Nada's Notes for Cik Byie

Dearest Cik Byie,

There is nothing I could ever do to thank you for agreeing to take care of me while mommy is away for 2 days to undergo a minor surgery at Seremban Specialist Hospital.

She would love to have me around but I don’t think the hospital will allow me into the Operation Theatre. I guess daddy will be busy attending to mommy that he will book a hotel in Seremban near to the hospital for a night stay.

For the ease of you, I just let you know in advance my day-night-day schedule. The usual that I do, Mommy and my nanny, Aunty Ani do.

7.00 ~ 7.30am :
I usually wake up at around this time and my soaked diaper really need a change. Mommy will put on slight baby lotion at my bottom before putting on Huggies-Dry diaper to prevent the skin being intact with urine.
A good 6 oz of milk will make me happy. Mommy then will let me laze around.


9.00am :
It’s time for my morning bath. At this hour, I prefer warm water. I have breakfast after bath. Biscuits and plain water will do for me.
Psst… Don’t tell mommy, but I really hate plain water! Usually, I will sip a little bit just to make her happy and spew it out when she is not seeing. He he.
Me, smart - huh?


10.00 ~ 10.30am :
I take morning nap. Don’t be surprise, that my nap could be very short. Only 30 minutes or so. I’ll show sign by rubbing my eyes, scratching my head or just making lot of noise if I am sleepy.
P/s – Please check my diaper after the nap.


11.00 ~ 12.00nn :
Playing time!…WeeeeEEE! Hopefully I’ll be a good company to Abg Aqil and Kak Izz.


12.00 noon :
I need to have my lunch. To make it easy for you, mommy will supply her home made puree which you can simply mix it with rice porridge. If you do not have the time to make porridge, mixing and mashing it with newly cooked rice while it is still hot and soft will do.
Or you can also just let the ready puree thaw or melt in my feeding bowl at room temperature, pre-heat in a hot water and feed me.
Don’t be frighten with the amount of lunch that I take. I eat a lot! But if you think I have taken enough and I still shout for more, just ignore! I can be unreasonable.


12.45 ~ 1.00pm :
Please give me a quick bath. I don’t mind cool water. After having lunch, being bathe and freshly cleaned clothes and diaper….. Ahhhhh, it is so nice to have another 7 oz of milk to satisfy what mommy called my ‘7 series - BMW’ capacity tummy.


1.30 ~ 3.30pm :
After having lunch and milk with good full tummy, I usually take the afternoon sleep at around this period. It should be longer than my morning nap, but you see… I am a very light day-time sleeper. I may easily wake-up from my sleep.
P/s – Again, after sleep please check my diaper. I think I need a change.


4.00 ~ 6.00pm :
More playing time. If we are home, daddy usually brings me to the playground or walk around our apartment compound from 5.30pm while mommy does her cooking.


6.00pm :
It’s dinner time at home. We’ll sit at dining table and snack for me, please. You can feed me with mashed bananas, purees or whatever that you think is appropriate. Should it be baby biscuit, mommy mix it with water and feed me. And at the same time, she lets me hold one in my hand for me to practice my motor skill of eating. I prefer to have puree that mommy makes for me.


6.45 ~ 7.00pm :
It’s time for bath. Again, I don’t mind cool water if the weather is hot and sunny but if it is raining, I prefer warm water. Having been cleaned, with my night pyjamas on and changed of diaper to Huggies-Dry-Comfort, please make me 6 oz of milk. Nyam-nyam.


8.30 ~ 9.00pm :
Sigh… mommy always force me to sleep at this early hour, I think. Mostly, I will make a lot of fuss because I still want to play.
Mommy bribe me with a good 8 oz of milk and I happily gulp every single oz. After my drink, I should be high of milk and start playing my own fingers with my eyes closed. I will make a lot of turning here and there.

Tips for you, I prefer dim light and my lullaby is any reciting of Ziqir. Since I move around a lot during my sleep making blanket is not a choice for me, mommy ensure my shirt is tucked inside the pants and put socks on.

I should be sleeping through out the night. If I ever wake up, usually.. I just need some pat on my back to know there is somebody near me.
But if I give a loud cry, check my diaper and… 6 oz of milk should be able to put me back to sleep.

Well Cik Byie, this is my usual routine. Of course along the line I can be pooping, crying without specific reason or just simply being naughty. Hopefully you can bear with me.

One thing for sure, this schedule is just for reference. Should it runs out… what the heck! don’t bother. You can always do it your way as long as it has no harm on me. After all, you already have 2 gorgeous kids of your own. How wrong can things be.

I will try my best to be in my best behavior and not being cranky, but…….. I do not promise….. Alamak!? EheH.

Thank you so much Cik Byie.

Love,
Nada Firas

oops... that's me!

A VOW

It was such an experience for both Harris and I to visit our friend who was critically ill on the last two Sundays.
Harris knew her since they were attending architectural school in Skudai and I got to know her when I was working in Seremban in the Year 2000 until mid 2001. All three of us at that time were in the same office.

The night before the visit, Harris received a message informing of her condition. Not knowing at all of her critical status, we then arranged with few other friends to pay her a visit at the Pusat Perubatan Universiti Malaya.
When we arrived at the PPUM for 12 noon visiting hours, we were informed that she had been discharged and had returned home. So, we decided to trail her to Kuala Pilah and arrived at her visitors packed home at around 5.00pm.

Knowingly it is a SUNAT to recite and contribute the surah of Yassin when visiting an ill patient, that was what I did. I also asked for forgiveness for any of my wrong doings and surely I forgive for whatever her wrongs to me if there is any at all. She looked so different from the last time I saw her. With the oxygen supply tube in her nostrils, her breath was difficult and short, I couldn’t bear to see.

At 6.15pm, we depart for return to KL and stopped at Seremban R&R by PLUS highway for solat. Just about to leave the surau, I met other friend who also went for the visit.
She informed me that our friend,......... had passed away minutes before Maghrib……, which then I elongate the news to Harris.

Our friend was 38, leaving a husband and 3 beautiful children with the eldest daughter only at 10 due to cancer. From what being told to us, she found out about the cancer after a fibroid removal surgery in August last year. Sadly, it was at difficult Stage 4 and the cancerous cell was spreading fast.

Life is so unpredictable and short.

Later in e-mails, Harris circle of friends were spreading the news. It dismays me to know that she once informed a friend, of all the things in her life ….. she’ll regret the most for not able to raise her children with her own hands and see them grow up.

I believe, that is the one thing any mother couldn’t put up with. Not even the thought of it……

I told Harris, I am so scared….. thinking the para-urethral excision surgery that I have to go through in the coming four days as I pen this entry.
Close to my 34 age, this is the second time I will be admitted to hospital. The first was for giving birth to Nada almost a year ago.
Advise from my OB-GYN, the para-urethral is supposed to rarely occurs. As happened to me, it doesn’t look bad and the surgery should be a minor one.
Still, I am so-so scared. I hate hospitals. It paralyze me!

Apart from being terrified, I reminded Harris that should anything unwanted happen to me, my mami will still be staying in the house that we bought in Kota Bharu for as long as she wants … as long as she lives with no pay.
That he should never thought one day he’ll go back to live same place unless he’s invited. That is my mami’s house.

Harris comforted me giving his assurance that I should trust him and things will be just the way I want it to be. I responded to him to be careful with his words as it is not him I do not trust but his ‘wife’!

Who knows he might end up with a stupid moron thinking whatever in his name will be hers too! It has to be ironed out on the intended purpose of why we wanted to buy the house. It's for my mami. For that, I commit to shoulder the responsibility and at the most time has been paying for installments. The fact that the house is insured, it will be free of financing and makes it even more rightful for my mami to live in the house happily.
Should it happens the other ways due to him and his wife foolishness, I told Harris… I vow that I’ll strangle them both while they are having sex! (O yes…. I do speak to my husband that way)

Rude it may seem. Respectfully, I enlightened to Harris that it is my duty to place to him the mistakes he might do before it comes about and not after.

ALL THIS IS BECAUSE HE IS MY HUSBAND AND I LOVE HIM WHOLEHEARTEDLY.

MOMMY'S CRY

My dear girl is soon reaching 12 months in another 2 weeks, which can be equally saying as celebrating her first year birthday!
For me, I have a mix feeling towards it. So happy that she is gonna be one and very-very-very sad that I haven’t got enough of her year one.

It is a bad thing that the percentage of my SAD is bigger than my HAPPY.
I feel like putting her back into my womb and start it all over again except for the painful giving birth part.

She grew up too fast for me. The fact that I am a working mother, further cuts down my time spent with her. Sometimes, I deny myself in believing facts such as when her nanny told me about her new developments that she was able to roll onto her tummy until I seen it with my own eyes. I even record the date of her first time in her Baby Book according to my first time seeing whatever new development.
What the heck … I’ll let her know later when she understands. At least, that is the guide … “it’s mommy fist time seeing you…. roll, on all four, crawl, sit up straight on your own, drink from the beaker, taking first step, …. And more”

I guess, that is the painful price I have to pay for not able to be with her round the clock.

As Nada ventured into her 11 month, I started to decrease the amount of my home made puree stock in the freezer. The usual one and a half week stock became a week stock. I decided to more freshly cook her meals in the morning before going to work and bring to the nanny’s. It is solely because I feel she has taken puree so much, she might get bored and I want to let her has the taste of toddler food… more of textured and chunkier foodie. Along to it, I alternate with purees.
Four days ago, she had her first pasta. It’s a recipe I got from watching The Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver. Was it Naked Chef? It could be other of his many shows.
Jamie used spaghetti but I used macaroni instead.

It was Macaroni Beef with Steamed Cinnamon Asparagus. Sounds good? It smells good too!

Fetching Nada after work at her nanny’s, I asked if Nada likes it or not? Her nanny happily let me know that Nada has no refusal at all… and seems to like it. Fuh… worth my effort. Prolonging the usual ‘bual-bual’, her nanny informed me … “Saya rasa sikit masakan tu. Tawar. Saya letak garam!!!” in her Indonesian dialect.

I thought…. What the f***!

I, myself have already go against the advise in the many books on Baby Food that I read for not to add salt and sugar by adding itsy-bitsy-tiny-winy little amount of salt, and now she added for more!!!!!!

Aduh, macam nak meletup – Of course, that can only happen inside me. Politely, I told the nanny.. Well, next time you don’t to have to put any salt in any of Nada’s meal…. with a BIG FAKE SMILE on my face.

Again… I guess, that is the super painful price I have to pay for not able to be with Nada round the clock……

Among all, yesterday’s repeat incident broke my heart the most.
Like usual, Harris will unpack Nada’s stuff from the bag once we returned home after fetching her. Taking out the towel, Harris told me that it smell cigarette’s smoke.

I have told the nanny before, should her husband wants to smoke, please avoid the children. But, how on earth I can control it not to happen?
I take a great deal on health care and cleanliness. It’s almost my daily routine to sweep house floor twice a day. It gets tighter on weekends that I only complete my cleaning by sweeping using the conventional broom for the first round, follows by vacuuming to ensure the tiny dust between floor tiles, carpet, sofa, dining chair being removed, then moping the floor, disinfecting Nada’s toys while waiting the floor to dry and lastly wiping the floor using Magic Clean cloth.
I make sure only sterile bottles to be used for her feeding……. and others. To me, that’s the least that I can do. Alhamdulillah, I am so grateful that close to 12 months of age, I only need to bear Nada catching fever for 3 times. Once was longer than two days. It was at the 8 month and during Aidilfitri. She had measles. I pray for Allah swt to always bless my prayers for her good health.

Thinking my girl inhaling the cigarettes smoke and damaging her lungs, brain cell, blood cells….. my heart shattered.

Is this also a scorching painful price I have to pay?

I desperately need a wiling to listen to me helper, whom can daily come over to my place to take care of Nada while I’m working. I don’t mind paying a maid’s pay with No house chores required.

Current decision, come Monday…… I will make a survey for Nursery, but I know for sure … there will be other painful incidents to happen due to this decision.

This entry… is dedicated to my dear cousin, Azmadie – stop smoking, will ya!

THE PLEATED DRESS

During our shopping for Aidilfitri, I spotted a dress for which I would love to see my daughter Nada wearing it. It was a little simple round neck, smart cutting dress with pleats at hip level fitted right for the smart Nada. I always have the fond for these types of dresses rather than those pink-satin-girly gowns with jaggy edges, fancy ribbons and lots of frills. Those are pretty dresses but they just don’t hit my nerves.

As I looked at the price tag…. My, my.. it costs about RM 175 for such a simple dress. Not that I can’t afford the price once in a while, but at that moment I don’t feel like paying the sum. May be it didn’t go well with my overall budget for Aidilfitri shopping. Hey, I am a very wise money spender! ok.
Somehow, I can’t let go the site of the dress. I like it so much. So, I thought I would get some cloth and request my mami to sew. Coincidently, she planned to come over to my place the following weekend and I do have a sewing machine.

Before the weekend came, my mami changed her plan. She cancelled the trip, leaving the cloth that I bought unattended. Having the cloth laying on our utility table inside the utility room for almost a week, I decided to make the dress on my own.
I started by figuring out the plans and steps to be taken to execute the dress…. Not on paper but all in my mind. Visualizing which part should I cut first then the other? How to assemble the parts? How to hide the joining and stitches just like the dress that I saw in the boutique? And many more other questions even before I touch the cloth to start the sewing. I never have any formal training in sewing, but being a tailor’s daughter and granted with good EQ by Allah swt, I am so grateful that I am able to figure things out by just little observation.
All these, I did during my bathing time. Oh yes! I do a lot of thinking during bathing. Because to me, bathing is the 10 to 15 minutes time that only my physical works and hardly use the brain. One doesn’t need to think when to pick up the soap and start soaping one’s back or shampooing one’s hair. It’s all in your sub-conscious mind. It’s rather wasted not to use the brain, further more it’s a private time by myself and I can really focus on matters that I want to. I even answer exams questions during bathing (of course …. In my mind!). Most of the time, I plan my house chores and realize it really save me a lot of time by just doing the 10 minutes planning.

After 8 to 10 bathing, I was confident enough to start on the dress and it took me about 2 hours to finish it during Nada’s afternoon sleep on one weekend. The first person that I shown the dress to was of course… Harris! … His response was … “wah! U finish it ? when did u sew it?” Even Harris didn’t realize. … (he was sleeping too!)

When I went back for Aidilfitri, I showed my mami the dress that I made. She gave a remark… Not bad.. and started pointing out the flaws… where have I gone wrong. I expected that…, she’s a professional tailor by experience and for her to criticize my work, that means she cares. Even-so, I know deep inside her she’s proud of me too because for every relatives that came over, she would take the dress out and started showing off. “Look at this dress Yanti made for Nada….” She said.
Among the many comments that I received… Honest or not.. I do not know, were :
* Ngoh said : Yanti, you have such good talent!
* Mok Teh said : Yanti…… rajin betul.
* Busu said : This dress carries so much more value than the one hanging at the boutique.
* Cik Jah said : Yanti, you actually have time to sew?
* Thirah said : Kak Yanti memang pandai. Dulu masa kecik, Thirah ada baju smocking Kak Yanti buat. (I am so pleased she remembered… I guess, she was only 3-5 years old when I made her that smocking dress)
* Most would exclaim with unbelieving expression : “U sew it?”

AidilFitri gathering housed by Harris’s former boss, one of his close friends actually was looking for the dress’s label while carrying Nada around. Since he couldn’t find any, he judged - “Harris… you only put on exclusive dresses from oversea to your daughter? I couldn’t find the brand.”
Harris answered him… “Even if I did buy the dress oversea, there should be a brand. That dress doesn’t because Yanti didn’t put. She made it herself !” The whole full chorum table “roared” and started praising here and there.
(I wonder…. Ada jugak lelaki yang bz body …. Wanting to know what brand one’s kid is wearing?)

AidilAdha came, Nada wore the dress and I wore the kurung that I also made for myself using the same material. Looking at both of us, my mother-in-law asked, did mami made Nada’s dress? I replied her..
“Yanti made the dress”. Her reaction was… “That is nothing less than those being sold at shops!”…

Christmas brunch party with my colleagues at Chilis-KLCC, I dressed up Nada in the same dress. My principal’s wife, Cindy made a remark… “That’s a beautiful dress Nada wearing…. Suits her Osh Kosh shoes… How much do you buy the dress, Yanti?”. I told her… “o! This dress cost me about RM 10 - I sew it myself!”
Shockingly… with her eyeballs about to bolt out, she exclaimed. “ Are you joking? You are bluffing me, don’t you? That’s a perfect dress!”

…. As a person, as a wife and as a mother …. I AM PROUD OF MYSELF!

Nada being the feast at Christmas Party

NADA & DADDY

US....

ME !

Having said, I made a conclusion. For me to execute and complete a dress for my daughter, I have put in:
1. A reasonable duration of time. Thanks to the unseen thinking process.
2. So little money. The cloth cost me RM 3.90/m, the ribbon complete with ready made cute yellow flowers – RM 4.20/m (ribbon cost more than the cloth? Emph.. emph.. emph…), buttons – RM 1.80 a dozen. All in …. Less than RM 10.

3. Lots and lots and lots and lots of LOVE.

It triggers me, if I put so much Love to make one dress….. what can I say about my mami. All my life since birth until I manage to buy on my own, 90% of my clothing are sewn by my mami. (Save 10% for clothing which were bought by my aunties / uncles).
I thank her sincerely for all my daily use, my outing dresses-gowns-pants-shirts, my night wears, my kurongs, my kebayas, my school uniforms and even my shorts for school P.E classes……………..
My mami had put her mountains of unconditional-ultimate-infinity Love for all that.

Now that I never miss to pay her for the clothing that she makes for me, double or triple of her normal charge to customers as a token of Love and appreciation…………, I know……………….. I can’t never afford to pay her Love. Not even with all the money that I have, in my entire life.

I hope one day…. My daughter will realize and understand, for me to make her dresses is no big deal. After all, a dress is just a dress but the Love being put into it, is the TREASURE to be cherished.

MY GIRL IN THE PLEATED DRESS

.It's A Pale Green Home by YantiMahamud

Chapter 2 – Beautiful home with that legendary bright orange concrete stairs

I don’t think many of my cousins or even aunties and uncles remember the address and phone no of our home which had been dismantled 14 years ago. But me…. I do!
It was 5319-H Jalan Sultan Yahya Petra, 15150, Kota Bharu, Kelantan and the phone no was… from 5 digits 09-25548 change to 6 digits 09-785548. At the time that I write this entry, I have no reference to anything at all…… but just the sharp memory of mine granted by Allah swt towards this place which my childhood life evolved around it.

Having the address for a house is essential, but my home was more likely to be known with it’s description for the location. It was the first house on the right fronting a road which run along CEB pylon (CEB…..that was TNB…. donkey years ago) in Kampung Lundang with bright orange concrete entrance staircase. Usually, people don’t miss it even for their first time.

My home… was only a humble major-on-stilt, ‘tindih kasih’ mode wooden house painted in pale green color with shingle roofing, but by comparison with it’s flock, I would say my home was the most beautiful home around. Our immediate neighbors would be 2 rows of rented 1 bedroom ‘link-houses’ with detached water-closets on the right (I remember, my mami once ran into one of it when she tried to learn to ride motorbike…that scared her like anything!) and on the left was a single storey on-ground brick house resided by an Arab-Chinese family. (well, this house was rather ‘multi-national’… apparently according to my mami it was previously owned by a Japanese-Malay family… not bad, huh!)

Mok cik Dah whom lived at the behind right corner which then shifted for about 300m parallel away south has quite big houses, but my home can beat her houses anytime. The Tok Bomoh’s house… God! don’t even mention. It was a scary house. My cousins and I used to utilize the house compound for a short path to Mok’s sister’s (Chik-Allahyarhamah) house. Every time we wanted to cross the house compound… we would start with………. Bismillahirrahmanirahim… at the gate……… and RUUUUUNNNNNNN as fast as lightning! While running, we recited out loud… ALHAMDULLILAH HI RABBIL ALAMIN……………….. and finished the whole Mother of Surrah by the time we crossed it. He he…. It gave us the courage we need.
Across the road in-front of my home was another single storey on-ground part brick and part wooden house. It was a nice house, but not a match to compare. Hello! It was a house erected by an ADUN before, of course it’s nice. The house even had a game room full of toys for the grandsons – Azu-Allahyarham, Cici and Jaja.
I would say, the closest rival was Mok cik Nab’s house. As far as I can remember, she wiped the balcony balusters everyday…. its EVERY.. day, ok. That takes a lot of effort and passion in cleaning and for that I salute her, further more… she is such a kind-hearted woman. But still, my beautiful home beats hers by….., I guess…. 2 %. It’s because Mok has better taste than hers in decorating!

Mok loves beautiful things. Plants with flowers delight her very much! We had cannas to fence our front right boundary, ‘bunga cina’ tree which bloomed almost through out the year, seasonal shrubs like ‘bunga tahi ayam’, ‘balung ayam’ and balsams. Big purple bougainvillea sometimes crawled right up to the roof and gave Busu a hard time chopping it down. Mok loves them all…. but, her pride would be all the potted plants stacked on tiers at both right and left corners of the home. They complemented well with the bright orange stairs of which it was a place for all of us to hang out in late afternoons. We love the stairs so much… Kakak and I in our teen age used to sit there just to observe the goers passing our home and looked out for cute-good-looking boys. There was a guy living next to Tok Bomoh’s house… that I no longer recall his name…. ya.. we always tried stalking him from our stairs. But hey, of course we did it intelligently and pride-fully.
So convenient that stairs was, sometimes guesses who came to our home just wanted to ‘lepak’ right there even with our utmost pleasure welcoming them for seats in the living room. ‘Nescafe’ or tea with delicacies then would be served at the ‘bendul’.
The stairs was also where Mok would stand eyeing and waiting for Kakak going to sundry shop located by the main road at nights with lights on, if she…. at a very rare occasion desperately needed to go. She’s afraid of darkness.

My beautiful home with that legendary bright orange concrete entrance staircase… how I much miss it!

It's A Pale-Green Home by YantiMahamud

Chapter 1 – The Love

When I was a child, I don’t really know what were my ‘likes’ or ‘dislikes’ ….
Clothing – not like kids nowadays whom are so good in choosing what to wear… I just wore what my grandmother told me so. After taking bath…. It was always “Mok, pakai baju mana?” … and she would usually replied with a teasing tone, half shouting… “Pakailah kain songket pun!” But still, it was her picked then that I had to follow.

Food – never have any favorite restaurant. There was hardly an eat-out those days. It was already considered a big event if my aunties brought me to buy fried mee-hoon at nearby restaurants within the vicinity of where we lived. The few were, Sarina Reastaurant … Mirana Restaurant… even so, it was ‘tapau’ and eat it home.
Once in a blue moon I dined at a steam-boat restaurant called Sun-Too in town and that was really a HUGE-EXTRA-ORDINARY thing. There was a time Busu brought me to accompany her for dinner with her soon to be husband at Seri Restaurant. I needed to behave and of cause was trying hard to do so. Busu ordered for me float drink and I was so excited about it. Instead of slurping the drink, I blew it through the straw! It was a disaster….. the float spilled all over the big glass!

Books? – no way… Kampong girl like me…. I’d rather play “bola kaki-tiga” or follow my brother to climb trees rather than reading books. Somehow, I had a good discipline though, never go out playing unless I finished my home works.

Cartoon character – there were only RTM 1 & 2 back then. TV3 only reached my home town, I guess when I was in Std 4 or 5, or may be later. Don’t really remember. So, leaving for KL during school holidays was a big thing… that I could watch TV3 programs and boasted to my kampong friends. With limited tv programs, what cartoon character can be a favorite or a like?

Toys – Dream on! I don’t have favorite toy because I don’t have many toys. The toy that I remember playing if it can even be considered as a toy, was the lady figure print paper doll with outfits also out of printed paper-cutting that may be changed by hanging on it’s shoulder. Walllaweh… those were like Barbie dolls by current measure.
Should I want to play with toys… I’d hang-out at my Ayah Long’s (Allahyarham) house. Hmmmm… my cousin, Safrul had the most toys compared to any of us. He had this white ‘Transformer’ robot that amused us all….. Lego which he regarded as one new toy each day….. his Papa also bought him boxing gloves!.. but I think, he hardly used the gloves. He was an ever first-rate umi’s boy.

Not really having the likes, loves or certainties…. BY SOME MEANS…. there were 4 things that I was so certain about even as a child.
One – My ambition, I never change…. I wanted to be a teacher as I ever can remember. Should there be anyone that asked me… What I were gonna be when I grew up or needed me to fill in the ambition column in school particulars card, I had no hesitation. TEACHER… that was what I wanted to be. Somehow I ended up now being an Architect. (Thank God!…. can’t imagine myself teaching.)
A cousin of mine, she used to have this hesitation either wanted to be an air stewardess or a farmer! … Alamak!
Two – Once I started schooling in standard One (whoops! Never go to kindergarten….) I knew exactly I wanted to go to boarding school for secondary. The school, must be Tunku Kurshiah College because I heard it is a good school and only best students are permitted.
Three – I like the color green…. And still love it until today. All tones and hues of green. That was why I chose green color for my wedding color theme.

Four – I love my House. I love it so much that I always tried to draw for primary school art classes.

And This… This is a story of one of my four early LIKES / LOVES / CERTAINTIES.
A place where I grew up and spent the best ever first 19 years of my life right from an infant to a teenager. 5 years out of that 19, was complemented with another wonderful place .......... Tunku Kurshiah College.

It was a place that is very close to my heart that I call HOME. And a story of this place will never be a story if it is without the main spine……. My grandmother, ESHAH BT ABD. RAHMAN whom her 9 children call her ‘Ming’ (short of umi), her 32 grandchildren call her ‘Mok’ and her 11 (+ another 2 on the way) great-grandchildren call her ‘Tok’…………………………..

Nada Hates Carrots

Introducing solid food to an infant is not as easy as it sounds…. I started with puree.. that was boiled-mashed banana to Nada when she’s about 6 months of age. She likes it and gulps everything down her throat. A week or so, I switched to dates. Also in puree form… she likes it too. So, I thought… ok! enough on “sweet taste”, lets try some “vegy” now.

To start of, I tried carrots. Boiled… mashed…. And fed her.
The first fed.. she gave me this kind of look = “mommy? What are you trying to feed me?” with her eye brows frowning! … I ignored her facial impression.

The second fed…. She spewed it out. Again I ignored her.

The third fed …. She just kept it in her mouth, not wanting to swallow! I MADE her swallowed and she gave me the FIERCE looking face.

The fourth fed…. That’s it!….. She yelled like no body’s business, with her arms and legs banging onto the bouncing chair. Her head swaying side to side… and I think the whole block apartment that we reside can actually heard her.

What a HUGE protest from this tiny monster. I gave up for that moment and realized the mistake that I have made. Shouldn’t have started with the “sweet” taste. But, too bad… damage have already been done. I have to figure out how to fix it!

Close to 7 months old, I bought the ready cereal from supermarket rack and till now, it is never enough for her at any meal. She surely wants more. Such big eater she is.

Still, I don’t want to settle with just ready cereals and with so limited time that I have, I always try to put my best effort to feed her home cook meal. Anytime that permits me, I will try to cook even though I used to hate cooking and my cook is so lousy. Until now … quite variety of porridge that I have tried, chicken .. red meat .. fish .. cabbage.. spinach. She would finish them all …. But CARROTS.. No way! Even if I mix and blend in the rice porridge. She just hate it! Was it the trauma that she had the first time? … I don’t know.

I remember then how my mami always tried to make me eat when I was little kid for I was a picky eater. So skinny I was. (God! What happen to me, now?… I’ve got no waist line already). I hated rice and instead I chose bread.
To think back, it’s very weird that my comfort food was hard-top bun bread that I bought from a sundry shop owned by an old Chinese couple I called
A-long and Mek, dipped into just plain water! It’s even tastier to have it in late afternoon at the 1 foot height ‘bendul’ of our house verandah leading to where my grandmother used to dry her laundry and listening to my mami’s sewing machine musical sound. That’s where I did my homework too.

My mami used to have the trick of “nasi ajaib”, those were rice balls with fillings inside. So, if I want to know what was inside the rice balls, I’ve got to eat them. It could be fish or eggs or chicken. Anything…, but those days, chicken was rather a luxury item.

To make me finish the meal, my mami had this tale that the food I was eating… was actually supposed to go for a gastronomy trip into my stomach. (of cause she didn’t use the word gastronomy!) So, it was rather sad to left behind the unfinished meal on the plate and made them cried for not being able to go.

She also used to say in her rich kelantanese dialect : “Tak po adik… tera dulu. Kalu tok sedak.. Kehek atah tange mami ni.” Every time she was introducing me to new food or delicacies.
Ok la!… let me translate … Meaning is “It’s okay, honey … u taste it first. If it doesn’t taste good .. spew it out on mami’s palm” …. and sure! her palm is opened right beneath my jaw ready to receive any spew at all… That was the extend she tried on me. But, I know… I have never spewed anything out… because all she fed me, taste good.

My mami …. Never a highly educated woman, what more a sophisticated 9-5 office-working woman.
She is a widow whom earns her living being a tailor to raise my brother and I, with so much patience, will and grace in her. Everyone would agree with me if I say,… when ever she smiles… it’s always a genuine smile from her innocent heart! That’s why at 58 now… she’s a healthy person who just looks 48.

And so, Nada hates carrots. Such a challenge for me but I will never give up. It’s a hurdle that I am sure I will leap over one day. Right now, I am so determine to feed her home-cook food as much as I can, and for that… I am now also eyeing for that Panasonic HR-2068 Food Processor that will cost me RM 229!

…. Nada.. Nada..
Strange thing how a small child that we love so much… even if that small child is not of our own can make us all…… change for the better.