Ouch! Threading is painful!

On a whim, I decided to give threading a go. This crazy spur of the moment thing happened yesterday when I was at the Empire Shopping Gallery with my kids. We went there to buy some toys for Fahim using up the money he saved from his school allowance. He had RM80 in all. So, after buying the toy from Toys r us, we headed to Popular Book Store just because Sarah wanted to buy a workbook for her History class in school. Now.....that was when the crazy idea hit me....you see, right next to the book store is this beauty salon...it has a nice inviting decor and there were no customers at that time.

So, I thought of just asking about their threading services that was advertised at the door. And when this nice indian lady told me that yeah...she could thread my eyebrows, to remove the bushy unruly bits at the end of each eye brow, costing only RM12....I immediately agreed to give it a try. Then i also asked her if she could remove the facial hair above my lips (which has always made me look like I have a moustache.....euwww!!!) and she smiled and said she could remove ALL facial hair at RM50. Now, I didnt wanna spend that much, so she said, she can just remove the hair from my brows and upper lips at the cost of RM20. So, apalagi.....I nodded and asked her to do her MAGIC....he he he.....

And.....tadaaaaaa.......my brows look super "tidy" now like this.....

and I no more look like a man woman.....hahahaha.......

What do yo think? Ha ha ha ha

Anyway, as a first-timer to threading......my God, it was quite painful.....should I give it another go next time? Hmmm....maybe, ONLY after taking a pain killer before.... hahaha

Farhan will be in Pekan

Happy yet sad.

Reason?

Happy - Farhan got to go to a boarding school .... It has been his dream to go to one, although the school that he was offered is not the one he aimed for...But, it is also a good school, nonetheless

Sad - Mama would have to part with her dear darling son....huhuhuhuhu....and Pekan is not near, you know!

I googled on google maps for the map and directions to MRSM Bandar Tun Abdul Razak, Pekan Pahang....and the distance is shocking!! And the travelling time is even more shocking...4 hrs and 53 minutes!!! Take a look below, if you don't believe me!

Shah Alam in Selangor, is on the West Coast of Malaysia and Pekan which is located in the state of Pahang, is wayyyy on the East Coast....coast to coast, man! Oh dear.......what would I do if I miss him terribly....driving there every weekend is not an option! 5 hours one way....return trip would take me 10 hours....and if my hubby is not around, then I would be the only one driving and that would really be taxing on me.

But, I have to let him go......My dear son, I know it's your wish to be in a good school...this is for your future....It is the best center for the MRSM IGCSE (cambridge) program, and mama hope that you'd be the best! And if you do well in your Cambridge exams 4 years from now, you will be sent to the UK to further your studies in either Cambridge or Oxford......and I would really be proud of you....heck! Even now Mama is already so proud of you son!

**Huwaaaaa.....already crying**

A brand new day in a brand new year

Assalamualaikum,

Helloooooooooo 2012!!!! Yes...this is my first entry on a brand new day in a brand new year. Just felt jumping onto the bandwagon after seeing everyone with blogs penning something to herald the new year. Any new year's resolutions for me? Nope....nada!!! To me, you do not need to wait for the new year to have any resolutions, betul tak? Once you decide to do something good for a change, regardless of what time of the year it is, JUST DO IT! Tak payah nak tunggu the new year baru nak change for the better.

But this new day reminds me of the song 2012 by Jay Sean. It is one of my favourite songs, I can tell ya. Love the melody, so take a listen!

"....The end of the world,like it's 2012?..." No, I do not think that the world is gonna end in 2012. As a Muslim, I believe that the big impending signs of the apocalypse have not fully appeared yet. Yeah..., we still got time, but the time we have should be spent wisely to better oneself for the benefit of others.....ultimately, to get Allah's blessings in life and hereafter. Amin!

Meatloaf anyone?

Oh yes.......terasa rajin today bersempena dengan cuti extra Krisma......I cooked meatloaf you!!! Haaa....very the unsangkarable!! Tak percaya???? Tengok ni....hasil kerastangan...eh...airtangan I....

What say you? Haha.....cooked in two loaf pans...see, one was almost gone and we were still eating then. Fahim took the last piece of the first meatloaf....his fourth pieace, you know! And we attacked on the second loaf. Right now bibik is still eating .... probably only half left for dinner! I am sooooo proud of myself. It is a very very rare occassion for me to cook something different for a change....sometimes I am just lazy to think of what new to cook, so, I always end up cooking (ehm ehm....now, bibik lah yang masak mostly) the usual standard malay fare .... nasi, kari, masak lemak, sambal tumis, sayur rebus.

Besides, my oven cooker yang had been broken for the past few months had been restored. So, today was a kinda trial ... to test if the cooker is functioning without any glitches, as guaranteed by the repairman.

I also mashed some potatoes (from scratch, mind you!....not from the box ye....) and boiled some baby carrots, grean beans and asparagus to go with the meatloaf. And for the gravy (also from scratch), I prepared some mushroom gravy which was a bit salty to my liking. Next time, I will remember to use the chicken stock cube more sparingly. So, the result:

Simply marvellous!

Here's the recipe, for those of you who wanna try this dish:

Meatloaf:

1 kg of minced beef

minced onion

cream of mushroom mixture (2 packets)

some salt

2 medium eggs

2/3 cup of fresh milk

1 tblspoon yellow mustard

3 tblspoon brown sugar

3 tblspoon tomato ketchup

Method - mix minced beef, onion, mushroom mix, salt, eggs and milk together in a large bowl. In another bowl, mix mustard, sugar and tomato ketchup together. Then pack the beef mixture tightly into two loaf pans for baking. Before you put the pans in the oven, spread the top of the meatloaf with the mixture of sugar, tomato and mustard. Set the oven temperature to 180 celsius and bake for approximately 1 hour. When ready, cool the meatloaf for 10 minutes before serving.

Mushroom gravy:

2 packets of mushroom soup mix

1 chicken stock cube

1 tblspoon of butter

some minced onions

Method - melt the butter in a saucepan. Add in the onions and cook til soft and brown. In a separate bowl, mix the mushroom soup mix and chicken stock together with boiled water. When the onions are browned, pour in the mushroom mixture and cook til you get your desired consistency.

Mashed potatoes:

2 kg of Idaho potatoes

2 cups of heavy cream

3 tablespoons butter

salt

pepper

Method - peel potatoes. Cut the potatoes into quarters and boil in a pot. Add some salt into the boiling water. Once tender, drain the potatoes. Mash the potatoes. On the stove, cook the butter, add in the heavy cream and stir until everything is melted. Add in pepper. While you are mashing the potatoes, pour the melted cream mixture into the potatoes and hand whip them up til fluffy.

Sarah and her string of As

Hey hey hey.....another happy update from me! Yes.....Alhamdulillah, Sarah aced her PMR!!! 8As!! Congratulations dear gegirl! Mama and Papa are so proud of you.

As always, mamanya was very nervous on the day of the results announcement. We went to Putrajaya first because I had to get my hubby's UPENN scroll and translation endorsed by Wisma Putra (Ministry of Foreign Affairs). The results would be out after 10 am, Sarah found out. So, after the endorsement was obtained, we headed to Pappa Rich in Cyberjaya to have our breakfast (again....hehehehe.....had eaten at home before leaving the house but everyone was hungry again as we had little food in our rush to go to Wisma Putra). By then Sarah found out that the results would only be released after 11 in her school....so, we took our own sweet time 'lepaking' in Pappa Rich until almost 11 before we headed to SSP.

When we got there, we saw nervous looking people (girls and parents alike) waiting anxiously in the hall for the announcement to be made. When finally the Principle and Assistant Principle took to the stage, the hall turned absolutely quiet that you could even hear the sound of a pin drop on the floor, I tell ya.

The Assistant Principle, En. Aziz was given the honor (I suppose) to deliver the results.....he announced the overall achievement.....and where SSP stood in the country's/state's/ all SBP ranks. Everyone was jubilant upon hearing that SSP has beaten SAS (their arch enemy!!!) this time around. Then it was time to announce the individual results.....starting from the top class 3P. En. Aziz told all students from 3P to walk up the stage when the names of those who got straight As are called. Well....you could just hear the cries of joy, whoops and hoorays when each name was called out. Apparently ALL 3P girls got 8As. And then, the moment of truth....3U....the second best class....my daughter's class. You could hear my heart beating fast and me and Sarah were squeezing each other's hand so tight, that time!! My mom who followed too was also looking so anxious! Farhan looked like he was hoping Kakak to get all As like he did in his UPSR. But my boy Fahim....hahahahaha.....looked so like "tak tau" what all this was about.

Anyway, luckily En. Aziz, to ease our suspense, began telling us for 3U....ALL STUDENTS GOT 8As.......And my anxiety dissipated in a flash.....I hugged and kissed Sarah many times and saw my mom's tears of joy swelling in her eyes.....Farhan flashed the biggest smile ever and tapped kakak on her back...and Fahim...hehehe...still look 'lost'...."apa mama? apa mama?" And Sarah.....no words can describe how happy she looked!!!! And then En. Aziz started to call out each girl's names.....what a relief!!! Sarah's name begins with an S....and if En. Aziz had not made the announcement that all got 8As....I would have been in a suspense a whole lot longer...nak sampai ke letter S tu.

Look at Sarah (center in grey baju kurung and tudung) and whose names have been called on stage. She looked so happy!

A group photo of those who got 8As (145 out of 166 students). I could not locate Sarah but later she told me that she was at the back...so, since my daughter is "vertically challenged" like me...he he he....tak nampak lah dia in the photo tu. But if you know who Datuk Seri Rizal Merican is....a 'somebody' in UMNO (sorry la, tak tau exactly what portfolio he holds in UMNO....I don't give a s**t about politics, you know..), then he is the only man you see in the photo....FYI, his daughter Aulia is a third former in SSP and she also got 8As!! So, since Dato's Seri ni is a somebody, people from the media came to the school too....TV3 and NST!! And of course they interviewed his daughter and him. I was kinda hoping that they would interview my daughter too (biasalah.....mama yang over....wishing that the daughter would be in the limelight.......hahahaha) and I asked Sarah to hang around close to the media crew but she refused and left with her good friend Rahmah to go to their classroom. She specifically told me "Mama....I am thankful enough for the 8As.....I don't need to announce to the whole country what I got!!" Hmmmmm....1 Sarah, 0 Mama. Hahahahaha.

So...... 2011 has definitely been good to me....both my kids got straight As in their major exams. And I am truly grateful to Allah for that. Just wished that my hubby was there to share the moment with me both times!

A proud mama

Hi readers!

It's officially my first entry for December. Too much has been happening lately that I just could not find the time to write in my blog! Hahaha....but I would always make the time to read other people's blog!! My method to unwind after a hard day's work! Anyway, just wanna share with you guys the good news that my son Farhan had scored 5As in his UPSR exam. Alhamdulillah.....all the hard work (mama's hahaha.....as always, I take the credit for any of my child's success...hihi) sending him to his many tuition classes etc had paid off.

Yeah....that's him on your far right. Look at him ........ one proud and satisfied looking boy, showing off his results slip! Hmmm.........all these while, before the exam I was always scolding him for not studying....I was not confident that he would get 5As because he would only study when told and itupun....would focus on his work for 15 minutes before leaving the table to take a rest.....and the rest took longer than 15 minutes! Manalah mama tak naik berang!!!! This was always the source of contention between me and him! But I guess he had the last laugh.....and proved me wrong! Sorry dear boy for not 100% believing in you.....I was wrong, i admit it! I guess it was just your way of studying which was different than mine and I should not expect everyone to study the way I did dulu dulu. Huhuhu.

Anyway, his papa, my dear hubby was also proud of him. Asked him what he wanted as a present. And so, hubby bought him this

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His very own laptop!! It's called ALIENWARE by Dell! Cost papa more than RM4K, i tell ya! Huih.....kids nowadays.....they always expect us to buy them all these fancy, techno gizmos that are not cheap, mind you! I remember when I got 5As dulu, my dad only took me and the whole family out to eat KFC je!!

Nasib baik laaaa papa awak kerja kat Arab Saudi nak oiiiii.....

After 21 years

21 years after that tearful day at TKC, we met again. Yes, I am talking about last Sunday, 13/11/11, where me and 9 other former 5Sians from TKC met .... sort of a 'jejak-kasih' moment there, you guys. Thanks to Shelly, who invited us to attend her wedding ceremony at Hotel Singgahsana in PJ, we managed to make it a more memorable night with a reunion of sorts for us.

Shelly had assigned us TKCians and respective husbands to sit at two tables, arranged side by side....and we (more precisely, my other friends) persuaded the husbands to sit at one table while us ladies sat at the other table......so as to make it easier for us to talk and catch up after all these years. As usual, the questions asked around the table would be.....

1. Berapa orang anak you dah?

2. Kerja kat mana?

3. Duduk kat mana?

4. Eldest child dah besar mana?

And of course....comments or remarks such as...

1. Eh.....pasai apa dah besar?

2. .....wow! still maintain....macam anak dara.....(HAHAHAHA...this one was directed at me....hehehe...a vain moment there for me)

3. Jeles kat u sebab anak2 u dah besar (haha....also directed at me)

4. Should we call u DOCTOR? (again, at me!!!)

And of course we also reminisced all the fun things that we did back then.

Then, came the camwhoring session........(the very reason I bought a new outfit and dinner bag...heheh).....Enjoy the photos below ya!

This is me and my best friend Shina back in those days. Dulu we were both nerds. We had big spectacles and Shina was chubbier than now. Of course we were the 'short' ones too. Now, it seems I have grown taller than her........not really, i wore kasut tinggi lah!! She is now an Accounts Manager at Toyota, Shah Alam. Anak 3. Also got married early like me....so, her eldest is already 14.

And we each brought a son to the wedding ceremony, to replace our husbands who couldnt be at our sides. My Fahim is the one on the right, while hers (Shakir) is the other.....guess who is older? Mine....Fahim is 9 while Shakir is 11, kecil comel....but very bright and hilarious too. They enjoyed each other's company. And both of them became our cameraman for the night...hahahaha!!!

Hahaha...finally, presenting the bride and groom....Shelly and Hanif. Shelly our ex-class mate is now a somebody at the Ministry of Education......very lucky for me coz ada lah cable besar to ask for favors masukkan anak into boarding school??? Naahhh....she's actually in charge of sekolah harian....too bad! Did not have a chance to borak with her as she was very2 busy.....yelah, Raja Sehari lah katakan...so, am still wondering what her husband does......especially that I have seen her husband in an advertisement of Open University on the billboards around Klang Valley.....hmmm.....very curious as to what his profession is...a model? a lecturer?

We finally had the opportunity to steal the happy couple away from the other guests!! Look at me....what a coincidence that my outfit colour is the same as theirs hahaha...great minds think alike??

Found this photo to be kinda funny....especially Lin (in black jubah and tudung...she's pregnant by the way, with her 5th child.....salute oooo)...and Dahl too....I suppose something to their left must have caught their attention...And there's Fizzie with her son Wais on her lap.....she was the one who introduced me to her maid agent and thanks to her, I got my current maid after a week.

Yeah...that's us (9 of us, minus Shelly who was busy meeting the guests in the hall). From left to right, front row...introducing.....Ila, Eny, Dahl, yours truly, Shina, and Dina (with her adorable daughter Iman). Back row.....Elid, Fizzie and Lin. There were actually 25 of us in 5S...now only 24 remaining as one of us (Hifzana) has gone back to the Creator, many2 years ago after a fatal car accident in the US during her university days.....alfatihah buat arwah. The others did not turn up due to prior commitments and there are still many of us whose whereabouts could not be traced......but thank Allah for Facebook....the 10 of us managed to get back in touch after all these years.

21 years seems so long ago, but at the wedding on Sunday, it sure felt like it was just yesterday that we were there sitting in the classroom, enjoying life to the max, with no cares or worries in the world. Sigh.....I sure long for those days again!!!