Abang Ngah II - slightly edited

Hola uols!

Masih bertemakan Abang Ngah...yes...i still cannot move on from Mr. El and co. Hari2 swoon bila tengok balik downloaded TLU videos..Abang Ngah kat no. 31 terpaksa rela mendengar bila i update trivia on Mr. El & co. He said, 'i tak mo tau le!' I said, well you have to..dah takde orang lain lagi yang sanggup dengar..hahaha..

Anyway, baru2 ni i balik kampung bersama2 anak2 and bibik. Pak budak2 tinggal rumah. Once or twice a year memang akan ada episod balik rumah mak tanpa en. swomi. Tiada adegan rajuk merajuk di sini...once in a while it's nice being anak mok and pok je...dapat tido bawah ketiak mak. Fungsi bibik is to fully look after the kids, thus, i get to sleep dopohpatjam...literally. And en. swomi kat rumah gets to...shop? The kind yang keluar pagi balik senja without the suara2 sumbang kami esp. the kids asking daddy pergi mana?? Asyik2 massimodutti kata bebudak (although in MG's defense, boleh tak budak2 tak memalukan dia kat Aunty Mak Piah (while she was here)? He has sooo moved on from MD).

While i was there, bibik and budak2 dok kelebet album lama2 i..sedih uols! Nampak sangat masa tu semua tegang, springy and defied gravity. Seriously! What happened in between the age of 30 and 42?? (eh silap, I baru 39..and will be for many years to come). Suddenly i have a few kids and anak bulu and i need 'assistance' to make sure my body parts defy gravity! Banyaklah gambar2 lama masa zaman i study, pacar memacar....gambar2 Siamang, budak rumah tepi sungai, aruah mamat hitam...fefeeling hot stuff sangat taw!

Anyway, mok i tanya, 'Ko in contact ke dgn siamang?' Of course takde la dia gunakan nama gelaran simian tu pulak kan? Because apparently he's fb buddies with kekanda2ku. Ewah..!

I said, no i'm not because he's the ultimate psychotic ex-boipren from hell. Bukannya i tak nak berkawan uols...in fact uols pun tau adalah a few times weols berkawan...berbalas sms or fb messages. Tapi for a few episodes, adalah tahan tiga hari..selalunya masuk hari ketiga dia mula melatah meroyan mengungkit2 kisah lama. I mean like what da hell?? Eh! Bukan aku ke yg kena dump?? Dump big time and bukan sekali pulak tu..And he would get really, really abusive. There was once upon a time when i was miserable..biarlah rahsia kenapa dan bila ittew berlaku..haaa..masa2 tu he was in his ultimate bff mode. Tapi bila diriku happy...cam siol pulak perangainya. Pastu tak masuk lagi adegan2 mengingati bibit2 episode dolu2 kami (ptuiih!)..dari what we used to get up to ke apa benda poster i tampal dlm bilik...and he would mentioned this on my fb timeline. Tak ke psycho namanya tu?

Tau tak betapa susahnya nak move on dulu dpd episode chenta kami? He was definitely my eL......like in Lucifer uols! Takde maknanya dia macam ElKyra tu. Bila kita dah okkkk sikit....bila agak2 otak dah tak weng sangat, mulalah dia muncul semula. Pastu messed up balik jadinya otak i. Why? Because i allowed him to. Sweet talker toksah cakaplah kan..

Nowadays, once in a while like 3, 4 bulan sekali adalah dia bermonolog sensorang dlm smsnya pada i...asking whether i'm OK, because dia syik termimpi2 kan i..or..how he misses my bread pudding and profiteroles etc. Tak cukup sms, wasap..tak cukup wasap, fb msg. Tak ke semacam? Kita nak flattered senyap2 pun tak berani mengenangkan perangai saikonya bila menjelang hari ketiga. Dah dah la tu..penat gue. And getting over him tu bukan i sorang yg terpaksa melaluinya ye...pok mok i plus adik bradik semua! Awat taknya? Dah bertaun2 dok menebeng kat rumah i! Dah jadi 'member' kat yok nenek mokcik pokcik pastu breakup (Sebab tu i berdoa kat tuhan jodohkan la i dgn orang yg jumpa sat je terus diajak kawin (well MIL yg ajak..hihi). Tak payah nak berumah tangga kat rumah i bertaun2 sangat tapi last2 tak jadi jugak). Cam MG and I....hari ni cakap i lap u, sebulan lebih pastu kawin...fefeeling azleekhairi n feliciayeap dlm nikah kita bercinta sangat tau!

Anyway, semalam jantung i lub dab lub dab dengan kencang...
Baby X balik dari rumah tunangnya semalam (kecik2 dah ditunangkan...senang..mak bapak dah kenal...ni according to Piah lah ni). Dia masuk rumah je dia cakap, 'baby X tadi jumpa bibik M'
What?? Bibik M? My ex-supermaid yang telah break up dgn i? Yg telah menjerut hati i dgn adegan2 cinetronnya yg bertaraf 5 bintang? i terus terasa cam Kyra Lydia kat adegan bawah ni uols...

Bayangkan..dan tukarkan El kepada Bibik M. At least 2 bulan jugak it took me to forget about her. Sempatlah kena torture dengan nenek-tak-suka-budak-bulu tu.  Not easy ok....dengan demamnya and pi ofis seminggu tak bermekap (this is bad ye kalau pi kerja muka tak siap). Bila cakap pasal dia je mesti sebak..sememeh sungguh diriku. Tiada kata2 perangsang dan kasih sayang dari MG dapat mengubat hatiku di kala itu (as if MG ada buat camtu). 
Tetiba dia muncul kat rumah my neighbour dengan 'om' (kata Baby X) and beramah mesra dgn Baby X. Peluk2 suap makan semua..what da hell??! Tau tak yg budak2 sedih when she left because there was no proper goodbyes at the airport and then she decided not to come back? For some time bila nak tido je kena console depa and dgn berat hati suh budak2 doakan supaya bibik M berbahagia dgn teman barunya..bagaimana geramnya i kat dia rasa cam nak pi santau sakai, i never told the kids the truth about how she left.

Now senang2 ko berani masuk ke kawasan gue and beramah mesra dgn anak gue? Dan tolonglah! Leave it be...berikanlah i peluang untuk menjadi orang baru (Yg sebelum ni i tak pernah buat bangun kul 530 pagi utk prepare bekal anak2 dan swomi...yg dictate apa menu utk dimasak hari2...yg cebok verak anak2 bulu...ok yg last part ni tipu). Berikan peluang utk anak2 lupakan you...I pun dah ada 'teman' baru dah...eh tetiba pulak emo.

Sekian cerita pembantu rumah upahan.

p/s I dah dua...Esah and Piah bila nak hapdate ni???

Cerita berbulu here and there

Holaaaa!
Merapu time uols...sungguh lama tak merapu....bahan2nya ada cuma tak terdaya nak menulis. I'm always so tired bila dah balik rumah..selalunya budak2 gaduh keriau2...violent kaki tangan semua naik cam samseng filem tamil. Selalu i bawak keluar rotan je...time out semua tak jalan dah..ni baru 2 anak pompuan. Kalau boys tak taulah camna.

The nenek maid lasted until CNY...thank god! MG  cakap cepat2lah weols dapat maid betul...kalau tak berdosa tiap2 hari weols gossip pasal dia. Perasaan i nak kesian kat nenek tu terbang keluar tingkap because she hated the cats...fullstop. semua masalah dunia dia, dia blame kat anak2 bulu i...rumah pun takde lah dia mencuci bagai...i still had to hire cleaners on weekend to clean the house. But thats ok...no big deal if only she had loved the cats..or the least janganlah agro dgn depa.

Ni bila i balik kerja tengok food bowl depa selalu empty. Air minum cetek or ada bendasing and tak berganti. Ada sekali tu the ckeaners tak datang bec cuti. So i cleaned the house atas bawah. Si nenek boleh bagi remark 'dah bersih rumah ye?! Haa...tunggulah yg tu masuk, mesti kotor balik'. And mulutnya terjuih pointing tu Abang Monty yg baru nak melangkah masuk ke rumah. Si bulu tu pun tau masa i mop dia tak dibenarkan masuk rumah. See how refined he is...pastu sedap2 kena slander dengan nenek. Masa tu memang bulu belakang telinga i naik semua...i cakap kalau dia tak suka sangat dgn bebulu tu, she can leave. Why come to work with me when dia sedari awal tau rumah ni ada depa?

The time i broke the news to nenek that perhubungan cinta kita sampai CNY je, dia cakap, mana makcik nak pergi??? Memula tu i macam nak kesian. Pastu i tengok bawah kat lantai...foodbowl bebulus kosong...hilang semua rasa belas i.

Alhamdulillah our new maid is OK. Rajin...can be blur...but tak manis mulut cam supermaid i tu...manis2 mulut tu lah yg buatku terpedaya, kan? Semoga perhubungan kali ni berkekalan sampai budak2 kahwin...hihihi.

Anyway, cerita2 sampingan.  Recently ada photographer datang nak tangkap gambar to advertise for something we had produced. Yg sampai ke anak cucu akan kekalnya iklan tu...what do u know?? Mata i naik bengkak sebelah...within that 2 weeks seriously mata tu cam kena daulat. Mula2 naik ketumbit...no..takdak intai sesiapa..kalau ada pun setakat MG tengah mandi je pun. Lepas surut, terpercik minyak panas pulak. Sib baik tak kena bijik mata. Pun ok after a few days. Tup2 lagi 2 hari sebelum sesi bergambar, eh elok pulak terpercik disinfectant masa cuci tangan! Tak taulah apa mata tu dah buat tapi memang kena 'basuh' cukup2! Since semua mengejar masa, picture had to be taken on that day jugak...walaupun dgn specs, i still nampak cam syndromic...sebelah mata besar sebelah kecik.

Ni at the height of the bengkak episode...saja je tayang siap dgn taik mata lagi...

On normal days, haaa...agak besar tersembul jugak mata i kan??

Ok...ni cite lain. Finally...after bertahun2 berkecimpung dalam themed annual dinner, menanglah i award best dressed. Other people came aa prince or princessess...kalau witch pun set2 yg cantik cam maleficent tu...haaa ambik ko...senang je nak mekap muka hijau n tampal hidung tu. One drawback of the nose...asyik tercelup dalam minuman.

A few weeks after that MG ajak pi dinner company dia. Katanya buat julung2 kali boleh bawak spouse (iye ke? Whateva..!). I tanya apa tema and bila? Ada ke lagi 2 minggu nak dinner baru bagitau i? Tau tak i don't do things by halves? Nak sewa/tempah baju and of course susuk tubuh voluptious i ni (read: fat) kena ada perancangan yg rapi utk cari baju. Nak jadi witch yg setakat selet2 warna hijau kat muka n pakai wig pun it took me one month to do research.! Apatah lagi nak suh i transform jadi Adele ke...QueenLatifah ke..(about the only 2 celebrities yg i tau bam2 sikit). Of course MG kena jelingan maut dari i..


(Gambar selfie berwajah witch telah disimpan semula atas tujuan keselamatan)

Sent from Samsung Mobile

Home manager

Good bibiks are a rare commodity. I should know...i've been through a few  really bad ones and not so good ones. We're quite lucky that we stumbled upon the present one, who has been with us for 4+ years. She's more like a home manager than a bibik. Yg dia tak tau cuma bawak kereta je. Well, MG and i did try to persuade dia belajar bawak motor...senang nak di suh ambik budak2 dari sekolah. But since her last experience riding a motorbike involved masuk parit, kena pujuk macamana pun dia tak nak. So far, so good alhamdulillah. And i hope it'd be like this for many more years to come.

Anyway, it's not about her...(puji2 lebih sangat nanti ada komplot dek Esah utk mencuri dia utk menjaga cubuls* di SA sinun). I do think my maid is tykor besar kawasan. She'd know mana maid yg nak lari, mana yg tak cukup makan, yg berpacaran dgn bangla etc. Obviously she gossips kan..but seriously, i don't need to get my knickers in a twist.

I have a few times helped to 'relocate' maid yg nak cari majikan lain. Ni i tengok case by caselah kan. Ada yg kena dera tak cukup bagi makan. Dari orang tu badan sedap2 masa datang, terus kurus kering lepas sebulan. Ada yang kerjaaaaaa je tapi tak dibayar gaji. Ada yang nak balik kampung sekejap sebab apak sakit kat sepital. Majikan kata, ok, saya bagi cuti tapi tiket katebang semua kamu usahakan. How to usahakan when gaji tak dapat? So bila dah direlocate ni, ada yang berkekalan sampai sekarang. So good that ada sedara yg memula tu bila i nak offer tapi kena keluarkan dulu duit lebih kurang RM 1500 utk buat medical, passport etc. (bukan i la yg uruskan, but tekong kat Indon. Cam takde kerja pulak aku kan?) sedara tu tak nak. Dia cakap, if she really wants to come and work here, she will find the money. Ewah! Cakap senang. Cam orang tu boleh tekan duit kuar dari BSN?ASB ke? Then bila the maid dah masuk mesia and nengok elokkk je budaknya, terus sedara ni cakap kat i, kalau RM 1500 je, i pun sanggup dulu..(my response was: selak kain je (dalam kepala le).

Then ada pulak yg boleh nak negotiate gaji maid tu dgn i. Eh? Sekali lagi saya ulangi, saya bukan agent atau tekong. But imaginelah kan...kat former employer tak dapat gaji, penat lelah burn gitu je..pastu dengan prospective employer nak dibayar RM500 je sebulan. What?? That is like 9-10 years ago punya standard, OK. When i tried to advise, dia kata, oh..kerja 2,3 bulan dulu, kalau dah puas hati, boleh la naik sikit. Hmm...this prospective 'employer' punya track record: Previous maids either lari or habih je contract terus buat lompat2 keriangan and tak mo sambung lagi. Kat rumah tu ada 3 'mem'..plus budak2 sekolah rendah. Mem1 cakap cuci longkang hari-hari, mem 2 yg anak dara suh gosok baju, mem3 pulak suh masak and jaga budak2. You think boleh ke nak puaskan hati mem2 sekalian in order to obtain a measly RM 50 pay rise?

Kalau ada maid yg ditemukan kat i oleh my maid kata nak kerja 'rumahtangga', i would usually give their no. to sesapa yg ada request kat i. Lepas tu semua urusan nak ambik maid semua i dah tak campur tangan (other than the gaji part - i bukan nak nyebok, i cuma tak suka kalau majikan wants to take advantage and bayar gaji lebih rendah dpd yg telah ditetapkan dek depa punya govt). Kalau lepas 2 hari dia lari also, jangan cari i OK. It has happened before.

Ada pulak tu yg nak maid tapi nak yg trustworthy, yang boleh ni, boleh tu bla bla...thing is, you wouldn't know until they have started working for you. Ada yang cakap kat i, kalau macam maid yg i bagi kat si polan haritu, dia nak lah. Pasal budak tu rajin etc. Haiyaaaa....what don't you understand, uncle? It's just sheer luck la! Kalau nak probability dapat yg set2 ferrari, ambik je lah maid Filipino...bayarlah lebih sikit tetiap bulan.

To prospective employers, maid tu adalah manusia. Bukan robot. You control dia tak boleh guna hp, tak leh bercakap dengan jiran, dengan maid2 lain...pasal takut dia lari. Control tak control, kebarangkalian nak lari tu memang 50/50. Ada yang tiba je maid tu kat rumah, dia terus geledah bag, rampas hp kawan tu. The maid can only sleep when the majikan sleep..but bila maid bangun subuh sapiee, idak le pulak majikan bangun sekali!? Dan janganlah berkira pasal maid guna ubat gigi, berus gigi, sabun etc. Ni ada sorang tu bila tau maidnya guna pencuci muka brand guardiang/watsong dia, terus next monthnya siap2 potong gaji orang tu. Boleh? And if ada ikan kembung and udang galah, why would the maid nak makan udang when ikan kan ada? Wujud orang sebegini...bukan tak wujud ye. Yang lagi membakar hati i, laki bini gaji 5 angka sebulan. One thing is about cuti..ada ke orang kerja 24/7 tanpa cuti? Sendiri kena fikirlah.

I ni cakap ikut observation i...dan bukan wakil dari jabatan buruh, kedutaan indo.

Permisiiii....


*cucu bulu

Let's talk about maids baby..let's talk about yours and mine..

I sekarang ni kat opis...i didn't meet last week's target, hence...it's so sunyi at the office on Sundays...no cleaners, no maintenance workers..adakah i sungguh berani sebenarnya? Oh tidak...at 9am, i whatsapp my colleagues tanya who'd be going in, so bertemanlah saya ni. Strange, masa kat UK dulu idak le i seriau nak stay back sensorang kat lib or lab after office hours. Tapi kat sini...

Anyway, this morning before i left home, muka maid i berseri2 bila i bagitau dia next month we all akan naikkan gaji dia mengikut yg telah dipersetujui dgn Indon govt..cewah, sungguh menurut perintahkan? Actually memang we have decided on it because MG thought we should since by the end of the year we'd be moving out to a bigger place, hence more to do and take care of. But not this soon. I supposed we could just ignore the statement made on the news, but my maid is very sharp. She reads and listens to the news all the time...ok la it's my fault that she has a tv in her room (I asked her to humbankan tv bujang laki i yg takde remote kat b@ngla sapu sampah. Dia lagi pandai, baik bawak masuk bilik dia. But of course i yg paling 'pandai', i went and bought her a good indoor aerial). We also let her keep her own passport seperti yg diarahkan oleh J.immigration and we pay her salary monthly. She also has a handphone. Other people might say that we all ni dah kena kencing, but i just want her to be happy because without her, i wouldn't want to imagine what i'd have to go through right now. I need her more than she needs me...nowadays, maid like her is in high demand. So dengan  cara apa lagi yg i boleh 'beli' dia selain dari wang ringgit? I'm glad MG is with me on this, kenkadang terover generous with paying her one month bonus come raya..(woiii bininya bonus takde ke?)

Her day starts at 6.30am and ends at around 9.30pm. That's more than 12 hours..she cleans, cooks and look after the kids. She doesn't take every weekend off. Petang2 dia bawak anak2 i ke playground and here is where she meets up with the other Indon united. She told me that life was hard for her at her kampung. Pagi naik bukit ambik upah tuai tembakau, petang pergi dusun and malam buat kerja rumah orang. She doesn't own any lembu or kambing let alone a house. So, doing housework all day is nothing in comparison.I don't take her on holidays unless if MG tak dapat ikut sama...kalau bawak dia bertambah $$ because kena book extra room but she herself prefers to stay at home and chill. Of courselah kalau bawak gi holiday tu maknanya working holiday for her..baik dok rumah and tengok astro and pergi berlibur dgn kengkawannya kat shopping complex. People say jangan bagi muka kat maid, jangan bagi guna hp, jangan bagi keluar rumah, jangan bagi cuti and a lot of other jangans. But they are people too...employee bukannya slave. Then bila maid curi2 buat those listed under 'jangans' maam naik hantu. I have had my fair share of bad maids and not so good ones. Ada yg suka melawan cakap, ada yg suka bawak anak i jenjalan tengah panas terik pasal dia nak bersosial, ada yg tak bagi anak i makan and ada yg sikit2 nak balik rumah abang dia come hail or storm. But alhamdulillah, none had been jenis tangan panjang. I have been lucky with this one so far...my relationship with her is only based on trust..she can run away anytime with any of our things. I have a friend yg malam2 kunci rumah dia simpan kat bilik tidurnya and it's a no no area for his maid. I berdoa bercupak yg takde ribut melanda where she is concerned.

I pity her also...she has to leave her kids with the youngest being the same age as mine. She has no harta benda...i keep telling her, kumpul duit beli harta, jangan harapkan laki. Now she has barang kemas serba berdiri i tell you! Kalah maamnya...

Anyway, sebagaimana i menghargai budinya dengan my family, i hope she appreciates too yg i masuk kategori exemplary employer...tu dia nak puji diri sendirik jugak tu...

I lap u my maid

If my maid were a car, she would be a Ferrari. Esah should know. When she spent a measly one night at my place recently (kononnya nak lari dari rumah tapi takat semalam je..apa hal? Itupun sempat perah tenaga i buat facial kat dia), she could see how efficient my maid was. From cooking, cleaning to looking after the kids. but then today she told me, kak, saya nak balik. What? I terjerit ketakutan..my nightmare has begun. Nak balik cuti ke? No she said. Saya nak balik kampung terus. Masa ni i dah tersedu sedan...kenapa..kenapa...tunggulah saya habis belajar dulu.....atau tunggu saya cari pengganti...My maid diam je. i dah menangis cam kap lam mati laki.

Sampai hati dia buat i camni. Dah terbayang dlm kepala otak i kena bangun awal pagi siapkan anak pi sekolah, kemas rumah, i myself kena pi sekolah. Then balik sekolah kena ambik bebudak, bagi diaorg makan, mandikan....errr...dalam keadaan darurat begini jangan sesapa pulak nak harapkan i masak makan malam ye. Pandai2 sendiri je lah. Eh...these house chores are what most women do day in day out pun kan? I je mengada2 lebih..depended too much on the maid. That's it..otak i mula berfikir. I need to get in touch with those cleaning companies yg boleh hantar org cuci rumah by the hour. Yeah, 3x/week at least. And pi jumpa maid agents...tak kisah la berapa nak bayar...asalkan i get a new one pronto.

Dah lepas i menangis mengongoi2...i pun terjaga...lerrr...i bermimpi di siang hari rupanya! MG cakap pasal i tido balik tanpa mandi pagi. I cakap kat MG balance la...dia tak suka mandi lepas balik kerja, siap boleh tido semua and i tak suka mandi pagi - match made in heaven. Anyway, about the maid tu, memang i cemas gila! I told MG that i selalu dapat nightmare yg maid i akan berhenti kerja...and it's always so kejam..in fact i don't get dreams about him having an affair that often pun..hehe.

Must think about giving my maid a raise..tah apa2 tah..mesti dia terkejut badak tetiba je naik gaji.

Chalk n cheese

Weekend ni i nak hot je. Agaknya it's nearing to that time of the month, which i can never tell because it keeps shifting. In fact last puasa, so confident was i that i would get to puasa penuh, sampai bet 20 inggit dgn member i si Neo. Tengok2 sehari sebelum raya dapat period. Kalau tak takkanlah pregnant 3 bulan pun tak sedar kan?

My maid took the weekend off. Hot betul i pasal dekat kul8 malam tadi beru nak terbit. She blamed it on the train bus etc. I cakap dah tau train KTM tu selalu lambat and would stop at every odd station, house, busut whatever and bus hari ahad selalu tunggu penuh baru jalan macam katebang biman, then, boleh tak like kul 3 dah tunggu train? Ni i called kul 5 baru nak bergerak ke station.

Lagi satu i hot kat housemate i. Susah duduk dgn org yg dibesarkan dgn lain ideologi. Maknya pernah cakap dgn i kenapa nak keriau2 kena kemas rumah cuci pinggan semua, tu dah memang tugas kita org pompuan. OK, lain la kalau kita ni suku sakat taliban ke..i vividly remember my bro satu hari turun je dari basikal dari sekolah terus cakap kat mak i, mak, kalau mak taknak masak pun ustad kata ok. Ustad cakap isterinya punya tanggungjawab bukan utk masak kemas rumah. And he was only in std 4 then. And then, masa kursus kahwin, the only 2 things that i could recall ustad yg berceramah tu beria2 nak kitaorg ingat were, para suami, kalau isteri awak taknak buat kerja rumah, awak tak boleh paksa atau marah2 and that sperm boleh telan pasal tak najis. When we were married for just 6 months, MG cakap kat i, sekarang ni you malas masak ye...and i looked at him macam dia alien. And he sworeee that masa dia kursus kawin ustadnya tak kata pun camtu..i said you must be having a nap while he was talking (knowing his tendency to tertidur pun and kalau tak tidur pun one must know how to tap into his dimension). Not that i berkira nak masak ke hapa tapi i like to cook (when there's no one to tidy up afterwards) as much as he likes to basuh pinggan sebijik kat dalam sink tu. And jangan nak keriau2 tension dgn i kenapa tak bagitau dia yg maid nak cuti because he has sooooooo much stuff to do..hello! Kalau dia tak mengamalkan konsep bila bini bukak mulut je dia terus switch off, benda camni tak berlaku OK..lagipun apa gunanya smart phone you tu kan, catit la! Furthermore, org sekarang dah tak pi beratur kat ATM machine to pay bills ok..last month bank yg i buat car loan dah boleh bayar loan online, so bye bye going to the bank forever. When my brother grumbled depan we all yg dia la kena buat gardening, dia la yg masak, dia la yg buang taik kucing, i just looked at my SIL and said, never ever you start doing those things..biarkan! Wanita sedunia rejoice!

Then masuk bab2 keagamaan ni pulak. We plan to move little D to another kindy. Cukup la 3 tahun with the present one. MG wants to enrol her into one islamic kindy..i think sebab musababnya because bini kawan dia yg bukak. I said, i'm really not into budak kecik bertudung because kesian tengok diaorg panas and bila lepas kul 10 pagi dah tak rhope anak org dah, even though i am all for early islamic education. In fact sekolah kebangsaan pun setau i the teachers tak boleh paksa. Dia kata, teachers tak paksa tapi kita mak bapak paksa le. I said, im', so not into memaksa anak2 i pakai tudung. When the time comes and diaorg sendiri terbuka hati utk bertudung atas sebab2 yg betul, then by all means. Not because of peer pressure, teachers ke atau budak2 jantan mulut cilanat yg perasan alim sangat and cakap hari2 depa tengok budak pompuan tak bertudung depa dosa. Dah tu toksah tengok le. I told him that i tak bertudung sampai i dah nak kematu..i turned out not so bad pun, idakle kaki jantan ke (esah would beg to differ), kaki tonggang ke, kaki clubbing ke, atau pun idakle mulut i laser asik nak mengata org sampai terjuih2 bibir. Lagi mak i berleter kat i dulu suh pakai lagi i liat. Bukannya apa dia pernah tercakap kat i yg malu le dia kat kengkawannya yg i tak pakai tudung. To me, it's all about akhlak. Ada orang islam yg perangai cam piraun..pi buang sampah merata2, rumah kotor ya amat, guna toilet cam org tak berpelajaran, suka torture binatang (tak kisahlah setakat masukkan goldfish dlm balang kecik sampai ikan tu nak pusing pun susah - i trauma dgn kejadian ni sampai sekarang) etc. And there are non-muslims yg pencinta binatang, suka tolong orang, polite, etc.
Memang pompuan islam wajib bertudung but bila dah mula bertudung kena la betul2 committed, ni sekejap pakai sekejap bukak atau pakai tapi aurat lain nampak like pakai baju lengan pendek ke, baju ketat or worse pakai baju pregnant had betis..aiya yai..i said, sebagai contoh org bertudung like my two friends at work. Pakai dari sekolah, in fact yg sorang tu kalau keluar ke gate depan rumah pun pakai cekup, this is sepatutnya lah kan. But semayang haram idak! And i said some more, budak2 bertudung jugak ada terlibat in video amatur lucah lubuk tah mana2 tah celah semak or memadu asmara kat vistaangkasa sinun..

MG terdiam tak kata apa.

Buruknya perangai

I ada sikit jugak geram sekarang ni...with my maid. Today i buat kerja kat rumah saja because baby X tak sihat. I took the opportunity to tidy up some stuff since nak mencari benda yg hilang. Ada la jumpa a few toys yg masih berbalut lagi and a few sets tilam and bantal baby yg Little D dapat when she was born. We had multiple sets of everything, so ada yg digunakan and ada yg bagi orang. So ni tinggal saki baki. I asked my maid to go and sedekahkan the tilam bantal to a nursery not far from my house. When she got back, she said dia dah bagi kat Bangla jaga rumah my neighbour. I said, why pulak? Because she said he asked for it and dia nak bagi kat anak dia. I bukannya racist, but because i dah berhajat nak bagi kat nursery tu, so i just thought my maid should have asked me first if he could have it. Be it la i nak mensedekahkan jugak barangan tu but i kisah jugaklah kat sapa i nak sedekah. Regarding the toys pulak, i asked Little D to give them to her friend because dia pun dah ada toys berkenaan. My maid cakap ha, bagi kat kawan dia ni yg takde pak. My maid kata the boy has very few toys. I said, OK.

So just now i asked Little D, so did you give the toys to Abu Bukan Nama Sebenar. She said no, i gave it to Bibik LennyMarlina (bukan nama sebenar). This bibik is maid to Baby X's boyfriend. Can read here. I asked my maid, apahal? She said, the little boy's maid refused to accept the toys because dia kata nanti mak budak tu sukalah..So, i asked, what is her problem? Then i asked, where are the toys then? She said, Little D bagi kat Bibik LennyMarlina and the woman said, oo..i can give these to my cucu.

Have i got the right to naik angin? Of course yg kena marah is Little D walaupun i nak tuju kat my maid. The toys were actually precious to me because of some sentimental value..kalau the intended party dah tak nak, by right, it should be returned to me and then i will decide whether i nak simpan je or bagi kat orang lain. Balik2 asik si Bibik LennyM je yg dapat. Previously, adalah baju2 budak2 ni yg dah tak muat. I suh my maid ketepikan and hajat i nak bagi kat my parents so they can distribute to these two families org susah kat kampung that we have been helping out. Anak depa kecik2 lagi. Last2 i dapat tau my maid bagi kat si bibik tu pasal she asked for them...nak bagi cucu dia kat kampung. Tension betul i!!! She sends money to them every month..depa dah ada lembu 2,3 ekor, hokey? Whereas these families are so daif! I cakap kat maid i tadi, kalau Abu taknak, bagi kat saya balik! Boleh saya letak kat tempat kerja saya. Tetiba je..

Macam buruk siku la pulak...but i DON't CARE! Melampau la i rasa these maids, macam nak take advantage of me. Tak cukup dgn kain baju, tudung i bagi and they always share between the two of them pun. I was pissed off big time.

Several weeks ago, i was mad at another group of people pulak. Nak cakap terang2an payah sikit. Basically, these people ada ring leadernya. And the ketua namjahanam was annoyed at my maid because the latter refused to do what she was asked to. Betullah tu because yg minah tu pun tak sedar diri yg maid tu maid i, bukannya maid dia. Their behaviour was so immature and non-professional that they organised something terang-terangan and excluded my kids! My kids had their friends babai babai depan diaorg, main2, makan2, gelak ketawa semua and they were just there, looking, and not one adult acknowledged them!

Hati i memang panas, sampai sekarang...ada senior colleague kat tempat kerja i ni cakap yg dia jenis cakap lepas, tak simpan dalam hati and bila sudah lepas, sudahlah. And i am so opposite of that...sampai sekarang i masih berdendam because walaupun anak2 i tak trauma, opah atuknya trauma tau! (i called my mum, told her the story, my mum told my dad, my dad called my home, demanding for the person's phone no. I said, laaa, sudah, gaduh lak atuk ngan org tu nanti.My mum said, ko tu mak, tak rasa sangat, kitaorg ni opah dgn cucu, atuk dgn cucu, berani org buat cucu kami. I said sabor le mak oi...).

And the cheek of that ring leader, a few days after that, datang ke rumah nak tumpang masak pasal gas habis. My maid cakap, she has to call me up to seek permission. Minah ni cakap, takkan tu pun nak tanya..pas tu balik semula ke rumah dia and hempas2 pintu marah. Helooo...sebelum korang buat anak aku, korang boleh keluar masuk rumah aku sesedap rasa. Nak makan ke, nak tengok tv ke, nak tumpang basuh baju ke, ada aku kisah? Waaa, dah ko buat anak aku ko expect aku ok je ke? Aku diam bukan bermakna aku tak kisah..aku tengah berdendam je...

A few days ago, one of the gang members hantar some kuih to my house through my maid. I cakap kat maid i, saya tak nak, pergi bagi org lain. Adakah perangai i cam budak2..? Pedulik apa! Tu pun i dah kira baik ok..kalau ikut hati, nak je i suh maid i gi hantor balik ke rumah depa...ni dia bagi kat maid neighbour lain. Ingat kita termei'er (org peghak kata hard up) sangat ke??

I got a letter from my cosv requesting my presence at a meeting along with a few other students. I was thinking, aiyo, kadawale..have i been naughty? Seingat i tak pernah. I ni selalu menurut perintah..but maybe i'm one of those people yg bermasalah tetapi tak sedar diri bermasalah. Then i thought, oh tidak...ada org bagitau pasal blog i ke? Adakah i akan dibicarakan atas kononnya fakta2 dlm blog tidak tepat ke? So i thought damage control first - privatekan blog. Kalau Esah larat comment mesti dia kata, sudahlah ko, berlagak diva. Tapi mengenangkan dia ni sekarang gigih jadi suster ngesot menabur bakti kepada amma appa terchenta, dia tak sempat nak berbunyi.

Hence tiba hari perbicaraan, rhope2nya takde apa2. She just wanted to ask me re. the financial problem. I cakap sekarang tengah nak mintak org sana org sini. She was ever so niceand encouraging, unlike DarthVader (new nick name for you know who).

This morning my maid told me that our neighbour a few houses down has a cat yg sama nama dgn si Mummy's Boy. pas tu dia cerita yg ada bebudak bujang tuduh si debab tu pi terrorise their cat. Punya le maid i kata, hey jangan tuduh sembarangan. Tak tau ke kucing kita tu baik mendengar cakap, kalau panggil mesti datang punya. Yg nakal tu mesti kucing yg nama sama tu..

Err..kucing sama nama dengan si debab tu sama rhope ke? And sejak bila pulak debab kita tu mau dengar cakap? Kalau nak ikan petang2 baru nak masuk rumah. Lagipun bukan ke peelnya suka kacau tah mana2 kucing? But of course i didn't say this to my maid. I was just touched that she would defend anak2 i sebegitu sekali.

Did you watch the royal wedding? I did...i am a sucker for all things royal. I was ready to hate Katemiddleton but the queen's social secretary yakni Esah pernah cakap kat i, whyyy?? She's a nice girl you know..ok laaa..well, she looks like it kan. Takde scandal and gossip liar. I nak tergelak that one of my friends, we were both watching the programme, dia kat umah dia and me at mine but we sms to each other throughout. She asked, do you think Willeng is still a virgin? Gelak besar i! So innocent! Ada ke mat saleh jaman ni just because he's a royal would keep himself all ....'intact'? I mean kalau i anak raja, hensem gittew (walaupun dia perlukan nasihat pakar yunam) dgn uniform nya (so officer and a gentleman kan, kan?) dah lama i taburkan bijibenih oat i merata2. But saying on behalf of Esah, because i know she'd be dying to say this, kau memang pelac****.

My reply to her sms, he's as virgin as Tiger Woods. Pas tu mak i pulak, katanya, you know, they have been living together already?! Tak best la camtu. Lerrrr mak oi...sekarang ni jaman bila?? They have known each other dari uni lagi...lagi muda2 tu hormones tengah menjongket, takkan la kut depa nak save themselves until willeng kata aku terima nikahnya, kut kan...

She waited for her man..in the end he married her...or well, did he have to marry her because she has waited that long? She is patient in that sense or is because there is a crown at stake? So terkenang lah i kat kisah i pulak (perghh! Mesti nak enter frame gak). Had i been patient and prepared to wait for siamang, i have no doubt that he'd chose me...dia pun pernah cakap that after his divorce, had i still been single, the first thing he'd do was to look for me. But mengenangkan dia bukan anak raja and not a 6 footer, mata biru, rambut blonde semua (masalah 'halo' tu is fixable), berani dia nak string me along???! Haah, hambik kau!

Haiya, kan dah melalut tu. Apa2 pun TunJin, Oslo and Sally, i hope uols enjoys!

Kelas kontrol marah

Masa kami kecik dulu2, mak saya selalu cakap, jangan buat dia marah kerana dia dah nak datang bulan jadi dia akan cepat naik darah. Mak saya orangnya...yaaa ampunnnn...garang macam singa. Fiusnya cepat short. Sebenarnya saya rasa dia lebih selalu marah dekat bapak saya tapi kerana kenkadang dia pun dah tak larat nak leter, kami yang akan berada di hujung kemarahannya (at the brunt of it) - mintak maap ye, kena explain sikit dlm BI pasal Esah kan kata mannerism English saya bagus. Lagipun dulu masa sekolah glamer atas bukit yg tak berapa glamer sebenarnya tu Cikgu BM saya selalu marah pada saya dan dia cakap karangan dan meringkaskan karangan saya macam taik..but tentulah dia tak gunakan perkataan taik tu kat luar hatinya kan. (masa tu saya selalu fikir, apasal makcik ni suka nak marah2? Padahal dia jarang masuk kelas menagar..maklumlah, dia penolong kanan kiri jadi sibuk semedang. Siapa yg kerja cikgu kat luar sana, tolong terangkan pada saya, ye ke kalau jadi penolong kanan kiri ni, kita tak payah nak masuk kelas sangat kerana kerja pentadbiran kita banyak, jadi lebih penting?) Dia pernah cakap BM saya lebih teruk dari ada anak mat saleh celup kat kelas sebelah. Masa tu saya kebil2 saja tapi sampai sekarang saya tak hingin nak berjumpa semula dengan cikgu tu. pada hemat saya (cewah), seorang guru itu sepatutnya menjadi sumber inspirasi..nak garang pun boleh, tapi garang bertempatlah. Masa saya kat obersea buat alevels dulu, idak pulak cikgu2 omputeh pernah cakap kat saya, your english suck bigtime! saya masih score jugak dalam biologi, matematik dan kimia walaupun ada sekali tu cikgu biologi pernah tulis kat kertas assignment saya "english please!' dan sempat dia betulkan grammar saya antara mengorek (ni bukan korek hidung maupun vontot) kertas saya. Cikgu2 kat malaya ni kalau tak buat anak muridnya kencing dalam seluar memang tak sah..oh ye terlupa nak cakap, mak saya dulu cikgu, jadi garangnya kat kelas dia bawak balik ke rumah. Ok la, untuk berlaku adil, ada la sorang cikgu BM saya masa tingkatan 3, namanya cikgu hendon. Dia adalah sumber inspirasa kami..dia pandai menjadikan suasana di kelas tidak bosan dan juga kami suka sekodeng suaminya yg selalu hantar dia pagi2..suaminya hensem persis latipibrahim.

Bukanlah motip penulisan hari ini untuk mengingatkan kembali netapa garangnya mak saya. Dia pernah ada hati bagitau kami yg dia memang tipikal scorpio. Diam2 dan lama2 boleh meletup. hai...macam tak percayaaaaa saja. Seingat saya, dia cepat melenting...ok la, untuk berlaku adil saya perhatikan dia ni bila patut melenting tak melenting..contohnya: bila darah daging dia sendiri buat mulut pasal dia, bila ada pompuan nak mengorat bapak saya sampai datang rumah kami pakai baju kurung tak pakai kain dalam and dah tu duk kat luar rumah utk bersembang dengan bapak saya dan kami di dalam rumah boleh nampak kakinya 2 batang itu. Masih mak saya tak cakap apa2. Tapi bila kami tanya, mak dah masak ke? Mak saya boleh melenting sampai campak sudip dekat kami. sekarang ni mak boleh cakap dekat saya kenapa kamu garang sangat buat anak? Ek eleh.....

Cerita untuk hari ini, tadi saya sudah naik darah sama saya punya pembantu rumah (PR). Dia berikan anak saya makan jajan. Di rumah ini, saya tak benarkan sebarang bentuk jajan yang mengandungi ajinomoto, jajan jeli yang kemungkinan berlakunya tercekik jika makan, jajan yg manis dan melekit yang boleh merosakkan gigi dan juga dalam bentuk minuman yang terlebih gula. Secara kesimpulannya, semua jajan tak boleh masuk rumah nilah. Kecuali cekelat dan minuman tanpa gula..itupun di hari minggu saja. Sekali sekala tu bolehlah..but budak2 mana tau konsep sekali sekala kalau dah ketagih kan? Dari kecil memang mak saya tak benarkan kami makan jajan. Kakak saya pun besarkan anak2 dia dengan nasik saja. Rata2 saya lihat kalau budak2 ketagihan jajan ni, biasanya badan cekeding kerana tak berselera makan nasik. And gigi2 mereka, ya ampunnnn, tinggal tunggul hitam. Biasanya, gigi tunggul ni melambangkan keluarga senang..orang susah mana mampu beli jajan, rebina, bitagen segala kan?

Jajan ini didapati dari lagi sorang PR kawan baiknya pasal mereka berempat (2 PR, anak saya, anak jagaan dia) singgah petonas nak beli topap. Dan teman lelaki baby X seperti biasa pow PRnya jajan. Jadi anak saya pun dibelikan air kotak. Aik??! Semalam dah beli twisties. Ni saya baru seminggu lebih dok rumah..bayangkan sepanjang masa saya takde???? Jadi saya bagitau PR saya, kenapa dibelikan jajan? Lepas tu dia cakap, bukan dia belikan, tapi PR yg satu lagi. Lepas tu dia cakap kat baby X, 'baby X, baby X, kan bibik dah cakap mummy tak bagi?' Saya naik angin la..saya cakap baby X tu kan budak, dia mana faham. Oleh kerana bukan kamu yg belikan tapi kawan kamu, lain kali kamu jangan temankan dia dah (kerana bibik ni buta huruf, so nak tekan duit kat atm ke PR saya kena ikut sekali). Kalau nak pergi jugak, tinggalkan budak2 di rumah, jadi kena tunggu kami ada di rumah baru kamu boleh ikut dia.

Memang betul2 saya 'mabuk marah'. Kalaulah PR boleh dapat di Giant, dah lama saya akan buat gimik 'bungkus kain baju kamu!' Oleh kerana gimik tu tak boleh diguna pakai pada masa2 susah nak cari PR ni, maka saya pun terus melayari internet tengok laman sesawang korel dan tod's dan berikan PR saya 'bahu sejuk'.

Kalau mak saya fikir dia tu kononnya tipikal bintang scorpio yg suka pendam, sebenarnya silap. Saya ni yg tukang pendam, siap kena ambik kursus dgn Esah utk meluahkan perasaan dengan cara yang betul dan bukannya dengan cara tak betul seperti baling2 barang, tinggalkan tandas tanpa pam, angkat wiper kereta orang, campak papan tanda dan lain2. 6 bulan sekali baru saya meletup - sungguh tidak bagus utk jantung saya.

Sekian..

Quick chat

The maid was on leave this weekend. MG was busy supervising people in creating someone's masterpiece garden. I was left with the 5 kids (plus the bulu ones that is). Since diaorg dah besar2 sikit ni i'm less agitated with the thoughts of having being left alone with them (apakah ni? Tau beranak je, bela tak tau). The house was also relatively tidy...my maid knows how hopeless i am at cooking and feeding the kids so dia awal2 lagi dah siap masak, enough for one weekend.

This morning i decided to tidy up the larder. Banyak betul food stuff yang dah expired. Banyak food cartons and containers yg akan dihantar utk recycle. Cita2 tinggi, nak masak itu ini tapi tak masak2, hence..I even had 2 container full of gula melaka and gula kabung..apa nak buat ye? I masukkan into my garbage enzyme...i have made the 3rd batch of g.e. If only my outdooor store is bigger, maunya i buat cam factory. I use the g.e. to soak my fruits and veg, pesticides, unblock the sink (excellent!), bleach my dish towels, hilangkan bau ketiak bebudak bulu kat sofa etc. I have converted my mum into g.e. freak as well...once we were at this garden expo. There was this guy who was selling some kind of liquid yg dia cakap can do stuff as i have just mentioned above. Then MG said, eh, ni bukan yg macam you buat ke? The guy was selling them RM10 for 100ml. Of course they were packaged nicely.

I read in the newspaper today. They are slaughtering crocodiles up this river in Swak looking for the rogue crocodile that killed an imam. I'm sorry for the family...i'm sorry that they haven't found his remains (i think they did find a hand or thigh?) to give him a proper burial. But seriously, slaughtering 'innocent' crocodiles so that they can cut it's stomach open to check for its contents? The crocodile did what it was programmed to do from millions of years ago i.e. to hunt and kill. Bukan ke buaya tu pun makhluk allah. Tak berdosa ke membunuh tak tentu pasal? Kita dikurniakan akal fikiran...and guna bangkai anjing as bait..err...anjing tu pun dibunuh utk tujuan tu ke? Tsk tsk..

As Mahatma Gandhi said, something like this lah 'How a nation has progressed can be seen by how its animals are treated' - correct me if i'm wrong.

The art of solitude

My maid asked me a few days ago whether i'll be doing anything this weekend. Cepat2 i jawab yg i kena masuk office...then baru i tanya why dia nak tahu? She told me that the neighbour's maid nak pi jenjalan ke rumah anaknya dekat2 sini jugak and she'd like to tag along if it's OK. Those two are best friends. In fact my neighbour's maid yg rekomenkan my maid to me. This month alone, my maid dah cuti 2X..i don't begrudge her to go berlibur but the thing is i don't want her to get ideas that each time the other maid cuti, dia pun nak ikut sama and vice versa. Seganlah i kat my neighbour..nanti kang kut terdetik kat hati dia that sejak my maid ada, her maid asik mintak cuti. Kalau tak org ni ikut orang tu, orang tu pulak ikut orang ni.

Terpaksalah i meninggalkan rumah for a few hours..there goes my beauty sleep which i usually take on weekends. SMS Ustazah Munah yesterday if she'd like to meet up for lunch but she has wedding and what not to go to. Called up the salon where i usually have facials done-sorry all booked up. Then called up another salon and nak try berurut-sorry kak, kami penuh. Humph!

Nevertheless, i still went out, to the local shopping mall. I left my car to be washed and polished...saja je mamat cainunalip tu, 'kakak, tak mau kasi polish ka? U rasa sini, dia punya body banyak keras' katanya sambil menyuruh i raba2 keta i. OK la...i've done it once this year, so ni kira cukup quota utk tahun ni. I didn't have breakfast, so i thought i'd go straight for lunch. What would be perfect for one? Dah lama mengidam sushi..also, kalau makan sensorang ni, i usually opt for SK because staring at the moving conveyor belt is kind of soothing since there's no one to talk to. Lagipun i ingat, hmmm..kat tempat i ni, SK selalu nampak lengang je, so kemungkinan besar takkan terbump into anyone i know (kata tak kisah bersorang2an..) tetiba, 'hey Cik Kiah! Sorang je??'

Can this person be any louder??? This person turned out to be one of my "school's" junior academic staff. Kalau kat sekolah tu nampak cam kekwat sikit. She was with her pakwe i guess. And the waiter showed me to this table behind them that seats four although jenuh i berbisik, saya sorang je! Then that woman, pusing belakang and tanya, you tinggal sini ke? A ah, i cakap..i'm just trying to get away from my kids and my husband's working today...ek eleh...can i be anymore uncomfortable? Yg pi volunteer semua info wat apa??? Ish ish macam terasa2 i dia pst pst kat boipren dia, 'tu la Cik Kiah..kat school pun dia buat donno je dgn orang, ghope2nya dia ni memang suka menyendiri..sian dia kan?'

The salmon and jellyfish lost their appeal today. Bila la diaorg nak blah...After i dah telan 5 plates of sushi, one order of baked scallops plus dessert tah hapa2, baru depa bangun..the lady told me yg they are going to go watch a movie. Darn!!! i thought i was going to watch one also.

I left SK not long after. Pi la merayau2 picking up a few things the people at home need - lip balm (maid), gunting kertas (little D), glue (little D), minyak penyubur rambut (baby X)...baru 2 jam plus lunch. Takkan kalau pi opis sebegini cepat kut?? I really have no stamina to just jalan2 merayau2 window shopping unlike my roommate..When i window shop, i usually do some very serious damage...very...! Suka Pak Habib and Uncle PohKong selalunya.. OKla, i decided to go watch Sex and The City 2. Punyala, show pukul 3pm, kul 230 dah i tercegat kat budak koyak ticket. Dia cakap, kak, belum boleh masuk lagi...laaaaa....berapa lama nak tunggu kat luar ni?? Malu la akak kalau ada orang yg akak kenal tengok akak cam kera sumbang, tengok wayang sensorang...(of course yg tu dalam hati je lah berkata2)

FYI, this must be my 3rd movie within one year yg i tengok sensorang..kengkadang nak pi ngan kengkawan susah sikit..orang ni dah tengok, org tu tak nak tengok apa yg kita nak tengok...dgn MG pulak, he'd rather go shopping or he's got this masalah besar yg tak boleh tinggal anak kat rumah...come on la..sekali2 the kids are not going to be scarred for life!

Lagi 5 minit sebelum dibenarkan masuk, i dah bulldoze my way once again. The adik pengoyak ticket said, kak, belum boleh masuk lagi..Saya nak pi toilet la, said i.
So at the movie, i dapat row paling belakang sekali..selang satu seat there was this chubby guy, single mingle jugak. i pandang dia, then dia pandang i...it's quite comforting to know that you're not the odd one out. SATC 2 was OK..i enjoyed the first one more, of course. Carrie Bradshaw kissed another man and got a black diamond ring from Mr Big. I wanted a diamond and sapphire ring...and i had to fill in my income tax forms (and dapat rebate dua ribu lebih) and main kutu dgn teacher little D, baru dapat i punya ring.

Finally, i colud leave for home..it was nearly six o'clock. When i picked up my car, the adik cainunalip cakap, kak, tak penat ke jalan satu hari??

Ish! Pelempang kang!

P/S That's not the only story from my saturday..tunggulah cerita : penangan polis pencen..hihihi..

Cerita maid

Tonight is the first night after 6plus months that i can sleep soundly. i have just handed in my research proposal to badan yg nak meluluskannya. Whether they all lulus or not is another story. At least for tonight and the coming weekend, i would be worry free - takde tertunggu2 kot my SV hantar email nak pecat i (i'm exaggerating of course).

Let's speak about maids. My present one is a gem. She's been with us since August last year. It's hard not to like and spoil them yang baik and rajin2 ni. For me, i don't expect much from them..cukup ada org dok kat rumah and teman/jaga anak2 i. With previous maids, masak pun i tak expect because semua ngaku tak reti masak. The present one seems OK, boleh la tengok sekali and next time dia buat. With all my maids, i tak suruh seterika baju i..MG pun seterika baju sendiri and sendiri handwash baju2 dia yg perlu (laki aku ni ada sikit sindrom tak caya org lain buat. For the first 6 months kitaorg kawin dia relakan i sterika baju dia because dia cintan sangat kat i and he thought i hard up sangat nak buktikan i nak jadi domestic goddess. Lepas tu?? haha..dia tak bagi, i tak mintak). Tugas hakiki my maids are to kemas rumah, bersih litter box kucing, bagi budak makan and mandikan diaorg (only with the present one ni je dia buat semua sesi mandi. kalau yg dulu2 punya maid, mandi maghrib tu mesti kitaorg buat), masukkan baju dlm mesin, sidai and lipat. That's it.

OK la, kemas lepas i masak which is once a week because i masak banyak2 jenis sekali seminggu. hari2 dia keluarkan one portion from the freezer and heat up. I don't expect them to wash my car. Kalau cuci, i bagi upah. Sekarang ni i bagi 50inggit pocket money on top of the monthly salary yg masuk bank terus. I buy them undies, tshirt, tudung, raya beli baju kurung and apa2 lagilah..

As an employer memang i nak ambik hati supaya diaorg suka kerja so i tak yah pening2 bila maid lari or buat hal kena cari lain kan? So, sorry mukadimah panjang lebar sikit. My last maid was a temp one yg i copet dari tempat kerja i. She was recommended to me by a cleaner yg dah lama i kenal kat office tu. Alasannya budak ni nak kerja ngan i because with her then employer, gaji asyik kena tahan..so she thought kerja rumah lagi bagus. Apparently she has worked rumahtangga before. Yes, i was desperate.

Masa dia kerja ngan i, banyak benda i tutup mata. I tak tegur pun and kalau taknak hati sakit, buat2 tak nampak. My parents ada tegur kenapa bila depa tefon rumah i kul 8-10 pagi, takde org angkat (we all dah pi kerja). Bila i tanya my maid dia cakap Baby X menangis runsing dok rumah, so dia bawak pi bersosial rumah jiran (yg ada maid indon of course). Kenkadang i keluar rumah lambat, MG pi kerja dulu. Cik Kak tu kul 8 pagi dah keluar kononnya bawak baby X pi jenjalan (little D dok nursery). Dah dekat 10 pagi baru dia balik and baby X dah tertido dah, dgn tak mandinya, tak bfast, sempat minum susu sebotol. Pas tu baru dia buat kerja rumah. Bila baby X bangun, dia mandikan, then bagi lunch, pas tu baby X tido semula and dia pun ikut masuk bilik sama. Ada sorang maid neighbour i pernah cakap kat i yg bila baby X tido kenkadang minah ni pi bertandang rumah jiran. So i told MG suh sound kat dia since dia takut kat MG. Baby x punya birthweight was 3.3kg but masa umur dia setahun she was only 7kg. The paed said she was underweight and asked me why? I said i don't know, nak kata sakit selalu tak le jugak. Bila i tengok dia makan, nampak Ok je, takde le choosy. So she asked me to give her more proteins...once i caught my maid giving baby X just rice..plain rice..putih je, no lauk nothing! I pun tanya, napa takde lauk? Dia cakap lauk budak tu dah habis (memang le i masak asing utk baby X..apa yg kitaorg makan, yg had dia i tak buh cili or banyak garam ke) siang tadi. So isaid la, kan baru goreng ikan utk makan malam tadi..ambik la ikan, pilih le tulangnya..atau pun goreng le telur...sampai hati dia bagi anak i makan nasik putih je. Masa tu dia dah nak berenti dah...so i sabar je, mengenangkan maid baru belum sampai lagi...i fikir...laaa patut la anak i kurus keding..entah2 selama ni makan nasik putih je bila lauk takde..(menyesal i sampai sekarang that i selalu balik lepas kul 7 malam, so tak sempat nak tengok apa dia bagi anak i makan).

Dia cakap handphone dia pecah pasal little D baling atas jalan. i pun idakle mintak tengok fonnya..i cakap how much? i pi ganti esoknya jugak. Siap i belikan yg range bagus punya gak lah, boleh dengar radio tanpa earset and boleh tangkap gambar semua (iye le..standard bibik la, idak le i bagi ifon ke). Dia cakap dia makin rabun so i took her for eye test and tambah duit dia utk buat specs. Masa mak i dok ngan i sebulan i paid her 100 inggit extra just to perangatkan air utk mak i mandi (because water heater kat atas and mak i tak larat naik tangga). Bila2 dia nak cuti jumpa kaum kerabatnya i bagi although most of the times i sakit jiwa because ye la...bila ada 3-day weekend je , siang2 dah dia book..kita nak balik kampung pun tak boleh! (takde org nak jaga anak bulu). Dah 6 bulan kerja ngan i dia cakap last raya dia nak balik kg, makpak suh kawin. Mula2 dia tak cakap..dia pi cakap kat maid jiran je. The maid asked her la, taknak bagi tau i ke..takkan le nak leave me hanging camtu..dia kata persetankan! (but in her own words la). so that maid told me..bengkak gak hati i masa tu, but i thought i'd surprise her so diam2 i arrange to get a new one. Suspen gak i masa tu..it took so long to process! Imagine i contacted the new maid in April, Aug baru beres segala (masa tu la pulak gomen sana buat perangai taknak bagi org dia masuk larr).

So yesterday i asked my present maid..kamu senang kerja dgn saya ke senang kerja kat kampung? She said, kat kampung dia bangun kul 430 pagi, siap2 kan makanan utk anak dia and pas tu pi ladang or sawah ambik upah. Petang balik rehat sekejap, siapkan makanan utk anak2 dia and kalau musim buah, dia pi pulak ambik upah kait. Balik rumah for maghrib, then pi pulak kerja rumah orang, kul 11 malam baru balik and tido.
sebulan dapat le lebih kurang 5-80 inggit duit kita. Cam nak menitis air mata i dengar. Pas tu tak tau cemana cite boleh berkait pada my last maid. this one cakap, kak, saya dengar banyak cerita pasal kakak dari pembantu2 yg lain, cuma saya tak pernah cakap pada kakak dan saya mau lihat sendiri. Apparently, maid i yg tak sedar di untung tu cakap yg dok ngan i cam neraka. Kalau i bagi gaji 1000 inggit pun tak hingin dia nak kerja ngan i. Dia cakap semua benda dicontrol (eh?? dia boleh pi bersosial pagi and petang boleh lak ye? Cakap i ni control freak). Kul 8 malam je dia dah masuk bilik irregardless kitaorg dah makan ke belum. Just because ada sekali tu MG balik lambat so i told her, takpe tak yah tunggu, lepas MG makan we all akan kemas. waaa..tu dia..pas tu dia pun buatlah..naik atas masuk bilik masa maghrib dah tak turun2 dah. terus tup lampu bilik even though i boleh dengar dia pasang lagu semua. Ada maid bagi tau yg minah TG tu pernah tangan2kan si little D...OMG! And baby x pulak diaorg cakap selalu busuk..petang baru minah TG tu mandikan bila tau i dah nak balik kerja..

Sekarang baru semua cite ni terbongkar..kalau i dapat tau masa tu jugak mau i kerja2 kan minah tu cukup2. Memang tak sedar diri betul! And being muka tak malu that she is, lepas berenti ngan i kononnya nak kawin tu (baru terbongkar rahsia yg dia sebenarnya torak je..dia tak tau nak bagi alasan lain nak berenti) tup2 dia pi kerja balik kat kantin office i. i wish i boleh sepak je dia but me being me, i pulak yg liat nak masuk canteen pasal tak sanggup nak nengok mukanya. Kalau bertembung pun, bila dia senyum, i senyum balik. Mak i cakap, biar dia je pi tampor2 (kata org perak)muka minah tu pasal pi buat cucu2 dia.

Apa2 pun i berdoa siang malam supaya the present one kekal baik and nak kerja lama2 ngan we all. To that minah TG, i tak halalkan satu sen pun duit i yg keluar suka2 bagi kat dia dulu.


*TG = tak guna

Mak tiri Bawang Merah

I'm a mean mum. I am tough with my kids..mungkin pasal terlampau banyak bekerja ngan budak2 day in day out and some of their antics do drive me up the wall. I keep reminding myself not to expect my kids to be perfect..they are only 3 plus and 1 plus...like little D for instance, i can't understand why when i ask her nicely dia tak ikut and bila dah i tinggikan suara baru nak buat. I also have to remind myself tangan jangan cepat naik (cubit). How some people can discipline their kids without tangan pun i tak tau..probably theirs are good, dah dijampi2 masa dlm perut lagi, which i failed to do. I consistently apply segala neka behaviour management techniques like positive reinforcement la, negative reinforcement la, extinction la what have you..tapi tak jalan sangat..

Anyway, this evening memang ada drama. The kids have asthma although just mild. Bila demam or time2 sejuk musim hujan macamni kengkadang ada wheezing. Their doctor put them on ventolin and becotide inhalers. And they have the chamber whenever they need to use the inhalers. Time and time again i reminded the kids not to play dgn benda alah tu, jangan tembak nyamuk or Udi using the inhaler (esp. the becotide, mahal siut RM48 sebijik). And don't dismantle the chamber lest some bits get missing. Just now, when i wanted to use it on Little D, tengok2 the rubber bung where the inhaler should be inserted was missing. I searched high and low sambil mulut mengomel. I was annoyed at my maid because to me dia patut control bebudak tu petang tadi when they were playing with it (she told me the kids berebut antara diaorg). Then i got annoyed at little D because dia sengih thinking it was all so funny bila i tonggeng2 bawah katil. Memang telinga pun dipiat, masih tak nangis lagi so i threatened that selagi tak jumpa benda tu, jangan harap dia nak tidur sebilik dgn i because i so do not want to hear her wheezing at night and not be able to do anything (saja nak jadi kejam padahal i ada mesin nebuliser tu should it get worse hehe). She cried and screamed for daddy, baru puas hati i.

That chamber thing costs RM80, not cheap but of course kalau tak jumpa kena la pi beli baru esok. I want the kids to appreciate that some things boleh buat main but some things should be left alone. Bila time2 i takde rumah tu, maid la yg patut control..so bila i piat si little D, itu ditujukan jugak kat my maid ala2 pukul anak sindir menantu la ni. A few months back, she became the menantu again because dia biarkan budak2 tu main with the hand sanitiser sampai lesap entah ke mana. OK la no big deal benda tu regenya tak sampai pun 4 inggit but that time was during the peak of H1N1, all pharmacy kat tempat ni kehabisan benda tu. Mana tak i mengomel kan?

In the meantime, kat mana la rubber bung tu menyorok??

Pahala sebesar telur unta

My pahala puasa today probably sebesar telur unta (why telur unta? Dolu2, my bff-no-more-sob2 ustazah munah selalu cakap camtu) je. Dari pagi i feel irritated....mula2 bangun pagi i discovered little D dah membanjirkan tilam and half of no 31 dgn kencing dia. Tengok2 dia tidur malam tadi tak pakai pampers. Why? The maid cakap because masa lepas mandi malam nak pakaikan, si kecik kata taknak so the maid pun lupa nak cakap kat i..haaaihh! Dah la hari hujan je ni, bila ke selimut, bantal, cadar, duvet and cover nak kering? Tilam pun habisla..

Pas tu i ingat nak buat kuih gelang (keria) petang ni. One thing about living next to little D's nursery, the teachers can pop in and out bebila..ada la plus and minus pointnya. Plus bila si kecik tak nak pi sekolah, panggil je teacher next door. Minusnya is when cam tadi..bila i tengah buat kuih, one of the teachers singgah and makcik ni masih anak dara, in her 20s but selalu rasa dia lebih makan garam dari i. Dia pun memberi komen2 the right way of doing it termasuklah, bila nak sira, jangan campur air (dlm gula). Kalau nak sedap lagi jgn campur tepung ke keledek (eh! jenuh i nak membentuknya tadi). Then i found out that bebudak nursery sebelah will have roti je for tea. So the maid and i pun pulunlah cepat2 buat, goreng and sira, ingatkan nak sedekah kat sebelah. Teacher cakap tea starts at 4.15pm. 4.30 the maid went to send the kuih, and that teacher cakap, eh bik, budak semua dah makan, tak payahla bagi, saya nak bawak balik. Whatttt???? I was annoyed. because dah la memang i bagi banyak so enough for all the kids and teacher pulak yg nak bolot? 15 minit je takkan budak dah habis makan? Lagipun bagi je la because parents datang ambik pun pukul 5. Kalau i berhajat nak bagi the teachers, i takla bagi sebanyak tu and had rumah punya kena buat another batch.

OK, pas tu i pun buatla another batch. Harap the maid goreng and sira. Bila i tengok, awat the gula sira jadi cam caramel dan melekit2??? Tak buh air ke? The mid cakap dia buh sikit je. Tu dah termakan dgn cakap teacher la tu kan???! So, this buka posa, i'm left with sticky caramelised kuih keria for my kids...who got the lovely ones?? The teacher...yg tak masuk dlm plan i pun...humphh!

p/s i hope i tak la rasa annoyed je ngan maid i ni. She's new, tak sampai pun sebulan and the bestest so far kalau nak dicomparekan dgn yg lepas2..

Weekly assignment

I feel like a school kid. i memang jenis yg menurut perintah. dari sekolah dulu memang i ni menggeruni cikgu2 and not the other way round like bebudak sekarang. kalau teacher cakap tahi cicak is tahi lembu i pun akan iyekan je. esah nak hapdate, i hapdate. btw, i'm listening to a lecture by the big boss, so im updating using my pda yg canggih saja nak bongkak sikit. so excuse my typo n the lack of commas etc. hambik kau, tak kosser cik kiah nak membega keypadnya.
siti left on saturday. a sad day for little d n yours truly sikit lg nak buat cerita hindustan. airmata keluar berjurai2. i dapat penggantinya but im not revealing whr i copet ths new girl. nanti kang tak pasal2 aku masuk lokap atau paling kurang pun tak diserve di kantin tempat kerja i.

sometimes in our lives hidup kita disentuh oleh seseorg. in my case siti is the person. she was with us for only 21/2 mths. she cant clean house well. kalau pampers bebudak boleh kumpul satu bakul kat atas rumah pun dia tak buang ke tong sampah lagi. mg cakap sampah depan mata pun dia tak nampak. pokok bunga mg pun sempat dia terbunuh 2-3 jenis. but she was a godsent..she came when i tengah demam2 pening cari org nak jaga anak lepas bibikku lari. she smiles a lot didnt talk back soft spoken n best of all she genuinely loves the kids. apasal la kakak dia nak kena kawin pulakkan? kenapa dia nak kena balik kan? sorry this is meghoyan talking.

on a more cheery note the kids kenduri went ok. banyak lah sedara mara dtg. speaking of makcik2 ni adalah sorang ni cukup tak setuju that i dont use a buai to put babyx to sleep. masa pi beraya rumah dia pun dah mengomel kat i... bila babyx terjaga after only an hours sleep dia cakap haa..itula tak berbuai..budak tak lena. and uols, dia cakap sampai terjuih2 mulutnya. i malas le nak melayan dgn semua statistics budak jatuh buai otak bergoncang syndrome or whatever syndrome and tah hapa2 lagi..plus kalau nak berjalan takkan nak hangkut gak buai tu like what si baung has to do...n malas jugak i nak cakap si baby x tak lena tidur pasal kenduri kan..org bising. sabar je la! tapi kalau hati masih panas sampai next year take note mg i tak nak gi beraya rumah dia. jangan nak paksa2 i.

random thoughts
1. i think scarle*t johanwhatever has big boobs and bum ..matila lesbo erotica!
2. kim k@rdashian puts on too much makeup..mata n bibir sama2 garang. its a no no kan ...kena refer to our inhouse makeup artist
3. big boss aku vontotnya is too bulat..for a guy.
4. kim0r@ lee simm0ns punya rings around her neck mengasyikkan i..what is happenning to me??
5. im sooo good at multitasking.

OKla please put commas capital letters etc. wherever necessary.

Intermission

Siti is leaving for good next week. Maid agent called up MG and told him that we won't be getting a replacement (to replace the one that ran away) until December. Oh my...the future looks bleak.

Don't make me angry..you won't like me when i'm angry..

I'm in a less than pleasant mood today..i wouldn't say 'bad mood' because tak sampai ke tahap tu lagi and i jarang bad mood. But i have been irrational..could it be because of:

1.The medication i'm taking??? No Esah, ni bukan set2 mind altering drugs punya ok..I have had this chesty cough for over a week dah. My inhaler dah tak jalan..now ni ventolin tabs pun dah makan macam kacang putih. I know i have to be on steroids, and me so malas nak pi jumpa badan bertauliah tu nak mintak diprescribe the super drug tu. The pharmacist kat bawah tak de...the ventolin tabs are making me experience this tremors. Tapi causing mood swings?? Tak tau la kan..and no, i bukan tengah pms.

2. This morning i had a client whom i was seeing for the very first time. Apak dia langsung tak hormat kat i. He walked in while he was talking on his handphone. I had to wait about 2 mins before he ended his conversation. Pas tu he could dictate to me what he thought i should do to his son..amboi amboi! Who's the expert kan kan?? Not to mention that he was 30mins late. My first client pulak was 1 hour late and takde nak apologise langsung. Arrgghhhhh!!!

3. Siti my maid/nanny mintak nak berlibur jumpa abang dia yg baru pulang dari desa..ingatkan nak keluar pagi and balik petang. Just now the brother called me and he was under the impression that she could go overnight. Mana bisaaaa! I have a seminar on Sunday, so no can do. Lagipun, she's with us utk 2 bulan lebih je. Raya hari tu dah cuti 3 hari. Nov 20th ni nak berenti dah and yet we still decide to pay her full 3months. Gaji sebulan RM600 kau..bukannya sikit. So i have to put my foot down here..solely for the fact that i have to attend the seminar kalau tak i mungkin crumble and say, iyolah Siti. But pissed off jugak lah i.

4. This i'm really being irrational. Macam saja je nak cari gaduh...next weekend my P.I.L nak buat kenduri aqiqah for my 2 kids. Ada la we all chip in sini sikit sana sikit but mostly their contribution. MIL mintak MG buatkan kad jemputan (don't play2!). I told MG tak yah wat mahal2 because org buang je pun. MG kata beli kertas je, print sendiri. I said OK but don't put my title OK, nanti kena bantai gelak ngan kengkawan i (yg masing2 bertitle sama). Tadi MG called tanya brapa kad i nak because yg had i takde title, yg lain 'mungkin' ada. I said la..what the..I said tak yah la...And he said, oooo..kalau seselalu tu i pakai title boleh lak. I kata selain dari urusan kerja mana ada i pakai..urusan bank and tah hapa2 lagi i'm always just a plain Mrs. Dia cakap kalau my MIL nak gak camna? I kata 'riak'...ish! It doesn't have to get to that. I'm in plain foul mood plus i have this thing about using my title for non-work related stuff.

5. MG baru cakap tadi malam ni dia ada dinner..i said laa..awat bagitau lambat?? Tonight is always pasar malam night i.e. no cooking. He said memula tak nak pergi pas tu boss dah bising2.
Saja i gatal2 tanya, spouses invited sama ke?? He said nooo...so i said, you've been with that company for 1 year and not once have i (or other spouses or kut2 i kena kelentong ke?? He wouldn't dare!) been invited out. Teruk sangat ke i ni yg tak boleh dipresent kan langsung to 'the firm?' (kalau ikut cakap mak i, kita ni pi bawak stesen bas boleh, airport boleh..). I am offended! Hummphh!! So, they think i'm not good enough ye??? Just wait la satu hari nanti when the bosses may need my professional opinion atau sesapa within my 'firm'...masa tu baru tau langit tinggi rendah..(am i being irrational?????)

6. An old friend YMed me..kawan tu is living an expat life, gaji berkoyan2...Tak tau la kalau dia nak brag. Dia cakap baru2 ni balik Msia duit habis lebih 30K. Tu tak termasuk ole2 yg dibeli utk balik ke Msia..i cakap u dari dulu memang extravagant. Dia kata good quality stuff = mahal2 ones. I said not necessary...and dia boleh cakap that for e.g. she'd rather spend 100k on a sentra* than 60k on a Waja*. Mak tuan! Tak ke Cik Kiah pembawak kereta nasional terunggul ni rasa cam nak mencarut je *&^%$%^&*!!! Pas tu sibuk nak bercerita next year nak masukkan anak (yg tinggal kat mesia) dia ke kindy international and pas tu std 1 international school gak..i kata bagusla...Tapi ni la...setipa kali berhubungan ngan Cik Kiah mesti nak bagitau prices of stuff, anak punya achivement, namanya ada appear kat mana2 ke....i know i should not get riled up about these things...mungkin sebab dia cerita kat i pasal dia nak i envy kehidupannya yg bergolek with moolah..but nanti kang tiba satu petang yg hening dapat le Cik Kiah ym atau email dari dia mengatakan how she envies my life yg semua anak, kucing, laki, bini under one roof and tak macam dia yg sorang terdampar sana, sorang terdampar sini...in the meantime, Cik Kiah kena je la menghumour kawan Cik Kiah yg sakit mental tu kan..

Waaa! 6 aetilogical factors..any one of those memang menyakitkan kepala buat masa ini.

Of cats and kids

My temp maid has asked for leave from 29/09 (Mon) till 1/10 (Wed) for raya. Aiya yai..i wanted to take leave from work only on raya itself since we will only be going to my p.i.l on the first day and balik to my kampung on 2nd raya. Really don't want to be throwing my annual leave around..So, nampak gaya kena ambik la cuti all week...and we will all be staying put at home from weekend 27/09 right till 2nd raya, tunggu maid dtg balik baru boleh balik kampung..not funny! Nak demand banyak2 sangat kang dia berhenti sapa lak nak jaga bebudak bulu kat rumah tu. Last night the bro called and asked boleh tak dia nak mintak bawak adiknya keluar this weekend nak shopping...kenalah kata ya, kan?? We are really at their mercy.

I am nervous about being left with the kids with no (hired) backup. I am such a bad mum..i fear my own kids. I worry that i may lose my temper with little D and hang her upside down, or let baby X on her own 'swimming' (she can turn onto her tummy now) for hours (but she's really not getting anywhere)...i worry that i may fall asleep and the kids would be left to their own devices. I'm sure MG and i shall survive and do what we always do with only little D last time: to bundle everyone up into the car and go ukur the kaki lima of shopping complex..the only drawback is bulan puasa...cannot makan!

Btw, little D is unwell..again! Since putting her at the nursery, we've had had to visit the doctor countless of times. Mungkin sihatnya seminggu dua, lepas tu sakit balik. Paling kurang pun selsema. I wish i have the option of keeping her at home but with the uncertainty of whether we'd be getting a permanent maid, little D asyik tengok tv astro Arun@ je and otak tak berkembang, i really don't have any other choice. I just hope that her immune system would be better, soon (which reminds me that i forgot to take her for a flu jab..jangan kan kata this optional jab, the one she's supposed to have at 1.5 years pun tak buat lagi. And sunat! OMG, she's going to appear on Oprah 20 years from now and tell everyone what a crap mum she had)

I was really annoyed with Monty...he came back yesterday evening and after a quick hi to me, he dashed off again cam ada appointment to keep. I thought, OK la, he hasn't had his fish for the day, nanti mesti datang balik. But lepas bukak puasa takde..i came down and called out for him at 10pm takde..this morning at 6am, i called out for him again and also before i left for work. Then dgn happynya, he trotted home and miaowed, demanded that the maid open the back door for him. Ewah ewah! Kalau tak mengenangkan yg i have to leave for work, i would have grounded him indoors all day today! Serve him right! I'm sure he must have enjoyed watching me going around the neighbourhood calling out for him from his hiding place. Ugi pun sama, dah pandai nak duduk luar lama2.....when i let her out at 6pm, i expect her to want to go back into the house latest by 7, but eh, ni tidak! Nak duduk lama2 kat luar sampai kita pun terlupa and lepas tu terjerit2 kat pintu wanting to be let in. Don't even start with Princess Boyot (Melly)...as a protest to my not taking her out this morning, she nipped at my toes and gave me an icy stare..
Really! I am their human slave..

Trauma

At first i was in denial....nehhh....i don’t think she’d ever leave...She seemed attached to Baby X. She got along very well with Little D and the cats as well. She didn’t talk much and she could cook very well. OK la, kemas rumah tu out sikit and memandangkan she’s much older than us, kengkadang nak suruh buat itu ini pun i segan. I felt comforted with her around since she has more experienced with babies, it’s like having an aunt or an older sister around. I selalu dok berangan how nice it’d be if she’d stay with us forever and ever.

MG and i akan seperti biasa dily daly kat bilik like any other weekend and turun bawah kul 9...i went downstairs and the house was quiet. The curtains were still drawn, the cats were out (big no no), the back door was slightly ajar and she was nowhere to be seen. Check2 bilik tengok bag and baju semua yilek pocik! I seperti heroin filem hindustan sambil memegang baby X meraung, ‘bibik dah takde!!’..sib baik la tak diikuti oleh kilat sabung menyabung. Then, i went into zombi mode (or robot, whichever). Sendiri mandi, then mandikan Little D and Baby X (MG kata he’s a big boy, boleh mandi sendiri). I supposed like some people who have been struck by tragedy (OK la, some of you may snigger, bibik lari big deal! To me it is!), i needed to cling to routine. So, i whipped out the vacuum cleaner, vacuum atas bawah, mop etc. Tragedy has struck but the house needed to be maintained. Then came to the stage yg asyik nak nangis je. This lasted about 3 days...Cakap ngan neighbours, nangis. Datang kerja nangis dulu....the big nangis came when MG timang2 baby X pas tu cakap, sian baby...bibik kata bibik sayang dia tapi bibik tinggalkan dia.

For 5 days right after sembahyang subuh, i’d be whipping out the vacuum and mop. I also did other bits and bobs...you know, a good 1.5hours of hoswipey work before i went off to my day job. Selalunya pergi kerja kul 8 gak tapi masa dipenuhi ngan golek gelantang atas katil and kenkadang subuh pun subuh set gajah. On the 6th day, i demam...kejap sejuk kejap panas. My dad (my parents came over to look after the baby) said i demam sebab stress....uols jangan tak tau! Mengalahkan kena jilted ngan lover lagi. Dalam kepala otak i seribu satu benda i pikir. Sapa nak jaga baby X. Tak sampai hati nak hantar dia ke nursery and dijangkiti segala jenis penyakit. Biar cukup little D sorang je. Childminder yg ditanya seme dah beratur bebudak yg dijaganya....nursery little D sebelah rumah tak jaga baby lak..aiya!!! I was desperate!! I pi menanya cleaner indon kat office sesapa nak jadi maid temp i sementara my agent ganti lepas raya..ada sorang dua kata nak tapi takleh confirm for another week pulak. In the meantime, my house was starting to smell of cats. I encouraged 2 ekor tu to spend as much time outside the house. Less shedding in the house. I said to my mum alangkah bagusnya kalau Melly pun boleh jenjalan on her own without getting lost. My mum said, even kalau anak sendiri pun, tak seme sama. Ada yang cerdik, ada yang lembab, ada yg sense of directionnya teruk...Hish tu macam i je bunyinya...but i don’t have whiskers do i???

Then came the anger stage. Amboi2, mentang2 la aku ada bagi duit kat ko pasal harijadi ko, ko guna duit tu utk lari ye? Banyak cantik! Aku baru terpikir nak belikan ko ring ring card so that ko boleh call anak ko raya ni. Pas tu aku pun nak suggest kita hantar milo kat anak kecik ko umur 8 tahun tu. Mesti dia suka! Bukan ke last week aku belikan ko seluar dalam? Selai 12 inggit tau, mahal dari maam punya sendiri. Ko kata suka durian, aku pun pi beli durian. All i wanted was for you to be happy working for us, tak leh nampak ke? Aku bagi susu ko balas tuba...

Seminggu lebih kepemergian bibik, me with my mata merah like mummera (i sakit mata rupanya. I tak tau until i terperasan, awat baby X nya mata pun merah?? Duh!) began to accept that yes, she’s gone. She’s not coming back. Although she left in such a hurry, i should be thankful that she chose a Saturday when both MG and i were at home. I don’t think dia pi jadi minah karan (not at her age) or pi kerja2 kat restaurant..she’s a little bit timid for that. I think she missed her children so much that she’s gone back to Medan, maybe for good, maybe just for raya. Of course there must be a dalang who must have assisted her in her bid for freedom.

I wish her well. Obviously i would like to know the reason for her leaving but if she should be back i would welcome her with open arms because frankly speaking she was the best among the 3 maids i’ve had so far. Too bad i tak sempat nak mintak dia masakkan soto. Damn!

I spoke to my colleagues yg majoritynya seme anak sorang, paling max pun 3 org and we are heavily dependent on our maids??? Why? Why is it we are so tempang without them? My sister has 4 kids, and she has survived all this while without one. Sure, the kids dok merata2 transit here, day care there etc. while waiting for her to regroup them at 6.30pm and balik rumah. Then she would terkocoh2 cook dinner, do the laundry etc. But something has to go....with my sister, it is the cleanliness of the house....without prior notice if nak dtg bertandang, you’d be met with rumah yg macam tongkang pecah. Baju tak berlipat sebanyak 5 bakul, toys and old newspapers merata2 and habuk atas lantai boleh tulis. Nak katakan she catches up with the housework over the weekend, tak jugak. They’d happily go jalan2..Maybe that’s it...i am not willing to let the tidiness of the house go or spend all weekend cleaning it. For a good 3 years masa MG and i single mingle takde anak, i would spend my Sunday cleaning the house (masa tu Saturday kerja lagi)...i would be tired and grumpy and by noon bila seme kerja dah siap, i’d just be too tired to jenjalan. MG resented that i was no fun to be around and i was displeased with the fact that i had to do all the cleaning up myself. There was no quality time to be had.

Therefore, my colleagues and i have agreed that our motto shall be to (do well in our career) earn substantially so that no matter how much the cost of hiring a maid may rise in the future, we would still be able to afford one. We are pretty sure the other halves would say, tak yah la..mahal sangat, we can manage without one....ho ho ho..those are the famous last words. I’m sure it’s us women that’ll be at the losing end. No, i don’t need diamonds or rubies, i just want a maid.

P/S I got my office cleaner to temp for me. I have been at home all this week..she’s OK with baby X, if only that little thing would take up the bottle easily. Mentang2 i dah dok kat rumah lama, ngada2 tak nak bottle. Hish! Nanti maid temp lari kang..aiyo! I hope not. We’re paying her 600 inggit uols! Kemas rumah, lipat baju and jaga baby je...

Plus points about takde maid:
1. I started to get reacquainted with baby X. Selain mandikan, i also get to massage her like i always did with little D.
2. Tak larat makan plus buat kerja rumah sure helps me to lose weight compared to pegang remote astro je.
3. I have to start cooking again....menambat hati or menyiksa hati suami???
4. I know what is in my own fridge...

Stesen rosak

They say trouble comes in 3's:

1. chicken pox, chicken pox, chicken pox
2. in-house ex-pat sudah lari!
3. sakit mata (plus sakit hati obviously)

So, harap maaf, siaran tergendala sebentar...