Life in Loopy Land

My Hari Raya:

Mandi at 7 am, got dressed, obligatory call to the outlaws, eldest sister & family arrived from Subang Jaya to complete the original family nucleus. So by 10 everything was in full swing; lots of photos, lots of food, lots of duit raya exchanged [pity bubba did not receive any in advance!]

It was a full house yesterday, with siblings + spouses + offsprings. Main activity: makan makan makan. I is fat-ter.

Admittedly it was kind of (chaotic) fun with everyone around, but after a few hours - backache, tiredness kicked in, sleep deprived nights took a toll on me.

Oh I forgot, blood test results which I took before I left London came back - I am anemic. Hence the incessant complaints I had of constantly feeling tired. Must get some iron tablets from Dr G.

Have to say though, last night was the longest (and best thusfar) sleep I had from half eleven till half five; no disruptions in between at all. Normally I would sleep at 11 ish, wake up at 2/3 for a pee and not sleep until 5/6, only to be up again by 7 ish.

My life in numbers:

~ 1 day until IK arrives; need some TLC pronto.
~ 37 weeks tomorrow; 3 weeks to go. Yay-bump too heavy. Yikes-impending labour.
~ 13 days until peace and quiet resumes.

I hope everyone had a great raya.

Salam Aidil Fitri

IK celebrates eid today in Londres, whilst us Malaysians have another day of ramadhan to observe.

He is well chuffed; he finds sahur a bit 'challenging'.

Over here, mumsy has started the big feast cook out whilst tidying up the house, where possible; well, with 3 kids and 8 adults, the possibility to cover everything is almost impossible. All this further reinstates my *cough* one-child-only policy *cough*.

Have a smashing hari raya, safe and happy travels everybody!

Hari Raya

In less than 5 days, we will be celebating Eid.

This year the celebration will be extremely different.

One, I did not observe ramdhan per advice by GP and to be honest even if he said it was ok to, I would struggle quite abit to curb/manage my hunger. Hence the lack in (or of?) festive mood.

Two, everyone will be home. My sister and family arrive this afternoon from Melbourne; they will spend three weeks here. On Monday, my brother and family fly in from Bali for two weeks. Coincidently I am back as well to pop during this festive occassion.

I have mixed feelings about this whole idea.

On the one hand.

The house will be packed to the brim; am not sure I like that - chaos chaos chaos all around. I actually prefer the 'peace and serenity' of being on my own with mum, dad + cats. The poor kitties, I foresee them suffering the most. Plus mumsy who will be slaving away in the kitchen daily for everyone.

We have not spent raya together as a complete family for the last 6/7 years or maybe more, what with everyone scattered everywhere, and to coordinate holidays at the same time was just not possible due to different work schedules. This will be a first in a long while. Having said that IK will not be around on the 1st and 2nd day anyways so it will still not be totally 100% attendees!

This year there are many changes in the way I celebrate Eid; in the last three years I was at my desk on the first, second, third, so on and so forth day of Eid. It was not too bad as I think I have outgrown that 'raya/festive' feeling. I merely missed mumsy's food spread.

On the other hand.

This year I will be having all my siblings around, with three toddlers screaming and running about (meriah, some crazy people call it?), mumsy's rendang/kuah kacang/nasi impit/raya cookies to savour, and I even got myself a baju raya to complete the whole Eid shebang.

Sounds like all the essential ingredients are there for a celebration, no?

Friday Statistics

Today Dadster celebrates his 3,640 weeks of exisitence (40 in womb + 3,600 in the world) vs. Bubba who celebrates her 25th week in my womb.

She certainly has a long way to go.

Happy 70th Birthday Pa, wish we were home to celebrate your milestone with you. Hope it was a good one anyways with mumsy + kitties! Lots of love from the wharf.

***

Current bad habits:

• Kit Kat
• Aero Mint Bubbles
• Vanilla Ice Cream

Current must-have mid morning breakfast:

• Melons, grapes, pineapple cubes, oranges + greek yogurt + muesli + seeds from citicafe

Current complaints:

• Lower backache (due to bump)
• Upper backache (due to bad bad posture)
• Expanding derriere (think J Lo)

Current wish:

• Easy and quick labour

Current iTune on repeat:

• Most of All – Jody Watley

Currently looking forward to:

• Some sun-worshipping activity next week. Finally a proper sand-in-feet, blue skies, crytal clear sea, sun-drenched beach holiday. Yahoo.

Currently counting down to:

• The start of 12 months of maternity leave – 26 working days before I am completely and blissfully work-free. Yahoo. Yahoo. Yahoooooooo.

Happi-yappi-ness

We packed everything he needed for his work trip (or so we thought); I, the genius, specifically remembered the cuff links (yay me!) because the last time he forgot about them.

Suit. Check. Hankies. Check. Undies. Check. Neck ties. Check. Socks. Check.

Work shirts? Zilch.

Thank goodness Dadster and him are the same size - 15 1/2. Yes, he will be using my father's shirts for two days to work. Ha ha.

Apart from packing boo-boo, all else is fine. Dadster is abit weak and lacks appetite but Mumsy is recovering. IK has a sleeping partner - Winnie! Cleo forgot momentarily who IK was and hid under Mumsy's bed when he arrived but happy to report they have been reacquainted since.

I am just happy to know that everyone is well at home. Tra la la la la la.....

In a Funk

I have been feeling lousy since Friday. My misery unfortunately spilled over into the weekend.

I watched the weekend go by from under the covers. Did. Not. Want. To. Get. Out. Of. Bed.

Weekend outings were limited. Very unusual for me.

Instead, watched ‘Pursuit of Happyness’; contrary to the (misleading) title, it was a depressing movie. [Note to self: Must not watch when pms-ing/in bad mood/suffering stomach discomfort/nursing headache.]

Energy levels are low. Conversations have been minimal.

I am feeling sad that I can’t be home. To cat-sit. I miss Mumsy + Dadster.

Despite all that emotional mayhem, I did well in the cooking department. I managed to conjure some nasi lemak on Sunday and today, some mee goreng for dinner.

And so I barely survived Monday. One down, four more to go.

***

On the flip side, Mumsy is having a whale of a time - massage sesh and shopping today (while almost-four year old grand dot had a manicure haha) and spa treatments scheduled for tomorrow.

I'd love to trade places with Mum; every other normal days are spent with the kitties, tottering in the garden, while holidays are filled with lots of pampering and laughter with loved ones.

Torn Between Two

Mumsy is celebrating mother’s day tomorrow by catching a flight to Bali to see sibling + family for a week. This was a surprise pressie from sibling for Mumsy and so she had no say in the dates, length of stay, all timing-related matters basically.

She welcomes the break to spend time with cute grand dot and the craft-shopping she can get done in Bali but is a bit apprehensive as her flight back is the following Saturday - that’s a whole week away from her other grand dot (of the furry kind). She cannot request to change the flight dates earlier at the risk of offending said sibling.

But being as besotted as Mumsy is over these cats, I know exactly how Mum feels about leaving them behind for a long time. She would not be too concern had it been a 3/4 days' trip.

I’ve probably mentioned countless times how Cleo has no outdoor surviving skills and how she is very dependant on Mumsy for everything – meal times, toilet trips and even her bedtime. Mum also waits on Cleo when she is out in the garden for fear of the notorious grey tomcat preying on Cleo and for fear of inadvertently locking her out of the house (she does not do windows, only front doors). I guess it is mostly Mum’s fault for pampering her but that’s too late now.

As for Winnie, she is more independent than Cleo but does have her peculiarities that only Mumsy could ever understand e.g. where she wants to go (‘Please carry me upstairs Gramma’), which blanket/bedsheets she prefers, her 'please open bedroom door for me' meows or when she wants her biscuits, etc.

Dadster is fine with them but there really is no ‘special’ bond. He will however provide the basic necessities they need; rub, feed, clean litter, but he wouldn’t understand their meows or actions as well as Mum does. He ain't no Dr Dolittle!

Mum sent me a text a couple of hours ago saying she is going to Bali with a very heavy heart. I have assured Mum I would call Dad everyday to check on the cats (and him!) and that everything will be okay.

I guess it is time I go home to be with the family so it would be easier when Mumsy has to go away. She can go with a peace of mind with a trusty cat-sitter around (i.e. me me me).

Trivia on My Family

Dadster has been in Bali for the last six days, spending time with sibling number three and youngest grand-dot.

Mumsy's at home with Winnie and Cleo, the other two grand-dots (of the furry kind). I've been calling home twice daily just to make sure she is alright until Dadster returns on Monday.

This is a 'trivia' about my family that nobody thinks it to be acceptable or 'normal'. Let me explain:

• All siblings have left the nest and there is no helper at home.


• Cleo + Winnie keep mum + dad company (read: busy) at home - they clean cat litter, take Winnie upstairs for bed time, accompany Cleo for meals/pee/poo/play in garden, take them to the vet, buy cat biscuits etc etc.


• Both furballs are terrified of strangers (and even of certain family members).


• Therefore we never leave them in cat boarding/vet/pet hotel/anyone etc for fear of the trauma it may cause them.

Hence holidays for Mum/Dad are never spent together. One person has to stay at home to cat-sit while the other goes on holiday. All the time.

People may not say it to my face but I know what they are thinking (as their facial expressions are a dead giveaway) when I tell them either Mumsy or Dadster is at home cat-sitting. They think my family is mad, putting up with that sort of arrangement i.e. Dad and Mum having to travel alone/without each other.

It gets awkward having to explain to anybody why Mum is here with me and Dad isn't and vice versa. I am sometimes tempted to jeopardise the family image and blatantly claim that they are separated.

2008 Hopes

I wanted to write something exciting for the first post of 2008 but I don’t have anything special worth blogging about really.

My new year’s eve was spent at home teaching Dadster how to use the internet/skype/emails. Nothing too exciting but certainly proved to be a challenge. My folks are so techno-phobic! But he’s done well and we’ve been chatting via skype everyday since we got back…not too shabby, the old man finally got the hang of it. I was even accused of being cikgu garang. Haha. Well worth the snide remarks I say.

New Year didn’t start with a bang for me. I stepped into 2008 inconspicuously; no big parties, no fireworks, no count down at all. It was a very low key, 'discreet' satay-dinner in the garden with the family. You can tell I am old. Gone are the days of big celebrations to usher in the New Year.

It was more of IK and I desperately trying to enjoy and soak in every precious moment of being at home with the family, cherishing the lazy days, the fun times shared with the cats and everything that we’d miss once we are back at the wharf.

It is Day 5 at the wharf but we are still recovering from missing home tremendously.

We discussed how we were really happy back home playing with the cats, enjoying Mumsy and Dadster’s banter. They truly give us endless joy.

Unlike here, it appears that we only derive material satisfaction – exciting travels, decent money, interesting and diverse lifestyle (and fabulous shopping!). But very very lonely lives with no family (and cats) nearby. Back home we get the non-material type of happiness – great company of mum, dad and kitties.

We wonder what we should do now; stay here longer or just leave when the time comes. What is more important and essential to us? Is it the material pleasures or is it the emotional joy and contentment we get from home?

It’s a pity we cannot have the cake and eat it as well. Life is such they say. We certainly have a lot to think about in 2008.

I Am Home

And extremely jet lagged.

We arrived Saturday morning to be greeted by ketupat, kuah kacang, beef and chicken rendang for brunch at home. Post Hari Raya Haji celebrations you could say. Yummy.

I then slept through from 11ish am till about 5pm. Despite this being a holiday I cannot help but feel 'what a waste of precious cat/family time' to spend six hours on sleep.

Although to be fair, I was already very tired before we came home - hectic work schedule, been sleep-deprived (early mornings and late nights to pack and clear home before hols), I have also been down with the flu bug and a sore throat since Wednesday.

I have been diligently taking my course of antibiotics in the hopes of clearing the throat very very soon; after all what is a holiday back home minus the delish spicy and oily local grub!

Today I had nasi lemak (kurang sambal to ease the spicy-ness) and lepat ubi kayu for breakfast but I had to forego the roti canai and karipap.

For lunch, steamboat. Again, minus the usual red hot sauce that I would normally dunk everything in copious amounts. Bummer.

Everything in moderation. Bah.

Last night I went to bed at half past ten and woke up at 3am looking for my other bed partner, Winnie, who I am guessing went out through the window to have a pee (or a poo, who knows?). She was back in half an hour later but then I had problems falling back asleep until maybe 5 or 6am and only managed to force myself out of bed at 9am. I am now surfing the net to avoid nodding off too early as I want to regularise my body clock to Malaysia time - need to be up early tomorrow; lots to do (and eat).

Looking forward to tomorrow; I am on a pursuit – all food related obviously!

Note to self: Day 2, 8 more to go.

Leaving On A Jet Plane

Tomorrow we depart for Kuala Lumpur.

I'm ever so thankful to be able to flee the cold weather, albeit momentarily. The ten days will be fleeting but I shall cherish every minute of my time at home.

Farewell London, see you in 2008!

I Miss My Furballs

Mumsy is great; she keeps me posted every few days on these two little girls she (secretly) dotes on. Getting calls from home is always a treat for me. Mumsy will update me on their antics and I never tire or ever get enough of their anecdotes. Wish I had the capacity (more money and annual leave please!) to be home more often to experience the joy myself.

It is such a pity that they can't talk nor can I cat speak, otherwise I can tell them both how much I miss them.

For now, I’ll settle with Mumsy being the best source of 'cat chronicles' and the closest thing I have in terms of communicating (indirectly) with Winnie and Cleo.

And yeah, I miss Mumsy too.

*sniffs*

MH 001

Dadster's gone home. Boo hoo.

His flight was at 10pm last night and I think he has landed as I type this.

All the guilt feeling is oozing out of me now that he is gone. This is because I have not been the most gracious hostess/daughter. There were times when I may have raised my voice, became impatient, got angry with him unintentionally. I hope he does not take it to heart. Knowing him, his children can do no wrong and that makes me feel all the more worse.

When will I learn?

In my defence, not that it will dismiss the guilt and that I am permitted to absolve my bad behaviour, he can be quite a degil old man. Ask Mumsy.

Catching Up

Gosh. I am so behind with my blogging. So much has happened; I don’t know where to begin.

We were in Brussels over the weekend but will write more about the trip separately and post photos when I have more time in hand. Soon soon.

Dadster leaves this Saturday and I feel like I have not spent much time with him. I find that I have less to say to Dad compared to Mum. It doesn't help that he is partially deaf on one ear either! Conversations are never easy and I always have to repeat myself, as his answers are almost always never the correct/expected responses to my initial questions! Quite hilarious really.

I hope he has enjoyed his short holiday and goes home with fond memories of the time spent with us at the wharf.

***

Happy Halloween everyone!

Manchester

I’ve not been diligent with blogging lately [not that I'm assuming anyone would notice] mainly because I’m too tired to do much at the end of each day. It has been a busy week for me even prior to Dad’s arrival. There was the Hari Raya do leftover tiredness from the last weekend, work has been unforgiving thanks to the Prick and nights just seem too short to get everything done. Confession: far too much precious time is spent on the wretched Facebook.

I normally have my weekend to lie in to get over the hectic week. But this time, before I could recover from whatever it is I needed to recover from, we had to go up to Manchester.

***

Manchester has indeed changed a lot since I last saw her in 1986. Everything has been replaced; old dilapidated council flats to clean slick modern apartments, small cosy sized mall with bigger shopping mall equipped with every latest high street label you can wish for, new roads, impressive structures (Hilton) and the rejuvenation of Salford Quays.

My most vivid memory of Manchester; getting off the bus at Piccadilly Gardens, walking across to Wimpy’s, where mum and I would have fish and chips for lunch. This was right next to Lewis's, our favourite shopping haven. These were our frequent haunts then. However, Wimpy’s has now been replaced with Burger King and the building that used to house Lewis's is now hosting Primark.

The bus stops are still where I remember them to be but now there’s additional public transportation; there are trams along the roads. The only city in England with trams I believe. From what little I witnessed that day, these trams are quite unsafe considering pedestrians just cross as they please oblivious to the trams passing through! You’d hear loud honks occasionally to ward off the chavs and yobs wandering aimlessly along the tram paths/trails. I’m thankful it was not as chaotic back then as it is now.

Since I don’t have the luxury to go into detail with what we did in Manchester, I will leave you with some photographs instead.

Ps. I did have a great chicken donner kebab somewhere along Wilmslow Road in Rusholme though *smack lips*

81 Gorton Lane (Wharfer clan’s humble abode in the 80s)

University of Manchester

Arndale Centre (New Wing)

Eye of Manchester

Old Trafford Football Stadium

Mr. Murphy Strikes Again

As per my latest Facebook status, I am maintaining my hatred for Murphy and every one of his sodding laws.

The few weeks during Ramadhan had been good for me - I was able to leave the office at decent hours.

Alas, my happiness has been short-lived.

My current state of affairs has taken a turn recently - I have been kept very busy these past few days and I am not a happy bunny because Dadster arrives tomorrow and I will not be able to leave early if work beckons. I wish I had been busy then and not now.

Why oh why must Mr. Murphy come a-visiting when I need him the least?

The Diaries of The Wharfer

Crumbling Crowning Glory

I am appalled at the alarming amount of hair I loose every time I have a wash. It does not help that I do it on a cycle of two days either. I don't know if this is normal amount of hair loss but I just don't remember experiencing anything like this before.

I fear I may soon become bald, as that seems to be the natural progression for the male members of my team. Mind you one is only 32 and the other is about 38, both 90% hair-less. I have no interest in being part of the statistics.

Eid

We are now in the midst of preparing for Eid. Everyone is saying that it will fall on Saturday, which suits me fine because I would not want to be celebrating it by replying to e-mails, drawing charts, attending meetings, boggling on issues/problems etc.

If all goes as planned, I will be having a little do at home on Saturday. Very very little since I have never cooked for more than er, five, maybe six, people in my entire life. *Hangs head in shame*. I do like dinner-parties, I just don't know how to organise them. This raya, at the ripe old age of *ahem* thirty-three, I am challenging myself, moving out of my comfort zone, living on the edge, taking the plunge, other whathaveyous and will possibly be cooking for 8-10 people. *Wipe beads of sweat off forehead*. I hope I can pull it off.

Forewarn: If you don't read about it in this blog, it simply means it was a disaster, so it's best not to ask.

Chicken Gunk

Question(s): Why is there so much slime, fat and veins involved in cleaning de-skinned chicken and why do we still eat chicken despite all that?

I have just finished going through four chickens and I am seriously wondering why I am not a vegetarian. The amount of goo I went through was enough to make me barf my guts out. Euuwww. Every time I go through this cleaning process, I contemplate on becoming a vegetarian. After all, eating lots of veggies is not a bad thing is it? I would also spare thousands of cute chickens from being slaughtered. Save the animals I say.

But as soon as I take a bite of the cooked chicken, all is forgotten - save the chickens, healthy vegetable intake - all down the drain. I am hopeless.

My Mother's Husband

Dadster is coming!

I will be getting some kuih raya from home. Yay. It will not be in time for first day of Eid but it will do.

Dadster arrives next Wednesday. He is very much looking forward to his annual pilgrimage; he claims he feels very at home in London as he and she go as far back as the 1960s.

We have two weekends with him. I have organised a few things:
· Manchester trip over one weekend - to reminisce time he spent in the 80s, plus IK gets to revisit his alumni.
· Brussels over another weekend.
· Sound of Music musical. HIP HIP HOOOOYAY.
· Day trips to Portsmouth/Windsor Castle.

Other days when I am at work, he will be able to visit Lincoln's Inn, his old haunts [he is quite a sentimental old man], the museums and there's always Canary Wharf if he gets bored. To be honest Dadster is easy. He does not demand/ask for much, he just enjoys being in London, wandering about on his own and absorbing the sights and sounds.

So there you have it, the life and times of a no longer spring chicken [of the non-slimy kind] aspiring to become a vegetarian while attempting to host a dinner party and planning happy travels.

Yet Another Birthday

Mum,

Wish we were home celebrating your birthday alongside Ninie, Cleo, Ginger + Dadster. Hope you had a lovely day nonetheless!

LotsOfLove.

Random Updates

Retired Catsitters
Prince leaves us today to be reunited with his family. I will miss his company immensely and his greets at the front door when I get home from work.

He did, however, manage to leave me life-long souvenirs – scars and scratches all over arms and legs, and a bump on my forehead (minor injury from one of many play-time episodes).

Prince, thank you for adding some colour to our life for the past three weeks, you have been a delight to have around.

***

News from Home
Mumsy and Dadster have been blessed yet again with a bundle of joy. A week ago, they found a kitten in the car engine (!). Apparently, they heard the meows two days before finally discovering where it originated. Oh the poor kitten; imagine the horror of being in an engine that was running. It took awhile for Ginger (Mumsy has christened it with said name) to get back to normal. Dadster said she was very frightened and traumatised by the whole ordeal.

They have been feeding and caring for Ginger and after a week, she is now happy and dandy, curious and playful as how a cat should rightfully be. Mumsy wants to take Ginger to Dr. Ee to de-worm her and also to find out if she really is a ‘her’, and not a ‘him’!

69 today

Happy Birthday Papa, can't wait to see you in October!