CHAINED UP

The watches we ended up buying

A Puma watch for hubby

A simple Titus for me

A bag I bought from Siem Reap


The face of a man poorer by a couple of hundreds after buying the watches


I will squirt chilly sauce into your eyes if you say my watch is not nice!

WATCHING TIME

Had no intention of parting my cash with a watch though I had been mulling over the idea of laying my hands on a solid-stainless steel bracelet watch.

And...lo and behold hubby and I were drawn like magnets to a City Chain store with their huge discounts of up to 70% on watches when we popped into Sembawang Shopping Centre recently. Really, I hate all these adverts gimmick and claims of fantastic discounts. Not all of these sale talks are genuine but foolish people like me do get drawn to them like ants to sugar blindly at times.

Rummaging through the displayed watches, I fell in love with one which was offered at a 50% discount while hubby was Pumamised by an irregular watch face. He, being a fanatic watch-buyer also increased his collection of time pieces after trying out a few and ended up with one more Puma watch.

I vowed to be chained to my wallet the next time I do my retail theraphy when all those placards with huge discounts stare face to face at me. Does anyone have any tips on how to resist such sales?

DESARU BEACH

TO DESARU WITH DAIHATSU

My ever faithful and safe driver

Desaru las lost much of its charm and draw

The turqoise sky we saw

Me, mum and Tini

Tini takes care of mum well

Me and my menu planner and home director

I love you mum

We decided to come back to Desaru again

The open South China Sea in the background

Last weekend, we drove to Desaru since we had no planned destination. The rain had no mercy on us and throughout the journey we had to be extra cautious driving up the Kota Tinggi route. The Senai-Desaru Highway is under construction so we had to take the old route, deftly manouevering for two hours and cursing the lorries and busses infront of us for stalling our journey further. Once the highway is completed, it will slash travelling time from JB to Desaru. You just need to be behind the wheel for 45 mins to throw yourself into the sea.

We turned into the public carpark of Desaru at 5.00pm after stopping for some mee rebus and satay along the way. Streams of cars and visitors were heading for the carpark. The buntings along the road had alerted us of the Berita Harian fishing and a karoake competition for the folks there. Stalls selling Berita Harian merchandise, rinks, clothings and food populated the green patch opposite the carpark. The Joharians can nightingale their notes and pitch thorugh the microphones because our ear drums were entertained by some quality singing and rhythmn. No wonder Johor has produced top grossing singers. swingers and rockers like Amy Search and Mawi.

Desaru is still popular with the locals and is a top choice beach spot as a weekend escapade for the busy Yishunite, Woodlanders or Ang Mo Kians heartlanders. The hotels are pretty fully-booked by Singaporeans, judging by the number of Singapore-registered cars parked at the hotels and resorts lining the beach. I guess we need some peace and a slower pace of life once a while to keep our sanity and value add our life.

The greyish sandy beach stretches for about 25km and is under the constant lashing of the constructive swash and destructive backwash powers of the strong currents of the South China Sea. Casuarina trees swayed in the strong winds. My grievance is that more maintainance could take place here. A beach clean-up is necessary and more facilties could be provided for the beach-goers at the public beach area. I eyed the rundown water scooters at the water sports kiosk and shivered at their condition and safety they would offer to the aqua riders. Stringent measures on watersports safety can be looked into too.

No matter what I will still drive to Desaru.....just waiting for the highway to open up. My husband will be spared of the expletives I used against the big vehicles drivers who snailed our Kota Tinggi route then!

TOUCHING BASE

FROM PHASES TO FACES



Have not seen Jamal for about 22 years

Arshad used to live in the same block as us

Pai, the youngest of the brothers

Meeting old frendz again

Arshad has a big family of brothers and sisters

The bride's father and brother

Pau - the bride's mother

I used to tutor Wan (in the centre) when he was in Pri 6

Brothers of four

Zuraidah and Zubaidah - Capt Aman's daughter

Two brothers - Roslee and Pai

Hubby with Roslee

Attended an old neighbour's wedding invitation and for all you know I was surrounded by faces and characters who had crossed my life before. I was able to recognise some but unfortunately there were others whom I could not fit the jig-saw puzzle pieces though I tried hard to retrieve who they are from my memory data base. My friends and neighbours had changed so much that I had no inkling as to whom I was talking or vigorously nodding my head at. Strangely, they could recognise me and even recall my name. Wonder what had they been feeding their grey cells with? How embarrassing it was when these friends and neighbours had to prod my lump of brain, stir some grey cells with a stick in order to jolt my memory of them and their names.

I could see their eyes widening and mouth flapping in eagerness, hoping for me to shout out their names with an 100% accuracy. Alas! I failed them miserably and had nowhere to hide my silly face and the apologetic smile I had to wear throughout the day. When I made a wrong guess, dejection was written all over their faces. I swear I saw some who nearly wanted to aim a chair at me for forgetting their names. I must have eaten more than a dozen humble pies in my more than half century of living on that day alone due to my poor recollection of faces to the names. Gingko Biloba must come to my rescue now!

We had been friends or to state correctly our parents had known each other like 50 years back. We were staying at the far end of Jalan Eunos and our paths crossed often during our childhood days. The kampung was demolished in the 70's to make way for development and after more house-moving we reconnected at Bendemeer Road. Since then we had met or bumped into one another on happy and sad occasions.

Flash back:

Stayed at Jalan Ishak
Jalan Madrasah was next
Shifted to 1 Jalan Buntu. Near to Barrack Hitam. My HEAVEN!
Dad bought a house at 10 Jalan Kasturi
Pigeon holed at Block 23 Bendemeer Road, 12th floor

I must one day blog about my kampung daze and relive the best moments of my life!

THE MAGIC NUMBER

BIRTHDAY TAPESTRY


My family, my life



WHAT'S IN AN AGE?

Flowers, cakes, ice cream and a double digit number were the order for that day. I had just turned a year older though none of my passion in life is ebbing away. It was a simple celebration with the family and a lot of sinful eating from too much cream, sugar and calories. Isn't that what's all birthday celebrations are all about?


Mum and us


Nobody cared too much of the sugar and cream


Hubby gave me a pair of transition glasses, to see him better with my failing eyesight, I supposed. My sons Nizar and Thaqif presented me with a lovely card and a hazel nut cake while sister Ina surprised me with a bouquet of flowers and a cake too. I was counting the candles on the cake that night and tallying the years I have lived. I thanked Allah for being surrounded by the special people who have touched my life and made it more fulfilling and enriching by just being there for each day I breathe.


Red roses for me

My family has been the main force behind who I am now. I thought of the memories we had shared and realised that no passing years could erase them from me. These are the memories which were made to last and be cherished; great or small and all the cries or laughter all rolled up like the Fuji film negatives we had had of yesteryears. They could be unrolled, viewed under a strong light for me to refresh the memory and the event.

Another cake where the calories would download to the waist

Another year to my life is a reminder for me to give more and ask for less. A rude shock hit me hard on the head. A birthday is not about counting candles but counting the blessings you receive.

Feeding their dad, to make me less guilty of the sugar intake

Teddy bear, teddy bear touch the ground

Simple home-cooked food for us

FOOD GALORE

PAYA IKAN NIGHT MARKET @ MELAKA

The crowd, the smell of food and the atmosphere beckoned us to apply the brake on our cars. Armed with our video and camera, we captured the night market scene with interviews from the kampung folks and the happy faces we met. The stopover was worth it!

BATAM GETAWAY SLIDESHOW

Enjoy the slideshow of our trip

KENA HANTAM AT BATAM

A resort area at Sekupang. Background is the sea.

Sleepy after a heavy meal of Padang cuisine

A total of thirty dishes were served in front of us


What? 'You still want to shop?' asked Abang to Adik?

At Nagoya Hills Shopping Plaza. Upbeat area.

At Nagoya dry market where dried stuff and pickled fruits to buy

Ferri - the snack stall owner with mum

Since I can't take part in F1, this go-karting is good enough!

What Ma? No polo tee for me! That's Nizar and hubby.

The local police keeping guard and looking vigilant

At the Thua Pek Kong Chinese Temple

Sea voyagers of yesteryears

A local tourist shop selling carvings

At The Golden Prawn 555 Seafood Kelong

Thaqif reliving his childhood days...

The local performers who ate glass pieces and red hot charcoal

A tranced dancer eating pieces of glass

The Kuda Lumping Dance

Having fun in the bus

Mum had Tini to take care of her needs. Thanks Tini!

The Go-Kart Circuit opposite Golden View Hotel

A myriad of tee-shirt designs in the background

Getting ready for the go-kart ride

The second rider behind the wheeel

Thaqif looks like Robo Cop here!

Haggling madly for the right price!

Polo Ralph Lauren going at 50% disuount

A villa resort by the beach. Enchanting view of the sea.

The lashing of the waves on the rocky coast could be heard

A FAMILY TOGETHERNESS

Finally got everyone together for a short getaway to Batam. Our last family trip to this island was when the kids were about 4-6 years old. Back then, Batam was the hot choice for Singaporeans hungered for a short holiday destinations. That was also the time when Zoo Station hit Singapore's radio wavelength like crazy. I remember, with the help of the local police, we had to carry my son's pram above everyone else's head to board the ferry alive.

This time round there was no pram to push and no milk powder to pack. The boys had grown into young men while my husband and I had earned ourselves more wrinkles and white hair. But all these are the price you pay for the joy of parenthood and for not having discovered the fountain of youth yet!

The trip got the boys excited because of the Go-Kart Circuit Centre (opposite Golden View Hotel at Bangkong) which was officially opened on 1st June 2009 with 395 metres of length and 8 metres. The track features 9 turns and 6 straights with access speed of more than 50kmph. It cost SGD $15 for a ten-minute drive. It took me a day of persuasion by my boys and hubby to try the karting. Verdict? Exhilarating and awesome for a first timer behind the wheel.

We hopped down at Sekupang from the air-conditioned coach and visited the 23 metres iconic Kwan Im Statue, which is the biggest statue at Indonesia’s Archipelago. Seafood lunch was at Golden Prawn 555 where we also watched the Kuda Lumping Cultural Dance. We ended the first day trip with a traditional massage - oiling away the stress and stiff joints accumulated throughout 2009.

Our second and third day was spent on shopping and more shopping at Batam Centre, DC Mall, Nagoya Hills and Nagoya Market. My two sons hoarded their bags with T-shirts that were selling at SGD $3 and shirts and jackets that were going at huge discounted price. My hubby had an eye for anything unusual and found himself a hand painted loose shirt made from jute cloth.

You want to know what I ended up with? Snacks for the siblings and tons and tons of blouses and shirts for my new wardrobe. Rest assured, nothing expensive for I made huge savings on the 'Buy Two At 50% Less' marketing strategy. The Indonesians sure know how to entice me to part with my rupiahs. Kena hantam left and right by the shoping bug at Batam! Very difficult to resist the buying and spending. Ngak bisa dong!

My husband and I were glad that we dragged the boys, mum and my maid for the trip. The trip brought us closer and we had fun doing the same thing. So what shall we do for our next holiday? But first, must find the common time slot before planning for one again!