Nazrul Mohtar likes
April 2010
April saw Alisha’s Sports Day- her first ever (if I recall correctly). For the first time , Papa attended an indoor sports day- in their school hall. It was fun as all the kids got prizes irrespective of who won- of course the actual winner got a bigger prize. They had events that involved the parents as well, so that was cool. Before it ended everyone got up and did that “dadadada” song- Haha- Can’t remember the title. You know the one that you have to mime with your hands the duck, chicken and something or other? No? Well… it was fun in any case.
As we were going to BSC quite a lot for blading, Aunty Mel decided to give the kiddies a present of their own personal rollerblades. Aunty Mel had bought hers earlier from Skateline, and so brought the kids there for their fitment one day. Only little Lisha didn’t get one as she was too tiny still Thanks Aunty Mel for saving Papa from having to buy them himself
May 2010
May was pretty quite. The breakfast sessions continued of course save for those days that we ran late or Alisha didn’t feel like having any. The baby fishies also started dwindling in numbers as they grew fast and moved on to the big pond. We had a session at the Kindie for a parents-teacher review of the kids progress. Papa remembered Mama asking if Alisha was fitting in well and behaving, as she can be a bit bossy. The reply was classic- “They’re all bossy here!” It turns out that most of the kids were either the eldest or youngest, so were used to getting their way. Fortunately, it seems bossies cancels out bossies… haha.
Papa also gave Haris a special present for his very good placement in the school’s exams. It also served as an incentive for the others to strive well. He got the Prime box set made up of Optimus and Jetfire. Yes… Transformers robots. He was a bit looking forward to the Decepticon Devastator set, but they ran out of stock of the big set and only had the small plastic models; as such it was the big badass Prime set. Mama did ask who actually the toy was for. Does the question need to be asked?
June 2010
June also saw us making a trip down south to Singapore- one of many for the year. This time it was also for Universal Studios. It was real fun for the kiddies even though it was very hot. Alisha surprised us by agreeing to ride on several rollercoaster rides- one in JP and the other in Far Far Away. The latter she did on her own without Papa or Mama, just with her siblings and cousins. Too bad the Battlestar Galactica ride was still non-operational (edit- read they recently opened), so I guess it’s worth another trip later?
Alisha celebrated her 5th birthday that June too. We had a combined party with Shafiq over at his place. Don’t they grow up fast?
About a couple of weeks ago, a dear old aunt of Papa passed away. When Papa was much younger- around the kiddies age right now, he used to spend a lot of time over at that aunt’s place, whenever he was in Singapore. There were many fond memories. Sadly, the older Papa got the less chances he got to visit.
Well, Papa was at the Dusun that Sunday morning when he got the call that Mak Odah was at her death bed in the hospital. She was admitted the night before. Papa wanted to go, but he had some errants to run, while Emma was away. Later that afternoon, while on a short stop at Ayer Keroh, he got the call that she had passed. It was funny, that morning before he even got the fors call, Papa had this strange feeling of dread- of death, and he was feeling somewhat down, with everything that was going on.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, Aunty Rin went on behalf of the family with Kakak Siti. Papa thought about going on Monday, but thought it better to accompany Emma when she came back. Mak Odah was Emma’s elder sister. So yesterday morning Emma asked Papa if we could make the trip. So her we are.
Mama couldn’t follow as she had her exams today- hope she does well. The kiddies only found out about the trip this morning. Papa intended to go alone; but Emily, as always, got her way with her Papa. The other two were convinced that it was a better idea to stay in KL with Mama, as tonight there’s Aunty Meen’s open house and tomorrow is Baby Adam’s birthday party at Serendah.
Papa is a bit sad to have his other kids away, but at least they can keep Mama company. Haris was told he was the man of the house and he needed to take care of Mama and Alisha. He looked sad no to follow but took on the task Papa put to him. Good boy!
Papa was relieved that Alisha didn’t cry, because he wouldn’t have known what to do then.
Emily is at least having fun meeting up with her cousins Sara and Haziq. We arrived at about 12:30 after leaving KL at 9:30. Papa probably got at least 1 summons… haha.
We’ll be visiting the pusara tomorrow morning, as Papa is a bit unfamiliar with the new cemetary complex in Singapore, and need someone to guide him. Well, more tomorrow. Papa isn’t feeling very upbeat right now- there something troubling his mind…
August- the name itself speaks for itself. Indeed, every year, the month of August will be filled with so many events and activities that it’ll be hard to catch a weekend when you can just put your feet up and do nothing.
These days, August means presents and celebrations for the 2 elder Kiddies- Haris and Shahira. Haris turned 6 on the 11th and Shahira 8 on the 21st. My, how fast time does fly. How easy it is to lose track of the moments that make a life time; and how much more precious it becomes to capture and and be able to remember the experiences. I’m still wondering whether it was better in those days of film and prints- you chose your shots well… there may not be many; but it adds to the whole emotions of the moment. But that’s a whole other story (for a different blog).
We had a small party this year for the two at KJ. It was a bit of a rush as Mama these days is occupied by her MBA classes during the weekends. So when a Saturday suddenly cleared up- we moved the event a week earlier to the 9th. As such, many of the things we had planned to keep the kids occupied went missing, due to the shortness of time. I still can’t believe some people need 7 days notice just to prepare helium balloons. Well, let bygones be bygones.
It turned out to be a fun party anyway. and thank you all for coming and the presents (btw, some of the invites also went haywire and apparently not many people are as FB addicted as this old man). I had hoped to see some people there, but it’s a busy month for many others to. In fact, some friends were double or triple booked for the day! Well, thank you for coming all the more.
On the birthday side- it was also Tok Abah’s birthday, Aunty Chris, Aunty Zaila, Aunty Intan and I’m sure for many others I just can’t recall at the moment.
And what about weddings? Congrats to all the newlyweds- Dino, Hans, Wafa (to name a few)- we share in your excitement even though we can’t be there for some of you. We wish you happiness to last a lifetime. On that note, there’s a couple of weddings coming up that we look forward to as well
We did manage to go to Singapore on the 23rd-25th for a short trip (wedding), and it was a welcomed break for the kiddies; and a tiring one for Papa who’s the designated driver. We drove down on Saturday morning, and back on Monday noon- to avoid the rush.
So, with that we’ve come nearer to a closure for a packed August month (Only my pockets are not so august- must remember to budget extra for future recurrence).
Yesterday (30th) started early for Papa and Shahira- we went to Stadium Juara Bukit Kiara for a colouring competition. We arrived at 8 am and registered (her school SK Sri Hartamas entered her and a bunch of classmates). She was in Category B (7-9 year olds). We met up with Amelyn and her father, and the 2 stuck together. Papa had to go off about 9 for a meeting in KL, and Aunty Mel was to pick her up later.
Imagine my surprise when Shahira called later and told she won 5th place! My daughter? Winning (albeit 5th place) at colouring? Well, that definitely puts all the murals on the home walls worth it, now doesn’t it? Haha… apparently the teacher took the prize so she can be presented it during the School Assembly next week.
Opah, Aunty Rita and Uncle Manan also came back from Mecca from their Umrah. We went over to Aunty Rita’s place after Maghrib; and are thankful to God for their safe return.
That brings us to the penultimate event every 31st August since 51 years ago- Independence Day. This years motto is – “Perpaduan Teras Kejayaan” meaning “Unity is the Thrust of Success”. As Mama had her class Sunday mornings, Bibik on leave and Shahira at Emma’s- it was left to Papa to watch over Haris and Alisha. We watched the Parade on TV, and went over to the windows to see the jet fighter and helicopter fly-bys. Unfortunately, the heavens were cloudy and hazy. So whereas last year we had a fantastic view, this year we only had glimpses as visibility was bad (but they did fly close by the apartment).
And as we come to the close of the August month of August, we start an even more blessed month tomorrow- Ramadhan. Let’s see how the kiddies will do this time round. So “Selamat Berpuasa” to all Muslims everywhere, and May Allah accept our deeds and forgive us all our transgression this year before.
It seems that Papa has been going down to Singapore a lot lately; and with that, having to leave the kids as home. Well, last Friday evening, while Shahira was all busy playing at her friends house (and not bothering to even want to see her Papa off), Mama and Alisha sent Emma, Aunty Mel and Papa to the Odyssey Lounge in Mon’t Kiara to take the coach to Singapore.
She was in her cute and lovable mode, so it was hard for Papa to leave her behind. If not for the fact that Papa was going to do visiting at a hospital, Papa would have brought her along. So, it was a very pleasant surprise, when during the journey, when it was all wet and dreary outside, Papa got a call from who else but Alisha.
“Assalamualaikum Papa!” she greeted in her manja-est voice. “Papa kat mana? Papa naik bus?”
We proceeded to talk for a good few minutes, with her telling Papa what she was doing and all. The best bit was when she was saying goodbye, and shouted out many times- “I love you, Papa!”.
“I love you, Lisha.” Papa replied.
“I love you too, Papa! Mmmmmmmmuuuuuuuuaaaaahhhh!!!!”
Papa felt a lot better after, and watch (for only a bit) a comedy movie called “Unaccompanied Minors”. It wasn’t very good, but the irony here was that Papa was the “Unaccompanied Adult”- traveling without the kiddies
This post was done early Sunday morning in Singapore at Uncle Harrison’s place. Accompanying pictures will come later- as Mama always insist- “Put pictures in… no one bothers to read you. Hee hee”.
Day 2 saw the continuing theme of the kiddies waking up waaay early despite a late night. Since, we’ve made arrangements to go to the wedding around noon, the morning was so called free and easy.
At the wedding, kids being kids, they disappeared to the playground almost immediately. Only returning now and again for a quick drink. Kakak Siti however, won a prize for answering a teka-teki: -
“Apa benda bila kita baring dia tegak, tapi bila kita duduk dia baring?“What’s straight when you lie down, but lays flat when you sit? Answer- Soles of your feet!”"
Nothing much happened until later that night. Uncle Harrison was entertaining us with the guitar and singing lots of classic english and malay rock songs. For his trouble, we dubbed him “Man Boy” after Man BaiThe footage shown was from the evening before..
We also got our hands on a “reality” ghost hunt video, and nearly everyone was hiding behind a pillow, watching the show in the dark. Shahira as usual (during horror movies) made herself scarce, and sat alone in the kitchen. It was only after she was so tired that she reluctantly agreed to follow Papa to the Living Room and snuggled up to sleep. Alisha of course lodged herself in between Shahira and Papa, and too, fell asleep.
By the end of the show, most of the kiddies had fallen asleep, and had to be woken up for the trip back home to Man Boy’s place. This proved to be a tiring affairs as getting them up was not so easy, especially my big girl. Once in the car, they nodded off again, which necessitated a repeat exercise to wake them up. Shahira was crying to be carried up; but do you know what gets the cake? When Papa returned after parking the car a block away, they were all (except for Alisha) fully awake and bouncing around. Hish!
Papa went straight to bed.
