Layanan Pelanggan

I know exactly how Secret Recipe's Grilled Mushroom Chicken tastes like. It's one of my fave's dish at Secret Recipe (not necessarily that we visit SR all the time). But I know and I believe that I still remember how it tastes like. I agree that this dish has undergone quite several evolution but the taste doesn't really change much. Kalau bertukar rasa sangat, baik ditukarkan namanya terus.

Last Tuesday I ordered for one. After for quite a few months.

A plate of Grilled Mushroom Chicken arrived me 5-10 mins later. The dish didn't look quite presentable, but it's ok. I had my first spoon.

The herbal rice was ok, I'd yet tasted the chicken but the gravy tasted wring. It was salty, sticky, soury, anything but nice. May be again this dish had 'evolved' and I didn't know about it or may be I'm simply getting older. But it was not edible at all. I chose not to proceed with another spoon and called the waiter instead.

I asked him to taste it. I said, "Masam lah, tak boleh makan." And he responded, "Mushroom, memang lah masam." My blood started to simmer.

He brought the plate back to the kitchen and I waited for several minutes.

He came back to me, "So macam mana?" I said, I wanted to order a different dish while he continued,

"Kita orang rasa kat belakang tadi, ok je. Banyak je kita orang makan."

"Tak kisah lah, itu you all rasa, tapi I rasa masam. Bukan I tak pernah makan."

"Mengandung ke?'

That's it. My blood boiled. I handed him back the menu and did not proceed with any order. Tak payahlah, I said.

Apa lah yang susah sangat nak menjadi pekerja yang baik? Or even seorang individu yang baik? I did ask you politely, did I? Did I yell at you? No. So what's your problem? It was perhaps a late lunch session, you were perhaps tired but that kind of attitude was never tolerable. Kalau aku jadi owner kedai, memang dah kena sekolah mamat ni. Customers are paying more than RM15 per meal added with 10% of service tax, yet what kind of service are you giving? Kalau service macam ni baik aku bayar dengan penampar je. And it is sad to say this kind of attitude among servers are common in Malaysia.

Good thing was, I did not pay. Berani la kalau diaorg nak suruh aku bayar. I might look petite but I'm not easily intimidated.

Ok, perhaps I'm easily intimidated with frogs, lizards, but that is a totally different story.

Which Parent Are You?

Bila ada anak-anak kecil, eating is all about putting food in your mouth, chewing and swallowing, while avoiding to get choked. Dah tiada zaman kau mengamati butiran nasi, menghirup sup sambil memikirkan kurang garamkah terlebih ajinomoto kah, mengirai helaian mee sambil menghembus-hembusnya supaya lekas sejuk. It's all about speed and precision. Ha ha.

Eating out without opah and atuk equals to eating out without iPad or tab. No gadget but papers, pens and pencils. Kalau terlupa bawak, pinjam kat kedai. Kalau tak de juga, ha lantak sana. Hadap je apa yang ada. Tu pun hanya boleh menabahkan budak berdua ni selama hmmm... tak lebih dari 15 minit. Selebihnya sama ada papa makan dulu atau mommy makan dulu. Our standard faham-faham sendiri practice is papa will eat first while mommy looks after the kids.

Ini dua orang perut sudah kenyang, lalu yang belakang sekali itu boleh makan dengan tenang.

And I actually like this arrangement. One of the perks is I can take my own sweet time finishing my meal. Kunyah halus-halus, telan perlahan-lahan, teguk air tanpa sedak. But the cons are my food will be cold when my turn finally comes and sometimes I don't even get the chance to eat my food because the kids prefer mine than theirs and I have to eat their food. But it's ok. Janji aku kenyang.

Seronok kot akhirnya dapat makan. Muka buruk pun, buruk lah.

Dah tua ni aku makan asalkan kenyang dan tidak memudaratkan. Haha. Jika mahu bersenang-senang waktu makan, kami akan makan berdua sahaja.

So, which parent are you?

Anak Mak Dah Besar : Part 3

I used to have the phase of my-ambition-is-to-be-a-perfect-mom when we only had Eirsa around. When things get emotionally beyond control, I also have this moment that I always regret; yelling at my kids. I regret it because I know, when the syaiton takes control over my emotion, the yelling is basically to satisfy my anger and it's no longer about the kids' behavior. It hits me even harder thinking what have I contributed to the kids' development when yelling is totally a no-no? Ya Allah, please grant me patience, O Allah you are the best Protector of my heart.

And as I grow up as a mother (5+ years into motherhood now) I learn that motherhood/parenthood is about knowing the right things for your child, doing the best as a parent and the rest is to go with the flow and to leave it to Allah. You can never control everything. Every phase of your child(ren) development is different, this method is effective now but not later. That method is effective with your 1st child but not with others. Really, the kids are learning, so are we.

Throughout the time we learn that it's the voice tone and consistency in our actions are the best and the most workable for both our girls. If we don't want Eirsa to do certain thing, we state it in a firm voice tone and the stand has to be consistent every single time. And. The stand has to also be applicable to Eivie too, even though she's still too young. Really. This has to be done to portray our seriosness and fairness. For instance, if Eirsa needs to pick up her toys, then Eivie has to do the same too. No age selection. She'll get the same punishment if she doesn't want to do as per 'rule' says. For instance, if she refuses to pick up her toys and will I refuse to bancuh her milk. I'll stand up there for 5 good mins waiting her to pick her toys until finally she does. No mercy man, no mercy. It's not some kind of if you want me something from me, you have to do as I said. No. It's more like I've aksed her to pick up her toys but she refuses and stubbornly sticks to her decision. Later she wants something from me (for instance, susu) and now baby, you'll see who's the boss. Pick it up or no susu. Ha. Lebih kurang macam tu.

And don't forget to reward them with good words like thank you, good job and if the financial and time is right, bawa pergi makan di kedai and some toys. It's motivating and they'll feel appreciated. It's just that mind the fine line between rewarding and bribing.

With Eirsa, she's a good follower. May be she's not when she's younger especially during 'trouble two' but she rarely spoke those days. She mumbled. Hence we did not know exactly her response in the form of words when she disagreed. She would just cry or throw things or mengamuk. At the age of 5 now, it's easier to talk to her and for her to follow our instructions and rules. Even though sometimes her actions are accompanied by tears. But she gets things done. Well done.

With Eivie, it's a different case altogether. Because she knows how to respond back in word and she knows how to manipulate too, even at the age of two. She will eventually grumpily follow, but she will still want to project her dissatisfaction. She will always have to say something. And usually it's funny because she'll unintentionally do it in a very cute way. And I have to tahan gelak or tahan senyum; not to spoil the important teaching moment.

And many times, once she finally gets what she wants after having to go through the correct things that I ask her to do, she'll say,

"I don't want to friend you forever."

or

"I don't like you (pointing at me), you (pointing at papa), you (pointing at Eirsa). And you also (pointing at opah)."

Nak tahan gelak is always a struggle with this mini-me weh!

Solat pandai, menjawab pun pandai, ini orang

One Of The Flaws

Mine (well, at least according to this quiz) :

How about you?

Anak Mak Dah Besar : Part 2

During a site visit

The kids passed by 1Utama Shopping Center twice a day; while on the way to and fro their preschool.

I'm on duty as their supir throughout this week. And every time we passed by this building, Eirsa will say, "Asyik tak pergi Oh An Eee je, Asyik tak pergi Oh An Eee je..." Oh An Eee is for ONE which is referring to 1Utama. And every single time I'll also explain that you cannot go there everyday, you have to have money to go there, you cannot go there by yourself because mommy and papa have to work, if you go there everyday you'll get bored, yada yada yada. Explain, not bebel. They have got the chance to go to 1Utama once in while, we don't really bring kids to shopping centers often.

And yesterday while passing by 1Utama,

When Eirsa is 8 years old, Eirsa dah big, I want to go to Oh An Eee by my self.

And how do you want to go there? By bus?

Mommy gives Eirsa telephone, then I'll call mommy when Eirsa kat Oh An Eee la. Then mommy come and take Eirsa la.

Where do you get a telephone? You have to buy your own telephone first.

Hmmm... I wonder where she gets this idea in the first place.

How Anti-Social You Really Are?

My result :

So, how anti-social you really are?

Anak Mak Dah Besar; Fizikal, Mental dan Emosi.

Eirsa is at the phase where she can easily feel ignored and thus feel like everybody loves Eivie more.

It breaks my heart every time she comes to me saying that this person only plays with Eivie, this person only gets angry at her while both of Eirsa and Eivie fight, this person doesn't say 'good job' to her but rather to Eivie only. I will always give her a big long hug every time she comes to me, teary, together with explanation and words of encouragement, of course.

* * *

As as child, one of the worst memories that I had was to feel less loved by my father. I was quite frequently told by some of my aunties that my father loved my elder sister more than me. I did not know the reason though. I made me very sad, even though my father was no longer staying with us since I was 5 (I guess). It broke my heart every time when my sister and I fought, it triggered that I would be punished more because I was the less-loved child.

Thankfully, mak treated us all five equally. No more no less. That always gave me the strength that I was not always ignored. At least there's a person in this world loved me unconditionally.

* * *

And when Eirsa feels the same, it is totally relatable. It's my responsibility to ensure her that, no baby, we love you both equally, at least mommy and papa do. In fact we have loved you more for 3 years, when Eivie wasn't around (yet). The feeling of being ignored shall never bring you down, because you have to know that we are always here for you. Don't let others make you feel any less, because you don't deserve to. And above all, Allah loves you.

And yes, I know this is one of her development and learning processes, thus I'm determined to make the best for her.

On a more relieving note, Eirsa dah sangat boleh diharap sekarang! She helps a lot to take care of Eivie when I'm busy doing the house chores (less yelling, screaming and fighting episodes too), she helps to attend to Eivie's needs at the backseat while we are on the move, she helps cleaning up after playing (not perfectly done and sometimes with bebelan when Eivie doesn't cooperate, but still) and anything that I request her to. Anything that she can do by herself she will. Mandi sendiri, buang air kecil dan besar, beristinja' semua sendiri. Alhamdulillah. Lega sikit. Terima kasih, Eirsa!

Anak sulung dah besar. Anak kecil pun mengaku diri sudah besar padahal berak masih dicebok orang.
Dua-dua pun saya sayang sama rata.