Tamak tamak, ku sungguh tamak!

Who says that dieters won't crash and go into bingeing roll? Heh, after 3 months of doing this diet, I have crashed into a weekend of BINGE...and regretting it! I oughta be struck by the South Beach Diet 'heaven' lightning!!!

First sinful binge...Friday, the baby shower...OK I was good, did not eat the whole slice of cake but just a teeny weeny slice, not enough to make me feel bad. Then came dinner time. It was our department dinner (with no boss!) at the Italian restaurant...ooooooooooooh, no stopping Ely! First came the cheese garlic bread, I had a teeny section of it. Then came the seafood, aaahh, bedal, seafood is OK. The worst part is the Triple Flavored chocolate cake with ice cream. Halo...how to refuse like that...had 3 spoonfuls. Balik rumah cursing myself for mencekik.

Second sinful binge...Saturday, Open House at Kak Sarimah's house in Livermore. This is a Singaporean family, first time to their house for raya. Not just is their house lovely, the food...ooooooooooh lala...cannot refuse. Rojak india, satay goreng, nasi himpit, sambal kacang, laksa johor, kueh lopes, popiah pedas...aper lagi? SEMUA aku bedal!!! Yes, semua! I had a huge lunch that when I got home and went to bed, I woke up with the worst heatburn I ever had. Woke the husband up at 2am and asked him to drive me to Walgreen's (drugstore), bought 2 kinds of antacids (one for chewing and the other to swallow). Sakit sangat! Nak buang angin pun boleh siksa camnih!

Third sinful binge...Sunday, Harry Potter Movie. Brought a backpack full of garbage, alah for the kids (and the mom, shhhhhhhh). For me, I brought the shrimp cracker (alah 27 gms of carbs jer for about 20 pieces of crackers). Then the husband bought a bucket full of popcorn, thank goodness with no butter, but had to reach over to the son to TRY his Kettle Corn. Balik rumah, 2nd phase of mencekik the rojak india, from last night. Dinner, just steak. Dessert? Errr, about 10 pieces of the shrimp cracker? Ayoh, so bad...ordered the kids to finish them up for me.

So....Ely had done enough of bingeing. Yup, its the PMS 'oh I so want to eat' time again. But tomorrow, I have to stop. So I have decided to go back to South Beach Diet Phase 1...no fruits and no carbs at all, not even good carbs for 2 weeks, padan muka aku! Now Ely is sitting here typing sambil gigit jari...of GUILT...GUILT GUILT!!!!!!!

Next week, the water retention will start, the perut kembung will start and the monthly 'bitch devil' will start coming. Noooooooooooooooooo...

The Baby shower...

I did not know that friends and co workers of pregnant women and daddies do 'baby showers' for them! In Singapore, orang kata lenggang perut kan? How ignorant of me when I was invited to a baby shower few years back…didn’t know that it was even suppose to be a surprise. No……did not tell the preggy husband/wife that we're going to have a baby shower party in the office, at company's time…to eat a cake, open presents and having a good time…don’t forget them favors either!

Now, I am always the contact point to either make banners or cards or even send email for the surprise party…if not me, then my lovely co worker Monica. We both have the artsy skill to unfortunately be appointed by the co workers to do the set up.

So today…baby shower for our co worker, Erick. Wife is due in December. First time daddy, very very the anxious! Monica did the setup and I helped with doing some cards for the co workers, including myself, who cant afford to buy a card hahaha.

This baby shower is the 3rd one we had this year….all for daddies. You know how men are, they tear up the presents, look at the baby clothes, say thanks and then throw all the clothes in one big pile and stuff them into a huge bag…so messy and so cannot tahan. So the ladies would let the daddies open the gifts, then we take them back and fold them back into the lovely pretty bags.

I told the co workers, when I get preggy, make sure the baby shower is the 'talk of the town'! You see, you can't do your own baby shower…your friends and relatives will have to do it for you, preferably a surprise one. If you do your own baby shower, noone will attend…its more like a 'popularity' thingy. You know what I mean!

And the same concept goes with the Bridal Shower as well…only that bridal shower is wilder!

Baby Shower setup

Erick opening gifts

The day we jalan Raya...

Is it too late to be talking about Hari Raya?

Yup, my jalan raya came late for us…well, at least for Mat, Mas and myself (the husband was too sick to jalan raya).

1st Stop : Mountain View, Lilac's and Sam's house. Lilac made delicious tandoori chicken, meat curry and cheesecake yummy….sehingga menjilat jari. There was also beryani and other food on the table. The raya kueh hmmm…wish I ate more suji kueh when I was there!

2nd Stop : Walnut Creek, Sharun's house. Another place to binge and sabotage my diet. Kuah lodeh, lontong, rendang and more kueh! Time to catch up with Sharun, almaklimlah, jarang berjumpa!

1st time in my life had I driven more than 50 miles in a day! Bravo to me!

I had a great time with Lilac, Sam, Alya, Sharun and her brood :). I am sure Mas and Mat had a great time too!

Yummy food prepared by Lilac

At the backyard

Please ignore the rice on my plate :)

With Sharun and her brood (husband taking this picture)

More pics

The one that adopted us...

Our house has been a 'Cat Haven' since we moved to this house 4 years ago. We tamed the ferals, fixed them and feed them everyday, including the raccoons, skunks and oppossums.

Since my kitten, Pinky was adopted a year ago, we promised to ourselves that we will never adopt another cat. But 2 weeks ago, a black cat came into the house, and refuses to leave.

The husband swears up and down that this cat is someone else's pet...why? Cos he knows to sleep on the bed, sits on our laps and asks for love, would even come to us when we shake a bottle of medication, thinking that it's cat treats. He even uses the litter box!

Now, this cat is so attached to me. He does disappear when I go to work during the day...maybe back to his home, that 2 timing cat! And everyday, the husband would tell him,'Where's your home, go back to your home!'.

I know...6 cats is a lot for us. But we love them cats...how could we ever deny them love and affection????????

The Ex...

I thought that I would pen this just so that down the road, I would remember…

After being divorced from my ex husband for 5 years, the ex has decided to communicate with my children. The kids first received a Hari Raya card by him, something which was very very unexpected. Then today, Mat received a Birthday card from him. Hmmm…something must have knocked some senses into this person.

I have a feeling that our visit to Singapore last year and my husband's effort to let the kids meet up with their father had somehow made the ex realize how much time he had lost on the kids? I remember my husband saying 'I want the kids to know that they have a father. That they need to see their father even though they have not seen him for years. At least when they grow up, they will not have resentment upon us for not making the effort to let them see their father'. Yes, I am blessed to have my husband who cares for the kids' feelings. Having come from a broken family himself, he surely does not want my kids to feel as miserable as he was when he was a kid.

So…could it be the visit last year that made the ex want to catch up with lost time communicating with the kids? Is he feeling bad that he had been ignoring the kids? I don’t know. All I know is that I have been 'banned' from communicating with the ex as I might end up ending his life there and then (yeah yeah, sure, I don’t mean it).

But I am grateful that the kids finally are getting some communication with their father (who had 'disappeared' for years…shuddup Ely). My husband suggested that they call their father tonight to continue communication with him. I am just going to stand back and listen to them. And then be there should there be 'aftermath' effects on them.

You know, the kids will have to get the hang of communicating with their father again after so long. My son is more of an introvert who is more understanding on what actually happened many years back, but not my daughter. She gets upset pretty quickly when her father is being mentioned. She would say that there is no point in communicating with her father as he did not care for her since she was 5. That he left the house while she was begging for his return…amazingly, she remembers all that. There was once when she cried and asked me why I broke up with their father. And that her father is a stranger to her now…and that she doesn’t care.

Who am I to say that the ex is a loser (again Ely…shuddup!). But what I told my daughter on why we broke up was 'I was too young to be married (18 then). And one thing to remember always, NEVER let anyone control your life. When you marry someone, this person must love you for what you are and not to change you'. The rest was up to her to think about.

And you know what? I will never drag this ex to jail for not paying nafkah to the kids since the divorce. Sure, I was challenged by him to do so. But I don’t want the kids to find out that I have dragged their father to jail. This nafkah issue is between him, Allah and the kids. Not for me to stress over. Alhamdulillah, rezeki for the kids have been endless.

Bless my husband's heart for his good intentions towards my kids, whom he loves dearly.

Blog Works

UPDATE ::: I have decided to change my template back to the old one. The previous template seemed to be too big for many readers' screens. My laptop has a big screen, I didn't seem to see how horrendous it was until I came to work!

So back to the old face. Will still be looking for another template to play with. Look out for it!

************************

Thanks to Queen of the House, I have decided to remodel my blog too.

Took me a whole day to decide which design and layout I like. Tonnes of tweaking and lots of thinking.

Please ignore some unfinished works on this page. Most postings in archives will be hard to read as they were coded as light colors, to coordinate with my previous template which was dark blue. I shall try to change all the colors for easy reading.

Hope you guys like the new paint in my house. Tuh lah, orang cat rumah sebelum raya, kita lepas raya pulak hehehe.

Losing it...

< Frances & Me

Sorry, I really do not mean to brag again but I have lost 23lbs to date!

Last weekend, I weighed in and saw that I lost only 1 lb, after the raya and Chutney binge. 'Fine', I was telling myself…'I binged on raya and ate all the cookies and tarts and whatever was on the table'. But then I went on a strict no carb diet for 3 days to so called 'detox' myself…guilty jugak eh dah mencekik 2 hari!

So yesterday, I stepped on the scale…OK, I lost 5 lbs…I LOST 5 LBS??????? I got off the scale and got back on it 3 times…sanity check. Woooohooooo….betul lah, 5 lbs! boleh tahan. So I have 10-15 more lbs before I reach my weight goal. It’s a long way to go, but perseverence and discipline is the key! InsyaAllah….

As you have read how I started this South Beach Diet…hai, memanglah first 2 weeks payah betul…rasa macam tak boleh survive. But it gets easier after seeing the pounds melting away.

Nope, you don’t have to buy this South Beach Diet food, cookies or meals. Just get the book and you will know what I am talking about.

Clothes? Even my 'upper underwear' do not really fit as well. Was a C cup, I think now I have lost them 'girls' a little bit, I slipped to a B, grrrr. I do sporadic shopping, if I go grocery shopping by myself or with my daughter, I would divert a little bit to Burlington Coat Factory to see if they have good collections. So far, I managed to get 3 new blouses and a pair of work pants…that fit me. I bought a belt which I did not measure against myself due to the stupid theft detector, when I got home, the belt was too big…exchange again! So far, half of my clothes are acting funny when they're on my body. Either the crotch of the pants falls 5 inches down my thighs or the button down blouse just do not fit anymore.

Some of my co workers think that I am 'disappearing' in my cubicle each day they see me. They have to look hard for me, not getting used to the shrinking Ely, who still sounds as loud as before.

That’s the update for now, will update more when I reach the 10-15 lbs mark ok!

My son, the teenager

Click here for more photos

My son is a teenager effective 12 midnight on Sunday. Sigh…dah besar anak aku. Rasa macam baru semalam dia dilahirkan. Kecik jer, very good baby he was.

Today, hes taller than me by at least 2 inches, but weighs lighter than me for now lah hahaha. Jerawat dah menumbuh kat hidung tuh. Kejap sebelah bawah hidung, kejap, sebelah atas. Ibu dia kelam kabut carikan Oxy Pads for him to clean his face every night and day. Tak nak pulak anak aku dipanggil 'Mat Selekeh'.

Dah pandai bergaya jugak anak bujang aku satu nih. Pakai kemeja ke sekolah…Dockers, Ralph Lauren…boleh tahan. Pakai gel rambut menimbun, kat sebelah atas jer kepala dia…mcm pesen budak2 sekarang gitu.

Now that he's a teenager, he is celebrating the fact that he is able to watch PG13 movies without his parents having to hover over him. He has also advanced to another level for the Baseball League…no more 'Ponies'…now he is in the 'Broncos'…kuda lebih besar ker? Alah the bujang league lah kata orang tuh.

13 years, memang bohong lah kalau dia dibesarkan tanpa masalah remaja. Tahun lepas, nasib baik ibu dia tak kena heart attack bila dapat 'report card'. Apa lagi, kena grounded budak tuh selama 6 bulan. No baseball, no tv, no nothing! Pandai dia kelentung ibu dia, pandai lah ibu dia kelentung dia balik. Alhamdulillah, he got he grades back. As and Bs…nothing less. Markah dia di sekolah nih adalah report homework dia tuh. Jadi kalau As, dia tak lupa homework…sume beres. Bagus!

Hadiah? Ish..minggu lepas dah bawa dia pergi ke Dave & Busters. Joli katak lah dia tuh dengan Masturah. Semalam, kita berikan dia CD 'Bowling for Soup', baseball bat dan Razor Scooter. Hai…dia bawak tidur scooter tuh! Meriah sungguh.

Semalam dia potong kek. You know, each time when its his birthday, and we have the cake in front of him, he has that glow on his face, just like when he was 1. That baby glow…my baby glow.

Selamat Hari Lahir yang ke 13 Abdul Mathein. Ibu sayang kamu!

What I did this Raya...

Seems like the blog world has been very quiet. Semua orang masih beraya lagi di kampong ker?

1st day of raya : 1 shawal for us was a very quiet one. I cooked rendang, sayur lodeh and sambal goreng. Ayu came in the morning to savor the food…we had so much fun watching malay movies….Pendekar Bujang Lapok, Mami Jarum and Anak Mami…until Mardiana came over…3 hours late (hehehe).

Oh and I also received the sweetest Raya card from OOD and a phone call from Anedra…thank you ladies, you’re the sweetest. I miss my twin tho, she must be really busy right now preparing for visitors coming on Sunday.

2nd day of raya : We woke up at 4am, took our showers and headed east bound to Pleasanton. The husband was due for the shoulder operation. The operation was at 7:30am, for 1.5 hours. I did not waste too much time and headed to the mall…more grocery shopping. The husband was not discharged till it was 1:30pm. Long long day…

Update : The husband is doing fine than expected. The Navocane has worn out and he is in great pain. Nevertheless, he is in good spirits and is handling it very well. Thank you to the well wishers and for caring. He will soon be having bionic left arm in no time :)

3rd day of raya : Went to the mall, errands to run for the son, the daughter and the husband. Ely had to hold on to her ATM and credit cards (sumpah aku dah nak retire the credit cards!) cos its hard to indulge when the husband was around, grrr.

Now…afternoon of 3rd day of raya, sitting on the bed, the husband has ‘video on demand’ playing and I am ready to take my nap The cats are sprawled, relieved that their mommy has stopped harassing them for pictures.

One more thing…I have hitched a ride on the husband’s photoblog.


CLICK : Ely's Photo Gallery.

Salam Aidilfitri...

Aidilfitri menjelang tiba
Terasa hiba tidak terhingga
Kepada semua kekawan blogger
Salam ikhlas ampun kupinta

Maaf Zahir Batin!!!

How we celebrated Mat's birthday...

Saturday was the day we celebrated Mat’s advanced birthday. His actual birthday will be on November 7th. Since the husband is going through a shoulder surgery this Friday, we have decided to celebrate a week in advance.

We went to Dave & Busters, in Milpitas, 60 miles from Daly City.

Ibu gets a quick-fix to fight sleepiness while the kids were having a good time.

Thank you my family...

When the husband called me at work and told me that the package from Singapore has arrived, I was ecstatic! Happy that at least I get some home made kueh from home.

Little did I expect that when I came home and looked at the package one by one, I imagined mak, kakak and my nieces painstakingly making them tarts, cookies and the serunding and then rushing them to us. I could not hold back my tears as I was touched by their thoughtfulness and love that they have extended, 8,000 miles away.

Like I told the husband, 'I can pay each cent that kakak had paid for postage, but their cookies....priceless'. Mind you, I bawled for 30 mins, could not contain the sadness of not being able to be there with my beloved family.

How I miss my family, especially during Raya. Last year was the best raya we all had...all under one roof, chance of a lifetime gathering. Though I know that we would see each other again in the summer, but the spirit of Lebaran is so dampened by distance.

Then there was a birthday gift for me. Especially for me.

Thank you my dearest family...for the love. We all love you so very much!

*Ely's bawling again...*

Ely the Show Off

OK people, as promised, here are the pictures that I took over the past few days. Ely's not done with her camera yet!

Bella

Pinky

San Francisco City Hall

The watch that Nazrah gave me :)

The posting with no Title...

Yes, Ely has been quiet since she got her camera. Has she been swallowed up by the camera? Or still hiding in the flower bushes trying to take them pics? I have been busy taking pictures yes…but I haven't had the time to download the pictures yet.

I received an email from my sister saying that my cousin will be here on business trip. He will be landing in 12 hours! GREAT I thought….last minute. Tak sempat nak ambik cuti ker, nak masak2 ker, nak beli red carpet ker hehehe. But thanks to perfect communication system, we got in touch with him as soon as he landed. We picked him up after iftar, bawak dia pergi makan at the halal thai restaurant and we ate again hahaha…this time just tomyam soup ok…oooh and some curry puffs, oooh and some ayam goreng…aiyooooooooooh, cannot stop one! Then we gave him the famous SF 1 hour tour. The weather was very very cold, so we skipped looking at the sealions at Pier 39. Down 'crooked street' and up the treacherous hills!

My head touched the pillows at around 11.30pm. God knows how long it took for me to take off to La La Land. The next thing I knew was the alarm waking us up for sahur…with Pinky my kitten sitting on my belly.

I have not lost a pound since my birthday. How to lose even an ounce when I had a early birthday bash since Friday night? Friday night was a binge at Chutney (authentic Pakistani food), Saturday night, at Ayu's place (the husband bought some yummy pastries from the italian bakery! How to say no?), trip to Fresh Choice, the salad bar on Monday night (the clam chowder and sourdough bread…how to say no again!), last night at the halal thai restaurant (thanks to the cousin) and tonight…errrr, *Ely with guilty look* to Chutney again for another indian food binge before sending the cousin off to the airport with a huge bag of See's candies.

I shall try to post my digipics tomorrow. I learned some new cool tricks and I love my camera!!!!!!!!

Digital Newbie

Hah...so now that I have my own digital camera, I don't know what to do with it! This is our 3rd digital camera in the house. Before I had my own, I used to beg the husband if he could let me borrow his camera for the Asian Pacific Islander Club General Meeting or any Asian events. Sometimes I had to promise him that I would not leave his camera unattended and making sure that the camera's in its case when not in use.

I've had it for only 2 days and have been playing with it. The cats are my victims! I had to learn how to ensure that the flash does not give too much light especially towards my white cat...or it would be like a UFO which landed on my bed...all white! All I can say is that, it is not like the old traditional camera!

Tomorrow, so I am going to take the camera to work and go to SF City Hall and take pictures of the city. Maybe take pictures of the homeless people hehehe.

In the meantime, let me continue reading the camera manual...

Bella & me

Its ME Birthday!

Yup, I will be officially 33 years old tomorrow, Monday, 10/24/05. If you’re reading this in Asia and maybe Europe (depending on the time), it is already my birthday NOW.

Dah tua rasanya, 33 years old…I used to stop counting when I reached the age of 27! I tend to get less excited everytime it comes now. ‘Alah…dah tua lah’, that’s what I tell my kids each time my birthday comes. Though I am one of the youngest mom in their school (I started early mah!), still…my body sure tells me that I am not young anymore.

The grey hair starts to multiply in an astonishing rate. The frequency of highlighting my hair to cover the grey hair is getting higher. Dulu once every 2 months, now, once a month!

The knee, when I hit 30, all of a sudden, I felt that my knew had lost its lubrication. When its winter, my knees start to nag...mild nagging, an early sign of rheumatism.

A minor fall is no more ‘minor’ to me. If I stepped on ice on the stairs, I would fall 4 stairs down, on my butt and God help me! I could still go to work with a back and blue, a size of a S$1 coin, but when I wake up the next morning, my body would oh so hurt.

Signs of dementia…yeah I know its too early but I have almost zero memory capacity. I forget most of the time, if I have things to do at work, I HAVE to write them down or I wouldn’t even remember why I am at work to begin with!

Sigh….but, at the age of 33, I think I have experienced a lot. More than most people who are my age. I’ve been through school, a bad divorce, 2 child births, another marriage and a major move with the kids and a cat. Thank goodness I had the strength to do all that.

OK, enough of the self reflection…back to my BIRTHDAY…

I received my birthday presents early…48 hours early hehehe. A Canon Powershot A520 from my beloved husband, a pair of Converse ‘chucks’ (I always wanted them) from the kids, a cat frame and aromatherapy essential oils from my co workers and 3 bottles of Victoria’s Secret Luxurious Shower Gel from Lilac and company (got them 2 months earlier and still have not used them, must wait till birthday mah!).

We went to Ayu’s place last night (Saturday night here) for iftar. I was in the kitchen all all day…buat roti jala and kari daging! It was a fun gathering with Mardiana and our new friend Paul, and not forgetting Gerald :)

They surprised me with a beautiful cake. The cake was too pretty that I didn’t have the heart to cut it!

Thank you all for the lovely 33rd birthday memory :)

Its Sunday today, 10:23am…baru bangun and I am still sleepy. So I might catch a nap, hey I deserve it! Since my diet had been sabotaged so badly at Ayu’s place, my dinner tonight will be baked chicken with chicken soup. The blander the better!

I will be off on my birthday. I never work on my birthday. #1, I don’t want anyone at work to make a fuss over my birthday, #2, its Ramadan, I know they would drag me to the Bar for drinks (I don’t drink but they will find excuse to drink anyway) and #3, I don’t like being in the limelight, knowing my co workers who are so capable of doing silly things!

No plans for tomorrow, kids will be at school, husband will be working at home and me, maybe in bed all day with the tv turned on?

Well…Happy Birthday to me *hugging myself*. Thank you to those who have contributed to this sweet memory of my birthday, your time, the cake and the lovely gifts!

Camera from the husband

Always wanted these...Converse 'Chucks' from the lovely kids! Now they say that I'm cool!

Victoria's Secret Showel Gel from Lilac and Family...yes i am a shower gel person!

The beautiful cake

Masturah, Ayu, Me & Mardiana

The 'Party'

Think HAPPY!

OK I don’t want to think of home, raya or anything sedih medih today (although right now, I have the malaysian radio playing on the computer…waaaah!). I wanna talk about something happy…like the icky weather today hahaha.

It rained this morning. All the cats were indoors as they don’t want to get wet. They were either sleeping on the sofa, the bed or on the warm carpet. Good life they have eh? If they live with Ely's family, even the raccoons have good lives…cukup makan!

The husband drove me to work. He needed to send the 4-runner to the shop before buyers check the beast up for test drive (we don’t own this SUV, he is selling it for a customer on ebay). Traffic was bad. I don’t know whats up with SF people….they can't drive when :

1) it rains…even a drop of rain will cause a 2 hour back up on the freeway and 45 minutes back up on city streets

2) its daylight savings time. The sun goes down at approximately 5pm, people don’t know how to drive in the dark even with their headlights turned on hence, they use their high beam lights on.

3) there is a small accident on the OTHER SIDE of the road/freeway…RUBBERNECKING (my husband loves doing that by the way).

Stepped into the office, thinking that I could get warm…duh! Its very very cold here right now. Everyone was yelling at me asking me to call the Engineers for them to start the heater. Of course I don’t own them Engineers! I called them at 9:30am, its almost 1pm and not one of them came by to see me yet. But instead, the security document guy came to take our locked bins for destruction! *Shhh, don't tell my boss that I blog from work. Can't stop ilham when it comes mah!*

Should I talk about my diet? Hehehe…my twin, jangan jealous OK! You know I sayang you much much!

I have lost about 18 lbs since I last weighed myself last Sunday. Kinda slow past weeks due to water retention, thanks to my 'monthly best friend'. When the 'best friend' left, the scale just went down. I had to re weigh myself 3-4 times…sanity check.

How do I feel? Happy of course, hard work! BUT BUT BUT…my clothes don’t fit me as they use to. The co workers told me to dump them clothes and start over. Aiyoh, I no print money ok! Remember I told you that I had to stitch up the right side of my jeans? I just stitched the left side now. So when I tuck in my blouse, you can see the 'gathers' and frills around the waistline. Getting dressed to work is a chore now. I have to change my top at least 3x before I am satisfied. Why? Cos my button down tops look like they were borrowed. They don’t sit on my shoulders and body well. Serembah serembih kata orang tuh? Knitted tops are the best, they 'grow' and 'shrink' with you and are more versatile. Just don’t put them in the dryer or Barbie will get new clothes!

Now I am very determined to reach that ideal weight…of my choice (as in, don’t even expect me to be 110lbs!). Maybe this great month of Ramadan will help me achieve very close to my weight goal.

The husband 'kecundang' on his diet when ramadan started. He lost 12 lbs but as his surgery date is getting closer, this losing weight thingy is serious business! So he lost another 3 lbs. Yeah…men tend to lose weight faster then women eh? Benci betul!

Bapak told me that mak is getting ready to make us pineapple tarts. And of course my 'wish list' grew each second as I talked to him. Nak serunding, paru goreng (kering pun ok), M&M cookies that my sister bakes, etc etc etc.

So I am hopeful…that I will get them tarts by the week of raya (read me sister? WEEK OF RAYA OK…so must hustle!).

Happy Fasting everyone…2 more weeks before the big day!

Raya oh raya...

Dah dekat 2 minggu kita berpuasa kan? Menahan lapar dan dahaga. Dapat email dari kakak, dia mengatakan lagu Raya dah diudarakan. Aiyoh, I so cannot listen to Raya songs. Nanti siaplah perasaan sedih, rindu dan mengidam pun ada.

Sedih kerana tahun nih tak dpt balik, rindu kan mak bapak kakak dan anak saudara dan sepupu ku yang beratus tuh dan mengidam kan kueh mueh yang tak reti aku nak buat! Pasal bab masakan raya tuh no problem sebab memang dari anak dara dah kena train masak yang handal2…kalau bab bikin kueh tat nih, sepit tau lah, buat inti tau tapi the tepung, rangup dan berkrim tuh…mak punya department lah.

Jadi semalam aku email lah kat kakak. Email ku berbunyi begini…

Hey sister,

Could you please please please send me serunding and kueh tat? Mat teringin nak makan serunding and I want kueh tat. No instant kueh please, I want the ones that mak or you are baking!

Thanks!

Kakak mana yang sampai hati nak kasi adik dia kempunan kueh tat kan? My email sounded so urgent…memang urgent! You know, kalau dah masuk 2 minggu berpuasa nih, aku selalu berperasaan begini. Panic, panic dan panic. Mungkin ia untuk melindungi diriku dari berperasaan sedih. Entah lah….

Raya tahun ini biasa saja. Aku akan bercuti selama sehari, budak2 akan ke sekolah. Jadi aku akan masak lauk pauk raya untuk mereka. Walaupun kita tidak akan beraya seperti di Singapura, namun semangat Aidilfitri akan tetap bersemarak di rumah ku ini.

Ok dah…penat jugak menaip bab jejiwa nih.

Tagged again!

This time from nazrah

7 things to do before I die:
- Buy a house here
- Have more kids
- Be independently wealthy (mungkin kalau tergali lombong minyak kat back yard? Or when the husband's millionaire granny passes on and she happened to put his name on the will.)
- Settle all debts (car loans, credit cards)
- See my husband next to me even when I am 80 years old!
- Have stronger faith
- go to Hajj

7 things I cannot do:
- Forgive and FORGET at the same time. I can forgive but not forget
- Shut up and listen when I am arguing
- Watch horror movies esp. during Halloween month like NOW
- I so cannot lie if so, a bad one
- Cannot and never break trust being a friend
- Not say 'I love you' to my kids and husband everyday, each time we part on the phone or in the morning
- Cannot stand men gawking at women

7 things that attract me to the husband who happens to be the opposite sex relative to my current state of being:
- Jewish smart mentality
- His smile
- Eyes
- Skills in business
- Pro-activeness
- Very cooperative
- Unselfishness

7 things I say most often:
- Yeah right!
- Whatever!
- Geez!
- That’s neat
- Ya Allah (start of the ibu naik loktang)
- Sheesh…
- Shoot!

7 celebrity crushes:
I don’t have crushes on Celebs but I only have one…
- Acis from Gersang :)

7 people I want to do this:
Alah sesapa yang belum buat lah...

Been Tagged

By Nour...

Whoever wants to do this...I tag you lah!

ABOUT
Name:	Ely
Birthday:	October 24th
Birthplace:	Singapore
Current Location:	San Francisco, California, USA
Eye Color:	Dark Brown
Hair Color:	right now? hahahaha...brown
Height:	5'1 and 3/4
Right Handed or Left Handed:	Left handed
Your Heritage:	1/3 Penang, 2/3 javanese
The Shoes You Wore Today:	Dress down Monday, so my Nikes
Your Weakness:	Anything with chocolates
Your Fears:	Horror movies
Your Perfect Pizza:	Indian pizza! Same crust, but with curry toping+lamb+shrimp+potatoes
Goal You Would Like To Achieve This Year:	To get THAT promotion!
Your Most Overused Phrase On an instant messenger:	'Hmm...gurl'
Thoughts First Waking Up:	Where's my husband?
Your Best Physical Feature:	My eyes, my smile
Your Bedtime:	9:30 pm
Your Most Missed Memory:	Being with my sister
Pepsi or Coke:	DIET Pepsi
MacDonalds or Burger King:	Burger King
Single or Group Dates:	Single Dates
Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea:	Don't like Ice Tea
Chocolate or Vanilla:	Chocolate
Cappuccino or Coffee:	Cappuccino
Do you Smoke:	Holy smokes, NO
Do you Swear:	No comments..OK OK, sometimes
Do you Sing:	Yup
Do you Shower Daily:	Of course
Have you Been in Love:	Yup and still am
Do you want to go to College:	Completed
Do you want to get Married:	Already did
Do you belive in yourself:	Of course
Do you get Motion Sickness:	Nope
Do you think you are Attractive:	Yes
Are you a Health Freak:	60% yes
Do you get along with your Parents:	Very well
Do you like Thunderstorms:	Yes
Do you play an Instrument:	No
In the past month have you Drank Alcohol:	No
In the past month have you Smoked:	No
In the past month have you been on Drugs:	Besides the birth control pills, nope
In the past month have you gone on a Date:	Yes, with the husband
In the past month have you gone to a Mall:	Geez of course!
In the past month have you eaten a box of Oreos:	Heck no!
In the past month have you eaten Sushi:	No either...sigh
In the past month have you been on Stage:	No
In the past month have you been Dumped:	I had taken a Dump hhahahah (bathroom)
In the past month have you gone Skinny Dipping:	Only at home?
In the past month have you Stolen Anything:	Yeah, my husband's heart?
Ever been Drunk:	No
Ever been called a Tease:	Yeah
Ever been Beaten up:	No
Ever Shoplifted:	No
How do you want to Die:	With iman and family around me
What do you want to be when you Grow Up:	You mean when I grow old? Be a housewife...ok tak?
What country would you most like to Visit:	United Kingdom
In a Boy/Girl..
Favourite Eye Color:	Brown
Favourite Hair Color:	Dark
Short or Long Hair:	Short
Height:	i like my man's height
Weight:	not too fat lah
Best Clothing Style:	Smart
Number of Drugs I have taken:	????
Number of CDs I own:	only 15
Number of Piercings:	4
Number of Tattoos:	one...eh eh no...
Number of things in my Past I Regret:	Marrying at young age...gullible
CREATE YOUR OWN! - or - GET PAID TO TAKE SURVEYS!