Bik Een Part I

After my divorce, the two girls and I lived like nomads, moving from place to place. First we stayed with Auntie Yah on the third floor of a shoplot. It was a twenty by twelve studio and had a twenty by ten balcony overlooking a hugh magnificent tree. Inas told me earnestly she saw fairies flitting from branch to branch in the mornings. On occasions, the girls had a hot bath on that balcony under the stars! Iman loved our studio room, she called it the penthouse. But soon after, the landlord increased the rent so we found a 2-bedroom apartment on a hill for the same price. We slept in one twin bed and watched tv on a 9" b/w tv, and Tok Yah and her son, Shahrul stayed in the other room.

All the while, the girls went to stay with a trusted family babysitter, Auntie Fauziah, after school. She lived a few houses away from, my mother, the girls' Tok Wan. If I was working late, Tok Wan would pick the girls up. It was a great arrangement for Auntie Fauziah was the best of babysisters. She had 6 daughters of her own who all grew up to be lovely girls, she was strict and spoke the loveliest English in the neighbourhood, after Tok Wan of course. The girls loved her.

Rudi and I were married in 2000. We continued to stay in the apartment on the fourth floor after Aunty Yah moved to Terengganu. Then I was in the family way, with Irani. Rudi did not like the prospect of me walking up the stairs and him having to carry Iman and Inas up 4 floors up after a long day's work if they were asleep so we looked for a new house. And finally 2 house moves later, we decided that getting a place of our own was the best solution.

So we did, but we had to wait another two years before we could move in. Then in 2006, we got the green light. It was daunting, moving so far away from Tok Wan and Auntie Fauziah, and all that seemed familiar. By then, Irani and Ilena had made us a family of six. After having Auntie Fauziah for 6 contented years, it was tough trying to trust another to care for the girls.

Finally, a friend suggested a maid. Not just any maid - Bik Een had just returned from Arab Saudi, and came highly recommended. Frankly, I was desperate. So we filled in all applications and waited patiently for Bik Een to arrive.

Have you watched the movie Nanny Mc Phee? We dedicate that movie to our Bik Een. In fact we took Bik to see that movie in the theatre.

To be continued...

A Wizarding World Of Harry Potter Dream

Inas was busy planning a trip to the WWOHP with Iman.

Here is her budget plan so far:

Destination: Universal Themepark (WWOHP)

Hotel: Wingate By Windham

Budget Sheet (Per person)

Airplane ticket: RM5000 ($1500)

Accomodation: 5 days (2 Queen Beds Room) ($700 per room) ($175/RM615 per person)

Themepark tickets: 4 days ($150/RM525 per person)

Shopping: ($1000/RM3500) ($250/RM875 per day at the themepark)

_________________________________________________

Total: $2825 (RM9888-RM10000)

24 months of payment (RM1000-RM550): RM10800 ($3086)

They plan to work at Borders part-time for two years saving RM450 a month.

Frankly, I was not this industrious at this age.

I was oogling the cute gymnasts in our Selangor team and cramming for Perdagangan miserably. The concept of budget and profit and loss accounts were just subjects to pass in school.

Watermelon Day

Our Ghost Chair in the garden looks lonely...

Irani comes to eat her watermelon...

Yummy!

Oops..watermelon seeds...

Digging in!

Later, the girls played with Kak Ngah's fans in the living room...

Nina Bobo

Nina Bobo ooohhh Nina Bobo

Kaluai Ikesha digigit nyamuk

Mari ...

Ikesha Ilena Irani Inas Iman

Hi Anakku sayang...

Marilah Ikesha... anakku sayang

Repeated with other daughters' names

Nina Bobo is the lullaby all of us in our family grew up with. My mother sang it to me when I was a baby. presumably because she called me Nina. Then she continued to sing it to all my sisters and brother.

The tradition stuck and I sang Nina Bobo to all my daughters. Today Ikesha sang her own version...

Nina Bobo oooohhh Nina Bobo

Kaluai Puan Zalina makku sayang...

I couldn't help but smile in the dark...

How do you know he loves you...

Rudi had to go back to Rantau Panjang for family matters.

Secret confession: I love it when he goes away once in a while. He suddenly becomes very attentive just before he leaves.

He makes sure the fuel tank is full, the smart-tag is topped up. My handphone credit is suddenly uploaded [I hate bills...so I use pre-paid. Never bothered to change to post-paid] There's lots and lots of fruits in the house for the girls.

And best of all, he will hug me in public [the guy is very shy...]

TO THE BEACH

It was to be the busiest week in June with family functions to attend, visitors from Singapore and the World Cup season upon us. And yet the school holidays are here and the girls have been working so hard at their exams.

So we quietly slipped away before the hectic weekend for two days at the beach in heavanly Pangkor.

Best family movie for June - I guess it must be Prince Of Persia.

Now, it is going to be busy busy busy again until July. Just in time to wind down together and catch Nanny Mc Phee - The Big Bang before the onslought of exams come around again.

(pictures to follow)

PANIC ON JALAN DUTA

It is school exam week. That means I hurry home at soon as I can so that I can reach home in time to spend a good one hour or so on revisions with the kids. That means I brave the KL rush hour traffic alone as Rudy would have one activity or the other to attend to in the evening. Yesterday, he had his French classes at L'aaliance Francaise.

It was 6.58pm. It was the usual Thursday night crawl as I left Jalan Parlimen to make my way into Jalan Duta. Bumper to bumper.

Suddenly the radio petered out. The lights started blinking. I had a sinking feeling I had long forgotten and a glimpse of the fading lights on the dashboard. The car sputtered, jerked and finally stopped.

I panicked. Then took a deep breath. Put on the hazard lights. And dialled the hand-phone for Rudi [what did people do in this situation before hand-phones existed?] As the phone rang, I looked out my window and saw the face of an old friend, Mr Sani Mah waving frantically at me! He had just left the Lake Club when he saw my black Savvy sandwiched between a sea of assorted vehicles. I must admit it was quite scary.

Mr Mah stopped his car. Thankfully, two others stopped by too and helped pushed the car to a safer area within the red divider area that separated Jalan Duta and Mahameru. Streaks of lightning followed by thunder announced the KL's signature heavy rain.

Rudi took 15 minutes to arrive in our NAZA - amazing on the jam-packed road. His collagues from MAA arrived 2 minutes later in their repair truck and opened their bonnet over the Savvy's engine. After trying out various measures, they concluded that the car would have to be towed away for now.

I thanked Mr Mah - if it were not for him I would have been much more a wreck rather than the calm person I was, and he went on his way.

The tow truck arrived a good 20 minutes later from Jinjang - so Rudi and I kept calm by reading each other the papers and listening to the radio. Somehow, we managed to ignore the humdrum of cars outside.

As we headed home for the night, I thought to myself, that wasn't too bad...and thanked God that all ended on a good note.

Arrived home to see all homework by Irani, Ilena and Ikesha carefully laid out on the dining table for me to check.

The little pleasures of life make everything worthwhile and the difficulties - bearable.

Busy as a bee in May

It is only natural that May is the month of activities for many of us. There are two holidays - May Day and Wesak to celebrate. Craftmaking comes naturally as Mother's Day and Teacher's Day are celebrated a week apart in May. At Ilena's school, Wet World Day is a must-see must-attend event in May together with Sports Day a week later.

On top of that every year a spate of family movies are released in May.May is also the month of the French Festival. All in all, we watched 5 movies this month alone - Iron Man II, Coco Avant Chanel, L'heure Zero, Shrek - The Final Chapter and Robin Hood! A record for the family.

We had water balloon games, outings to the park, music lessons and the girls had their midterm exams. And Inas had to attend PMR SKOR sessions.

As if that wasn't enough, I was caught in the midst of the Annual Staff Party celebrations, dancing in two dances and practicing everyday.

But best of all, I reached out to old friends this May. Met Faiz after almost 20 years, called Yumiko in Tokyo after a good 10 years and called Hendri in Indonesia for the first time in seven years! I realised that above all else, friendships and family are truly precious. However, we sometimes fail to realise, relationships take effort and time. Time is most elusive and can slip away so much so, before you know it, a decade has passed you by.

It was a good month.

But I need a rest in June. Back to books and poetry, I guess. And writing.

FAFF2010

Twenty years ago, I took French lessons at the rambling old bungalow which housed Alliance Francaise amidst a sprawling garden on Lorong Gurney. Early this year, Rudi, Iman and Inas registered at af to take up basic French. So now, we are introduced again to the wonderful community at Alliance where Azizah runs the af Cafe, Natalie selects and screens the weekly movies and on Saturdays, the family meet at af to go to the library [Ikesha's first library ever] and have lunch at the Cafe.

This has led to a whole new world for us as a family. We sing favourite french folk songs like Alouette and Au Clair de la Lune and play Monopoly in French. And because we are singing folk songs, I also sing Malay folk songs like Oh Bangau Oh Bangau, Kereta Kecil and Burung Kakak Tua to Ikesha. On Sundays, we listen to bistro music like La Mer, La Vie en Rose etc. We dream about the seemingly unaffordable holiday in France [for all 8 of us]. Iman googles and checks out the possibilities of studying in France - now apart from A levels, perhaps she has to study for IB as well after SPM.

So when Natalie told me about the FAFF a couple of weeks ago, we were all excited. The first French movie we saw earlier this year was Les Choristes and the girls sang the beautiful songs in earnest. Songs like Caresse sur L'Ocean, La Nuit et Vois Sur Ton Chemin are firm favourites.

A Mum and Teenager outing saw us watching Coco Avant Chanel which featured the enchanting Audrey Tautou. Iman and Inas loved it and so did I. Inas loves Marion Cotillard, so I would love to watch LaVie En Rose in which Marion Cotillard played Edith Piaf with her. A few days later, Rudi and I watched L'heure Zero, an adaptation of Agatha Christie's Towards Zero - followed by Robin Hood on the same night - which contributed to our foray into french as some scenes were in french- the movie highlighted the tussle of power between France and England.

The highlight of FAFF 2010 was watching Mouron in concert at the Panggung Bandaraya. An excellent chanteuse, Mouron - the French Diva de chanson delighted us with an array of best known french songs - La Mer, Padam Padam, La Vie En Rose and her own Un dessert au desert. It was certainly memorable.

We will continue our adventure and immersion into all things French.

My next project? I am going to translate Oh Bangau Oh Bangau into French soon.

Find our favorite songs: http://ninotazizfavouritefrenchsongs.blogspot.com/

Goodbye my friend, Mr Nyam Kee Kwi

Mr Nyam passed away peacefully on 9th May 2010.

I first met Mr Nyam in the 1990s, when his son, Ken came back from overseas. Mr Nyam wanted his son to apply for membership and I was the Membership Manager at the Royal Lake Club at the time. Mr Nyam was clearly proud of his handsome and talented son, who was also a member of a local band making an impact in KL.

Very much a Club man, Mr Nyam was among the founding members for Tai Chi at the Royal Lake Club way back in 1972. He organised many Tai Chi events to promote the art. In later years, he received many invitations to teach tai chi - the Bukit Aman Police force among others. The upper echelons of the society coveted him as a sifu but if it interfered with his classes at the Lake Club, he would politely decline. He had weekly lunch meetings with Club members just to keep in touch about Club matters. Many called Mr Nyam as soon as they decided to run for office at the Club - but Mr Nyam was the first to say he was an ordinary Club Member with only the Club's interest at heart.

Throughout the years, I got to know Mr Nyam's family. I worked closely with Siew Chin his daughter on the Club's Newsletter at the time, and always kept in the loop about Ken, Samantha, Tasha and later, grandson Tristan. Ken's wedding was a beautiful ceremony we attended and I shall always remember how beautiful the whole family looked that night.

At SP Muda, Mr Nyam's printing company, I learnt everything I could about printing and knew almost all Mr Nyam's staff especially the longstanding staff. Siew Chin eventually became one of my closest friends as we shared many common interest. Mrs Nyam loved karaoke and Mr Nyam indulged her passion. He was very proud when she did very well in the Lake Club's Karaoke Interclub and was invited to sing here and there. Mr Nyam loved to paint and loved all things beautiful and in harmony.

The children all inherited Mr Nyam's artistic talents - Ken was into music, Siew Chin loved dancing and travelling, Tasha was into martial arts. Samantha too had her own artistic talent.

I had the privilege of sharing many meaningful conversations with Mr Nyam - we chatted at his office and the coffee shop at Jalan Ipoh Kecil and sometimes in his car on the way to the Club - about Club politics, Malaysian politics, the economy, honesty, the work force today, the importance of trade exhibitions and about keeping ahead in the business, about competition and later golf- he was very worried about young Malaysians who seemed to take everything for granted.

Once a year, Mr Nyam cooked his famous Nasi Ayam for the whole family - a secret recipe his sister shared with me one late evening at SP Muda.

It was a privilege to be allowed into the close circle of his family and life - Mr Nyam was an industrious Malaysian who worked hard for his family.

To be continued.

Audrey, another close friend from the Club circle just reminded me that Mr Nyam did our wedding cards, and I remembered that SP Muda printed my Canadian reunion and school alumni souvenir programmes.

I guess over the next few days, I am going to recall bit by bit all the things he did and said. I already miss him and regret that we haven't seen each other as much as before after I left the Lake Club. Still, he was one of the few Lake Club members I invited over for lunch at RSGC.

The funeral is over and a peaceful quiet falls upon all those who attended. After several nights of being with the family at their home while Siew Chin, Ken and the whole family perform marathon prayers, I feel at peace that I had said my goodbyes to Mr Nyam and gave as much support as I can to his family.

God bless Mr Nyam.

Happy Mother's Day

Lunch at The RSGC Fairway Family Restaurant

was a leisurely Mother's Day Outing for the family.

Ikesha contemplating how to get herself into the blue waters!

Rudi and Ninot - Our Night Out

At home, Rudi and I prepared meticulously for a fun night together 'sans notres enfants' followed by supper at Medan and snooker at Rudi's hang out with the guys.

Water balloons on Labour Day

All work and no play makes Jane a boring, not to mention unhealthy, girl. So what should Jane do ? Work all year and have fun on Labour Day!

Labour Day weekends are meant to be fun-loving days with the family. Last weekend, we filled pink, white and brown (a little bit of girlishness, elegance and mud) balloons in all sizes for a respectable looking relay race in the garden.

Sure, it began that way but soon balloons were flying like missiles here and there and everywhere. Rudi was the first to abandon the race followed by Little Ikesha and Inas.

Even Bik got ambushed by Ilena and Irani.

I quickly got hold of the camera as a shield with a loud and firm "Don't wet the camera!"

Iman, who came back from study group was not spared...

All that activity surely had me tired out. I was yawning throughout the IronmanII movie outing with the girls later at The Curve!

From Culture Club to Lady Gaga

Having to drive alone back from work on a Friday night was not an exciting prospect. I didn't feel like listening to the radio. I figured it was better if I say few prayers to so that I will reach home safely. After all, it was a one hour drive at least and as I hit the highway I could see all the super-sized trucks dominating the roads leaving KL into the dark night ahead.

Finally, I switched on the radio - Mix FM. It was some kind of medley and Radio Gaga was on. Soon, it kind of melshed into the soothing rhythm of MJ's Liberian Girl! I was in 80s haven surely. So much has been said about the powerful music from the era especially for the ladies, from Eurythmics Sweetdreams to Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill. Cyndi Lauper made me cry with Time After Time. The one song that kept me smiling was Madonna's La Isla Bonita. From across the Atlantic, Nena burst into the scene with 99 Red Balloons.

My first ever single though was The BOSS's Dancing in the Dark.

From UK - Sting as the clever and cynical genius with his upbeat Englishman In New York to his dark Moon Over Bourbon Street and political sensitive Russian led the pack with megastars David Bowie, Phil Collins, Argentinian British Chris De Burgh, Nik Kershaw and Howard Jones. But the phenomenal New Wave trend-setter was Culture Club surely.

Let's not forget the Canadian greats. The first ever Celine Dion number I heard was On traverse un miroir. There was Corey Hart and great bands like Eight Seconds, Platinum Blonde and Luba who opened for Bryan Adams in concert. I consider Eight Seconds cutting edge 80s especially their I'll Kiss You (When It's Dangerous)

It was the age of bands, from New Wave Kajagoogoo to Tears For Fears to Thompson Twins. Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet and Level 42. Rock bands Scorpions, Bon Jovi and Van Halen were simply rocking you like a hurricane. Let's not forget Fleetwood Mac's Tango In The Night, Petshop Boys and . And where do you place Naked Eyes and Crowded House?

But the band I loved the most was Depeche Mode - A Question Of Lust, Strangelove and Black Celebration just called to my unknown "gothic" side. The music of the 80s was really about music and lyrics. A Question of Lust is incredibly tender despite its title.

FragileLike a baby in your arms
Be gentle with me
I'd never willingly do you harm

Just like a child
You make me smile
When you care for me

It's a question of lust
It's a question of trust.....
It's a question of not letting
What we've built up
Crumble to dust
It is all of these things and more
That keep up together......

Whether the theme was love, politics, war, good old fashion fun or science-fiction [remember Kate Bush's Cloudbusting] the MTV videos made music the new form of story-telling. Artiste finally could tell a story to complement their music.

The Mix-FM medley ended with Gazebo's I love Chopin. Can't get more 80s than that!

And today - where are the bands? I think Pink and Lady Gaga are the best among the ladies. But they won't last unless the songs begin to evolve. The rest - they are the product of mega talentime shows - albeit very profitable - who did not stay in that cold one room flat with bandmates and survived to tell the tale in raw emotion and music. Or had to wear leotards with pins and pose for Playboy to get a break. Sing for 320 performances out of 365 days a year or else be harshly scolded by a domineering father, out to get all his money's, and sons' worth.

I love Adam Young though. I hope he will last long in the business. Jason Myraz and Colbie Caillat. Mark Anthony and Jennifer Lopez are probably the Brangelina of the music industry. And fans of Jason Castro, please stand up!

A matinee show at the Philharmonic

Puan Sri Nik Daud called me about a month ago. She suggested that we take the girls to see the Tchaikovsky Special at the Philharmonic. She arranged for the tickets and the days sped towards April in its usual fashion.

Finally Sunday 11th arrived. Iman was at Steffi's and Irani was shopping out for Mak Su's wedding with Tok Wan and her favorite cousin Nelli. I picked everyone up, the girls fussed about what they should wear since jeans were out of the question.

Finally they were all ready. In the car on the way to pick up Puan Sri I was amused to hear the elder sisters telling Irani," Remember not to interrupt when Mak is talking to Puan Sri." "Don't comment about the house or anyone." " And most of all, speak when you are spoken to."

Now mind you, the girls are as boisterous and spunky like any other teenager their age. So I found this really funny. But I must say I was quite surprised at the result. They were more polite than they usually were, or were not.

They enjoyed the performance especiallly the performance by the beautiful concert pianist Alice Sara Ott.

When they arrived home Inas immediately picked up her violin and Iman said perhaps we should tune the piano.

Ah yes, inspired they were.

Irani though - captured Puan Sri's attention. As we were leaving the MPO, Lady Gaga was blaring in the distance. Despite herself she started dancing and Puan Sri urged her on and joined her little jig.

It was a fun day and Puan Sri remarked , "Your girls...they are quite good, Zalina."

Puan Sri was never Lavish with praise unnecessarily, so that made me smile for the rest of the day ...

REACHING OUT

The girls are at Mom's, Iman is at Steffi's and Inas has her nose burried in Through The Looking Glass on a journey to get to know Alice better.

Rudi is working late so I decided it was just the time for a quick spring cleaning session.

And I ended up reading old letters, including a lovely letter from Mrs Ruth Bowling from many years ago. Mrs Bowling is no longer with us but she forms a hugh part of my memories of Tasmania.

Then I found Yumiko's number and many long letters. Immediately a vision of her smile and cheery disposition came to mind. I called her in Tokyo and after 15 years, there we were chatting cautiously, remembering old times and then warmth broke through.

I decided to make a go at it and immeditely thought of Hendri in Indonesia. Getting to Hendri was a bit tough. After a bit of a search, I found an old number which I called. Turned out, it was his sister who gave me his new number.

It was simply marvellous talking to Hendri and Grace. Shared many updates. Bless the two of them and their family. Looking forward to meeting them one day.

Friendship is too precious. It is never too late to say, "Hello, how are you?"

Like my friend Aimy who said, "Just pick up the phone..."

BACK AT L'ALLIANCE

The family now finds a new life at l'alliance francaise. Of course for me it was sort of embracing my past for many delightful hours was spent here about 20 years ago. Now Rudi, Iman and Inas takes lessons and the girls have lunch at Azizah's delightful cafe and go to the library weekly for new books to borrow every Saturday. I get to watch delightful movies every Friday night for free.

Our bonus find was Les Choristes which Rudi borrowed last week.

Breathtaking, simple, c'est vrai - comme le clement du ciel.

GOING GREEN

This month, the whole family rallies behind my efforts to improve our environment.

Inas asked me to buy rechargable batteries. So we included that in our grocery list this week. I taught the girls to use fountain pens. Buying two bottles of Quink really took me back to those Quink bottles on my grandfather's writing table. Irani even got her own left-hand pen. Rudi made sure all lights were energy saving. We promised not to buy unnecessdary things, we recycle, reuse, rearrange aggresively. And the house manages to look new without us buying anything except Pledge - have to look into homemade cleaning/polishing agents soon! Martha Stewart's website is my guide.

We got the old digital camera to work, repaired watches and revamped old notebooks and pledged we will not buy unnecessarily. All the cables, chargers and what not were straightened out - again so that we don't have to buy another one when they go 'missing'.The closet under the stairs was converted to a craft and artwork centre - must be the most popular 'room' now! Playtime includes lot of claywork, drawing, cutting and pasting. And kitemaking and flying! NO MORE TOYS! Which is really quite the norm for us. The girls appreciate and love their cousins' barbie dolls and gifts from aunties - stuffed toys like Moo Moo and the likes really last forever. Even Kak Long's grey stuffed fish from her first ever sport's day and knitted pink doll from Mrs Bowling are still around (Mrs Bowling passed away some years back). We started to use soap bars and biodegradable garbage bags earlier this year. And organise cleaning the neighbourhood playground family outings once every six months.

So Inas took out the old camera made new on her bicycle and the younger girls flew kites all afternoon with Rudi.

The passion-fruit is beginning to fruit again, so are the ciku trees and ceri tree for the very first time. As Bik is back tending to the garden, everything seems to be robust and well.

A wonderful weekend.

By the way, Grandfather was all for the environment long before it was the in thing. He made sure water was not trapped in plastic bags - in fact he hated plastic bags. He always said that tisu papers and 'the abhored toilet paper' were sheer waste - towels, rags and water would do just as good a job. Everything lasted forever in his house, he tinkered on it all - the wall clock, his car, his radio, his catch-all dustbin - even the 'periuk nasi tembaga'lasted three generations. Something to think about - those household items that lasted a lifetime.

Of course he used a fountain pen. And a manual typewriter which still exist til today.



Some blogs for thought:

10
Recycling Oddities: The Strangest Things You Never Thought You Could
Recycle - Living Green - Your Life - MSN Lifestyle

The Fright Irani gave me

Irani came home late from school, she had Sukaneka practice.

I was frantic, a nervous wreck and called Rudi a 'million ' times. And when I got to speak to her on the phone, she said...'Mak, everything is fine. I had fun!"

Kak Long, the girl in love, had a good day at tuition but still called to check whether Irani was ok.

Ilena went for tuition and spoke to Inas about tuition as well.

Hmmmm

Hari Raya in Melawati