The Original Juice

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.

I went to 2 Guardian pharmacies yesterday, NTUC on New Year's EVE and UO in JB on 22nd Dec, i simply cldn't find ANY AquaFresh toothbrushes!

Not a single one was on the rack!

What? Did they have a product recall or something? what happened? I just googled them, there's no bad news or announcement whatsoever.

Did they merge with Oral-B or what? I cldnt see nothing except Oral-B or Colgate or the store's brand.

Oral B's standard of "soft" is definitely NOT soft in my opinion!

Besides, i LOVE Aquafresh's feel and brush design.

Where are you my love? Please come back soon. I'm dying without you. hehe

Just a very short note before i go off for the day...

Last night i had a silly nightmare where i finally let myself be pricked on the ears to look pretty. Translation: Ear piercing.

While waiting for it to heal, Syifaa' came and pull the stud off!!!

Then we finally shifted office. And we were all placed on school desks!!! Mine was pretty and has a small wall. But still not enough to cover my computer screen!

Shows u what im actually scared of! LOL

But on a serious note, I have been hearing things in the middle of the night. The other time it was something heavy stumbling to a fall just near the door. I was actually jolted to a wake bcos it was so loud! I didnt even glance to that side of the room. Just buried myself under the blanket and went back to sleep.

This morning, clicks on the windows. But i assume the later were just sounds resulting from the rain.

God protect me.

WOW!

Today went by in a whizz!

With the start of the new year, there are plenty to do!

1. Monthly reports that has tighter deadline end of the year.
2. Expenses to claim
3. Files to archive
4. New files to set up.

Additionally, I spent a good half of the half day on Mon creating a NEW excel template for my colleague's data entry. The old one just didnt make any sense. With spaces in between, it was simply IMPOSSIBLE to generate reports without a THOROUGH cleaning up first.

But hey, i enjoy it lah! I'm looking forward for a job expansion for me coming July 08 with this hush hush news. If i didnt get any substantially more work to do, then i'd do serious job hunting. After the July Profit Sharing that is. Or... by then i should wait for AWS in Dec... then i would like to wait for profit sharing... then the A.X.A Miles... LOL

1. Fly to Pakistan
2. Master cooking skills
3. Master baby skills
4. Continue my studies
5. Perform Haj in what to be the last yr it will fall in Dec! Until the next 30yrs or so that is.
6. Have a baby
7. Fluent in Urdu. or at least manageable lah right.
8. Read more inspirational books
9. Go for more courses under company

My Studies.

As i get very encouraging comments about my Acturial pursuit, i tot, what the hell?, just cont my studies. I have paid it already. Even if i dont continue, i still hafta pay (unless i go thru the taxing legal procedure ergh). Hopefully, if Zubair's got that Bike license already, he can ferry me to n fro. i WILL do it. i WILL get that degree!!

Haj.

My parents are going. The musafir (traveller) rate is SGD6,500 per person. Frankly, i dont know how i will ever make it there. But i leave it to Allah to arrange it for me. Its not just the money... but what if i'd be heavily pregnant by then? Am i fit enough to do all those? My exams would be around that period.

As a young girl, i've always tot its scary to go there bcos of the frequent stampedes in the crowd. I've always imagined that i'd do Umrah first to get the feel of things before going for Haj.

I changed my mind after reading Ahmad Thompson's The Difficult Journey. I realised that you will only appreciate it if u faced difficulties trying to get something. Besides, the author also described how he felt overwhelmed by the Greatness and Beauty of Islam, of Allah when he saw the amount of pple gathering at one place in the name of the lord! to praise him. Doing Umrah first when its not packed, would somehow decrease the nikmat of seeing the Kaabah, the house of Allah, for the first time.

Why i NEED to do it this yr is because i would wanna go to Saudi in winter... when the weather is tolerable. I dont think i can bear to wait 30 odd years for Haj season to reach winter time again. Im afraid the feeling would be lost!

Urdu

Should i attend some courses? Buy some more CDs? Online learning? I hope to buy a pictionary or something when i visit there to help build my vocab. And need to practise constructing sentences!

The best of luck to all in achieving their targets for this yr. May it all be smooth sailing.

I first fell in love with Ewan when i watched Moulin Rouge.

He is sooo cheeky.. and he sings well. He is like Rosyam Nor Hollywood version. Will always engage audience into his sincerity and depth.

A few days ago, i watched Miss Potter starring The perfect chemistry Movie Couple, Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor. They acted very well together in Down with Love.


I didnt think Miss Potter would be entertaining, but i just played it since its Ewan McGregor and i have mostly finished the rest of watchable DVDs from Kak Is' Collections. It caught me unawares when i find that i was glued to the screen... totally living in the beauty of country side... putting myself in their shoes.

Needless to say... I cried towards the end of the movie. But liked the ending, Altho the adult character of William Heelis (Her neighbour in the country) is soo unjustifiable!

While im still mooning over this movie, I reached office in the new year. and found that my boss' voice is EXACTLY (ok that's exaggerating) like Ewan's. Prolly its just the accent. but still... sighhh... heheheh

In other words, "Aku dah boleh kahwinnn!!!"


Wait a minute! Oops, i forgot, I'm already married!


No lah.. just that we Malays have a saying that if u cant cook, u cant marry yet. And today, i have officially COOKED from scratch without any help nor supervision! Yayy


Browsing thru Zu's Kitchen, i stumbled upon this Corned Beef Kheema recommended to eat with Chappati. I have always LOVED corned beef but mummy NEVER cooked it, so this is my chance! PLUS, we still have that ATTA flour we bought long time ago! LOL. and what better meal to learn other than my hubby's fav n staple dish!


I warned mummy many times to let me do this on my own. She told me yeah she'll be out when im cooking. But on the day itself, she took a nap. Fair enough. Good thing i went thru the method w mummy yesterday while buying groceries. She told me, that for the garlic and shallots, just take 2tbs from the blended one she's prepared in advance. Ginger, 1/2 tsp. Lemon juice i can use lime also (limau kasturi). press them on top of a strainer.


I planned to do the Chickpea Chappati from Zu's recipe but after going thru w mummy, we decided against it. As a beginner, i think i'll start with a simple plain chappati first lah.

Sifting the flour.

Normally, its not required to sift flours in packet, but bcos the packet was left opened for some time, we tot it best to sift. (Plus, actually it said Best before sept 07! Shhhhh)

The flour mix is simple enough. Just add 75ml for every 100gm of flour. I made 500gm. Zu said to put the dough aside for 1 - 2 hrs, covered in cling wrap. So in the meantime, i fold the laundry, lest the cooking smell will stick to the clothes!

First problem encountered: How to open this Corned Beef can?

So complicated! Luckily, Kak Ly was around and she's used this corned beef before. She told me to take off the key, remove the paper label, twist the key along the start point. Then it broke half way!!! After staring at it for some time, finally decided to use the can opener to stab around it. *dangerous!*

Second Problem: Err... where is the blended shallots and ginger and meat powder? Kak Ly showed me where. How come the shallots not as green as usual? and the juice sort of separated into two with the "hampas" or residue on top. *shrug* Meat powder is the packet right below there unopened. and ginger is in that small container at the side.

So there, everything's prepared. In the transparent bowl is the corned beef already mixed with ginger and shallots. In the black bowl is the not so cubed potato. Mixed vege. and the meat curry powder with some water to make a paste.

Put in the Oil, spices, Meat, potato, mixed vege, curry paste, chilli sauce (lots of!!), tomato sauce. and this is where i made a mistake. i pressed the lime but forgot the strainer! I tot, "Ah nevermind lah, when they eat, they can put it aside on their own lah." Okayed by Mummy.

While waiting for the potatoes to cook, and mind, it takes quite a while, i got the chappati ready.

Problem No 3: How come the dough stubbornly stick despite putting flour all over it? Could it be cos the dough's too soft/lembik? Should we use the normal flour (tepung gandum) for this?

I finally had to ask mummy how. She said, no the texture's fine. But put a brown paper on top of the chopping board (yes i was using the chopping board to roll out the dough! LOL), and dont press too hard.

The golf ball sized dough ready to be rolled out.

And there you go... my very FIRST CHAPPATI!! Hooray!!!

Ammi will be proud of me i hope.

One thing u must know is, making chappati creates a hell of a mess!

At first, my chappati were very lopsided... Mummy said that we should turn the dough 90 degrees and roll it out on that side, so u can have a nice round chappati. but some people, dont need to raise the dough to turn it, just turn ur body and rolling pin!

Problem No 4: My dough is so soft n fragile that it cant help but stick on the paper. When it sticks, my nicely rolled out dough breaks/koyak!!! Sometimes, i hafta do it all over again, but if its not too bad, i just dump it on the pan.

It's amazing how chappati doesnt need a single drop of oil on the pan to cook! While I like mine thin and crispy, Mummy like hers thick and soft! Darling, how do u like yours, honey?

I started cooking about 1pm. and finished at 3pm!!! Its the chappati that takes a long time! that 500gm can make round about 10 - 12 pcs, didnt really count tho.

There you go. That's my plate of Roti n Kheema.

Dont forget to clean the kitchen afterwards!

But hey, isn't it only fair that the one who cooks get to rest? *cheeky smile* So Xubi, can you help me with these, baby?

So there... Since i'm already married... i hereby certify myself Able to Live on My Own. hahah See... now i can cook... I like to use the vacuum now.. and mopping is easy with the wet tissue on the japanese stick. Aiyah dont know what its called. And i already know that washing clothes is easy.

I just hafta overcome my hatred for ironing clothes. As long as u dont give me diff material like silk or whatever (that the crease just wont disappear!!!) and if u dont mind not having that line in the middle of ur pants, that ironing is manageable.

Also, i still hafta prove that i can take care of a baby on my own! Ergh... being the youngest one, ive never taken care of a baby before. Even for Syifaa', tho i always play with her, entertain her n teach her stuffs, I wont know how to make her milk, nor change her diaper. OMG! How to bathe a baby????

Well.. that's another chapter in my life, that is still mysteriously out there in the far future. haha..

At 3pm, Mummy asked if i wanted to follow them to JB (Johor Bahru, Malaysia).


Upon seeing my reluctance, Mummy said, "Everybody's going." Not wanting to be left all alone at home and feeling melancholic, i agreed to follow.


We went out at 6pm, even then, not straight across the border but westward to a birthday party.


But it felt so awkward i didnt take any picture. Why awkward, u ask? Because its my mum's mosque friend's granddaughter's 1-yr old bday party! It was held at the Senior Citizen lounge with a nearby two-storeyed open air hall in Bukit Batok.

The only evidence I have of that party is this picture of Syifaa' playing with the yo-yo included in the children's party pack.

Time check: 7:30pm

Finally, we made our way up north to JB via the Second Link. (There are two bridges linking Singapore and Malaysia. The first and most popular one is called Causeway which is like just 5min away from my house. The other one in the Second Link far towards the west side)

We spent another 15min finding a petrol station and pumping in just enough petrol to make it to the 3/4 tank mark. Its a law to fill up to 3/4 bcos the M'sia gov dont want us to use up (read: take advantage) of their precious resource, petrol being one of the commodities being heavily subsidised by the gov. Furthermore, S'poreans would profit substantially with the currency exchange. On the other hand, S'pore gov is also protecting their business interest, the oil companies. Which, i suppose, is fair enough. Bcos in the long run, it will benefit the country anyway with employments remain stable when the petrol stations dont hafta close down due to lack of sales!

Sorry, i digressed. But only to benefit my overseas relatives and friends.

We didnt reach the border till 9pm. and stepped into Tebrau City Shopping Centre only at 9.30pm. Luckily, they close only at 11pm. Well.. what can i say about this place except that its TOTALLY like Singapore!

Told you.

They have clothe stores, designer labels just like what we can find here. No doubt it will be AT LEAST the same price if not higher. They have M.A.C., Dorothy Perkins, MNG, and whatever lah.

The only reason we still like crossing the border is because of the WIDER selection of HALAL food chains. For eg: Bread talk there is HALAL! Not to mention they have Dunkin Donut (The FIRST MANDATORY stop we made) and Baskin Robin.

My Parent's usual banana split order.

Im not much of an ice cream fan but decided tot ake a single scoop of ...... MANGO SHERBET! Darling, are you jealous now?

Psst.. to tell u the truth, we collect Baskin Robin's spoons! LOL

I wonder if there is any other family doing the same?

Syifaa' learning to use the spoon

Syifaa' sharing ice cream with Ummi

While waiting for the rest to finish their ice creams, i went over to check out the popcorn smell coming from the cinema. I wanted to buy Nachos, but guess what? They dont have it! Even their hotdogs were out of stock. Well.. i tot, since i was there already, might as well buy something even if its just popcorn. BUTTTTTTTT... they dont have the salty ones!!! *shake head* Oh well.. i suppose their taste is diff from ours.

Actually, i dont know what was our purpose to go all the way to JB. Bcos we didnt do much except for eating ice cream, bought PS2 games at RM5 each (SGD 2.50) and Buy 5 games get 1 free, then Ly bought some pillows at the department store called JUSCO. At least, now i know where is Tebrau and that its not convenient to go if you dont have a car and its also inconvenient for drivers bcos of the tho huge but still limited parking space. (probably its just the entrance that has got problem in design.)

Time Check: 11:30pm

We just drove out from Tebrau. Having not had a proper dinner, Ayah asked where are we going next? While the rest are not too hungry, I said i wanted to eat but i dont mind anywhere. Mummy's choice is of course Singgah Selalu... AGAIN!!! *head down* At the last min, i said, Al-Ameen (in Woodlands, Spore) is also good. and Ayah agreed straight away bcos it was already very late.

Pelangi Shopping Centre draped in Xmas decoration

Well.. what do u know... by the time we reached home, it was already 1:30am!! *faint* Fortunately, the next day is Sunday.

More pictures at my multiply

Part One

One day, on the way home with Ayah in the car, Ayah asked me, "Have u considered the teaching career?"


I said i have. i LOVE the perks of teaching. ie SCH Hols, BIG bucks and all... But surely the benefits are nothing compared to private MNC companies, and that with only an A levels and Diploma i can only teach primary sch. And i CAN'T stand teaching young children who have short attention spans! I prefer to teach adults and young adults bcos they have better sense of right n wrong and proper manners, or at least the ones i've taught so far. But mostly, i deliver and then leave it up to them to make the decision to take studying seriously or not. That's my way, unfortunately.


Ayah said then, "Ya lah.. kan start from pri sch. Then you can always get that degree while u teach like what Kak Ly and Cik Ita did and is doing. It will even be covered by the govt."


and i thought, Oh God i can't stand working and studying what more teaching and studying? Cos i know the workload of teaching is like HELL. Just looking at my sister, i get stressed also. BUT if let's say they allow me to study FULL time then i might just consider it.


You know i love mathematics and would wanna teach it in Sec sch. But i think im such a long winded person that im afraid the students wldn't get it. And besides my spontaneous verbal English is NOT on par with the other General subjects teachers.


I also recall there was this time i taught my cousin, Nur with her maths question. I think i was in Sec 4 or Pre - uni 1 and she's 2 yrs younger. I got the answer right but she came back to me and said that her teacher told her that the steps were wrong. Right then, i lost ALL hopes of ever teaching Maths.


Part Two

Remember that time i was browsing for a Writing position of some kind?


Then there were 2 opportunities for me to do a review of something i actually like. Namely the Singapore Recruits and the payperpost websites. I have even drafted the points i wanted to say. But have never got around to do it yet!


So i wonder whether i could actually keep up with the pressure of TIGHT deadlines, editors and writers are subject to.

And i also wonder if i would get sick of seeing words and thinking of ways to put them nicely into sentences. Bcos i remember when i was doing A levels, I got kinda word-phobic after having to write a continuous 3hrs x 4 papers x 2 exams a year x (2 yrs + 1 actualy A levels) = 72 hours of continuous writing!!! *faint*


When i left sch, i was adamant to pursue Maths cos i was sooo tired of WORDS! LOL


Part Three

Then a few days later, Ayah gave me a print out of 2 available positions in the ministry he's working for.


I didnt give it much thought, actually. (Sorry, yah) Becos firstly, Its December and everybody's staying for bonus. Secondly, its quite a junior position i doubt the govt pays as much as im getting right now. True, civil servants get GREAT bonus packages. Perhaps true that its easier to climb up the corporate ladder within the govt agencies. And they get a LOT of discounts everywhere. But.... Lekin.... Tapi... Laakin....


Part Four

The moment i had the intention of leaving my previous employment at MKA, i know i wanted to be an Actuary. They mainly analyse the numbers (claims, premium collections) to come up with the appropriate insurance premium to charge customers and things like that.


I dont have the right qualifications just yet. But i managed to penetrate into the current workplace and i tot i'd start from low while get the degree and get that dream job.


Having quit(ted?) the degree prog, i feel that that inspirations is too far from my grasp. I cld actually discuss with the CEO with regards to a continuing career within AXA, where we would identify goals and ways to achieve it.

The vacancy for an Executive or Exec Asst in the Actuarial Dept has been up for quite some time and for a few times in the past 2 yrs (almost) tt i've been here. Not sure whether its an additional position or replacement but it still mean i can get there somehow...

Part Five

On the other hand, after being married for nearly 11 months now, I feel a bit too old for the career ladder! LOL... I feel like doing my job day in day out just like that. Tired lah... But that's sooo uninspirational. EXACTLY, The typical stereo-typed Malays.


Sighhh... Dear Lord, please show me the way, give me strength and support. Please help me to prioritise. Please tell me clearly, some way, some how, that this or that is the path i should take and remove all doubts and regrets.


You are the All-Knower (for you know what's in my heart), The Listener (of my grievances even in silence), The Most Powerful (for You can do anything that You want), The Compassionate (for you understand the difficulties I'm going thru). With these, i trust that You will solve my problems, ALL of OUR problems. You will answer our prayers, for You are Al-Mujeeb (Answerer of Prayer?).

First of All... Hey this is my 301st post!

Secondly, let's review how much i've done from My To-Do While He's Gone List.


1. Finish reading The Difficult Journey, The Way Back by AHmad Thompson
Done

2. Finish Qur'an 1.5 time
2 pages thru. LOL

3. Finish 14 days of fasting
1 down

4. Rememorise Surah Mulk, Rahman, Yasin. *guilty of forgetting*
No action yet

5. Spring Clean the WHOLE room inside out
on Xmas, Finished clearing 2.5 out of 4 sections of my cabinet and drawers.

6. Watch 3 or 4 more DVDs
Have watched The Wild, The Barnyard, X-Men 3 and Chuck & Larry while he was away.

7. Read 4 novels (AFTER finishing those 2)
Started Book 3 which Ayah bought for me - The Unromantic Orient By Muhammad Asad.

8. Practise cooking. Maybe i'll try to make Peach Tart? heheh if not then Mee Bandung.

Did the cooking last fri with another one scheduled for New Year. Im thinking of Corned Beef Keema and Chapati. Recipes here http://quickneasytreats.blogspot.com/2005/11/corned-beef-kheema.html