Oh. My. God.
Look what else I found...
Please dont tell The-sister-who-Doesnt-Blog (TDB) what my kids did to her son..
P@ris – I thought her singing was okay, but she didn't exude as much energy as she did when she sang the first week. Though conga is a really difficult song to sing, I didn’t think it displayed her vocal prowess as much as she could.
Lisa – I thought her vocal performance was excellent as usual, but then she seems to be singing a lot of ballads, which makes it a bit boring.
Melissa – I thought Melissa rawked today, but I tend to agree with Simon that she did kinda shouted her way throughout the song.
Kinnick – aw man.. this girl can never get it right, can she?
Kat – was so much fun to watch! She’s definitely not going home, but is she good enuf to be THE idol?
Ayla – I liked that she sang something more upbeat this week, despite what Randy said about it being not a “ vocal singer’s song”. I thought she displayed great control when she transitioned between the belting out and the softer parts of the song. Loved the ending.
Mandissa – Totally owned the stage. What awesome vocals, even though I thought she was screaming at some parts (She looked like she was gonna swallow the mike!).
Kelly – I hope she’ll sing something not so country next time.. I loved her expression when Simon said he liked her better than “last year’s winner”. She looked so shocked, like Simon said something blasphemous or something.. heh heh.. but then she went on and said “I’m a mink” , which was hilarious.
So which two do I think are going to go home this week?
I am guessing Kinnick and Melissa, but then again I think P@ris is also cutting it quite close.
What’s with these singers and the squat anyways? Why do they like to do that? Don’t they know it looks horrible? macam nak terberak aje…
Got tagged by marina for this :
| Greed: | Very Low | |
| Gluttony: | Medium | |
| Wrath: | Medium | |
| Sloth: | Low | |
| Envy: | Very Low | |
| Lust: | Very Low | |
| Pride: | Very Low |
Was cleaning up my folders this morning when I noticed these MSPaint drawings..
damn, these kids draw a lot of planes.
I'm not sure who drew this, but if I have to guess, it would be Ilham.
Ihsan likes to draw other stuff.
Ilham is the one with the obsession with the army and aeroplanes.
He draws other stuff too, but most of the time, it's aeroplanes...
Have you seen the film-documentary 'SuperSize Me'?
It's about this guy who went on a 100% McDonald's diet for 30 days. He ate nothing but stuff offered by McDonald's.
By the end of the 30 days, he had gained 20pounds, his cholestrol level shot up, his % body fat increased from 1% to 18%, his liver was fried and he was on the brink of a heart attack. He also got signs of addiction.. he would feel depressed when not eating and have headaches, and he would feel better when he has had some McD.
I guess his 'experiment' is not only applicable to McD, it's prolly applicable to all fast-food joints, and even food you consume at home, if you're not careful.
Damn.. that movie was scary.
This has made me think carefully about what I cook everyday and what eating habits I am teaching my kids.
I deep fry almost everything.. fish, chicken.. fritters, keropok (fish chips).. it must not be good.
And my kids don't eat vegetables that often. The ocassional carrot slices (in soup) or cucumber (raw, sliced), but I have never been successful in getting them to eat leafy greens. They would even pick out the onion bits in food.
They get lotsa carbo, that's for sure.
They get their protein from the fried chicken, and the omelletes or eggs fried sunny side up, and lately from the crunchy fried anchovies and peanuts that acts a side dish in our meals.
The only supply of fibre that my kids gets is prolly from the apples that I pack in their snack box at school, and those fed to them by Taufik after dinner.
Oh, .. and from the cereal they eat every morning...
Alhamdulillah, I have managed to curb my kids' consumption of soft drinks.. and candy.
Junk food.. hm... since I have cut down myself, there's not really much supply in my house, except for Oreos and Glucose Biscuits.
They get an abundant supply of chocolate/strawberry milk though, but that's not bad, right?
I better re-think my daily menu and try to introduce more fruits and vegetables in my kids' diet.
(Note: yesterday I broiled my ayam garam kunyit (chicken with seasoned with tumeric and salt) instead of deep frying them. Turned out quite good, not that different from the deep fried version. I think I'll do more broiling/grilling from now on)
Went to see the ObGyn again today.
She said my weight is okay (as opposed to being 'fat' last week) and baby is perfect. (actuallly she said 'normal', but to me anything 'normal' is perfect.. tee hee).
As you can see from my baby progress-o-meter thingamajig at the top there, I am 32 weeks. 8 more weeks or 2 months more to go!
I asked the doctor to write a letter stating when I'm going to give birth so that we can give the letter to the immigration office and get my mother's visit visa approved, and we got the official doctor's letter today. Yay!
I also asked the doctor about the placenta.
You see, it is customary for Malays to bury the baby's placenta carefully (away from animals and such). It's usually buried under a tree (so that it's cool and that would reflect in the child's temperament somehow). More traditional folks bury the placenta in an earthen pot, with pencils (so that the child becomes learned) or needles (so that the child knows how to sew) and .. actually I don't know what else. I don't know whether the child would become an engineer (or a car mechanic) if you plant the placenta with a spanner or screwsrivers, and whether the child will become a musician if you include a flute or something.
Malay folks also believe that wherever you bury your child's placenta, that is where he/she will associate 'home' with. All my 3 kids had their placentas buried within the compound of the mosque in front of my mom's house (under a coconut tree that Taufik planted himself). I guess that's why they feel so at home at nenek's (grandma's) house.
Anyways, I just discovered that this is actually a unique Malay thing. It's not even a muslim thing. According to the doctor, the placenta will usually be processed like any other bio-hazardous material and is not given to the parents. But since I had asked, she said she will put it in a jar and give it to my husband after the delivery.
I think Taufik will probably bury it in our backyard.. and I wonder if that means that my 4th son will think of S@udi as his home.
And I'm trying to think, where is *my* placenta buried? Maybe my dad knows.
I know Taufik's is buried in the schoolyard of the Primary School in Kalai, Kedah, not under the shade of a tree.. heh heh.. My mom-in-law says that it explains his hot-headedness.. tee hee.
The boys have learnt how to ride the bicycle!!
Many kids in our compound have bicycles. So it was only natural that Ilham and Ihsan wanted one. We told Ilham that the pre-requisite for getting a bicycle was to score 15/15 in his weekly Math test. He agreed to the terms and conditions, but that didn’t stop him from borrowing other people’s bikes before he got one of his own.
Hyun Bin lent him his mother’s bike a few months ago and Ilham had been practicing on it. Hyun Bin is a Korean and he is 8. When Hyun Bin took the bike away so that it could be fixed up for sale, Ilham used Asseem’s bike instead. Asseem is Egyptian and he is 5.
I told Hyun Bin that if they intended to sell the bike, I’d be interested in buying it.
A few weeks ago, Ilham came home beaming and showed us his Math test paper, with a score of 15/15. We told him how proud of him we were and I called up Hyun Bin’s mom and started negotiating the price for her bike. She also offered another smaller bike, and had wanted SR140 for both, but after much haggling and sweet talking, I managed to bring the price down to SR120 (yay me!). I gave the money to Taufik, and he and the boys went to pick up the bikes (it was just 5 houses away). The next day, Taufik went and bought knee, elbow and palm pads.
After a few days, Ilham was already confidently zipping about on the short lane in front of our house. At first he had problems with cornering, but it didn’t take him long to pick up the skill. We were so proud of him.
Next was Ihsan. The smaller bike was actually too short for him, but it didn’t stop him from trying. At first he just sat and pushed the bike with his legs and ‘cruised’ around with his feet up and akimbo, without cycling, but yesterday after a few tries, I saw him actually cycle! He is yet to master cornering though :).
We also taught them safety rules: always look behind you before making a turn, to make sure there are no cars coming, don't ride in a zig-zag way, look both ways before crossing the road. if you feel like falling over just put both of your feet down and don't leave your bicycles lying around haphazardly.
Alhamdulillah, there has been no mishaps yet, only a few scratches here and there, but that is normal..
This reminds me of how I learned to ride my bike. My dad had bought a red chopper for my KakLong and a blue and silver bicycle with training wheels for the rest of us to share. I rode the bike with the training wheels at first, and then I got bored and took my dad's adjustable spanner and loosened the nuts on one of the training wheels and lifted it up. I rode around our house (we lived in a bungalow then) for a few days like that and then decided to lift both of the training wheels.
Like my kids, I always fell when I tried to make sharp corners, but the sense of achievement of being able to balance yourslef in two wheels was so very exciting.
I got better with practice, of course, but I never quite gained the full confidence for riding a bicycle, because of an incident that happened the first time I tried to ride my bike to school.
From my primary school to get to my house, I needed to go down this very steep hill by a secondary school. I remember standing on top of that hill with my friend Lynn with our bikes balanced in between our legs, looking down at the flat part of the road at the bottom of that hill. Lynn, (who is probably my most long-time friend since I've known her since Standard 4 and is still friends with her till now), tried to encourage me by saying how easy it was and that it wasnt as scary as it looks and she said the same thing I say to my kids now: "If you feel like falling over, just put your feet down".
So I said Let's go or something to that effect and we whooshed down the really steep hill. I felt like I was moving faster than I had expected to and like the bottom of the hill was never going to come. It was very thrilling yet also very scary.
We did finally reach the bottom of the hill, but I didnt stop! I remember going "aaaarrrrghhhhhhhhhhhhh!!" or prolly more like "eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeekkkk!!!!" and I hit this patch of gravel and my bicycle turned sideways and Lynn screamed "Berhenti Berhenti!! Letak kaki!!" (Stop, Stop, put your feet down!), and god knows I tried but it wasnt fast enough or what, so I fell on my side. I felt the warm gravel scraping my elbows and cheeks. I got grazed pretty badly I think, though I don't have any of the scars to prove it.
Ever since then, I had always had problems stopping when riding a bike. Somehow, when I am forced to stop or is just about to fall over for some reason, I can never get my feet down fast enough. I almost fell in a paddy field because of that once. Taufik and I went to ride bicycles in the paddy field behind his house, and there was a motorcycle coming the other way on the narrow batas (lane?) and I remember trying to stop but just went "ops ops ops ops..!" and fell over instead. The guy on the motorbike laughed at me. cess.. kurang asam..
Anyways...
I think being able to ride the bike has given the boys a kind of confidence that you can only get from learning to ride the bike yourself. There's some kind of hidden spark in them, a tiny gleam in their eyes, they seem to walk a little taller, and I can see almost like a glow in their faces when they are riding their bikes around the compound.
Side Note though:
Ilham did not get 15/15 for the next Math Test he took, so we had to make another agreement. For every question that he gets wrong, it will translate into one day of the bicycle sitting in the store room instead of outside. So for him to be able to get to ride his bike every day, he would have to get 15/15 every week.
I think that's fair, is it not?
darn it.
I missed the first half of the show!!! Can you believe it??
I had this sudden craving for cashew chicken, so I made Taufik take us out for lunch to a Thai restaurant. When I got home at 1:30pm, I took out the laundry from the dryer and was thinking about what to watch while I fold the laundry when I suddenly remembered!
Dang.
I turned the TV on, and Ryan was already interviewing Chicken Little (also known as Kevin)..
so I missed Taylor and Elliot..
Here's what I think of those that I managed to catch:
Jose - did a really good impression of Stevie Wonder. But that's about it. I didnt see his soul in his performence .. it was good, but it wasn't great.
Will - "Lady"???? oh man.... It was boring. No personality.
Bucky - looked better with his hair tied back and he was kinda cute when he complained about food. He actually reminds me of Firhad fo god knows what reason. (the lanky height and the sengih2?). I thought he was pitchy at moments, but at least the song had a melody and the way he kinda 'yodels' the song made it very endearing. HOWEVER, Bucky is no Bo. He lacks the charisma.
David - i have to admit. I melted. The moment he sang the first line from The Way You Look Tonight ... *sighs* I just melted. . If there's a song I want my husband to learn and then sing to me, it'd be *that* song.
Performence-wise though, I thought he was off the beat at some moments, and I thought the song arrangement was too jazzy.. the upbeat rythm made me wanna see him dance, but he was kinda trying to keep that romantic persona, so it ended up being a little awkward. That put me off a bit. I'm sure a lot of girls will vote for him though.
Chris - Oh. My. God. Is this guy good or what?? It's irrelevant that I love that song even though I never knew it's title (or who sang it). The fact that he managed to pull it off, weaving in and out the rawkin guttural zone into the soft and tender zones effortlessly... just blows me away. Damn. Chris is definitely more than Bo. I hope AI voters feel the same way and keeps him as long as they did Bo.
Okay looking at the snippets that they replayed when they're diplaying numbers to call for voting:
Taylor - ... errr.. I can't tell from such a short clip whether he was good or not, but I could tell that he was spasmic as usual.. and soulful as usual. He really gets into the songs he sings, doesnt he?
Elliot - sounded really really good. Is that a Johnny Matthis song or is it Billie Holliday? I know it's one of those songs that is really difficult to sing coz it goes up and down erratically.
Ace - so so nasal. You've got to have a smooth voice to be able to sing that stalker song.
Gedeon - I don't even remember.
Kevin - didnt sound so good.
So based on what I managed to catch and the short clips, potential bye-byes to:
Will, Kevin or Jose. Maybe even Gedeon.
I can't believe that Anis is 4 already.. it feels like it was just yesterday that I was carrying her around in my arms and she was crawling like a commando on our very empty living room.
Okay, so lets track her progress for the past year...
I somehow found this week's performences from the final 10 girls slightly boring.
P@ris gave me a bit of the goosebumps with her almost operatic rendition of Wind Beneath My Wings and
Kelly was very entertaining with Let's Give Em Something to Talk About (she needs dancing lessons though)
but it was Ayla who actually managed to wow me. I thought she was the only one who sang her song perfectly, with the right tone and nuances.
Kathy, though she sang the song well and has a very very very nice voice, was a bit bleagh.
Mandisa belted out way too much, and was pitchy at times, I thought.
Lisa was a bit bland this week.
Melissa was okay, she was rawkin, but her husky voice makes it difficult to listen to the melody of the song, sometimes. Or maybe coz I'm not such a big fan of Reba McIntyre and didnt recognize the song, i dont know.
I thought Kinnick did her best, but she just does not have that star quality.. sorry.
Heather ... hm.. can you spell k.a.r.a.o.k.e? I agree with the judges that if you want to sing Mariah, you've got to either be as good as Mariah, or put so much of yourself into the song that it becomes better than Mariah. Heather did neither.
Brenna chose what could potentially be a really entertaining song, but she was like all talk and no delivery. There was no spark (nor claw) in her performence, she didnt dance even though she was asking everyone to do so, and her voice didnt have enough soul in to inject into the song. (And she looked horrible in that dress. Now I know never to wear that kinda dress)
I think Heather and Brenna will go home this week.
Got this from deepblue .. and i have nothing to write about today.. :)
1. chocolate. everyday.
2. the will to exercise. everyday.
3. the uncanny talent to whip up delicious dishes from scratch.
I am a huge fan of Roti Canai with Dhal.
Roti Canai is a flaky, flat bread made of flour and margerine. It is also called Roti Pratha in some regions. I found frozen Roti Pratha at the grocery store the other day. I bought a packet, with the hopes that I would learn to make Dhal (something like lentil curry) someday.
Well, having a packet of frozen Roti Pratha staring back at you everytime I open the freezer to take out something really motivated me to go look for the recipe for dhal. Pre-requisite: It has to be easy and I must recognize the ingredients.
It wasnt so difficult to find, actually. There are many versions for this Dhal. I chose one and here I present the modified, tried and tested version.
Note: I asked Taufik to go buy kacang dal (lentils) and he came home complaining about how everything looked the same to him and handed me a packet of split mung beans (kacang hijau)) instead. I went ahead and used the split mung beans (the original recipe did say you can actually use any kind of beans, even mix them up if you want) and it turned out okay even though it lacked the texture of lentils (I particularly love eating whole lentils in a dhal)( as opposed to mushy dhal).
It takes a while to boil the beans till tender, but otherwise, the other parts didnt take more than half an hour. I guess you can boil the beans in advance and continue to finish off the dish at a later time.
Easy Peasy Dhal
1/2 cup lentils/split mung beans (or a mixture of both)
4 cups water
1 chicken stock cube
1/2 teaspoon tumeric powder
1 large onion (chopped finely)
1 clove garlic
1/2 inch ginger (pound together with garlic)
1/2 teaspoon cumin (can be left whole, or pounded for a more intense flavour)
1 stalk curry leaves (optional)
1 tablespoon curry powder (Add more if you like it spicy, can also substitute all or part with chilli powder)
1 cup of your choice of cubed vegetables (Optional. I used eggplant and carrots. Potatoes works well too)
In a pot, boil the lentils in water till tender. Remove any scum that floats to the top. Add the chicken stock cube and the tumeric powder, simmer for 5 minutes then remove from heat.
In a different pan, saute the chopped onions, the pounded garlic and ginger, cumin, the curry leaves and curry powder in a little bit of oil. The original recipe specified using ghee but I didn't have any. Saute till fragrant. Add some liquid from the boiled lentils.
Add in the vegetables and let simmer till the vegetables are almost tender. (Add more of the liquid if necessary). Once the vegetables are tender, transfer everything into the pot of lentils.
Stir, then season with salt&pepper to taste.
She has not been able to sleep well for the past few days. It wasn't just because the baby was starting to kick more frequently and strongly. It wasn't just because Shah was away on business and the kids were sleeping in their king-size bed with her, either. She just felt restless, anxious ... she felt like something was about to happen.
Maybe she had been watching too much TV. The news, to be exact. The news are filled with nothing but stories of attacks and bombings and riots and insurgencies. When she was back home in her own country, she wouldn't have batted an eyelid at this stories. She would've just tsk-tsked at the news and be glad that nothing like that ever happened in her country.
But now she is here, right where everything is happening.
"Life is safe here", one of the expatriates told her. "We live in a compound.. there's security everywhere. We don't even lock the door sometimes."
She always locks the door.
She heard something. The drone of vehicles.
Her unit was the closest to the main gate, so sometimes at night, when everything is extra quiet and you can hear even the tiniest noise, she could hear the conversations of the army personnels stationed at the gate. She couldnt understand any of them, of course, because most of it were muffled, and because she doesn't understand arabic that well.. only sprinkles of words. 'Ashrab' for 'drink', 'Khalas' for 'done' or 'finished' and sometimes she'd hear them call each other 'ya habibi' and laugh a lot. Tonight they were particularly quiet.
It's not unusual to hear the sounds of cars coming in and out of the compund in the middle of the night. Shops don't close till about midnight in this country, and some of the residents prefer to do their shopping in the evening, when it's not as hot as during the day. So she is used to hearing the drone of vehicles whenever she found herself awake in the middle of the night.
She reached out for her mobile phone and touched one of the buttons to activate the screen. 2:20am, it displayed. That's pretty late for shoppers.
The low growl of the engine didn't sound like a car either. A heavier vehicle. A bus? Or a truck? 2 trucks?
Then she heard shouts.
Then the loud rat-tat-tat of the machine gun.
She sat up in bed. Her heart beating so hard she was starting to get a headache.
She turned on the bedside light and looked at her kids sleeping beside her. Halim was snoring. Hassan's body was contorted and tangled in sheets. Hannah had one of her hands sprawled over Halim's face, almost like trying to stifle the snore.
Shouts. Rat-tat-tat and bang-bang of a smaller gun.
Oh she've watched enough Discovery and CNN to tell the difference.
She jumped out of bed as quickly as she could with her huge belly and headed for the window. She made the tiniest crack in the curtains and peered outside.
Drat. She couldn't see a thing from her window. Only other units, and part of the road from the main gate, but not what's going on outside the gate.
More shouts, more sounds of guns. She could see lights turning on in the other units and curtains pulled aside.
She was breathing so hard, steam was bouncing off her curtains and warming her cheeks.
Then the gunshots stopped.
She heard the drone of vehicles starting up, and saw two trucks driving in from the main gate.
They were not service trucks. And the people in the back of the trucks, do not look like the gardeners and plumbers that service their units. And those things they're holding, do not look like hoes or tools. They looked like guns.
Oh No Oh No she thought.
She looked at her kids.
She thought as fast as she could.
What would they do to us?
They would shoot us.
What could we do to not let them do what they want to do to us?
We run.
Run where? We're in a freakin compound. There are high walls with barb wires to prevent people from sneaking in, which also means there's no way we can sneak out either. Anyways, with a big belly, she can't really climb anything and neither can her kids.
We call for help.
Call who? Dammit. Shah is at least 3 hours' drive away. She can't even remember the number for the police. Would calling the receptionist at the club house help? She was sure that the receptionist on duty would already be aware of the situation by now. The club house would be the first building they see once they get into the main gate.
We hide.
Okay, that's a good idea. Where?
She got out of her room and scanned the house.
Downstairs? Too close to the front door. Besides, the store room and the laundry room are the only ones with doors and they don't have locks.
Uh oh, her living room light was on. She always leaves it on, to indicate someone's home. Perhaps that would not be a good idea now. She goes downstairs, fleets through the front door and switches the light off. Maybe if they think no one is home, they won't even come in. Pray to God that they have not seen it on yet.
She went back upstairs, switching off the lights as she scanned the rooms.
Spare room. Children's room. All no locks.
Closets.
Closets could be good. She had always found comfort in closets.
The spare room's closet had their suitcases. Damn.
The children's room's closet was too small to fit her and her kids.
All that's left was her closet. She opened it. She had her spare comforter and bed linen at the bottom of it, so it could be comfortable.
She started hearing bangs on doors.
Quick quick.
She pulled her kids off her bed. Halim first, and he started protesting.
"Shhhhh" she said "Halim, I need you to get into the closet. Please just do what I say"
"Arrrgghhhh mom...!" Halim complained.
Gunshot.
Halim gasped.
"Please Halim, we need to be really quiet and hide" she tried to tell him in her calmest voice. It wasn't really convincing.
Without a word, Halim obeyed her. Even in the dark she could see the whites of his eyes.
Hassan is next. He didn't make much noise, just groggily got up and went to the closet to sit beside his brother, and went back to sleep.
She didn't know how she did it in her condition, but she lifted Hannah off the bed and laid her in the closet. That girl.. she could sleep through anything.
She ran to the door to close and lock it, but decided not to.
Let's pretend we're not home. The car is not in the driveway (because Shah is using it), maybe they'll really believe no one is home.
She quickly made the bed.
She took her mobile phone, went into the closet, closed the doors and sat quitely.
She felt Halim's hands grab her arm tightly.
"Mom, I'm scared" he said.
"Shh.. it's okay. Let's pray that God will protect us.", she whispered back as calmly as she could, but the trembling in her voice and the sweat that's starting to bead on her forehead betrayed her calm.
She heard more banging. Shouts.
And now and then, sounds of pleading. From women and men. And the cries of children.
But no more gunshots.
Then it came, the banging on her door.
Last week I was flipping through the TV channels (yes, I do this a lot) and I got to one of the sports channels that is aired over here, called S1. They were showing highlights from T0rino 2006 for that week and they were playing a noisy but familiar song to accompany the montage.
I stopped flipping and listened closely and lo and behold, guess what, it was "Spin The Black Circle" by Pearl Jam!
Why does this excite me, you ask?
Well, Pearl Jam songs are not usually used for montages and least of all "Spin The Black Circle", which is probably one of the more obscure (read: not radio friendly) of their songs.
I would understand "Alive" or "Jeremy" or "Daughter" or *gag* "Last Kiss", which an amateur Pearl Jam fan would probably admit to liking and would not be ashamed to play for the public, but "Spin The Black Circle"? .. You've got to be quite a fan to have chosen that one.
I thought, okay, maybe it's a one-off thing. Perhaps it was because most of the highlights contain scenes of the men's figure skating contenders doing the spin on ice, thus the reason for the chosen song.
So I flipped through the channels again this morning and there were the highlights for this week on S1, and guess what was played?
"Given To Fly"!
Someone out there likes Pearl Jam.. enough to use it for his montage.
hot damn! :D :D
I was flipping through the TV channels yesterday afternoon when I stumbled upon this piece of breaking news.
They didn't offer much information. Only that a bombing attempt was foiled at a S@udi Ar@mco complex.
To me, a 'complex' could mean anything. Was it the residential compound? Was it the refinery complex? Was it one the drilling sites?
I didn't panic, but continued to flip between CN_N, BB_C World and St@r News, just to get more information. Finally towards the evening, I found out the foiled attempt was in Abq@iq, at an oil refinery plant. Some guards dead, all attemptors killed.
You've read me mention Abq@iq before, right? It's where those rock structures were. It's also about an hour's drive away from Taufik was drilling.
So the first thing I did was call him up to ask if he heard anything. He said all he could hear is the sound of drilling. They're pretty remote so they don't get news as fast as normal people do. Someone would have to drive through the desert to get to them and tell them the news.
Well, anyways, .. so the incident is like an hour away from where I am, and about an hour away from where he is.
Suffice to say, we are safe. (Alhamdulillah)
The fact that the bombing was attemped on a Friday (a day off for workers over here) and that it was at an oil refinery plant and not a residential area showed that the terorrist wanted to make an economic impact, not a political/violent one. They did not intend to kill a lot of people, so .. that kinda comforts me somewhat..
I mean, if they had wanted to make a statement by killing foreigners or something, they would have brought the bomb-laden vehicles to one of the Ar@mco residential compounds. That would've made more sense. (But they wouldnt have gotten far either because of all the security checkpoints).
The incident also reminds me of how fragile my life really is. Anything can happen.. and boy, am I not prepared.
I actually abstained from writing about Americ@n Id0l the last few days because of my policy of posting only once a day... But today I have nothing to write about, so might as well write about what I thought about the final 24.
Girls:
I have said before that I am rooting for P@ris and Kellie. After watching the first round however, I found myself also liking Kat and Lisa. I thought that P@ris, Kat and Lisa were the best performers that night. They exuded confidence and ease, and on top of that, humility. I loved the way Kat apologized to the folks behind her for having to stare at her huge butt. She is so cute.
Kellie does not have the most powerful voice among them, but she is SO likeable and SO humble it's hard not to like her. Her story about her grandpa getting offers of sandwiches was so endearing. She really reminds me of C@rrie Underw00d, which is why I think she might get to the final 5, but might not win.
Talking about humility, Brenna's lack of it make me not like her at all.
I think the 3 weakest female contestants based on their performance were Becky (I thought her performence was really really bad), Heather (the forgettable blond.. I had to look up her name) and Stevie (Ethearal voice??? Hello... okay maybe at some points she does sound sweet, but i thought she lacked control).
And I was right.. Becky and Stevie left the competition today. I think Heather will be leaving next week, unless she sings something awesome.
Boys:
I am still roooting for T@ylor Hicks (Why do I keep calling him Tr@vis? Is there a singer named Tr@vis Hicks?), but on top of him, I am also rooting for Chr1s (damn.. what a voice) and Elliot (double damn). They're not the best looking of the lot (Elliot needs braces, man.. or he needs to brush his teeth more. T@ylor needs to stop those spasms. Chris.. meh.. actually he looks okay.) but I think they definitely have the best voices.
Ace may look good, but his voice is actually kinda nasal, which I find kinda irritating. What gets me more irritated is that he knows he's good looking and he is really2 exploiting that fact (His brother is kinda cute too, huh?). He reminds me of C0nstantine (except he's better looking and is a better singer and doesnt come off as fake.).
Patrick has a much better voice than Ace, but loses big time in the looks department. David singing Queen with an Elvis-like voice.. is. just. wrong.
Bobby singing Barry Manilow .. is. just. wrong.
I thought watching Kevin perform was like watching a plank singing. He was so stiff. But yet, still so cute! *squish*.
I thought Gedeon did not put enough soul into Shout. I just didnt feel it from him.
I wanna hear Bucky tackle a more melodious song next time. Then I'll form some kinda opinion about him. For now, I just want him to wash his hair.
I thought the weakest performers were Bobby and David, but I had a feeling David would be too cute to be voted out.
and I was right, Bobby and Patrick got kicked out today.
Ah well...
can't wait for next week!
If you've been imagining me to be living the life like N1gella L@wson, you're mistaken.
Firstly, I don't have the big hair, though I think my butt is probably comparable to hers now.
Secondly, being married to a man whose idea of fine dining is "murah dan banyak" (cheap and abundant) (read: cheap buffet or gerai tepi jalan), you won't see me cooking Pavlova or Salmon or Herb&Lemon Roast Leg of Lamb anytime soon.
I hate to admit it, but I think if you could take a peek at my daily life now, you'd see more of Lois (of Malc0lm In the middle.. what is their family name, anyway?) than N1gella. Or maybe even Mrs Bradford, coz sometimes it does feel like I have 8 kids instead of 3.
I saw that episode where Lois was punishing the boys for not owning up to burning her dress and I was like "Oh.My.God... I did just that yesterday!". Perhaps not as dramatic, but it was close. It was kinda scary.
Everytime I turn around, somebody's doing something or doing something to someone. One day I let the kids plant some seeds in our garden, and they pulled out one of my husband's flowers (I had to replant it real quick before my husband found out. When it died I had to feign suprise and ignorance). I let them play in their room and found Anis covered in streaks of black marker. I let them shower on their own and they took hours, finished half a bottle of shampoo, and almost flooded the whole bathroom.
I can't sit on the couch for more than a minute before someone would call out "Bonda...!!! Look what insert name here did!!".
Add to that the fact that now they're showing the episodes where she just gave birth to a fourth baby.. I can't help but feel like I identify with her. (Except that I don't work at the supermarket, and everyday I pray hard that my kids don't turn out like them. The prayers are not working).
Thank God my husband is not like Hal.. he's more like.. and I know my siblings would agree to this: Tim the Toolman Taylor. Not in the sense that he has ability to get himself in the hospital for his DIY fiascos, but in his blurr-ness about how women feel or think. And they have about the same kind of sense of humor.
You know how I cook something for my tajweed class? Every time, without fail, Taufik would ask "Eh ada Puding Roti/Pasembur/Pulut Udang? Siapa buat?" ("Who made the bread pudding/prawn fritter salad/Prawn Floss?). Sometimes he is *that* blurr.
But I am not complaining, really.
I am just glad I have a husband. And kids.
Coz without them, I'd prolly have nothing to blog about..
ha ha.
Taufik is away again.. he has to be at the rig for at least 5 days.
For lunch yesterday I made nasi goreng taucu (fried rice with fermented beans) and it was eaten with the leftover sliced cucumbers, which turned out quite good.
I was too lazy to cook anything for dinner, so I rummaged my cupboard and found some Mee Goreng Indomie (Instant Noodles) from our last trip back home and decided to have that.
I boiled 4 packets (one for each of us), mixed it all up in a huge bowl with the seasoning and soy sauce and was about to divide them into seperate bowls when I thought, what the heck..
So I stuck 3 forks and a pair of chopsticks (for me) into the bowl of noodles and brought it upstairs to where my kids were watching Malc0lm In The Middle.
The moment they saw the bowl they were jumping with joy.
I pulled out the coffee table, plopped the huge bowl in the middle of it, sat the kids and myself around it so that everyone gets equal access and we all happily dug in.
They were munching along when I said "Don't tell Ayah about this, okay?"
"Why?" they asked.
"Because" I said.
Actually I wasnt sure why it felt so naughty and why it should be kept a secret. It took me a while.
"well, firstly, it's not nice to eat from such a huge bowl" I explained.
"Secondly, it's not so good to eat instant noodles" I added.
There were a lot of mm hmms with mouth fulls around that table.
"but it's so yummy" said Ilham
"oh,oh, I know, I know. If we tell Ayah, he's not gonna marry you anymore?" asked Ihsan.
"Takdelah sampai cam tu... (It wont get that dramatic)" I replied "He just wont like it that much that I made you instant noodles and didnt cook you a proper meal"
"mmm yummy yummmy" Anis grinned and munched.
Half-way through the bowl, we had to resort to eating in turns coz some of us are not that deft with handling noodles and forks yet so they needed to pull the bowl closer to their body and not let noodles fall all over the place. So we did a round robin thing where everybody gets a chance to eat without having to wrestle for the bowl.
There was a bit of argument of who gets the last bits of noodles. The 3 kids shared the last bits while Anis picked at the shorter pieces stuck at the edges of the bowl. They looked like underprivileged kids..
Then we went down to have our beverage of choice (chocolate milk or strawberry milk).
They wanted ice cream for dessert but I suggested that they have a banana instead, and save the ice cream for the next day.
I took suggestions for dinner, and the final decision was spaghetti bolognaise. (ilham wanted meatballs, but seeing as wednesday is Americ@n Id0l day and I will not be able to stay in the kitchen long, I vetoed it).
Ahh... the life of a domestic goddess... ;)
I made pasembur yesterday. Originally I only wanted to make prawn fritters, but then the half a kilo of prawns that we had bought yielded just about 200grams of shelled prawn meat so I had to bulk them up with something else.
So just add chopped raw vegetables (preferrably cucumbers and sengkuang, which is like a very large water chestnut.. I really dont know it's proper english name), some blanched bean sprouts, sliced up fried tofu, sliced boiled potatoes and quartered hard boiled eggs to your sliced up prawn fritters, then top it with the peanut sauce and voila, you have Pasembur or Rojak, a very popular snack in my home country. They sell it almost everywhere..
Does it look good?
Well, actually, the one I made last night didnt turn out so good. There were some 'technical difficulties of the human kind' (read: somehow I had problems tasting yesterday and had put in too much salt). Also notice that there were no sliced fried tofu .. I couldnt find it at the supermarket.
I've posted the recipe for prawn fritters and peanut sauce before, so I won't post it here again..
It's actually not very difficult to do, the only tedious part is chopping stuff up.
There were some leftovers from last night, so now I'm trying to think about what to do with it.
Prawn Fritters - no problem, my kids will gladly eat them up with ketchup
Boiled eggs - I already turned into an egg salad to eat with bread/crackers for breakfast
Boiled potatoes - Bergedil, maybe?
Bean sprouts and sliced cucumbers - hm.. can I make a kerabu (spicy salad) with this?
Any ideas or suggestions? I am sure PB banyak idea...
Today was Ilham's Sports Day and since Taufik is home, we went to the school together.
Today the crowd was bigger and there were more students participating because the students from the international schools from other areas were involved in the games as well. Instead of breaking up into age groups like they did yesterday, today the kids were divided into Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow teams, each team consisting of an equal distribution of children from ages 7 to 12 from different schools. Ilham was in the Green team, so he went to school wearing a green shirt (the same one he wore when he was the frog prince).
We came a bit late this time, so we didnt get to sit in the front row so we didnt get to take that many pictures of Ilham .. :(
Ilham took part in the sack relay race (Taufik took a movie of this one), the pick-up relay race (no pictures, they have to run and pick up stuffed toys) and the sprint relay race (self explanatory).
Taufik took pictures as best as he could, so forgive him for the quality of the pics..
We met one of the Malaysian families from Ar@mco and took pictures before we left. Anis decided to go home with Kak F coz she wanted to play with Kak F's daughter. We decided to let Anis go with them since we're gonna meet them for tajweed class tonight anyway (and our kids stay at their house during tajweed class anyway).
Taufik and I stopped by the supermarket where we shared a subway sandwich for lunch and we then bought groceries before Taufik dropped me off at home and he headed off to Ar@mco to meet his clients.
hm.. the house is kinda quiet without Anis around..
Ilham's team cheering for their mates. Ilham is the one waving at the camera.
Ilham doing the sprint relay. Someone commented that he ran in long strides, like a cheetah.
Me, Ilham, Aiman, ABC, Kak F and Anis, after the event. I AM SOOO FAT!!!
They had a few events for parents but I of course, could not participate. Taufik didnt participate either coz he was wearing office shoes. ABD participated in quite a few.. a skipping relay race and a scooter relay race (just like Ihsan's yesterday). He's such a good sport.
Next year we'll go better prepared and will wear more appropriate attire. IF there is a next year.. heh heh.
Ihsan had his sports day today. Together 'competing' with him were the students from Pre-reception, reception and years 1 and 2 from the Dhahr@an British Grammar School, and the students from Nursery, Pre-School, Kindergarten and Grade 1 from the Americ@n School. So basically, they were kids between the ages of 3 to 6 years old.
They had 4 events, the obstacle race (run between cones, go through a tunnel, slip a hoop over your head and body, then put on a hat), a frog and bat race (run to the finish line while trying to balance a toy frog on a plastic racquet), a scooter race (roll on a 4 wheeled 'scooter' bakwards) and a sprint race. Everybody participated, everybody who finishes gets a sticker. No winners or losers.
I guess it was quite fun. The kids loved cheering for their friends when it wasnt their turn. In between events they put on songs from the 80s .. 99 red baloons, saturday night fever, We will rock you - which everybody clapped to in beat.
I took pictures but some of them were kinda blurr coz Anis kept clinging to my dress. She was kinda bored coz she wanted to try each event but couldnt coz she doesnt go the school. Next year, okay, sayang?
Before we left I took a picture of Ihsan with his teacher, Mrs Sne1der (pronounced as "sneeder", she's from netherlands)
So here are the pictures:
Taufik is in Dubai today. He left yesterday afternoon, stayed overnight coz his meeting is really early this morning.
I revell in some of the freedoms of not having him at home, like not having to rush to cook lunch, not having to HAVE to have rice for our meals (I made Curry Noodles instead), ... hm.. that's about it..
I still miss him though. Besides for the obvious reasons (takde geng masa tidor), it's also because living in a country where women are not allowed to drive out alone and the shopping hours are awkward, being without a husband is like losing both your legs.
If I were back home, I could just go drive out to the supermarket or roadside stall and buy food or whatever provisions I need. I could send/pick up my kids from school, without depending on other people. I could basically do anything I wanted to. Here, I'd have to wait for the bus. Or be contented with whatever is available at the compound's mini market. Or cook whatever I felt like eating myself.
I dread to think of what I would have to do if something horrible happened and I have to go to the hospital or something ... hmm.. come to think of it, we never thought of a contingency plan for this situation.
Today is Ihsan's sports day in school and luckily Rhadha (the only other mommy in my compound whose kids go to the British School) also wants to go, so I could hitch a ride to and back with her.
I am also so used to having Taufik take care of the kids in the morning. He is usually the one who wakes them up, nag them to brush their teeth, take a shower, get dressed, hurry-up-and-have-your-breakfasts, put on their socks-shoes-jacket-cap and then kiss your Bonda .. while I would prepare their lunch boxes and make sure their bags are all packed with the necessary stuff.
Without Taufik around, I had to plan ahead. I made sure their bags are packed last night. All their clothes laid out. I warned them to sleep early (we slept at 9:30pm) and get out of bed as soon as I wake them up coz I would have no time to nag them and watch them "like Ayah does". I warned them that if they occupy me too much, I would not have time to toast their bread and peel their apples for their lunchbox. That would mean soggy sandwiches and a whole apple, with skin on and seeds in for lunch.
God bless their souls, they were such good kids this morning.
Even Anis woke up early and brushed her teeth. It was a good thing too, coz I got an emergency phonecall from Noran, asking me to be the bus monitor this morning.
I really can't wait for Taufik to come home this evening.
heh heh.. yeah, he's just gone for one night, and I'm making such a big fuss over it.. :P
I was tagged by Zan.
Four Jobs:
1. erm I don't know what I was called, but when I was a senior, I opened/closed and monitored the Hybrid Electric Vehicle Lab at UIUC on weekends coz it was just across the street from where I lived.
2. Research Assistant at Tuls@ University Drilling Research Project in Cat00sa, Okl@homa. Remote, cold, lotsa hauling of drilling mud, and singing Pearl Jam in the middle of nowhere (outloud, to the squirrels) just to entertain myself.
3. Process Engineer for the Military Operations Department in M0t0rola. Ah.. those were the days..
4. Senior Software Engineer in charge of the most complicated (and getting even more complicated) Factory Management System ever created in the history of mankind.
and now I am a Domestic Goddess.
Four Movies
1. The Usual Suspects - a bit violent, and I can't understand half of what Benicio Del Torro is saying, but yet still damn entertaining. I live for that last moment when the detective looks around the room and sees everything.. "Kobayashi".
2. Singles - If I dont get to catch the whole movie, I would at least catch "A compliment for us, is a compliment for you" ;)
3. Iron Giant - i have a thing for animated movies.. and this one is just one of my favourites. I had the pirated copy, then I bought an original copy in a tin container. I'm gonna look for the DVD next.
4. Anything with Johnny Depp, or Anything by Tim Burton, or anything WITH Johnny Depp BY Tim Burton (Edward Scissorhands, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Corpse Bride.. and even Ed Wood.).
There's so many actually.. anything with Jim Carrey. Any movies with either P.Ramlee or Noordin Ahmad. Outsiders.
Four Places
Let me just simplify this by region/country:
1. East Coast of Semenanjung Mal@ysia - Kuala Berang, Kuala Trengganu, Kuantan
2. West Coast of Semenanjung Mal@ysia - Sec 17, SS4, SS3 all in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
3. United States of Americ@ - Urb@ana & Champ@ign ( I have lived in both sides of the university town) Illinois, Tuls@ Oklahoma, H0uston Texas.
4. Kingdom of S@udi Ar@bia - Al-Khob@r.
Four TV Shows
Hm.. I guess I will just list what I love watching now, coz it changes by season and region and availability
1. Discovery Channel - mythbusters, extreme machines, fifth gear, that insect show with Rudd.
2. American Idol ... tee hee.. I am rooting for Kelly Pickler, Taylor Hicks and Paris Bennet, by the way.
3. The Weakest Link - Ann annoys me but yet I still watch her.
4. The News on BBC World, CNN and Star News.
can I add.. cartoon network?
Four Vacations
Memorable ones?
1. Pulau Kapas (on a whim) & Pulau Perhentian (slightly better planned, but still it was free&easy)
2. Club Med, Cher@ting.
3. Langk@wi, Kedah
4. The Gastronomical Vacation i just had in December. We didnt go anywhere special, just to my mom's house and my in-laws' and visited some friends.. but still the food was just fantastic.
Four Dishes
This is a wrong question to ask a pregnant woman.
Those that I can cook:
1. Steamed Rice, Soup (chicken or beef or bone or oxtail or even camel), tenggiri jeruk fried with thinly sliced shallots+garlic+chilli and raw cucumber.
2. Crunchy Sambal Tumis Ikan Bilis eaten with anything
3. Pasta in creamy sauce and chopped parsley
4. Mee Udang or Mee Kari (Prawn Noodles or Curry Noodles)
Those that I cannot cook or cannot make as well as the original:
1. My mom-in-law's Kari Ikan (Fish Curry), with fried fish, sambal belacan and assortment of ulam (raw vegetables)
2. My mom's Tepung Boko (tapioca pudding with creamy coconut milk topping)
3. My mom's Nasi Kerabu
4. Laksam (who ever's, but I prefer Kak Ani's)
Four Websites
1. Yahoo
2. Blogs listed in my links, plus a few which I did not link yet
3. gmail
4. Mesra.net
Four I wish I were there
Actually, I'm quite contented with where I am .. but for the sake of fantasy lah kan..
1. M@laysia - nak makannnnnnnnn
2. Makkah al Mukaramah
3. Italy
4. Lebanon
Four Bloggers
I'm gonna choose 2 pregnant women and 2 single guys..
1. Lioness
2. Tynn
3. Russell
4. pizzofmine
So you people can try to beat mine in terms of boring-ness..
I'm not gonna blog tomorrow, so I'll just write this today
Sometimes I am jealous of the relationship that Anis has with Taufik.
It's not that the relationship is special or that it's different between me and her. She dotes on me as much as she dotes on Taufik. She'd hug and kiss me and Taufik (or whoever whe wants), as often and whenever she wants. Sometimes she choses me over Taufik, and sometimes she choses Taufik over me. (And sometimes I am relieved that she choses Taufik over me, coz I had already spent the whole day with her .. tee hee)
I guess what I am really jealous of is how Taufik treats her.
How he lets Anis kiss him in public, but not me. How he hugs Anis whenever he wants to but not me. How sometimes he would call Anis and actually asks for a hug and kiss, but he never asks from me. How he would spend time combing her hair, disentangling it gently and putting on the hair tonic so that it doesn't get tangled again but it's been months since he combed my hair (the last time was when he gave me a haircut). How he walks in the door with a toned down "Assalamu-alaikum..." and then switches to an excited "Hello!!!" when he sees Anis and Anis would shriek out a giggly "Ayah!!!" and run up to him (and I'd hear him go "ugh!" as Anis hugs him tight).
picture taken by ihsan, hence the poor quality
*sigh*
But then again, at night in our bed, when he's got his arms around me and hears Anis call out to him and all he does is bury his head deeper into my bosom and only respond to her with an annoyed grunt,
I know that I'm still number one in his heart :)
*giggle*
***WARNING: This post has a lot of pictures***
One day, Ihsan came home with this book he had made in school.
Note: "dadi" = "baby" and "taya"="tyres"
I thank God for gracing me with kids with a morbid sense of humor, because or else I'd be bored..
Anis can now brush her teeth on her own. She knows how to rinse and spit without swallowing too. It was quite a difficult skill to teach. I always felt sick when I was teaching her how, coz I had to watch her swallow ... *eyewww*. She said it taste good though.. we use Mango or Apple flavoured Kodomo Lion Toothpaste. 
Anis can also bathe on her own (but I would have to monitor her and make sure she soaps up and shampoos her hair). She hates to shampoo coz she is so scared of the bubbles getting into her eyes.
Anis knows how to eat on her own. Sometimes she insists on eating on her own, but sometimes she begs to be fed. Sometimes she insists on eating on her own, but it takes such a long time for her to finish, I have to beg to feed her. Her favourite food is noodles. Any kind of noodles.. spaghetti bolognaise, creamy spaghetti, instant noodles, maggi goreng, rice vermicelli in soup.. i guess anything long and stringy makes for a fun mea ltime for her. 
Anis luuurrrves to dance. She would watch tikkabilla on children's BBC and dance dance dance. She'd watch the arabic music channel and dance dance dance. She always suprises us with her new moves. (This picture doesnt really capture her funnier dance moves).
Anis also likes to make funny faces. She has all sorts of expressions for all sorts of situations, but this is one of her funniest. She'd go "Why?" and spreads out her hands and purses her lips.. quite irresistable. She usually does this when I ask her to finish up her food. (I stand my ground of course, and go into my lecture of how you need energy to play and food supplies you energy). She also does this "Why??" expression after she has written the letter Y. 
Anis has learnt how to write!!! Her writing is legible, though her spelling is not (she's only 4, what do you expect..). She writes quite neatly, i.e. she has enough control to be able to keep it between the lines in the book. Though sometimes when she feels like it, she will write her letters in really large print, spanning almost half a page.
