2010 Flashback - Rojak story

January 2010

A new year began with a new bundle of joy. Arsh was just too adorable, too cute. The whole house was in love with him. But he came with a package... with a maid. I didn't really like the idea of having a stranger in my house, but with 3 kids and a thesis, a maid was a must.

My maid, Puji Astutik. arrived about 2 weeks after the birth of Arsh in December 2009. It was her first time to Malaysia.. actually it was the first time she went out of her kampung in Malang, Indonesia. Things started well. She's the kind of maid that I like.... she doesn't talk much, she prays, baca Quran and most importantly, she knew how to bawak diri. It was a blessing to have her, I thought baguslah budak ni.. boleh kerja lama.

Akan tetapi, panas tak selalunya sampai ke petang. Almost a month after she arrived, I brought her to do a medical check-up in order to get her a working permit. Unfortunately, the doctor found that she had some scars on her lungs indicating that she was once a TB sufferer, hence was deemed not fit to work. We couldn't believe it at first. Yalah... depa ni sebelum masuk Malaysia dah buat medical check-up, x-ray semua, kenapa pulak suddenly dah masuk Malaysia kata tak fit pulak. Then Puji told me, she did her x-ray twice in her country. The first time, she failed. Then the Dr asked her to go home for a few days and eat telur mentah. The second time, she passed. She believed that the telur mentah "cured" her disease. But sebenarnya, the second time punya report tu mmg palsu belaka, tidak ada yang tidak palsu melainkan yang palsu-palsu belaka. The doktor & agent telah menipu & menganiaya this poor fellow and ME of course. Patutlah dah bagi duit mula2 tak cukup, mintak lagi. Rupanya nak gunakan duit tu untuk suap the stupid Dr untuk tulis report tipu.

Our doctor advised us to send her home immediately. She said, pesakit TB ni macam time bomb. Bila2 masa aje kuman dia boleh teractivated semula. I was panic at first... risaulah kan since I have a baby at home. Aisey.... sementara nak hantar balik, terpaksalah dia dok rumah kita kan? The hardest part was to break the news to her. She cried.. she said she was beginning to feel comfortable with us, she really wanted to work to help her family and pleaded to us to let her stay. It was heart-breaking laa.. but what choice did we have?

By the way, I called the agent penipu, she said she would replace a new maid for us. She maintained her innocence, kata tak tahu apa2 lah, "buat apa saya nak menipu.. saya orang Islam... you orang Islam". Arghh... takkan ku terpedaya. But she said in order for her to replace her, I had to send Puji to her friend in KL (also a maid agent). I was like..... kenapa pulak nak kena hantar pada agent lain. Undang2 telah jelas mengatakan, maid yang tak pass x-ray mesti hantar balik. Then I terpikir, ohh.. dia nak recycle la this Puji. Hantar pergi rumah majikan baru, lepas tu majikan baru buat medical check up, tak pass then hantar ke rumah another new Majikan. I didn't want to follow her plan. How could I expose bekas pesakit TB ni pada orang lain, orang yang mungkin ada baby & small kids like me. She needed to be sent back to her country as soon as possible.

So we proceeded with our plan to send her home. yes, we lost so much. We spent about RM 5K to get her in. And since we had to send her back, kenalah beli duit tiket balik kan which costed us another few hundred bucks. She had worked for a month for us. Memanglah kalau nak pikirkan rugi duit sangat banyak, but we didn't have the heart not to give her gaji. So we paid her one month salary. Tak apalah... both hubby and I redha aje... Mungkin adalah hikmah disebalik semua ni.

Lepas Puji balik, maka bermulalah segala cabaran. I had a baby yang nak berkepit 25 jam, and a thesis to be completed. At first, I was still hopeful that the agent penipu would find a new maid for us. But memang dasar haram jadah (hah.. amik kau!... those who know me in person would know I would never ever swear at people but this agent penipu really deserves segala raja maki hamun di dunia), sampai ke sudah takde pengganti & takde refund. Memang sampai kiamat I tak halal walau satu sen pun. Sebenarnya banyak lagi story.. dalam RM5K yang I bagi tu dia kata nak bagi family Puji untuk menampung hidup mereka yang susah sementara Puji belum dapat gaji kan. Dia kata duit tu Puji dah guna beli kalung emas, beli ubat..... saya yang mendengar pun senang hati, seronok dapat tolong orang... But when I asked Puji, she said, takde emas, takde ubat.. itu semua cerita penglipurlara si Agent HJ.

It was definitely the most trying time for us. Well of course, Arsh memanglah supercute, superadorable, but he's also superclingy. He would only want to be nursed to sleep, and once asleep, janganlah cuba2 nak letak dia kat bawah. nescayalah dia akan bangun and merengek and mintak susu again, sampai tertidur. But I had to do my thesis right? So, what I did, I duduk bersila atas lantai, letak laptop atas coffee table. Bila Arsh dah tertido, I would slowly placed him on the pillow on my lap, and only then masa tu barulah tangan2 ni free untuk menaip thesis. Macam itulah caranya menulis thesis ketika dalam pantang. That was how I worked until my mom came in March for more than a month to help me with the baby, while I concentrate on my thesis. Ya Allah... lega sangat bila mak datang. I managed to get most things written during that period. Bila fikir2 balik my PhD journey ni, memang rasa perit sangat. I'm glad I finally managed to submit my thesis in October 2010. One burden lifted off my shoulder.. Alhamdulillah.

Looking forward to a brand new and brighter 2011!

Keep hydrated!

Do you know how much water you need a day?

Multiply 3 from your body weight, and convert the number into litres. For example,

50 kg x 3 = 150 = 1.5 litres.

So you need 1.5 litres a day!

By the way, the picture above is my favourite drink ... Kedondong Asam Boi. I usually have this drink at Alicafe Tomyam (opposite Bomba Lembah Pantai). Very refreshing. I call it my happy drink.

Berkorban apa saja...

Tomorrow is my birthday according to the Hijrah calendar. I was born on pagi raya Aidil Adha. Mom was busy cooking nasi minyak in the kitchen when she suddenly feel the contractions. Tapi sempat siapkan masak the main dish, yang tak sempat cuma acar saja. Mom delivered me at our home back then at Jalan Rajawali, Larkin with the help of bidan kerajaan. I was born a healthy 4kg baby.

Terima kasih mak, atas pengorbanan mak. Bergadai nyawa nak lahirkan baby yang demok tu... 4 kilo babe.. no joke!

To all my friends out there, Selamat Hari raya Aidiladha dan selamat berkorban apa saja. I remember last raya Aidiladha was a quiet one. I was heavily pregnant at that time so we decided to just celebrate raya at home. My in-laws pun balik kampung Segamat at that time. Sayu ok. I cooked nasi lemak with sambal udang. Then my sisters came and brought nasi briyani, lemang, laksa Johor... Tiba2 meja penuh dengan makanan dan tiba2 rumah yang sunyi pun jadi meriah.

For tomorrow, we plan to celebrate Raya at my in-laws' place in Ampang. I plan to cook rendang daging. All my life, I have only cooked this dish twice, thanks to my dear friend, Umie, sebab bagi recipe yang sangat sempoi tapi sedap (sempoi sebab tak payah pakai kerisik, tapi rasanya macam pakai kerisik).

Doakanlah semoga misi masak rendang untuk mertuaku berjaya.

Hidup segan, mati tak mahu

Itulah nasib blog ini.

Kadang2 ada perkara yang nak dinukilkan, tetapi masa membatasinya. Oleh itu, tidak ternukillah ia.

Kadangkala... masa ada, idea juga ada. Yang tiada adalah berahi untuk menulis. Maka tak tertulislah ia.

Ada ketikanya... idea ada, peristiwa ada, masa ada, tetapi ada jua kegusaran. Tidakkah nukilan itu akan menyentuh aktor yang terlibat (mahupun yang tak terlibat) dalam peristiwa? Sekali lagi, tak ternukillah ia.

Jadi, apa opsyen yang ada?

Hentikan saja medium yang ada. Tidak guna jika ada medium, tapi tiada isinya. Ibarat hidup segan, mati belum bersedia.

Opsyen kedua... mungkin medium yang ada perlu dijadikan ruang privasi pemilik supaya hanya penulis yang bisa membaca. Justeru, tidak akan timbulnya soal "ada yang mungkin terasa". Mungkin lebih baik blog dikembalikan menjadi diari, yang suatu ketika dahulu pernah menjadi teman setia si penulis?

Adakala.. teknologi tidak menyenangkan, sebaliknya meresahkan.

Itu pun nak kena ajar ke?

Blood dah go upstairs. Anak2 murid saya.. tak tahulah datang dari ceruk hulu mana... tak reti nak beradab dan bertatasusila. Salah satunya, tak reti adab masuk bilik orang. Ikut suka depa aje main masuk. Tak reti nak ketuk pintu dulu. Geram betul. So hari ini, satu notis telah ditampal di pintu bilik tentang cara dan kaedah untuk berurusan dengan saya di bilik saya. Notisnya seperti yang tertulis dgn font biru dibawah:

Perhatian kepada Pelajar:

ADAB KETIKA INGIN BERURUSAN DI BILIK ATAU RUMAH ORANG

1. Ketuk pintu
2. Bagi salam atau “Hello”
3. Tunggu sehingga mendapat jawapan “Masuk” atau “Ya” (menandakan tuan bilik atau tuan rumah sedia menerima “tetamu”)
4. Setelah ketiga-tiga langkah diatas diikuti, barulah pusing tombol pintu untuk membuka pintu.

PERINGATAN:
Kegagalan melakukan langkah-langkah diatas akan menyebabkan kehadiran anda tidak dilayan sama sekali.

Nota kaki:
Itu pun nak kena ajar ke?

-------------------------
Ya memang betul.... Puan Nik memang cengih bak kata orang Utara...

Sebenarnya bukan setakat masalah takde adab nak masuk bilik orang, dalam kelas pun sama. Ge-geh... bak kata orang Kelantan. Masuk kelas macam masuk pasar. Budak2 final year ni (3rd year). Tahun depan dah nak keluar dari menara gading dan bercampur gaul dengan masyarakat madani. But like what Dr Azmi Sharom from Law Faculty once said, what we have in here is already the product. Product hasil daripada bertahun-tahun dididik oleh keluarga dan sekolah. Dah umur 22 tahun, there's nothing much we can do to melentur them. Saya dah tahap putus asa dgn pelajar2 tahun 3.

But..... our 2nd year students are different. They are ok... at least so far. I enjoy having them in my class. They're attentive, punctual and active in class... Perangai pun ok je & boleh diterima. I don't have any problem with our 2nd year students. Setakat ini lah... Tak tahulah kot besok dah masuk final year, dah konon2 matured nak besar kepala pulak. We'll see.........

Denggi kah?

Balik dari sekolah tadi, Shad tiba2 mengadu sakit kaki. Dia kata kaki dia rasa lemah sangat. memang sakit sangat agaknya sampai menangis. Pelik jugak.. sebab pagi tadi dia ok. We immediately brought him to the clinic. Dr check temperature dia 38.5 degree celcius. Dr looked a bit worried. Macam ada simptom denggi sebab sakit kat sendi kaki & demam mengejut. Dr advised, kalau 3 hari still tak ok, terus bawak gi hospital. Kalau besok nampak makin teruk ie. sakit kaki naik ke pinggang, pun terus bawak ke hospital. Dr bagi Shad MC 2 hari. Masalahnya Shad tengah exam. Besok paper Akhlak, Khat & Komputer. Tapi nak buat camna.. dah sakit, takkan nak paksa gi buat exam.

So here am I... googling about dengue symptoms. Shad is sleeping at the moment tapi macam tak berapa lena.. macam gelisah. I'm just so worried. Denggi ni bukan ada ubat pun. Cuma kena bagi air selalu. But from what i googled, katanya sup ketam boleh tingkatkan platlet darah merah. Ntah ya ntah tidak... but no harm trying. Lagipun ketam mmg favourite Shad. So, besok kena carik ketam. And I guess, I will have to take EL again tomorrow. Nasib baik besok takde kelas. Sejak masuk kerja bulan May, ntah berapa kali dah EL. Sampai naik segan nak call office. Nasib baik my boss and colleagues semuanya mak mak orang. So they're kinda understand masalah sejagat ibu-ibu berkerjaya ni.

Hari yang cerah

Akhirnya, soalan cepu emas telah ada jawapannya. Semua orang mesti ada soalan cepu emas yang paling tak suka didengari. Dan soalan cepu emas yang paling I tak seronok nak dengar "Camna your thesis?", or "How's your progress?". Well, I know they meant well (bersangka baik ajelah). Tapi kadang2 soalan tu akan disambung dengan pernyataan2 seperti ini "You knowlah kan.. our University is very serious abt PhD... yadaa yada.. yada......". So usually before the simple question leads to more serious discussion, whenever someone asks me that question, I will just reply "tengah final editing", and quickly make myself dissolve in the background. Because of this soalan cepu emas, I've been keeping myself really low, tak join majlis2 Aidilfitri in my workplace. Kalau datang ofis pun, parking kerta kat belakang bangunan so tak terserempak dengan ramai orang. That bad huh?... But now, I already have my answer to that question and the answer is "Dah submit dah... tunggu viva". Yes, finally, I managed to submit my thesis on 7th October 2010. This is the first submission, I'm yet to defend my viva.. tapi sekurang-kurangnya I dah rasa lega sangat sebab azab peringkat pertama dah lepas. Sekurang2nya dah tersempurna satu tanggungjawab untuk menyiapkan thesis, apa yang akan terjadi lepas ni is beyond my control. I have put in a lot of effort, beriringan dengan keringat dan air mata, semoga Allah permudahkan perjalanan ini sehingga ke garisan penamat. Amin.

I went to USM with hubby and the kids. I had to bring 10 copies of manuscript, so kalau naik flight nescayalah akan excess baggage. Lagipun nak kena pegi 3 tempat iaitu Bendahari, school and IPS.. so my ever so sopportive hubby said it's better to drive than to take a flight. So he took 2 days leave and anak2 pun ponteng sekolah 2 hari, dan ke Penanglah kami. We decided to stay for 2 nights at USM guest house. Saja bawak budak2 jalan-jalan.. makan-makan.

We stayed at USM guest house. Hubby really likes this place. Satu sebab murah, only RM130 a night and the facilities pun ok and selesa for family. Ada satu bilik, living area, kitchen and dining area. We brought our electric stove, and tilam toto for the baby to golek2. Parking area pun dekat aje. We brought our kids to USM museum which is within walking distance with the guest house. Impressive jugak muzium USM ni, ada pameran on science and technology, environment, archeology, arts and music. Very informative. We also brought our kids to HBP. I told my kids, "kat sinilah abah jumpa ibu..", we also brought the kids to feed ikan talapia at Tasik Harapan, tapi tak bagitahulah kat the kids kat sini tempat abah dgn ibu dating sambil bagi ikan makan (how romantic... ha..ha...)...... Oh the kids sangat seronok pergi tasik. At first bagi ikan makan roti, sekali biawak dengan kura-kura pun keluar nak join sekaki. Last2 they end up bagi biawak makan. Hubby was really creative, guna tali and paper clip untuk pancing ikan, dah dapat ikan bagi kat biawak. 3 kali pergi tasik okay, but the last one we dropped by masa dah nak balik KL. Biawak tak keluar pulak tengahari. Rizq was frustrated & tak nak balik. I pujuk him and said "nanti kita balik KL kita bagi ikan makan kat tasik kat KL ya". Dia kata, "ok.. tapi tasik yang ada biawak tau". Aduhh... dimana mahu ku cari biawak.....

We also went makan2. Makan kat tepi laut kat Seagate, makan nasi kandar Subaidah (macam kat KL takde nasi kandar, but somehow nasi kandar Penang taste differently), makan pasembur kat Bakti (murahnyee.... RM 2 only, but really nice), and of course Char Koay Teow Sungai Dua yang dulu dikenali sebagai Sany Char Koay Teow, tapi sekarang dah bertukar jadi Jeff Char Koay Teow. Ok lah jugak, tapi takleh lawan Sany.

It was a simple getaway, but the kids love it (thanks to the biawaks). For me and hubby, it was like walking down the memory lane. Satu persatu memori datang flash back..... teringat pakai baju orientasi Matrik warna Ungu, kain hitam.... jalan kaki dari Gemilang nak ke Dewan Kuliah. Teringat petang2 dulu berjalan kaki dari Gemilang ke Gelugor, pergi VC rock. Oh we walked A LOT that time.... Tiap2 petang mesti nak merayau. When one of us (Zuera) dapat pinjam kereta from her parents, lagiiiilah panjang kaki pergi Island Plaza, Ferinngghi and even sampai ke Seberang. Argh.... those days........

Suddenly I miss my galfrens.....