stapelei

Went to send Nadhrah for her P1 orientation yesterday. Alhamdulillah, she likes her new school and the new building.
My only concern now is her Arabic (and Eema's for that matter). Truth be told, we hardly speak arabic at home, except when greeting, baca doa makan/tidur, solat, doa. So now I'm panicking. I'm looking for a FEMALE arabic tutor who can come 3 times a week to our house at the ulu place. I hope I can confirm one by this week.

While in school, I also collected Eema's tudung. She already has 3 from last year. 1 is a bit torn, the other two.. well that's not enough, based on last 2 years experience. Eema comes home from school each day like we're doing some detergent commercial. Almost every single day she comes home with some stain on her light yellow tudung. One day it'll be some sambal stain, the next day chocolate, and then mud.. (mud? how did mud get on her tudung? don't know).. then pencil or pen stains and at other times, unexplainable ones. So much so that, we'd be surprised if she actually comes back with a stainless tudung. She's so cute.
Her track pants are also always torn at the knee area. Even though she says she didn't fall or anything. That's just the way she is.

After the whole school thing, I sent Nadhrah home and went out again to (hopefully) look for a shoe rack. I went to Tanglin Mall, where I was quite sure I would NOT find, a or the, shoe rack that I want. But I went there anyway, because they have many many cute, artistic, stuff there, and it's been a while since I last went there.

As expected, I didn't get the shoe rack. Instead, I got this toy for myself.

It's called stapelei - and that's german for 'stack' It's a cute game toy made from wood. Instruction as follows:
STACK

A game of skill for 1 - 4 players aged 4 - 99 (which qualifies ME.)

Contents :
1 donkey (small wooden one, not real)
40 sticks (in four colours)
1 sugar cube (small wooden one also, not real)
1 set of game instructions

Aim of the game:
Who has a steady hand and is the first to be able to place all their sticks on the back of the donkey?
Beware : Nothing must fall off while piling up the sticks.

Preparation:
Put the donkey in the center of the table. (a steady one, if I might add) Each player takes all the sticks of one color. If there are less than four players, the remaining sticks are kept in the tin.
You don't need the sugar cube for the basic game.

How to play :
Play in a clockwise direction (but who cares if we want to play in an anti-clockwise direction?). Whoever has already seen a real donkey may start the game. (if everyone at the table has seen a real donkey, then whoever saw it most recently can start. Or if nobody at the table has seen a donkey in their lives, then the last one who saw it on TV. If that still fails, then consider a horse instead.)
Take one of your sticks and place it carefully on the back of the donkey. Be careful that the stick doesn't fall off. You did it? Well done. Now it's the next player's turn. (this almost reminds me of Japanese instructions in English.. it would sound something like this, only with broken english and wrong spellings)
If however, one of more sticks fall off the donkey's back, you have to take them and add them to yours. Then it's the next player's turn.

End of Game:
The game ends as soon as any player has put their last stick on the donkey, thereby winning the game.

Variation:
For younger players.
Younger players take fewer sticks (e.g. six per player)
For less than four players
If there are less than four players, the remaining sticks can be distributed amongst them.
For especially skillful and daring players (like me)
The game becomes more difficult when you place the sugar cube on the back of the donkey before piling up the sticks. You can place either the larger side of the cube on the back of the donkey or, to make it really wobbly, the smaller side.

Yup.. that's it. It's quite a simple game. And I have it in my bag.
So next time any of you meet me for a drink, ask me and we can also play Stapelei. :)

a LIVE demo

So I was at BK with Pink, to pass her, the wedding pics. I was carrying my Panasonic Toughbook in my unzipped bag.

As we sat, I put my bag down on the chair. "WOAH!!", I yelled, drawing the attention of many patrons at BK, as my bag ACCIDENTALLY toppled and out came my Toughbook onto the hard hard floor. People must be gasping, as I picked the thing up and they realise it's a laptop. I said out (loud) to Pink, so that all around can hear, "Phew.. it's ok, it's a Toughbook." (partly also to cover balik my paisehness).

But then I saw that one side of the battery was half way out, while the other side was still nestled in its place. I tried to take the battery out gently. It's stuck. Pink said I should try yanking it out. I tried.. i guess my yanking was not strong enough. As a last resort, I knocked hard on the battery, to put it back in its place. It did, with a loud 'plank!', as though to create a dramatic sound effect. (shutz)

Then, I coolly put the toughbook back on the table, aware that some eyes are on me the Toughbook, waiting to see if it still works. I turned it on, and voila! It did! Phew!!

Man.. I just did my company a favour, by doing a real LIVE demo on its product.

Actually this is the 2nd (ACCIDENTAL) LIVE demo. The first one was at the office, when I ACCIDENTALLY spilled water all over the opened and turned-on laptop. For that one, we had to dry it, inside out, and it came back on, fully functional, 1.5 days later.

migraine

I'm getting a migraine. I think i'm trying to accomplish too much in perfection, in one day. I've done quite a number of items from my to do list, but still a couple more, which includes doing budgeting tonight. I should never plan to do the budgeting and bills payment, together with some other tasks. See, by the time I get to this task, which in itself is quite stressful (trying to keep everything within budget), i'm already all worked up.

And there's some BBQs going on downstairs, and a kid couldn't stop shouting and/or crying! which is making the migraine worse. I had to resort to turning on some music that will drown out those shouts. Not the most ideal situation. Oh, yes, this is one the -ve things about this new house.. when some kid decides to shout or cry downstairs at the pool, i can hear every word, from my room.

Hah.. letting it out, here.. seem to help a bit :) I've just downed a panadol.

I think I'm not going to do this budgeting thing tonight. I think I'm just going to forget my tasks for today and just relax. Enough for today.

I want to enjoy the weekend.

day off

I love rainy mornings when I'm home. Alhamdulillah.

I read in the papers today that the Singapore Flyer got stucked yesterday, for 5 hours! Apparently, it happened before.. just earlier this month. Now I'll know what to do the next time I plan on going on the Singapore Flyer. I'll get a book, some snacks and some drinks ready - just in case I get stuck up there for 5 hours.. at least I can enjoy myself, reading the book and having a good view. A mat would be nice too, but it's quite clean in the cabin.. you can sit on the floor.



Last night, we were at this restaurant called 'Badoque' and it's at Simpang Bedok. The food was ok, but we had more fun with the names of their coffee. Their range of coffee was under the title 'Hot Joe'.. Joe referring to the coffee. Then they have.. Joe Tos - for cappucino and Joe Ngang for mocha.. etc. Fiza ordered Joe Tos for Aida.. and the clueless Filipino waitress asked, 'You want your joe tos now or later?' We told her to let Aida finish her ice cream first.

We were laughing away and I felt bad for the Filipino waitress who must have had no idea what the word means in Malay. So I explained to her. I wonder if she'll think twice, the next time she wants to ask her customers, 'do you want your joetos now or later?'

good ol' swinging time

One thing that the children really miss from the old house, is the hand swing we had in their bedroom. We got it from Ikea.

They used to swing all the time.. all of them, except Nadhrah, the very girlish girl, who was just learning to swing by the time we moved. They'd hand swing, sometimes they'd put their legs thru the holder, sit and swing.. sometimes they hang upside down. I miss seeing them do that too..



I want to put that swing at our new place, but couldn't find an appropriate place. At the library/playroom? In the girl's room? Hadi's room?.. maybe the library/playroom wud be ok, but another problem is that, the room has false ceiling - meaning I would have to have a contractor do the work.. just to fix a swing. And.. there's not very much space to swing. :(

I guess for now, we'll just have to make do with memories.. and going to playgrounds with swings.

eema's dream

insyaAllah. Ameen.

a monday that feels like friday

I must say, my life on the whole has become more FILLED, more packed with events, activities.. things to do, stuff to read.. dreams to achieve..friends and family to spend time with.

Right now.. if you ask me.. I don't remember what happened on Saturday. If you give me a couple of mins to just think about it maybe I'll do.

Last Friday at work seems like a long time ago.

And this morning.. it didn't feel like a Monday.. i felt like it's Friday.

It's kind of weird actually.

It's ever since we moved here. I must say this is a nice place to live in.. especially during the first few months.. it felt like I'm staying at a holiday resort. Imagine coming back to a holiday
resort everyday.

And having good friends as neighbours, wasn't helping take away that 'staying-at-a-resort' feeling. Every now and then we'd be spending time together doing SOMEthing. And, it's near Azhar, so
anytime we felt like teh tarik.. we just have to walk over. I have hardly felt bored.

The truth is, sometimes I still can't believe it myself.. that we have come to afford to live here. We both, didn't come from a well-off family. Alhamdulillah.. because this can only happen because
Allah wills it. And I do keep in mind also, that our life.. is a test.. in it's good times and bad.

And most importantly and a great part of the reason why I've agreed to move here, is being able to share it with our friends and family. My next door neighbour was saying.. 'you always seem to have
guests and gatherings.'

Yes we do, and I love it that we do. I'm most happy to be able to share this pleasure with the people I love and care for.

pumping my own petrol

It's not that I never wanted to try. But everytime I tried to open the tank cover, I turned it clockwise and there'll be this clicking sound, and I thought I broke the cover or something.. and then the petrol station asst would see me having trouble and quickly come to my rescue before I can figure it out myself.

So anyway.. hari tu, I clarified with aida, the lady who knows..

And today.. i pumped my own petrol! I turned the tank cover anti clockwise and it opened with no problem. And then I pumped without spilling the petrol and manage to put back the pump into it's place.

Alright.. I'm one step away from being a car-bimbo.

delayed blogging

my oh my.. it has been more than 10 days since i last blogged.

Bukan tak nak.. or bukan takde benda nak cakap.. but I just couldn't keep up with myself. So much has been happening.. my days have been quite packed.. with some meaningful and some unmeaningful things.

There were things I wanted to blog about.. like my visit to the doctor. And the and filipino guide on the nite safari pram tram, with their filipino slangs.. it was cute, but i thought not appropriate, i mean you would hv the visitors think that this is a singaporean slang. Oh, and my trip to damansara with our neighbours here.. who have named themselves..ourselves.. the RT Gang.

But now, as i think about it right now.. it's not as interesting to relate now, as it was, just when it happened. Like.. how we almost hit a bike on the highway, coming back from damansara.. cause the bike was coming onto our lane at the last minute without checking his back! but he realised just in time to stay in his lane.. but he gave us the shock of our lives. phew.. alhamdulillah nothing happened.

blogging, is like spending my time, with myself, but at the same time, updating others who cares.

I'm getting incoherent.. and this post is pointless, but a start for me nonetheless.

have a great happy weekend my friends!

pics pics pics

1. random






2. night safari (no flash photographies please)

can you see the bwasingas in the background?



this is near the leopard cage..


3. raya haji








apa nak jadi.. yang tua bangka ni pun main psp?!

4. trip to damansara

are we ready?

When you think about the bigger things, the bigger picture.. the purpose of life.. we will find that our daily issues and problems become so trivial in comparison.

yesterday a christian friend called to ask me about a muslim funeral.. how he can visit a muslim friend who had just passed away last evening. They had just played soccer that afternoon, and in the evening, my boss found out his soccermate had passed away. He was still in a state of disbelief when he spoke to me.

I told hubby about it. After a while hubby asked if I would be ready, if that happens to him.

A lot of things rushed thru my mind, as he was asking that, and I told him what I thought. The thing is, I think that is not as important. My greater concern is.. is HE ready to die? Am I ready to die? I don't think we need to worry as much about the living ones we'd leave behind - they'll survive, insyaAllah. But ARE WE READY TO DIE? The possibility is not only that he may go before me, but it may even be me, who leave before him. In fact the possibilities of death, is endless..

Of course i PRAY, that God prolong our lives, in iman, in syukr, in health, in happiness, in wealth... at least until the time that we are not needed anymore in this world.. Ameen.





***

On a brighter note.. i'd like to wish all Muslims Eid Mubarak :).

making time and space for everything

I was just thinking of that..about making time and space for everything and everyone close in my life.. and I suddenly remembered that i'm actually, currently reading about the concept of time and space called 'timespace' in the world, the universe we live in. It's limited.. but we try.