Kandang Kerbau

In the car after lunch just now, the conversation with my colleagues turned to which hospital we gave birth to our children.
The last three of my children was born in KKH - Kandang Kerbau Hospital. Now, we always refer to the hospital as KKH. In the olden days, we always call it Kandang Kerbau. And we'd always shock our Malaysian/Indonesian Malay speaking friends, when we say we were born in Kandang Kerbau.

And just the day before, as we passed by KKH, my youngest daughter Nadhrah said, "Eeeh.. KKH! I was born here. Kak Eema also and Kak Hanaa also right?"
"Yes :)", I said.
"What about you? You were also born in KKH right?"
"No, actually. I nenek gave birth to me at home."
"What?! Really?? So you don't have a health booklet lah?"

empty or..

"ummi, what is 'E' there (pointing to d car fuel gauge). 
"Empty"
"ooh.. i thought 'Entirely Full'"

We see what we THINK we see.

I have a VERY real experience of this. Actually I just finished reading a book on psychology... ok the title of the book makes it not so 'professional'. It's called 'An Idiot's guide to Psychology' But hey, it's a good start. So anyhow, in the book, it explains how the mind works and how we get information through our senses - e.g. the sight, sound, tastes. From the lights (sight), sounds and touch that we experience - goes into our brains and gets converted into information that makes sense in our mind. Subhanallah.

Which actually reminded me of how Rasulullah SAW received wahyu (revelations) from Allah SWT. But.. let's take that in another post, so that it's not undermined as an important subject on it's own.

So, the real experience I was going to tell is.. that over the weekend, my handphone was dead, from Sat night, all the way to Sunday night. I didn't touch my handphone except to take it out from my bag and put it on the bay window, Sunday afternoon.

When I told my husband that my phone was dead.. he said that he saw me reading from my handphone, in bed Sunday morning. I assured him NO, because I was and am still, now, very dead sure, my phone was dead. I didn't charge it yet, so how could I be reading from my handphone?? But he was so sure he saw me holding my phone and reading from it. And the weirdest and quite a scary thing is that, Nadhrah, my youngest daughter confirmed the same thing! She agreed and was so sure that, yes, she too, saw me reading from my iphone in bed that morning. I told them I was reading a BOOK actually, I was not holding my iphone at all. But they were still so adamant that they saw me holding my iphone. In fact, my husband said that I turned my iphone a bit to the side, so that he couldn't see what I was reading. And Nadhrah said she saw the time on my iPhone and also the background in my iPhone. But when I asked her what I was reading, she didn't remember.

The fact is, my iphone WAS dead for the whole day and I didn't read it. Imagine what this would have done to me, if I was on trial and they are called to be witnesses in the court of human law. Both of them dead sure of what they 'saw'. But surely, as in this case, what they 'saw' was actually what they THOUGHT they saw - because that's what they ALWAYS see. And this image is somehow retained in their minds, and they 'see' me doing it on Sunday morning. Everything else is the same, except for what I was holding. MasyaAllah..

Trippy.

And this is prove also for what constant subtle images do to our subconscious minds. It plants them in our mind, quite firmly I must say. That's why, we need to keep planting subtle positive images in our Dunia Chantek's productions. Seriously.

conditioning

*unplugged*

There are some short films that we wanted to shoot, where Nadhrah, my girlish, dainty 8 yr old baby, has been cordially requested to act in.

When I first told her, she asked me.. 'is it a speaking role?'.. macam dah biasa gitu.
Ok lah.. she didn't use those exact words.. she asked 'do I need to say something?'

I said, maybe. She said, she'll think about it.

Today I brought it up to her again. I told her, in the film, she will be flying a kite with her 'father' She said.. "ha! and I'm alone?" I said 'Yes.'
"Nadhrah malu.." (I'm shy)
"Ok.. what about dgn abg hazman? You become abg hazman's sister, he'll read to you a story"
She still has that 'errrrrr' look on her face. Then she finally coyly said.. "I don't want to act with any boy..."

And I immediately decide to respect her decision. Because masyaAllah.. that's how I want her to be.

And this is an 8 yr old.. and naturally, they are shy. And naturally, they are not comfortable being around members of the opposite sex, no matter how old the other person is. This is natural.. fitrah. And I want her to stay like that as long as she wants..

And it is also natural for girls to be shy about showing off their skin.. Naturally, they want to cover up. But the people around them, condition them to care less or feel less about the way they dress, the way they act.

But sadly, in Singapore circular schools, the girls are FORCED to show off their legs since P1, during P.E. And what the hell for, I don't know. Why can't they wear slacks? WHY WHY must they be conditioned to be less modest?

Ooooh baby, it's a wild world.

..that death checking machine.

1) My little girl asked me, "That time... time Nadhrah kat hospital tu... yang machine.. yang... check dah nak mati ke belum... diorang letak kat kaki Nadhrah kan?"

She was referring to the clip of the pulse rate monitor. :p

2) She was doing her homework and she asked, "Door-mat ('mat' as in mat, minah) tu apa?". I said, door-mat tu, mat yang jaga pintu. Doormat tu, alas kat depan pintu.

importance in finding the source

In any rulings or news, it is important to find the source of it, to determine it's authencity and correctness - and to see if the judgement with which the information or rule was derived at, is relevant and in context.

The importance was proven again just now.

I was planning to go out with my girls & Aida. Eema and Nadhrah, just came back from Aida's place.

There I was, in the room, smsing Aida to confirm what time we should meet downstairs, when suddenly Hanaa called out from outside my room, saying 'aunty aida is not going, y'know'

So, I went out of my room and I asked Hanaa, how she got that idea? She said from Eema. I asked Eema how she knew that - she said from Nadhrah.. and then I asked Nadhrah how did she find out that aunty aida is not going, and Nadhrah said,'abis dia tak siap pun...**'


** 'cause she was not getting ready...'

lol

I find it funny that my daughter actually says out 'lol' (not even spelling it), when there's a funny scene from a comedy show. So, what is real now? A real laugh or chuckle.. or just a grin (:D) and saying out 'lol'. That's a funny (weird) expression. And she's not even online. Oh ok.. sometimes she is watching some comedy on youtube, so technically she is online.. but...uh.

Anyway.. it's no big deal.. just an observation.

I should start speaking in Arabic to her.. not like I KNOW how.. but just those things like.. 'look!' or 'faster!' and 'i want.. (followed by a malay or english word)'.. i can manage. still, i always forget to do it. No, this is in no relation to the above (lol).

a plan to think about

Nadhrah
Nadhrah pun nak iphone..

Eema
Ya, why can't we get an iphone?

Me
Pasal kalau nak beli iphone kena ada plan dia.

Nadhrah
Oh, kalau nak beli iphone, kita kena think dulu eh?

Me
Think?

Nadhrah
pasal kita takde plan..



p.s. Salam Ramadan! and may we all have a blessed month and achieve as much goodness as we can. Ameen.

Nadhrah and her new blouse.

"Thanks aunt Norzlin!" says Nadhrah. :)


- Posted using Mobypicture.com

a hope for lesser dramas

Astaghfirullah.

I'm getting old. And I have had enough dramas during my younger days.

All I want now, is just to do the things I like to do (with husband's approval), to increase my iman and ibadah and knowledge, to be able to contribute to the community, no matter how small my contribution is, to make a difference in somebody's life, the positive way. And aim to be wiser and more patient when facing any situations, among other things, good I hope.

I know I will not always be able to do it. And I know, that I will not always know what to do, or handle a situation the right way. But insyaAllah, I hope to never give up, and always seek Allah's help and guidance. For us all.

Ameen.

..and I just realised.. sometimes I take things too literally. I'm not good at guessing.. I bad at that. Plus I don't want to guess wrongly, which would embarass me. So if you guys want to talk to me.. tell it to me straight to the point. So it doesn't become a misintepreted story. And I believe - that is the problem with most status updates (yes, mine included) - sometimes it's just too vague, and opened for misinterpretation - so much so, that it's better left unsaid. I'll try to remember that.

And yes, I do miss my girls. Cause they were asleep when I got home last night, after I went out to see Hadi. :( And I'll miss them again tomorrow night.

Sat morning at KKH

This time, it's not as bad as last year. Last year, I think her O2 level was in the 70s. This time it's 92. Normal is 99 to 100.

After the puffs n oxygen gas n medicine, her oxygen level, on her own was still 92, sometimes 91. And so Nadhrah is admitted again to KKH.

This would be the first time since we moved.

Good for her, she managed to enjoy her zoo trip yesterday morning.

Anyway, I'm quite hopeful that she will recover and we'll be discharged. If not today, tomorrow. InsyaAllah. I.o

time for patience

this morning, i felt like i didn't have time for patience. I just didn't have the time to ask slowly and gently.. i was in a hurry.. and so I was getting quite frustrated, in trying to get an answer out of Nadhrah who was crying in the back of the car. The traffic condition this morning didn't help.

She's been very reluctant to go to school. last Friday also she cried, and I brought her home, cause she said she had a headache. This morning, she was crying again. I wanted to asked her (nicely, but didn't manage) to tell me if anything happened in school, that's making her sooo reluctant to go. She was trying to answer between sobs... and we were approaching school, and the bell was going to ring, and how can I coax her and listen and comfort her in such a short time, I didn't want her to get into more trouble for coming in late.

Apparently, why she was so reluctant, is... 'ada boy suka kat nadhrah'. I asked her what he did, that she's so uncomfortable with. She said.. 'dia cakap 'bye' kat nadhrah'. Phew.. OK.

I hugged her.. and told her to buat bodoh aje the next time. Brought Eema and her, up to the school (we were in the basement carpark), then she wanted me to send her to her class row. No other parents were doing that already.. I protested, but i did.

Haih. I think I should be grateful.. that she is soo uncomfortable with that. Marlina said, probably it's quite traumatising for her at that age. She is only 7 after all. It happened before, when she was in K1 too. A boy liked her but that boy was worse.. he liked to touch her or at one point even hugged her. Itu pun, she cried and cried.. she didn't want to go to school. But for that, we managed to talk to the teacher who spoke to the boy, and probably explained to nadhrah.. and at last, nadhrah became friends with the boy.

She is so adorable. :)
I'll go back home and hug her again this evening, insyaAllah.

And I. I need to find patience in short time spans.. or maybe i forgot to remember about qada' and qadar and about being calm...I just need to be calm. Yeap. I think I'll try that tomorrow morning.

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. :)

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.

hornbill surprise

It should be no surprise, since we are staying next to the (mini) jungle. But it was still a surprise!

When I first saw it yesterday, at the block across ours, I thought it was the home owner's pet... until we saw it flew off back to the trees!

Today, it came to visit again. The children enjoyed watching the bird. :)

Nadhrah Graduation Video

To enjoy the video embedded in this scrapblog, you should click on Play, then once it starts playing, you click on Pause. Come back 5 minutes later to view it without the glitches.

My graduation from PPIS

Actually.. it's Nadhrah's graduation lah. But it's my graduation in a bigger way.

See..when Hadi was ready for school, we put him in PPIS. Then after that Hanaa, then Eema, then Nadhrah. So for about TEN YEARS, I have been attending PPIS' Sports Day.. and other PPIS events.

Now that my last child has just graduated from PPIS - I guess I've graduated too.

Hmm.. macam sedih pulak.. sikit.

ANYWAY... here are some photos, and more can be found HERE.

baked products

MasyaAllah and alhamdulillah, the kids and I, we managed to come up with the following:

choc chip cookies - Hanaa mixed and made it herself.


my first kuih makmur


Hadi made his pizza. 1/4 with tuna.. the rest plain. They like it plain or with crabmeat, which I don't like.


then after that buat cornflakes - ni simple aje. pernah buat.


And finally, kuih tart! Tapi ni express punya.. I bought the inti from dadha's aunt. Inti dia OKAY! :) The pastry recipe that I tried is also just nice, alhamdulillah. So we may make more, because inti kuih tart dia masih berlambak.


I'm happy.

limited edition

1. The other day, Hanaa baked some chocolate chip cookies at Cik Alin's. Now she wants to bake some at home for raya.
2. Then, last Thursday, Hadi, actually made us PIZZA from scratch. He made the pizza dough HIMSELF and produced quite an impressive, simple pizza. I was sick and didn't take any pics :( But he'll bake some more this saturday insyaAllah, I'll definitely try to shoot some photos - insyaAllah.
3. And Rus, who is currently back in her kampung to spend Ramadan and Eid with her family :) , also regularly makes epok2 and some other flour mixing food.
4. And I, as I have mentioned before, intend to bake some cookies or even cakes this raya.

I have justified like crazy here.....that it is therefore, worthwhile for me to get that kitchenaid mixer.

(Suddenly my thoughts are interrupted by the remembrance of that good sewing machine, and the trimming machine, sitting in the cupboard, collecting dust. I bought those when I had that sudden burning interest in sewing, many years ago. I wanted to sew my children's clothes.

And I did. Yes, I did.... for approximately a year. I made their baju kurung, and blouses and dresses with cute designs and all. I even made Hadi's cape, with a hood, so that he can pretend he is Darth Vader or something. I can make 3 sets of girls clothes all in a day. Yup... those days. Now..........uh, back to the mixer story. )

I wanted to get the metallic chrome colour, as that would go well with the fridge. But apparently, metallic chrome is a 'limited edition' colour.

What is a 'limited edition' anyway? It seems to me that it just means that they CHOOSE to produce or bring in, only a little of that colour, which they sure know, is popular - so that they can sell it at a ridiculously higher price. All the other colours available, and there are a variety, are currently selling at $779. While the 'limited edition' metallic chrome is selling at.... get this... $1299. That is $520 more for a colourless colour.

I called the company to check if there is anything special, anything at all, that makes this chrome colour better than others. Perhaps it's more durable? Is it like a precious metal? No, the girl told me, but it is a LIMITED EDITION colour.

So, I got the green apple colour instead.
If green apple is not a popular colour, mine would be like a limited edition too.



p.s. Oh, by the way guys.. if you want to get a present for your mum or wife - and she bakes, or wants to, you could get them this. They'll be so amazed if you do. :)