New Addiction

After Coach, I'm now hooked to Longchamp. The colours are so eye-catching and the bags are light-weight and roomy too. Thank God, it's not as expensive as Coach. I'm not really a "bag" person but Dear said it's okay to have one or two from each brand.

My pilot friend said, "Oh, someone is in a 'bag' mood sey." I like that statement. It's better to be in a "bag mood" than to be in a "bad mood", right?...I don't know if I wanna buy from counter or buy a customised version which costs almost double. The customised version has two colours to a bag with "LIZ" embossed on its flap and delivered directly to my door-step from Paris. As for the regular version, I can ask any of my crew friends to buy for me whenever they are in Frankfurt or Paris (so much cheaper over there).

In "bag-thinking" mode once again.........

I Want! I Want!

What I want?

I wanna go on a holiday soon lah. It still seems so far away. Anyway, I still have a little bit of work to do and two courses to attend. SABAR, LIZ!...Sleep, wake up, sleep, wake up, sleep, wake up a few more times and then, it's JENG-JENG-JENG!

People around me always ask, "Why KL? Why not elsewhere?"...I also have no idea. Probably, it's because of the food and the year-end mega sale. I'm not a shopping-junkie but one or two pieces of new bra and one or two pieces of new blouses won't hurt my pocket, right? ;-) Besides, KL is more helluva fun compared to Malacca and Johor. I have not tried going to Penang yet in recent years. I love to drive long-distance but the thought of driving all the way to Penang has not crossed my mind. A routine trip to KL whenever December comes is enough to make my kids and me happy.

Wait! I wanna blog about my niece's wedding, my outing with Aryna and her girl-cousins, my agency bowling tournament, blah blah blah...I wonder when I can really find time to sit and blog to my heart's content. Blogging is an outlet. Blogging also allows me to diary my life and the events associated with me and my family. As I get older, I tend to forget some little details of what happened in the past. But with a blog like this, I can read my past posts and smile at the memories.

We Are 12!

We got to know each other in mid-1993 via the Holiday Inn Group computer system, Holidax. I hated him when we met for the first time in July 1993. I rejected his countless pleas to meet him after that first date. Somehow, he managed to con me into meeting him again on 29 Nov 1993. On that day, I learnt more about him. We talked and talked for hours that I simply did not realise it was already 10pm. That day marked our first real date, having our first real conversation, sharing our first laugh with no hint of sarcasm at all. On that day, I knew I have begun to fall in love with him.

Our tumultuous love affair of 4 years was finally sealed with an akad nikah on 29 Nov 1997 at 11.30am. Why tumultuous, you may wonder? Firstly, he was from a different faith. Although he was used to the Malay way of life as he was born and raised in Malaysia, asking him to learn Islam and to convert was a totally different story. I did not force him neither did I coax him. He was very willing to learn more about Islam and I attended every lesson with him at Darul Arqam no matter how tired I was...Secondly, most of his siblings did not like the idea of him marrying a Malay gal, although his mum was neutral about his decision. My father was against my choice of a husband too...Thirdly and the final reason, he was a work-permit holder and by marrying him, even with consent from the then Ministry of Labour, would mean that it would not be easy for him to get any employment permit here for the next 5 years at minimum.

Somehow, we survived and are still surviving. 4 kids furnish our marriage. I have relatives and some friends (if I can call them "friends") who want to see our marriage crumble. Whatever is the reason behind their ill intention, only Allah knows. We persevere. We stand by each other. We brave the storm. And we are now into our 12th year or marriage; Syukur Alhamdulillah.

I do get pissed off with him when he shows me a sour face when he's tired. I do get pissed off with him when he nags at me for some little things that I may overlook. And I do get pissed off with him when he's too strict with our kids...But all these pale in comparison to the love that he has been showering me. He may be quiet, he may not say out that he loves me as often as before, but I know he loves me a lot. He works very hard for our family, he allows me to go out to work, he allows me to go out with my friends, he allows me to make decisions for our family and most importantly, he allows me to handle his money ;-)

I cannot ask for more. I realised that I love my dear husband too much that I cannot even imagine life without him. We may not be rich but we are comfortable. We may not have luxuries but we are contented. I do so much for my family cos he told me that I'm better at handling stuff than him. But when he does little things for me, I would be so happy that even a bar of chocolate presented to me by him can move me to tears. So emo lah, tis Liz...Nevertheless, I'm so grateful to Allah that our marriage has weathered whatever nonsense people have put us through. We are Liz Syafiq for 12 years now and I pray that we can continue our journey together till the end of time. Amin.

Sunday Quirks & Monday Blues

Sunday...My girlfriend, Malis, invited Jah, Ami and me to the wedding of her niece at Pandan Gardens. Dear was working and the kids wanted to stay at home to complete their "mission" (read: games) on PS2, Facebook, Y3, Y8, etc. Therefore, I asked Ami to come over to my place first to "drop off" her son so that he could play with my kids and we could go to the wedding with juz her gal and her maid. Irwin was so excited to see his friends and was okay with the fact that his Ebu was leaving him for a few hours.

Upon reaching the wedding venue, we ate, we took pictures; we really had a good time. It hasn't been easy for the 4 of us to meet up due to our conflicting schedule. It's either juz 2 or 3 of us, seldom 4...After the wedding, on the way back, Ami and I went to Sheng Siong near my place. She bought the ingredients for donuts and came over to my place to learn hands-on from me together with her maid.



Monday...Left home at 9am to go to office for an urgent submission of a closed deal and to follow-up on some memos. Left office at 10.30am to go to the airport to send Mala and Kak Khayati off to Makkah. I met Mala first. It was a very emotional moment. I salute her and her husband for their strength in leaving their 2 young kids to perform Haj. I asked her to remember me in her prayers. I, too, wanna touch my feet on the Holy Land, even if it's juz for an Umrah. When Dear said he's ready to do Umrah, we have actually planned to go in Apr 2010 but now it seems that it has to be postponed because he registered for a course and the course will run from Jan 2010 to May 2010. Let's see if Apr 2011 is a possibility, InsyaAllah.

After spending 30 minutes with Mala, I walked over to Row 9 to see Kak Khayati. She's my client as well as a family friend. A divorcee who raised 2 children as a single-parent, the kids are finally grown-up now and can fend for themselves while their mum is away...After all the hugs and the tears, I walked back slowly towards Row 3, where the escalator to my car was. I bumped into Uncle Sidek Saniff. He called my name but I was on the phone. We juz exchanged "Apa khabar?" and I continued with the phone cos he had bumped into another friend. It was nice of him to still remember me although we last met so many years ago at his sons' wedding. I didn't even have the chance to ask about his wife and his eldest son, whom I'm acquainted to...And somehow, I dreamt of Izan this morning...That's the problem with me. Whenever I dream of somebody, I know I miss that person. It's good of Allah to let me see some long-lost friends again, even if it's juz in my dreams.

Well, after the trip to airport, I was back to my office to continue with my paperwork till 4.30pm and then met Ami for de-stressing and dinner...Work shall take centrestage till 30 Nov 09. I already have a melahap appointment on 30 Nov itself. Yippeee!

Project Saturday

If there is one thing I never do on a Saturday, it is to go out and meet clients for work-related matters. I try not to have any appointments on weekends and public holidays so that I can spend time with my kids. And once in a blue moon, I will use a Saturday for my "Me" time.

So, yesterday, being a cool and wet Saturday and Dear was at work, the kids and I juz stayed at home lazing around. Well, not really. Aqil and Akmal were still revising for their Madrasah exam which takes place today. I was busy testing them with mock-up test questions. Had cooked Mee Goreng for lunch; something quick and easy for a lazy Saturday. Some time around 4pm, I had a sudden urge to eat donuts. Not those from Donut Empire but from my own kitchen. After checking the cabinet and fridge for the availability of the ingredients, I started my donut-making session. In-between, I was FB-ing as usual, when I saw Kak Ani uploaded photos of her freshly-baked choc-chip cookies. Her caption mentioned "superlicious choc-chip cookies...new recipe."...So, I put up a comment to ask for the recipe. In less than 5 minutes, I received it from her via FB-mail. I thanked her and told myself that I would bake these cookies either the next day (which is today) or on some other day as I had already started on my donuts. But the gatal-ness in me told me that I must bake it immediately. The kids were very excited cos they would have donuts and cookies to eat!

While waiting for the donut dough to rise, I mixed the ingredients for the cookies. All in all, it took me 3 hours to bake both munchies. Again, the gatal-ness in me told me to try out a new recipe for sugar icing. I did and it turned out well. Alhamdulillah...It was a Saturday well-spent. I'm always happy to see my kids happily and excitingly savouring whatever I whip up for them. Nothing beats home-cooked meals and home-baked delicacies by a mother to her loved ones. Not forgetting the husband who didn't come back last nite. If he can't come back again today, I shall have the donuts and cookies delivered to him tonight.

Busy November

Busy, busy, busy...Been really busy with capital B! But I'm not complaining cos I like being busy. Every November, the story is always the same cos it's my company's financial year-end month. Going for one sales appointment after another, be it at Bugis, Tampines, Jurong Point, IMM, Orchard Rd, Punggol, Woodlands, etc. I am practically everywhere almost everyday! This is the part where I truly appreciate that I have a driving licence and my own car to transport me easily from place to place. Before going to work, as usual, I will cook. In-between work, I make time to come back to fetch my kids from school. In the evening, I'll try to come back again to keep them company for dinner, solat and off to my next sales appointment again.

It's never easy to get a sales appointment but some contacts, friends and existing clients have been very nice and very supportive. Our appointments usually centre around policy-reviews and for me to update them on new product launches. After my presentation, they like the plan, they see the need, they have the budget (even $50) and they sign up! Because of the faith they have in me as their servicing agent and as their friend, the number of years I have been in this career and the confidence they have in my company, some even invest all of their available CPF funds allowable for investment. For that, I am truly grateful for their faith in me. Frankly speaking, after being in this line for 14 years, with the same company, under the same manager, I really don't know where else to go. So, I'm very likely to stick around in this career for a long time.

Other than my sales appointments, other than my paperwork, of course I make time for my family, my friends and my hobbies. Reading, cooking, baking, FB-ing, beading and the ultimate of all > MELAHAP-ing! I look forward to my family vacation in mid-Dec. My children's report books have been collected. I don't have any major complains about their results. This weekend will be their Madrasah exams and after that, it's work and work and work again for me till 30 Nov 09, 3pm. What happens after that hour? It's YABBADABADOOOOOO!

Exams Over For The Kids...Hurray!

I was more excited than the kids the minute they finished their last paper. It was very tiring to tutor 3 children plus some of their friends intensively. But the results showed up, especially Afif's and Aqil has improved too. Alhamdulillah....So, exams over, what have the Singhs @ Syafiqs been up to?

Kids have been busy "catching up" on their PS2 games and PC games. I have been busy with meeting clients, doing presentations and trying to close deals to wrap up the financial year-end which is November for AIA...I have to work very hard because I am still short of my required sales target!

But, despite all the "catching up" and the appointments, I managed to squeeze some time to learn cupcake-baking and icing work. I took my kids along and let them try the icing work and to express their creativity...I managed to go to JB with Jah for my eating-spree, her shopping-spree and our foot reflexology. I also attended my secondary school reunion to celebrate 20th anniversary since the day we graduated from our school as O-level students. As I was one of the organising committee members, I was also one of the busiest on days leading to the event. On the very day itself, I was the earliest to reach cos I had to ensure that the food served was as promised, the function room was laid out as planned, etc. All the committee's effort and hardwork turned to sheer excitement and happiness when one by one of our guests, who were once our school-mates, started to walk in. After 20 years, it was great to see my fellow prefects, fellow band members, ex-classmates, ex-boyfriends, ex-admirers, ex-admireds and all the exes all over again. Hehe...

I need to catch up on my reading now. Juz a few pages before i zzzzz....I wanna blog about ALADDIN, the shop at Arab St selling material to make baju. But I shall keep that for another day's post. In the meantime, try not to patronise that shop. I hate cheats!...You know what I mean?

"Me" Time On A Saturday...No Kids

Last nite, after finishing my appointment with a client at 10pm+ at Novena Sq, I went to Dear's work-place to overnite. He got a room there since Tuesday due to his back-to-back shifts again. Kids and maid spent the nite at Kak Long's house as per every Friday nite as usual.

Woke up at 6.30am to see Dear off at the door, washed up, went back to bed to read my book and dozed off again at 8am+. I was disturbed by an sms at 9am from an unwanted acquaintance. I was still sleepy and didn't bother to reply. The next thing I knew was that the clock showed 11.30am! Not that I was in a hurry to go anywhere but I felt bad to sleep throughout a weekend morning; a luxury which I would not get if I was at home.

I took my time to shower and dressed up, drank coffee and watched CNN while packing up. By 1pm, I was out of the hotel room and off to Changi Hospital to visit my Jah's mum. At 2.30pm, Jah and I left for lunch at Swensen's T2. Ami joined at 4pm when she finished work. By 4.30pm, we left T2, sent Jah back for a while for her to drop off some stuff at home and off we went back to the hospital. Changi Hospital still screens every visitor and each patient is only allowed 2 visitors...Jah and Ami went up first with their security passes. Jah came down soon after with Ami's pass and brought me up. So leceh!...By 6pm, we drove off. Was supposed to go to Tan Tock Seng Hospital to visit a young client who was down with pneumonia since last week but the rain suddenly became so heavy and traffic was moving at turtle-speed. Had to postpone my visit to another day, sent Ami home and fetched my kids and maid from Kak Long's at 8pm.

Got to catch up on my FB and sales reports cos I got no free Wi-Fi access at the hotel...Hmmm, why am I feeling hungry now? Didn't I have a late, heavy lunch?

New Purse

It's a case of WANT vs NEED...Last week, my girlfriend called me and asked if I wanna buy a branded purse which her relative juz brought back from USA. Apparently, the boutique at USA was having a stock-clearing sale and the prices of the purses and some bags were so irresistable that the relative juz had to buy lots of them.

I've always loved this brand but cannot see the reason why I should spend so much on its bags or purses. So, whenever I pass by its boutique either here or in KL, I will juz take a look and drool. I've tasted hardship before, so, to spend almost S$600 on a purse would be truly a crazy thing for me to do! I'd rather save that money or use that to help those who are really in need...But how to resist when the price quoted to me by my girlfriend was simply an out-of-the-world price? It was a good bargain, something not to be missed. Although it was still a 3-figure, I don't need to be a genius in Maths to decide that it was indeed a good buy. Of course, the first thing that I asked was, "Is it original?". When the answer came, I juz had to re-confirm its authenticity by taking a look at it personally.

So, I met up with my girlfriend last nite. Indeed, the purse is original. The certificate is there and it comes with a dust-bag and box. I've seen and touched this purse before in the boutique here, therefore, I know very well that it is authentic. The texture is oh-so-smooth and the leather smell is heavenly...Hmmm, now I feel so sayang to use it. That's because my existing purse is still in good condition. This Renoma purse is a gift from a friend, it's black in colour and it has served me for 2 years already.

Weekend Getaway In Singapore

Two weeks ago, Dear was working long hours daily and back-to-back too. Thus, his management gave him a room to stay. Although he got the room since Tuesday, I could not accompany him. I still had to send our kids to school, cook and fetch them from school. So, on Friday, after I finished work and coffee-session with my girlfriends, instead of going home, Iwent to the hotel. Earlier in the day, kiddos and maid were sent to Kak Long's house right after school because every Friday is their free-and-easy day and most of the time, I let them stay overnite at Kak Long's on Friday juz for a nite.

The next day, I woke up at 6.30am. After preparing coffee for Dear and after he left for work, I rot in bed, watching CNN news. Eventually, I dozed off again at about 8.30am. What a doze cos I woke up at almost noon!...Left the hotel at 1pm, fetched kiddos and maid, and by 3pm, Aqil's friends came over to do a class project. While the boys were busy with their project, I was busy packing up to take kiddos to stay overnite at the hotel. By 6pm, we left home to send the maid back to Kak Long's and the minute she stepped out of the car, we sang, joked and shared stories all the way to the hotel. Having a maid in our household compromises our family privacy. That is why whenever we go for holidays, we don't take the maid along. We treasure every second of our quality time spent together; juz the 6 of us.

Back to the weekend getaway...Kiddos were excited the minute we stepped into the hotel lobby. I called Dear to come back to the room for a while to say hello to us. After solat Isyak, I told kiddos that I wanted to take them to Toys'R Us - Forum. It seemed that CicakMan 2 was more interesting than Toys'R Us...For the first time in their lives, all 4 of them told me, "No, Mummy. We juz go to Old Chang Kee to buy some epok-epok and come back to the room, k? Cos CicakMan 2 starts at 8.30pm on Suria."...Hmm, it was indeed peace and quiet between 8.30pm to 10.30pm cos they were engrossed watching CicakMan 2!

Next morning, I took them to the pool for an hour of swimming. We left the hotel at 10.30am to have hotcakes at McDonald's - Forum. Back home, it was back to reality again. Revision, revision and more revision, to prepare for their final-year exams.

Blogger Re-Activated!

Wooohoooo! After so many years of being dormant, I've finally decided to make a come-back here. At the moment, nothing much to write cos it's past midnite and my brain is functioning at a turtle speed.

Nevertheless, writing is always the best form of expressing oneself. As such, I shall write like how I used to...I've been writing a lot on my Multiply too. But nothing beats writing on Blogger.

Till the next post, good nite ;-)