Big S...

Md Ehsan has now learn to reason. At least by his standard. In our presence, he talks, moves and pretend-plays alot as he imitates us going about the house. Mix his talkativeness with his mispronounciation, it's us adults who are often left laughing in stitches.

Scenario 1:
(At a relative's house during Raya visiting)

Dad: "Ehsan, salam Atok-Cik (great granduncle)
Nephew: "Nanak"
Dad: "Come on, be a good boy"
Nephew: "Tak bleh. Tangan Ehsan minyak" (Cannot. My hands are oily)

*****************************************************************************

Scenario 2:
(In my room)

Nephew: "Ahntie Long, what's this?"
Me: "Aunty's school bag"
Nephew: "School bag? Ahntie Long go school?"
Me: "Uh-huh"
Nephew: "Ahntie Long tak work Bugis?" tak = no
Me: "Oh. Work first. Work ends Aunty goes to school"
Nephew: "Work Bugis, school?"
Me: "Yes"
Nephew: "Ape saje..."
Me: !??

*****************************************************************************

Scenario 3:
(In the house)

Mom: "Come Ehsan, time to bathe"
Nephew: "Ehsan nak play" nak = want
Me: "Let's go bam-bam. Shower first then play"

As he approaches the bathroom, my youngest sister surprises him from the store room.

Sister: "Boo!"
Nephew: (shocked and irritated) "You big ass!"
Sister: "Woi!"
Me: "Muhammad!"
Mom: "Hep!"
Nephew: "You big ass!"
Sister: (roaring in laughter) "He said that to Mom"
Me: "Muhammad, don't follow Aunty Dayah's nonsense"
Mom: "No lah. I think he meant something else. Imitating what Ain usually tells him"

Everyone thinks.

Me: "You behave?"
Mom: "Ah! Right!"
Sister: "You big ass!" (laughs again)
Me: *slaps forehead*

For a period of time, we actually discouraged him from saying it.

*****************************************************************************

Just now...

Nephew: "Ahntie Long buat ape?" = what are you doing
Me: "I want to sleep"
Nephew: "Ok. Ehsan nak wash wason mason"
Me: "Hah?"
Nephew: "Wason mason. Take towel, wash"

He took a small towel and puts it on the table. Then he pretended to scoop and pour something on the towel.

Me: "Ehsan wipe table?"
Nephew: "No no no. Wash Wason mason"
Me: "Wason mason? wason mason, wason mason, wason mason... washing machine?"
Nephew: "Ah! Ehsan take towel put wason mason."
Mom: "What's going on?"
Me: "Wason mason"

"Ahntie baik-baik tau..."

My nephew surprised me this morning as I was leaving for work. After the usual salam & kisses...

"Bye darling. See you tomorrow"

"Bye ahntie... aik-aik tau" (take care ok)

My mom stopped reading her newspapers and asked excitedly, "What did he say?"

He smiled impishly and stood up. Accompanied me to the front as I stepped out and wore my shoes. Once I've locked the gate...

"Bye ahntie"

"Bye darling."

Smiling gleefully he said "Ahntie jalan baik-baik tau" (Ahntie walk carefully ok)

"Ok. Ehsan pun baik-baik tau" (Ehsan also be good ok)

"Ok." giggles

It took me a week later before I decided to record the whole act. It's the way he say it that tickles my heart.

Time, Travel and Tired

Time on my watch (a bling gift from my bling2 galfrens) now is 06.10pm. Logging in from Terminal 3 for a quick update before I fly.

I've only just entered Singapore about 3.5 hours ago. Tired? You betcha. Try clearing your luggage within 15 minutes. No wait, that's not the word. Transfer. From a 2 days' luggage - which was purely fun and pleasure, to a week's luggage - business, fun and pleasure (or whatever is left). On top of a much needed refreshing shower squeezed in that timeframe.

Entire body is screaming for proper rest (read: bed) Heehee... as much as possible however, I do not want to spend my flight time in slumberland. Shall see who wins this struggle between body, mind and soul.

Time Check: 06.20pm.

I had better start walking to my gate now. Toodles ladies.

Chocolatey Christmas & CNY

First there was the very rich chocolate logcake given by the building management. Took us about a week to finish. A very generous piece for tea, everyday.

After that Joyah alerted me that the seasonal Cadbury's Milk Tray are already in stock. We bought a box for the office pantry. It was the despatch guy who had the most fill.

Subsequently I received more chocolates from my assistant, my colleagues in Hong Kong and friends.

I thought my ration could last me well till next month. Alas, a box was wasted today. Ants.

Tamat 2007

Memories of my December 2006 are still fresh on my mind. It was a crazy busy month as I struggled to absorb and soak in as much information possible. How do you cram in 10 years' worth of stuffs?

Now looking back, they are bittersweet memories...

This year's memories:
~ An empty corner workstation
~ Start of the weekend outings
~ Officially Blogger & Google
~ Md Ehsan's 1st birthday & Mini cupcakes
~ 1st Company Audit
~ Hong Kong 1st Business trip
~ Setting my mind on 45
~ Md Ehsan's step-by-step
~ 1st major highlight: Blessings in disguise pt 1
~ 1st Budget
~ Iwan's Wedding
~ 2nd major highlight: For richer & poorer
~ Cik Haris' Wedding
~ Sufian's Wedding
~ 3rd major highlight: Blessings in disguise pt 2
~ New phone. Another Sony Ericsson.
~ 2nd Budget
~ Demise of Queen D (Al-Fatihah)
~ Guide @ T-junction
~ 1st Motocross race
~ Md Ehsan recognises Ahn-tie
~ KL family trip
~ Corner workstation occupied
~ New mp4 player. Good offer for 8GB Ipod Nano.
~ 1st annual system backup

* puts organiser in cupboard, keeps desktop calendar in drawer. opens organiser 2008 from Sayang, looks at new desktop calendar*

Upcoming 2008:
~ Classes & Seminars!
~ Anniversaries
~ Md Ehsan's 2nd birthday
~ Arrival of babies
~ Ding Dong Wedding bells
~ etc.

Interim audit

Our annual stocktake ended earlier than expected. The warehouse in Hong Kong completed and submitted their report within a day while ours took 2 days. To think that during planning, we had even mentally prepare ourselves to come back on Saturday.

At the start of our stocktake, an auditor came to conduct the interim audit. Based on the timetable that was set and agreed by both sides, she was to observe our processes first before conducting a random sampling on the last day. In actual, she did both on the same day and never came back. Even better.

So just now, we had our X'mas cum Annual lunch in Carousel @ Royal Plaza on Scotts. The place was buzzing with diners and most tables were occupied. I like their new facelift. The new layout concept reminds me of Straits Kitchen @ Grand Hyatt. But I prefer Carousel's varieties to Straits' Asian fare. Especially the Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce! Hmmm... Our talks at the table steered clear from all job-related topics. Instead we talked about the younger generations *slaps forehead*. All thanks to my assistant who said, "As long as not married, got boyfriend also still can consider others".

Now back in the office and at my table, I feel like my 4 months' pregnant colleague. She, on the other hand, feels like a wobbling penguin. Very very full tummies.

*Looks at clock. Looks at tummy. Looks at clock. Looks at tummy again*

I've got to attend my cousin's housewarming event tonight. That, plus a potential meet-up with Makcik and M after their shopping spree.

I definitely can't stomach meals as much as I used to now.

LUP you Not

I thought new items are supposed to be better than old ones? No?

There was once when I had to take 14 flight of stairs down to go to work. I thought it was a temporary cut-off of power supply. The weather was hot and someone had strategically placed his bin of burning incense paper by the stairs. I reached the bus stop feeling like I've sprayed the exhaust fumes instead of perfume.

I was lucky.

The others - housewives, elderly and school children, have been gambling their luck and exercising everyday.

A while ago, I went out with Md Ehsan for a stroll. It was working fine. Within ten minutes, my youngest sister came running to us.

"Our neighbours have arrived for Raya visiting. Hurry, we have to climb up the stairs."

She carried Md Ehsan ten flights up before putting him down to walk. We held his hands and slowly climbed the remaining steps according to his pace. Felt slightly lightheaded from going round and round. For Md Ehsan and my youngest sister, it was their 2nd climb-a-thon.

Gasp, sputter, choke... hike

I was going to be late for Raya visitng. 7.30pm and I was still in bus stuck in a traffic along Newton. Made a quick call to update my parents. I estimated to be home by 8pm.

Whatever time was lost in the traffic, the long bus soon made up for it on the expressway. Just as it exited PIE to BKE, the bus started grumbling up the sloping bend. "That's odd," I thought. The engine lacks power.

I looked out to the cars zooming on the right lane. One car in particular caught my attention. Not because of the make or model. Simply because the driver was honking and the front passenger turned to look at the back of the bus before looking into the bus I was in. Minutes later I realised the air-con has stopped functioning. Seconds later, I caught whiff of smoke. Within moments, the bus moved to the road shoulder. The engine stopped. Right beside the ERP gantry of BKE.

Sleeping commuters woke up. The long bus was 3/4 packed with sitting and standing passengers. Without airconditioning, there was poor ventilation. All 5 passengers from the back suddenly stood up at attention. Apparently the heat from the smoke had travelled its way to their seats. I pressed for the doorbell. Nothing happened. I couldn't even see the driver.

In a flash, one lady requested for the man nearest to the back doors to press the emergency button. The end of the bus was beginning to heat up. The moment the doors opened, we alighted. I made my way to the front of the bus. There I saw the driver standing in his seat looking on as a passenger tapped her EZlink to cancel her ride. There was a white van parked in front of the bus. Another staff got down from the van and went to investigate.

The driver may have been prepared and trained to handle such situations... but nothing. Not even a "All passengers, please remain calm" or "All passengers, please tap your EZlink to cancel your ride". I boarded, tapped my EZlink and alighted. Approached the others who were standing by the roadside and relayed the information. Only then I turned to take a look at the bus.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry. In such a long bus with passengers occupying 2 compartments, it seemed like the 1st half were totally unaware. Most remained seated or standing turning left and right patiently waiting to alight. Had the bus been on fire, the site would have turned to a BBQ area. I knocked at the window and signalled to a man nearest to the middle doors. Pointed to him the emergency button. He had trouble opening the case from the wrong end but the doors were soon released.

I stood there waiting and observing from a distance. Everyone's safe, no injuries. Traffic has slowed down near our area. Bus driver was still standing rooted to his seat. Bus was nearly empty.

Another bus service soon turned up - 190. Unfortunately it was sardine packed right to the front door. It moved on. Right behind was another bus - 960, 3/4 full. I managed to board it.

I had no problem tapping my EZlink. But the bus driver got slightly irritated when several other passengers asked him "Will there be double deductions?"

His answer: "Your bus driver never tell you to cancel just now? No token?*"



* Based on experiences, bus driver will usually 1) inform his passengers to tap their EZlink to cancel their ride's fee. Upon boarding the next available bus, the affected passenger pays a discounted rate. or 2) issue a paper ticket token. Upon boarding the next bus, the affected passenger passes the token and taps his EZlink to get a free ride.

Go straight?!

Lady: "Where are you now?"

Us: "We can't find your street. We are at a T-junction now. Should we turn left or right?"

Lady: "Ok, let me guide you... First, you go straight. Then..."

Us: "We can only turn left or right."

Lady: "No, no you must go straight first. After that, you turn right."

Us: "If we go straight, we will drive right into the building."

Lady: "Err... let me pass the phone to my husband."

Me to Hero: *chuckling* "She reminds me so much of Makcik."

No fault of mine

Way back in July, I asked my youngest sister what she wanted as her birthday gift. My guesses were along the lines of new pair of pants or tops. She has since outgrew most of her clothes eversince putting on weight. I gave her a month to decide and get back to me.

Within 2 weeks, she told me to pay for new strings of her badminton racket. Come to think of it, yeah it's been a while since I last saw her playing badminton. I had my doubts about the cost. I genuinely had no idea of the price range. But she confidently told me that it would cost about $70. I said ok. Deep in my head & heart I told myself, "If it's gonna cost that much, buy a new racket for her".

Together with Dad, we went to Queensway this afternoon (the gift has since turned into a belated one). Dad requested for the replacement, she left the racket with the shop and off we went to fetch my Mom.

Took her 5 minutes before she blurted out the cost of fixing new strings - $16. I bet she's regretting now.


p.s Giving you till end of this month to decide on another gift. Deal?

Just that?

This morning I took 1/2 day leave to accompany him for a check-up. Sat down on the sofa with a cup of hot Milo and managed to even read today's Straits Times. Finally 1 1/2 hour later, $60 poorer, we left the clinic.

I was chuckling and shaking my head as I read the invoice. Are you supposed to be ultra bionic super flying mean machine after consuming all that?

Heehee...

Numerology Name

You entered: N___________________
There are 16 letters in your name.
Those 16 letters total to 70
There are 8 vowels and 8 consonants in your name.

What your first name means:Arabic Male Light.


Your number is: 7

The characteristics of #7 are: Analysis, understanding, knowledge, awareness, studious, meditating.

The expression or destiny for #7:
Thought, analysis, introspection, and seclusiveness are all characteristics of the expression number 7. The hallmark of the number 7 is a good mind, and especially good at searching out and finding the truth. You are so very capable of analyzing, judging and discriminating, that very little ever escapes your observation and deep understanding. You are the type of person that can really get involved in a search for wisdom or hidden truths, often becoming an authority on whatever it is your are focusing on. This can easily be of a technical or scientific nature, or it may be religious or occult, it matters very little, you pursue knowledge with the same sort of vigor. You can make a very fine teacher, or because of a natural inclination toward the spiritual, you may become deeply emerged in religious affairs or even psychic explorations. You tend to operate on a rather different wavelength, and many of your friends may not really know you very well. The positive aspects of the 7 expression are that you can be a true perfectionist in a very positive sense of the word. You are very logical, and usually employ a quite rational approach to most things you do. You can be so rational at times that you almost seem to lack emotion, and when you are faced with an emotional situation, you may have a bit of a problem coping with it. You have excellent capabilities to study and learn really deep and difficult subjects, and to search for hidden fundamentals. At full maturity you are likely to be a very peaceful and poised individual.

If there is an over supply of the number 7 in your makeup, the negative aspects of the number may be apparent. The chief negative of 7 relates to the limited degree of trust that you may have in people. A tendency to be highly introverted can make you a bit on the self-centered side, certainly very much self-contained . Because of this, you are not very adaptable, and you may tend to be overly critical and intolerant. You really like to work alone, at your own pace and in your own way. You neither show or understand emotions very well.

Your Soul Urge number is: 11

A Soul Urge number of 11 means:
With the 11 Soul Urge, much of your thinking and interests relate to the abstract, the spiritual, and utopian dreams. You are motivated toward idealistic concepts, and the sharing of your ideas and concepts with humanity. This number is not one that is giving in a material or a practical sense, but rather one who desires to help mankind with a more abstract commodity such as religion, spiritualism, occult studies, or even psychic abilities.

If you possess the positive 11 Soul Urge traits, you have a dream of the perfect world; you are highly idealistic and inspirational. Your inner strength and devotion to your beliefs are extremely strong. You have a very good mind that is especially well equipped to handle the higher, more abstract forms of thought.

If there is an excess of 11 energy in your makeup, you may possess some the negative 11 traits. There is a tendency for the 11 to produce considerable amounts of nervous tension which is bought on by a very high level of awareness. You may be too sensitive and overly emotional. In some cases, these sensitivities and emotions are quite repressed, and this tends to add even more to the sense of nervousness in the makeup.

The strong 11 is not a very practical person because of the extreme idealism; often, there is a degree of self-deception present. There is usually a rather fixed idea of right and wrong held by those showing strong 11 traits, and with this very often is a resulting attitude of inflexibility.

Your Inner Dream number is: 5

An Inner Dream number of 5 means:
You dream of being totally free and unrestrained by responsibility. You see yourself conversing and mingling with the natives in many nations, living for adventure and life experiences. You imagine what you might accomplished.

Hahaha! Is that really me? For fun purposes only, click here. For reality checks, look in the mirror.

I've got the blues...

2 of my colleagues from Hong Kong touched down here this afternoon. They came to office after having checked in to their respective hotel rooms.

After lunch, the entire office entered the warehouse. We went through the layout plan for tomorrow's internal stocktake. We've got 2 days to cover all inventories. Once briefing was over, all of us headed back to our respective tables in preparation for the next agenda in the meeting room.

Out of the blue...

K: "Hey, who's that young man?"
Me: "Where?" peers out of my workstation looking at the main entrance.

K: "This tall handsome young man." points at the desktop of my PC.
Me: "Ohh..." smiles.

To think that it is barely 2 months that I've changed my desktop background.

Post-O

I left the office late just now. Plugged the earphones in, switched on my mp3 and walked to the bus stop. It's my habit to walk from the office, enter through the BHG mall and exit at the National Library. A good solid 15 minutes stroll to the bus stop. Why? Just so I can get a seat in the bus. =)

Anyway, once at the traffic light I had to wait for the green man to lit. There were some short posts nearby. I leaned back and sat on one. Pretty harmless.

A while later, a Caucasian man stopped beside me. He was in office attire, with the sleeves rolled up and a black briefcase in hand. He turned and looked at me. I nodded and smiled. He smiled back and nodded. Traffic was slowly coming to a halt. The man said something but I didn't quite catch it.

Me: "I'm sorry?"
Man: "Are you holding up the post?"

I knew he was just kidding in good nature. But tell me, how often does a stranger do that to you? On a normal day, I face a busload of weary half-dead passengers. The invisible words on their foreheads read "I'm tired. Scram."

Me: "No, just resting a bit."

By then traffic has stopped and the green man lit. We crossed the road together, made some small talk and parted at the junction.

Man: "Nice talking to you, Miss. Goodnight."
Me: "Same here. G'night."

And that was it. Totally harmless. For that 5 minutes' worth of talk, I got to know a stranger.

My Visual (?) Profile...

A colleague passed me this link a while ago.

The results I got are these:

Moods - Sofisticat

Fun - Worker Bee

Habits - New Wave Puritan

Love - Home Soul

For details, click here.

Ridj's 101 to A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E

Tonight I learnt these:

1. Accountability -

"I believe it is the great divider among people."

Mmm... distinguishing a manager from a clerk, an adult from a child?


2. Mastering the On/Off switch -

"Time becomes a double-edged sword, either it gives you the life you’ve been dreaming about or it can take your whole life away."

By (the Token of) Time, Verily Man is in loss, Except those who have faith and do righteous deeds, And join in the mutual teaching Of Truth, and of patience and constancy - Surah Al Asr.


3. The Phoenix -

“Be what you are, Say what you feel, Because those who mind don’t matter, And those who matter won’t mind”

Exactly. I especially like this quote best.


For more details on what I'm blabbering, please read this entry. I'm just viewing them beyond the business context.

Post Budget

1. While going through the mails at work this morning, I came across the DHL envelope received a couple days back. I had received call from their representative that they were giving us complimentary rides. I was just not sure if it meant discount or free.

The office have since discovered that each of us got 3 FREE adult tickets.

2. After all the headaches, stress and time spent, the company's budget is due. Made some final adjustments, liased with my immediate superior, and submitted. This time round I needed plenty of guidance. At least I got a feel of what it is like.

I was stunned to see the sun when I left the office just now. Wonderful day after countless nights.

3. I'm very particular about my workstation. Normally I will clear up the area before I leave for the day. It's a personal preference to start the next day with a clean table. Heard of that association: an uncluttered desk and an uncluttered mind?

Today I left office with the messiest workstation - unopened mails stashed a corner, documents and reports everywhere, files flanking the sides. A break from usual routine.

You finally came into my life...

This morning everyone in the office looked like they've got the Monday blues. Post-holiday blues I would say. It can be such a bummer to work on a day like this. The month of May has just ended and as usual, I have the whole monthly routine to handle. Even my usual morning chatters were quiet.

Towards noon, a colleague asked out loud "Do you feel like it's Monday today?"

"Are you kidding me? It's the first of June. Each new month spells DEADLINE for me."

"Oh ya. No wonder..."

Noon came, had lunch. Back from lunch, tackled the strings of emails, the bundles of normal mails and reports for submission.

Pace slackened and office became quiet. No more of the buzzing bees. The after-effect of lunch perhaps. A lot more friends started coming online.

Then it dawned on me - thanks to M who smsed me. Thanks to Makcik who congratule while we were talking about some "legal" issues. Also thanks to Joyah & Nyah who congratulated and joked. Work literally flew out the window after that. I lose focus with whatever I had in hand.

I managed to stay cool when I left the office today. Of course when the moment arrived, it became another highlight of my life.

"Is that savvy for you?" *

M: "So when is our next...?"

S: "Mmm, confirm next Tuesday."

M: "Oh?"

S: "After that, on Friday."

M: "What?"

S: "Yep, Friday shouldn't be a problem. Happy?"

M: "I feel a headache coming..."

S: "Beginning of next month???"


*Quote from Pirates of the Caribbean*

Most Valuable Thing

I received this email a long time back from a friend. The arrival was very appropriate then.

Once in a while, such email deserves some attention...

A young man learns what's most important in life from the guy next door. It had been some time since Jack had seen the old man. College, girls, career, and life itself got in the way. In fact, Jack moved clear across the country in pursuit of his dreams. There, in the rush of his busy life, Jack had little time to think about the past and often no time to spend with his wife and son. He was working on his future, and nothing could stop him.

Over the phone, his mother told him, "Mr. Belser died last night. The funeral is Wednesday."

Memories flashed through his mind like an old newsreel as he sat quietly remembering his childhood days. "Jack, did you hear me?"

"Oh sorry, Mom. Yes, I heard you. It's been so long since I thought of him. I'm sorry, but I honestly thought he died years ago," Jack said.

"Well, he didn't forget you. Every time I saw him he'd ask how you were doing. He'd reminisce about the many days you spent over 'his side of the fence' as he puts it," Mom told him.

"I loved that old house he lived in," Jack said.

"You know, Jack, after your father died, Mr. Belser stepped in to make sure you had a man's influence in your life," she said.

"He's the one who taught me carpentry," he said. "I wouldn't be in this business if it weren't for him. He spent a lot of time teaching me things he thought were important...Mom, I'll be there for the funeral," Jack said.

As busy as he was, he kept his word. Jack caught the next flight to his hometown. Mr. Belser's funeral was small and uneventful. He had no children of his own, and most of his relatives had passed away.

The night before he had to return home, Jack and his Mom stopped by to see the old house next door one more time. Standing in the doorway, Jack paused for a moment. It was like crossing over into another dimension, a leap through space and time. The house was exactly as he remembered. Every step held memories. Every picture, every piece of furniture.... Jack stopped suddenly.

"What's wrong, Jack?" his Mom asked.

"The box is gone," he said.

"What box?" Mom asked.

"There was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk. I must have asked him a thousand times what was inside. All he'd ever tell me was the thing I value most," Jack said. It was gone. Everything about the house was exactly how Jack remembered it, except for the box. He figured someone from the Belser family had taken it.

"Now I'll never know what was so valuable to him," Jack said. "I better get some sleep. I have an early flight home, Mom."

It had been about two weeks since Mr. Belser died. Returning home from work one day, Jack discovered a note in his mailbox. "Signature required on a package. No one at home. Please stop by the main post office within the next three days," the note read. Early the next day Jack retrieved the package. The small box was old and looked like it had been mailed a hundred years ago. The handwriting was difficult to read, but the return address caught his attention. "Mr. Harold Belser" it read.

Jack took the box out to his car and ripped open the package. There inside was the gold box and an envelope. Jack's hands shook as he read the note inside. "Upon my death, please forward this box and its contents to Jack Bennett. It's the thing I valued most in my life." A small key was taped to the letter. His heart racing, as tears filling his eyes, Jack carefully unlocked the box.

There inside he found a beautiful gold pocket watch. Running his fingers slowly over the finely etched casing, he unlatched the cover. Inside he found these words engraved: "Jack, Thanks for your time! - Harold Belser."

"The thing he valued most... was... my time." Jack held the watch for a few minutes then called his office and cleared his appointments for the next two days.

"Why?" Janet, his assistant asked. "I need some time to spend with my son," he said. "Oh, by the way, Janet... thanks for your time!"

=)