Late Night At The Old Parliament House

last night, i had the pleasure to be in the company of a few beautiful women and one hot diva. at what was once hot sittings in our government.

was at a talk show at old parliament house, which was part of the singapore art fest. the host was none other than n/a/j/i/b a/l/i and the star guest was the divalicious s/h/e/i/l/a m/a/j/i/d.



the show was reminscence of his popular talkshow, KOTT. which i would love for it to continue..but we know why it is not actually sustainable. errmmmm...coz he probably had ran out and would run out of celebrity guests/subjects to grill eventually.

other than sheila, the other guests included m/a/r/i/a j. i have to admit i am ignorant about some aspect of the scene here. coz i was caught wondering last night, is she or is she not a real woman? my question was actually based on najib's many suggestive speculations on what the J at the end of the name meant.

there was also a h/a/f/iz g/l/a/m/o/u/r. and his segment was personally to me the most boring part. coz he was mostly all pc or maybe coz we were getting a bit restless waiting for the real star.

as what we expect of a NA talkshow, it was a lot of kelakar seram. where even the audience was not sparred. our row caught his attention and he called it the row of "orang cina masuk islam"... took it as a reference in particular to my SIL.

anyway the cute but big star eventually came out and all of us was bowled over of course.



her answers were honest, intelligent and very funny with a few quotabale quotes.. none of those PC, taichied or fluffy answers commonly churned out by some celebs. to sum it up, she has both style and substance that sets her apart from the wannabes.





and the treat must be having her sing for the audience. two songs; kerinduan and sinaran.

we were enchanted. i think so much so we forgot, when NA ask the audience for any last questions, to ask her that important question of 'when will she ever have another concert here?'

No Hike

its a bout a week before we are off for our break..and i feel there might be a change to myplans, much to my dismay :(

we may not be going hiking up any mountains.
for reasons like we are broke..or rather he is broke firstly since it is insurance and road tax time (grrr........) and secondly he will be going for another endau rompin trip later in the month and he has been saying "walau, u want me to go for a siong trip when both of us as you know have been having a siong time at work recently"

since i am also certifiably unfit and developing love handles in the process this past few weeks...i am unsure whether i can make it myself.

i have this scenario in my head of us going hiking..and i end up whining and him scolding me for being so gungho.

since i am NOT going to finance the whole trip. and no mummies or daddys of ours are going to finance the trip, in fact i have a feeling they are slightly puzzled and wary at out choice of destination ( and we had not even revealed our planned itinery)..

i had come up with an alternative challenge. to go back to our student days way of travelling. since we are both quite dry. my suggestion to him since he doesnt want to spend, is that we limit ourselves to $100-$150 for the entire 7D/6N trip per person. that means about $20+ a person a day.

on my part, i have already been witholding taking out the card and booking any accomodations online..an act which suprises him especially for the first night stay . he has been saying "but we are arriving there at 6 in the evening right?"

but since we are going to be cheapskate, i figured we go cheapskate all the way and just turn up and look for rooms at guesthouses with rates of $10 a night. hmmmph....

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we went out for dinner with the family and kids last night. and it made me a lil bit more sad about my hiking trip.

if there is anything for me to say about it, maybe it's that i am still selfish. i still need to have my personal endeavors and quests. and i was thinking, if i am not going to do it this holiday, i may not be able to do it any other time : |

Another one of these...again

have you ever been in a meeting where you simply feel like you want to bite each other's head off? or you just feel like standing up and scratch your nails down the chalkboard, only that there is no chalkboard.

i was in one this morning. it was long drawn. actually it's just not one meeting..it has been a series of long drawn meetings...the paper that we are preparing have gone through so many surgical processes..i simply dont understand why then there was a need to have so many rounds discussing something which you are then going to change totally. duh.

to add salt to the wound, we are working when actually the big boss had given everyone a day off today because liverpool managed to beat the odds and win the cup :)

there is half truth in the last statement..i am not kidding. we are having a day off thanks to soccer.

the weather has been hot hasnt it...it gets unbearable especially when one first get into the transport. as i have been telling him, if we put an egg on the bonnet or hood of the car for sometime, the egg could possibly get cooked!

...


and it was yet another hot day on monday...was feeling a bit bored from catching up on the work,and he was taking a nap. when i decided to test out my hypothesis..



the humble car. a tool for an idea i have been toying..


checked outside if it was hot enough.


spot the "y-egg"

i actually wanted to try a few. one cracked one as well. but the in laws were in the living room..and i dint want to raise their suspicions by carrying too many things outside.



about four hours later...



after his nap,he contributed to our little experiment by cracking e egg. lo and behold. it was just like my favourite softboiled at Yakun. white not transparent, and firm yolk. unfortunately he must have been very hungry, he broke the yolk,



..and was about to add pepper and soy sauce to it...but i stopped him..it's probably edible, but i was thinking of porous egg shell and all the plastic in the car which could possibly be emitting some tiny amount of fume in that heat.

anyway..i am still keen on another egg experiment. to crack it on the bonnet..you know like that advert. but of coz i must find ways to cover it up..case the in laws walk pass our car..

a wedding over the weekend.

very pretty bride :)



and the original ayu's creation..

i told myself initially that i dont really want to get so involved in my work. to prevent the possibility of burnt out. something which i experienced previously.

but i got two calls about two days ago...and i think sometimes we just cant help but be drawn into things.


1. the call from the boss.

he reminds me of my ex boss. the thing about my bosses is that they and their work are one. you can't separate these guys from their job. they live and breathe their jobs.

as it is..i got a call from my boss who was suppose to be on a break and was on his way to the swimming pool. he called me while on the public transport, to highlight a point i had gotten down in the notes. which he had gone through several times. and yet there was something still tak kena.

it's something to get used to, to be picked upon on that way, eventhough i know i am not the only one he does that to. so that's some consolation..and the assurance that your final piece has been QCed..

then again remembered why i had tried to get to his team in the first place. this very nature of his. that he is good. and that's the only way i can learn at the job. me still being a greenhorn.

as much as it irritates me, i very well know i needed that. plus its not really bad actually. my boss and the previous ones before him, we get to do verbal sparring on issues so they dont really cramp any of our styles.

2. the call from someone i work with.

this was something which i am not very used to. previously the only times when i will be on calls off duty with my clients will be if i have to 'chase' them and then i had to involuntariy do an international call. but since my work is local now, it was a local call...but it came at some ungodly hour.

and it was somewhat a distress call. the subject of the call was itself not so distressing especially hearing it as a third person. it was actually the emotions placed on the matter which was slightly disturbing. then it reminded me that the faces i see everyday, have their own stories and carry with them some baggage.

and i somehow knew there was actually something bigger to it. and today i was proved right.

it was still a new and strange experience for me that someone could open up to me that way.

a few nights ago, i had a very strange dream. i dreamt we were staying in an apartment which was on the 13th floor. it was a rainy night. with thunder and lightning. i woke up to see him standing at the balcony and he was smoking. like as how it is now, he is only permitted to smoke by the window..couldnt remember what happened next but the dream got into a blur where he jumped down from the balcony 13 floors down. i remembered myself getting frantic..running down the stairs..it was all ablur. but since it was a dream. he didnt die. he lived. couldnt even remember if there were any broken bones . i just remembered he lived.


i think it was the night we slept on the floor in the study room. it must be the very uncomfortable thin matress that caused my dream, no? hmmm ...make that the first night..since we have been falling asleep there.

we got another room now. i finally decided it is not conducive to work in our bedroom as our papers will get mixed up and it makes the bedroom look like some sty with all the mess of papers. so again..due to the kindness of the PILs..we got a new 'lease' for another room to turn it into sort of a workroom/study.

last week i had to prepare my lecture and papers. this week's its his turn with his papers. but i have been staying with him in the study till the early morning. falling asleep before him coz i still dont like to fall asleep alone in the bedroom.

nothing without labour.



we took a break from work for a dinner date..as it was our 2nd month anniversary. i know its only been 2 months, but it had seem to us a long time. and i just had to get a reoprt card on how i was faring.

have to say adjusting to married life wasnt too difficult for me. as i had mentioned before i am very adaptable..so it is still fine with me that our room tho looking more presentable now with a real bed, still reminds me of my hostel room. shabby but not too chic as i told a friend. we will slowly get there huh.

and a few other things like wifely duties of making breakfast and dinners. i havent got much chance since our mornings are always a mad rush to get to work on time. so breakfast is always a quick bite on the run or our own at the workplace. dinner has been so far mainly home-cooked. but not by me. i am spoilt for my mil always have a home-cooked meal ready waiting for us when we get back after 10 or so hours at work. i would like to help but my weekends have been so far working weekends too. but he knows of course i am not hopeless at it. i am actually full of hope that one day i actually get to use the kitchen. he knows what i mean.

but married life defintely has its plus points. for him that will mean things like better sheets. yes, now he knows the meaning of threadcounts and what dfference they make. like having a share of scrubs, masks and conditioner. mine is pretty much the same, except i have him to wake up to now..someone to disturb in the middle of the night. someone else now other than my parents to remind me to take the spoonfull of cod liver oil (he remembered my dad's instructions ..that i have to be forcefed to take my supplements)..

and we had our tiffs. that's unavoidable even after ten years right. in this case i have to say we are a partneship of equals. we both can scold and nag at each other. no one does it more or better than the other. and the tiffs and arguments, sometimes it can start from something trivial. but somehow they will get us all mad and upset at their moments but we both know these are none threatening issues. and they remain to be, so we have learnt to just let go. and i have learnt that american way of 'taking a moment' . i have to add tho..tiffs like these are so far infrequent. can count with just one hand..or maybe less. which is good aite.

so in summary..the learning curve has been nicely gentle.



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it has been a crazy past few weeks..and everyone's saying 'hang in there'. sometimes when times are like these, you feel like throwing in the towel..and dream about being a housewife ..but at times like these you also find small little gestures and actions that motivate you and you realise that the things you do have some significance.

and so someone also told me today "maybe we should move beyond success to significance."

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i am counting the weeks for my break. as mentioned before, i had planned for us to go hiking. so the exciting plan was to climb mt rinjani in lombok where we are heading.

but my schedule had meant that i have no time to train and the same for him. been reading and surfing online about our climb..and somewhere i read " Time magazine did a feature on this particular climb in 2001 and declared it to be difficult, treacherous, and extremely worthwhile. The adventure is akin to climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, but tougher" *gulp*

how?

i am busy. how busy? crazy busy..so much so i think i have been eating a lot..but i am loosing weight. that happens when i get stressed, my metabolic rate somehow rev up..partly also becoz i am surviving on less than 5 hours of sleep. and i am stressed.

our marriage therefore is as exciting ..every friday night, we are just so very exhausted. fridays have become a 'catch-up on sleep' nights for several fridays now.

but it is normal. we are used to the hours like that. as long as it is not continous. i have accepted it as part of modern living. no? the only complaint i have is that my working hours are not as flexible as before when i could do an all-nighter and go to work late :S

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i know it's mummie's weekend. but inspired by Dear Child. i looked through my folders for my take on it.


ali and aliah 1


ali and aliah 2



emi n haziq

yesterday, met a friend for an impromptu drink (of coffee and rootbeer). a not so secret meeting but we went to a secret garden in the middle of town. nice and cozy place. when we walked out of it, we chanced upon a not so secret square and a building that houses a photo exhibition.


Dear Child
-on men,children and gender equality.



he's everything that we want. he carries the babe, the groceries and still look happy doing these. from Sweden. i mean the photos. but probably the man too.


i have reasons to be partial towards this country, heh, but here are some interesting facts i learnt yesterday:

Sweden is one of the most gender equal nations. this is largely due to concerted government efforts.

It is the only nation (so far that i have known) with a Gender Equality Minister. And it seems everytime there is a new policy, the ministry concerned is responsible for analysing, following up and presenting proposals concerning equality between women and men. sort of gender equality policing like that huh.

an in an interview with the photographer taken from a turkish newspaper;

"In Ulla Lembergs home country, Sweden, progressive efforts have been made to ensure both parents the opportunity to spend time with their child. Perhaps the most crucial factor is the laws regarding parental leave. Out of the full 480-days parental benefit, 60 days are earmarked for each parent. This was decided in 2002 in an effort to encourage men to take parental leave.

And although women are still more likely to take the leave, Ulla Lemberg believes that things will change. "You have to be an optimist", she says, and emphasizes that no educated woman in Sweden would take a man who was not prepared to share the burden of house work. "She does not ask for his money. She says: Can you cook? Will you clean the house? Will you go shopping? Otherwise - get out!". Ulla laughs."

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Dear Child Exhibition
Dates : 30 Apr to 22 May 05 (3 Weeks)
Time : 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Venue: Sculpture Square, Middle Rd

*this one was a walkin..but i know there is another exhibition down the road which i'll try to go soon.

when a man leaves this world, you know he still lives on through his deeds and the stories people he had touched will continue to tell. our former president is such a man.

also one who remained humble, unconcious of status. in his own words;

"we, in the eyes of god are all the same. take away the president from my name and i am like any other man" ~ pres. wkw.

and so he will have his resting place at mandai crematorium like the ordinary man instead of kranji the reserved place for high officials and presidents.

one of the things you learn after marriage..or more so after marriage, is the need to 'jaga each other's hati'

one of my fav reads, m/o/k/c/i/k/n/a/b's blog first highlighted this under the tittle of
Why it's OK (for the wife) to be Neurotic.

it's originally taken from islamonline..Husbands do take note.

Mutual Expression of Love Between the Spouses

" I have been married for five years now. I experienced very hard psychological and financial problems, which, thanks to Allah, eventually came to an end.

I love my wife so much and she loves me, but she always accuses me of not expressing my love to her, and of being practical more than necessary while she is so romantic. She has been repeating such words so many times that I have grown to hate myself recently, though I do my best to ensure happiness for her and for my home. What shall I do? "

and the answer from the muftis themselves who after all understand the fragility of a woman's heart:

"She deserves that you listen to her, praise her, and sympathize with her when she is troubled. She really needs this. She cannot ask anyone else for such things; she is a good believer and a sincere wife who can never ask another man for such emotions. Do you like her to be miserable? Do you accept that she suffers thirst although water is near but you keep it from her? You should know that her need for compliments and tender words is as real as her need for sustenance, clothing, and other things that you believe to be the source of happiness. "

read more here.

but the fav part of all for me.

let's say we are getting a little pudgy and we ask you that question "sayang, do you think i am fat?"
.....

"The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported to have said: “Lying can be permissible in three cases:
war (for deceiving the enemy), reconciliation between disputing people, and the compliments between husband and wife.” "

but of course, you already know the answer don't you..the hadith just makes it even better..

oh no..we didnt do the hike this holiday. that will be too much coz it's back to work on tues.

i did however;

- ran! yup..he said i had probably covered 4km for that saturday morning run.

- manage to squeeze in our getaway couple time....



it was very nice. the extra day off that is the monday holiday really makes a difference. and we are glad we went to somewhere where the eyes can rest upon the clear blue sky, the absence of highrise concrete jungle, a bit of lush vegetation and a seaview with no tankers (remember sentosa) on the horizon..but instead if i am not wrong, a mountain or is it a hill in the distance?





and what would have been the icing on the sexciting cake will be the couple spa package with private seaview jacuzzi...hmmm...


i just had to kick back my slippers and air those feet to the lalang..



me plans, if we are here again another time, we'll want to explore the nearby island first before doing the hottub-ing..

please come quick another long weekend/holiday!