Selamat Hari Raya AidilFitri

Minal aidil Wal faizin...

H/Raya itinerary:
2/11: Pulang berhari Raya di Kuala Pilah.
4/11: Balik ke Kuala Lumpur
5/11: BerRaya dengan mother-in-law di Cheras.
7/11: Back to work
12/11: Papa ke Cairo
19/11: Papa balik dari Cairo
20/11: Hosting H/Raya together gather for stf74 group at Mutiara
26/11: Open house for Rajawali Staff and MAS Flight Safety Crew.

Have a nice Syawal celebrations, everybody!!!

Come, see a shark!!

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Ikram said that his school is organizing an end of year trip to the aquaria. The transportation, the entrance fee and lunch cost RM48.00.

mama: why would you want to waste money just to see an aquaria? You've been to the Sea World in Hong Kong, San Diego and Gold Coast!
Ikram: It's OK, I'll pay for it. Last week masa tak ada duit kecik, mama ada pinjam my RM30.00. So, if you pay me back with interests, I can use it to pay for the trip.

Papa: If you want to look at some fish, just step into the garden, go see mama's pond. It's full of Koi.
Ikram: But she doesn't have a shark!
mama: well, I DO have a loan shark right here in my room!!!...
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In Search of IRMA

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We spent the whole weekend searching for Irma. Dilla prepared a pamphlet about our missing cat, and we went around the entire neighbourhood asking if anyone has seen Irma. We asked the Bibiks, the supirs, the ma'am ..whoever. I even snooped at the neighbour's swimming pool, just incase my cat is floating in there! I left brochures at the restaurants, in the event Irma stops by there for food. Dilla's friend puts up Irma's foto at a cat's forum in the internet.

I drove to Irma's vet and notify him. Incase Irma is injured and some good samaritan brings her to see him for treatment. He is all bitter, suggesting one of my neighbours must have stolen Irma. His theory based on his experience: Irma is too heavy for long walks, she is too friendly to run away from strangers, she is so plump and fluffy that anybody would want to have her. By the end of his long list, I was already in tears...lots of tears....

Papa said he'll get me another pedigree cat. I refused, I don't want to be in the same predicament, ever again.
If someone has indeed taken Irma away, I hope that she will be taken care of, in a much better way than I did.
Imran said, at least Irma was very happy when she was with us! Ohhhh, No!!!! How do I stop these tears?????
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IRMA, pulang lah!!

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I'm having a lump in my throat and a knot at the pit of my stomach!! Irma has been missing from home and this is the 3rd morning that she has not had her breakfast before I leave for work. Mana Irma ni!!! Suddenly the house is so quiet. I have been scouring the entire neighbourhood for the past 2 evenings since she's been gone. Imran said if I can see her, means she can find her way home. Is she lost?? Irma has never ventured anywhere further than the garden and the neighbour's fence. Is she stuck at the underground drain? She's too huge for the drain and besides I've been looking at all the covered drains around the house. Has she been following the 'Pakcik Tom' yang selalu datang mengurat dia? Cannot be as Irma has been spayed and I saw the Pakcik yesterday at my backyard and I offered him food.
Takut kalau2 Irma kena langgar kereta! Every brown item I saw by the roadside is frightening me. Macamane kalau Irma diambil orang? But, Irma eats boiled mackerel about 5 times a day. She can't even have it whole, kena buangkan kepala and tulang, otherwise she will choke! and she needs her 'sweetheart' biscuits in-between her meals, and RO water at her bistro! and she loves her grooming session everynight.......

Balik lah Irma, I miss you!!!..I have not smiled since you've been gone!
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My TY Beanies Colleczion

I have been collecting TY beanies since 1999. Initially, I bought every TY in the list but later when my display cabinet was about to burst, I focus on the bears only. I wonder if there is anybody in Malaysia who has the same hobby as mine??

In the US, the TY collectors are really passionate about the beanies. Ada satu cerita in the newspapers I once read, a couple going thru divorce went to court to split their beanies collection. These beanies are really costly especially the retired ones. Ty produces only a few pieces of a certain character,each tagged with a name,a birthday and a set of poem, and if you miss buying them when they are still available, you have to buy them from other collectors.You can gather a lot of information from their official website at http://www.ty.com.

Yesterday, I spent the whole day cataloging and arranging my beanies.There are hundres of them, by the time I'm finished, I was completely 'pancit'....
Papa said, this Hari Raya open house, he is going to ask his office staff to each guess how many are there TY in my cupboards. Siapa dapat beri jawapan yang betul nanti dapat hadiah!!!!....

Duit Belanja

I dropped Imran infront of his school today. Before he got down from the car, he asked: 'duit belanja??'

mama: Imran nak buat apa duit belanja? kan puasa?
Imran: Sebagai ganjaran Imran pergi sekolah, baru lah bersemangat sikit!
mama: Apa ganjaran mama hantar Imran pergi sekolah hari2?
Imran: You get a learned son!
......(*wow! my son actually used the word 'learned', instead of 'clever','obedient' or the usual 'hensem!!!'*)......

mama: Bulan puasa tak ada duit belanja, kita kena menghayati bulan puasa, salah satu cara kita cuba rasa macamane orang miskin hidup seharian, tak ada makan, minum and tak ada duit belanja.....

Nasib baik Imran dah takde masa nak argue, terus turun dari kereta. I could almost hear him say: 'Nanti raya, kita cuba menghayati macamne kehidupan orang kaya pulak???'...

RAMADZAN

Selamat menyambut kedatangan Ramadzan Al-Mubarak. Semoga kita semua mendapat keberkatan dibulan yang mulia ini.
To my daughter Tasya, selamat berpuasa yet again di perantauan, tetapkan iman, kuatkan semangat demi menuju kejayaan.

Dinner at Uptown

Last Friday papa came back from attending one week Flight Safety seminar in Singapore. Perhaps he thought that I might have fed his children poorly while he was away, so he drove us all to Uptown Damansara for dinner.

Actually we were not that hungry but glutton me ordered kerang rebus, sotong kangkung and rojak buah (all free cholesterol but not cholesterol free!!). Dilla had koayteow goreng , Imran ordered stake and both papa and Ikram decided on good old nasi goreng.
As we were about to dig on the food, an old man, wearing kopiah, the age of my late father before he passed away, appeared out of nowhere.

Pakcik: Assalamualaikum tuan, puan..
mama: Waalaikumsalam pakcik!
Pakcik:Puan, pakcik nak minta sedekah RM2, pakcik lapar nak makan nasi lemak.
Papa: Pakcik nak makan apa, pakcik order nanti saya bayarkan..
Pakcik: .....reluctant...
papa tak pasal2 nak create a scene dengan pakcik ni pulak dah!!!
mama: ...(Take out RM**), nah pakcik, saya sedekah kerana Allah....
Pakcik: Terima kasih, puan.
The pakcik disappeared.

Papa told me there is a syndicate in the area carried out by a group of people who take advantage of our generousity. They make use of starved looking children and scruffy old man to solicit money and the mastermind is just somewhere around the corner observing all the activities. For all you know, you are the 10th person being fleeced tonight.

mama: The poor pakcik most probably would prefer to spend his time with his family, or in a surau waiting for Isyak, rather than begging money for food. Biarlah papa. Kalau dia nak tipu mama, it's between him and God. and sedekah mama is between me and my God!..
Wallahuwa'lam.