getting ready..

The plan is to leave tomorrow morning by 7am. That's only possible if we can wake up early, get ready and leave.

And that also means, the clothes have all been packed by now, so that we can sleep early.

But as of now, belum lagi.. the kids are not asleep yet. Nadh wants me to just stay by her side till she falls asleep. So, here I am, staying by her side and blogging.

Later, as soon as she's asleep I can start packing, clean the house and finish the laundry before leaving for the holidays tomorrow.

Of course that would mean that I'd probably get to bed very very late. And that would probably also mean that we'd wake up late, which means that we probably won't be leaving by 7am.. =D

Oh well..

Ok, Nadh is asleep already.. i better go!

blossom, unplugged.

p.s. I'll miss my car!!!!!! macam nak lipat masuk dalam bag.. bawak sekali..

ya lah! of course i'll miss my sistas too!..jgn ah merajuk.

her new baby

Now she has her own baby! I wish I can have hers.

Just now, after work, we went to Sim Lim to have a look at them, those cameras. She doesn't want a dainty one. She wants to explore and do more with her camera.

The sales person kat that shop, was good. You can tell by the way he talks about them, that he loves those cameras too. Desmond, has a certain trademark.

me : can we do a macro shot with this camera?
desmond : NO.....problem. (and eagerly showed us where to find the feature)

me : ok, then got spot metering also right?
desmond : NO......problem. (and went on to show us)

You get the idea..

When he went through the contents of the box, he showed the manuals.. "you see, there are 4 books here.."
pink: ok, I'll have to read all of them.
Desmond: No, you just read one. The English one.
=D

Then, we asked if they have other colours for the camera case, he said, "NO......"
we waited for the "problem".. but it didn't come.
They really don't have another colour. :|

Well, congrats to the proud owner of the new Lumix DMC-FZ7.


*nothing to do with the camera, but this is the decorated streets in town that we passed by on the way back... It's nice to drive thru them when there's not much car around :) *


**a suddenly-defensive note : ..and these pics were taken with just a phone camera, not my olympus.. so no comments on the pics eh..**

I will survive, insyaAllah.

did I tell you how i spent the last weekend?

well, actually i did. I typed it all out, but dalam keadaan yg takde mood langsung. If you read it, you would have sensed it. Takde mood, cause I was sick, and tired and sleepy. But ada hati nak update blog. And then i thought I posted it. Seriously. Then on Monday, when I did the next post, I realised, the earlier one was not there at all. Not even in the draft. Strange.

Anyway, today I'm in a much chirpier mood. chirp chirp!
:) Alhamdulillah.

Ok, so last Friday, actually i was on medical leave. But went back to office in the morning, to attend to some important issue. After that, met tedd and mai. We went for facial, where they also gave me a shoulder massage. I needed that. Had very very early dinner. Pastu, went home to rest.

Saturday, the family went out to Vivocity again. This time, to check out the playground my cuz was telling me about. We spent 4-5 hours in vivocity. I bought groceries jugak. I think the place is almost complete - like everything is there. handystore, groceries, coffee joints, restaurants, children's BIG playground - all in the same building. Except, no musollah. That's one thing bad about Singapore's malls.

Rus, left on Sunday am. That afternoon, two containers of snacks placed in my living room was gone in a snap. Cause there was no real food at home.. kesian kan? Actually we all nak keluar pun macam hege2.. so just snacked on whatever food is available first. We had 'linner' (lunch + dinner) about 5pm.

Then the work week started without Rus. I felt a bit stressed jugak at first. But by today, I've managed to settle down. And even get some household chores done too! MasyaAllah. :) Skrg ni, tengah rasa contented la gitu. But, still no food at home. Yday, hubby went to play golf whole day. So last night I brought the children out to have McD for dinner, and hanged out there for a while.

Yup, we're surviving...on fast food and hawker food.

Watch out! images ahead.

what do we celebrate?

The other day, I tumpangkan my vendor to town, after she worked with me on some documents at my office. We were talking about holidays. She's christian, filipino, who has just been in singapore for a few months. We talked about her hoping to go back for Christmas break, and we talked about how Muslims celebrate Hari Raya.

Then she said. "The other day, at another of my customer's place, I saw something very strange. There were these 2 MUSLIM ladies decorating a Christmas tree at their office! So I asked them, 'hey, why are you doing this?? you shouldn't be doing this. Go ask a christian colleague to decorate the christmas tree!' "

The way she said it, I think she felt like the Muslims were being forced to decorate a Christmas tree. Then she said, her friend, another filipino who have stayed longer here, explained to her that it's quite normal in singapore. She said, that kind of thing never happen in the philippines. The Muslims dont' get involved in the Christian's celebration.

Actually, I ni malu la jugak. I mean, yeah.. this IS a christian's big day, so why on earth are Muslims all so excited in the preparation to celebrate this day?

I told her, hmm...Christmas has become quite a commercialised thing in singapore. (yes, the americans have succeeded in making these people follow whatever they throw at us). I agree that Muslims should not be mainly involved in the preparations.

Wish your Christian friends if you want to, go to their parties if invited, but don't need to be all excited, as if it's a day of YOUR big celebration too.

In the office ni pun, I get email about Christmas parties and gift exchanges. The truth is I'm reluctant to join. It's good that for almost every year now, I'm always away from Singapore during that week. So one very good excuse for not attending.

I feel that singaporeans ni, have become quite a funny bunch of people.
Like some colleagues of mine - who is also ALL EXCITED about christmas, even preparing a poster where they change the numbers every day to count down the days to Christmas. And they are not even a Christians, they are Taoist or Buddhist, or some are half Taoist half Buddhist - don't ask me.

And some others pulak, don't know how to judge when it's appropriate and when it's not, to invite people of other religion to celebrate something. Like during Hungry Ghost Festival - they invited me, and all the other Indian colleagues to join in the hungry ghost festival celebration. Like.. huh?

Ok lah, perhaps they meant well. They want to arrange a get together, and therefore use some festival as an excuse. BUT...so far, belum pulak ada Hari Raya Party or Deepavali get-together.

The whole point I'm trying to make here is : Muslims, be more aware of what u're doing. I think it's ok for us to go to their parties if invited, but BE clear about who you are. It's a thin line.... susah nak explain what exactly is ok and what's over the line. But if you think, you'll know it.

Say: O disbelievers!
I worship not that which ye worship;
Nor worship ye that which I worship.
And I shall not worship that which ye worship.
Nor will ye worship that which I worship.
Unto you your religion, and unto me my religion.
~ Al Quran, Kafirun 109:1-6

growing old

I have not fully recovered from my flu. But I'm not having any body aches or headaches. Just a running nose and a bit of cough. I'm back at work. Can't afford to take more MCs.

I have tedd on yahoo. She's at home and need not go to the office until 3rd Jan!!!!! Apa punya kerja macam ni?!?!? Aku pun nak!!

Seriously, she's blessed with a GOOD job, murah rezeki. And she's only 20, for heaven's sake! Alhamdulillah. Her job allows her to work from home almost anytime, except when she has meetings or things to clear at the office. Best kan?

I hope I can get an opportunity like that. But being at this age, nearing 40, the chances are slim. I should be contented with what I have.

Nearing 40... Ever since I was 35, the next number in my mind is always 40. It's funny - sometimes it feels surreal. Like 'seriously? I'm going to be 4-0 in a not so distant time??' MasyaAllah. There's no turning back. Then I'd think about the things I've done in the past. Things I should have done. But that's past. Now, is what matters, right?

I plan to grow old graciously, and independent. I pray that I don't turn into a grumpy old woman. I imagine when I'm 60-70 (kalau umur panjang gitu, ameen) and retired, besides all the extra ibadahs I would want to do regularly, I'd probably be seated with a good laptop, writing a book. My house will look like a library. It'd be nice if it's near the sea or overlooking a sawah padi. ... ok, perhaps that's just imagining too far.

At that time, I'd have more time to spend with family and friends, meeting them and chatting over a drink. I'd probably have quite a few grandchildren to play with too. *imagining the whole scene*

That reminds me - I don't intend to be put in charge of my grandchildren full time. A maid must be there to look after them, so that I can go out, when I need/want to. Children, please take note.

*going back into the time machine, to current date/time*

Now I just want to make the best with the few years I have left of my 30s.
(..in iman, health & wealth - for all of us, ameen).

p.s. this entry seems gloomy - perhaps because it's Monday.