Mem of the House

Mar 22, 2012

Veale Gardens

Baru ni ada program santai antara ladies students - 1st year undergrad di Adelaide at Veale Gardens.
This garden or park, is at South Terrace, within the City itself.

The programme was themed pink and black, and tajuk talk-nya "Ceritera Wanita Super". The invited speakers talked about the challenges Muslim ladies may go through - physical health (adapting to weather, balanced diet, supplements recommendation), socially and academically. The speakers were all lady doctors --> k. Ati, k. Rin and Aishah, who were students in OZ themselves, few years back. K. Rabiah, a revert Muslim pun ada. She gave us all a very good good reminder that everyone is where they are for a reason. Allah put us here, in Adelaide for a reason. So mesti gunakan peluang yang ada sebaik-baiknya. Jadi contoh Muslim yang baik..., mana tahu ada manusia yang dapat hidayah untuk Islam melalui contoh-contoh yang baik dari pelajar-pelajar malaysia. Memang best jumpa orang yang baik dan ikhlas macam k. Rabiah, huhu

The students played fun games, we took pictures and we had snacks and lunch. Guess who made the lunch? ha ha...nasi biryani...jgn marah...that was my first time lah masak untuk 30 orang...alhamdulillah, jadik lah kut. tak ada report orang sakit perut lagi so far. :)

some pictures taken by Sumayyah...

Summer is going to be over soon. Welcome, Autumn!

Mar 20, 2012

What Women Really Really Want?

A few friends participated in this interesting rally called Perubahan Wanita Super last week to demand a few things from the current government. Kebetulan, The Star had some interviews asking women on the street what women really want. I mean, what do we really really want?

Think i might as well have a go. :)

1. What makes you happy?

Money in the bank and have monthly amount going in more than amount going out :)
Ha, ha...well, life IS more than just about money, ain't it? One can have millions in the bank but could still be worried about kids, health, safety and bad relationships. So, yes, what makes me happy?

Nowadays, simple things. When the kids come back and tell stories about their school, and so obviously happy with their school, i'd be happy. if Abi had great time at his work, and come back not worry about his research and other obligations, i'd be happy. the achievements of people who are important to me make me happy to be part of it....huhu..

ok, ok, what else makes me happy, ....may be some treasures at garage sales? he he
or masakan sedap yang menjadi...?
losing a few kilos without much effort...he he.. wonderful feeling.

  2. What is most important to you? 

My sanity. My peace with Allah. And my peace with hubby and the kids...
Blessing from my parents.
Helping people and not be a burden to anyone.

3. What was most important to you 10 years ago?

I was 25. Working and living in KL with 2 boys and a daughter on the way. Knew we would be going to live in Kuantan after hubby finished his masters. So, what was most important to me back then? Paving my way to the company's state office to make sure our family could stick together.

4. What is on top of your bucket (wish) list? 

Be a complete person. Not perfect, but balanced.

5. I want ... 

passive income.
a nice country house. ;)
xc90
spiritually? memorize a bit more of quran. understand more of my Deen (this should come top!)
conquer a lot of my fears. heights, bugs, darkness, high speed ( i hate roller coasters), uncertainty, worry about what others think, bla bla bla
complete my long overdue acca.
get rid of stinking politicians.
There's my version on the Star's 5Qs. What's yours? :)

Mar 18, 2012

Mendulang Emas di Ballarat

Abi had been telling us that we should go to Ballarat on our way back from Melbourne to Adelaide.
Melbourne to Adelaide is about 750km and Ballarat is located on our balik Adelaide route, and it's only about 1 hr plus drive je dari Melbourne.

stop over kejap kat this place yg sangat cantik...
kind of a recreational place & tempat orang buat wedding :)

The exact tempat yang best tu namanya Sovereign Hill. The place is built berlatarbelakangkan perkampungan lombong emas in the 1850s. Orang-orang dia pun dressed up macam dulu2, bangunan2, activities memang hidup - ie. the shops are open, ada tunnel, and ada peluang mendulang emas jugak!
So memang menarik sangat.

kedai besi zaman dulu2

mamat ni ada senapang real.

jalan berdebu lepas kuda ni lalu...huhu

kembali ke zaman silam....

Salah satu rumah yang dihias ikut zaman dulu..

match pulak baju kami kaler hijau...
hampir2 nak pakai tudung je "org zaman dulu"

dalam teater

my fav shop!! rasa nak beli tapi...huhuhu

everything so pink and berenda-renda....

love the handwriting...

suka je dengan gown diorang...

ni kat gudang buat tayar...

Highlights of the day ialah mendulang emas...Umi memang tak confident lah ada emas dalam sungai kecik tu..

Children and adults were given mining pans to mendulang and boleh juga kalau nak menyodok & menapis kat tempat tapis...Ada kut setengah jam tak ada hasil...apparently the company tabur sikit2 gold streaks for the visitors to find...and memang ada yang jumpa! huhu jealous lah jugak kitorang...

come on kids, make Umi rich!

Mayyah bekerja keras...

Hari pun dah hampir pukul 4. Kitorang pun pack up and head for Adelaide.

Alhamdulillah, sampai Adelaide pukul 1 pagi.

Abi dengan sangat kuatnya pergi kerja macam biasa the next day...cayalah Abi.

Mar 17, 2012

Maid oh maid

Cerita balik dari Melbourne kena sambung lepas ni.

The latest Msian-Indonesian proposal of RM700 per task is upsetting many parents in Malaysia.

Rasanya macam tak logik pulak sebab terlalu jauh beza dari job scope sekarang.

May be they should increase the salary slowly but define the scopes & hours. Tolaklah basuh kereta, kemas rumah sedara, tolong masa kenduri etc etc...

Seriously, i think let economy do the job, demand to meet supply...I am sure ada je rich families with rumah 3 tingkat yang sanggup bayar RM 700 just to clean their houses. Tapi untuk rumah kecik, mungkin job jaga anak yang paling penting. Kat OZ, rate nursery sangatlah mahal sampai boleh kira dengan jari-lah berapa aje keluarga PR yang hantar anak-anak nursery.

Seriously (2 kali dah seriously), how much value can we put on the whole household work a maid should do?

I am a 4-months old housewife but the work i do is definitely worth more than RM 1000 per month (berapa boleh mintak dgn "boss", eh?). Except for taking care of an elderly, rasanya sangat penat kalau nak buat semua housework tu. Tu nasib baik as a mother, i can delegate and marah...kalau maid, mana boleh suruh anak tuan kemas bilik sendiri and basuh pinggan. Sampai pukul 10mlm pun tak habis2 kena boss around. So, i really, really pity them maids.

So, adakah parents di Msia underpaid sehingga memerlukan maid yang juga underpaid?
Imagine RM 700 bahagi 30 hari...RM 24 lebih kurang sehari...
Bahagi 12 jam (6 pagi hingga 10 malam tolak 4 jam rehat)...RM 2.00 je sejam...pergh...

mana senang, jadi jaga ke jadi maid?
sapa kata duduk rumah senang, boleh test duduk rumah dengan budak (lagi power kalau budak2 kecik bawah 4 tahun)...AND nak buat sume kerja rumah at the same time. kalau bertuah, budak tu asyik mintak dukung, or have chronic separation anxiety...

try.

dah try baru tahu. :)

penulisan ini juga dikhaskan untuk mereka-mereka yang ingat jadi housewife ni "duduk saje" kat rumah :)

Mar 15, 2012

Melbourne, here we come!

We went to Melbourne, last Friday. Kami convoy 3 kereta dan bertolak agak lewat, dalam pukul 5. Halfway, berhenti untuk dinner. Bentang canvas in between the cars and bukak bekal.
Best!

4 families convoy - stop sat for dinner

with Ammar

Alhamdulillah, sampai di Melbourne dalam pukul 3 pagi. Terus tidur.

Di Melbourne, ada Aldi! I read about Aldi - harga barang2 murah eg pampers & susu formula. Tapi Hamza no longer minum susu formula, kitorang bagi fresh milk je masuk botol dia coz lagi murah & sedap :)

Aldi - why laa Aldi tak der kat adelaide

our rented horse

On our second day, we went to St Kilda's Pier. Recommended by our friends here, you can see penguins balik ke "rumah" diorang dalam pukul 8.30mlm...kami sampai agak awal, and we were not prepared dengan jackets especially Mayyah & me...angin sejukkkkkk!

berlatarbelakangkan jeti st kilda

berlari-lari di jeti menuju ke tempat penguin

mana penguin ni?

Baby penguin! too young for the sea...tunggu abi & umi dia balik. :)

It was too cold and we became hungry. Terasa lama nak tunggu penguin. So we went off to cari makan...next time lah datang lagi...insya ALlah. Awal sangat kut kami datang, silap timing..

On our last day in Melbourne, we went to DFO (Direct Factory Outlet) - tempat orang mesia mengshopping Corelle. Besar betul DFO ni, banyak sales pulak tu especially kat homeware department.

Surprisingly, i did not buy any Corelle...huhuhu...why oh why...rasa kalau beli macam mengikut2 orang je aa.

Ada satu pattern yang agak menarik, "Enchanted" ke apa nama dia, tapi pattern tu tak ada kat OZ...so, tak perlah, belum dapat hidayah lagi nak beli Corelle. But i bought one set of pyrex and some souvenirs untuk orang kat malaysia. sapa nak, angkat tangan! :)

Actually bab pinggan mangkuk ni, i really fancy THIS pattern.

Bukan Corelle, tapi tak tahu jenama apa....masa kat uk pernah nampak someone ada full set dinnerware pattern ni...huhu

Tu je lah from Melbourne. Insya Allah, plan nak bawa Mujahid masa winter ke sini. May be boleh jalan-jalan lagi. Tak lupa, jzkk & terima kasih kepada keluarga k. Joy kerana sudi menumpangkan kami. :)

Next post - on the way back to Adelaide --> Looking for gold in Ballarat!

Mar 14, 2012

Sayangnya kat awak!

Since balik dari Melbourne kelmarin (akan tulis dalam next entry, insya ALlah), dah rasa kurang sihat. Surely after 3 nights away from home, banyak perkara kena buat di rumah especially bab kain baju dan mengemas.

tak masuk lagi car seat yang kena basuh sebab kena muntah Hamza dalam perjalanan..

Malam tadi, abi bagi ubat loratadine, ubat yang agak mengantukkan. i love this ubat, good for selsema, telan sebiji and tidur, insya Allah - lega. Tapi semalam ada hal so tak dapat tidur awal jugak huhu...

Pagi ni bangun - situation tak berubah. Pening, sakit sendi2...so hantar message kat kawan2 seusrah, mintak excuse malam ni boleh tak kita tangguh usrah...huhu...sangat rasa bersalah kerana sebab sakit sikit. ujian kecik aje, tapi bagi alasan tak boleh usrah...sahabat-sahabat balas dengan doa dan suruh berehat aje...:)

dari pukul 11, Hamza & me slept in sampaaai pukul 2! baru lega sikit...tapi, baru perasan, nasi tak masak lagi, kain belum sidai, sink penuh, bilik2 belum kemas...tak tau mana nak mula! huhuhu...

Dengan malasnya, capailah beberapa biji kentang dan rebus untuk buat baked potato. Harapnya resipi ni lepas sebagai our lunch, alas perut budak-budak bila balik dari sekolah AND dinner.

Tiba-tiba...pukul 3 dapat message dari salah seorang sahabat..."nanti k. Rin hantar sup ayam kat rumah fizi ya?" bestnya!! termampu ku jawab dengan "jzkk (jazakillahu khair - smg ALlah membalasmu dgn kebaikan), kak, heart, heart, heart"...

sup yang sangat SEDAP! satu periuk k. Rin hantar...wahh!

Nothing beats a yummy hot chicken soup bila demam...nothing beats ukhuwwah yang terjalin lillahi ta'ala.

Her thoughtful gesture really made my day.

May Allah reward your kindness, k. Rin.

Anyways, my baked potato siap only at 4.30pm...alhamdulilllah ada sup, dapat lah budak2 makan sementara tunggu masakan maknya yang lambat siap...huhu

Feb 26, 2012

Aldinga Beach - Moana Beach - Onkaparinga

That trip to St Kilda in my previous post took place quite some time ago, actually.

We've been busy with domestic issues lately and weekends have been filled with makan-makan & other societal obligations. Tu yg lambat post.

We'll be having our FIRST house inspection in 3 days! It's normal here that every 3 months or so, the house agent will come and inspect the property, checking everything. In short, we will have to vacuum, sweep, mop, clean, wipe, scrub, among others and make everything shiny and smell good. Whoa!

First thing we need is a vacuum cleaner. Well, we had bought 2 second hand units previously. 1st (got it for $10) went broken, 2nd (for $5) had been borrowed by a friend and later stolen by some pencuri who saw it outside our friend's door,...We are so desperate now especially with the inspection coming, and today, i saw this online advert selling this nice vac cleaner -...the only thing is that the seller lives in Aldinga Beach. That's at least a 1 hour drive!

Abi memang tak nak beli barang-barang first hand especially benda2 yang tak plan nak bawa balik malaysia...plus we felt that a good drive would be a nice retreat..so we packed up homemade nasi goreng, left over BBQ chickens from yesterday and fried eggs, and off we went for a last minute picnic to Aldinga Beach!! Alang-alang pergi....sight seeing sekali...

we were here!

We used M2, the Southern Expressway and Main South Road to Aldinga Beach. The thing with the Highway is that it only works one way at a time. Alhamdulillah, we reached the City entrance at 12.15pm. The highway entrance (City side) tutup at 12.30pm because nak bagi clear jalan, for the Southerners pulak yang nak travel north into the city. may be government nak jimat kos kut sampai buat highway 2 lane for one way direction.

at aldinga beach, picnic - sedapnya nasi goreng...:)

After we got the vac cleaner, we drove thru the Esplanade near Aldinga Beach. Aldinga Beach ni sunyi aje....orang pun tak ada...i wonder why...

it was a hot, hot day...and a long, long climb

Lepas makan, jalan-jalan...the path from the road leading to the beach was tempting...

dengan titi kayu...so kami turunlah jugak...turun laju, nak naik yang mengah...:)

cantik, kan?

We decided to use the route closer to the beach untuk balik semula ke bandar...we travelled along the Old Coach Road, going to Commercial Road....and exited at Nashwauk Crescent towards Moana Beach. Moana Beach is more happening, ada caravan park lagi...