BYE BYE 2014, HELLO 2015

Hari terakhir di tahun 2014.

2014 yang penuh dengan pelbagai peristiwa.

Yang gembira, yang suka, yang duka, yang hiba.

It has been a challenging but interesting year.

2015

Tahun baru, harapan baru.

Azam baru? Tak ada. Azam lama pun tak buat.

But my theme for 2015

LESS IS MORE

I want to:

Eat less, exercise more

Travel less, read more

Spend less, save more

LOOKING FORWARD TO 2015

 

SEMANGAT HARIMAU MALAYA

Sabtu lepas, atas permintaan my girls, gigih mummy dan papanya pergi Stadium Bukit Jalli tengak final Piala AFF Suzuki.

Our first time tengok bola kat stadium.

Sampai stadium, orang dah penuh. En ID turunkan kami dan pergi cari parking. Pukul 7.45 malam baru kami masuk stadium. Masa tu dah penuh dah stadium. Dah tak ada tempat duduk dah.

The girls dapat good spot untuk berdiri kat railing. Saya pergi nak cari tempat duduk untuk diorang tapi diorang dah tak nak beralih dah. Good view kat situ katanya. Kebetulan ada orang kasi satu kerusi belakang tempat diorang berdiri tu, maknya di duduk je lah kat situ. Bukan minat nak tengok sangat pun. Nak kasi experience kat budak budak tu saja.

Tapi, suasana stadium tu memanglah meriah. Suasana tu saja boleh menaikkan semangat mak cik yang tak minat bola ni untuk sama sama berdiri dan bersorak bila Malaysia score gol. You can see how sports unite Malaysian. Melayu, Cina, India semua sama sama bersemangat menyokong Harimau Malaya.Bila Malaysia score gol, bergegar stadium tu. Dengan pukulan gendang and sorakan dari Ultras Malaya, we feel so proud to be Malaysian.

Seronok dengar ramai coach coach tambahan yang duduk kat keliling tu menjerit mengarahkan player pergi sana, lari sini, kejar bola. Terjerit jerit diorang macam la player tu boleh dengar. Tapi diorang memang fanatik lah. Memang bersemangat. Sungguh bersemangat sesetengah orang sampai ada yang bawak baby yang saya rasa dalam umur 4 ke 5 bulan pergi stadium tu. Elok pulak baby tu tidur dalam gegak gema orang bersorak.

We lost but overall it was a great game.

To Harimau Malaya... you are still the CHAMPION!!!!

It was a nice experience for us yang tak pernah tengok bola sebelum ni. Mungkin boleh pergi lagi lepas ni lah.

 

OF EXAM AND ACHIEVEMENT

Ms A dapat result PT3 semalam. 9A 1B. B untuk Kemahiran Hidup.

To us, it is an excellent result. To her, it is not good enough. She was expecting a straight A's.

We talked to her and by afternoon ok dah dia.

Kadang kadang, as much as we want our kids to strive for their best, kita kena ingatkan jugak tentang qada dan qadar. Tentang rezeki dan ketentuan Allah.

With Ms A, I can talk to her like an adult. Kami boleh bercerita tentang realiti kehidupan. In life, we sometimes don't get what we want. Sometimes we tried but we still don't succeed. But we must try anyway. Sometimes in our life, people will hurt us, will fail us but be nice always. Life has its ups and downs. Sentiasa ingat, ALLAH ada.

Kadang kadang, achievement buat kita lupa. Buat kita mendabik dada. Jadi, Allah tarik sikit nikmat supaya kita sentiasa ingat. To keep our feet on the ground.

Every children is special in their own way. As parents, kita doakan yang terbaik untuk mereka di dunia dan di akhirat.

To all PT3 babies.... congratulations!!!!!!



 

BIBIK

Pejam celik pejam celik..... dah sebulan dah MyBibik balik cuti. And today is the day she suppose to come back. ETA 10 malam ni.

 

Bibik has been with us for almost 9 years. She joined the household when Ms M was 2. Then after 6 years, she decided to go back for good. For the next one and a half year, we had 2 helpers. After sending home the second maid, MyMama decided to call Bibik and asked her to come back and work with us again. Bibik and MyMama memang rapat and I think she decided to return because of her. She came back in Nov 2012 and has been with us since.

 

Contrary to many believe that kalau ada bibik, semua benda dari kemas rumah, masak hingga jaga anak serah pada bibik, that is not true for us. Bibik main task when we hired her back in 2004 is to take care of the kids. To ensure the kids safety at home. Ini termasuk keadaan rumah mesti sentiasa bersih.

 

At that time, Ms M was 2 and Ms A was 5 and went to kindy in the morning. I made her work timetable in detail. What to do at what time. She has to ensure rumah siap kemas before Ms M bangun sebab bila Ms M dah bangun, 100% attention is to her. Dah la Ms M ni tak reti duduk diam. She doesn't have to cook and she will do laundry only when we're back from office.

 

Bila my girls dah besar, I start ajar dia masak for the kids' lunch. But most of the time I still cook for them. I still prepare dinner until now.

 

Alhamdulillah, MyBibik ringan tangan. Rajin nak mencuba resepi baru dari buku buku resipi yang saya belikan. Kadang kadang tanya Ms M makan apa for lunch... ayam percik dia kata. Wah.... pandai bibik buat ayam percik. Kadang kadang dia buat doughnut, seri muka, sardin roll untuk teatime Ms M.

 

Bibik rajin berkebun jugak and she has green fingers. Apa yang dia tanam menjadi. Cili api, serai, bendi, pucuk ubi, kunyit even halia pun ada tanam kat belakang rumah. And my small garden at the porch area is well taken care of.

 

We never have problem with laundry. Semua settle. Bibik gosok semua baju yang basuh termasuk la baju tidur and t shirt budak budak tu.

 

After working with us for many years, she knows what to do. Ada saja benda yang dia akan buat. Tukar langsir, tukar cadar, lap tingkap, cuci kereta, sapu sawang, lap dinding... semua tak perlu dibagi tahu. Sebab tu, in her spare time kalau dia nak tengok tv pun saya tak kisah. Sebab saya tahu dia dah buat apa yang dia patut buat. Lebih lebih lagi, with Ms A kat asrama now, tinggal Ms M saja kat rumah. Jadi Bibik ada lebih masa terluang.

 

We are quite liberal with Bibik. Dia boleh cuti bila bila dia nak. Dia boleh ada phone. Dia boleh keluar. Kalau tak nak masak dan saya tak sempat masak, dia boleh beli saja kat restoren dekat rumah tu. Tapi alhamdulillah, setakat ni dia tidak pernah lagi mengambil peluang atas kebebasan yang diberi. Dia jarang nak cuti, adalah 3 bulan sekali. Dia tak suka bersembang atau keluar rumah tapi saya akan suruh dia keluar kalau budak budak tu nak main di taman permainan. The kids cannot go out if Bibik is not with them.

 

I have my fair share of maid from hell too. Dari yang lari, yang menipu, yang melawan sampai lah yang menjual diri jadi prostitute dalam rumah pun saya pernah alami. But I want to count my blessings, not my misfortune. So, I thank Allah for sending us this Bibik.

 

And how was our life without Bibik for the last one month? Ok saja. Alhamdulillah, the girls dah boleh diharap. Boleh sidai baju, angkat baju and lipat baju. Ms A can cook simple meal using airfyer or even the stove. Boleh basuh pinggan sendiri and make their own bed. May be normal tasks for other kids but since these 2 girls dah biasa ada bibik, I'm so proud to see them being able to do the chores when bibik is not around.

 

Kalau bibik tak balik malam ni macam mana? Life goes on.... Things happen for a reason and we will accept it anyway. InsyaAllah...... she will be here.

 

 

 

PLANNING FOR 2015

Dah nak akhir tahun 2014. And its time to plan for 2015.

2015, Ms M will be in Form 1. New experience. New school for her.

2015, Ms A will sit for her ICGSE O Level exam.

So plannya....










TAK DE PLAN LAGI..... hahahaha

We go with the flow saja lah.

 

HALAL FOOD HONG KONG

There are a lot of halal food  outlets in Hong Kong actually but since I usually stay around Wanchai and Causeway Bay area, I will only go to the same place near Wanchai Road.

 

I know in there is also a mosque near Kowloon area, at Nathan Road and I'm sure there will be halal food around that area.

 

Once I went to Prada Space outlet in Aberdeen and there is an Asian grocery shop in the shopping mall nearby that sells noodles and can food from Malaysia and Indonesia which is halal.

 

ISLAMIC CENTRE CANTEEN

 

This halal canteen is located at Hong Kong Islamic Centre which is inside Masjid Ammar. Its in Wanchai area. If you walk along Hennessy Road from Causeway Bay, you will come across Wanchai Road. At the junction of Wanchai Road, there is a halal pizza kiosk. Walk uphill and you will see another halal reataurant named Istanbul on your right. Masjid Ammar is at Oi Kwan Road and it is actually at the back of Wanchai Road.

 

 

Masjid Ammar and Osman Ramju Sadick Islamic Centre. (Bertabah la tengok gambar terbalik ni. Tak tahu lah cemane nak betul kan....)

 

The signboard of the canteen

 

 

Inside the canteen.

 

 

The menu

 

 

 

 

Dimsum is served from morning to 3pm only. Then the canteen will be closed and reopen at 6pm till 9pm

 

 

My favourite, Chili Chicken

 

 

Wantan Soup

 

 

Black Pepper Beef

 

 

Sweet and Sour Chicken

 

 

Dimsum

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The portion is big and enough for 3 to 4 person.

 

Sebab saya memang suka Chinese food, tiap tiap hari saya datang makan kat sini. And its just walking distance from my office and the hotel I usually stay. And lepas makan, boleh solat berjemaah di masjid sekali. There are a lot of Indonesian domestic helpers kat masjid ni datang solat and belajar agama.

 

And a glimpse of Hong Kong

 

 

View of the bay from my office

 

The bay at night.

 

 

 

 

 

View from my hotel room

 

There is also Popeye's Restaurant at the airport which is halal. Tapi agak tersorok sikit tempatnya.

 

 We'll be in Jakarta this Thursday. Tak sabar nak makan nasi padang pulak......

 

 

 

 

NOVEMBER YANG PANTAS BERLALU

Dah masuk December dah. November seems so short.

 

I was in Hong Kong in early November for meeting. My company's regional office is in Hong Kong and because of that, I will travel to Hong Kong several times a year for meeting. But, I'm definitely not an expert if people ask me about Hong Kong. Because usually it will be work, eat, sleep, repeat. Malas nak jalan jalan.

 

Coming back from Hong Kong, I suppose to go to Kuching but have to postpone the trip sebab banyak kerja nak kena settlekan. One thing I like about my current job is I can choose my travelling schedule in most cases.

 

Only one week in office and off to attend training for 3 days.

 

Start cuti sekolah and MyBibik balik cuti for a month. Lagi lah hectic hidup. The last week of November I have to go to Singapore for a week. Since MyBibik pun tak ada, bawak both my girls to Singapore sekali. So their holiday destination for this cuti sekolah is to follow mummy kerja. They kind of enjoy living in a suitcase. Jadi nomad tukar 3 hotels. At first, I have a meeting in Changi area, so we stay in a hotel in Changi for 4 days. Then, its weekend and we move to Hard Rock Hotel in Sentosa Island. Ada la masa sikit nak layan budak budak tu kat Sentosa. Pergi Trick Eye Museum, Siloso Beach, pusing pusing the island. This time tak pergi Universal Studios sebab dah 2 kali dah pergi.

 

On Sunday, we move to another hotel near my office in Beach Road and stay for another 2 nites. Tuesday baru balik KL.

Dengan laundry yang menggunung, tiba tiba washing machine pulak rosak. Nice....... So, tiap malam la pergi self service laundry now. Until we decide which washing machine to buy.

Its December and I was hoping for a quiet month. Me and En ID will be going to Jakarta for a short getaway this Thursday. The girls will have to tumpang rumah MyMama sekejap.

MyBibik should be back next Friday. Hopefully.......

 

BANGALORE

Lepas Hyderabad, balik sini seminggu then saya ke Bangalore pula.

The last time I was in Bangalore was like 6 years ago. I remembered masa sampai tu malam, jalan gelap. Cuak la jugak entah mana la taxi ni bawak. Bila hari siang, baru nampak bandarnya.

Masa tu Bangalore was so dusty, kotor. Heran gak, ini ke IT Valley nya. A lot of construction going on. Kereta lembu pun ada tengah bandar tu. Ramai nampak orang berkaki ayam je jalan. And ramai orang yang berenti ditepi jalan, buang air tepi semak. Selamba saja

Tapi, kali ni, bila tiba di Bangalore, the first surprise is airportnya.. Wow... new airport. Besar and canggih.

Then, jalanraya dah besar. Ada elevated hiway. Ada metro (mcm LRT tu). I was so in awe, macam rusa masuk kampung pulak pandang kiri kanan.

Bangalore has really developed leaps and bounds. Bandar dah teratur, banyak bangunan tinggi. And a lot of shopping malls. Its everywhere. And they sell a lot of branded stuffs.

I stayed in JW Marriot and sebelah tu ada UB City Mall where boutiques such as LV, Ferragamo, Burberry are there. Wow...!!!!! I even saw Lamborgini show room kat sana. Siapa lah yang bawak lamborgini tu??????

We went to one of the big hospital kat situ. And unlike the one we visited in Hyderabad, this hospital is like our private hospital here or may put some of the private hospital here to shame in terms of cleanliness and facilities.

Bangalore has really developed in the last 6 years.

Food... sama jer macam kat Hyderabad. The famous halal restaurant here is Empire Restaurant. They are actually a hotel chain with restaurant on the ground floor. They also have a take away kiosks and outlets in food courts in shopping malls.

After spending 2 weeks in India this month, I had enough of Indian food. Balik sini cari sup ayam and chinese food pulak.

Alhamdulillah... no more travelling this month. Boleh duduk office, buat kerja yang tak pernah habis ni. November will be another hectic travelling month. Semoga dipermudahkan Allah segala urusan. Amin.


 

HYDERABAD - THE FOOD

What I look forward to whenever in India is the food. The authentic Indian food. And these were my indulgence while in Hyderabad

The breakfast at the hotel was superb.

 

The menu

 

Tiap pagi kena minum masala tea dulu.

 

Tosai bawang

Puri



 

Paratha stuffed with potato

 

Idli

 

Vadai

 

Tosai stuffed with potato

 

Masala Uttapam

The biryani for lunch

 

 

 

Lepas makan kena makan jintan salut gula ni.

 

 



 

 

Not in pictures are the variety of rotis and nans and curry yang bermacam macam jenis

 

For dinner, we went to this bbq restaurant called Barbeque Nation.

 

 

 

Makan makan makan.

 

Some of the halal restaurant in Bangalore is Paradise Biryani - very famous tapi too spicy for me. Pista House - sedap and have good selection of food. Hyderabad House - sedap tapi tak banyak choice, Barbeque Nation - buffet with bbq as starter and wide range of food at the buffet line. Harga makanan amat amat berpatutan. Dan potion sangat besar. Diorang punya single portion of biryani boleh makan 3 orang okey!!!!

 

Bak kata my friend bila tengok posting kat insta.... kau ni pergi kerja ke pergi makan?

 

Another round of Indian food next week. Hah...!!!!!!



 

HYDERABAD

I was in Hyderabad for a week last week. For work of course.

 

Nak pergi India kena ada visa. Kalau dulu, suruh aje travel agent buatkan. Tapi now, dia impose biometric requirement, so kena pergi sendiri. Punyalah leceh nak buat visa nya. Kena buat online dulu. Macam macam benda dia mintak. Lepas tu, print the online form and hantar ke visa centre. Visa centre nya nun kat Lebuh Pasar Besar tengah tengah KL tu. Yang menambahkan stressnya, a week before India trip tu, kena gi Singapore so memang ada 3 hari saja untuk buat visa and collect passport before my trip to Singapore.

 

My first time in Hyderabad. Sebelum ni pernah ke India tapi ke Bangalore and Goa.

 

Hyderabad dari pemerhatian saya, lebih teratur dan modern dari Bangalore dan Goa. Juga lebih bersih.

 

Majoriti orang Hyderabad adalah orang Islam so makan tak de masalah

 

Hyderabad terkenal dengan biryani nya tapi a bit too spicy for me.

 

As part of my work, I have to visit one cancer hospital. A private charity hospital. Dia ada patients yang bayar and ada patients yang charity organization yang bayar.

 

If people here complaint about keadaan government hospital kat Malaysia ni, wait till you go to India.

 

Kat hospital yang saya pergi tu, patients lelaki dan perempuan duduk sama bilik. Langsir in between katil pun tak de. When asked the local people, diorang cakap that is normal in India. No emergency button. Tak de button nak panggil nurse  tu sumer. Tapi saya pernah pergi ke Manipal Hospital in Bangalore and the condition is much better than this hospital. Mungkin sebab ini charity hospital so they can only provide basic needs to patients.

 

Interesting to find, birth certificate kat India only implemented in recent years. And apparently , tak mandatory. Kalau lahir kat hospital, hospital akan registerkan birth tu kat Kementerian Kesihatan dan Kementerian Kesihatan akan issue birth cert. Kalau lahir kat rumah or kampung kampung, so tak de lah birth cert.

 

Saya tanya juga, kalau nak sekolah macam mana? Nak masuk sekolah tak payah birth cert. Sekolah kat India juga tak percuma. And to go to school is expensive. So kalau parents to ada duit masa umur 6 tahun, masuk la sekolah umur 6 tahun. Kalau masa 10 tahun baru parents ada duit, masuk la umur 10 tahun. Jadi dalam satu kelas yang sama, umur murid muridnya mungkin tak sama lah. I did not go to the school but this is what being told by the locals.

 

Banyak tempat tempat menarik kat Hyderabad. Saya rasa bagi orang yang suka ambik gambar, Hyderabad is a nice place to visit. Bukan sebab pemandangan or nature tapi you can captured a lot of life story from the pictures you take. Very interesting.

 

So... inilah Hyderabad dari lensa iphone saya. hehehehehe