Cerita Bola Saya.....

I’ve never been a fan of football.... so it’s no biggie that the on-going World Cup does not affect me. For instance, you won’t find me staying up to watch the matches (why, even the 7.30 pm matches also I don’t really watch) – and that will definitely include the final.

That doesn’t mean I do not follow the goings –on of the matches. Being a perpetual couch potato, more often than not, I found myself veering off to the sports channels just to keep up with the latest score. Yeah, I love all those trivia things and I guess learning, as an example, about France’s spectacular exit from this year’s tournament is rather thrilling.

What astonished me the most, however, is the fact that my two oldest girls are into this World Cup. Naturally, they are rooting for Argentina, or to be more precise Lionel Messi (whom I only realise existed when he was used by Astro in that World Cup ad where he uttered “in HD” to that young girl and her parents).

Speaking of rooting, I still do not have a team to support although I am really leaning to see a new nation to win the World Cup this year. So it means, I’m definitely not supporting Germany, Brazil (am still heart broken when they were ousted by Italy in 1982), Argentina (sorry, girls), Italy (still cannot forgive you guys for that 1982 turn of event) and good old England (still think, they are the most over rated team this year). Somehow, I’m okay if Uruguay wins their third trophy this year, though).

See, I’m big on trivial and useless information – I can remember all those historical (if you can call it that la) facts and figures – like that 1982 Brazilian tragedy. Although, I’ve never once stayed up to watch any of the World Cup finals in its entirety, I can still recalled the heroic Mario Kempes in the 1978 final, the entertaining Dutch team led by Johann Cruyff in 1974 and the hugely tedious 1990 final between Argentina and Germany, because I did watch highlights of those matches, and many more, countless times.

Anyway, because this time around there’re two ladies who are following it more closely than their Bapak, the World Cup do creeps into our conversations at home and we have had some good laugh at that...

Conversation One:

The Two New Fans (aka Alia and Asma): Yeah Argentina won!!!!!

Bapak: (Looking bewildered)

Mak: Mak tak tahu la nak sokong siapa this World Cup ni.

Alia: Sokong Argentina la....

Mak: Ha dah tahu.... Mak nak sokong Turkey!!!!

Bapak: (dah gelak guling2 with the girls) err Turki tak masuk final la this time...

Mak: Laaaaa... tapi orang Turki handsome2.... and then dia orang pulak tu Islam.

(So, How?)

Conversation Two:

(this during a chat session over FB between me and my friend Hazel (with apology ya Puan!)

Mior: .... tu la kan..... masa Argentina lawan Greece yesterday.....

Hazel: Wait! Greece ada masuk World Cup????? Bukan negara dia orang dah bankrupt ka? Apasal dia orang main?

(Mior then gulling2 jatuh ke lantai again)

Conversation Three:

(This was when the girls were watching the replay of Argentina Vs Greece)

Mak: Heyyy... ni dia mamat yang kat dalam iklan tu (obviously referring to Messi)

The Two New Fans: Ha betul la Mak... tu lah Messi!!!

Mak: Haaaa... Maxis?

(And I rest my case!)

It's the girls' day out ..... with Bapak in tow (muahhaahhaa)

This school holiday, we didn't go anywhere (as if we always go on vacation during holidays la pulak ya). But nevertheless, I still feel guilty seeing the girls got cooped up in the house throughout the two-week holiday. So I did the next best thing - I ajak them jalan-jalan to shopping malls whenever I got the time. Like last Saturday.... my two oldest girls and I (their mom was busy with her work and needed to be online the whole morning while their youngest sister .. well... she just went to sleep after staying up all night doing her anime stuff or whatever that she's doing) went to Mid-Valley and Suria KLCC (which was a quite an event for us la on account that we normally lepak2 at Sunway Pyramid or at those wonderful Mall in Mutiara Damansara sahaja).

We left early and by 9am we were already driving into Mid-Valley car park. I was extremely excited no doubt looking at the near deserted parking lot and quickly parked the car right in front the entrance's escalator. The reason for that early morning sojourn was that we wanted to check our the Scholastics' Book Buffet promotion. As we were very early, naturally they were not opened yet. However, we got to check out the books there first la and it was decided that although the titles were interesting, Asma really wanted to get hold of Michael Grant's Gone novel (as she already bought the second one in the series and couldn't really understand what's going on... until she reads the first one).

So we decided to lepak-lepak at McD while waiting for the bookshops (mainly MPH) to open. We also took the oportunity to jalan-jalan ke Gardens.

Gardens is as always... more quiet than Mid-Valley. But then the girls found it nice...

... especially when Alia found out that there's a totally kick-ass art store there... can't even remember the name of the store

Then we stumbled upon Borders... woohhoooo (that's me trying lo look cool...)

... but it didn't work out kan? I mean, me trying to look cool.

Anyway, Borders didn't have the book that Asma is looking for.... so

... we made our way back to Mid-Valley and into MPH... where the search continued. The thing was that upon checking with their computer system, the elusive book was stated as available... but even with the help of the good people at MPH, we still could not locate the book.... hrmmmmph! So it was decided then that dah alang-alang keluar ke kota raya, we might as well try our luck at Kinokuniya.... So off we went to Suria KLCC pulak..

... and yes we found the book at Kino finally. Lega. And then we had lunch. Japanese. Nyum...nyum..

The End.

Bila jumpa balik.....!

29 years later. (from left Ooi Lee, Nora, Sumawati, Salina, Azizah, Adzman, Mior , Amran, Azhar and Harman)

For some reason, I never really fancy myself going to reunions… be it school or college reunions. Numerous American TV shows that depicted reunions as a painful experience somehow contributed to the feeling. I could feel my stomach curdle just thinking about it. Why would anyone subject themselves to secondary school or college again, even just for a day or night? Surely the only people who actually go to those things are the wildly successful with something to show off.

Don’t get me wrong. Secondary school wasn’t that bad for me, compared to some of the tortured stories I’ve watched from those TV shows. I had some good times, made some good friends (which, unfortunately, went separate ways once we got our SPM/STPM results), and tried to be under the radar most of the time since I was devoid of any talents whatsoever. And I also tried not to fail exams (which I was not very successful at, though). I think I learned a few things in school here and there, but math DID turn out to be useless just like we all contended. I definitely had my insecurities and embarrassments, but I got out relatively unscathed.

But last weekend, saw me attending my very first reunion (more like a mini reunion, really) in Ipoh. And you know what, I enjoyed it tremendously. And I want to do this more often now. I realise I have lots of friends and I want to stay in touch and be friends all over again. Life’s too short not to be cherished this way.

Masih muda

Catching up

A Reminder for Self!

JANGAN
terlalu susah hati dengan urusan dunia. Akhirat itu lebih utama dan hidup di sana lebih lama dan kekal selamanya.

JANGAN
sengaja lewatkan solat kerana perbuatan ini tidak disukai Allah swt.

JANGAN
tidur selepas solat subuh, nanti rezeki tersekat kerana di waktu pagi itulah pintu rezeki dibuka.

JANGAN
makan tanpa membaca Bismillah dan doa makan, nanti rezeki kita dikongsi syaitan.

JANGAN
keluar rumah tanpa niat untuk membuat kebaikan, takut kalau-kalau kita mati dalam perjalanan.

JANGAN
biarkan mata liar di perjalanan, nanti hati kita gelap diselaputi dosa.

JANGAN
menangguh taubat apabila membuat dosa kerana mati itu boleh datang pada bila-bila masa.

JANGAN
ego untuk meminta maaf daripada ibubapa dan sesama manusia kalau memang kita bersalah.

JANGAN
mengumpat sesama rakan taulan, nanti rosak persahabatan kita dan hilang kebahagiaan hidup kita.

JANGAN
lupa bergantung kepada Allah swt dalam setiap kerja yang kita lakukan, nanti kita sombong apabila berjaya dan kecewa kalau gagal.

JANGAN
bakhil untuk bersedekah kerana sedekah itu memanjangkan umur dan memurahkan rezeki kita.

JANGAN
terlalu banyak ketawa, nanti mati jiwa.

JANGAN
biasakan berbohong kerana ia adalah ciri-ciri munafik dan menghilangkan kasih orang kepada kita.

JANGAN
suka menganiaya manusia atau haiwan. Doa makhluk yang teraniaya cepat dimakbulkan Allah swt.

JANGAN
pertikaikan kenapa Islam itu berkata JANGAN, sebab ianya ada hikmah tersendiri. Allah swt lebih tahu apa yang terbaik untuk hamba ciptaanNya.

JANGAN
baca saja coretan ini. Sebarkan kepada saudara sesama Islam untuk kebaikan bersama.

Me and my trifle

I love food. No question about that. And because of that I enjoy being in a kitchen. Though I don't cook that much, seeing that the wife is somewhat an expert there, I do have one or two dishes where I think I can make it as good as she does. One of which is a fruit trifle. Yeah, I know.... it's horribly easy to do a trifle but still.... (there's a reason for this and I tell you why in a minute).

Anyway, for the uninitiated, a trifle is an old English dessert dish made from thick (or often solidified) custard, fruits, sponge cake, and whipped cream. These ingredients are usually arranged in layers with fruit and sponge cake on the bottom, and custard and cream on top. See, how easy it is to make a trifle... just put all the ingredients on top of one another. I learned to make trifle from my very close cousin Iza (herself a wonderful cook) when I was still a bachelor.

Once, when I was still engaged to my wife many years ago, I brought a specially made trifle (prepared with love,of course) to her mom's place when I went visiting. Apparently that was the first time the wife ever encounter a trifle. I felt so pandai then (though I was told later that she wasn't that crazy with the trifle but her niece Faizah and nephew Zaki polished it off from the casserole).

However, over the years, the wife has acquired the liking to trifle (she even shared the recipe with her sister and relatives) but for some reason she always prefer me preparing it. It's always: "You make it much more delicious la!". Always. Even when I ask her to do it instead. Always that same line. Hmmm.... now I wonder why!!!!!

Trifle, anyone?