The Original Juice

Got the car to go to Geylang bazaar!!!



A bit apprehensive on the outlook of the road conditions there. Im pretty sure it'd be crowded as its Friday Night and the bazaar is on full swing but at the same time, its early Ramadhan still.



Nevertheless, very grateful mummy allowed me to take the car. I decided to park at Singpost and walk the whole stretch of Geylang.


Glad that traffic wasn't as bad as it could get. BUT parking was bit hellish, esp when i missed the turn to go underground but went straight to the open space car park. I saw a slot and tot i was damn lucky. Just as i was reversing to a straight position i saw a handicap sign on the rearview mirror. Silly me when out again in the opp direction further inside to dead end just a few metres away. Z told me to reverse back into the slot then go out the right way.

By this time, i panicked bcos cars keep coming behind me... No other choice but to reverse straight to the back... i started slowly when i tot that the cars behind me were stationary. It was dark and scary! I cldnt depend on my rearview mirror alone cos there might be cars coming from the other side... so i had to physically turn my neck round to the back. By doing so, i got my alignment confused and distorted.. i steered a bit to the left, got scared then a bit to the right.. ARGHH i wanted to give up. Thankfully, by the time, i reached a good enough distance to turn right to the exit. Phew! I was very sure the other drivers were cursing me up and down but at least they didnt honk!


The agenda for going to the bazaar is to look for some traditional malay sweet dishes.. some kind of jelly (agar2 gudil) and to get Deng deng as well as to window shop for Z's First Day of Eid's outfit. Theme is Black.


We didn't even bother to check around the stalls at Singpost. It was soo dismal. Poor them. Just under the train tracks there was somebody selling illegal cigarettes!! How i know its illegal? they were all in plastic bags, ready to move in case a police comes by! If i wasn't in a hurry, i should have tipped off the police. I sooo hate these peddlers who are endangering the lives of pple by selling it dirt cheap cos they've avoided tax!


I called Fara to ask where's her shop. She only managed to tell me that hers is near the wet market and next to Tourism Malaysia. Er.. knowing how clueless i can be with directions, i doubt i can find her shop and told her straight if we're fated to meet, then we will..


In the meantime... there werent any good foodstuffs to buy at all! All the foods can be typically found on normal bazaars like Keropok Lekor, Burger Ramly n such. But i want kuih like kuih kochi ke... kuih lapis ke... onde2... Fuyohhh i want!! But to no avail.


When Z saw the Deng Deng stall, he said, "What is this? Is it like Bee Cheng Hiang BBQ pork?" hahaha i said yeah but this is halal meat of course and he eagerly said ok buy me some. I looked at him, are you sure? this is beef, you know. He made a face and said Ok no thank u. I bought $4 and had it all to myself.


We saw a Giant Songkok (Muslims cap) and a Giant Capal (male wooden sandals). Z even took photos of it but it looked normal in the picture bcos there wasnt any comparison. Haha next time babes.

We finally found a shop selling male Shalwar Kameezes. And i love these because they came with vests! And i like how Z chatted the salesperson up in Urdu. makes me feel like in Lahore. Ok.. more like makes me feel less guilty. Dont ask why.

I am sooo taken by how Pakistani the young man looked and talked in fluent Urdu w his father but i later heard him talking to a Malay friend in Malay just as fluent! I never tot that was possible before. To me its like you're either Urdu speaking or Malay speaking, period.


In any case, we lingered at the shop for quite some time, talking to the owner and such. Until at one moment, i saw somebody was waving at me! One glance, i thought it was Nisa! But couldn't be. I mean what are the odds! Then she approached me and i took closer look... Hmmm could it be my senior in school, Kak Fatimah? But why would she go all the way to approach me?

Then this lady opened her mouth, pointed to Z and said, "I recognised you first." OK CONFIRMED it's Nisa! (my senior wldnt recognise Z haha) then i confidently said to Z, "Darling, you know who this is not?!?!?! NISA!!!"

Haha we made that stall like our house chit chatting for some... 10min?? It was very nice lah. I told her fancy seeing her here when it's always soooooooooooo diff to arrange a time to go out and meet. Truthfully, i had a bit of a fear meeting an internet friend for the first time. I mean would we hit it off just as we did online? For her and me, it was no problem at all!

Next to meet is Sue. Sueeeee please tell us when we can come and visit you okkkkkkkkkkkkk... now you've GOT to reply me since i put special mention of u in my blog entry. hehehe


So we continued exploring Geylang till the other side of Malay Village. Guess what we found? CHICKEN Deng deng!! Z was DElirious. there were even TWO Flavours to choose from: Chilli or Honey. Cldn't decide so asked them to mix it. YUMMY i tell you. same price.


If i tot, meeting Nisa was a surprise, Meeting a 2nd friend on the same night is yet another bigger odd! When i walk, i dont normally look at pple's faces, maybe that's why i never meet any friends outside... tt's why this is such a big thing for me / us.

This 2nd person we met was Rabiah who treated us to a Hindi movie some time back. But she seemed to be in a hurry and we talked for only a while.

Then i received an sms from Fara giving me her stall no. KU ###. Er... I was at GS ## cant remember what... i didnt put at hope in meeting her at all. We traced back our route to the wet market and found KU 003. Er... looks like this is the other end of the bazaar. OK let's try to look for her...

Finally we saw one number less of hers and started walking to the stall on the other side anticipating to find her when we heard a guy calling, "Zubair! Zubair!" Sounds familiar.... Aslam! YAYYY we've found them!!! No wonder i cldnt find Fara, she was sitting on the floor sorting out some stuffs.

hehehe Luckily they have another staff to entertain the customers, cos we kept them in conversation for some 10 min also! It was then that i realise she wasnt selling Kuih Raya (Eid's sweets) like she told me she would but are selling Male Shalwar kameez + vest + Shawl!! Oh no i feel so guilty. If i knew i would have bought from her. But she very nicely said, "no no its ok... anywhere also can..." PLUS her collections are WAY NICER and the shawl! the shawl!

Oh what a fun night it was! I am soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo happy to have met 3 friends!! all in one night too! :D

Yesterday i couldn't think of what to write... Today i got loads to tell!!


BellyDancing

First of all Tuesday night was the 3rd class for bellydancing. Only 6 out of 20+ of us remained. I was not early but the rest wasnt there yet which was a bit of a surprise and i had a few min of one on one session with the instructor. Finally i understood how to do snake arms! The trick is to make your wrist flow and it will look nice. haha

Last week we learnt Shoulder shimmy and 3 point turn. Lol! Like driving pulak~. That night we learnt Hip Shimmy and Walking with Horizontal Figure 8. The latter is a bit tricky lah. We learnt previously in Carol's class but somehow the way this instructor do it looks a bit diff. I just hentam the way that i learnt before.

I planned to just continue even during fasting month since the mosque is very nearby. But for the past two weeks, i realised that i get very lethargic afterwards. but i NEED exercise. and i CANT miss a single class, otherwise i wont be able to catch the next 8 steps into the songs, what more to miss 4 lessons!

Taking cab home every night won't solve the problem also as it might interfere with my cashflow. haha. So i think i might as well stop going lah. *WAILING!!*


Late Night Supper

Its the first time that Tuesday night that i was sooo hungry i had to bother someone to buy food for me.

See i only ate a Club Sandwich from 711 at 6pm before my belly dancing class. when i reached Causeway Point at 9pm, i was still not hungry and tot i'd just have my ice cream.

I was just about to drift away to sleep at 11:30pm when Z finally reached home. So we talked a bit while he rubbing my tummy. hehe Then it hit me. It hit me bad this hunger pang. i was SOOOOO hungry i nearly cried! Tuesday is a Mum's not cooking night so there's nothing in the kitchen. Well... nothing that's ready anyways. I can't even think about calling Mc cos im so sick of it.

So i called Mummy. She was in JB but luckily going back already. So i asked to buy some sausagey or tuna-ish thingy. She got me both from Polar Puff and another set for the hungry Father also. LOL. *ALL SMILES*

Wednesday's Lunch

For lunch i went to Singtel Hello shop at Golden Shoe. Sighhh if Kak Long was still working there, we could have lunched together! The Q was super long with pple getting their iPhones clogging up the line. BLERGHK!

I just had my Tuna puff from last night half an hour earlier but i know i had to get something otherwise i will be hungry later. If somebody was observing me, they would surely think i was crazy cos at one time i was walking up the street then turned around and walked down instead 2 or 3 times. I even climbed up the stairs to the hawker center but came down again.

I was sooo confused on what food to buy. Bcos i was still feeling full i guess. I had been wanting Famous Amos cookies but at that time, it didnt appeal to me. Then i tot, ok having FRIES only (minus burger) is good while i wait for 40min for my no to be called while playing my sudoku. Then i remembered my promise to myself to bring down my fast food intake. Then i tot, ok let's just buy fruits, but i just drank a bottle of Lemon 1000 that contains 1000MG of Vitamin C. I read that overdose of Vit C can cause miscarriage.

I settled for Old Chang Kee AND the cookies in case i feel crave for it later on and regret not buying them when i was so near! LOL.

Zubair often gets irritated with my constant thinking and changing of minds. But i have my reasons ok :P

Anyways, it was raining cats and dogs and i didnt bring umbrella. I even had to dash across the road. I'm so careless! But i think the baby's tough lah can tolerate all my jumping and running. hehe


First Drive While Pregnant

I realised that i havent driven the car ever since i knew i was pregnant. Not that i was overly cautious or anything. Just that i like to sleep in the car on the way to work when Ayah drives me. And i dont go back home with Ayah anymore cos if i take the train, i get longer and uninterrupted sleep. LOL

I was dragging my feet to go to my class last night cos its raining and i just feel super tired from the night before. It's like as though my mum has 6th sense. She offered the car keys to me~!!! A bit surprised there cos i didnt think she would let me drive again esp now that im pregnant. She did say, "Take Care tau" when i was leaving. So im very grateful there as i couldnt imagine walking in the rain. YIKES!

A bit nervous going down the slippery car park ramp and a bit nervous while reverse parking but it all turned out alright. Phew~ I did take special care WALKING up and down that ramp bcos before this (b4 pregnant), i had fallen down at the exact same spot TWICE.

So 4 short stories there.

We went out from the house to go to work at 7:35am this morning. (slightly earlier than usual)

But u know what time i reached the office? 9:20am!!! Close to 2 hours on the road!!

At first when we came out from the carpark, there was an exceptionally long queue to turn to the expressway. Ayah said, "Oh i think there's some road construction. Should go via PIE instead." so he made one big left turn to the other side of town to the PIE entrance. BUt as it turned out, there was an even LONGER and SLOWER queue to the PIE.

I closed my eyes. Dont wanna get stressed. But i could hear Ayah sighing. Poor Ayah.

Next time i opened my eyes, i could see some mrt tunnel or something... Where are we? Definitely not in expressway...

Few minutes later i saw... Clementi Road.... then Dunearn... Eng neo then finally Bkt Timah... it was already 9am and Ayah's supposed to start at 8:30am! I msged my manager i'd be in slightly late. maybe another 20min.

After an 1hr nap, i was wide awake. BUT nauseous! This is like the 2nd time i felt nauseous in my 8 weeks pregnancy. So giddy from the turnings and the zig zagging... the move stop move stop.. I ate some of my raisin bread... Maybe it worked slightly by taking my mind off the road. But the sweetness made me wanna puke some.

I could even taste the salty saliva that usually comes before the real upheaval. Thank God i managed to psycho myself not to throw up.

Now that we've reached Tekkah.. i know its just a mattter of time before i reached the office.

When i got down, i quickly bought something spicy. my fav SIEW MAI!!!

This morning at about 8.12am, on the way to work, a taxi bumped us from behind!


We were travelling along the CTE (AYE). It happened somewhere near AMK Ave 3.

I felt the impact was SOooo great I thanked God i was sitting in front and wearing the seat bealt. I can't fathom what it would have been like if a passenger sitting behind didn't wear the seat belt. It was really very scary.

At first, i thought they was a major earthquake or something but didnt see anything happening in front of me. It took me a few nanoseconds after i saw my dad checking the rearview mirror to understand what had happened! But the instant (30 sec) after the fear subsided, I whipped out my hp camera and took pictures! Evidence, babe.

The Toyota Crown Taxi was unscathed! prolly a teeny wee bit hint of a crooked hood and one or two micromini dents.

I even took the driver's facial picture So he can't weasel out of this one. HAH!

At first Ayah asked him, "What happened? Sleepy ah?" He said, "No Lah where got sleepy. Lucky i braked already if not worse!"

It was 10:45pm. We were at a road junction somewhere in Yishun.

The red light was on and we were like the 5th car in the queue.

By the time i looked back on the road, the 4th car in front of us already way in front of us. Ayah was scrubbing his eyes.

Ayah: My radar is not working lah tonight....

Mummy: ZZZZzzzz....

Me: .........?

Ayah: Cos my radar is SLEEPING!

LOL!!!!!!!



Mummy is the designated co-pilot. Would warn ayah, "Bang! Dekatnye Bang!" (So Close, darling!) or "Careful Sayang, careful!" It's not enough that she said that, but she would say that in such an URGENT and panicky tone and sometimes she would bang the dashboard ala Driving Instructor.


Before marriage, I have simply ignored it. But after Zubair came into the picture, i joined in the amusement. Giving each other knowing smiles each time she does that.


Until that time when i drove and Zubair was next to me. And just as i was making a turn, Zubair mimicked mummy in a shrill same panicky voice, "Darling! careful, sayang! Ohhh!!! Ooopppp!!"


For a second there, i really thought somebody was about to bang me and my heart jumped! And i warned him there and then that that's a dangerous thing to do. I nearly panicked myself!


So, i realised even MORE what a CALM person my dad is. To be tolerating such cautious warnings WHILST DRIVING, at least TEN TIMES per 30min of driving and pretend its normal. *shake head* Subhanallah.

My parents went to Malacca as guides last weekend with school children by bus.

So i drove the car back after sending them. And with my BIL not in Spore either, i got the full rein of the car for THREE WHOLE DAYS!! WOO HOO

Sat night, before sending Zubair to Clarke Quay, we together with my sisters went to have dinner at Lau Pa Sat. OH my lord how i LOVe satay.

Navigating to Lau Pa Sat, Clarke Quay and back home was a breeze. partly bcos that morning i checked out the place already. I was supposed to pick him up after sending my parents but Z forgot! Well to be fair, i didnt remind him again nearer the time in an effort to give him a pleasant surprise. But since i only reached there at 7:15am and he finished at 6:30am, i missed the train.


Sun: It was sort of a shame that we didnt use the car in the day for sight seeing or jalan jalan... But i had a fun time picking up Kak Long's friend from Spottiswoode Park, somewhere Tg Pagar then on to Four Seasons Hotel for their friend's wedding dinner, then to Orchard for dinner with Z, then send Z to Clarke Quay then back to Four Seasons Hotel to pick them up and drop her off then home.

It was again such a breeze. I was so happy with myself having done my homework and passed the test with flying colours.

I even toyed with a fantasy of a career switch: to be a school bus driver or something! LOL.


But the dream all came crashing down on Monday night when i wanted to send Z to Clarke Quay.


A big tree from the center divided up and fell, blocking all four lanes in the expressway CTE (AYE). All traffic had to exit at the first Ang Mo Kio exit.


It was a shame that Zubair didnt believe in me enough to let me find out where to go next. I KNEW there were a few entrances to the CTE after that exit, i just had to find it. Instead, he kept insisting i just drop him off at Ang Mo Kio MRT despite it being past 10pm and he'd be like 45min late.


I turned right after the MRT along the AMK HUB and drove down that road. I remembered Ayah driving past thru this road straight all the way after exiting from an expressway. Then suddenly, the sign to CTE shows i had to turn left and i did and i travelled for a few minutes in SUPER DARK road all alone with not much traffic, i thought i was a star in Langolias or something (Stephen King's novel adapted movie).


I tried to stay strong. i NEED to go home. I cant abandon the car and take the cab home now can i? So i came to a very familiar junction near the train depot. Then i became a bit hopeful but not for long when i saw THREE DIFF Signs into the expressway. One says "CTE (Ang Mo Kio)", "City", "CTE (PIE)".

Now, why the hell would i take CTE AMK if im ALREADY in AMK? Where does it lead to anyway? To add to the confusion, the entrance wasn't blocked like the other one was. Could it mean its back to Woodlands?

I can't take the City obviously cos im supposed to go back up north. and shouldn't it be blocked? But why wasn't it?

So the safest option i had was CTE PIE. At least i would know what i was doing and where i was going. CTE... then go to PIE... then BKE.... right?

Suddenly when i entered the expressway i wasnt sure anymore... bcos again it was DARK... with big trees looming and not a sign of traffic anywhere near me... Am i really going the right way? where's everybody else??

I cried.

I cldnt help it but i felt so.... ALONE!

What could i do but continue driving following my instincts... and in the end i arrived at a familiar patch and i reached home some 30mins more of driving.

Last night, i stayed in the office till 8:30pm finishing some irritating things.

I reached home 9:30 and i made a deal with Zubair. If he doesn't wanna pick me up at the MRT station (lazy / headache), then i will get to play computer game till 2am and then dont say later, "Boring lah, want to go out!"

And that's what exactly happened! Miraculously he doesnt mind his headache now and really wanted to go out.... He said let's go to Sakura.... I told him... everything closed already lah... IN my mind now thinking where can we find 24hrs food joint that is accessible to non-driving pple?


That's it! Let's go to the airport!! Ok we all got geared up to go.... When suddenly i had another idea!

I asked Ayah if i could use the car for awhile! And miraculously he gave the green light! Perhaps It was easier for him to say yes cos Mum wasn't in the room when i asked him. teehee...

And then suddenly, we had another change of idea... Since we have the car... let's go to Marina to play bowling!

And so we drove all the way to Marina South... only to find out that they are... CLOSED!!! Empty... Zero!! This is supposed to be a HOT place... bustling with crowds till early morning... then i drove on to see that the road on the other side is closed... i think they are gonna tear down the whole place or something to make way for the Integrated Resort something or other.

Hmmm now Z's tummy is growling... we were on the way to the airport when we saw Lau Pa Sat and stopped there isntead cos Airport will be another 20mins drive away!

We just had 20 sticks of satay and poor Z is still not quite satisfied cos he has a CRAVING for chappati and the indian stall's closed!

Thankfully though, he said let's go home. Well, we sure should as it was already 2:15am!!

And we drove home smoothly... But i must say there are so many dangerous drivers out there this time around. me i just kept to centre lane and capped the speed at 80 km/h

Thank you Ayah for letting us drive! Really appreciate it.

I drove for the first time today after 3 months of resting!

My Injured Hand, That's why.

Mummy has a day trip on her freelance job at travel agency. But Ayah is home and he let me drive to me 11 o'clock class! (like 500m away from home! LOL!)

Even before today, I believe I could start driving again.. but always no opportunity... cos i have abandoned my lens to go to work, so can't drive TO work nor back home. But today i started out from home so i took my powered shades.

Actually... it felt rather ordinary! Well... that is besides me being conscious of how different my left thumb feels. It functions... but i can feel that its different... like not up to old standard... (But i'm thankful nonetheless..) I am also thankful that the family car is Automatic now... So i dont feel the Funniness of my left thumb too often. Otherwise, i might just not stop laughing while driving! (Ok apa jer Aku ni)

Well.. I am a female driver and im proud of it.

So what if i'm slow at parking, or scared to change lane in a busy traffic?

Too bad you are not gentleman enough to give way.

Listen up people, I have decided that YOU hafta wait. Period.

It was 6:50pm. Dusk was approaching fast at 7pm.

I was behind the wheel, waiting to reverse into my fav almost-always-perfect reverse parking slot.

BUT:

1. It was dark. The lights were not switched on yet
2. I took off my powered sunglasses, leaving my eyes with 150 degrees short sighted
3. A car was approaching behind me

I paused for quite some time, letting the driver behind me ample time to realise i was gonna reverse in, so he wldnt come any nearer.

then i reversed. Hmmm Something is not quite right.... It's ok, the mirror said so...

It was indeed another perfect parking. BUT, Ayah said i hit the car next to ours. I said, "Are you sure?" he went out to take a look at the damage.

Ayah: Yup

Me: What do u mean?

Ayah: there's some scratch

Me: How bad is it?

Ayah: oh like our scratches

Me: Wait. That's bad.

Ayah: Oh no quite minor. Just need polishing and its ok.

Ayah: So what u wanna do?

Me: Er... can you help me to move into another lot?

Ayah: Or... do u want to put a note on the car for the owner?

Me: *shaking my head vigorously*

I know!!! I'm sooo bad!! But i went out to look at our scratch. it was SUPER MINOR. i rubbed it off with my own bare hands. but Ayah said the other car's scratch looked a bit more painful.

I wanted to go and look to rub it off but another car already pulled in to that lot and was still in the car so i didnt dare come near.

I was then, in a way, chided for my cowardice when Ayah recalled that Angel who wrote a note to Ayah. (Recall the story here)

I'm sorry, Dear Owner. But i can't help you. Especially not right now when i need money the most with Eid coming and all... Please understand.

The guys from left: Raizan (Hanani's), Zubair, Sofyan (Hairiah's), Firdaus ('Azma's) and Hisyam ('Ainul's)

Girls on sofa from left: Tiasa, Hairiah, 'Ainul, Khairiah, Fit, Me, Nan, Y.

Girls on floor from left: 'Azma and Zihah.

I wrote about how excited i feel about this break fast with the girls because

1. Wanna see Nan's house
2. This wld be the first time the 5 hubbies are coming together
3. wanna cook!!

It's a potluck and i made Roti JOhn with minced Chicken instead of minced beef. I was a bit upset that mummy prepared the chopped red and green chillis and the leaves for me cos i really wanted to do it all on my own! but just as well... cos i woke up at 4pm and was in a hurry. Zubair joined it slicing the raw bread and further cutting the fried bread. he said he enjoys cooking!

Ayah was supposed to send us to Tampines then come back to pick up mummy from causeway point bcos she's gonna buy a fan. but suddenly, when we were all ready Ayah said, "im not going with you, you can take the car." my heart leapt for joy!

I quickly browsed thru the directory on how to go to Tampines. Luckily it's near my old house which i had stayed for 18 freaking yrs! so i can visualise the place. Then suddenly i remember about Fit! and good thing she hasnt left her house either (and it was already 6pm!). then i browsed the directory again to plan how to go to her place.

So funny, i went thru the right street.. and i came into Woodlands ring road at the right entrance ie nearest to her house but i missed the first carpark that's hers! so i had to make one big round to get to her again. Then i was supposed to turn right to go towards the expressway but i confidently turned left! hahah then had to make a (illegal shhhh) u-turn.

The funniest thing of all... we got to Tampines st 23 fine enough... but we had extreme difficulty to fine blk 224. then when we finally found blk 224, parked, put in parking coupons and walked out, i realised that it's actually blk 229!!!!!!!! *pulls hair* Thank god 229 is just two blocks away and it was like 6.55pm already!! hahahahah

I hafta say that that street label their block no so inconsistently and in no apparent order! It's totally nonsensical. and then when we entered the carpark, the signs were SOO Funny, it showed some block numbers towards the outside!! Fit and i really laughed and mocked at it like crazy. So you can't blame us for getting lost in the carpark!

Finally "opening" time was here... and we took some fruits and drinks first and me 1 stick of satay first then we prayed. THEN we attacked the food!

There were:

1. Nasi Ayam (courtesy of the hosts - ZanNan)
2. Beef Spaghetti (Fit's own cooking)
3. Fried Bee Hoon (Azm'a own cooking!!!)
4. Roti John Chicken (My own cooking..)
5. SUPER DUPER Delicious rock melon and green grapes (T)
6. SATAY!!!!!!!!!! (Hairiah)
7. Ice cream (Ziah)
8. Mango Cake (Khairiah) Zubair just LOVEEEEd this!
9. Brownie ('Ainul) 2 pcs each = 4pcs per couple!!!

Then we prayed terawih of 8 rakaat and witr of 3. Hmm im Sorry Ustaz Sofyan. You have a nice voice and everything... but we thought that the least u cld do is sped the pace a little bit. Im afraid it might turn off pple from terawih. But yeah at least we were entertained/soothed by your melodious voice / suara yg mendayu2.

Well.. about Nan's house... i just wanna say... WOW!!! its simple yet sooooooo elegant and cosy and and and tranquil!! heheheh i think its the zen effect?

Anyway, they are both tall 1.70cm and above. so when they renovated their house, they asked for the kitchen counter to be higher but the contractor advised to lower down a bit in consideration of average height and short guests like ME! hehehe i noticed the height when i wanted to wash my hands. when i told Zubair, of course he didnt notice! haha I can't see the mirror in the master bedroom's bathroom also!!!

we are both sooooooo in love with your house!! can't wait to get our own! but yes yes yes AFTER he finds a stable job :P

Zubair really wanted to go to Little India afterwards. It being Sat i tot it was ok.. but i remembered that Fit was with us and she cancelled a lift back from her sister bcos i cld drive her back (at a later time).. Then i tot what the hell? just ask if she'd mind and she said she doesnt and i planned the route to go.. but when we were really leaving i changed my mind.. too tired already and Mummy already called when r we coming home? hahaa Fortunately, Zubair understood. =)

Everybody's about done with eating so we started packing. i helped out and felt so much fun!! Now i understand why our mothers are always so busy in the kitchen! It's fun! o oh i m becoming soooo makcik2 (aunty-like)!! hahahah

It was only 11pm when we were ready to go... and took another 15min to say goodbye...

Reached home midnight i think?

Night-owl-in-training OUT

I realised that lately I've been playing this game in my mind.

Do you notice how the extreme right lane in the expressway, which is supposed to be the fast &/or overtaking lane, is always the one that's lagging behind or having a long queue ending up being the slow one??

It always seemed that whenever i finally got into the fast lane, the traffic on that lane will stop while the immediate left will flow.. Is it because too many cars trying to get into the fast lane that its clogging the traffic?

One day, i noticed that a car i overtook a few min ago is now ahead of me on the 3rd lane. From then on, whenever i overtake, i will pick one unique car/vehicle to be my mark. I will use him to see whether my decision to go to the extreme right lane is a good choice or a bad one. ie if i dont see it again (he didnt overtake me) means i've made a good choice.

Because you see.. sometimes its worth it to stay in queue even though its a long one... bcos it will clear up a few km ahead. It's much better than changing to 3rd lane and then when it matters the most, when the fast lane's going fast, and u can't get join that lane promptly enough and you notice that you've been set back even further.. THEN you'll feel the pinch!

Hmm do i make sense?

If i tell this to Ayah, he would probably say, "It's ok we're not in a hurry. It doesnt matter. We shld remain calm and be patient"

My route to and from work will be SLE-CTE... pretty much north to south...

Unfortunately, we'll be facing the sun heading south-east to work and north-west back to home.

Sometimes the sun are so blindingly bright that even my dad's cyclops sunglass cannot help.

I had to use one of my hands to shield to rays from my eyes. I was doing just that yesterday right after Yio Chu Kang exit. I felt desperate and anxious to get it over it as i negotiated the sharp bend single handedly with my left hand when im a rightie at a speed of 80-90km/h. a bit Dab Dub dab dub...

If this continue for long, my degrees will increase because i kept having to squint my eyes if i need to use both hands.

My dad and i had a temporary solutions we call Extension. heheheh because the flap above (hahah dont know what its called!!) is not long enough to cover the sunrays because the sun is always too low during that time we travel. So a hard paper wedding invitation card was folded and hung on the flap. this helps a bit... if the sun still disturbing... i'll just sit up higher and it will do lah...

But i wonder how do the other drivers manage this super bright interference to driving?

Arghhhh

What's wrong with blogger today? I cant see the toolbar to insert photo or change font or whatever!! I wanted to write where we went yesterday but bcos of this mysterious disappearance of the toolbar, hafta write about something else...

Road Games...

Before that, this morning we spent 1hr 15min on the road to get to Tanjong Pagar from Woodlands! What causes traffic jam when it rains, i wonder? there wasnt any accident that i know of... Or was there? One reason could be pple are driving slowly... but still! cannot be so slow that a journey that normally take 25min stretched to 1hr 15min right?? What's your idea?

So.. while stuck in traffic jam... or whenever im bored travelling in a car, i have this mental road game. i add the numbers on the plate numbers. for example: SGE5287E
5+2+8+7 = 22! I'd be happy if the results are multiples of 5 bcos that's how u score in dominoes and would think the driver is extremely lucky is the numbers add up to 21, black jack? The thrill of it is, u hafta add up quickly before the vehicle passes u by! i wonder if im the only one who plays this game?

Now.. my parents have a diff game of their own... They look at the models of Toyota cars. Anywhere and everywhere that they can see TOYOTA cars they will comment something like:

1. Hey this is a new colour
2. this VIOS is a bit different
3. Is this a new Toyota model?

I dont understand their obsession for Toyota sedan cars. We've had 2 Toyotas and current is a VIOS.

I also remember when i was in primary school and took the school bus home with the rest of my friends in the same neighbourhood.. we had a game of spotting a Mercedez. Who shouts the colour of the mercedez first gets 1 point. Also, Fit and I who always sat together liked to wave at other drivers and passengers. I remember vividly, there was this one malay family who waved back enthusiastically... they prolly thought, "What cute girls!" hahahahah

What do YOU play while on the road?

In less than 2 months, our car got hit like 3 times!

First, i hit the right side behind the passenger door after hitting the concrete wall while reversing to park.

Second was my dad's turn to hit the left side while reversing to park also. Well must be balanced what.

Now the third one happened just two days ago. Ayah parked his car in Simei. When they came back to the car a man was loitering about armed with his namecard or whatever. Turned out this guy's lorry hit our right front bumper when he wanted to move out from the lot. He waited for some 10 mins for my dad to return to the car while thinking of what to do.

Guy: Uncle, u think how much are the damage?
Dad: $400?
Guy: Aiyah there goes my savings to get married.

He was visiting his girlfriend. Dad went to the workshop with him, got it accessed at $120 and he paid on the spot.

Now, my dad relayed the story to his supervisor telling him what a noble chap that guy is to have waited for my dad. But the supervisor said, "NO LAH, He's so stupid! Religion teaches us to be good but dont teach us to be smart. Im bad but im clever. I would just cabut (run away from the scene)."

That's not all he even told Ayah, "If u see the buddha's fingers, one is pointed out the rest are to himself. what does it mean? Means u shld never tell the truth all the time" Er... Hello... what has it got to do with anything? And anyways lying is a BIG sin, no matter if its to cover up your freaking flat ass. It will be more embarassing if you were found out later and will make u look like a fool.

Anyways, this supervisor so kecoh (loud) one. He went around doing a poll as to what they'd do if they were in that guy's shoes. as if to emphasize that he's correct that that guy's so stupid.

While i would and did the same ie Cabut, i would still say this guy is a good samaritan who has done the right thing and deserves something in return. May Allah show him the right path for his good deed.

Or it could also be because my father has been a devoted servant thus Allah made this guy took responsibility so as not to burden MY father. Yup i think that's a sane theory.

But what would YOU do if you were in his shoes? Would you say he's a good guy or just plain stupid?

Zubair was reading the Basic Theory Book in bed and i read what he was reading too.. and saw something VERY interesting that ive never come across before...

"Driver and passengers are required by law to wear seat belts. However, persons under 1.5m in height are exempted." (!!!!!!!!!!!)

Basket! *wink at kak Long* :D

I'm just 2cm over. If not i can happily NOT wear seat belts in the back seat! But then again, i like to wear seat belt esp when i wanna sleep bcos it prevents my head or whole upper body from swaying and getting salah bantal / sore muscles afterwards!

Title Translation: Car Wrecker

Every Mon, Wed & Thurs, i usually take a lift from Ayah’s Office somewhere Little India. Mon and Thurs, i’d normally take the wheel. Wed i get to rest bcos i have class later in the evening.
I’ve always had a problem reverse parking on my right. Like i can’t get it right until 3 or 4 times. Sometimes too far sometimes too near. Reverse parking on the left usually no problem. Funny.. I thought it would be the other way around bcos on the right the driver can see better what. My judgement haywire.

So.. Yesterday, i drove home as per normal. There’s no other nice spot to park except on the right. Then while i was concentrating NOT to his the car on my left… i HIT the wall on my right! Yet another scraping sound.

I quickly went out of that lot and go to another one. Another on my right but i really concentrate this time. and after everything’s settled i quickly came out to check the damage. it’s somewhere BEHIND the passenger door just before the boot. God i dont know how to describe… I’ll just add a picture later when i’ve taken it. But it’s Terrible! I asked my dad, “If we polish this, the mark will go away right?” Ayah said yeah. Im relieved. Ayah didnt scold me but just advise that whatever it is dont take the risk esp if you’re driving other pple’s car, Let other pple wait.



And this is like the second time i scratched and dented the car! but the first time was 3 years ago when i just got my license for 10 days! haha I was turning left into a T-Junction in my car park area. i didnt expect it to be so narrow cos it’s so comfortably wide in the circuit in driving school. So much so that i grazed a Nissan sunny from the next opposite lane turning to his left. The driver asked for 2 or 3k for such a small dent on his passenger door. He claimed he cannot close the door. i didnt trust him or his evaluator and in any case we dont have that much cash on hand so i told my parents to claim insurance bearing in mind that the No Claim Bonus of 30% might be at stake. I paid a huge part of theroad tax of $800 that year. but at renewal of the insurance, we found out that the No Claim Bonus wasnt affected bcos the claim was below 3k or something. Alhamdulillah..

At home, we didnt mention anything to mummy while having dinner. I didnt see her again until this morning and then she came to my room and asked, “What happened yesterday?” at first i was blur, “What happened yesterday?” I thought she heard me farting last night or what.. then i remembered and i said… “Oh… what happened yesterday…” then mummy said, “Just got your bonus.” LIke hinting i need to pay for this damage and then i said, “But ayah said if we polish ok already then just ketuk2 (hit) the dented one ok already” Mummy, “NO lah.. yesterday ayah tried already all cannot.”

Oh noooooooooo *pulls hair* i dont want to pay. i dont want to part with my moneyyy. huarghhhhhh



And like i expected, im grounded from driving. Nobody verbally sentenced me so but ayah didnt ask me to drive today. so i take it as that. I hope it wont be long. sob sob…

She'll know we are married

The Girls...

The Guys..

Nur's Tuna Penne's the best!

I am actually quite surprised that the food came quite quickly.. or was it that we were too engrossed snapping pictures that time seemed to fly? But that same waitress came back to our table a few times to say: 1. No crisscut fries, wanna change to chicken wings? 2. Coke Light will be more expensive. And the other waiter put cheese on Long's BBQ Chicken pasta TWICE! And we thought that while the food tastes nice.. it is too overpriced for such a serving.

We then, continued on to East Coast to go to a drive-thru McDonalds to buy dinner for Nur and Ayid's mother, my Mak Ngah. By this time, it was very far into the night.. say 10pm? and the trees around there were big, making it darker than usual. I was driving out a slip road from the ECP and i cldnt see where it started to join with the other traffic. I was also expecting a longer lane but it stopped quite abruptly. I was slowing down but not enough and a fast car rushed past us and i panicly braked. it wasnt an emergency one nor did i intend to stop fully but already the passengers felt jerked. and kak Ly called, "Ca.. " is an advisory tone...

At last.. i get my FRIES!!! Frankly, both Zubair and I and of course Ayid were not full from the dinner. heheh

My sense of direction is completely lost when it's at night. and from McDonald's to Simei i depended solely on Long's prompts. Nur asked me, "Kak Ca, how do you drive around sey if u dont know the direction?" Then the sisters recalled my driving where i lost my way like two or three times that day.

Most of the time i drive to and from work or class.. all very familiar routes... That day when i had to go to ROMM, IRAS and ICA i really studied the map and took down specific notes from my dad. Unfortunately, at the real junction at real time, i began to doubt myself and went to the wrong direction (as in north instead of south; not into oncoming traffic!).. Places like Raffles, Bugis, Geylang I'd probably know well... But the problem is i cant seem to link from one place to the other. It's like i know where i am and where im going to, but cant see how to get there. It's scary you know, like there's a void in your brain that can't function.

i CAN read book maps but i can put it on real earth unless im really there. I reckon Google Earth would be so much better where the maps 3G. I shld install GPS on my own car lah. either that or just let Zubair drive when he gets his license.

It was 11pm but we can go home just yet. We had to go to a carwash to get rid of the bird shit. By hook or by crook we hafta wash it before we return the car to mummy and ayah. it's the least we could do after using the car and petrol for free! haha

The short distance going home from Petrol station saw another fast heart beat situation. I turned into a carpark, 3 point turned to make a U turn. while i was doing the 3 point turn, the car made some scraping noise. The front hit the curb. it was a screeching noise. What if there's a damage? Do i have to pay? im already so very broke. My sisters also went like, "No need to hurry.. " my husband just shook his head.

After we parked, i went out first to check the front without cutting the engine. and to my relief, There was nothing.. no scratches, no dents. Alhamdulillah...