#EivieSays : Episode 3

Mommy's leaving to office a bit late that morning.

Eivie : Mommy, mommy go to office lambat?

Mommy : Yes, baby.

Eivie : Mommy bawak lipstick?

Mommy : Lipstick?

Eivie : (nodding)

Mommy. Er... Yes, baby.

Eivie : Ok. Bye.

#EivieSays : Episode 2

"Mommy. This is a cow. I like cow."

"Good job, Eivie."

"Yes, I like cow, I don't like hantu."

Ok, baby, whatever makes you happy. 

#EivieSays : Episode 1

"Mommy, apa ini (while touching)?"

"Breasts."

"Eivie tak de pun."

"Eivie 15 years old nanti, Eivie ada la."

"Papa ada?"

"Papa tak de, because he is a boy."

"Boy tak de ini (while again touching)"

"Tak de."

"Nanti suruh mama dia beli."

Terbang Selesa dan Bergaya

We booked flight tickets 4 months in advance but not during any kind of promotion. Tiba-tiba terdetik, bincang bincang bincang bincang, check sana check sini, banding sana banding sini, pap! Beli tiket MAS. Sebab harga tak jauh dengan Air Asia. Travelling with friends meaning the cost that I had to fork out was all for myself. Lalu boleh la nak bagi can tiket mahal sikit. Bersedap-sedap sikit naik MAS.

A few months before our travelling date, I received an email from MAS; a chance for an upgrade promo. The concept was simple : You'd be given a price range, chose your preferred bidding price and submitted. You'd be contacted if you won the bid. Wining the bid meant getting upgraded to business class seats. Sounded fun. It got more interesting knowing that our bidding could start as low as RM50 up to several hundreds ringgit. Of course we bid for the lowest; RM50. Kalau dapat, maknanya kami bakal mendapat pengalaman menaiki kapal terbang dalam kelas perniagaan (and of course in style!) dengan hanya RM50. Keyed-in my credit card particulars, I'd only be charged if we won the bid. Bismillah, finger-crossed.

1-2 weeks later I received a message that my credit card was charged with RM150 by MAS. And that meant, 

WE WON THE BID!

For both inbound and outbound trips.

Yiiiiiihah! It was not my first time since I'd got upgraded for free for my flight to KK around 8-9 years back. But it was a 6 a.m flight, I was extremely sleepy and I did not know that I could request for as much ice cream as I wanted. Rugi betul 2 jam 45 minit perjalanan.

And this time I determined to enjoy each and every second of my business class experience. Even though it was just around 1 hour flight, please don't disturb me while I'm relishing my precious moment of winning an RM50 bid. Aaaaaaaaahh.....

Lambang kegembiraan (1)

Lambang kegembiraan (2)

Memang seronok dapat terbang dalam kelas perniagaan. Memang berbeza dengan kelas ekonomi. Namun yang tak seronoknya adalah :

1) penerbangan hanyalah 1 jam

2) makanan sedap, tapi perlu dimakan dalam masa 1 jam

3) banyak movie dan rancangan menarik, tapi kau hanya ada 1 jam!

4) ada bantal, selimut segala tapi kau tak sempat nak buka plastik pun kerana penerbangan hanyalah 1 freaking jam!

5) Hanya dapat lepak di Golden Lounge sekejap je, sebab flight jam 7.45 pagi, gerak dari rumah pukul 5 pun dah rasa rabak mata aku.

Ni je sempat dinikmati di Golden Lounge.

Sadis! Tapi memang seronok dan kelakar juga. I ignored those 2 most of the time, they are my BFFL, I love them dearly but I was busy ok. I tried to finish everything on my tray, tapau-ed those that were still packed. I previously had watched Malificient halfway and hey they had it on board and I was determined to finish watching this movie before we arrived (and I did!). Busy busy busy. 

Actually, I managed to finish all and even continued with the new X-Men sebab tanpa dijangka, our landing was delayed for almost 1 hour due to unpermitted weather. Damn it. Buat penat je aku kalut-kalut makan, kalut-kalut forwardkan part dalam Malificient yang bosan-bosan sikit. Kalau tahu awal, boleh minta makan macam-macam lagi. Eh, I bayar RM50, ok! Biarlah!

Tapi masa flight balik aku relaks sikit la. Dah faham, kata orang. Tapi tak sempat nak enjoy Golden Lounge, sebab Golden Lounge at Krabi Airport can only be accessed before you checked-in.

Above all, kalau saya berduit, memang saya akan menaiki penerbangan kelas perniagaan dan lebih manis jika pengalaman ini dapat dikongsi dengan suami, anak-anak, mak dan mak bapak mertua.

Ini mungkin Ishah punya.

In confirm aku punya. Flight pergi.

Ini mungkin Fatma punya.

Ini confirm aku punya, flight balik. Sedap weh!

Ini mungkin Fatma punya. Lupa weh!

A ah. Gambar makanan je sempat ambil. Tu pun sebelum makan. Kan I dah kata I busy! Hish!

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