Banjir kilat!

Dah 2 kali air Sungai Ampang belakang rumah aku yang duk tebi tebing sungai, naik melempah ruah ke kawasan rumah aku dan jiran2 sepanjang sungai tu. Last sekali Jumaat lepas bila hujan yang lebat tak berenti2 dengan kilat petir sabung menyabung, turun petang tu. Dalam setengah jam air sungai dah melebehi tebing dan masuk kawasan rumah! Nasib baik anak bongsu ade dirumah, menolong berkemas barang2 dalam rumah naik ketempat tinggi. Air naik dengan deras nye, memang tak sempat nak angkat kalau tak bersedia awal2. Penah sekali tahun 2007, aku terlelap kejap lepas maghrib masa tengah hujan lebat, sedar2 satu rumah dah ditenggelami air sampai buku lali! Kapet semua dah jadi floating carpet! Kali ni bila hujan lebat je dah mula gulung kapet!

air sungai yang berlumpur dah melepasi tebing sungai, arus yang deras sungguh menggerunkan...kalau terjatuh memang tak boleh diselamatkan!

pada hari biasa, sungai yang mengalir dengan tenang...

rumah sewa jiran sebelah dah dimasukki air sungai...motor pun dah setengah tenggelam, jenuh nak membasuh lumpur!

kawasan rumah aku dan rumah jiran - air naik dengan cepat sekali hampir sampai ke paras lutut beberapa minit sejurus gambar ni diambik

Tapi nasib baik la rumah aku tak masuk air aritu, hanya setakat satu anak tangga je, lebih kurang setengah inci lagi nak masuk ke rumah! Walau bagaimana pun, kawasan keliling rumah dah di tenggelami air hampir paras lutut. Rumah sewa jiran sebelah tak benasib baik! Tapi air naik sekejap je, tetiba je air sungai dah mula surut. Mungkin air naik disebabkan air dilepaskan dari takungan air besar di Bukit Belacan. Atau pun mungkin Smart Tunnel telah digunakan masa hujan lebat untuk mengalirkan limpahan air dari sungai2 dari sekitar kawasan Kuala Lumpur dan Selangor. Ape2 pun, aku rase banyak rumah di tebing Sungai Ampang ni yang rendah, telah dibanjiri air. Memang jenuh jugak lepas tu nak membasuh lumpur dari kawasan rumah, kalau dalam rumah lagi jenuh...boleh patah pinggang dibuat nye!

Bookshow

Followed my friend Noni to the Bookshow in PWTC today. We went quite early to avoid the lunch time crowd. By the time we reached there, the crowd has started to fill in with school children on field trips with their teachers, college students and the general public like us. Before we went on our rounds, first thing first....went to look for breakfast! Hahaha...well actually, I had mine very early after my gardening, but Noni had not taken any yet. So after a meat pie each (Noni said the best she ever tasted!), we started our rounds of the many booths on 2 floors there. Noni wanted to buy novels and I wanted to have a few books to satisfy my passions for gardening, interior decorating, cooking and the one book I must read - the latest by our ex-PM Tun Dr Mahathir!

I got this at MPH booth who is giving a 10% discount on all their books


MPH is having a signing of the book event tomorrow by Tun Dr Mahathir at 11am - 12 noon


got these books on gardening: Tropical Horticulture & Gardening by Francis S.P. Ng and The Pratical Encyclopedia of Gardening Techniques by Jonathan Edwards


magazines on creating wedding gifts (hantaran) - the passion I acquired when my second son was getting married last year, and also interior decorating magazines - I like to move my furnitures around when Im bored!


my passion for EATING motivates me in buying these cooking books..haha..

a lot of religious books which are mostly locally published

and some foreign ones especially from the Middle Eastern countries

they even have a stage with school children taking part in quiz, debates and also motivational talks from invited speakers

Noni is an avid reader especially English novels, she bought 6 novels (she said they were much cheaper here) and also a cook book. Usually she lent me her novels after she finished reading them, so I dont have to buy them today...but we did exchange books over the years!

Most of the booths were showcasing educational books for school children, lower and secondary schools and for college and university students. Quite a number on Islamic studies and books but also on the lighter sides like entertainment magazines, comics, novels, cook books etc,. etc...They even have booths on all the states in Malaysia, showcasing the states culture, traditions, history and books by authors from each state. There were so many books on other topics besides the one I mentioned and in other languages too!

Why not pay a visit there and it will be until 1st May.

Close shave!

This morning I walked alone. Noni couldn't go as she is recuperating from an eye operation since yesterday. My youngest son Alan who is on his off-day today, supposed to walk with me but since he had a late nite, couldn't bring himself to wake up early this morning. After walking, felt like having breakfast at McD...their BIG Breakfast! Its been a while I had anything from McD, since Im trying to curb the comfort food I have always fond of. You guess it...Im on DIET again!But their TV ad really makes me crave for that BIG hearty breakfast! "A array of sumptious delights" - delicious pancakes oozing with honey and butter, sausage muffins with egg, lovely golden scrambled egg (I love anything EGG!), delightful hash brown and their hot Premium Roast Coffee! Mmmmmm......mouth watering!

BIG hearty breakfast after a good walk! Hahaha...put back the pounds I lost!

Strangely enough, Alan woke up as I was about to drive to the nearest McD! So away we went to have our breakfast. It was a delicious, heart warming, bellyful of breakfast indeed! Then we came back and I went straight to the garden pulling weeds, snapped photos, transplanted seedlings etc etc....Almost 2 hours later, while taking off my sweaty clothes to bathe, suddenly I remembered I left my wallet on the bench where I sat for breakfast! Alan drove as fast as he could back there to retrieve my wallet while I phoned the credit card company to block my card immediately and praying very hard I will get back my wallet with everything intact especially my ID. Though in my heart, its unlikely I will get it back. I got myself ready to make a police report of my lost while waiting for Alan to come back with the bad news.

Alhamdulillah...Alan came back with the good news, my wallet was found by a McD's staff! Later, I went back there to thank the staff myself but was told the person has finished her shift and gone home. Anyway, the cashier there told me I was lucky that my wallet was found by their staff or else I might not be so lucky.....

While there, snapping a few photos, I couldn't help myself by grabbing a quick lunch! .....*Sigh....another round of comfort food! Its my way of showing my gratefulness to those staff at McD Ampang Jaya! Syabas!

Outing with the boys

Still calling them my boys although they are all grown up men now! My youngest and second one, a 25 and 26 year olds respectively. 15th was my second son's birthday. An excuse to eat out for me since I was not in the mood to cook. Anyway nowadays, always not in the mood after a morning walk, pottering in the garden for half a day...too tired to cook after that! I guess age is catching up with me!

Birthday boy...2nd son, first to get married and soon-to-be father!

youngest (Alan) and second (Rezza) sons

birthday slice of strawberry marble cake




birthday boy's choice...not sure what...Vietnamese or Sarawak noodles?

youngest one's choice - macaroni with cheese, too creamy and cheesy, he couldn't finish it!

Mine..just nice!


We didn't go very far for the outing, just a 10 mins drive to a Secret Recipe outlet near my house. Just to have a simple lunch with my two younger sons, since its very seldom they are having off-day at the same time. The eldest boy is working elsewhere and will only come home on weekends. As far as I can remember, I have always been closer to these two since their age gap is only about 1 1/2 years apart, while the eldest is 7 years apart from the second one. The eldest seemed to go with his friends more rather than with his two younger brothers maybe because of the age gap are too far apart. Anyway, they are all still Mama's boys...still manje2 and close to me like they were small kids! I know I will miss them if they are all married someday and live apart from me!

My Dearest...

Life has its up and down. The good ones and the bad ones. I know how painful it is right now for you to bear your broken heart for the first time. Im glad you came to me to pour your heart out, with tears in your eyes. Im trying hard to control my tears, so that I may seem the strong woman you always thought. You told me you loved her, couldn't live without her. But why did you say you didn't want any commitment when she wanted a serious relationship after more than a year of friendship? You have been out together more and longer than the previous girl you befriended 3 years ago. You didn't even want to let me know her name or introduce her to me, for fearing the relationship will flounder just like before. Still it has happened...

I didn't know you take it so hard this time. You couldn't sleep, you couldn't eat...just mopping around looking so sorry and sad. I noticed that look even before you confessed to me the whole story. You told me you slipped and said the word 'no commitment' to her but since then you have apologised for your mistake. Still she couldn't accept that, no matter how many tons of sms and calls you made, she just wouldn't answer you! I know how frustating it must be for you. But how can you made that mistake! Well, I guess after that, you just realised the fact that you couldn't live without her, you didn't want no other girl but her! Some people are like that, you found you loved the person only after they were gone...Maybe its too late for you...though I didn't tell you that because it will make you teary eyes again. My poor poor dear...

Just try to be calm and cool about the whole thing my dearest, you are a man, so be strong, just think positive. Maybe Allah is testing you, or maybe she's not your soulmate, or maybe after all these, you will meet a better person, your true soulmate! So just hang on there my dearest, if she's your soulmate, both of you will be together sooner or later.....In the meantime, do try to improve youself, be more aggresive, don't be too complacent in life, work for what you want and don't ever give up before you even try! Have a good full life my dearest!

Kambing oo kambing!

Adek lelaki no. 4 buat rumah di tanah kami di Paya Jaras 3 tahun lepas. Yang lain dah beli rumah masing2 walaupun tanah dah dipecah lot. Bila dia bagitau jiran sebelah, yang dia akan buat rumah disitu, tiba2 je anak jiran sebelah dirikan kandang kambing. Adek pun cakap kat jiran macam mana boleh buat kandang kambing dikawasan perumahan, mesti akan kotor, berbau dan akan mengganggu jiran2 disitu. Dia jawab balik...'Tanah aku, suke hati aku la nak buat ape pun, orang lain takde hak! Kandang aku tak kan berbau atau kotor sebab buat secara kaedah baru yang sangat hygenic'. Jadi adek pun mula la dirikan rumah idaman nye disitu.

kandang kambing dari celah2 pokok ditanah aku...

kandang kambing tersergam indah dalam peroses pembinaan

Dipendek kan cerite, setelah rumah siap dibina, kandang kambing jiran pun dah mula dirasmikan. Beratus ekor kambing local dan import dibela dengan 2 orang pekerja Bangla. Bermula la titik2 manis keluarga adek dengan bau2an yang menusuk hidung dan kalbu. Bila dia buat 'house warming' dengan jamuan doa selamat, kami sekeluarga pun datang bertandang kerumah idaman dia....Bila turun dari keta, dengan tiupan angin sepoi2 bahasa, kami pun di sambut dengan bau2an yang kurang menyenangkan.....ape lagi bau kambing dan taik kambing jiran sebelah la! Tu kat luar...kalau kat dalam, tak bukak tingkap tak bau. Adek aku yang konon2 buat balkoni kat atas untuk bersantai dimalam hari bersama keluarga.....terus tak bukak pintu balkoni! Ape tak nye bila malam, bau nye lagi ketara di bawa angin! Nak sedut udara nyaman, bau kambing yang menusuk lubang hidung! Dah berbueh mulut komplain kat orang sebelah, dulu kata tak kan berbau, sekarang ape dah jadi? Tapi dia buat dek je..sampai dia pulak tak menegur adek aku. Tahun sudah, jiran tu buat reban ayam pulak untuk ternak beratus ekor anak ayam depan rumah adek. Belakang rumah bau taik kambing, depan pulak bau taik ayam! Memang cukup ramuan bau2an nye! Komplain adek fell on deaf ears je..Nak buat aduan, dia jiran, adek tak nak bermusuhan pasal dia nak duduk lama disitu. Jadi ngdak tak ngdak, terpaksa la menahan nafas dan tak bukak tingkap...

Product susu kambing yang berkhasiat tinggi

Tapi sekarang lain pulak cerite. Adek suami isteri pulak dah jadi stokis untuk product susu kambing! Hahaha...tapi bukan kambing jiran..ni kambing orang lain. Kandang kambing jiran dah macam takde kambing, tinggal dalam 15 ekor je kot. Reban anak ayam ngtah kemana. Bau kambing masih menebal lagi pasal pekerja dah tinggal sorang je, jadi tak terbuat dek budak tu sorang, nak kaut taik kambing jual baja, nak carik dan potong rumput bagi makan kambing, nak mandikan kambing lagi (kambing mandi tapi bau tak hilang jugak!). Itu la cerite adek dan kambing2 jiran sebelah nye....

Purrrring like a cat...

5 days I didn't wash my clothes!...3 basketful of dirty laundry waiting in line to be washed. Finally my old rusty-at-the-bottom washing machine stop spinning for the last time 5 days ago! My 13 years old faithful one....at its final last hour, I could hear the machine running, pumping water out but when I took out the washed clothes, they smelled like they have never been washed! So in again one more cycle, then I noticed the engine is running but the drum was not moving at all! I tried again without the clothes inside, still the same. So its finally over, kaput! Well, anyway the old thing has been giving trouble after I came back from Mecca in 2009 and sent for repair which cost me 400 Ringgit! It worked fine again until 4 months back when it would not run automatically like before, Since then, I have to pour in water manually...very time consuming, sometime I totally forgot about it until evening! So started to scout around for new washing machine and after 5 days I finally settled on a Samsung 10kg model.

my new washing machine

So yesterday I finally said sayonara to my old faithful rusty, noisy (very) old washing machine! Gone were the sound of a fighter jet engine taking off in the mornings or the kdang kdang kdang boom boom boom sounds when it was spinning....! The machine pratically jumped when overloaded! One friend while talking on the phone with me heard that strange noise and asked, and he laughed when I said it was from my washing machine!..hahaha...My next door neighbour only asked once....luckily none of them complained to the police because of the noise pollution coming from my house!

Starting last night, I washed 2 rounds, this morning another 3 rounds! What a big load of dirty laundry to be washed until there were not enough clothes line for them. Luckily the sun is scorching hot so by 12 noon I could hang another batch of washed clothes. My brand new shining washing machine purrrrrrssss like a cat......!