Oh Dear ...

You know that you're just a little bit too "obsessed" about being a student of law when .....


Yesterday I went over to Ina's place to visit her at her new home. As usual, after so many promises and i.o.u's, the day finally came and we spent our time together doing what we ladies do best - multitasking. In between her 5 months old "bun-in-the-oven" and her little hyper energetic son, she still managed to gossip, cook for me (as Madame here was fasting and was craving for her daging-tetel masak assam pedas Malacca style) and looked absolutely gorgeous with no make-up and a simple knotted hair-do style. She has always been of those people who looked "collected" all the time - never a hair out of place.

*Sigh, lucky her. I am turning green with envy just thinking about it. I guess some people are just born with it, huh? :(

At one point, Baby Ash - my nick name for Ina's son - Asraff ( although I do realise that the "baby" term needs to be dropped once the time is right, let say, ooohhhh, once he can start voting perhaps? ;) ), was being a little bit more naughty then usual and I can see that it is starting to take a toll on Ina's patience. After repeated warnings of telling her son to stop his tantrums and to stop kicking her legs, she finally gave her last warning,

"Ashraff, if you do not stop this now, I would have no choice but to put you in the court!!"

Oh wow, I was rendered speechless. I mean, yes I have known Ina for more then a decade here and I knew that despite her sweet and calm disposition, she can be one "bad-ass-hitler- reincarnation" once she loses her patience. And believe me, I have had my fair share of being in her line of fire, so when I say "bad-ass", just take my word for it will you?

I may not be a mother yet but I still believe that her decision to put her son in his own 'place' was little bit too extreme, don't you think? I mean, yes, the boy was being extremely difficult and I don't blame her for losing her patience. God knows what I will do with if it was my own child instead. Could it be one of WWE's The Undertaker infamous "chokeslam" move, perhaps? Or maybe Triple H's "indian deathlock"?? (Hmmm, come to think of it, that doesn't sound very motherly now, does it?).

But then again, Ashraff is only a baby, He is not even two years old, for goodness sake!!! I simply have to give Ina my opinion on this matter and to get rid of this feeling of unfairness. I believe strongly in retribution, but I also believe in being just. And this act of hers is simply not acceptable!!

I was about to give her a piece of my mind when Ina finally gave up and lifted the crying baby off the floor and walked purposefully towards me. I don't know whether she saw the 'disapproving look' I had on my face or not. The ugly frown I had or that of my lips tightly pursed together - an ugly scowl in other words. Well, even if she ever saw it, she just paid no heed to the "warning"and just walked passed me. At this point of time, I was feeling a little bit upset and tried to calm myself down and bring myself together before confronting her. I need to be in control of myself if I want to do this right. And being emotional is never, ever a good trait to have - especially in such trying situations.

I took a deep breath and turned around, ready to offer her my view from a different perspective.
I had one hand raised, in a manner almost similar to that of TV3's famous environmentalist reporter "Karam Singh Walliah" - preparing myself for a verbal spar if the circumstances demands it.

Unfortunately, the situation was indeed, as the Malay proverb would say it, "Indah Khabar Dari Rupa" (Not what as it seems to be). In my head I had it all figured out. The problem at hand, the manner in which I will state my case, the type of respond I would most probably receive, my replies to her - supported with concrete evidence and quotations that I know at hand which I have read from the news, books (although, it did not seem to matter to me at that point the fact that she herself is working as an assistant editor with one of the prominent newspaper publisher and I may end up eating my very own words!). In short, I was ready for an epic battle just like one of those from the many famous Hollywood films that I love to watch.

At the end of the day, all that Ina did was in fact - walked passed me towards the crib that she had put up against the wall behind me and deposited her child there. The crib, or in this case, a baby crib is actually a small bed specifically made for infants. It is also commonly referred to as a 'cot' in British English - a cradle or a stock. Ina's was made of dark wood, with fluffy pillows and and a very comfartable looking baby blue and white mattress.


Owwwhhh, "cot" is it?? Not "court" (mahkamah), ehh??


Heheheheheh, well, what can I say? I am a Libran after all. According to "Garfield" (am an avid fan one one by the way), my zodiac says that besides being sociable and artistic, most of the time I am "slightly unstable" anyway.

Phewwww, thank god for small miracles. Else, I would have made a fool of myself in front of my good friend with my "slight" blunder. Pendek kata. kalau tak - alamak aiiii, malu-nye aku!!!!!" *Blush *Blush =)

Knights In Shining Armour

I have often thought that chivalry, especially among the younger generation is more of a myth rather then the truth. Fiction rather then fact. In a modern world where women are more vocal in voicing out their rights and of equality, somehow some has managed to misinterpret feminism as the need for women to eliminate men and their functions at all. Men with courteous manners are fast extincting species indeed, if you ask me.

An acquantaince of mine, whom I met through a mutual friend once said, " Well, you women, always asking for your rights la, hak sama rata la. Bile kitorang lelaki lebih sikit, kata male chauvinism la, sexist la. Bile kite puji dan appreciate you ladies, kata sexual harassment la. Cam ni, better not to exert any chivalry at all. Buang masa dan tenage aje". (You women often ask for your rights and equality. When we men are better then you, you call it male chauvinism. When we appreciate you, you call it sexual harrasment, sexist. Best not to be chivalrious at all. It's a waste of time and effort).

I almost strangled that "la" man. Thank god for public places and to my family who taught me the importance of good manners. Else, I would have "choked-slammed" him and squashed the tiny man into a squidgy pancake. Safe to say, he and I remained just as what we are and should be, a mere acquaintance.

After class last night I found myself stranded at the desserted car park of the faculty, with a flat tyre. I wish I could say that I am indeed a "Jack of All Trades". Unfortunately, I am neither a Jack nor a Jill in this matter. One thing's for sure, when it comes to automobils, cars and mechanics, I am utterly lost. I was standing there contemplating my next course of action, as to whether I should call for help - which only God knows when they will come as it was already late in the evening, or just dumping the car there and catching a ride back home with Lea and dealing with the matter first thing tomorrow morning, when a 'knight' who just happened to be my classmate, stopped by and courteously offered his assistance. Next thing you know, he had called upon his other 'knights' and together, under the supervision of "Princess Lea", the mini entourage managed to change the flat tyre to the spare one within 20 minutes (unfortunately, when asked, I was ignorant enough not to know that I have a spare functioning tyre in the trunk. How embarassing!!). The task was made a little bit difficult as I had parked the car on a hillside, so there were concerns of the car sliding down the road and of the passing motorists whizzing by as if being chased by the devil himself plus the apprehension off being knocked over under the poorly illuminated road. I was then put in charge of manning the traffic and also became the designated camera-woman for the day.

"Apo ko buek tu, Man??"

Ever so cheeful Pian - Kluang man

Knights (and a Princess) of the Flat Tyre - (from the left) Pian, Izaini, Man, Lea and Hasib

The culprit. What in god's green earth is that?? !!!

It is a wonderful feeling indeed to know that all is not lost. That there is still hope for us (women) to find men whom we thought exists only in romance novels. A James Bond and Paul Bunyan all rolled into one - a gentleman with a courteous conduct, intelligent and manly at the same time.

Now, here comes the million dollar question : How many future-to-be-lawyers would it take to change a flat tyre? Ahhaakkkss ;)

Facebook-ing

"Based on a popular social networking site, the term "facebooking" has emerged as a verb to describe the activity of logging in to Facebook in order to create a profile, share personal information, and meet other members...." -- netlingo (www.netling.com)

I would simply call it as an 'addiction'.

It began during last semester break, after the exams were over. Naturally, a couple of my friends and I had made plans to celebrate our so called 'freedom' and would reward ourselves by going for a mini-break to Kuala Selangor to see the "kelip-kelip". Unfortunately, due to some 'oversight' on the finances department, our planned trip to the homestay did not materialize. We all ended up 'staying at home' instead, confining ourselves to our own rooftops, forcing ourselves to discover our creative sides and fulfilling our time with activities which preferably, does not include much spending.

I took this opportunity to check on my long, and much neglected personal email account. You know what they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder. In my case, my heart skipped a beat when I saw the number of unread emails that I had only to realise after that most of them were only spam mails (and there I was thinking that it could be mails from my fan club, sigh...). As I did some maintenance work cleaning up the account, I found a few invitations from friends to join Facebook (hereafter known as "FB"), all dating back as late as October 2007. I have heard of this new phenomenon, from other friends and advertisements on the television, but I have yet to try it out for myself. Looking at that moment, as I had some time on my hands, feet and brain capacity to use, I told myself then, "Sure, why not?".

And I have been hooked eversince.

I find myself going crazy over the many applications that FB offers. There are quizzes to take (most of them are more ridiculous then another, but still fun to take though), games to play and you can even listen to music online. There is even a application called Flog Blog that links FB to your existing blog so that everyone in your list is notified whenever your blog is updated. Also, one could send pets, plants, beautiful roses, teddy bears, starbucks coffee, donuts, chocolates and ice-creams, birthday cakes, versace goods, coach handbags, even sexy 'dudes' as gifts to their friends and it is all for FREE!! WooHHooo!! I like, definitely!!!

Look, you can call me a cheapskate if you want, but hey, it is the thought that matters, right? ;)

However my most favourite activity is re-discovering "old" friends. Former work colleagues, my housemates during my overseas days, friends from uni, college, high school, tuition, the "mafia square" pasar malam gangs and even the "play-badminton-at-gina's-house-to-see- abang-uitm" gangs. And through the "6 degrees of separation" theory, I even found my old primary school girlfriends whom I last saw them 17 years ago. To my pleasure, they all remembered me still. Well, actually most of them remembered me as "Siti" the girl who liked to draw a lot, but who cares? All that matters is that they remember and that they did not mistaken me for a crazy nutcase who wants to add every tom, dick and harry as their friends in FB!!!

Seeing all of them here, makes me proud to know that I have had the pleasure of being in their company once upon a time. To see all of us grown up and have been successful in many ways in our life made me realize just how far I have come from whenst I came. The journeys I made. The people I have met. The good times. The bad times. The memories.

I say, Kudos FB!!! Without it, I may never have found all of them again.

The girls from both primary and secondary school are planning for a re-union. I do think that I may have to re-look at my diet plan again. Thank god Ramadhan is coming. Need some 'trimming' here and there, if you know what I mean ;).

The Maniac

This morning, a friend read to me an article from one of the local newspapers concerning the shocking revelation of child mathematic genius, Sufiah Yusuf and her involvement with prostitution. The paper  interviewed a consultant psychiatrist with Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (HUKM), Prof Madya Dr Osman Che Bakar who said that Sufiah could be
suffering from a psychiatric illness - " psikiatri mania ". 

According to the article, the doctor said, and I quote, 

“.... kemungkinan Sufiah berhadapan dengan masalah mania yang antara simptom penyakit itu adalah keinginan seks meluap-luap, hiperaktif, terlalu ceria, berkeyakinan tinggi, berfikir dengan pantas, bertenaga, hilang keinginan tidur dan terlalu peramah...."

Sufiah probably suffers from a psychological problem -  a 'maniac' , with symptoms amongst others, a great need for sex, hyperactive, too cheerful, great self- confidence, speed thinker, energetic, lost the need to sleep and too social.


My friend then turned to me and asked " Well, aren't you worried Noreane?"

Confused, I replied " Why? Should I be?"

"Well, I know I would. You're already showing some of the symptoms
 highlighted by the doctor. Especially the cheerful bit. Excessive happiness, you know
 - just like the movie Patch Adams. I don't have many friends. And I sure don't want my friend to turn into a maniac after this, touch wood!! "


Hmmmmm, now this is a tough choice.

Should I hug and thank her for her concern over my state of health - body, mind and soul? Or should I just spank this woman for her ridiculous but somehow, worrying thoughts????!!!


*Sigh* Thank you god - for giving me such 'supporting' friends.....

The Promise

Last week I finally managed to spare some time to make a very much overdue visit to see the lovely and adorable baby 'Ash' (leave it to me to 'orang-putihkan' the baby's name. Note to the very proud parents - jangan marah ahhh ;p). After the numerous 'janji-janji kosong' of meeting up and the many cancelled appointments, I finally secured an evening off and took the opportunity to visit Ina & Mir at their lovely crib in Bukit Jalil. This time I took my small little 'entourage' with me, consisting of Patti, Nana & Nino, since hubby is away AGAIN in the eastern cost of peninsular Malaysia in the name of, what else, work of course. After work on Friday eve, I made a quick stop at Bukit Jelutong to pick up the ladies and made a dash for the kesas highway as to avoid the ugly traffic jam over at the Puchong area. Safe to say, my aunts now have very, very high regards over those people commuting in and out of Kuala Lumpur in their cars. The 'pesta lampu merah' over at the Kinrara route to Bukit Jalil really opened up their eyes to the possibility of the existence of life 'outside' the safe haven of Shah Alam town.

I once made a promise to Mir that I would cook for him again when time permits me and I guess Mir has decided to claim for the said promise. Furthermore, I needed to make it up to Ina & Mir for not being able to attend to baby Ash's 'cukur jambul' ceremony a couple of weeks ago in Ipoh due to my commitments. So, there I was that evening, with entourage - ever so ready to bring down the house with my signature dish - what else, PASTA of course!!

Spicy Seafood Spaghetti

Ingredients:

Prawns and Squid ( cleaned ) – you may substitute for chicken meat if you want to.
Olive oil - 4 spoonful Spagetthi (500 gm) - 1 packet
Processed chili (cili boh/mesin) – 1 spoonful (add more if you want it hotter!)
Garlic (crushed with the back of the knife) - 3 cloves
Large Onion (roughly sliced) - 1 pc
Ginger (peeled and sliced) - 1/2 inch
Bird's Eye Chili (cili padi - sliced in two)- 7 pcs
Vietnamese Mint Leaves (daun kesom) - 5-7 pieces
Kaffir Lime leaves (daun limau purut, roughly torn) - 3 pcs
Ripe Tomatoes ( roughly chopped ) - 3 pcs
Baby corn (sliced) - 4 pcs
Snow peas (ends taken off) - 7 pcs
Red Capsicum (sliced thinly) - 1 pc
Carrot (sliced) - 1 pc
Straw mushroom (sliced in half) – 1 can
Oyster Sauce -1 tablespoon
Sweet Soya Sauce - 3 spoonful
Light Soya Sauce - 2 spoonful
A dash of pepper & mixed herb

Method:

1. Prepare the spaghetti as per instruction on packet(boil with a little bit of oil and salt until a la dante).
2. In a large hot wok (kuali), heat up the oil.
3. Add in garlic, onion, ginger, cili padi and fry until fragrant (or onions turn transparent).
4. Add in daun kesom and daun limau purut).
5. Next, add in cili boh and the seafood, followed by the chopped tomatoes.
6. Add in the vegetables – baby corn, snow peas and capsicum. Lastly the mushroom.
7. Then came the sauces – oyster, sweet and light soya.
8. Add in the spaghetti. Mixed it up well.
9. Serve it hot with a dash of pepper and mixed herb.

*Note : If its lacking sweetness or saltiness, just add in a bit more sweet or light soya sauce. End result, there should be a harmonious mix of sweet and spicy with a lttle of 'zing' from the Vietnamese mint leaves.

I asked Mir to buy a bottle of sparkling red grape juice, just to get us in the ' Italian' mood (yelah, since we cannot consume alcohol kan, asalkan botol die nampak macam wine pun jadik la). I cannot very well tell you if the dinner was a huge success or whether the pasta turn out to be everyone's cup of tea, or not. What would anyone think of me then if I were to rate my own cooking? Sungguh tidak professional betul.

Instead, I shall let the pictures speak for themselves ;p..hehehehehhe

My Lady 'D'

Dianne finally joined our "young wives" club on 07.07.07, five years after I tied the knot myself on 02.02.02. She looked beautiful with her delicately sewn nikah dress and the beautiful flowers in her hair. But what fascinated me most was the fact that she was almost too 'quiet' that night, which believe me, is not a word that you would associate with our little Lady 'D' here :). Dianne is most definitely neither a demure nor a shy person. On the contrary, she sometimes reminded me of "bertih jagung" (popcorn). She loves to chat and would constantly have something to talk about everything from family, friends up to the latest gossip. However, the best thing I love about Dianne is her naivety. Despite her 6 years of living and her 'happening' lifestyle in London, deep down inside she is still the same innocent and sometimes "lurus bendul" (naive) person that I have known since I was 16 years old.

Dianne, to me, in other words, is just like a breath of fresh air in the midst of this modern and chaotic world.

That night my Dianne was as quiet as a mouse. Occasionally I see her looking down at her 'inai' tipped fingers and taking long deep breaths. I know what was going on through her mind at that time. I myself have been in the same shoes just five years ago. The feeling itself is quite indescribable. Not exactly as stressful as getting ready for a driving test. Nor is it as exciting as waiting at the cinema for the new movie that you have been anticipating to start. The term " butterfly in your stomach" does not seem to describe the feelings that you have at that accurately. Instead of the light flutter of the wings of the butterfly fanning the inside lining of your stomach, what you have instead is the heavy tramping of the Godzilla creating chaos with your internal digestive system.

After some final touches to her makeup and putting on her jewellery, Dianne is finally ready for her nikah ceremony. Gina and myself went downstairs to wait with her relatives for the groom to arrive. Before leaving I looked back at Dianne and saw her again looking down at her fingers, perhaps thinking of her future - which will change in less then 20 minutes time. I prayed for her silently - so that god will give her the strength and the wisdom to undertake this new role in her life; to be the beautiful, smart and wonderful wife that any husband would be proud of.

" My dearest Dianne,

Congratulations on your wedding, my friend. May you and your husband receive the blessings from Allah SWT and live a prosperous and wonderful life for many years to come.

Amin. "

*p/s : More pictures at My Fotopages

The Reunion

Hubby has been away to the eastern cost for almost 2 weeks now in the name of work & professionalism and also to the possibility of a promotion (Yiippeeee!!). During his absence I have been keeping myself busy ( frankly I could not sleep at night without my other half with me. So the plan is to exhaust myself tremendously until I drop dead rather then forcing oneself to get a decent shuteye when all other attempts failed). A friend of mine is back from 'London-bridge-is-falling-down" for 6 weeks to attend to her wedding preparations. Coincidentally, I have just moved back to my hometown and currently on semester break. As fate seems to be on our side, the girls and I decided to get together to catch up on current breaking news, updates and hot gossips on who's doing what around the neighbourhood.

The initial idea was that for everyone to meet up at Starbucks at 9:30 pm. Somehow, along the way there was a change of plan and I ended up picking up everyone in my car instead ( thank god we live nearby each other). Gina (short-message-service provider), Dianne ( Lady D )and myself got there first and made ourselves comfortable. We shared drinks and a slice of blueberry cheesecake while waiting for Cynthia ( Digi - I-will-follow-u-yellow-toyol) to arrive. We interrogated Dianne on her new man and husband-to-be and of her wedding preparations. I was so happy to see Dianne talking to us about her love life and to see that sparkle in her eyes with the look of utter happiness and bliss. It was just wonderful to see her this way. To see all of us - together after all this while - just enjoying each other's company. A girl's night out.

After a while, we received a lovely surprise when my aunt, alang and her inseparable husband, paklang, who dropped by to get a frapp for themselves. This is what happens when you live close to your family. Sooner or later you are bound to cross paths and bump into each other. (Although I suspected alang just wanted to check on my whereabouts while her Friday Boy is away from home just to make sure I am not gallivanting all over the place with a good looking 6 feet something tall, tanned bloke and looked just like Clive Owen draped all over me ..WooHHOooo !! :) ). The girls and I are very close so much so that we knew each other's family right down to their aunts, cousins and etc. So it was sort of a wonderful mini reunion when we all met up. To alang's delightful surprise, we all apparently grew up, managed to get out of those bloody hideous school uniforms and survived to tell the world our story.

Wondering how we got close to each other? Let's see now.

Cynthia, Gina and myself were classmates in high school. Dianne was in the next class. I knew Gina way back when I was in primary when we attended the same tuition class in section 10. Cynthia and Dianne were from the same primary school. Dianne's mother and mine are friends and used to attend the same religious classes and high teas/functions together. We all attended to same tuition class for accounts at Cikgu Tengku's. We used to ride the bus back home together and since we resided along the same bus route, Gina usually goes down first at her stop, followed by Dianne and myself next and lastly Cynthia. We used to do study group and play badminton at Gina's house. Also since the pasar malam (night market) is near Gina's house, naturally her crib would be a one stop center for all of us to hang out(although frankly speaking, the main reason why its always Gina's place and not any of ours is because there were a group of young men ( Uni boys ) renting the house next to Gina's. I can't very well remember whether they were good looking blokes or not but since we were young high school girls back then , I guess you can say we were all teenagers with raging hormones and anyone that is male, older and drives a satria is basically a heartthrob!! :) ) .

That night we talked for hours. We talked about everything that we could just think of. Friends. Classmates. Gossips. Family. Work. Future. We were one of the last customers to leave Starbucks. Even when they were already switching off the lights and arranging the seats, we were still sitting there, our butts glued to our seats , talking and talking and talking - trying to get as much information off each other as we could. Finally it was time to go. On my drive back, after sending the girls back to their homes, I mused to myself.

Amongst us, only Dianne and myself left our hometown. Dianne pursued her studies in London and eventually built a career for herself there. Myself, left after tying the knot and have since been to few places due to work commitments. Cynthia has always been here and Gina returned home after completing her studies. We have all been buzy with our lives, doing our thing, achieving our goals. But it seems that now, at the the end of the day, we are all back here again. Back to our hometown.Back to our roots.

Back to where it all began. Sixteen years ago. Plus minus here and there, of course. (Calcalus has never been one of my strong subjects) ;P.

p/s: More pics can be viewed at my fotopages.