1st Syawal...

Felt weird for not going out on 1st day of Raya. Brunch consisted of ketupat & lontong topped with rendang limpa, sambal goreng, ayam masak merah and lemak vegetables - 2 in 1! Makan berulang is definitely not for me and that brunch is gonna last till my dinner judging by the amount I took.

First guest started arriving only at 2pm. Sigh... had we gone out to visit my grandma, we would still be back in time. Uncles, aunts and cousins came and stayed on till dinner. Every year the menu remains the same - sapsuka. The lontong and ketupat remained untouched. Dunno why my mum still prepares it. Dad got busy in the kitchen preparing the sapsuka while I helped out with minor stuffs. Poor Dayah! She kept going in and out of the house buying loaves of bread, tomato paste, etc.

The last guest left around 7pm. By then no one else has called to say they were on their way. I have only 3 days off and I'm not gonna waste it by waiting for people. Requested that the family goes visiting instead and by 8pm, we were off. Visited 2 grand-uncles at Clementi area and headed home. My younger sis gotta work tomorrow so... can't stay out late.

No new Baju Kurung this year!!!

Came to work slightly dazed... my Raya mood is here! My supervisor had told my cheeky team leader to give Ros & I 2 days' off beginning tomorrow. Added on with my off day for the week, I have 3. Ros has 5!

My intention to shop yesterday was put off. Today, I forced myself to do last minute shopping. Had in mind to go Geylang but... again?! In the end, I resorted to Causeway Point - nearer to home. Headed straight to Hejab Iran... what a disappointment! Given any other day, I would have bought a few as my work attire. Designs were plain and simple, colours were pastels and my hopes dashed. Even the tudongs were pitiful.

Next stop - RH Fashion. Far contrast. Bright, glittery, colourful baju kurungs... kebayas... I had paged my Dad earlier hoping that he could come down and be my shopping companion. No calls returned so I didn't buy any.

Truth is... where clothes are concern especially like baju kurungs or pantsuits, I must have someone around to comment. I had bought my pantsuit days earlier while shopping with Ros (the additional 2 tops that came along was another story!). Otherwise, even if I had gone to Geylang alone I would have left empty-handed.

Last stop - shop beside RH Fashion (forgot name). Surprisingly this shop was the most packed compared to the previous 2 shops. I had made up my mind not to look for any more kebayas, pantsuits or baju kurungs. Went tudung-hunting instead. Found one. No blemishes watsoever. Paid for it and left.

Later after dinner, my family is going out. Gonna do early Raya visiting to my grandma's house. Unlike Raya in the past, my uncles and aunts will be coming to my house on the first day - Dad being the eldest sibling.

It will be a while before I update my blog again... bear with it. Hereby wishing all Muslims - Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri. May all your good deeds in Ramadhan diberkatiNya. To the non-Muslims - Happy Holidays! =)

Kihkihkih... Lazy Sunday

I woke early one morning
The Earth lay cool and still
When suddenly a tiny bird
Perched upon my window sill
He sang a song so lovely
So carefree and so Gay
That slowly all my troubles
Began to slip away
He sang of far off places
Of laughter and of fun
It seems his very trilling
Brought up the morning sun
I stirred beneath the covers
Crept slowly out of bed
Then quickly shut the window
And crushed his buzzing head.
- Anonymous -

Early morning and I'm back at work. As always, we don't get much visitors around this time especially on Sundays...

Anyway, with couple days left to Hari Raya Aidilfitri I'm slightly panicking. This year my family got off to a slow start in Raya preps. Not that we intended to. We sent our cloths to the seamstress in early June but she got delayed. Her hubby fell seriously ill so all her needlework was put aside. My mom and sisters were fast enough to buy ready-made baju kurungs way before Ramadan but I bought my pantsuit last Friday. Phew... at least one done. Going shopping later after work to buy another pantsuit. No baju kurungs for me this year.

21st Ramadan...

Came to work at 7.45am and saw my cheeky team leader collecting keys. Early Sunday morning and we are at work. Gosh! Ros' day off again. Arrggh... =O

I had to resist the temptation to sleep in front of the pc for 3 hours before Mag came in. Killed time by keying in the nominations ssssslowly but cheeky team leader offered assistance. He shouldn't have cos I ended up doing nothing. Realised his mistake and quickly sent me off for my break. Hahahaha =D

For the first time, I break fast with 2 other Malay ladies from another block. Dinner for today was chicken spaghetti bolognaise from 7-11 and Polar sugar roll. I have a sweet tooth for chocolates and ice-cream... but Polar sugar roll is making its way to my list too.

Came back to office and saw my team leader quarreling with a visitor. Hmmm looks like the cycle has made its round. He ended up working till 9pm. Phew! I have worked 13 hours for 2 days in a row... Thank god no work on Monday *yawn*

20th Ramadan...

Ros wasn't around today. Kinda felt weird breaking fast alone... but luckily Asri the security officer was on duty. Ended breaking fast together at the food court. The food was miserable - Delifrance ham & cheese croissant and Polar sugar roll. But I would rather be eating those than waste my money on the expensive food court's barely edible and 'swallow'able rice.

What's more, there was no team leader around. I had to do OT and be placed in charge. Sigh... my wish to go home at 8pm never came true. Whatever it is, I passed whatever necessary items to the night shift security officers as soon as possible and left the place at 9pm promptly.

Walk to the bus interchange was a daze and I took a one way ticket straight to slumberland the minute I sat down in bus 190. =) Toodles now... early to work tomorrow.

19th Ramadan...

Off day today. I had an aching back again. Been sleeping in the bus so often, my entire body's stiff. Guess what I did? Nah... too lazy to get myself a massage. All I did was too sleep more and all aches disappear. Kihkihkih dun try it at home. =)

16th Ramadan...

Met Makcik after work at Dhoby Ghaut station. Stopped by Causeway Point to renew my Pop membership then went to her house to break fast.

Idris was sssssssooo cheeky today. We reached Makcik's house minutes before buka and first thing he said when I sat in front of him was "Mamam mamam"! Thought he was just making sounds until he repeated. Umi had to feed him 2 bowls. He was definitely hungry!

Hansem boy was in better mood having recovered from his measles. Active too. But unlike the other day, he didnt want to walk on his own. Well, at least when I was around... =( Makcik said he walked the entire house after I left. Hhmmpph!

15th Ramadan...

Off day today and Makcik smsed me to say that she's off too. She baked kuih tarts till 2am and now suffering from buzzing headache. Crazy fren must have started baking late...

Made plans with Dearie to go Little India. Waited for her at Gooday Impex while she had her eyebrows threaded. She didn't look too red this time round but both of us felt that job done was satisfactory. Instead of going to Komalas for dinner, we tried the eating place near to Mustaffa Centre.

Dates, fruits and bubur lambok were served during this fasting month. I tried the poori bhaji set meal. Dearie ordered masala dosai meal. We didn't comment much about the food but once we left, we promised ourselves not to step into that place again. Kihkihkih =)

Next stop was Mustaffa Centre. Each time we went there, there's bound to be items that we would forgot to buy and this time was no different. Both of us decided not to waste time and quickly crossed the road to the vcd shop. I finally found vcd 'Prem Granth' but was disappointed to know that there was no subtitles. Ended up buying vcd 'Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon'.

Left Little India and walked our way to Plaza Singapura. Actually our intention was to take MRT at Dhoby Ghaut... but PS is nearby, so we made a quick stop. By the time we left, we had decided to take the bus service instead. So once again we walked and made our way to the bus-stop... near Specialists' Shopping Centre (Somerset Station). I am not surprised if we have sore legs tomorrow!

14th Ramadan...

Thanx to yesterday, I came to work at 8am. Yaaaawwnn!! Team leader told me to clock in early due to lack of manpower, otherwise my work would have start at 10am.

Of late, the number of visitors have reduced significantly. I don't have to quarrel with so many visitors but it makes the time passes so ssssooo slowly. What's more, we rarely get visitors coming on a lazy Sunday morning. Who in the right frame of mind would anyway unless necessary?

Ros and I manned the counter till 11am before the other team members arrived. We don't get to break fast together that often. Given the chance today, we called in Pizza Hut for delivery. The rest of the members looked at us in envy when our orders (Splitz Classic set meal) came at 6.15pm. Work ended for me at 7pm but given the half an hour break, I left at 6.30pm and went up to staff lounge. Ros came up at 6.40pm. Finishing the spicy drumlets was a breeze, regular pan pizza was still manageable too but we gave away the garlic bread and breadstiks to the security officers. Too full!

Off day tomorrow. Gonna be a nice Monday for me =)

13th Ramadan...

Came to work at 8am and realized that I have forgotten to bring my digicam! Aaarrgghh... never mind. Meeting for iftar was at 6pm and I could have definitely afford to do OT but just wasn't in the mood to work. Left the workplace at 3.30pm sharp to Bugis Junction.

Makcik was busy making Raya kuihs when I called. So busy that she couldn't even pick up the phone in her room. She had forgotten to make reservations for us @ Seoul Garden. Not a problem... all I did was to go to the place itself and made reservations for 8 pax on the spot. Should have seen the look on those guys' faces. Stunned! Hahahah =)

Next stop - Kinokuniya Bookstore. Elsewhere in Bugis was super packed with people. There was a roadshow happening somewhere and I was the least bothered. As usual, I browsed and read the books till Nani called. She just had her convocation. Happy Graduation, Nani!

We still had half an hour before the rest of the gang turned up. Out of Kinokuniya, into Seiyu, BodyShop, Sony, Giordano, PrettyFit, etc till we finally found seats near Sanur Restaurant. By 6.30pm, Wak and Man came. Makcik and Pakcik were on their way and stuck in traffic jam along PIE. They arrived just in the nick of time for the break of fast. Azlina & fiance couldn't make it. Awwww! =P

Everyone had their fill. Even the charcoals burnt out before us. Noodles, chicken, beef, crabsticks, hotdogs, prawns, eggs, sotongballs, fishsticks, salads, fruits, ice kacang, ice-cream and a variety of drinks... (come to think of it, goodness!) As always, dinner is never a quiet affair with them. But it didn't matter cos the atmosphere was just as lively.

After dinner, Wak & Man took MRT to Paya Lebar station while Makcik, Nani & I got into Pakcik's car to Geylang. Parking posed a bit of problem but it failed to stop us from entering Geylang Bazaar. This time round however, it was more like an in-out checkpoint. Saw nice Raya clothes @ Joo Chiat (must go there another day in the afternoon to avoid the mad crowd), accompanied Makcik to buy Raya clothes for her nephews then went to kopitiam to meet up with the guys (guys & geylang bazaar don't mix. hahahah!). Stayed on for a while to talk and eat the dendeng Makcik bought. I finally reached home half an hour past midnight.

Really crazy... especially when I have work tomorrow at 8am. Oh well... what else is new?? Enjoy your weekend! =D

12th Ramadan...

Not working today, OFF. Nobody's in the house and my frens are mostly working or studying. Looks like I am staying home. Went online and chatted with Dearie. Initially she suggested going Little India next Monday. Whoopee! Some time later, she called and told me to meet her there at 6.45pm. I would have gone there but unfortunately my parents came back before I could leave! Kihkihkih... wouldn't be nice to leave my mom alone to prepare dinner, so I smsed Dearie to cancel the meeting.

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Finally I'll be going for Iftar tomorrow after work. As expected... after informing everyone about it only Makcik, Pakcik, Nani, Wak, Luqman, Az and Tasha can make it. Coincidentally frens from AMP are organising one too. Told Faz that I was booked. Kalau nasib baik, bound to coincide at Geylang.

Tonight must put my digicam in my bag.

11th Ramadhan...

Came to work at 7.30am and left for medical check-up at 8.30am. By 11am, I was back working. The doctor didn't say anything... clean bill of health I guess.

Instead of reporting at 8am, the supervisors have requested that we report at 7.45am for the morning shift. Unfortunately, I can't get the bus to change their schedule. So it's either I come at 7.30am or otherwise 8am. Kihkihkih =)

Ros was working in the morning too. Workplace is a bit dull since Philip resigned. Usually he would be cracking so much jokes that we ended up laughing in tears! But he tendered his resignation last Monday and Kris (Chris) was sick. With me not around, Ros and the new team leader had to manage till 11am before Christine, Melvin and I came.

During this fasting month, our cheeky team leader did his best to 'separate' Ros and me. Last week, he succeeded with me doing the morning shift while Ros did the afternoon shift. Wouldn't have been fair if I did morning shift again this week, so I had it swapped with Ros. Ros was happy to be able to go home early this week. Apparently many of my team members were eyeing on my time slots. As a result, I ended up going to work early mornings this week too! Hahhaha =D

Best of all, both are not working tomorrow. No wonder the rest thought we were going out shopping or something. At 3.30pm, we signed out then went to the Finance office to collect our payslips. After that wasted no time to take bus 190 home. Must be the lack of blood, I felt so drained out. Makcik went home alone and didn't even see me online.

10th Ramadhan...

Lady from Recruitment Office called at 2pm looking for Melvin & me. Waited for my colleagues to relieve our places then left half an hour later.

Alhamdullilah, I've been offered a full-time position. Contract till April 2004 with basic pay, medical benefits, leave (annual, sick & hospitalization) and gratuity included. I had thought those offered were given same contract, but Melvin turned down his offer cos his basic pay was lower. Hmm...

Came back to my centre and realised that it was 3.30pm, way past my work time. Told my team leader about my medical appt tomorrow, signed out and took MRT to Dhoby Ghaut. Headed to TIMES @ P.S while waiting for Makcik to end her work at 4.30pm. Immersed myself in all those books & mags and would have lost track of time had Makcik not smsed me. We were supposed to meet at 4.45pm and I was still in the bookstore. Kihkih! I thought I was late but we finally met at 5pm. Dear Makcik got held up by scones.

Went to her house and break fast there. Md Idris was sick but still has energy to play and walk! He walked on his own! Initial distance was like 2 metres, going back and forth from Umi to Bubu. He would quicken his pace nearing the end, excited just like the rest of us. We were all sitting in a circle and as the circle got bigger, Idris walked further from one person to the other. =)

Get well soon, Idris!

9th Ramadhan...

Came to work at 9am. The work schedule for today was so haywired, everyone who read and tried to understand it became more confused! Too many swapping of time slots...

Called Makcik and made plan to go home together. Quite soon after I hung up the phone, my team leader came to me and requested that I do OT for an hour. Aww man! Told him I've made plans, he bargained instead. In the end, I did OT for half an hour. I was offered a ride home. Mind you, it was raining heavily but thankfully it stopped soon. Even Makcik changed our meeting point twice. Politely turned down the offer and quickly hurried to the MRT station.

Tomorrow my work ends at 3.30pm. I welcome the OT anytime... just hope he can tell me way in advance. Kihkihkih =)

7th Ramadhan...

Sunday and I'm working. For some unknown reasons, we didn't face many visitors today... which is good though I do wonder why??

Been working in the morning shift this week. First time I worked till night. Went to the staff lounge during my break hoping to catch half an hour of Hindi film on Vasantham but someone else had the channel on HBO. No loss. Just spent it by taking a nap. =)

Came across this while surfing the Internet - "Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important". Well, smile always!

6th Ramadhan...

Checking out Makcik's webbie and I saw this thingy about inner child. Did one myself and presto here's mine!

My inner child is sixteen years old!

Life's not fair! It's never been fair, but while
adults might just accept that, I know
something's gotta change. And it's gonna
change, just as soon as I become an adult and
get some power of my own.


How Old is Your Inner Child?
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