AFTER ONE MONTH...............

Dah sebulan Bibik balik. How are we coping? So far ok. Buktinya... berat badan makin naik, bukan makin turun sebab kena buat kerja rumah! hahahahaha............

To avoid stress due to change in lifestyle, buat apa yang mampu saja. The house may not as clean as before but what the heck. We are happy anyway.

We have cleaning lady coming every Saturday to clean the house.
Baju yang nak kena iron hantar laundry semua.

We eat out most of the time for dinner. But I cook in the morning for the girls lunch and Ms M requested for a bento box for her lunch. Masa tak de bibik ni lah dia nak bento box. But mummy is more than happy to prepare her lunch box.

Overall, we are happy with the arrangement now. We may stay bibik-less if everything goes well.

But I really really need a holiday. Please.....

 

BYE BYE BIBIK

My maid of 10 years is going back for good next week. Life will be different definitely. And since we plan not to hire a new maid anymore, we have started making some changes starting a few month back to anticipate our maid less life.

 

I think we will be ok without a maid. There are a lot of working women out there who can manage without a maid. But may be because we've been having maid since Ms A was born, some 16 years ago, the thought of not having someone to help you with the housewhole chores is quite nerve wrecking hahahahaha.....

 

The thing is, not only me but also En ID has concerned about life without maid. Can we cope? YES we can. Hopefully......

 

In anticipation of a maid less life, we have:

1. Move Ms M to a private school. Because in her previous school, she has to go to school in the morning for co curriculum, then come back at 10am, then go again at 12.30pm for classes. With no one at home, we are worried to leave her alone at home and to manage all by herself. So we move her to a private school where she will be at school from 7.30am to 5pm. (Yes... Ms M is 13 but I'm an over protective mum yang sentiasa over worried about so many thing.....)

2. Built a patio and fenced up the backyard. Senang nak sidai baju tak kena hujan. And the fence is to prevent our cats from wondering outside or outside cats to come in and pop at the lawn.

3. Buy easy to use kitchen gadget macam airfyer, noxxa cooker. Minimize kerja kerja nak membersihkan dapur lepas masak.

 

Frankly, after reading a few blogs of working mums with no maid, I feel more confident. I don't think it would be that difficult. Its just 3 of us at home. Ramai orang lain yang anak masih kecik and ramai pun boleh cope. Siap boleh masak or ambik tempahan baking lagi. May be it would be difficult for a start but life will be ok after a while.

 

To my bibik, thank you so much for your 10 years with us. You'll surely be missed. Semoga bibik diberi kesihatan yang baik dan dilindungi Allah di dunia dan di akhirat. Terima Kasih Bibik

 

 

Ms A with Bibik. We went to visit Ms A yesterday so she can say good bye to bibik.

 

 

 

28 Ramadhan

Its almost the end of Ramadhan of 2015.

 

How was the Ramadhan this year for us? It was a quiet one. I always love bulan puasa. I feel very peaceful. And I feel this year, it passed by so fast. 2 more days and its Hari Raya already.

 

I think this year, I am more organised. Be it for Ramadhan month and also for Hari Raya celebration. I planned properly what to buy, how much to spend, avoid impulse buying, and avoid last minute shopping so tak membazir.

 

For buka puasa, I cooked most of the day. Small portion. We don't usually eat nasi with lauk. Just simple meal like noodles, soto or cucur udang. Sahur baru makan nasi. Itupun, although with small portion, my fridge is full with left over lauk.

 

For the first time in many years, we did not go to pasar ramadhan Stadium Shah Alam. Dulu, tiap tahun mesti kena pergi sekali pasar ramadhan Stadium Shah Alam, Pasar Ramadhan Taman Tun, Pasar Ramadhan Seksyen 14 and a few other famous pasar ramadhan. But this year, I think we only went to the one near our house twice, once to the one in Kota Damansara and once to pasar ramadhan in Greenwood when buka puasa rumah mama.

 

For Hari Raya, I buy most cookies from the usual suppliers. Only managed to make Krispy Almond / Florentine Biscuit last 2 days. Baju raya awal awal dah tempah. Guna saja kain kain yang dah ada dalam simpanan. I bought a few sarees from my last trip to India. And a few kain cotton bought in Arab Street during my frequent visit to Singapore. Sebelum kain ni semua reput dalam almari, baik la di hantar tempah.

 

Work wise, I did not travel anywhere during fasting month. Alhamdulillah, my boss understand and I can arrange my own travelling schedule. However, I think I'm slacking and so unproductive puasa kali ni. Macam beku otak tak leh nak pikir. Slow sikit lah... haishhhh!!!!!

 

Last Friday was Ms M last day in her current school. We're moving her to a private school which will commence in September. So in the meantime, she is so very happy duduk rumah tak buat apa.

 

As for Ms A, she'll be sitting for her IGSCE this October. Stressful for her and equally stressful for mommy too. Semoga Allah permudahkan semua urusan dia. We support her where we can. At the end, we believe in rezeki dan ketentuanNya.

 

Till then, Selamat Berpuasa ( for hari ni and esok) and Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri. Maaf Zahir dan Batin

SAWADIKAA BANGKOK

Ini cerita 2 months ago actually. After meeting in Vientiane ended on Friday, I had an audit to do in Bangkok. So, instead of going back to KL then go Bangkok on Sunday, I went straight to Bangkok on Saturday from Vientiane.

I always love Bangkok because of the food. So, lets talk about the FOOD!!!!!

Dulu dulu, my favorite spot will be Mak Yah Restaurant. Its near Ratchadewi BTS station. Tapi this time pergi, dah tutup!!!! And I don't know where there moved to.

I started savouring my Thai food at the airport during my transit to Vientiane. There is a halal food outlet inside the airport. Nama apa lupa dah.

 

Green curry chicken yang sangat sedap. Cost THB 300.

(Yes.. expensive... harga food airport la kan...)

Since Mak Yah dah tutup, I tried a new place located at Sukhumvit 22.

Usman Thai Muslim Food

Nice ambient. Very friendly owner yang pandai cakap melayu

I had tomyam seafood and nasi with daging goreng kunyit. Memang sedap and harga pun berpatutan

The next day, which was Sunday I went to Chatuchak Weekend Market, a must if you go to Bangkok. Walaupun tempat tu sesak dan panas, there's always interesting thing you'll find there.

Saffron. Murah sangat.... not sure if it is truly saffron so I didn't buy it

 

For lunch, I stopped at a small stall in the middle of the market named Kahjak Restaurant. I tried catfish with basil leaf. Something different which I didn't regret. Sedap sangat....

 

 

  

Catfish with basil leaf.

Tak de rupa keli. Semua dah dihancurkan. 

 

And a glass of Thai ice tea....

 



And I tried different food everyday while in Bangkok

 

Orange juice by the road side near Central World

 

 

Phad Thai at Faridah Fathonee near where Mak Yah Restaurant used to be.

 

Pulut Mangga at food court in Platinum Mall

 

Green Curry Chicken at Usman

 

Kangkung goreng at Usman

This is another halal food outlet at the airport located near the prayer room.

I came back from Bangkok with an extra weight as usually.......................

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Ms M

Today is Ms M 13th birthday. My happy baby. My sunshine. No word can describe how much she mean to us.

 

Ms M at 6 years old

 

7 years later.......

 

Happy birthday Fluff.

 

Ya Allah, kau lindungilah anak ini di dunia dan akhirat. Jadikanlah dia anak yang solehah, teguhkan imannya, permudahkan urusan dia di dunia dan di akhirat.

 

Mummy, Papa and Kakak love you so much!!!!!

 

 

 

SLEEPLESS IN VIENTIANE

I had to attend a meeting in Vientiane, Lao PDR last month. This is my 4th time in Lao and I can see how it has developed and how the development has changed the life of the local people.

My first time in Vientiane I think about 6 or 7 years ago. At that time, Vientiane was very quite. The people have a  very relax life. Petang petang dalam pukul 4, dah ramai bentang tikar, picnic tepi Sungai Mekong. The women will wear a skirt made of their traditional cloth. You don't really see the local young girls mix around with mat saleh. They were very much close knitted community with strong cultural background.

Now, more hotels, modern buildings around. Most of the hotels are small boutique hotels. Tourists ramai mostly from western countries. And you can see already a lot of massage parlour, bars and western restaurants to cater the tourists. And dah nampak local girls hanging around with the mat saleh.

By the way, to go to Lao from here, AirAsia has a direct flight on alternate days rasanya. I took MH to Bangkok and took Thai Airways to Vientiane for this trip.

Apa ada kat Lao? Tak de apa. They said the famous place is Luang Prabang which you can either take a local flight to go there  or several hours journey by land. If in Vientiane itself, I must say, nothing much except for the night market near the Mekong River which sell a lot of local crafts and baju baju moden ni. Tapi.... size baju nya.. alahai... kecik kecik semuanya. Dulu tepi Mekong River tu was just a strip of padang tapi now dia dah buat macam dataran and I think they reclaim the land lah sebab rasa macam sungai tu dah jadi kecik pulak.

Halal food kat Vientiane ni dari dulu sampai sekarang sama je. Yang famous is Nazim Restaurant.

 

 

Dulu Nazim Restaurant ni depan Sungai Mekong tapi sekarang dah berpindah ke dalam sikit. Tempat baru ni lebih besar dari dulu. Menu mostly Indian food tapi ada menu Malaysia jugak macam nasi goreng dan mee goreng.

 

Nasi Goreng Ayam

 

Dosai

 

Chicken Masala dan Dry Chicken Masala with Pepper

 

Depan Mekong River tu ada pasar malam. Start dalam pukul 6.30pm. 



 

The dataran infront of Mekong River. The local offering manicure and pedicure service at the dataran.

 

Tengok sunset sambil urut dan manicure. You can see the river dah nun jauh ke tengah.

 

Tuk tuk in Vientaine.

 

For me, nothing much nak cerita pasal Vientiane. May be becasue I was there for work so tak jalan jalan.

 

As usual, when I travel alone, I cannot sleep well. Hence the reason for the title hehehehe

 

 

 

 



 

TO WORK OR NOT TO WORK

Of late, I have this urge nak berhenti kerja. Rasa macam dah penat lah nak kerja. Tapi kalau tak kerja nak buat apa yer?

Here is my angan angan apa nak buat kalau tak kerja:

1. I will do locum. A few hours a day perhaps. Enough money to pay my white horse.
2. I will bake and bake and bake. Siapa nak makan tak tau la.
3. Nak belajar jahit langsir. Tangan keras tak leh belajar jahit baju. Tak berseni
4. I want to travel around the world. May be visit my aunt who lives in the US. Visit my friend in London. Stay in Jakarta for a week... wah.... dah tak kerja mana nak ada duit nak jalan jalan????????

Taking the bold step to move outside our comfort zone is always frightening. The thought of "boleh ke survive?" "cukup ke duit?" will always in our mind.

Tapi tak cuba tak tau kan? Dan rezeki itu insyaAllah akan ada jika kita berusaha.

 

LIFE LESSON

Saya ada seorang kawan yang dah lama tak jumpa. The last time jumpa in 1983 semasa saya di sekolah rendah. Dia ambik tempahan menjahit baju di rumah. So, last week saya pergi rumah dia nak tempah baju.

Dia tinggal di rumah PPR. Bila masuk ke dalam rumah tu, the house is bare. Ada sebuah meja makan dan satu TV. Itu saja. Di satu sudut, ada mesin jahit dan mesin jahit tepi. Dia sambut saya dengan penuh mesra walaupun pertama kali berjumpa semenjak 32 tahun lepas.

She has 6 children. Suami bekerja di kilang berhampiran.
Dari luaran, she may not have much. Tapi she has what most of us always wanted.

Hati yang tenang dan kebahagiaan.
Suami yang baik.
Anak anak dia sungguh tinggi budi pekerti.
Anak lelaki dia yang berumur 14 tahun, terus masak air dan buat air tanpa disuruh.
Tutur kata sungguh sopan
Keikhlasan terserlah
Muka nampak telus dan tenang

Dia mula bercerita....
Dulu adik beradik ramai. Selepas SPM, dia tak boleh sambung belajar sebab kena tanggung adik adik. Lepas kahwin, baru suami tanggung untuk dia belajar menjahit yang memang dia amat minati.
Kami berbual panjang. Dari cara membesarkan anak anak sehingga hobi memasak.

In life, you can learn a lot not only from people who is the so called "success" in life but from all walks of life. From people like her.
Money is not everything tapi keberkatan itu lah yang paling penting.

I came home with a smile. Terima kasih Allah kerana mempertemukan saya dengan dia.


 

12/365 of 2015

Today, hari pertama Ms M ke sekolah menengah. Dah besar anak mummy....!!!!!!!

We sent her to school. All of us, Papa, Mummy and Kakak.

I have mixed feeling. Excited, proud, anxious....

 

 

 

 

Ms M sekolah sesi petang. Lepas hantar dia, terus ke AG hantar Ms A balik asrama.

Sunyi balik dah rumah....

Oh I miss school holidays.

 

2/365 of 2015

1st day of work in 2015.

Tengok kalender.

Mmhhhhh no travelling plan in January. Apart from the monthly visit to Singapore.

Bagus....

February - Hong Kong

March - Bangkok

and the schedule is filling up.

Apa nak buat.... nama pun bekerja. Kena lah ikut arahan.

No holiday plan yet.

Mungkin year end nanti lah kot.

But overall, I have planned better in terms of work for 2015. Projects and targets all mapped out.

Semoga dipermudahkan semua urusan di tahun 2015 ini.