apa cerita mu?

It was worth it!
It has been what, 9 years, since we last met. My brother Yang and wife, Yang Gemma were warm people,as ever, always try their best to make you feel at home. And they did! In seconds!
M0nah is tall, taller than I am (not that I'm very tall, 1.54m ada la hehe!) and she's one smart lady, that's for sure!

We arrived in Champaign, a day later, after spending the night in the grocery store (shop) in Carbondale. We reached there after midnight and Yang Gemma who was supposedly be sleeping was woken up by our voices and got up and greeted us. The moment we saw her, both Eman and I were crying. One thing we noticed was that she was a lot better thatn we thought she was. Apart from the right arm which is a bit stiff, she manages everything gracefully and efficiently. The next morning, I started my duty as the cook/chef. I know that she likes our Malaysian cooking, well, all 3 love malay cookings, especially the spicy ones. So, I tried my bst to make cucur tepung ( spicy, with anchovies, dried shrimp, onion, fresh prawns, chillies), cekodok, and rendang, sambal tumis, cecah kicap, air asam with tomato ( to be eaten with ikan terubuk bakar. Yang runs an oriental grocery store, so I have all the ingredients I wanted. Whatever you want; from belacan ( shrimp paste), to serai, daun limau, kicap manis, durian, kimchee (no, i don't eat them!), etc. So, I guess I have no excuse not to cook!
I even left some of the recipes for Monah or Yang to try it out. Monah even told me that aftre we left, she prepared rendang ayam for her classmates during her creative class pot luck that they have early this week. Knowing how she's one American girl who eats rice with 'chili boh'.
Oohh.. I should have prepared sambal belacan (lots of it), so they can freeze it! ;-))

We didn;'t actually travel to places like theme parks, or some fancy tourist attractions spots. ( Well, we had our grand toiur in the previous visits, anyway). Apart from going to Chicago ( the Sears Tower from afar this time!) accompanying Yang to get his supply from the distributors in the suburban area, we mainly spent the time in the garden (backyard), or going to the local mall ( Wal-Mart included, ehhe) or Monah's school ( Uni High in Uni of Illinois area). I went to see a play staged by Monah's classmates in their school auditorium, and it was a very enjoyable one.

Emak was especially glad when she had the chance to help both Yang and Yang Gemma in their rose planting activities. They planted roses around the house, just like they did last year.
In the 5-acre land they are occupying, they made a point to have an orchard , up to 100 trees: apples, peaches, plums, nectarines, cherries (yeay! love it), pears, but sadly, no grapes. But they promised to Emak that they will have grapes this time.
The apple trees have the young fruits and it will be ready to be eaten in fall. This is the 2nd time that the trees bear fruits, and the neighbours , relatives and Monah's schoolmates were the lucky ones to be invited to sample the fruits last season!

I am happy that everything goes well for Yang Gemma, especially when she ;s the one who's into gardening. No wonder she looks alright even with her history of strokes and breast cancer. I think her loves gardening, give her a spirit and determination to get up, and be there where she feel happiest. It;s a wonder that she manages to water the plants ( Yang will do the tanam and korek tanah and baja pokok-pokok itu), tend to the trees, pull out the weeds, trim the roses on her own. But as she always says " Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah".

Monah is at school from 8am-4pm. She 's in her final year in high school, and supposed to enrol in one of the Ivy League soon. Since she skipped one year, she has one extra year to be doing something else, and the parents are not rushing her to immediately starts her degree.
She's been busy with exams, and this June, she's scheduled to tour Europe, on an educational trip, Oxford and Cambridge included to have a look in some of their offered courses. Last january, she was also selected to represent her school to go to Washingt0n DC and meet the C0ngressmen, and see the g0verment-thingy-stuffs for real.
I guess,during her extra cuti, she could do with some Islamic educational class? I'll be asking around for classes in KL, if there's any. Requirenments would be with hostels, a few months durations, etc. I'm hoping there is one for her. Perkim, maybe?

Anyway, spending a week there helped us to feel re-united. I didn't talk about her cancer ( can't bring myself to ask her about it!), and didn't mention about why or how-could-you-forget-me, or i-didn't forget-u-but-i-just-couldn't..you know what I mean....

Not until when we were at the Lambert International Airport, St Louis, when I hugged her to say good-bye, we cried and she told me: "All this while when you didn't send me any news, when you just kept quiet, I was hurt" . So, she was..

I thank Allah for making this trip a reality, I thank my beloved husband for giving me this chance to do what I thought I had to do, and my children, of course, and million thanks to Yang, Yang Gemma and Monah for having us there and for making us feel right at home!
Also for giving us the opportunity to show you that we care, that we were sorry, that we love you..

since the last goodbye..

Emak isn't so pleased that I have to cancel my trip to the US. Apart from the fact that
the tickets for myself and Lutfil have been bought, and it's not refundable, (fixed tickets, bought during Matta Fair late last year), maybe she feels more confortable having me to take care of her. Well, my first brother (Abang Pa) and his wife are also going there, but it's not the same as having your own daughter with you, I guess. I just assured her everything will be okay, and having just Abang Pa and wife with her wouldn't be so bad. I don't want her to cancel her trip just because of me not going, do I?

My SIL (Yang Gemma) suffers from stroke and breast cancer (late stage). We first came to know about the stroke, 2 days after Aidilfitri 2003. Yang (my brother, his name is Rosli) was sobbing on the phone, and he related how Yang gemma collapsed at their home and was found by a neighbour. (Yang runs an oriental grocery store in Carbondale, Illinois) was not home, while their only daughter, Monah was at school. She was at first could not move, her speech blurred, and now Alhamdulillah is recovering, and when I last talked to her on the phone, she sounds okay. In 2005, whe was diagnosed with breast cancer, and only Allah knows, how painful it was just to hear the news. She had to go through so much, and Yang too, I know is also suffering.
And what we, the so-called relatives/siblings do? Nothing much!

I have to confess that I wasn’t a good sister when she needed me most, though. No wonder she was (and still is )so upset with me. Thus came the plan to go and see her and make up for the lost time. I owed her so much, you see. She played a big part in my growing up years, not the toddler-junior-school years, but from my teenage (after SPM) years till I became a young woman. (now 33 yrs old, dah veteran..)
But it seems that all the plans that I made and all the nervousness and enthusiasm to come face-to-face with her just dissapreared as DH wouldn’t be able to come home from Khartoum on the weeks that I was supposed to go on the trip. I cannot imagie leaving both Umar and Lutfil just with Bibik, eventhough they can stay at one of my brothers’ houses. So, it’s better not go this time, again, despite all the expenses that have been spent. Mungkin ada hikmah disebaliknya, who knows we could go some other time? Rezeki durian runtuh ke?
To Yang Gemma, maybe you thought that I have forgoten all about you, but, I actually think of you all the time and just wish that I could go and see you. I am not good at words, but you know I love you dearly..

my latest addition on the shelves

Was I glad! I bought myself a book, a great book.
It contains the list of favourite books from 125 writers all around the world, (well mainly Americans and british ;-)).
I would admit that I just love lists. I was given a book called
“The Book Of List”. It was kind of old, and am looking in some websites if they carry the same title , but with newer versions , of course.
It had all sorts of lists, and I’m glad that I have it in my collection.

see if u can guess what he was 'singing'..

amuse me..

Any books by Dr. Seuss, aka Theodor Geisel, are such pleasures to read. It amused me (other adults included), the children, not just mine, but millions of children around the world. This great writer/illustrator, would have been 103 years old today. The funny rhymes and whimsical characters, that were the best ingredients that are the main attraction to the readers. Gosh, I think I enjoyed and cherished his books more than my children do.
Oh , and yes, I do hope (and pray hard) that the 3 kids will grow up as book lovers, and avid readers. Please, please, please…

Oh yes, gaji tak masuk lagi, and I’m already thinking of going to Kinokuniya and getting me new books. That will kill the time, sigh..

stay on your island, don't let me in..

any hunchback?

don't ever ask about the rules..

bila mata dah layu..he was like thinking of something

him: umar tak nak kawan cikgu *****
me: kenapa?
him:cikgu ***** tak bagi umar coklat, dia cubit Umar sebab Umar main panjat pintu, macam ni..( panjat grill tingkap)
mim: kan tu bahaya, sebab tu cikgu cubit , lain kali Umar dengar cakap cikgu, okay? nanti cikgu tak marah lagi..
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(The mention about this particular cikgu always gives me an uneasy feelings. Somehow, of all the teachers there, she is the only one who, I find, not unconfortable to speak with, she avoids eye-contact, no smiles, no “Hi, or Salam” when I drop or pick up my son.
Thank god she is not Umar’s class teacher, but still she was there all the time and I freak everytime I saw her car parked in the porch at the centre. I am thinking of getting him out of the center, cause I feel that if he’s sad/sombre about his teachers, it will do him more harm.
I don’t want anybody, especially his teacher(s), to make him feel bad, and lower his self –esteem. I just don’t feel that it’s right. Teachers (besides parents) should be the ones to direct children to healthy ways of being themselves, bring out the best in every child, nurture them,
educate, guide them as opposed to physically punishing them ( tarik telinga as a punishment for the child yang tarik telinga anak2 lain, cubit perut, etc), as opposed to causing griefs ..
---------------------------------------------------------------
me: umar nak tidur, nak ibu tepuk yea?
him: umar tak kawan ibu, tadi ibu marah.
(Flashback: he , as always would stand on a chair, at our kitchen counter top, one hand in the fish bowl, the other supporting his body because he needs to bend over the counter top in order to do so .
He was just about to move the fish bowl, into the sink after complaining how dirty the water was, and that it needed to be changed. And guess who's the best person he thinks who should do it? No prizes for guessing!)
At that moment, I saw him and warned him that he might have caused
the tiles to be very, very wet and that is a potential hazard (QHSE term!) to everybody. You get the picture; hazard sebab org boleh jatuh, or Hafiz akan memainkan air yg tumpah dengan jarinya dengan girangnya, dan menerbitkan perasaan ingin merasa air itu..)

me: ibu marah sebab nanti bahaya, kalau air tumpah nanti lantai licin..
him : tapi kalau tumpah ke dalam sinki-nya, tak apa.
Sinkinya tu, kan tak tumpah ( he loves the word ‘nya’), kan tak basah.
me: yela, tapi kan berat, sebab tu boleh tumpah, kan?
him: hmm..tapi umar tak kawan ibu, umar kawan ayah aje..
(is he actually missing Ayah, though he never asks about Ayah, but would mention

occasionally like; ‘nanti ayah beli.., or nanti pergi dengan ayah,..etc)

Anyway, yang pentingnya, at the end, we are at peace , kissed him on both cheeks, he did the same to me, and we hugged.
Kesian anak-anakku!

if you say so

sand-sculptures
Nowadays, Umar will be the first to report what his day was like in the taska. We used to prompt him with questions, like ‘what did youn learn’, any new song today, teach ibu how to sing it’, what did u eat for lunch( it’s always, doughnut, doughnut, doughnut!).

After quite sometimes, he offers to cerita by himself, and he mention mostly about ‘teacher’ and ‘Ariff’. So, here goes:
Umar: T adi ada ‘happy birthday’
Me: oh ye ke. Birthday siapa?
Umar: No answer.
Umar: Tadi sian Umar.
Me: Kenapa sian kat Umar?
Umar: Tadi teacher *** makan umar punya biskut, gula-gula, sian Umar.
Me: teacher tu takde biskut, dia nak rasa sikit kot. Tak apa lah, share lah dengan teacher, ok?
Umar: tapi Ariff tu tak share dengan Umar pun!

*I’m sad to report that we are only left with I fish and the tortoise.