The kids have found a new playground where they can have their favourite snack...toast, toast and toast..of various flavours. They are the new "share-holders" of Old Town White Coffee. Now evenings on weekends that's where you'll find us...
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Monday, July 23, 2007
Bali Hai
It's been a whirlwind two weeks. Defended my proposal on a Friday - got through with minor adjustments - attended niece's wedding on the Saturday (070707), got the worst flu ever on Saturday night, stuck in bed from Saturday to Tuesday, recuperate from Wednesday to next Tuesday (came down with measles-like rashes...flu aftershock I guess), to Bali for 13th anniversary from Wednesday to Friday....finally rest on Saturday & Sunday before have to go back to uni to start data collection. Hectic & eventful....
In front of Ramyana Resort & Spa, Kuta Bali
18 July 2007
The best part was the pampering in Bali. Just the two of us discovering Bali..walking hand-in-hand looking at life passing by. Just relaxing..no tiring tours or last minute dash for that last item on the shopping list. We took it easy..slept when tired and woke up when we wanted. Went for massages and walks...Brilliant, wonderful. Haven't had much of alone time together since the firstborn arrived...was a much awaited and enjoyed break to re-re-re-kindle (always kindled) memories of courtship and first meetings...he....he....Heaven!
Thursday, July 5, 2007
De' Big Day Looms....
I've got butterflies, frogs jumping, cows mooing ....everything....in my stomach. Tomorrow is the day that I have to present and defend my proposal. It has been known that "bigger" people have come out of the room crying...boohooo....Hope I'm strong enough. I'll read all the doas that I know before entering. Wear something presentable & do my presentation. I really hope that they'll not ask too many Qs on my research methodology or instrument but if they want to ask about the CMC tool I'm using I'll be more than happy to oblige.
Wish me luck. I'll tell of the outcome....soon....
Wish me luck. I'll tell of the outcome....soon....
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Anecdote for the day
Last night as we were waiting for CSI NY I laughingly asked my other half; "How much do you love me?". As usual he'll use his thumb and index finger to show a measurement of about 3 inches which has grown since we got married (his motto: start with saying that you love a little and let it grow rather than say that you love mountains and it dwindles to nothingness..anyway as long as we both understand how much and how deep other things are relative).
Our youngest heard our conversation and reprimanded his father; "Abah sayang mama dua aje? Emmh...Ayyum sayang mama like this..(putting 10 fingers and 10 toes up). Abah pun kena macam nilah". What to say ,we just laughed at his quick observation....
Our youngest heard our conversation and reprimanded his father; "Abah sayang mama dua aje? Emmh...Ayyum sayang mama like this..(putting 10 fingers and 10 toes up). Abah pun kena macam nilah". What to say ,we just laughed at his quick observation....
Yesterday, all my troubles seem so far away.....
My other half have been walking down memory lane for the past two weeks (twenty-odd years of walking to do)...planning for his Alumni dinner. Nostalgic memories of years gone by resurface .... old friends, old stories, old flames (he..he this is interesting. My children & I have our own private joke about this), old teachers....everything that was left dusting in his memories. That's the thing about alumni gatherings....I'm not a stranger to one being a thoroughbred SSPian....you tend to see everything with rose-coloured lenses. Even the square haistyles, dorky attire and goofy love stories. I've never been to a co-ed so I don't really understand what my other half is talking about but I know the excitement of meeting old friends.
My alumni has a gathering every so often, only I can't make it to all being outside the city. But my classmates and I also have our own alumni and we have a gathering at a whim....Raya shopping, spa-day, lunch at any chosen restaurant (a constant feature), karaoke, hi-tea or soirees at any of our houses, any reason and we'll gather. Maybe not all will be able to make it but at least 15 will.
Most of my classmates have kept in touch during studies abroad (I think 60% of us went overseas), marriage and divorce. We share a lot with one another that we are almost sisters who have been together for most of our adult life. Many of my classmates are also successful people in their own right, but during our gatherings we are no longer the successful MD, CEO, doctor, professor, businesswoman...we transport back to the days when PWTC was still a figment of our imagination and the trip to JTAR was not as scary as today. No matter how many times we gather we never tire of reminiscing the old stories of basuh bas, cabut rumput semalu, standing in the middle of the field (all punishment for one thing or another that we did...our motto: one for all and all for one...so the punishment usually is for a group of us but the whole class will make it into a field day by joining in), singing in class, going for debates, cheering for the basketball team (most players are from our class), and coming up with the latest cheer to beat the other schools. As I said we always see the past with rose-tinted lenses. But the yesterdays are the things that has helped shape the person we are today. So when my other half tells me his stories...about his days in school I listen and enjoy them with him...although I may not fully underastand a co-ed environment I can identify with the nostalgia because after all I am an .....ANVILLIAN THOROUGHBRED...and nothing can beat the memories I had with my 34 "sisters"!
My alumni has a gathering every so often, only I can't make it to all being outside the city. But my classmates and I also have our own alumni and we have a gathering at a whim....Raya shopping, spa-day, lunch at any chosen restaurant (a constant feature), karaoke, hi-tea or soirees at any of our houses, any reason and we'll gather. Maybe not all will be able to make it but at least 15 will.
Most of my classmates have kept in touch during studies abroad (I think 60% of us went overseas), marriage and divorce. We share a lot with one another that we are almost sisters who have been together for most of our adult life. Many of my classmates are also successful people in their own right, but during our gatherings we are no longer the successful MD, CEO, doctor, professor, businesswoman...we transport back to the days when PWTC was still a figment of our imagination and the trip to JTAR was not as scary as today. No matter how many times we gather we never tire of reminiscing the old stories of basuh bas, cabut rumput semalu, standing in the middle of the field (all punishment for one thing or another that we did...our motto: one for all and all for one...so the punishment usually is for a group of us but the whole class will make it into a field day by joining in), singing in class, going for debates, cheering for the basketball team (most players are from our class), and coming up with the latest cheer to beat the other schools. As I said we always see the past with rose-tinted lenses. But the yesterdays are the things that has helped shape the person we are today. So when my other half tells me his stories...about his days in school I listen and enjoy them with him...although I may not fully underastand a co-ed environment I can identify with the nostalgia because after all I am an .....ANVILLIAN THOROUGHBRED...and nothing can beat the memories I had with my 34 "sisters"!
Monday, July 2, 2007
Butterflies in my stomach
It's been three weeks since I received the news that my doctorate proposal is ready for defend..i.e need to present it in front of a panel of ten profs from various disciplines. I'm at wits end and sick to my stomach but life has to go on or else all the hard work of studying, travelling, being away from the family will be useless...AND this is just the beginning of the rest of the journey.
I'm just waiting for the much awaited phone call from my supervisor asking me to go down to KL to present my case. I've been waiting for two weeks and the suspense has almost reached a crescendo. Sometimes I wonder why do I have to put myself through all this ...at my age??? Is it the prestige and the title that I'm looking for? Is it acknowledgement and recognition from colleagues? Or is it validity that hey...she has what it takes from family and friends? But when I reflect on my journey up till now ...I've never been conventional. As a science stream student I was already at a local u doing a science course but decided to fly overseas to do a humanities course (partly daddy's fault too). So adamantly wanted to pursue masters at UM so that I can graduate at DTC like my sister although friends were applying for and receiving Chevening awards to do it in UK (serves me right DTC was burnt down just when I was about to graduate)....basically I like a challenge, something different - different scenario, different experience, different excitement...a different life choice. This reminds me of a poem I love - many of the choices that I've made in my life has been this way (even in my choice of a life partner):
The Road Not Taken
TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
I'm just waiting for the much awaited phone call from my supervisor asking me to go down to KL to present my case. I've been waiting for two weeks and the suspense has almost reached a crescendo. Sometimes I wonder why do I have to put myself through all this ...at my age??? Is it the prestige and the title that I'm looking for? Is it acknowledgement and recognition from colleagues? Or is it validity that hey...she has what it takes from family and friends? But when I reflect on my journey up till now ...I've never been conventional. As a science stream student I was already at a local u doing a science course but decided to fly overseas to do a humanities course (partly daddy's fault too). So adamantly wanted to pursue masters at UM so that I can graduate at DTC like my sister although friends were applying for and receiving Chevening awards to do it in UK (serves me right DTC was burnt down just when I was about to graduate)....basically I like a challenge, something different - different scenario, different experience, different excitement...a different life choice. This reminds me of a poem I love - many of the choices that I've made in my life has been this way (even in my choice of a life partner):
The Road Not Taken
TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Rober Frost, 1920
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
