Saturday
5.30am: send Ibu to Subang Airport, first flight out to KB - 7.10am.
11am: D's outdoor golf class at Tropicana.
2pm: D's computer class at 1 Utama. After class, send D and A (with Bibik) to Miman's house for sleepover.
4pm (or whenever we get back from Kemuning): Hi-tea in Mokz's house (his step-sister's birthday).
8.30pm: Dinner at Putrajaya.
Sunday
8am: Fetch D and A from Kemuning Utama because their cousins have a birthday party to attend at 10.30am.
Noon: possible invite from Liz for a birthday party. No details just yet.
The rest of the day should be free and easy - we all need some rest before Monday! :)
I still have to plan some time to meet up with:
- Along for some live music action (!woo-hoo!),
- Sharon B to find out why she hasn't been working since 21 Jan,
- Sahidah to catch up since she left Nestle last year....
Busy, busy, busy...
I've been trying to get the 3-column template up and running for my blog, and I spent the whole afternoon and early evening (with some breaks in between) downloading, uploading, browsing (for the aesthetically pleasing look), tweaking and re-adjusting... And I have to say, at the end of it, I'm quite pleased...
I went through several sites (as listed below)...
http://free-web-template.blogspot.com/
http://www.finalsense.com/
http://www.blogspottemplate.com/
http://www.freetemplatesonline.com/
...before finally settling on this one, which I downloaded from http://webtalks.blogspot.com/2007/04/downlaod-three-column-new-blogger.html
... and I tell ya, it's not as easy as I earlier thought. There are lots of help on how to do it - just google it.
I also spent some time to add some emails of friends that I want inform when I publish an entry on my blog so that they can be kept updated on my comings and goings and happenings (apart from the other social networking sites that we are all members of)... :)
Update from my last entry - Nenek seems to be doing better. Ibu just told me that she's now reciting the Quran, and singing the national anthem-s (of Malaysia and Indonesia), seemingly in good spirits. Until the next episode. Oh well, just like I wrote earlier, we're just waiting...
Today I was in a cooking mood, so, for dinner, I made Easy Steak Sandwich, and Mixed Salad with chopped Grilled Chicken (leftovers, actually... :)) and Honey Mustard dressing. Both sandwich and salad dressing recipes courtesy of http://allrecipes.com/ - which I really enjoy browsing through. Anyway, I consider it a modest success as G gave it a thumbs up. Since we're on a low-carb diet plan, I've been making an effort to not have rice at meal times, which of course, is not so easy... I'm trying hard not to think of Ayam Masak Lemak Cili Padi, or Nasi Lemak, or Kari Ayam/Ikan, or Sayur Kobis Masak Lemak, or Kurma Daging, or Nasi Kerabu, or Ayam Goreng Berlada, or Ikan Keli Goreng... OH NO!
Don't get me started on Mee Goreng Mamak, and Char Koay Teow, or Curry Mee, or Laksa Johor... And desserts! Big Apple Donuts, Cheesecake, Apple Pie (McD punya pun jadi lah), Ice Cream (Nestle also can)... I'm drooling already!!!
Another (or two) modest success - I've lost some weight since 2 and half weeks ago. Not telling! Until it's quite significant lah, then I will. And, I've also got some muscle (biceps and calf) showing from the gym sessions. I'm quite proud of myself. Hehe...*smug look*
Now, the hard part is... to keep the momentum going. I must update on the status of my 2009 resolutions in my next entry. Hmmm...
Ibu called me up yesterday telling me that Nenek (Grandma) is having one of her episodes again - refusing to eat, telling everyone that Atuk (Granddad) is coming to get her, talking to Atuk, etc... I called Mak Usu (my youngest aunt - Nenek stays with her), but she was just going home from work, and she said she'll call me when she gets home and after assessing the situation. Well, she hasn't called me yet up to this morning, but I'm not assuming the worst... Ibu is coming on the 9.05am flight from KB, and I'll have to leave in a while coz (as Fairul tells me) AirAsia had the earliest flight out of KB, so it's to LCCT I go...
I feel bad because - feeling bad is the only emotion I can muster up at the moment. Which will p*$$ Ibu off because she'll expect me to feel sad and anxious and beside myself, at the very thought of Nenek's possible demise. I feel bad because - this is already the umpteenth time Nenek has had this sort of episode, and everytime... EVERY time... she still... lingers (for lack of a better word). I mean, she's already - what - 80 years old, she's got dementia (or Alzheimers, I don't know), she can hardly move around, she can hardly remember her own name, she's depressed, she's unhappy, and I'm sure she can't remember why she's depressed and unhappy...
I feel bad because - I don't feel sad... Is that cruel of me? How can I be so unemotional towards this person - who apparently brought me up from when I was a baby, until I was 4 years old? Then again, I was never very close to her - I was closer to Atuk... Then again, I think I'm sort of resigned to the fact that it's about time she is relieved of her worldly burdens. It's been too long, I think, and she's suffered enough... We're just waiting...
Mak Usu just called - after all my missed calls to both her hp? - and told me that it was a false alarm... as expected... My 2nd youngest aunt, Mak Uda, was the one who called Ibu up and told Ibu I-don't-know-what... Oops, it's already ten minutes past 9am. Time to go to the airport...
Story is - I went to the gym as usual this morning, after sending D to school... There is a bench just before the entrance to the gym, which I usually see people sometimes sit there, usually after my gym session. But today, there was a guy sitting there. I didn't take much notice of him at first, and just walked straight towards the gym without looking left or right.
As I approached the bench, I heard someone giving me salam, and I was surprised that it was the guy sitting on the bench. I was like, "What? Do I know this guy?" and he gave me another salam, and then proceeded to say something like, "Kak, boleh bagi saya duit 4 ringgit? Saya lapar, nak beli makanan." (Loosely translated - Sis, can you give me 4 (Malaysian) ringgit? I'm hungry, I want to buy food.)
This all took about 5 seconds? But it was like slow-mo(tion) at the time - Matrix style - and I was still just walking along towards the gym while looking at the guy the whole time. I didn't say anything. I didn't acknowledge him. I didn't even blink (I think). I sort of went into auto-pilot mode and just walked past him, straight into the gym.
I've been replaying this scene repeatedly in my head, with various possible endings to this encounter, and I don't know... First of all, I was taken aback. This is in Subang Parade, ok? IN the shopping mall... I've never come across "beggars" (loosely labeled) IN a shopping mall before. Then again, there's always a first of everything... Secondly, the guy didn't look like he was "begging"... He looked like a guy in about mid-20s, wearing a white t-shirt, not clean shaven but not scruffy looking either, can't remember what pants or shoes/slippers he was wearing... Thirdly, is this guy for REAL?
In any case, I could see him leaving the bench after my 10-minute stationary bike warm up. I told Nora about it as we drove to Kelana Jaya (which we didn't even get to our destination because it was pouring rain!) and she told me I did the right thing. With so many cases of people being robbed via pukau (loosely translated as hypnotism) these days... You can never be too careful. Scary!
So the boys are in Wan Umi's house since Sat evening. This evening I'll be going to fetch them. The house has been relatively quiet, and both G and I had different plans to occupy our time this long weekend (apart from having some "we" time) which had been changed so many times until the day before.
Disappointment for me was - Liz and I didn't go for the spa session yesterday! Waaaaah! Story is, I made reservations for 2 persons in Serenity Spa, Grand Bluewave Hotel Shah Alam. We even picked out the treatments we wanted, and both Liz and I were soooo looking forward to this pampering session. Liz arrived in Subang at 10.30 and we were already on the way to Bluewave for our 11am appointment, when suddenly Wan Umi called. Lo and behold, she wanted to bring the kids to Wet World Shah Alam, and of course, since she didn't include me in her planning process, D and A didn't pack their swimsuits. Knowing D, he wouldn't want to use any other swimsuits or buy a new one, so in panic, Wan Umi called me to salvage the situation.
Long story short, I had to stop by somewhere to pass the house keys to her so that she can get the swimsuit from the house. D was in the car, with tears brimming in his eyes. Grrr. I don't mean to be petty, but this is one of those things she does that can make my veins pop. Always with last minute plans, and always expect people to drop whatever they're doing, or change their plans to suit hers. Sabar je lah since she's MIL.
Already irritated with that, when we got to the spa, we were informed that they thought when I made the booking, it was for a couple, i.e. man and woman (!!!) so they got a male and female therapist for us. WHAT?? I wasn't asked to specify that we wanted female therapists?? Takkan la nak get the guy to do body scrub and massage for one of us? WHAT??? So, tak jadi la. Liz kept asking me to go ahead coz one of us can still do it, but I can't leave her alone, can I? Patutla the Bluewave branch was not fully booked like the other 2 branches in Concorde Hotel and at Section 13. Double grrr.
We left Bluewave, then went to Plaza Alam Sentral - I know there is another spa there, but dunno whether they were fully booked or not. We did get there - the spa is called Dewi Sari Ayu, but of course, they are fully booked until evening. Triple grrr. So, what else to do? Went for lunch in SACC, and then browsed around before finally going home. Memang takde rezeki lah.
One good thing, Liz showed me this quaint place in SACC where we had lunch. It's called The Asian Cafe - they served Vietnamese style food which was quite nice. Liz had noodles with chicken slices in beef broth, and I had beef in 5 styles (which was actually for 3 people, I think - the portion was huge!). Have to ask G to go next time...
G arrived home soon after I came back, and we spent the rest of the afternoon watching Iron Man and The X-Files: I Want To Believe (the night before, we watched Tropic Thunder and Hancock, slept at 2am). Verdict: Tropic Thunder - watchable, but a lot of profanities. A lot. Hancock - I won't watch it again. Iron Man - watchable, but I had too much of Robert Downey Jr already... The X-files: IWTB - I won't watch it again either. Nothing to do with aliens or government conspiracies. It was about psychics. The storyline was also a bit vague. I guess it could've passed as one TV episode, but a whole movie? No wonder it tanked. And Skinner made an appearance almost at the end.
The highlight of the day - after watching The X-Files, we went to karaoke! With Mokz and Nora. We sang our hearts out. Suara tak sedap pun lantak la... Haha. Mokz surprisingly can sing quite well. Anuar Zain's songs, ok... G, as usual, with his ol' skool rock songs... We went to Red Box in Sunway Pyramid. Not bad lah... We can do this again next time. Maybe next year? The voice has to recover... :)
I just lost what I wrote earlier. I was somehow disconnected during my rant. I'm now a deflated balloon...
Recap...
Last night G and I + Mokz and Nora stayed up until midnight poring through, editing, correcting and correlating the facts and figures of Project1's business plan. I know that we're helping Adik Bongsu la, but for heaven's sake, if this company is riding on this guy wanting to do everything himself, then I think we're doomed from the start.
I mean, come on la. I know that he's been living golf all his life, but if he wants to make this business happen, then he's got to start taking responsibility for what he wants to do. If he can't do it, then delegate! Jeez, this is the problem with Malays (in general), we want easy money, and we are easily distracted by the bigger picture. No one wants to look into the details - we have to put the small puzzle pieces together first! When there are people willing to help, suddenly you get paranoid - what's the catch? - and you become afraid of losing control, and you decide to work on your own and do things hush-hush... OMG!!! Then it's really a waste of time and energy. I have better things to do man...
I was already quite upset when G and I discussed this after Mokz and Nora left. But I held my tongue, because G was already agitated, and if I pressed further, we'd surely end up in a fight. So what else to do? Rant in my blog lor...
Seems the Chinese horoscope for the Oxen in this year of the Ox is quite true. My already short fuse is shorter...
