The Four Tags Thingy

I was tagged by the non other Goddess - nazrah. I know I know I took a long time to do it. I also wanted to wait for her to be back in Singapore so at least she can read it. So here goes..my humble fours. Even though some of them are left unanswered. No idea lah

4 Jobs I Would Stink At

(i) Sewing. I can't sew.

(ii) Secretarial job. I am a chaotic person.

I don't know what else actually.

4 nicknames I'd give myself

(i) Lolita. I like using this name. It's naughty. But now I know what Lolita is all about..I feel for her. Jill you are passing me the book eh?

I don't have anymore nicknames. Perhaps, you can think of one for me.

4 Movies I Can Watch Over and Over

(i) LOTR
I like okay. I like the battle scene. It drives my emotion high

ii) The Incredibles
Oh is so so so so love this movie. The way they portray a middle class family of three kids are just so real. Even though being superheroes are fictional. I like the part when Syndrome shot the plane Elastic Girl was flying. The scene when she is concern about her kids touches me. Nak nangis babe. Even if I do not have superpower as such, I would do the same. And the scene when Mr. Incredible and Mrs were arguing the best route to take..err sounds like me and lover actually. Asal tak ambiklane yang tu? Dah tau kat Jalan Klang lama tepi kedai ni kan jam? Ambik lane kanan sekalilah!!

iii) Toy Story 1 and 2

(iv) Matrix 1


4 Mind Intoxication supplement

Polis cari tak kalau I tulis?

4 fantastic destinations I would like to go to on vacation before I pass out

(i) I want to go to Damascus. I want to travel by road in Syria. Then I want to drive up to Lebanon. DAMN YOU ISRAEL. Damn you!!!!

(ii) Iran. Please please let me go to Iran

(iii) South Africa

(iv) Anywhere but Qatar. Nyeh nyeh

4 Things I Love To Do On Weekends

(i) nothing

(ii) not cook

(iii) not clean

(iv) nothingness

4 celebrities I would go on a Big Date with

(i) Keanu Reeves in Matrix

(ii) Johnny Depp definitely not Willy Wonka

(iii) Brad Pitt in Legends of The Fall. I want to pull his hair

(iv)Robert de Niro in Heat

4 objects I carry all the time

(i) Camera. I use to carry SLR everywhere I go too. But since I start blogging, printing photos are too cumbersome. But I couldn't get myself a digital SLR. Too pricey for me. So oklah this one.

(ii) Shades.It is too glaring here

(iii) Swiss army card thing. It has little scissors, little pen knife, toothpick, tweezer (in case nak tarik apa-apa).

(iv) Diapers. For JackJack.

4 gadgets I do not have which I would quite like to have

(i) Rotisserie – hmm all my roast would be perfect. Walllahhh

(ii) NIKON digital SLR. Doesn't matter which one. Mid range also ok. No need too professional.

(iii) Industrial Iron

(iv) Actually I could use with a handphone tau lover.


So that's it. I grace this entry with a minaret picture I took at one of my rendesvous around Q@tar. Did I say I take the camera everywhere?

Haziq is Eight

Haziq turned eight yesterday. We didn't do any party because he has a lazy bum for a mum. But I made fish and chips (from scratch I tell you. The batter was crispy and hmm quite good. Angkat bakul boleh?.) Haziq is such an easy boy to please when it comes to my cooking. He would go "Ohh delicious! You are the best mum in the world!" Then big hug big hug. Followed by hugs from the other two. I know his favourites by now. On top of my head is peanut sauce. I make salad with this (ala gado-gado) sometimes. My nasi minyak with dry, thick curry. Chicken soup. Hmm what else ah? Don't knowlah. Itu je yang aku masak kot...

Anyway, we went to Chillies that night. Haziq was impressed by their service and said something to this effect, "Chillies : Where you can dine like Kings!" and slurp down his thick shake. He actually said dine! We taught him tic-tac-toe and tell him to see things in a bigger picture. Not only his last move. I am not sure he understands what I mean.

Since this blog is also dedicated to my children, I'd like to put up what I think haziq has done well now that he is eight. So bear ajele Ibu dia punya gloat ok.

Each time after finishing lunch, I would tell haziq to take his ablution and go pray Zuhur. He would take out his prayer mat and my prayer mat and my telekung and all, put it next to each other ready for me. I like this very much. Then when he finishes, he would routinely take out the Koran and be ready for me. All the time. Regardless he was pinched yesterday for repeatedly wrong "Idgham". Bless the child.

Haziq is a very attentive child. He is always very perceptive with my mood. And would caution his siblings when I am in my foulest. During my one month ordeal when my mum was in the ICU, he was my strength. Always there to hug me and even cry with me.

He is scared of the big cockroach but bring lizards into the house. A live one that is. EEeeeewwwwwwwwwwwww!!

He asks questions out of context. Out of the blue kind of thing. Remind me to make a catalogue of his questions. Yesterday he asked me, how did the tortoise/ turtle's shell grow bigger as they get older. He also asked while I was chatting with a friend, will the centuries ever stop? What would happen to earth then? Sometime ago he asked God makes us right? Who makes God? Hmm what else. He said I know where the moon get its' ray but how did the shape form into crescent and full circle and all that? And he is forever asking me maths question.

He is a vain boy. He combed his hair either spiky or with jambul (what is jambul in english ah?). And despite that he still runs out naked from the shower. In fact he took such a long time putting on his clothes that I threatened him with the camera.

Otherwise, he is quite eccentric as well as friendly. He is still a chatterbox and love to make friends. He'd be your friend anytime.

I just want him to not be as clutter as he is now. Also he is gelabah.

I pray the best for him and that he remain a good person and good Muslim for the rest of his life. And from the little I shared with him now, I hope he makes something out of that for himself and the coming generation.

Ibu loves you tremendously.



His dad's and his few months old foot.

Read also : Haziq is Seven

Top Secret Mission

I pity my children you know. They really have nothing to do. Except look at me and listen to me nag because the house is haphazard. It is hot, they can't play outside. Even if they can, there is nothing to play outside. We don't live in a compound. No swimming pool, no playground, no nothing. If I continue writing this would surely be a whiny entry...

Anywaaayyyyyyyyy, I overheard Haziq and Sya talking to each other. There is this top secret mission they are planning. They are planning to do something against us : me and lover. The convo went something like this

Haziq said, "So tonight we are going to creep into ayah and Ibu's room. We would pretend to sleep first, then when they get to bed, we will go in and scare them!"

"Yeah! Yeah! We will become ghosts.", said Sya.

"Ghosts??!!! Oh great idea Sya!" exclaimed Haziq giving her a high five. "So we would get in their room with a blanket and scare them! Ha! Ha! Ha!"

"But we would need a white blanket.." Remarked Sya.

"We don't have white blankets..." Said Haziq.

PAUSE

Then Haziq had an idea. "It's ok..in the dark they won't see a thing. You know you know..we can put something on our head to cover our face. I know I know. I put my spender (brief) and you can put on your panties. Ha! Ha! That will be scary. We would look like aliens. But sya..my spender is ok..but yours..err you have flowers . Flowers are not scary."

"But yours has tiger and polka dots," replied Sya.

PAUSE

"OK! OK! I know!" exclaimed Haziq again with that big light bulb on his head blinking, "We can use my short pants. If we put in on our head..the holes would look like big eyes. Ha! Ha! That will scare them!"

I am telling you, they are planning it so detail. Haziq even had sketches of the plan. The route to take from his room to mine. The stuff they need, which include water, torchlight, make up, paintbrush and camera.

Thank God each time they pretend to sleep, they would actually fall asleep themselves. And their mother is really a nocturnal person. Heh heh.

The only thing I worry is, if they do sneak in, they would be the one to have a scare of their lives.

Goddess Blunder Again

Like as if the one Goddess blunder is not enough, another one comes in.

I have been trying a few recipes which has buah keras in it. To tell you the truth I do not have any idea how buah keras looks like. I don't know why, but the first thought of buah keras is this.

Bear with me okay. I know most of you know that this is indeed not buah keras but rather buah pala (?) But I didn't know. *hangs head in shame*. If I were in Malaysia, I could ask the shopkeeper to show me. But here everything is in english. I don't know what they call those buahs in English. I know the look of buah pala(?) and on the bag it says nutmeg. So for many months I thought buah keras = nutmeg.

So many distasteful sauces I have attempted using this what I thought this buah keras is. And many times I thought the taste is quite strange except when I fried some mee hoon. That one not bad. So who do I blame? The recipe of course. (Since I cannot blame it on the oven)

A few days ago, I was casually reading some herb glossaries. Those Malay-English ones . It says there that buah keras = candlenut.

What.the.fart? Candlenut? Not nutmeg eh? Not nutmeg????? And all these while I have been using nutmeg which I thought is buah keras. I googled for images and lo and behold this is buah keras. And buah keras=candlenut.

Ohh criesss. I remembered seeing this in my mum's kitchen. And like lightning, there and then I realise that nutmeg is actually buah pala.

Now I have to revisit all the recipe again. I have actually struck it out from my list, with a note YUCK to it.

But I haven't found candlenut just yet. They also say that the best replacement for candlenut is macademia nut though it is slightly sweeter than candlenut. Hmm I should google for macademia nut before I make further blunder.

And I have loads of those nutmeg. What do I do with it?

An Expat Country

Qtar has 885,359 (July 2006 est.) people, the majority of whom live in D0ha, the capital. Ethnic groups: Arab 40%, Pakistani 18%, Indian 18%, Iranian 10%, other 14%. Foreigners with temporary residence status make up about four-fifths of the population. Foreign workers makes up 88% of the total labor force. Most of them are South Asians, Egyptians, Palestinians, Jordanians, and Iranians. Ref: CIA world factbook and US Department of State Fact Sheet

The local women do not work in the service sector. They don't do hotels, sales girl, cashier, waitress or any of that sort. These jobs are usually taken by the Filipino ladies. But some local women have own businesses or work in the office or spend their day at the beauty centre. The men, either have their own business or work as proffessionals. They don't do blue collar job either. Ref : Myself.

As you know I am Malay Malaysian. A typical Malay, like me, can look like many other ethnic all across Asia. Especially to an untrained eye. The only look that I don't don is probably chinese. Still amazingly in The UK, some think I am chinese because I am Asian.

Anyway, when I got here and stayed in The M@rriot, the Filipino ladies were always greeting me in Tagalog. When I take the cab, and the driver is Philippines they would also speak to me in Tagalog but would immediately speak to me in English and call me ma'am as soon as I said sorry, I can't speak Tagalog. There are definitely lots of Filipinos around here in this country who would usually look at me when we bump in the mall, in case I am a fellow countryman.

So I guess it is not surprising when I am in carefour one night, and three and I mean THREE local ladies come up to me and asked how much does the extra virgin olive oil cost or where can they get the diapers for 1 and half year old boy who is oversized. Hello do I look like I am wearing a uniform here? Hmmffttt.

I also look like an Indonesian. Many helpers here are also from Indonesia. Again, it is not surprising sometimes that when I take my kids out or the first time I go to the kids school, the other parents think I am the kids' maid and would usually ignore me, until of course I told them who I am with an accent to boot. Ala2 Emma Thompson gitu

Ohh there are just many stories about us being thought as a maid here. My friend was asked by a local to tell her master to move the car. Or being treated second class when we are in the shops.

They say the trick is to not underdress. I think good shades would help. Especially the one with those big emblems VERSACE at the sides of the rim.

Tips eh : When you go to government sector especially doing the medical checkups make sure you do not underdress. Wear smartly and look confident. Otherwise the ladies there will bark and shout at you. Of course if you are caucasian or look like one, you would be treated with respect. Better still if you are American.

I went to buy some fabric at the souq the other day. The guy spoke to me in Hindi. I said I don't speak Hindi. Oh you look like one of us. I said you speak exactly like a Hindustan movie. He also said he thought Haziq is my little brother and winked. Podacitlah!

Lucky for us though, when you tell them you are Malaysian they would immediately treat you with the highest respect. Masya Allah! Masya Allah! They would say. Beautiful country. I really like it there. And I would obligingly ask, you've been there. Oh we go there every year. In fact we are going again. Or, no we are not lucky yet but we will go one day. We heard it is a nice place.

So that makes me feel good.

Sometimes they also ask about Anwar Ibrahim.

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I hope this doesn't give any impression of racism in any way. Seriously I love all Asians. Both Indonesians and Filipinos are gorgeous ladies. This post is about being mistreated partly for your skin colour and also about your ethnicity and what work you do. And also the superiority complex of the locals.

I also hope you read between the lines. THE MESSAGE IS I HAVE NEW SHADES.

How my Mother Becomes an Ibu

I was raised to call my mum, emak. It was not until I was perhaps five that I changed to call her Ibu.

I was beginning to read then. I remembered reading a Malay book about a family of a grasshopper. In the book, like any other Malay literature, it used "Ibu" as a term for mum. And it just struck me that the word "Ibu" is just beautiful. Endearing, short and perfect. Cultured yet loving.

The whole idea of the word "Ibu" somehow seemed so romantic to my naive mind than. The idea of changing it is thrilling in the first place. But to have call her Ibu,I think would have fulfilled part of a child's literature dream.

So that's what I did. I asked my mum whether I could call her Ibu instead. My mum, who was probably delighted that I could read, agreed astoundingly.

Now that I am an Ibu myself, I really am at awe with my mum. My children wanted to call me mummy when they were introduced to english books. Unlike my mum who happily agreed, I stood my ground. Ibu it is for you.

I told my mum this, when she was in the ICU. How much I admire her sacrifice of everything. Oh I so remembered her look then. She looked at me in the eyes. She didn't even attempt to say anything. She smiled a bit. Just looking at me babbling. And because we couldn't communicate we really looked at each other. Pity that it took my mum to lose her voice that only then her only daughter would really look into her loving eyes. I can only read love in them.

Lately it somehow struck me, when my kids were making such big fuss over me, calling me Ibu over and over again, I realised, I really won't be calling anyone "Ibu" forever. No one will answer me if I call. Not anymore.

Today is the mark of the 100th day that she left us.

Only prayers that I can offer her. Al Fateheh.

I am missing her just the same.

Photogenic

I was asked to put up a photo of myself along with some scribbling of who I think I am in the newsletter. Actually I asked the same thing from all of them and conveniently omit myself out. Small fish maaa. But they didn't think it's fair..to them at least.

Now the trouble is, there are not so many pictures of myself since I am the one with camera most of the time. The one I have is usually badly taken like the kids took it when I am sleeping with mouth wide open for instance. So I used the standard passport photo that I used for all the IDs here.

So Mr. Drive Fast (who is also the MAQ's secretary), upon looking at it said, "Ni gambar zaman bila pulak ni? Tak acilah letak gambar masa muda-muda!" (What! Teenage photo?)

Hmm as much as I like to take it as a compliment, but you know there is this subliminal message behind the compliment don't you think? It is saying that in reality I look old! That I don't look as young as the photo suggests.

Baahhhhhhh.

If people tell you that you are photogenic, don't be too happy about that either. It is also saying that only when captured at certain angle under good lighting, only can you look good. Face to face..you are really pathetic.

Unless of course you are in some beauty pageant for instance. Then perhaps you want to be Ms. (or Mr. for that matter)Photogenic.

Or perhaps not...if you really think about it.

Missing My Job

Desert must be a heaven for rentice seekers. You can construct even individual ROW for each phase and double circuit to boot.

I am missing you guys terribly.

Blocked

The Asian Games' Athlete's Village. Will be converted to hospital's quarters after.

When i was googling for massage techniques I found many sites. More than the link I provided for you.

If I remember correctly, this was what I googled..HERE. But there are many that I couldn't surf anyway. Because they blocked it. A big sweep block for title which includes the word bre@st. In fact,I tried downloading free mp3s at certain sites but couldn't. (If Malaysia is serious about piracy, they should do this). The word pig in the subtitle, I think didn't allow me to surf in it as well.

There were controversies that YM was to be banned on the ground that it encourages illicit relationship, profanity and so on. I seriously think it's because they are losing out on calls when people YM.

Jeez if they are really worried about profanities, sex and all, they really should start looking at some of the TV channels here. Adult movie free for all to see.

School Term..

has ENNNNDEDDDDDD!!!!

Summer school holiday is now on!

Up to SEPTEMBER!!

That long!

Faints!

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Haziq started his school holiday early this week, but Batrisyia's tomorrow. Remind me again why I want them in the same school.