The holiday is here

Gong Xi Fa Cai and happy holiday everybody. Yippie!

Just a quickie,

About 4 days ago, Nabil asked whether I could buy a small aquarium for his class. So below is the conversation that took place between the mother and the son.

NabilIbu

Ibu can you buy a small aquarium for my class, cikgu nak.

Cikgu nak? Dia nak buat haper?

Cikgu nak bela ikanlah...

Bela ikan apa?

Cikgu kata dia nak bela ikan Filipina, pas tu saper2 yang naughty kena tukar air ikan tu.

Ikan Filipina? ahak ahak....ikan piranha lah darling.

And that conversation reminds me of a conversation that took place 3 years ago when he was 5.

Ibu I got a new teacher today.

Oh really, what's her name?

Her name is Ms February

Oh wow! That is such a unique name.

Tapi kan Ibu susahlah nak sebut nama dia.

Lama2 nanti senanglah
.
Later, I flipped open his memo book.

Dear Mdm,

This is to inform you that the En Mozart open day will be held this Saturday 12/4/2007.

Signed,
Ms Valerie
En Mozart class teacher.

Drama Minggu Ini

You know my elder son Nabil is so so passionate about football and he is also a die hard Liverpool fan. He can name all the players, the managers, the position they play not only for this club but other clubs too. On weekends and holidays he will stay up to watch any football matches with my husband. Sometimes he'll give my hubby the updates when my hubby accidentally dozed off to slumberland. If he had his way he will stay up on weeknights too but of course we had to draw the line when it comes to school days. (hmmm...just wish he's this passionate about his studies too). Oh well!

Anyway, Nabil has a collection of this Match Attack cards. He has an album almost full of these EPL club players. He treasures this album so much. Every day he will flip through the pages and once in a fortnight he buys a set of this cards from his allowance that he had saved for the weeks.

Lately he has been pestering me to allow him to bring all his Match Attack cards to his Agama school. I of course banned him from doing so as he has collection of hundred over cards and they're all nicely arranged based on the teams the players are in. But he did not give up but kept on asking me the permission to do so, his reason was, so he could exchange some of the cards with his friends. Well, thinking that his exam is over, I thought why not but with one condition he can only bring the extra cards (the cards he no longer needed as he already have them in his album). That was the deal.

So last Thursday, as I was in the car waiting to fetch the children home for the Agama school, I saw my son counting his cards. In his hands I saw about 10 cards, thinking that those were the extra cards he brought, I asked whether he managed to exchange the cards with his friends. He said he didn't exchange but some of the boys actually bought the cards from. The paid him RM1 and some gave him their toys in exchange of the cards. At this point, I was unhappy as he was supposed to exchange them not sell them. He said he didn't ask for the money but they willingly gave. Ok fine.

After picking them up, we usually will go round to find kuih to be eaten for tea. So we stopped to buy these sweetmeats and drinks and tah apa2 lagi, as Nabil was hungry he ate his doughnut in the car, so when we reached home he was still eating hence he has forgotten to bring down his bag from my car.

So at around 6.00pm, they kids were shooed to take their bath. When suddenly Bibik came down and told me Nabil is in the room crying. When I came into the room, I could see he was still sobbing, I asked him what's wrong but he just kept quiet only the sobs were heard and shoulders shaking. Not long after hubby came into the room and asked what happened and he blurted that all his Match Attack cards were stolen. Stolen? How? Apparently he brought all the cards to school and now they are no longer with him. He claimed the Std 4 and 5 boys took them from his bag.

At this point both Abah and Ibu dah mula nak naik darah dah. Despite what we told him not to bring the whole lot, dia tak dengar so memang saja nak kena marahlah kan. So he memang kena left and right from both of us. He dared not say much as he knows it was his mistake to begin with. He was so so upset that he cried himself to sleep tu belum mandi lagi tu. So at around 8.00 kejutkan dia untuk mandi tapi muka dia mmg nampak so so heart broken and frustrated all the cards that he has collected gone mcm tu aje. Before going to bed, he cried again sebab terlampau sedih. Kesian gaklah tengok.

That night before going to bed my hubby said if they refused to give them back, he's going to confront these boys and demand for them to return those cards to him. Myself pun sakit ati jugak lah these bigger kids bullying younger kids like him, kan. Thus terkeluarlah all the nasty words like pergi sek agama tapi panjang tangan, apalah diaorg belajar kat situ, tak sedar dosa pahala, etc, etc. (Ibu ni memang emo sikit). So the next day my hubby said he will pick the kids up from school.

So when they arrived, this eager Ibu pun tanyalah how? dapat balik tak? and my hubby gave me this smug look and Nabil sheepishly said the cards were not stolen or missing as they were in his bag all this while. Huh?! Turned out he checked the wrong bag sebab his agama school bag was still inside my car so the cards mmg ada kat dalam tu. Aiiikkkk?!!!!

Tulah drama sensasi minggu ini. Dengan airmata yang bercucur-cucuran dan berbucket-bucket and Ibu's nasty words yang berkilo2, all for nothing. Buat dosa je.

Haiiyoo.... sabor jelah anak jantan aku ni. mcm-mcm.

One Malaysia- One Whole Day Affair

Yesterday afternoon, my two elder children were offered to do a promo for Astro TV on One Malaysia. Aina was ecstatic, Nabil wasn't because he was more looking forward to attend his football practice tomorrow. Thinking that he will still make it for the practice we persuaded him to take the job. It was pretty a last minute thing as the shooting is to be done today and we have to be there at 9.00 am.

As last night, I attended the Form 5 Graduation Dinner in KGNS which ended around 11.00 pm and as I was knackered after that thus I did not get the chance to check my e-mail for the script that the children need to memorize. So I only managed to get them to read the script this morning at around 8.00 am and Aina being excited for the job succeeded in memorizing the whole lines in mere 10 minutes whereas Nabil could not be bothered to learn it by heart. Which pissed me off but I did not want to spoil his mood so I actually let him be. So the script goes like this:-

It doesn't matter,
How we look,
How we speak,
What colour we are.

We all laugh
We all cry,
We all take pride,

In our home,
In our future,
In our country,
We are...one,
One Malaysia.

We were told to bring 3 different colours of clothes; white, red and one casual wear.
We reached ASTRO at around 9.20 am, we actually got lost (ni semua punca because some husbands who just refused to listen to the wives) I taulah I buta jalan but I've called to ask the way tapi some husbands believe diaorang lagi pandai than the wives kan! Opppss...out of the topic, that part nanti kita cerita lain ok? ahak ahak.

So upon reaching there, after all the mumbo jumbo at the security post we were escorted inside. We were taken to the cafeteria for breakfast, the sandwiches and the curry puffs were good. So no complain there. Then we were taken to the dressing room, the kids waited to be made up. Oh by the way, the were 20 other talents involved in this promo, 14 adults and 6 kids.

Nabil after the made up. He requested for rambut Ultraman.

We waited and waited, the children while their time away watching TV, as I was in a hurry burry this morning, I did not bring anything with me so I wasted my whole day today doing nothing besides waiting and waiting and waiting. I should have brought my test papers to mark or a book to read. Regret! regret! Alright so after they have been made up, they were brought to the studio for a rehearsal. So that too took quite some time as they were about 6 people ahead of us. And each person had to do quite a number of takes. As it was already lunch time, we were told to take our lunch first. So the food was good, we had fish curry, sweet sour chicken, fried wantan, mixed veggie and fish fillet, the children truly enjoyed their meal. Both Aina and Nabil went for a second helping. I guess as it was so bl**dy cold in there, it made us get hungry easily.

After lunch, the kids were sent to do some touch-up and then we went back to Studio 3 and there were still 2 people doing their shoot. Once they were done, Nabil was called to the floor, he said his lines and he sounded like a robot, he was later coached by one of the crew members, he was slightly better but he spoke like he was reading one boring book. Nabil was told to take a break and it was Aina's turn, she delivered her lines pretty well and we were all happy. As hubby and I had some errands to do, we left the kids under the care of my cousin who was a part of the production team. Thinking that they will do well as they sounded ok when we told them we had to leave, we then joyfully made our way to the exit.

Thirty minutes later, I received a call from my cousin saying that Aina cried and she did not finish her shoot because she requested for her mother to be around. As we were almost reaching our destination, I told her to give us an hour for us to settle our things and will be right there soon after.

More than an hour later, we saw the kids and we heard them giggling away as they have made friend with Vijay of the Geng Bas Sekolah. By this time, a lot of waiting involved as the second batch of talents arrived for their shoot. So we waited and waited again for their turns. Nabil was the clown of the day as he had to do so many takes, apparently he did not take instruction very well. Luckily enough the crew members were all patient and nice group of people, even the talents were all friendly and managed to put the kids at ease. Nuraina did pretty well this time and she only had to do two takes for both sections.

Aina all set to say her lines

This promo was divided into 3 parts, the first one, individual lines, second one, group photos and the third one each talent takes turn to hold the flag. So we waited and waited for each talent to finish their individual line, we went for tea then we waited to get everybody to do the group thing, we waited until all the groups done, then we went for dinner and we waited and waited again to do the last segment the holding of the flag. We were then finally allowed to go home at around 9.15 pm. And before we left, they were still a few other talents who haven't finish with their individual lines.

Waiting to be divided into groups
Nabil's group shoot

This promo may take less than a minute to be on air, my children may appear on tv for few seconds but it took more than 12 hours of preparation. So that's it children, I will never allow you to choose a career in this entertainment business, the working hours are just too ridiculous. So jangan mimpi nak jadi superstar ok? So the rest of you out there, watch out for this promo which will feature my kids (omigosh! am so proud) sometime next month.

Till then, take care.

P/S- Oh man! I have orchestra practice to attend to tomorrow from 9-12. Sigh! I need rest. Can I not go? (hmm...wishful thinking!)

My weekend

Before I ramble on on my weekend, I hope it's not too late to wish all Muslims out there a 'Happy Ramadhan, moga-moga ibadah kita kali ini lebih diberkati dari sebelumnya'.

So the Saturday that was supposed to be a first day Ramadhan for the Muslims had been a pretty hectic for our family mainly myself, hubby and the two elder kids as they had their Wushu tournament on that day. After the sahur and Subuh prayer Nuraina and Nabil took a short nap as we had to be in the community hall in KBU before 8 for the tournament. Nuraina participated in the Wushudao 1 Individual Pattern competition and Nabil in Primary Students Male Sparring below 22 kg, Nabil is 20.8 kg (kurus kan?)

There was a lot of waiting involved throughout the whole event which irritates me to no end. First we had to wait to get the kids to be registered, then we had to wait for the event to start, we had to wait for the VIP to arrive, basically there was a lot of waiting involved as we were not given a timetable on what event should start first, second so on and so forth. We wasted so much time that day waiting for things to happen.

The hall was filled with so many people. After the registration which I felt like took forever they had a rehearsal for the opening ceremony, the kids did some warming up and some pattern practices, that too took a lot of time, Nuraina event began after the rehearsal and she was in the 7th group to perform. Her pattern performance took less than a minute to execute and we spent hours after that waiting, and we found out she made it to the second round and we waited and waited and waited even after the lunch break only to be told that the second round is to be held the next day, on Sunday. Arrrgghhhh......!!!

So at around 12 ish, it was the opening ceremony where all the participants gathered in the middle of the hall and did their performances. After the speeches, which were all spoken in Mandarin, we had break for lunch.

During the rehearsal

Still doing their routine during the rehearsal

Although the kids were fasting but all the participants were given a pack of chicken rice each. I was pissed when I found out that the rice was 'non-halal'. God!!! Can't they be more sensitive regarding this issue? I know they were not many Muslims taking part in the competition but they were more than 20 Muslim students on the first day, they should be more sensitive and the fact we are all living in Malaysia, so to say a Muslim country. What I cannot understand is, when I asked one of the officers if the food is 'halal,' he did not even know what 'halal' means, omigod! how could there be such ignorant human exist here in Malaysia. And I went to see another officer and she said it is 'halal' and I asked her again 'are you sure?' and she answered 'yes, yes, very sure, it's chicken rice what? It's not pork'. n my heart I went 'God lady 'halal' doesn't mean only pork it means that the animals are slaughtered by the Muslims using the Islamic way'. Haiiyooo.... luckily one officer of a higher rank confirmed that the food is 'non-halal'. Can you imagine if it's not fasting month and my children would already have eaten the food? I'm so so sad that these people are not sensitive enough on this issue.

So after the break, we waited and waited again because Nabil's event will be starting after the secondary school male and female sparring. We waited and waited until it was nearly 5 pm only to be told that he will compete tomorrow morning because his opponent had gone home so he had a walk-over wining. So that was how we wasted our Saturday.

Sunday was almost the same, we were there early in the morning. We waited and waited for the event to start. It was supposed to start with Nabil's sparring but after the draw lot, Nabil got a 'by' and he will straight away go to the final which will start after lunch. Then we waited....and waited...and waited until it was Aina's turn which start nearly around 11 pm. Aina didn't make it through the 3rd round but overall she did fine as she was the only white belt holder made it to that round.

We wanted to go home but was afraid Nabil would miss his chance in competing because nobody could tell us when it will start. So we waited and waited and waited until it was 1.00 pm and I decided to bring Nuraina home as she has her piano class at 4 pm.

Nabil getting ready for sparring. In his mouth is the mouth guard.

So hubby waited with Nabil whilst Aina and myself made our way home. After sending Aina for her piano class, I went to fetch hubby and Nabil bringing the other 3 younger kids along. So it was prize-giving ceremony, Nabil didn't win but he deserved the silver medal as he competed in the final.

Nabil and his medal

Although the children were complaining of hunger and thirst for the 2 days we were there and although I told them they could break fast if they wanted to, they did want and am proud.

P/S- Can you feel my predicament on the many waitings involved on my weekend?
P/S/S- And don't forget to go to the www.orangutanchatters.blogspot.com as this your chance to show your support before the due date at the end of this month. Thank you.

Nabil

Last night while I was attending to Khairina with her homework, my son Nabil approached,

Nabil : Ibu, let's play a game
Me : Not now, later perhaps.

Nabil : It's a very easy game Ibu, you don't really have to think. All you have to do is to follow what I say.
Me : Follow je.

Nabil : Ah ah follow je, that easy.
Me : Ok. I follow. Shoot!

Nabil : Ok Abil akan cakap 'lock', Ibu kena cakap 'key'. Ok?
Me : Ok.

Nabil : I'm Pad lock.
Me : I'm Pad key? Mana ada padkey?

Nabil : Ala Ibu ni, ikut ajelah.
Me : Ok, ok.

Nabil : I'm Gold lock.
Me : I'm Gold key?

Nabil : I'm Door lock.
Me : I'm Door key?

Nabil : I'm Man lock.
Me : I'm Man key?

Nabil : Wakaka kaka ka ka. Ibu monkey.
Ibu : ?????? (Grrr...kurang asem betul) ahak ahak.

In a Flash

Last Saturday, my eldest daughter Nuraina took part in a competition called 'Pertandingan Syair Islam' and she emerged as champion beating other 20 students from other religious schools all around P.J. Good job darling!

Sadly, we did not manage to witness our daughter road to glory due to a communication breakdown. We started the day quite early as my daughter had to be in her religious school by 7.15. So I woke her up at around 6.30 am, after taking her bath and prayer, I told her to get ready, she was then clad in her agama school attire as stated in the rules for the competition. She told me to put some light make-up on her face and once done, the time was closed to 7.10 am. I told her to eat something but she went 'we are late already, Ibu, we have to go now, Quick'. Furthermore, she didn't feel hungry due to the butterfly fluttering in her stomach.

So we walked to the school which takes less than 3 minutes walking distance and true enough we were the first to reach the school. The other participants for tilawah, story telling, pidato and khat writing came minutes later. Their ustazah (the religious teachers) were the last ones to arrive about 20 minutes later. So things got pretty kelam kabut and I was told she was number 31 to perform that day. The ustazah told me that the competition will commence at 8.30 am.

At around 8.30 am, I called my daughter through her handphone, and she said it is not starting yet. As we were planning to take everybody to watch kakak Aina, we basically time ourselves that we should have ample time to watch her if we go around 10.00 am as each contestant takes 5 minutes to perform. So as we were about to get everybody into the car at around 10.00 am, hubby received a message from Kakak Aina 'Dah habis dah' and we were looking at each other and our brood in the car and we went HUH! Dah habis! Laaa... Macamana boleh jadi camtu?

Dissatisfied, we still went to the religious school located in Damansara Utama. The place was swarming with people, it was difficult for us to locate our dear daughter, as everybody looked almost the same in their uniform. Afer a wild goose chase, met her ustazah and was informed that only 20 students took part and she was the 16th person to perform. That was around 10.30 and result will only be announced at around 2.30. So we decided to go back.

When asked on how did she think she performed that day, she said "Ok, I don't think I can get number one sebab ada orang yang hebat lagi tapi no 2 or no.3 can kot Ibu". Nevertheless, she tried her best and that what matters. So she only got to know the result on Monday when she attended her agama school. The ustazah took the trophy home on her behalf.



Hilman had his second haircut last Sunday, he was such a sport that he didn't cry at all this time. Well done, my boy!





Nabil is now playing football in this team called Elves and he plays the position of a striker and doing pretty well in his team.

Khairina is now reading quite well, still slow but not too bad. She had us almost worried as the elder siblings could read at the age of 5 and she was still struggling when she was at that age. She still behaves like a baby, doesn't have a sense of responsiblity, often loses her belongings be it books, pencils (especially), eraser and etc. Tak tahulah budak ni. Berbuih dah mulut cakap.

Dhaniyah still loves dancing and singing but still shy and timid in public. But she sure can shake those booties.

So that's it. My progenies in a flash!

Nabil and school

Just the other day i was asking Nabil, how does he feel going to school nowadays, and he answered school is okay as he has more friends now and he gets to run around the school with his gang during recess. I was so so relieved to hear that and thus it brought back memories of his first month in Std 1.

The eve before he was supposed to start his first day in Primary 1, he approached my hubby and went 'Abah, betul ke besok Abil dah darjah 1?' We were dumbfounded. We didn't see it coming as we thought he was so ready for school. And my hubby went Darn! We sure gonna face lots of problems with him tomorrow morning.

True enough, the next morning he had difficulty waking up, dragged his two feet into the bathroom with dissatisfaction look plastered on his face.
Hubby took the day off to send Kakak and Nabil to school. According to my hubby, the school was swarmed with eager parents sending their children off to school. Nabil was seated at the back of the classroom and he looked nervous and miserable. The first 2 days my hubby took the liberty in making sure he is settled in this new environment.

As I knew that I may need to be checking my son in Std 1 from time to time, I requested that my timetable to be free from 9.30 to 11.00 for the first month. So on the third day onwards I went off to see him in school, to check on him and buying things needed from the bookshop. I was told to wait in the canteen and at 10.10 I watched him coming out in the classroom, alone, looking bored and unhappy. He was stuck to me all the time during recess, all the time holding my hands when i had to go to the bookshop to get him his stuff. His ex kindi friends greeted but he didn't bother to greet them back. I thought he was being macho, little did I know that he was actually feeling miserable inside.

So after recess, it was time for me to bid him farewell, he kissed me on my hand and cheeks, i told him to get inside him classroom and as i was above to wave him goodbye, i saw tears welling up at the corner of his eyes. I asked him what's wrong? but he just shook his head. He looked devastated and he made me feel bad (for sending him to school). The next 2 days, the same thing happened, everytime i had to go back, there will always be tears in his eyes.

The week after, parents were no longer allowed in the school compound even during recess, so he survived the second week but he was still a loner, he didn't bother to make new friends. The third week, he looked a bit better and I asked 'Do you like school now?' and this was his answer 'Ok. I look forward to P.E, Music and Recess.' I tried to keep a straight face but i could feel my face twitched to a smile. A week later he added 'Ibu, Abil suka sekolah sebab ada p.j, muzik, rehat dan balik. Pas tu hari jumaat paling abil suka sebab ada wushu.'

So to know that he looks forward to school and that he has friends now, shows that we had made the right choice in sending him off to school in the first place. ahak ahak.