You made Mommy Proud

Recently, I received a note from my daughter’s Kumon instructor.

It says Shakira have been inducted to ASR. ASR means Advanced Student Honor Roll which means she gets her picture on a paper made star, paste on the honor's roll wall. This is to recognize and further motivate her and other students as well at the center to do better at Kumon.

Her Level 2A result report stated she answered all 80 questions on her Maths correctly in 6 minutes (the standard time given was 10 minutes). Doesn’t that make any parents proud? Immediately I submitted a passport size photo of Shakira which I happened to carry around in my handbag to her instructor.

2 weeks later we saw her photo on the “ASR Stars” wall. Here is her photo.



I told this to an ex-colleague, Wendy Lim, in one of my e-mails to her….and she replied,

“It is the mother who should get the recognition for the time and effort put in. Sitting in with Shakira while she finishes her homework and shipping her back and forth to Kumon. You deserve the recognition!”

I was very touched by her statement. Thank you Wendy for your understanding.

The Mystery of Betty Boob

Let’s forget about the oil increase issue because as far I am concern it will be the end of the world if ever the oil prices go down by 80 cents. Dream on.

I rather talk about this female dog we name her Betty Boob who lives in front of our gate every night without fail.



If I’m not wrong, dalam Islam ada mengatakan malaikat (angels) tak masuk rumah yang ada anjing. But we don’t own a dog but kind of feel save with Betty around. She will bark to anything that moves especially other stray dogs to mark this territory is hers.

My neighbour, Uncle Jeffry, who himself own a male dog, told us that Betty has been around here for the past 2 years! Wow we were surprised with what was the mystery behind the relationship between our house and Betty Boob.

We would normally greet Betty in wee hours of the morning when I send off my hubby to the bus terminal. She acknowledged and will walk away but returns at night to her favourite spot, in front of our gate or lay down right in the middle of the road, without fail.

Sometimes I feel pity with Betty especially during heavy rainy nights…where she will start barking and sleeps outside there in wet and cold. Not much can we do as our religion limits our contact with dogs.

My hubby was telling that maybe Betty Boob had some puppies here (before we moved in) and perhaps her puppy did not live and that gives her reason not to leave this spot. Wow! dogs do have strong attachments too.

Whatever history, I hope one day I will crack Betty’s mystery.

GOD works in myterious ways....

Weird thing happened early tonight...while my husband is fixing the hammock outside, a strange looking man, kind of dark complexion, in long sleeve shirts had also the good morning towel hanging around his neck came knocking on our front gate. Eeemmmm quite strange looking. He stood out of our front gate and asked for something, which we could barely hear. Neither my hubby or myself wanted to budge and get closer to the stranger. The guy was mumbling asking for our phone number or he wanted to borrow our phone...it wasn't very clear.

We couldn’t see his face....as it was getting dark.

I kept trying to capture a clearer view of him but some potted plant with sprouting branches were blocking. My son was out closer but I told him to stand back, twice. That spooked us a while. My hubby replied to the stranger....”tak da, tak da.” And the stranger just left. Just like that. My hubby and I kept asking each other who was he…and stared blankly. So quietly we continued to finished up on the hammock and went inside the house.

Later I thought IT maybe sending some kind of message to me to get into the house since its just passed Maghrib. Tak elok duduk luar senja2 ni and pergi solat.

It really gives me the creeps. The stranger keeps on playing in my mind. Who was he? Well he may not be any important. But it just puzzles me....maybe one of these days I will asked the Montessori a house away...if they happen to speak to the stranger. I noticed their front gate were wide opened earlier. The stranger must have stepped inside.

Thinking about it gives me the shivers. And to top all that about 7 pm we took the kids on their bikes around our taman until Maghrib!

I guess God works in mysterious ways... Maybe it has been a long day for us and we were just too tired.

But question still arise...who was he?

Aquaria

Shakiel with Nemo

Kids at the souvenir shop

Shakira infront of a shark's jaw



I manage to download these photo's of Shakira and Shakiel during their trip to Aquaria KLCC from my mobile.

Siberia.

This is my Siberia. Pretty tidykan.

Come Away With Me....

I am free again tonight. Put the kids to bed and sat down in front this PC. Malam dah larut tiba-tiba je idea melambak-lambak keluar. Nak bukak topic baru...

Recently the whole family including my parents went for a family holiday in Cameron Highlands. We stayed at Equatorial Hotel. It was an enriching and family bonding trip. We drove up from Simpang Pulai and wow! the road was beautiful. Tapi we didn't see many cars on the way up. Maybe ramai yang masih guna jalan lama dari Tapah.

Seperti jakun-jakun lain..everytime we reach closer and closer to the top, I would put out my hand out of the car window. Nak rasa dah sejuk ke belum. Ha Ha HaSudahla...you all pun buat cam tu jugak!!!!

Anyway, it'll be good with the change of weather. A drastic change it was. Hari2 hujan and the sun only came out about an hour or two each day. Tapi sempatla jugak jalan-jalan and beli vegetables. Malam keluar makan steamboat or pergi pasar malam.

A short distance walk from where we were staying ialah tempat jual fresh vegetables. I walked down to enjoy the cold weather. 3 new things I've discovered while I was there.

1. Mushroom goreng - totally new. They used the oyster mushroom, costed it with batter mixture and deep fried it. Sedap! Tak boleh makan banyak nanti mabuk. My sister rasa pening2 malam tu.

2. Strawberry coated with chocolate dip - ehmmmm delicious. Bukan tak ada kat kl ni tapi it was smart of them to sell that up in CH.

3. Jagung mutiara - Pelik sungguk jagung ni..apa yang kahwin dgn apa, I am not so sure. Dalam setongkol jagung tu ada 2 warna. Warna kuning and warna putih. Yang putih tu la they call it mutiara atau pearl. Dah rebus sapu butter and salt....ooooo makan satu nak lagi. It was so sweet. Slurp! Slurp!

My advise is if you are considering to buy strawberries, please buy on the day of your departure. Otherwise if you keep too long (iala gile nampak strawberries konon nak bagi relatives ke neighbors)it'll get 'mushy' easily.

As for me, CH is consider remote in a sense that it is very, very far way up the top. Tapi HSBC boleh bukak branch kat situ! Banyak business dia orang agaknya. Brinchang and Tanah Rata busy dengan tourist. Merata2 especially from China yang naik tour bus.

It was really cold up there and I was seriously consider retiring there one day. Tak dapat tinggal kat Europe, CH pun ok la. Sejuk jugak. Lepak kat Bala Tea House and Scones, sipping tea, watch the world pass by. Long walks at the tea plantation. Life could be at ease. Tak bolah nak describe perasaan tu. Cuma layan je.....I can do that. Jangan ada landslide sudah, mati terkambusla I...

Somebody tapped my shoulder and suddenly I woke up from day dreaming...Potong stim je la you.....

Letto or Lotter?

Welcome back.....I start off with this lyrics popularized by Once of Dewa 19. Frankly speaking this guy has a marvelous voice. His tones fit in well each an every song he sings. I rasa tak ada Ahmad Dhani pun tak pa. Aiy! my son pun boleh nyanyi lagu ni...dia tu mat sentimental sikit. Bila i nyanyi lagu ni....meleleh air mata dia.


DEALOVA
(Once)

Aku ingin menjadi mimpi indah dalam tidur mu
aku ingin menjadi sesuatu yang mungkin bisa kau rindu
kerana langkah merapuh tanpa diri mu
Oh kerana hati telah letih

aku ingin menjadi sesuatu yg selalu bisa kau sentuh
aku ingin kau tahu bahawa ku selalu memujamu
tanpa mu sepinya waktu merantai hati
oh bayangmu seakan-akan

kau seperti nyanyian dalam hatiku
yang memanggil rindu ku pada mu
seperti udara yang ku hela
kau selalu ada

hanya dirimu yang bisa membuat ku tenang
tanpa diri mu aku merasa hilang
dan sepi
dan sepi.............

Why I selected this topic is of no specific reason...I was free the whole day today at work! Supposed to work on business process but I just don't feel like doing anything except replied a few mails, go to my facebook and then what the heck....up date my blog.


Dari pagi until petang ni mengadap pc and stuck my earphones on listening to songs downloaded in my mobile. Makan pun lupa. Oh by the way I have shifted work station and i luv my new 'SIBERIA". Nanti bila dah download i will paste it here. Away from people, boleh balas e-mail and pretend to concentrate buat kerja kononnya...when the fact is...surfing!!!!!!Yahoo.


Bila dengar lagu I will be in another world. Kepala goyang2 dan Chelvi sitting next to me..maybe ingat pompuan ni dah ilang akal agaknya. Tersengguk-sengguk. Bukan apa tengah update blog la ni. Dari pagi dah 4 cawan kopi i minum rasa kembung perut pulak. Kejap2 pergi toilet...urgh!


OK lets keep on track. Indonesian artists are well respected in our local music industry. They produced quality lyrics as well as melodies. Some write, composed and produced their own music. (I do not wish to touch or make comparisons to our local music industry) In recent years their music and artist has flown across to Malaysia macam cendawan tumbuh lepas hujan for promotional tours. It is encouraging and I attribute it to their diversity in music.


Ini semua adalah pendapat i sendiri sebab i tengok my children pun tahu which group/artist sings what song. In a way I pun belajar dari dia orang....So, I would go....

"siapa nyanyi ni adik?" Dewa ke? (My son will turn 4 this month)
"Mummy ni Letto la, apa la mummy ni. Letto pun tak tahu ke?"
"Oh mummy kenal lotter of AF not Letto."
"Hah apa mummy cakap?"

So i cuma nak analyzed (again my own interpretation ya...) why are they so popular. So here goes nothing....(not in any specific order)

1. Their lyrics are simple, straight to the point and similar to our Malay Language - so no language barrier.

2. Their melody is so unique and catchy - tak monotone

3. The artist - semua cun2. yang tak cun pun ………. Cun jugak la ...

4. The raw talent - have to take into consideration the total population of Indonesia. I guess it won't be difficult to discover a few talented artist.

5. Expose - frequently their songs are in multimedia be it radio and tv. Repetition after repetition develops. Then ears start to pick up the lyrics.

6. Creativity of their musicians is the key success

7. Variations in their songs

8. Improvisation

9. Progression

10. Lyrics - some would study the lyrics (like me….) manala tahu kot-kot ada tersangkut dgn perjalan hidup. So boleh feeling2 sikit. ALA you all jangan kelentongla.....sure you ada buat cam tu punya!


Memang I admit I pun suka dengar lagu2 dari indonesia ni...Melly G, Harvey M, Glenn F, Marcell, Dewa, Peter Pan, Ungu, Letto and the recent Kerispateh dan lain2 lagi. They are a bunch of talented artist. For example I analyzed the lyrics of DEALOVA and meremang bulu tengkok la....suddenly i interpreted it as another thing. Macam berhantu la lagu tu. Not about love and relationship but more about searching your true self. So different people has different interpretation pending on situation.

My daughter is more into faster tune such as...Makhluk Tuhan Terseksi! Waduh seksa mummy dengar baby nyanyi....please stop the hips shaking....Whatever it is...she is six and what could she understand about the lyrics. She only knows how to enjoy the catchy tunes. She's not guilty!