marathon posts to new year9- 99 posts to end 2009

Auntie has decided that auntie will end with the 99th post only since auntie will keep the 100th post for a very,very special date. Happy New Year, everyone!

marathon posts to new year8- new year, new title, same old responsibilities

Auntie has been doing the job of a person that should have the title TP at auntie's centre. When the centre was first established, auntie was in fact the TP but later on the position had to be 'frozen' because there were some technical arguments that a centre like auntie's place of work is not entitled to a TP, only a P. In the last two years, however, the centre has progressed by leaps and bounds and the P has been arguing to the uni governance to reinstate the position of TP. After relentless 'pestering' and evidence of centre's viability the powers that be has now granted the P's request. So, in about 5 minutes time, auntie will again be officially appointed as the TP, with modest fringe benefits. Auntie had been happy doing the work for the centre but this icing on the cake gives that much more motivation. Congratulations also to badak Samantha for being appointed TD, also enforceable in about 5 minutes time.

marathon posts to new year7- the shortest conversation with qin

Auntie called Qin on Sunday night just to say high and to ask if she missed Mommy and Daddy much. Qin said: "Qin duduk-duduk je tengok TV ni la auntie Ida. Qin tak mau cakap nanti Qin miss show on TV..."

Oo, Ok.

marathon posts to new year6- sleepless in trondheim

Auntie travelled to Trondheim, Norway in June this year for a conference. It was the height of summer (about 24celcius) and night time was only about 2 hours. So, loads of sleepless nights for the 4 days auntie was there. But the city was beautiful and people were very friendly and auntie met a Malaysian family, Shariman and Fazila and theirkids. Shariman is finishing PhD in engineering. Here are some pics:

[auntie will post pics later coz it's taking too long to download and auntie nak kejar 100 entries b4 end of 2009 nih! Sorry.]

marathon posts to new year5- of deadly snakes, sabit kepala and 'katak din'

Mentang-mentang nak kejar 100 entries b4 end of yr, tajuk entry pun macam merapu jek. Actually ada makna dlm tajuk tu. And it can be connected to this picture:

Auntie tak ingat whether auntie dah boh gambar ni in this blog before. Tapi seingat auntie, auntie belum lagi cerita pasai growing up in Bukit Goh. So, kalau dah pernah tengok pic ni pun takpe. Let me tell some stories related to it. Gambar ni was scanned and uploaded in Acik Din's FB some time ago and auntie telah make a copy for myself. The original pic is supposed to still be in the old album at Wan and Aki's place kot. Can you guess which one is auntie? Deductive reasoning la kan? Eldest girl? So must be the comel one standing in between "Awang Kulup" and "Awang Gedek" (Gedek is pronounced like a sengal person). These are the kinds of the many manja names Wan attached to her kids when we were little. Mommy is the little toddler sitting and playing with that horrendously unidentified object on the floor. And Wan's manja name for Mommy is "Mek Towwek" (also pronounced in a sengal way). Auntie takde manja name coz auntie lahir2 je dah garang and no one would dare to give manja names. HAHAHA!

This picture is taken on one raya day in what used to be our abode in a still godforsaken place (no offence to people from this place!) called Bukit Goh. Bukit Goh is an oil palm estate about 30 kilometres or so from Kuantan.  Since Wan was a school teacher, she got to teach in all sorts of places and we will normally have to live somewhere near where she had to teach. Most of the time we stayed in Kuantan because Wan got to teach much nearer to town. But early in our childhood, one of the first place auntie could remember living is Bukit Goh. I think we stayed there, in what was designated as teachers' quarters, for 2 yrs, when auntie was between 2-4 yrs old. In this pic auntie must was prolly 3 going on 4 coz Mommy was prolly about 1. Check out the legs. Tak tau la ni posing film star mana yg we dok emulate ni.

Kat Bukit Goh ni auntie first go to school. Sekolah tadika. Auntie ingat cikgu dia nama Zaimah kot, sama nama dengan Kak Zemah. Yg pergi sekolah is Pak Long Ami and Auntie only coz Acik Din and Mommy were too young. Of course Mushu is way from being conceived. Time ni kalau gi sekolah auntie refused to wear dresses like a girl. Always pakai shorts and shirts and sometimes topi cowboy (with toy guns lagi on a belt). In this pic ni kena paksa la pakai baju kurung. In 2 or 3 hours sure dah bogel and pakai panties jek coz panas. The only time auntie pakai dress to school is bila kena ambik gambar. Auntie remembered having to do it once. Baju dia made of nylon kat dalam and the outer part is like lacy-lacy gitu. Cream coloured. And kena pakai proper shoes and socks lagi. So tak happy.  And auntie also remember kalau balik sekolah our baju mesti akan jadi merah coz on the way home from school we walked (pergi Aki hantar) on the tanah merah (only kind of road available en route).  And sometimes bila nampak pakcik tukang kebun yg pelik sikit (auntie tak ingat whether because dia ada some disabilities ke or because dia garang) the elder kids would jerit "sabit kepala!!!" (ie tukang kebun tu nak kerja dia sabit kepala little kids la kununnya), we all akan lari lintang pukang takut leaving trails of red dust behind us. Hence the red tint on the clothes as well.

Acik Din (and sometimes, little Mommy) who are left to their own devices (but under strict supervision of Kak Zemah) would also come up with hair-raising activities. The oil palm plantation was of course teemed with snakes of all kind but we would normally not encounter them in the home area. Tapi Acik Din managed to one day. Acik Din was fond of collecting frogs (there were a lot of those). Sometimes Kak Zemah would open an old kettle in the bathroom and frogs would 'fly' out from it. And bila Acik Din nampak dia kata "Eh, jgn buang, katak Din ni!" Auntie tak ingat sangat how the stories go but I think one day when Acik Din was playing with his kataks, a deadly snake came by. Acik Din being curious, wanted to touch the head of the snake and the snake was already 'standing'.  Luckily a Pakcik came and rescued him.

We hardly remember things that happened in Bukit Goh but the stories were frequently retold to us by Wan and Aki, each time with slightly different versions, so auntie could not vouch for their accuracy but auntie can definitely recall there was the deadly snake, there was a pakcik whom we thought would 'sabit' our kepala and there was a kettle-full of "Katak Din" in the bathroom.

marathon posts to new year4- good people at work

Auntie nak tunjuk gambar the a few of the good people at the office who have made auntie's work throughout the year (and since 4 or 5 yrs or so ago) much more successful and meaningful. Thank you, guys!
 

In purple is Ija, the 'office admin boss'. All institutional rules and procedures are at the tips of her fingers. Next to me on the other side is Dr Hamimadona, a good friend and unofficial university songbird. Beside her is Marina, a long-serving staff who was a pioneer of the centre. She was there at the inception of the centre and has served under at least 4 Directors.

The front-most on both sides are Husna (in green) and Shila. Husna is the IT officer in our centre and is married to a former staff, EJ. She has delivered a baby girl and is now on maternity leave.  Shila is the Director's PA but also doubled up many other things at the office. This is the nature of the work of the staff at the office. And they are very selfless at it. Kudos to them. This work environment may also have come from our general approach to managing the centre. At the risk of sounding too complimentary of the boss, Auntie thinks the current Director has managed somehow to create an ambiance of friendly professionalism at the office. Staff are close-knit but highly professional.

Ariffin, one of the latest addition to the office 'family' recently got married. Here are some pictures of the wedding.

 Auntie and Ariffin on his wedding. His newly-wed bride was in the changing room, changing for next photo session.

It takes a man (especially in Malaysia) who is secure with himself to be able to work in an institution teemed with women and headed by strong, intelligent women. So far, Ariffin has proved he could do it very well.

 

Wan Teng, one of two new academic staff members. WT hails from Melaka.

Auntie would find any excuse to bake. Here are some brownie slices (topped with butter cream and almonds) as a gift for Ariffin and bride.

Card designed by AH.

Many other staff members equally contributed to the success of the centre. Auntie don't have their pictures. May they continue to feel at home at the centre and work with a sense of partnership rather than merely fulfilling job specifications.

marathon posts to new year3- shasha's khatam quran

20th November  was Shasha's Khatam Quran. Families up to 3 generations attended the khatam and kenduri after that at Majid Al-Ghufran Taman Tun.  Shasha requested ancient Greek headgear to be worn for head cover during khatam. Mommy had to comb Jln TAR looking for suitable substitutes that satisfied Shasha. The preparation was akin to a small akad nikah but Auntie was very happy to help. Auntie remembered auntie's khatam in 1978. Auntie and Pak Long Ami were the 'graduates'. Actually masa auntie khatam tu auntie was a few pages short of actually completing the Quran but the ceremony had to take place since Pak Long Ami was to be 'slaughtered' (hehehe) after that. It was the school holidays. So, Aki and Wan decided that since Auntie memang terra baca Quran (hehehe, perasan!), auntie for sure could complete the few pages on my own without any further help. Lagipun, masa auntie belajar Quran ngan ustazah tu pun, most of the time auntie baca sendiri jek and dia dengar while ajar-ing the other kids. No malice intended on the ustazah but auntie sometimes felf very unhappy maca pi mengaji coz kena baca sorang2 and did not get proper instruction. Part-part yg ustazah tak dengar maybe salah baca ke, mana la tau. Sometimes when auntie came early to mengaji in the hope that ustazah would give me attention, she would be bz doing other things like making breakfast for her children, lipat kain or other things in the kitchen. dia suruh auntie baca sendiri gak in the lounge while she listened from the kitchen.  Auntie rasa auntie pandai baca Quran sbb before Aki and Wan sent to the Ustazah, Wan taught us to mengaji. Wan had been an effective teacher, rotan and cubitan notwithstanding (autie remember sometimes menangis teresak2 kena cubit sbb lambat nak dok mengaji or mengaji sambil lewa). Which is why she is still very successful with all her 'murid tua' now.  Uncle AH also had bad experience with Ustazah mengaji. And since he was a bit Quranic-dyslexic (hehehe), and did not have help before that like auntie had with Wan and Aki, he only ended up hafal- ing the quran and not really understanding the tajwid etc. So, to parents out there, kalau kita confident dgn our own ability to mengaji, baik ajar sendiri anak2 kita and at our children's own pace. Kalau no choice, make sure kita check up jugak on the children's mengaji lessons. And auntie harap these days takde lagi la ustaz or ustazah yg buat perkara tak semenggah spt auntie sebut tadi. Tak berkat tau kerja camtu!

Anyways, masa auntie khatam, auntie pakai kurung songket kepunyaan Wan. Songket tu Wan pakai masa wedding dia 13 yrs before. Auntie was barely able to get into the kurung so Wan had to unpick a bit. That shows how slim Wan was at 29 yrs old. Anak2 dia (at least Auntie la) hampeh! After the khatam, the songket went back to the closet. Nanti auntie nak tanya Wan ada lagi tak.

Shasha was all decked in purple for her khatam. The mosque is a modern one that utilise most areas as Islamic centre and not just purely for sembahyang. Auntie remembered a colleague who about 15 yrs ago proposed to study for his PhD the utilisation of mosque in such a way to emulate such use during the Rasulullah's Madinah's governance.  Whatever happens to that proposed study. But in any case, Malaysian Muslims are very slow to take this kind of progressive stance and are still bickering about what sort of carpets to use for new mosques and whether women should pray upstairs or downstairs (which is also another issue that has not taken into account many sociological considerations).

Ok lah. This entry is getting way to long. (Macam mana auntie nak achieve 100 entries before end of the year ni?). Let's look at pictures:

Shasha practicing

Moral support from Mommy

Qin is supposed to be the kipas girl  but after 20 minutes of sitting still, all thoughts of giving kakak moral support goes down the drain, especially because cousins faris' and maisara's company was so enticing.

Bunga telur courtesy of Mak Uda. The telur is homemade telur pindang.

Shasha was so nervous and practiced diligently. She did great. Despite traces of American accent!

Qin was about to flee the scene.

 

Preliminary speech by Daddy. A rare sight.

Tokki De (second from left), Wan Cik Ne (not in pic) and Tok Ayah Zie came all the way from Kuantan and Temerloh respectively. Wan was so elated. Tok Chu and family couldn't make it coz they had to attend another function.  Beside Daddy is Shasha's Ustaz who could have been seen regularly on TV when they show the Raya takbir this year. Ustaz did a one-to-one Quran teaching for Shasha. Now Ustaz is teaching Qin and Qin's friend Aleesha. Qin once asked Mommy: "Is Rasulullah a pirate?" An aghast Mommy asked back: "Why do you say that, Qin?". Qin: "Ustaz said he's a Captain. Captain Jack Sparrow is a pirate, Mommy". So, ustaz kena review sikit syllabus for contemporary five year olds, ya?

CONGRATULATIONS, SHASHA. YOU DID A SPLENDID JOB. And may Quran continue to become your companion in its essence and spirit.

marathon posts to new year2- uncle joe's birthday

On 20th May this year Uncle Joe celebrated his 32nd birthday. Mudanya! Uncle Joe is a year older than Mushu. When Mushu was born Auntie was 9 yrs old. Auntie contributed towards Mushu's diaper change when she was a baby and also cleaning what's need cleaning when a toddler poo-ed when Mushu was a toddler. But this post was supposed to be about Uncle Joe's birthday, so Happy (Belated Now!) Birthday, Joe! Coincidentally (Not Really!) 20th May was also Uncle Joe's and Mushu's anniversary. 4 yrs this year. Auntie was down in Shah Alam on the date and was able to join the siblings in celebrating the events. No pictures of the couple was taken but only of food served. Here they are:

Good intention

 Bad addition

So susah to upload gambar. Ada a couple lagi of the food served tapi since it takes too much time, Auntie leave you guys with the two only.

marathon posts to new year1- qin the 5yrold sweet miss

Auntie's last entry was auntie's 90th post for this blog and it was posted a day before the 2nd birthday of auntie's blog. It doesn't mean a thing but saja je auntie nak mention. Auntie teringin jugak nak mencapai 100 entries so what auntie is going to do is to try post 10 entries before the year ends. Caranya ialah dgn menyorot some of 2009 events and happennings yg auntie did not get the chance to blog abt before. These entries will be full of pictures, so be warned! Entries will not follow chronological order of events.

First 'review-post' is about little Qin's birthday. Qin was five on the 18th of November this year. We didn't have special birthday party for Qin this year but the celebration coincided with Kakak's aka Shasha's khatam Quran (this event coming up in next post). Qin is auntie's fifth 'baby'/ kiddie after Along (Ya), Aiman, Shasha & Jijin. Ajmal is the sixth. Each of them has a special place in auntie's heart. And each of them is special in their quirks and perangai and the way they relate to auntie.

 Qin and Mommy

 Qin the fashion model

Qin was born in St Louis, Missouri while Mommy was finishing her PhD. Mommy is a planner, so she planned to conceive Qin just a year before she expected to graduate with her doctoral degree. By this time Kakak was already about 7 or 8 yrs old.  Auntie got married while Mommy was about 6 months pregnant with Qin. Mommy actually planned to come back home to Malaysia for auntie's wedding but about 3 months into her pregnancy, she was bedridden due to bleeding (auntie tak ingat apa medical condition dia) so the plan didn't materialise. But Mommy safely and quite easily delivered Qin 3 months after auntie's wedding.  Mommy got her PhD early 2005 and came back to Malaysia with a doctoral degree and a new baby. Qin actually attended Mommy's graduation day at the uni and was admired for her dark, bushy hair.  When Qin came back home to Malaysia, she was just in time for Mushu's wedding and it was decided that Qin's 'cukur rambut' kenduri will be done during the wedding as well.

 Qin, the baker

 

Qin and Kakak decorating cupcakes

Qin is a friendly baby and toddler. She just gravitated towards auntie easily. And even when time separates us (ie when auntie could not come down to KL to visit too often), Qin would call auntie just to say hello (by either pestering mommy or kakak to do it for her). Mommy must have taught her auntie's speed dial now coz she sometimes would call auntie without mommy's knowledge. Qin is an amicable, diplomatic toddler. She would say something like "Mommy, you cook nice, but i just lurvvvv auntie ida's cupcakes..." or some stuff like that (according to Mommy).  But Qin would also say things like "Mommy, auntie Ida could not have baked the cakes without me. She needed me to beat the eggs." Such self-confidence!

Qin likes to talk on the phone with Uncle Zach coz uncle Zach 'has' Alvin the cat who would speak to Qin when Qin called Uncle Zach. Qin also admired Uncle Zach for his knowledge about fish (coz Qin had Lola the gold fish- auntie wondered what happened to Lola now). One day, Mommy tanya Qin after Qin keep calling Auntie Ida: "Qin call auntie Ida because Auntie Ida fish doctor ke?". Qin laughed and said: "Mommy ni kelakar lah. Bukan auntie Ida la.. Uncle Zach...[yg fish doctor]!" There are many more such conversations with Qin.

Qin and Auntie (in one of auntie's favorite moments with Qin)

Oklah, remembering Qin's birthday, Auntie wishes her the best of being a five-yr-old. May Qin grow up to be as good-natured as she is now, as intelligent and as talented.  May Qin also be a conscientous Muslimah and world citizen. May Allah protect her from life's hardships but make her emphatetic to hardships of others. May Qin continue to give joy to family and friends around her. Amin.

Dawn of another year

Auntie realises auntie's blog entry has been sporadic in the last year or so. Tomorrow will be exactly 2 years since auntie decided to respond to sleepyhead's tag by starting a blog.  When auntie started, auntie was undecided whether the blog should be purely personal and family-related or would include more serious 'semi-critical' ponderings (like comments on general happenings in the country or in the world, taking into account auntie's knowledge about them through auntie's profession). But auntie thinks what has transpired has been more of the former and very little of the latter but auntie is happy for how the blog has developed. The more serious stuff auntie will keep for more professional avenues rather than the blog. Let this blog be for purely mundane but meaningful journal of life closer to home.

One of auntie's secret hopes through the blog is also that it provides a kind of 'memory' for auntie's family and friends about things and events that went on in our lives. This is, hopefully, especially for auntie's younger 'kiddies'. When they are a bit older, they may just go through the archives of this blog (hopefully these will be available for many, many yrs to come) to 'revisit' some of the moments they went through with family members that they might not remember as children.

Let's look at what has gone on in auntie's life since the last entry.  There was the most fleeting period of despair earlier this month but just as it came so fleetingly, so was the swiftness with which it was gone. It may have come about from many stressful factors at work and a sense of inability to control auntie's surroundings at that particular moment. But with some good sleep, auntie was able to see things differently in the morning. 

Post-raya (aidilftri) had been extremely busy months for auntie. Many travels, way too many meetings and preparation of copious paperwork at work. But there were many good things as well, professional-wise.  Research work is going reasonably well, some work has been accepted for publication and auntie managed to contribute constructively to community advocacy. But more importantly, auntie sensed friendships are getting tighter and family ties are getting closer. Times with badak gang continued to be meaningful but it was also time when new friendships are established (mostly through FB) and much older friendships were rekindled (auntie was surprised by e-mails from very good friends from primary school).  Family get-togethers were more frequent and better-planned. There were some very sad events like dearest people being taken away from us and some scares like Aki and Wan's more frequent 'visits' to hospitals and dear brother being admitted into IJN but Alhamdulillah, things are uneventful, in general.

To end 2009, more get-togethers were and are being planned. The latest was Wan and Aki's and the siblings visit to Penang during the Awwal Muharram long weekend break. Let the pictures speak for the fun had (pictures courtesy of sleepyhead from her FB- pandai tak auntie curi?):

 Percik and black pepper roasters on a bed of potato galletes. Slightly undercooked by Pak Long Ami's standard so back into the oven they go for another 20 minutes

These are stuffed 'original' roasters. Ingredients by auntie. assembled by mushu aka maksu aka sleepyhead

 One roaster chicken for a correct guest of what's in there!

 The 'too little' coleslaw. Auntie didn't have time to grate more of the veges and didn't think many people would be interested in this dish.

 

The entertainment was provided by the LOS BONCITOS (also name coined by sleepyhead):

 The 2 bonchitos tuning the guitars while the third playing paparazzi for a moment. The senior paparazzi is at the back.

 

Bonchito 2 (in white): "I need a smoke!"

Bonchito 1(in greyish green): "Wait la, i look for song we have breath to sing"

Bonchito 3 (in black): "This chord i nocet learn one..."

  (Senior paparazzi is soooo dedicated)

The picture has to be taken this way. You wouldn't one to see their front view!

Laa, baru nak belajar ke?

The next day auntie played tourist guide:

 Little and big kiddies enjoyed their trip to P.Ramlee's house.

 

Cucu and Aki- the duo-paparazzi

Lunch at Pen Mutiara. As you can see auntie was not dressed for a lunch out. So jongos!

 

So-so food at Pen Mutiara but ambiance was good. The clan was not into fish head so we got fish curry instead. Auntie rasa sotong goreng tepung auntie lagi cun kot...

Auntie hopes the holidays have been most restive for at least the two happy couples:

 

 HAPPY COUPLE NUMBER 1

 

HAPPY COUPLE NUMBER 2

BUT THIS HAPPY COUPLE HAVE BEEN VERY, VERY HAPPY TO HAVE BEEN ABLE TO HOST AND ACCOMMODATE THE HAPPY COUPLES AND THE REST OF THE CLAN:

 

It's a pity Mommy, Daddy, Shasha and Qin could not join us. Mommy and Daddy were preparing for Umrah trip on the 24th December till 5th January (Selamat beribadat dan mendapat umrah yg mabrur!). SO, LET'S DO THIS PENANG SOJOURN AGAIN NEXT YEAR, PLEASE.

A moment of quiet despair

Some times you just want to go far away from everyone and be really, really alone. The feeling may go away in 5 minutes or an hour but it pulls you down into a quiet despair.

Bismillahillazi laa yadhurru ma'asmihi syai'un fil ardhi walaa fissama'i wahuwasaami'ul 'alim.