I'm back.....

Hi, auntida's back, spiritually rejuvenated but physically...this picture sums out how she feels:



Loads and loads of updates are overdue but has to be much, much later...zzzzzzzz

A friend's passing

It is a most unsuitable time for auntie to blog but auntie has to make this short entry in the light of the unexpectedness of the event that has happened today.

Auntie has received news that a friend has passed away. Rosemaria Razak - Maria for short- passed this morning of breathing problems. Maria was auntie's friend from TKC. We were in the Red House together. We were not especially close but Maria was friends with everyone. She was the joy-maker of the batch. She loved to sing, was a competitive hockey player and athlete and had a very infectious laugh.

Auntie had not seen Maria since finishing Form Five, until 2006 when the batch had a 20-year reunion. She had looked 17 and had not changed a bit except for having longer hair and being a littler quiter than she was in school.

The news of the passing of someone you know and at a relatively young age always leaves you with a senseless feeling. After the shock the only thing you can do is pray that Allah makes her journey into the alam Barzakh a peaceful one and full of rahmah.

Al-Fatihah.

The AH has spoken - so I will get the crocs

Tidak auntie sangka bahawa cerita-ceritut auntie berkaitan crocs mendapat sambutan yg sungguh hebat walaupong dalam entry tu ada benda yg lebih important ie UMRAH.... Entry tersebut mendapat antara comment terbanyak auntie pernah dapat. Yang paling menggegar dunia ialah apabila AH membuat comment di blog auntie yg directed at auntie (komen dia dulu2 directed at other people who had commented).

Kepada yg belum baca comment dia (or kalau dah baca pun apa salahnya...), auntie will do him the honor of pasting it on this entry so it becomes known to all (especially to those yg malas baca comments). Here goes:

Abih, yang beratus ribu kasut dan slepar yang lain tu nak bubuh kat mana ayang oiii?????!!!! Tiap kali nak pi "over the sea" kena beli kasut dan beg, macam ni tauke beg dengan tauke kasut bolehlah beli private boat dan plane tiap tiap taun! Abang ni pakai jerlah slepar Jepung yang di tinggalkan oleh tentera Jepun selepas serendar dulu. Beli ayang.... jang tak beli...nanti tak meriah pulah umrah tahun nih! Bukan saja cap crocs, chap LANDAK BATU pon tak per. Abang suke sanghat!!!

-SUAMI TERCINTA-

Jawapang auntie:
KAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAH....Sungguh auntie suka, sekarang auntie tak perlu lagi berselindung tiap kali auntie nak beli beg and kasut. AH dah terima hakikat bahawa dia tak akan menang dalam perbahasan berkaitan pembelian kasut dan beg auntie. Pembelian kasut dan beg dia...lain la citer.

Sorry, you all kena dengaq citer rumahtangga.

Talking about rumah tangga, kepada yg curious (tah beberapa kerat pun...) gambar2 di bawah ini boleh menceritakan dgn panjang lebar situasi rumahtangga auntie:

Masa bercintun, this is how we picture our married life:

Tapi yg agak biasa terjadi ialah....



Dan yg kadang-kadang (well, maybe kerap) terjadi ialah...




Ada ketikanya kami camni...

But most of the time, we are like this....

PS: Auntie can't wait for Mommy to come home on Sunday....with all the goodies, yeah!

Goodnite, God Bless.

have crocs will umrah

Auntie adalah risau kerana...

....walaupun tak berapa hari lagi auntie nak pergi umrah, auntie bukannya nak pi google doa2 untuk umrah tetapi auntie lebih risau baju dan kasut apa auntie mesti pakai supaya selesa dah bahagia di tanah suci. Dan auntie bercita2 untuk mendapatkan kasut yg di bawah ni:

...dan since mamachupan/ psychomama jugak menggalakkan pembelian kasut ini, auntie pasti bila auntie di airport pada hari Ahad nanti auntie akan grab sepasang in that very colour. Auntie boleh pakai cakap mamachupan kerana dia seorang yg amat sensible walaupun come to think of it, auntie tak sure pulak sama ada mamachupan selalu sensible dalam hal-hal kasut. Yg auntie tahu, auntie memang pantang tengok kasut, so mungkin kah ini cuma satu dugaan Tuhan terhadap auntie yg nak pi umrah ni. Ya Allah, ya Tuhanku, walaupun aku mungkin pakai crocs, kau berkatkanlah ibadahku di Makkah. If crocs is a bad choice, God, please give me the signs before I lose RM129 to a pair of shoes. I will gladly go and get 2 pairs of RM50 ppair of Crocodile sandals instead. Amin...

-auntie yg sungguh serabut kerana kena buat training utk mamat dan minah dari pelbagai negara (yg dijangka akan sungguh banyak karenah) dua minggu yg akan datang ini-

More message for Mommy and Auntie's general updates

Auntie just have this weekend to breathe a bit coz the next few weekends auntie will be working. Tu pun pagi-pagi bangun AH dah kata "nak buat American breakfast untuk Abang?" To AH, apa2 yg ada telur, sausage and bread is American breakfast walaupong telur tu asal dari kedai Ah Huat, bread dari British-based TESCO dan sausage is either Ramly or Ayamas. And it is still American breakfast to him walaupun makan pada pukui 11 malam. Of course jawapan auntie kepada soalan AH ialah, "penat la, bangggg................." Pastu dia akan kata, kalau Sleepyhead or Mommy or the kiddies or psychomama or Samantha or Nyonya etc request, sure auntie akan terus jump and say "ok, with or without chips?". Just shows how he ranked in auntie's life, he would say, pout, pout. OK la, mai pi makan kueteow Pak Wan. Yeaay!

A VERSION OF AMERICAN BREAKFAST

Anyways, talking about American breakfast, auntie nak tambah pesanan auntie to Mommy in hopefully warmer London (hey, check out, it appears that ada sleet kat Penang on Thursday!). If Mommy scroll back to auntie's entry about NOT going to London, ada hint kat situ. Tapi utk menyenangkan Mommy, auntie bagi tau la. Jgn lupa English muffins and crumpets for auntie. Tak kisah la from tesco ke, sainsburys ke mana ke. So, Mommy, before packing on the last day in London, go hunt for auntie's English muffins and crumpets, k?

BTW, auntie sudah get hold of Raymond, our soon-to-be lembut Eurasian (as in portugese- serani, kat Penang depa dipanggil Eurasian) designer-contractor for minor renovations with our apartments. Hopefully, we can set an appointment soon. Bad side of purchasing a property, on Monday auntie will have to pay the bulk of the legal fees. Sad thought, indeed. Tapi yg best, hopefully auntie will soon get back my small deposit on the purchase.

Also, following suit in the footsteps of Sleepyhead and Bro1, auntie is now the proud half-owner of a set of sofa. The other half ownership still belongs to the 88Furniture Shop (yep, that's the name of the shop) because auntie only put a deposit on it to book a sale price and then will only pay for it in full in June when it is delivered (hopefully after renovation finishes).

Hari tu AH bengang ngan auntie coz dia sebenaqnya suka our present lantai but auntie insisted on wood flooring for 75% of the floor. Tapi sleepyhead and umi ina kata, awat nak lantai wood coz present lantai dah cantik. Now auntie bagitau kat AH, kita buat wood flooring in bedroom and lounge only la coz the two sisters said lantai dah cantik. AH kata, itulah yg dia dok bagitau auntie tapi auntie tak nak dengar. Tup2 duorang ni cakap, terus auntie jump and tukar decision. Where's de partnership in this, he asked? Hehehehe. Solly la dahling. Nanti ida bagi abg buat dealing ngan Raymond, OK? Dia sure suka abang yg ala2 hensem tu.

Cakap pasai orang lembut, semalam auntie sms our long-term car insurance/ road tax lembut agent, Sam (hehehe, what a coincidence with the Sam from 2+1 sit-com long time ago, which will only be remembered by people born before 1980). Tiap2 tahun since we bought our car, Sam's been doing this for us. Very efficient and good service. Auntie just called, tunggu kat opis and give all necessary documents and money, and presto, 3-4 days later siap and delivered in person to office. Thank God for people like Sam. Bukan macam airport taxi driver last night yg so rude and bengong (but this is an entry for my other shared and less-known idiot ranting blog).

OK, AH dah suruh mandi nak pi makan kueteow Pak Wan.

Babai.

A very short messsage for Mommy

Auntie is going crazy with work so auntie is only going to give Mommy a short message and hoping she reads auntie's blog from ole and surely blustery London.

If Mommy wants to gift (sic) auntie with books, here are the options according to the order of what auntie wants most:

Selves, Persons, Individuals: Philosophical Perspectives on Women and Legal ...

By Janice Richardson

Legal Feminism: Activism, Lawyering, and Legal Theory

By Ann Scales

If Mommy can buy all four for auntie, auntie will reimburse on the ones that Mommy does not consider gifts for auntie and auntie will be eternally grateful.

Enjoy the rest of the days in London and hope Mommy is not thinking too much about how she misses her two girls back home.

Yang mengharap,
Auntie

Wan and Jijin- a very, very belated birthday

Auntie is sooo bogged down with deadlines auntie temporarily forgets the birthdays of two very important people this month.

On the 7th of April, Wan became 72. On 12th of April (last Saturday), auntie's baby, Jijin, was 7. No big family celebration this year, though Jijin had an unplanned one (see Ayah's blog). I think everyone was busy even to drop Wan a wish or two. Poor Wan. Not even flowers this year, unless Mommy did remember wishing and sending flowers? Auntie totally forgot till today.

Auntie remember two years ago we had quite a do for Wan's 70th birthday. Auntie still has some pictures (see pictures below). We also celebrated Jijin's birthday together with Wan's that year.

Here's Jijin with Wan and the cakes. Aki and Shasha looking on:

The green cake belongs to Nan, our cousin who had his birthday in the same month so he was included in the almost impromptu celebration. Nan was 13th then.

Prior to the cake cutting there was a semi-formal speech and tribute session. Ayah took on the role of MC and spokesperson for the bro and sis:

No sweat at all for him since he must have done this so many times in his line of work. Of course he may want to learn a thing or two from the veteran PTD officer, seated in red...NOT!

Here's the tear-wrenching event...

Sleepyhead is the designated poem reciter. Poem specially dedicated for dear, beloved Wan, written by, who else...yours truly! All in five minutes and on scraps of tesco receipts, if I recall (maybe later transferred by Sleepyhead onto a more berjurus paper). Sleepyhead! Where is that poem now? It's sooo rugi if it is lost coz auntie could not remember a word of it now. For what it's worth, it did reduce a few people to tears on that day.

Here's Wan's cake:

And Jijin's, specially baked and decorated by Mak Faridah (tangan gemuk pasang lilin tu, of course, tangan auntie):


Jijin with Wan again:

Jijin with all the prezzies. Sorry, baby, this year's prezzie is going to be a bit late.
Sharing the moments with Along and Man.

And with Umi and the rest of the gang...

As we are looking at less than new family pictures, here are a few more...

Wan and latest cucu, Ajmal

The kiddies, all featuring Jijin, the belated birthday girl...

May Allah give us many, many more years with Wan and may Allah protect our Jijin in His tender care, always. Amin.