this stage

I'm at this stage where things are not going my way right now and I wish that the fate of my career does not hang on someone who is insignificant. Although I never regretted the decision to quit my previous job, and perhaps karma is giving me some tiny bites of my own medicine, I have faith that this shall pass. 

There is a silver lining somewhere. I just need to either find it or wait for it. 

xoxo

remembering Amri

While i was in Japan, Amri Ruhayat, writer extraordinaire, friend, passed away.

My little homage:

Saddened to hear about the passing of our dear friend Amri Rohayat today. We all have our stories to tell about him, his selflessness to help others (including mine) and he was like a magnet that people just gravitate to. His sarcasm and wittiness used to annoy me but this what made Amri so special, to each one of us.

I am in Japan now, thinking about how at one time I ruined an interview at Media Prima, the one he set up for me because I was desperately looking for another job. He laughed heartily because I couldn't answer the final question -- "what is your aspiration?" because I was confused with inspiration vs. aspiration. I'm also thinking about the time I keep losing at Scrabble whenever I play with him, because who am I kidding? Amri is a freaking walking dictionary!

You can rest now, dear Amri. You have done so much throughout your colourful life. You are the only person I know in this world who keeps on giving and giving until the very end. 

Al-Fatihah.
إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ

Note: Got a reply from his sister: "He played Scrabbles with our father since he was 8." :(

Also got to know that an old friend Ja'a has passed away recently as well. May Allah place them amongst the Most Beloved.

Found!

Misteri kehilangan wallet bukan satu misteri lagi.

It was in my sling bag all along which I used once in a while in Japan. When I got home, it was the first thing I took out without looking inside and completely forgot about the wallet.

Ish Nate. On a brighter note I don't have to go to UTC this weekend to get a new license. Yay!

Japan 2017

Japan, as always, is a dream I never want to wake up from. This year's trip is extra special because a) it was Imaan's and my birthday week b) my bestfriend and family were with me c) we're on a budget because we no longer have free accommodations compared to the previous trips!  

My wallet has gone missing. My pink Kate Spade wallet that DH got for me from his NYC stint. My gut feeling tells me that I left it at our airbnb home in Edogawa (in which to date I have yet to get a response from the host). Not sure why I'm not too bothered by it. Probably because I trust the Japanese if it's true I left it, then I'm sure they'll return it to me. (Update: Host kata it's not there. Boo.)

I have my credit card, IC, kids' IC, my HSBC card with me so that is half of my headache gone. But in the wallet ada my Maybank & CIMB ATM cards, lesen kereta and gaaaaah arwah Baba's photo. I don't give a shit about the rest.

Misteri jugak kehilangan wallet ni. On a happier note my bestfriend is getting me a new wallet! Funny, we were both browsing for new wallets (she's in Kuantan btw) and we both came up with the same choice! Ah kindred spirit. 

staycation

Got excited when Expedia gave 50% discount off on selected hotels. Excited sangat sampai salah book hotel!  But I suppose we can only make the best out of it and we did. Stayed at Royale Bukit Bintang for a night (note to self sis: next time book Royale Chulan, check betul2 ok) and I guess I can't complain. I mean as long as we have running water and no ants/cockroaches jumping in the room, I'm cool with it. Nice to see this part of KL anyway. 

I wonder if these tenants invest in binoculars...

Hand lettering gives me so much peace. Well most of the time that is.

What's up KL! Hanis Zalikha's view is from the other side of KLCC. #eh

At least ada kiddie pool! Phew.

My growing boys. Adik lost a tooth, and Abang discovered Sherlock.

New horizon

Never in my life I thought I'd ever sleep in an oil vessel but slept I did. Flew to Bintulu on the 4th for a last minute work assignment. I had my reservations about sleeping in a ship, trust me, it's not about getting sea sick 'coz I never do but it's the fear of drowning. But work is work, and fear aside, I took a morning flight to a town I've never been before.

Watched Cold War 2 (Aaron Kwok, Tony Leung) dan damsonnnnnn Aaron Kwok is looking so fine. Growing old gracefully, that man. Thought I could finish the book that I'm currently reading too but I got distracted by the movie. I loved the movie so much I watched it again on my flight back. :)

While we wait for our boat to the ship, we had lunch at Sushi King. Eyyy I didn't know the existence of these delicious eggs man! I wouldn't recommend the soft-shell crab though.  

The speed boat. Took us 30 minutes to reach the vessel.

Trivia: Back in uni I can speak Sarawakian. 

Obligatory feet shot.

 My cabin was pretty decent. Since the vessel was manufactured in Korea, almost everything was made in Korea. Even the blanket hehe. I was slightly worried that I might be claustrophobic but by midnight I was dead asleep. I'm sure the smell of gas from the vessel killed a handful of my brain cells that night though hehe. 

Fancy table lamp there, also made in Korea. Tak sempat sentuh dah nyala. Power!

Subhanallah, Allah is indeed Great. 

The food on board was delicious. For dinner we were served nasi beriani kambing and had nasi lemak for breakfast. The Captain and crew were nice to us as well. I did feel a bit sad when it was time to leave, because I think I may have fallen in love with the sea that have scared me so much all my life. 

Since we had few hours to burn before our flight, our driver took us to Pasar Tamu Bintulu where we bought:

• ikan bilis mata biru (dengar khabar sedap gilak)
• belacan bintulu
• ikan masin
• ikan terubuk masin

My SIL messaged me to find Gery Saluut Malkist in bintulu. Tengah viral katanya. So we went to Time Square to look for them. Wah the cheese ones were sold out at the supermarket there! Bought chocolate ones first. But we then later managed to find some in a small shop in the same mall.

Okaylah jugak. Nyaman rasanya. 

Belacan and ikan terubuk masin. 

Not sure when will I get the chance to do this again but I'm guessing there'll be more. I danna. Allah knows best. 

40 it is this

My eldest reminded me that I'm 40 this year. Well he does this on-and-off, since last year because he's very into doing mental calculations. OK fine. 40 it is then. 

Found this link of 52 questions. Each week for one year, take one question and write as much or as little as you want. 

https://familysearch.org/blog/en/52-questions-52-weeks/?repeat=w3tc

Will attempt this later. Should be interesting. 

New Year

Took the day off to settle the kids' school. Em has pre-school in the morning and guess what! No more morning drama with Rumi because his school is in the evening session. Huzzah! 

Ibu still has issues with letting go. 

After picking up Em from school I dragged him to LHDN. I thought I still owe LHDN money but turns out I don't! Alhamdulillah. Managed to clear my late dad's outstanding balance as well so I think this is a good start for 2017. Can focus on clearing PTPTN now! Ugh.

How could you LHDN! ;p

best kelik KB

Best kelik KB kali ni. Eh everytime balik kampung for sure best one. Despite taking the risk of travelling to the east coast during the monsoon season, we were greeted with clear sky and cool weather. It rained only at night. Alhamdulillah. But next time must go back longer. 3 days 2 nights trip is just too packed for us if we want to consider all the makan places we want to explore and visit over and over again.

As usual, balik kampung, sewa kereta with Hawk Rental to get around easily. With Waze, you'll never be lost! Ok except during that time where I completely forgot how to get to my godmother's house. -_-

Since we had to wait for our room to be ready, first pit stop is Nasi Ulam Cikgu! (ok more KB food posts will be in separate posts altogether)

Imaan fell flat on his ass here. Hehe next time dengar cakap Ibu please!

Managed to get a good rate to stay at Hotel Perdana via Agoda members offer. Been wanting to stay here since it was recently refurbished and we're very satisfied with our stay! Next time we shouldn't opt for hotel breakfast because dddddddddddddude! makan kat luar lagi best!

This is lovely. But I was too tired to wake up. Masjid Muhammadi was my playground. Literally my playground coz Queen Mother's house is just meters away from the mosque. Where I spent countless tarawikh and Raya prayers.

Yay fancy pool for the kids! Time ni takde orang lagi.
I've never seen so many kids at a swimming pool like this one! LOL.

Lovely, just lovely.

Imaan, upon seeing the hotel: "Nasib baik hotel kita cantik". -_-

By the way, our room was facing the infamous pink stadium. Forgot to take pics! The kids didn't believe me at first when I said the stadium is pink haha.

The signboard near Pasar Kubang Pasu, where all your breakfast needs will be fulfilled.
 And also, possibly the best nasi dagang in the country ever. Hands down.

Pasar Siti Khadijah hok comey.

Ended up buying kain for my MIL and sister, and for myself!
Great bargains.

One of the mosques in KB. Gorgeous blue sky to complement the exterior.

See you again, home. 

Roti Titab, Kopitiam Kita

You know, growing up on and off in Kota Bharu, I've never heard of roti titab. Perhaps it was non-existent when I was a kid. So when outsiders (ie orang luar Kelantan / tourists) started gushing about roti titab, we just had to try lah. 

Sedap! The combination of kaya, roti bakar and half-boiled egg is a taste from heaven. Oh wait, add kicap masin a bit. Fuh! If you ever get the chance to check out Kopitiam Kita (god bless Waze) don't be shocked by the constant yelling by the waiters. It is a busy place after all.  Don't worry, they won't yell at you, just the people in the kitchen hehe. 

Makan di Kanteen

Hey guys have you met my old friend the salted egg spaghetti?! This is from Kanteen Plus, Plaza Damas across Haji Don (or is it Aji Don?). One of my all time favorite. The portion may have gotten smaller, but since it's super creamy it's okay. You can opt for the spicy version, where they will just throw in more cili padi to balance out the creamy taste.

I brought my colleagues here few weeks back and they went back the week after with other colleagues hehe. 

Mama, 3 years on

Mama, with Imaan.

I miss you Mama. I wish I have enough photos of us together. Of you and the kids.

I wish I made more time for you.

I wish I can take back those time when I was impatient with you, when I felt you were not right, when I made you angry or sad. 

Al-Fatihah. 

Pay it forward

So to cut a long story short I decided to pay for someone's fuel today. He seemed like a nice non-threatening fatherly guy and he asked nicely anyway. I asked him "how much do you need?". He said RM3. But I gave him RM10 instead and although he asked me to wait so that he can give me back my change I said it's okay you can keep it.

Before I left, a gas attendant knocked on my window and said "kak, dia tu hari2 ada sini mintak duit. jangan bagi duit kat dia".

Takpelah bro. He can keep the money. A father of 3 was recently arrested for stealing school items and god knows where is this man heading. I can only pray that he uses my fuel money for a good cause. Jangan pergi merompak sudah.

So if you're at Shell Jalan Klang Lama (heading towards Midvalley), just be aware ya. Cheers.

This boy

Glad that school is finally out! This means no bickering time EVERY morning trying to get him to wake up. Then we fight again because once he's ready he will blame him for making him late -- which is not the case since 645am is late in his book. Helloooooo, who goes to school so early?!

Will miss our mornings though. For now at least.

Addict

I love sending flowers to my friends. Especially for birthdays. These days, you can easily find flowers bouquet online if your budget is below RM100. Sent this gorgeous bouquet by @daun.petals to Rai last week for her birthday. What a beauty! 

Speaking of gifts, time to crack my brain for Christmas gifts again. 

B.bap

God I miss my bestfriend from the old office. I hardly see her anymore because my lunch break is short, except on Friday and weekend is ohana time but we do keep in touch with calls, whatssap and general teasing on social media.

So last Friday she had a meeting nearby and asked me out for lunch. Yasss! Clearly she read my mind because I've been thinking about having Korean food. 

Decided to try B.bap at Nu Sentral. The place was packed when we got there but since S was there early I told her to order for me first to save time (in which she then harassed me on whatssap to hurry up and sent me photos of the food). Evil.

Say hello to the kimchi seafood pajeon (pancake) below. You can hardly taste the kimchi but I must say it was one of the best pajeons I've had. The texture has a slight crunch to it and I should have ordered this for my lunch instead. Too bad I had to share with S, Meh. 

The chicken was kinda disappointing though. It was kinda watery, not spicy enough and look at the veggies! So big! What a let down. Chicken was also scarce. God just by writing about this I'm already plotting my next makan Korean food adventure. Just realised that the husband has not experienced full blown Korean food experience because he's tasted Kyochon and Bulgogi only. Maybe next time! 

Just read some recipes that doesn't involve minyak masak and they are all mehhhhhh! I'm running low on cooking oil now. So screwed. 

Ibuuuuu

I'm staring at my kid's year-end exam result and silently muttering "I'm not a tiger mom I'm not a tiger mom". His results are okay, As and Bs but my eyes hurt looking at Bahasa Arab, Pendidikan Islam and Jawi results (eh I see a pattern here). But I don't blame him. Bahasa Arab is not easy and WHY THE HELL ARE WE LEARNING ARABIC AT THIS AGE is beyond me. 

Oh well. Note to self: More teaching session with the boys. I'm not gonna go on a rampage on how back then there were no gadgets yada yada yada because you know we are all guilty of this. 

+++++++++++++++++

So, what should we do this school break?

thoughts

God I'm miserable today.
Is it because it's the weather or because I'm eating less now?

Hehe.

super snooze moon

I feel so bad for not caring about the supermoon. 
But my sky the past few days has been hazy and I would have noticed it if I saw the moon.

Oh well. 

The Wonderful World of Musicals

My weekly duty as a stage mom came to an end last weekend with the staging of The Wonderful World of Musicals. With RM35 per pax (I can't I had to pay to see my son perform! At age 7!) eager parents and audience were entertained with renditions of The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Pocahontas, Frozen (roll eyes) and The Little Mermaid.

So much fun! I bought tickets for both dates. Hehe.

The simple set up.

Beauty and the Beast.

Blink twice and you'll miss my son! Cikgu Omar at the back leading the pack. 

Gah, so cute the kids.

Imaan the Faithful looking for his Abang's name.

I'm glad we sent Rumi to drama class. He made friends, he's more expressive albeit being so dramatic these days rasa macam nak lepuk je but the most important thing is that he enjoys it. If ada rezeki we will send enrol him again for this class next year. The Adik on the hand, is more keen to do sports so we'll see what's in store for him next year.