Thursday 31 December 2009

marathon posts to new year9- 99 posts to end 2009

Auntie has decided that auntie will end with the 99th post only since auntie will keep the 100th post for a very,very special date. Happy New Year, everyone!

marathon posts to new year8- new year, new title, same old responsibilities

Auntie has been doing the job of a person that should have the title TP at auntie's centre. When the centre was first established, auntie was in fact the TP but later on the position had to be 'frozen' because there were some technical arguments that a centre like auntie's place of work is not entitled to a TP, only a P. In the last two years, however, the centre has progressed by leaps and bounds and the P has been arguing to the uni governance to reinstate the position of TP. After relentless 'pestering' and evidence of centre's viability the powers that be has now granted the P's request. So, in about 5 minutes time, auntie will again be officially appointed as the TP, with modest fringe benefits. Auntie had been happy doing the work for the centre but this icing on the cake gives that much more motivation. Congratulations also to badak Samantha for being appointed TD, also enforceable in about 5 minutes time.

marathon posts to new year7- the shortest conversation with qin

Auntie called Qin on Sunday night just to say high and to ask if she missed Mommy and Daddy much. Qin said: "Qin duduk-duduk je tengok TV ni la auntie Ida. Qin tak mau cakap nanti Qin miss show on TV..."

Oo, Ok.

marathon posts to new year6- sleepless in trondheim

Auntie travelled to Trondheim, Norway in June this year for a conference. It was the height of summer (about 24celcius) and night time was only about 2 hours. So, loads of sleepless nights for the 4 days auntie was there. But the city was beautiful and people were very friendly and auntie met a Malaysian family, Shariman and Fazila and theirkids. Shariman is finishing PhD in engineering. Here are some pics:

[auntie will post pics later coz it's taking too long to download and auntie nak kejar 100 entries b4 end of 2009 nih! Sorry.]

marathon posts to new year5- of deadly snakes, sabit kepala and 'katak din'







Mentang-mentang nak kejar 100 entries b4 end of yr, tajuk entry pun macam merapu jek. Actually ada makna dlm tajuk tu. And it can be connected to this picture:



Auntie tak ingat whether auntie dah boh gambar ni in this blog before. Tapi seingat auntie, auntie belum lagi cerita pasai growing up in Bukit Goh. So, kalau dah pernah tengok pic ni pun takpe. Let me tell some stories related to it. Gambar ni was scanned and uploaded in Acik Din's FB some time ago and auntie telah make a copy for myself. The original pic is supposed to still be in the old album at Wan and Aki's place kot. Can you guess which one is auntie? Deductive reasoning la kan? Eldest girl? So must be the comel one standing in between "Awang Kulup" and "Awang Gedek" (Gedek is pronounced like a sengal person). These are the kinds of the many manja names Wan attached to her kids when we were little. Mommy is the little toddler sitting and playing with that horrendously unidentified object on the floor. And Wan's manja name for Mommy is "Mek Towwek" (also pronounced in a sengal way). Auntie takde manja name coz auntie lahir2 je dah garang and no one would dare to give manja names. HAHAHA!

This picture is taken on one raya day in what used to be our abode in a still godforsaken place (no offence to people from this place!) called Bukit Goh. Bukit Goh is an oil palm estate about 30 kilometres or so from Kuantan.  Since Wan was a school teacher, she got to teach in all sorts of places and we will normally have to live somewhere near where she had to teach. Most of the time we stayed in Kuantan because Wan got to teach much nearer to town. But early in our childhood, one of the first place auntie could remember living is Bukit Goh. I think we stayed there, in what was designated as teachers' quarters, for 2 yrs, when auntie was between 2-4 yrs old. In this pic auntie must was prolly 3 going on 4 coz Mommy was prolly about 1. Check out the legs. Tak tau la ni posing film star mana yg we dok emulate ni.

Kat Bukit Goh ni auntie first go to school. Sekolah tadika. Auntie ingat cikgu dia nama Zaimah kot, sama nama dengan Kak Zemah. Yg pergi sekolah is Pak Long Ami and Auntie only coz Acik Din and Mommy were too young. Of course Mushu is way from being conceived. Time ni kalau gi sekolah auntie refused to wear dresses like a girl. Always pakai shorts and shirts and sometimes topi cowboy (with toy guns lagi on a belt). In this pic ni kena paksa la pakai baju kurung. In 2 or 3 hours sure dah bogel and pakai panties jek coz panas. The only time auntie pakai dress to school is bila kena ambik gambar. Auntie remembered having to do it once. Baju dia made of nylon kat dalam and the outer part is like lacy-lacy gitu. Cream coloured. And kena pakai proper shoes and socks lagi. So tak happy.  And auntie also remember kalau balik sekolah our baju mesti akan jadi merah coz on the way home from school we walked (pergi Aki hantar) on the tanah merah (only kind of road available en route).  And sometimes bila nampak pakcik tukang kebun yg pelik sikit (auntie tak ingat whether because dia ada some disabilities ke or because dia garang) the elder kids would jerit "sabit kepala!!!" (ie tukang kebun tu nak kerja dia sabit kepala little kids la kununnya), we all akan lari lintang pukang takut leaving trails of red dust behind us. Hence the red tint on the clothes as well.

Acik Din (and sometimes, little Mommy) who are left to their own devices (but under strict supervision of Kak Zemah) would also come up with hair-raising activities. The oil palm plantation was of course teemed with snakes of all kind but we would normally not encounter them in the home area. Tapi Acik Din managed to one day. Acik Din was fond of collecting frogs (there were a lot of those). Sometimes Kak Zemah would open an old kettle in the bathroom and frogs would 'fly' out from it. And bila Acik Din nampak dia kata "Eh, jgn buang, katak Din ni!" Auntie tak ingat sangat how the stories go but I think one day when Acik Din was playing with his kataks, a deadly snake came by. Acik Din being curious, wanted to touch the head of the snake and the snake was already 'standing'.  Luckily a Pakcik came and rescued him.

We hardly remember things that happened in Bukit Goh but the stories were frequently retold to us by Wan and Aki, each time with slightly different versions, so auntie could not vouch for their accuracy but auntie can definitely recall there was the deadly snake, there was a pakcik whom we thought would 'sabit' our kepala and there was a kettle-full of "Katak Din" in the bathroom.

marathon posts to new year4- good people at work

Auntie nak tunjuk gambar the a few of the good people at the office who have made auntie's work throughout the year (and since 4 or 5 yrs or so ago) much more successful and meaningful. Thank you, guys!
 


In purple is Ija, the 'office admin boss'. All institutional rules and procedures are at the tips of her fingers. Next to me on the other side is Dr Hamimadona, a good friend and unofficial university songbird. Beside her is Marina, a long-serving staff who was a pioneer of the centre. She was there at the inception of the centre and has served under at least 4 Directors.


The front-most on both sides are Husna (in green) and Shila. Husna is the IT officer in our centre and is married to a former staff, EJ. She has delivered a baby girl and is now on maternity leave.  Shila is the Director's PA but also doubled up many other things at the office. This is the nature of the work of the staff at the office. And they are very selfless at it. Kudos to them. This work environment may also have come from our general approach to managing the centre. At the risk of sounding too complimentary of the boss, Auntie thinks the current Director has managed somehow to create an ambiance of friendly professionalism at the office. Staff are close-knit but highly professional.

Ariffin, one of the latest addition to the office 'family' recently got married. Here are some pictures of the wedding.


 Auntie and Ariffin on his wedding. His newly-wed bride was in the changing room, changing for next photo session.
It takes a man (especially in Malaysia) who is secure with himself to be able to work in an institution teemed with women and headed by strong, intelligent women. So far, Ariffin has proved he could do it very well.

 
Wan Teng, one of two new academic staff members. WT hails from Melaka.


Auntie would find any excuse to bake. Here are some brownie slices (topped with butter cream and almonds) as a gift for Ariffin and bride.


Card designed by AH.

Many other staff members equally contributed to the success of the centre. Auntie don't have their pictures. May they continue to feel at home at the centre and work with a sense of partnership rather than merely fulfilling job specifications.

marathon posts to new year3- shasha's khatam quran

20th November  was Shasha's Khatam Quran. Families up to 3 generations attended the khatam and kenduri after that at Majid Al-Ghufran Taman Tun.  Shasha requested ancient Greek headgear to be worn for head cover during khatam. Mommy had to comb Jln TAR looking for suitable substitutes that satisfied Shasha. The preparation was akin to a small akad nikah but Auntie was very happy to help. Auntie remembered auntie's khatam in 1978. Auntie and Pak Long Ami were the 'graduates'. Actually masa auntie khatam tu auntie was a few pages short of actually completing the Quran but the ceremony had to take place since Pak Long Ami was to be 'slaughtered' (hehehe) after that. It was the school holidays. So, Aki and Wan decided that since Auntie memang terra baca Quran (hehehe, perasan!), auntie for sure could complete the few pages on my own without any further help. Lagipun, masa auntie belajar Quran ngan ustazah tu pun, most of the time auntie baca sendiri jek and dia dengar while ajar-ing the other kids. No malice intended on the ustazah but auntie sometimes felf very unhappy maca pi mengaji coz kena baca sorang2 and did not get proper instruction. Part-part yg ustazah tak dengar maybe salah baca ke, mana la tau. Sometimes when auntie came early to mengaji in the hope that ustazah would give me attention, she would be bz doing other things like making breakfast for her children, lipat kain or other things in the kitchen. dia suruh auntie baca sendiri gak in the lounge while she listened from the kitchen.  Auntie rasa auntie pandai baca Quran sbb before Aki and Wan sent to the Ustazah, Wan taught us to mengaji. Wan had been an effective teacher, rotan and cubitan notwithstanding (autie remember sometimes menangis teresak2 kena cubit sbb lambat nak dok mengaji or mengaji sambil lewa). Which is why she is still very successful with all her 'murid tua' now.  Uncle AH also had bad experience with Ustazah mengaji. And since he was a bit Quranic-dyslexic (hehehe), and did not have help before that like auntie had with Wan and Aki, he only ended up hafal- ing the quran and not really understanding the tajwid etc. So, to parents out there, kalau kita confident dgn our own ability to mengaji, baik ajar sendiri anak2 kita and at our children's own pace. Kalau no choice, make sure kita check up jugak on the children's mengaji lessons. And auntie harap these days takde lagi la ustaz or ustazah yg buat perkara tak semenggah spt auntie sebut tadi. Tak berkat tau kerja camtu!

Anyways, masa auntie khatam, auntie pakai kurung songket kepunyaan Wan. Songket tu Wan pakai masa wedding dia 13 yrs before. Auntie was barely able to get into the kurung so Wan had to unpick a bit. That shows how slim Wan was at 29 yrs old. Anak2 dia (at least Auntie la) hampeh! After the khatam, the songket went back to the closet. Nanti auntie nak tanya Wan ada lagi tak.

Shasha was all decked in purple for her khatam. The mosque is a modern one that utilise most areas as Islamic centre and not just purely for sembahyang. Auntie remembered a colleague who about 15 yrs ago proposed to study for his PhD the utilisation of mosque in such a way to emulate such use during the Rasulullah's Madinah's governance.  Whatever happens to that proposed study. But in any case, Malaysian Muslims are very slow to take this kind of progressive stance and are still bickering about what sort of carpets to use for new mosques and whether women should pray upstairs or downstairs (which is also another issue that has not taken into account many sociological considerations).

Ok lah. This entry is getting way to long. (Macam mana auntie nak achieve 100 entries before end of the year ni?). Let's look at pictures:




Shasha practicing


Moral support from Mommy



Qin is supposed to be the kipas girl  but after 20 minutes of sitting still, all thoughts of giving kakak moral support goes down the drain, especially because cousins faris' and maisara's company was so enticing.


Bunga telur courtesy of Mak Uda. The telur is homemade telur pindang.


Shasha was so nervous and practiced diligently. She did great. Despite traces of American accent!



Qin was about to flee the scene.

 
Preliminary speech by Daddy. A rare sight.


Tokki De (second from left), Wan Cik Ne (not in pic) and Tok Ayah Zie came all the way from Kuantan and Temerloh respectively. Wan was so elated. Tok Chu and family couldn't make it coz they had to attend another function.  Beside Daddy is Shasha's Ustaz who could have been seen regularly on TV when they show the Raya takbir this year. Ustaz did a one-to-one Quran teaching for Shasha. Now Ustaz is teaching Qin and Qin's friend Aleesha. Qin once asked Mommy: "Is Rasulullah a pirate?" An aghast Mommy asked back: "Why do you say that, Qin?". Qin: "Ustaz said he's a Captain. Captain Jack Sparrow is a pirate, Mommy". So, ustaz kena review sikit syllabus for contemporary five year olds, ya?

CONGRATULATIONS, SHASHA. YOU DID A SPLENDID JOB. And may Quran continue to become your companion in its essence and spirit.

marathon posts to new year2- uncle joe's birthday

On 20th May this year Uncle Joe celebrated his 32nd birthday. Mudanya! Uncle Joe is a year older than Mushu. When Mushu was born Auntie was 9 yrs old. Auntie contributed towards Mushu's diaper change when she was a baby and also cleaning what's need cleaning when a toddler poo-ed when Mushu was a toddler. But this post was supposed to be about Uncle Joe's birthday, so Happy (Belated Now!) Birthday, Joe! Coincidentally (Not Really!) 20th May was also Uncle Joe's and Mushu's anniversary. 4 yrs this year. Auntie was down in Shah Alam on the date and was able to join the siblings in celebrating the events. No pictures of the couple was taken but only of food served. Here they are:


Good intention


 Bad addition


So susah to upload gambar. Ada a couple lagi of the food served tapi since it takes too much time, Auntie leave you guys with the two only.

marathon posts to new year1- qin the 5yrold sweet miss

Auntie's last entry was auntie's 90th post for this blog and it was posted a day before the 2nd birthday of auntie's blog. It doesn't mean a thing but saja je auntie nak mention. Auntie teringin jugak nak mencapai 100 entries so what auntie is going to do is to try post 10 entries before the year ends. Caranya ialah dgn menyorot some of 2009 events and happennings yg auntie did not get the chance to blog abt before. These entries will be full of pictures, so be warned! Entries will not follow chronological order of events.

First 'review-post' is about little Qin's birthday. Qin was five on the 18th of November this year. We didn't have special birthday party for Qin this year but the celebration coincided with Kakak's aka Shasha's khatam Quran (this event coming up in next post). Qin is auntie's fifth 'baby'/ kiddie after Along (Ya), Aiman, Shasha & Jijin. Ajmal is the sixth. Each of them has a special place in auntie's heart. And each of them is special in their quirks and perangai and the way they relate to auntie.



 Qin and Mommy


 Qin the fashion model

Qin was born in St Louis, Missouri while Mommy was finishing her PhD. Mommy is a planner, so she planned to conceive Qin just a year before she expected to graduate with her doctoral degree. By this time Kakak was already about 7 or 8 yrs old.  Auntie got married while Mommy was about 6 months pregnant with Qin. Mommy actually planned to come back home to Malaysia for auntie's wedding but about 3 months into her pregnancy, she was bedridden due to bleeding (auntie tak ingat apa medical condition dia) so the plan didn't materialise. But Mommy safely and quite easily delivered Qin 3 months after auntie's wedding.  Mommy got her PhD early 2005 and came back to Malaysia with a doctoral degree and a new baby. Qin actually attended Mommy's graduation day at the uni and was admired for her dark, bushy hair.  When Qin came back home to Malaysia, she was just in time for Mushu's wedding and it was decided that Qin's 'cukur rambut' kenduri will be done during the wedding as well.



 Qin, the baker

 
Qin and Kakak decorating cupcakes

Qin is a friendly baby and toddler. She just gravitated towards auntie easily. And even when time separates us (ie when auntie could not come down to KL to visit too often), Qin would call auntie just to say hello (by either pestering mommy or kakak to do it for her). Mommy must have taught her auntie's speed dial now coz she sometimes would call auntie without mommy's knowledge. Qin is an amicable, diplomatic toddler. She would say something like "Mommy, you cook nice, but i just lurvvvv auntie ida's cupcakes..." or some stuff like that (according to Mommy).  But Qin would also say things like "Mommy, auntie Ida could not have baked the cakes without me. She needed me to beat the eggs." Such self-confidence!

Qin likes to talk on the phone with Uncle Zach coz uncle Zach 'has' Alvin the cat who would speak to Qin when Qin called Uncle Zach. Qin also admired Uncle Zach for his knowledge about fish (coz Qin had Lola the gold fish- auntie wondered what happened to Lola now). One day, Mommy tanya Qin after Qin keep calling Auntie Ida: "Qin call auntie Ida because Auntie Ida fish doctor ke?". Qin laughed and said: "Mommy ni kelakar lah. Bukan auntie Ida la.. Uncle Zach...[yg fish doctor]!" There are many more such conversations with Qin.



Qin and Auntie (in one of auntie's favorite moments with Qin)

Oklah, remembering Qin's birthday, Auntie wishes her the best of being a five-yr-old. May Qin grow up to be as good-natured as she is now, as intelligent and as talented.  May Qin also be a conscientous Muslimah and world citizen. May Allah protect her from life's hardships but make her emphatetic to hardships of others. May Qin continue to give joy to family and friends around her. Amin.

Sunday 27 December 2009

Dawn of another year

Auntie realises auntie's blog entry has been sporadic in the last year or so. Tomorrow will be exactly 2 years since auntie decided to respond to sleepyhead's tag by starting a blog.  When auntie started, auntie was undecided whether the blog should be purely personal and family-related or would include more serious 'semi-critical' ponderings (like comments on general happenings in the country or in the world, taking into account auntie's knowledge about them through auntie's profession). But auntie thinks what has transpired has been more of the former and very little of the latter but auntie is happy for how the blog has developed. The more serious stuff auntie will keep for more professional avenues rather than the blog. Let this blog be for purely mundane but meaningful journal of life closer to home.

One of auntie's secret hopes through the blog is also that it provides a kind of 'memory' for auntie's family and friends about things and events that went on in our lives. This is, hopefully, especially for auntie's younger 'kiddies'. When they are a bit older, they may just go through the archives of this blog (hopefully these will be available for many, many yrs to come) to 'revisit' some of the moments they went through with family members that they might not remember as children.

Let's look at what has gone on in auntie's life since the last entry.  There was the most fleeting period of despair earlier this month but just as it came so fleetingly, so was the swiftness with which it was gone. It may have come about from many stressful factors at work and a sense of inability to control auntie's surroundings at that particular moment. But with some good sleep, auntie was able to see things differently in the morning. 

Post-raya (aidilftri) had been extremely busy months for auntie. Many travels, way too many meetings and preparation of copious paperwork at work. But there were many good things as well, professional-wise.  Research work is going reasonably well, some work has been accepted for publication and auntie managed to contribute constructively to community advocacy. But more importantly, auntie sensed friendships are getting tighter and family ties are getting closer. Times with badak gang continued to be meaningful but it was also time when new friendships are established (mostly through FB) and much older friendships were rekindled (auntie was surprised by e-mails from very good friends from primary school).  Family get-togethers were more frequent and better-planned. There were some very sad events like dearest people being taken away from us and some scares like Aki and Wan's more frequent 'visits' to hospitals and dear brother being admitted into IJN but Alhamdulillah, things are uneventful, in general.

To end 2009, more get-togethers were and are being planned. The latest was Wan and Aki's and the siblings visit to Penang during the Awwal Muharram long weekend break. Let the pictures speak for the fun had (pictures courtesy of sleepyhead from her FB- pandai tak auntie curi?):


 Percik and black pepper roasters on a bed of potato galletes. Slightly undercooked by Pak Long Ami's standard so back into the oven they go for another 20 minutes



These are stuffed 'original' roasters. Ingredients by auntie. assembled by mushu aka maksu aka sleepyhead


 One roaster chicken for a correct guest of what's in there!




 The 'too little' coleslaw. Auntie didn't have time to grate more of the veges and didn't think many people would be interested in this dish.
 
The entertainment was provided by the LOS BONCITOS (also name coined by sleepyhead):


 The 2 bonchitos tuning the guitars while the third playing paparazzi for a moment. The senior paparazzi is at the back.

 
Bonchito 2 (in white): "I need a smoke!"
Bonchito 1(in greyish green): "Wait la, i look for song we have breath to sing"
Bonchito 3 (in black): "This chord i nocet learn one..."
  (Senior paparazzi is soooo dedicated)


The picture has to be taken this way. You wouldn't one to see their front view!



Laa, baru nak belajar ke?


The next day auntie played tourist guide:


 Little and big kiddies enjoyed their trip to P.Ramlee's house.

 
Cucu and Aki- the duo-paparazzi


Lunch at Pen Mutiara. As you can see auntie was not dressed for a lunch out. So jongos!

 
So-so food at Pen Mutiara but ambiance was good. The clan was not into fish head so we got fish curry instead. Auntie rasa sotong goreng tepung auntie lagi cun kot...


Auntie hopes the holidays have been most restive for at least the two happy couples:

 
 HAPPY COUPLE NUMBER 1

 
HAPPY COUPLE NUMBER 2

BUT THIS HAPPY COUPLE HAVE BEEN VERY, VERY HAPPY TO HAVE BEEN ABLE TO HOST AND ACCOMMODATE THE HAPPY COUPLES AND THE REST OF THE CLAN:
 



It's a pity Mommy, Daddy, Shasha and Qin could not join us. Mommy and Daddy were preparing for Umrah trip on the 24th December till 5th January (Selamat beribadat dan mendapat umrah yg mabrur!). SO, LET'S DO THIS PENANG SOJOURN AGAIN NEXT YEAR, PLEASE.

Thursday 10 December 2009

A moment of quiet despair

Some times you just want to go far away from everyone and be really, really alone. The feeling may go away in 5 minutes or an hour but it pulls you down into a quiet despair.

Bismillahillazi laa yadhurru ma'asmihi syai'un fil ardhi walaa fissama'i wahuwasaami'ul 'alim.

Friday 2 October 2009

Of birthdays, illnesses and funerals

Auntie is blogging from a KFC in PJ coz auntie is attending an advocacy workshop with women of all backgrounds a few of which, Insya Allah, will be auntie's research respondents.  And because of research, auntie kena give up weekends with AH to source out for potential respondents. But it is also to create real change to women's lives yg being discriminated against in many aspects of their lives so, Insya Allah auntie's research bukan academic exercise semata-mata tetapi juga fi sabilillah dalam erti kata yg lebih meluas.

Apa kena-mengena KFC dgn advocacy workshop? Like this. Oleh kerana ahli akademik cannot afford to be luxurious and sometimes have to be cheapskate, auntie kena do a 2-in-1, dinner and getting free access to internet. Since both of hotel's dinner and internet use cost a bomb (a manifold more than auntie's per diem), auntie pun decide to berjalan 10 minute ke luar hotel dan berblogging dan fb-ing from KFC. Masalah KFC ialah diorang sengaja tak buat electric outlet (auntie dah cari merata2 takde) so auntie kena try to update blog ni dlm masa 2 jam yg auntie's battery allows (al-maklumlah, 1st generation netbook punya battery life sungguh lah hampeh).

Tapi auntie bukan nak update about auntie's working weekend. Sebenarnya, auntie nak sorot sedikit peristiwa yg berlaku beberapa bulan yg lepas since auntie dah jarang update blog.  Many happy and sad occurences mendatangi (chewah!) hidup auntie semasa auntie tak berblogging. Birthdays are, of course, inevitable. Auntie's parents and a few friends were taken ill and sadly, sadly people auntie were closed to passed away.

Let's start with illnesses first. Both Auntie's and AH's parents are not well elderlies but Wan's and Aki's health seems to be experiencing more dramatic change. Wan's weak heart condition has been recurring more frequently in the  last few months and just before puasa Wan was hospitalised. It gave all of us quite a bit of scare, tapi, alhamdulillah, no untoward incident happen. Cuma, very, very difficult to ensure Wan does not over exert herself. Similar concern of course goes also to Aki's situation. Aki has experienced a kind of slipped disc and auntie noticed his mobility is slowly becoming hampered (he gets tired easily and when he resort to praying sitting down you can really gauge his pain). Wan has had mobility problems for some years now. Auntie noticed the reduction in mobility in both parents are having quite a psychological toll on them although they may not have expressed it as such. What we think is best for Wan and Aki in terms of providing the best care for them and what we can achieve taking into account various circumstances are not quite reconcilable at the moment. Hopefully, something feasible can be found soon.

Other than the parents' ill-health, a few of the people auntie knows had also had close encounters with hospitals. In June, mamachupan was admitted due a problem with a short-lived pregnancy. But Auntie thinks the end result is probably best for mamachupan despite it being a little sad. Very recently, auntie's friend and colleague was admitted for a gall stone removal.  Her situation is a bit risky but alhamdulillah, the operation went well and hopefully she is recuperating well.  Being single, for her, perhaps there is some challenges in getting a good home care after the hospital stint but auntie hopes she has sufficient support from her family. Actually, this issue is true even for people who are not single because even if you are married and/ or have children, it does not guarantee that you will be looked after when you are temporarily/ permanently incapacitated. And even if you are single, if you have enough really, really good relatives and friends, you may turn out to be one very lucky person when these things happen. Contohnya, kawan2 auntie si samantha and nyonya tu mungkin akan dok di rumah org2 tua vogue bila pencen nanti tetapi mereka sure happy coz ada kawan2 yg jauh lebih muda (kakakaka!) seperti auntie and AH yg for sure akan visit mereka utk bergossip, bring them panadol soluble and sambil menyorok2 dari nurses [hopefully masa ni dah ramai nurses lelaki yg ala2 cung-melecung dan bukan pok yam], menyuakan (bukan suap, ye!) mereka nasi minyak hameediah. As for auntie and AH, kalau auntie turn out to be childless sampai tua, hopefully adalah di antara kiddies yg akan rajin jengok2 we all sambil tolong bawak- and suap, ice-cream. Such is life.


Samantha and mamachupan during the latter's stint at the hospital

Saddest events were few but were still deeply felt.  Just before puasa, on a Thursday evening, Kak Zaimah, our very close cousin in Trengganu, passed away, possibly due to heart problem. She was 58, I think. Kak Zemah, as we called her, was not only a cousin but also pseudo-second-mother to all of Auntie's adik-beradik.  She came to live with Wan and Aki since she was 16, to help Wan and Aki looked after us.  She was especially close to Acik Din and Auntie believes her passing was especially felt by him, and it was also at a time very near his birthday.  Some of Auntie's memories of Kak Zemah were of mundane things but very nostalgic and meaningful. Kak Zemah loves to watch dramas on TV and one of her favourite prgrms was a 60's drama series "The Coronet Blue". Yg auntie ingat cerita tu ada hero yg ala-ala hensem. Tapi hujung pangkal cerita langsung auntie tak tau/ ingat. Satu lagi Kak Zemah suka sangat 'Peyton Place'. This drama series auntie rasa many people are familiar with, starred Ryan O'Neal and Mia Farrow. These prgms were all shown very late at night. It was a time for K Zemah to wind down after a hard day's work looking after us.  Also K Zemah's favourite past time is to go to the salon bila Wan bagi dia duit at the end of the month. She would come home with different hairstyles and sometimes us cruel kids would tease her, macam Syarifah Aini lah, macam org tu lah, org ni lah...K Zemah was a special person because she has a kind of 'gift'. But this gift was also the bane of her existence because she would sometimes be taken ill as a result. Auntie thinks she remained single because she felt no partner would be able to deal with the 'gift'.  K Zemah was a a strong, independent woman. She was not shy to express her opinions to anyone who would listen and she is highly intelligent despite not having gone to school after Std 6.  She was very compassionate and patience with us but firm where it matters.  She was a good listener to all our childhood grievances but would not hesitate to tell us of when we were wrong.

Kak Zemah ceased to live with us when most of us started to go away for schools.  She went back to live with her mother and worked as a cook in a restaurant in Trengganu. Auntie some times regret not keeping in touch with her more often when we got older. The last time Auntie remembered meeting K Zemah was perhaps during Acik Din's wedding. The year before, K Zemah actually hired a taxi from Kuala Trengganu to Kuantan just to see Auntie got married to AH. She was only able to stay for 4 hours before she had to take the taxi back again to KT. Auntie don't even remember if Auntie took the trouble to pay for her taxi. If Auntie didn't, Auntie should have.  In any case, we will all miss Kak Zemah. Semoga Allah tempatkan dia di tempat tertinggi di sisinya. Al-fatihah.



The only picture auntie has of Kak Zemah (in pink tudung)


More recently, a few days before Aidil Fitri, Samantha, Auntie's badak friend lost Bapak, her beloved father.  Samantha's family has the habit of 'adopting' all of her friends so Bapak was also 'Bapak' to us.  Auntie had met Bapak in person only a few times but he was a very kind, jovial person so it was easy to be close to him.  He was an intelligent, open person so our conversations were always stimulating.  Bapak came down with a stroke five years ago and a few months ago was diagnose with pancreatic cancer.  Bapak is an example of an academic who was able to apply his theories into practice and benefit the community. Partially disillusioned with the environment of his former workplace, he built Bakaugruv, a training centre originally dedicated to the promotion of academic excellence combined with grounded human values in young children. Now the centre also extensively offers training in other areas. In memory of Bapak, here are some photos of Bakaugruv training centre, which Auntie had the opportunity to visit only recently:

 
 
Rumah Bapak


 Titi ke laut

 






 




Mud bath for the feet (cuba teka kaki siapa).

Jumpa lagi di lain siaran.

Wassalam.

Tuesday 29 September 2009

Ramadhan dan Aidilfitri

Salam Aidilfitri everyone! Maaf Zahir dan Batin.

Pejam-celik dah habis 1 Syawal. Auntie rasa cepat sangat Raya tahun ni berlalu. Everythings seems to be moving so fast these days. Cuma Auntie je yg moving slower and slower.  Seperti yg sekerat-dua kerat org yg baca blog auntie ni dah tau, dan seperti kebiasaannya, Auntie beraya with Wan, Aki and the siblings ++, with or without AH. Tahun ni in Kuantan without AH coz AH kena raya kat Penang menemankan family dia yg juga tak berapa kerat tu. Takpalah. Ni memang deal Auntie ngan AH. Since Auntie is in Penang the rest of a year, Aidilfitri Auntie mesti spend with Aki and Wan, selagi depa ada. Tak kiralah kat mana, Kuantan or KL.

Pak Long Ami and family were the first to arrive in Kuantan on Thursday afternoon. Auntie arrived at close to midnight. Auntie left Penang at 5.30pm but transit was 4 hours. So, auntie had to berbuka at airport. (tak puasa actually tapi tak makan apa2 whole day so macam posa la jugak). Mommy and entourage arrived 11pm on Friday and Mushu and Uncle Joe after sahur on Saturday.  Cik Din and Cik Ja left for Jengka after Friday berbuka .So, on Friday and Saturday, tak cukup korum jugak for berbuka. But meja still penuh. Common dish for berbuka for both Friday and Saturday was auntie's sotong goreng tepung. Crispy tapi lommbutt! 

Seperti biasa raya kat Kuantan menu utama pagi raya ialah nasi minyak and korma ayam Wan.  Tapi this year, Wan is mostly the supervisor and Auntie and siblings the executors. Korma is cooked by Pak Long Ami and Uncle Joe on the secondary porch, with Wan supervising from the side door. Nasi is cooked very early on raya morning in two batches. First batch Wan cooked and Auntie assistant pengangkat periuk. Second batch Auntie do all. Semua makanan, Alhamdulillah, rasanya sama sedap berbanding dimasak oleh original chef. That shows how strict the chef was supervising us! Additional dishes from Wan's kitchen are Umi Ina's rendang and Auntie's satay goreng.  Wan also ordered rendang, kuah kacang and ketupat from Wan Cik Ne.

Kids really liked the korma. On raya night, Jijin and Qin makan roti cicah kuah korma at midnight, even. Qin finished 3 slices of bread before Auntie realised and put a stop to it. Of course, Mommy and Daddy dah tidor la so takde garang supervisors and Qin terlepas dari restriction of no heavy meal after 10pm. (tapi sebenaqnya Daddy yg hidang kuah and roti tu kat dia, pastu daddy pi tidur dgn assumption Qin akan makan satu slice roti je). Shasha also suka roti cicah kuah korma. Of course the adults would not have it except with the yumilicious rice.

And seperti raya2 yg lepas, Auntie tidak lupa membawa balik biskut raya herot petot Auntie. 4 types this year plus two types of cakes. Berikut adalah gambar2 penyediaan biskut raya:


Ini adalah 'assistant pastry chef' baru Auntie. Hehehe!



Biskut gingerbread permintaan AH



Tapi bila dah siap dia tak mau makan. Keras and tak sedap, katanya. Kalau bukan bulan puasa harus Auntie buat adegan batu belah batu bertangkup! Tapi Wan suka kuih ni.


"Assistant pastry chef" lagi. Nampak tak perlatan pastry bergantung di dinding? Kalau AH tak build further storage spaces utk Auntie haruslah peralatan tu kekal di dinding.


 Dan lagi... busy at work. Kertas putih adalah resipi yg sekarang sudah ada banyak butter and egg stains.




Yang ni AH suka sampai tamau share. Oat'n'chocchip cookies.


 Herot petot highest order but taste yumilicious to high heaven. Aiman and Jijin liked them very much.


Trying a new recipe: Almond crispy cookies. Auntie's favourite this year in terms of taste and ease of recipe.

 
 Almond crisps in different shapes

 
Golden churned butter cake.




Sekerat bawak balik Kuantan and sekerat lagi tinggal kat Brown Garden.


Oh, terlupa. One more cookies. Samprit ala Auntie. AH and family suka ni...

 
Tapi since auntie dah separuh pengsan buat kuih selama 2 malam berturut2, auntie cuma managed to bake 2 small containers of these cookies. It was the last baking project before balik raya.

 
Auntie's signature choc cake.Nothing to look at but believe me, as it aged, it became moister and moister...

 

But the cake will only last 3 days unless refrigerated. Kalau auntie boh chocolate toppings it will only last a few hours...because nothing will be left!

Di samping bercuti 2 hari utk buat kuih raya, Auntie kena jugak masak for berbuka (remember, our Ramadhan theme was home-cooked food?). So, on one of the nights, auntie buat nasi lemak with these dishes:

 
Sotong goreng kunyit with Thai/ Malaysian basil.

 
Sambal tumis kerang. Now has become AH's favourite. So, dia kena cuci and rebus kerang.


 
Spiced fried chicken

 
The nasi lemak. Also becoming AH's favourite now tapi Auntie kena ration. Tak larat and tak healthy.

Utk menunjukkan ke-domestic goddess-an auntie, auntie also managed to make sambal ikan ala Pahang and tembosa/ temosa (also makanan org Pahang). Ini adalah pengaruh Mommy yg telah berjaya juga buat temosa during posa month dengan menggunakan resipi ajaran sesat auntie. Nasib baik dia confirm dulu dgn Wan before making.

 
Sambal ikan cencaru (inti temosa). Sambal ikan ni kalau campur dengan daun2 spt pegaga, selasih etc yg diracik akan jadi kerabu ala pantai timur.


Temosa equals to karipap except for the inti. The inti is the sambal ikan above.  The only karipap Auntie knew growing up is temosa. Bila dah merantau jauh baru kenal karipap and selalu tertanya2 kenapa kat Seremban or KL takde karipap inti sambal ikan.


 
Gambar diambil di atas katil coz temosa digoreng pada pukul 12 tengah malam and AH tamau keluar makan kat meja. Tapi nak makan temosa panas2.  Ada sebab tak auntie panggil dia Baby Besaq?




Remaining temosa were frozen and eaten for berbuka next day. At the dining table this time!


Itulah food diary auntie in the last days of Ramadhan. Semoga Allah berkatkan semua makanan ini dan ampunkan dosa Auntie sepanjang bulan mulia dan selepasnya.Rasanya tidak cukup beribadat di bulan Ramadhan ni dan berazam to do better next Ramadhan, Insya Allah.

Wassalam.