HANIF is NINE

hanif turned nine on 18th March. but i was away in Korat at that time, and he was in KB, spending his school holidays with my parents and his cousins who also balik kampung.

hanif wanted to have a birthday party at a fastfood restaurant, tapi susahlah... he wanted to have a party at home... pun ummi not very keen, coz my house tak cantik la ni... dah jadi macam store! kalau org datang rumah mesti tanya - nak pindah ke? berkotak2 barang dari amethyst lights ada kat rumah... letak pula kat living area... malas nak membebel, tak de effect!

ok, back to hanif... since the transit center tempat hanif stays after school wants to organize a birthday party, kami pun join jelah, cuma dia buat utk semua children born in March.

hanif with the birthday cake

partynya biasa2 je. biasanya every month hanif kena jadi emcee (berduet) utk every birthday party, tapi kali ni oleh kerana dia nak celebrate birthday, his bestfried zack terpaksa jadi emcee sorang2. partynya biasa2 je, ada big cake for everyone, and sikit food utk makan2 n minum2. every birthday child dapat hadiah. cute tengok budak kecik comel2.

hanif with abah n sofea

i still belum puas makan cake... nak kena dapat cake secret recipe juga!

so what did hanif got for his birthday this year? banyak juga. i dah lama berminat nak dia ada pet, to culture sense of responsibility dalam diri dia. so, since dia minat nak bela ikan, we got him a small aquarium with 4 fish. ikan apa... entahlah, nampak cam goldfish tapi rasanya bukan. he also got a new wrist-watch, a shirt and a scooter.

i really hope hanif boleh jadi anak yang baik, bijak, berbudi pekerti mulia, successful and boleh tolong ummi n abah bila kami dah tua esok2.

i tak ada abang, dan i selalu rasa orang yang ada abang mesti lagi best dari orang yang ada kakak. so mula2 kawin dulu, memang i harapkan dapat anak lelaki as anak sulung, someone yang the family can rely-on kalau ada apa2 berlaku. tapi anak perempuan sebenarnya pun sangat boleh diharap, macam kami2 semua...

i luv you, son!

earth hour

March 28 is Earth Day!

Vote for earth, and put your lights-off tonite for an hour from 8.30 - 9.30pm.

Masa bergelap tu.... pikir2 sendirilah nak buat apa. nak solat hajat ke, nak bercerita ngan anak2 ke, nak tengok bintang di langit ke... ajar anak2 pasal astronomy ke (ahh... terkenang ayah yang selalu ajak kami duduk kat balcony time black-out and talk to us about the planets, stars and space. Miss that moment!). kalu tak de kerja... tidur jelah.

just your show your support towards saving the planet EARTH!

the EARTH is just AWESOME!

korat course - new acquaintances and new lessons

as mentioned in my previous entries, i was actually not keen to go to korat. when i reached there, most of the participants are bosses - head of departments, medical director, national program planner. i felt so small, rasa inferior sangat2. in my introduction, i mentioned that i have no experience at all in community eyecare, and went there to learn. there were a few like me - younger generation who were sent there to learn.

i made a lot of new friends. the closest to me are the indonesians - since kita selalu makan and solat sama2. they were Mayang, Dr Rahasiah and Dr Farida. Mayang is getting married soon, comel betul budak ni, pakai colored contact lens. Dr Rahasiah is from UNHAS, Head Opthal Dept. dah kali ke3 ke Korat, umur dah dekat 60.

prof konyama, dr farida, mayang, dr rahasiah n me

Dr Farida is 62, she is really nice, daughter to a diplomat and spent her younger years in the states and mexico. tapi sanggup korbankan kemewahan n hidup senangnya untuk kerja di Lombok, where civilization was still way down. she built-up the ophthalmology service there from zero sampailah dah ada bangunan sendiri and got 4 ophthalmologist. she has retired but continue to be a volunteer and now serve as a lecturer in 2 universities there. i really kagum ngan dia. she inspired us with her experiences, and i was so touched by her dedication and love towards the people and her work. my eyes were tearful at the end of her presentation.

i was also close to Dr Sam from Vietnam. we usually sat next to each other in class. he is 36, single, smokes, and an Arsenal fan. i suka sakat dia, dia pun suka kenakan kita. tapi dia ni bagus juga. eventhough he is d youngest in his group (3 org), i can see that he was the most responsible among them. presentation and report semua dia yang buat (just like me). walaupun english pronounciation dia tak berapa betul, tapi dia tak malu nak cakap. he can also speaks french sbb dia pernah buat attachment kat France for 1 year. dia banyak copy i punya presentation, tak malu betul - sebiji2 guna my sentences.

sam, dr lim, sylvia, dr fatimah, me n saijin

Saijin is an ophthalmologist from Thailand. She is older than me, but i consider her "cute". perangai dia yang "cute", macam budak2. she always calls me ANGEL. kenapa panggil i angel - sebab dia ni sangat berusaha nak cakap english, tapi ramai prof. yg jadi instructor tak faham apa dia cakap, dan selalunya i lah yang akan menjadi interpreter. dia kagum gmana i boleh understand her bila org lain tak boleh. dia juga cukup minat tengok i cekap guna laptop, and banyak tolong dia guna computer. kalau i present kat depan, dia mesti sibuk nak ambik gambar, n will always say that i presented very well.

ted (family physician fr taiwan) and dr lim (retinal surgeon fr korea) were roomates. ted ni kuat makan, comel macam teddy bear. banyak idea, lepas group discussion dia mesti come to me with macam2 new ideas on innovation. ted ni minat F1 and suka main games... Dr lim kawan ngan i sebab kita sama2 peminat MU, suka lagu2 org putih yang lama2. masa farewell party siap nyanyi lagu eric clapton - wonderful tonight. datang korat bawa 2 je seluar panjang utk 2 weeks... hehe, dapat juga dia cari jeans harga Bhat200, made in korea pulak tu! paling cute time i suggest dr lim and take (takenori inomata) to try sticky rice with durian. beria2 mereka nak cuba, rugi tak capture that moment... air muka depa tiba2 berubah n berlari2 cari air. kata Take, pengalaman makan durian was indescribable. he will never ever try it again.

dr lim and ted

there were also the philippinos - prof abet and prof mavi, sangat bersemangat and rajin. takenori inomata - japanese, stylo, single, kuat main games juga. chaihan (thailand), 28, single, drives an accord, kulit licin mengalahkan pompuan, tapi hairstyle macam org tua. the laos doctors yang kelakar n baik hati - dr khampoua n dr goumua. the mongolian ladies yang kuat shopping - dr urangchimeg and dr bulgan. the sweet and beautiful sylvia from taiwan. the chinese team yang asyik buat hal sendiri, and the quiet cambodians - dr sun sarin and sokunvary.

a visit to Pimai Historical Park

paling i kagum semangat director korat course - Prof Konyama. we call him ah-jahn (cikgu). umur dia dah 82, tapi masih semangat nak memastikan the asia pacific region dapat upgradekan community eyecare. dia banyak experience, kerja ngan WHO, jadi lecturer kat john hopkins kat US and was instrumental in developing the ophthalmology service in thailand, laos, cambodia, vietnam and mongolia. kalu bagi lecture tak pernah duk diam, mesti nak jalan2. tapi kalu org present dia mesti tidur. kat telinga mesti ada earphone - suka dengar lagu! his last words on the closing ceremony sungguh menyentuh hati. i cried walaupun bukan main control macho tak nak bagi keluar airmata. he is the backbone of the korat course for the past 18 years, and i don't know whether this program will continue kalau dia dah tak de nanti.

dr uran and Ah-Jahn Konyama

i learned a lot from that course. ah-jahn selalu kata: an action without a plan is bad, but plan and action without evaluation is even worse. kadang2 kita ni ghairah nak plan macam2 but we do not have enough resources to manage it and never evaluate what we do...

somehow... rindu pula kat kawan2 n korat.

travelling home

konichiwa! hehe... cakap jepun lah pulak. i reached home sunday at 11 pm. i was damn tired, woke up at 4 that morning, had a bus ride from dusit princess direct to survanabhumi airport. sedih pulak nak say bye2 to my new friends kat airport tu. i went there knowing only one person, but i left korat with about 30 new friends.

lama gak duk airport tunggu our flight kul 1.40pm. laparnya perut... my friend pulak tak nak makan kat airport tu. akhirnya i jumpa sticky rice with mango (pulut makan ngan mango, macam pulut durian), apalagi, beli je lah, at least tak delah i sakit kepala kelaparan! lazatnya... pandai pula org siam ni promote traditional food depa kat airport. i tanya juga pulut durian tak de ke? (depa pun makan pulut durian macam kita), dia kata durian tak leh masuk airport, nanti berbau!

last minute before masuk gate, i patah balik to coach boutique, terkenang2 handbag coach... i ni kalu dah berkenan, sekali pandang memang dah tahu itulah pilihanku, bagai ada chemistry! pikir dua tiga kali juga... tapi harganya few hundreds cheaper than in m'sia, so apalagi... jangan lepaskan peluang. bila lagi nak bagi hadiah pada diri sendiri selepas bertungkus lumus buat kerja 2 weeks in korat sampai tak cukup tidur! nak harap orang tolong beli kat kita... tak tahu bila boleh dapat!

naik air asia... keselesaannya sungguh menyeksakan! dia punye seat cukup tegak nearly 85 degree. mana nak selesa! org kecik n kurus macam i ni pun rasa tak selesa, tak tahulah pak cik gemuk yang duduk next to me tu. dahlah leg-space dia sempit! tak boleh imagine camana mat salleh yang kaki panjang2 tu duduk. actually i planned to capture all these with my camera tapi segan pula takut org kata i ni jakun, nak ambik gambar dalam plane. food dia... bolehlah utk isi perut. anyways... tak boleh banyak komplen, nama pun low-cost air-carrier!

believe it or not i berjaya kurangkan berat my bag from 18 to 17 kg? ha... punyelah i berkorban sebab i dah boleh agak my friend tu akan overweight bag dia. datang hari tu pun dah overweight. so i carried about 13-15kg as my hand luggage. punyelah berat my hand luggage tu, tak de pulak gentleman yang nak tolong angkat my bag ke overhead cabin. nasib baik kita ni bukan tergolong perempuan lembik! cuma kita risau... kita nikan selalu perasan kita ni akan pregnant, so risau nak angkat benda berat2 ni!

sampai lcct, i dah tak tahan sangat sakit kepala. few days before balik memang tak cukup tido, tapi masa tengah kerja tak sakit pun. bila dah relax aje atas flight, mulalah dia berdenyut2, dahlah tidur terganggu2. kenapalah toilet kat lcct tu tak boleh sebersih toilet kat KLIA? i ni memang geli geleman ngan toilet kat m'sia ni. suraunya pula... sungguh kasihan melihatnya! dahlah ramainya manusia kat LCCT tu, nasib baik my friend bawa i lari ke food court yang kat luar tu, dapatlah i bernafas dengan selesa sikit.

patutnya malam tu flight kul 8.05pm tapi delay ke 8.55pm. sabar ajelah... yang lemahnye, memikirkan esok tu kena gi kerja n kena bagi ceramah kat satu kursus peringkat negeri. risau juga memikirkan slide presentation yg belum ready. i tak suka buat kerja bagai melepas batuk di tangga. orang dah bagi kita amanah, kena laksanakan sebaik mungkin.

sampai kt, terubat segala macam perasaan tu bila tengok anak2 n my dear hubbyby. bagai hilang segala kepenatan. my daughter slept in my arms on d way home. indahnya perasaan menidurkan anak dalam pelukan... tak habis2 i duk cium sofea sampai my hubbyby pesan, jangan over nanti my son hanif jealous!

the next day... ummph... sungguh berat nak buka mata! pergi juga kerja walau badan rasa nak demam. i tak gi ward or clinic. terus naik office n prepare my presentation pakai computer kat atas. punyelah i kesejukan, nasib baik ada blazer member, pinjam kejap. habis presentation, terus sms my boss, i need to have a rest and chao! belum pernah i buat perangai macam gitu, tapi i memang dah tak larat!

i'll be on leave until thursday. hari ni i sambung tidur lagi. petang tadi baru fresh sikit. pergi shopping groceries ngan sofea. singgah salem aziz kejap beli kain utk buat baju raya. tiga pasang. kalau ikut nak beli lagi, tapi nanti nak gi ngan hubbyby sebab nak cari kain baju melayu sekali, boleh terus matchingkan ngan i punya baju.

i've been very lazy today! tak productive langsung. tomorrow dah ada few agendas need to be settled - pejabat tanah, kwsp, bank. may be i should go for my facial treatment. kat dusit princess sempat juga gi dia punya spa. phew! best betul dia punya service n massage, and i consider it cheap compared to what we have in m'sia, in-fact lagi murah dari spa kat primula.

i kan bercita2 nak buka spa... hehe... the power of dreams! good nite, sweet dreams.

korat

salam. at last... i reached Korat at around 5 pm (thai). nearly 4 hours in the bus. penat juga rasanya. nasib bas tu ok, i dah risau takut motion sickness.

we checked-in into Dusit Princess Hotel. this place is better than our place last night. lobby dia cantik - modern,minimalist n elegant, bilik biasa je. i bagi dia 3 star untuk bilik. alhamdulillah got water boiler in the room, so bolehlah kami masak maggi. part of my bag penuh ngan makanan, i need to finish all of the food b4 balik. kalo tidak nanti tak boleh nak isi souvenir pula. belum jumpa moslem restaurant kat sini. nanti esok tanya orang.

this morning we went to chatuchak market. sempat juga beli souvenirs for my siblings. i have 10 siblings, so banyak jugalah habis, n kena sediakan ruang dlm beg untuk depa. yang lain2 belum beli lagi sebab bag masih penuh. barang tak banyak beza compared to 2 years ago. nanti kalo ada masa, nak gi jalan2 kat pekan korat pula. hope barang dia lainlah sikit. takkan asyik nak beli barang yang sama.

took some pictures, nanti i upload bila dah balik mesia nanti. scenery masa journey tadi biasa2 je. tak de yang extraordinary. macam mesia je, infact mesia lagi cantik. cuaca sini panas, pokok pun kering n kekuningan je. rumah2 dia sebijik rumah kat mesia, esp rumah kat kelantan. sawah padi dia pun kekuningan.

oklah. actually now i'm in the lobby. ingatkan hotel ni punya wireless line free, rupanya kena bayar juga. mula2 i ambik untuk 1 hour which would cost me Baht250. then i changed to duration 1 day, which costs me Baht300. so i kena guna line banyak2 malam ni so that i tak rasa rugi. kedekut! bukan kedekut, tetapi berhemah dalam berbelanja, sekarang kan economic downturn!

got to go now. am expecting a busy week ahead. me getting LAZY! nak balik...!

sawadee kap

salam. hello again. baru semalam rasa sedih takut tak leh get into the net. now i'm in the net again!.

eda, you are right, the bloggers' disease has affected me. i am now nearly obsessed with writing. since i reached bangkok tengahari tadi, i have ample of free time. nak tengok tv pun tak faham as everything is translated into thai language. now i'm in the lobby with my captain future, mujur ada wi-fi, bolehlah i get into the net sambil dengar org nyanyi2 kat lounge, tak sedap pun sebab tak faham.

i left home at 7.10 this morning. took an air asia flight at 8.20 am to kl and the next flight to bangkok at 11.45 pm. reached suvarnabhumi airport around 1.30 pm, and reached the hotel at around 3.30pm. depa bagi kami hotel kecik je, dlm 2 star je kut. biliknya oklah untuk tidur je. tapi tak de kettle n iron. mula tu risau juga, sebab tak leh nak masak air utk makan maggi. petang tadi, turun tanya bell boy, alhamdulillah ada moslem restaurant dekat je, siap cakap melayu lagi. tak delah kelaparan malam ni.

i have also bought a local sim card for my phone. i brought two phones. one will use my usual number and another one using the local number. it would be cheaper this way, celcom charges for roaming quite expensive. my hubbyby spent around RM800 for his phone bill during his guangzhou trip, itu pun sebab i je duk call dia. boringnya telephone ada dua tapi satu pun tak berbunyi. biasalah, i would be the one yang buat call. crazy tak kalu i sms to myself? desperate sangatlah kalu i buat gitu.

our trip to korat will be at 1 pm tomorrow, by bus. harap2 dapatlah bus yang bagus sikit. i ni tak tahan sangat ngan bus, especially kalau yang jenis bau minyak kuat. what worries me is my 18kg bag. harap adalah org yang boleh tlg angkat.

ok. got to stop now. i nak tidur awal. sophie kinsella's remember me will accompany me to sleep. sleep tight, sweet dreams. salam.

leaving on a jet plane..

ahh... wish i don't have to go to Korat tomorrow. malasnya!!! don't know why i ada perasaan pelik semacam je about this trip. i macam kalut je buat preparation. ni ha... food yang nak bawa pun tak gi beli lagi. petang ni pergi carilah kejap. masa kat kl hari tu lupa nak cari sneakers, nanti kena gi cari. i tak nak sakit kaki berjalan jauh2 kat sana. i pun tinggal pesan macam2 kat my friends, macamlah i ni pergi lama sangat. please pray that my journey would be a safe one.

my daughter, sofea cried last night. she wants to follow me. last week pun dia nak ikut gi kl. biasalah budak2, bila dah hilang di mata, dia dah tak kisah. my son, hanif dah tanya i macam2. his birthday is coming soon, dia minta nak celebrate kat pizza hut. sorry hanif, ummi wouldn't be around. i have to make-up for him bila balik nanti. what is more important is his exam next week. risau juga... dia makin banyak main sekarang ni. alhamdulillah my hubbyby would be around.

this might be my last post before i leave for Korat. and i may not be able to post any entry for the next two weeks if i couldn't get internet access in my hotel. i may get access to the net kat tempat kursus, tapi for sure that would only be untuk kerja. before i sign-off, please accept my apology if anything written here ada menyebabkan hati yang terguris or tercalar. i never meant to do so. ishh... macam nak raya lah pulak.

i would like to share with you one of my favorite songs below, Leaving On A Jet Plane, the theme song for the film Armageddon . the lyrics... is my real sentiment at the moment, exactly. you can you-tube it if you want to listen to the song.

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go
I'm standing here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
But the dawn is breakin' this early morn
The taxi's waitin', he's blowin' his horn
Already I'm so lonesome I could cry

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go
Cause I'm leaving on a jet plane
Don't know when I'll be back again
Oh babe I hate to go

There's so many times I've let you down
So many times I've played around
I tell you now, they don't mean a thing
Every place I go, I think of you
Every song I sing, I sing for you
When I come back
I'll wear your wedding ring

Now the time has come to leave you
One more time, let me kiss you
Close your eyes, I'll be on my way
Dream about the days to come
When I won't have to leave alone
About the time when I don't have to say........

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go
Cause I'm leaving on a jet plane
Don't know when I'll be back again
Oh babe I hate to go

I'm leaving on a jet plane....

remember me?

i was away from home since friday and left my faithful companion, captain future (my notebook) behind. do i miss it? i certainly do! i was lonely in kl. should have brought capt. future along, at least i can write, and get into the net. my niece eda was right when she said writing has become an obsession to her. it has become a passion to me. i need to write to speak-up my mind, i need to write to let my feelings free.

i stayed in cititel midvalley, and shop the whole day on friday. it was good since people was working on that day, so MV was not so congested. do i get all the things i want? almost. my children got 2 pairs of shirt/dress each. i got my self 3 blouses (metrojaya sale was quite good), 3 scarves (huh! crazy beli tudung kat MV!). saturday n sunday, MV was congested, and i don't like congested places.

i am not an impulsive buyer. i buy what i plan, and quite choosey. i look for quality. couldn't find nice beige color slack that i'm looking for. surveyed nearly the whole MV and couldn't find the kind of shoes that i want. really particular about shoes, bcoz it need to be a comfortable one, i have bunion! surveyed clarks, hush puppies, pierre cardin, scholl, bonia, alain delon, camel.... hampeh! my shoes shouldn't have heels more than 2 inch, and mesti jenis senyap, i tak suka jalan berbunyi kletuk-kletak. ha ha... almost unbelievable coz i was successful in keeping my eyes away from the handbags.

i also got bedcovers from akemi. nak sangat2 beli bedcovers n towels from cannon, but need to forget it since i bawa beg kecik. i also jadi buntu nak beli shirts for my hubbyby. i went to the male department alone, and felt so akward looking for men's shirt alone. orang pun pandang i semacam je. am i being paranoid? apologized to my dear hubbyby. tak pe, we'll go n shop somewhere else. nanti cari kat bangkok/korat.

besides that i bought myself 2 books, 'Remember Me!' by sophie kinsella and another one 'Remember Me' by melvyn bragg. he... wasn't that crazy? beli 2 buku with the same title?

sophie kinsella's remember me is more lively, kelakar and buat i gelak sorang2 kat airport yesterday. melvyn bragg's remember me is a literary fiction, a love story (he.. boleh habis ke ni??). i dah lama tak baca love story since zaman student dulu, susah nak cari love story novels yang betul2 bagus, sincere and honest. cecilia ahern's thank you for the memories pun i belum boleh habiskan lagi sampai sekarang. entahlah... tak de drive nak baca. the 'ayat2 cinta' yang popular tu pun i took weeks to finish, itu pun lepas tercabar tengok my hubby baca buku tu. i prefer law thriller/fiction by john grisham or political fiction by jeffery archer. these two authors have affected me a lot in the way that i think and how i look at things in life.

actually i wanted to buy 'the appeal' and 'king of torts' or 'the street lawyer' by john grisham. tapi MPH tu teruk betul! ada ke dia letak buku2 john grisham semua kat shelf atas. manalah i sampai nak capai buku tu. i ni kan petite and cute! berapa jam i duduk kat MPH tu, tapi mulut kelu nak minta tolong guys yang lalu lalang situ tolong capaikan buku tu untuk i, biasalah... kita ni pemalu!. sampai i boleh habiskan buku 'the curious case of benjamin button' kat dlm kedai tu! (buku tu nipis je, and tak macam dlm movie).

tapi, sedih juga tak tercapai hasrat nak tengok the curious case of benjamin button :( i am an independent girl, i like to shop by myself and do not mind travelling alone and do alot other things alone. tapi ada benda2 i need to do with friends. i don't like to eat alone, and i don't like to go and watch movie alone. i tak selera makan sorang2. kalau tengok movie, i memang concentrate tapi lepas tu i suka nak share my thoughts about that movie with my companion, happy ke, sedih ke, kelakar ke, semuanya i like to share with my companion. tak sama macam tengok movie kat tv. so, need to find dvd for 'the curious case of benjamin button'. ada orang nak tlg beli tak? kat kt ni i tak pandailah nak cari.

i returned home last nite. felt so happy bila tgk my family was waiting for me. i got another 4 days with them before i leave to Korat. suprisingly, i do not look forward for this trip. berat hati sungguh! tak tahu nak describe. it will be for two weeks, and i'm gonna miss my family, my home, my friends and my workplace, and i'm gonna miss another person - YOU!