Before I Turn 30

don't wish me just yet.

and no, i won't waste this space for philosophical 'evaluation' of my life. or 're-examine' my life-choices. or 'dwell' on past mistakes and 'dream' of past achievements. i'm turning 30 and i'm just going to enjoy a BIG birthday!

my 25th birthday cake

before turning 30, i had wanted to do 30 new things.

1. i want to make sambal belacan : check!
   
2. i want to be less choosy in food : i ate fig. yech. and owh, check!
   
3. i want to at least finish a whole level of an xbox game (khaleef, mak la pulak!) : check!
   
4. i want to bake other than cheese and choc cake. i baked brownies! : check!
   
5. i want to...urm..
6. well..i..
7. let's see..
8. there's that..
9. wait i know i did something...oh yes, i did wear an abaya! which i didn't think i'd ever do!
   
10. ...

* * *

ok, i did not get pass 5! well, some things change -

• i've been living in dubai for the past 8 months!
• i'm a mother of two? me! the tomboyish freakazoid!
• i tried cooking a LOT of new dishes for my hungry boys and mr. khairul was *nice* enough to just keep quiet when it's not spicy enough or pekat enough - and sweet enough to always make yummy sounds when it's good.
• i have a blog! (erm. you're reading it)

and some things that stay the same -

• i still collect tissues, stirrers, free postcards and other lovely junks. since 1997.
• i still prefer t-shirt and jeans
• i still LOVE fast-food and indomee despite my resolution to eat *healthy*
• my choice of tudung is still the regular bawal, and have not graduated to tudung mrs mawi or lilit-lilit (niraku taught me how to lilit once, and i just can't quite get it right yet!)
• i still haven't read richard adam's 'watership down' but i still very much in love with my books!
  

* * *

turning 30
by syigim

here i am, look at me
still more to do, yet more to see
years of tears, joys, no bores
oh well lemme be 30 in due course

from tomboy kook to mom of two
years flew by as they often would do
today i wish that time moves slow
oh heck i'm turning 30 tomorrow

it's just a number, i shall not fret
i'll have a small BIG birthday bash i bet
get a cake, noise-makers, party hats and balloons
oh wow-wee i'm gonna be 30 soon

alhamdulillah for this one more year
to continue my journey with loved ones so dear
but hey, i still look 20, let's just say
though the truth is i'm 30 after today!

p/s don't wish me just yet, i'm still 29!

Selamat Hari Bapa

it's fathers day! wait - is it a day belonging to a father (hence father'S day) OR a day for all fathers (hence fatherS day)? i never quite get it.

as facebook is flooded with fathers day wishes, my sisters joined in to wish our abah happy fathers day. not only that, we ran a contest on who posted the best picture with our abah on our wall! naturally i won. (azi, it's my blog, i can write whatever i want hoho).

"Happy father's day to my dearest abah...Thank you for always being there for me...May god bless you with good health and happiness..."
~ first born, Syimee

"..to my superdad Mr. Sharifuddin - thanks for everything - roof over my head, and food on the table. good education & weekend time at the library. countless holidays to the furthest reach of the world & more! HAPPY FATHERS DAY, abah. i love you always!"
~ second daughter, Syigim

"Specially dedicated to my abah, Hj Sharifuddin Shoib - No matter how old i get, no matter how far i move away with my husband, no matter how many children i have,....Abah, i will still be your little girl! i love you so much even words cant describe...Happy Father's Day..."
~ third child, Syima

Happy Abah Day! Thank you for everything! you made it possible for me to see snow today. Love you always abah, and missing you here!
~ fourth girl, Syida

Selamat Hari Bapa! Thanks for everything. rindu nak berkumpul sefamily...
~ adik bongsu, Nazirah

for syida and azi's father's day wishes, just visit their blogs lah!

just me and my abah

* * *

..and who might this be?

from the moment i was pregnant, he knew he wanted his kids to call him bapak, because that's what he called his. and so it is.

* * *

...for taking the boys to places only dreams may take -
animal farms, balloon lagoons, waffle world of ice-creams and cakes.
from the moment they crawl, to the agonizing times of chasing a runway kid in the middle of a mall.

..for indulging their whims and fancies -
a ball of a time or a whale of a swim.
you are there for their fun and fears.

..for your patience and perseverence.
pouring unconditional love.
the boys drive you crazy - but you are undoubtly nuts about them.

..for your endless supply of hugs and smooches.
kissing the boo-boos away, and hug-a-lot at play.
you're their punchbag as well as their security blanket.

..for being there to pujuk.
through manja and merajuk.
whichever comes first.

..for picking them up when walking is just too tiring.
your feet hurts, your muscles throbing, your back ache.
yet nothing is better than having them in your arms.

* * *

for all that,
and for days of changing smelly poopy diapers,
for fixing milk in the middle of the night,
for all the ball, swim, xbox & dvd time with your boys.
for days of tickles, laughters and tears.

for that i thank you for being my best partner in crime!
HAPPY FATHERS DAY, honey.

i love you always!

* * *

last but not least, happy fathers day to my father-in-law, haji anwar who's currently waiting in anticipation, waiting for his grandsons to balik kampung - most of all, of course - the return of his first born, along.

* * *

for all abah, bapak, ayah, papa, babah, appa, dada, daddy - HAPPY FATHERS DAY! (oh, and remember that you're great coz you have us mommies! *snicker*)

In The Mood for Italian

it's 33 degrees out, quite windy - not a bad day to hang out at 'the walk', dubai marina. from our apartment, we just crossed the road - and we're already there at one end of 'the walk'! the end lot is occupied by pizza hut, and it's restaurants and cafes all the way till the other end.

check out my review when we went to 'bob's easy diner', here at 'the walk', dubai marina. click here.

khaleef at the walk

to the peeps back home, this is the atmosphere at the walk. the hustle and bustle of people walking by, sitting at the tables outside - yikes! summer panas-panas pun ade orang nak duk kat luar? there are a lot of restaurants and cafes here; from fast food joints, bakery to semi-fine dining. chinese, lebanese or italian - pick and choose!

we were thinking of pizza, and through our walk, we spotted 5 pizza places - pizza hut, the pizza company and three other new ones to try. mr. khairul said there are more places up front but with the summer heat, we didn't wanna walk too far. khaleef was already sweating!

so we put our foot down, and walked into 'napoletana', boasting wood-baked homemade pizza.


there are no floats or pictures of boats but the atmosphere in 'nepoletana' gives the impression of a little italian place right by a seaport. the white bricks, white wooden panels and white planks as ceiling with a hint of blue here and there - it's like i know i will see the sea whenever i look outside. (there's no sea of course, it's way up front).

blue-framed, black and white pictures adorned the walls, adding the nostalgic feel of a breezy, nonchalant day by the sea. the wooden tables and chairs are just your run-of-the-mill dining table, so you get that added homely feel.

cozy!

my khaleef

the cherry on the cake had to be the flute playing in the background! mr. khairul said that it reminded him of p. ramlee's pendekar bujang lapuk where a lovely flute sound accompanied a scene at the penambang. ingat tak?


mr. khairul wanted anything with pepperoni, so the waiter suggested the 'quattro stagioni' - pizza with beef, pepperoni, mushroom toppings, olives and mozarella cheese!

i'm game!


while waiting for our order, we're given complimentary olive bread and bread sticks, served in a standing cone thingy. khaleef yang habiskan!


it wasn't a long wait. we got out pizza hot from the old-style wood oven! it had a thin, crispy crust, the one you have to fold to eat. unlike the other pizzas i'm used to, where they spread the toppings all over the round pizza pastry - the toppings on this pizza are divided equally in halves of four, on top - a quatrain of toppings - hence the name 'quattro'.

it's a change, but i still prefer the mixed-up toppings than this one!


i took the chance to take a shot of the 'oven' - to see how they wood-baked the pizzas. this chef is from lebanon, but he cheekily said that today he is italian, since he has the same look anyway! haha. he's cute so i laughed along. hihi.

it's fun to try new yummy places, but as far as pizzas are concern, my personal fav is still domino's! you too?


on the way to find makan place, we passed by this fountain with a couple of giggly kids going crazy in the middle of the fountain, getting themselves wet and cool amidst the hot summer wind. so on the way back, we let khaleef has his own fun.

it's hot, we're not driving anyway - so why not let khaleef go crazy and drench himself in between the fountains? he took off his shoes and got his pajama bottom wet doing what he absolutely love - playing with water!

* * *

a night of nostalgia in an itallian setting, munchin pizzas by the sea, and then cool-off at a fountain? it's a fine night, indeed!

New Restaurant, New Baby, New Book

it's a new weekend, and i bring good tidings! of a new restaurant we tried, a new baby we welcome, and a new book i can't wait to devour!

* * *

as usual, we embrace the weekend and go makan-makan!

we stopped by this quaint little 'diner' before visiting afza and aida who welcomed their newborn baby boy yesterday morning. it's the 'metro falcon restaurant & cafeteria'!


this red restaurant is situated right next to the ramadan jumah mosque in sheikh zayed road. we went there with mr. khairul's mckk schoolmate kamil, who said it's a fav food joint for malaysians especially after friday prayers because it's right next to the mosque.

khaleef tensen juice dia tak sampai-sampai lagi!

if you went to any of these kind of restaurants around dubai, the menu would have similar content - types of briyani rice, choices between grilled chicken and lamb, types of bread - paratha, dosa (tose) and such.

and, khaleef's fav - a seemingly endless choices of juice - from single mango or orange to fusions of kiwi and strawberry. you can also opt to order a tall glass of 'cocktail' - a combo of god-knows-what sorts of fruits! interesting to note that there's a ciku juice spelled 'chickoo'. catchy!

khaleef enjoying his juice more than the roti canai

want roti canai? they got 'em. you can choose to pair it up with the usual chicken curry, or go with what we ordered - paratha (roti canai) with keema lamb which essentially is minced lamb curry with green peas. i don't think their roti canai surpass the hot, fresh fluffiness of the ones in green city, but if you're around sheikh zayed road and teringin nak makan roti canai, this will do just fine.


other than the paratha and keema lamb, we also ordered a dish of prawn fried rice and a set of grilled chicken. they're not particularly excellent but decent enough since they're freshly grilled and fried.

if you notice in the picture, we also slurp bowls of chicken corn soup. i'm not much of a soup fan (mr. khairul can slurp sup tulang, tomyam, sup ekor, sup ntahape lagi) but to me, pizza hut's mushroom soup is the only soup i sip! however, i can add this chicken corn soup to my yummy soup list!

wanna know what's chicken corn soup? click here to read my review! and when you're along sheikh zayed road and feels like roti canai-ing, just drop by! it's right next to the mosque, and it's red - you won't miss it.

* * *

after the makan-makan, we tapau some roti canai for the As and headed on to medcare, to celebrate their newborn baby boy named 'Nor Adly'. looks like afza got his fathers day present early this year!

mabruk! mr. khairul quipped that this is the second future koleq boy born in dubai. hmm.

junior nur adli meeting senior kahfi

tucked snugly in his cutesy zoo-animal-comforter, he is perfectly adorable! mama and baby boy sihat belaka! in fact aida was her usual chatty self. afza still seemed to be tired from his long-hour 'ordeal' waiting in the labor room with beloved wife, aida - but clearly a beaming dad.


as usual when these three boys of mckk get together, what else do they borak about? economic situation? right. at that moment i really, truly believe that boys gossip as much - oh, yes AS MUCH - as their ladies counterpart. haha.

congrats again to the As - afza, aida, first daughter alya and new addition, son adli. now you guys are four!

* * *

remember the book that i wanted? refresh your memory here.

i got 'the phantom tollbooth' from kinokuniya at dubai mall! i know it must be in the young adult section - and true enough - there it was! i was so excited and held my breath to look over at the price, half hoping that it'd be at least less than 50dhs, what with the price of books in uae...

and it's only 30dhs! i grabbed the book with no second thought. ok, i better put a dot here already coz i'm dying to read the first page! gasp!

Borak Sama Atuk

usual morning routine for the boys includes breakfast, bath time, do some reading exercise, lepas tu aktiviti bebas. haha. or, in khaleef's own words, "..makan, mandi, read book, main game!!!"

aktiviti bebas kegemaran khaleef:

1. play x-box
2. play x-box
3. play x-box
4. toy (which means rumaging through his toy box filled with happy meal toys from mcd)
5. tiew (which means dubai cartoon channel which has this sound whenever the cartoon goes into commercial time. favs include shaun the sheep, peep, chirp & quack, handy manny, and thomas)

aktiviti bebas kegemaran kahfi:

1. golek-golek
2. exercising his bum bum muscles
3. slobber all over a choice between his rattle, the remote and mak's handphone
4. lying down, looking at his fingers while mumbling to himself

just this morning however, right after mr. khairul went off to work, and even before the boys had their bath, they webcam-ed with my abah in ipoh.

atuk, khaleef & kahfi

the first few minutes was just spent shouting, "atuk! atuk! atuk!" then with some reading cards with him, khaleef read to his atuk. loudly and excitedly.

"c a t - CAT! meow! b e e - BEE! s i t - SIT! atuk, khaleef sit! m a t - MAT! (pronounced the malay name mat instead of met) h i s - HIS! n o t - NOT! t r e e - TREE. green tree! b a t - BAT! s e e - SEE. what can you see? atuk! i can see atuk!"

after that, the webcam session was just 'wasted' on loud singing by khaleef after a song-request from my abah. he sang ABC (kahfi's favorite) and happy birthday song. siap dengan tiup lilin lepas lagu habis.

later on, their auntie da also had the *pleasure* of seeing khaleef read his cards! you're so lucky, auntie da. haha.

for the rest, wait for our return home soon! then khaleef can read to you too!

Cute Curious Critters

"what's this?"
"what are you doing?"
"where is it?"
"but, why?"

children feed on their curiosity like my hunger for a nice juicy kentucky fried chicken. they ask. and they're not satisfied until we give them an answer. "mak! mak! mak!" they want an answer. they demand an answer. any answer.

i love bill watterson's calvin and hobbes - and calvin is one of the best, most funniest example of a super-curious kid. but it gets funnier to have a dad like calvin's who give him really outrageous answers to his questions!

Q. How come old photographs are always black and white? Didn't they have color film back then?
A. Sure they did. In fact, those old photographs are in color. It's just that the world was black and white then. The world didn't turn color until sometime in the 1930s, and it was pretty grainy color for a while, too.
Q. But then why are old paintings in color?! If the world was black and white, wouldn't artists have painted it that way?
A. Not necessarily. A lot of great artists were insane.
Q. But... But how could they have painted in color anyway? Wouldn't their paints have been shades of gray back then?
A. Of course, but they turned colors like everything else did in the '30s.
Q. So why didn't old black and white photos turn color too?
A. Because they were color pictures of black and white, remember?

nak dengar cakap mak ke bapak?

one day we're at a traffic light, it turned red and we're stopping. and khaleef said, "red - stop." and i said, correct. then he asked, "mak, green? green?" and i said, wait. because i want to wait until the light turned green. when it did, i said, "green means go." after which khaleef repeated it, "green - go."

then it was my turn to ask - "khaleef, what about yellow? yellow?" khaleef did his usual adorable pointy-finger-on-the-chin-while-lookin-up-while-sayin 'hmmmm' pose. he's thinking, you see. then he said, "yellow - go!" after which his bapak quickly agreed. "yes, yellow - go very fast!"

"no, yellow means slowwwwwwly. go slowly." i corrected him. then khaleef paused. looked at his bapak, and then looked at me, then to his bapak again. he slowly said, "yellow........ GO!"

aghh!

the important thing is not to stop questioning. curiosity has its own reason for existing. one cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. it is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. i have no special talents. i am only passionately curious!

~albert einstein

kahfi is in a curiousity-phase right now where he gets excited even when seeing my wriggling toes. since he's slowly perfecting his mobility, he explores even further than just the edge of his mat. now he just doesn't move backwards, he can move forward too, like a little wriggly worm!

currently this is kahfi in his most lepakness. he tends to rest his chin on his palm while lying flat on the mat, usually while looking at his abang or when he's just lost in his own thoughts... it really is an amusing sight whenever he tongkat dagu like a thinking grown-up with probs up his brain!

i keep six honest serving-men,
they taught me all i knew;
their names are What and Why and When
and How and Where and Who.

~rudyard kipling

last time khaleef used to barge into the kitchen asking, "mak, what are you doing?" and i will answer, "mak cooking.", "mak baking.", "mak washing plates.", "mak chopping." but now when he comes in with the same question, i asked him back - "khaleef look. what is mak doing?" then he will do the 'errmmm' thing again, and said, "mak cooking."

good boy. dah pegi nyanyi kat kahfi mak nak masak!

sometimes we forget that children have just arrived on the earth. they are a little like aliens, coming into beings as bundles of energy and pure potential, here on some exploratory mission and they are just trying to learn what it means to be human.

~ from the movie 'martian child'

mommies and daddys - if you're not sure of the answer, just say, "hmm. that's a good question." *smile*

Eye Yam She Game

high!

eye yam she game ant twothey eye one two right inn home more nyms, (words that sound alike but have different meanings)

dad mints eye cane right worlds lick disc!

eat ease red dig cool less two odour pee pearl ant sum tink eat ease stew pig, butt eye laugh eat bee cost eat ease sew far knee! ! disc ease sew want the fool ant fare bull less! fer test tick! yew can dew eat two! eye wheel weight four yore right thing!

ok, goat two go! eye knead two kook sum cheek can four mr. high roll, bee cost hour see foot fee niche all rare thee! eye mast go bee four eye gate silly pea. sea yew ladder! dot bee knot tea ant go ship-go ship!

cheque hear two sea moor!

* * *

i am syigim and today i want to write about homonyms.

that means i can write words like this!

it is ridiculous to other people and some think it is stupid but i love it! this is so wonderful and fabulous! fantastic! you can do it too! i will wait for your writing!

ok, got to go! i need to cook some chicken for mr. khairul because our seafood finish already! i must go before i get sleepy! see you later! don't be naughty and gossip-gossip!

check here to see more!