so-so embarrassed of myself when my mind drifted to the yesteryears of my childhood moments.

I started to learn the Muqaddam, Kelantanese called Surat Kecik (dulu-dulu mana ada Iqra’) when I was 7 years old. My first day at primary school was also my first day for reciting Quran classes at Mok Cik Aji’s. She lived in a nice white and blue wooden house surrounded with rambutan trees of a corner lot.
Apart from having our Quran at Mok Cik Aji’s house, we had our sarongs and scarfs too. This is to cover our legs and head for those whom went to school in pinafore. So, we just put on the sarong underneath the pinafore and that’s it! Attire for Quran reciting.

Busu whom is my mami’s youngest sister was in her Form 6 at the neighboring secondary school when I was in Standard 1. By the reason, my mami asked me to walk to and from school with her right from the start. My cousin sister studied in the same school but we were not able to walk together as she was in the afternoon session differ from mine being in the morning session.

Busu sent me to the school’s gate the first day and asked – “Adik, berani ke pergi kelas sendiri?”. I said – Yes.

Then we were off for our own way. I walked to my class 1 Hijau by myself fearless, even though I had never gone to Kindergarten. Bravery from a lot of playing - I must say. (What happen to kids nowadays that need parents to accompany for school? I don’t see my daughter as any difference.)

I headed straight to Mok Cik Aji’s house after school from the first day also on foot sometimes alone, sometimes accompanied by friends with a big yellow cloth hat my mami made for me to protect my head from the scorching sun. I love the hat that one day, a playful boy from the same mengaji class snatched it from me while I was wearing and ran away back to his huge house. I didn’t give a hoot and chased him right into his house and went shouting with his mother nearby – BUI TOPI SAYO BALIIIIK!! – means : Give my hat back!!!. The boy’s mom must have shocked to see a short little girl almost like a dwarf with such a fierce face… quickly went to get the hat from his son and lent it back to me. That’s me – don’t mess around ok.

My reciting Quran classes lasted until Busu came to fetch me. It was quite the right timing, even though I got to wait for her sometimes as secondary school finished so much later than the lower primary session.
I didn’t take long to know Alif, Ba, Ta and subsequently be fluent enough with my reciting of the Surah. With such capability Mok Cik Aji asked me to listen and to help with others whom she would think I would be able to teach, many times those older than me. I was still in Standard 1 at that time and eventually I need not have to wait for Busu to fetch me but she had to wait for me instead because my reciting Quran would finished very-very late. Dah jadi tok guru pulak beb…..

Speaking of tok guru, Mok Cik Aji was so good with kalimah Allah s.w.t, she could have five to six person around her reciting different Surah at the same time and could still noticed any flaws in her students readings. There was one day, I tried to ‘cheat’ her. We were all needed to recite on our own before reciting in front of her. Since I already had few rounds reciting the same page over-over again I decided to recite the next page in front of her. The moment I recite the first verse – Piap!!!!!! Her lidi swayed on my Quran – MUNG LAKA KO YATI? Means – You skip page, Yanti? (She called me Yati) – Baco doh takdi mok cikkk, my voice shivered.
No, I got to go back to the page that I was supposed to. And tell ya, that’s when I already Khatam Quran for don’t know what number. Indeed she was very fierce, my cousin Feby only dare to go mengaji with her once.

It is a normal customary in a Malay family to have Khatam Quran function when one completed reciting the first round of Quran. My brother and cousin sister had it concurrently when they were in Standard 6 which was also joint by me as I also had completed mine. I was in Standard 4 then, about to finish for the second time. It was an exaggerated function with pulut kuning, bunga telur and dias, place for us to recite Quran. Mok Cik Aji lead us all for the Majlis.

I love Mok Cik Aji - she told me : Mung panda ngaji Yati.... Jange tingga lah, baco Qro'e ni.

Now you know why I was so embarrassed of myself and had tears in my eyes? If Mok Cik Aji is alive she would be embarrassed of me too.
What damage have I done? MasyaAllah. A capability that I used to have it in such great skill is slipping away. All due to my own fault.

It’s been two weeks of Ramadan, I felt a slight relief that after a week of faltering … I now recite better. I pray for Allah s.w.t to forgive my sins and accept my little good deeds. Amin.

EYEBROWS and EYE LASHES

Many babies and toddlers have a habit of their own. Some love to suck blanket edges or a pillow leaving the two like a kain buruk or sucking a pacifier or sucking own thumb or…… must have her palm against somebody’s face if she wants to sleep! (that’s my beautiful cousin’s daughter – Adriana and you can read more about her HERE if you want to…. Che… link lagi).

She’s the one in the best pose of the pix… Of course the second from right, as beautiful as her mummy. (ahhh…. jangan perasan la che’ anim….)

This cousin's son of mine, tak tahu la habit apa ni. He's named after Harris as in Harith... eh tak lah.. just nama sama. :)

Nada is just like other babies, she has a habit too, a unique habit. She loves to play as in touching one’s eyebrows and eye lashes! Want to see a pix? I uploaded HERE before. I can’t figure out when she actually started. She uses her fingertips and also her palms to softly touches the brows and lashes as if experimenting her senses. I wonder how could she get the habit until Harris told me, that it is definitely from me. I do the same thing without me even realizing it. Sometimes I lay down on our couch while watching tele and start lightly rubbing my eyebrows.

Mostly, Nada fell for the habit when she’s having milk from the bottle… She would play her eyebrows with one hand while the other holding her Avent. Should I am near her she would ask for mine. So many of the time, I ended accompanying her for milk time and also for sleeping time until I transferred her to the cot. That’s why I also got sleepy and zzzzzzzzz myself while she was trying to sleep.

We trained Nada to sleep in the cot as much as we could because I already had the worst nightmare ever that she fell off the bed being too active moving around in her sleep. The daytime sleeps were fine. It's not the same at nights when sometimes she woke up and resisted her cot may be because of feeling lonely. I could hold myself from picking her up but not Harris whom is with a soft heart. He said – takut demam kalau nangis banyak (when I do not encounter even once that Nada got sick because of too much crying. Sigh!)

So at the occasions Nada used to sleep in the middle of Harris and I, she cried too due to bad dreams – I guess, since she no longer required milk over night. Her hands would go searching for eyebrows, even to the extend climbing on our laying body with her eyes closed in the search of her favorite. Eye brows!

At one point, whenever Harris and I heard Nada crying or merengek in her sleeps we would automatically, kruh-krah-kruh-krah…. turned our subconscious body towards her from whichever way we were facing becoming like R.O.B.O.T.S.
Well you know, it’s a stage that you’re actually in a very deep sleep and you hear nothing else, not even if your house was invaded by aliens except for your baby crying? – Parents would know.
Nada then would let her arms widely spread open reaching for us both. One hand on daddy’s eyebrows and one hand on mommy’s and we would be needed to stay put while she ‘main our kening’! Pekenama tu? Dia pulak bagi arahan kat kita ?

She however prefers mommy’s brows and lashes so much more as to compare to daddy’s.

The ‘main kening’ thing continued even though she slept in the baby cot on her own in the room next to ours. So, if she cried and was searching for eyebrows I got to go to her, bend myself half down to let her able to reach my eyebrows. Slowly she would need to get the feel of it, may be for 30 seconds… then she’d continue her sleeps.

Now that she’s too big for the cot, I can’t help but to let her be on the bed. Fear for felling off again, the bed looks like a fort with pillows and safe guard rail every time she sleeps. Luckily, she’s less active now but the need for brows and lashes doesn’t get any lesser. Whenever she cries, I would need to wake from my sleep, walk over from our room and lay besides her surrendering to what she wants just like a Slave serving her Queen! Redha je la….

Nada created a variation to her hobby when she not only ‘main kening’ with her hands but she also wants to feel them with her lips! Aduh.. pening Mek!
Out of sudden she came near me with her mouth slightly opened. I thought she wanted to kiss me but I was wrong! She was heading to my eyebrows and lashes and just when the lips touched, she rubbed her lips soothingly to them. Mind you, when she gets “syok”…. her saliva starts to drip and smearing whatever I was having for my eyes. So much so – No eye-shadow, No eye-liner and No mascara for me. :P Like I always put them on pun… he he

Hmmmm, Should you think what I write here about my darling is rather peculiar, wait till you hear the next.

One night, she cried for the usual thing she wants. I lied next to her while she did her thing and I dozed off. After a while, I felt she was half climbing on me. I suspected nothing because she does that all the time. I felt the brush to my brows and I opened my eyes. To my surprise, she again introduced another variation to her hobby and I was shocked to see her elbows right in front of my eyes rubbing softly my brows and lashes! Dia guna SIKU dia cik kak oooooiiii!!!!

Please go figure – An 18mths ol baby girl kneeling towards you while you are laying flat with her two elbows pointing at you, whilst so gently rubbing your eyebrow and eye lashes …. And her eyes are closed because she is sleeping!

Now, should I be worried?

Mek dah tak pening lagi… Mek pengsan terus………dush - toing-yong-yong-yong-yong-yong. Tweet – tweet – tweet – tweet, see birds now.

Ini dia itu budak kici!