Just Blogging!

My Little Musketeers

2011-05-22T20:12:00.006-06:00

It's been a loooong time since I last updated my blog. I'm not a real blogger anyway so it's on and off somewhat. I'm gonna update about some info on my kids so that I don't forget and I can actually access the data easily if I have to:

Muhammad Aqil bin Muzaffar

D.O.B. : 12 January 2003

T.O.B : 12 :56 pm

M.O.D : LSCS

Weight : 2.99 kg

Length : 55 cm

Head : 32 cm

Muhammad Aqif bin Muzaffar

D.O.B. : 24 June 2005

T.O.B : 08 :52 am

M.O.D : LSCS

Weight : 3.17 kg

Length : 56 cm

Head : 33 cm

Muhammad Haqeem bin Muzaffar

D.O.B. : 19 April 2011

T.O.B : 09 :41 am

M.O.D : LSCS

Weight : 3.36 kg

Length : 47.5 cm

Head : 34.5 cm

Note: Haqeem was born 2 weeks earlier (elective LSCS) than the E.D.D which was on 1 May 2011. Initially, it was estimated on 14 May 2011. I forgot my 1st day of LMP.

Summary of Summer 2009 Vacation

2009-07-14T03:22:00.018-06:00

This is the summary for our recent roadtrip. I was waiting for the "superfast" Excel on my office PC which I work remotely (so that I can sleep when I feel like it), anyway.. it was tooooooooo long . I don't know why. Maybe I should reboot my PC. Come to think 0f it, I guess I never shut the machine down since I stopped going to my office. Gosh.. no wonder it was so slow... OK, it's already half past 3 so maybe I should think of something like create a new entry for my long forgotten blog :D

Here's the summary

1. Friday (June 5, 2009)

- Arches National Park, Utah

2. Saturday (June 6, 2009)

- Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

- North Rim Grand Canyon, Arizona

3. Sunday (June 7, 2009)

- Zion National Park, Utah

4. Monday (June 8, 2009)

- Las Vegas, Nevada

5. Tuesday (June 9, 2009)
6. Wednesday (June 10, 2009)

- Anaheim, California

7. Thursday (June 11, 2009)
- Los Angeles - Venice Beach

8. Friday (June 12, 2009)
- Hollywood

9. Saturday (June 13, 2009)
- Del Rey - Monterey Bay, California
** fresh strawberries**

10. Sunday (June 14, 2009)
- Ukiah, California
**fresh cherries**

11. Monday( June 15, 2009)
- Redwoods National Park
- Gold Beach, Oregon
- Oregon Coast Highway

12. Tuesday (June 16, 2009)
- Portland Rose Garden - Waterfront

13. Wednesday (June 17, 2009)
- Port Angeles, Washington
- Whidbey Island, Washington
** fresh salmon**

14. Thursday (June 18, 2009)
- Seattle, Washington
- Spokane, Washington

15. Friday (June 19, 2009)
-Hungry Horse, Montana

16. Saturday (June 20, 2009)

- Glacier National Park, Montana

17. Sunday (June 21, 2009)
- Great Falls, Montana

18. Monday (June 22, 2009)
West Yellowstone, Montana

19. Tuesday (June 23, 2009)

Yellowstone, Wyoming

** driving all night long**

20. Wednesday (June 24, 2009)
Home sweet home....zzzzzzzzzzzzz

Coming home to a different offfice

2009-07-07T13:18:00.005-06:00

I just browsed through DID phonebook in our intranet website and somehow it took me by surprise how many new faces had joined and left the office. It kind of really give me a sudden shock, the kind of shock you got when you learned MJ's death. It's just unbelievable. Now, I understand why some of us just leave and join some place new. It's like you're going back to an old place but completely different. I just don't even know which office I would like to join and I feel like turning my back and runaway from that place. Away to something totally new.. NOT something totally changed! We'll see what work best and we'll pray for the best. Somehow, it gives me the creeps!

Day 6: Willits, CA to Coos Bay, OR

2009-01-15T22:12:00.006-07:00

Khamis, 1 Januari 2009
355 miles (568 km)

Rise and shine! Semalam tido dengan lenanya di Willits. Dah habis semua bekal makanan. 4 bekas nasi goreng dan 2 bekas mee. Cuma lasagna masih ada. Saya pun takde mood nak makan. Aqil je suka makan tu. Maggi masih ada lagi. Semalam, bukak satu tin sardin, perah limau dan panaskan di microwave. Itu untuk makan dengan roti. Kami ada beli buah oren dan apple kat Rays petang semalam. Sedap apple tu, saya memang bawak pisau untuk potong buah. Ni semua ni sebab mak mentua saya memang kalau bab-bab ni semua dia bawak. Dulu saya rasa tak payah bawak semua ni, tapi bila sendiri dah travel, baru tahu betapa pentingnya all the small things ni. Dia selalu pesan kalau berjalan make sure bawak sepasang baju kurung kot kalau ada orang meninggal, mana tahu kita nak melawat. Tapi, takde lah bawak baju kurung pulak berjalan ni. Dia pesan bawak kain batik kalau ada apa-apa boleh tutup, manalah tahu katanya. Datang US ni saya bawak kain batik panjang sehelai. Bukan apa, manalah tahu kan... Tapi, kalau berjalan memang saya selalu bawak kain batik sehelai. Saja je, dah biasa bawak. Then, saya memang selalu bawak baju lebih, Itu yang berkodi-kodi penuh van tu.

Pagi tu kami singgah Dollar Tree beli laundry detergent, soap dish yang dah habis, then beli snack sikit. Kononnya nak basuh baju sebab ada coin-laundry kat sini tapi sebab rasa macam lama je, tak jadi lah basuh. Kami basuh van saja. En Muz kata baru best sikit drive bila dah bersih. Dia tu memang macam tu, dulu kat KL, every week mesti basuh kereta, vacuum, kasi tayar kilat, dashboard kilat. I read somewhere that stated, how a man treats his car is how they treats themselves. Hmm, bukukah atau tengok tv eh? tak ingatlah. Tapi, the point is taken. Lepas van dah bersih, kami pun gerak. Goal hari ini mesti kena keluar dari California sebab our target, 6 Januari Aqil dah start sekolah. Saya pun set GPS ke Florence.

Tapi, macam biasalah, on the way, banyak sangat tempat yang menarik. Itupun banyak kami skip tak singgah. I really-really loves Redwood National Park. Pokok Redwood ni besar-besar, kalau van kami ni masuk dalam pokok tu pun boleh tau. Itupun, pokok-pokok yang tepi jalan ni dah besar, kalau masuk dalam National Park dia, I bet mesti lagi besar. Subhanallah, memang menakjubkan tengok pokok yang besar gedabak macam tu. Omputih yang En Muz sembang semalam tu, yang dok sebelah bilik kami di Willits tu, nak pegi Redwood la. Dia dari Texas, jauh jugak tu. Kalau time summer ni mesti sedap camping kat sini. Saya kalau bab nature macam ni, boleh lost in love dok tengok je pokok-pokok tu. Pastu mulalah dok imagine kalaulah rumah kat dalam ni, how's it like.. mesti best kan.. macam rumah winnie the Pooh tu.

Masa singgah kat rest area, pokok ni kecik je..

Along US Route 101 - Redwood Highway

Sorry gambar tak cantik sebab kami tak berenti ambik gambar. Lagipun, that day misty rain je all along. So, malas pulak nak berhenti. Rugi pulak rasanya. Kalau tidak dapat bergambar peluk-peluk dengan batang pokok tu. Dah lepas, apa nak buat.. Tapi, sepanjang jalan ni memang cantik sangat. Some places rasa macam baru nak Fall sebab ada pokok-pokok yang dah tukar warna. Kalau di Fort Collins atau mana-mana tempat yang extreme cold ni, semua pokok dah tinggal ranting sejak November lagi. US ni kalau kat tengah-tengah dengan area Mid-West tu, memang extreme weather dia. Kalau sejuk, sejuk sangat, kalau panas, panas sangat. Masa Summer hari tu, panas betul, macam kat Malaysia, silap-silap lagi panas sebab sini semi-arid. UK has milder weather. Even snow pun not as bad as here. Kat California ni memang nice weather, greens and mild je weather dia. Hujan dia pun mist saja, bukan hujan lebat macam Malaysia. Gel-geli je hujan dia.. I'm so in love with this route, seriously!

to be continued...

Day 5: San Francisco to Willits, CA

2009-01-11T21:30:00.009-07:00

Rabu, 31 Disember 2008
140 miles (224 km)

Pagi dalam pukul 9:30 pagi, kami sudah check out dari Wharf Inn. Dalam pada En. Muz load semua barang2 yang penuh dalam van kami yang dah serupa off-road vehicle tu, saya keluar mencari souvenirs sebab belum beli apa-apa lagi. Kedai yang saya aim untuk beli printed paintings tu belum buka lagi so saya dok berkawad mencari kedai mana yang ada. Since takde kedai yang berdekatan jual printings tu, saya singgah beli subs untuk bekalan dan kembali ke parking lot hotel. Sebelum blah, kami refill dulu mug dengan kopi dan ambik 2 cawan chocolate drinks untuk budak-budak.

On the way ke Lombard St, saya singgah beli fridge magnet dan some printings. Pagi tu seperti biasa, suasana di SF memang berkabus, jadi agak sejuk cuma tak sesejuk Fort Collins. Sampai di Lombard St, kami cari port bagus untuk parking. Kami berjalan kaki menuruni jalan herot petot yang terkenal di dunia ini. Sebab musim winter jadi tak adalah pokok bunga warna warni seperti biasa kita tengok kat dalam gambar. Kenderaan dibenarkan lalu kat jalan ni tapi sebab jalan dia terlalu mencerun dan kami rasa lebih baik jalan kaki dari ambik risiko. Van kami tu bukanlah standard 4 wheel drive but it's good enough for all the trips that we had had. Dalam pada dok seronok berposing dan melihat rumah banglo yang cantik di sepanjang jalan ni, ada satu limo lalu. Yelah, limo kan panjang so dia terpaksa reverse 2-3 kali nak bagi lepas kona kat jalan ni. Lombard St ni was dubbed as world crookedest street. Dia mencerun dan berbengkang bengkok. Pastu di tanamnya pokok bunga bagi nampak cantik. Itu jelah.. Takdelah yang extra-ordinary sangat tapi agaknya saja je kot dorang nak tambah tempat menarik kat SF.. kira datang sini tu takdelah pegi menengok jambatan Golden Gate tu jer.. kiranya adalah spot lain yang boleh melawat.. Lepas ke Lombard St, kami pergi mencari rumah Victorian yang dikenali sebagai The Painted Ladies. Rumah-rumah ni kalau ikut guide tu katanya kat Alamo Square. So, sampai situ, tengoklah rumah-rumah ni yang kaler dia warna warni. Ala, kalau kat Malaysia pun ramai jugak orang kita yang suka kaler rumah warna warni. Tak kecoh pulak satu dunia. Ntah hapa-hapa lah SF ni, rumah kaler-kaler pun nak kecoh. Tapi, sebab rumah tu dah famous maka ambik jugaklah gambar dia kan. En Muz kata apa yang so marvellous sangat rumah-rumah ni. Dia tak impressive langsung. Saya ambik jer.. serupa rumah teres kat Malaysia pun ada.. korang pun boleh buat jugak. Dah lalu sini, kami pegi singgah kat Goodwill. Saja je singgah kot ada barang yang menarik. Hmm, tak de apa sangat so belikan budak2 ni buku je.
Nilah jalan yang mencerun turun bukit naik bukit macam dalam cerita The Princess Diaries tu sampai masa nak keluar tu berdecit-decit la brake van tu. Punyalah dahsyatnya jalan kat sini. Ini takat ambik test naik bukit JPJ tu dorang gelak je tau, silap-silap orang JPS boleh tak lulus kot..ha..ha..ha.. dah la naik bukit curam, lepas tu kena brake lagi sebab traffic light atau pun ada cable car lalu. Takpun, masa turun bukit curam tu, siap ada traffic light lagi kat bawah tu, atau ada orang jalan kaki ke melintas, buatnya kalau brake tak makan, menangis woiiii...

Lepas tu, kami bergerak keluar menuju ke Golden Gate. Golden Gate ni last spot sebab senang lepas singgah situ terus keluar SF. Sampai Golden Gate, first tempat cari, toilet dia dulu. Lepas tu barulah boleh start posing dan click-click dengan tenang. Memang cantik lah sini, nampak mystical gitu dengan foggy ambience cuma penuhlah dengan pelawat. Namapun tempat pelancongan so mestilah penuh dengan manusia kan. Kami parking dulu kat bahagian atas. Sini parking semua berbayar, nasib baik Rozana dah pesan suruh bawak coins banyak-banyak. Kami jalan-jalan dulu kat atas jambatan, dari atas jambatan nampak downtown San Francisco dari jauh. Sebab masa tu dah tengah hari so dari jauh nampak cahaya matahari penetrates through the fog and the scene was so magical. Dari atas nampak ada satu jalan ke bawah jambatan so lepas puas bergambar kat atas, kami pun turun bawah pulak. Kena drive la kalau tidak jenuh jugak nak menapak. Shortcut dia ada ikut trail ke bawah tapi budak2 ni macam mana? Dari bawah lagi feel sebab boleh tengok ombak, tengok downtown SF dari jauh, cantiklah kiranya.. Ambik gambar apa patut then kami pun masuk dalam van untuk teruskan perjalanan. Masa dalam van baru perasan ada orang tulis something kat cermin belakang. Orang tu tulis macam iklan kete kat tv, "Wash Me".. mengekek kami gelak sebab yelah memang van kami kotor sangat sebab yelah long distance kan.. semua weather tempoh so expected la all the dirts tu. Whoever yang wrote the jokes must be a very funny person..

Dalam pukul 3:30 petang, kami bertolak keluar dari San Francisco. Maka lalulah van kami kat Golden Gate tu merentasi Bay Area. Bye-bye San Francisco. Dari atas jambatan lagi traffic dah mula bergerak perlahan. Sejak duduk di Fort Collins dan tidak menempuh sebarang jam, bila jam macam ni mulalah rasa boring. Walhal, bertahun di KL, pagi petang siang malam menempuh jam. Even worst than here. Tapi, memang terasa stress sebab dah lama tak menempuh situasi macam tu. Even sebab jam jugaklah mulanya nak balik ikut Los Angeles tapi tukar ikut jalan atas melalui Portland. Reason is, malam tu New Year Eve so kalau lalu LA, mestilah jam giler. Kami kalau boleh memang tak suka lalu jalan yang sama waktu datang sebab saja nak tengok different view unless kalau memang dah tak de pilihan. So, northbound then.

Coming out from Golden Gate.. Bye-bye San Francisco

Leaving San Francisco on US Route 101

Pelan asal sebenarnya nak bermalam di Eureka atau Crescent City tapi sebab traffic teruk, kami singgah bermalam di Willits. Lagipun memang terasa penat la menempuh jam ni. No wonder la masa kat KL dulu memanjang penat. Memang very the stressing when you have to face traffic jam every day. Sampai rumah memang penat. Tu pasal dulu malas masak. Takde apa yang menarik on the way to Willits. Adalah satu dua tapi masa tu dah penat tak kuasa nak ambik gambar. Tapi, masa sampai Willits tu sempat lagi pusing-pusing cari motel termurah dan terbest. At last after 3-4 motel tanya, we settled with Western Village Inn. Cantik bilik dia sebab baru remodelled. Of course come with fridge and microwave. Dia ada satu lagi bilik kat dalam tu so end up malam tu kat depan tu saya tido dengan Aqil dan Baba dia tido dengan Aqif kat dalam.. Malam tu kami layan cerita I am Legend kat HBO. Lepas habis cerita tu, saya dengan Aqil tido dengan lenanya.

Baba dia kat luar dok bersembang dengan mat saleh mana tah sebab mat saleh tu curious sebab plate van kami Colorado so dia pun ajak chat la. Next day, Baba dia bagi tau lama borak sampai omputih tu ajak minum beer. Lepas tu, dah mintak maaf bagi tau tak minum sebab Muslim, dia pun borak pulak pasal dia pernah serve kat Iraq. Lama jugak dorang borak. En Muz cakap omputih tu baik dan very open minded. Omputih tu kata semua orang kat dunia ni baik, it's the leaders that are bad. All leaders are rooting for powers and fame..

Day 4: San Francisco

2009-01-11T14:25:00.020-07:00

Selasa, 30 Disember 2008

Happy birthday to me... yeah, last year I was somewhere in.. oh ya, where was I? Oopss, cannot remember. Went to check it out with my boss and yes, he told me that we were so busy with the preps for my coming to the States, so no celebration. Tapi, masih ingat lagi Suria bawak kek Secret Recipe, Chocolate Indulgence masa majlis bacaan Yaasin kat rumah. Thanks sis. Lagipun, aku dah tua untuk berkek-kek bagai.. dan lagi, selalu sangat makan kek so it's not that important.

Pagi lagi semua dah bersemangat untuk jalan-jalan. Keluar tu dalam pukul 8:30 pagi. Suasana masih berkabus dan agak sejuk. Destinasi pertama adalah San Francisco Cable Car. So, kami pun berjalan sampai ke Hyde Street untuk beli tiket. Kami beli all day passport, harga dia $11/adult. Ni boleh naik dari pagi sampai le last ride pukul 12 tgh malam on the same day. So, beratur la pagi tu, ramai jugak yang keluar pagi, ingat tu nak jugak dok seat tepi yang open tu tapi sebab diri tu ada lagi 2 orang budak kecik kena jaga so kena dok dalam la. Lagipun, seat tepi tu cepat je dipenuhi manusia lain.

Kami turun di Powell St Station berhampiran Market St. Dari situ kami berjalan kaki dan singgah sebentar di Ross Less. Banyak jugak barang yang menarik dan lebih murah dari Fort Collins. Nak beli banyak-banyak nanti banyak pulak kena angkut so beli jeans Levi's, baju budak2 ni dan husband beli wallet Fender. Mulanya masuk sebab Aqil nak buang air so kami assume adalah toilet kat dalam Ross Less tu, turned out takde langsung. Dahsyat la dekat SF ni, susah betul nak cari public toilet dia. Lepas tu singgah masuk butik Coach, semua barang mahal, baik beli kat outlet dia je. Then, pusing-pusing cari toilet. Last2 tanya satu omputih ni dia kata masuk kat McDonald. Dah masuk tu almaklumlah, terus lunch sekali la. Lepas tu semua orang kena masuk toilet 2 kali sebab nanti susah pulak nak cari toilet.

Lepas tu menapak sampai ke Chinatown. Lecehnya kat SF ni jalan dia semua berbukit so jenoh la dok kena panjat jalan yang mencuram. Bestnya pulak sebab elevation dia low so oxygen level tinggi, takde la mengah. Kalau kat Fort Collins ni harus dah mencungap sebab oxygen kurang. Di Chinatown, as expected, lagilah bertambah barangan made in China. I even spotted something similar like my patchwork Coach slingbag cuma yang jual tergantung kat situ cop dia Goach with fake patchworks patterns and terrible quality. I did not ask for the price, simply afraid if the seller will persuade me to buy one. Ada jual tudung yang agak menarik dengan harga yang agak murah, everything.. teringat macam kat kedai tepi jalan kat Aloq Staq or even mana-mana pekan di Malaysia yang jual barangan pelbagai. Same kind of display even some items also similar only the environment is different. Takde beli apa, just strolled around.

Then, after a while, the kids are tired, so do the mother. We walked up to wait for the next cable car ride. Tunggu punya tunggu, datanglah cable car. Dah ready dah nak hop in tengok-tengok, oppss, tengah practice driving. Baru nak patah balik, ada satu suara panggil suruh naik. The guy was a nice black man. Dia tanya dari Indonesia ke? Kami jawab dari Malaysia. Nama dia Ahmed. Such a very wonderful gentleman and very kind. Dia banyak sembang dengan my husband. Very nice guy. May Allah bless him with all the happiness and health. View kali ni dah cantik sebab pagi tadi punya ride penuh dengan kabus. Kali ni dah panas so nampak macam-macam. Alcatraz, the hillies road, cantiklah kiranya.. Sampai je stesen kat Hyde St. Pier, terus menapak balik bilik dan rehat sekejap.

Petang tu, kami jalan-jalan lagi ke Fisherman's Wharf dan ke Pier 41 dan Pier 39. Mulanya nak naik feri jalan-jalan bawah Golden Gate dan Alcatraz, tapi tengok ramai sangat orang dengan Aqif yang masih kecik leceh nak control so kami pun terus masuk Aquarium of the Bay. All of us enjoyed it so much especially Aqif sebab dapat tengok all the fishes he so admired. He said he loves all the fishes but when asked are you going to eat fish again, he ignored my question. Definitely he still want to eat fish. Kami buat 2 kali pusingan kat dalam tunnel tu then naik atas. Kat situ, visitors are allowed to touch some of the species like starfis, some of the unknown species and whatnot. Aqif lah yang paling suka sekali. Then, masa nak balik, jalan-jalan lagi.. got really tired. Dalam lebih kurang pukul 7, kami keluar lagi untuk naik cable car for night ride pulak. The kids dah meragam sebab semua dah letih dan mengantuk. Night view memang cantik sebab banyak lightings especially kat Union Square. Tapi, sebab Aqif tak nak jalan, Aqil mengantuk, sampai je ke Powell St station, we have to hit back to hotel. Baba was so frustrated sebab dia tak dapat nak ambik night scene. But the ride home was great. I dapat the seat belakang sekali mengadap jalan dekat brake. Bestnya....

Sekitar San Francisco. Please click on the image for larger view.

Day 3: Winnemucca, NV to San Francisco, CA

2009-01-08T08:37:00.023-07:00

Isnin, 29 Disember 2008
390 miles (624km)

Hari ketiga di jalanan. Bekalan makanan masih ada lagi. Semalam makan nasi goreng. Ada lagi 3 bekas nasi goreng, 2 bekas mee, sambal ikan bilis, telur pindang yang tak berapa jadi tu dan sardin goreng. Ada roti, maggie, nuggets dan lebihan lasagna itu hari yang telah dibekukan. Kami juga ada bawak rice cooker just in case kalau motel tu takde microwave. So far memang kami cari motel yang ada microwave. Semalam di Winnemucca, motel yang kami tido tu dipunyai oleh sepasang suami isteri dari India. Baik betul tu auntie dan uncle tu. Motel tu nama dia Scottish Inn, bila masuk ofis dia nak check in ada bau kari, so instantly I knew that it must be owned by an Indian. Banyak motel yang kami checked in dipunyai oleh orang India. Cuti Thanksgiving lepas, 2 motel di Santa Fe dipunyai oleh orang India, cuma di Canon City tuan punya motel tu Polish. I like the Indian better because they were so very nice and friendly. Kali ini, waktu di Salt Lake City, I'm not sure who's the owner but I was checked in by an Iranian man. That guy was saying the room he was about to give me is a nice one, but turned out it was crap. Well, we don't have any choice then. Actually, we do but I just don't want to pay $100 a night for a sleep in.

Scottish Inn, Winnemucca, Nevada

Kami bertolak dari Winnemucca lebih kurang dalam pukul 9:30 pagi. Dari situ ke San Francisco cuma tinggal lagi lebih kurang 6 jam perjalanan. Simply set the GPS to SF and we were all set to go. Saya lebih relaks pada perjalanan kali ini kerana tidak perlu lagi membaca map dan merancang laluan. Sebelum ini masa Summer Trip ke Las Vegas, sampai di bandar Las Vegas saya agak kalut sebab kena refer map dan juga jalan bandar yang sesak. Tambahan, everybody were driving real fast so we cannot slow down. Memang ada niat untuk membeli GPS untuk next city trip cuma masih dalam pertimbangan. Nasib baik kenalan di sini, Rozana menasihatkan untuk dapatkan satu GPS untuk trip ini. Bila saya rujuk kepada google maps untuk jalan-jalan di SF, saya memang terus grab satu. Kebetulan, 2 days before Christmas, TomTom ONE 125 GPS ada sale so saya beli di BestBuy dengan harga lebih kurang $100. It saved us a lot of time and stress free sebab tak sesat kan. My GPS is the very basic one so just enough for our need. No fancy stuff in it though, takde MP3, tak de memory card, simply basic direction. I think its competitor, Garmin would give you a better GPS device but I chose the cheapest so I bought TomTom instead. Of course you can always pay $50 extra or more than that for a fancy interface and whatnot to please you eyes or your ears.

Dalam pukul 12:30 tgh, kami sampai di sempadan Nevada-California dan perlu membuat agricultural inspection. It caught me by surprise because I never thought there's gonna be such inspection when you're travelling in the States. I quickly running through my mind what are the "agricultural" produce with us and suddenly I remember our Cutie mandarins and some apples I bought at King Soopers but never ate them. The lady officer when spotted our Colorado license plate politely instructed my husband to step out and open up the back of the vehicle so she could check our stuff. Good for me that I brought the mandarins in its original packet with the labels and the unopened packets of the apples. When she noticed the mandarins was from California she credited me for the original package. Then, she spotted the apples, she politely said something about the organic apples is not in her list and need to check it. She brought those apples to her small cubicle, I think about four of them, and checked something in her computer. It turned out that my apples was not in the approved list and so she told my husband that she have to take those. We were given a slip as a prove that an inspection has been carried out and then, we were allowed to go. Before us, there were another vehicle which has lost some of their fruits and vege supplies too. So funny, I think they just wanted us to buy a California produce only. So folks, if you're driving to California, make sure you bring only agricultural produce that was made in California, OK?

Agricultural Inspection Station

Selepas itu, kami melalui jalan menuruni bukit yang berbiku dengan salji tebal di tepi bahu jalan. Dari gambar yang diambil, saya rasa dalam salji lebih kurang 3-4ft. Tapi mungkin juga sebab semua salji diatas jalan ditolak ke tepi, jadi salji yang terkumpul agak tinggi. Dari situ ke Lake Tahoe sudah dekat tetapi memandangkan keadaan sekeliling yang penuh bersalji, saya rasa Lake Tahoe pada waktu itu mesti membeku sama seperti Great Salt Lake. Lagipun, saya ingin sampai cepat di SF. Anak-anak pada ketika itu sedang nyenyak tidur. Cuaca mulai terasa panas seperti summer. Kami berhenti sekejap di Dixon, CA untuk gas dan rest rooms. Kami tiba di San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge dalam pukul 3:20 petang Central Time, kiranya dalam pukul 2:20 waktu Pacific. We were so excited to see stretches of beaches and sun! On the way down to SF, all the trees and grass were so green it's felt like summer already. By the way, mind me for the not so good Bay Bridge image because our van was as dirty as hell.

San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge

Sick and tired of the traffic jam that we had to get through, I just could not wait to find a nice decent motel to check in. We drove straight to Fisherman's Wharf and check in at The Wharfs Inn. It cost me a lot of money but well it's so close to everything we can put our good van to rest for a couple days. By the way, you're not gonna like driving around in SF, it's hilly, most of the streets is like one way, no turn here or there and it's congested. Well, you hates driving in KL, right?

The Wharf Inn @ Fisherman's Wharf

We did some exploration at night, just walked along the Jefferson St and took a glance of the night life. I bought a camera here. Yeah, I knew it cost me a bit more with the accessories but I couldn't care less. I was hunting for a camera so long that I just grab it. I'm glad I did. I did placed an order via Amazon for a Panasonic Lumix bridge camera but ended up buying an Olympus instead. The reason I need to buy a new one simply because night shots were always disappointing. I knew DSLR would do a better job but heck it's so complicated, I think we're both not ready for it yet. We were still not used to our new gadget that night but it gets better. We just need to practice! I'll put up some more pictures later. For now, I need to go to sleep.

Aqil & Aqif: night shot with Olympus.
It was dark but the camera gave a good result.

Day 2: Salt Lake City, UT to Winnemucca, NV

2009-01-06T19:47:00.018-07:00

Ahad, 28 Disember 2008
360 miles (576 km)

Pagi Ahad di Salt Lake City yang dingin. Kami check-out dalam pukul 10:30 pagi. Pagi di SLC terasa kelainanannya dengan bandar yang dikelililingi bukit bukau yang memutih dengan salji. Suhu agak sejuk tetapi tidak sedingin waktu malam. Angin juga tidak begitu kuat mungkin sebab dihalang oleh deretan bukit-bukit. Namun, sesekali anging kuat bertiup kencang. Disebabkan hari Ahad dan Krismas masih terasa lagi jadi bandarnya terasa begitu lengang, jadi amat sesuai untuk pusing-pusing di sekitar bandar SLC.

Pemandangan di kawasan Wasatch Inn, UT

SLC agak kecil berbanding Denver mahupun KL tetapi kami amat suka dengan sistem jalanraya yang teratur dan bandarnya juga amat terancang dengan jalan lurus dan bangunan yang teratur dan kemas. Terdapat satu LRT yang beroperasi di bandarnya dan kami agak sistem tersebut terus bersambung dengan University of Utah. Saya malas nak pergi tengok kampusnya dan malas juga nak berjalan-jalan di sekitar bandarnya. Memang rasa malas betullah pagi tu.. satu sebab penuh salji kan dan lagi satu kami lagi suka natural scenery. Takat bangunan tinggi-tinggi ni tengok jelah.. KL pun banyak jugak bangunan cantik-cantik..

Parts of Salt Lake City

Satu yang saya perasan disini banyak Mormon Church. Saya mengetahui pasal agama Mormon ni melalui sepasang suami isteri yang tinggal di Aggie Village jugak. Masa tu kami punya Community Coordinator, Amin yang berasal dari Iran buat BBQ party di courtyard kami. Kebetulan saya duduk semeja dengan mereka dan seorang wanita Iran yang juga sepupu si Amin ni. The Iranian lady seems so fond to talk about religions and she even called up her husband to join the talk. She's from Golden and apparently, she was educated in some international laws and stuff and in contrast with me who did not favor to talk much about politics or religions. So the couple also started talking about theirs. At that time, my husband was having a good conversation with our nextdoor Indian neighbour while watching the kids running and fooling around. We were talking about Ramadan and the Mormon fasting and lots of other stuff which I could not even remember. Luckily for me, I did not comment much on the Sunni and Syiah because my husband told me later that the Iranians Muslims are Syiah and they are very sensitive about this. Bless my big mouth was zipped through the whole conversation and strangely I could be a good listener through out the whole thing. The truth is, I don't know much about the topic. The point is Mormons believe that Nabi Isa a.s. will return to the earth just before the Judgement Day. They also point out some interesting things which is pretty much similar to Islam. See Mormon in Wikipedia. I don't care much about the talk, I listened and I forget. So lame of me... By the way, there were a lot of Mormon churches in SLC and they even had some Sunday services that Sunday.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

After a while of cruising around the city, we drove off to resume our journey. Our little Aqif kept asking for his favorite Walmart chocolate chip cookies and so I did some searching in our GPS to locate nearest Walmart. After following the directions, then I realized that it was way too far from our route so we decided to let him craved for a while. The GPS was really a great tool but we're still not master it yet. Driving away from the city, it was amazing to notice that SLC is surrounded by hills of snowy mountains. It was indeed a beautiful city with just the right size but I will definitely so not gonna live there simply because I know the winter is absolutely bitterly freezing. Snow is fun but it's the cold wind that is unbearable..

Salt Lake City from Interstate Highway, I-80

The roadtrip on I-80 from SLC were presented with endless view of the famous Great Salt Lake. It felt like we were driving by the ocean. I google about this majestic lake and found something interesting in Wikipedia. The area of the lake was about 2.5 times the size of Melaka or approximately half of Kedah. It is saltier than seawater and was dubbed America's Dead Sea but of course the Dead Sea is totally dead and no living habitat can even live there. The I-80 spread across some of its southwest lakes and there were times when were driving on the road with the lakes surrounding us.

The real scene and the GPS image with lake all over.

The GPS image really shown an interesting road layout. Noticed the railway track on the right of the screen, a friend of mine once told me that the train trip from midwest to San Francisco is one of the most scenic train journey in US. I could imagine how mesmerizing it would be. The road trip was mesmerizing enough. If you go by train, you'll get better view of the lake.

Great Salt Lake, Utah

After a while, we stopped by at Bonneville Salt Flats. I was amazed by the flatness and the barren of the white that spread as far as eyes can see. It was actually very bright and freaking freezing, the wind is so chillingly cold. I did scratch my finger through that salt and tasted the saltiness of it. The flats however is absolutely as hard as a granite so I just managed to kind of run through my finger on its surface and lick it. I found later that the depth of the salt can be up to 6 feet deep. From my AAA map, the area was depicted as some evaporation basin. Pretty interesting facts, huh?

Hey, this is where they tested all those world speed record

Can you see the curvature of the earth at the horizon?

We spent some good half an hour on this place before we hit back on the road. The plan was to spend the night at Reno but it seems that we had some time issues and since the dark was as early as 4:30 pm so we stopped by at Winnemucca, Nevada.

The long winding and slippery winter road

Day 1: Fort Collins, CO to Salt Lake City, UT

2009-01-06T10:14:00.016-07:00

Sabtu, 27 Disember 2008
456 miles (730 km)

Hari ni seperti yang dirancang, kami bertolak dari rumah dalam pelan perjalanan 10 hari. Pagi lagi baru sibuk nak ambik duit kat ATM. Dalam pada tu, bincang2 apa yang tinggal, baru teringat ada satu lagi toll violation pending tak bayar lagi. Deadline dia before 30th Dec tapi sebab takut takde pulak good internet connection so patah balik ke rumah untuk bayar online.

Kisah dia hari tu masa ke Santa Fe, kami ada lencong masuk ke satu highway sebab driver dia dah tak tahan nak pi toilet. Kebetulan tak berjumpa pulak rest area atau stesen minyak kat highway tu. Kat situ ada signboard bagi tau tollway tapi bila lalu takde pulak toll booth. Ada stop kat tempat yang tepi jalan tu dia ada letak macam tempat parking tu tapi macam heran pulak macam mana nak bayar ni. Yelah, jakun tak pernah jumpa toll yang takde orang jaga, dah la tu, tak berpagar pulak tu, so kami ingat toll ni baru buat dan belum in full operation. Maka kami pun meneruskan perjalanan tanpa was-was. Tup-tup, hujung bulan before Christmas dapat notis, 2 lai pulak tu kata toll violation. Stated a civil penality of $70, toll dia $0.75 dan fee dia $7. So, total due = $77.75. Siap ada gambar bontot van dengan license plate lagi. Giler ke apa US ni, dah la toll macam tu punya style then suddenly mintak sampai macam tu sekali. Maka, aku pun mula la mengarang ayat email kat E-470 tu bagi tau aku tak tau apa punya pesen toll cenggitu. Kami ingat hari Jumaat lepas Christmas nak pi ofis dia setel. Yelah, ada ke pulak suddenly nak charge $77.75 macam tu jer.. Then dapatlah email dari one of the officer cakap that aku boleh pi bayar online toll dia sebelum deadline. Kalau tak bayar baru kena masuk court dan bayar $77 tu. Aku pun bayar lah. Yelah, tengah sakit hati, aku tengok sama je surat 2 keping tu rupanya 2 toll violation. Itu yang kena patah balik tu setel yang lagi satu. Setan betul la.. mintak2 bankrap la company tu. aku baca ramai orang Amerika yang marah style cenggitu..

So, berbalik kepada cerita perjalanan ke Salt Lake City ni.. konon nak gerak pukul 9 pagi, dah alih2 jadi pukul 11.30 pulak. Masuk je Wyoming US 287 , angin dah mula kuat.. memang kuat betul ditolak-tolaknya van ke tepi jalan.. lepas tu kat atas jalan siap ada blowing snow.. rupa dia macam asap kat atas stage tiap2 kali Malaysian rock band nak performe kan keluar asap kat lantai tu kan, ha macam tulah rupa blowing snow tu lebih kurang kaedah dia. Memang betul2 mencabar la memandu kat Wyoming ni. Sejuk giler dalam van pun terasa lah kesejukan dia. Dalam 40 minit macam tu kami sampai ke Laramie. Ingat dah lega dah kot rupanya dari Laramie ke Rawlins, lagi teruk.. dengan angin yang kuat dalam 50mph - 65mph (80kmh - 104 kmh), jalan pulak tak nampak sangat sebab penuh dengan blowing snow, budak2 pulak masa genting macam ni lah dorang mulalah bergurau2, bergaduh2.. yang kami ni dah risau mula la start berdoa mintak dilindungi Allah SWT. Sejam lebih jugaklah cuaca sejuk macam tu. Lepas sikit pada Rawlins sebab sejuk so mula la nak buang air, jumpa satu rest area, Ya Allah, angin dia punyalah kuat dengan sejuk gedi... masa berjalan ke restrooms tu Aqil jatuh kena tolak dengan angin kuat.. nasib baik la mak dia ni punya bodyweight is good enough to withstand the lift force.. haa..ha... kalau tidak harus tergolek-golek jugak.. dahsyat betul la Wyoming punya weather ni...

Blowing snow on I-80, Laramie to Rawlins, Wyoming.

Lepas pada Rawlins, jalan dah mula ok dengan angin kuat bertiup sekali sekala. Kalau kat Malaysia rasanya angin kuat ni PLUS panggil angin lintang. memanglah kalau kereta proton ke, perodua ke, harus melayang dan terbabas. Angin dia memang kuat betul. Nasib baik van Plymouth Voyager kami tu memang kira berat jugak la, itupun sesekali terpeleot jugak kena dengan angin kuat tu.

Somewhere along the trip, probably at Green River area

Windmills along I-80 in Wyoming

Pukul 5 dah gelap gulita serupa pukui 10 malam. That's the negative side travelling in winter. Kalau summer, pukul 9 malam masih cerah lagi. Kami terus on driving sebab nak tido kat Salt Lake City. We were so tired and starving. Sampai kat SLC, the road mostly covered with snow. Ada satu motel tu susah betul nak masuk dalam area dia sebab dia tak clear up entrance betul-betul. So, kesudahnya ambik sajalah mana-mana motel yang jumpa dan senang nak masuk. Itulah tu, the room was pretty bad but the toilet was cleaned though. Lagipun, nak bermalam satu malam jer.. Our dinner, I made nasi lemak bungkus the night before so we just heated in microwave and get a rest for the night.

Salt Lake City, Utah as seen from the high road of I-80

My nasi lemak ready to be wrapped in banana leaf

Nasi lemak bungkus untuk bekalan

Mari bercerita...

2008-12-03T23:16:00.004-07:00

Malam ni malam Rabu.. malas betul nak buat HW Dr Julien tu.. walhal next Wed. dah nak kena submit. Dari semalam sampai 3 pagi dok pulun siapkan HW Dr Salas bawaklah sampai ke hari ni just before his class at 3. Habis, balik redah salji sejuk2 ni mula la datang penyakit malas. Kaki pulak kebas pasai hari ni saja je pakai stokin nipis... ha, rasakan.. so pi la berendam dalam air panas.. dah ok dah.. Konon nak start lah lepas mandi dah segar-segar tu, hmm, takat copy paste soalan jer..he..he..he.. Malas betul la aku ni, orang putih yang nak raya Xmas, aku pulak yang lebih2 holiday moodnya..

So, apa lagi dok belek-belek FP Yan sedap pulak baca cerita dia pasal anak2.. yelah, kalau tak direkodkan nanti memang lupa. Macam Aqil tu, bila tengok balik gambar lama-lama dia, Ya Allah, how time flies and I even feel guilty as if I not gave him enough attention and whatnot. Yelah, kesian dia, umo 2 tahun setengah dah dapat adik.. so, I was so busy then with Aqif. Tapi, come to think of it, at least kat sini dia ada kawan.. especially bila travel tu, yelah budak, minat dia lain dari kita so ad ala kawan nak bergurau.. takde laa moyok jer muka tu.

Baca cerita orang pasal anak2 ni best betul.. apsal eh aku tak rekodkan semua tuh.. hmm, should I do that now? OK, let's begin with Aqil. Aqil dulu dari kecik memang minat main games ni. Umur dia 2 tahun dan pandai on computer, bukak and pasang CD then main sendiri semua games CD yang kami selalu beli kat Pandan Indah sebab murah kan.. he..he.. CD ciplak la apa lagi.. Bab ni memang dia pandailah sampai la sekarang. Bagi je games PS2 baru tu pandai jer dia godek2 main.. kalau bagi aku main memang tak reti ler.. tak kuasa nak fikir mana nak lompat, mana nak cari power segala tuh..

Rasanya masa umur dia setahun lebih, dia dah boleh cakap apa tah.. masa tu dalam kete.. but he was so cute then that balik rumah we kept asking him to repeat the sentences and end up laughing out loud. Start daripada tu, until a few years later, dia selalu cakap pelat sampai orang kata patut pegi bawak jumpa doktor sebab anak cakap pelat. I guess, our action then somehow had retarded his confidence and end up he just simply could not speaks properly. In fact, when we arrived here last winter, he still pelat. Eventually, he outgrew it and now sometimes when he said some words in Malay, he had this American accent pulak. I guess kalau aku yang cakap pelat omputih tu mau kena tampar dah...Favorite words dia skang ni "kewlll" tak pun "awesome". Dia pun dah pandai guna ayat dude kat kawan2 dia.. pandai-pandai je mengikut.. esok lusa ni lagipandai cakap omputih dari mak dia ni. Yelah, mama pun gagap juga bercakap orang putih ni..

Tadi masa tengah dok lepak2 kat depan tu, dia mengadu kat Baba dia tak tahu nak buat apa..yelah bila Mama dah dok kat couch tu means it's my time pulak nak tengok TV. Kalau tidak dia asik mengadap PS2 jelah. Dulu kat KL memang dia ada TV khas untuk main games so takde la kacau kami unless dia nak tengok katun sebab Astro kat TV atas jer.. Sini kena share. Yelah, walaupun TV LCD flat panel tu $800 jer kat sini tapi nak beli pun tak guna sebab tak boleh pakai kat Melesia. Kenapalah Melesia ni pakai voltage tinggi sangat haaa??? Sini barang elektrik murah2.. Off topic pulak.. so senang jer, suh jer dia buat homework. Aqil ni kalau datang mood rajin dia rajin dia buat homework. Macam tadi dia buat latihan huruf J, laju je dia sebut Jack-O-Lantern, Juggling, Jumping ropes.. hmm, pandai anak Mama.. dia sebut tadi dia nak pokok Krismas..alahai Aqil, memang tempted pun sebab pokok Krismas tu cantik.. tak salah sebenarnya kalau nak letak pokok Krismas dalam rumah.. cuma rumah aku ni mana muat nak letak pokok tu sayang....

Aqif pulak sekarang dah start minat main games. Sekarang hari-hari dah main game-boy. Sebelum ni dia lagi suka tengok You-Tube ABCs, kaler-kaler online dan nyanyi lagu ABCs. I'm happy he finally interested in electronic games. Those games need you to use your head to plan your next moves. His favorite words pulak "dia ittew..". Then rasanya bebudak besar tu semua sama, kuat mengacom (kuat repot) kalau abang dia buat ke, mama buat ke, baba buat ke.. kalau dia mengadu kat mama ke baba ke, kita tanya sapa buat dia cakap la sekian sekian, then bila kita tanya buat kat mana, dia siap tunjuk lagi kat mana..mengajuk tapi beriyer buat tu.. nak nak kalau abang dia yang buat.. abang dia tampar pipi ke.. dia pun siap tampar pipi dia nak tunjuk pada kita yang abang dia tampar pipi dia kuat..sakit. Tapi sejak dah besar sikit ni dah kurang dah ulang tayangan aksi ganas abang dia kat dia. Agak dia tahu kot.. ha..ha..ha..

Lepas tu kalau dia nak dapatkan something mula la berlakon.. kalau nak something dari Baba, dia kata tak nak sayang Mama..kalau nak something dari Mama pulak, tak nak sayang Baba... ayat dia..." Baba busuk...baba tak mandi.. " kalau Mama, sama jugaklah.. "Mama busuk, Mama tak mandi..". He..he.. ni semua ulangan ayat kita kat dia la bila kita suh dia mandi, dia tak nak.. kita pun cakap la tak nak sayang Aqif.. Aqif busuk... Aqif tak mandi..he..he..he... So very cute. Lagi satu yang Mama tak berapa gemar ni sebab bila tidur tangan dia tu suka merayap mengusap-ngusap pipi kita. Sambil tidur ni tangan tu dok gosok pipi.. Hish, mama cukup rimas la.. so far Baba jer yang tahan kalau Aqif gosok pipi. Kalau Mama mesti dah tepis-tepis dah... Mama tak boleh tido laaa... Ni ikut genetik mana ni suka gosok pipi orang tengah tido nih.. yang musykil tu, dia pun tidor jugak tapi tangan dok gerak-gerak boleh?

Sekarang, Mama dengan Baba paling suka dengar Aqif nyanyi lagu Old MacDonald. Sebab bila time eaeaooo tu dia punya tarik tersekat sekat .. kelakar dengar. Hari ni kan snowy, Baba dia cerita punyalah excited dia nak main snow sampai sanggup la mandi pagi.. ha..ha..ha.. kalau tidak puas nak suruh dia mandi. Tapi itulah, sekejap je main sebab dia kata sejuk. Abang Aqil jer suka main snow tak kira sejuk ke hapa.. Snow ni memang la best cuma tak tahan dia sejuk jer lah.. Kang kalau tak sejuk pulak kang dah tak snow pulak..

OKlah.. cukuplah tu.. Mata mama dah berat ni.. nak tido lah.. esokpagi ada kelas pukul 8. Adoiiiiiii, dah la sejuk, 8 pagi pulak tu.. hmm, ni kena angkut kopi sekali ni ..

Statement by Ku Lie

2008-10-09T21:55:00.004-06:00

I sooooooooooo hate that darnnnnnn 5th element that soiled our land.. maybe we should consider giving the Pakatan Rakyat a try, eh? what to lose then.. we've been losing the grip and senses since the past 5 years..

Statement by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah
September 23, 2008

I write this as a Malaysian, as someone who, over forty seven years of political life, has had the privilege of playing some small part in the formation our country, the building of its institutions, and our achievement of a degree of economic sufficiency. I write out of deep concern about the present state of our country.

In the lives of nations as of individuals, there come moments of profound possibility, when the potential for self-transcendence and for self-destruction are simultaneously present.

As before some critical examination in our youth, we come to the daunting realization that we hold our future in our hands, when how we will fare many years hence, and whether we shall flourish or languish, will depend on how we conduct ourselves now, in this small window of time.

We are in a political impasse that threatens to metastasize into a Constitutional crisis. Political crises come and go, but the present crisis might well be the beginning of a cascade of failures leading to long-term instability and destruction.

1. Our impasse occurs at a time of heightened economic, political and security challenges. The global economy faces the prospect of a meltdown on a scale last seen in the Great Depression of the last century. As a trading nation, we are strongly exposed to its effects. Meanwhile, while we seem to have slept, the global economy is undergoing an epic transformation that we must either adapt to or are marginalized by.

2. This year’s ground-shfiting General Election result signaled a public sentiment that cannot be ignored. Malaysians want fundamental change, and they want it now, whether from within the ruling coalition or from outside it. The Malaysian demographic has changed dramatically over the last fifty years. We have seen the birth of a more sophisticated, demanding electorate that has rightly lost patience with incompetence and dishonesty.

3. The grievances of Sabah and Sarawak, which found only partial expression in the General Elections, remain unaddressed. This risks the very integrity of our Federation.

4. Misunderstandings over race and religion are ripe for political exploitation, with potentially disastrous consequences.

Post election promises notwithstanding however, the government now commands even less confidence than it did post March 8.

The public is in near despair over the prospects for change from within the ruling party. Rather than share the public’s sense of urgency, our present office-holders have redoubled efforts to frustrate renewal, cut off reform, and silence criticism. These efforts only underscore the weakness of the administration and its will to change.

We can no longer deny that in its present form, and under present leadership, the government, led by the party to which I have given my life, is now structurally and inherently incapable of providing the direction and confidence that the country needs, whether over the long or short term. The indications are there for all to see:

1. The government has been unable to respond to the economic crisis with even a basic plan of action. Business confidence has plummeted as capital flees the country. Our economic policy remains as uncoordinated and directionless as it has been in since the beginning of this administration.

2. The recommendations of two Royal Commissions of Inquiry have been ignored or watered down into insignificance.

3. In this context, Umno’s constitutional provision for the renewal of its leadership by triennial elections might have been expected to provide some hope of renewal. Instead of embracing this opportunity, however, the leadership of the party has retreated into the fantasy world of a “transition plan” which rides roughshod over the party’s constitution and the rights of its members. This risible attempt to treat public office and party trust as a private bequest between two individuals, one of whom wishes to hold office beyond his democratic mandate and the other to ascend without one, and the continuing effort to force feed the country with this notion, fools no one. Instead, and against background of rampant money politics, it kills the public’s hope of national renewal via Umno. Behind the babble about a “transition plan” the Prime Minister continues to be subverted by members of his own cabinet and subjected to thinly cloaked power plays to force his resignation.

This resort to a “transition plan” betrays a disturbing failure to grasp the meaning and purpose of public office. In the more mature society into which we aspire to grow, persons who demonstrate and moreover propagate such disregard for constitutional and democratic process would long ago have been disqualified from public life, let alone from national leadership. The news appears not to have sunk in that the public rejects leaders who shun the open light of democratic contest in favour of staged plays and backroom plots.

Given Umno’s core role in national politics, this is a dangerous state of affairs. Meanwhile the Opposition has made undeniable gains in the number of parliamentarians it commands. Beyond the hype and inflation, and regardless of whether Pakatan Rakyat now has “the numbers” to command a majority, what we cannot doubt is that support for the governing majority continues to erode, and that this erosion continues so long as there is no hope of real change in the type of leadership Umno provides. There is now a credible threat that the present government may at some time fall by a vote of no confidence, or by some otherwise constitutionally legitimate demonstration of parliamentary majority. After fifty-one years of rule by a single party, this is not a possibility that is well understood. It is justifiably viewed with trepidation. Neither sheer denial on the one hand, or inflated claims on the other, help the situation.

To all appearances, we are beginning to lose grip of the rule of law. The use of the Internal Security Act and of Sedition Laws to target particular individuals further erodes the credibility of the government. Our actions exacerbate rather than calm the fear that stokes civil and racial strife. In the present context of a leadership struggle within Umno and against a strong Opposition it is impossible to dispel the notion that these extreme measures are calculated to maintain certain individuals in power rather than to address verifiable threats to national security. Nothing does more to undermine the legitimacy of a government than plainly unjust acts. The ridiculous justifications given for some of these detentions has further undermined public confidence that the awesome powers of state are in safe hands.

We cannot afford to allow these disturbing trends to play out their destructive course while we suffer a de facto leadership vacuum, and while the rule of law is uncertain and the Constitution not upheld.

Against this background I appeal to all parties to come together in humility, beyond party politics, to hold an honest discussion, in the spirit of shared citizenship and with the gravest attitude of common responsibility towards a longsuffering rakyat, about what is happening to our country and how we might agree together on a peaceful way beyond our impasse. We need to come together to find unity and direction out of this dangerous situation. In doing so, we might turn our crisis into an opportunity and renew our unity and sense of direction as Malaysia.

Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah
31 Jalan Langgak Golf
55000 Kuala Lumpur

Selamat Hari Raya & Maaf Zahir Batin

2008-10-02T18:21:00.003-06:00

1 October 2008 - First time sambut raya kat perantauan. Dah ler jauh, siap berlambak pulak homework sepanjang bulan puasa ni.. So, preparation di kira almost zero sebab on 1 Syawal tu ada kelas plus additional make up class at 5:30-6:30pm so the whole day from 9 pagi sampai lah lewat petang dok spend masa kat CSU.. Tapi sebab raya kan so masak jugaklah nasi impit dengan kuah kacang dan pulut kuning dengan rendang daging. Pemanis mulut buat ice-cream cake jer.. almost like breakfast then that was all...

Laksa Asam - resepi Pulut Cari Forum

2008-09-28T17:46:00.005-06:00

Ini adalah resepi asal dari poremer CARI, En Pulut. Terima kasih Pulut hang post resepi ni. Lepaih ni aku nak try hat ice cream cake pulak.. Gaya bahasa dan susun atur adalah sejibik sejiban dari Pulut.. aku dah try dan jadi walaupun aku ni gatai tangan jugak adjust2 asam keping tu ikut suka hati..dah la buat time posa so masa makan buka posa tu aku kena pancing balik asam keping tu buang sebab dia masam terlebih..pastu, aku punya daun kesum tu takla sampai 3 bungkuih pasai aku beli dia dah ikat siap-siap so aku boh seikat tu jelah..banyak jugak la tu...he..he..he..

ikan temenung - 5 ekoq (mid size) nak kuah pekat tambah byk ikan - tp byk ni dah gud enuff
asam jawa - tak byk sgt , just utk cuci ikan ngan boh sket masa rebuih
1 tin kecik sardin - tunggu sampai operasi 3

operasi 1
cuci ikan dgn ayaq asamjawa bg hilang hanyaq. bilas bg bersih, hang rebuih dgn asam jawa ada lebih kurang besaq cekodok (byk nnt masam sgt). utk ayaq, hang boh la byk sket, lebih kurang satu botoi ayaq coke 2 liter ka. boh la asam jawa dlm 2-3 keping.

operasi 2
bila ikan dah rebus aka macam minyak naik sket, hang asing ikan, tapis segala sampah, ayaq ikan rebus jadik stok. bila perisi, jgn buang tulang.

cabai kering - 10 biji = krg pedas, 1 guni = pedas kawkaw ~ rendam bg kembang
onion - 3 biji
halia - 5mm sahaja - bg hilang hanyaq ikan sardin yg akan digunakan sebentar lg
bwg putih - 3 ulas, ni ikut mood aku , kalau aku nak boh , aku boh, kalau tak aku tak boh
belacan - satu keping kecik 2cmx2cmx0.5cm. ikut suka individu ( aku bakaq dulu dlm oven)

operasi 3
blend semua diatas, dan masukkan kedalam stok ikan.
blend isi ikan yg telah diasing bersama 1 tin kecik sardin yg telah ditos sosnya, tuang dlm stok ikan,
blend tulang ikan, tapis yer masuk dlm stok ikan. kacau bg mesra

lengkuas - 2,3 keping potongan setebai 5mm
serai - 2 ketoi dititik
asam keping - 6 ketoi (slalu boh byk tp try adjust keasamannya)

operasi 4
masukkan mereka2 ini kedalam air rebusan. biaq sampai masak

gula - 2 sudu boleh substitute dgn pak aji
garam - sesuka hati
petis udang - 2 sudu optional

operasi 5
depa2 ni pulak, adjust ikut yr taste bud

daun kesum - 3 bungkuih

operasi 6
depa ni cheq boh byk pasai kat sini tarak bunga kantan. so kira kaver lah authentic laksa tu.

laksa - 1 bungkuih (rebuih), takpun org kat sini guna udon

sampah2
timun & bwg & nenas & daun salad & cabai & mint & teloq rebuih

mind boggling classes!

2008-09-17T16:57:00.005-06:00

I just never expected it will be this hard. Imagine you have to do all the differential and integral and whatnot again. I thought I was done with it but I was definitely wrong. Once you enrolled yourself as a graduate student, you have to dig in all those creamiest calculus you "sooo loved" back then. Not only that, you also need to equip yourself with some sort of programming knowledge in which I never thought I need it. I should have take C++ on the summer because I thought I could do without it. I am sooo exhausted.. I know my course is called engineering and hence all the math and forces and free body diagram and shear stresses and bla..bla..bla...

Today, in my 622 class (Risk Analysis a.k.a eats stats, drink stats and breathe stats), I was totally blacked out of what the hell he was telling me on the white board or even the slide on the wall. I was like, what is it? Why it have to be this hard? OMG, I am soooo dead! I remember he was telling me about the linear programming that I should at least know and he said at least I should know how to use Maple... I was like, huh Maple? I never know there's a program called Maple.. I know how to use Maple syrup though...hu..hu...hu....

I guess if given a choice of hydraulics and hydrology, I would rather turn back time and just focus on structures. In hydraulics, you just get yourself blended with all the terms and those Greek symbols which I never used in so many years, now has becomes my everyday writing. I don't even remember some of it, what does it call.. goshhhhh... I am that screwed huh? Oh, I learned something new today. I guess, I probably had mentioned it once in my lifetime before this.. the symbol of inverse triangle called "The Laplacian". Whatttttt????

I know, it does ring a bell to Laplace Calculus but haaaaa? Well yeah... I guess no wonder women in engineering in States is so far less than the men. It was so darn hard. I guess my undergrads was not that details. I don't know... maybe because this school is so hard so that they can get some top ten place on ranking for the best top schools in engineering. As for me, my heart wants to go back home and just do my works and don't ever bother the technical parts, but my brain and my self conscience telling me not to because I'm going to be a better worker with some knowledge in hands. I'm not a smart ass...

So, anyone who thinks you're ready to spread your wing and fly and try to get yourself an advanced degree, well, think again!

Back to school!

2008-08-17T16:57:00.004-06:00

To honor the request from my best friend's Farie, I am now created this entry because she wanted to know how's it like study abroad. To Farie..

To begin with, I had finished my first degree in December 1999 and started worked seriously in July 2000 with a consultant firm in PJ. I worked there for 2 years and I met great people there like Serena, Jennifer, Anita, Amudha, Shan and several others. It was great working in a small company, we had about 40 staff then, and it was a great experience too. Unfortunately, I'm getting tired of keep changing my designs due to the change in landuse and elevation as the clients keep changing their minds and you have to keep changing the levels and all. We don't use any robust software except for the old Windows spreadsheet and I was getting sick of it. Luckily, I was so much in love with my husband (boyfriend then) that you know, girls in love always kind of doped up with drugs and all that made not so nice job and rented apartments seems such a very small matters. Anyways, I end up married and 2 months later I was pregnant. I was about 3 months pregnant when I started to prepare several application letters to several firms thinking that I will send those after 9 months.

Then, the interview letter from JPA came. Well, I had received several interview before like for PTDs, for Vocational Officer but I want to be a civil engineer and I don't give a heck whether I'm a good one or not as long as the job title is engineer. Hey, I had to shove some sands making concrete block and dumped it in a septic pond only for nothing? I know I'm not doing great in my undergrads but that was because I don't know what I want then but I do know that I wanted to be an engineer for better or for worst. OK, back to the letter, it was an interview for an engineer post at JPS. I always fond of water. Water simply such a fascinate substance to kind of fall in love with. So, I went to Putrajaya for the interview with nothing to lose for. I declined every questions to post me at any other states than Klang Valley. I can't even answer anything about Ministers and all (that will certainly disqualified me for a PTD) and amazingly I got the job. Reason is I believe they need staff and I got some experience too. I did answer very well for any technical related questions they asked me so I can work but my political knowledge sucks! Surprisingly, a week after, I received another letter from JPA for JKR interview. I'm bad at structures and working with highways also not such a job I'm looking forward to so I'm stick to JPS. It was like I meant for it because a year before that I got myself fall into a main drain in Greenwood. I realized later that it was like kind of a sign or something. I believe that because to my knowledge, my friends who are now engineer in JPS, all of them had kind of incident with drains and I don't asked each and every single engineer in JPS of course, but it was kind of bonding I suppose. Yeah, I know it was just a coincidence! But, isn't it obvious and kind of freaky, don't you think?

My first office in DID was HTCKL. I liked the office very much but after sometimes I kind of tired doing the same collaboration and organizing events and whatnot. I wanted to be the presenter not the organizer anymore. So, after 3 and 1/2 years in HTC, I was posted to Hydrology and Water Resources Division at Ampang Branch. I was placed in Information Management Unit which deals with hydrological data and the operation of National Hydrological Network. It was very interesting to learn types of data and how do we collect and process the data but I wanted to know more than that and working there somehow had limited your time to learn more because we have so many other things like meetings..meetings...meetings.... and ISO..ISO..ISO... or people come to ask for the data. Hmm, that was pretty tiring and you end up doing nothing actually.. or maybe it was only me who end up doing nothing...LOL!

Anyway, a few months there and I already filled up the form to request a scholar for further my study. I even asked permission from Hubby if he's willing to sacrifice his job and come abroad to accompany me and the children of course. So, I submitted my application somewhere in June 2006 and I got the news from JPA on December the same year. I was ready to accept that I did not make it but I was so happy that eventually I did. I was offered a place at Delft, Netherlands. Well, that's where I would like to go at the first place before I changed it to USA. All in all, it took me a year later to come here. I was supposed to come here in Fall 2008 but I had postponed it to January 2009. Finally, on January 7th 2008, we flew from KLIA to LAX to DIA. So, here I am and here we are. I like CSU very much but somehow I wonder what will it be like studying in Europe. I have a wonderful advisor, Prof. Dr. Pierre Julien, a great man with a great heart and I have full support from my husband and the kids fine although they don't understand much. Well, at least they don't crying their heart out to go back to KL or so, so practically you can say it is understanding enough.

The study here is awesome! You can arrange your own schedule based on your interest and the subjects offered. CSU has plenty of choices and you can even widen your selection to other school like Natural Resources and they also have cool classes too. I like the system here that you keep doing your test and even carry some percentage for the total grade. It's not like Malaysian system where the finals normally will carry 70% to 80% of our total final grade. It's killing you and almost suicidal if the subject a hardcore. The resources is plentiful and even the teacher is knowledgeable that you feel at ease learning with them. Well, there are not so good teachers so being graduate student, I have more power to choose my subject and who I want to learn from. One thing excellent about CSU is, the subjects are plenty and so you don't have trouble choosing your classes based on your interest.

What's cookin'?

2008-08-17T16:28:00.002-06:00

It's been a while since I last posted my cooking images. Well, let say I simply not in the mood of putting up pictures of my cooking anymore. Still, I just love to cook simple things and honestly, being abroad definitely widen my cooking skill which I consider no skill at all, but still impressive results! Let see, shall I make some review of my cooking, eh?

I know how to make Nasi Lemak now, it still taste good although without the pandan leaf and all.
I haven't make laksa yet, I'm going to but I just don't know when.
Making noodles dish is absolutely easy. Hmm, I never thought it was that easy!
I still struggle to make good Nasi Tomato. Last time I did, the evaporated milk was not handy so I'd used coconut milk instead. Taste still good but somehow it lacks the spices flavor. Hmm, I should put more of the spices eh?
Curry? Just bring it on, even without curry leaf, the taste still good! I like to use yogurt in my curry because you no longer have to use tamarind juice as the yogurt already gives you the sour you needed plus the creaminess of the curry.
Popcorn? Any 7 yr old kid can do it. I also did the caramel syrup but when you pour over the popcorn you have to put those guys back in the oven to make it crunchier.
Curry puff - done it! But I still don't understand why my frozen karipap tends to crack open when frying. The freshly made seems to work very fine but not after it was frozen. Hmm, too many filling or is it my dough?

Well, that will be all. Just made Bread Pudding today with strawberry sauce. We bought white bread but apparently we prefer the whole wheat better. So, the bread was totally neglected and me being so not to waste any food, suddenly remember my mom used to make us bread pudding with raisins in it. I don't put any raisin but I have some frozen strawberries in the freeze. I don't know how to use it so I just made kind of sauce out of it. Taste good too but my pudding is a bit sweet. I have to reduce the sugar in it next time.

MagMyPic

2008-08-14T14:13:00.004-06:00

This is pretty fun!

I strongly agree with this article

2008-06-19T10:11:00.007-06:00

I am a government officer and I strongly agree with this article. Well, yes I enjoyed the privileged of business class when I came here although not to the great extent because my son was grumpy then. I loves all the souvenirs and free goodies whenever we had conferences or seminars and whatnot. Hey, who doesn't love free stuffs huh? I always looking forward to have a certain meeting at a certain office where the lunch will be fried rice with spiced fried chicken.

About coffee time, well the private firms also allowed you to enjoy coffee at 10 and 3 everyday but they have tea lady who will make rounds and deliver your favorite drink. You need a break because you're not going to sit 8 hours straight. I remember the tea lady in GAA (consultant firm in PJ) who I called Auntie, she made this delicious teh tarik. I just gave her my favorite mug and she will deliver it right to my desk. My colleagues and I will have short break and gossiping while munching on the biscuits in squared tin and sipping the hot delicious tea and start kutuk our bosses or fooling around with each other. But hey, because you're having tea in the office, your boss can summon you while the biscuit still in your mouth!

I always had to have my breakfast in the morning before I started work. I chosed the 8:30-5:30 time frame but you know since you in KL and you've got children sometimes you have ample time before the bells ring and sometimes you don't. I normally can had my breakfast before I punched my card but sometimes I was late like I only have 10 minutes before 8:30, so what I did was I punched the card first and go out having my breakfast. I know legally it's wrong and unethical but I normally will take about 20 minutes. No more tea until lunch and that's all. I will have my afternoon coffee in my office. I know that some of my bosses don't like me going out after 8:30 but I only take 20 minutes and I always in the office until lunch time. I think this is much better than going out again at 10 because that time was the peak hours. People always come at that time and the officers in charge always went out for tea.

I also don't agree with the people who came in at 7:30 and then went out for breakfast at 8:00 and came back around 8:30 or so. Next thing you know at 4:30 they're going back already. OK, I'm not a saint and just because I start working at 8:30, it's not fair for me to talk about others who start working early, right? Well, I suggest the government should revert back the working hours to be from 8:30 to 5:30 or better still from 9:00 to 6:00. Reason is people is sending the kids to school early in the morning and now that the school bus fee is very expensive, you would want to send the kids yourself. You also would like to pick them up yourself.

Traffic jams? Well, it would not sound KL and urban without traffic jams right? Perhaps we should consider provide a cable car like in San Fransisco or just improve and enhanced our public transport. The reason people don't want to take a public transport is because you have to change the train like 3 times? After that hop in to another connecting bus to get to your office and not mentioning of the sardines cramped like once you're in the train. I remember I took a Putra to go shopping at Masjid India. Yes, it was convenience because you don't have to find parking lot and pay for it. No, it was not enjoyable because you have to breathe a limited oxygen in a cramped space with lots of smell (perfume and stale sweat) on the way back. So, next time I want to shop there, I rather embrace the jams than taking the train. I could always bike here because they provide a bicycle lane and those whose not biking always give ways and yield to pedestrians and bikers. In Malaysia, I will be in the front news run by some motorist the first day I bike my way to school or to office. OK, enough of it and let's read MM's good articles on saving. Hello Pak Lah, she's right we have to change our way of living. Why don't you start by selling those luxury jets and yachts of yours and give the money to rakyat as goodwill.

Wednesday June 18, 2008

You walk the talk first

Musings
By MARINA MAHATHIR

The Government wants us to change our lifestyles to cope with inflation. It is easier said than done since most people were having it difficult even before the hikes. The Government must first set an example by doing things it should have done long ago.

Domino effect: The latest fuel price hike will set off a chain reaction, making almost everything more expensive.

WITH the recent hike in fuel prices and the Government’s exhortations for us to change our lifestyles in order to cope, may I provide here some suggestions for the Government and those who work for it to “share our burden”.

Stop having meetings, especially out at resorts, far enough away to be able to claim transport allowances. Have online meetings instead or teleconferences. Use Skype or chat.
No need to order special pens, bags, T-shirts, notepads and other goodies for those same meetings.
No need to order kuih for mid-morning or teatime meetings in government offices, or nasi briyani lunches for those meetings that happen to end just at lunchtime.
Cancel all trips for government servants to conferences overseas unless they return with full reports of what they did there, who they met and what they learnt and how they mean to apply what they learnt at home. Ask them to do presentations to colleagues who did not get to go, on the most interesting and important papers that they read.
Scrutinise invoices for contracts to make sure they are truly reflective of what those projects or supplies cost.
Stop elaborate launches for government programmes. In particular, stop the buying of souvenirs, special batik shirts, corsages, bouquets and caps.
Make all civil servants and politicians travel economy class. That means really travelling at the back of the plane and not buying full fare economy class tickets that allow them to be upgraded to Business Class.
Stop having the full complement of police escorts to cut down on petrol costs. If they need to be somewhere by a certain time, start earlier like the rest of us. Wouldn’t be a bad thing for them to also experience a traffic jam.
Once a week (or more), have ministers use public transport so they know what everyone else has to suffer. This might provide them with the incentive to improve them.
Once a week, let ministers go to a market to buy food for their families with instructions to not spend more than RM100.
Get ministers to carpool. They might get more work done just by being able to talk to each other to see what can be coordinated between their ministries. For instance, the Ministers of Health and Women could discuss what to do about women’s health issues in the car on the way to work. Maybe have a secretary to travel in the front seat to take down notes on what was discussed. By the time they get to their offices, things can get implemented.
Once a month, get civil servants to work with one disadvantaged group in order to be better able to appreciate their problems. It could be blind people one month, hearing disabled people the next, orang asli the following month and people living with HIV/AIDS after that.
We could start buddy systems which pair one civil servant with one disadvantaged person and at the end of it, ask each pair to make recommendations on how to make life better for each other. This might get rid of the problem of desk jockeys, people who never stray very far from their desks yet make policies for people they know nothing about.
Have PA systems that shout out the name of the officers who have to serve people at government offices so that people get the services they came for and don’t have to keep coming back just because the officer was out having coffee.
No counter should be left unmanned for more than five minutes before the officer is paged to go back to their stations. This should cut down waiting time for the public and save them transport costs in having to keep returning just to get one thing done.
Government officers who lose people’s files should be fined and have their names publicised for being careless and causing inconvenience to the public. Instead of making the public travel to their offices several times to deal with their problems, they should travel to go see their client and deal with it right there and then.
And every officer who goes out of the office should be given a reasonable time to get his work done after which he is expected back in office so he doesn't waste time doing something else.
And newspapers should save paper by reporting real news rather than non-news that they carry, particularly nonsensical utterances by politicians.

As they say, we need to do this all together in order to make a difference. So if the Government and politicians make these lifestyle changes, I will do my part and change mine.

Source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/6/18/focus/21566187&sec=focus

Summer Vacation 2008

2008-06-17T22:17:00.004-06:00

Finally, we made it. I thought I'm not gonna make it as I was so full with works but a week off and we covered a lot. Well, some place like Grand Canyon you just never have enough. We really enjoyed our trip. The route is absolutely beautiful. The most scenic is of course Colorado. You just so lost to her beautiful mountains, the streams, the greens of the new leaves, the blue sky. we loves the view so much. When we was in Vegas, I almost tempted to drive down to Los Angeles but then it means more time and no planning. My husband have a relative who live there at a place called Tarzana? Well, I would like to bring the kids to Tarzana but maybe some other time. So, two of the list in my wish list has been fulfilled. I am hoping the next trip will cover Niagara Falls, NY; Hershey's Chocolate Factory, NY, World of Coca Cola,AL and Walt Disney World, FL. Well, let's do some saving shall we? So, this is our wrap up for the Summer 2008 Vacation.

Sabtu, Jun 7 2008
Konon nak bangun pagi-pagi buta nak blah sebab subuh masa summer pukui 4 pagi. Tapi pasai semalam dah dok ofis ERC sampai petang then dok packing sampai tengah malam, tidoq pun dah dekat pukui 2 pagi maka kami terbabas la pulak. Nasib baik petang semalam, Seema dah bawak pi AAA ambik map free. Dia member so dapat free. Map tu la yang banyak menolong, kalau harap nak print dari Google Map tu tak cukup. Kami bertolak pukui 7 pagi dari rumah. Woish, jalan kat College Avenue punyalah clear kalau tidoq ataih jalan pun tak pa. Singgah Walmart Loveland beli ais ketoi untuk boh dalam ice box. Tak dan nak breakfast apa, buat sandwich dengan goreng nugget saja. Lepaih tu ada la cookies, buah ceri, roti kismis, chips and coklat. Kami ikut jalan lama. Perjalanan pun sungguh lama pasai Madame dah set nak singgah tidoq kat Durango so En Abang kena la drive berejam-jam untuk sampai sana. Tapi, dalam pada tu kami singgah Monarch Crest dan Blue Mesa Lake. Masa lalu dari Ouray-Silverton, mak aiii jalan dia punyalah berbelit, sempit, dalam pulak tu gaung dia.. Mau kalau jatuh tu gerenti mati punyalah.. Sempit sungguh jalan dia kira dari line putih tepi jalan tu (edge line) teruih sloping down pi bawah, tadak guard rail ka pagaq apa semua tak dak. Tapi pemandangan dia Subhanallah, sungguh cantik tak terkata. Dengan snow cap kat gunung ganang, pokok-pokok daun muda sebab daun baru keluaq masa spring, memang cantik sungguh lah. Fresh saja udara dia. Ni kawasan ni dulu depa mines diamond dan silver. Tapi, dah jadi ghost town dah la. Elevation kat situ ada yang reach more than 11,000 ft. Merentasi Colorado ni memang mencabar betoi pasai dari udara yang sedap bawak ke dingin ke panas, elevation pun berubah-ubah so sampai Durango, kepala pun sakit. Kena la pi cari ubat pasai tak boleh nak tidoq. Nasib baik la Apline Inn dia bilik luas dan selesa. Kami tidoq dengan penuh nyenyak pasai penat.

Ahad, Jun 8 2008
Bangun pagi, minum kopi dan makan donut semalam yang beli kat Walmart. Pekena lagi roti kismis Walmart tu, sedap pulak. Lepas tu, Boss pi angkut ice free boh dalam ice box, kami beli lagi 4 tin ayaq gas then teruih check out. On the way nak blah tu nampak pulak ada flea market, so singgah la sat cuci mata. Dan la beli seruling Indian dan frame kayu kecik handmade. Kayu tu kalau tak silap pakcik tu kata Birch wood kot.. dah lupa pulak kayu apa.. dia ukir sendiri by hand pakai besi panaih kot sebab dia dok tunjuk tangan dia habih melecoq. Kesian pulak tengok tu yang beli tu. Beli selipar kat budak2 ni pasai cuaca dah start panas so kesian pulak suh pakai kasut. Ada satu amoi Cina ni juai barang semua made in China. Hish, orang cina ni kan sampai ulu banat colorado pun dia boleh menega..kagum! Dalam pukui 12:30 kami bertolak nak pi Grand Canyon pulak ni. Ni express punya road trip tak boleh dok lama-lama. Rugi pulak tak singgah beli fridge magnet kat sini. Boleh lupa, adoiii rugi! Durango ni lokasi dia kat 4 corners, kat sini memang area Indian tribes ni. Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah. Babai ja kat pekan Durango dah turun bukit dah masuk kawasan gurun pulak dah. Ni dah masuk area Mesa Verde National Park. Tapi, nasib baik angin dia masih sejuk lagi so kami bukak tingkap la. Sungguh pun panas tapi sebab angin dia sejuk so sedap sajalah. Start ni gurun sedia. Tapi gurun dia lawa sungguh dengan bukit batu dan pasir yang dibentuk angin ni hasil dia memang menakjubkan. Masa ni macam lalu pekan koboi yang selalu masuk tv tu la. Start masuk Arizona saja dah start panas dah. Tak tahan pulak panas-panas ni walhal kat Aloq Staq tu panaih jugak. Dah dok besa suhu bawah 20 ni yang jadi lagu ni bila kena panaih. Kat pukui 5 kami sampai Grand Canyon lalu kot Kayenta. Masuk kat Grand Canyon tu kena bayaq USD25 satu van untuk seminggu. Teruih pi check in kat Maswik Lodge. Rate dia USD86++ semalam. Mujuq dapat pasai book last minute. Dok rehat sat dalam bilik, kami keluaq balik pi tengok sunset pulak. Kalut la sikit pasai pi dah lambat, mana nak baca map lagi kan.. sib baik dan jugak tengok sunset. Memang kenangan yang tidak dapat dilupakan lah.. cantik sungguh. Lepas sun dah set, kami linger sat dok ambik gambaq lagi sampai dah gelap baru blah nak pi cari makan kat cafe dia. Rupanya penuh orang pack pasai semua yang lepaih tengok sunset teruih singgah cafe nak melantak. Budak2 ni pulak time tu la depa dok buat lasak, mana badan belangaih lagi ni so last-last kami balik bilik pi mandi dulu. Tadi masa on the way tu ada singgah kedai Dollar shop, Boss dia beli megi 4 cawan. Lepaih mandi, dok prepare la nak masak megi dengan ayaq panaih ni sebab dah tak larat, bedai pi lah apa pun, dok belek2 ingredient dia tengok2 ada bubuh pork powder. Hampeh sungguh! Boss tak prasan pasai dia nampak Megi Udang ingat tak dak la.. dah tak dak apa nak makan maka kalut la Madame pi cari makan kat cafe. Masa tu dah pukui 9:20, cafe tutup pukui 10 malam. Sib baik sempat kalu tidak kebuluq la kami anak beranak. Lepaih ni kena bawak rice cooker la.

Isnin, Jun 9 2008
Ni memang dah penat sungguh dah ni. Plan tu konon nak pi tengok sunrise tapi tak larat la. Boss saja yang pi, kami 3 beranak dok melengkoq kat ataih katil lagi melayan perasaan penat ni. Lepaih tu, dok pikiaq, tak boleh jadi ni, bukan senang nak mai sini maka Madame pun bangun teruih kerah anak2 pi mandi siap2 nak pi jalan. Teruih la packing baju semua ready nak check out. Boss balik terkejut dia tengok kami anak beranak dah ready to rock n roll. Masuk beg semua dalam minivan kami tu teruih pi check out. Sampai kat admin ofis tengok jam tangan rupa-rupanya baru pukui 7:30. Hampeh sungguh jam meja kat bilik hotel tadi tunjuk pukui 10:00, ingat dah lewat sangat dah. Pastu pikiaq balik, tengok map rasa teruih check out lah senang. Tu dia bayaq untuk tidoq saja punyalah mahai. Shopping beli souvenir kat kedai dia, pastu beli buku Grand Canyon satu then teruih kami pi pusing Grand Canyon singgah kat Look-out point dia satu-satu ambik gambaq. Melilau pi melilau mai dah pukui 1. So, pasai nak pi Vegas pulak ni maka kami pun terpaksa la ucap babai kat Grand Canyon. Turun Grand Canyon ke Flagstaff, dok pi cari makan tak jumpa satu pun yang bekenan so isi minyak teruih drive ikut I-40. Sampai kat Selignman perut dah kebuluran so pi la cari kedai makan mana ada. Dari Seligman, drive lagi untuk ke Vegas. Dalam pada tu, singgah ambik gambaq sat kat Hoover Dam. Niat di hati tu nak masuk dalam Museum dia tapi pasai cuaca sungguh panas, tak tahan la pulak so teruih nak direct check in saja. Sejam lepaih tu kami pun sampai kat Las Vegas. Lupa pulak nak print map ke hotel so main agak2 saja. Singgah kat kedai 7 Eleven ni tanya awek cashier tu dia cakap jalan straight down. Kira betoi jugak la Madame agak2 jalan..he..he..he.. Yelah, Boss kena fokus drive, Madame pulak baca map. Rupa-rupanya, Circus Circus ni dok betoi2 kat ujung The Strip. Nak masuk pi check in ni cerita lain pulak, punyalah ramai umat manusia, sesak sungguh. Kena beratoq bukan main panjang nak check-in. Madame pulak pi tinggai passport dalam rheta dah kena pi ambik balik pulak. Sib baik parking kat chk-in parking lot tu. Dapat kunci dah dok kena perosah nak angkut beg pulak kat ataih. Ramai sungguh la orang. Bilik dia besaq tapi coffee maker pun takdak. Dok rehat-rehat kami pun keluaq cari makan dan ronda-ronda Las Vegas. Malam tu flat tidoq dengan lenanya. Eh, sebelum tu dok try jugak tengok channel XXX dia, rupanya dia caj satu filem USD12, harap maap lah. Ingatkan free boleh la peek a look pasai budak2 ni ada sekali tak boleh la overkan, nak tengok sikit saja. Kena bayaq rupanya. Internet pun kena bayaq. At least, lembap-lembap Alpine Inn kat Durango tu free la internet wi-fi dia tu. Budak2 ni nak main game online pun tak boleh. Nak pi melepak kat slot machine kat kasino kat bawah tu pun tak boleh jugak pasai budak bawah 18thn langsung tak boleh linger kat situ so Madame suruh Boss sajalah pi jalan-jalan malam tu. Madame pulak buat taik mata dengan budak2 ni.

Selasa, Jun 10 2008

After 5 months

2008-06-02T22:50:00.005-06:00

Next thing you know is five months has gone by and the farthest we've been is to Denver. I wanted to make a trip but I don't know when. I guess by Wednesday I should just pack up and go and forget about everything else. If I did not do anything by now, we probably won't go anywhere until December. I mean, Aqil will start school about the same time my Fall classes begin. By then, I will be twice as busy as I was in Spring. So, either now or nothing.

OK, first where to hit? I just don't have any place specific to go so I think perhaps we should hit to Las Vegas. I wanted to go to Yellowstone but I guess we don't have any place to stay. The Niagara Falls is too far to drive, the train tickets is sold out so that no other option but to adjourn it to next time, only God knows when. Mount Rushmore..well, Hubby just so prefer the Sin City over the president's faces. So, nearest spot available is Vegas or Santa Fe. Well, let just say we hit to Vegas. OK, I'll check the room and all and see what we can come out with.

Oh btw, I got a place to work in Engineering Research Center (ERC) so I'll be bringing in some stuff to keep the shelves occupied and not so empty. I prefer to work at home because it's more convenience plus at home you'll get all the foods and whatnot. But I guess I just have to show up there sometimes to make sure I'm in "active mode " and to show of that things are working fine. Basically, my workspace at home are so much better than at ERC but on the other hands, you will be working more seriously than you will at home. It's a spacious room and I share it with 4 others. Sang Do, a PhD candidate from Korean, Kevin from Lousiana and Quentin from New Mexico, both works as Research Assistant over this Summer and Natalie, my classmate. Well, it is interesting because you can stop and ask them questions and all and it always fun to meet people. Nevertheless, I love working at home.

Glen Haven

2008-05-27T00:51:00.011-06:00

Last Sunday we went to have picnic at Glen Haven. I kind of pop up the idea around half past 12. I quickly fix us some salads and packed up whatever available. We stopped by at Walmart to buy some soda and cakes then head to Estes Park. The canyon winding road still wonderful although I wish we could stop by the road and enjoy the beauty of the Big Thompson Canyon. It was Sunday and it's in Summer plus next day is Memorial Day so the were more crowds than before. Well, the wild beauty makes the whole things worth coming back. This time we'd make sure the battery's full. Though, I still wish we have Camcorders so that we can capture it in motion.. the pictures did not do justice to the real scenery. Views are breathtaking.

We stopped at our favorite spot at Lower North Fork Picnic Ground. I like the way this people provided the table and all with a certain distant to give privacy to visitors. It even have a built in griller for those who wanted to chillin' and grillin'. Unlike Malaysian style where we normally can see what the neighbors is eating and can even hear the talking as well. The weather is nice and warmer than our previous visit. Still, it is way too cold to dip yourself in the inviting streams and enjoy the water. It remains icy cold. Well, perhaps next time we can do some grillin' huh?

Everyday Malaysian

2008-04-26T15:43:00.006-06:00

This is just like the Everyday Italian where the beautiful host Giada De Laurentiis show you how to make a very simple Italian dishes for everyday eating. Well, I'm just so much Malaysian that I couldn't live without eating rice. Of course I can survive by eating bread or pasta everyday but since you have a choice so you just end up eating Malaysian dishes everyday. After all, our local dishes are so rich in flavors and oil too. It just kind of make you addicted.

So, today's lunch is a quick and easy one. Fried fish and fried shrimps. Everything fried, how unhealthy. Well, I just made fresh salad few days ago and that will balance back for the whole week. Fair enough, huh?

Fried Shrimp With Chillies

Quick and easy and super duper delicious too! Just sprinkled the shrimps with tumeric powder and lil' bit of salt. Fried the shrimp on high heat with sliced onions and garlic. Keep aside and on the same skillet, fried some onions and garlic again, add in Sambal Olek and stir well, add in some dark soy sauce and oyster sauce, add in some sugar and stir until the chillies thicken, you can add a dollop of butter to thickens it, then put back the shrimp into the skillet, mix well and it's done!

Fried Fish with Bell Pepper

As easy as 1,2,3.. marinate the fish with tumeric powder, paprika, salt and fish sauce. Let it sit for 1/2 hour. Then, fry the fish. I love crispy fish. Put the fish on the plate. Using the same skillet and oil, fry the red and green capsicum, onions and garlic (cubed em while frying the fish). Fried until the onion and garlic has turn light brown. Dashed in some light soy sauce, sprinkle some black pepper and let it simmers for a while. Pour the whole things on the fish and you're good to go.

Back to school!

2008-04-21T21:45:00.004-06:00

Wantan Mee Wannabe

2008-04-19T21:56:00.009-06:00

I had a craving to have a good Wantan Dry Mee like I used to have it in Amcorp Mall, PJ. I saw the noodles in Viet Hoa so I bought it. I made this on Thursday and browse the recipe on the net and came out on my own conscience. It is not really Wantan because I don't make any Prawn Wantan or Chicken Wantan like the Chinese so this is more like Wantan Mee Wannabe. It was inspired but the Wantan Mee style but more like a fusion I may say.

The prep is tedious but it's a good turn out. There's a lot of things to prepare and you only have limited equipment and limited spaces too. The recipe is easy but a bit tedious to people like me.

1 chicken leg, boil it to make some sort of chicken soup. I throw some chopped ginger, onion, garlic and carrots to add some flavor. I even sprinkled a tiny dust of Garam Masala. Now, that's not really Chinese when you add in Garam Masala ok! Cooked well and after that use a fork or your own fingers to make shredded chicken similar like we make it for Soto Ayam.

For the sauce, well the Chinese don't eat hot and spicy like the Malays. I like hot and spicy but I don't want to make separate sauce. So, I just fried some onions and garlic, put in 3 tbs of Sambal Olek and stir well. Put in some Oyster sauce, dark soy sauce and some sugar because it's bit too hot. Add in some of the chicken soup to it and bring it to boil. The viscosity is to your own liking. I like it not too thick and not too thin.

The condiments, fried shallot, spring onions/green onions, lightly blanch mustard greens. As for the shrimp, I just drop it in the chicken soup for a while. Blanch the noodles for while and rinsed it with cold water then lightly rinsed with warm water again for seconds before you served. Well, you can serve it with chillies too but my sauce was too hot already. Just pour in some of the soup and eat. Bon Appétit

Seri Kaya

2008-04-19T20:56:00.006-06:00

On my recent grocery trip to Denver last Sunday, I bought a can of Yeo's Kaya at Viet Hoa Supermarket for $2.28. It was rather cheap. I just bought one because I wanted to try it out first. Well, back home, I never bought any Kaya except for Gardenier's Aunt Rosie Kaya. Who want to eat a Kaya from a can where you can buy a better one? Even Aqil was asking me why don't I buy the one like I used to. So, I told him those are not available here. When I opened up the can, the color of the Kaya looks too bright but hey, you don't have a choice right? The taste are nice and it turned out that the boys loves the Kaya so much that they finished the whole can in a week. Aqif can eat up bread with Kaya up to 7 slices a day, ok?

So, the boys loves the Kaya and I ran out of it. I don't want to go to Denver just to buy a Kaya and so I was thinking hard to make the Kaya on my own. I never made a Kaya before. Heck, you can even count how many times I cooked in a year before and now, making my own Kaya? Isn't it too ambitious? So, today after lunch, I was so sleepy for over-eating ( I made Sambal Sotong and Ayam Goreng Berempah), I was trying hard not to sleep and so I said to myself, hey, let's try make the Kaya! So, I quickly browse for the recipe and try to find the easiest one.

I found one from Mak Lang. I think she had posted the recipe in Cari forum. I modified it to suit my taste and my degree of laziness and the availability in my kitchen. This is the original recipe:

1 cup of sugar + 3 egss (beaten until mixed well).....(1)
1.5 cup coconut milk....(2)
2 tbs corn starch.....(3)
1 cup of sugar + 1 cup of water (caramelized)...(4)

All the ingredients have to be mixed in order based on its number and cooked on a low heat until boil.

This is how I do it:

The recipe requested for gula hangus (caramelized sugar). Now, how on earth do I know how to caramelized the sugar? When I cooked it, it became granulated and I just don't know when it's going to melt and all I know is we are not supposed to let the sugar burn so I cooked it in a medium heat and started to curse myself for all the troubles just to make the Kaya. I could just let the boys eat the bread with jam and butter. So, after consider it might be a disaster anyway so I just pour in the water into the granulated sugar just like you make air gula. The color of course is clear brown and I keep on stir it until all the granulated sugar melt. Then, I let it cool on stove.

Next, I beaten the eggs and the sugar. Ohh, I did not measured the sugar correctly, well my style of cooking is always based on my own pleasure. So, I just used whatever amount I think is equivalent to a cup of sugar. Reason is, I am too lazy to take a cup and take a ladle and then spoon the sugar in a cup to make sure it is a cup of sugar. Anyway, so the eggs was beaten.

Then, I just mixed the Adabi Instant Coconut Milk (the small packet) mixed it with some warm water, also not measured accordingly and stir it well. Well, just use your common sense.

Now the cooking, in a pot (make sure the heat is set to low-med), pour in the beaten eggs and sugar, then in goes the coconut milk, next, quickly mixed wheat flour with some warm water and pour it in the pot, ( I don't have corn flour), after that sieve the caramelized sugar liquid and pour it in the pot. Stir well on the medium heat until it thickens. My mixture was too watery that I thought I just failed it but I keep on stirring the mixture. Now, because of my laziness for not measured the sugar, my mixture was too sweet I had to add another helpful of wheat flour into the pot to reduced the sweetness. It took me almost an hour to get something that looks similarly to a Kaya.

Well, I did it at last. I am so surprised and so pleased too. Here's the look. Finally, it worth the time and the trouble to make your own homemade Kaya. It is free from any artificial coloring or artificial flavor. Except, maybe from the Adabi Instant Coconut Milk but it tastes good. I gave Aqil a try and he loves it. So, I hope the supply will last for another 2 weeks or longer.

Click click

2008-04-03T21:22:00.018-06:00

This is my workspace.. The Sony VAIO from Amazon.. printer from Office Max. Books all from CSU library. The pencil case from home, (used for QA4 at INTAN). The desk lamp from Target. The black computer desk, from Craiglist. The writing desk come with the apartment. This is my desk at its best so you can imagine when it's not. Not bad, eh?

These are my boys. Well, although they are boys, Mommy had decorated it with garlands of pink flowers. Well, Mommy loves flowers and since Mommy don't have any girl of her own to put in pretty pink flowers on, so, I'm sorry boys, you have to deal with it. Like it or not, it seems soothing to my eyes.. Although, Mommy know it's a NO-NO to boys..

Anyways, meet Aqif and Aqil. Aqif the little one looks a bit reserved and Aqil seems to flash his dolly eyes and somehow peculiar smile.. So, Aqil and Aqif.. sorry for the flowers and the pink buttons, OK?

Muhammad Aqil Muzaffar
January 12, 2003
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Favorites:
roti canai, pizza, burger, coke, orange juice, cakes, chocolates, daging masak kicap

PS2 games- God of War, Ben 10, Avatar, Naruto 3, Ninja Turtle, Jack II, Black, Spiderman, Bully,etc

Notes:
Mommy would not allow you to own an X-BOX
Mommy was sorry to break you Bully disc into 2 bcos you are too young to play Bully

Muhammad Aqif Muzaffar
June 24, 2005
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Favorites:
roti canai, cereals, fresh milk, orange juice, cakes, jam, chocolates, nasi kicap

Power Rangers, Teletubbies, Blue's Preschool, Mickey Mouse, Barney, and science fiction movies

Notes:
Mommy was sorry for selling the Apple PC because the Apple was too old and too slow.
Mommy will buy you a laptop, OK?

Geert Wilders Hates Islam

2008-04-02T13:00:00.006-06:00

So, who the hell is this guy? Why he is so hateful to Islam? Why he is such a mess?

I think his popularity is declining and he needs to get it back. It's similar to celebrities who need to create a havoc to attract people attention and this freak learned from his past lesson that he earned an extra 3 seats in 2006 following his mocking to Muhammad SAW by drawing cartoons. Now, no more cartoons but a provocative film called Fitna and this was the most insulted movies ever made. He said his intention was to tell the truth and to hell what others think. For me this man does not know the truth. Perhaps by making this movie, may be his wish of becoming Dutch Prime Minister might come true then. Do you want this guy to be your leader? Ewww, that must be really gross!!

I am a Muslim and I love peace. I believe everyone in this whole universe loves to be with people they loves and to be respected for who they are. Although there are cases with maniacs who kill people for nothing or in this case who hates people for nothing. This guy had extract a few of the Holy Quran verses and only portrays what he wanted to portray. The truth is people can't just take out bit and pieces without showing the whole things. It's like the scene you see in the movie where the killer walked away while the innocent was found holding the bleeding knife or whatsoever and was put to jail for the crime he did not committed. Or just like the advertisement with nice sexy looking skin that at first look you thought it was a woman bottom but it turned out it was her feet!

There you go.. in this case although I do admit there are people out there who was a bit too extreme but why are they acting like that? If you were living in Palestine, poor and suffering with a never ending war, you might hates Jews as much as Hitler hates Jews or as much as Jews hates Hitler. Take the case in Bosnia or something else which involves the massacre of Muslims in the hands of Christians or Jews. There are people in this world who always being a victim to an extremists. Now, why this man hates Islam so much?

Gee..I don't know. What I know is the Jews thinks they are the most finest men on earth, the Arabs thinks they are the most finest too and the rest falls apart. For me, let's live in peace, don't bother about others and let other's don't bother about us. Islam teaches all Muslims to be nice to their parents and family, be nice to your neighbors and be nice to your fellow friends. In Surah Al-Kafiirun, the Muslims are taught to respect other religions as well as we wanted others to respect Islam. The translation as follows:

Say you, O infidels!
I worship not that you worship.
And nor you worship what I worship.
And I shall not worship what you worshiped.
And nor you shall worships what I worship.
For you, your religion. and for me my religion.

So, obviously this Dutch politician should learn more thoroughly before making a "fitnah" to Islam. All Muslims loves peace and we respect others like we wanted people to respect us. All religions wanted their believers to be nice and good. Good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell. So, make your choice and be nice and good. Treat others as you would want people to treat you and respect their belief as you would like people to respect yours. The world itself is full of diversity. You have diverse cultures, foods, weather and what not and of course you have diverse religions and belief. Choose whatever suit yours only don't ever insult others.

So, shall we call for a boycott Dutch products? I guess we shall. Here's the list:

Foods
Dutch Lady - Milk/Diary Products
Ferrero Roche - Chocolate
Wall’s - Ice Cream
Planta -Margerine
Lady’s Choice -Margerine
Lipton -Tea
Knorr -Food Additives
Sunlight - Margerine
Kieldsens -Chocolate
Lego -Raisin
Duyvis -Junk Food
Gouda -Cheese
Pickwick -Tea
Venz -Chocolate Butter
Kinder Bueno -Chocolate
Unilever -All products
Dumex -Milk Powder
Nutricia -Baby Milk
Doriana -Cheese Cream
Bertolli -Cooking Oil

Households
Breeze -Detergent
Sun -Detergent
Surf -Detergent
Wishbone -Detergent
Sunlight -Dishwasher Liquid
Cif -Floor Detergent
Robin -Floor/Apparels Cleaner
Ariel -Floor/Apparels Cleaner
Omo -Floor/Apparels Cleaner

Personal Care
Dove -Bathing
Radiant -Deodorant
Rexona -Deodorant
Ponds -Beauty Product
Slimfast -Slimming Product
Clear -Shampoo
Sunsilk -Shampoo
Fair & Lovely -Cosmetics
Lux -Bath/Shower Soaps
Vaseline -Lip Balm
Labello -Lip Balm

Others
Shell -Petrol
ING -Insurance
Philips -Electrical Products

PLEASE BOYCOTT DUTCH PRODUCTS. THANK YOU.

Roti Canai

2008-03-30T19:47:00.014-06:00

Roti Canai is Malaysian's favorite food. It is more than a snack. People take it in their breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner, supper.. you name it. You can eat it with almost any curry, from plain curry with a dollop of Sambal Ikan Bilis (Anchovies in Fried Chillies) or meat massala or even plain dhal. Small children normally eats Roti Canai with sprinkle of sugar or even treats it with sweetened condensed milk. Perfect drink that goes well with Roti Canai is either Teh Tarik or Kopi O (black coffee). Some who thinks they are on diet will take it with plain tea with no sugar. Isn't it ironic?

Anyways, my whole family simply loves Roti Canai and back home in KL, we used to take the kids at late afternoon after coming home from work (if we have sufficient time) to nearby restaurant to eat Roti Canai. Normally, on Saturdays or Sundays, if Mak Wan does not made breakfast we will eat roti canai at one of our favorite places. Our favorites spots are Alif Raya at Alam Damai or Briyani Johor at Suakasih, Bandar Tun Hussein Onn. We even drive up to Bt. 10 Hulu Langat and simply drop by any interesting restaurant to have Roti Canai. Sometimes, we even took the kids to Pasar Muhibbah Ampang, near our office. (I missed Nasi Lemak Along there. I even had a dream few days ago eating the Nasi Lemak and it feels real!).

Basically, these rituals is sort of family entertainment and quality time spend together in a most enjoyable fashion possible plus the most cheapest too. Everyone will simply enjoy it and the kids will have it with their favorite drink, Teh O Ais Limau (Ice Lime Tea) while we will have it with Teh Tarik. After all, Roti Canai is easily available through out the country as it is our favorite food and most consumed meal by Malaysians after rice. It is available 24-7 especially at Mamak Restaurants. So, everybody loves Roti Canai and you can enjoy eat it anytime you want!

Now, living abroad away from home, my husband has developed a progressive skill in the arts of making Roti Canai. Aqil can eat up to 3 piece in one setting and Aqif can eats 2. Whenever I made curry for lunch or for dinner, the kids will request for Roti Canai and Baba will make them their favorite food. I hopes when we return home later, Baba can keep up the good job of making delicious home made Roti Canai. After all, the Roti Canai price in KL has gone up to RM1 per piece. It will sure save lots of money to make 'em yourself!

Recipe:

Ingredient
1 cup of bleached wheat flour
1 cup of warm water
1 tblspn of sweetened condensed milk
1 tblspn of butter
1 egg
1/2 teaspn of salt
Vegetable oil for cooking

Method:
1. Sift the flour directly to the bowl
2. Pour in the salt, milk,egg and butter and mix well by hand
3. Add warm water little by little and keep on mixing the dough until soft
4. Make a small rounded ball-like dough and lightly coated the dough with oil
5. Leave the dough to softened in room temperature for at least 2 hours
6. Then you can start flatten it
7. Keep remaining dough in the fridge.

Welcoming Student's World

2008-03-27T19:54:00.005-06:00

The time now is 6 minutes to 8pm. I was so tired but I guess yesterday was even worst. This week is the most busiest week ever since I officially being a graduate student.

On Sunday night I was struggling to solve the Crop Water Requirement assignment. It was really hard and I thought I have to submit it the next morning. I was going to ask Dr. Oad to give me more time because I hardly can solve the problem. I slept late past midnight. I've been sleeping late these days.. it is kind of a new trend nowadays.

Monday..I woke up earliest possible and after quick cleaning up, I went straight to my desk and started punching my calculator and keyboard trying hard to get it solved. The class start at 11 and there I was so tensed and tried hard to get it done. The time always move super duper fast when you most need it. I had a super quick shower at 10:30 and madly run my bike to class because I don't want to be late. Well, guess what, the assignment was supposed to be turned in by Wednesday. Ha..ha..ha.. very funny eh? But, at least I have more time and Dr. Oad had explained in class on how to solve it and I managed to check with Alicia on what are the data to download. No wonder I have trouble solving it, I had download the monthly summary and I was supposed to download dailies. I like this subject a lot and I am considering to take some more irrigation related classes. The irrigation stuff really fascinates me. You learned on water control and you can apply hydraulics in there and you help people too! You help farmers to irrigate their crop and you help people to have their food supply. I am now considering to work in Irrigation Division when I come back. It will be interesting I guess.

Tuesday.. well, we had Water Colloquium at Hilton and I did not know that Dr Julien went to class, I thought he cancelled it. I missed the class. Morning, rushed to Hilton for awhile and rushed back to Engineering building for GIS class at 11-1. Dr Labadie had gave some review on the coming Mid-term exam on next Tuesday and it's going to be a closed book exam with all topics for the past 3 months. After the class I rushed back to Hilton and it was past lunch time there already and my tummy was rumbling so I went back home to eat. I'm starving! I wanted to go back to Hilton but then I stayed home and try to finish up Dr. Oad's assignment. It was a very tedious computations in Excel and very time consuming. That was Penman equations.

Wednesday.. I'd raised early and had some quick review on Water Control Structures. I have to re-sit the test because my paper was missing. The class dismissed at 12 and the test will be at 2pm. I went to Hydrology Days at Lory's and stayed there until 10 minutes to 2 and went to Dr. Oad's office for the test. It was pretty easy but pretty confusing too. After the test, I spend the rest of the afternoon in GIS lab working on the assignments. The assignments was not GIS it was hydrology. We have to solve this Green Ampt problem and it was very confusing with this whole infiltration things and the use of logical function and what not. We also have to use Solver which I never used it before. The tools was very easy of course but the assignment was not. I went back home around 10 minutes to 6 and arrived home 7 minutes later. I'm glad I bought a bike, it really helps me get around campus. Came home still struggling until midnight.

Thursday.. There was a quick snow shower in the morning and it made me a bit reluctance to go to Hydrology Days. So, I linger for a while. I hate the idea of biking in a wet day. The shower stopped around 8:20. I leaved the house around 9 and went to the conference room to listen for a while. At 11, I started to do my unsolved Green Ampt equations and had been working on it until 4. I was almost cried because I was so done with repeating the same bloody things and don't get the right answer. I am so thankful to Maia, my Russian friend who had helped me identified what was wrong with my formula. Apparently, I did not changed any units so that's why I kept getting bigger values. Ohh how I hate units conversion. It always play tricks on you. So, finally, I managed to sent the assignment on time. The deadline was 5pm. I went home and feel so relieved. A burden finally lifted up although there are many more waiting.

So, tomorrow, I will leave home early for the Hydrology Days. Tonight, I will prepare my Program of Study which I was supposed to submit to JPA within the first 3 months and apparently I failed to do that. I'm going to tell Dr Julien that I will not do any Independent Study this Summer because I simply don't have any idea what to do. I will do it on the next Summer.

Well, I really feel like student again. I am so thankful my husband has been a GREAT HELP on this and I am not sure what will I do without him. I also had spent less time with the kids and luckily they understand that Mama have lots of works to do. I'm glad this is only Master's program. So, next time when I want to do any doctorate program, I better re-consider it. It takes a long time to get and old engine running well!

My travel wish list

2008-03-24T16:00:00.011-06:00

Travel.. everybody loves travel and ever since we're here, we did not travel anywhere further than Denver. Gosh.. how I hate that. I missed all the beaches and the streams in Malaysia. I missed all the good foods and good outing in Malaysia. Anyways, we are planning to do some travel here but I really don't have time and of course the money. Although, relatively, foods, gas and bed is rather cheap compare to hotels in Malaysia but still if you're going to use your own pocket money than it means triple the cost and it is not so cheap anymore. Ohh, I how wish Hubby can get a work permit here. It's not like we're going to stay here forever, we're going to be here for only 2 years! I hope I don't have to take any class at all this Summer. Can I find a way of an escapade? Hmmm....

These are my wish list and right now since Aqif, my lil' boy still small maybe by the end of this year we'll be able to get a rough ride to the Wild Wild West..yee harrr...

My wish list...

1. Rocky Mountain National Park

Individual Entrance Fees:

Automobile: $20 - Valid for seven consecutive days, including date of purchase.

2. Grand Canyon National Park

The entrance fee to Grand Canyon National Park is $25 per private vehicle. The fee for an individual entering by foot, bicycle, motorcycle, or non-commercial group is $12.00 per person. Admission is for seven days and includes both the North Rim and South Rim. No refunds are given due to inclement weather.

So, make sure you plan well, huh?

3. Niagara Falls, NY

This is simply marvellous! I've been dreaming to go here since I was a kid. Remember the TV series about that girl who had this power and she's working at Niagara? What a pleasure to work there even for just Sales Assistant!. Isn't it wonderful to see the gush of water flowing down, the hydraulic jumps will simply amaze you how unbelievable it is. Coming here means we have to spend a night here, I don't want to miss seeing the Falls at night. Please.. let me go here..

4. Disneyland, CA

This is for the kids of course. My dream of coming here has long been buried. I don't care that much if I can't go here but I'm sure the kids will curse me if I don't bring them here when we already in US. This place is sure costly and I need extra planning to make sure we can have the best possible for the kids. I know of course I will be delighted as the kids will but this one is a must visit place before we go back to KL. It will be so colorful and so lively with all those familiar Disney's cartoons character and I know the kids will enjoy it very much.

That will be all for now. There are many more but I need to get back to work and don't want to spend my afternoon dreaming about this trip...

Let's do Asian groceries

2008-03-22T14:36:00.019-06:00

Yesterday was Maulidur Rasul day. Prophet Muhammad SAW birthday. Well, there was a ceremony held at Fort Collins Islamic Center buy we did not join them. Why? Because we don't want to. You will be surrounded by Arabs and you will feel like alien because they will only talk to themselves. OK, so we went to Post Office at Boardwalk Drive because I had received a note which I did not understand. It turned out that the postman had paid 17 cents to a mail sent to me with insufficient stamp. You know what, the Americans can do their passport at the post office. How convenient!

Anyways, we went straight to Aurora because I really wanted to find the Zaytoon International Market. We got lost on the last attempt which I found out later that I had mistakenly mark the place on my map at the wrong location. It was very far and I started to feel that it was not worth it. We found the place eventually and I was very glad indeed. The owner has greeted me with "Assalamualaykum, sister and how are you doing?" when I opened up the door. She was a very sweet looking lady and there were several young Arabs having lunch on the corner of the store. The store is very clean and the deli offers looks very delicious. I noticed that the prices for sandwiches with fries started from 7.99. I would love to try it but we're just on a very tight budget. If we had lunch there I had calculated that we might spend at least $30 or more and I can't afford it. Not until the next allowance because we're just moved in here and we've been spending a lot of money to start a living. Of course I can always use my salary but I don't want to use it. Anyways, I bought a smoked whitefish for $6.99 and lots of beef from stew style to shanks and ribs. I also bought a box of Maggie Beef Stock in a cube for $5.55. Well, I like this store a lot but it is too far from my place. The owner is a very nice Muslim American lady. Anyhow, I will go there again to try out her food. It looks very inviting.

After that we went to search another store, World Bazaar at Havana Street at the back of Kia Motors Office. The store is owned by an American from Pakistan and it have lots of spices and herbs for curry ingredients. They also sells very huge pots like the one you use for kenduri kahwin. I bought chicken and more meats here and it is halal too. You can also buy Quran, brooches and scarf from here. They have that too. I bought more Shan's brand spices and garam masala. I like the Shan Korma Curry and I don't mind if you can't have Adabi or Alagappas. This one is good too. It have many types from Masala to White Korma. I use Plain Yogurt instead of Santan and saved on Asam Jawa (tamarind). So, if you're looking for curry powder, I recommend the Shan brand. It's good.

Next stop is of course the Asian groceries. I went to Viet Hoa Supermarket at Alameda Avenue. Wow, from East to West just for the sake of tekak (throat), huh? This store is clean and have varieties of choices from fresh veges to fresh ulam like pegaga and ulam raja. It also have keladi (yam), taugeh, durian, coconut and you named it. The fish looks fresh and nice and they have live frog and frozen snails too! Hello, this is Vietnamese store OK? I bought another stock of kuey tiaw and fresh noodles. We also bought Jasmine rice (50lb pack) for only $22.50. They also have Milo in tin (3.3 lb) for $10.80. I loves this store and it's very similar to Pacific Ocean Market at Broomfield but I prefer Viet Hoa better. So, this will be my favorite store from now on.

Last snow before Spring?

2008-03-19T14:47:00.022-06:00

Well, it was Sunday and I was reading my third book, Rebecca. I started read the book before I went to sleep and I slept at 2.30 a.m. and end up to overslept on Sunday morning. The weather looks fine but cloudy. I told my hubby that we can go to Denver tomorrow because I have to finish my reading or else I could not have some peace of mind. I made Ayam Masak Lemak for lunch and after cleaned up the dishes it's reading time. It started to snow around 4p.m. and I instantly knew that tomorrow trip's to Denver had to be postponed. Anyway, I finished read the book just before dinner and spent the night watching movies.

I'm not going to review the book but I'm going to tell you that hey, we have snow in March? I always fond of snow. I loves snow and watching it falling at night gives you a peace of mind and considering that I had finished all the books and no class tomorrow, it even more peaceful. The kids loves the snow too. I would like to go to Breckenridge once and maybe during the next Christmas break will be a good time then. Well, maybe....

The next day, Monday, was the grocery day where we're supposed to go to Denver to buy all the Asian supply and Halal meat. But we did not feel like it. We spent the morning having fun playing with the snow. Aqif were busy scooping the snow to his orange bucket. He even ate those snow when nobody is looking and when I caught him doing that he simply said, "Ice mama.. ice..." and smiles. Yeah, right!

We still go to Denver though.. we were so bored that we just get the coat and head to I-25 and straight to Broomfield to find a new found Asian stores. It was half past 4 when we leave the house. After missed the store and made a U-turn several miles ahead, we found the Pacific Ocean Market. It was big and they have varieties of Asian foods. I bought Squid brand fish sauce, taugeh and black soy sauce which is not thick enough but sufficient enough considering it's very hard to find.

Eventually, I prefer shopping my groceries at Vietnam stores in Federal Boulevard so we head South to those stores. I was afraid the stores will close as it was already half past 5. Luckily, we made it and so I bought some more lemongrass (serai), fresh kuey tiaw, bihun, sawi and some other sauces. We tried to find Zaytoon International Market to buy halal meats but somehow we got lost and it was already 8pm and so we headed home. It was silly though, I know. We had tapau Fish Sandwich at Arby's on the way home. It was OK but I prefer Wendy's fish fillet. It's more delicious! So, that was that. Snow and Denver. We had both although the kids not enjoy the ride to Denver.

Spring Break Part I - reading

2008-03-15T20:15:00.009-06:00

Today is the beginning of my 1 week Spring Break and yet I just don't have any idea where to hit to.. Well, to be honest, I was actually trying to finish up reading the classic story book that I had borrowed from CSU library. I had borrowed three books with a goal to finish it up before the class resume.I always hooked up with the book until I finish reading it. It was sinful when you have so much of works to do but you just can't let it go.

I had finish read the first book- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen before the break. I borrowed the book because I had watched the film last Sunday and was so moved by it. It was my second time, the first time I watch it on Astro HBOs and the recent one was aired on OH! I read the book because I found Mr Darcy and Lizzie was simply romantic. I love the film better because the book was rather dull and boring. Plus, the illustration in the book would make Mr Darcy looks so plain it was not worth pursuing. However it was worth reading it so you could understand a lot more than just watching the movie alone. The book I read was in plain hard cover with the classic floral prints.

I always loves Keira Knightley especially her acts in Pirates of the Carribean. Although she is so terribly skinny she is so beautiful. I wish I could tell her right in her face that she should put up some weight. It will be a blessing if I could transfer some of my fat to her. Mr Darcy on the other hand is a very new face to me. Matthew McFadyen might be infamous in Britain but he looks dashingly handsome in the movie. This is quite and old movie, release in Nov. 2005 so I shouldn't put lots of review here. One thing I am sure of is I simply loves the ending in the movie than the ending in the book. I think I will have to watch Atonement too. Yeah, I know, I always late on these sort of things. Oh, credit to allmoviephoto.com for the above pix. Thanks!

I just finished my second book today. It was Anne of Green Gables. This was a re-read after so many years ago which I myself couldn't even remember when I last read the book. I remember I was so happy when they aired it as TV series back then. I found Anne of Green Gables website and was so thrill to see those faces again. Anne's as most known is always a wonderful book you simply loves to read over and over again. I wish they will air the series on TV again. I loves to have a pleasure of watching it again. I'm sure many of us does. Problem is, after you finished it, you simply wanting more. There are 8 series for the Anne story. While searching for the picture in Amazon, I saw the offer for the whole series in a box for a mere $29.04, this is irressistable! I will do some cost benefits analysis on whether or not to make a purchase.

The third book have to wait. I also had read it before. It started with the famous line of "Last night I dreamt I went to Menderley again" Yes, it is Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. This classic book was published in 1938. I vividly remember I had cried reading this book. In fact, I always cried when reading something sad and touchy. What a sensitive soul, heh? I know if I start read the book tonight I will not go anywhere until I finish reading it all. My mind will not put to rest until I know the ending. So, I will stop for now until I finish my GIS homework and Dr. Oad's assignments on Crop Water Requirement. Until then, I don't know how long I can resist the book.

I will resolve the purchase of Anne series later because I was thinking to buy the DVD Platinum edition of Lord of The Rings trilogy at Amazon. I had finished reading the first two series, The Ring and The Two Towers just before I came to US and my plan was to finish the third, The Return of The King in here. Unfortunately, the bloody Pos Malaysia had messed up my stuff and I had left with nothing. I also lost my treasured Hydrology textbook too. I had tried not to talk about the "tragedy" because it will boiled me with so much anger.

Now, let's type something nice like Anne would say, "something with a scope of imagination". I just love reading because it brings so much youth into you. I always fancy reading with an exclusion of textbooks and journals. How terribly sad I must be. I should be like Anne who really diligent in her study. OK, time now quarter past 10 and Aqif had sleep already. I need to plan for tomorrow's trip. We'll go to Denver of course to buy some supplies but I was thinking to make a longer trip. Hubby wanted to go to Vegas but I guess I'm not ready yet. Well, we'll see.

Pos Malaysia - Jangan Percaya

2008-03-10T20:46:00.005-06:00

I am so mad, I am so very very mad. Maybe to some extents, even madder than some politicians who lose their seats of power to BA. This posting is not about how BN lose 5 states to their "opponents". We had enough blogs like RPK, Rocky Bru, Kadir Jasin, Sang Kelembai and what not that could give you more details with extra juicy flavors. Hey, we even have Gerbang Tempur Umno and Harakah too if you want different angle of the stories.

I'm here to tell how F#$^&!^G Pos Malaysia had made me lost thousands of my money and hopes. I'm not as rich as KJ or Mak Cik Terengganu who had simply thrown money for the election. That's why I am pissed off with these whole thing. I don't have a lot of money OK!

The story begin when I had sent two parcels to myself about more than 2 months ago. To be exact, the day before Muslims in Malaysia celebrated Hari Raya Haji. Yes, you read me, I sent 2 parcels to myself. Sendiri kirim, sendiri terima. One box (the box is the biggest size Pos Malaysia could offer) contains food, dried foods like Chilli Powder, Rempah Sup, Kari Ayam etc. The other parcel contains my textbook, my notes on some of my works done in my office, my Lord of The Ring trilogy books, color pencil and crayons for my kids, drawing books, lots of note books.

On Saturday morning, (it will be the time in Malaysia where SPR are extremely busy counting the votes and slip in some ghost votes as well), I had received my first parcel which contains the food. I just don't believe myself how light the box is and indeed it was in a different box OK. Nothing in it except 2 small packets of Santan Segera, 1 packet of Serbuk Kunyit, 1 packet of Serbuk Cili, 1 packet of Rempah Kari Ikan, 2 packets of Tesco Mixed Soohoon Fuchuk Soup. Other than that, all my other herbs and spices which I dreamed to cook with, my Lemang Segera, Ketupat Segera, my Perencah Mee Bandung, all gone. I am so devastated. What the hell is going on?

However, my sorrow was being hold for a while as I so busied readings all the updates on the election. My obsession with the PRU12 results continued until Sunday. On Monday morning, I received another parcel which I truly believe will be received the same contents as I had posted it. But the damn thing was delivered to me with almost empty box. I just received several diapers which I had selit2 in between, my poncho, my telekung and my panty liner. My textbooks and all are gone. Celaka mana yang ambik aku punya barang pun aku tak tau. SOB! Do you think a textbook in Hydrology is prohibited in US? Gosh, I don't think my items were lost in US. I think some low paid Pos Malaysia workers had stole my stuff and God knows what they had done with it. I even send some lotion, Vaseline, facial cleaners, all are gone. I really hope whoever stole it will suffer the rest of their lives and the 7th generation as well. I will never forgive and forget about this. Semua hilang, boleh?

So, I made a call from fort Collins, Colorado to Pos Malaysia Bangi. After a few minutes of talking, the lady pushed me to call Pejabat Pos Selangor. So, I called them to speak to the boss. Apparently, the boss is cuti, (boss terkejut ke Selangor dapat ke Keadilan?). So, the PA pushed me to Customer Service which I had spent almost half an hour explaining my condition. Tanya punya tanya, ambik segala maklumat, alih2 boleh budak tu tanya aku balik, macam mana aku tahu barang tu hilang? I had to repeat the question to her because, Helloooooo, I am the one who sent the parcels and I am the one who received the parcels OK!!! Why, all this time you guys simply sneak away people's stuff knowing that the recipient will have no idea at all what's inside. I packed the whole items, I spend weeks packing and of course I knew what the hell are inside those boxes, you idiot!!!

Oh Gosh, is there a Christmas party time whenever people send their stuff abroad via Kapal Laut? What the hell are you people doing working in Pos Malaysia anywyas? You have no rights at all to steal it that way. I f I knew all my stuff will be nothing but an empty box, I will never send a thing OK. I rather just used the money and buy anything I need from here. I am so bloody silly to have trust Pos Malaysia and to trust that I will receive my stuff safe and sound

To Pos Malaysia, if you think the service by sea is so not safe, don't even offer this service at all regardless of what people will say. I lost a lot of things and I just so freaking mad about all these.
I don't want any other people will face the same F^%$#*G problem like I did. You better tell your customer, hey, we did not send parcels abroad unless it is via Pos Laju (naik kapal terbang). You better go to DHL or FedEx to send those.

To others yang berangan nak kirim barang abroad, you better not do it at all. Maybe some of you are lucky that you had received it just the same portion of what had been sent by my experience was freaking nightmare OK. So, jangan lah dok berangan. Baik korang guna je duit tu beli apa benda patut kat sana. Jangan jadi macam saya. Merugikan, menyakitkan, menyeksakan jiwa dan raga.

You know what, when I filled the form, the so called Parcel Consignment Note, the lady in the Post Office Bt 9 Cheras said, please declare the value of your item so that we can pay you back in case the parcels are lost, and suddenly the lady kat Post Office Selangor said, hey, we're not going to pay you the value of the items, we will only pay you the cost of shipping and the others will be based on the weight of the parcel. Boleh cenggitu?

I feel like I want to type in more bad words because I feel like swearing right now. Sungguh bodo piang servis cenggini. Tolonglah kerajaan, tolonglah pantau betapa hampeh nya servis Pos Malaysia ni. I believe, I am not the only one complaining about how sucks Pos Malaysia are. Many others might have had the bad experience like I did. Only this time, I am the sender and I am also the receiver, so don't say that how do you know the items are missing?

Let me snap some pictures of what I received. Kalau takat barang tu jer, baik aku tak payah habiskan beratus-ratus ringit bayar korang dan beratus-ratus ringgit beli barang nak isi dalam kotak. Menghabihkan boreh yo!!!!!

Menjejak kaki di bumi Amerika - entry 1

2008-01-12T04:52:00.002-07:00

Hari ini masuk hari ke 5 kami sekeluarga berada di Ft. Collins, Colorado. Bila fikir balik betapa susah payahnya nak ke sini dulu, terasa lagi susah bila dah berada di sini. Nasib baik suami tercinta sanggup berkorban untuk jadi teman belajar dan teman susah senang di perantauan.

Semasa sampai di Tom Bradley International Airport di Los Angeles, anak-anak mula meragam. Dengan keadaan balai ketibaan yang masih dalam upgrading construction, ditambah pula dengan beratus-ratus manusia yang tiba, kami mula terasa macam pendatang asing yang merempat. Tambahan pula, cerita-cerita mengenai imigresen Amerika yang strict menyebabkan hati agak gusar. Kami terpaksa beratur panjang dan dalam pada itu, Aqif (2+) mula menangis. Suaranya yang nyaring telah menarik perhatian pegawai Imigresen dan memanggil kami pergi terus untuk check in procedure di kaunter yang berlambak-lambak di hadapan.

Saya memegang visa kelas J-1 iaitu Exchange Visitor manakala suami dan anak-anak adalah J-2. Selepas lebih kurang 15 minit di kaunter dan iris scan bagi saya dan suami telah diambil, suami saya perlu dibawa ke tempat lain di hujung kaunter untuk temuramah dengan pegawai Imigresen. Ini adalah prosedur biasa di US untuk kaum lelaki yang berumur 18-45thn. I think this is the age range, you may check on the website. So, saya dan anak-anak yang tengah keletihan menunggu di kerusi yang disediakan. Penampilan masa tu, jangan cakaplah, dengan muka tak mandi, sememeh lak tu, so memang unpresentable lah.

Sessi temubual suami mengambil masa yang sangat lama. Nasib baik our connecting flight departs at 16:15hr. Saya yang menunggu dengan beg yang masih belum dituntut mulai risau. Tambahan, anak-anak mula buat perangai. Mana yang merajuk dok terbaring kat bawah kerusi, mana yang mengantuk dok mintak makan itu ini. Semasa menunggu, seorang pekerja MAS datang bertanya mengenai beg-beg kami. Saya yang terasa terasing di negara orang dok ingat budak MAS tu orang Melayu, so bantai la cakap Melayu dengan dia (sebab muka dia macam orang Melayu) and he replied back in English. Dia mintak maklumat baggage dan selepas lebih kurang 15 minit, dia datang membawakan semua beg-beg kami yang besar dan banyak itu. Lega rasa sebab dah tak payah fikir pasal beg lagi dan dalam pada itu, budak-budak mulai tidur. Sorang kat atas peha kanan sorang lagi kat sebelah kiri.

Tunggu punya tunggu, at last my husband pun muncul. Lama jugak about 45min or more. So, by the time, budak2 pun dah sound asleep. Kami dah mula kena fikir macam mana nak carry bags and the kids to next terminal. So, kami pun tanya satu Uncle Black yang peramah how to get to Terminal 7. It turned out that he was a Porter and he can carry all our baggage up to exit. Saya dukung Aqif dan suami dukung Aqil. Bagus jugak sebab tak payah beratur, dan yang penting kastam dia tak cek pun kami punya beg. Dia tanya ada meat tak and I said tak de, just dried anchovies. Then, itu saja and terus Uncle tu bawak kami sampai ke tempat check in bag. So, saya dengan polite tanya dia biasanya berapa banyak orang bagi kat dia, dia kata ikut suka so saya pun bagilah $20. Then, dia mintak tambah lagi $10, terus kami tambah. OK lah sebab tak payah beratur, tak payah cek beg dan tak payah bawak beg.

So, sebenarnya, US Immigration is not as bad as some people think. Bagi saya as long as we're nice and OK, they're just as nice, sama macam Imigresen kita juga. Silap-silap lagi considerate kot. Macam ada member saya cakap minta saya pakai lawa-lawa lah, touch up la sikit muka tu, pakai tudung kasik vogue sikit. Hah, apanya, saya rasa tu la paling sememeh ever. Mana taknya, dengan tudung Indon style tu, dengan muka tak mandi, tak cukup tidur pulak tu, bibirpun kering sebab dalam air-cond lama, dengan beg depan belakang. Nasib baik tak de apa-apa. Bagi saya just be yourself and tawakal kepada Allah. Insya Allah dipermudahkan.

I was told later by MSD Officer, Cik Hamidah that some of our undergrads student was detained more than 2 hours. That 45minutes is a minimum actually. Alhamdullilah, puaslah mulut kumat kamit dok baca ayat Qursi dan memohon pada Allah dipermudahkan sessi suami. Bab baca ayat Qursi ni Mak Ngah (sebelah suami) yang pesan. Masa tu dia nak chk in kat Heathrow nak balik KL. Polisi dorang, carry on beg ni kena bawak sorang satu dan mesti lepas rangka yang disediakan. Her carry-on bag eventually turned up to beg slightly bigger at the bottom. So, dia cakap habislah dia ni, apalagi bertawakallah Mak Ngah dan terus membaca ayat yang dia ingat dan lancar. Alhamdulillah, bila turn dia mat saleh tuh terus suh masuk ke dalam tanpa perlu cek beg dan not only that, body search pun lepas.

OK, then kitorang pun bergegas pulak ke Terminal 7. Mak aii, jauh ey kono menapak! Cuaca di LA dingin dan selesa jadi OK lah cuma kepenatan sebab kena dukung Aqif dan Aqil terlelap di atas trolley. Leceh betul kali ini sebab kena bukak kasut, sweat shirt, buang semua air dan segala-galanya lah. Dalam pada tu si Aqif buat hal menangis lagi. Pening kepala dengan budak-budak ni. Yelah, dorang penatkan so meragam la sikit. Bila sampai kat Gate United Airlines untuk ke Denver, flight delay sebab cuaca tak berapa elok. Nasib baik tak lama, dalam 45minit kot dan pastuh kami pun boleh masuk. Kapal terbang tu punyalah buruk dan sempit, barulah terasa MAS tu sepuluh kali ganda best. Selepas 20minit, flight attendant mula menghidangkan air. Saya meminta jus oren dan suami minum kopi. Snack dia nama Snyders kaler coklat gelap. Nampak sedap tapi bila makan, mak aii punyalah masin. Orang putih ni memang salt freak betoi! Dia bagi 3 pek untuk saya dan anak-anak. Budak2 tu tengah tidur. walaupun tak sedap, tabii semulajadi susah dibuang serta merta, tapau tetap ku tapau. Masin-masin pun tapau jugak. Sampai sekarang ada kat dalam laci ni. Tak bersentuh pun!

Lebih kurang 2 jam lebih kami pun mendarat di Denver International Airport (DIA). Mata ni mula melilau kot-kot boleh nampak salji tapi tak nampak pun. DIA ni lebih kurang macam KLIA lah cuma kat KLIA trolley free tapi kat sini kena bayar $3 untuk satu trolley, boleh? Habis, nak tak nak terpaksalah keluarkan duit dan bayar untuk nak letak beg yang berkodi tu. Tunggu punya tunggu, tengok2 satu beg hilang. Masa ni, tag bag yang dia lekat kat tiket kapal terbang tu amat berguna. So, saya pergi di kaunter United Airlines dan bagi tau beg mana yang tak sampai. Kalau tak mau repot kat kaunter, kita boleh buat repot kat mesin yang terletak di sepanjang kawasan baggage tu. Masuk je nombor daftar beg dan nanti mesin tu print out status beg dan bila sampai. Beg kami yang hilang tu akan sampai lebih kurang sejam lagi. United Airlines boleh hantarkan beg yang tertinggal tu ke alamat rumah/hotel yang kita bagi, tetapi pasal saya pun tak pasti beg yang tertinggal tu beg baju anak-anak dan suami atau beg general items, so kami pun tunggu.

Dalam menunggu tu saya mula mencari hotel termurah untuk bermalam. Di tepi dinding tu, ada bermacam iklan hotel dan pengangkutan pun disediakan iaitu free shuttle. Masa menunggu tu, suami membawa anak-anak ambil angin kat luar. Tiba-tiba, anak saya yang sulung, Aqil, berlari ke dalam ke arah saya dan berkata, "Mama, mama, magic la mama, mulut abang keluar asap!". He..he..he.., nak tergelak pun ada. Yelah, first time kan, so kami jakun la sikit. Lepas sejam, beg kami pun sampai dan kami terus bergegas naik shuttle untuk ke Red Inn Roof Denver. Masa nak berjalan ke shuttle tu, angin punyalah sejuk, tangan ni rasa macam rendam dalam air ais. Pipi pun mula rasa pedih sebab sejuk sangat. Mak aii, tulah angin paling sejuk pernah kami ketahui. Lebih kurang 20 minit, kami pun sampai kat Red Roof Inn. Suami saya bagi $5 pada Uncle drebar shuttle tu. Uncle tu beriya-iya menolak. Baik betul mat saleh ni.

Masuk je bilik, lega rasanya. Masing-masing berebut nak mandi, yelah lebih sehari tak mandi! Saya pun check la beg yang tertinggal tu apa isi kandunganya, nasib baik tunggu sebab itulah beg yang ada baju suami dan anak-anak. Kalau tak tunggu, budak-budak ni ada la baju yang nak pakai lepas mandi tapi suami takde. So, moral of the story, biar semua baju simpan dalam semua beg, kalau tertinggal tak de ler meraban sangat. Lepas mandi, perut pun lapar. Menyesal pulak tak beli fillet O fish ke kat Mcdonald kat Los angeles tadi. Nasib baik ler saya bawak periuk nasi kecil dengan converter sekali. Boleh lah masak 4 peket megi mini perisa sayuran. Habis licin, budak-budak ni pun semua kebuluran. Kena masak sekali lagi. Perut dah kenyang baru boleh tidur. Bestnya dapat tidur atas katil. Walaupun seat business class tu punyalah best boleh control2 at the tips of your finger, tidak akan sama dengan tidur di atas katil. Alhamdulillah dapat berehat jugak akhirnya. Selesai satu cerita!

Untitled.

2007-09-10T01:53:00.001-06:00

Today is one of those days when you suddenly feel sad and anxious at the same time.. sort of like blues kind of feeling. I don't know. It's very hard to explain. The feeling bussiness is somehow very complicated and extremely delicates. so lets leave it alone...

I believe that the anxiety and the nervousness that slowly build up its structure inside me it's partly because I am start counting down the days I suppose to leave Kuala Lumpur and head for Fort Collins, Colorado. I am so afraid of the uncertainties, of what kind of life there, what kind of troubles awaits, what kind of environment, etc.. can my children adapts well to the new life there? although it's only 2 years but moving your life from here to there somehow sounds kind of quite exhausting yet exhilirating.

I really hope for the best. According to plan, we will leave by January next year. Just another 4 months to go. I supposed to start class on last August but I'm just not ready so I postponed it to Spring 2008. At this moment, it's still zero preparation. So I shall get everything ready by October, in which I assume I will received the Visa Form from the University. I have to submit all the documents to JPA by November. The financial documents still pending and guess I need to "mengadap" JPA soon to get the latest allowances details and sort. Now, I am compiling the bills, the transcript, the offer letter, the english result, the bla..bla..bla..

Good thing is, bulan puasa is around the corner. Today is Monday and taraaa.. hari Khamis sudah pun puasa. Solat Terawih will begin this Wednesday evening. Oh, I loves bulan puasa. We will have our sahur soon and pejam celik pejam celik suddenly it's Raya already.. Ohh, even talking about this makes the acid in my perut buncit churning and whirpooling. Or is it because I did not take my lunch? But no, even my heartbeat is pounding very fast. Yelah, bulan puasa ni doa banyak2 so that we will go there and live there as safely as in here.

Ahlan wa sahlan ya Ramadhan! May this coming Ramadhan Al-Mubarak will bring pure joy and happiness to my family and friends. May the blissfull Ramadhan will bless our life and purify our soul. May we live harmoniously and peacefully cross the races, the religions, the border, the whatever...

OK sudah, sambung keje balik!

A stranger inside

2007-07-11T20:20:00.001-06:00

I just feel like a stranger in my own office. I guess this is because I've been on and off in the office since last April. Now it's already July and in that 3 months period I really feel weird being in my office. Sometimes, it makes me feel that I should have leave earlier, I should be gone by this August. I clearly could not fit in here any longer. I feel like residing in US. I would never give up my citizenship though but sometimes being here is not so fun anymore. I don't like the politics in my office where small things (like getting yourself in a certain event where you're clearly not really doing anything at all but just for the sake of joining the trips) is really a big deal! I guess that was the result, the culture that has been nurtured over the years of getting yourself to be able to join every events especially when it involves hotels, highlands or beaches... With this kind of culture, I feel like giving away all I have in here and start all over again somewhere far far away. Ohh, perhaps one will talk about the patriotism and nationalism, I love my country and I love my people but perhaps it's not enough. I kind of feel like I am not coming back to KL. That's why I want to enjoy every moments in here as much as possible.

Kembali menjadi pelajar!

2007-05-10T03:19:00.000-06:00

I am now in the process of becoming a student again. Today I had sat for Research Methodology (RM) Test, it's pretty tough because I have insufficient time to study. Unlike those days when I am single and available, the time is not an issue. At least no one will distract me. Now, I have 2 beautiful sons who will sit in front of my study desk and keep asking questions or the least they can do is seducing me with their sparkling eyes and the innocent face. That's the challenges for a mother who wants to study again. Aku memang nekad nak study lagi so considered the test is the kick start of the longer journey ahead. Memang terasa ketepuan otak apabila sepetang dok menelaah buku, nota, internet. Itu baru satu subjek dah macam nak pengsan. Tomorrow morning, I'll be learning the Statistic for another 3 weeks with 2 test on the way. Otak ni pun dah agak berkarat sebenarnya pasal bab-bab Stats ni. Fortunately ada preparatory courses for Graduate Students yang at least dapat menghangatkan semula mesin yang dah lama sejuk ni. I really hope my application will be accepted and looking forward to start my class this year. Itupun, on the second thought, I am considering to change study terms from Fall to Winter or Spring. Reason is, kalau Fall; class will start on September dan itu adalah bulan puasa. The idea of moving abroad in Ramadhan sound so unpleasant and univiting. That's why kalau boleh aku nak tukar term ke winter or Spring. At least, dapatlah berpuasa dan beraya di sini. Lagipun, I haven't sit for GRE and kalau bulan 8 atau 9, sangatlah terasa kalutnya! Apapun, make sure dapatkan tempat kat University dulu kalau tidak, haa.. duduklah engkau kat sini.

Cermin mata dan bingkai patah

2007-05-06T01:35:00.001-06:00

Pagi ni, bila terjaga dari tidur aku terasa aku sedang berbaring di atas sesuatu yang keras. Bila aku check apa benda kat bawah badan aku tu, I found that it was my glass. The frame was broken. Luckily I had another glass. The other glass was multi-coated transition lens which is perfectly suitable for outdoor activities; but I don't really like it because the frame is a bit outdated. I'll use it when I have site visit and sort. The broken one used to be my normal wear. It was cheap,clear and very light. That's explain why that fast and easy.

Anyway, I want to do a new one today. So, I did some readings on the glass prescription and related stories. It was difficult to understand it so I end up with these lines in my blog. I'm a hyperopia (farsightedness) with a 2D degree of blur. Which one is suitable for me? The CR-39 or the polycarbonate.

"CR-39 is transparent in visible spectrum and almost completely opaque in the ultraviolet range, it has high abrasion resistance, in fact the highest abrasion/scratch resistance of any uncoated optical plastic."

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CR-39

"Polycarbonates are a particular group of thermoplastic polymers. They are easily worked, molded, and thermoformed; as such, these plastics are very widely used in the modern Chemical industry. Their interesting features (temperature resistance, impact resistance and optical properties) position them between commodity plastics and engineering plastics."
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycarbonate

"Polycarbonate lenses are the lightest and most shatterproof, making them the best for impact protection. Polycarbonate lenses offer poor optics because of a low Abbe number of 31. CR-39 lenses are the most common plastic lenses, due to their low weight, high scratch resistance and low transparency for ultra violet and infared radiation."

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasses

OK then, I will go for the CR-39. Wait! There's more. This Essilor product making me more confused. Macam nilah, time now is 4:20 pm. It's still very super-duper hot out there. These days, the weather is extremely hot. It's the global warming. I would like to write about it later. Right now, let's go shopping!

Hari Terakhir "e-filing"

2007-04-30T01:22:00.001-06:00

I was so inspired by the "e-filing day" that I had this topic as my first posting in my blog. Hari ini adalah hari terakhir untuk semua pembayar cukai di Malaysia untuk menghantar borang "e-filing". Seperti biasa diamalkan oleh rata-rata rakyat Malaysia, hari ini adalah Hari Pulun Isi Borang Kebangsaan. Aku adalah di antara beribu-ribu yang lain yang baru sibuk untuk mengisi borang cukai BE 2006. Bukan setakat itu, hari ni jugak aku pun baru nak mintak no.pin. Luckily , my sister is working in LHDN so, all I did was to SMS her to get my pin number. Thank you Sarah!

I've been trying to fill the form for my husband weeks before tapi pasal slow sangat so aku pun malaslah. Tapi hari ni, nak tak nak kena buat jugak, maka aku pun dok mengadap la komputer ni dari pukul 12 tengah hari tadi sampai la ni dah nak dekat pukul 4 petang dok mengadap lagi. I did it both for my husband and I, sebab tu la lama nak mampoih. Berpuluh-puluh kali aku dok kena refresh dan log in balik pasai slowwwwwwww sangat. Orang kata punyalah slow sampai boleh pi masak megi, in fact memang aku boleh siap pi masak megi dan buat kopi dulu sementara dok melangut tengok monitor tu dok upload satu-satu. FYI, hari ni aku cuti tapi aku pi buat rheja ni kat ofis, boleh? he..he..he.., so megi tu paham2 je lah aku masak pakai ayaq hangat saja la.. tu pun rasa dia amat sedap sekali.

Back to the topic isi borang e-filing ni, yang aku tak puaih hati sangat sebab bila aku isi borang, sampai part yang status bujang/kahwin, bila aku click kahwin, dia pi reset balik info yang aku dah key-in previously pasai dia upload balik untuk maklumat pasangan. So, aku kena pi click-click balik mana info yang tiba-tiba dah lenyap itu. Sudahlah lambat, bertambah-tambah lagi la proses yang sedia lembab tu. Sungguh tidak menyenangkan hati pelanggan langsung! Dah la kena bayaq cukai, bil api pun tinggi pasai lama sangat. Bukan takat tu saja, kalau sapa yang ambik internet by hours tu mesti mengalami tekanan perasaan pasai nak isis satu borang saja mau dekat 2 jam lebih. Tak tau la kot orang lain laju saja. Sebab ni first time so banyak la tak kena.Apapun, aku harap LHDN will do some improvement on this matter.

Just Blogging!

My Little Musketeers

Summary of Summer 2009 Vacation

Coming home to a different offfice

Day 6: Willits, CA to Coos Bay, OR

Day 5: San Francisco to Willits, CA

Day 4: San Francisco

Day 3: Winnemucca, NV to San Francisco, CA

Day 2: Salt Lake City, UT to Winnemucca, NV

Day 1: Fort Collins, CO to Salt Lake City, UT

Mari bercerita...

Statement by Ku Lie

Selamat Hari Raya & Maaf Zahir Batin

Laksa Asam - resepi Pulut Cari Forum

mind boggling classes!

Back to school!

What's cookin'?

MagMyPic

I strongly agree with this article

Wednesday June 18, 2008

You walk the talk first

MusingsBy MARINA MAHATHIR

Summer Vacation 2008

After 5 months

Glen Haven

Everyday Malaysian

Back to school!

Wantan Mee Wannabe

Seri Kaya

Click click

Geert Wilders Hates Islam

Roti Canai

Welcoming Student's World

My travel wish list

Let's do Asian groceries

Last snow before Spring?

Spring Break Part I - reading

Pos Malaysia - Jangan Percaya

Menjejak kaki di bumi Amerika - entry 1

Untitled.

A stranger inside

Kembali menjadi pelajar!

Cermin mata dan bingkai patah

Hari Terakhir "e-filing"

Musings
By MARINA MAHATHIR