17 Years

Thats how old my marriage is today. Alhamdulillah. 

Sofian and i married because we want to be. We are the kind of people who had looked to settle down the traditional way. Graduate, kawin, have children, grow old together. So, kuasa ALLAH swt put us together. Alhamdulillah.

We barely knew each other when we started. Again, because of the similar needs and wants out of this life, we loved  and lived. We have adventures together, we have four beautiful girls, we dream the same dream. We still do. Alhamdulillah.

I thank ALLAH swt everyday for giving me my soul mate. I pray we will always be together coz everything i ever wanted in a husband, is within this man who is my husband.

Alhamdulillah.

P.s. and i thank my dear dear friend Haida ~ the woman responsible for us finding each other!

Working from Home

I've signed up for this 3 month project whereby i get to work from home. And so far it has been great! 

The way it works, i don't really have to go into office ( well...duhhh! ). All work carried through emails, phone calls, sms, whatsapp, wechat, facetime...whichever works best and most efficiently. And the end of the day, i am to submit a report an 8 hours worth of work. Of course, i will still physically attend meetings wherever and whenever required.

Alhamdulillah, its been a week and it has worked wonderfully for me. Abah and the girls! I think people at the office are secretly happy too coz, lets face it, without the boss physically bossing you around, they basically get some freedom too!! But they've been great and supportive. So work output remains, i promise!!

I find myself practising time management,   I believe that work, life balance is much more achievable this way. I am of course, always reminded that kita mesti usahakan rezeki yang halal so i find myself working harder to ensure that my daily report are done earnestly and honestly. 

I wish i can do this for longer than 3 months...

Where did everybody go?

Been reading my old oldd posts...such memories! Made me realize that blogging can be good. 

Also pictures of the kids when they were ... kids! They were such cuties!! Oh how they have grown today... No longer babies, but young ladies! But still quite the cuties. Cuties with mood swings! 

In reading the posts, i had also read the comments from my blogsphere friends... But where are they today? Have they moved on to facebook and twitter as well?

Hey guys... Come back! Nin... Zetty ... Mr  Bangkai ... Kak Puteri ... Kak choc-a-blog ... MrsN! Update your blog please ... Hehehe. 

Ceh mentang mentang laaaa i da start balik kannn...

Fardhu kifayah

A cousin lost her husband last thursday and we only managed to visit yesterday. 

When i heard of his passing i had just reached the office. The girls were at school and 3 of them were having exams. Abah pun would probably had just arrived at his office. I was on MC the day before so there was much to catch up with.

Why am I listing all this down?  Because i feel bad. Because i believe in karma. When i die nanti .....?

Alfatihah to Abang Awi. May he rest in peace.

Hellooo helloooo echoooo

Well hello there... I left this space more than a year ago? Woww..how time flies, huh.

Ok. Now that i have this thing called iphone and kakngah had nicely installed blogspot in it, i have the good intention of continuing my journal here...insyaAllah.

I blame Facebook for this!

OMBAK RINDU

I must declare that it is the best Malay movie I've seen in a lonnnnggg time!! Kudos to the producer, director and of course the actors and actresses! The kind of love story that has been missing for a long time!!

I've been following the making of this movie since the beginning through the gossip forum cari.com. Mula-mula tu because I've read and enjoyed the book and its 2 sequels. So, i was interested in the casting of the main characters. Dalam forum cari.com tu ramai doubted the casting of Maya Karin as Izzah since Izzah ni is supposed to be a really kampung girl. Some also doubted that Aaron Aziz should be the match for Maya. They had wanted the remy-tiz combination or fahrin-fazura. I, of course would vote for remy-tiz for all the chemistry between them..on and off screen!

Anyhoo..Maya, Aaron and even Lisa Surihani proved the critiques wrong! they were superb!! Maya is such an accomplished actress, i tell you. Lakonan dia sangat berkesan! So was Lisa...her screaming scenes made an impact and not easily forgettable. Aaron...is Aaron...too gorgeous for his own good!! Babak-babak dia all jiwang and menangis was like ohhh-emmmm-jeeeee!! And there were chemistry flying alll over the place between alll of them! Ok, i exaggerate but memang matchinglah depa tu...

As for the story line...i know the novelist was a bit upset coz she was not consulted for the adaptation but to be fair i think they tried their best to stick to the book. tak der lah lari jauh sangat...

It was a love story yang i think Malay film producers has forgotten about until now. Ye lah, semua ghairah nak make violent movies based on hantu or mat rempits and gangsters. This was about boy meets girl...they fell in love but family status got in the way...there was tragedy...misundertanding...but the ending was of the fairytale kind...the kind that makes you go aaahhhhhhhh....so, the recipe is complete if you ask me. Tapi i bias laaa buat dek Aaron Aziz tu! hahaha...

The music makes you want to menghayati the movie...makes you cry with the characters...dahla scenery was outstanding... cantik Malaysia ni!

Hmmm...have run out of nice things to say about it...part tak best: too much kissy kissy scenes...tapi bukanlah yang berat-berat so maybe boleh di terima laa...wardrobe is horrid alhtough Maya pulled off looking sexxay in kain batik lepas! Aaron had this horrible looking white shoes which distracted us from his face! and Lisa kept on wearing really wide belts which makes her look out of fashion rather than trendy, actually...and that lady who acted as Aaron's mum - that Azizah Mahzan - her makeup was so horrible that she looked like hantu half the time! hehehe..

Oklah..pegilah tengok and judge sendiri, kawan-kawan. I went with my sister, my dear cousin KakDor (who had doubts but eventually enjoyed herself! hehe) and my two elder daughters who has fallen head over heels for Aaron! they even cried during the touchy-feely scenes!! KakNgah also declared that it was the BEST Malay movie everrrr...until the next one comes along lah!

Things I do not Want to Forget

Blog ni dah usang....sigghhh...

I just want to jot down my latest thoughts...just for my own record. I don't think anyone reads this anymore...siggghhh

A lot has happened in the past year...we moved to our house...our own! a cute single storey bungalow at the edge of Putrajaya! this is it...this is where I will live till the rest of my life...insyaALLAH...

***After so long, i have forgotten my password into this blog! and i've forgotten even the gmail password!! jenuh i menggodak sana sini...went into recovery system and alhamdulillah...am back in!! i hated the thought of "losing" this blog. I have no interest to make a new one...ah well...all is good. i managed to save the blog!

sambung balik..the story of my life...i feel like i have finally grown up since we moved here...difficult to explain but i finally rasa apa yang mak-mak kita rasa, i think. Since the house is tiny i've been baking and cooking quite a bit. and my children, ALLAH swt bless them always...are my profound supporters, enjoying every bit of the dishes i serve them. half the time they refused to eat out and insisted i cooked the meal they want to eat...some of them had even announced that they feel like heaven when they smell my bakings!! all together now...awwwww...

last Aidil Fitri was the highlight of my life...one that i will replay in my mind over and over again for a long time to come, i'd think. You (whoever you are who may be reading this) see, we celebrated Raya eve and morning in our own house. It was made sweetest when all my siblings decided to congregate here the eve of Raya tu. and Abah brought home the group from Surau to takbir in our house!! first time ever! first time in my WHOLE life!! orang datang bertakbir! oh, i feel so grown up then! i didn't exactly know what to do when they came but Abah helped and we managed. I was ever so proud...kesian I kan, umur dah 40 lebih baru nak experience all this!insyaALLAH..this is hoped to be an annual event for us from now on. Lepas sembahyang Raya baru balik kampung. Penat memang penat..the cooking and trying (with minimal success) to put the house in order...tapi tersangaaaaat lah worth it! tersangaaaat la puas hati!

to be continued...hopefully not too long from now! :-))

p.s. this post was completed on 31 October 2011...

Of places and airplanes...

Sejak BossBesau make the ruling that his officers no longer to travel using M$$ but instead fly the cheapest airline on commercial rate, Mumsie finds herself using Qatar Airways quite often...mula-mula dulu macam depress lah jugak sebab no longer travel biz class. But of late Mumsie redha kan ajer...no point complaining. Kerja tetap kena buat and BossBesau tu tetap kena diikut cakap dia selagi dia belum pencen.

So, today (p.s. am now in Doha Airport, waiting for my flight home after a sojourn to Ankara), I find myself appreciating Qatar Air a bit more. It's quite convenient, really. We are checked in through to final destination, so tak worry about luggage at transit points. Airport dia pon ciput jer so no worries about having to walk miles and miles from one terminal to another. Surau dia selesa and clean. Toilet pun selesa and clean. Ada paip air in every cubicle. Air panas pulak tuh. Hehe.

Only one complaint ~ things here are expensive. Burger meal bodo aje pon can cost about rm50!! On certain trips, the connecting flite is hours away (like today ~ I have 5 hours to kill!), so the ciput airport does not help! kalau besar sikit macam Dubai airport tu seronoklah jugak...can cuci mata kat kedai duty free! Hehehe...

Oklah peeps...will now go back to my people watching activity. Macam-macam jenis orang ada!

I Agree with Blogger Usang Lagi Bersawang - NurKasih the Movie tak Best

Mumsie was an ardent (betul ker use of this word kat sini?) follower of Nur Kasih the Series...best giler drama tu...I soooo suker tengok Nur and Adam, especially after they fell in love with each other. Banyak syiok!

So, naturally, when the hype about Nur Kasih the Movie started, Mumsie pun ikut hyper...excited. Nak tengok Nur and Adam melayari bahtera kebahagiaan...nak tumpang syiok laa, basically...but boy, was I disappointed! MEGA disappointed.

Nur and Adam tak happy pun...okey laaa...ada laa a 5 minute scene which showed them happy. But like that Dr Hatim said, 99% of the movie was about the musibah the family had to go through...ooohh maannnnn...anything that could go wrong went wrong for them!! Kesian betul!

Khabir Bhatia and his wife pushed their luck, I would say. Half way, the film ceased to be interesting and we (MakSu and I) began making fun of it and started giggling like idiots. tapi in between tu adalah jugak Mumsie menitiskan airmata...like when the son declared that he misses his mommy (who apparently died in an accident whilst chasing after a kite....like, HOW UNLUCKY ARE YOU GUYS, EH??)...

A lot of other things too that contributed to this being a Tak Best movie for me - I didn't get to get all mushy for Nur and Adam. NOT AT ALL! There wasn't any corny lines which I can quote over and over again..NOT AT ALL!

and the ending...OH EM GEEEE...did they have to make Nur Amina to be an old woman with Alzheimer???

Dear Nin

i present to you snippets of Istanbul....

Inside Aya Sofea...the church that
turned into a mosque and now its
a Museum.
Aya Sofia...

Apparently this place sells the best baklavas...memang sedap sangat!

Inside Topkapi Palace

Entrance to Topkapi Palace

i think this is Suleyman's Mosque...in the middle of the city

The inside of the famous Blue Mosque!

ENtrance to the Blue Mosque...people are seen leaving after friday prayers

My first impression of the Blue Mosque.

Just to thank you for your support to this blog...its comforting that you are around.

Love is in the Air

14th February came and went...big hoo haa about warning Muslims against celebrating valentine's day. Just as well my other half has never bothered...not since day one and never even cared to justify his tak-kisah-ness with the usual line - "I don't need a specific date to tell you that i love you"! Sedih, kan?! But fortunately for him too that Mumsie accepts this part of him unconditionally since day one. Pasrah ajelah...kalau tidak, tak kawin pulak! hahaha!

but on that day, i was blog hopping as per usual and found many love stories. Ada cerita about a lady finding love with someone who's been in front of her for a while already...that was sweet. She has finally accepted the guy and now is busy planning a wedding, i believe, and planning her migration to Australia (I think) to join him once they've tied the knot. I wish her luck.

Ada cerita yang confusing sikit...about a couple handling long-distance love but it seems the lady doesn't have much confidence that the relationship will lead to anywhere in particular...am not sure she's ready to accept that but the relationship has been going on for a while already. I wish her luck too.

Ada jugak cerita about lost loves. sad. I stumbled on a blog which describes the feelings of the writer since losing her husband to an illness last october. Sedih coz she kept writing about how much she misses him still and she has 2 small kids. I really wish her luck and great strength for days to come!

Ada tu writes about her divorce. Hmm...this one susah sikit. I feel for this lady but somehow i just don't think its right for her to be so public about it. whatever she wrote, she should realize it reflects back on her and thats not entirely good. But am not to judge. She'd probably say that its her blog so suka hati dia lah and that i wouldn't know apa yang dia rasa dan lalui. so, i will not judge and i wish her luck...

Last but not least, i really enjoyed reading about Madam Puteri Kama and her daughter saving a mummy cat and her kittens. now, thats LOVE!

Wowwww!!

Wow indeed!! lama betul tak masuk sini...masuk sekadar nak baca balik post lama-lama and reminisce about the good ole times...hehe.

2011 has been hectic, its unbelievable! we moved house just before the new year so since then its been about the unpacking and us making this house a home. Babah and I bought a bungalow just outside Putrajaya. A dream house as far as Mumsie is concerned coz it is single storey! hehehe....Mumsie dah tua...dah tak seronok duduk rumah dua tingkat!

Anyways...slowly but surely we are settling in. Banyak hiccups but we are managing...and we're having loads of fun! we're almost bancrupt but we're having fun! hehehe...

Anak2 pun bikin Mumsie sibuk. ahhhh... when i look at them now, its hard to imagine how i ever lived without them! 2 of my girls are now in secondary school already and both are just about as tall as I am. they are my worst challenge for now and i can only pray that we've put enough sense into them! I must say that i love their company although am not sure they feel the same way coz half the time look like they wished mummy would just do her own thing and leave them alone!

One thing that is changing is the relationship between the four sisters. they seem to be getting along mucccchhhhh better nowadays...Sarah is less temperamental and KNgah seems to be more patient with her! I daresay half the time they even enjoy each other's company!! wooot wooot, i say! so, nowadays, dinner time is always the best time in our house!

Kerja? hmmm...citer pasal kerja tak jadik kerja lah kita....hehehe....

Diary Ankara

Mumsie is in Turkey. For the first time. and my first impression....NOT GOOD!

My first stop is Ankara. Am here for a 3-day meeting. I find orang Turki sombong-sombong. They don't smile much and they are not interested in listening to you. Am generalising, of course but this is the impression given by 90% of the Turks that I've met.

Food...its all meat...meat...and more meat. Eaten with bread...bread and more bread! and apparently they drink a lot of tea. I tried it. Its VERY strong tea drank in a small glass. I've yet to try Turkish coffee. I hear its equally strong.

Ankara is not all that pretty either. no real character. Apparently banyak shopping malls kat sini. Ada 14 of them katanya. I went to one when we first arrive. I like it sebab banyak kedai jual peralatan dapur...pretty things for the kitchen but i didn't buy anything. Nanti berat beg!

To be fair, i enjoyed the visit to Ataturk's meusoleum. and i do like the weather. Its not that cold and its sunny.

So, i'm looking forward to Istanbul. Will be there for a day and a night before flying to Delhi...again!

Qurban

Mumsie was reading Madam desert rose's blog - www.lifeisbydesertrose.blogspot.com - and she opened my mind to the this whole concept of Qurban. It is indeed beyond those who goes for Hajj...beyond those who partakes in the sembelihan and agihan of lembu, kambing and unta...

Qurban is for everyone...at all times...dengan ganjaran yang dijanjikan ALLAH swt...mungkin sebab itu some finds it hard untuk berqurban.

Mumsie is actually simply thinking of my life situation. how I must "qurban" anak2 and suami demi kerja by going far away from them for a long period of time...and how anak2 and suami must berqurban by being independent to support Mumsie's qurban...insyaALLAH...

dan qurban kami is simply through sabar...

exams

so, result UPSR came out last week. Alhamdulillah, my KakNgah scored the As she wanted. with her, in fact with all my children, to me its not about the As. Its about ensuring they get what they want. KakNgah in particular puts herself up there somehow. Mesti nak do better than everyone else...sigghhhh...tapi usaha tak nak lebih! yes Ngah, you know Mummy is right, kan?!

I think i've written before that am not that perihatin kinda mum when it comes to the girls' academic life. Like i told Sarah's teacher when he was trying to comfort me about Sarah kena turun class last year - its OK, cikgu. asalkan anak saya happy and besar nanti dia jaga saya dan tak lari ke lombok, saya sangat bersyukur. turun naik kelas is VERY small matter. hehe...you should have seen the teacher's face!!

So, me not one of those moms yang hantar anak tuition ke hulu hilir. well, simply because we cannot really afford it and because i do not have the patience and energy to send them ke hulu hilir. hehe...am also not one of those yang sit and study with them. I just nag, told them to switch off the TV (but apparently KakLong and KakNgah needs to have the TV on whilst studying!) and study. then i'll go and do whatever it is that i have to do. whether depa really belajar or not after that, i cannot tell. well.... i know they do a little bit, at least.

Anyhoo, thanks to our experience in geneva, i continue to believe academic achievements are not everything. Of course, it makes me damn proud that my girls do well in school but i meant what i said to Sarah's teacher...i just want them to be happy and healthy. Jadi anak2 solehah who will always respect and love Mumsie and Abah!

Hidup Biar Berkat

I believe, firmly, in keberkatan...not just directly from ALLAH swt but also indirectly through ibubapa kita and niat hati kita. therefore i believe, firmly, banyak kejadian and tragedies today adalah akibat tiada keberkatan.

Contohnya, generally negara kita tak boleh maju sebab tak berkat...ditadbir oleh orang yang tak amanah. The couple who ended living under the bridge sebab marriage diorang tak berkat...they married without the parents' blessing. But now that they've patched things up, insyaALLAH all will be well.

So I believe, firmly, setiap yang berlaku...kita mesti sentiasa muhasabah diri and strive for keberkatan.

Amacam, can?

Photoblog

Mumsie tengah rajin nih. I tengok a few people puts up their pixes in photoblogs so I pun tiru! hehehe...problem is, i don't have nice pictures like they do (Yes, Nin, i do envy your pictures!!).

But I'm thinking...tak per...slow-slow laahh, kan?! So, if you want, pi-lah visit mumsiepixes.blogspot.com. Baru ada 2-3 gambar. am going through old albums and starting with favourites of mine. hope you'll enjoy them...feel free to leave comments, especially those that can help improve my pix-taking, OK.

Ralat

Minta maaf..i telah buat tuduhan melulu...

the girl did ask the parents to break off the engagement...parents dia yang tak mau...so, how? lari lorrrr! :-)

Lost girl found

Did you guys read about the girl who went missing after shopping with her fiancee? she was found safe in Bukit Bintang. kononnya she ran away coz she no longer wants to marry the guy and she's too scared to tell her parents.

wow, i'm thinking. why couldn't she tell the truth to her parents? to her mom? kesian dia. tapi kesian parents dia jugak...kesian tunang (or soon to be EX tunang) dia...and kesian polis yang free-free kena spend time and resources to find her all the way sampai ke KL when they should spend all that energy protecting us from real crimes and criminals yang makin hari makin berani menggugat keselamatan kita.

As a mummy, i wouldn't want my girls to ever feel that they cannot talk or discuss things with me. So, to anak-anak Mummy yang membaca blog ini, whatever problems you think you may have - be it about boys (yes, am sure this is/will be one of the MAIN problem)...friends in general...school...life...plese don't think twice about coming to me or Abah. We can always deal with whatever it is together...You know we love you and we will always be there to guide you through life...even bila you all da besar, da kawen and da beranak pinak nanti. Deal? Don't ever do what that stupid girl did, OK?!

Sigghhh...tiba-tiba I miss Bapak all over again. I ALWAYS go to him for my problems....

hey

wow...lama betul tak masuk blog ni although blog orang lain i still masuk regularly, almost daily! but i've been too lazy to write!

macam mana boleh rajin pulak tonite ek? hehe...am not sure, actually. its not that i have anything in particular to write about. nothing particularly exciting and/or interesting to report and/or record here.

Ah well...i'll think of something to write about soon. this entry is just to "break the silence". can?