"You must have done something right"

I woke up all emotional yesterday, one of my good friend, Kak Husna was about to have her PhD viva that morning and I could not be there with her because I was one of the panels for the internship program's interview held by my parent company.

The turnover of the interview was very poor, 2 out of 9 students came. When asked why, one of the candidates said the email went to her "Junk mail" and defended those who did not come.

"But you are here," one of the panels, Mr. O pointed out.

"I am lucky because I happened to check my junk mail last night," she said innocently.

Then, Mr. O said something that hits me really hard..

"The fact that you are here today must mean you have done something right."

...

At noon, I received a message from my friend saying she passed her viva, and I was super ready to go out and celebrate with the girls.

In the car, on the way to Alamanda, we talked about how it is all rezeki from the Almighty. Once, a researcher received the best FRGS project and so many recognition, but nearly failed for her PhD viva. Us, with funny PhD projects, Alhamdulillah had such easy viva, the irony.

"It is unpredictable, all these," Kak Husna said.

Well Dr. Husna, the fact that you are here today, doing minor correction for your PhD thesis must mean you have done something right.

That simple sentence somehow has a powerful comforting effect towards me.

You must have done something right..

How Allah swt is fair.

A book on Al Fateh for boys

My man doesn't read.

Especially books with lotsa reading needs to be done. I cannot imagine him reading Pak Latip's book on Al Fateh cover to cover.

For those men, who don't read and yet keen to know about Al Fateh, I suggest to read this book.

Thin, with lots of mind maps and figures in it. Very informative, but..

So not my kinda book.

Hehe.. This thin, but took me 2 months to finish it.

Have a little faith - a review

The moment I read the first page of "Have a Little Faith", I realized how much I miss Albom.

It is not easy to find such honest writing as his nowadays. The journey with Albom has always been a fun one.

This book is a true story about the life of Albert Lewis, Albom's childhood rabbi. The rabbi asked Albom to deliver the eulogy for him during his funeral when the time came. Albom was a bit hesitant in a sense that he was too far drifted away from his own religion. But he did it anyway, took his time to visit the rabbi every now and then to get to know him more so he was able to write the eulogy for him. This book is about a journey of a lost man, finding back his own purpose of life, presented in a way that regardless whatever religion you are, it still fits you well, the objective.

Albom's writing in such delicate issue is a brilliant one.

I would strongly suggest you to read this one!!

Paths of glory by Jeffrey Archer - a review

My mentor has been continuously insiisting me to read any of Archer's books. He was convinced that I'm gonna like it.

I don't really read fiction except from Dan Brown and Sophie Kinsella. But back when I was in BBW 2 years ago, Archer's books  were selling for RM8 per piece. Who said no to that?

Finally, now I have time to start finishing off all the books I bought previously.

Paths of Glory is about a man who attempted to climb the Everest way before Sir Edmund Hillary. He left his wife and kids just for the mission and promised to leave his wife's photo at the peak of the mountain.

He was found many years after that, dead just before the peak of the mountain without the photo of his wife with him. Some speculated he made it to the top and was dead on the way down. Having that said, the history might changed.

Romance and such are typical spices of this kind of novel. But it's worth noting that in the end, his grandchild conquer the mountain and left the picture of both the grandparents at the peak saying he finally completed the family's business.

Archer's way of writing is kinda draggy. I so much prefer Dan Brown.

But I won't object of reading any other of his masterpiece because he is that good.

I'm reading another of his at the moment. Should catch up with my review soon.

Pangkor babyyyyy!!

That Saturday, we woke up early and left KL at 930am heading to Pangkor for 3 days 2 nights.

First day

Khaira has been obsessing about 'ship' ever since she watched "Kisah Nabi Yunus dan Ikan Nun." I don't usually fancy travelling by ferry, but this time it was different. The cost of the ferry was RM 10 per adult to and fro. Ferry arrived around half an hour interval starting from 730am.

The tiredness was totally worth it.. Look at these two..

We stayed at Coral Bay Resort 3 bedroom apartment; perfect for all 6 of us and the two girls.

As soon as we checked in, we had tea along Pantai Pasir Bogak which was in walking distance from the apartment. I was surprised to see so many hornbills. They're like crows here, almost everywhere. So, one selfie with the hornbill..

Later we went for souvenir hunting near the jetty. So cheap compared to jetty Lumut.

At night, we went to Teluk Nipah. Teluk Nipah is more like Malay area while Bogak are mostly Chinese. We had dinner there; so many gerai ikan bakar, you can just pick and choose. The ones we picked was so so, hence I would not recommend.

K insisted those were durians

Must see at Teluk Nipah: glow in the dark plankton at night and hornbills gather around in the morning.

Second day

The next day, weather was on our side. We spent the whole morning almost 4 hours by the Bogak beach.

The boys had fun fishing, mom had fun just chilling, the both of us had fun jet skiing, K had fun swimming and A had fun eating.. I mean playing with the sand.

 

After lunch and nap time, we went for archery provided in the Coral Bay compound. Merida wanna be was so happy. The rate was RM 20 for 20 arrows. They have paintball, treasure hunt and a lot more activities there.

Afterwards, the girls had the time of their lives swimming at swimming pool in the resort.

At night, we walked to the ikan bakar gerai next to the resort called seri ilham (kots) and I totally recommend this gerai. And the gerai burger next to the resort pon sedapppp!! Filled with carrots!

Later we tried looking for reflexology. Pangkor is not a commercialized pulau like Langkawi or Bali. Only three reflexologies we found; one near jetty, one in Bogak and one in Nipah. But the one in Bogak, the service sucks.

Third day

There was a play area in the resort K woke up to.

Then, they went swimming again..

We left to jetty pangkor around 12 noon. Bad timing.. people checked out at that time from hotel caused us to wait more than an hour for the ferry.. with the kids.. and the luggage. Penattttt..

For 3 days, the cost of the parking was around RM30.

Arrived home at 8pm and now busy settlekan laundry.

Overall, I think Pangkor is so so. Since I have been to only 3 islands in Malaysia, I would always want to return to Langkawi and Penang first before Pangkor. But considering this is my first time, I would say I had so much fun. 

The resort helped a lot.. I couldn't imagine staying in Nipah.. the road up there agak horror with the old Rusa that we rented for RM 250 throughout the stay. Of course with my family all there, I couldn't thank Him more.

Anniversary and my first boss

I had to work on my anniversary, how fun? It was quite fun actually because I had training on Beaglebone. Geek stuff, so boring.

Colleague  sent this 9gag material to us during our training in ITMS; the IT lab

Love had to go to Puspakom and JPJ. Oh.. we sold our Punto and bought a new Iriz with 522 plate number (May 22nd; the anniversary, so cheesy the husband, my kind of cheesy).

Later in the evening, we went for a simple anniversary celebration at Secret Recipe, IOI city mall.

Guess who we met?

My ex first boss. Back when I was done with my SPM and had a 6 months part time job at Nando's Maluri.

Back when Love came all the way with taxi to Nando's and waited patiently for my lunch time to spend time with me.

"Have you tried making small talks with the customer," I remember once this boss asked me. I was not the best at making small talks.

"What for?" I asked naively.

"Sometimes it's not the food that they are paying for. It's the service."

Years down the road I couldn't agree more.

Later on.. we became close. He helped me to get my driving license. He would occasionally pay for my family's dinner and Love's lunch at Nando's.

Those family I worked with in Nando's.. they don't necessarily need to earn handsomely to have such fun life. I learned a lot from them.

"So, I have to call you doctor now?" my boss asked me.

"Don't you dare!" I laughed.

"13 years down the road, you're already a doctor," he said, grabbing the receipt waiter sent to us, insisting to pay, so typical of him.

13 years already?? I was shocked.

I don't remember much all those deep, meaningful conversations he taught me, I wish I do.

But the feeling a mentor left me still lingers. The feeling of being so loved is so strong that it makes me believe I can do anything in the world. Just like how he praised me in monthly meeting for making customers felt comfortable in the restaurant for my small talks. My biggest achievement at that time looked so silly now.

I wonder if I can ever left my students with that kind of feeling later on in their life.

Meeting one of the men I respected most in life during our anniversary has got to serve as a reminder for us, Alhamdulillah.

Mother daughter bonding time

Khaira had so many funny requests in a day.

"Ibu, do you mind telling me the story of Ikan Nun and Nabi Yunus?"

If it was for the third time of the day already, I would just asked her to go to Abi instead.

"Ibu, nak Ibu pakaikan seluar." Always when I nursed Aisha.

But lately was,

"Nak ikut Ibu pergi kerja."

Or..

"Nak Ibu manjakan Khaira."

Then I realized it has been the longest time since I spent a quality time with her.

Right after my industrial training visit on Friday, I rushed back home. Arrived slightly before 6pm, picked her up, off to Jusco. I only have an hour, but I was determined to make it a quality time.

I dropped off at Studio R and bought her a new pair of slipper.

Then to Jusco to buy her a dress and 3 blouses.

Because this week Khaira moved to Book 3 (she was the first one to start book 3, it's only May), she deserved all the presents. Teacher targeted book 3 for 5 y.o.

Another dress for Aisha, 2 pairs of leggings and 2 new sippy cups.

Looked at the clock, it was just 45 minutes, such shopping skills I acquired as a mother of two now. *blows nail*

"We still have 15 minutes before 7pm. Would you like a slice of cake?"

She hugged me.

This reaction is priceless.

And all she need is an hour from this freaking busy mother? What have I become?

Oh no worries about Aisha, she was happy with my mom when we were out.