19 years later...

Fun it was, indeed! I had a great time catching up with old KPP friends on Saturday at Delicious Dua Residency. Not many could make it to the event alas those who came really made it an eventful gathering. Seeing old friends again after almost 2 decades really brings back lots of memories. But I must say, the gals really aged well. All of us look very elegant as we mature. Some even look unrecognizably pretty! The guys however mostly grew sideways (and I thought only my significant other has this problem...phew!!!). But there were some exception of course, a particular friend look so stunning with his well built body and 6 packs. He looks fit enough to star in 300 (the movie)!

I also have to say this, I always remember the guys to be taller, but on that day almost all of them seem to look shorter, weird huh? Perhaps their horizontal growth has overshadowed them vertically. But then again, I wore a 2.5" sandal that day, hence I had a 2.5" elevated view advantage.

Moi, who was so excited that day, forgot to bring my camera...%#$*&@!!!! So I have to ‘borrow’ some photos from my friend (Thanks Eika for the amazing photos).

The gals who didn’t seem to age a day since we left KPP…


The whole group who attended the reunion


(Can you see the Guccis, Pradas, LVs and Ferragamos in the picture? Dasyat you!! and you should also check out the rides in the car park. We all have done well my friends. Kids, education can take you places. This group has proven it!)

The last group to leave


I say let’s meet up again soon people!

A sad day for Malaysians

[Note: Kids, this article may not be of interest to you]

It’s happening again…they have once again reversed their previous decision. The “lalang” government at its best. I have written a few articles about politics before and a particular article has caught the attention of some hardcore opposition members. I would like to make it clear again, I am neither pro government nor the opposition. I don’t like both sides. But I may be seen as pro government because I am NOT pro opposition (do you see the irony?). How could I support either side when all of them only have one thing in common – the interest of 1 thing at ANY cause (sometimes without making any sense); 1 individual, 1 group or 1 religion. Corruptions? I don’t even want to talk about it.

Anyway, so much has been said in the cyber space about the decision to revert the teaching of Math and English back to Bahasa Malaysia. I for one, don’t want to be left out *grin*. So, even though I promised not to write about politics again, I would like to have a say in this. I want to stand out and be counted too...I say yeehaaa to that!

Frankly, I have mix feeling about this. I have actually written briefly about this in an article entitled “To my friend, please don’t call me a terrorist” in March. I laud the previous Minister of Education for trying to elevate the standard of English at school by introducing English in Math and Science subjects. However, I don’t agree with their kelam kabut implementation when the teachers were not ready to teach in English at the beginning of the implementation a few years ago.

With the new ruling, I actually have two concerns:
1) The future of our children
2) The state of our current government

I’d like to talk about issue no. 1 first. I ask myself, will our children be less fluent in English when they learn Math and Science in BM? Will their standard of English decline over time? My answers is both YES and NO.

YES, if we rely totally on schools to cultivate the English speaking culture. So for those who live in kampong like where I come from, I feel sad for the children. They had the opportunity to learn at their tender age (unlike me who only had my chance after my SPM) but was taken away. It is a known fact that children who are exposed to certain learning at their early age tend to excel better. In this essence, they will feel more comfortable speaking in English as they grow older. So if you take that away from them, they’d need to get use to it again like what I had to go through almost 20 years ago. Thus, I say we are taking one step backward by reverting to teaching Math and Science in Bahasa.

NO, if we the parents take the extra mile to help the kids at home. But then again, taking that extra mile is very difficult for us parents, isn’t it? It’s easy said than done particularly for working parents. Even a full time mom like me doesn’t have enough time (nor the patient) to teach my kids at home.

We could only hope with the promise of more English teachers (and hopefully QUALITY English teachers) we could maintain or improve the standard. Hopefully no more of teaching English in Bahasa like my English teacher, Cikgu Salleh did. I remember he used to teach us: “I” tunang dia “am”, “she” tunang dia “is”, bla bla bla…. Come to think of it, I guess I have come a long loooong way.

Nonetheless, I strongly feel that ALL English teachers should have TESL qualification and perhaps we could even have two English classes instead of one. But learning without practising could be futile. That's why we need to teach some other subjects in English too, perhaps less important subjects like arts and PE (for crying out loud!)?

On to my second concern, the state of our government. I’ve also written an article about this in my other article entitled “My take on the toll hike U turn decision” also in March. Did you notice that our government often succumbs to pressure? This is so obvious after Tun M stepped down. When certain quarters demand something they’d easily reverse their previous decision. We’ve seen this in the toll hike U turn, petrol price hike and now the English issue. All for the sake of winning the next general election, sad but true. They are more like “lalang” - could never stand firm on its own principle in the presence of pressure. Now we know why Hishammuddin was re-designated as the Minister of Defense. Perhaps because he would never agree to reverse the decision should the status quo remains.

Enough said, I wonder what will they do next to win the heart of those perceived as the majority. I say the majority is always silence. It’s the minority that always makes plenty of noises… A sad day for Malaysians indeed.

Indah khabar dari rasa

I am backkkk…. I am now officially working for my kids. They have been chasing for a new article tirelessly every day. Hence, apart from being their driver, their cook and their encyclopedia, I am also their writer. When I tell them that I got nothing to write about, they’d be more than happy to offer some ideas…but mostly ideas that are totally out of my radar. So here I am today fulfilling my duty to my kids to write.

I’ve been craving for doughnuts these couple of days. More specifically I wanted to try Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. Normally, whenever I have the craving I’d drive to Sunway Pyramid to get some from jCo. We always prefer jCo than Big Apple. Back to the days before Malaysia was invaded with doughnuts attack (the days when Dunkin’ Donut was the only option available), I’ve heard so many testimonials from people who have tried Krispy Kreme overseas, my other half included. So, moi not being a savvy travelers, waited for Krispy Kreme to come to the Malaysian shores instead. And wait was what I did until yesterday.

I decided to drive to Mid Valley to get a couple dozen of the much awaited doughnuts. I always buy 2 dozens at a time, a dozen plain and a dozen of mix variety. Sadly to say, they disappoint me. It’s not as good that I thought it would be, too sweet and a bit too crispy to my liking – typical American doughnuts. My kids agreed too. We prefer jCo the best. But at least my curiosity is answered. No more driving all the way to Mid Valley for Krispy Kreme for me!

I say don’t believe everything you hear, read and see until you experience it for yourselves… Some things are "indah khabar dari rupa", in this case, "indah khabar dari rasa".

Just for a good laugh

I got this in my email a few weeks back. The sender claimed that it was taken from Patrick Teo's blog. I like this article very much and moi being born in the 70's find it to be very relevant to my childhood. Hence, Patrick, I'm quoting you here in my blog...jangan marah haa.

~~~~~
To All those Born in the 40's, 50's , 60's, 70's & early 80's...
First, we survived with mothers who had no maids. They cooked /cleaned while taking care of us at the same time.

They took aspirin, candies floss,fizzy drinks, shaved ice with syrups and diabetes were rare. Salt added to Pepsi or Coke was remedy for fever.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets.

As children, we would ride with our parents on bicycles/ motorcycles for 2 or 3. Richer ones in cars with no seat belts or air bags.
Riding in the back of a private taxi was a special treat.

We drank water from the tap and NOT from a bottle.

We would spend hours on the fields under bright sunlight flying our kites, without worrying about the UV ray which never seem to affect us.

We go to jungle to catch spiders without worries of Aedes mosquitoes.

With mere 5 pebbles (stones) would be a endless game. With a ball (tennis ball best) we boys would ran like crazy for hours.

We catch guppy in drains / canals and when it rain we swim there.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually worry about being unhygenic.

We ate salty, very sweet & oily food, candies,bread and real butter and drank very sweet soft sweet coffee/ tea, ice kacang, but we weren't overweight because.......
WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, till streetlights came on.
No one was able to reach us all day. AND WE DONT HAVE HANDPHONE S TO BUG US. And we were O.K. AND WE ARE SAFE.

We would spend hours repairing our old bicycles and wooden scooters out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem .

We did not have Playstations, X-boxes, Nintendo's, multiple channels on cable TV, DVD movies, no surround sound, no phones, no personal computers, no Internet. WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and we still continued the stunts.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and just yelled for them!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!
Yet this generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 40 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned

HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!
And YOU are one of them!
CONGRATULATIONS!
You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the government regulated our lives for our own good.
And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.
~~~~~

I say, Patrick Teoh, you got it spot on! I was just telling my second son during lunch today how I used to climb trees and played there for hours, and sometime cried when I can't get down on my own yet still managed to get down without help. He was amazed listening to the story. I guess he never would have thought that his momma could climb trees. Those were the days.... I wish I can be an 8 year old kid again.

Way to go Daniel!

He has done it again! Daniel and his teammates made it to the final round and won. They would be representing the state of Selangor in Projek Warga (I forgot the complete title) at the National level at USM Penang in November. I didn’t attend the presentations held at Grand Blue Wave Hotel in Shah Alam last weekend at his request. He said it would be too nervous for him to present in the presence of his parents. So we obliged.

There are 20 students in his team, 8 presenters and 12 researchers. He was the first presenter. He said his teachers were so happy they cried. I hope this is not the first time the school had won something otherwise I could have made a huge mistake sending him there instead of St. John’s. His team worked on “kes pecah rumah” as their case study. There were actually two categories, English and Bahasa Malaysia. He originally wanted to be in the English team but due to overwhelming response from the students he was not selected. He was heartbroken when he was turned down at first but then he decided to join the BM team instead. It amazes me to learn that more students wanted to be in the English team instead of the BM team. I guess in this particular instance, we have come a long way in elevating the standard of English at school. He did make the right move though, the English team didn’t make it to the final.

For a treat, I took him to 1Utama yesterday to savour Chocolate Fondue at Hagen Daaz. Truthfully, I am craving for it more than he did. So it was a 2-in-1 treat, for him and for me. Him for winning, me for giving birth to him...huhuhu. After feeding Sophie, the 3 of us, Daniel, Ariana and yours truly (Kyle couldn't join us as he was in school) made a short trip there just for the Chocolate Fondue. I also bought him a new Adidas Chelsea T as a treat for job well done (to compensate the fact that I actually wanted to have the fondue more).

Before….



After….


The verdict: not as good as what people had been saying and blogging about it (could you believe that I actually did some research about what other people said about it before I actually went for it? I know, I can’t believe it either!). The strawberries were sour, the green apple was also sour, the cake didn’t taste good (even Daniel said that he could tell that it was a cheap cake) and they even put chipsmore cookies too. I mean come on, for RM63++ they should at least make some effort to bake or buy some homemade cookies instead. But the 2 kids had fun dipping in the melted chocolate. The chocolate and the ice cream were yummy though. Nonetheless, this will be my first and my last. The moral of the story is, don’t believe everything you read in the internet!!

Chocolate Fondue asides, I am happy that my son has done his school proud. It is a great achievement indeed. Keep it up my son, momma is so proud of you!

P/s: Daniel, but this doesn’t mean that you could get away with EVERYTHING.

When the world comes together

It takes a great icon to bring people around the world together for a single cause. Princess Diana and the Twin Towers had done it. And yesterday it was the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. The world is mourning his sudden demise.

What amuses me is the fact that a death of a Pop star takes so much interest amongst the people that 90% of status updates in Facebook yesterday were about his passing. CNN and BBC were running updates on his death almost non-stop with coverage from all over the world taking center stage to even President Obama's meeting with his German counterpart and the conflict in Iran. News about his death still floods the media today. People are saying nothing but praises about him.

That got me to thinking, why is that only after someone had died that people starts to remember his good when he was otherwise taken for granted? He was almost forgotten in the last decade or so except for his court cases, his financial trouble and his extreme and bizarre transformation. Suddenly after his death, we are singing praises about him. I guess we will remember people for their good than their bad, which is a noble thing to do. I hope when my time comes, I will be remembered for all the good things I did and for what little mark I left in this world especially in my children's lifes; not the nasty stuffs (not that I’ve done any huhuhu).

In the news today, it was reported that all his records were sold out in Malaysia, even those when he was still performing with his brothers as Jackson 5, amazing huh?

He is said to have died a Muslim. If he really did, being a Muslim myself I feel happy for him, Alhamdulillah. May Allah bless his soul in barakah. Al fatihah.

Greatest source of inspiration

It's official…after 9 months Sophie has ditched her crib. She has settled for a more comfortable and bigger bed; and thus become a permanent bed-mate to hubby and I (sigh). This does make a certain activity a little harder than it already is. But what to do, life must go on…

She is going through a major teething phase. Her gum is swollen so badly (I could see 4 teeth coming out at once) that she bites everything she could grab. So I forgive her for wanting to sleep with me for some comfort at night.

This one-of-a-kind baby has survived against all odds since the day she was conceived. I have not mentioned this in my earlier post that merely 3 weeks after she was conceived, a cyst (that I didn’t even know I had nor did I know that I was pregnant) has ruptured in my ovary. Oh you can’t imagine the pain I had (but of course it wasn’t as painful as labour pain). During examination it was also found out that I was pregnant but doctor feared that I may have lost the fetus because of the ruptured cyst. But guess what, she survived! She’s a fighter from day 1.

She is also different in every sense from my other kids. She could still turn into breech position on the day she was supposed to be delivered, hence the emergency c-section. At 9 months, she could climb her high chair and stand up on her feet; none of my elder children has done that before. She prefers adult food than food specially made for her. And she seems to like boys more. When she sees boys (of any age), she gets excited. Not a very good sign eh?

You know what, I could go on and on and on when I write about my kids. I have such great joy writing and telling stories about them to the world. They are my source of inspiration that keeps me writing like an energizer bunny. Sometime I wish that I could post more pictures, unfortunately, I don’t have that ‘canggih’ camera like the one my friend owns (you know who you are!). So I have to settle with words instead.

My partner in crime and my faithful shopping companion has ditched me! Of late, Ariana has been refusing to accompany me whenever I go out to the mall, do groceries and run errant. I feel like I’ve been dumped by my own daughter *sob* *sob*. She only wants to tag along if I’m willing to take Sophie along too. Needless to say, shopping is not as fun like it was before (which is good news for hubby).

My second son has been persistently asking me to update my blog every day. He said reading my blog is such a joy to him and much better than reading magazines and books (even better than his favourite Mr. Midnight series he said). When I explained that I don’t have the time to write between cooking, sending them to school and taking care of Sophie, he suggested that I stop cooking altogether and spend all the time to write instead. Hmmm….this shows that he loves my writing more than my cooking! That doesn’t reflect very well on my cooking talent (if what little knowledge I have could even be classified as talent lah), isn’t it?

Well, in my defense (of my not-so-impressive cooking ‘talent’), I guess he loves reading the articles because they are closer to his heart. He reads about his life and things he is familiar with instead of about other people’s stories in totally different circumstances. It does make me feel good though, at least this blog has served its purpose - entertaining a small audience.

I say sometimes word speaks better than action, but picture definitely speaks a thousand words...