Monday 28 July 2008

Hey, I'm no RICE

Heard at Mommy's:

Mommy:
Qin you're such a brave girl...

Qin:
"Brave" tu apa, Mommy?

Mommy:
"Brave" tu maksudnya berani.

Qin:
Eiiii, Mommy, Qin bukan nasi la...!

Everyone was guessing what brought this about. Rupanya Qin ingat Mommy kata dia Nasi Biryani, makanan kegemaran Qin.

To Shasha and Qin. Auntie had a great weekend with you guys. With Mommy and Mushu too, of course. Too bad Auntie didn't get to see the other kiddies too. Not enough time to visit la.

Best of luck to Shasha and Aiman for their UPSR trials. Auntie is going to be the bad 'parent' and say, don't get stressed out over it, there are more to life than the UPSR and you'll have loads more exams to go through so, many more 'trials' before you get to be like Mommy or Daddy or Umi or Ayah (if you want to, that is, coz you can also be like Auntie Ida or Mushu, kekekeke). But that's only because Auntie knows both Shasha and Aiman are going to be serious and do their bests whether it's exam or having fun. So, whatever you're facing this year, enjoy being twelve, you guys, and never forget how wonderful it is!

Lotsa luv,
Auntie

Thursday 24 July 2008

Hoping for a Phoenix's Rising

Auntie berdoa bakawali angkat bangkit dari abu-abu ini...










Amin....

Wednesday 23 July 2008

Pagi yg stress

Auntie suppose to sambung 'summer stories' auntie tapi takda masa nak duduk and 'design' picture collage to be included so, nanti dulu lah.

Tajuk entry ni looks more suitable to be included in geng badak's blog (punching idiots) tapi since dia ada happy ending, auntie masuk dalam blog santai auntie ni lah. Semalam a seng tepon suruh pi rumah check on his masterpiece in the bathroom. Utk yg tertinggal (coz citer a seng mostly di-relate secara offline) a seng adalah our gem of a contractor after lama menunggu raymond lembut menjawab telefon we all yg sampai sudah dia tak respon. Tapi mendapat a seng adalah prolly berganda2 lebih baik dari raymond yg mungkin akan ada perangai diva. A seng adalah contractor sempoi tapi penuh dedikasi dan profesionalism, traits yg susah kita nak jumpa terutama dalam diri2 politikusmengong kita pada hari ini.






So, anyway a seng telah telepon AH semalam and kata "boss aa, lu panggil lu punya bini kasi dia tengok itu toilet. Wa sudah naik itu jubin (nampaknya a seng pun tau proper word for tiles in BM!). Wa pikir cantik ooo..lu mai tengok" dengan penuh excitednya. Auntie pon pergilah ngan AH ke rumah utk checkout a seng's art work. Memang cantik and tiada cacat celanya walaupong auntie rasa warna tiles tu sedikit gelap bila dah dipasang. Tapi since bathroom's decision telah didelegate kpd AH, and dia suka gelap, auntie tak kisah sangat la.

This morning, auntie bangun tetiba ada satu light bulb moment gitu. Tapi bukan about new ideas. Instead auntie teringat, semalam kita kata cantik tu, betui ka a seng pasang the correct tiles, coz there are two colour schemes (chewah!). Lighter tiles for the walls and darker tiles for the walls. Masaelahnya dua2 tiles ni effect dia macam gua (AH's choices) so susah sikit nak beza. Auntie sudah risau. Auntie tamau la walls kaler gelap and floor kaler terang. Sure la the other way round kan? kan? So, auntie sudah bingkas bangun and paksa AH tepon a seng masa tu jugak. Kalau dia sudah buat mistake one bathroom, takpe la (since sure hassle giler nak undo tiling) tapi the other bathroom MUST NOT have mistake! Malangnya a seng tak jawab phone. AH kata subuh sepihi ni a seng baru bangun genyeh2 mata nak pi pancuq mana dia mau jawab phone. Tak senang duduk auntie.. dah lah ada kelas ni. So camne? Auntie takut a seng terus pi rumah and continue with the other bathroom project.

To cut de story short, auntie telah tepon office to tell students their esteemed teacher will be half an hour late because auntie is unavoidably detained (phrase 'unavoidably detained' ni pertama kali auntie jumpa ialah masa auntie baca Mills and Boons masa form one ke form two dulu. Nampaknya sekarang menjadi phrase yg amat berguna dalam dunia profession auntie :) ), then auntie telah quickly drove over to the house. Rupanya a seng belum sampai tapi 2 workers dia dah ada kat situ. Nak kata depa terkojut tengok auntie subuh sepihi is probably an understatement. Tapi being well-trained by a seng, depa telah menjawab segala pertanyaan auntie dgn penuh sabaq.

"Betui aa ini tiles yg terang punya aaa?"
"Betui boss"
"Ambik dua2 wa mau tengok"
"Ok boss.... tengok betui punya..ini satu cream punya, lagi satu melah oo (he means stony orange)"
"Kenapa wa nampak gelap aa?"
"Boss, ini hari hujan la, tingkap ada satu, lampu tadak bukak, memang gelap sikit..."
"Ok, ok, saya mau make sure saje, nanti silap, you kena tukaq"
'Tadak silap la boss..."

Ok, at least lu panggil wa boss and not "kakak". So, then auntie drove to work happily. Which is good for the students coz kalau auntie stress, sudah barang tentu ada yg kena balun...

Monday 14 July 2008

Do you want to know what I did last summer? Pt1

Ok, ok, 'peminat2' auntie yg dua-tiga kerat dah dok komplen yg blog ni dah berkapang dan berkarat. Tapi, yg penting, chat box sentiasa active so maknanye auntie masih check blog ni. Keinginan utk update memang membuak-buak tapi as auntie mentioned, got very important report to finish yg boleh menentukan sama ada living room di apartment baru auntie deserve laminated wood flooring or not.

Anyways, sukacita auntie mewarwarkan the report is done. Well, at least the draft that the sponsor may want to suggest change later. But if the sponsor is smart, they would just accept the report as is coz auntie doesn't think any of macai of the sponsor can do better job than auntie, even if they try!

Actually, selepas report auntie masih ada sejuta kerja seperti menyiapkan article for publication (yg boleh memberi sedikit value kepada auntie punya promotion assessment), tapi auntie is going for instant gratification today, ie, blogging gives me more immediate pleasure now than finishing the article, which may give me pleasure in 3 or 4 years' time if I'm lucky.

OK, with that introduction after a long bout of non-blogging, let us see what auntie had been up to. Auntie tau la kita takde summer tapi since some activities auntie for the last 2 months or so involved going to really hot places, kira summer la tu.

What auntie had been up to since auntie's previously meaningful entry (the immediately last entry doesn't count) was conducting an international training in KL. Yes, it was work, but fun nevertheless. Especially because ada unsur2 nepotism dan cronyism. Lihatlah gambar2 di bawah:

Pada banner ni ada nama kursus yg auntie conduct for the international participants.


Auntie in action

Last year masa auntie first conducted this course, ada 3 male participants and they were sooo happening (while the women were not so la, ni bukan prejudice but real experience after spending 2 weeks with them almost day and night). So, this year bila all participants adalah female, auntie telah mula2 groan and moan to AH, memikirkan all the s_it auntie might get like last year. But to our pleasant surprise, all the participants this year were very happening, very much so than the happening ones last year. So, our two-weeks there were full of fun and energy despite being cooped up in -1Celcius room. And when it's time to say good bye, sume orang sedih dan rasa tamau balik. These are auntie's new friends from the course (most in their national costumes):


Yang tepi sekali kiri tu nama dia Juliana dari Ghana. Sorang makcik yg loud dan hip. Bila orang mengantuk dia akan bangun dan lead a dance. Today auntie receive a version of her national dress yg dia kirim through a friend, sooo cun. So, auntie dah ada satu baju raya!

Mengapa auntie kata nepotism and cronyism? Lihatlah tenaga2 pengajar yg lain:

AH, auntie's rounder-half, all nicely scrubbed up


You can't see very well in this tiny picture,
but they were all attentively listening to Sleepyhead

Supaya takde spy Institut Integriti yg question these two people's involvement in auntie's course, let me assure you, the course sponsors are good people and they have already vetted these two people. Everything is above board one.....

Auntie pun dapat la jadi minor celebrity as a result of this course....

Gambar ni dari phone someone.
Auntie tengah bengang because anchors dok
sibuk control handsome and cantik,
tapi soalan sume tak bernas walaupun
auntie dah hantar skrip (seperti yg diminta)!

The participant from Papua New Guinea,
Jenny, pun rasa we could have enjoyed
ourselves more back at the lecture hall.


Radio show was much, much better with better prepared DJ.
Tapi tatau la berapa kerat dengaq stesyen nih (Traxx FM)...

Auntie telah paksa itu DJ give up his seat pour moi...


Activity report akan disambung di lain siaran.......tata!