Half full or Half empty?

Selamat hari jadi mak! I love you always :-)

2010-06-24T16:30:00.005+08:00

Salamz and hi peeps;

Entry kali ini saya nak tulis bahasa Melayu. Dan entry ini ditujukan untuk mak tersayang. Mungkin ada yang panggil mak dia mummy, mama, ibu, umi dan lain-lain (angan mumia sudahlah). Saya pangil mak je. Mak saya memang sempoi..baik dan penyayang. Saya cakap macam tu bukan kerana saya dah jadi mak dan rasa susah perit mendidik anak. Saya cakap macam tu sebab saya memang sayang mak saya, dah ada anak ke takda, saya memang sangat sayang dan hormati mak saya. Kalau ada duit lebih mesti nak kasi kat emak, sekarang tidak lah sangat sebab dah ada tanggungjawab dengan anak-anak dan perbelanjaan keluarga sendiri. Tapi kalau saya bujang dulu, saya memang suka untuk belanja emak saya, its a satisfaction to me:-). Alhamdullillah bila saya suka belanja emak saya, rezeki saya pun tidak pernah putus walau banyak atau sikit. Ini bukan cerita nak riak-riak yer... cuma nak bagitahu yang tidak akan rugi satu sen pun kalau kita belanja ibu-bapa kita, malahan Allah akan balas dengan berlipat ganda lagi :-) Amin untuk semua.

Berbalik kepada cerita mengenai emak saya. Emak saya lahir pada 23 Jun 1957, sama - sama masa merdeka. Emak saya adalah keturunan Cina dan diangkat oleh keluarga Melayu(nenek sayalah tapi dah meninggal sekarang). Beliau dibesarkan serta dididik dalam keluarga melayu. Emak saya seorang yang suka bisnes dan pandai buat macam - macam untuk cari duit. Dulu dia pernah ada kedai jahit baju. Masa tu saya sekolah rendah, kecik lagi. Bila balik sekolah saya duduk kedai jahit mak saya sampai petang, makan kat sana, jalan-jalan kat kedai- kedai amoi dan tidur bawah meja jahit je. Kesian tengok mak kerja kuat tapi saya tak paham lagi dan tak tahu macam mana nak bantu masa tu kecuali tolong kutip serpih serpih baju. Bila kedai jahit mak saya hangus dalam satu kebakaran( mak masuk newspaper time ni, glamer hiihih..), mak saya buka kedai makan dibantu oleh orang gaji Indonesia yang baik-baik semua iaitu Kak Pin dan Kak Kiah. Diorang ni dah macam family. Masa ni saya dah masuk sekolah asrama penuh kat Johor. Lepas dah tak larat berkedai(penat lah dan dah tua), mak saya duduk rumah jer jaga adik. Dan sekarang mak saya jual macam-macam kueh dan kek-kek lapis yang authentic, kalau dah biasa bekerja memang tak boleh duduk diam kan. Kek-kek lapis mak saya sangat sedap pada saya, bukan saya puji suka-suka tapi kawan-kawan/customer mak pun cakap kek lapis mak saya sedap dan oleh kerana mak saya ni pembersih, kueh pun elok je dan tahan lama. Mak siap ada blog lagi, tak percaya? Blog beliau http://adihomemade.blogspot.com

Masa saya tulis entry ni, mak saya sedang berada di United Kingdom dengan abah saya. Diorang pergi jalan-jalan sambil melawat adik saya yang telah pun mendapat cahaya mata pertama mereka Umar Ziyad. Inilah pertama kali mak saya pergi ke negara Eropah. Saya sangat gembira kerana saya tahu mak saya gembira dapat berjalan-jalan di luar negara terutama Eropah, ditambah pula melawat cucu lelaki pertama. Psst...anak saya kan dua-dua perempuan :-). Tidak dapat dinafikan, sedikit sebanyak saya rindu dengannya yang jauh, walaupun umur dah 30-an saya memang sentimental sikiiit..

Ini sedikit petikan sms saya dan mak saya semalam ketika saya ucapkan selamat hari lahir.

sms saya: " Wah...selamat hari jadi mak...ada orang celebrate birthday di London you..."

sms mak: " Mestilah, jangan jealous. Hujung minggu ni mahu jalan-jalan lagi di Kota London.

sms saya :" Tak jealous pun"

mak saya:" Dah 52 tahun umur mak, pertama kali mak jumpa jam 9.00 malam tapi hari masih terang macam jam 4 petang. Hari minggu ni mak nak pergi jalan-jalan London lagi"

sms saya:" bestnya!, baguslah. Semoga panjang umur dam murah rezeki, jaga diri baik - baik disana"
sms mak :" OK, mak rindu dengar suara Jelita dan Cantik...."

Tersenyum simpul saya sendiri, jauh-jauh ingat cucu juga. Saya dapat rasakan kegembiraan di wajah mak. Alhamdullillah, mak saya gembira dan bila dia gembira saya pun turut gembira.

Gambar nih diambil selepas mak dan abah snorkeling. Mak first time snorkeling at 53.

Sempat tunjuk peace lagi k :-)

Akhir sekali, saya ingin mengucapkan Selamat Hari Lahir buat mak tersayang. Siapalah saya kalau bukan kerana kasih sayang dan didikan yang diberikan.Untuk saya, setiap hari adalah Hari Ibu. Saya tanam dan semat di jiwa saya yang saya akan jaga mak sehingga ke akhir hayatnya dengan penuh kasih sayang dan rasa tanggungjawab yang tidak akan berkurangan, Insya Allah. Doa saya, agar mak sentiasa gembira di dunia dan di akhirat. Amin Ya Allah.

Sister Kindness

2010-06-21T15:11:00.001+08:00

Salam and hi peeps....

Did you guys had a good weekend? I did. I didn't go to any fancy places but I just love hanging around with my kids and watching Fabulousity Kimora Lee Simmons... I love KLS...she seems to be very loud and very bossy but she's very softy inside and reward her staff well. Above all, I like her because she just know what she wants and how to get it... this quality is hard to find in a woman, most of the time....we want something...but we don't know exactly what..because we changed our mind a lot, agree?

Being around my kids on a weekend can be really tiring and they get on my nerves real quick when they start with their mural drawing on the living room wall or when they lay down on the door mat and roll on the floor on slices of fresh baked chocolate cake that I baked with love for them ;-)..and I tell you, all this drama can happened real quick when I am not looking even for a split second.

At their best behavior. Don't be deceive guys :-P

My Jelita is really active and of all the cartoon/kid series that she's been watching like Mickey Mouse Club House, Dora the Explorer, Timmy Time, Word World, Tom Tom Bak and many more....her favorite is Ultraman Cosmos...I remembered that I used to like Ultraman too when I was a kid, my husband said he did too, just that it was just Ultraman not Ultarman Cosmos(maybe cicit of Ultraman). The Japanese really did it don't they, they made a real good job coming up with that series and its a fave for many generations..though it has no educational values(I think) but I just love to watch Jelita happy-happy smiles and the occasional jumping, running and rolling when its on TV :-).

Just like other siblings, Jelita and Cantik doesn't see everything eye to eye all the time....they do get into small fights. It will start with screaming at each other really loud and then Cantik is more of an attacker, she'll grab Jelita on the face, the eye, especially and it does worries me cos I scared that Jelita can really get hurt, although of course Cantik does it unintentionally... Jelita on the other hand is much softer and not as aggressive, she doesn't hit Cantik or do anything cruel back, she just push Cantik away and screams even louder. Not like I condone this kind of action, just that I can really see how Jelita knows that she's the bigger sister and she must show exemplary attitude. There's also this jealousy thingy that they showed on each other in terms of getting mummy's attention. So far I can see that my Cantik is very clingy and very "manja" and a little spoilt, Jelita on the other hand is showing that she's the funny type with lot of sense of humor. I figure Cantik is a year younger so its perfectly fine. After all with the 2 different characters that they have, it add rainbows to my life and make it much more worth living.

Best friends forever

The best thing of the sister kindness act that I must praise my daughters are the affections that they showed when one is sleeping. For example, when Cantik is sleeping, Jelita will go over to pat and rub her back and hum slow sounds to Cantik. Sometimes she even sing London Bridge-literally(she doesn't know the exact lyrics but it sure sounds like London Bridge). She willl also give Cantik a kiss on the forehead. Similarly if Jelita is sleeping, Cantik will pat her side bottom, give her a kiss and rub her back gently. I guess they get this from watching me and imitate it. There are so many qualities on you that you don't want your children to pick-up but THIS.. I am proud they did. I want them to grow up like me, loving and caring. I know that in future they will have disagreement, but if they are strongly bonded by love, they will be able to put aside whatever that causes the fight. Blood is definitely thicker than water.

Bila dua-dua dah 'pengsan'

Lastly, to end my post this time, I present you our recent photo at the Tuaran Crocodile Farm.

Victoria Beckham pose with mummy dearest...

XOXO.

My Friday morning thoughts....the MONEY MATTERS

2010-06-18T16:48:00.004+08:00

I was driving to work this morning...feeling happy that its Friday and just can't wait for the weekends.... While I was enjoying my morning hitz.fm bla bla bla....I saw a "pakcik" and "makcik" holding hands walking by the roadside. I know you might be thinking....duh! so what lah I saw couple holding hands......its normal.... well maybe if mat salleh couple normal...tapi for orang melayu couple....jarang-jaranglah...They don't appear rich to me-from the dressing I mean, not that I am being judgemental but the shirt doesnt looks like polo or makcik's bag doesnt look like prada..hmm maybe it was prado....ahhahahahaha..- anyways back to the topic...on my 15 seconds observation :-)...they look happy and content..caring and care- less of the busy traffics.....and I asked myself again....and again cos lately.....money matters seems a bit overwhelming to our family .....can money really buy happiness????? can holiday buy happiness? I bet the makcik never go to europe.......or pergi london to the wax museum and take picture with waxed britney spears....overseas tiada dalam book lah...eventhough ada air asia cheap cheap ticket now everyone can really fly....:-P..

So ladies and gentleman.....again I am asking myself can money buy you happiness? I would say, its true that money can't buy happiness but with money I can enroll my kids in good school..give them good food to eat for their brain and physical development.... get them in the elite social circle and developed inner self respect and confident....so to sum it up... money cannot buy happiness but money is the way to happiness...... Now is that the same? confused....!!!!

MomBloggersPlanet Cutest Baby in NATURE Contest

2009-11-12T11:35:00.014+08:00

Salamz and Hi;

Yippie….since I have my own blog now, my ‘jelita’ can participate in the MomBloggersPlanet Cutest Baby in NATURE Contest …Here goes my post.

This is a photo of my ‘jelita’, about 2 weeks ago taken at few kilometers above sea level hehehehhe…Kinabalu National Park, Kundasang, Sabah. See the breath taking view of the mountain top behind her. Atuk and nenek was in town so we went for a one night stay at one of the lodge within the park courtesy of my husband’s company. Bringing my daughter for outing whether its out in the sun or up to the hill sides is something I treasured always. Apart from the quality time that we get to spend together, I can see she is relating what she learns at home to what she sees. Like when we came across animals along the way, she’ll shout the name out loud… I mean really loud hahahaha… “mama mama…coow coow”… or “mama mama bed bed…(for bird)”

Balqis Zafirah, internet nickname 'jelita'

She is born on 9th January 2008

Picture taken on 30/10/09

I think that most of you know already about mount Kinabalu..stuff like it’s the highest in Sout East Asia…and blablabla….so won’t talk about that. Anyway, Kinabalu National Park is the starting place where the enthusiastic Mount Kinabalu climbers start their journey to the top!. Mount Kinabalu is under the conservation of Sabah Parks. The photo above and my profile picture was taken around 6.00 am (its early sunrise here in Sabah), where my family and I go for a morning walk around the park.

Oh ya…do you know that every year, there is a climbathon held at mount kinabalu? It’s a race-up and down the mountain for a total distance of 21 kilometers …phew..just by typing this makes me tired….hahahaha. The most recent climbathon was held on 24th to 25th October 2009. The winner for men category took only about 2 hours plus to complete the race…WOW! To read all about it, visit the climbathon website. Its an international race.

Now, back to my very reason writing this entry ----- MomBloggersPlanet Cutest Baby in NATURE Contest, click here if you are interested to learn more about the contest. It offers cool prizes from PhotoBookMalaysia and AliceWonders. This is my first time entering the contest, pray that we ( me and my ‘jelita’ of course) win ya…

Take care ya’ all and thanks for dropping by :-)

My Thoughts On Home Schooling

2009-11-11T15:50:00.011+08:00

Asalamualaikum and Hi again.

My daughter 'jelita' is almost 2 now and at this age, she is really fascinated to enriched her vocabulary. She seems to talk and understand more and more which she learns from people around her through spoken words or simply our body language. I then felt the pressured to educate her, to make the best of this golden moments where some says that the first 5 years is our child life is the most important time to build their character further become the foundation for them growing-up.

While surfing for materials on teaching young children, I came across home schooling which in short in my own terminology lar ya…. your child learn at home not at school. I stumbled across Malaysian Home Educator Network (MALHEN) website: learning beyond boundaries. If you are as curious as me about home schooling read the FAQ which can be downloaded from the website or click here to directly go to download page . click on 'muat turun sekarang'. You'll get few things cleared . At least from reading I knew its legal in Malaysia!

What do I think? Will I home school my kids? Before I answer this Q, let me just made it clear that whether you choose to home school your kids or not is a personal choice…hehehehhe.. don’t want to be labeled negatively ya..

For me, I still believe in our education system, I am a product of a boarding school and I tell you it was the best time in my life... I have great fun and I really missed those days. I do agree that the public education system is the kind of one size fits all, you don’t study at your own pace and there’s peer pressure and even teacher’s pet syndrome. When I was in school, I did face peer pressure and hoping to be teacher’s favorite….worst I am the kind of student who seeks attention. But I am thankful that I take it in a positive way. I pushed myself to keep up with the A’s student and work hard just to be notice.. That’s isn’t bad….turns out fine for me ;-)

Well everything have it pros and cons, I’m just saying I’m not in the pros side of it. Anyway, in my views here are few things to consider before you make the decision not to send your kids to school.

1). If you are a person who work 9-5.. seriously your are not a candidate for home schooling your kids. You yourself needs to be with your kids..not the Indonesian maid lar..or else, your kids will master Bahasa Indonesia only tihtihtih….

2). If you are not a person with strong will power and at least finished form 5, don’t consider it too. Not that I’m being judgmental… just that I personally think you need to have the right ‘mind set’, if you your self doesn’t like school, don’t you think its harder for your to teach your kids.

3). Your family must support your decision especially your other half. If your husband doesn’t support, I think you have to re-think about it. Having the will power, determination and consistency is already hard enough, let alone having your beloved person tells you “Honey, its not working…….send them to school”

4). Your child needs to understand why you choose to home school. If your child is old enough to be in a conversation, you have to at least explain to him/her. If you are not giving your child the option to choose(of course not… still too young to see the whole picture), at least you have to reason with them your action so that when he/she grew up - won’t blame you. Just have a one to one sharing session and talk about what makes you decide that home schooling is the best road to move forward.

Well, that’s all folks… Take care!

How to live a happy life

2009-11-10T14:17:00.006+08:00

Hi and Salamz;
I have received a forwarded email which the content got my interest. It is actually a common one where it tells you how you should live your life as a happy person. On and off I got this kind of email, sometimes I don't even bother reading. One of the obvious reason is because I already knew the theoretical part of this happy living recipes, just that I don't practice it... Anyway, this one I shall share with you as its so SIMPLE and I honestly found it effective.

Free your heart from hate
Free your mind from worry
Live simple
Give more
Expect less

Now, isn't that simple? We often think too much or take things too seriously that we end-up having wrinkled forehead before reaching 35(we don't want this, don't we ladies?). /sweat

I'll write more soon, this is just something which I thought off during my lunch break.
Take care !

Spreading The Blogging Love!

2009-11-04T23:00:00.006+08:00

Salamz and Hi;

One of the favorite thing I do everyday(especially when Im bored at work...tihtihtih) is blog reading. I also tends to blog hopping until I got lost in the cyberspace and cant tell which blog did I read in the first place...not to forget the headache and dry eyes too.

Its been fun, reading about how people are being very open about their thoughts and telling their real live story and some even love story(sometimes too mushy mushy lar for me) for the world to read. But anyway, I have nothing against that, I think everyone have their rights to be less discreet and share bits of their life. I also read local forums especially you know about mummy and baby stuff... and it AMAZED me to notice that people who are active online, saying this I mean--I see their name in almost all the forums I visited or their blogs are link from others blog, are actually the same group of people. :-) These people sure is enjoying and benefiting from the current social networking that the Internet has to offer. Some are very good at blog writings too. Those are the blogs that I surfed till my eyes itch for staring at the computer screen for too long...hahaha.

Now now, enough about other people who became popular on the net and local mummy blogging scene..my point for this long winded post is to let you know that I decided to be "visible online" ..oh I didn't mentioned didn't I , when I'm blog reading I hardly leave a comment, I just silently read...not even a squeak from me........shy me :-).

So bloggers out there, allow me to be the 'IN' people too hehheheee......Anyway, last but not least I hope you'll enjoy reading my views and my outlook on life and I shall also share the random thoughts I have from my twisted often confused and stressed over choices mind to lalalala lighten your day...

Thanks for dropping by and wishes you good health! /bye