Life without a maid.....

All of us woke up early on Sunday morning of July 13, 2008 to send off our maid, Watie, to LCCT. She'll be going back to Indonesia for a 3 months break. When we arrived home it was almost 6.30 am and all of us crawl back into bed.

Later when I woke up,…..it hit me, wow, I have got no maid! At least for the time being.

Watie has been with us since 2003 and the longest she have been away from us was 9 months.

In 2006, she told us she do not wish to come back to Malaysia and work. She wants to resolved some personal issues with her husband back in Indonesia. My hubby and myself kept and open mind about her decision. Somehow deep down inside, we knew…when the cash runs low she will be back. At least I stood with my decision of not cancelling her then, recently renewed permit. We stayed in contact with each other through sms and short phone calls. That year July she left us and not until early February the following year did she finally voiced out her interest to return and continue working for us. How could we refuse? We made all necessary financial and travel arrangement for her. All she need is just to get on the plane and we will be waiting for her at LCCT. She arrived! Hooray!.

Now in 2008, she wants to back to her hometown. Again giving the same reason to settle impending marital problems, she said she is not sure how soon she can return to Malaysia. Once her problem is solved then only she will. Though it really hurt me when she wasn’t able to provide a definitive returned date, we will wait for her. This time for how long…,we don't know. I insisted that she comes back in October. She just laughed at my statement,

And replied, "Kami di Indonesia seminggu selepas raya baru la mula beraya."

I said, "Tak de. Tak de. minggu pertama Raya mesti balik Malaysia. Siapa nak tolong saya dengan open house nanti? Lagi pun saya nak buat anak lagi ni. Kamu kena jaga baby tu...."

It has been my 4th day without a maid. I can say I have everything under control except the placement for my kids. As much as possible, I do not want to disrupt their daily routine. The current changes as it is has affected them mostly. A few options popped out in my mind of where to send the kids,

#1. Send to the Montessori's (that they are registered) day care - this would be the very last option. I am not keen sending my kids to day care. I know for other people that has not been their choice. When it comes to illnesses, kids are easily infected through close contact with other kids. For instances, Shakira got her chicken pox just days before she celebrated her 6th birthday. Only then I was informed there were 3-4 similar cases in the Montessori. Kalau setakat demam, batuk dan selsema tu jangan cakapla, kaya dah doktor-doktor semua. Sebulan sekali mesti bawak anak jumpa doctor. Kalau anak dua atau tiga and happened that semuanya sakit at the same time…berapa ringgit abis beli ubat and consultation?

#2. Send to a baby-sitter - At the same time dia juga ada jaga beberapa anak orang lain. But once too many to handle by a single person it could be dangerous.

#3. Look for some one trustworthy (through close contacts) who can come to the house on daily basis - attention and focus on the kids and at the same time some house chores can be done. But getting one is risky. Anything could happen…be it good or bad.

Finally we decided to place the kids with our neighbour, kak Azah and Abang Zaaba. They have 5 teenagers school going children and they are all girls! So far so good and all arrangements are in order. The children will spend 5 hours with our neighbour until i reach home from work. They must adapt to the changes. At least I did.

Watie you are always welcome back.....

Agonizing 4 months

I have been put on wait list for a Nissan Grand Livina since early May. Loan pun dah approve tapi bayang kereta belum lagi nampak. Tak sabar rasanya menunggu kehadiran kereta baru. Harap2 dapatla sebelum raya nanti.

3 in 1

Last weekend, after long period of contemplating, we decide July 5, 2008 to have our kenduri doa selamat (moving to this new house)/house warming and also to celebrate Shakira’s 6th birthday (a day early). All three in one day open to relatives and a few neighbours.

Deciding on the food was easy as I really enjoy organizing parties. Menu was simple as the high-tea occasion will be from 3pm till 6pm.

MENU

Roti Jala with Curry Chicken
Mee Goreng
Bee Hoon Goreng
Beef Soup with French Bread
Curry Puff
Poh Pia Goreng
Chicken & Vegetarian Mini Pies
Birthday Cake
Drinks – Punch, teh tarik and black coffee






Everything went as scheduled from the beginning. The flowers arrived on time as well as the food.

At 3 pm my mother-in-law started the doa selamat with bacaan surah Yassin with a few of her friends and my mom later joined. Mak Ampang (mother-in-law) brought along sambal tumis sotong, pajeri nenas and kuah durian (which went well with my roti jala). So she requested to cook some rice as the elderly ladies prefer to eat rice.

Neighbours started to arrive. Then followed by other relative mostly from my hubby’s side of the family. Thank you to my parents who drove down from Perak to support me during this time.

Unfortunately when all things planned well mesti ada something yang tak kena. The birthday girl has chicken pox! Although we have informed relatives about her conditioned, a few still came with their children. Thank you.


Shakira with her Princess Jasmine's birthday cake.

Shakira’s chicken pox does not limit her hyper activity. As usual she was running around asking if she can open up her presents. The thrill on her face when she saw a few Barbie’s she received, the pink dress her father bought her, plus a few other stationery items. Thanks to all.

Food was abundance. My sister came with fruit jelly. My sister-in-law, Akak, came with a whole cake from Secret Recipe, Emma came with a pumpkin/coconut pie, Kak Cik came with 2 loaf of banana cake! Oh by the way we got a toaster and a table lamp for our house warming.

Everyone left right before Maghrib. As our token of appreciation all guests were distributed with a box of chocolate moist cup cakes neatly tied with a ribbon.

Overall it was a success and Insya Allah next time will be a BBQ session pulak. I missed those lamb chops….eemmmm.

Shakiel vs Tuah

Part Deux

When my daughter Shakira reached one year old, it was the right time to conceive a second with much hope this time it’ll be a boy. I had some pressure too to produce a male heir. A tip from my hubby,

He said, “ Kalau nak anak lelaki kena banyak makan meat!” And that’s what he did.

This round we made our baby in our own bedroom. Ekonomi merosot sikit sebab maintaining Shakira was expensive. Maklumla anak baru sorang so everything nak beli yg the best such as the best milk, dypers and clothes especially. We did it at home, baybeh.

Fair enough, since I like Dr. Idriss’ magic touch, we decide to head over his office again at Pantai Medical Center. He confirmed I was 2 months pregnant by August/September 2003. And the expected delivery date will be May 30, 2004. Wow..that is my birth date. Yeay….my baby and I will share the same birth date. Looking forward celebrating birthdays together….

Another pregnancy went by smoothly without any hic cups. The best part is looking for a baby name. I know I’m going to have a boy so the name must meet certain criteria such as again,

1. Carrying on the Family initials
2. Name which reflect good meaning - I imagine him tough and tall like his father so he must have a strong name.

Then I remembered,….yeah Shaquille O’Neal. The NBA / Miami Heat player. He’s big…..very big….Yeah….why not name him Shaquille. I am happy. My hubby is happy too.

Well, about the same time, if any of you recalled Mr. Stephen Rahman-Hughes…you know the guy who played Hang Tuah in the Puteri Gunung Ledang theatrical? He was then recently introduced to Malaysian viewers for his theatrical background. Emm a Malaysian (Malay mom and English dad), good looking, success in his own way, can sing… His introduction was done on Melodi and I was mesmerized by his good looks.

The very next day, I search through the internet looking for Stephen Rahman’s biography. He has just completed his West End performance of Bombay Dreams as the lead. I had the article printed with his picture and paste it on the wall of my office room. And every morning it was a breeze to see him greet me. I hope my son will be as good looking as he is.

May 20, 2004. The appointment day. Dr. Idris discovered I had an opening of 4cm. Immediately he asked me to admit myself to the hospital because by this afternoon 4-5pm I may be having my baby. Ha ha ha he must be joking. Right doc? But he was serious. He was not amuse the thought of me going back home first to collect my “stay in the hospital emergency kit”. But anyway, I decided to go back home first and did some banking matters and by noon I admitted myself into the hospital. The nurse was surprised to see Dr. Idris’s missing patient (as the nurse put it) just happily walked in the registration area.

The nurse placed me in a labour room and asked me to change. As I was laying there the nurse puts on the baby heart beat monitoring belt around me. Sempat baca magazine and sms-ing to few people to announce that I am having my baby anytime.

1:45 pm. Perut tak sakit lagi ni. Bila nak beranak ni.

2.12 pm. The nurse induced me through the IV then baru la it kicked in.

4.00 pm I dah tak tahan sakitnya. Take him out of me I was yelling inside. Duduk and baring semuanya tak kena.

Instantly Dr. Idris in his usual attire, plastic apron and boots orang jual ikan kat pasar, walked in and gently asked, “How are we doing?”

“Hello, I am suffering here. Please take this thing out of me. NOW!"

But at the time I rasa the baby pun dah tak sabar nak keluar. After a snip and my second push, wussssshhhh….he came out. Lega rasanya. Again, I had a fair looking baby yang mukanya masih kemerahan and bengkak. Rambut lebat sekali. We name him Shakiel (not Shaquille – too Pak itam) as the name means handsome, breeze through a wind and lofty. By 5.15 pm Dr. Idris completed his work. Good job doc.

As he grew older, Makcik nasi lemak depan rumah I kat Sec, 14 PJ selalu tanya,

“Mana anak lelaki awak si Bollywood tu?” Awak tahu tak rupa dia macam Anil Kapoor tau?”

“Ye ke makcik? Ha ha ha”

“Iye…handsome budak tu macam budak Hindustan!”

Once in a while people would passed remarks such as,

Budak ni Melayu ke?
Budak ni tak ada rupa melayu. Campur ke budak ni?
Aha la looks like Northern Indian.
Is your husband Pakistani or Arab?
The eyes and lashes…besar, bulat and lebat. Mixed ke?

Both Shakira and Shakiel looks very much different. That I can confirm. Finally it hit me, maybe sebab I was too engrossed dgn Stephen Rahman (while he was doing Bombay Dreams) good looks, sebab tu ada terkenan sikit pada Shakiel. Look at the pictures.



Jadi pesan orang tua-tua jangan sekali di tidak kan. Pertimbangkan yang mana baik dan yang mana tidak. Just don't over do it. Itu sebagai pengajaran. Sekarang I am suffering the consequences...anak tak rupa mak bapak. Hu Hu Hu....

Baby Names - SHAKIRA

Kata orang tua-tua kalau nak anak tu pandai….banyakkan membaca bagi si ibu. Kalau nak anak tu waraq banyakkan baca Al-Quran semasa mengandung and kalau nak anak tu lawa atau handsome, tengokla gambar-gambar orang yang lawa-lawa. I used to laugh at that statement until it happened to me. Hah ambik sebijik bila dah kena kat muka sendiri…then I made my own conclusion.

I like to share with you how we (my hubby and I) decide to select names for our kids. There are 2 parts series of this article. Our first born is SHAKIRA.

Part Un

It took quite a while for me to plan to have kids. Rasa macam tak sanggup nak carry out heavy responsibility bila dah ada anak nanti. Actually the thought of to stop smoking tu sebab sebenarnya….lama tu nak berhenti merokok. Hahahaha.

Anyway, I stopped smoking 2 months before I planned to get pregnant. Getting pregnant was easy. Sekejap je melekat. We did it in Cameron Highlands.

By October 2001 (I think) I was confirmed pregnant. Fortunately my pregnancy was a breeze tak ada ridiculous craving except I like to eat a lot of Maggie goreng and Japanese food. Towards my 8th month of pregnancy, my hubby kept pushing me to drink a lot of soya bean milk. Dia kata biar anak kulit putih. Bukan yg dalam kotak you beli kat supermarket but the fresh ones bought in front of Joo Hua Stationery in Sec. 14 PJ.

Coming to my 5th month of pregnancy, I saw a female Columbian artist on MTV. Her name was Shakira and wow…was she stunning. She had that thick curly and wavy hair and she sure can shake those hips. She was dancing to her first English song from her first English album, Whenever, Wherever. I said to myself, if what I’m carrying is a girl, Shakira will be her name.

I was also careful with choosing a baby name because I nak jugak yang ada reflect good meaning. Jugak tak mahu ada nama yang panjang or unik yang susah nak disebut. Every parents ada citarasanya. Don’t want to embarrass the kid when they grow up kalau nama tak elok. Also my kids must maintain the same initial as both my hubby and I have. Search and search which later I jumpa…SHAKIROH which means kesyukuran. So I was happy with it. SHAKIRA and SHAKIROH are quite closed.

I was 7 days over due when when I was asked by Dr. Idris (of PMC) to admit myself on the morning of July 5, 2002 at 10 am which I did oblige. I was induced and only gave birth at 12.47 am July 6, 2002. Penat….memang memenatkan. The closer to giving birth…the more pain and rasa nak tarik je baby tu keluar. I was too tired to push when Dr. Idris walk in with his knee length plastic apron and fish monger boots decided it was time to vacuum suck the baby.

Finally after a couple of push, a cut and suctions, the baby came out. When the nurse push the baby’s way in front of my face, they quickly tagged her and clean her up..I was numb and only wanted to cry of joy. I bore a new life in this world. My hubby was there and we rejoiced to GOD’s creation. My baby girl cried and yes,….she was loud. She was so fair and red. She has those heavy round cheeks with round chin. Her hair was dark with thick curls. Alas, we named her Shakira.

Initially, we were quite flabbergasted macamana Shakira gets to be so fair and doesn’t actually look like neither both of us. I tribute it to the following factors,

1. My late mother’s side of the family - I had a Chinese grandmother and most of my relatives have those mata sepet, fair and Chinese features. Unfortunately I get my father’s side of the family package.

2. My mother in law, too, is quite fair herself.

3. Then again her curly hair may come from all the Maggie goreng I ate. Or maybe from Shakira the artist herself.

4. Her fairness may be from all the soya bean milk I drank.

So it could be one of those reasons.

Anyway, that is the story how Shakira got her name. Hubby kata I ni perasan but sometimes I do see the resemblance between my Shakira and Shakira the artist.








Or this crazy idea have been playing in my mind…that my real baby girl must have been switched while she was in the hospital….jeng… jeng…. jeng…..

To be continued.

There must have been a mixed up at the hospital.

There is also a story behind these photos too. Coming soon.....

Hang Tuan oh Hang Tuah

There is a story behind this...please wait for up coming article.