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?