An old man at the beach

Kesimpulannya, buruk sangka itu tak baik ok? Sekianlah entri saya untuk kali ini. World peace!

The pursuit of happyness

The thought of seeing Will Smith in action again, had prompted me to watch this movie. I have seen Will Smith in all his action-flick and sci-fi thriller movies. I have also seen him in that rommedy (its a word I coined for romantic comedy) movie, Hitch. So he has basically done all movie genre except tangkap leleh (for a lack of a better word) movie.

What made this movie gripping, moving and also inspiring is that, it is based on a true story. The movie is about Chris Gardner, a hard working salesman who is always down on his luck. He sells portable bone density scanner machine for a living. Life is a daily struggle for him. Though life can be tough on him sometimes, Chris is a proud man who simply refused to accept defeat. Oh, did I forget to mention that Chris is also a single father with a cute adorable son (played by Will Smith's real-life son) whose also named Christopher.

But luck is about to change for Chris. Chris was accepted as an intern in a stockbroking firm with no salary for the next 6 months he is under training. With no possible income and saddled with debts, Chris and his son became homeless one day. It was a heart-rending scene when father and son had to sleep in the subway toilet one night after being kicked out from their rented motel room.

With all the hardship they went through together, Chris is more than determined to complete his internship. This movie has a happy ending of course. Chris was hired (he was the only one by the way) by the firm to start his new job as a stockbroker. And the rest is history. There was a moving yet powerful moment when finally, the boss of the firm offered the job to him and Chris was overwhelmed with emotion that you could see it from his painfully-relieved facial expression.

Definitely, a chicken soup for the soul movie.

11 years

Dear beloved you know who,

We met. We were smitten with each other. We fell in love naturally. We got married eventually. We produced 3 mini-us that had some of your feature and mine. We laughed. We joked. We made fun of each other. We argued over small things. We fought over bigger things. We sulked. Then we kissed and made up oh so romantically and passionately.

Ain't married life funny and yet wonderful at the same time? It just gets better and better after each year.

I so heart you!

p/s: I'll never forget 12th April for the rest of my life, ever.

That special woman

I chanced upon this heartwarming story in one of the emails sent to me. After I read it, tears welled up in my eyes. This story has certainly touches me in so many ways because I have been a selfish daughter lately. Did you know that the last time I saw my mother, it was exactly 4 months ago? And that she wasn't living in some far away state but right here in the heart of KL, which is about 30 minutes drive from my house! And its been a while since I last called her. But mom didn't feel hurt or resentful because she understands my role as a wife. That as a muslim wife, your place is beside your husband. Your parents came in second. Mom is a divorcee and has never remarried.

I have been taking mom for granted these days. Many times, I have postponed my monthly visits to her place. The fact that she lives within 40 km radius from where I live has somewhat put off the idea of wanting to see her often. Since she lives nearby, I told myself that I could always visit her anytime and anyday that I want to.

But after reading this beautiful story, I'm determined to visit her as often as I could, even if there is nothing to gossip about (yeah, me and mom like to gossip just about anything...woo hoo) or just ring her to say hello. Before she close her eyes for the last time, I want her to know that she means a lot to me.

*****************************************************

After 21 years of marriage, my wife wanted me to take another woman out to dinner and a movie. She said, 'I love you, but I know this other woman loves you and would love to spend some time with you.

The other woman that my wife wanted me to visit was my mother, who has been a widow for 19 years, but the demands of my work and my three children had made it possible to visit her only occasionally.

That night I called to invite her to go out for dinner and a movie. 'What's wrong, are you well?' she asked?

My Mother is the type of woman who suspects that a late night call or a surprise invitation is a sign of bad news.

'I thought that it would be pleasant to spend some time with you, 'I responded 'just the two of us.

She thought about it for a moment, and then said, 'I would like that very much.'

That Friday after work, as I drove over to pick her up I was a bit nervous. When I arrived at her house, I noticed that she, too, seemed to be nervous about our date. She waited in the door with her coat on. She had curled her hair and was wearing the dress that she had worn to celebrate her last wedding anniversary. She smiled from a face that was as radiant as an angel's.

'I told my friends that I was going to go out with my son and they were impressed,' she said, as she got into the car. 'They can't wait to hear about our meeting.'

We went to a restaurant that, although not elegant, was very nice and cozy. My mother took my arm as if she were the First Lady. After we sat down, I had to read the menu. Her eyes could only read large print. Half way through the entrees, I lifted my eyes and saw mother sitting there staring at me. A nostalgic smile was on her lips.

'It was I who used to have to read the menu when you were small' she said.

'Then it's time that you relax and let me return the favour,' I responded.

During the dinner, we had an agreeable conversation, nothing extraordinary but catching up on recent events of each other's life. We talked so much that we missed the movie. As we arrived at her house later, she said, 'I'll go out with you again, but only if you let me invite you.' I agreed.

'How was your dinner date?' asked my wife when I got home.

'Very nice, Much more so than I could have imagined,' I answered.

A few days later, my mother died of a massive heart attack. It happened so suddenly that I didn't have a chance to do anything for her. Some time later, I received an envelope with a copy of a restaurant receipt from the same place mother and I had dined. An attached note said: 'I paid this bill in advance. I wasn't sure that I could be there; but nevertheless, I paid for two plates - one for you and the other for your wife. You will never know what that night meant for me. I love you, son.'

At that moment, I understood the importance of saying in time - I love YOU and to give our loved ones the time that they deserve. Nothing in life is more important than your family. Give them the time they deserve, because these things cannot be put off till SOME OTHER TIME.

Bellydancing anyone?

The other half had cautioned me not too long ago that my tummy had looked like 5 months pregnant except that, there is no foetus in it. Haven't we all ladies, face this neverending problem after each delivery of our offsprings? Well, at least, we have EXCUSE why our bellies have turned out the way they are, while you men DON'T!

9 months (that's almost a year, man!) of carrying a full term baby, the product of our happy union many many moons ago coupled with the usual morning sickness (mine started from the moment I got up from bed till I went to bed...sheesh!), the lethargicness, mood swings changes in split seconds which can give shame to the current weather and yadda yadda yadda and he dared to comment my tummy? After all, I bore him 3 healthy children that inherited some of his qualities.

So, I was a bit bothered when he keeps saying things like that (yes, it hurts sometimes, you guys) although I knew deep deep down inside, he didn't really mean it bad. Nevertheless, being the self-conscious person that I am, I have tried all options available (read: selective ones only) to reduce my tummy size from err, size 34 (halamak malunya) to size 24 (very impossible mission!). The list of exercises I've tried were;

1. Jogging, which I did for a month only and after that I stopped as my jogging partner decided to call it quits. I dare not jog alone as sick perverts might be lurking somewhere waiting to pounce on someone . You can never be too careful these days


2. Cycling, which I did for a smooth 3 months until I was chased by a pack of wild dogs. I cycled as hard as I can, nasib baik tak jatuh basikal, fuh! and after that it's tata titi tutu


3. Wearing corset (cheap one only lah) but I am not the disciplined type, besides it's too tight and itchy itchy the whole body after usage


4. Girdle - this one works better especially when I go out. I put it on so that my tummy does not look flabby when wearing long skirts or pants but it's only a temporary solution


5. Dieting - didn't work. after 2 days of going riceless, I surrendered. Kebuloq perghhh!


6. Slimming spa - too damn expensive


7. Liposuction - forget it! the horrific scenes from the Extreme Makeover series will forever etched in my memory

So basically, I have tried every option there is (liar liar) to get rid of that stubborn excess flesh. Perhaps there's one more option I haven't tried it out yet - bellydancing. Now that is something. Bellydancing is fast catching on in Malaysia and it's a happening form of exercise in the west. Probably made famous by the lovely Colombian latino babe, Shakira. She really rawks!

So I was hugely dissappointed when I didn't get the chance (of a lifetime) to join the bellydancing class last month when it sort of collided in the same month with the cupcake decorating class. I had a (housewife) budget for one class only that month and besides, the husband had annoyingly teased me with his caustic remark..."dari hang dok belajaq menari gelek tuh, lebih baik hang pi belajaq mengaji Quran kaa, betulkan tajwid tuh sket, ada gak pekdahnya...".

Ouuuch!

Sambalicious

picture was cilok-ed from google search engine

Sambal belacan has always been essential in many a malay household. It is a must have condiment, usually eaten with hot piping rice and fried fish (ikan kembong is the best, I found out) together with mixed veges, fresh ulam and a little bit of gravy; it can be curry or lemak cili padi, whichever that suits your tastebud. Even the very mentioning of this salivates me to the core. Kecur liur tau!

There are many varieties of sambal belacan. For example, some people like to add tomato or mango or belimbing besi (smaller version of starfruit family with sour taste) or lime juice instead of tamarind juice. Normally, I'd use pestle and mortar to pound my sambal belacan. A simple sambal belacan ingredients usually consist of;

10 cili padis (or more if you like it extra hot)
2 red chillies
1 tbsp of sugar
belacan - belacan melaka is the best
tamarind juice - must be pekat-pekat (concentrated)

Heavenly yummeh!

Sambal belacan is best looking and tasting if pounded with pestle and mortar. But lately, I have succumbed to laziness, hence the use of food blender. Thank god for modern technology. Yeah, modern technology tends to bring out the worst in some people. I use food blender to make my job easier and less mess in the kitchen. And I also want to avoid the chillies from squirting into my eyes. That can be unpleasant.

Well, the outcome of it, it tastes pretty much the same but it looks a little bit bubbly and watery as compared to the original looking sambal belacan made with the pestle and mortar. I have become adept to using the food blender that I'd know when to get the right texture for my sambal belacan; not too coarse or too pureed. If kept refrigerated (with the lid on) for few days, the texture can become concentrated and tastes even better. Oh well, as long as it tastes quite the same, its really fine with me.

Sambal belacan is like my natural anti-depressant drug. I can't live without it. Can you?

Sendaloka (Part deux)

Apo nak dikato, habis madu sepah dibuang. Dah nasib orang pompuan gitu. Sabor jek lah.

*pictures were cilok-ed from here

Sendaloka di pagi rabu

While browsing the contents of my email yesterday, I spotted this. I had a good LOL. Is it any wonder why they lost big in the recent election?

* If you can't read the small prints, click to enlarge. Enjoy!

You talking to me?

I am slightly concerned with little B's development. At 30 months old, he should be talking like a bullet train with increasing vocabularies. But he has not. He still babytalks and couldn't utter a single phrase of recognisable words that we could understand. Except for the occasional words - no and wow, that's about it.

So when we went for his hepatitis A second jab with his peditrician last saturday, the doctor himself was kinda surprised that he isn't able to speak like any toddlers his age should. He has a normal growth and weight which is hardly surprising because he has a voracious appetite. Despite that, he is not a chubby kid. He is also very active, always jumping up and about, every second that he is awake. That kid doesn't know when to stop. He likes to wreck things too. Everything that stands in his path will be destroyed in a blink. My living room always look like it has been hit by a tornado.

He has very little attention span. Many times, I tried to read him a book and after one or two paragraph, he'd become fidgety and wiggles like a worm in a heated pan. Fortunately, he has no problem watching cartoons on tv. He could sit there for a good hour, without changing his sitting position, chuckling at the sight of his favorite cartoon characters. This is also the time I could catch my breath ... pheww!

From my observation, little B is a loner kid. He doesn't seem to need friends around him. I attribute that as being the only son and also the smallest in the family, he has grown attached to me as I'm the one who has been taking care of him since he was born. So he has no direct contact with other kids his age besides his 2 primary schooling sisters. Despite his inability to talk properly, little B possesses other remarkable ability. I've seen quite a number of times how he arranged the dining chairs in a circle position, in a straight line position and sometimes in an abstract position flawlessly. He is also capable of stacking up objects according to its shapes and sizes and seem to be in deep concentration when he does that. And he also likes to dismantle the tv/astro remotes and has strong fascination with anything electronics.

So back to the doctor's visit, he has recommended us to see a speech therapist if little B still hasn't talked by the age of 3. That advice itself has got me wee bit anxious.

Driving up the wall

Now that the great election is over, I guess most of us ordinary citizens by now had resumed our lives back to normal. To those who won big time, congratulations and to those who lost big time; well, what can I say. You sucked in your job. Better luck next time? Sing the blues, kapisch! To those who accepted their defeats graciously, thats the way to go man. To those who are still in denial, snap out of it for goodness sake. To those who are in the power now, do your job diligently and restore our faith. Make it happen!

Its the first term school holidays this week and we've been mulling over and over again to repaint our house since like 5 years ago. Each time the subject is brought up, we would argue with remeh temeh things like, what color to use, which brand to buy, budget enough or not, got time to do it or not, where to dump the kids, they will kacau more than helping out...yadda yadda yadda and in the end, we'll only end up with nothing but empty can (read: tong kosong). Talk talk talk, no action. Sheesh.

You just have to look at these pictures to understand our agony why we need to repaint our walls. Sangat malu nak ajak orang datang ke rumah ok.

1) where are the clowns...send in the clowns. is that a clown or what?

2) doodles doodles on the wall

who is the real culprit of all...

3) picasso in the making?

4) ninja turtle in blue? awesome...

5) rain rain go away. come again another day. the sun wants to come out and play...

6) I give up. I dont know what that is...

After much deliberation, we've decided to put repainting on hold, again, at least until little B had turned 7. He has picked up where his sisters left off...sigh!

He's baaaack!

More mature and wiser this time. The man who whips his enemies' arses with a lash instead of shoot with a gun, hates the sight of snakes, his naughty smirk, his signature fedora hat. He's the real deal.

Welcome back Harrison Ford!

Solitude

*picture has nothing to do with this post


The husband is off to the Middle East tonight. Ready to leave on the jet plane as I'm writing this. And starting tonight....

I'm having the bed all by myself for the next 5 days. Yeehar!

At the risk of sounding like an ungrateful wife, I am enjoying every bit of moment without him. Don't get me wrong. Its not that I don't like having him around. I do so very much. Its just that sometimes, husbands and wives need to get their own space, away from each other, in order to function better. Do you get what I mean? Sometimes an absence (short period of time) of someone you love dearly makes the heart grow fonder.

What can I say. I'm an insatiable biatch. Conventional I-love-you, you-love-me seem so 18th century. Text-messaging can be monotonous. Email is so business like and lack intimacy. So this works out fine for me. Stay away from each other for a little while, with minimal contact and the next thing I know, we're one happy shiny couple....(wink and grin!)

Works everytime.

untitled

we are 2 days away from polling day and already the use of the indelible ink had been cancelled by SPR!

how appropriate!

was it an act of cowardliness by the coalition party? beats me.

ah, politics and elections just give me the creeps.