Reunion of Friends

The car is gone. Boo hoo!! Can’t write anymore on this; way too sad. Sigh, anggap ajelah takde rezeki. Uwaaaa!!

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On a happier note, we had a very nice weekend. We didn’t do much on Saturday. Dania had her Yamaha concert practice over in PJ in the afternoon so after dropping her off at practice centre, hubby and I decided to check out the new Digital Mall next to Jaya supermarket.

(Side note: I seriously cannot find my way around PJ. It’s like a maze and all the street numbers are scattered all over the place. Even Jaya Supermarket (which used to be a prominent PJ landmark) is unrecognizable and almost hidden from view.)

Anyhow, the new Digital Mall is similar to Low Yatt. Digital cameras, camcorders, printers, laptops, the usual stuff. Hubby was looking for a sound card for ayah’s busted up PC. In the end we found ourselves in a store selling (illegal?) DVDs. Hubby was tempted to buy Season 5 of “24” but then decided against it. We toured the place (I was bored stiff, I am so not a gadget person), and went back to pick up Dania at about 6.30pm. They were still practicing so hubby and I did our asar prayers at the surau nearby. Practise finally ended at around 7.30pm. Dania was happy but visibly tired. We all decided to call it a day and head back to my parents’ house.


The next day was our much anticipated pot luck reunion with some old friends we hadn’t seen in a long time. We were supposed to be at Lin’s house at 11am but due to unforeseen circumstances, we arrived nearly an hour late. Fortunately we weren’t the only ones late; only Liza and Ami were there. Seeing how we had all skipped breakfast, we all dived in the lovely food Lin had prepared.


More dear friends made their way to Lin’s house. Noresh and Bard with their children, Zareef and little baby Zahra. Zahra - so chubby!! Awin and Elly, minus their son Adam (tsk..tsk). Tun and Syirin and her bulging tummy (congrats!!!). Desperately solo Maarof (hehehe). Ustaz who brought his B-I-L coz the missus was working. Yus who brought his two kids, awfully shy (the kids, not the dad).

The food was plentiful. In addition to Lin’s delicious nasi lemak, Liza brought cheesecups (cheesecake in little cups, so cute), I brought pengat labu (pumpkin) and pisang (bananas), Tun brought KFC (my kids went YEAH!! seeing the boxes of chicken!), Maarof brought “halal” wine (sparkling juice, in other words), Noresh brought brownies (sedap giller). I can’t remember what Elly, Ustaz and Yus brought to the table but even if they didn’t bring anything, we had more than enough.


I had initially planned to stay only until 2pm (since we had to check in for Dania’s concert at 6pm) but we all had so many stories to share and so many memories to laugh about. So at last, we stayed until 4pm. Itupun tak puas lagi.

Lin, thank you so much for opening up your house to us all. Terima kasih daun keladi, lain kali boleh buat lagi. To liza, thanks for the Taebo DVDs. Hahahaha, ko sungguh memahami jiwaku.

So guys, when’s our next reunion?

In This Case, There's No Such Thing as A Nice Surprise

I’m so mad. So pissing mad. I’m angry with my parents and angry with all car salesmen around the world. I don’t care if you claim you are honest or not; usually the title “salesman” does not jive with honesty. They don’t even belong in the same sentence.

“Hi, I’m an honest salesman. I’m here to sell you something without trying to extort your hard earn money by cheating or lying through my teeth. In fact I’m afraid to do so, in case little fluffy bunnies all the around the world die due to my dishonesty.”

YEAH, RIGHT!

My parents bought new cars. Both of them. I’m not mad about that; they are entitled to enjoy the fruits of my dad’s labor. They both deserve it; in fact I wish they would both buy BMWs or any other luxury high-class cars like that. But being my parents, both of them stood loyal to Honda so my dad bought a new Accord and my mom bought the new Civic.

We knew about my dad’s intention to trade in his old Accord for a new one. We didn’t know my mom was going to do the same for her old Civic.

I want her old Civic!! I can’t believe my dad agreed to trade in the car for a measly RM40K!! I checked the Internet and the market price for the car is at least RM57K.

Now the Honda dealer is stuck in the middle. To him, it doesn’t make much different, my parents are still going to buy the new car. Thing is, the dealer promised my mom’s old car to this 2nd hands car salesman who of course, hearing that the car was going for RM40, grab at the opportunity to buy it. Now the dealer won’t let the issue of my dad promising the car to him go. Thank god the car is still with my parents. However, the car grant is with the dealer. Why, O why did my dad give the car grant to him?

I want that car. I don’t care if the dealer makes a big huuhaa over it; I’m not allowing my parents to sell that car for only RM40K. I’m not letting my parents sell that car, PERIOD! I told my dad to tell the dealer, he can be assured of his money for the new car, he will still get RM40 in cash. Only not from the 2nd hands car salesman, but me.

I’m hoping everything goes well between my uncle (my rep in this negotiation, not that he’s much of a rep anyway) and the car dealer. I don’t think the car has been reregistered under the dealers’ name. If it has, there’s going to be even more hassle getting out of this deal. I’m standing by the phone for updates as I type this. This is excruciating!!

Lesson learned by my parents: Always discuss big matters like this with hubby and I. There’s no such thing as a nice surprise when you find out you’re being stiffed by a salesman whose making at least RM10K on air.

Pray that I get to save my mom’s car from the salesman’s grubby hands. Rasa macam putih mata bile pikirkan hal ni. Grrrrr….

The Letter Game

Every morning Dania and I have been playing the alphabet game, usually during the time I’m awake but still contemplating whether or not to get up or check out my big book of “Reasons To Give Your Boss When You Don’t Feel Like Going To Work”.

This is how we play it. I would select a letter and tell her to state something that starts with that particular letter. She would mention something and I would either give her a kiss or a tickle, depending on whether her answer is right or wrong.

“OK, kaklong, give me something that starts with the letter C.”

“CAT!” (always shouted coz it’s more fun that way)

“Yeah..kiss, kiss.”

Sometimes she would come up with bombastic words that I never knew when I was four.

“OK, what about the letter J?"

"JUMBOJET!!"

"What about L?"

"LOCOMOTIVE!!"

"T?"

"TUMBLE TOTS!!" Hahahaha....

Sometimes I would make it a bit harder, like state an animal that starts with a particular letter.

“State an animal that starts with the letter D?”

“Hmm, DONKEY!!”

“What about B?”

“B..B…BARNEY!!”

……

I guess Barney is an animal. Dinosaurs were, right?

My Anti-hero

I haven’t been able to blog for some time due to our faulty home modem. How ironic is it that the home of the Streamyx product owner does not have any internet? Bah!! Well, since I couldn’t surf the net or blog, I had to find some other activities to fill my time during the weekend.

I know some of you thought “Bedroom Activities!!” as soon as you read that last sentence. Shame on you, is that all you can think of? Anyhow, yeah, after an hour or so of “bedroom activities”, I still had loads of time to burn. So I turned to the idiot box.

But Astro is so boring during the weekends. Reruns, reruns and more reruns. I had already watched the two audition episodes of American Idol (I know, it’s like a train wreck, I can’t take my eyes off it) and I had all my CSI/Grey’s Anatomy/House episodes up-to-date. Luckily hubby had borrowed the entire Season 4 of “24” from a colleague.

I used to be addicted to “24”. Used to be, that was until I discovered it gave me severe chest aches from all the high drama and tension. I used to have several mini heart attacks during each episode. Even though you know that Jack Bauer would always work it out in the end, the thing with “24” is, no one is truly safe. Not even Jack Bauer.


"Sigh...So cool"
So hubby and I spent the entire weekend watching a marathon of “24”. Several times I had to walk away from the TV to catch my breath coz the bad guy had gotten away again or CTU had just found out that a senator’s son was involved with the terrorists or Jack had started one of his intense interrogation sessions or he was being interrogated himself. I tell you the drama is non-stop!! My heart just couldn’t take it.

To calm myself down, I started a game with myself; kiss hubby every time Jack said the following phrases:

NOW!
We’re running out of time!
Tell me what I need to know!!
You’re going to have to trust me.
I’m sorry.

As it turned out, Jack says those phrases quite a lot so game quickly took an erotic turn. Haha, hubby threatened to tie my hands and do his own “interrogation session” if I didn’t leave him alone to be in his “24” fantasy world.

Hubby kept commenting throughout the show. You could just tell how in love he was with Jack Bauer. He wanted to be with Jack Bauer or even better, BE Jack Bauer. There was one point hubby even admitted he wouldn’t mind sleeping with Jack Bauer. THAT’S how cool Jack Bauer is!

The thing about Jack is that he’s not a hero. In fact he would probably stare you down or whack your head with his gun if you told him that he was a hero. He’s more of the anti-hero; he doesn’t do what he does to get a medal or recognition or lunch invites to the White House. He does it because he loves his country, without question, without shame. And because it probably gives him a real high risking his life, shooting down terrorists. Yeah, everyone needs a hobby to keep them happy.
"My name is Jack Bauer. And I have a gun."
A cool trick I learned to really enjoy “24” is to suspend all thoughts of reality. Coz things can get pretty unreal, most of the time. Like the type of internet connectivity CTU has; it’s amazing how fast they can upload and download images and voice recordings from anywhere in the world. It's like...THAT!! Plus their mobile provider most provide some kick-ass service coz even in the sewers of LA, you can be sure that Jack Bauer is never truly cut off from the world.

If I was the director, I could have summarized the whole show in a couple of episodes or so. The trick is to ALWAYS LISTEN TO JACK BAUER. However to drag out the season into “24” episodes, they place either a skeptical CTU director or an indecisive President, always making trouble for Jack when he least needs it. Thank god for friends like Chloe (I love her!!), Tony Almeida and Michelle.

I read somewhere that they are selling Jack Bauer action figures, though I’m not sure where. If that’s so, I guess I know what I’ll be getting for hubby for his birthday this year.

Wierd (And Not in a Good Way)

It’s just too creepy for words. What might have happened…what really happened? It just seems too much like from a thriller movie. The more I listened, the more I heard stuff I wish I could forget. The stories, the rumors (?), they are just too….far out to be true. One part of me is dissecting everything and making sense of it all. One part of me just doesn’t want to believe such a vicious act could happen to someone I know. It’s true they say, never judge a book by its cover. You can never know what other people are going through until you hear or see it for yourself.

I Need To Exercise!!

Not to say that I’m fat because I’m not. I might feel fat sometimes but I know when I look in the mirror, some scrawny kid looks back at me. However, like all women of the world, I think my thighs are too heavy and my stomach is kind of bloated. If I could sculpt my own body, my heavenly breasts would be (at least) two cups bigger, my stomach would have a six-pack and my thighs wouldn’t rub together like I’m trying to start a fire between my legs.

Therefore for 2007, I decided that I would start to exercise again. Better yet, I would start doing TAE BO!!

I used to do Tae Bo during my University days (what was that, 7 years ago). I had tapes, Tae Bo by Billy Banks. Billy was my personal trainer, my boot camp instructor. He taught me that my body is my temple and that the only thing stopping me from doing 50 pushups was a weak mind. Billy pushed me and pushed me and I LOVED IT!!

I still have my tapes, somewhere, but I have no idea if they still work. One thing I do know is my VHS player doesn’t!! So I went online searching for the DVDs.
Billy Blanks' Tae-Bo - Instructional Workout, Basic, Advanced, 8-Minute Workout. I found them at Amazon.com!! Then I found out that they are no longer in stock. NO!!! Bring me back my Billy!!

Does anyone know where I can find these DVDs? I know Billy has other Tae Bo DVDs but I know for sure that these DVDs work and, most importantly, are fun.

Sob, sob…until I find my Billy, I’ll have to make peace with my body. Or start running up and down the stairs instead.

Dania Loves School

She really does. Now, everyday when she wakes up, it's not "Ibu, is today a holiday?" but "Ibu, is today my school day?" Ahaks...I can only hope this enthusiasm lasts long.

Like I mentioned before, Dania goes to Smart Reader. On the first day, I decided to send her there myself since I still had some fees to pay and I wanted to see her get settled in. She was so excited getting ready, wearing her uniform for the first time. She spent 10 minutes admiring herself in the mirror, even letting me tie her hair up in two ponytails, something she usually would protest strongly as she believes tying her hair makes her looks fat (I have my sister-in-law to thank for putting this notion into her head!!).


As you can see, she looks adorable. My little girl, taking her first steps into the real world. Ahh, be still my heart. Tears started to well up in my eyes as I gave her a big hug and we headed to the car.


I guess her days at Tumble Tots prepared her well for school as Dania had no problems getting settled in. She made a few friends rather quickly. Some kids were not so enthusiastic; you could hear the cries and screams from miles away.

After an hour or so, I decided to head home and wait for Dania at home. I had arranged for transportation so I wanted her to get used to the idea of her teacher sending her to school and back.

The hours went by slowly. Finally, I heard the doorbell. My little girl was home and she had sooo many stories to tell me. She showed me the pictures she drew and the alphabets she wrote. She talked excitedly about the songs she sang and the friends she made. She showed me her bag and how her teacher had wrote her name on it. On and on, the stories were never-ending, often repeating themselves.

So I listened, and listened and smiled. My little girl is not so little anymore.

Congratulations, Dania, on a successful first day at school!

Dania's First Two-Wheeler

Last week was another milestone for Dania. Hubby decided she was big enough to try to ride her bike without the training wheels. See how this was hubby’s idea and not anyone else’s? If the girl falls down bad and hate the person who did this to her, that person would be hubby. Not me. Hehehehe…

It proved to be a trying process. For one thing, Dania didn’t trust hubby enough that she wasn’t going to fall. Yeah right, of course you’re going to fall. I remember when I taught myself to ride a two-wheeler. The cuts and bruises I got were plenty but the first time I rode down the hill near our house without falling off was exhilarating!!

Hubby spent 20 minutes pushing Dania around and teaching her to balance the handle bars. Somehow everything she had learned before went out the window. She forgot how to peddle, how to sit properly, etc.

Nevertheless, Dania tried her best and in the end she did manage to peddle a bit without falling off. Yeah!!!

Apparently, the best way to teach is by demonstration. Hehehe...

Food, Money and Baby

1st January 2007 has come and gone. How has 2007 been for you so far? Too early to tell, huh? Same here. So far, since I’m still on holiday, I guess the new year hasn’t brought in much change yet.

Before I forget, to all Muslims out there, Selamat Aidiladha! We spent the morning over at my Wan’s house in Keramat, and then drove back to Melaka in the evening. The food over at Wan’s house was plenty, and I mean plenty!! We had roti jala, nasi himpit, kuah kacang, chicken rending, kuah lodeh, prawn sambal and lots more. Everyone made several trips to the dining table. Hehehhe, holidays are not the time for dieting. There are way too many temptations.

Moving on to other things, I just found out that the toll charge for the LDP is now RM1.60!! Good god, they increased it by RM0.60!! I was expected the increase to be 10 or 20 cents but 60 cents!! This is too much; the decrease in road tax doesn’t make up for this at all.

Some good news though, I received news that my colleague Hafizah a.k.a. Apit gave birth to a baby boy!! Congratulations!! Alhamdulillah everything went ok. Having a baby is such a great way to start the New Year. Congrats (and loads of luck) to Apit and Hasmil.

Dania starts school tomorrow. I’m so excited for her. The day after that I start work. Not so exciting.

Hmmmm.