hate (test post)

only you can know

lima ratus.

I may seem a little ignorant about the current ongoings in our country, etc. since I hardly talk about those issues. But I'm not really ignorant. Sometimes, I'm just not sure of whether or not I should say/write something as my opinions may be perceived in a way I do not wish it to be perceived.

Be that as it may, I do have my own 2 cents of thoughts about the 2011 Budget. I heard the most part of it, even while doing my HIV Test in Melaka (yes, I went that far because of several reasons) and I've got to say that this year's budget is one of the most interesting ones because of the way it was presented.

Funny I didn't feel as sleepy as I normally would during tabling of budget time. (walaupun ada tersengguk jugak dalam kereta)

I'd be lying if I said I'm not the least bit ambitious. I'd be lying if I said that I'm not disappointed with the decisions involving my sector. Or perhaps, it was the rumours I heard beforehand that is causing me to feel a little too disappointed with what has been tabled.

• RM500 bonus? Come on. That's the price of 365 (my car's) monthly fuel consumption. Sometimes (especially now), I use more than that. RM500 will go poof up in the air in a jiffy. Plus, I have been working so hard lately and I feel like I deserve more.
• 10% "free" downpayment for first-time housebuyers. But house must be RM220,000 or less. Where do I find a house THAT cheap? One which is not an apartment, I mean. 

The 2 above are 2 out of the long list of items which instantly caught my attention. I've got to say that the 2011 Budget has got its own upsides as well... like the decision to abolish PTK, which I think is splendid. No one should be assessed based on exam results when they are working. It's the actual work that should be the determinant of one's performance and possible elevation in position.

Above all, I'm quite happy with this part of the budget.

"The Govt proposes that import duty on approximately 300 goods preferred by tourists and locals, at 5% to 30%, be abolished."

"Antara barang-barang harian yang terlibat adalah beg tangan, kasut, baju dan baju dalam, seluar dan seluar dalam"... (this is the thing I heard in the car just now. Hehe.)

Hua hua hua. That was really funny. All in all the Budget this year wasn't so bad. Though there are still decisions which portrayed a tad bit of nepotism and unnecessary spending. 

Shy to comment? Well, never mind! Your reactions mean the world to me! Make me smile today :)

would I?

What is the first thing that comes to your mind at the mention of “Marriage/Kahwin?”

I asked Mister this question last night. He told me, “Responsibilities.” He is worried as hell that he would not be able to carry out his responsibilities as a good husband.

Well, I’m afraid of not being a good wife as well, but at the mention of “Marriage/Kahwin?”, the first thing that comes to my mind is… (please don’t laugh at me),

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

COOKING.

Haha. I’m such a weirdo, right? But that is seriously the first thing that comes to my mind and I don’t know why.

I love cooking though I don’t cook much because… well, because of this. But still, it doesn’t make my love for cooking any less.

And that brings me to my next point, which is: “How on earth can I cook and enjoy my marriage if my working hours are crazy?”

I know, I know. Some people have it worst than me. But seriously, how do all the married women do it and most importantly, how do the mothers do it?

I used to think that I wouldn’t have any problem, seeing that Mama did a good job raising us alone. Yes, when we were much younger, Babah worked in KL while Mama raised us in Seremban. We hardly saw him, vice versa and life back then wasn’t lavish or easy at all. *raises eyebrow at Adik* (peace Adik!)

So, I thought that if Mama could do it, I would have no excuse not to be able to do it too.

But those times were good times. It was the right time and right place and it’s like everything fell into place for the both of them. They weren’t earning much but they made ends meet. We had a comfortable place to live in and we were never short of any baju raya or birthday parties, no matter how simple.

How did she do it? Did the women then have it easier than the women now?

As a woman, I feel that the pressure is on. It’s as if a lot of people are peering through a microscope and I’m the subject of interest. Would I be able to clean the house properly, would I be able to make sure my husband’s (and kids’) clothes are well washed, dried, kept and ironed, would I have the time to talk to my husband and kids and look into their homework and school activities, would I be able to prepare them packed meals to be brought to school like Mama made me, would I forget to pick them up from school like how some people here in the office have done on occasions, would I be too tired to entertain them all when I finally get home from work or would they be sleeping every night without bedtime stories from their mom?

I mean, doesn’t you tummy tie up in knots every time you think of all the things you might not be able to do due to the demands of modern working women?

And of course, most importantly, would I be able to come back home everyday, in time to cook a nice hot meal for everyone and be able to sit around the table during dinner (like how Babah insists, even when I’m the only one at home) so that we could all get some special bonding time together?

I can’t even manage my own meals and Mama bothers about my clothes and sometimes change of towels and bedsheets, so would I be able to do it myself when I’m left to live on my own?

I bet that a lot of you working women are facing the same problems now. Oh, what is to become out of us? Can work be a little bit more marriage-friendly?

Work is not all that there is to life. Or has it become?

Shy to comment? Well, never mind! Your reactions mean the world to me! Make me smile today :)

rectification.

Eh, where did buduh piang go to?

Well, out of respect for Mister who finally read the post at 4 p.m. (poor thing, kerja banyak sangat, lunch pun tak makan), who told me it wasn’t nice to write things like that, I decided to make it a private post. Though… around 100 people have read it already today, so most people already know that I was angry. And I’ve got to say that I know people who aren’t going through the same situation will never quite understand.

Don’t be surprised. I can be angry. But all is well now and today is actually a very good day.

I’ll update more in a while. See, today really is a good day :)

BTW, LAST DAY TO VOTE! DON'T MY READERS LOVE TO VOTE OR SOMETHING JIKA TAK DAPAT PRESENT??? HAIH. 

I'd just like to know what you like, that's all ;)

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buduh piang

Kamu tahu siapa kamu?

Shy to comment? Well, never mind! Your reactions mean the world to me! Make me smile today :)

perfect ten, with love.

[continued from here]

I looked into the larder and in the fridge and figured that I should not bother making something which I’m not good at making.

If there was spaghetti, I would have made that since Adik is a HUGE FAN!

But there was none, so I made these:

butter carrot rice.


The rice is real easy to make.

Ingredients

• 1 ½ pot (is this how we spell it?) of rice.
• Around 20g (max) of salted butter (you can measure by using the indicator on the butter packaging).
• A little bit of olive oil. Mine was slightly on the oily side that day so remember not to be overzealous with the oil.
• 1 ½ carrots (medium size), grated. This gives the rice the saffron-like colour, which I love.
• Onions (no exact measurement, but approx. ¾ of a big onion)
• Salt (I use garam kasar because my mom says that it’s slightly sweeter)

Steps:

• put olive oil in pan and leave to heat for a while.
• then, put in the butter to melt with the olive oil.
• put in carrots first and leave to sauté.

*DO NOT put in onions first because onions burn faster and that would make your dish slightly bitter.

• after the carrots have started to soften, put in the onions and leave them both to sauté. make sure the carrots and onions are well cooked (tapi bukan garing atau hangus okay?)

*Mama taught me a trick. when cooking any dish with vege like tomatoes, bendi or carrots etc., make sure the vege are cooked properly. if not the food will spoil very easily. that’s why sometimes, you find that your curry yang ada carrots or tomatoes cepat berbuih and rosak.

• add in salt as required.
• turn fire off and leave the tumisan to rest. it will normally cook in its own heat.
• prepare rice and add in water as how you like your rice to be (kering or basah or lembik or keras).

*always bear in mind that the tumisan is a little bit runny too, so the water you add to the rice depends on how runny your carrot-onion base is.

• put the rice cooker and don’t forget to press “COOK” button.
• to add flavour, add in a few chunks of chicken (which I did).

chicken wings "brulee"

The chicken wings "brulee" was a (slight) kitchen mishap. I was rushing and the chicken had not defrosted properly yet so, it was a little runny. I misgauged the amount of soy sauce and honey to be put into the chicken marinade, and that was what caused the chicken to slightly (slightly la sangat) char. Remember, when sugar burns, it will turn into some sort of brulee (nicer word for hitam). And since this combo involved soy sauce and honey, it “bruleed” more than normal.

But whatever it is, looks can be deceiving. As black as the chicken turned out to be, apart from the charred bits, it was quite succulent ;)

udang padprik.

And this, my dear readers, is my version of udang padprik. I had padprik in mind and was happily preparing until I realised we didn’t have any chilli boh. What??? So, for flavour, I had to use cili api giling and for colour, I had to use chilli sauce. Which explains why it turned out to be orange-ish instead of red. When making padprik, please remember to add lemongrass and also lime leaves (daun limau purut). These ingredients can really add character to a simple dish, I tell you.

x

Apart from the slight mishap I had with the chicken, my biggest mishap that day was when my dad asked for a simple brunch.

He wanted 2 sunny side ups and some bread.

And I burnt my finger making him his sunny side up. Fail betul!

Other than that, all of them were happy and these 2 had second helpings despite Mister who initially warned Adik,

“Adik, kalau sakit perut after this you know why!”

And Adik kept on reiterating that she didn’t know why she was SO hungry, so since she’s hungry she had to eat some more, while going nom nom nom nom on the food I brought. Hah!

Mengaku je lah sedap, right? Right? Right? ;p

Of course, I was super happy too ;)

Shy to comment? Well, never mind! Your reactions mean the world to me! Make me smile today :)

volunteer.

Adik had a little bit of a breakdown 2 weekends ago due to accumulated stress. She’s not the type who gets stressed out very fast (or often, even) and crying is probably something she does once a year, tops. Adik is Babah’s favourite best friend. It is a well-acknowledged and well-accepted fact by all of us. No jealousy whatsoever.

So, imagine what Babah felt when he saw his bestest friend break down AND cry!

For the whole of last week, Babah kept on reiterating how kesian he was that Adik cried and how upset she seemed and that he felt so kesian for her (again) and that he too was really upset that Adik was upset. Haih la, Babah.

They (Mama and Babah) both didn’t know the cause of Adik’s breakdown but I knew. And they somehow sensed that I did and was trying very hard to coerce details out of me. Of course, I didn’t oblige. Since they were very determined to find out why Adik was crying so bad, they decided they needed to make a trip to Seremban to visit her. To make whatever it was that was wrong, right again.

I grimaced at the thought. I knew that the last thing Adik needed were my parents going there in the middle of exam week. So, I sort of volunteered the moment Mister agreed he would accompany me.

The night before Seremban (which was Saturday night, 091010), we were in BSP and I just came back from a wedding in Melaka. On normal circumstances, I would’ve just bought something on the way to Seremban to feed Adik.

But I figured that since I’m going to go and comfort Adik, I might as well go OTT with the preparations and got going in the kitchen.

Plus, since Mama was rushing to go to a gathering on 101010 morning, I knew she wouldn’t be there to breathe down my neck while I was cooking.

Please don’t get me wrong. I love my mom to death (as much as she drives me up the wall sometimes). She’s probably one of the best cooks I’ve ever known. Even her sunny side ups are amazing! But because of that fact, well... I feel intimidated to cook when she’s around.

So, at the opportunity I had to cook alone, I did just that ;)

I’ll show you in the next post, what I made for the perfect ten day.

Shy to comment? Well, never mind! Your reactions mean the world to me! Make me smile today :)

reciprocate.

Priority. 

1. The fact  or condition of being regarded as more important. a thing regarded as more important than others.

[Concise Oxford English Dictionary]

Sometimes, we make other people our priority. But we often make that mistake where we hope that they would reciprocate by making us theirs as well. 

Susah sangat ke? Lu pikir la sendiri.

And yes I am fed up and this must be because I am tired (of everything).

I need to breathe deeply before I EXPLODE.

Shy to comment? Well, never mind! Your reactions mean the world to me! Make me smile today :)

vulgar innuendos.

This morning, when I came to the office and greeted my colleague, he asked me,

“Awak, kenapa awak ada bisol?”

So, I told him that it wasn’t a bisol. Though, in retrospect, after taking a few photos of myself (nampak sangat vain nak mamps), it is HUGE. No wonder people gave me funny looks as I was leaving the office for lunch.

spot the bisol

I told my colleague that my mom said the reason why people grew pimples is because they like to berangan a lot.

He asked me,

“Apa la awak berangan dekat mulut awak tu, kan?” *complete with smirk on face and everything*

And yes, he’s a he. Guys, I tell you. You can’t give them a chance at it at all. You give them a chance and they turn even the ugliest of things into something “naughty” like that.

I don’t know whether or not that is a form of sexual harassment and a lot of people would call me poyo for raising this matter. Of course, there was no direct reference to anything sexual at all, but to me, there was a certain level of vulgar innuendo to it.

I guess with the shifting of morals, people think we shouldn’t mind anymore when people make remarks such as that which was made to me. After all, it was said in jest, wasn’t it? Uhuh.

Maybe I’m the traditional one. Maybe I’m too conservative when it comes to certain things. But to me, a guy should always keep his sexy thoughts to himself, especially if the person he is saying those things to is/will be someone else’s wife.

I also think that if you are a guy who has a girlfriend or is about to get married, you should save any words of praise you have for your partner and her alone. In my personal opinion, though realistically speaking there are many more other people more gorgeous that your partner, she should be the only one entitled to those praises.

Conservative much? Uhuh. Very.

I just think that the shifting of morals is the very thing that is breaking down the most honest of relationships.

Enough of all the serious stuff.

My “bisol” is fixed! Apadahal. Bukan susah pun.

feeling tok pah gitu. huahuahua

All better now.

Shy to comment? Well, never mind! Your reactions mean the world to me! Make me smile today :)

pelamin anganku.



click for larger view.

(POST NI PANJANG GILA)



Tentang perkara ni, saya ada tulis another version, but at that time, saya tidak rasa tenang sebegini. Dan bila hati tak tenang, cara penulisan kita akan terjejas, menyebabkan apa yang ingin kita sampaikan tak sampai dengan cara yang kita inginkan.

Saya tak mahu mengira hari kerana itu menyebabkan perkara-perkara berkenaan dengan perkahwinan menjadi sesuatu yang mengerikan. Tapi, kalau saya tak mengira hari, semua orang akan decide to take it easy sebab saya pun 2 kali 5. Ini wedding saya, jadi saya rasa semua orang nantikan saya untuk jadi the “pushing factor”.

Jadi, saya pun mula mengira hari dan email semua list saya kepada Mama dan Babah, together with my wedding countdown.

My dad started panicking and asked bila kita nak buat card ni? So, I obliged and told them mana tempat-tempat nak buat card. Mama insisted that we go to Pudu sebab kawan dia ada buat card di situ. Saya tahu keadaan Pudu Plaza and Pudu in general sebab dulu pergi la juga jenguk nak beli-beli DSLR. So, agak ngeri untuk bawa Mama ke sana sebab… well, sebab Pudu is Pudu and Mama is Mama.

But nonetheless, we went last Sunday. Turns out that banyak kedai tutup but the main shops like LH Creative and One Card buka. PHEW. Nasib baik. Kalau tak memang kena angkut mereka berdua pergi Jalan Reko lah gayanya.

Thing about my parents (and family) is that they are very involved in this wedding. Anak pertama, cucu pertama, wedding pertama. Memang semua nak ambil port. Bila orang lain dengar, pasti ada yang jealous. Sebab ada juga orang yang tiada siapa heran dia nak kahwin. Tapi bagi orang macam saya yang semua orang interested nak tahu pasal dia punya wedding, sometimes, she just wishes she could make her own decisions.

Walau apa pun, my paramount consideration is everyone’s happiness. Untuk nikah and reception, theme colours pun was not decided by me, but by my Wedding Council (ad hoc). Down to warna hantaran pun Mama macam nak decide. Mesti ada orang rasa kesian dekat saya sekarang, kan? Ke takde? Tapi itulah hakikatnya. Semua orang gets to decide warna apa would look good on them as a family first, baru saya cari baju saya. Risky? Yes. But everyone is happy. I should be too, bukan?

So, kisah mencari baju reception akan bermula next week. Babah akan ikut sebab dia jujur so kalau baju tu tak cantik, he will go like "EWWW" (dalam versi dia sendiri of course). Mak Long akan turut serta dalam expidisi ini sebab dia yang paling pandai bab-bab baju ni. In fact she’s got a treasure chest at home yang lebih hebat dari poket doraemon (Fah jangan marah kita cakap Mummy awak. Dia comel okay ;p). Semua orang dalam family dia dah ada baju kecuali the boys kata Mak Long. Semangat tak? Lagi berapa bulan saya nak kahwin, orang lain semua dah ada baju EXCEPT the bride. HAHAHAHAHA. When I put it that way, rasa kelakar pula.

Masa Raya, T Chal was bugging Mama about pembahagian tugas (peace Na, mummy awak sangat reliable don't know what I'd do without her as well). Mama ni pulak relax selamba kodok. Takut pun ada bila dia relax. Tapi bila dia kalut, lagi serabut sebab tak sudah-sudah membebel. Busu pula tak habis-habis tanya apa nak sponsor? Sponsorship ada had harga dan ada tamat tempoh tau. Kena cepat sebelum Disember dah kena cakap. Adoih.

Kenapa hanya letak Mak Long, T Chal, Busu and Mama walaupun adik-beradik ada 8? Sebab T Chal and Mak Long ada perbezaan pendapat tentang bersanding dan merenjis and Busu paling rapat dengan Mama (kot?). Sama manja macam Adik dengan saya. Anyway, point is, saya decide saya tak mahu direnjis. T Chal menyokong 100% tak perlu merenjis. Kata dia macam meniru adat orang lain. Mak Long kata susah untuk lawan tradition. Mama nampak macam teringin. Kata dia, walau apapun benda tu dinamakan, yang penting ialah tujuan dan niat semua orang. Semua orang teringin nak merenjis kot? I suspect dia pun teringin. PHEW.

Haritu, Babah buat flowchart. Dari mula make-up sampai habis majlis. Pastu ada timeline, pastu ada sound system chart. Dia nak request letak lagu-lagu dia dalam my wedding playlist! He wants it to be enjoyable for his friends as much as it is enjoyable for mine. Hahahahha. Kalau korang dah lama gila tak agaknya? Nasib baik my dad has good taste in songs since he’s the musical one. Kalau tak tak tahu la lagu dondang sayang mana akan tiba-tiba make its way into my list of songs. Band pun Babah nak decide, MC pun sama, kompang pun sama. Kiranya siapa yang akan datang my wedding, jangan la terkejut ada lagu oldies. Kalau nak kutuk pun pelahan-pelahan nanti orang tua tu dengar kecit hati dia. PHEW.

Anyways, berbalik kepada card. Last weekend kami dah pick out a design dah pun. My dad sort of picked it out. Sebab semakin tua dia, semakin fussy. Dia nak tahu semua decisions. Nasib baik taste lebih kurang sama. No frills, clean, simple, practical, cheap. Tapi kalau ikutkan kehendak hati sendiri, the first card I picked out cost RM6. They love me yes, but they are not crazy. So, takkan dibelikan yang itu. Ingat nak pergi tempah this week tapi I requested boleh tak buat next week sebab saya nak pergi kenduri, please please please OMG lama sangat duduk memerap tak berjalan tu yang jadi depressed tulis post panjang tak bermotif ni.

Tahu apa Babah cakap? Dia kata takpa, nanti Babah bawak Mama jalan-jalan kitaorang pergi tempahkan. OMG. PHEW.

So, kesimpulannya, penat bila semua decision semua orang nak masuk campur. Tapi, apa saya boleh buat ialah bersyukur kerana tak ramai parents yang nak redah Pudu untuk pergi buat kad kahwin anak dia. Or ikut sama nak pergi cari baju. And bila muka anak dah tak berapa semenggah tengok harga baju, dia pun swipe card dalam wallet dia lepas tu bila tanya macam mana nak bayar balik dengan muka paling manis boleh menyebabkan diabetes, dia cakap tak apalah, kahwin sekali je.

PHEW. PHEW. PHEW.

Semua PHEW ada maksud berlainan dan saya rasa kesemuanya at this point.

Adik & Abang, I need you both HOME, pronto.

Kan dah cakap panjang nak mamps.

Shy to comment? Well, never mind! Your reactions mean the world to me! Make me smile today :)

opposites.

“it’s when you consciously think of NOT doing something/ acting like someone, that you end up acting EXACTLY like that.”

- haneesa

… and it’s when you consciously think of DOING something, that you end up doing the EXACT OPPOSITE of what you tell yourself to do.

I doubt that anyone can tell me otherwise. But it’s something we must work on, to make it work out.

Shy to comment? Well, never mind! Your reactions mean the world to me! Make me smile today :)