Sunday, January 30, 2005
AL-FATEHA



hubster's paternal grandma, rasitha bte muja (nyai las), passed away three hours ago. the burial will take place tomorrow morning. allahyarhamah's body is currently resting at TTSH, awaiting post-mortem. arwah nenek had passed away due to multiple organ failure which eventually resulted in a stroke. she was 92. to think that she had never been ill before this. masya Allah, what a strong woman she was.

when i met her for the first time 5 months ago, she left a deep impression on me. extremely quick-witted for someone her age (she can coin a pantun on the spot, mind you), she had never failed to entertain me with her stories of yore. i shall always remember her one and only advice, "you must always live on your own after marriage. it solves a lot of problems." with all the life experiences she had under her belt, i'm sure she knew what she was talking about.

she'll be sorely missed by all. may Allah bless her soul.

and it looks like i'm not the only one to have lost a beloved family member. diah, i hope you're coping well with the recent demise of your beloved nenek. may Allah bless all their kind souls.


:: rouge @ 4:31 pm :: ::


Thursday, January 27, 2005
LAGI SATU LOBANG

m/a/r/s/h/a/l/l/c/a/v/e/n/d/i/s/h is taking faaaarrrr too long. end of the month they say. well i've been waiting for three weeks now. still no news leh. all this wait for a mere one-year contract position. hardly justified.

i'm just thankful to have another editorial interview later today. this time it's for a permanent position - to work on a monthly medical journal (read: work along surgeons and doctors!). it feels pretty intimidating but i'll give it my best shot. i still remember all the crazy questions that were thrown to me during my previous interviews... maybe those would come in handy! the head editor is this particular surgeon, and his command of the english language is truly impeccable. if he's the one interviewing me later, sure die one.

ok gotta run. preening time. must.not.look.16.

:: rouge @ 10:49 am :: ::


Tuesday, January 25, 2005
BLOGGERDOM

after reading their eldest sister's blog for ages, these two were spurred to start their own. one, i suspect, wants an avenue to rant about her no-life undergrad existence; the other, i reckon, just wants a kick out of seeing her own silly pictures online. heh. so if you please, you're more than welcome to visit their online abodes:

* nooroolz
* dilsbedils

i have another blog too. it's solely to document all my trials at motherhood (pregnancy, really). it's peppered with pregnancy jargons, so if you're not familiar with them, you can always ask me. that is, *if* you're not queasy with details of the female anatomy or processes. and let me also warn you, i'll be complaining A LOT about my predicament, but i will not apologise for it. trying to get pregnant can be very erm... trying. and don't tell me "to relax, kick back, let nature take its course, yada yada yada" either, i've had plenty of THAT. i'm fine, it's just that a woman needs to let off steam sometimes.

here's a few words to start you off:

* TTC - trying to conceive
* AF - aunt flo (menses lah)
* BD - baby dance (intercourse - not verbal ok! :p)
* DH - darling/dear husband
* 'O' - ovulation
* HPT - home pregnancy test

okay. here you go. any (constructive) feedback/advice about getting pregnant is more than appreciated. toodles!

:: rouge @ 10:54 am :: ::


Saturday, January 22, 2005
AIDILADHA


us, five months down the road. :)

:: rouge @ 4:24 pm :: ::


Thursday, January 20, 2005
DOING IT THE BOTOX-FREE WAY

hotmama's (belated) 28th birthday was celebrated over fusion food. the first to turn twenty-eight in the clan, it wasn't something to be envious about (LOL!), but celebrate it with grace she did. i'd better not tease her about being on the gravity-friendly side, cos i'm next. *gulps*

it was an extra happy occasion cos for once, everyone was there. the entire clanhoodship. plus we had homemade chocolate cake, courtesy of martha ayu stewart! our ramblings funnily enough turned into plans for a business venture; something we're dead set on doing now. the entrepreneur in me is squealing in delight. finally. finding a name for our venture is going to be a tough one. somehow "77clan sendirian berhad" sounds like a tokpekong clan from johor. heh. takpe, nanti bleh brainstorm.


birthday girl shireen


with martha ayu stewart and her "i never use butter ok" chocolate cake (note the pointy bits. i'll explain later.)


77clan: the complete edition


i gave her these pwetty danglies


ok, back to the pointy bits. the only word i can think of is PUNAT. and they taste like durians. yum.


camera whores as usual


the reason why i put her picture here is because i want EVERYONE to watch her this saturday on suria! sungguh menjanjikan!!


took one with the waitress cos she reminded me so much of nurul zoom thailand. but *of course* the real mccoy is much prettier (ahem, nurul? lima posen please).


hubster, jijad and two of shireen's many madus (oklah, her bodyguards. towkay malik working mah). they had to endure nearly four hours of female bonding. padan muka.

ok tu je. we girls shall continue all that talk about business, contraception and punats another day.

:: rouge @ 1:31 pm :: ::


Tuesday, January 18, 2005
WAH LAU EH

penat. sengal. pening. rabon. berserabot.

i must have applied for more than 20 jobs in the space of 14 hours today. yes, i did nothing but sit in front of the pc all day long, scrutinizing every available job offer that i might be qualified for. but sometimes, i see a job that i like, and even though i might not fit the prerequisites to a T, i just hentam sajalah and proceed to email my (quite redundant) resume. nasib kau ah kambing. like my mother said, "campak-campak je... mana tau dapat!" must listen to your mother, hokay...

bukan apa. i'm already feeling fed-up having to wait till the end of the month before they would tell me the results of the editorial interview. and seeing that 2 precious weeks might pass by with no guarantee of me being gainfully employed at the end of it, i figure it's time to resume (no pun intended) my maniacal resume sending. i gave myself until the end of 2004 to start work. now it's mid jan 2005, and i'm still in unemployment shithole. nasib memang macam kentang. kat singapore ni, kalau korang sumer takleh bobal chingchongfun, jangan haraplah nak dapat keje. 99.99% of the jobs i scrutinized today (actually not only today) listed chingchongfunness as that quintessential skill. padahal banyak yang mnc tau? macam siak ke, macam siak? abis tu, gahmen kita bukan main lagi; dia boleh cakap yang SUMER orang kat singapore ni ada equal job opportunities! tak ke sardin tu? sardin to the max i tell you!

woi, my heart pain you know. sometimes i wonder if my degree is even worth anything in this country. i think toilet paper kat jamban tu lagi berguna.

haiya, don't tell me i have to go back to teaching? the thought alone makes me shudder.

:: rouge @ 11:45 pm :: ::


Friday, January 14, 2005
SITTING THE BABIES

the entire of this week has been spent babysitting a couple of semi-omputeh cousins from downunder. their parents had left them in our care while they jetted off to hong kong on a business trip for a couple of days. we had the pleasure of staying in a very nice service apartment with the kids. we felt like parents for once! oklah not really, more like abang and kakak. it was a hassle-free job, cos the kids were a lot of fun. besides giving them a crash course on malay (being half malay doesn't mean you speak the language), we also took them out shopping, bowling, and treating them to many of the local fare they otherwise wouldn't see in the land of oz. otherwise, it was more vcd watching and playstation back at the apartment.


the kids


selina with her abang, tristan


stretching those vocal chords with playstation's sing star (that's karaoke to you)


babysitter du jour


babysitter with her karaoke babies


with the teenage lovebirds at seoul garden


my father-in-law and cousin having a conversation with charming uncle doug


"trusty" tristan with his high school sweetheart, emily


selina with the adorable puzi boys and bibik muni


hubster with the puzi boys (ouh, they're really power rangers in disguise)


with my fav puzi boy, happy haziq. i swear if i were to have a son, he'd look exactly like this cutie. he has my hubby's eyes!

the kids are going back with their parents tonight. can't wait to visit them in sydney (hopefully in winter). this jakun has never touched snow, ya know.

:: rouge @ 4:11 pm :: ::


Tuesday, January 11, 2005
TUNGGU PUNYA TUNGGU, BULAN TAK TIMBUL-TIMBUL

i am back from my second interview! it lasted for 15 mins compared to the previous' 45. but it was still a torture to go through. the interviewers asked much more intelligent and profound (or cheem as some would call it) questions. they *really* dug deep. bleargh. mati-mati nak tau kenapa kita quit teaching. yeah i know... they must be dying to know the rationale behind why i abandoned that particular field of work only to jump onto the curriculum-planning bandwagon. i gave them a simple and straightforward reason: budak-budak kurang ajar nak mampos (of course in english, and of course in a more politically-correct manner). strangely, they were happy with my answer!

now i have to wait ANOTHER 2 weeks for the hr dept to contact me. i *think* i got the joblah. oklah... 60% confident. nak tunggu punya part ni yang tak sanggop. this entire resume/interviews/hr business is taking up one month of my precious time (when i should already be working).

ok i've decided. i'm not going to wait around for 2 weeks. next week, I'M calling them. hidop mesti proactive sikit.

have i told you that i'm really sick of lounging at home?? well i am. otak cramp. takde stimulation. takde joie de vivre (kalau ada baby lain ceritalah). hari-hari tengok tembok. malam baru nampak hubby. tak gerek man. tengok ah ni, rambling tak tentu pasal. nampak sah another sign of boredom. oklah better make myself useful and make the bed or something.

and oh, happy 28th birthday shireen! lu sua tualah!!

:: rouge @ 3:56 pm :: ::


Wednesday, January 05, 2005
(TAK) SEPET

it seems that my "big break" is taking its own bloody sweet time.

well, the hr people *did* call, but it wasn't to tell me that i got the job. they told me that my application has been forwarded to THAT other dept. the one that's not so steeped in cheenafiedism. the interview has been set for next tuesday. that means another round of wincing in my seat.

actually, nak ikutkan hati, gua tak cerewet. sembarang ah beb. but the thought of being passed over cos i ain't of the sepet persuasion - *that* sucks to the bones. don't get me wrong, and don't start throwing racist slurs at me. i'd have you know that many of my best buddies are non-malays. but to be discriminated against for the umpteenth time when you're just as good as the next sepet candidate, sapa yang tak marah beb!

i hope this time around, they won't be expecting me to be bilingual in english and french.

C'EST MERDE, i say.

:: rouge @ 11:42 pm :: ::


Monday, January 03, 2005
YOUR ENGRISH POWDERFUL ONOT?

i hate interviews. i abhor them as much as public speaking, bungee-jumping and break ups. for they give me the runs, along with pseudo-butterfly demons rampaging in my stomach.

the editorial interview was over an hour ago. and i'm still not changing my mind about them interviews! i can scarcely remember half of the things i said to the 3 interviewers. it was a combination of substance, fluff, bullshit and awkward silence. there was also this editorial test i had to sit for beforehand (which made my demons get into insane fits). and boy, was it tough. who the hell remembers the definitions of finite and infinite verbs?!

but thankfully, i was able to complete the proof-reading, sentence construction (to differentiate the 20-odd tense types), letter writing (from the p.o.v. of an editor in response to an irate author) and bookjacket blurb sections in a matter of 90 minutes. how *well* i performed is another matter altogether.

after a gruelling 45-min interview, they gave me the "actually the position is for someone who is bilingual in english AND mandarin." WTF?? ni lianhe zaobao ke apa?

they said that they are not going to hold my uncheenafied self against me (serious kapeee?). they said that perhaps they'll refer me to another department. all i know is that i would be getting an answer in a week's time.

i don't feel good about this at all. ciao ci tan.

i hope that the surah al-ikhlas and selawat that i had recited repeatedly before the test would protect me against the glaring cheenafiedism. or else i will never again be swayed by a name as american as m/a/r/s/h/a/l/l/c/a/v/e/n/d/is/h.

:: rouge @ 6:27 pm :: ::