You Know You're In Malaysia When.....

You know you're in Malaysia when pakciks old enough to be your father calls you kakak.

You know you're in Malaysia when every kilometer or so, you gotta fork out coins to pay the toll.

You know you're in Malaysia when ladies are so particular about donning the tudung, but hey, it's perfectly ok to wear capped sleeves and show more skin especially by wearing low necklines and even lower rise jeans.

You know you're in Malaysia when you're in a major department during the Christmas season surrounded by Zara, Prada, Coach, Tod's, Gucci and more and yet Lovehunters' music wafts through the air.

You know you're in Malaysia when you're along a major expressway and on a road sign, you see ' RESTORAN AH CIK, IKUT KIRI'

You know you're in Malaysia when you're in a restaurant and gets served only 1 glass of water when there's obviously the 2 of you.

You know you're in Malaysia when you have to ask 3 people before you get 2 slices of lemon.

You know you're in Malaysia when after the water and lemon fiasco, they still screw up your bill.

You know you're in Malaysia when it cost 20 cents for a third person to sit in a cab and 40 cents for a fourth.

But.... if MBB gets posted there, I'll be so the happy. Almost everything is Halal you!

Say Cheese!

I found me a new toy to tinker with this hols! It has gotten me ooh-so-excited!! Espcially after that very UNsatisfying photoshop affair...I had actually thought you'd have to own a polaroid to do this but guess what? You DON'T!! Like the collage? That's my first product. So cool!!

On a different note, I managed to convince MBB to let me whisk him away for a short getaway. Just to say thanx for tolerating my countless mood swings and whinings and crying and being depressed... I love him to bits that man.Thanx for taking the time out Ayang...the 2.2 thingy was also a contributing factor lah. If got time but no money, also no point, no?

Lovely Cuppies

I got these for my nieces' birthday. They are absolutely yummy!! The previous ones I got had hard icing. But these had soft soft icing that just complements the not so sweet cake bit of the cuppy. So sedap!! Anyone interested, go visit her very happy website.

An Update

I'm on my year end break now. Many, many things have happened since. Some good, some, well.... not so.

The PSLE results came out. My kids did very well. As a class, we scored 6A* and 26 As. I am truly truly proud of them. I think our hard work paid off guys! Can't say the same for 3 of my Higher Malay kids though. Sigh... They should have listened to me when I told them to drop it. Aaargh!!

My niece who is in P1 has managed to score Band 1 in all her subjects! Very,very proud of her. So in conjunction with her birthday, we bought her Mary Jane Crocs and a cllection of well loved Ladybird series books. She must've been upset with the books coz she was more interested in the pink bow we had stuck on the books.

At least they were excited about the crocs. MBB got me a pair too!! I like... makes me feet look very girl.

Then I went on a night tour. With Datin Paduka Baginda. We went to Mt Faber, Esplanade, Mustaffa Centre. Then we had shiok supper of satay and chicken rice at Lau Pa Sat. Then we went vegetable shopping at the Pasir Panjang Wholesale. Let me tell you, it was an experience. It was wonderful. We got to buy very very fresh vegetables at very very cheap prices. It was really fresh. Though I got the impression that the sellers were not too happy with selling such a small quantity of vegetables to us. Heh. What made it worse was that I forgot to take pictures. So busy with my veg, I was. Then we went to Jurong Fishery Port. Horror stories of how smelly it was gonna be preceded the place. But when we got there, safe for few sections outside the main market, it didn't smell at all. The sight that met me gave me quite a shock. There were hundreds of huge fish that was very neatly arranged on the floor! There were bins after bins of fish and prawns. They were quite cheap. I bought a kilo of prawns and ikan kembung. Incidentally, my ikan kembung has already been used to make my very successful ikan sumbat sambal. Heh. After marketing, we ended our night... err.. morning at Al-Azhar with prata and drinks. We also tried to figure out if the people at the table next to ours were loan sharks as in thepeople who actually owns the money. As it turned out, Datin saw one of them peeing by the side of the road. Heh.

Know Them

I read this at PostSecret. It's quite scary when you realise that the person behind the voice might be that very quiet student of yours. Simply because the fella is well behave and presents no behavioural problem whatsoever even when taunted by friends, does not mean the fella is coping well. Although it actually might, but it can also mean thatt the fella is afraid to speak up. In my line of work, I have to constantly remind myself to KNOW my pupils.

Georgia On My Mind

See that girl in white? I miss her. Terribly. Especially during the Raya season like this. Wished she was here. If she were, I could've gone and gotten me some kuih tetek. I know, Don't Ask! But them kuihs are damned shiok. Actually I miss her whole family lah.

Introduction's in order I guess... The guy behind her is her laling husband, Sean. The young girl in front of her is Elza, her cousin. The gorgeous lady seated in front is Aunty Suliah with Aaron and Leslie. They are gorgeous kids aren't they? Although their mommy calls them monsters. What goes around comes around lah babe.... you also monster what.... heh.

I'm really looking forward to their coming down in May. She had better come and see me..... If finances allow, maybe MBB and I can follow you home eh?

I See You!

We got ourselves a web cammie! So fun! Now I can talk to Has AND see her all the way in Athens. Hooray!! We spent quite some time being silly. The cammie also has a photo function. Sekali sekala perangai macam budak kecik tu macam seronok kan? Thanx Ayang for getting me the cammie! I absolutely love it!

Things That Make You Go Hmmm

Some people are just so unprofessional.

Something Meaningful

Read this today while waiting for buka. Very meaningful I thought. So share lah...

“Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts.

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit,

not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,

and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.

Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;

For even as He loves the arrow that flies,

so He loves also the bow that is stable.”

~khalil gibran

on children.

the prophet, 1923

So Happy!

I just found out during the marking exercise that the great big soon-to-be-opened IKEA at Tampines will have a HALAL restaurant!!

I finally get to eat Swedish Meatballs after years of whiffs. Had even considered going to Dubai for a taste. Now, no need lah.... Hurray!!

Cannot wait. IKEA Tampines, better, faster open soon ok?

So Penat!

It's day 2 of the PSLE marking. After 2 days of sitting down for 2-3 hours on end, my butt has officially lost it's loving feeling. I'm tired.

And I still have 2 days to go.

Sigh...

So Sedap!

I brought MBB here on Wednesday for Iftar. The great concept design, excellent food, efficient service made MBB's dining experience very the truly pleasureable. Too bad about the price though. Had to dig deep into my pockets. At $58+++ a pop, I kept insisting that MBB ate our money's worth. Usually at $38+++, the price was increased with the inclusion of a Middle Eastern/Mediterranean spread for the Ramadhan Buffet.

There was a great variety of fare available. More than the lunch spread apparently. Throughout dinner MBB was trying to explain to me why he felt the price was so. It was all about the ingredients he said. I had to agree lah. They used the freshest raw stuff to prepare their food. From the lamb chops to the Min Chiang Kueh to the coconut sorbet. They were so sedap.

The Mid.East/ Mediterranean spread was interesting. While most dishes came with names I had never heard of, they had the better known shawarma, falafel, humus and stuff like that. They also had something that I had ony heard of. They had Babaganoush. I was tickled pink when I read the name.It was actually a thick sauce of eggplant, sesame seeds, tahini, olive oil, lemon, and garlic. While I was excited to finally find out what babaganoush was, I was not too keen to taste it. It looked quite gross. Heh. I also had Buddha Jumps Over The Wall. That was a first for me too. How it tasted? Hmmm..... it was alright I guess. I liked the stock it was cooked in. Very fresh.

Well, we are looking forward to going there again, in November when my SIL celebrates her birthday. She's finally gonna get to eat her duck. Yaay!!

I hoped MBB enjoyed dinner and I think he did. If his purring everytime I rubbed his...... err.....tum tum was anything to go by, I think he definitely did.

* WINK *

C'est La Vie

I have a craving for this.

Aren't they just gorgeous. Ayang, maybe this weekend we'll do grilled seafood for Iftar, yes? I like the fasting month. Apart from the miniscule and however negligible weight loss, this fasting month actually makes most Muslim families sit down together to break fast. Something the Chinese folks have been practising for ages. It's a wonderful thing, sit down dinners. Brings the family close if not closer. Family members talk about each other's day, what their highs and lows of the day were, basically just communicating. How nice.

For me, breaking fast could have been a terrible experience. While I'm in Chicago ( read: Choa Chu Kang ), MBB's in Tasmanania ( read: Tampines ) Hehe... Well, it might as well have been Chicago and Tanzania since we're not together. Luckily I have my mummy. She is Godsend. Despite her dialysis, she still will preapare food for us. Great food by the way.... On most days I will be at her place breaking fast with her and my baby sister. Sometimes it upsets me that MBB breaks his fast at his desk in his office with just a cup of coffee and an OCK curry puff. So it is that tomorrow, MBB and I will have our first buka out together! I am excited. Feels a little like going on a first date...

Some people should learn to appreciate their families more. Some others should be thankful for having easy lives and wonderful families and NOT rub it in our faces. I have come to a realization that I actually do know some really conceited, I'm-better-than-you-I-have-everything-You will-never-have-anything kind of people. Well, c'est la vie. I'm just thankful for my life.

Drowning

I'm so overwhelmed it's difficult to breathe.

I need a breather.

I need a break. Especially from some people.

I need something to happen to restore my faith in people who the kids call T-E-A-C-H-E-R.

Please, let it be soon.

All I Have To Do Is Dream

Where: At my desk, in my study
When: Abt 1.45 am
What: 3 stacks of mock exam papers staring me in the eye.

Instead of finishing the compo strewn all in front of me, courtesy of my fan, I decided to berangan ( Malay for building sandcastles in the air.) So I started surfing the internet. Note to self : NEVER have the laptop set up when piles of marking are just waiting to be marked. Anyhoo, then I thought, what car do I want when I eventually get 1? So off to car manufacturers' websites I surfed. Then I saw this and immediately fell in love.

Drool............

Ramadhan Is Coming

The fasting month is barely a week away. I like this month-long abstinence from food glorious food. It not only gives my digestive system a rest, it'll also give my purse a break. I have come to a realisation that I spend A LOT of moolah on food. I also like it as it will make my blood sugar readings really low. Explains why I like seeing my GP for my diabetes assessment during this period. Heh. This month-long refrain from food also will make me lose some weight..... I think maybe I will document my weight loss progress when the fasting starts....

Came across this poster announcing the coming of Ramadhan. I really like it.

For the uninitiated, in the Islamic faith, Satan, said to be the root of all evil, will return to hell for a vacation during the month of Ramadhan. So whatever wrongdoings and sins committed by Muslims in this month, will be credited fully to themselves.

Well, to all my soon to be fasting friends.... Happy Fasting!!

Pot unLucky

Bringing food to a potluck is always a gamble. This weekend, my pot, was really unlucky. Excpet for MBB, no one else touched it. Notwithstanding my rather yummy pasta, no one touched it. It then occured to me that one should just be minutely courteous and just 'taste' it. Rasa je. Nevermind that I had spent about 3 hours prepring the damnned pasta. It would be nice to just acknowledge my efforts by taking some of it and putting it on your plate and then just poke it around with your fork. You don't even have to actually eat it.

So much for courtesy.

With that they have catapulted themselves into a whole new playing field, The Out Laws.

Sigh...Mr Kerby Got The Best Of Me

The rain, the nerves, ooh the nerves, the fever and the diarrhea all got to me.

Then again, no excuses. I did do the KERBY. While inside some more..... chet!

Ok. 3 months to go.

It's Just Nerves

6 is the number of times I could not breathe.

4 is the number of times I crapped.

4 is also the number of times I almost vomitted.

2 is the number of times I actually did.

I have never been THIS nervous.

Tsk tsk tsk tsk.

Butterfly Flutter By

I am nervous.

The diarrhoea, the crampy stomach sure as hell are not helping. You know the feeling you get when your teacher says "See me after school!" during the first period? That horrid sense of foreboding, not knowing what punishment will be meted out to you? Double, no quadruple that and you'll know how exactly how I feel.

I wonder if the fella will let me stop to crap.