Checkmate’s Column

December 29th… The memory 6 years ago came flashing back to me today…. Being the only daughter in the family, and the first one to actually tie the knot, my parents (especially Mommy) were worried sick on how the whole event would be…. Thankfully we have all our relatives in close support in ensuring everything were in place and ran as planned… It was a small and simple akad nikah ceremony at the Sg Besi Mosque, attended only by close relatives, with due respect to the holy place…. I remembered my Mak Andam came in late, so I have my face "painted" by not one,but 2 of my cousins… an amateur(s) work, but anway, the most important thing is the akad nikah event itself… and alhamdulillah, it went well… and with that I became a lawful wife to the man of my life, still happily married after 6 years now, and blessed with 2 handsome children….

Now, how do we spend this day of our 6th anniversary..? Well, with these 2 active boys, forget all about the so-called romantic escapade, romantic dinner, etc… But rather than just staying at home, we’ve decided to go spend 2 nights at a local hotel… We checked in the day before… it was almost Maghrib when we arrived, so we’ve decided to just enjoy the comfort of the hotel room (the boys were the most excited ones though)…

The next day, that’s this day, was rather hectic… I prepared the kids, pressed my baju kurung (there’s a wedding reception to attend… a colleague of my husband… sigh…) and by the time I completed my shower, my hubby urged me to hurry up as he’d promised a colleague to pick him up and meet another colleague at a place at 10:30am for a convoy trip to the wedding… geee, I wish I can just sit down and relax, drinking tea, and enjoy some reading this morning, rather than going thru all this rush…. We had breakfast at Nasi Lemak Rasa Segar, and in a hurry, I hardly enjoyed my meal, and I pitied the kids, who had to swallow their meals fast to chase after their dad…. Well, yeah, we managed to pick up his colleague and be on time for the convoy :P…

The wedding took place at a very remote area… it was far far away from the city, and located within an oil palm farm…. it was raining, so the route into the farm was extremely challenging… it took us hours to actually reached the scene… the wedding was a unique one, a special blend of Bumiputra Sarawak and Indonesian Bugis… we were first invited into the house, where we were served with all sorts of appetizers, facing the pelamin… then we were led to the area where the main dish was served. It was just underneath the house though (the house was built on high tilts)… The rain was really heavy at that time, so we spent more than an hour at the wedding, while waiting for the rain to stop…. Another long journey back home to go…

So, half the day was spent to, at, and from the wedding, and we were exhausted by the time we reached the hotel later in the evening… We managed to buy a chocolate cake (at least something to capture the anniversary on photo), and after Isyak, my hubby treat us to a pleasant dinner at an Italian restaurant… It has been quite a while since I had such a wonderful (and costly) treat… the last time was about 2-3 years ago, and that was a supplier’s treat when I was with Proton….

The original plan for our stay at the hotel was because of its in-house spa…. I had always wanted to be pampered for a spa treatment… The last time I had one was in year 2003, when I was in Bali on a business trip (it was a merely Balinese massage though…. not much pampering…). But after a lot of thinking, I decided not to go for it due to time constraint (ummm… the truth is, we’ve ran out of cash ;))…. the children wanted so much to go to the swimming pool, so the last day was spent in the pool with them, until it’s time for us to check-out from the hotel….

It’s been 6 years of adventure, with ups and downs of married life… we’ve shared a lot of happy, sad, madness moments, being apart and reunited again…. Ya Allah, semoga jodoh ini akan berkekalan hingga ke akhir hayat, dan moga kemesraan & hubungan kasih sayang ini akan terus bercambah dan berkembang di bawah rahmat dan redha-Mu selama-lamanya…. Amin, Ya Rabbal ‘Alamin….

Over, and out…

I never knew that all this while there’s one talented chef over here in our house…. It took me 2 days off the kitchen due to my severe headache to actually discover the hidden truth… Nope, not the 2 young boys; they only know how to wack each other with the kitchen utensils… Yeah, the person is the charming man I love with all my heart… my husband….

He cooked us some "sour & Spicy" chicken soup and some mixed vegetables that Sunday, the day when I was nailed down to bed because of the pain in the head. The recipe was marvellous (thanks to Maggi’s instant soup mix… but well, who cares!)! Unfortunately, I was in deep pain, so I didn’t get to really savour into the displayed menu… But the children loves it, and the table was cleared within the hour (it was me who dragged the time… trying to force myself to finish off my own plate…).

The next day, I went to the doctor. The Doc can’t seem to be able to identify what is the cause of this pain, but measuring from the level of pain I’m experiencing, it is very much similar to migraine. Only the nature of it’s happening is different: migraine occurs at only one side of the head, but mine covers the whole head! I was prescribed with painkillers, and because of my loss of appetite, he includes some Mefenamic Acid tablets as well, to be taken together with the painkillers… And lucky enough, he gave me a sick leave for the day, so I managed to get some time alone at home, wrestling with the pain….

That night, my husband made some noodles… I had really lost my appetite, so I didn’t get to taste them. But judging from my children, I can say that the noodles were fantastic!

At that point of time, I wonder to myself, how am I going to survive without such a perfect man like my husband. And throughout the 2 days, even my children dare not disturb me, which is an amazing fact, knowing that they’re the restless type who just won’t stop picking on others. My youngest was charming too.. he would climb up the bed and stroke my head gently with his small palm everytime he saw me crying in pain…. My family is truly, my everything….

Ya Allah, peliharakanlah kebahagiaan, kesejahteraan, dan keselamatan keluargaku ini di bawah lembayung cahaya kasihMu sehingga ke akhir hayat kami… Amin ya Rabbal Alamin…

Over & out…

Sunday has always been a dreaded day for me… Why? Coz the next day is a Monday… a working day… where the same routine got repeated all over again for 5 straight days before the next break comes in… sigh….

Sunday, 9 December 2007, was of a different story… I fell ill… very very extremely ill… I woke up first thing in the morning with a striking pain in my head… It felt as though a giant rock was sitting on my head… the pain was indescribable…. I tried to fought the pain, got up from bed, teasing the kids… but then, the pain was so great that I had to surrender myself back to sleep… a quick nap will do, I said….

I woke up just minutes before my nap turned an hour, and remembered the children had nothing to eat for breakfast. The pain was still there… felt as though my brain was being squashed over and over again, non-stop… I dragged myself up, focusing on what to prepare for breakfast…. forced myself to walk down the stairs and into the kitchen…. My vision started blurring, and I started to feel like banging my head to the wall just to ease the pain…. I took out the wok, open the freezer and took out some chicken, minced beef, meatballs… aaaarrrrggghhhh! The pain was just waaaayyyy too much already! The children started quarrelling and run their way through the kitchen, passing me several times… And my brain got squashed and stamped and squashed and stamped and….

Can’t blame the kids, they’re just being their normal selves, screaming their heart out… But I can’t keep on standing here in the kitchen, suffering this pain all alone… I dragged myself up the stairs, into the bedroom, and wake my other half… He just have to take charge of the whole house now… There’s absolutely nothing I can do with this hard-core pain in my head…. I threw myself to bed, pulling my hair as hard as I could to ease the pain, applied some (actually, a lot!) of ointment, and forced myself to sleep… Can’t remember when exactly did I actually knocked out, but I can remember turning all sorts of positions on the bed just to get myself to sleep….

The story doesn’t end there. The pain keep on coming back everytime I was awake. The same deadliest pain ever….

Over & out…

After 10 days of leave, now I’m back to work… The same old routine all over again… Sigh…

This year’s Eid-ul-Fitr is a bit unique in a way…. Wanna know why..?

1st, it’s the very first time we actually return home for the celebration from "overseas"… Sarawak tu kira oversea gak la kan ;)… So, the welcoming by both our families are a bit more special compared to the many years before….

2nd, it’s also the very first time that everyone in my family managed to gather at my parents’ on the first morning of Syawal after so-so-soooo many years… My big bro who’d always been working every Eid (triple pay maaa…), my younger bro who’d always celebrated Eid over at his in-laws since the last 2 years of his marriage… though my father’s Raya leave was rejected, fortunately and coincidentally his shift fell on night shift, which enables him to be with us enjoying the days…

3rdly, I bumped into a long lost colleague of mine while shopping for groceries at Alamanda, Putrajaya! The last time we actually saw each other was like… emmm… aaa… I even lost count of the many many years that had passed… It was surprising to actually meet her, now married and blessed with a charming son… Honestly, I failed to recall her name at that point of time :P… I only remember the letter "Z", and the rest of it is history… I dared myself to ask for her name… and true enough, her name starts with a "Z".. it’s Zuhaila…. well, not too bad for an old memory huh… hehehehe…

4th, since we only have exactly 7 days to celebrate Hari Raya, it was quite an exhaustive experience… we make sure to visit every single relative, neighbour, friends who’re around in KL & Selangor throughout the 7 days… Thankfully, most of them went "balik kampung", otherwise, boleh patah kaki dibuatnya….

5th, I get to meet my dearest friend, Aweed, who’d been in the US for over 3 years! And ever since then, I’d never get the chance to even meet her 2 adorable children, both born in the States… I was so happy to finally meet them, and watching the children play together really touched my heart…. And to make the event more meaningful, I get to also meet Shidah, Haslan, and their baby boy, Hatim, whom I’ve never get to meet since his birth… Well, we now have all boys here as our children, that we can soon build a new "My Team" to be proud of!

There’re absolutely so many sweet memories to capture during the short Raya celebration back at our hometown, that we all left for Miri with dreaded, heavy hearts at the end of the week… Hopefully dengan izin Allah swt, we can all meet again and be reunited for happier moments to come….

Till next time…

This is a beautiful story of an Old American Muslim lived on a farm in the mountains of eastern Kentucky with his young grandson. Each morning Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading his Qur’an. His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to imitate him in every way he could.

It’s Monday again… sigh…

Thanks to my darling Irfan, I was awaken by the touch of his small hands on my arm and the sound of his sleepy voice, at 5am, asking for his milk. It was then that I realized my alarm clock was ringing like h*** too..! Children sure are miracles, huh!

It was already 6.30am when I’d finally completed pressing the shirts & pants of both mine and my hubby’s. The boys were all set for school and had gone downstairs for some morning cartoons. After the shower, I was caught by a tremendous surprise… My shirt doesn’t fit anymore! Well, in a glance it looked okay, but it was obviously tight on the tummy- and butts-part! Quite a frightening sight, I would say… Some people might just ignore and just live by it, but not me! It was just minutes to 7am, and I would absolutely be late for work if I am to press another shirt…. I searched my wardrobe, pulled out my long-sleeved t-shirt, and espresso, I’m ready for work! Phewwww!

This t-shirt of mine is certainly a double Xtra-Large one… The shoulder lines almost reach my elbows, and the body width can surely fit a 9-month-old waist… But anyway, this t-shirt have seriously saved my time for work this morning, and most importantly, put a smile on my beloved hubby’s face (for saving his time for work too!).

Now I wonder… Was it the shirt that shrinks..?

Over & out…

It’s 5.30am, and I was awaken by my little hero’s cry of hunger… It’s proven though that his cry is far more powerful compared to the screaming sound of my alarm clock (my clock rings at 5am every morning, without fail, and yet it’s my boy’s cry that actually managed to wake me up..!).

It was already 6.30am when I finally completed my ironing & got ready for a shower. Irfan refused to get off his bed. He’s just finished his milk, and pretended to sleep again. Aduhai anak mama…. We’re seriously going to be late for work today..! I tickled his toes and whispered into his ears, all the good things about going to school. He chuckled, but eyes still shut… I passed the baton to Dude since he’s all geared up ready to go, while I’m off taking my shower.

It’s 7am, and Irfan still refused to get off his bed… Azfar woke up, all smiles as he saw us both. Dude ushered him to the bathroom to take his shower, leaving Irfan who began to make faces since his Ayah had turned to entertain his younger brother instead. I placed the boys’ shirts & pants on the bed & rushed downstairs to the kitchen to wash the bottles, rice pot & wok. 5 minutes to 7.30am, and the 2 boys joined me in the kitchen, all properly dressed up for school. Dude came in next, tense all over his face….

We finally arrived at the office 10 minutes to 8am. The good thing about this company is that it actually doesn’t care what time you showed up at the office. What matters most is your work must be done on time & above expectations. Just that, we’re both so used with the previous working culture where the time you punch-in can seriously affect your performance (even if you’ve managed to successfully complete a major critical project for the company, if you punch-in late for duty, you’re rated just like one of those stuffs in the rubbish bin..)… So much for the acclaimed "discipline at work" huh…

Over & out…

It was as early as 3am on 2nd May that my neighbourhood experienced this heavy showers of nature… I was awaken by the sounds of thunder & noises over the roof. Dude was awake too, not disturbed by the noises, but to watch his not-to-be-missed football match (I can’t recall which team played that day..) on Astro. My two young princes were sound asleep next to me. They looked so charming when they’re sleeping….

I don’t remember falling back to sleep, but I can seriously recall the loud thunder which turned my house into complete darkness. Irfan woke up in a shock and was slightly shivering… I hugged him close to calm him down… In 5 minutes, the house was brightened again, and Irfan remained in my hug till he fell asleep….

It wasn’t long when the second thunder booms the sky. This time it was much much louder than the first one. My house turned blackout again, and Irfan got up in shock. But this time, knowing that I’m around, he returned back to sleep without having to be calmed. And again, in about 5 minutes time, my house turned bright one more time.

Surprisingly, my little Azfar was not disturbed by this thunderstorm… He slept soundly throughout the night… Masya-Allah….

It was after performing my Subuh prayers, that I turned my laptop on for access to the web. I pressed the Power button, but the screen remained black. The Indicator blinked endlessly. I pressed the button again and again, but still, nothing appeared on screen. My eyes quickly caught sight of the wall socket that connected to the cable extension which I used to power-up my laptop. The cable extension was turned off, but the wall socket was ON. Oh dear… The lightning must had got its way into my laptop… I touched my laptop, and it’s burning hot! I had to remove the battery to stop the blinkings and quickly disconnect all cables & extensions… And sadly to say, that marks the end of my surfing-from-home activities…. Sigh…

I guess my first salary will now go to repair my laptop… And that will only be at the end of this month…

Over & out…

It’s 1st of May today, a day to celebrate all labours/workers out there. And coincidentally this year, Wesak Day also falls on this same day, a special occasion for the Buddhists. But what’s most important for me is that… it’s public holiday! Not just 1 day, but 2! Yippee yey yey!

This is my first blog ever (hopefully not the last though…), after having read all the interesting blogs of my colleagues. Now what should I talk about ya…?

The day began with us sending my mom off to the airport. My mom had been here for about 10days, to take care of my charming Azfar. Azfar had this kind of rashes all over his hands, legs, and face since the week before. Looked very much like the infamous measles, but based on what the Doctor commented, it’s just a type of rashes that normally attacked young ones due to change of environment (make sense, coz we just moved over to this city of Miri..). Alhamdulillah, he’s very much healthier now, even though there’re still some small marks here and there… I really missed my parents after almost 3 months staying apart from them (I’ve always been very close, in terms of distance, to them since born, you know…), and it’s a comfort to be able to meet my mom and had her stayed over for more than a week. And the best thing was to enjoy my mom’s cooking…! Wallaaaaa!

We then drove to Boulevard Shopping Center, to get some ready-made curtains for the bedrooms back at home. Much to our surprise, the complex was packed with people..! It was later that we found out Boulevard was actually having a "1-day Big Sale" today. Reminded me a lot of Members Day sale over in KL - Jusco, Sogo, Parkson… It’s worrying to have your kids around this heavy crowd you know… Sheeesh… Anyway, despite all this hassle, we actually managed to get what we aimed for, and headed straight back home!

There was a some sort of free entertainment this whole evening… A band of high school boys were playing throughout the evening in the open, exactly at a house behind ours. And they kept on rehearsing this song by Estranged - Itu Kamu. The drums & guitars were so loud, you could hardly hear the vocal singing the song… So I can’t comment on any pitching problems.. They finally stopped playing at 11pm… Pheeewwww…!

Well, I guess that’s all about today. Hopefully I can continue writing more blogs in this column… Give me some encouragement kay

Over & out…