shakirah & co in pictures

Christmas Barbeque

2009-12-26T16:20:00.015+08:00

No Glam, No Fan Fare..just food, lots of laughter, fun, love and politically incorrect jokes :)

KL Hop On Hop Off Experience

2009-12-18T21:21:00.021+08:00

School holidays is approaching its end, and I figured, I better do something with the children. An Ozmate's FB page sparked this interest to try the HopONHopOff bus I have heard so much about. Like always in the spur of the moment, after jogging with Mira, Mariam and Zara at KLCC park in the morning I decided, we must do it TODAY. I am so glad we did it. The ticket lasts for 24 hours, and will be valid till 1.30pm tomorrow..so we are planning to hop on the bus again tomorrow.

AT THE SETIAWANGSA LRT STATION

We got off at Central Market to wait for the bus at Stop No. 9. It was quite a wait..but it was well worth it

And i didn't take any pic on the bus..or of the bus..fancy that..got to get some from Mira :)

First stop was the National Palace..I was expecting some guard on horseback with some fancy costume..but it looks like there was nothing like that. Some form of renovation works was going on..everyone didn't get off the bus, but I thought, heck why not..so we Hopped Off.

Some new guards..i think they have gone for ...gosh not even smart casual?

are they going for sweet and chic?

The Palace fence

We had half an hour to wait for the next bus..so we hung around a bit. After we got off the bus, a few people did too..it was fun being the leader ;)

Then on the bus we hopped again..this time we had an open roof double decker. Cool.

Ahh I have some pics on the bus..

Next stop was the Museum..when was the last time we came here, I don't remember. The last photo I have of myself at the museum was when I was six, with my parents..and it was the same beautiful mosaic mural on the wall.

The museum was really interesting. Funny how you never notice the wonderful things you have under your nose, when you are so preoccupied with the nitty gritty of life..
I must come again..and take my own sweet time to go through every artefact.

The boys were totally fascinated with the vehicles - bullock carts, gharries, even the first proton saga model. Muaz was completely mesmerized by a green cart..aparently the owner charged 5sen per mile to his passenger..that must have been very expensive.

I had to take a pic of this scale called dacing (pronounced dar ching)..i remember when I was young and used to follow my grandma to the market, the fish sellers still used this device. I remember it was when I was about fifteen when they abolished it, because we switched to the metric system. Otherwise it was kati and tahil..

When we finally got out of the Museum, it began to rain...complete with lightning and thunder..the whole works. So we scurried for cover..and took some more photos.

We had to cross some uncovered area to reach the covered walkway leading to the bus station, and found this..this milestone was very familiar. It brought back fond memories of me trying to stay awake, while my dad drove to KL on the winding dual carriageway road before the existence of our wonderful North-South Highway. Everybody else would be asleep, but I will try to stay awake because I felt sorry for my dad for having to drive all the way alone. It used to take seven hours at least to get from KL to Penang or vice versa, only 4 now.

Waiting for the bus to go to our next stop

This was truly a wonderful stop..The Bird Park.

The moment we stepped in..there were birds everywhere..peacock looking birds, cute little baby cranes..female peacock, male peacock, half peacock looking birds, blue necked peacock, long tailed, short tailed, green necked peacock, peacock on the ground, peacock on the trees, peacock on the railing, peacock pissing on your head, peacock everywhere. ..and they are so friendly..they practically walk towards you. Couldn't help talking to them..i know..I must have looked like a crazy bird woman, but who cares. I was in paradise. I wish I have a book with me, and i will sit all day with these birds pecking at my book as i read..I don't care...they are just too lovely for words.

We even went to the nursery to see little chics hatching and touched baby chicks and cute little yellow ducklings...ohh why do they have to grow.

Then it was time to go home..we went out, waited for the bus,

and saw these poor monkeys. They looked totally famished, we shared some Super Rings with them. When Zara went back to the Bird Park to get more, the Park was already closed..poor monkeys..we must go back tomorrow with some nuts or something for these monkeys.

Totally exhausted, Muaz hugged me and said, That was a real adventure, mom. Thank you soooo much. I love you so much, Mom. He hugged me tighter and gave me a big kiss and dozed off right there and then next to me on the bus seat.

Later when we got off the bus at our last stop KLCC, Khadijah said..thank you so much mom. It has been a while since we did this ..it was so fun.

Those words really put me in seventh heaven. It is just so rewarding when you are appreciated by your own soul..Thank you children for choosing me as your mom. ;).

That was all I needed..all my fatigue just fizzled into thin air..I was ready to go. Apis, Zara, Khadijah, Amirah, Adeil, Mariam, Huzaifah and Muaz..we all dragged our self into Suria KLCC and up the escalator to the Signature food court for refuelling before taking the LRT to Setiawangsa where we parked the car.

Finally, here is Muaz drawing with the feather he found....

Oh yes Children..we WILL DO IT AGAIN :).

USM International again 2009

2009-12-13T22:08:00.013+08:00

It's that time of the year when the hockey boys and girls of St John's and CBN pack up their gear for their annual pilgrimage to Penang. This year I managed to drag myself there but forgot to bring my camera. To top it off I also forgot to bring my phone charger..since I was finishing off my work before dumping things into my luggage to catch the last coach at 7.30pm to Penang. So I had to settle with snapping pics on my handphone and only as long as my battery will allow it.

Both the boys and girls played wonderfully well. The Under 15s wore beautiful new jerseys. Mariam played for under 12. They won the first match but lost the other two, so didn't make it to the quarter finals.

The under 15 girls team A and team B loss in flicks..there was quite a controversy, but alas,we could only adhere to the decision.

So here goes:

This is the view from my balcony in my mom's house in Minden Heights. To go watch Mariam play I have to cross this field towards the white peaked marquee, which was what I did..it was a great feeling crossing the field..grew up in this house but never walked across this field, can you imagine?

Under 12 going for their first match..nice jersey :)

first briefing before match

Mariam's ankle was hit by her opponent's stick..inadvertently of course (i hope)

Vicky after putting chamois grip on Mariam's new Voodoo stick, 2010 edition he says..

Day 2

THE MAKEOVER PARTY

2006-02-10T10:38:00.000+08:00

My dear friend Suriati called me up and told me she needed 15 faces to qualify for a prestige dinner. I know how that feels and lending our faces seems like fun, i know Zra will love it, and i decided to invite Umair's lovely Sue too. So here was what happened in my messy room.(haha i am in the middle of a HUGE xlation project hence my house is in pieces!! But heck, who cares, i am not superwoman)
Please try to ignore the unfolded clothes behind me.
I don't have the before pics but once i get from Yati, i will post it

amboi Su :-)

I came later once the girls were alomost done.

huh?

ehhh tompang sikit nak masuk muke kite bole tak

TRIP TO AQUARIA ON CNY-FIRST MILESTONE

2006-01-31T11:43:00.000+08:00

There was a time when i wondered whether i will be anything at all. Whether i will EVER stop living on charity. There was a time when i cannot imagine myself even buying my wonderful children who in the past have experienced good food, pizza. There was a time when i kept having to say one day we will be able to do this, one day soon, yet in my heart i wasn't sure whether i will ever achieve anything.really..I am so thankful that Allah has permitted me to reach my first milestone as a single mother and a Translator. This trip to Aquaria, which is NEGLIGIBLE by many people's standards is quite SOMETHING by MINE and is truly a cause for celebration. And we had a whale of a time- oops no whales,nor dolphins, but beautiful sea and jungle creatures and certainly very,very handsome sharks. We took our own sweet time, something we haven't done, ever, we were always rushing..this time, i told my lovelies, we will enjoy every second..drink up every single moment sip by sip and preserve it in our memory as the first of many more to come.

Everyone woke up early and put on our best, we began our trip by refueling at the Cold Storage..Cheap but nice :)

Yummy Ummi

The look you get when you say "If you don't eat, you're not coming with us "

UMMI, YOU CAN WALK THERE, WE WANT TO TAKE OUR PRIVATE JET!! bYE!!

THE WALK FROM COLDSTORAGE

Huzaifah!! where are u???

BEFORE WE REACHED OUR DESTINATION, WE SAW SOMETHING FROM CSI!!

Of Course Khadijah my wonderful girl came up with this question, "Did somebody really die here, Ummi?"

EVENTUALLY WE REACHED OUR DESTINATION

Waaaa....look at that!!
When i was your age, kids, when i saw toadstools in my garden, i used to look for fairies, coz i thought those were tables where fairies and elves sat around the night before for a party..the fairies here must be HUGE

We all thought this frog was way cool - but wait a minute- it's poisounous

Is that slimer..starring in Ghost Busters 4?
No it's a sleeping frog cozily folding it's limbs under it's body, something like the way Umair 'kenyut' i guess :-)

A huge fish from the highlands

KT's hands always shake when she takes pictures - this was her best attempt.

This is truly a beautiful structure - a huge and tall glass column filled with water and fishes from the flooded tropics (or something like that) swimming gracefully around

No, this is not a dolphin, it's a huge fish from the highlands

A STOP AT THE BODY PAINTERS

a STARFISH for Mariam

and A RED AND BLUE FISH for Huzaifah

Muaz refused

KT looked bored

Then, off to the TOUCH POOLS which was really "more smoke than fire" but well,Huzaifah got to touch some starfish. I wish it was much better. However we failed to take the picture of a really cute ELECTRIC STING RAY which we ALL unanimously voted as the cutest exhibit

BUT THIS TUNNEL YOU ARE GOING TO SEE IS REALLY UP TO ITS MARK, AT LEAST, FOR US WHO HAVE NEVER BEEN OUT OF THE COUNTRY TO OTHER SIMILAR PLACES APART FROM SENTOSA ISLAND IN SINGAPORE. THE LANGKAWI UNDER WATER WORLD IS TRULY A FAR CRY FROM THIS IMPRESSIVE SHOWCASE; WHAT A SHAME, IN MY OPINION. WE WERE MERSMERISED AND GIVEN A CHOICE I WOULD HAVE JUST SAT THERE IN THAT TUNNEL FOR HOURS AND HOURS AND HOURS. I LOVE THE SEA, I LOVE WATER, I LOVE THE SEA CREATURES..MAYBE MY ELEMENT IS WATER AFTER ALL.
HUZAIFAH AND MUAZ WENT IN 3 TIMES

THE CAMERA WAS PLACED ON THE WRONG SETTING SO THE PICS ARE RATHER UNCLEAR, BUT ENOUGH FOR MEMORIES' SAKE

having the diver swim among the fishes and the great sharks is really quite a novel idea. Huzaifah was so impressed, he went in the tunnel three times to look for the diver

BUT THE STAR OF THE SHOW IS:

tHIS FINALE REALLY MAKES YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE IN THE GALLERY OF THE ALIEN SPACESHIP IN THE MOVIE "CHICKEN LITTLE"

THIS IS AMONG THE THINGS THEY WERE SO FASCINATED ABOUT

OTHER EXHIBITS

DORY WAS THERE TOO

SO WAS MR RAY

NOW WHICH ONE IS THE EXHIBIT??

THE FEAST AFTERWARDS - WHILE WAITING FOR THE FOOD.
WE DIDN'T TAKE PICTURES WHILE EATING BECAUSE WE WERE REALLY CONCENTRATING ON OUR KENNY ROGERS CHICKEN, SOMETHING WE HAVEN'T HAD IN A LONG LONG TIME.

BUT MUAZ WAS DEFEATED

GOING... GOING..

GONE

FACES OF ANTICIPATION

SATISFIED FACES OF MAH BOYS

Thank you Nani & Useng and Abg Zehar for being pillars of strength for me, and of course Mama too.And Nani thnx for always, without fail, snapping me out of my self pity HAHA.
thank you SZY for urging me to take the translation course when i was really at my lowest, thinking that i am not good at anything except finishing my husband's money.Thank you so much for your support and good advice and your ever ready shoulders to cry on.
Thank you so very very much ALB for taking me on as your mentee and patiently guiding me on till i am able to earn as a translator. You really are someone with the biggest heart.
Thank you Sofie for sharing your jobs with me, and guiding me too.
Thank you Hajar for all your good advice and for being a dear friend :-)
There are people i do not mention, mainly coz they don't want to be mentioned, but i am truly indebted to all of you. Especially you R :-).

PESTA HOKI ANTARABANGSA USM PENANG HOCKEY HIGHLIGHT OF THE YEAR

2006-01-24T02:15:00.000+08:00

The journey to Penang was half the fun :) especially for the prodeges

KT and ummi

KT and pal Zaidah

Mariam getting ready to be part of the team

the match against the UK team - and the girls put up a really good fight

the under 18

darling niece amira in the under 12 team

pre game briefing by coach Uncle Afdzal

I am so proud of my girl who is in the under 14 team

beautifu attire of the Thailand theme - certainly helps boost their self esteem.
Won't our girls look stunning in those...

siapa tu..kenal tak

EIDUL ADHA

2006-01-10T13:23:00.000+08:00

of course, we are blessed with a band of these wonderful children..how can any mother be lonely ;-)

I was so tied up with translation work as Allah has blessed me with quite a few. Hence we had a very simple Hari Raya breakfast feast of Lemang and Rendang..no fuss whatsoever. But a Hari Raya breakfast nonetheless. Zahraa is still missing; celebrating Hari Raya with her friend Dik Su, only my prayers go out to her. Maybe one day she will realise how we all of love her.
And thank you Dahling CT for the wonderful soto brunch and the tete-a tee which will never be less than 1 half hour..

2006-01-10T01:43:00.000+08:00

the girls :-)

This isn't the first eidul fitri which we all celebrated without the children's father, but it was certainly the first ever i had as a single mother. Even if we all wore last year's clothes, we made the best of this auspiscious day. We later went to their Tok Wan's grave to pay our respects and read him verses from the Quran. It was rather melancholy, but it was certainly a start to a new life, for better or for worse, i will have to make this family work.