today, I'm deliriously happy

1 january 2010, saturday

i'm
happy as a LARK
busy as a BEAVER
bright as a BUTTON
hungry as a BEAR
bold as a BRASS
brave as a LION
calm as a MILLPOND
clear as a BELL
clean as a WHISTLE
cool as a CUCUMBER
different as CHALK from CHEESE
fresh as a DAISY
quick as LIGHTNING
sturdy as an OAK
snug as a BUG in a RUG
solid as a ROCK
strong as an OX
clean as a NEW PIN
right as RAIN
fit as a FIDDLE
keen as MUSTARD
fragrant as HEATHER
chirpy as a CRICKET
bubbly as BATH WATER
shiny as NEW MONEY
good as GOLD
free as the SEA
time rushes by like a COMMUTER late for work
drifting like CLOUDS
like a memory rustling through the LEAVES
i'm deliriously HAPPY- i'm just STUMPED for WORDS!!!

An excerpt...

31 December 2009, Thursday


An excerpt of the many poignant e-mails I received from my ex-students after I retired from lecturing.

Dear teacher, I do not know how to address you because once you were amother as well as a teacher to us.  Youwere a good friend too. I wanted to write to you earlier too. I was waiting tochat with you. Ok I suppose we will be fortunate to meet each other again. I amwaiting for that day. By the way now I am adjusting my lifestyle according to thissociety. Now it is not so easy.  Lots ofthings have changed. These days I am trying to cope with my job. Teaching.Already I started my work here. These are my news. With the hope of seeing yousoon, I’ll stay. Thanks you for everything you did for us.  Still I can remember every words you utteredwith us. Those lovely memories will last forever. With kind regards I am gothama REV. U. GOTHAMA THERO Ancient Weheragalla Temple, Mirissa, Sri Lanka. T.P. 0094714395774 0094715478892 Fax. 0094412250321 skype:- gothama3 MAY THE BLESSINGS OF TRIPLE GEMS BE WITH YOU!

My Blue Room

30 December 2009, Wednesday

My room is blue, the linen is blue,
The chairs are blue, and the curtain's blue too.
Some days when I'm feeling blue,
I buried my face under my blue pillows,
In my room which is blue.

Time sure flies...

30 December 2009, Wednesday

Time sure lies and it's just a matter of 36 hours before we welcome the new year. I've been extremely busy the last couple of weeks, traveling and working on a project that I missed posting updates on my blog.

As the project that I'm working on will occupy most of my time for the next 2 months, it'll be a while before I start updating my blog as regularly as before.

Till then....

Today is Ina's 20th Birthday

21 December 2009, Monday

ODE TO THE BIRTHDAY GIRL

 

Little princess,
Do you realize how much you mean to us?
As Babah and Mama nurture you into what you will be.
You came from within, from just beneath our heart.
It's there you'll always remain, though your own life will now start.
You're budding so fast it sends us askew,
With misty eyes we ask, Where's our little princess?
We have taught you well because we care.
The next few years will fly so quickly,
With laughter and joy, mixed with a few tears to cry.
As you begin your growth to womanhood, this fact you must know,
You'll always be our source of pride, no matter where you go.
You must stand up tall and proud, within you feel no dread,
For all your dreams and goals, sit before you very near.
With Allah’s love in your heart and the world at your feet,
You'll always be our little princess, deep within our heart.
For you this birthday poem was written,
To tell you in a cadence of Babah’s and Mama’s heartfelt Love!
As we watch you grow….

Hugs,kisses and prayers, and loadz of love,
Babah and Mama

Through the Eyes of a Child

4 December 2009, Friday

There are only two things that a child will share willingly:
1/ Communicable diseases, and
2/ Its mother's age....

What is multi-tasking from a blogging housewife's point of view?

1 December 2009, Tuesday

From a blogging housewife's point of view, multi-tasking means doing all these almost simulatneously:
1/ Blogging - updating my blog which has been left untouched for many weeks as I have been extremely busy
2/ Face booking - uploading photos; chatting and messaging with my FB friends;
3/ Flitting from mails in Yahoo Mail to mails in FB
4/ Doing translation (500-page book) right from the comfort of my bedroom, while waiting for the hundreds of photos to be uploaded
5/ Seeing to the laundry
6/ House cleaning
7/ Guiding my daughter on whipping up yummy dishes in the kitchen
8/ Listening to soothing and beautiful songs

So, multi-tasking is not only confined to people who work in the office.....it applies to a blogging housewife as well!!!

3: An Unchartered Territory - My Sojourn To Myanmar: Day 2

12 November 2009, Thursday (25 Zulkaedah) 

Day 2 Story 1, Yangon, Myanmar

Day 2 started very early for me, as I got up at 4:50 a.m to perform my subuh prayers. I got up even before the alarm went off. In any case, I managed to fall asleep again after that, and woke up again at 7:00 a.m.

For breakfast, I had fruits and durian cake, and several spoonful of serunding which I had brought from home. 

Uni Shopping Mall

Later, Sharon and May War came to take me to Uni Shopping Mall, a newly opened shopping complex (hardly a month old). Nothing much fancies me. I just bought a couple of things plus some drinks from the supermart. 

Mini Myanmar 

Entering the heartland of Burma is like stepping into the past. We proceeded to a place called Mini Myanmar, a most enigmatic and fascinating location. It was astonishing to discover that Myanmar comprises more than 100 races.

Myanmar is a union of 135 ethnic groups with their own languages and dialects. The major races are the Kachin, the Kayah, the Kayin, the Chin, the Mon, the Bamar, the Rakhine, and the Shan. The name Myanmar embraces all the ethnic groups.

I enjoyed being here as I got to sample a cross section of the culture, customs and lifestyle of the major races in Myanmar. Dignified and proud, the Burmese people regard foreign visitors as guests in their country and take pleasure in introducing their customs 

Lungyis (Longhi) and Thanaka
Men wear lungyis, loose-fitting cotton wraps; I had asked Tun Tun (who came with Sharon and family to greet me at the airport) why men in Myamar wear lungyis.  And, tongue-in-cheek, he had replied, "It'e easy and free!!!". Hmmm......

Young women and young boys brush their faces with Thanaka, a powder made from ground tree bark, both for beauty and for protection from the bright sun. Ancient traditions that have disappeared elsewhere survive in the valleys of the Irrawaddy. 

Nasi Briyani
May War brought me to KSS Restaurant for lunch, a halal restaurant that serves Nasi Briyani. Yes!!! Yummy Nasi Briyani can be found in Muslim restaurants in Yangon, Myanamar, although halal food is quite pricey here. Nasi briyani for two cost me RM35 (11,000 kyat). 

"Have Handphone, Cannot Use" 
Onday 1, miracles of all miracles, I managed to send an sms to my husbandto tell him that I had arrived safely in Myanmar. He was franticallycalling me and smsing me to no avail.

The funny thing was, I could send him smses but Icouldn't receive any. But my joy was shortlived as soon after that, Iwasn't able to get any line or connection.

I managed to send an sms telling myhusband the hotel number and that I was going to be traveling andwasn't sure if i could contact him again along the way.

That night hecalled me at Panorama Hotel and that was the last phone contact I hadwith my husband. 

Cyber Cafe (CC) 
After coming back from Mini Myanmar, and as I was almost cut off from my family back in Malaysia, I headed to the Cyber Cafe near Panorama Hotel after I had performed my Maghrib prayers (Maghrib/sunset is at 5:30 p.m in Myanmar) to tell my husband of the latest update and what the tentaive plans were for the next couple of days.

The CC was my lifeline in Myanmar. And thank God, the charges were filthy cheap, i.e 400 kyat for an hour (RM1.36). I spent 2 hours at the CC, and came back to the hotel to have dinner which consisted of Maggi Mee again, and some fruits.

I retired to bed early, given that I didn't have sufficient sleep the night before, and in anticipation of the long traveling that I was going to do the next day.